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鲍仁君|热不死的乘客,热死的大爷

这段时间,从北京到济南,要说对气候的感受,就是热, 真热。

我有一天横穿人行横道,作为一个粗人,突然就想到了一个词,炙烤,把人放在火架子上烤。

说到热,想到了最近看到的两条社会新闻。

CDT 档案卡
标题:鲍仁君|热不死的乘客,热死的大爷
作者:鲍仁君
发表日期:2025.7.8
来源:微信公众号“鲍仁君”
主题归类:青岛大学宿管大爷中暑离世
CDS收藏:公民馆
版权说明:该作品版权归原作者所有。中国数字时代仅对原作进行存档,以对抗中国的网络审查。详细版权说明

第一个,就是浙江列车砸窗事件。

一列绿皮火车,因故停留。乘客被困在车里三个小时,因为炎热,门窗不开,已经有乘客出现了中暑症状,乘客要求列车员开门,被拒,有个小伙砸了窗户。事后小伙被警察带走,据说也没怎么着,就是警告了一下。

这也不是什么大事,事后引发了网络讨论。让我意外的是,居然有媒体认为小伙做的不对,是公然挑战公共安全秩序。言下之意,大家都没事,你砸个鸡毛?

我看到一个评论,特别扎心:如果是一车厢的猪,那么热的天被困三个小时,老板早想办法了。

更扎心的是,这还真的是事实。

认为小伙砸的不对,我想那个评论者在评论的时候,一定是在空调房里,如果是在炙烤的情况下,他也在车厢里,他可能要重新考虑一下,是脱衣服凉快,还是批评小伙子图个嘴快。如果这个评论者,感受到炙烤的温度,真的运了一车厢的猪,他也应该觉得做点什么吧。

或许评论者觉得, 砸窗不至于,又热不死人。

可是,真要热死了人,又能怎么样呢?

第二条新闻,就是青岛大学的一个宿管大爷,住在一个没有空调的房间里,热死了。

在事情发生后,引起了网络发酵,青岛大学做出了回应,给了一个声明,就这个声明,让我看了不吐不快。

图片

整个通报,都是学校做了什么,至于这个大爷为什么死,都没有提及。最后的表态,痛心和惋惜,我看到的是冷漠和表演。

这个大爷的名字,也没有说。

或许,在通报者看来,一个门卫是不配在通报里拥有名字的。

真要热死了人,批评小伙的人,就变成了通报者。

这两个事,表面上都是天热,背后的原因,都是一样的,什么时候,我们才能把人当人呢?

人的生命价值高于一切,这个不能仅仅是口号。在威胁到人的生命的时候,人的价值超过整个列车,何况是一车人?

我看了列车的视频,当事的列车员是个老实人,他拒绝开门,阻止乘客砸窗,因为他觉得这种做法违反规定,如果他这么做了,可能要受处分。

按照批评小伙者的逻辑,列车员这么做了,他还真的可能会受到处分,又没死人,这么做肯定是多此一举。现在列车员尽职尽责,阻止小伙未果,反而不会受处分。

如果你是列车员,你也会这么做。

只要批评小伙的人存在,人的生命高于一切只是口号,而不是共识,这种事情就肯定还会发生。

至于青岛大学的门卫,据说死前被拖欠了工资,这个我无法考证,但根据我们的生活经验,越是底层的工作,发生这种事情的概率越大。

我没有矫情的认为,我们必须给门卫配空调房,社会发展是需要时间的,以后每个门卫都有空调,这个会发生,还需要时间,但我觉得,青岛大学的态度是可以改善的。

青岛大学的通篇公告,都是说自己的努力,而没有提及事情发生的原因。只要不说原因,这事就没有解决的办法,甚至都不能算作一个事件,因为只是一个意外,他们没有做错什么。

所有的门卫,都有空调无法做到,但青岛大学以后的门卫给装空调,这个事情他们是应该能做到的吧?

只有你把大爷当成一个人,认为人死了是一个值得反思的事情,这是一个很容易得出的结论。

如果不把大爷当成人,那就真的只是一个意外了。

大爷叫张培生,58岁。

Texas floods death toll climbs to at least 107

Watch: Volunteers help lead search for their neighbours after Texas flooding

The death toll from flash floods that struck central Texas on Friday has now climbed to more than 100 people and an unknown number of others are missing.

Search and rescue teams are wading through mud-piled riverbanks as more rain and thunderstorms threaten the region, but hope was fading of finding any more survivors four days after the catastrophe.

Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls' summer camp, confirmed at least 27 girls and staff were among the dead. Ten girls and a camp counsellor are still missing.

The White House meanwhile rejected suggestions that budget cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS) could have inhibited the disaster response.

At least 84 of the victims - 56 adults and 28 children - died in Kerr County, where the Guadalupe River was swollen by torrential downpours before daybreak on Friday, the July Fourth public holiday.

Some 22 adults and 10 children have yet to be identified, said the county sheriff's office.

Camp Mystic said in a statement on Monday: "Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy."

Richard Eastland, 70, the co-owner and director of Camp Mystic, died trying to save the children, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Local pastor Del Way, who knows the Eastland family, told the BBC: "The whole community will miss him [Mr Eastland]. He died a hero."

In its latest forecast, the NWS has predicted more slow-moving thunderstorms, potentially bringing more flash flooding to the region.

Critics of the Trump administration have sought to link the disaster to thousands of job cuts at the NWS' parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The NWS office responsible for forecasting in the region had five employees on duty as thunderstorms brewed over Texas on Thursday evening, the usual number for an overnight shift when severe weather is expected.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected attempts to blame the president.

"That was an act of God," she told a daily briefing on Monday.

"It's not the administration's fault that the flood hit when it did, but there were early and consistent warnings and, again, the National Weather Service did its job."

She outlined that the NWS office in Austin-San Antonio conducted briefings for local officials on the eve of the flood and sent out a flood watch that afternoon, before issuing numerous flood warnings that night and in the pre-dawn hours of 4 July.

Watch: First responders save people caught in Texas flooding

Trump pushed back when asked on Sunday if federal government cuts had hampered the disaster response, initially appearing to shift blame to what he called "the Biden set-up", referring to his Democratic predecessor.

"But I wouldn't blame Biden for it, either," he added. "I would just say this is a 100-year catastrophe."

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, told a news conference on Monday that now was not the time for "partisan finger-pointing".

Watch: Senator Ted Cruz talks about the children lost at Camp Mystic

One local campaigner, Nicole Wilson, has a petition calling for flood sirens to be set up in Kerr County - something in place in other counties.

Such a system has been debated in Kerr County for almost a decade, but funds for it have never been allocated.

Texas Lt Gov Dan Patrick acknowledged on Monday that such sirens might have saved lives, and said they should be in place by next summer.

Meanwhile, condolences continued to pour in from around the world.

King Charles II has written to President Trump to express his "profound sadness" about the catastrophic flooding.

The King "offered his deepest sympathy" to those who lost loved ones, the British Embassy in Washington said.

Gregg Wallace sacked from MasterChef as 50 more people make claims to BBC News

BBC/Shine TV A head and shoulders shot of Gregg Wallace. He is wearing a white shirt and a red waistcoatBBC/Shine TV
Gregg Wallace has been one of the most high-profile presenters on British television for 20 years

Gregg Wallace has been sacked as MasterChef presenter as a result of an inquiry into alleged misconduct, BBC News understands.

It comes as 50 more people have approached the BBC with fresh claims about the TV presenter - including allegations he groped one MasterChef worker and pulled his trousers down in front of another. Wallace denies the claims.

The inquiry into allegations against him, conducted by an independent law firm on behalf of MasterChef's production company Banijay, is expected back imminently.

In a lengthy statement on Instagram on Tuesday, Wallace claimed he had been cleared by that report of "the most serious and sensational allegations" made against him.

"I recognise that some of my humour and language, at times, was inappropriate. For that, I apologise without reservation. But I was never the caricature now being sold for clicks," he wrote.

He accused BBC News of "uncorroborated tittle tattle" in its reporting.

BBC News has not seen the Banijay report.

For 20 years, Gregg Wallace has been one of the most high-profile presenters on British television and the face of BBC One cooking show MasterChef.

But he stepped aside from the show in November after our initial investigation at the end of last year, when 13 people accused him of making inappropriate sexual comments.

The new claims come from people who say they encountered him across a range of shows and settings.

While the majority say he made inappropriate sexual comments, 11 women accuse him of inappropriate sexual behaviour, such as groping and touching.

The allegations raise fresh questions for the BBC and the other companies he worked for about their safeguarding practices and duty of care.

All names have been changed for this article.

One woman, Alice, says Wallace took his trousers down in front of her in a dressing room, in what she described as "disgusting and predatory" behaviour.

Another, Sophie, says she was left feeling "absolutely horrified" and "quite sick" when he groped her.

Other people who contacted us with new claims about the presenter include:

  • A participant on the BBC's Saturday Kitchen - a show at the time that was produced in-house by the BBC - who says that, during a dinner ahead of filming in 2002, Wallace put his hand under the table and onto her groin, saying: "Do you like that?"
  • A university student who says she met him in a nightclub with friends in 2013. She says after she asked to take a photo with him, he reached under her skirt and grabbed and pinched her bottom
  • A woman who says, at an industry ball in 2014, he put his hand up her dress and groped her
  • Another junior worker, in addition to Alice, who says in 2012 he dropped his trousers in front of her and wasn't wearing underwear
  • A number of men who say they witnessed Wallace making inappropriate sexual comments
  • More recent claims, including a 19-year-old MasterChef worker who says she tried to complain about Wallace's comments about her body in 2022, and a former policeman who says he tried to raise concerns about Wallace's sexually inappropriate language to the BBC in 2023

Many of the women who spoke to us are young female freelancers.

They say they didn't feel able to complain about Wallace's behaviour at the time, fearing negative career repercussions.

'You're not being Jimmy Saviled'

Alice, however, told us she did raise concerns - but said they were dismissed.

She worked on MasterChef between 2011 and 2013 when she was in her 20s. At the time, the show was produced by Shine, a company now owned by Banijay.

She recalls an occasion when, she says, Wallace asked her into his dressing room, saying he needed help getting into a black-tie outfit.

He pushed her down onto a sofa, she says, pulled his trousers down and told her he wasn't wearing any underwear. Alice says she tried to avert her eyes.

She immediately reported what had happened, she says, but was told by a senior member of Shine's production team: "You're over 16, you're not being 'Jimmy Saviled'."

Alice says she felt let down by the company and was given the impression that, in a "lowly role as a production worker", she should just "be grateful and get on with it".

She has contributed to the Banijay inquiry, and says she hopes it leads to accountability.

Getty Images Gregg Wallace photographed in July 2023 at the 5th annual Boisdale Life Editor's Lunch & Awards at Boisdale of Canary Wharf, London. He is wearing a dark blue suit and white shirt and is standing in front of a well-stocked bar with various bottles of alcohol on shelves behind him.Getty Images
In a recent interview with the Daily Mail, Wallace said the claims against him were "not all true" and he had felt "under attack"

The second woman who claims Wallace pulled his trousers down in front of her, Anna, worked on a photo shoot with him in 2012.

He took off his trousers when they were alone together in a dressing room area, she says, and she could see he was not wearing any underwear.

Anna says she looked away, but felt she could not do anything as she was holding his clothes for him to change into. She says he then got changed and she left shortly afterwards.

Throughout the shoot, as well as making lewd, sexually inappropriate comments, she says Wallace was very "touchy-feely". For instance, when she went on set to adjust the way his clothes looked, she says he would say, "Oh please do come in, I love it when you do that" and then grab her hips and squeeze her.

She says the whole experience made her feel "undermined".

Like the other women we spoke to, Anna says she felt she could not make a complaint because she was relatively junior and needed the job.

She is speaking up now because, she says, she was furious about Wallace's Instagram video last year, in which he claimed the allegations against him had come from "a handful of middle-class women of a certain age".

"Is he saying it was OK to behave that way with younger women, like I was at the time?" she says.

'A full-handed squeeze'

Sophie, another young worker on MasterChef, recalls being groped by the presenter at a wrap party at the end of the 2013 series.

At the time, the show was produced by Shine.

She says she was standing at the bar talking to Wallace and his co-host John Torode. As she was about to leave, she says: "Someone squeezed my bum, a full-handed squeeze. I turned around and it was Gregg."

It was done "covertly", Sophie says, so she doesn't think anyone else noticed, including Torode.

She says she did not pursue a complaint because she feared that being a junior member of the team, "chances were, I'd be booted off the production, and he may have only got a scalding".

Sophie has also contributed to the Banijay inquiry.

Several new allegations happened away from television - one of them in the mid-to-late 2000s in Nottingham during a book tour.

Publicist Esther describes an incident when she says Wallace pushed his way into her hotel room, took off his clothes, and then asked her: "Exactly what is it that you do?"

She says she was shocked and made it clear she was not interested, telling him: "That's not part of my job."

But rather than leaving the room, she says he climbed into her bed and fell asleep.

She didn't know what to do, she says, as she was worried that if she asked the hotel for another room, she would potentially attract negative publicity for Wallace. So she decided to sleep at the edge of the bed, with her clothes on.

When he woke up, says Esther, Wallace put his hand on her bottom and commented that she had a "nice arse". She says she told him to get out of her room, which he did.

Esther wishes she had made a formal complaint at the time, but says she did not because he was an important author, and she didn't want to rock the boat.

However, she has now contributed to the Banijay inquiry.

'It's not banter'

On Tuesday, Wallace wrote a lengthy Instagram post in which he said the "most damaging claims" against him "were found to be baseless after a full and forensic six month investigation".

"To be clear, the Silkin's Report [sic] exonerates me of all the serious allegations which made headlines last year and finds me primarily guilty of inappropriate language between 2005 and 2008."

He added: "I will not go quietly. I will not be cancelled for convenience. I was tried by media and hung out to dry well before the facts were established."

He accused the BBC of "peddling baseless and sensationalised gossip masquerading as properly corroborated stories".

In the days after BBC News published its original investigation last November, Wallace re-posted comments on social media from former MasterChef contestants who said they had positive memories of working with him.

Some readers have also been in touch with us to defend Wallace, saying his alleged comments were just "jokes" and "banter".

But others disagree.

One of the men who contacted us was a cameraman who says he witnessed Wallace asking a female worker if she had "any friends with nice tits like yours".

The cameraman worked on the BBC show Eat Well For Less in 2016. The show was produced by RDF TV, which is part of the Banijay group.

He says he heard Wallace make a string of other inappropriate comments in full earshot of the production team, including asking one female director, who was gay, about her "lesbian clothing".

"It's not banter, it's not how you should behave in a professional workplace," says the cameraman.

Sophie - who says Wallace groped her - believes the presenter has been protected for too long.

"Gregg's time has come. But the most senior leadership who have clearly heard these testimonies over the years and not chosen to remove him sooner, should also resign," she says.

"And both them and the BBC should consider why a presenter being in post is more important than the wellbeing and treatment of the people making the series."

'Too many cultures of silence'

The allegations against Wallace last year kickstarted a nationwide discussion about workplace behaviour, with the culture secretary warning there were "too many cultures of silence".

Speaking to MPs in December, Lisa Nandy warned she was "prepared to take further action" if the media industry could not address claims of misconduct.

Human rights barrister Baroness Helena Kennedy, who chairs a new watchdog aimed at improving standards of behaviour in the creative industries, has told the BBC that, for freelancers, it can be difficult to speak up.

She says they may be afraid of losing work "if they are seen as being someone who's been a complainer, or who's raised issues, especially about stars".

Baroness Kennedy also warned there had been "multiple missed opportunities" to act on bad behaviour.

BBC News is aware of numerous occasions when complaints about Wallace were made. One, by the radio host Aasmah Mir, related to Celebrity MasterChef in 2017.

She told The Sunday Times last year that she had complained to Shine and later spoke to the BBC's Kate Phillips who was then controller for entertainment commissioning.

According to internal emails seen by the newspaper, Phillips told Wallace his behaviour had been "unacceptable and cannot continue".

Another complaint from a group of young workers just a year afterwards, concerned Wallace's time on the BBC show Impossible Celebrities, which is made by a different production company.

In a letter from 2018, seen by BBC News, Phillips wrote that she had spoken to Wallace for 90 minutes to make clear what the BBC expected of him. She confirmed in the letter that many aspects of his behaviour had been "unacceptable" and "unprofessional".

She also reassured workers on the programme that action would be taken "to prevent a similar reoccurrence and to safeguard others in the future".

Recent allegations

But further claims in the years after Phillips’ conversation with Wallace have since emerged.

One 19-year-old MasterChef worker says she flagged concerns about Wallace's comments about her body to a more senior member of the production staff in 2022, only to be told it was "just a joke". By this date, Banijay was the company responsible for the show.

A former police officer of 30 years also told us he had tried to report concerns to the BBC after, he says, he witnessed Wallace making inappropriate sexual comments at a charity event in 2023.

The former officer says he reached out via the BBC's online complaints portal and also tried to call by phone, but never heard back.

BBC News has been told that Kate Philips was unaware of any claims prior to 2017 or any of these subsequent claims.

A recent report into the BBC found that a small number of its stars and managers "behave unacceptably" at work, and that bosses often fail to tackle them.

In response, the broadcaster said it would introduce reforms, and its chairman Samir Shah said he would draw "a line in the sand".

We have repeatedly approached Wallace for an interview but he has not responded.

In April, he gave an interview to the Daily Mail in which he said the claims against him were "not all true" and that he had felt "under attack" and contemplated suicide.

He admitted that some of the inappropriate jokes were "probably true", saying: "Some of what's been said sounds like the sort of comments I'd have made."

But he insisted he had never groped any workers, calling those claims "absolutely not true".

PA Media John Torode and Grace Dent stand side by side in a kitchen setting in a publicity shot for Celebrity Masterchef. John is wearing a black jacket over a white shirt, while Grace is dressed in a blue outfit with short sleeves and tied cuffs. Behind them, there are shelves with various kitchen items and a large illuminated logo on the wall.PA Media
MasterChef co-host John Torode pictured with Grace Dent, who has stepped in to host the next series of Celebrity MasterChef

In response to the latest allegations, a spokesperson for Wallace said: "Gregg continues to co-operate fully with the ongoing Banijay UK review and as previously stated, denies engaging in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature."

Banijay UK said: "While the external investigation is ongoing, we won't be commenting on individual allegations. We encourage anyone wishing to raise issues or concerns to contact us in confidence."

A BBC spokesperson said: "Banijay UK instructed the law firm Lewis Silkin to run an investigation into allegations against Gregg Wallace.

"We are not going to comment until the investigation is complete and the findings are published."

Additional reporting by Insaf Abbas

If you are affected by any of the issues in this story, help and support is available at BBC Action Line

Post Office scandal had 'disastrous' impact on victims, official inquiry says

Getty Images A group of sub-postmasters outside a courtGetty Images

The Post Office Horizon IT scandal had a "disastrous" impact on those wrongly accused and prosecuted for criminal offences, the first report from the official inquiry into the scandal has found.

Sir Wyn Williams' report has revealed the scale of the suffering caused to hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted over shortfalls in their branch accounts, as well as others affected.

Sir Wyn said at least 59 people contemplated suicide at various points, of whom 10 attempted to take their own lives, and more than 13 people may have killed themselves due to the scandal.

The Post Office apologised "unreservedly" and said it would carefully consider the report.

This first volume of Sir Wyn's report focuses on the human impact of the scandal, as well as issues around compensation.

Victims had divorced, suffered serious mental health issues and alcohol addiction as a result of their ordeals, the inquiry found.

"A number of persons said they could not sleep at night without drinking first. One postmistress said she 'went to rehab for eight months as the Post Office had turned her to drink to cope with the losses,'" Sir Wyn wrote.

The report makes a series of urgent recommendations, including:

  • free legal advice for claimants
  • compensation payments for close family members of those affected
  • a programme of restorative justice with Fujitsu, the Post Office and the government meeting individual victims directly

Sir Wyn also criticised the "formidable difficulties" around the delivery of financial redress for victims, which is currently organised around four different schemes.

Discussing one scheme, for those who experienced unexplained shortfalls related to Horizon but were not convicted, Sir Wyn says: "I am persuaded that in difficult and substantial claims, on too many occasions, the Post Office and its advisors have adopted an unnecessarily adversarial attitude towards making initial offers."

According to the report, 10,000 eligible people are currently claiming redress, and Sir Wyn expects that number to rise by "at least hundreds" over the coming months.

He called on the government to publicly define what is meant by "full and fair financial redress" and recommended changes to some of the schemes.

While Sir Wyn will look at how the scandal happened and who was responsible in a later report, in this first part, he said that he was satisfied that some employees of the Post Office and Fujitsu were aware, or should have been aware, that the Horizon software had "bugs, errors and defects" which could affect branch accounts.

Sir Wyn has asked the government to respond to his findings no later than October 2025.

The government said that some members of Horizon victim's families will be eligible for compensation.

Post Office minister Gareth Thomas said the scheme would be open "to close family members of existing Horizon claimants who themselves suffered personal injury – including psychological distress – because of their relative's suffering".

But he added that the government would need written evidence of that injury made at the time "other than in exceptional circumstances".

He said devising such a scheme "raises some very difficult issues".

"Nonetheless, we want to look after those family members who suffered most," he said.

A Post Office spokesperson said: "The Inquiry has brought to life the devastating stories of those impacted by the Horizon Scandal. Their experiences represent a shameful period in our history.

"Today, we apologise unreservedly for the suffering which Post Office caused to postmasters and their loved ones. We will carefully consider the report and its recommendations."

The report also gave details of the some of the legal costs of the various compensation schemes so far.

Newly published government figures show the total legal costs paid for the "operational delivery of Horizon redress schemes" have risen to £100m.

For their work on the Horizon Shortfall Scheme up to 2 December 2024, law firm Herbert Smith Freehills were paid £67m by the Post Office.

Post Office campaigner and former sub-postmaster Jo Hamilton said it was "just mad" that the government is "spending millions on lawyers to pull the claims apart" that they have paid for to be brought.

She said the report out on Tuesday was "huge" because it laid bare the scale of the suffering.

The investigations into who is culpable for that suffering will be "interesting", she adds.

Marseille firefighters 'waging war' on wildfire at city's edge, mayor says

Getty Images A fire currently burning in the hills north of Marseille, in the area of Les Pennes-Mirabeau, is producing thick smoke visible from the Vieux-Port. A large grey smoke cloud can be seen above orange-roofed buildings by the waterside, with small boats in the foreground.Getty Images
Smoke from the fire in the hills north of Marseille was visible from the city's Vieux-Port

A rapidly spreading wildfire has reached the outer edge of Marseille, France's second largest city.

"The marine firefighter battalion is waging guerrilla warfare, hoses in hand," said the city's Mayor Benoît Payan, referring to Marseille's fire and rescue service.

The prefect of the Bouches-du-Rhône area, Georges-François Leclerc, urged local residents to remain indoors and said firefighters were "defending" the city.

He said that while the situation was not static, it was "under control".

Marseille Provence airport has been closed for the rest of Tuesday.

Some residents have been advised to stay inside, close shutters and doors, and keep roads clear for emergency services.

The fire, which broke out earlier on Tuesday near Pennes-Mirabeau, north of Marseille, is said to have covered about 700 hectares (7 sq km).

Local authorities said the blaze was sparked by a car that caught fire on the motorway, and that it could continue to spread as strong winds are set to blow until late this evening.

"It's very striking - apocalyptic even," Monique Baillard, a resident of the town, told Reuters news agency. She said many of her neighbours had already left.

The local fire service said 168 firefighters had been deployed to fight the blaze, as well as fire engines and helicopters.

Marseille's mayor, Benoit Payan, asked residents to remain "extremely vigilant" and to limit their movements. Locals told French TV of dense traffic jams as people tried to evacuate the city.

Footage posted online showed huge plumes of smoke above Marseille as fire raged in a hilly area to its north.

The Bouches-du-Rhône area has not recorded a single drop of rain since 19 May, according to French broadcaster BFMTV.

Elsewhere in France, another wildfire that started near Narbonne on Monday remains active, fanned by winds of 60km (38mph) per hour. Some 2,000 hectares have burnt, local officials said.

Wildfires were also reported in other parts of Europe, including Spain's Catalonia region, where more than 18,000 people were ordered to stay at home because of a wildfire in the eastern province of Tarragona.

Emergency units were deployed alongside 300 firefighters as high winds overnight fanned the flames, which have spread across nearly 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of land.

Several other parts of Spain - which experienced its hottest June on record - were on high alert for wildfires.

In Greece, some 41 wildfires broke out across the country on Monday. Of those, 34 were contained early while seven remained active into Monday evening, according to the fire service.

Much of western and southern Europe was hit by a scorching early summer heatwave, sparking fires that saw thousands evacuated from their homes.

ICC issues arrest warrants for Taliban leaders for persecuting women and girls

EPA A girl with her hair covered with a white scarf hides her faces behind a reading book with a picture of two young boys on it. She is sitting with her back to a concrete wall in what appears to be a classroomEPA
Only girls under the age of 12 have been able to attend school since 2021

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for two of the Taliban's top leaders, accusing them of persecuting women and girls in Afghanistan.

The Hague-based court said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani had committed a crime against humanity in their treatment of women and girls since seizing power in 2021.

In that time, they have implemented a series of restrictions, including on girls over 12 accessing education, and barring women from many jobs.

In response, the Taliban said it doesn't recognise the ICC, calling the warrant "a clear act of hostility" and an "insult to the beliefs of Muslims around the world".

There have also been restrictions on how far a woman can travel without a male chaperone, and decrees on them raising their voices in public.

In a statement, the ICC said that "while the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms".

The United Nations has previously described the restrictions as being tantamount to "gender apartheid".

The Taliban government has said it respects women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Afghan culture and Islamic law.

Akhundzada became the supreme commander of the Taliban in 2016, and has been leader of the so-called Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan since US-led forces left the country in August 2021. In the 1980s, he participated in Islamist groups fighting against the Soviet military campaign in Afghanistan.

Haqqani was a close associate of Taliban founder Mullah Omar and served as a negotiator on behalf of the Taliban during discussions with US representatives in 2020.

The ICC investigates and brings to justice those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, intervening when national authorities cannot or will not prosecute.

However, it does not have its own police force and so relies on member states to carry out any arrests.

The prospect of warrants being issued for the two Taliban leaders was first raised in January, when the ICC's top prosecutor, Karim Khan, alleged they were "criminally responsible for persecuting Afghan girls and women, as well as persons whom the Taliban perceived as not conforming with their ideological expectations of gender identity or expression, and persons whom the Taliban perceived as allies of girls and women".

At the time, the Taliban's foreign ministry responded to the threat of arrests, saying the ICC had turned a blind eye to what it described as "numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by foreign forces and their local allies", referring to US-led forces present in the country before 2021.

Human Rights Watch welcomed the arrest warrants for the two Taliban leaders.

It called on the ICC "to extend the reach of justice to victims of other Taliban abuses, as well as victims of the Islamic State of Khorasan Province forces, former Afghan security forces and US personnel".

"Addressing cycles of violence and impunity in Afghanistan requires that victims of all perpetrators have equal access to justice," it said in a statement.

Exhausted, angry, heartbroken: Postmasters react as horror of scandal laid bare

Post Office scandal victims demand accountability

Victims of the Post Office scandal have been waiting years for justice.

More than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted after the faulty Horizon computer system made it look like money was missing from their branch accounts.

Sir Wyn Williams has now published the first part of his report from the official inquiry into the scandal, focusing on the human impact as well as compensation.

Several former sub-postmasters travelled to the Oval cricket ground in London to see Sir Wyn deliver volume one of his report in person.

We spoke to some of those who were there, to hear about what impact the scandal had on their lives and to get their reactions to Sir Wyn's findings.

'I was 19. My life was over before it began'

Tracy Felstead

Tracy Felstead was just 19 when she was sentenced to six months in prison in 2002. She was wrongly accused of stealing £11,503 while working at Camberwell Green Post Office in London.

She had her conviction quashed at the Court of Appeal in 2021.

"Emotional" is how she says she felt on reading Sir Wyn's report, in which her personal story featured.

"It doesn't matter how much therapy I go through, how much compensation you give me - I'll never get that back," she says.

"This was my first job and obviously, my life was over before it began."

Even now, certain things "trigger the memory" of what she went through and "that trauma comes flooding back".

Tracy is still waiting for full and final compensation.

"My claim is in, but they come back with 101 questions that you have to try and answer," she says.

She hopes Sir Wyn's recommendations will be implemented, but more than anything wants to move on with her life.

"For me, to get up in the morning and not think about this would be the best thing ever.

'I feel heartbroken, angry, and happy'

Seema Misra

Seema Misra's story is one of the most well-known of the scandal. She was jailed in 2010 while pregnant after being accused of stealing £74,000 from her Post Office branch. She was sent to prison on the day of her eldest son's 10th birthday.

"I've got mixed emotions," she says, reflecting on the publication of the report. "I feel heartbroken, angry - and happy, too, that it's finally here."

There are several recommendations in the report on financial redress, which it described as having been "bedevilled with unjustifiable delays".

Seema says she's hopeful that compensation payouts will speed up as a result.

"When we started the fight... we didn't think it would take this long, at all. Hopefully now the government will listen and implement sooner rather than later," she says.

The Post Office issued an unreserved apology for "a shameful period in our history", but that doesn't mean much to Seema.

"I don't accept their apologies at all. Go behind bars and then I'll think."

'We are getting tired. It's exhausting'

Kathy McAlerney

Kathy McAlerney was a sub-postmistress in a small branch in the village of Litcham, in Northern Ireland.

Like others, unexplained shortfalls began appearing in her Horizon account.

Following an audit by the Post Office in 2007, she was suspended "on the spot" and pursued for years to pay back the money back, which, under the terms of her contract, she was liable to cover.

A year later, her contract was terminated. She was eight months pregnant with her fourth daughter at the time.

Her daughter is now 18 years old - and Kathy is still awaiting compensation.

Kathy came with her husband Patrick to see Sir Wyn deliver his report, which she really hopes will make a difference.

"We have been waiting so long. We've been waiting decades now. And we really just want to get to the point where we can put this behind us and move on with our lives.

"We are getting tired, you know. It's exhausting."

Report shows 'horror they unleashed on us'

Jo Hamilton

Post Office campaigner and former sub-postmistress Jo Hamilton says the government is now under pressure "to get a grip on redress" because Sir Wyn Williams is "on it".

"They are under the cosh," she says.

When it comes to compensation, she says it is "just mad" that the government is "spending millions on lawyers to pull the claims apart" that they have paid for to be brought.

She says Tuesday's report is huge because it lays bare "the full scale of the horror that they unleashed on us".

The investigations into who is culpable for that suffering will be "interesting", she adds.

'Stress has shortened my life considerably'

Sami Sabet

Sami Sabet was a successful businessman before deciding to leave the "rat race" and become a sub-postmaster for three post offices around Shoreham-by-Sea.

When he recognised shortfalls in his branch accounts in 2006, he contacted the Horizon helpdesk and spoke to regional managers about his problems, but was still prosecuted.

He ended up pleading guilty to fraud in 2009 to avoid prison, and received a suspended sentence. Even after his conviction was quashed in 2021, he says some of his neighbours still see him as a criminal.

Sami believes stress has "shortened my life considerably".

He has had a heart attack and during open heart surgery lost some of his peripheral vision.

He also suffered from depression, anxiety and panic attacks, and says his personality changed.

Sami says that although Sir Wyn's recommendations for compensation for more people are fair, there is a danger that could push compensation for him back even further.

"It has taken so long," he says.

Sami was awarded compensation for intangible damages, such as the negative effects on his health, but is still waiting for compensation for the loss of his money and businesses.

Five things we now know about the scandal

Getty Images A group of those affected by the Horizon IT issue hold a banner, as the first volume of a report from the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry is announced at The Kia OvalGetty Images
People affected by the Horizon scandal gathered outside the Oval in London on Tuesday where the report was announced

The first report on the findings from an inquiry into the Post Office Horizon IT scandal has been published.

It reveals for the first time the full extent of the suffering of sub-postmasters and others who were affected by being wrongly accused of stealing money and false accounting, based on incorrect data.

Here are five things we now know as a result.

1. Impact on lives was 'disastrous'

The inquiry heard many harrowing experiences from sub-postmasters who were incorrectly accused of theft and false accounting.

The report outlines how the scale of suffering was even greater than thought until now.

There had already been stories of two sub-postmasters taking their own lives due to the Horizon scandal – Michael Mann and Martin Griffiths.

The report says that more than 13 people may have taken their own lives due to the scandal.

Families have said that six sub-postmasters and seven people who were not sub-postmasters killed themselves, after Horizon showed "illusory" shortfalls in branch accounts.

Apart from this, at least 59 people told the inquiry they had contemplated suicide at various points, of whom 10 attempted to take their own lives.

One sub-postmaster told the inquiry: "The mental stress was so great for me that I had a mental breakdown and turned to alcohol as I sunk further into depression. I attempted suicide on several occasions and was admitted to mental health institutions twice."

In the report, inquiry chair Sir Wyn Williams described the impact on those affected as "disastrous", and said it was not easy to "exaggerate the trauma" that people went through being investigated and prosecuted.

Many sub-postmasters gave evidence of psychiatric and psychological problems that have "dogged them" and are still ongoing.

  • If you have been affected by the issues in this story the BBC Action Line features a list of organisations which are ready to provide support and advice.

2. Post Office knew its IT system had errors

A recurring question throughout the inquiry was: how much did the Post Office know that the Horizon data it was using to prosecute people was not accurate?

Sir Wyn is very robust in his initial response and says there will be more on this in the next volume of the report.

He says that senior and not so senior people in the Post Office "knew, or at the very least should have known, that legacy Horizon was capable of error" – legacy Horizon was the version in use until 2010.

"Yet, for all practical purposes, throughout the lifetime of legacy Horizon, the Post Office maintained the fiction that its data was always accurate."

After 2010, the next version of Horizon also contained "bugs, errors and defects".

Sir Wyn says: "I am satisfied that a number of employees of Fujitsu and the Post Office knew that this was so."

3. Post Office and Fujitsu behaved unacceptably

The report says many hundreds of people were wrongly convicted of criminal offences, and thousands were held responsible for losses that were illusory.

Just a reminder of the numbers: about 1,000 people were prosecuted, and only between 50 and 60 were not convicted.

Thousands of employees were suspended, and many later had their contracts terminated.

These people were victims of "wholly unacceptable behaviour" by individuals employed or associated with the Post Office and Fujitsu, and from time to time by the organisations themselves, Sir Wyn says.

4. Post Office was too adversarial on compensation

There have been a number of settlements and compensation schemes for sub-postmasters. While some have been satisfied by the level of compensation available, many who had more complex claims were not.

Sir Wyn says three of the compensation schemes have been "bedevilled with unjustifiable delays" and redress has not been delivered promptly.

Moreover, with difficult and substantial claims, "on too many occasions" the Post Office and its legal advisers had been "unnecessarily adversarial" in making initial offers for compensation, driving down the level of eventual financial settlements.

Sir Wyn recommends three things when it comes to compensation:

  • A mechanism to deliver redress "to persons who have been wronged by public bodies", should be established
  • Free legal advice should be extended to claimants on one of the schemes – the Horizon Shortfall Scheme.
  • Close family members of people who have "been most adversely affected by Horizon" should be compensated

Sir Wyn estimates that there are currently 10,000 eligible claimants in three compensation schemes, and that number is likely to rise by at least hundreds, if not more.

5. Post Office and Fujitsu told to meet victims

In addition, by 31 October this year the report says the government, Fujitsu and the Post Office should publish a report on a programme for restorative justice.

This is where people who have caused harm should be brought together with people who have suffered it "so they can discuss the impact, take responsibility, and work collaboratively to make amends".

Sir Wyn is calling on the government to consider his recommendations without delay.

How Insularity Defined the Last Stages of Biden’s Career

The effort by Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s inner circle to limit access to him helps explain why it took him more than three weeks to drop his re-election bid after his disastrous debate performance.

© Eric Lee/The New York Times

At the most perilous moment of his presidency, Joseph R. Biden Jr. was all but impossible for anyone outside his tight inner circle to reach.

Wildfires Burn in Spain and France After Blistering Heat Wave

A blaze in southern France forced the closure of the Marseille airport, and weather agencies issued warnings for other parts of Europe where temperatures were expected to climb this week.

© Idriss Bigou-Gilles/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A fire in Narbonne, southern France, on Monday. More than 1,000 firefighters have been working to bring the blaze under control.

Diogo Jota's car was likely speeding before fatal crash, Spanish police say

EPA/Shutterstock A Spanish worker wearing fluorescent yellow stands at the scene of the crash in Spain where Diogo Jota was killedEPA/Shutterstock
Tyre marks were analysed some distance from where the Lamborghini's tyre blew out

All the evidence so far suggests Portuguese footballer Diogo Jota was driving when his car crashed on a Spanish motorway, and he was likely speeding, say police.

The 28-year-old Liverpool player was killed with his brother André Silva, 25, when their Lamborghini car had a suspected tyre blowout in northwestern Zamora province early last Thursday.

Spain's Guardia Civil police force said at the time the car had apparently been overtaking on the A52 motorway near Palacios de Sanabria when it left the road and burst into flames.

"Everything also points to a possible excessive speed beyond the speed limit of the road [highway]," said Zamora's local traffic police.

Police said they had studied the marks left by one of the Lamborghini's tyres and that "all the tests carried out so far indicate that the driver of the crashed vehicle was Diogo Jota".

The expert report is being prepared for the courts on the accident, and their investigation is understood to have been made more complex by the intensity of the fire that almost completely destroyed the car.

The accident happened 11 days after Jota had married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso in Portugal. The couple had three children.

The brothers had been heading to the Spanish port of Santander so Jota could return to Liverpool for pre-season training.

Their funeral took place in their hometown of Gondomar, near Porto at the weekend.

Tyre marks were reportedly visible about 100m (330ft) from the moment of impact.

Although there had been suggestions that the asphalt on the road was uneven where the crash took place, police told Spanish media it was not an accident "black spot" and the road should have been driveable beyond the speed limit of 120km/h (75mph).

Bayeux Tapestry to return to UK on loan after 900 years

Bayeux Museum A scene showing men in horses from the 70-metre Bayeux Tapestry depicts the 1066 Norman invasion and Battle of Hastings, and is due to go on display in the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery at the British Museum Bayeux Museum
It will be the first time that the tapestry has been shown in the UK since it was made, almost 1000 years ago

The Bayeux Tapestry is returning to the UK more than 900 years after its creation, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has confirmed.

The 70m-long masterpiece, which tells the story of the Norman conquest of England in 1066, will be loaned in a historic agreement to be signed between the French and British governments.

The huge embroidery - which is widely believed to have been created in Kent - will go on display at the British Museum in London.

In exchange, treasures including artefacts from the Anglo-Saxon burial mounds at Sutton Hoo and the 12th Century Lewis chess pieces will travel to museums in Normandy.

George Osborne, the British Museum's chair of trustees, told the BBC the exhibition "will be the blockbuster show of our generation" - like Tutankhamun and the Terracotta Warriors in the past.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are expected to make the official announcement of the deal on Tuesday evening at Windsor Castle.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy called the loan "a symbol of our shared history with our friends in France, a relationship built over centuries and one that continues to endure".

The Trustees of the British Museum picture show an ornate iron helmet, dating to the early AD 600s, this outstanding burial clearly commemorated a leading figure of East Anglia, the local Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It may even have belonged to a king.
The Trustees of the British Museum
An ornate iron helmet is among the Sutton Hoo artefacts that will be loaned by the British Museum to museums in Normandy
The Trustees of the British Museum Images shows Lewis chess pieces, made of ivory from the 12th Century - on red & beige boardThe Trustees of the British Museum
The agreement will see the British Museum lend Lewis chess pieces to museums in Normandy

The Bayeux Tapestry will be displayed from September 2026 until July 2027, while its current home, the Bayeux Museum, is being renovated. The 1000th anniversary of the birth of William the Conqueror is also in 2027.

A loan was first suggested in 2018 between President Macron and then-Prime Minister Theresa May. It's taken until 2025 for it to become a reality.

Bayeux Museum Photo shows A long section of the Bayeux Tapestry  which is shown in a darkened space in which only the artefact itself is lit.Bayeux Museum
The 70m-long Bayeux Tapestry depicts the 1066 Norman invasion and Battle of Hastings

The Bayeux Tapestry, which dates back to the 11th Century, charts a more contested time in Anglo-French relations, as Anglo Saxon dominance was replaced by Norman rule.

Although the final part of the embroidery is missing, it ends with the Anglo Saxons fleeing at the end of the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Its 58 scenes, 626 characters and 202 horses give an account of the medieval period in Normandy and England like no other, offering up not just information about military traditions but also the precious details of everyday life.

The work has inspired many through the centuries, including artist David Hockney whose Frieze depicting the cycle of the seasons in Normandy was influenced by the Bayeux Tapestry.

David Hockney/Getty Images David Hockney in checked suit and hat posing in front of his painting "A year in Normandy" -- colourful work showing landscape of Normandy in seasonsDavid Hockney/Getty Images
A Year in Normandy by David Hockney, pictured in 2021, was inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry

The British Museum's director, Nicholas Cullinan, said: "This is exactly the kind of international partnership that I want us to champion and take part in: sharing the best of our collection as widely as possible - and in return displaying global treasures never seen here before."

Eagle-eyed watchers of the British Museum may view this latest announcement as offering a template for the ongoing discussions with the Greek government about the future of the Parthenon Sculptures.

The Parthenon Project, a group which lobbies for the return of the classical marble sculptures to Greece, have suggested what they term a "win-win" solution, with never before seen items from Greece brought to the British Museum in exchange for the Parthenon works.

Jeff Overs/BBC Picture shows section of contested Parthenon Sculptures, which were removed from Ottoman Greece to Britain by the seventh Earl of Elgin, and are now in the British MuseumJeff Overs/BBC
The contested Parthenon Sculptures are currently on display in the British Museum

Today's focus is closer to home and an exhibition that the British Museum expects will be one of its most popular ever, a once-in-a-generation show.

Every British schoolchild learns about King Harold, William the Conqueror and 1066.

As Osborne put it: "There is no other single item in British history that is so familiar, so studied in schools, so copied in art as the Bayeux Tapestry.

"Yet in almost 1,000 years it has never returned to these shores.

"Next year it will and many, many thousands of visitors, especially schoolchildren, will see it with their own eyes."

Monzo fined £21m after customers faked PM and King's addresses

Getty Images Police officer stands outside 10 Downing StreetGetty Images
Monzo did not check the "implausible" addresses of applications

Digital bank Monzo accepted customers claiming to live at 10 Downing Street, Buckingham Palace and even its own premises, an investigation has found.

A lack of address verification meant it failed to spot the "implausible" use of London landmarks on applications to open accounts.

Monzo was fined £21m by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for its failures regarding anti-financial crime measures.

The bank said the regulator's findings related to problems of more than three years ago and vast improvements had since been made to its systems.

The FCA's investigation, which has taken a number of years, found Monzo took on customers using using PO boxes, foreign addresses with UK postcodes or "obviously implausible UK addresses, such as well-known London landmarks".

They included home of the UK Prime Minister 10 Downing Street, the Royal residence Buckingham Palace and its own business premises.

Getty Images General view of the front of Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial with a crowd of people on the steps in front.Getty Images
Buckingham Palace was one address used in an application

The lack of verification meant it took on risky customers who were based outside of the UK, and illustrated "how lacking Monzo's financial crime controls were", the regulator said.

It was one of a number of areas in which it failed to mitigate the risk of financial crime.

Monzo had grown rapidly, with the number of customers increasing almost tenfold from around 600,000 in 2018 to over 5.8 million in 2022. Many were attracted by its claims to be a digital pioneer. It has no physical branches.

However, the FCA said that Monzo's financial crime controls failed to keep pace with its customer and product growth.

Therese Chambers, FCA joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said that banks were a vital line of defence in the fight against financial crime.

"They must have the systems in place to prevent the flow of ill-gotten gains into the financial system," she said.

"Monzo fell far short of what we, and society, expect."

'In the past'

TS Anil, chief executive of Monzo, said the FCA's findings "draw a line under issues that have been resolved and are firmly in the past" as improvements had now been made.

The bank was fined for its inadequate anti-financial crime systems and controls between October 2018 and August 2020.

The FCA said it also repeatedly breached a requirement preventing it from opening accounts for high-risk customers between August 2020 and June 2022.

Mr Anil said that financial crime was an issue that affected the whole banking sector, but Monzo was "doing all that we can to stop it in its tracks".

Norman Tebbit, outspoken hero of the Conservative political right, dies aged 94

Getty Images Lord TebbitGetty Images

Norman Tebbit, who has died at the age of 94, was at the heart of Margaret Thatcher's political revolution.

He was a man whose philosophy of self-reliance formed the core of his political beliefs.

An able and conscientious politician, his plain speaking on immigration and Europe endeared him to the Tory faithful, and he was once spoken of as a possible party leader.

And while Lord Tebbit's uncompromising views often enraged his political opponents, he was unmoved by the less-than-flattering names they bestowed upon him.

Getty Images Norman Tebbit and Margaret Thatcher in the 1980sGetty Images
Norman Tebbit was at the heart of Margaret Thatcher's political revolution in the 1980s.

Norman Beresford Tebbit was born on 29 March 1931 in the working-class suburb of Ponders End in north London.

His father, a manager in a jewellery and pawnbroker's business, had progressed sufficiently in life to be buying his own house.

However, prosperity was not to last.

The manager's job disappeared in the economic depression, and the family moved to what became a series of short-term lets in Edmonton.

Tebbit's father found employment as a painter, although not before he had travelled the streets looking for work on a bicycle that was later became to become famous.

Norman Tebbitt Norman and Margaret Tebbit on their wedding day in 1956Norman Tebbitt
Norman and Margaret Tebbit on their wedding day in 1956

By the time the young Norman arrived at Edmonton County Grammar School, he had already developed his interest in Conservative politics.

"I felt you should be able to make your own fortune," he said. "You should be master of your own fate."

Leaving school at 16, he joined the Financial Times where, much to his annoyance, the operation of the closed shop forced him to join the print union, Natsopa.

After two years, he went to do his National Service with the RAF where he gained a commission as a Pilot Officer.

However, he decided that his political ambitions were not compatible with a service career so he left to sell advertising with a company run by a family friend.

PA Media Norman Tebbit as a BOAC pilotPA Media
As a pilots' union activist he was a thorn in the side of BOAC management

He had not lost his love of flying and he signed up with the Royal Auxiliary Air Force as a part-time pilot.

He narrowly escaped death when his Meteor jet failed to take off and ploughed off the end of a runway in Cambridgeshire.

Trapped in the burning plane, Tebbit managed to force open the cockpit canopy. His aircraft was completely destroyed.

Sixty years later, doctors told him that he'd lived with a cardiac arrhythmia for most of his life. It was possible that he had slipped unconcious on the runway.

In 1953, he joined the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) as a pilot and, three years later, married a nurse called Margaret Daines.

For the next 17 years, he juggled his flying with a career as an activist for the British Airline Pilots' Association.

The man who would later be instrumental in tackling Britain's trade unions became a scourge of the airline's management.

Getty Images Norman Tebbit in front of a lorry with a Think British sloganGetty Images
Norman Tebbit first became an MP in 1970

The election of a Labour government in 1964 spurred him towards politics.

He was eventually selected as the Conservative candidate for Epping, a seat once held by Sir Winston Churchill.

He won his chance after giving a characteristically robust Tebbit speech.

It advocated selling off state-owned industries, trade union reform, immigration control and an attack on the so-called permissive society.

The seat then contained the Labour stronghold of Harlow, but an energetic campaign, coupled with the overconfidence of the sitting Labour MP, saw Tebbit victorious in 1970.

Getty Images Norman Tebbit driving a carGetty Images
Norman Tebbit rapidly became disillusioned with Sir Edward Heath's style of leadership

He quickly became disillusioned with Ted Heath's leadership.

Tebbit felt that the radical platform on which the Conservatives had won the election was being ignored, in favour of a more consensus style of politics.

But in 1972, he accepted a job as parliamentary private secretary to the minister of state for employment, the first rung on the ladder to ministerial office.

His new post was not to last long.

Angered by Heath's adoption of a prices and incomes policy - a clear breach of a manifesto promise - and his failure to curb union influence, Tebbit resigned from the government.

Getty Images Margaret Thatcher & Norman TebbitGetty Images
Norman Tebbit's appointment as Employment Secretary signalled a tougher approach to the Trade Unions

Three months later, the Conservatives were out of office.

Tebbit, now the member for the newly created seat of Chingford, would gain a reputation as a thorn in the side of Labour ministers.

In 1975, he clashed with the Employment Secretary Michael Foot over the government's failure to condemn the dismissal of six power station workers.

The men had refused to join a trade union following the imposition of a new closed shop agreement at the plant.

Tebbit revelled in his ability to get under the government's skin.

"I was quite amused to find that, as a maverick backbencher with no formal standing, I could lure ministers into wasting their time, and fire power, on such an unimportant target," he said.

Foot fired back, famously comparing Tebbit to a "semi-house-trained polecat" during a debate on parliamentary business.

PA Norman Tebbit at the 1985 Conservative ConferencePA
He became a favourite at Conservative Party conferences

When the Conservatives won the 1979 election, Margaret Thatcher appointed Tebbit as an under secretary of state at the Department of Trade.

Within 18 months, he was employment secretary, a move that signalled the government's intention to take a tough line on industrial relations.

In the autumn of 1981, with three million unemployed and with riots blighting a number of inner city areas, Tebbit made the speech for which he will always be remembered.

Addressing the Conservative Party conference in Blackpool, he strayed from his prepared text to remember how his father had reacted to his own unemployment.

"I grew up in the '30s with an unemployed father. He didn't riot. He got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking till he found it."

The trade unions and the labour movement were outraged, claiming that Tebbit had told the unemployed to "get on your bike".

But the education secretary insisted his emphasis had been on condemning the riots.

Getty Images Norman and Margaret Tebbit in 1983Getty Images
Norman and Margaret Tebbit at the 1983 Conservative party conference. A year later, they were both badly injured in a terrorist attack

His 1982 Employment Act raised the level of compensation for workers dismissed for refusing to join a union.

It also made any closed shop agreement subject to regular ballots and removed the immunity of trade unions from civil action if they authorised illegal industrial action.

Tebbit later claimed that this was "my finest achievement in government".

In 1983, he became trade and industry secretary, following the resignation of Cecil Parkinson over an extra-marital affair.

During his tenure, he presided over the Thatcher government's privatisation programme and was instrumental in encouraging foreign investors to Britain, not least the establishment of a Nissan car plant.

But the IRA bomb which exploded in Brighton's Grand Hotel during the 1984 Conservative conference changed his life forever.

The Grand Hotel Brighton after the 1984 bomb
He and his wife were badly injured in the 1984 Brighton bombing

The attack killed five people and injured more than 30 others. He and his wife were trapped under tons of debris.

They laid together, holding hands, waiting for help. Tebbit gave Margaret a message to give to their children, in case he died.

He was left with a broken shoulder blade, fractured vertebrae, a cracked collar bone and needing plastic surgery - but was back at his desk within three months.

Margaret was less fortunate.

As a result of her injuries, she remained paralysed and faced months of hospital treatment. She returned home in a wheelchair and the Tebbits' domestic life had to adapt accordingly.

Getty Images Norman Tebbit celebrates the Conservative party's 1987 election victory, watched by Margaret and Denis ThatcherGetty Images
Norman Tebbit celebrates the Conservative party's 1987 election victory, watched by Margaret and Denis Thatcher

Following a cabinet reshuffle in the autumn of 1985, he left the DTI to become Conservative Party chairman.

He threw himself into rebuilding a moribund organisation, launching a membership drive and preparing the party for the next election.

Tebbit used the 1986 Conservative conference to launch an election campaign in all but name, under the slogan, The Next Move Forward.

Margaret Thatcher's popularity rating was beginning to slide, and some commentators began talking about the succession.

Polls suggested that Norman Tebbit might be a popular choice in a future leadership contest, which made relations with the prime minister difficult.

In the end, the 1987 election resulted in a Conservative landslide.

Getty Images Norman Tebbit at the 1992 Conservative party conferenceGetty Images
Lord Tebbit became a powerful voice of euro-scepticism from outside the House of Commons

Tebbit left the cabinet after the election to look after his wife. But his ability to create controversy had not deserted him.

In 1990, he suggested that a test of the willingness of ethic minorities in Britain to assimilate was to see if they supported the England cricket team or the side from their country of origin.

He turned down an invitation from Thatcher to return to the government as education secretary, but steadfastly supported her when her leadership was challenged and she was eventually forced from office.

He decided not to seek election in 1992, and was created a life peer as Baron Tebbit of Chingford.

Norman & Margaret Tebbit
He devoted many years to looking after his wife

He was not content to sit quietly in the Lords.

He embarrassed new Prime Minister John Major with a show-stopping appearance during the 1992 party conference debate on Europe, when he lambasted the decision to sign the Maastricht Treaty.

He later criticised the Conservative Party's move to a moderate, right of centre position, saying this allowed UKIP to hoover up the political right.

In 2009, he published The Game Cook which instructed readers on the best way to cook game, after his local butcher told him that none of his customers knew how to prepare a pheasant.

Having campaigned for Brexit, he grew impatient with Theresa May's negotiations with Brussels - accusing the government of "thinking of nothing but the rights of foreigners".

Getty Images Lord Tebbit calls to somebody in the crowd after Lady Thatcher's funeral in 2013Getty Images
Lord Tebbit calls to somebody in the crowd after Lady Thatcher's funeral in 2013

In 2020, his wife Margaret died, having suffered from Lewy Body Dementia.

Two years later, he made his final appearance in the House of Lords, after a 52-year parliamentary career.

Lord Tebbit's working-class credentials and dry Conservative ideology made him an influential figure throughout the Thatcher years and beyond.

The satirical puppet show, Spitting Image, portrayed him as a leather-clad bovver boy, the enforcer of the Iron Lady's doctrine.

He believed that homosexuals should not have senior cabinet posts, thought foreign aid fuelled corruption, and that too many immigrants fail to integrate.

He helped move the Conservative party from one-nation centrism under Sir Edward Heath, to a position where it favours a small state, controlled immigration and life outside the European Union.

One academic commented: "Although Thatcherism was the political creed of Essex Man, it was Norman Tebbit who was perhaps the public face or voice of Essex Man, and articulated his views and prejudices."

Best pictures from French President Macron's UK state visit

PA Media King Charles III and French President Emmanuel Macron talk during a carriage procession to Windsor Castle.PA Media
King Charles III and President Emmanuel Macron were seen chatting during a carriage procession to Windsor Castle

The French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte are visiting the UK on a three-day state.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla are hosting the Macrons in Windsor, where crowds have cheered a carriage procession and there have been other displays of pageantry.

The French couple were earlier greeted by Prince William and Catherine as they touched down at RAF Northolt.

Later, the president will address Parliament and meet UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, with the pair expected to discuss how to stop small boats crossing the Channel.

Below are some of the best pictures from the first day of the visit.

You can also follow events live here.

PA Media French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte are welcomed by the Prince and Princess of Wales.PA Media
President Macron (left) and his wife Brigitte (centre right) were welcomed by the Prince and Princess of Wales after flying to RAF Northolt in London
Reuters The French presidential couple is greeted by King Charles and Queen Camilla in Windsor.Reuters
In Windsor, the French presidential couple were later greeted by the King and Queen
WPA Pool/Getty Images Queen Camilla (right) and Brigitte Macron are seen during a carriage procession to Windsor Castle.WPA Pool/Getty Images
The Queen (right) and Brigitte Macron were riding in a separate carriage to their partners
Reuters Queen Camilla, King Charles, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte stand in a white gazebo as they watch the Guard of Honour, made up of men dressed in red tunics and black bearskin caps, in the grounds of Windsor Castle. Reuters
The King and Queen and their guests then reviewed the Guard of Honour at the historic grounds of Windsor Castle
Reuters French President Emmanuel Macron and King Charles inspect the Guard of Honour at Windsor Castle.Reuters
President Macron and King Charles then personally inspected the guardsmen
Anadolu via Getty Images Princess of Wales Catherine and Prince of Wales William wave to crowds as they sit in a carriage.Anadolu via Getty Images
Princess of Wales Catherine and Prince of Wales William also took part in the welcoming procession in Windsor Castle
Reuters Members of the Scots Guards, men dressed in red tunics and black bearskin caps, march while holding ceremonial black rifles to their shoulders.Reuters
Preparations were in full swing since early morning in Windsor, where the main events are taking place on day one of the state visit
AFP via Getty Images A young boy is seen behind a window which has his hands and the hands of other young people sticking out of a gap at the bottom of it while waving the red, white and blue flag of France.AFP via Getty Images
Well-wishers in Windsor greeted the French presidential couple by waving tricolour flags
Reuters UK and French flags draped on posts straddle a road which dozens of police officers walk down.Reuters
UK and French flags have been flying around Windsor for the occasion
PA Media Queen Camilla, King Charles, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte view items laid out on a table that are obscured from view by two open cases which contain the items.PA Media
The two couples viewed items on display at the Royal Collection exhibition at Windsor Castle
PA Media Two cases which lay open on a table contain volumes of books while on book is left opened with the title "The Tempest" clearly seen on one page.PA Media
The items included a copy of Comedies, histories and tragedies, London 1632, by William Shakespeare

Lorde: Obsessing about my weight stopped my creativity

Getty Images Lorde on stage at Glastonbury. The singer, lit in a red light, wears a white T-shirt, her arms by her side. Her dark hair is worn loose and messy. She looks over her left shoulder towards the crowd. Getty Images
Lorde debuted her new album Virgin with a surprise set at Glastonbury the day it was released

With her new album going straight to number one in the UK, it's difficult to imagine that just two years ago Lorde was thinking about never making music again.

"At the beginning of 2023 I was not in a great way on a lot of levels," the singer says.

"I'd never felt more disconnected from my creativity."

Speaking to Radio 1's Jack Saunders, Lorde, real name Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, says an eating disorder took over her life.

"All I was thinking about was trying to weigh as little as possible," she says.

"Going to sleep thinking about food, waking up thinking about food and exercise - that was my creative pursuit."

But after a period of recovery, she says, her creativity came flooding back.

Virgin, which the New Zealander released on 27 June, is Lorde's fourth album and her most personal to date.

"It was hard, it was scary," she says about writing it. "Some songs aren't easy."

"I made a lot of changes and really put my artistry front and centre and made that my full-time job and I got a lot of stuff out of the way."

'You don't have time to faff in pop'

Lorde debuted the album with a surprise set at Glastonbury on the day of its release.

"I hadn't been on a stage on my own like that for years," she says, adding that she was "a bag of dust" after her appearance.

The Green Light singer previously told Radio 1 how her collab with Charli XCX last year had encouraged her to be more vulnerable in her music.

As well as eating and body image, Virgin tackles her relationship with her mum, the end of a long-term relationship and gender identity.

"These subjects are not the easiest to shoehorn into a three-and-a-half minute song," says Lorde.

"The cool challenge about pop songs is you don't have time to faff – you've got to cut out all but the strongest nuggets of a story.

"You're just forced to go no filler.

"Some songs I had to keep rewriting to be brave enough to say it."

Getty Images Lorde at the Met Gala in New York. The singer wears a grey-blue silk blazer over a backless bandeau top and tight skirt. Her dark hair is pulled back in a plait and she wears a simple make-up. Getty Images
The singer-songwriter says exploring gender identity has "really changed things" for her

On exploring her gender identity, Lorde says she felt "so trapped and so tight in this very kind of straight-ahead femininity."

Her journey "started pretty basic," she says, "just realising I can't just have women's clothes on a photo shoot – I need everything so I can choose".

"Because some days that will feel so tight and I'll feel so trapped.

"The same with my make-up. I say to people now just treat it like male grooming – don't overcook it.

"Because the same thing happens, I get all stuck and tight and I can't express myself."

Lorde previously said her Met Gala look - inspired by a cummerbund, or waistband, traditionally worn by men - was a hint to where she was "gender-wise".

While she hasn't "landed anywhere" in terms of defining her gender identity, exploring it "has really, really, changed things," she says.

"I feel a lot more expansive, a lot bigger and my definition of what's beautiful is really different now.

"I think it will just keep unfurling and I'm down for that."

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this article, help and support is available via BBC Action Line.

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The teenage wildcard fuelling England's Euro 2025 hopes

Agyemang can 'bring something different' to help England

Michelle Agyemang playing against FranceImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Michelle Agyemang spent this season on loan at Brighton from Arsenal

England teenager Michelle Agyemang has only played 14 minutes of senior international football - but has already made an impression.

It took her just 41 seconds to score a stunning volley on her debut in April, before being voted the best performing player by BBC Sport readers after coming on in the 86th minute in England's Euro 2025 defeat by France on Saturday.

"It's easy to look at the time and think there's not enough left. That's the beauty of the game. It only takes 10 seconds to make an impact," said Agyemang.

No England player had more touches in the opposition box (five) than Agyemang in her four-minute cameo on Saturday.

The 19-year-old was Sarina Wiegman's wildcard for Euro 2025 and despite a damaging start in that 2-1 loss to France, Agyemang has provided a spark.

"Going into any game, most players will say they get nervous and I do feel that sometimes," said Agyemang.

"But when there's not much going your way, it can actually be more beneficial. You can just take the game by the scruff of the neck.

"That's how I felt the other day and on another day it could have been three points for us.

"To be here in the first place is more than enough for me. Everyone wants to do the best they can, whether they are starting or not. As long as I'm helping the team, that's my main ambition."

'She's got something about her'

When Wiegman named Agyemang in the squad, she said the Arsenal forward could "bring something different" and she hoped she could show it in Switzerland.

She impressed on loan at Brighton this season and Agyemang has been on Wiegman's radar for a few years, having progressed through England's youth teams.

Agyemang appears calm in front of the cameras and mature beyond her years - but on the pitch she causes chaos.

"I remember the first time she played because she flattened me in training. I was too slow on [the ball]," England captain Leah Williamson said last month.

"I gave her a bit of stick about it, but in my head I thought: 'You need to move the ball quicker, because she's got something about her.'

"My first impression was that she let me know she was there, which I love."

Agyemang wants to be a "unique player" and is striving for consistency, wanting to make an impact "from minute one to the end".

She takes inspiration from club-mate Alessia Russo and Chelsea forward Lauren James, who is "one of the most technically gifted players" she has seen.

But there is one trait Agyemang is already becoming known for - her strength.

"She just runs into people and bodies them because she's so strong," said Chelsea defender Lucy Bronze.

"She's so sweet and unassuming as a person, but then on the pitch she's probably one of my favourites to play against because I can run into her dead hard!

"She likes to give it back. She's been told [by Wiegman] that she needs to go a little bit easier but I said: 'No, just keep it up Micha, I prefer it, it makes it harder for us.'"

'There's fire in the belly'

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Media caption,

Stanway wants to 'put things right'

Agyemang's rise has been so rapid she has had to adapt to increased scrutiny and settle in quickly to life as a senior international.

She is embracing media duties, learning how to "engage" but also understanding "what message I'm putting across".

Agyemang concedes the step up from youth football has been a "big shock" but she vows to be ready when called up if England need her again at Euro 2025.

"Most of the pressure comes from myself. I don't try to listen to the noise. I appreciate the support from everyone," she added.

"Just focusing on how I can improve my game and how I can help the team is my most important thing.

"All of us on the bench know that we could be called upon any time and we have gone through scenarios. It could be anyone at any time."

England may need her on Wednesday as they fight to stay in the competition when they face 2017 champions the Netherlands at 17:00 BST, live on BBC One.

The Netherlands have won two of the last three meetings with England - but the Lionesses have never lost back-to-back matches under Wiegman.

There may be "no crisis", according to midfielder Georgia Stanway, but pressure is on after England's disappointing display against France.

"There's fire in the belly. You can see [in training] that everyone's willing to go and get the result that we need in the next game," said Agyemang.

"We still want to win the tournament and that result doesn't necessarily change anything. There's still something that we're going after, which is the trophy."

PM making progress with France on small boats, says No 10

PA Media A French rescue boat with crew members in orange uniforms and life jackets escorts a small, overcrowded inflatable boat. The inflatable boat is filled with people wearing life jackets, believed to be migrants, as it moves away from the French coast.PA Media

Downing Street has said it expects to "make good progress" on tackling small boats crossing the Channel during French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Britain.

The issue is a key point of discussion during Macron's state visit, and on Tuesday the government said it expects new powers allowing French police to act before boats reach open water to be "operationalised soon".

The prime minister's spokesperson refused to say if a "one in, one out" migrant returns deal would be agreed during the French president's visit.

But the spokesperson said months of negotiations between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Macron were "bearing fruit".

"We continually talk, and remain in constant contact with the French on how our joint action can go further to end the misery that these gangs are inflicting across our borders," the spokesperson added.

The prime minister is pressing to make a "one in, one out" deal the centrepiece of a new agreement with France.

The arrangement would allow Britain to return migrants who arrive by small boat to France in exchange for accepting asylum seekers with a family connection in the UK.

The purpose would be to demonstrate to those considering the perilous crossing that they could plausibly end up straight back in France, in the hope that this would deter them.

But any such exchanges would have to happen in large enough numbers to become an effective deterrent.

Getting a deal of this sort would be a big breakthrough as it would be the first clear sign of French willingness to take back migrants who have crossed the Channel.

But the optimism on the UK side of a deal being agreed this week is heavily qualified.

Downing Street is in separate talks with the European Commission to overcome opposition to the deal from a group of five Mediterranean countries who have complained they may be forced to accept people deported from the UK.

Sir Keir has also been pushing for France to revise its rules to allow police to intervene when boats are in shallow water, rather than requiring them still to be on land.

Last week the BBC witnessed French officers use a knife to puncture an inflatable boat after it had launched in an apparent change of tactics.

Asked about the tactics, a Downing Street spokesman said: "The French are now looking to bring in important new tactics to stop boats that are in the water, and we're expecting that to be operationalised soon.

"We are the first government to have secured agreement from the French to review their maritime tactics so their border enforcement teams can intervene in shallow waters.

"This is operationally and legally complex, but we're working closely with the French."

Since coming to power in July last year, Labour has announced a series of measures to tackle people-smuggling, including a new criminal offence of endangering the lives of others at sea.

Legislation going through Parliament sets out plans to use counter-terror powers against people smugglers - with suspects facing travel bans, social-media blackouts and phone restrictions.

But the latest figures show 2025 has already set a new record for small boat arrivals in the first six months of the year, since the data was first collected in 2018.

Between January and June nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% compared to the same period over 2024.

The UK has repeatedly pushed France to tighten patrols along its northern coast. Since 2018 the UK has pledged more than £700m to France to boost coastal patrols and buy surveillance gear.

The majority of this came from a 2023 deal struck under the previous Conservative government to give France almost £500m over three years to go towards extra officers to help stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.

Asked whether the UK, as the Conservatives have suggested, should demand a refund, a Downing Street spokesperson said "under this government, we've secured a significant ramping up of the operational capabilities from French law enforcement".

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With a Nobel Prize Nomination, Netanyahu Is the Latest to Use Flattery to Woo Trump

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel handed a letter to President Trump nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. But it’s not clear whether stroking the president’s ego has long-lasting effects.

© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presents President Donald Trump a letter nominating him for Nobel Peace Prize as they meet for dinner at the White House on Monday.
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