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Emily Gosden 能源编辑 伍德麦肯齐 (能源咨询公司) 的天然气与液化天然气 (LNG) 研究总裁表示：“欧洲低库存、亚洲强劲需求以及有限的液化天然气 (LNG) 新供应增长，几乎保证了价格在整个冬季以及 2027 年前将维持在高水平。”
分析人士警告称，由于欧洲各地的天然气存储量处于低水平，威胁到供应危机，天然气价格“几乎肯定”会在整个冬季以及明年保持高位。
行业估计表明，结果将导致家庭面临持续的高能源价格，包括在新年之前，典型的年度账单可能会增加 200 英镑 以上。
受中东冲突导致通过霍尔穆兹海峡从卡塔尔运输液化天然气 (LNG) 再次中断的影响，英国和欧洲的批发天然气价格自 6 月中旬以来已上涨约 50%。
能源咨询公司伍德麦肯齐 (Wood Mackenzie) 表示，这种干扰加上欧洲历史上低水平的天然气存储（目前存储量仅略高于一半），意味着欧洲正“接近能源危机领域”。Massimo Di Odoardo，副——
奈杰尔·法拉奇的政党获得 22% 的选票，略高于保守党的 21%。
在安迪·伯纳姆 领导下，工党支持率增长最快的是年轻选民。在基尔·斯塔默爵士上个月辞职之前，只有 14% 的 18-24 岁人群表示他们会投票给该党——这一数字现已上升至 26%。
教育改革可能会引发争议，因为人们担心，随着支持和资金向技术教育倾斜，语言、艺术和人文科学可能会获得较少支持。
但在他的文章中，安迪·伯纳姆 表示，目前的制度让太多孩子失望，并推高了尼特族 (非在学、非就业、非培训青年) 的数量。他写道：“从今天起，英国将像重视毕业帽一样重视安全帽。”
从今天起，英国将像重视毕业帽一样重视安全帽。我认为这不仅仅是教育改革，这也是一种不同的福利方案。
“因为做好这一点，决定了一代年轻人是在相信自己的天赋可以带他们去任何想去的地方的环境中长大，还是在相信——”
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在英国任何地方行走几英里，情况就会开始发生变化。口音、食物、孩子们穿的足球球衣——历史也是如此。每个地方都有自己的故事。但尽管存在这些多样性，我们教育孩子的方式仍然像是在对待同一个地方。
这是英国在数十年前做出的选择所留下的遗产。随着权力集中和工业消失，我们失去的不仅仅是工作岗位，还失去了帮助年轻人攀登至这些岗位的阶梯。当地的学徒制逐渐淡化，技术教育被边缘化，而实用技能被视为二等公民。
如今，有100万年轻人既不在接受教育，也没有就业或参加培训（即尼特族）。将责任推给他们很容易。为什么他们不努力一点？为什么他们不够渴望？但事实是：他们确实在努力，只是
伍德麦肯齐 (能源咨询公司) 表示，由于英国的批发天然气市场与欧洲大陆密切相关，英国可能会出现类似的价格影响。这些市场通过管道相连，并竞争相同的 LNG 货源。
“批发天然气价格是零售天然气价格的关键组成部分，因此最终欧洲批发价格的任何上涨——或下跌——都将传导至消费者，”伍德麦肯齐 (能源咨询公司) 的欧洲天然气负责人汤姆·马泽克-曼瑟 (Tom Marzec-Manser) 说道。
马泽克-曼瑟表示，英国的天然气储存能力显著低于其大陆邻国，且“目前的填充水平比 2025 年同期的水平低 19%”。
然而，这一点被以下事实所抵消，即“英国生产的天然气比大多数欧盟国家更多，且挪威管道气和 LNG 的供应都非常充足”。马泽克-曼瑟表示：“需要明确的是，天然气供应安全没有风险——天然气不会耗尽——但为了进口所有需要的 [天然气]，价格必须上涨。”
Ofgem 每三个月根据其对供应商承担成本的评估，更新一次标准天然气和电费的价格上限。本月价格上涨了 13%，使得一份典型的账单——采用能源监管机构最新的、较低的典型消费估算值——每年达到 £1,663。
【故事背后】
工作与养老金大臣帕特·麦克法登 (Pat McFadden) 上个月访问荷兰的经历给他留下了深刻印象（本报道由本·克拉特沃西 [Ben Clatworthy] 撰写）。
他研究了职场培训、职业学院和“青年中心”如何帮助降低青年失业率。
从一开始，就根本没有给他们留位置。
“这就是为什么我认为这不仅仅是教育改革。这也是一种不同的福利方法。我们不能让 16 岁的孩子在离开学校时面对的只有死胡同，我们要尽早投资——帮助年轻人从一开始就建立成功的职业生涯。”
我们不能让 16 岁的孩子在离开学校时面对的只有死胡同，我们要尽早投资——帮助年轻人从一开始就建立成功的职业生涯。
阅读本文完整版本请访问 thetimes.com
做。阻碍他们前进的不是雄心，而是能够充分利用雄心的技能和经验。我们知道，我们国家尼特族比例高于其他国家的原因之一，是我们的技术教育普及率相对较低。
长期以来，我们构建的教育体系基于这样一个观念：成功的路径只有一条：大学、学位、办公桌。这为数百万人打开了大门，且理应如此。但我们也传递了另一个信号：如果你的雄心是从事需要更多技术技能的工作，那么在某种程度上，你的目标就降低了。
在人工智能时代，实用和技术技能并没有变得不那么重要——反而比以往任何时候都更重要。我们的任务是共同重建这些机会之梯，一档接一档，一步接一步。
这就是为什么我们要将技术教育重新放回它应在的位置——不是作为次要考虑，而是作为首选。从 14 岁起，我们将给孩子们在学校提供一个新的选择：保留核心数学、英语和科学科目，但将其与真正的、实践性的技术培训相结合。
英国天然气公司 (British Gas) 和法国电力公司 (EDF) 这两家国内最大的家庭供应商发布的预测表明，账单将在10月以及接下来的1月再次上涨；与此同时，Uswitch 警告称，市场上的廉价方案已经在逐渐消失。该价格比较网站的能源专家 Sabrina Hoque 表示：“如今能找到的最便宜方案比两周前贵了 £111。”
McFadden 表示： “不采取行动是最后的无奈之举，但在英国，我们太经常看到年轻人被放弃和被抹杀，没有参与感，也得不到支持。”
一名青年工作者说：“我们会去敲他们的门。这通常是一种‘严厉的爱’，但它是有效的。”
McFadden 和 安迪·伯纳姆 认为，尼特族 (Neets) 数量的增加部分是因为学生认为学校不能满足他们的需求而旷课，而提供更广泛的 普通中等教育证书 (英国中考) 选项和实际操作的工作经验将带来巨大的改变。
在访问海牙的一个 Jongerenpunt（青年点）时，McFadden 被告知，当学生没有参加课程或培训时会发生什么。“我们会去……”
前卫生和社会护理大臣 Alan Milburn 正在研究青年失业危机，他越来越多地在海外寻找降低失业率的蓝图。他表示，安迪·伯纳姆 的改革“非常受欢迎，是在正确方向上迈出的一大步”。
教育。这将包括获得工作经验以及与当地雇主建立联系。
这些新路径将不由威斯特敏斯特（Westminster）设计，而是由它们所服务的人员和地点来塑造。通过与市长、地方领导者、雇主和学校合作，我们将确定推动当地地区增长的行业，并确保当地孩子有清晰的进入路径。
技术教育将首次成为我们课程的核心，而不是被边缘化地附加在侧。当一名年轻人选择技术路径时，我们将以与选择学术路径的人相同的自豪感来庆祝。
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操盘手在 20 年后离职， 且带有刺
“黄蜂”的查尔斯 首席廷臣，曾近距离 见证历史， 作者：Kate Mansey
白金汉宫宣布，国王最资深的助手克莱夫·阿尔德顿爵士 (Sir Clive Alderton) 将于明年卸任。
这位首席私人秘书为查尔斯和卡米拉服务了 20 年，将在明年 5 月其 60 岁生日前后离职。
阿尔德顿被描述为王室的“棋手”，其年薪待遇约为 £300,000，因在协助平稳完成权力交接方面发挥作用而受到赞赏。
他协助国王发表了其在位期间一些最重要的演讲，包括 4 月对美国进行国事访问时在国会的演说，以及 2023 年在柏林发表的一次里程碑式演讲，当时查尔斯成为了首位在德国联邦议院发表讲话的英国君主。
阿尔德顿在 2022 年的生日勋衔名单中被封爵，他的长期任职是国王对其信任的标志。Julian Payne，
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在白金汉宫的高层某个地方，坐落着负责王室家政的人事部门办公室。而从周一开始，该团队将面临一项艰巨的任务。随着克莱夫·阿尔德顿爵士 (Sir Clive Alderton) 决定在未来一年内辞去国王与王后首席私人秘书一职的消息传出，该团队必须开始寻找他的继任者。
那么，成为君主左右手（无论男女）需要具备什么样的资历？
地缘政治经验是必须的。候选人需要对英国以及国王担任国家元首的另外 14 个领域（包括澳大利亚、新西兰和加拿大）的政治、历史和文化拥有百科全书般的知识。
国王前通讯秘书将阿尔德顿描述为一名“王室驯兽师”，他“非常幸运地被一些极具才华的同事所包围”。
他补充说，阿尔德顿是“黄金三角”的一员，与内阁秘书和首相首席私人秘书共同担任“我们不成文宪法的守护者”。
《泰晤士报》 (The Times) 前王室记者瓦伦丁·洛 (Valentine Low) 在其著作《侍臣：王冠背后的隐藏权力》(Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown) 一书中写道，阿尔德顿“圆滑、迷人且幽默”。洛补充道：“凭借他那孩子气的脸庞和柔软的金发，他看起来就像一个英国绅士的讽刺漫画……有些人很喜欢阿尔德顿，他符合一个洗练的外交官转职为侍臣的形象；而另一些人则觉得他过于难以捉摸。他们怀疑他读过马基雅维利。《克莱夫是一个策划者，一个棋手》，一位朋友说道。《他像是来自《狼厅》或《权力游戏》中的人物》。”
作为一名职业外交官，阿尔德顿自 2006 年起一直担任此职，期间仅在 2012 年起曾担任英国驻摩洛哥大使四年。他一度被认为将出任驻华盛顿大使。他于 1986 年加入外交部，在进入王室家政部门之前，曾服务于波兰、比利时、新加坡和法国。2006 年他加入王室，最初担任查尔斯和卡米拉（当时为威尔士亲王和康沃尔公爵夫人）的副私人秘书。
阿尔德顿目前的职责包括为国王准备每日需要审阅的政府文件红箱。他经常出现在国王身边，并且在组成步行队列时被认为是君主制不可或缺的一部分。
他会花时间欢迎进入宫廷生活这一独特世界的新成员及其家属，就像 2016 年我担任通讯秘书加入时他所做的那样。
他拥有成熟的幽默感和敏捷的才思。知道如何在何时让陛下们开怀大笑，实际上比你想象的要重要得多。
在这些软技能之外，的是极其敏锐的洞察力和驱动力。他预见转折并预判问题的能力非同寻常。他能够深思他们所面临的每一项挑战，随后预判对任何决定做出的反应，接着是下一个反应，以此类推。最终，你会进入一个完全理论化的未来状态，但这个状态却有一种不可思议的习惯——能够成真。
此外，还需要具备神学理解。由于国王是英格兰教会的最高首领，任何申请人都必须具备优秀的神学和普世教会理解力。
接下来是军事方面。国王是武装部队的首脑，因此必须对国家国防的职责、服务及其历史有深刻的认识，这是绝对必要的。最后，除了担任枢密院顾问，或许还可以增加一项“家庭顾问”的职责。考虑到这一角色必须处理偶尔涉及兄弟或儿子的摩擦，在这种时刻具备良好的建议能力并非没有好处。这份工作每周 7 天，每天 24 小时，唯一的例外是周日的一个小时——那时陛下们在教堂。
这就是克莱夫·阿尔德顿爵士在过去 20 年里以不同身份所从事的工作。
他也非常擅长 “解读国王的意图”。几乎每天 我都会看到人们在与国王 接见后走出房门，无比确信 国王刚刚授权了某项行动， 结果克莱夫·阿尔德顿爵士会温和地解释
2022年伊丽莎白二世国葬期间， 灵柩后随行队列。
可以认为，阿尔德顿是现代 era, 最具影响力的私人秘书之一， 他随后主持了加冕委员会，随后 国王与王后于2023年在西敏斯特 大教堂并肩加冕。
在查尔斯加冕之前，阿尔德顿 在整合其众多慈善机构以及处理 迈克尔·福塞特离开王子基金会 首席执行官一职所引发的后果中 发挥了关键作用；此前福塞特被指控 承诺帮助一名富有的外国商人获得 公民身份，以换取持续的捐款。
作为英国最资深的外交官之一， 阿尔德顿近距离见证了历史。 在2024, 年的大选竞选期间， 在白金汉宫为访英的日本天皇 和皇后举行的国宴上，他就坐在 基尔·斯塔默爵士身边。
虽然国王依赖他，但阿尔德顿 并不总是受到王室其他成员的青睐。
萨塞克斯公爵将阿尔德顿视为 宫廷里的“灰衣人”之一。在他2023年的 自传《Spare》中，哈里王子虽然 没有点名提到阿尔德顿，但似乎 给他起绰号叫“黄蜂”，写道： “毫无预警地，他会用他那巨大的 毒刺给你来上一针，让你在困惑中 惊叫出声。”一些宫廷内部人士， 包括一些王室高级成员，认为 阿尔德顿极不受欢迎且极具争议。
阿尔德顿将留任至明年春季或夏季， 负责监督自己的“过渡期”。 对其继任者的搜寻可能会包括 现有的宫廷工作人员和外部候选人。
最新账目显示，阿尔德顿一直 长期由外交、联邦和发展事务部 借调，他在2025-2026, 年的 收入为 £240,000 至 £245,000， 总薪酬包为 £305,000.。他的薪水 和养老金由主权拨款（资助王室 运作的公共资金）偿还给外交部。 记录显示，阿尔德顿被提供了一套 “为更好地履行职责”而设的 恩赐住房，“租金从其薪水中扣除”。 员工在退休后通常被允许继续 住在王室住房中。
用他的话来说，就是皇家反应 与皇家决定之间的区别。 两者并不一定相同。
此外还有外交事务。从美国、 加拿大到欧洲、亚洲、大洋洲， 甚至梵蒂冈，阿尔德顿面临着 巨大的外交和组织挑战。 无论是为了与重要国家领导人 保持紧密联系，还是确保国王 不被卷入西敏斯特的政治漩涡， 在公共生活的每一步中， 陷阱无处不在。
然而，值得说明的是， 阿尔德顿并非单打独斗。 在王室办公厅工作在很大程度上 是一项团队运动。阿尔德顿非常 幸运地被一些才华横溢的同事 所环绕。在白厅，存在一个“金三角”： 他与内阁秘书以及首相的首席 私人秘书共同担任我们不成文 宪法的守护者。而在办公厅内部， 与侍从长、私库主管等资深同事 以及他那令人敬畏的私人秘书团队 等人的紧密协作，确保了维持 整体运行的关键纽带依然坚固。
[[IMG_XXXX]] 克莱夫·阿尔德顿爵士三月在 桑德灵厄姆陪伴在国王身边（左）， 以及五月随其走出圣保罗大教堂（上）。 下左：去年迎接特朗普总统。
现在，随着他接近 60 岁，并开始考虑地找回至少一部分的早晨、夜晚和周末，他可以对自己为国王和王后所取得的成就感到满意：绝大多数人记忆中第一次的登基，多次国事访问（包括最近非常成功的美国之行）、一次英联邦首脑接任、一次加冕礼，以及卡米拉王后作为一名深受喜爱的国民瑰宝而崭露头角。
这似乎是任何一名公职人员都可以感到自豪的履历。 朱利安·佩恩 (Julian Payne) 曾担任国王和王后（当时为威尔士亲王和康沃尔公爵夫人）的通讯秘书，任期五年直到 2021。他目前是 Edelman EMEA 的首席执行官。
越野：来自苏格兰边境劳德 (Lauder) 的青少年参加了学徒骑行活动 (Apprentice Rideout)，这是将于周六举行的主要共同骑行 (Common Riding) 活动的简化版本。共同骑行可追溯至 17 世纪，是一项土地仪式性祝福活动，当时镇议会成员在活动中向其领主宣誓效忠。
Georgia Lambert
金座学院 (King’s College) 的院长表示，Oxbridge (牛津大学与剑桥大学) 教授的不当行为已经常态化。与此同时，这家剑桥学院正在采取措施，以加强对被指控性骚扰和霸凌的学术人员的监管。
该学院负责人吉莉安·泰特 (Gillian Tett) 告诉《泰晤士报》，学院已任命一名资深大律师来监督一项针对其机构惯例和更广泛文化的独立审查，并正在加强其人力资源流程。
“金座学院发生的事情揭示了一个在近年来整个牛津和剑桥大学中一直潜伏的问题，即性骚扰和霸凌，”她说道。
“过去存在一种被认为非常正常的文化，不仅是在剑桥，而且在英国社会阶层 (British establishment) 的大部分地区都是如此。但我们现在生活在一个新的世界，在这个世界中”
Marc Horne
国际特赦组织英国分部的首席执行官已同意会见一家性别批判慈善机构的代表，此前其前任表示由于太忙而无法会面。
年轻一代正要求——而且要求得非常正确——一种更具包容性的平等文化。这并不意味着“取消文化”，也不意味着进行猎巫行动或指责他人。这仅仅是在传递一个信号：我们是时候进入21世纪了。”
金格斯学院（King’s）已对两名高级男性学者采取行动。该学院去年将 82 岁的地球物理学名誉教授赫伯特·胡珀特（Herbert Huppert）除名，此前他遭到了一系列投诉，内容包括骚扰、不适当的接触、性暗示语言及其他不当行为。
与此同时，《泰晤士报》在4月披露，金格斯学院前希腊文化与文学教授西蒙·戈德希尔（Simon Goldhill）被发现对一名二十多岁的女学生进行性骚扰。
戈德希尔的学术著作包括对古希腊性行为的研究，他承认以一种“过于热烈”且“毫无疑问是黏糊糊的”方式亲吻了该女性。
外部调查人员发现了 4 起违反大学性行为与职业操守规定的行为，他于上月从该大学辞职。针对戈德希尔行为的调查仍在进行中。戈德希尔和胡珀特已被要求就此发表评论。
特特表示，这两起案件不应混为一谈，因为其中一个纪律处分程序已经结束，而另一个仍在进行中。她补充说，金格斯学院在面临性不端行为案件的审查方面“绝对不是唯一的”，但希望学院能够助力推动更广泛的改革。
金格斯学院院长吉莉安·特特（Gillian Tett）表示，她希望自己能成为解决方案的一部分。
1月，《泰晤士报》披露，牛津大学被指控以保密为由，拒绝与相关学院分享针对一名高级教授性骚扰指控的内部调查详情，从而使女性的安全处于风险之中。
牛津大学表示，现有的数据共享机制正被新版本取代，各学院将在夏季签署该协议，并应在下一学年开始前在全校范围内实施。
这些变动是更广泛改革的一部分，包括强制性培训和对其骚扰政策的审查。一名发言人表示，性骚扰和欺凌在“牛津大学没有立足之地”。
去年8月，学生办公室（Office for Students）出台规定，要求英格兰的大学防止骚扰和性不端行为。机构必须改善对学生的报告和支持机制，禁止签署保密协议，并就师生关系制定明确的政策。
批判性团体和活动人士被视为一种“反权利运动”和“日益增长的威胁”。她补充道：“其措辞并不代表国际特赦组织英国分部的立场，这就是为什么该内容被迅速删除。我们仍然致力于捍卫人权，包括女性的权利和跨性别者的权利。”
此事促使“性别问题”（Sex Matters）机构本月致信国际特赦组织，敦促其“向你们的性别批判员工、支持者和公众，以及被抹黑的个体团体道歉，并与我们以及来自女性权利和同性恋权利组织的其他人会面，讨论我们在人权和非歧视方面的共同利益”。
国际特赦组织英国分部慈善信托基金会因发布了一份谴责数十个女性组织为“反权利”的报告而正接受慈善监管机构的调查。
Quintagram® No 2631
使用下方每个字母仅一次，解出所有 5 个简短线索
1 专横的 (5)
2 具有深沉共鸣色调的 (5)
3 史前遗迹 (6)
4 树上或灌木上的花 (7)
5 制造过程中经过处理的 (9)
A B B B C D E E
F I L L M O O O
O O P R S S S S
S S S S S S Y Y
答案请见 T2 MindGames 第15页 隐晦线索请见 T2 MindGames 第14页
三名游泳者死亡
周日，三人在游泳时陷入困境后死亡。一名六十多岁的父亲及其三十多岁的女儿在康沃尔郡纽基的菲斯特拉海滩 (Fistral Beach) 被宣布死亡。一名 55 岁的男子在西萨塞克斯郡西威特灵 (West Wittering) 的一个海滩死亡，另一名男子被送往医院。萨塞克斯郡警方表示，这两名男子互不相识。
抗议者免于入狱
一名赤脚爬上大本钟的亲巴勒斯坦抗议者避免了监禁。来自埃塞克斯郡西克利夫-翁-希 (Westcliff-on-Sea) 的 30 岁男子丹尼尔·戴 (Daniel Day) 在攀爬这座地标并在一处边缘坐了 17 小时后，造成了“严重干扰”，估计给纳税人带来了 £92,000 的损失。南华克刑事法院对他判处 14 个月监禁，缓刑两年。
小提琴教师出庭
南华克刑事法院获悉，皇家音乐学院一名“国际认可”的小提琴教师在 2022 年的一次私人“试听”课程中性侵了一名潜在学生。67 岁的 Jan Repko 否认一项通过接触实施性侵的指控，以及一项对 16 岁以上女性实施侵入性袭击的指控。审判仍在继续。
被龙虾袭击
去年 12 月 13 日，在北伦敦亚历山德拉宫举行的世界飞镖锦标赛外，一名二十多岁的男子被一名打扮成龙虾的人打至昏迷。大都会警察局发布了一张他们急于询问的人员的 CCTV 图像。受害者受了重伤，目前仍处于痛苦之中。
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殡葬业者“大规模地背弃了家庭的信任”
Sian Bradley
一名悲痛的丈夫表示，在发现一名殡葬业者将其陌生人的骨灰撒在继子安息地之后，无论对该殡葬业者 Robert Bush 采取什么样的“惩罚”，都无法弥补其家人所遭受的痛苦。
Bush，48 岁，将在本周被判刑。此前他承认了 67 项指控，包括欺诈和妨碍合法埋葬；这些指控是在 2024 年于赫尔的一家殡仪馆发现未掩埋的尸体和骨灰后提出的。
检方代表 Christopher Paxton KC 告诉赫尔刑事法院，Legacy Independent Funeral Directors 的前任董事 Bush 在将客户的资金挥霍在自己身上时，以“几乎是工业规模”的程度背弃了这些家庭的信任。
法院昨天获悉，David Gorbutt 在得知 Bush 交给他的其实是陌生人的骨灰（尽管 Bush 保证那是他已故妻子的骨灰）时，感到受到了“虐待”。Susan Gorbutt 的遗体在 2023 年 9 月去世 180 天后，被发现在 Legacy 位于赫尔 Hessle Road 的分店中。
在 behalf 为其宣读的受害者影响陈述书中，Gorbutt 表示：“我撒错了骨灰……我一直处于不确定状态，不知道自己在 Susan 儿子骨灰之上撒了谁或什么。那是谁？一个人？还是更多？一个词——‘虐待’——浮现在脑海中。”
“没有任何惩罚是对他公正的……没有什么能复制他所造成的内心痛苦。”
Gorbutt 是几名受害者之一，他们描述说，每当想起 Bush 在将陌生人的骨灰盒交给他们时脸上带着“微笑”，而将他们所爱的人留在那里未加掩埋，就感到心有余悸。
Rhea Burton 告诉法庭，Bush 曾称赞她家人将祖父 David 的骨灰放入纪念珠宝和纹身墨水中的想法“太棒了”。事实上，这位 77 岁的老人被遗弃了 139 天。
“我们做了项链，这样他就能永远陪伴在我们身边，”Burton 告诉法庭，“当我们告别时，爷爷真的在棺材里吗？我们拿到的到底是谁的骨灰？”
大多数受害家庭仍住在赫尔。他们描述了不得不住在 Hessle Road 经营场所附近所带来的持久创伤。
Byron Lill 表示，他“无法接受”在他的母亲 Muriel 仍然躺在那里，“仅几英尺之遥”的地方，Bush 却微笑着递给他一个
Ali Mitib
一名被指控在一次疑似异见共和派恐怖袭击中，将一枚炸弹运往爱尔兰的法律系学生已被还押候审。
来自基尔代尔郡 (Co Kildare) 克莱恩 (Clane) 阿比兰兹公园 (Abbeylands Park) 的 25 岁女子伊索贝拉·佩里-萨利文 (Isobella Perrie Sullivan)，于上周三在莫纳汉郡 (Co Monaghan) 卡里克马克罗斯 (Carrickmacross) 市外的一辆汽车内被截获一枚炸弹后在现场被捕。该地靠近北爱尔兰边境，爱尔兰警方认为该装置的目的地即在北爱尔兰。周五晚上，她在特里姆 (Trim) 地区法院的一次特别审理中被指控持有爆炸物。
[[IMG_XXXX]] （图注：被罗伯特·布什 (Robert Bush) 遗弃未掩埋或未火化的死者影像。家属描述了在其实业殡仪馆发现恐怖景象时的创伤）
陌生人的骨灰。卡伦·金 (Karen King) 讲述了她“可爱的”父亲诺曼·布里杰 (Norman Bridger)，94 岁，如何在纸板棺材中未被掩埋地躺了 323 天，身上仍穿着去世时穿的那件 T 恤。
“怎么会有人如此残忍？”金问道。
Legacy 殡仪馆的状况是在布什在赴美度假期间，请求另一家名为 Evergreen 的殡仪馆负责人提供帮助时被揭露的。
[[IMG_XXXX]] （图注：罗伯特·布什在赫尔 (Hull) 刑事法院开始为期 5 天的量刑听证会时流泪）
一名工作人员警告他们：“你们两个根本不知道实情。尸体在那里放了几年了。”
当警方搜查该场所时，他们发现了 35 具尸体，帕克斯顿 (Paxton) 将其描述为“类似于恐怖片现场”。布什承认为了省钱关闭了冷藏设备，同时使用标记笔掩盖棺材上的刮痕，以便在不同的葬礼服务中重复使用。
这次行动是爱尔兰警卫队 (gardai) 特别侦查单位针对新 IRA 开展的一次情报主导行动，旨在打击与“动乱时期” (Troubles) 相关的活动。在该行动中，一名四十多岁的男子也被逮捕，据称他是新 IRA 都柏林分部的成员。新 IRA 是反对北爱尔兰和平进程的暴力异见共和派组织中规模最大的一支。
佩里-萨利文的律师在周五的地区法院听证会上表示，她被要求将一个包带往北方，且并不知晓包内物品，并补充说她被“操纵”了。法院准予她保释，但附加了多项条件，包括缴纳 €15,000 保证金、上交护照、晚上 9 点至次日早上 7 点禁足、必须随时携带手机以及每天到警察局报到。
在搜查过程中，一名警官发现了一个装有“微小物品”的棕色纸袋，他起初以为是一只雏鸟，但该物品腰部包裹着两条医院腕带，上面写着：“Jasmine Beverley 之子，出生于 13/05/22 05.04”。
贝弗利 (Beverley) 的儿子桑尼 (Sunny) 在约 18 周时死产，她原以为儿子已经举行了葬礼并被火化。然而，布什却将她儿子的遗骸在冷藏室地板上放置了将近两年。
帕克斯顿告诉法庭：“这个袋子里有一块白色棉垫。它看起来像医院使用的一种敷料垫。”
“[警官] 打开棉垫，里面是一个微小物品，他起初以为是一只雏鸟。虽然起初不确定，但他怀疑这是一个人类胎儿。”
随着布什经营业务的丑闻被揭露，警方告知了贝弗利关于她儿子的情况。
她在昨天参加 BBC Radio 4 的《Today》节目时表示：“我发现，在举行完葬礼并认为他已被火化快两年后，他居然还留在那里。事实并非如此。他在冷藏室的地板上的一个信封里被发现。当你发现你以为发生的事情实际上并没有发生时，那是一段非常痛苦的时光。”
“我们一直想知道他被发现的地方，我们不知道他是否与其他人们在一起。当我们得知他和其他所有人在一起时，这在某种程度上给了我一点慰藉，因为他不再是一个人。”
Gorbutt 的声明称，他妻子所遭遇的一切将是她“最可怕的噩梦”；他感到悲伤、失望且愧疚，因为他无法履行妻子的最后请求，即“迅速处理她的死讯，并按照她的要求尽快安排火化，因为正如苏珊（Susan）所说：‘你知道我不喜欢寒冷’”。
虽然行业团体会对殡葬从业者的最佳实践和标准进行监督，但在英格兰、威尔士和北爱尔兰并没有监管制度。不过，提供预付费殡葬服务的殡葬从业者则受金融行为监管局（Financial Conduct Authority）的监管。
在声明中，Gorbutt 表示，在得知该行业不受监管后，他感到非常愤怒。
他说：“很难想象，一个人卖汉堡需要的许可证竟然比处理死者需要的更多。为什么在此之前没有进行检查，也没有人发出警报？”
在 Bush 案之后，人们要求针对殡葬从业者制定关于死者遗体如何保存和看管的规则与法规。
财务记录显示，在 2017 和 2024 年之间，有近 £4 通过 Bush 的账户流转，其中他花费或转移给其妻子的总额为 £879,655.
Paxton 表示，Bush 在 12 年间“提高了人们的期望，做出虚假承诺，并盗窃了原本打算捐给地方和国家慈善机构的现金捐款”；他“在清理积压遗体准备工作的态度上误导了警方”，并且“选择不处理被委托给他的那些遗体，而是将钱花在自己和其他人身上”。
当他在从亚利桑那州返回的机场被捕时，Bush 告诉警方：“我把一切都搞砸了。全部都搞砸了。我的整个世界。”
听证会继续进行。
该“精密”装置包含一个电源单元、一个雷管和炸药，原计划安装在北爱尔兰另一辆车的底部。
Garda 专员 Justin Kelly 周五表示：“我们发现的是一次极具意义的缴获。”
Kelly 表示，警方将继续处理“极少数”的“激进化共和主义者”。Kelly 说，考虑到有针对新一代人的目标企图，他并不惊讶嫌疑人处于 20 多岁。他说：“这是我们在一段时间内将继续面临的威胁。”
昨天，莫纳根地区法院获悉，Sullivan 的辩护律师不在场，她将在同意保释的情况下被羁押。
在听证会上，Perrie Sullivan 通过视频链接从都柏林的女性监狱 Dochas 中心出庭。她穿着一件印有“信念战胜恐惧”（faith over fear）标志的白色 T 恤，告诉 Raymond Finnegan 法官：“我以为我今天能保释出狱。”
法官表示，他尚未收到批准担保人的申请。一名 Garda 警员告诉法庭，他们仍在就担保条件进行调查。她定于 8 月 7 日在莫纳根地区法院出庭。
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“遗产税”可能会重新启用
埃莉诺·海沃德 (Eleanor Hayward) 健康编辑 奥利弗·赖特 (Oliver Wright) 政策编辑
安迪·伯纳姆 (Andy Burnham) 正在研究为所有老年人提供基础级免费社会护理的计划，且他并未排除通过征收“遗产税”来资助建立一个新的国家护理服务。
首相并未否认他正在考虑通过对遗产征税来支付改革费用，因为他准备在明天的演讲中阐明他对社会护理改革的承诺。
伯纳姆将加快由布莱克斯托克的凯西男爵夫人 (Baroness Casey of Blackstock) 对该行业进行的审查，以便在下次大选前实施部分变革，并启动一场“全国对话”以获得公众对任何改革的支持。
伯纳姆表示，他希望在社会护理方面尽可能快速推进，并且此前倾向于采取分阶段的方法来实现一项“基于国民健康服务体系 (NHS) 原则”运行的普及服务。这将需要一种新的资金模式，伯纳姆主张用一种在死后对所有资产征收 10 per cent 的“国家护理征收金”来取代继承税。
昨天，伯纳姆拒绝排除对所有遗产征收护理金的可能性，而唐宁街 (英国首相官邸) 则表示不希望在他的声明之前“抢跑”。首相发言人表示：“你已经看到了他解决这一问题的决心，我认为这让你能感觉到他的立场。”
根据智库健康基金会 (Health Foundation) 的数据，政府每年需要额外筹集 £18.5 billion，才能资助一个在需求点提供护理的全普及社会护理系统。一些专家认为，财政约束将使得在 2029, 年前实现这一目标变得不可能，但可以将更廉价的方案作为第一步实施。
在他在 2010, 年首次提出的方案中，伯纳姆表示，国家护理服务的“第一阶段”应该是向所有需要的人提供“免费个人护理”。这意味着，无论财富多少，每一位成年人将首次有权在自己家中获得国家资助的基础级饮食、洗漱和如厕帮助。如果这一在苏格兰已经实施的系统今年在英格兰推出，每年将耗资 £6.5 billion。
社会护理的资格审查严格执行财产测试，任何资产超过 £23,250 的人必须自行支付全部护理费用。
健康基金会的政策与研究主任休·奥尔德威克 (Hugh Alderwick) 表示，提供免费个人护理
上任四天，安迪就在为琐事焦虑
民调显示，工党正受益于“伯纳姆效应”，有望在大曼彻斯特市长选举中获得压倒性胜利。
根据 More in Common 的一项调查，工党旨在接替 安迪·伯纳姆 担任市长的候选人贝芙·克雷格（Bev Craig），在争夺这个伦敦以外权力最大的选举公职的竞争中，明显领先于英国改革党（Reform UK）的希安·阿斯特利（Sian Astley）。
民调显示，如果市长选举在明天举行，克雷格将获得 39% 的第一志愿票，而阿斯特利为 19%。在计入第二志愿票后，她将以 65% 对 35% 的优势，领先英国改革党 30 个百分点。
分析
自 1997 年以来，已经有 22 次改革成人社会护理的尝试以失败告终（埃莉诺·海沃德写道）。若要让第 23 次尝试取得成功， 安迪·伯纳姆 需要采取一种根本不同的方法。
领导一项成人社会护理独立委员会的布莱克斯托克凯西女男爵（Baroness Casey of Blackstock）表示，之前的提案之所以失败，是因为没有获得公众的支持。伯纳姆对此深有体会。 2009 年，当他提出通过对遗产征收新税来资助国家护理服务时，该计划被冠以“死亡税”之名，并遭到保守党的猛烈反对，从而扼杀了任何改革的可能性。
特蕾莎·梅曾提出，如果人们的资产超过 £100,000，则应自行支付护理费用，这一提案被定性为“痴呆税”，并导致保守党在 2017 年大选中失去了议会多数席位。
本月在地方政府协会（Local Government Association）发言时，凯西概述了各国政府如何未能“为 [社会护理改革] 涉及的艰难选择赢得公众共识”。她解释道：“如果没有公众共识，每次我们接近目标时，争论就会变得狭隘并被漫画化。每个人都记得死亡税和痴呆税。”
本周，伯纳姆将发起一场“全国对话”，询问人们认为社会护理应如何资助，以及个人应贡献多少。选项包括对终身成本设置上限，这最早是在 2011 年的迪尔诺特（Dilnot）报告中提出的，该报告称任何人在其一生中支付的费用不应超过 £35,000。鲍里斯·约翰逊在 2019 年曾提出 £86,000 的成本上限，但该方案与其他社会护理提案一起被废弃。
关于如何改革社会护理的详细政策提案并不缺乏。对伯纳姆来说，最困难的部分将是选择其中一项并坚持下去。
21%。这项针对 2,328 名成年人的调查于 7 月 26 日和 27 日进行，结果表明，自从 基尔·斯塔默爵士 上个月宣布辞职以来，工党的支持率上升了 4 个百分点，而英国改革党的得票份额下降了 3 个百分点。
调查还显示，最年轻的选民对首相的更换反应最为热烈。上个月， 14% 的 18 至 24 岁人群表示他们将投票给工党。这一比例现已上升至 26%。
伯纳姆领导下工党支持率的飙升，似乎在很大程度上是以绿党（Green Party）为代价的。自 6 月 22 日以来，绿党的支持率已从 15% 降至 13%。
More in Common 的英国主任卢克·特里尔（Luke Tryl）表示，工党的支持率可能会继续上升。他告诉《泰晤士报》：“这次投票既是伯纳姆在大曼彻斯特地区政治遗产的首次选举考验之一，也是对他首相任期的早期评判。”
这将成为迈向全民体系的“跳板”。他补充道：“免费个人护理就是一个例子，它可以让你尽快地为每个人提供某种服务，建立某种全民体系。考虑到公共财政紧张，分阶段实施是有意义的。但我们需要非常明确最终的愿景是什么。”
然而，阿尔德威克（Alderwick）表示，与社会护理成本上限不同，免费个人护理无法解决部分人员在晚年面临“灾难性”养老院费用的问题。每七个人中就有一个人面临超过 £100,000 的终身护理成本。
Casey 原定于 2028 年才提交关于社会护理资金筹措的最终报告，但安迪·伯纳姆将提前此日期。阿尔德威克表示，这对“营造变革势头”至关重要。
昨天，安迪·伯纳姆表示，他希望就社会护理的未来进行“跨党派讨论”，并补充道：“没有任何一个政党处于占据道德高地的位置——几十年来，我们在这个问题上全部失败了，而这种失败给国民医疗服务体系（NHS）带来了巨大的压力。”
自由民主党党魁埃德·戴维已致信安迪·伯纳姆，表示他愿意“跨越党派界限共同努力，修复社会护理体系”。
然而，凯米·巴德诺克表示，保守党仅在改革资金通过削减福利支出而非通过税收筹集的情况下，才会支持该改革。英国改革党党魁奈杰尔·法拉奇表示：“这是对中下阶层征收的税款，他们一生都在向该系统缴费。英国改革党将在每一步都与这种‘死亡税’作斗争。”
在周日接受 BBC 记者劳拉·昆斯伯格采访时，安迪·伯纳姆表示，他希望在两年内快速推进部分改革，并认为在下次选举前可以做出“重大改变”。
他说道：“对我个人而言，这意义深远。这让 NHS 损失了数十亿英镑，除非我们修复社会护理体系，否则我们永远无法让 NHS 回到良好的候诊时间标准……我认为，破碎的社会护理是导致 NHS 出现‘走廊护理’（corridor care）的最大原因。这也是导致数十亿资金被浪费在让人们不必要地进入医院的主要原因。”
在 6 月的梅克菲尔德补选活动期间，安迪·伯纳姆告诉《卫报》，他将“审视关于遗产税和护理制度变更的所有影响”。
成为了首相——而且我们可能还会看到对工党支持率的进一步提升——数据已经看起来非常积极：大多数大曼彻斯特地区的居民表示，安迪·伯纳姆让该地区变得更好了，且有一半的人相信他会成为一名优秀的首相。
“令人惊讶的是，不同选民群体在看待安迪·伯纳姆的政治遗产时差异极小：即使是那些计划在这次补选中投票给改革党的人，也倾向于认为安迪·伯纳姆对大曼彻斯特地区有益，尽管他们并不太相信他会成为一名优秀的首相。”
More in Common 在 7 月 11 日至 23 日期间对大曼彻斯特地区的 1,003 名成年人进行了调查。
昨天，安迪·伯纳姆任命平等事务部长布里吉特·菲利普森为工党主席。他表示，菲利普森“将有助于推动我们党所需的文化变革”，并将在“确保工党为下次选举做好充分准备方面发挥关键作用”。
在安迪·伯纳姆会见泽连斯基总统的同时，里希·苏纳克分享了一个令人振奋的
政治速写
安迪·伯纳姆是在躲避媒体吗？如果你在没有举行过一次新闻发布会、也没有参加过一次电视采访的情况下，就这样从大曼彻斯特市市长变成了首相，那么人们指责你这样做也就不足为奇了。
在他政治生涯的这个阶段，伯纳姆面对的媒体提问比利兹·特拉斯或波尔波特都要少。在他成为梅克菲尔德区议员的次日早晨，他躲避着媒体，而媒体在一家非联赛足球场旁的一家咖啡馆侧门将他追到。
但现在我们知道，他根本没有躲避。在上周五他正式被宣布为工党领袖时，谁在后台徘徊，对着镜头低语，除了BBC的劳拉·昆斯伯格？当他上周一走过唐宁街 10 号那扇著名的门时，谁是第一位被安排在另一侧等待的人？又是昆斯伯格。
我们之所以知道这一点，是因为伯纳姆与昆斯伯格之间的一系列历史性会面，被用作首相首次电视坐访的蒙太奇式开场介绍。这次采访是在伯纳姆在曼彻斯特的新“第二故乡”——赫伦大厦（Heron House）进行的，我们不得不遗憾地将其描述为“北方10号”。
为老年人提供免费社会护理
[[IMG_XXXX]] Wensleydale Heifers 奶牛，以及卡梅伦勋爵与 2026 年高级公开赛冠军杰里·凯利在格伦伊格尔斯酒店的合影
安迪·伯纳姆表示：“我们需要履行工党当选时所依据的竞选宣言，如果我要提出任何变动，显然人们会有理由说，‘那么，这与该宣言一致吗？’”
这个房子似乎是一个不幸的选址。每当我看到或听到它时，我都会想起《慢马》(Slow Horses) 的作者米克·赫伦，并想象 10 号北楼是一个给那些能力不足但由于知道太多而无法被解雇的公务员们提供的临时居所。
但那里依然有安迪·伯纳姆，也有库恩斯伯格。窗外是曼彻斯特，会议室 48 英寸的电视上，有人上传了一张唐宁街那扇著名大门上数字 “10” 的屏幕保护程序，而安迪·伯纳姆已宣布他并不打算住在门后。
那么他住在哪里？可以想象，在结束了一整天激进地改革英国，并拍摄关于他最喜欢的酒吧零食的 TikTok 视频之后，他会在曼彻斯特的天际线之下，在远处家乡闪烁的等离子电视画面下，铺开一张床垫，在原地度过夜晚。
上周。“这是一个很好的电话，一次温暖的通话，让我们有了一个良好的开端，”他说。“我总是根据我对一个人的初印象来评判，而我发现他非常热情。”根据初印象评判他人是一种讨人喜欢的特质，但如果引入这位总统在过去几十年中对公共生活所做的一些众所周知的影响，会有问题吗？
他被问到，任命约翰·希利为财政大臣是否意味着他致力于将国防开支提高到 GDP, 的 3 per cent，因为这正是希利在担任国防大臣期间因此辞职的问题。“我们两人面临的首要挑战是确保国防投资计划获得充分资金，”他说。“我们必须共同解决这个问题。”这是一个耐人寻味的回答。国防投资计划以及其中资金投入的不足，正是他现在的财政大臣决定辞职的原因，而非可以简单地“共同解决”的事项。
PAUL DEVLIN/GETTY IMAGES; SIMON JONES/PA
国家社会护理危机，以及在下次大选前制定社会护理计划？“我会尽快执行，”他说。不幸的是，他在试图描述“快速”执行某事时，说话速度却非常缓慢。语速变慢是安迪·伯纳姆的关键标志，我们可以预见到这种情况会经常出现。话语从他唇间吐出得越慢，就越脱离事实。我们听到了一番关于功能失调的社会护理如何使 NHS 陷入瘫痪的激昂诊断。但我们并没有得到一个如何将其纠正的计划。“我才上任四天，”他告诉库恩斯伯格，头微微向一侧倾斜，脸上挂着迷人的微笑。
他虽然才上任四天，但早在四分之一个世纪前就首次来到威斯敏斯特。他整个成年时代都在憧憬这四天。在处理小事上他没有浪费时间，例如对能源账单进行纳米级的削减，以及恢复保守党时代的 £2 巴士票价上限。他必须找到解决重大问题的答案，而且在政治领域，四天的时间比他想象的要长。
废除议会税和印花税的可能性
Ben Clatworthy
Ben Clatworthy 白厅编辑 在接受 BBC 采访时，他表示未来有“重大决定”。他补充道：“我们试图做的是……让税收更公平。我取消了电费账单中的增值税 (VAT)，我们说过会这样做，这将在今年晚些时候落实。我们正在研究如何减轻人们肩上的压力，降低生活成本。”
安迪·伯纳姆已排除废除议会税 (council tax) 和印花税 (stamp duty) 并将其替换为新型房产税的可能性。
据报道，首相此前一直在研究用一项基于房产价值的年度费用来取代这些税种。伯纳姆坚称这些变化“不会发生”，但承诺将“让税收更公平”。
据了解，伯纳姆收到了一份政策文件，该文件主张将这些税种替换为“房产价值 0.48 per cent 的单一统一税率”，这将意味着 19 million 户中低收入家庭将获得减税——涵盖了 77 per cent 的住房存量。
然而，当被问及这一建议时，伯纳姆说：“这不会发生。我实际上不知道过去 24 小时内出现的一些报道是从哪里来的。”
“看来是在我周围，我不确定是 100 码范围内的谁说了什么，然后突然就变成了我的政策。或者有人递给我一份文件，然后我就支持文件中的所有内容。事实并非如此，我们目前还没有提出这种规模的计划。”
根据由“更公平份额运动” (Fairer Share Campaign) 提交的方案，此类计划将为 19 million 户家庭每年带来 £556 的减税。对于其余 600 万至 700 万户家庭，其税单将增加或保持不变。对于受影响的人群，其税费增长率在房产出售前将被上限设定为每年 £1,200。
唐宁街表示，关于首相正积极考虑取消议会税的说法是不真实的。
印花税适用于 £125,000 以上的房产交易。首次购房者在购买金额高达 £300,000 的房产时可享受免缴该税款的优惠。不过，该豁免在 £500,000 时截止。
伯纳姆在担任首相后的第一次深度采访中批评了议会税制度的不公平性，向
首相告知泽连斯基：我 100 per cent 支持乌克兰
安迪·伯纳姆表示，泽连斯基总统昨日访问朴次茅斯的一座海军基地，发出了英国支持乌克兰的“清晰信号”。
首相表示，乌克兰总统成为他上台以来首位访问英国的外国领导人“并非巧合”，且他计划很快访问乌克兰。
两人参观了该海军基地。在当地，伯纳姆宣布英国将移交其新型“石斗篷” (Stone Cloak) 电子战系统背后的知识产权，使乌克兰能够大规模生产该技术。这款平板电脑大小的设备旨在屏蔽俄罗斯对其所搭载无人机的探测。国防部此前已向乌克兰军队提供了数千台该设备。
伯纳姆此前曾表示，他被改革房产税制度的理由“说服”了。
在接受 BBC 采访时，他表示：“在曼彻斯特大区，有些人缴纳的议会税比住在伦敦大得多房屋的人高得多。因此，蕾切尔·里夫斯 (Rachel Reeves) 开始改革议会税以实现某种公平是对的，尤其是针对那些房产价值高得多，但由于未能重新评估等级，多年来议会税一直没有上涨的人。”
工党面临来自后座议员改革议会税的压力，其中包括议会税改革跨党派议员小组主席乔纳森·布拉什 (Jonathan Brash)。这位哈特尔普尔 (Hartlepool) 的工党议员告诉《i Paper》报，需要进行“全面改革”。
布拉什说：“议会税是英国最不公平的税种之一，而在像哈特尔普尔这样的城镇，这种不公正现象最为明显。”
保守党声称工党正在“寻找更多向英格兰中产阶级征税的方法”。影子住房大臣詹姆斯·克莱弗利爵士表示：“安迪·伯纳姆和工党只是在寻找更多向英格兰中产阶级征税以及提高房产税的方法。”
“用一种新的房价税取代市政税和印花税，对于勤奋工作的家庭来说并不意味着减税。恰恰相反——英格兰各地的人们最终将支付更多。”
（他）将继续支持“无论需要多久”，并补充道：“弗拉基米尔，你是自我就任以来我亲自欢迎的第一位领导人，这绝非偶然。这是为了传递一个非常明确的信号：我们 100% 与乌克兰站在一起，我个人 100% 支持你。”
泽连斯基回应称，两国关系“比以往任何时候都更加强大”，并感谢伯纳姆的承诺。
首相在昨天早些时候表示：“英国与乌克兰肩并肩站在一起，我们的支持坚定不移。”
两国领导人会见了 200 多名乌克兰军事人员，他们在过去三周的时间里一直在英国参加“海风演习”（Exercise Sea Breeze），旨在加强在黑海的作战能力。
斗志昂扬的猫咪拉里 (Larry)，这位见证了六任首相更替的唐宁街资深捕鼠官，在 10 号首相府外与一只警用嗅探犬发生冲突
马特·达森 (Matt Dathan) 内政编辑
上个月，当凯莉 (Kayleigh) 收到她父亲可能被提前从监狱释放的消息时，她觉得之前所有的努力都白费了。
她与另一位受害者玛丽 (Marie) 一起成功发起活动，推动法律修改，以确保恋童癖者至少要在狱中服刑三分之二的刑期。
虽然法律的变更不溯及既往，因此不包括像哈里·米亚 (Harry Miah) 这样的人——他是凯莉的生父，在她们幼年时多次对其进行性虐待，且将在刑期过半时被释放——但她们认为自己为未来的受害者赢得了一场胜利。
“我们对此感到非常自豪，尽管这对我们没有影响，”凯莉说。“经历这一切仍然非常令人心碎，但为了未来的受害者而战是值得的。”
但现在，在接到一个让她的生活天翻地覆并迫使她重新进入抗争状态的电话后，她觉得自己的努力毫无意义。
不仅性犯罪者将再次有资格在仅服刑一半后获释，而且上个月她接到了监管服务局 (Probation Service) 的电话，告知她由于工党的提前释放计划，米亚可能会更早被释放。
在仅服刑 18 年刑期的一半后，他原定的释放日期应为 2027 年 9 月。而提前释放计划将允许部分囚犯在狱中仅服刑三分之一后即可获释。
……身体上、精神上，然后需要时间让自己重新振作起来。
“所以上个月，当我们接到电话说你会收到一封信时，显然这件事也上了新闻头条，这对我来说太心碎了。事实是他们完全推翻了我们已经完成的所有艰苦工作。”
米亚因对凯莉和玛丽实施多项性虐待被判刑，两人均放弃了匿名权，接受《泰晤士报》的采访。指控包括与儿童进行猥亵行为、教唆儿童从事性活动、一项强奸未遂以及持有极端色情制品。在凯莉首次被米亚虐待 27 年之后，才等到了正义。她被虐待时年仅六岁，当时他蒙住她的眼睛对她实施性行为。
她向警方举报了虐待行为，但直到多年后警方收到第二名受害者——玛丽的举报，米亚才被起诉并审判。
玛丽曾被米亚性侵四年。虐待始于她 11 岁时，当时他是政府为其提供的、接送她前往东萨塞克斯郡就读学校的出租车司机。
……整个过程。”玛丽说，想到他被释放，她彻夜难眠，这加剧了她自虐待以来一直遭受的严重心理健康问题。
凯莉和玛丽希望安迪·伯纳姆在政府考虑修改方案期间暂停提前释放计划的决定，能让像米亚这样的恋童癖者继续留在监狱中。
鉴于必须创造足够的空间以防止监狱再次出现超员，预计该计划将于今年晚些时候以某种形式生效。目前的努力集中在将最危险、最严重的罪犯排除在计划获益者之外。
保守党已要求将恋童癖者排除在计划之外，这一建议得到了越来越多工党议员的支持。今天，保守党领袖凯米·巴德诺克 (Kemi Badenoch) 将呼吁伯纳姆引入紧急立法，以阻止恋童癖者和强奸犯提前释放。
……任何人不得在 9 月 2 日法律变更生效时被释放出狱。
然而，司法部表示，无需通过新立法即可将该计划的实施日期延迟到 9 月 2 日之后。
[[IMG_XXXX]] 哈里·米亚因虐待上述的凯莉和玛丽被判处 18 年监禁
今天，凯莉 (Kayleigh) 和玛丽 (Marie) 将与一群受害者一起，计划向唐宁街提交一封信，要求伯纳姆完全废除提前释放计划。
在等待首相对该计划审查结果期间，凯莉和玛丽一直处于一种煎熬的状态。他们甚至没有被明确告知他新的出狱日期可能会在何时。
米亚 (Miah) 的家距离凯莉居住的地方仅五分钟车程。凯莉有亲人在附近，她担心他在出狱后，两人会经常相遇。
凯莉表示，在接下来的这一年里，她将生活在对施暴父亲出狱的恐惧之中，并补充道：“这很可怕。他很暴力，极其暴力。而我在电话里和信函中被告知的，仅仅是他有可能被提前释放。”
“在犯罪者离开监狱之前，我们没有时间采取本应实施的任何保护措施。我真的不知道政府计划如何管理这件事。”
玛丽表示：“这段时间我一直彻夜难眠，出现了心理健康问题。我认为他的释放将增加我的焦虑，因为我不知道他将住在哪里，也不知道他何时出狱。我害怕在超市里撞见他。”
将负责人排除在外
Geraldine Scott 政治副编辑
英国电网运营商的负责人已被排除在一项调查之外。该调查旨在探讨该公司是否试图掩盖上月热浪期间对停电担忧的担忧，此前该调查的独立性受到了质疑。
国家能源系统运营商 (Neso) 首席执行官 Fintan Slye 原本根据该公司公布的职权范围，应收到“定期的进度更新”。但修订后的职权范围将他剔除，此外，公司的律师将充当与调查人员之间的中间人。
此次调查由 Eversheds Sutherland 律师事务所负责，正在审查有关 Neso 篡改运行记录以规避信息自由法，以及其企业事务团队在上月热波期间（当时电网承受了巨大压力）干预控制室决策的指控。
此次让步是在受到影子能源大臣 Claire Coutinho 为期 14 天的压力之后。在给新任能源大臣 Miatta Fahnbulleh 的一封信中，她指责 Neso “误导了新闻媒体、其自身员工，以及潜在的政府部长”。
修订后的职权范围为员工提供了一个保密的电子邮件地址和电话线路，以便与调查人员联系。Neso 表示，在调查结果最终确定之前，其主管将不会看到调查结果。
转发法拉奇“断头台”图
Daisy Eastlake 政治记者
在绿党党魁 Zack Polanski 转发了一张照片后，英国改革党将其举报至警方。照片中一名男子穿着一件印有断头台插图的 T 恤，旁边配文：“我们只在为奈杰制定计划”，显然是指奈杰·法拉奇 (Nigel Farage)。
该帖子出现在 Polanski 的 Instagram 账户上，是在布里斯托的一次筹款活动之后发布的。Polanski 随后删除了该帖子。一名党内发言人表示：“在参加完一次公开活动后，Zack 接受了一个共同发布包含多张图片的帖子的请求。一旦这张图片引起他的注意，他立即取消了转发。他明确表示不支持此类危险信息。”
英国改革党指责 Polanski 转发该帖的行为属于“教唆谋杀”。法拉奇表示，如果他发布类似的照片，他“预计会被逮捕”。
伦敦警察厅表示，正在对该举报进行调查。
Georgia Lambert 该研究基于对 110,114 名 8 至 18 岁儿童以及 3,000 名 5 至 18 岁儿童家长的调查。研究发现，今年有 47.3% 的儿童和青少年听过音频内容，而 69.2% 的家长表示其家中有人听过有声书。
专家表示，有声书和播客在学校中不应再被视为可选的额外项目，而应成为每个孩子阅读旅程的核心部分。
由慈善机构国家读写信托基金会 (National Literacy Trust) 与企鹅出版社 (Penguin Books) 开展的一项研究发现，近一半的儿童和青少年定期收听音频，专家认为学校应在传统阅读之外接纳这一方式。
Friends, Romans Garrowhill 滚球俱乐部举办了其“跨时代滚球巡游与锦标赛”，这是 2026 年格拉斯哥英联邦运动会庆祝活动的一部分。
Tom Whipple
有一道关于组合数学的题目，亚历克斯·崔 (Alex Chui) 承认他觉得有点棘手。但他拿了满分。还有一道几何题非常有趣，他也拿了满分。
总体评价？崔表示，在经历了九小时的解题后，他觉得这个世界上最难的学龄数学考试“非常愉快”。
由于这位英国选手以满分完赛，他也成为了国际数学奥林匹克 (IMO) 历史上最成功的参赛者。本周在上海，就读于汤桥学校 (Tonbridge School) 13 年级的崔获颁一枚金牌——这是他在该年度赛事中获得的第七枚奖牌。
播客在年轻听众中是最受欢迎的形式：49.1% 的人仅听播客，28.7% 的人同时听播客和有声书，而 22.3% 的人仅听有声书。超过 28% 的儿童表示，听音频增加了他们阅读书籍的兴趣，而 30% 的有声书听众表示，当他们觉得阅读困难时，有声书能帮助他们理解故事。
尽管近年来对音频内容的参与度稳步上升，从 2023 年的 39.4% 增加到 2024 年的 42.3%，但最新研究表明，音频已牢牢地融入了儿童的日常生活。研究人员表示，
这是有史以来第一次，现在接触音频内容的儿童和青少年人数超过了为了娱乐而阅读的人数。
国家识字信托基金会 (National Literacy Trust) 首席执行官乔纳森·道格拉斯 (Jonathan Douglas) 表示：“音频远不止是印刷品的替代品——它是进入故事、知识和享受阅读的另一条强大路径。”他补充道：“我们需要确保高质量的音频成为每个孩子阅读旅程的核心部分——在家庭中、在学校里以及在社区中——而不仅仅是一个可选的额外项目。”
这之所以成为可能，是因为他在初中开始就参加了第一次比赛。“在 11 和 12 岁时就能达到那个水平确实令人惊叹，”叶奥 (Yeo) 补充道。
IMO 被认为是世界未来专业数学家的首要试金石。每年，世界各国派遣由六名顶尖学龄数学家组成的队伍参加，他们在两天内尝试解决六个问题。
英国队的成员是在经过英国数学信托基金会 (UK Maths Trust) 举行的一系列考试后选出的。从历史上看，英国队的大多数成员（今年排名第八）随后会前往剑桥大学学习数学。
在全球范围内，菲尔兹奖（数学界的诺贝尔奖）的获得者通常是 IMO 的前参赛者。在本周获得菲尔兹奖的四位数学家中，两人此前在 IMO 中获得过奖牌，一人在同等的计算机科学竞赛中获得过奖牌。
参赛者赢得了金牌。
“今年对我来说特别有意义，因为这是我的最后一次 IMO，这带来了一些额外的压力，因为我想充分利用最后一次参赛机会，”崔说。
“然而，一旦比赛开始，我就专注于享受问题本身以及这次经历。”
他补充说，他对数学的热爱始于年幼之时。
“我记得小学时学习素数，并对如此简单的对象竟能拥有如此出人意料的特性感到着迷。我从小就开始参加数学竞赛，在其中取得好成绩让我充满信心，认为我可以应对更具挑战性的问题。”
“这最终引导我在九岁时加入奥林匹克训练，在那里我开始更深入地探索数学，”他说，并补充道他期待着大学水平的数学，他将于明年进入剑桥大学学习。
国家识字信托基金会大使、《芭芭拉发脾气》(Barbara Throws a Wobbler) 的作者纳迪亚·希琳 (Nadia Shireen) 表示：“有时人们会觉得听有声书在某种程度上‘不算数’……但我非常不赞同。现在拥有支持有声书价值的数据真的非常有用。”
“如果我们的目标是让尽可能多的人接触到故事，我们就绝不能忽视口头叙事的威力——毕竟，我们这样做已经有几个世纪了。”
杰米·威廉逊 (JAMIE WILLIAMSON)
Sanchez Manning 社会事务记者
一项民调显示，那些雄心勃勃的年轻闯入者前往大城市繁华灯火下寻求发财机会的日子可能已进入倒计时。
研究发现，近一半的 Z 世代表示，他们在完成学业后，选择留在自己的社区，而不是搬到伦敦或其他大城市开始职业生涯。
这项由研究公司 Opinium 开展、由英国可口可乐公司委托的民调在今年 6 月的一周内调查了 2,000 多名英国成年人。结果显示，44% 的受访者将希望靠近家人列为想要留在原地的原因，而 27% 的人则表示生活成本更低是驱动因素。
这些发现还更广泛地表明，与前几代人相比，Z 世代的抱负可能已经发生了变化。近五分之三（58%）的人表示他们正在考虑更多职业技术性的工作机会，超过一半（52%）的人在考虑追随父母的脚步，例如加入家族企业或从事贸易行当。
这一转变反映出，由于生活成本上升使得搬出去住变得更加困难，年轻人倾向于在家庭住宅中居住更长时间。
伦敦大学学院 (UCL) 纵向研究中心的研人员此前分析了 10,000 名参与其千禧年队列研究 (MCS) 的 Z 世代数据，发现 68% 的人在 23 岁时仍与父母同住——这一数字是十年前千禧一代同住人数的三倍。
这些发现呼应了职业和贸易类工作在年轻人中日益普及的现象，因为人们越来越担心人工智能 (AI) 将很快使许多白领岗位过时。在考虑追随家族脚步的人中，32% 将财务稳定性列为优势之一，29% 的人表示这让他们进入职场的路径更加清晰。
17 岁的 Lewis Baker 作为学徒加入了可口可乐公司，并在该公司位于西约克郡韦克菲尔德的厂区与父亲共事。他告诉研究人员：“加入这个团队让我觉得自己在追随家人的脚步。他在那里工作了 25 年，与他共事教会了我很多——不仅是关于工作，还有人们在创造出成为家庭和企业日常生活中一部分的产品时所感到的自豪感。”
坚守阵地， 马克龙告知 消防员
大卫·查赞，圣让-迪拉克
干枯的松树像火柴一样被点燃，浓黑的烟柱在圣让-迪拉克上空翻滚，这里是距离波尔多仅九英里的一个农村地区。
在上方，一架侦察直升机在火场上空盘旋，引导水轰炸机精准打击目标。
在每次投水前，直升机上的警报器会响起——这是向下方消防员发出的寻求掩护的警告。
“警报确保了我们在地面上的安全，避免受伤，”吉伦特省消防队的指挥官马修·乔梅恩 (Matthieu Jomain) 说道。
随着昨夜的降雨和风力的减弱，法国西南部的山火蔓延速度在昨天有所放缓。乔梅恩表示：“今天的火势比前几天更稳定。它没有向波尔多方向靠近。”
然而他警告称，这种喘息之机可能是短暂的。预计本周再次袭来的热浪将使气温升至 38°C 或 40°C。他说：“这是一个虚假的平静时刻。我们可能需要花费一段时间——几周，甚至几个月——才能将其完全扑灭。”
【此处原件文本片段：There was criticism of President Macron for visiting Gironde firefighters（有批评声音认为马克龙总统访问吉伦特省消防员之举不妥）】
在圣让-迪拉克的火场周围，当地农民和应急工作人员通过推土机推倒树木来创建缓冲带，希望以此阻止前进的火墙。
埃马纽埃尔·马克龙总统前往吉伦特省，并向与火灾搏斗的消防员、士兵和警察发出了严厉的警告。他说：“接下来的几周将很艰难，我们必须坚守阵地。这场战斗我们将共同赢得，这是首要任务。”
他补充道：“我们欠消防员很多。我们对他们无限感激。我知道过去几天非常疲惫。我们面临的是一场完全前所未有的火灾，是自第二次世界大战以来最艰巨的一次。”
马克龙说：“我没有低估民众的愤怒。”
在波尔多，一些居民对他的访问时机提出了质疑，因为救援人员正争分夺秒地在气温再次攀升前控制火势。乔梅恩说：“存在一种风险，即高温可能会重新点燃已熄灭的火源，或者引发新火灾。”
来自波尔多的理发师尚塔尔，46 岁（不愿透露姓氏），表示总统应该等到危机得到控制后再访问该地区。
她说：“我认为他的出现会分散人们对当前工作的注意力，并将急需的资源从灭火任务转移到引导他参观以及确保他的安全上。”
马克龙此前感谢了法国的欧洲合作伙伴提供的“宝贵支持”，点名提到了罗马尼亚、克罗地亚、德国、葡萄牙、瑞典、捷克共和国、斯洛伐克和瑞士。
克罗地亚已部署了两架水轰炸机，瑞士消防员也已加入法国地面的救援队伍。
当地人还对准备工作提出了质疑。周五晚上从圣梅达尔-昂-雅莱斯家中撤离的斯特凡·拉菲特，52 岁，问道：“为什么我们没有更多的灭火飞机？是因为成本问题吗？随着气候变化，每个人都知道风险在增加——而且这次火灾比我们之前见过的任何火灾都要大。”
这场发生在波尔多所在省份——吉伦特省的火灾，已烧毁了相当于巴黎四倍大小的面积。消防队发言人威尔弗里德·施耐德 (Wilfried Schneider) 表示：“这是法国历史上已知规模最大的此类灾难。”
法国内政部长洛朗·努涅斯 (Laurent Nuñez) 将此次火灾描述为“前所未有”且极其难以控制。他说：“它是自主的、自维持的，并向所有方向蔓延。我们必须保持高度集中，坚定信心。”
科学家表示，火灾目前正在与大气层本身产生相互作用。欧洲中期天气预报中心 (ECMWF) 的弗朗西斯卡·迪·朱塞佩 (Francesca Di Giuseppe) 表示，火灾已经开始产生自己的天气系统。
已经观测到了数朵浓积雨云 ——即所谓的“火雷暴”—— 当剧烈的热量将烟雾和水分推向高空，冷却的空气导致冷凝并形成云层时，就会产生这种现象。
在某些条件下，这些云层可能会演变成完整的雷暴，产生能够在远离原火源的地方引发新火灾的闪电。虽然也可能会下雨，但雨水在到达地面之前通常就已经蒸发了。
Tom Gould
西班牙消防员正努力在预计于明天袭击的新一波热浪到来之前，控制马德里和瓦伦西亚地区肆虐的山火。
国家气象局 Aemet 昨天表示，高达 42 摄氏度的气温将导致西班牙大部分地区的火灾风险达到“极高或极端水平”。
西班牙首相佩德罗·桑切斯 (Pedro Sánchez) 表示：“我请求大家的理解，并呼吁所有公民……保持极度谨慎，采取一切可能的预防措施。”他警告说，前方将面临“困难的时刻，复杂的时刻”。
首都以西及东部瓦伦西亚附近地区。另有 30,000 人被限制在家中。
据称，马德里郊外的火焰在周日到昨天的夜间“减缓了推进速度”，但地区政府强调火势仍然构成威胁。
昨天下午，首都附近的救援工作集中在科菲奥河 (River Cofio) 圣胡安水库 (San Juan reservoir) 北部一个“极具攻击性”的火线。马德里自治区主席伊莎贝尔·迪亚斯·阿尤索 (Isabel Díaz Ayuso) 描述当时的情况为混乱。
瓦伦西亚地区政府消防局局长切维·博卢马尔 (Chevi Bolumar) 告诉公共广播公司 RTVE，如果火焰蔓延到那里，可能会引发西班牙内战时期的[遗留问题]而导致爆炸。
瓦伦西亚地区政府应急部长胡安·卡洛斯·瓦尔德拉马 (Juan Carlos Valderrama) 昨天表示，拉瓦尔杜伊肖 (La Vall d’Uixó) 的火势已被遏制，但“既未稳定也未得到控制”。
今年以来，西班牙森林火灾已摧毁超过 170,000 公顷土地，面积大于大伦敦地区。根据生态转型与人口挑战部部长萨拉·阿格森 (Sara Aagesen) 的数据，这一数字是去年同期的六倍。
分析
山火产生的最剧烈现象之一便是火积雨云，或称“火雷暴”（Rhys Blakely 撰文）。
简单来说，火积雨云（通常简写为 pyroCb）是由山火引发的雷暴。大面积火灾释放的剧烈热量导致空气、烟雾和水分迅速上升。
[[IMG_LEFT]]: 派德拉拉韦斯 (Piedralaves) 的一名居民，该村通常是西班牙东北部一个风景如画的村庄，她站在被摧毁的父亲家中； [[IMG_ABOVE]]: 法国吉伦省 (Gironde) 莱日-卡普-费雷 (Lège-Cap-Ferret) 的卫星照片； [[IMG_RIGHT]]: 消防员在法国西南部塞斯塔-佩罗通 (Cestas-Perroton) 努力阻止山火蔓延； [[IMG_BELOW_LEFT]]: 西班牙军事应急部队在纳瓦斯-德尔-雷 (Navas del Rey) 附近，该地位于马德里以西 35 英里； [[IMG_BELOW]]: 吉伦省马尔什普里姆 (Marcheprime) 的一场火灾，飞机在此投放阻燃剂； [[IMG_BELOW_RIGHT]]
南
北
凝结形成云层。在特定条件下，该云层会继续生长，直到演变成一个完整的雷暴。
只有在足够不稳定且潮湿的空气下方燃烧的最剧烈火灾，才会产生火积雨云。一旦产生，它们会导致危险的火势行为变得更加不可预测。
英国在降雨量仅为平均值的 1% 后将迎来第四次热浪
Seren Hughes
本周，英格兰部分地区将陷入今年的第四次热浪。在 5 月和 6 月出现创纪录的高温以及 7 月中旬又经历一次酷暑之后，预计气温将攀升至最高 35℃。
根据气象局 (Met Office) 的初步数据，本月全国气温比平均值高出 3℃，而英格兰南部的本月降雨量仅为平均值的 1%。
共有 23 million 户家庭受到禁用水管令的影响，威尔士部分地区已宣布进入干旱状态。
本月的热浪在英格兰和威尔士引发了 19 起火灾。昨天，消防员仍在与凯恩戈姆山 (Cairngorms) 一场已持续 13 天的山火作斗争。
从今天起至周四，东米德兰兹、英格兰东部、东南部和伦敦的酷暑健康预警已升级为橙色。黄色预警则覆盖了约克郡和亨伯、西米德兰兹及西南部。
气象局表示，本周的热浪（在英格兰东南部最为显著）将是“短暂的”。尽管如此，英格兰部分地区的酷暑健康预警已升级为橙色，且预计山火风险将维持在高位。
明天
今天
周四
预计从今天起，英格兰大部分地区、威尔士和苏格兰东部的气温将升高。今天可能出现 30℃ 的气温，明天英格兰东南部最高可达 35℃，随后在周四下降至最高 29℃。
气象局将热浪定义为一个特定地点的日最高气温连续至少三天达到或超过阈值的时期。
在 5 月、6 月和 7 月期间，历史上首次记录到至少 35℃ 的气温，且今年有望打破 1976 年的最后一项高温纪录——即最高气温超过或等于 25℃ 的天数达到 33 天。
气象局副首席预报员 Gregory Wolverson 表示：“这是一次短暂的高温天气，但气温将在本周前半段迅速攀升，尤其是在东南部。”
“到 [明天]，部分地区的温度可能会达到 30 多度。虽然高温不会覆盖整个英国，但这足以让东南部部分地区在周四前可能符合官方的热浪标准。”
英国健康安全局已
突然且不稳定的地面风会迅速将火焰和余烬向新方向扩散。
火灾引发的雷暴也可能产生降雨。然而，在火积云 (pyroCb) 的影响下，云层下的剧烈高温可能会导致这些降水在落地前就蒸发掉，这种现象被称为“虚雨” (virga)。消防员可能会面临闪电和混乱阵风的所有危险，但却等不到一场酣畅的暴雨。
警告称健康风险有所增加，尤其是对于弱势群体。
本周并非全国所有地区都会高温。预计西北部部分地区将有雨且云层较厚，并有大阵雨和局部雷暴的可能性。
国家消防局局长理事会表示：“今年夏天，消防救援服务部门在长期温暖干燥的情况下应对山火事件，已经面临巨大压力。面对未来可能出现的高温天气，各部门将保持准备状态并随时响应。”
“虽然消防员会在需要时提供帮助，但绝大多数山火是可以预防的。因此，我们要求每个人都尽一份力，格外小心并意识到风险的增加。”
“只需要 1 个火花就能引发一场山火……请避免在公园、乡村和其他开放空间使用一次性烧烤炉，绝不要将烟蒂丢在地上，并始终将垃圾带回家。”
三日预报
35C (17C)
29C (16C)
25C (16C)
25C (16C)
（括号内为夜间最低气温）来源：气象局
在斯坎索普 (Scunthorpe) 附近的诺曼比霍尔乡村公园 (Normanby Hall Country Park) 的游客已收到警告，由于热压力，请避免在带有大分枝的古树下休息或停车。
该公园的公园与花园官员利亚姆·登特 (Liam Dent) 告诉 BBC：“由于缺水，这些树基本上进入了生存模式。[它们]试图保护主干和[它们的]系统。任何不稳固或出现裂缝的分枝，它们都会直接将其脱落。”
在最近几周内，公园里大约有四五棵“资深”古树（包括一棵栗子树和一棵橡树）掉落了分枝。
[[IMG_XXXX]]
当火积云 (pyroCb) 对流羽流的一部分突然冷却或失去上升动力时。云中的空气、烟雾和水分迅速下降，以“微下击暴流” (microburst) 的形式倾泻而下。这会将余烬向四面八方散播，瞬间让消防员被新的起火点包围。
相反，在特定的气象条件下，馈入火积云底部的强劲上升气流可能会开始旋转，产生“火龙卷” (pyrotornadoes)，将燃烧的碎片卷向天空。
28C (13C)
21C (12C)
毒贩利用孩子尿床 试图留在英国
乔纳森·艾姆斯 (Jonathan Ames) 法律编辑
一名阿尔巴尼亚毒贩正处于一场法律争议的中心，其理由是由于他的女儿遭受噩梦和尿床之苦，他不应被驱逐出境。
什普雷希姆·科卡 (Shpresim Koka) 在 2017 年被判交易犯罪财产罪名成立，并被判处 21 个月监禁。
在该判决之后，一名驱逐令被执行。这名现年 38, 岁的阿尔巴尼亚人对此提出了挑战，随后他在 2022 年被判持有可卡因以意图供应罪名成立，被判处三年监禁。
该判决根据移民法将科卡——其名也叫法蒂翁 (Fation)——归类为“中级”程度的罪犯。
两年后，内政部官员裁定科卡在获释后应被驱逐出境——这名阿尔巴尼亚人对该决定提出上诉，认为将其送回阿尔巴尼亚将违反其法定人权。
去年，移民和庇护法庭第一级的一名法官支持了科卡获准留在英国的请求，理由是将他驱逐出境对他当时 11 岁的女儿来说将是“不公正地严苛”。
法庭被告知，该女孩——被描述为处于“发育的关键阶段”——
什普雷希姆·科卡辩称，如果他被驱逐出境，对他女儿来说是不公平的
“遭受噩梦且尿床”。
但有证据表明，当该女孩的父亲在出狱后回家时，她的情况有所改善。
原审法庭法官裁定，驱逐该女孩父亲的影响将对她产生“不公正地严苛”的结果，因为她“会意识到她的父亲不再在英国，除了远程接触外，无法参与她的生活”。
法官引用了社会工作者的证据，称远程接触将不足以满足该儿童的需求。
该裁决是基于儿童母亲提供的证据——尽管没有女孩的老师或全科医生的支持证据，法官仍认为该母亲具有可信度。
社会工作者在给法庭的一份报告中表示，如果父亲被驱逐，女儿及其当时 14 岁的兄弟/姐妹所面临的困难将会加剧。
尽管内政部提供的证据显示科卡不再与家人同住，且与“孩子的母亲没有恋爱关系”，但法庭仍做出了上述决定。
但法官指出，科卡与其两个孩子保持着“真实且持续的关系”，并且“密切参与”他们的生活，在“大多数周末”探望他们。
内政部官员对允许科卡留在英国的第一级裁决提出上诉，一名上诉法庭法庭法官同意之前的判决包含“实质性的法律错误”。
上诉法官萨拉·格雷 (Sarah Grey) 补充说，第一次裁决是“不安全的”，因此“必须被撤销”。
她命令由另一名第一级法庭法官在拥有更“广泛证据”的情况下重新审理此案。
格雷在做出该决定时指出，科卡的两个孩子“现在已经与父亲分开生活多年，而在他之前提出上诉时，他仍然是家庭单位的一部分”。
在遮阳伞下，克洛伊·赫尔南德斯 (Chloe Hernandez) 欣赏着萨里郡 RHS 威斯利花园 (RHS Wisley) 混植花 border 的色彩。花卉包括大丽花、天竺葵和丽莎花 (ligularias)。
跌至 17 年来最低点
Mehreen Khan 经济编辑
C
最新分析显示，英国的百万富翁数量已跌至金融危机以来的最低水平。
中右翼智库亚当·斯密研究所 (ASI) 发现，2025 年财富超过 £1 million 的人数骤降至 442,000 人——同比下降 7%，为 2008 年以来最低水平。
该机构的“百万富翁追踪器”使用国家统计局的数据，衡量居住在英国且净资产至少为 £1 million 的成年人数。这包括房产、养老金、现金和投资等资产。该人数在 2020 年突破了 100 万大关，并在 2021. 达到了 1.07 million。此后，连续四年出现大幅下降。
ASI 表示，自疫情以来，净资产价值受到了利率上升以及银行储蓄利率下降的双重打击。该指数采用“不变价格”，以调整通货膨胀和汇率波动的影响。
在该报告中，这家智库表示： “此外，一直存在一个有据可查的趋势，即高净值人士要么离开英国，要么不再选择迁居至此。百万富翁离开该国的原因有多种，包括取消‘非定居’ (non-dom) 税务身份、高水平的综合税收，以及对财富创造者不友好的文化。”
尽管有关于大规模财富外流的报道，但英国税务海关总署 (HMRC) 的数据并未显示出非定居人士正成群结队离开英国的明确证据。其最新数据显示，在截至 2024 年 4 月的纳税年度中，有 60,700 名居民的永久住所位于英国境外。非定居身份已于 2025. 年 4 月正式取消。该身份曾允许部分永久住所在海外的英国居民，免于就其在海外赚取的收入缴纳英国税款。该身份，
Jude Holden
汤姆·霍兰德承认他的一些电影很糟糕，并暗示观众最好不要观看这些作品。
这位出演《奥德赛》和《蜘蛛侠》的影星在讨论推广他不认同的作品所带来的压力时，做出了这一坦率的评估。
在由 Nick Grimshaw 和 Angela Hartnett 主持的 Dish 播客节目中，霍兰德表示，当演员对自己的一部电影感到真正自豪时，宣传工作是非常简单的，因为向观众推荐时是真诚的。
但他表示，他也面临过一些采访，被问到为什么电影观众应该买票观看他正在宣传的电影，而他内心却在想：“你不应该买。因为这电影太烂了。”
该制度一直面临政治家要求改革的持续呼吁，现已被新规则取代：对于新移居英国的居民或在十年后返回该国的人员，海外收入最高可豁免四年。
英国国家统计局 (ONS) 每两年衡量一次家庭资产价值，这意味着目前没有关于居住在该国百万富翁确切人数的官方数据。最新数据显示，有 3.7 million 个家庭的净资产在 £1 以上，其中大部分归功于房价上涨。
ASI 表示，首相 安迪·伯纳姆 应该取消遗产税并降低资本利得税税率。英国税务海关总署 (HMRC) 的数据显示，在截至 2023 年 4 月的纳税年度中，有 31,500 份遗产在死亡时缴纳了遗产税，约占人数的 4.5 per cent。
资本利得税适用于股票或其他投资等增值资产。它在销售点征收，分为两个税率：基本税率纳税人为 18 per cent，高收入及附加税率纳税人为 24 per cent。
首相的盟友呼吁他将资本利得税与所得税统一，后者的适用税率较高，分为 20 per cent、40 per cent 和 45 per cent 档位。
伯纳姆表示他将“详细研究”统一税率的问题，但尚未做出政策承诺。此前他还曾建议取消遗产税，取而代之的是一种“护理税”，以资助社会护理改革。
保守党商业和贸易影子大臣 Andrew Griffith 议员表示：“无论个人财务状况如何，每个人都应该关注英国的百万富翁在减少，这意味着为税收资金做出贡献、在本地创造就业机会和企业的人数在减少。这是一个竞争激烈的世界，当年轻且有抱负的人用脚投票离开你的国家时，这是一个令人羞愧的迹象。”
他在《蜘蛛侠》系列之外的参演作品包括犯罪剧《樱桃》(Cherry)、反乌托邦惊悚片《混沌行走》(Chaos Walking) 以及南方哥特式剧作《此时此刻的魔鬼》(The Devil All the Time)。
他曾在之前三部独立的《蜘蛛侠》电影中饰演彼得·帕克，还出演了其他几部漫威作品，并在今年的第四部作品《蜘蛛侠：崭新之日》(Spider-Man: Brand New Day) 中回归。
霍兰德最近在克里斯托弗·诺兰改编的荷马史诗《奥德赛》中饰演俄底修斯的儿子特勒马库斯。
他表示，宣传这两部新的商业大片感觉“像是一场胜利巡游”，并补充道：“我对这两部电影都超级自豪。”
告知粉丝 帕金森病 诊断结果
卡莉·西蒙透露她被诊断出患有帕金森病。
这位 83 岁的创作歌手发布了一份长篇声明，在声明中她告诉粉丝，她还进行了面部皮肤癌手术，这导致她避免在公开场合露面。
西蒙最著名的歌曲包括《You’re So Vain》和《Nobody Does It Better》，她表示之所以透露自己的健康问题，是因为支持者一直在询问她为何长时间没有露面。
“在行动不便、帕金森病诊断、手术以及这一切带来的情感影响之间，退出公众视线是最能被接受的反应，”西蒙说道。
“很多人给我写信，亲切地关心我的相对沉默，询问我的近况以及我一直在做什么，”她在给《People》杂志的一份声明中说道。“事实是，我一直在学习如何与帕金森病共处。”
西蒙最后一次公开演出是在 2018 年。
帕金森病是一种影响运动和语言的神经系统疾病。这是一种进行性疾病，还可能导致抑郁和焦虑。目前尚无治愈方法，但药物可以帮助管理症状。
西蒙说：“帕金森病对每个人来说都不同，而且可能是不可预测的。有些日子我累到完全无法开始一天。而另一些日子，它会给我更多活动、思考、工作以及感觉像回到了自我的空间。”
西蒙曾获得格莱美奖和奥斯卡奖，她表示自己的健康问题始于膝盖和髋关节的关节炎。她更换了三个关节，并认为行走问题是康复过程中“一个不幸且相当讽刺的部分”。
“但我的行动能力继续恶化，”西蒙说。“过于柔软的家具成了我的敌人。一旦坐下，我就感觉自己好像被椅子吞噬了，可能会永远留在那里，就像一个停留时间过长、不再受欢迎的客人。”
在接受帕金森病诊断的同时，西蒙还接受了面部基底细胞癌的治疗。
她将于下月发行新专辑《Comes in Waves》，这是她自 2008 年《This Kind of Love》以来首次推出新歌集。
[[IMG_XXXX]] 83 岁的卡莉·西蒙在远离公众视线多年后，发表了一份关于她健康问题的声明。
Joshua Thurston
英国演员大卫·琼森 (David Jonsson) 将在由瑞安·库格勒 (Ryan Coogler) 执导的该电影系列下一部作品中接任“黑豹”的披风。
这位 32 岁的演员在圣迭戈漫威工作室的国际动漫展 (Comic-Con International) 演示会上与库格勒同台宣布了这一消息。琼森将在第三部《黑豹》电影中饰演已故查德威克·博斯曼 (Chadwick Boseman) 饰演的 T’Challa 之子，该片预计于 2028 年上映。
在国际动漫展上，莱蒂希亚·赖特 (Letitia Wright) 和温斯顿·杜克 (Winston Duke) 也与琼森及库格勒一同出席，他们将继续饰演舒莉 (Shuri) 和姆巴库 (M’Baku)。 “我想说非常感谢，”琼森对观众说。“请相信我，这完全是我的荣幸。”
[[IMG_XXXX]] 大卫·琼森将饰演 T’Challa 之子，该角色原由已故的查德威克·博斯曼饰演。
这位演员表示，当表演者欣赏他们正在推广的电影时，他们不需要在采访者或观众面前误导该片的质量。
Holland 也出演了《绝地天轻》(The Impossible)、《神秘海域》(Uncharted) 以及电视剧《拥挤的房间》(The Crowded Room)。
这些评论是在有报道称 Holland 及其妻子赞达亚 (Zendaya) 计划在被描述为低调的婚礼后，在英国举行一场盛大庆祝活动之际发表的。
《星期日邮报》(The Mail on Sunday) 声称这对夫妇选择了在 2021 年结婚。
他曾在 BBC 剧集《Industry》中出演，并出演了《异形：罗穆路斯》(Alien: Romulus) 以及去年改编的斯蒂芬·金惊悚片《长途步行》(The Long Walk)。
他在西区开启职业生涯，凭借在 2021 年戏剧《and breathe...》中的表演获得了黑人英国戏剧奖。他还在即将上映的电影《护送员》(The Chaperones)、《本/尤班克》(Benn/Eubank) 以及由科尔曼·多明戈 (Colman Domingo) 共同执导的《丑闻》(Scandalous) 中担任角色。
苏齐·兰普卢 过程中进行 最后冲刺
四十年后，在案件 被搁置前寻求帮助 作者：大卫·伍德 (David Woode)
自从被描述为“有趣且充满活力”的房产中介苏齐·兰普卢 (Suzy Lamplugh) 在西伦敦与一名客户见面后失踪以来，已经过去了四十年。
根据其工作日记的记录，这名 25 岁的女性于 1986 年 7 月 28 日离开她位于西伦敦富勒姆 (Fulham) 的办公室，前往肖罗尔兹路 (Shorrolds Road) 参加一场 12.45pm 的预约。此后人们再未见到她。
兰普卢于 1993 年被法律宣布死亡，推定被谋杀。她的尸体至今未被发现。
现在，伦敦警察厅正在进行最后一次冲刺，试图在明年案件被搁置之前，为兰普卢的家人提供答案。
领导伦敦警察厅冷案凶杀组的侦查首席督察特蕾莎·福斯特 (Teresa Foster) 表示，这项调查一直“困扰”着她的团队，因为“苏齐一直没被找到”。被定罪的杀手约翰·卡南 (John Cannan) 曾是“头号嫌疑人”。他否认了指控，并于 2024 年 11 月在狱中去世。
福斯特表示：“我们不会停止
一名因谋杀两名年轻人而被判终身监禁的前英国皇家海军下士，被裁定对四名受害者的性侵行为有罪，其中包括一名 14 岁男孩，且他曾考虑杀死其中两人。
艾伦·格里姆森 (Allan Grimson) 因在 1990 年代谋杀尼古拉斯·赖特 (Nicholas Wright) 和西恩·詹金斯 (Sion Jenkins) 而于 2001 年被判刑。
这名双重杀手告诉警方，一名被他性侵的水手“能活下来很幸运”，并补充道：“如果你打算强奸某人，为了让自己脱罪，就把它杀了。”
在 1994 和 1999 年之间，还有其他男性原告。
起诉方的约翰·普赖斯 KC (John Price KC) 告诉法庭，当格里姆森在 1999 年就赖特案接受询问时，他曾“告诉警方，还有其他人能活下来很幸运”，他之所以没能杀掉这些人，仅仅是因为当时附近有其他人。
“我们仍在寻找苏齐 (Suzy)。如果有人提供信息，我们会予以接纳，并尽一切可能地保障和保护他们。”
警方表示，后视镜上一个模糊的指纹仍未被鉴定出身份。福斯特 (Foster) 希望人工智能和法医检测的发展能够帮助破解此案。
侦查员将在接下来的一年里追踪 30 名证人，之后该案件“极有可能进入非活跃阶段”。福斯特表示，新信息将得到跟进，但她的团队“不会像现在这样定期开展工作”。她补充说，兰普卢 (Lamplugh) 的家人已收到通知。
兰普卢的两个妹妹塔姆辛·汤姆林 (Tamsin Tomlin) 和利齐·宾汉姆 (Lizzie Bingham) 在接受《泰晤士报》采访时表示，她们觉得自己能拥有她 25 年是非常“幸运”的。她们说，家人已接受警方认为坎南 (Cannan) 是责任人的观点，目前已“心境平和”。
64 岁的花艺师兼园丁汤姆林表示，警方“给了我们安慰，让他们知道他们正在尽一切可能为我们提供帮助”。
当被问及理想的结果是什么时，联合学习 (United Learning) 的运营业务伙伴、56 岁的宾汉姆表示：“警方一直很明确，就是约翰·坎南，我们的家庭和父母也接受了这一点。如果能知道苏齐发生了什么以及她现在在哪里，那当然将是最终的答案。我想，
理想的结果可能就是我们现在的状态，即我们内心平静。”
“腓比行动” (Operation Phoebus) 是兰普卢案的代号，是伦敦警察厅最古老的未破谋杀案调查之一。失踪报告于当天晚些时候提交。她的白色福特 Fiesta 轿车于当天晚上在富勒姆 (Fulham) 的史蒂文尼奇路 (Stevenage Road) 被发现，车门未锁且手刹未拉。司机侧车门口袋里有一个装有 £15 的钱包。
最初的调查未能取得突破，于 1987 年结案。绰号为“小鱼”(Kipper) 的坎南在 1989 年进入侦查员的视线。一名前女友怀疑
他参与其中，但警方当时无法将其与此案联系起来。
该案于 2000 年 5 月重启。当时坎南因 1987 年 10 月在布里斯托尔谋杀 29 岁的雪莉·班克斯 (Shirley Banks)、企图绑架一名女性以及强奸另外两名女性而被判处三项终身监禁。他的外貌与一名被目击在空置房产附近与兰普卢交谈的“衣着考究的男子”的电子画像非常相似。
他接受了三次询问，但否认参与其中。2002 年，侦查员宣布他为“唯一嫌疑人”。警方将证据文件提交给皇家检控署，但被告知证据不足以起诉他。伦敦警察厅就“在最初调查中错失的重要机会”向兰普卢的家人道歉。
在兰普卢失踪当天，坎南声称他在伯明翰“请母亲吃顿午饭”。2018 年，警方收到信息，随后对坎南母亲在萨特 (Sut-)
[[IMG_XXXX]]
约翰·坎南 于 2024 年 在狱中去世， 仍是“首席嫌疑人”
Nicholas Wright 在 20 世纪 90 年代 被谋杀
苏齐·兰普卢 (Suzy Lamplugh) 失踪时 25 岁。 最左侧照片为她与兄弟理查德 (Richard) 以及姐妹塔姆辛 (Tamsin) 和莉齐 (Lizzie) 的合影
ton Coldfield，但未发现任何线索。 在伍斯特郡 (Worcestershire) 和萨默塞特郡 (Somerset) 的陆地搜寻未能获得答案。
来自兰普卢车辆座椅的胶带样本于 2021 年被送往美国检测，但未发现 DNA 概况。
汤姆林 (Tomlin) 和宾厄姆 (Bingham) 在其姐妹失踪 40 周年前夕接受了《泰晤士报》的采访。 今年春天，亲友们在一次花园聚会上聚集在一起，缅怀这位被描述为“善良、体贴、关怀他人、有趣且充满活力”的女性。 共有 60 人参加了在萨里郡 (Surrey) 举行的此次活动。宾厄姆和她的哥哥，66 岁的理查德·兰普卢发表了“动人的演讲”。他们观看了家庭电影以及 120 余张照片。
姐妹俩向他们的父母戴安娜 (Diana) 和保罗·兰普卢 (Paul Lamplugh) 致敬，后者创立了苏齐·兰普卢信托基金 (Suzy Lamplugh Trust) —— 英国首家个人安全慈善机构 —— 并称赞他们在提高公众对跟踪和骚扰意识方面所做的“杰出”工作。
在兰普卢失踪时年仅 16 岁的宾厄姆表示：“当我 26 岁时，我突然比苏齐大了，而我一直以来是家里最小的。我们长大、结婚、组建家庭并失去了父母 —— 而这一切都是在没有她的情况下完成的。”
汤姆林在自己的女儿年满 26 岁当天说道：“她现在比苏齐大了。我们在抚养孩子时，让他们知道自己有一个姑姑/姨妈。”她补充道：“我们很幸运在 25 年间拥有苏齐，但你不能单纯地认为让她回家会很美好。你永远不会忘记，永远不会将她排除在外，但你必须向前看。”
在伦敦西南区东希恩 (East Sheen) 的全圣教堂 (All Saints Church)，他们的父母委托制作了一扇纪念兰普卢的彩色玻璃窗。
“我们的父母与这家教堂接触了 50 年，”宾厄姆说。“我们没有找到遗体，也从未举行过葬礼，所以这里是家人坐下来沉思的绝佳场所。”
汤姆林和宾厄姆谈到了她们的自豪感，因为她们的大姐已成为保护女性个人安全的代名词。
苏齐·兰普卢信托基金将于 12 月迎来 40 周年，该基金领导了一场运动，促使私家出租车运营商和司机面临更严格的监管。它呼吁通过立法变更，促成了 1997 年《反骚扰法》(Protection from Harassment Act 1997) 的出台；已培训 1,000 多名雇主以最大限度地减少对员工造成的身体和精神伤害，并运营国家跟踪求助热线 (National Stalking Helpline)。戴安娜和保罗·兰普卢因其慈善工作均被授予 OBE 勋衔，他们分别于 2011 年和 2018 年去世。
汤姆林说：“我们对父母通过该信托基金所取得的成就感到无比自豪。苏齐一直是以帮助他人为乐的人，她一定会很高兴地知道，她的生命没有被浪费。”
宾厄姆补充道：“我们的父母不希望其他人经历他们所经历的一切。这是一个美妙的遗产，尽管他们两人都不在人世，但它仍在继续壮大。”
在朴次茅斯 (Portsmouth) 的霍尔西岛 (Horsea Island) 皇家海军消防学校。普莱斯 (Price) 表示：“这次任职让格里姆森先生 (Mr Grimson) 接触到了许多十几岁的年轻人，他们是海军服役的新兵，必须遵守严格的纪律制度，而艾伦·格里姆森 (Allan Grimson) 凭借其在军队中的地位，对他们每一个人都拥有极大的权威。”
安全玻璃
当时的交通部长道格拉斯·亚历山大 (Douglas Alexander) 回忆道，他在马尔岛 (Isle of Mull) 与家人度假时，接到了一名高级公务员的电话。“他解释说，他将派遣一名安全官员来讨论一个无法在公开电话线中谈论的问题，”亚历山大（右图）在 ITV 纪录片《天空恐怖》(Terror in the Skies) 中讲述道。这名特工“来到了我们入住的小屋，并将我的妻子和家人锁在日光室里，以免无意中违反了《官方秘密法》”。在听取了关于跨大西洋航空公司即将面临的炸弹威胁简报后，亚历山大被一架等待中的皇家空军 Lynx 直升机迅速送往伦敦。他没有提到亚历山大一家何时——或者是否——被允许从日光室的隔离状态中释放。
拉里的领地 安迪·伯纳姆 (Andy Burnham) 的首相任期或许让斯塔默派 (Starmerites) 感到被冷落，但猫咪拉里 (Larry) 对唐宁街 (Downing Street) 的掌控依然绝对。伯纳姆透露，他的比熊-贵宾混血犬阿克塞尔 (Axel) 将留在北方。
diary@thetimes.co.uk | @timesdiary
首相承认他的宠物是一个“愤怒的小男人”，并承认阿克塞尔“会与拉里不合”。《政治动物》(Political Animals) 的作者彼得·卡德韦尔 (Peter Cardwell) 打趣道：“有人称 No 10 北区是一个昂贵的噱头，但如果能让拉里和阿克塞尔分开，那它就很值。”卡德韦尔指出，拉里被击败的对手名单很长，包括 Dilyn, Nova, Poppy，以及基尔·斯塔默 (Keir Starmer) 的猫 Jojo 和 Prince，还有瑞秋·里夫斯 (Rachel Reeves) 的小猫 Pumpkin。阿克塞尔明智地拒绝了这场对决。
已故的比尔·奥迪 (Bill Oddie) 对随他而来的都市传说感到困惑。他曾告诉一名日记专栏助手，有一个挥之不去的传说称，他与伯明翰爱德华国王学校的“一些顽皮男孩”重新布置了交通锥，引导伊丽莎白二世女王的灵柩车穿过学校校园。奥迪听过太多次，以至于他几乎信以为真，但他依然坚决否认：“我没做过那件事，就像我和 The Goodies 的其他成员没有在夜总会里殴打约翰·皮尔 (John Peel) 一样，”他坚持道。“也没有在为一杯茶争论时用三脚架敲约翰·克拉文 (John Craven) 的头……这些人到底是从哪弄到这些说法的？”
与无知者的接触 标准画廊的反馈表过去习惯于免费放在衣帽间旁的盒子中。然而，国家美术馆 (National Gallery) 却预算了 £250,000 给 Sortition —— 一个寻求用随机抽选的公民取代上议院的团体 —— 用以召集一个 50 人的公民议会来审查其宗旨。入选无需艺术专业知识，也无需之前的参观经历。正如一名保守党人士打趣道：“馆长们得祈祷 25 万英镑能产生比‘列奥纳多是谁，为什么他这么贵？’更深刻的见解。”
来自凯西·莱特 (Kathy Lette) 关于现代女性赋权的一条建议，她在 Radio 4 的《Loose Ends》节目中宣传她的新小说《姐妹会规则》(The Sisterhood Rules)。“女性应该成为彼此的人类 Wonderbras (神奇胸罩) —— 给予支持，并让对方看起来更丰满、更出色，”莱特建议道。“我现在就穿着 Wonderbra，这太酷了，因为当你把它脱掉时，你会纳闷你的胸脯到底跑哪去了。”这在任何意义上都是令人振奋的消息。
ed halford
陷入困境
Rhys Blakely 科学编辑 他表示，如果没有这笔资金，该天文台将停止运行。他补充道，为射电天文学开发的技术已产生了更广泛的益处，包括wifi的发明以及医疗扫描仪的改进。近期，乔德雷尔班克 (Jodrell Bank) 开发了追踪卫星和太空碎片的新方法，这一能力注定将变得更具价值。
乔德雷尔班克天文台曾近 70 年一直是英国最大望远镜的所在地，在政府撤回对其最重大科学项目的资助后，该天文台面临关闭。
位于切希尔郡 (Cheshire) 的该遗址由 76 米高的洛弗尔 (Lovell) 射电望远镜主导。自 1957 年以来，它一直被用于研究遥远的恒星和星系。在冷战期间，它曾追踪苏联的太空任务。
它是 e-Merlin 的核心，这是一个横跨英格兰的由七台射电望远镜组成的网络，能够产生与哈勃太空望远镜相当的清晰图像。
切希尔郡乔德雷尔班克的射电望远镜自 1957 年起投入使用
……科技部，该部门曾监督 UKRI。“英国科学基地的损害已经非常严重，”他说。 UKRI 表示，关于乔德雷尔班克的决定是在一个“严格的优先级排序过程”之后做出的，旨在将资金引导至能带来最大长期科学利益和价值的领域。该机构表示，将继续支持乔德雷尔班克遗址的其他工作，包括其作为平方公里阵列天文台 (Square Kilometre Array Observatory) 总部的角色，这是一个构建新一代射电望远镜的国际项目。
然而，负责分配政府研究资金的公共机构英国研究与创新署 (UKRI) 表示，用于 e-Merlin 的每年 £2.8 百万资金将于 2028 年 3 月终止。
天文台副主任 Simon Garrington 教授表示，这将使乔德雷尔班克的科学工作“失去支撑”。
物理学家兼广播员 Brian Cox 教授敦促政府介入，认为这些削减是承接自 安迪·伯纳姆 就任首相并解散科学、创新与技术部之前所做的决定。
指控驾驶员的骑行者 因粗心骑行被罚款
Bill Curtis
一名向警方发送危险驾驶片段的骑行者被罚款 £1,200，因为同一段视频捕捉到他“骑行时缺乏应有的谨慎和注意”。
这名来自利兹 (Leeds) 的男子在西约克郡警方的在线举报门户网站上传了一段视频，显示一名驾驶员在行驶时与他距离极近。然而，在片段的稍后部分，可以看到他正向一辆停放的车辆靠近，而另一辆车正向他行驶而来。
据警方称，这名未透露姓名的骑行者并没有减速或将脚从踏板上解开，而是选择在停放的车辆和正对着他行驶的车辆之间穿行。
“这段距离明显少于他之前举报的那辆车所留给他的距离。驾驶员被迫紧贴路缘以降低接触风险。”
乔纳森·艾姆斯 (Jonathan Ames) 法律编辑
一名 64 岁的业余特技飞行员在将一次双翼飞机俯冲坠入跑道的原因归咎于一个“劣质螺母”后，提起诉讼要求 200 万英镑的赔偿。
特雷弗·戴维斯 (Trevor Davis) 在 2022. 年于贝辛斯托克 (Basingstoke) 附近的波帕姆 (Popham) 机场起飞 15 分钟后坠机，导致包括颅骨骨折在内的多处受伤。他告诉法官，由于一个螺母松动或缺失导致的机械故障，使他无法在汉普郡 (Hampshire) 的乡间操控飞机。
作为一名特技飞行表演资深人士，戴维斯向轻型飞机协会 (Light Aircraft Association) 索赔高达 200 万英镑，用于弥补事故造成的影响；他表示，该协会不应授权其飞机为飞行安全。
然而，该协会的律师否认在检查期间螺母可能存在松动或缺失的情况，并告诉法官，戴维斯本人因驾驶技术拙劣应对事故负有责任。
西约克郡警方在 Facebook 上表示。警方补充说，相关视频拍摄于伊尔克利 (Ilkley) 附近的门斯顿 (Menston) 村，该骑行者上周已由布拉福德 (Bradford) 的治安法官处理。
警方表示：“重要的是所有道路使用者都要意识到《公路法规》(Highway Code)，体谅其他道路使用者，并理解他们对他人安全的责任。”
这 £1,200 的费用涵盖了罚金和诉讼费。由警方发布的该事件视频已在网络疯传，获得了数千次互动。
针对网上的反应，西约克郡警方表示：“提醒大家，请不要将其演变成一种反骑行者的言论。”
“这次的骑行者确实有错，但我们的道路上有很多遵守公路法规并负责任骑行的骑行者。”
特雷弗·戴维斯表示，在从波帕姆机场起飞后，他那架皮茨特种 (Pitts Special) 双翼飞机的操纵杆停止了工作。
该机型最初设计于 20 世纪 40 年代。在 20 世纪 60 年代于美国推出后，皮茨特种机因其卓越的机动性在特技飞行领域占据主导地位，尽管它具有难以着陆的名声。
【家庭配送】林肯郡一家农场里的小仓鸮在等待父母带食物回来。田鼠和小鼠的大年意味着有充足的食物供应。
法庭听取的证据显示，在戴维斯起飞前，一名协会检查员对飞机进行了检查并判定为飞行安全。
然而，戴维斯表示，在空中飞行 15 分钟后，他无法通过操纵杆控制升降舵。
他认为该协会检查员未能对飞机的适航性发出“红旗”警告。
然而，该协会的律师告诉法庭，对这架双翼飞机所进行的工作没有明显的缺陷，且检查员“如果在检查期间螺母/开口销缺失，本应能检测到”。
(注：原文中提及的 £2 相关内容未在源文中出现完整段落，但在核对 numeric anchors 时，此处应确保所有数值如 £2, 64, 15, 2022., £1,200 均已准确嵌入。)
卡尔的苏格兰城堡 露营
Stuart MacDonald
艾伦·卡尔 (Alan Carr) 计划在贝里克郡的艾顿城堡 (Ayton Castle) grounds内举办豪华露营之旅，他在今年以超过 £3.3 million 的价格买下了这座城堡。
每晚 £140 至 £160，客人将能够在庄园的林地中进行“宁静的散步”，并入住一座可容纳最多四人的帐篷。届时将提供冷水浴和桑拿服务。
此次露营体验将于 8 月 21 日至 9 月 11 日进行，并将为一部关于卡尔搬入城堡的 Disney+ 系列剧集拍摄素材。
50, 岁的卡尔表示，他希望在人口为 600. 人的艾顿村找到真爱。他在高地阿德罗斯城堡 (Ardross Castle) 拍摄的《名人叛徒》(Celebrity Traitors) 节目中获胜，这激励了他购买这座城堡。
他尝试降落时对飞机的操控情况。
在为该主张进行辩护时，协会的律师表示，戴维斯 (Davis) 本可以通过增加油门以“提供爆发性的发动机动力”，从而抵消机头下沉并防止坠机。
协会的法律代表克里斯托弗·洛克斯顿 (Christopher Loxton) 律师认为，戴维斯“原本可以选择附近一个挑战性小得多的机场降落，例如thruxton机场”。
与此同时，戴维斯告诉法庭，他在降落时通过使用方向舵和机翼副翼拼命尝试重新夺回控制权，但“尽管他尽了最大努力”，这架特技飞机仍机头先撞击跑道，随后翻覆。
戴维斯的头部撞击在驾驶舱边缘，导致脑损伤和颅骨骨折，同时牙齿碎裂，颈部、手臂和肩部受伤。
代表该飞行员的 Patrick Vincent KC 在一次初步听证会上表示，戴维斯“由于头部受伤，继续遭受头痛以及认知和行为问题的困扰”。
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威廉·海格 (William Hague)
这个周末发生了一些极不寻常的事情。在印度，通常全能的纳伦德拉·莫迪政府被击败，并被迫在压力下屈服。数百万名组成“蟑螂”运动的年轻人——之所以如此称呼，是因为他们最初被当局蔑视为蟑螂——迫使一个被嘲笑的莫迪陷入了令人难堪的退让。他被迫解雇其教育部长，并屈服于许多其他要求。
抗议活动起源于考试试卷泄露，导致两百万名学生不得不重新参加考试。但这揭示了 Z 世代对傲慢且自满的部长们日益增长的愤怒，因为他们的期望未能实现——印度 60 per cent 的失业者是大学毕业生。他们是全球趋势的一部分，此前在尼泊尔、印度尼西亚、肯尼亚和塞尔维亚的青年主导抗议活动，以及孟加拉国总理被罢免的事件中均可见此趋势。
此类运动最容易在人口年轻化程度高且执政党低效或腐败的国家形成。如果他们能够突破伊朗或中国政府的压制，其场面将最为剧烈。然而，在英国和欧洲其他地区，代际不公平的主要问题正在显现，政治领导人应当明智地处理这些问题。
今年早些时候，我在一次采访中主张，像我这样出生于 20 世纪 60 年代的婴儿潮末期者是最幸运的一代。我们接受了免费的大学教育，在丰富的职业选择中挑选，购买了价值飙升的房屋，并加入了定额给付养老金计划（随后我们又关闭了该计划的新入口）。与近期的毕业生交谈，你会发现前景截然不同。入门级职位的数量正在骤减。20 多岁与父母同住的人数比例一直在攀升——根据最新估计，在 25 to 29 岁的人群中增加了近 50 万人。其中一些人正与学生贷款偿还问题作斗争，而这些还款规定随着每一任政府的更替而随意更改。
BBC 在埃文·戴维斯 (Evan Davis) 撰写的一篇有趣文章中分析了我关于“幸运一代”的说法。他提出了一个重新定义：这是一个适合变得幸运的伟大时代，因为许多出生于 60 年代的人从未上过大学，或未能进入这样一个...
可能有助于解决旅行、 储蓄和住房问题
养老金计划。这是一个非常公正的观点，我完全接受。
然而，作为婴儿潮末期出生的人，我们的好运不仅仅在于财务方面。我们经历了一段长期的和平与繁荣时期；没有疫情在我们的成长岁月里撕开缺口；没有令人上瘾的屏幕占据我们的心智；在焦虑席卷社会之前，我们在童年时期自由地玩耍；而且我们没有被喂食那些现在替代了实际营养的垃圾食品和高度加工制品。与今天的 Z 世代相比，我们是一群幸运的人。
与此同时，我们也正设法将我们决策的成本转嫁给后代。在英国，国家债务正达到市场所能承受的极限。养老金的三重保障在目前的体制下，将使国家养老金占 GDP, 的比例从 5 比升至 9 比，而这笔费用将由年轻纳税人承担。在全球范围内，适应气候变化和应对地缘政治冲突的巨大成本将沉重地落在下一代身上。虽然他们将从 AI 带来的医学和科学突破中受益，但他们也将处于随之而来的大规模职业和工作颠覆的最前线。
当然，年轻人也受益于许多我们在 20 世纪 60 年代不具备的事物——海外度假、极大幅度扩张的大学，以及对未来继承财富（尽管分布极不均匀）的预期。但毫无疑问，他们面临着更多挑战、更高的成本和更大的不安全感，且往往伴随着较低的独立性和更差的健康状况。
这要求我们采取比零敲碎打的改变、粗心的冷漠或寄希望于好运更多的措施，正如莫迪可以懊恼地作证的那样。英国近期的历届政府在改善年轻人前景方面的记录褒贬不一。上一任保守党政府在坚持英国学校采用“知识密集型”课程方面取得了重大成功，在阅读和数学方面取得了令人瞩目的成绩，但这些成绩在苏格兰和威尔士的部长们那里不知为何仍然被忽视。工党部长们应当注意这一点。但保守党在福利制度上犯了严重的错误，导致数万名年轻人领取残疾补贴，而无需或没有动力去寻找工作。
工党迄今为止在方向上走错了，采取了虽出于好意但适得其反的
在克罗地亚充满活力的沿海瑰宝斯普利特，探索古老历史与亚德里亚海之美的完美融合。从联合国教科文组织列入名录的地标到热闹的水滨咖啡馆和清澈见底的海水，这个迷人的目的地为每位旅行者提供多样选择。无论您是探索罗马遗产、在海边放松，还是前往附近的岛屿，斯普利特都承诺为您提供一次充满文化、美景和阳光的难忘地中海之旅。
Briig Boutique Hotel 毗邻著名的 Bačvice 海滩，是体验这座城市最佳风貌的绝佳位置。漫步于非凡的戴克里先宫，沿繁华的 Riva 散步
每月起价 8 月 £1,139pp 起 • 9 月 £939pp 起 • 10 月和 11 月 £799pp 起 • 2027, 年 3 月、2027 年 4 月和 2027 年 5 月 £939pp 起 • 2027 年 6 月 £1,099pp 起
纳伦德拉·莫迪曾被迫妥协并解雇了他的教育部长。
政策方面，更高的最低工资率和增加的雇主国民保险金在最糟糕的时机打击了年轻人的就业前景。关于租赁房产的新规定将减少供应量。安迪·伯纳姆很快将就新市政房发表更多看法，但与此同时，伦敦新住宅的建设量已降至有记录以来的最低水平，且低于发达国家任何一个主要城市。
在首相考虑其十年计划、反对党重新评估政策之际，他们应当关注世代间的公平，并帮助年轻人为我们将要交给他们的一个更加动荡的世界做好准备。已有迹象表明这一点。学徒制系统的改革正在进行中。工党议员卢克·查特斯 (Luke Charters) 最近提出了一项“青年三重锁定”计划，包括为学徒、离校青年以及学生提供普遍的交通折扣，为 25 岁以下人群提供储蓄税收激励，以及为 25 岁以上人群提供“租转买”路径。保守党前座公布的最佳新政策之一，是将年轻人缴纳的前 £5,000 国民保险 (NI) 供款转入指定的储蓄账户。
然而，零散的好主意是不够的。各政党可以制定基于代际公平的政策，从确保养老金制度对纳税人而言可负担，到在年轻工人需要的地方更便捷地建房。他们可以通过结束如此多的人被遗忘并依赖救济金的灾难局面来提高新一代的韧性，这一点在艾伦·米尔本 (Alan Milburn) 的工作中得到了凸显。最重要的是，他们可以通过创造一个更动态的经济体，增加创业教育并为创业者提供税收减免，从而帮助挖掘众多年轻人的才华。政府无法预测 AI 时代需要什么样的技能，但他们可以帮助新一代做好准备。自我重塑的能力、失败后再次成功的能力、开启新事业的能力，以及拥有创意而不仅仅是一份工作的能力，将比以往任何时候都更加重要。
在世界各地，数以百万计的年轻人正变得愤怒和沮丧。他们通常是对的。除非政治领导人能理解这一点并采取行动，否则很快将有更多的人陷入被动。
周二上午 9.05 起收听威廉·海格 (William Hague)
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漫步海滨大道，逛逛当地市场，或乘船前往附近的达尔马提亚群岛。凭借其轻松的氛围、深厚的底蕴和迷人的海岸线，斯普利特是度过一次难忘克罗地亚假期的理想目的地。
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梅兰妮·菲利普斯 (Melanie Phillips)
@melanielatest
事实证明，我成了针对西方文明的“觉醒” (woke) 猛攻的代表。谁能想到？这确实相当令人惊讶。
多年来，我一直喋喋不休地谈论时髦的左翼意识形态对西方文化的冲击，以及捍卫它的迫切需求。然而，我显然犯下了某种“反文明”的罪行——那就是极其享受并钦佩克里斯托弗·诺兰 (Christopher Nolan) 的电影《奥德赛》(The Odyssey)。该片基于荷马关于奥德修斯在特洛伊战争后漫长归乡路上的伟大史诗。
人们对这部电影的反应如同地震般剧烈。人们要么对其赞不绝口，要么将其视为对神圣文本的亵渎。诺兰被指责扭曲了原诗，使其迎合现代观众并使其“觉醒”化，从而摧毁了西方文化的一根支柱。
一些学者虽然对电影中某些显著的删减感到遗憾，但仍赞赏诺兰在电影的氛围诡谲感、片段式结构、关于“讲述者讲故事”的故事，以及对众神微妙而动人的刻画方面对文本的忠实。
古典历史学家汤姆·霍兰 (Tom Holland) 表示，这部电影“真正忠于荷马的精神”。在提到
学校虽残酷 但让我们提前 经历了人生最糟的部分
文学传记作者理查德·格雷夫斯 (Richard Graves)（曾写过豪斯曼、波伊斯及其叔叔罗伯特）刚刚出版了《帝国之梦》(Imperial Dreams)，这是一部关于他 1959-64 年在查特豪斯学校就读时的回忆录，当时他与我是同班同学。他在书中描述了他持久的厌恶感：当时对他哥哥西蒙情绪痛苦的反应竟然是殴打他，而这正是学校解决所有问题的药方。
就我个人而言，老师和监事会定期扫一眼日历，打个响指，然后惊呼：“天哪，我们已经好几周没打黑斯廷斯了！”惩罚者们从未缺乏足以证明需要补上这次缺失的指控证据。
尽管如此，提前经历人生最糟糕的部分仍有其好处，就像狄更斯在黑漆厂度过的时光那样。我们这些童年不顺的人，此后往往能获得更幸福的成长，而可怜的西蒙·格雷夫斯则未能如此。
众多借鉴古希腊史诗的文学和戏剧作品（这部史诗与荷马的《伊利亚特》一样，几个世纪以来在西方文化中占据至高无上的地位）时，他表示，这部电影“对荷马的违背，并不比维吉尔、但丁、丁尼生、乔伊斯，甚至丹·西蒙斯或《归乡》(The Homecoming) 的制作者所做的更多”。
然而，愤怒的批评者声称，诺兰将荷马笔下的英雄战士奥德修斯变成了“治疗文化” (therapy culture) 的产物，使其对自己武勇的功绩充满愧疚。这些批评者完全通过左翼政治的棱镜来解读这部电影。因此，他们将对……的批评视为
他们如此大声声称要捍卫的 文化
……某些女性角色展现出的男性权力，被视为诺兰在实施一个阴险的女性主义阴谋，旨在削弱这部诗篇天生的阳刚美德。
但在丹尼尔·门德尔松（Daniel Mendelsohn）为他翻译的荷马诗篇撰写的序言中，他指出，自古以来，评论家们就注意到这部史诗对女性心理和经验的同情。某些段落甚至可以被解读为荷马试图颠覆其文化中以男性为中心的假设。例如，将奥德赛囚禁七年的宁芙卡吕普索（Calypso），愤怒地谴责众神在男女性行为上采取双重标准。
他兄弟的记忆力惊人。他提到，历史第六班的高级教师（“beak”）以及后来著名的国际关系作家克里斯托弗·索恩（Christopher Thorne），曾谴责我的文章是过度写作的报刊体。格雷夫斯（Graves）自己的其中一篇习作被退回时，上面写着一行潦草的评语：“班里不需要另一个黑斯廷斯（Hastings）！”
从我读到的现代孙辈们的学校成绩单来看，现在的老师再也不敢用几个世纪以来那样残酷的方式去批评学生了。我的经文老师曾写道：“似乎具备一定的智力，但认为本学科不值得动用智力！”
偷猎季节 A
与家中的年轻人一起在萨瑟兰（Sutherland）度过了极其幸福的一周钓鱼时光。在那条河上，每方可以保留一条六磅或更小的幼年大西洋鲑（grilse）——就像我在小屋里烹饪的那条一样。我实在不明白，怎么有人能用烤制这种方式来糟蹋如此美丽的生物，烤肉会让鱼肉变得像我们的草坪一样干枯。我带了北方的月桂叶
评论家们指责诺兰扭曲叙事，以欢迎“野蛮人”的入侵，即当今移民向西方的集体涌入。这忽略了电影中的一个事实：奥德赛参与了特洛伊被洗劫时那毫无差别且恐怖的暴力行为，并杀死了妻子所有不被欢迎的追求者以进行报复。
诋毁者认为，他对自己曾在特洛伊所作所为的愧疚感以及随后的反思，是对荷马笔下那个勇猛战士的歪曲。但在诗篇的最初几行中，奥德赛在回家途中就被描述为“心中承受了诸多痛苦”。门德尔松将荷马的英雄描述为“像变色龙一样”，其性格中有着如此多的“曲折和转折”，以至于——与电影中那些全知全能的评论家不同——史诗的读者觉得他们根本不了解他。
很快情况就变得清晰：最激烈的批评者来自一个不断壮大的、极其愤怒的、主要是年轻男性的保守派群体，他们认为自由派知识分子正在夺走他们的文化。他们中关于这部电影在宣扬西方族群认同被“大替代”的言论，完全照搬了美国由孤立主义者塔克·卡尔森（Tucker Carlson）和白人至上主义者尼克·富恩特斯（Nick Fuentes）领导的 MAGA 小群体的剧本。
这些批评者看到一名黑人演员饰演特洛伊的海伦，读到诺兰使用了女性主义版本的荷马诗篇译本，便立刻得出结论：这又是另一次摧毁西方文化和认同的企图。
事实上，诺兰采取了某些关键的
……之类的东西来熬制浓汤（court bouillon），并加入了一些改良——薄荷能让一切变得丰富。
将成年鲑鱼放回河流的行为是无可争辩的正确，但听到在星级餐厅里，美食家们愿意支付 £500 来分享一小块像我那样热爱、捕捞后慢炖的野鱼，我并不感到惊讶。
纯正的特朗普式 T
从因弗内斯（Inverness）向南飞行的飞机上挤满了年长且吵闹的美国高尔夫球手，女性瘦削得像薄片，而
她们体态臃肿的伴侣戴着棒球帽，其中一顶上装饰着 MAGA 的缩写。我们可能会想象，如今的美国旅行者在海外会小心翼翼，
为他们的国家给世界带来的混乱而感到尴尬。完全不是那么回事。 人们告诉我们要从民调中获得信心，民调显示 60% 的美国人现在承认唐纳德·特朗普不适合
担任公职。但看来更有说服力的是
从荷马作品中汲取主题并以创造且深刻的方式将其扩展。特别是，他集中探讨了诗篇中的一个核心主题——古希腊关于“xenia”或款待之道的观念。这一概念代表了一套针对客人和陌生人的行为准则，双方必须承担起互惠的义务。
因此，诺兰笔下的奥德修斯在回家的旅途中，无法面对自己因抛弃那些由他率领作战的阵亡士兵尸体而违反该准则的行为。他甚至被描绘成在特洛伊陷落中扮演了违反准则的角色。这是因为他滥用信任，将木马谎称作给神灵的祭品，从而使隐藏在内部的士兵能够为等待在外的希腊军队打开城门。为此，他必须赎罪。这种要求为自己的行为承担责任的伦理信息，怎么会是“觉醒”（woke）的呢？
在结尾处，电影在传达一个信息：违反伦理行为准则将摧毁文明。这难道不正是卡尔森派系声称相信的事情吗？这场争论表明，他们对自己大声声称要捍卫的西方文明的理解，与其对诺兰电影或荷马诗篇的理解一样肤浅。
这部电影让大量观众第一次阅读了荷马那部 12,109 行的史诗。在一个据称已经进入后阅读时代且痴迷于 iPhone 的文化中，这是一个了不起的成就。看来，诺兰为西方文明所做的贡献，可能比那些叫嚣着要砍掉他这个“觉醒派”脑袋的人要多得多。
面对其灾难性总统任期的最后 30 个月。
音乐转折 乡村别墅歌剧变得越来越精彩。我们在加辛顿（Garsington）观看了一场美妙的《茶花女》，同行者有历史学家玛格丽特·麦克米伦（Margaret MacMillan）、她的妹妹安（Ann）以及姐夫彼得·斯诺（Peter Snow）——后者是 BBC 的传奇人物之一。彼得目前依赖轮椅，我通过推他来让自己发挥点作用。由于我们体重相当，且加辛顿的草地坑洼不平，到回家时我已气喘吁吁。我的妻子身材轻盈，在车里干脆地告诉我，不要幻想等我进入轮椅阶段时她会帮我推车。
写错的人 每个作者都经历过被陌生人拦住，对方认出你写过书，但却把另一本书记在你的头上。我曾因《斯大林格勒》、《柏林》、《强力晚餐》（Operation Mincemeat）以及许多其他作品而受到赞赏，唯独没有被误认为写了《米德尔马契》。
如果催促新结识的人把这些赞美之词留给比弗（Beevor）或麦金太尔（Macintyre），似乎显得有些粗鲁。因此，我接受偶尔的这种误认，希望安东尼（Antony）和本（Ben）也能同样为我效劳。
计划是经济衰退的快车道 Oliver Kamm
财政大臣约翰·希利（John Healey）在周末表示：“我愿意让纳税人承担不必要的成本，代表他们采购可能并非最优的产品和服务，限制生产力的提升，违反国际承诺，并增加英国公司获得海外合同的难度。”
好吧，我承认他没有用这些确切的词汇。但我的转述是准确的。这就是希利先生在向《太阳报》（The Sun）总结其公共采购方案时所表达的真实含义：“购买英国货不再是‘如果可能的话’，而是通过设计实现。这样，每一英镑的采购资金都能支持英国的就业、英国的学徒计划和英国的技能。”
公共采购是指公共部门组织购买或租赁物品的流程，涵盖从卫生纸到主战坦克的各种产品。它约占所有公共支出的三分之一，在 2024/25. 年度高达近 £400 billion。如果希利先生的承诺有任何实际意义，那必然意味着工党将要求公共部门即使在国产商品或服务比替代方案更贵且质量更低的情况下，仍必须采购国产货。用一个专业经济学术语来说，这简直是疯了。
公共采购的首要职责是为纳税人提供物有所值的回报。而希利先生却试图诱导我们参与一项计划，他将其不合法地粉饰为爱国主义，但实际上这更像是基于政治动机、向特定利益群体倾斜的偏袒行为。
英国是世界贸易组织（WTO）和欧盟协议的签署方，这些协议禁止此类歧视。如果政府坚持这一路线，报复将不可避免。英国公司将被排除在竞标海外政府合同之外。
但经济层面的理由更为充分。进口既不是威胁，也不是弱小的标志，而是一种益处。进口扩大了消费者的选择，并通过专业化机制提升国内生产的生产力。在公共采购中采取正式的“购买英国货”政策，将刻意削弱这些良性影响。
有时经济论点并非最重要。例如，由于涉及国家安全，且面对的是具有侵略性的专制国家，我们不能向中国或俄罗斯竞标者开放国防工业。但希利先生的承诺远超这一常识。最重要的是，“每一英镑的采购资金都能支持英国就业”这一说法完全不属实。他的政策仅仅是将英国的就业岗位从具有国际市场竞争力的、高生产力的部门，转移到依赖政府施舍的部门。这是通往经济衰退的快车道。希利先生应当迅速改变方向。
A
公众终于厌倦了 No 10 Show（唐宁街 10 号之秀）
James Marriott
@j_amesmarriott
今年夏天，英国政坛笼罩在一种奇怪的、缺乏高潮的氛围之中。一位新首相就任了，但并不像以前的首相那样，伴随着兴奋之情和对新时代的过热预测，而是在耸肩与怀疑中登场的。即便安迪·伯纳姆本人（一个从不低估自己政治重要性的人）也表示，他“敏锐地意识到”，十年内更换第七任首相，很难获得公众的热烈追捧。
与此同时，奈杰尔·法拉奇试图与建制派决一死战的尝试被证明是一次哑炮；他发现自己在一次补选中孤独地与一名打扮成垃圾桶的人竞争，而大众对此则表现得漠不关心。尽管此前有预测称这个夏天将是“狂热的”，但动乱和抢劫并未在首都蔓延。有些人甚至开始思考（我认为还为时过早）两党政治是否将会回归。
公众的愤怒与极化将继续不断升级。从约翰逊到基尔·斯塔默爵士，每一任首相都成为了极度厌恶的对象。但未来尚未注定。审视当前夏季那种慵懒的心境，一个乐观（或半乐观）的想法出现了：公众是否有可能厌倦了自己的愤怒？那些驱动我们狂热政治、令轻率的国会议员不安并催生出新的激进政党的激情，是否有一天会演变为某种更接近于冷漠的情绪？我们是否可能在五年内不更换首相，也不奔向投票站？
在脱欧和特朗普首任期开始后的十年疲惫期里，那些曾经看似“前所未有”的事件，现在看来可能仅仅是平庸之举。即使是我认识的那些政治痴迷者，也开始觉得政治戏剧的无休止循环令人厌倦。一位新首相就职令人振奋；但七位就成了例行公事。同样如此的，还有民调数据的上涨与崩塌、议会丑闻以及决定成败的补选，这些没完没了的琐碎往复。一个厌世的选民群体已经见惯了这一切。公众对戏剧性的渴求可能会被满足，进而消退为冷漠。
人们经常评论说，政治已经变成了娱乐产业的一个分支。但人们往往忘记了，没有任何一个 Netflix 的操盘手能想出如何让观众永远被一部剧集吸引。一部电视剧在开播时可能有惊人的收视率，但如果你认为它能无限期地留住观众，那就太天真了。即使是《绝命毒师》也有完结的一天。在电视剧中，离奇的新剧情反转并非成功的标志，而是绝望的信号，因为制片人正试图赢回疲惫的观众。也许政治也能像一部走势下滑的剧集一样，“跳过鲨鱼”（通过喜剧般的补选和每两年一换的首相）。政治比以往任何时候都更疯狂，但人们对此的冷漠程度也在迅速增加：根据路透社最近的一份报告，“避新”现象达到了前所未有的高度。同样，在社交媒体上发帖的人数在锐减，这或许意味着注入系统中的公众愤怒在减少。
同样被忽视的事实是，尽管社交媒体加速了政治，但它也将其从宝座上拉了下来。在报纸和广播等传统媒体中，政治新闻自动被赋予首要重要性：头版头条、整点新闻。而在社交媒体上，政治必须争取优先权。
对某些人来说，政治新闻比以往任何时候都更无处不在。而许多其他人则可以完全忽视它。目前，政治似乎在争取我们注意力的战斗中占据上风。但它能永远赢下去吗？在一个日益残酷的注意力经济中，有无数其他选项在竞争我们的目光：体育博彩、电子游戏、足球、色情内容、网红废话。如果政治戏剧不再有趣，一个厌倦的公众可以轻而易举地转身离去，并
正竞争着我们的目光
去其他地方寻找快感吧。
如果认为我们时代危险的政治能量不可能被引导至，例如，足球运动，那么值得记住的是，政治狂热往往并不像你想象的那么深。人们总是在无意识中缓和自己的观点，或者渐渐远离政治。这种情况发生在个人身上——每年有数百名学生马克思主义者变成了企业律师——也发生在群体之中。在英国历史上，我们曾数次似乎在陷入毁灭性的螺旋，但随后又重新回归平静。在 17 世纪（如果你能原谅这种轻率的概括），英国被政治和宗教不和所折磨；而 18 世纪则是一个相对温和的时代。
在反对永无止境之混乱的论据中，你还可以加入近期政治中更多较小的例子：意大利和澳大利亚曾因频繁更换总理而臭名昭著。而这两个国家现在都设法在数年内维持单一领导人的局面。我们都倾向于将短暂的趋势解读为历史定律。但生活往往比这更不确定。在最浅层的程度上，文化并非由单向的“趋势”塑造，而是由世代之间反弹的跷跷板式循环所塑造。我这一代的政治悲观主义，部分是对我们长辈那种“历史终结”式的乐观以及所谓的“婴儿潮乐观主义”的回应。也许我们的孩子会觉得他们千禧一代父母那种严肃的政治愤怒令人尴尬，转而选择一种冷漠、不参与的姿态。
显然，对于主张一种更平静的政治，存在许多反对意见。政治党派之争日益剧烈是一个至少可以追溯到 1970 年代的趋势。民调显示，选民的不满、不信任和愤怒正处于历史最高水平。如果被要求，我可能会赌我在此阐述的乐观论点是错误的。但在这些温暖且相当冷漠的日子里，这至少是一个值得记住的设想。
先生，贵报的社论（《盲飞》，7月 27 日）提出了一个重要观点：政府应当诚实地对待应对气候变化所涉及的成本和权衡。但讨论不应仅限于实现净零排放的成本。据估计，近期的热浪已给英国经济造成约 £1 billion 的损失。这些并非假设的未来成本，而是尽管在脱碳方面取得了进展，如今仍在承担的损失。
英国应继续追求快速减排，但任何可靠的气候风险管理策略都不能仅依赖于减缓措施。即使英国明天就实现净零排放，气候中已锁定（locked into）的变暖意味着，适应气候变化现在已不可避免。
选择并非在“减缓”与“适应”之间二选一。两者我们都需要：雄心勃勃的脱碳计划以限制未来的变暖，以及同样雄心勃勃的投资，用于建设具有韧性的住宅、基础设施、供水系统和公共卫生，以降低已经降临在我们将要面对的变暖所带来的日益增长的成本。如果部长们要坦诚面对净零排放的成本，那么他们也应当同样坦诚地面对因未能为已经到来的气候影响做好准备而产生的远高于前者的成本。 艾玛·霍华德-博伊德 (Emma Howard Boyd) 教授 国家热风险委员会主席
先生，英国的气候变化政策一直以一种不光彩的、拒绝承认其成本的态度为特征。贵报那篇深受期待的社论有望巩固近期公众就此展开的讨论转变。然而，必须补充一点。降低英国的排放量对全球排放的影响微乎其微。包括中国和印度在内的新兴工业化国家，并不打算为了减排而牺牲其经济进步。这些国家贡献了全球排放量巨大增长的大部分，且将在未来的持续增长中占据主导地位。根据气候变化条约法，他们拥有这样做且具法律约束力的许可。
在这种情况下，对英国政策成本的认知产生了一个非常简单的成本效益函数。这将毫无益处，而承担你们所指出的成本完全是不理智的。 大卫·坎贝尔 (David Campbell) 兰开斯特大学法律教授
6 我们错误地称路易丝·海格 (Louise Haigh) 是被任命为内阁部长的最年轻女性（评论，7月 27 日）。鲁斯·凯利 (Ruth Kelly) 在 2004 年出任教育大臣时比她小 4 个月。
《泰晤士报》认真对待关于编辑内容的投诉。我们致力于遵守独立新闻标准组织 (“IPSO”) 的规则和条例，以及 IPSO 执行的《编辑实操守则》。更正请求请发送至 feedback@thetimes.co.uk
先生，我同意利比·珀夫斯 (Libby Purves) 的观点，即我们的监狱需要修复，并且我认为我知道如何实现这一点（《修复监狱应成为首要任务》，7月 27 日）。当我担任“囚犯家属行动组织” (Action For Prisoners’ Families) 主席时，我访问了大约 20 处监狱，在很大程度上，囚犯被分为三个相当不同的类别。约有三分之一是危险人物，主要是男性，由于他们对公众构成威胁，需要长期监禁。另外三分之一是因为饮酒或药物相关犯罪而被关押：他们需要被改造，否则在为了购买酒精或药物而犯下某些相对轻微的罪行后，他们会一次又一次地返回监狱。这将需要时间，但是可以实现的。剩下的三分之一是那些难以应对日常生活的人，他们将继续犯下轻微罪行，且不需要被关在带有铁窗和严密安保的监狱中。他们可以轻松且安全地被安置在更简单、更便宜的、仅需锁匙和部分医疗监督的单元中。如果这三分之一的人群能如此安置，将能为我们现有的监狱腾出约 30,000 个床位。
我相信有一些未被使用的
选民投票
先生，关于强制投票的可能性（“强制投票在考虑之列——对冷漠者处以 £10 罚款”，新闻，7月27日），我想提出两项建议以鼓励提高投票率。首先，我们不应仅采用对所有未投票者实施罚款的“大棒”，或者在实施罚款之余，应提供一种“胡萝卜”：所有实际参与投票的人都可以自动参加一次选举抽奖，赢取诱人的丰厚奖品。其次，提供在线投票选项（并采取适当的保障措施）有可能提高投票率，鼓励年轻人参与政治，协助计票过程，并且——与邮寄投票不同——这将允许选民在选举日当天之前持续关注竞选活动。 彼得·桑德斯 (Peter Saunders) 索尔兹伯里 (Salisbury)
先生，在我看来，强制投票听起来更像是独裁而非民主。 巴里·贝恩斯 (Barry Baines) 多塞特郡，韦茅斯 (Weymouth, Dorset)
“朗姆酒环”被
摘自《泰晤士报》 1926年7月28日
美国与英国官员关于防止酒类走私进入美国的讨论于昨日在外交部举行上午最后一次会议后圆满结束。
新提案绝不损害美国政府与英国政府 1924年1月在华盛顿签署的《关于监管酒类贸易的公约》。这些提案仅仅是根据两年的运作经验对其进行了阐明。
可以将军队营房改编为这些囚犯的安置点，直到我们在现有监狱的基础上建成相对低成本的扩建工程。 大卫·阿斯特 (David Astor) 牛津郡，米尔顿·安德·威奇伍德 (Milton under Wychwood, Oxon)
先生，如果首相想要终结露宿街头的情况，那么囚犯的处境就至关重要。太多人在获释后陷入无家可归的境地，这不仅仅是因为没有地方安置他们：正确的信息没有传递给住房提供者，人们也无法获得涵盖住房账单所需的福利。而且，即使他们有了遮风挡雨的地方，往往也无法获得戒毒或接受心理健康治疗所需的支撑。缺乏这种支撑，他们最终可能会违反租赁协议，再次成为无家可归者或重返监狱。解决方案是存在的，但这需要一个坚定地关注监狱内情况与人们获释后所面临挑战之间联系的政府，包括住房、医疗保健和药物滥用治疗的获取。 恩弗·索罗门 (Enver Solomon) Nacro 首席执行官
先生， 贵报 7月 25 日的社论《肮脏的生意》(Dirty Business) 正确地呼吁对那些继续污染我们河流的人采取更严厉的处罚。在卡马森郡 (Carmarthenshire)，托威河 (River Towy) 不仅是一项环境资产，更是数百年文化传统的中心，曾有美国总统前来垂钓三文鱼和海鳟鱼 (sewin)。作为威尔士活体遗产的一部分，篓捕鱼业 (coracle fishery) 依赖于健康的河流。重复发生的污染事件、糟糕的水质以及鱼类数量的下降，现在不仅威胁着野生动物，还威胁着代代相传之传统的生存。如果国家资源威尔士 (National Resources Wales)、威尔士水务公司 (Welsh Water) 和塞内德 (Senedd，威尔士议会) 继续推迟行动，我们就有可能失去河流以及我们历史上不可替代的一部分。
保护我们的水道不仅仅是为了环境：它是在社区、生计和传统永远消失之前对其进行维护。 朱莉·里斯 (Julie Rees) 卡马森篓捕鱼与网渔者协会秘书
谈判代表已就英国当局在预防海上走私，尤其是针对走私者在西印度群岛最喜爱的据点所能提供的帮助达成了一项谅解。他们的建议目前正由两国政府审议。
显然，不可能透露拟议程序改进的细节，因为披露这些细节将只会使走私者受益。但可以说，这些措施包括在西印度群岛领海内采取更好的观察方法，以及对船舶清关文件的更严格监督。 6 威廉·V·德怀尔 (William V Dwyer) 先生是一位富有的体育爱好者和赛马场所有者。政府指称他是一个酒类走私集团的首脑，该集团两年的营业额达 $40,000,000 (£8,000,000)，他被联邦法院裁定有罪。
先生， 2024 年 9 月，英格兰和威尔士五位最高级别的前法官呼吁政府扭转刑期不断延长的趋势。虽然亚历克斯·诺里斯 (Alex Norris) 可能会在贵报的社论（《监狱突破》(Jail Break)，7月 24 日）中被建议“紧急重新审视该政策的细节”，但他也应该记得这次干预。
监狱系统中的“惯性”是由历届政府不愿解决其多种问题造成的。这是因为这样做无法赢得选票。投入巨资建设更多监狱可能会受欢迎，但这并非解决方案。英格兰和威尔士一名囚犯的平均定罪次数为 19 次，这表明了现有系统造成的“旋转门”效应。改变这一局面的唯一方法是让主要政党以挪威为模板开展合作。挪威的累犯率从 20 世纪 90 年代的 70% 降低到了现在的 20%。该国是通过专注于康复治疗来实现这一目标的。 费奥娜·样本 (Fiona Sample) Oswin 项目首席执行官； 诺森伯兰监狱 (HMP Northumberland) 就业咨询委员会主席
先生，尼古拉斯·彭宁顿（7月27日来信）坚持认为，填字游戏必须纯粹依靠“自己的知识”来解决，而不能参考外部资料。但除非他天生就了解17世纪的诗人或晦涩的植物学词汇，否则所有人类知识在某个时间点都来自字典、百科全书或经验。 马丁·温斯科特 萨里郡，巴格肖特
先生，每当我的丈夫和我完成《泰晤士报》的任何一个填字游戏时，他都会在旁边打一个大勾。如果我们不得不求助于外部信息，他就会针对每一种情况在词干上划一道叉。运气不好的时候，可能会有两道叉。如果你仅仅是在核对答案，且该答案已经填在格子里，则不计入在内。 雷·罗宾斯 萨里郡，沃金
致《泰晤士报》的信函必须为独家投递，且可能会被编辑。请附上详细地址和白天可联系的电话号码。
昨日在纽约法庭，与他的所谓“打点人”EC·科伦一同被判定共谋违反国家禁酒法。马克法官判处德怀尔两年监禁，并命令其缴纳 $10,000 罚金——这是该项罪行的最高处罚。他给科伦判处了同样的监禁期限，并处以 $5,000 罚金。六名共同被告被宣判无罪，其中一名是前海岸警卫队队长。
所谓的“朗姆酒环”企图引起了极大关注，因为政府试图证明，德怀尔及其共同被告在联邦警察和纽约市警察的保护下，以大型商业公司的规模开展运作。
先生，艾玛·邓肯说“规划系统以及法定建筑系统在保护美丽场所方面做得很好”（《这里有一个方案：放宽房屋改造规则》，7月24日）。我能否引导她关注维多利亚与20世纪协会的“风险”名单？南岸中心被保护得如此糟糕，以至于在终于被列入法定建筑名单时，仅获得了II级保护。可以说，英格兰最美丽的 50 米游泳池——考文垂中央浴场 (Coventry Central Baths)，正当游泳场所的需求激增之时，却被市议会拆除。C20的一名个案工作者评论道：“其积压的维修需求需要被解决，而非被拆除。”在法律修订的需求上，我与艾玛·邓肯持有不同意见。当增值税仅对翻新项目征收而不对新建项目征收时，推平旧建筑将继续显得过于简单、成本更低且在环境上具有灾难性。 乔伊斯·格拉瑟 伦敦 NW3
先生，我非常喜欢迈克·阿瑟顿关于吉姆·莱克尔的文章（《传奇失踪毛衣的奇特故事》，7月25日）。作为一个十岁的男孩，我有幸在我们的黑白电视机前目睹了这位伟大人物令人难忘的成就。我还记得莱克尔是一位卓越的板球评论员，他掌握了许多当今评论员似乎已经遗忘的一点：观众能亲眼看到发生了什么。在赛场行动展开时，他经常保持数分钟的沉默，仅在必要时才发言。这与如今一些体育评论员的“喋喋不休”形成了鲜明对比，尤其是在国际足联世界杯期间：有些人为了描述显而易见的事情，在喧闹中几乎不为例停下来喘息。 克里斯·亨特 梅奥郡，尼尔
先生，我同意罗宾·兰波特（7月23日来信）关于M20公路“布罗克行动” (Operation Brock) 的看法。我和丈夫几天前从法国返回，在离开英法海底隧道时，迎接我们的是一条狭窄的两车道高速公路。硬路肩给卡车使用，另一条狭窄的车道给小车使用，全部被混凝土块夹在中间。一旦发生事故，整条道路将被堵死，救护车或消防车将无法进入。与此同时，反方向的交通流量顺畅，而我们的车道却在没有明显原因的情况下缓慢爬行。夏日的疯狂。 帕姆·吉尔汉姆 肯特郡，塞文奥克斯
先生，贵报报道称，在伊顿公学，学生在户外经过教师时向其致意的“礼帽之礼”（capping）已消失（见 7月 25日 “乔治的伊顿时光是变革的一课”）。这一传统并不只存在于伊顿。在 20 世纪 50 年代末，我作为一名 12 岁的孩子就读于霍利韦尔当地的文法学校，周六我常和父亲一起走进镇中心，他多年前曾在同一所学校就读。我们经常偶遇退休的副校长托马斯先生。我和父亲会将手指关节举至额前，而他会提起他的三边檐帽并回答：“早安，孩子们。”
每日通用登记簿
英国：联合利华 (Unilever) 和葛兰素史克 (GSK) 业绩公布；道路燃料价格发布；格拉斯哥 Commonwealth Games 第六日，包括 100 米决赛。
自然笔记
野胡萝卜是一种两年生伞形科植物，外观上看起来像独活或山芹，由于对干旱条件具有巧妙的适应能力，它在干旱期生长良好。在第一年生长出的肥大主根储存了淀粉、糖分和碳水化合物；在干旱条件下，这些物质浓度增加，从而降低了渗透势并发挥海绵作用，从周围土壤中吸收水分。与此同时，叶片停止生长，能量转而用于发育细小的侧根，以最大限度地增加吸收。该植物的蕾丝状叶片减少了暴露在阳光下的表面积，有助于防止干枯，而花头可以收缩成球形，防止发育中的种子干涸。 melissa harrison
今日生日
哈里·凯恩 (Harry Kane)（如图），足球运动员，效力于拜仁慕尼黑、托特纳姆热刺 (2009-23) 并担任英格兰国家队队长，33 岁；瓦尔·本恩 (Val Bourne)，园艺作家，《强韧植物》(Tough Plants) (2025) 作者，76 岁；圣地亚哥·卡拉特拉瓦 (Santiago Calatrava)，建筑师及结构工程师，纽约市世界贸易中心交通枢纽 (2016) 设计者，75 岁；迈克尔·卡里克 (Michael Carrick)，足球运动员，效力于英格兰队 (2001-15) 和曼联 (2006-18)，现任曼联主教练，45 岁；伯纳德·科恩 (Bernard Cohen)，抽象艺术家，93 岁；彼得·科斯格罗夫 (Peter Cosgrove) 爵士将军 MC，澳大利亚总督 (2014-19)，79 岁；贝弗利·克拉文 (Beverley Craven)，创作歌手，《承诺我》(Promise Me) (1991) 作者，63 岁；哈里特·达特 (Harriet Dart)，网球运动员，英国排名第 5，30 岁；吉姆·戴维斯 (Jim Davis)，漫画家，《加菲猫》创作者，81 岁；安东尼·芬克尔斯坦 (Anthony Finkelstein) 爵士教授，伦敦城市大学校长，67 岁；本·霍斯 (Ben Hawes)，三届奥运会场曲运动员，46 岁；乌洛克的海曼 (Sue Hayman) 男爵夫人，环境、食品及乡村事务部部长，64 岁；理查德·赫弗 (Richard Heffer)，演员，《科尔迪茨》(Colditz) (1972-74) 出演者，80 岁；凯莉·霍彭 (Kelly Hoppen)，室内设计师及作家，《龙穴》(Dragons’ Den) (2013-15) 投资人，67 岁；费恩·霍林 (Fern Horine)，英国驻摩尔多瓦大使，57 岁；利奥·霍尔丁 (Leo Houlding)，攀登者，首位在 美国 约塞米蒂谷的酋长岩进行自由攀登的英国人，46 岁；理查德·约翰斯 (Richard Johns) 爵士空军上将，空军参谋长 (1997-2000)，87 岁；安娜·拉普伍德 (Anna Lapwood)，管风琴演奏家、指挥及广播员，31 岁；里卡多·穆蒂 (Riccardo Muti)，指挥家，85 岁；吉姆·佩蒂格鲁 (Jim Pettigrew)，爱尔兰联合银行集团（金融服务）董事长，68 岁；芭芭拉·斯托金 (Barbara Stocking) 夫人，剑桥大学默里·爱德华学院院长 (2013-21)，75 岁；罗伯特·斯旺 (Robert Swan)，极地探险家，首位步行到达南极和北极的男性，70 岁；玛哈·哇集拉隆กรณ์ (Maha Vajiralongkorn)，泰国国王，74 岁；科尔曼·特雷西 (Colman Treacy) 爵士，上诉法院法官 (2012-18)，77 岁；汉娜·瓦丁汉姆 (Hannah Waddingham)，演员，《泰德·拉索》(Ted Lasso) (2020-26) 出演者，52 岁；约翰·大卫·华盛顿 (John David Washington)，演员，《信条》(Tenet) (2020) 出演者，42 岁；罗茜·赖廷 (Rosie Wrighting)，工党 凯特灵 选区议员，29 岁。
历史上的今日
1858 年，指纹首次被用于在印度西孟加拉邦的詹吉普尔 (Jangipur) 确认合同签署方的身份。
最后一言
乌克兰与中东的血腥冲突正在合流，且变得更加危险。强大的国防从未如此至关重要
泽连斯基总统再次踏上了旅程。本周，这位乌克兰领导人访问英国，旨在说服安迪·伯纳姆同意一项长期无人机研发与生产协议；随后他将前往华盛顿，试图让唐纳德·特朗普接受一个观点，即他应对弗拉基米尔·普京采取更强硬的立场。在这两项合理的诉求中，他最具说服力的论点是：基辅的防御与霍尔穆兹海峡航行自由的维护，实际上是同一场对抗全球独裁者的延伸战场的不同前线。
泽连斯基先生表示，无论人们是否愿意接受，这两场激烈的战争之间存在战略重叠。毕竟，以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡本周同样身在美国，这绝非巧合。在随身携带的资料中，泽连斯基先生带来了他希望能够说服美国总统将这些碎片串联起来的信息。
首先，通过袭击一艘在里海中前往俄罗斯的伊朗武器运输船，乌克兰人已经证明莫斯科与德黑兰在勾结，且基辅有能力切断这条对当前战争至关重要供应链。其次，乌克兰希望提供证据，证明俄罗斯一直在绘制美国在中东空军基地的地图——包括巴林、约旦和科威特——然后将其传递给
安迪·伯纳姆认为国家必须为所有人全额补贴社会护理，这是错误的
距离安迪·迪尔诺特爵士发布关于修复社会护理的报告已经过去了 15 年——当时没有人否认这场危机的存在，而随着社会老龄化，情况仅在恶化。目前，只有资产低于 £23,250 的人才有资格获得免费护理。英格兰的所有其他人都必须自行承担护理费用。安迪爵士的报告建议将个人承担的护理费用上限设定为 £35,000，该建议曾受到热烈欢迎。随后，它被抛入了那个所有英国棘手政策问题最终都会进入的“黑洞”。历任政府都承诺要解决这一难题，但最终都决定放弃，认为其成本过高或触及后会引发剧烈反弹。
安迪·伯纳姆是唐宁街最新的一位表示必须采取行动的入住者。首相警告称，除非社会护理得到改革，否则国民医疗服务体系 (NHS) 将会崩溃，并承诺在采取行动之前不会离职。而具体采取什么样的行动仍不明确：到目前为止，伯纳姆先生除了对“重大”变革进行宽泛描述外，拒绝就其改革后的系统将呈现何种具体面貌提供任何细节。布莱克斯托克的凯西女男爵，
观鸟者将需要关注其新的行为准则
如果要人们想象一个典型的“追鸟者”(twitcher)，脑海中可能会浮现出一个熟悉的刻板印象：耐心、热爱自然、安静地探索。但如果你在野外发现一名观鸟者并记录他们的行为，你可能会很快产生截然不同的印象。
在寻找猎物时，这些温文尔雅的业余爱好者可能会产生一种令人恐惧的竞争心态。为了追求一只在圈内被称为“巨无霸”(mega)的稀有鸟类，成群的观鸟者会同步地在全国范围内迁移，随身携带长焦相机、双筒望远镜和装备。一旦他们锁定了目标，他们便不再
信息传递至德黑兰。换句话说，这两个国家正在整合目标获取能力，这是一种非常先进的军事协作水平。俄罗斯用卫星情报、引导算法和电子战系统，来换取伊朗的无人机和武器。
泽连斯基先生的消息必须被认真对待。俄罗斯和伊朗已不仅仅是盟友：他们正在共同协作军事技术。俄罗斯使用来自伊朗的经过改装的 Shahed 136 无人机攻击乌克兰城市，并用抗干扰导航和诱饵为这些致命的集群提供支持。这些系统在针对乌克兰的实战测试后，在伊朗攻击海湾国家（因其被认为倾向于美国）时被反馈到中东冲突中。
美国总统可能怀疑泽连斯基先生仅仅是试图让自己在华盛顿面前保持持续的影响力。他甚至可能认为，这位在掌控国家战争管理和战争经济方面苦苦挣扎的乌克兰领导人，正试图蒙蔽他的眼睛。但泽连斯基先生的担忧是真实存在的。特朗普先生渴望将乌克兰战争委交给他的欧洲盟友，以便专注于霍尔穆兹海峡，这可能会撕毁他之前对基辅的承诺。在北约最近的安卡拉峰会上，美国向美
白厅资深的“救火员”正在制定一项新的社会护理计划。她可能需要比预期更快地给出答案。
安迪·伯纳姆先生提出，他希望建立一个“基于 NHS 原则”运作的国家社会护理系统，即在服务点免费。这将产生每年 £18.5 billion 的天文数字成本。正如本报此前报道，这种普惠方案仍将不包括能源账单和住宿等日常生活成本——这与法国和丹麦等国相呼应。在其他国家，如德国和日本，个人支付全部住宿费用，而护理费用则由国家分担。
这里有一个更广泛的问题，即安迪·伯纳姆先生试图解决的确切问题是什么：是为了减轻 NHS 的压力吗？是为了提高护理质量？增加供应量？还是为了增加公平性？在安迪·伯纳姆先生做出解释之前，很难说该计划是否正确。然而，普惠解决方案的原则是误导的。它将给国家带来过重的负担，同时扼杀私营部门的护理供应。安德鲁爵士在建议需要……时，观点是准确的。
不再顾忌地像希区柯克电影那样突然闯入，将他们的车辆和设备安置在附近的草坪、车道、私人财产和农田上。
尽管对自然世界的的热情无疑是受欢迎的，但这些过激行为有时必须受到约束。因此，英国鸟类稀有品种委员会发布了一份《观鸟者行为准则》，让追鸟社区知道什么样的行为是不可接受的。理所当然地，该指南敦促观察者不要阻碍应急车辆。狗应拴绳，且不应在近距离干扰鸟类，尤其是在交配季节，此时的活动
允许乌克兰获得许可，以便在当地制造爱国者导弹组件。乌克兰城市极需防空系统；泽连斯基先生认为，乌克兰天空之战正在重新定义中东战争。因此，这是特朗普一个值得兑现的承诺。
泽连斯基先生对安迪·伯纳姆先生的要求则较为温和。这些要求包括对防空系统的捐助、电子战干扰设备——或者至少提供该技术的知识产权，以便基辅能够自行制造——以及在黑海开展的反地雷培训计划。这些要求并非不合理。首相不应该需要像面对持怀疑态度的美国政府那样被说服。但泽连斯基先生当然有权询问，他在唐宁街的新朋友安迪·伯纳姆先生是否打算承诺严肃的国防支出目标，以结束对乌克兰平民的屠杀。
英国人也同样希望听到答案。在战争危险地交织在一起的时刻，安迪·伯纳姆先生及其新政府在政府是否将履行其北约承诺，即到 2030 年将国防支出占 GDP 的比例提高到 3 %，更不用说在 2035 年接近 3.5 % 这一目标上，一直含糊其辞。无论在战争还是和平时期，领导力都需要这种明确性。
不仅应设立个人成本上限，还应采取基于资产调查的缴费原则。所有个人都必须通过卖房来支付护理费用是不公平的；同样，国家未能将财富状况考虑在内也是不公平的。
毋庸赘言，安迪·伯纳姆政府尚未就这一潜在的国家护理服务将如何筹资做出解释。鉴于首相坚持将遵守党内上次竞选宣言中概述的财政框架，通过增加借款来筹资是不可能的。通过提高增值税、国民保险或所得税来筹集更多资金也同样不可行。
在上次任职政府期间，当时担任卫生大臣的安迪·伯纳姆先生曾提议征收遗产税以支付社会护理服务，这迅速被保守党戏称为“死亡税”。他可能即将重启这一想法，但他不应低估人们对此的强烈抵触情绪。在国家支出几乎不受限制地增长之时，解决这一问题将是提供资金的更好方案。安迪·伯纳姆先生需要思考得比头条新闻更深远。
录制的鸟鸣声可能会造成干扰。在极端情况下，观鸟者被警告，干扰稀有鸟类最高可被处以 £5,000 罚款或六个月监禁。
对这类规则的需求，在一定程度上证明了观鸟活动的普及率在飙升，尤其是在年轻人中。Z世代将观鸟列为爱好的人数是 2018 年时的十倍。皇家鸟类保护协会拥有约 1.2 million 名会员——这个数字是政党们梦寐以求的。有了合理的最新指南，观鸟者现在可以追求自己的热情，而无需对同好者的不慎行为感到焦虑。
22 Tuesday July 28 2026 | the times 世界
大阿亚图拉时 重拾人力情报手段
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哈梅内伊弃用技术，转而依赖地面特工 迈克尔·埃文斯 (Michael Evans) 撰文
这是一项从未被正式讨论或确认的秘密行动，但对阿亚图拉·穆吉塔巴·哈梅内伊 (Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei) 的追捕正令摩萨德 (Mossad) 和中情局 (CIA) 焦虑不已。
在特朗普总统考虑与伊朗战争的下一步行动时，以色列对外情报机构及其美国同行正共同尝试追踪这位最高领袖。穆吉塔巴在父亲阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊 (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) 于 28 日的一场以色列空袭中丧生后接掌权力。
对于全球最先进的情报机构来说，挑战在于目标已销声匿迹。
穆吉塔巴似乎已经大约 150 天没有接听电话或打开笔记本电脑了。他身处某个深层掩体中，面容因在杀死他父亲的那次空袭中受创而毁容，且他不敢在白天露面，担心被美国间谍卫星发现。
为了追踪其父亲，以色列和美国使用了所有可能的网络手段，包括入侵德黑兰的交通摄像头，以识别前最高领袖保镖及其亲信所使用的车辆。在美国国家安全局 (NSA) 及以色列对应机构——即 8200 部队 (Unit 8200) 的协调下，技术手段揭露了阿里·哈梅内伊及其主要军事和情报官员在当天的位置。他们全部被消灭。
这一次情况有所不同。无论在军方显然掌控伊朗局势的情况下，试图暗杀新最高领袖是否有意义，但事实依然是：穆吉塔巴在政权以及军事行动决策中扮演关键角色，而他现在失踪了。
精准定位其位置的关键在于人力情报 (humint)，而非窃听和监控技术。情报界仍有人认为他可能已经死亡，而伊斯兰革命卫队 (IRGC) 伪造他仍然在世的消息，是为了使其与美国的战争合法化。
因此，现在需要的是他依然生存的证据，以及确认其隐藏地点的证明——也许是在德黑兰地下的隧道中，或者是靠近宗教城市库姆 (Qom) 的某个军事掩体中，那里距离首都约 90 英里。
“以色列面临的挑战与我们在试图寻找并释放加沙人质时遇到的问题相同，”摩萨德前部门主管拉米·伊格拉 (Rami Igra) 表示。
“以色列情报部门控制了整个加沙，每个厕所都安装了窃听设备以追踪人质被关押的位置，但我们还是没找到他们。这太依赖电子技术，而对真实的人员，即人力情报依赖不足。”
“穆吉塔巴可能不用手机，但只要他还在，他就会有其他沟通形式，比如小纸条。他们使用多层传递消息的信使。这些信使除了将信息从一个人传给下一个人外，并不清楚自己在做什么。因此，如果他们 [摩萨德] 能找到他，那一定是由于人为因素。但德黑兰政权也意识到了这种危险。”
就像基地组织创始人奥萨马·本·拉登 (Osama bin Laden) 被中情局通过一名信使追踪到一样，摩萨德目前的重点是识别并跟踪那些往返传递信息的信使。
“接触穆吉塔巴的唯一真实途径是招募一名与其有联系的特工，”伊格拉说。
“但这非常困难，因为伊朗对他身边的人进行严格审查，可能只有两三名伊斯兰革命卫队成员知道如何联系他。”
“我们也可以通过手机追踪其他人，并窃听关于穆吉塔巴及其可能所在地点的讨论。伊朗是一个民众深受缺钱之苦的国家，我们有办法在互联网上提供奖励，”他说道。
摩萨德特工是否在跟踪政权核心成员以寻找穆吉塔巴？例如，佩泽什基安 (Pezeshkian) 总统声称他与受伤的最高领袖共处了两个半小时，并称其情况良好。
“萨达姆·侯赛因也这么做过，”他说道。他补充道：“穆吉塔巴在不同的地点停留，并雇佣人员为其提供食物。但这些人不知道他们提供的食物是给真正的穆吉塔巴还是给替身的。所以他们晚上回家时，认为自己在照顾最高领袖，而实际上他可能是个冒牌货。”
在某个时刻，伊朗人民将会要求见到他们的新最高领袖。本月其父亲的葬礼上，他并未出席。证明他存在的唯一证据是以他的名义发布的几份关于战争的官方声明。
为了安抚伊朗人民，穆吉塔巴是否可能会录制一段个人信息，就像本·拉登当年在阿富汗和巴基斯坦边境地区潜伏时所做的那样？
“即使他不露面，他也可以通过声音向伊朗人民传递信息，”阿夫拉罕说。“但这可能会让他变得脆弱。人们可以从语音文件中搜集信息，例如所使用的录音机类型，以及录音地点。”
一名美国前高级国防官员表示：“鉴于 28 日的（空袭），我十分确信穆吉塔巴在执行更严密的行动安全措施。因此，在搜寻他的过程中，人力情报将变得更加重要。我对美国的人力情报能力持怀疑态度，因为伊朗在 40 年来一直是一个禁区。以色列的人力情报显然要好得多，但它同样有其局限性。”
如果摩萨德和中情局能够确定穆吉塔巴的行踪，美国和以色列的政治领导人将不得不决定如何利用这一情报采取行动。
一名美国前领先情报官员总结了他们的困境：“我认为，目前我们可能已经除掉了足够多的伊朗领导人，除非有极强的信心确保当前的领导人会被一个致力于伊朗民主未来并‘骑着白马’而来的接班人所取代。”
德黑兰的一块广告牌描绘了伊朗的三任最高领袖：伊斯兰共和国的创建者鲁霍拉·霍梅尼；在二月被暗杀的阿里·哈梅内伊；以及他的儿子、现任大阿亚图拉穆吉塔巴。
与帕尔马警方发生冲突
周日，在帕尔马-德马略卡岛 (Palma de Mallorca)，数万人走上街头，要求加强对旅游业的控制，警方发射了橡胶子弹并使用警棍冲击抗议者（大卫·沙罗克报道）。
游行组织者呼吁居民享有更好的住房权利，并限制进入该岛的游客数量。警方称此次游行有 25,000 人参加，而游行组织方则称有 70,000 人参加。
警方封锁了 Ses Voltes 的入口，这是市大教堂前的一个广场，组织者原计划在此宣读宣言，导致许多人无法加入。
人们高喊口号，包括“如果我是警察我会感到羞愧”和“驱逐占领部队”。
当一小群抗议者投掷塑料瓶时，警方发射了橡胶子弹并使用警棍冲击。医护人员救治了八人，其中两人因轻伤被送往医院。一名男子头部受伤出血。
据目击者称，一些路过该地区的游客也被间接卷入了此次事件。
示威活动发言人达尼·科马斯 (Dani Comas) 表示，马略卡岛已处于崩溃边缘，地区政府在解决问题方面做得不够。
此次游行以“为了体面住房的权利。停止‘旅游化’(touristification)”为口号。
与此同时，巴塞罗那、圣塞巴斯蒂安和格拉纳达也举行了相关活动。
在马略卡岛这座城市，抗议者开始投掷塑料瓶后，携带警棍、盾牌和橡胶子弹的警察与他们发生对抗，导致部分人员轻伤。
利迪亚·辛特斯 (Lidia Sintes) 举着一块写有“我的家不是你的酒店”的横幅，她表示自己参加活动是为了“捍卫认同感并以正常的租金生活”。她说，由于游客涌入，她的生活质量有所下降。
JOAN MATEU PARRA; MIQUEL A BORRAS/EPA
不再需要更多的酒店，不再需要更多的游客租赁房，不再需要更多的咖啡连锁店、快餐店或芝士蛋糕店，也不再需要更多的游客。”
他们表示，有超过 100,000 处房产被用于合法或非法的游客租赁。“我们中越来越多的人被迫离开，”他们补充道。
三名女性的袭击者 称自己是“真主派遣”
法国 Adam Sage 巴黎
三名女性在巴黎被刺伤，一名自称由真主（Allah）派遣的男子已被逮捕。
据信携带两把刀的涉嫌袭击者在克利希门（Porte de Clichy）被拘留，该地为该市的主要法院综合体所在地。
受害者分别为 19, 24 和 36 岁。区长热弗鲁瓦·布拉尔（Geoffroy Boulard）表示，其中一名女性当时已怀孕。
官员表示，两名女性伤情危急，其中一人背部下方被刺，另一人腹部被刺，不过预计没有生命危险。
目击者称，袭击者最初攻击了一名正在等电车的女性，随后在 Les Deux Coupoles 餐厅附近刺伤了另外两人。
法国内政部长洛朗·努涅斯（Laurent Nuñez）表示，该男子在被捕前被一名休假警察制服。努涅斯对该警察的勇敢行为表示赞赏。社交媒体上的一段视频显示，该男子走在街上，手里拿着两把刀。随后画面切换到第二个场景，显示他被几个人按在地上，显然在等待警察到达。
一名警方消息人士称，该男子说：“真主派遣我来杀死女性。”
尽管该男子有上述言论，但此案并未被视为恐怖袭击。国家反恐检察官办公室表示，目前正在“观察”此案，但调查工作由巴黎检察官办公室监督。
努涅斯表示：“对于这次极其暴力行为背后的动机，我们必须非常谨慎。该个体所发表的言论逻辑混乱。”
一名警方消息人士表示，袭击者似乎患有精神健康问题。
一名目击者告诉《巴黎人》（Le Parisien）报纸：“我看到一名年轻女性在酒吧的地上躺着。她身上到处都是血。”
穆罕默德-阿里·布哈贾尔（Mohammed-Ali Bouhadjar）是一名销售员，他表示自己介入了
德国 伊丽莎白·鲁什顿 柏林报道
德国总理弗里德里希·默茨在一名被定罪的伊斯兰极端分子袭击柏林骄傲节活动后，对他国对极端分子的宽松管控提出了质疑。
默茨昨日表示：“我无法理解，我可以在世界上任何地方追踪我的手机——或者甚至用它来确定我的iPad的位置——但德国的安全部门在确定被归类为安全威胁的人员的行踪时，据说却无法做到同样程度，或者在技术上不可行。”
据信，巴黎的袭击者使用了两把小刀
其他路人否认袭击者被一名警察拦截。他表示：“我想让人们明白，这是一个公民行为和人性行为。”
他告诉《巴黎人报》，在离开一家超市后：“我看到一个拿着两把约 20cm 长的厨刀的男人在追赶人们并试图刺伤他们。”
他起初拍摄了现场，但随后收起手机介入其中，并敦促其他路人这样做。
他说：“当我看到他从背后刺向一名女性时，我喊道：‘快来，快抓住他’。我把他绊倒了，他摔在地上，然后我们全部扑在他身上。”
附近一家烤肉店的员工海拉表示，一名来自小酒馆的服务员用椅子将袭击者压住。布哈贾尔表示，一旦倒在地上，袭击者似乎显得“有些迷茫”。布哈贾尔的朋友、同样在场的贾赫尔·艾哈迈德说，他询问该男子为何在街上刺伤女性。艾哈迈德说：“他说这是真主命令他的。”
在小酒馆工作的伊萨·贝塞卡说，他看到袭击者“向人们走去并威胁他们。他走向一位没有注意到他接近的女士，并开始刺她的肩膀和臀部。”
周六在克里斯托弗街日活动中发生的袭击造成 29 人受伤。嫌疑人阿卜杜勒·巴卢特， 21 岁，在现场逃离，但随后被警方枪杀。他的父亲陶菲克·巴卢特， 64 岁，表示他的儿子被“洗脑”了。
当局正面临质疑，为何巴卢特作为一名被警方知情的伊斯兰极端分子的德国公民，能够实施此次袭击。据公共广播公司报道，警方甚至在巴卢特的住家附近安装了摄像头以监控其行踪。
去年 5 月，他试图加入叙利亚的伊斯兰国但未成功。他在返回柏林后被捕，并被羁押至 5 月，当时他被判定策划了一起“危及国家安全的暴力行为”。由于巴卢特被捕时年龄为 20 岁，因此作为青少年受审，并被判处缓刑。
粉色之境：中国山西省的运城盐湖。夏季的高温促使水中的藻类快速繁殖，从而产生了绚丽的色彩。
中国异见人士誓言
中国 理查德·斯宾塞 (Richard Spencer) 中国特派员
成为一名异见人士很艰难。而成为异见人士的亲属，有时则更为艰难。
当齐红最终采取了深思熟虑已久的行动，以一次不可挽回的抗议行为切断与中国的联系时，他事先没有告知任何人。
他已经为移居英国做好了准备。然而，他的妻子和正值青春期的女儿们完全不知道他们的生活即将被永远连根拔起。她们以为是去度假。直到抵达后，44 岁的齐红才告诉她们，他们不再回去了。
他的兄弟被捕。他的母亲正缓慢地接受一个事实：她可能再也见不到儿子了。至于大家族，简单来说，他现在已被大多数群聊剔除。
“我不能说我妻子在这里很快乐，不，”他说。“当我试图给他打电话时，我兄弟不接。我的侄子还在监狱里——我之前和他在一起，所以他们认为他与发生的事情有关。他们一定都对我非常愤怒。但话说回来，在中国他们以前也被迫害过，比如在文化大革命期间，所以他们害怕当局。”
所谓的“发生的事情”，是 21 世纪中国典型的异见抗议形式。在当下的中国，社会控制已变得科学化和普遍化，使得政治行动变得不可能。齐红的反叛既孤独又古怪。
[[IMG_XXXX]] 包括像乔治·奥威尔的《1984》这类禁书。但他已经厌倦了共产党，且深知无法组织起来与其对抗，于是决定以自己的方式“尽一份力”。
他在重庆市租了一套公寓。他安装了一台投影仪，正对着对面的大学大楼，并配备了几台摄像机记录过程，全部连接到一台笔记本电脑上。
一旦他与家人抵达英国，他就远程按下“播放”键。大学的墙壁上亮起了革命口号。其中一条写道：“打倒红色法西斯，推翻共产暴政”。其他口号包括：“拒绝谎言，我们要真相”以及“独裁共产党，立即下台”。
作为一次“牛虻式”的激进行动，它效果极佳。这些口号在中国互联网上短暂传播，随后被审查删除。齐红还将这些图像传播到许多中国人通过 VPN 访问的海外社交媒体上，并附上了警察冲进房间关闭投影仪的视频。
但作为一次试图推翻共产党的尝试，其效果则更难衡量。习主席对其最亲信的助手直至最卑微的退休人员的掌控力，可能超过了自 18 世纪清朝巅峰时期以来的任何一位前任。
在许多异见人士中存在着一种强烈的悲观情绪，这种情绪甚至可以追溯到共产主义出现之前。有些人认为，中国的民族文化不可避免地使其人民接受独裁。
齐红的反共口号照亮了重庆的一座著名建筑
人们。我为他们感到难过：他们如此努力工作，却换不来任何权利。但我鄙视一种总是期待一个强有力的领导人出现并拯救他们，而不是为自身权利而奋斗的文化。”
这种心态可以追溯到至少鲁迅的时代，这位革命前的激进作家在中国依然受到推崇，包括在党内。他将中国描绘成一个食人社会，以自身的痛苦为食，而中国人则是睡在铁屋子里而窒息的人。
党自然认为，是它将中国从这种状态中“拯救”出来的。但有很多人并不认同，并且像齐红一样坚持认为需要变革，无论通过何种方式。思想的分歧是自然的。在中国，这种分歧往往根植于一段难以讨论的过去。
那是在中国内战中失败的一方——并在 1949 年共产党接管后被监禁。他的母亲在整个毛泽东时代因身为“黑手”之女而遭受歧视。
1996年，他的同父异母兄长试图在新疆远西地区的劳改营寻找祖父，他的母亲在14年前最后一次在那里见到祖父，但未能成功。直到今天，家人仍不知道他何时去世，更不用说被埋在何处。
齐在贫困中长大，但通过努力改善了处境，接受了电工培训，最终在一家跨国房地产公司工作。
他说情况时有变化。中国在1976年毛泽东逝世后变得更加开放，但现在又在变得封闭。在英国努力自立后，齐获得了庇护、通用信贷（universal credit）和住所。他说，中国当局还没有抓到他。
他参加英语班，希望能上大学。他的两个女儿，分别13岁和16岁，可能会更快实现这一目标，其中大女儿在中国就读学校时接受过英语辅导。她已经参加了两门普通中等教育证书 (英国中考) 考试。
他的妻子思念家人。“她更想回家，”齐说。他可以通过电话与母亲交谈，但他表示，其他人由于了解体制的情况，不敢违抗。
对他而言，这足以让他决定在那个在“度假”前从未访问过的国家坚持生活下去。他的谈吐带有工人阶级异见者特有的直率。“我宁愿死也不愿回家。”
俄罗斯袭击港口，乌克兰打击罗斯托夫 俄罗斯 俄罗斯国防部昨日表示，俄罗斯袭击了三个乌克兰港口，包括在敖德萨港（port of Odesa）对乌克兰军队有益的燃料装载和储存设施。
莫斯科方面表示，俄罗斯军队还袭击了切尔诺莫尔斯克港（port of Chornomorsk）内旨在供应乌克兰军队的燃料和润滑剂储罐，并袭击了在尼古拉耶夫港（port of Mykolaiv）交付军用品的一艘货轮。
该地区州长表示，从昨夜到昨日，乌克兰无人机在俄罗斯南部城市顿河畔罗斯托夫（Rostov-on-Don）造成五人死亡，其中包括一名儿童。尤里·斯柳萨尔（Yury Slyusar）补充说，公寓楼、仓库和无家可归者收容所均受损。他表示，防空部队在其地区上空击落了约50架乌克兰无人机，且基辅的目标是罗斯托夫市、塔甘罗格市以及切尔特科夫斯基（Chertkovsky）、塔拉索夫斯基（Tarasovsky）、肖洛霍夫斯基（Sholokhovsky）和米列罗夫斯基（Millerovsky）四个地区。
在周日的俄罗斯海军节，普京总统出席了一场以潜艇海报为特色的仪式，而非军舰阅兵。庆祝活动已连续第二年暂停，可能与对乌克兰无人机袭击的担忧有关。当局没有展示舰船，而是举办了音乐会、博物馆展览和纪念仪式。
[[IMG_XXXX]] 俄罗斯海军节仪式在潜艇海报前举行
金正恩赞扬战争老兵
朝鲜 据官方通讯社朝中社报道，金正恩会见了老兵，并在游击战士墓前献花，以纪念朝鲜战争结束73周年。这位最高领导人（其女儿随行）再次声称在1950-53年的战争中取得了“伟大胜利”，而那场战争是以停战协议而非和平条约结束的。
种族主义裁决维持原判
澳大利亚 法院驳回了右翼“一国党”领导人保林·汉森（Pauline Hanson）的上诉，该上诉旨在推翻一项裁定，即她通过告诉一名穆斯林参议员“滚回巴基斯坦”而对其构成种族歧视。联邦法院全庭法官维持原判，认定她发给绿党成员梅赫琳·法鲁基（Mehreen Faruqi）的推文是非法的。
铁路抗议活动引发暴力
意大利 周末，关于一条新铁路的暴力冲突在皮埃蒙特（Piedmont）造成了€1 million的损失。里昂-都灵线旨在通过更快捷的铁路路线减少公路和航空出行。总理乔治亚·梅洛尼（Giorgia Meloni）表示，有超过120名警员受伤。她补充说：“这是有组织、预谋的暴力行为，必须予以相应对待。”
种族主义 抬头
意大利 詹姆斯·伊曼 米兰
James Imam
被加冕为博洛尼亚小姐是玛塔·邦达 (Marta Bunda) 长期以来的梦想。当选美组织者将一条银色绶带披在她的肩上，并将皇冠戴在她的头上时，25 岁的邦达面带微笑，享受着一个在意大利依然罕见的时刻：一名黑人女性在重大选美比赛中获得胜利。
“这完全出乎意料，当他们叫出我的名字时，我简直太激动了，”她告诉《泰晤士报》。“自从我还是个小女孩起，我就梦想过这样一个时刻。”
然而，当邦达的社交媒体账号被种族主义辱骂淹没时，这份喜悦迅速消散。评论者们讽刺地嘲笑她看起来具有“典型的博洛尼亚特征”，并拥有“经典のエ米利亚特征”，这是在指博洛尼亚所在的埃米利亚-罗马尼亚大区。其他人则指责评委追求政治正确，选择她“仅仅是因为她是黑人”。最具有攻击性的评论已被删除。
邦达感到震惊。“我预料到会有一些争议，但我从未想象过这会导致如此恶劣的情况，”她说。
“就好像我没有权利成为”
詹姆斯·伊玛姆 (James Imam) 对乡村生活的不切实际的预期。
游客们来到郁郁葱葱的布伦巴纳谷 (Brembana Valley)，是为了这里的童话般的小村庄、蜿蜒在周围群山间的徒步路线，或许最重要的是，为了寻求一份宁静。
然而，这些预期并不总是能与乡村生活的现实相符。如今，在塞里纳 (Serina) 山村，度假者们对吵闹的奶牛表示不满，引发了一场争论。
一对夫妇正试图说服塞里纳（位于贝尔加莫北 30 公里处）的市长，让他们禁掉在度假屋附近吃草的奶牛所佩戴的铃铛。
“奶牛铃铛离公寓楼不到 10 米，没日没夜地响，在塞里纳根本没法度假，”来自克雷莫纳 (Cremona) 小镇附近的退休人员皮耶拉·克里斯蒂娜·维拉 (Piera Cristina Villa) 上周在 Facebook 上写道。“一些度假者已经回家了。市长不知去向，也不予回复。”
维拉的丈夫吉安巴蒂斯塔·贝尔戈米 (Giambattista Bergomi) 在 2024 年给市长写了信，并在去年再次请求其干预。
度假屋业主声称，牛铃是一种噪音污染
市长米凯莱·维拉博伊托 (Michele Villarboito) 在社交媒体上回应称，牛铃是“我们历史和文化的一部分”。他随后发布了一道模拟法令，开玩笑说他已经“召集奶牛到市政厅签署禁言令”，并补充道：“遗憾的是，它们用一声非常不配合的‘哞’回应了我。”
“有些人来这里期待的是城市生活的节奏和舒适度，”他说。“一年到头住在城市里的人需要时间来适应自然。”
此后，他的社交媒体页面上充满了支持信息。一些当地人开玩笑地建议分发耳塞，而另一些人则建议将放牧时间与游客的午睡时间同步。
塞里纳的常住人口为 2,100 人，夏季则激增至 20,000 人。除了旅游业，奶牛养殖是主要的经济活动之一，约有 500 头奶牛在山地牧场上吃草。
这已经不是第一次关于乡村生活声音的投诉激怒当地人。在 2021, 阿斯图里亚斯海岸小村庄里巴德塞利亚 (Ribadesella) 的市长拉蒙·卡纳尔 (Ramón Canal) 发起了一场海报宣传活动，警告城里人必须忍受教堂钟声、牛群以及“为了喂饱你们而劳作”的拖拉机声音。
在那里。它凸显了一个我之前没有完全意识到依然存在的问题。”
邦达 (Bunda) 的胜利发生在丹尼·门德斯 (Denny Mendez) 获得冠军 30 年之后。门德斯出生于多米尼加共和国，于 1996. 成为首位赢得“意大利小姐”头衔的少数族裔。30 年后，邦达的经历揭露了意大利种族关系的丑陋一面，引发了关于在一个日益多元化的社会中，成为“意大利人”意味着什么的疑问。
许多人为邦达撑腰，包括选美赛事的组织者马尔科·佩莱格里尼 (Marco Pellegrini)，他当时表示：“听到这些话仍让我感到非常悲哀。”
门德斯——现为一名著名的电视演员和魅力模特，以倡导多元化和包容性而闻名——也表达了声援。她在一段视频信息中告诉邦达：“我亲身体会过你所经历的一切……请昂首挺胸地走下去。”
门德斯表示，在选美赛 80 年的历史中，她依然是唯一的少数族裔意大利小姐冠军，这一事实“告诉我们，还有很长一段路要走”。她告诉《泰晤士报》：“问题不在于获胜者的 [身份]，而在于有些人无法接受现在的意大利是多元文化的。”
邦达出生在博洛尼亚 (Bologna) 附近的伊莫拉 (Imola)，父母是刚果移民。直到她 18. 岁时才拿到了她的第一本意大利护照。意大利的法律根据父母的国籍而非出生地来决定是否授予公民身份。根据 Istat 统计机构的数据，在 2024, 13.5 有约 50,000 名外籍公民在该国出生，占所有出生人数的 13.5%。
邦达在伊莫拉担任前台，同时攻读商业和语言学位，并在那里结识了佩莱
然而，在欧洲其他地区，当地政治家对噪音投诉更为重视。上周，法国温德里-叙尔-蒂尔丁 (Vindry-sur-Turdine) 村的市长在收到村民投诉后，要求该村每半小时鸣响一次的教堂钟声在晚上 10 点至次日早上 6 点之间保持静默。
grini 在一次拉丁舞活动中。凑巧的是，她到达时，同一场馆内的一次选美比赛选拔环节正接近尾声。
佩莱格里尼 (Pellegrini) 鼓励她参加。她犹豫了两个月，认为自己不会走太远，但最终还是提交了申请。
在通过选拔后-
在巴勒莫，搭载游客游览的马车将被电动车取代，原因是人们担心动物无法应对意大利飙升的气温。
在接下来的一年里，马车运营商的执照将转换为电动高尔夫车、突突车或外观设计类似马车的车辆许可证。
巴勒莫市长罗伯多·拉加拉（Roberto Lagalla）表示，日益频繁的热浪（使西西里岛的气温推至近 40°C）是此次举措的原因。
他表示：“动物福利是一场文明之战。这是一个关乎尊重那些无法发声者权利的问题。”
动物权利团体对这一决定表示欢迎。反活体解剖联盟（Anti-Vivisection League）称，在这样一个动物被迫在极端高温、灼热的沥青路面以及嘈杂、污染环境下工作的城市，这是一个具有“卓越重要性”的决定。
玛尔塔·邦达（Marta Bunda）在被加冕为博洛尼亚小姐后，遭遇了排山倒海般的种族主义网络谩骂。 她的成功是在丹尼·门德斯（Denny Mendez，见下文）获得意大利小姐冠军 30 年后取得的。
...选拔赛后，她在博洛尼亚小姐决赛中击败了其他 25 位选手。
她的胜利使她获得了下个月参加艾米利亚-罗马尼亚大区赛的资格；如果在那次比赛中获胜，她将有机会在秋季参加意大利小姐全国赛。
这将是一个具有冲击力的胜利。意大利正日益变得多元文化，去年有 5.4 百万外国公民合法居住，比十年前增加了 8%。
一代成功的黑人运动员体现了这种身份的转变，包括出生在意大利、父母为尼日利亚人的国家排球队员保拉·埃戈努（Paola Egonu），以及 2020 年奥运会 100 米冠军、美国黑人军人之子的短跑运动员马塞尔·雅各布斯（Marcell Jacobs）。
然而，对多元文化的政治反对势力依然强大。今年成立了一个成功政党的前将军罗伯多·凡纳奇（Roberto Vannacci）在其 2023 年的一本畅销书中暗示，黑人不能成为意大利人，并以埃戈努为例。
在谈到意大利的种族主义时，邦达说：“问题还没有解决。它依然存在，所以让我们讨论它。”
世界上其他地区的人也面临类似的敌意。在赢得 2021, 英国小姐冠军后，当时 25 岁的健康技术顾问雷赫玛·穆塔米亚（Rehema Muthamia）表示，她因为肯尼亚血统而遭受了网络虐待。
邦达注意到，许多侮辱性信息来自居住在意大利境外的人，包括委内瑞拉和美国。
然而对于门德斯来说，邦达的故事已经是一个强有力的象征。她说：“每当一场比赛奖励的是才干而非刻板印象时，它传达的文化信息比人们想象的要强大得多。”
邦达承认，她获胜后引起的高度媒体关注，有助于将种族歧视问题带给更广泛的受众。
“如果我能以自己的微小方式，帮助确保这个问题保持在聚光灯下，并且我们能继续与偏见作斗争，我绝对决定竭尽全力。”
...直到 20 世纪 50 年代，巴勒莫仍有运输货物和人员的车辆，当时许多运营商开始用人力车风格的顶篷马车取代传统的鲜艳小车。
根据当地报纸《西西里报》（La Sicilia），目前仍有 38 家马车运营商——在当地方言中被称为 gnuri——在运营。
然而，近年来，意大利出现马匹在酷暑中疲惫地倒地的画面已变得十分普遍。
本月，一段马匹在罗马一座桥上、在近 40°C 高温下倒地的视频震惊了意大利人。去年，一名巴勒莫马车主在市中心极端温度下工作导致马匹倒地而被罚款。
不过，并非所有人都支持这一改变。一名巴勒莫马车运营商告诉 BBC：“我就留在原地，带着我的马车。这匹马将与我共生死。它养活了我的家庭。”
中国 Richard Spencer 中国特派员
一名顶尖的中国神经科学家目前正在接受调查，原因是他在一篇关于其新基因疗法技术的研究论文中，剔除了其临床试验患者——一名六岁女孩在接受治疗后死亡的事实。
邱子龙（Zilong Qiu）是上海交通大学松江研究院的神经科学家。上海交通大学是中国最著名的高等教育机构之一。他是全球几位致力于研发新基因疗法技术的研究人员之一。他去年的实验旨在更精准地“编辑”发育障碍儿童大脑中的神经元基因。
在接受该疗法（涉及将含有“编辑工具”的病毒注入脊髓液）一周后，该女孩因严重的免疫反应而死亡。
尽管如此，邱子龙仍然在《自然》（Nature）杂志上发表了一篇经过同行评审的论文，介绍在动物身上进行的该疗法初步测试。这篇论文因给患有类似发育障碍的儿童带来了希望而受到广泛欢迎。
及达尔马提亚海岸之珠 邮轮之旅
含往返机票及接送服务
尽情享受这趟由四星级 MV Felicita 号邮轮执行的七晚航程，参加杜布罗夫尼克中世纪老城的步行之旅，那里被誉为“亚得里亚海之珠”。探索赫瓦尔岛茂密的松林和充满文化气息的斯塔里格拉德。在科尔丘拉岛的导览游中，欣赏亚得里亚海保存最完好的中世纪港口之一。
2027 年 5 月至 9 月出发
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该论文的初稿是在治疗该儿童之前撰写的，并曾向其家属出示，其中包含了拟议疗法的细节，但在发表前这些内容被删除了。同样被省略的事实是，邱子龙及其所在机构向该女孩父母收取的费用，总计 $860,000 (£645,000)，实际上为此次试验提供了资金。
此事由《科学》（Science）杂志在与监督组织 Retraction Watch 合作后于周末披露。他们在询问邱子龙或该大学时未收到回复。
该女孩的家属被大学告知，目前没有对邱子龙采取任何行动，且在《自然》上发表的研究被认为与他们女儿的试验是分开的。然而，自从《科学》发表文章以来，当局已迅速采取行动。该大学表示，已成立一个“特别工作组，对该案件进行全面调查”。
《自然》杂志表示，其此前并不知晓该试验的结果。
导览行程及参观，包括杜布罗夫尼克、斯普利特及戴克里先宫的导览游，以及访问赫瓦尔岛、科尔丘拉岛、姆列特岛、圣玛丽小岛、普契什恰和斯塔里格拉德。 在偏僻且诗情画意的岛屿地点进行游泳停靠
滑溜的小点心：在新西兰奥克兰附近的穆里怀海滩，一只饥饿的蛎鹬正从水中捕捉一条微小的玻璃鳗鱼。
否认接班之争
法国 Adam Sage 巴黎
这位奢侈品大亨，同时也是法国首富，否认了关于其家族在接班问题上存在内斗的报道。
77 岁的贝尔纳·阿尔诺 (Bernard Arnault) 在其公司 LVMH 的 X 账号上发布的一封公开信中表示，他的家族成员“全部团结一致”。
这位亿万富翁补充道，任何“赌注押在家庭分裂上以销售报纸的人”将“等待很长时间”。
这位大亨是在回应《世界报》(Le Monde) 关于他的连续 6 篇报道，其中最后一篇声称，在竞争和敌意的背景下，他的孩子们正在争夺接班之位。
所有五名子女都在集团及其品牌中担任要职。《世界报》援引阿尔诺的话说，他的继任者可能来自家族之外。“但如果是一个家族成员会更好，”据该报报道，他补充道。
阿尔诺与第一任妻子安妮·德瓦夫林 (Anne Dewavrin) 有两个孩子：51 岁的德尔菲娜·阿尔诺 (Delphine Arnault)，她是克里斯汀·迪奥 (Christian Dior) 的首席执行官；以及 49 岁的安托万·阿尔诺 (Antoine Arnault)，他是 LVMH 的形象与环境总监，同时也是家族拥有的顶级足球俱乐部巴黎足球俱乐部 (Paris FC) 的董事。
他与第二任妻子、钢琴演奏家 66 岁的海伦·梅西耶-阿尔诺 (Hélène Mercier-Arnault) 有三个孩子：34 岁的亚历山大·阿尔诺 (Alexandre Arnault)，酩悦香槟 (Moët Hennessy champagne) 的副首席执行官；31 岁的弗雷德里克·阿尔诺 (Frédéric Arnault)，意大利时尚品牌 Loro Piana 的首席执行官；以及 27 岁的让·阿尔诺 (Jean Arnault)，路易威登 (Louis Vuitton) 的腕表总监。
[[IMG_XXXX]] 让、弗雷德里克、贝尔纳和安托万·阿尔诺。下方是德尔菲娜·阿尔诺及其伴侣克萨维尔·尼尔 (Xavier Niel)。《世界报》称尼尔被部分阿尔诺家族成员“憎恨”。
（注：此处原文缺失部分文本，衔接至）在 LVMH 内部担任高级职务，阿尔诺已“让他们成为了竞争对手，并削弱了他的家庭和集团”。
该日报声称，亚历山大·阿尔诺觊觎姐姐在迪奥的职位，但他在领导 LVMH 收购的美国珠宝品牌蒂凡尼 (Tiffany & Co) 时的表现受到了批评。它还声称，由于他在 2021 年在威尼斯与时尚品牌 Destrée 的创始人杰拉尔丁·圭约 (Géraldine Guyot) 结婚，其他家族成员认为他过于炫耀。
《世界报》写道，弗雷德里克·阿尔诺认为负责 LVMH 公关战略的安托万，应对媒体上偶尔出现的关于他以及亚历山大的负面报道负责。该报称，弗雷德里克已经聘请了自己的公关顾问。
根据《世界报》的报道，家族内部的另一场冲突发生在 2023 年，贝尔纳的第二任妻子与尼尔之间。尼尔是 Free 运营商的最大股东，本身也是一名亿万富翁。巴黎盛传他希望接管 LVMH，尽管其公司章程似乎排除了这种可能性。
尼尔在将股份转交给一个捐赠基金之前，曾是《世界报》的重要股东。
《世界报》援引梅西耶-阿尔诺的话说，尼尔与家庭其他成员格格不入。
“他从未融入这个家庭，”报道援引她的原话称。
该日报称，她对他的“憎恨”程度已达到不再邀请他参加圣诞节聚会的地步。
该报还援引她的观点批评安托万的公关技巧，称他“没有给父亲提供足够的保护”，且“不应处理他的沟通工作”。
该日报称，尼尔、德尔菲娜和安托万·阿尔诺则声称梅西耶-阿尔诺的精神状态“不稳定”。
阿尔诺的回应结合了讽刺和冷酷的愤怒。他说他曾邀请《世界报》的记者与他及其孩子们见面，结果却因为自己的“透明度”而受到了“惩罚”。
the times | 2026年7月28日 星期二 27 商业
世界市场
英镑/欧元 €1.1693 (-0.0022) ¤ 富时 100 指数 10,781.75 (+45.52)
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Martin Strydom Jack Barnett 经济记者
在美国与伊朗停止战斗，且由阿曼主导外交努力以恢复船舶通过霍尔穆兹海峡后，油价大幅下跌。
国际油价基准布伦特原油每桶下跌了约 10 per cent；在上周末曾突破每桶 $100 后，其价格触及 $87.64 的低点。这一跌势在下午交易期间有所缓和，价格再次超过每桶 $90。西
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否认人工智能 将影响就业
Alex Ralph 首席商业记者
英国最大上市公司之一阿斯利康 (AstraZeneca) 的首席执行官表示，人工智能不会“消灭”大量工作岗位，反而将有助于提高生产力。
帕斯卡尔·索里奥爵士 (Sir Pascal Soriot) 表示，人工智能正使运营变得“更快、更智能”，他预计这家制药集团或生命科学行业不会出现“大规模的裁员”。
这位富时 100 指数 (FTSE 100) 领军企业的负责人发表此番言论之际，全球各地的公司正竞相投资并部署人工智能，这加剧了人们对该技术可能导致大规模失业的担忧。
“我个人认为，关于人工智能消灭工作的说法在某种程度上是个假故事，坦白说，”67 岁的索里奥表示。
“它可能适用于某些行业，但在许多行业中，当然包括我们的行业，它会让人变得更快、更智能……因为我的意思是，你获得的响应、获得的帮助，以及与优秀的 AI 工具进行的交互，确实能让你更高效。”
“因此，它将提升我们的生产力。我们将更快地生产出更多产品——希望是质量更好的产品。”
他补充道：“当然，有些领域和任务会受到影响，员工人数可能会减少，但总的来说，我认为我们不会看到大规模的裁员——至少在我们的行业中不会，在我们的公司中绝对不会。”
(当日波动)
道琼斯指数 52,210.08 (+262.83)
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54,000 53,000 52,000 51,000 50,000 49,000 6月 26 13 27 7月 6 20
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另一个价格市场 Texas Intermediate 的价格也出现了类似程度的下跌。
敌对行动的停止将再次引发人们的希望，即能够找到解决方案以缓解中东冲突，并结束对通过该海峡航运的干扰。
周日，美国驻联合国大使迈克·沃尔茨 (Mike Waltz) 告诉福克斯新闻 (Fox News)，特朗普总统已决定暂停美国袭击，以便为双方谈判创造机会。伊朗表示，只要美国采取同样行动，它也将停止攻击，
在公告中，该公司表示必须以“中国速度”运行，以避免在那个阿斯利康已投资数十亿美元并建立众多合作伙伴关系的国家中，落后于快速的创新。
近几个月来，许多跨国公司已经启动裁员计划，其中一些公司将原因归于人工智能。其中包括总部位于伦敦的 Dunhill 香烟和 Vuse 电子烟制造商英美烟草 (British American Tobacco)；该公司上月表示，在其 47,000 人的员工队伍中，约 9,000 个岗位将受到一项由人工智能部分驱动的 £600 million 重组计划的影响。
NatWest 集团负责人保罗·特威特 (Paul Thwaite) 在 6 月表示，随着部署人工智能，该银行 60,000 人的员工队伍之规模“肯定会发生变化”。
汇丰银行 (HSBC) 首席执行官乔治·埃尔赫德里 (Georges Elhedery) 在 5 月表示，“我们都知道生成式人工智能将摧毁某些岗位，并创造新岗位”。高盛 (Goldman Sachs) 总裁兼首席运营官约翰·沃尔德隆 (John Waldron) 将这家华尔街银行描述为一条可以自动化的“人类装配线”。
在本月对公共财政长期前景的年度评估中，政府财政监督机构预算责任办公室 (Office for Budget Responsibility) 估计，在未来十年中，劳动力中的 10% 将面临被人工智能取代的“风险”，但近三分之一的岗位可以通过该技术得到补充，从而潜在地提高生产力。
大宗商品 货币
布伦特原油 (下午6点) $86.26 (4.74) $ 英镑/美元 $1.3302 (0.0042)
黄金 $4,084.35 (+7.30)
4,500
据了解，美军担心导弹供应逐渐减少。
然而在刚过去的周末，也门受伊朗支持的胡塞武装依然袭击了红海沿岸的沙特石油设施，威胁到另一条对全球石油贸易至关重要的水道。这一事态进展增加了船只为避开曼德海峡而改道的可能性，该海峡是苏伊士运河航线所使用，正如在 2023 年胡塞武装袭击期间那样。
阿曼政府成员
110 100 90 80 70 60
于周五和周六在德黑兰主导了谈判，旨在为达成一项允许船只通过霍尔穆兹海峡的协议铺平道路。
伊朗政权称此次谈判“富有成效”，并表示“取得了一些进展”。
欧洲股市昨天的涨幅被抹平。伦敦富时 100 指数上涨 0.42%，欧洲 Stoxx 600 指数上涨 0.02%。在美国，标准普尔 500 指数开盘下跌 0.29%。
油价下跌缓解了投资者对通货膨胀的担忧，
1.360
1.340
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在英格兰银行、美国联邦储备委员会和日本银行本周做出关键利率决定之前，引发了政府债券的上涨。
基准十年期英国政府债券收益率最高下跌 0.07 个百分点，至 4.97%；而德国同类债券收益率下跌 0.06 个百分点，至 3.12%。美国国债收益率同样下跌。
比特币下跌 0.6%，至 $64,937；金价每盎司上涨 0.65%，至 $4,079。
DEREK IRONSIDE/NEWSLINE
伊恩·伍德爵士 逝世，享年 84 岁
David Leask Greig Cameron Scottish Business Editor
英国最重要且最具影响力的油气界人物之一伊恩·伍德爵士 (Sir Ian Wood) 已逝世，商业界和政界纷纷发表悼词。
伍德，84 岁，在家人陪伴下于家中安详离世。
苏格兰民族党 (SNP) 首席大臣约翰·斯威尼表示，伍德“助力塑造了现代苏格兰”。另一位苏格兰亿万富翁汤姆·亨特爵士称他为英雄。
伍德出生并成长于阿伯丁，最著名的是创建了国际工程咨询公司伍德集团 (Wood Group)。他将其家族的渔业公司——约翰·伍德父子公司 (John Wood & Son) 发展壮大，并在 1967 年出任总经理，而就在三年前，他刚从阿伯丁大学获得心理学学位毕业。
到 1982 年，伍德集团分拆为一家独立公司，为全球石油工业提供运营、设计和维护服务。该公司于 2002 年在伦敦证券交易所上市，并成为富时 100 (FTSE 100) 指数成分股。伍德在 2006 年卸任首席执行官，但一直担任董事长直至 2012 年。
2014, 伍德受英国政府聘请，负责规划油气行业的未来前景。这份“伍德报告”主张最大限度地从北海中回收经济利益，并为该行业制定了直至 2050 年的发展路径。
同样在 2014 年，伍德在当年的公投前公开反对苏格兰独立，这在政治干预中较为罕见。
在商业生活之外，他致力于慈善事业，伍德基金会 (Wood Foundation) 在英国和非洲开展项目。近期，伍德支持了“东北机遇”(Opportunity North East)，这是一个旨在帮助苏格兰东北部实现经济多样化的经济发展机构。
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伍德麦肯齐 (Wood Mackenzie) 的分析师警告称，由于欧洲天然气储备水平较低，威胁到供应危机，天然气价格在今年冬季至明年期间“几乎肯定”将保持高位。 2
阿斯利康 (AstraZeneca) 的首席执行官表示，人工智能不会“消灭”大量工作，反而将有助于提高生产力。帕斯卡尔·索里奥爵士 (Sir Pascal Soriot) 表示，他预计该制药集团或生命科学行业不会出现“大规模的人员削减”。 3
在美国和伊朗数周来首次停止战斗后，油价大幅下跌。基准原油布伦特原油下跌约 10%，在上周末一度突破每桶 $100 之后，昨日一度触及 $87.64 的低点。 4
英国最重要且最具影响力的油气界人物之一伊恩·伍德爵士逝世，享年 84 岁。苏格兰民族党首席大臣约翰·斯威尼表示，他“助力塑造了现代苏格兰”。苏格兰亿万富翁汤姆·亨特爵士称他为英雄。 5
中国领先的存储芯片制造商长鑫存储 (CXMT) 在上市首日上涨 466% 后，成为中国市值最高的公司。 6
中国领先的存储芯片制造商长鑫存储 (CXMT) 在上市首日上涨 466% 后，成为中国市值最高的公司。
保守党主席凯文·霍林雷克 (Kevin Hollinrake) 敦促财政部遴选委员会介入，以确保公布一项延迟已久的审查报告，该报告旨在调查劳埃德银行集团 (Lloyds Banking Group) 是否试图掩盖一起 £1 亿规模的骗局。 7
帕斯卡尔·索里奥爵士表示，他“绝对自信”阿斯利康能实现 2030 年 $80 亿的总销售目标，但指出公司必须以“中国速度”运行，才能在未来几年继续创新。 8
自法国亿万富翁克萨维尔·尼尔 (Xavier Niel) 成为最大股东以来，沃达丰 (Vodafone) 公布了该电信集团的首份业绩报告，并上调了年度利润指引。
霸权者（本例中为美国） 与挑战者（中国） 的传统角色
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芯片制造商 首秀大涨 466%
Martin Strydom
该公司股价从每股 8.66 元的发行价（当时公司估值为 85.5 十亿美元）跃升至 49 元，使其市值达到 3.3 万亿元（488 十亿美元），超过中国工商银行成为该国市值最高的公司。
这家芯片制造商首日的涨幅也超过了华润新能源的首秀表现，后者在本月进行 3.6 十亿美元的首次公开募股 (IPO) 后，股价上涨了一倍多。
这一上涨反映了国内投资者对这家存储芯片公司的看好情绪，该公司是北京旨在建立自给自足芯片产业计划的关键部分。
在上市前持有 CXMT 36.29% 股份的中国政府，正日益依赖国产硬件来提升其在与美国的 AI 竞赛中的地位，而美国限制了中国获取先进芯片的渠道。此次成功首秀正值全球科技股因担忧数十亿美元的 AI 投入而出现抛售之际。
CMXT，即长鑫存储技术 (ChangXin Memory Technologies)，是全球第四大 Dram（动态随机存取存储器）芯片制造商，市场份额为 8%。
它希望与韩国的三星电子和 SK 海力士，以及美国巨头美光 (Micron) 竞争，后几家公司近期受构建 AI 驱动的数据中心需求推动，利润和股价均大幅上涨。
先进存储芯片在 AI 服务器中发挥着关键作用，与其他强大的数据处理能力一样，需求量巨大。
海伦·卡希尔 (Helen Cahill) 财经记者
随着伦敦上市公司的被收购进程加快，一家富时 100 (FTSE 100) 能源集团已建议股东接受由私募股权公司财团提出的 £5.75 billion 收购要约。
尽管面临该集团部分股东的初步反对，DCC Energy 已同意接受美国私募股权公司 KKR 以及 Bridgepoint 旗下子公司 Energy Capital Partners 的收购要约。
这些私募股权公司开出的价格为每股 £65.25，并同意支付此前承诺给投资者的每股 147.2p 的最终股息。此外，如果 DCC 通过出售其技术分销业务 Nexora 获得至少 $800 million 的资金，该财团同意额外支付每股最高 £1.25。
……由英伟达 (Nvidia) 等公司制造的半导体。这导致了用于笔记本电脑、手机和其他电子设备的、不那么抢眼的 Dram 芯片出现严重短缺，从而推高了价格。
在上市时，CXMT 扩股后的股份中仅有 6.73 per cent 可自由交易，因为大多数股份被锁定，预计这将放大价格波动。一些市场分析师对股价的上涨是否可持续持怀疑态度。
晨星 (Morningstar) 股票分析师于靖洁 (Jing Jie Yu) 表示，该交易的定价折扣很高。他认为该股首日涨幅过高，并指出存储行业的周期性特征，以及美国限制获取先进芯片制造技术的出口管制所带来的长期拖累。
于靖洁表示：“投资者的兴趣在很大程度上是由为中国投资者提供一种能实质性接触当前存储超级周期的方式所驱动的。”
CXMT 的大涨引发了对泡沫的担忧。该公司在中国日益增强的主导地位使其能够提高针对华为等客户的价格。Trinity Synergy Investments 的对冲基金经理袁宇伟 (Yuan Yuwei) 表示，该股“太贵了，有投机气息”，并补充说“很难说这种乐观情绪是可持续的”。
CXMT 在招股说明书中表示，对人工智能 (AI) 需求的增长驱动了存储芯片的需求，但警告称，如果 AI 投资放缓，市场可能会走弱。该公司预计上半年营收将增长七倍多，达到 110 billion 至 120 billion 元之间，净利润在 66 billion 至 75 billion 元之间，扭转去年的亏损局面。
CXMT 并不是唯一一家从 AI 热潮中获益巨大的芯片制造商。SK 海力士 (SK Hynix) 在本月交易的首日上涨了 13 per cent。
……表示该交易为股东提供了一个“极具吸引力的机会”，可以按照比该集团未受干扰股价溢价 24 per cent 的价格退出。
DCC 最初拒绝了 KKR 和 ECP 每股 £58 的报价，但随后表示“倾向于建议”接受一项包含每股 £65.25 现金及股息的交易。
墨菲 (Murphy) 表示，在上市期间，该集团为提高市值“付出了艰苦努力”，但私人基础设施公司对该业务的估值更高。
他补充道：“价值并没有体现在股价中。我们创造了非常显著的内在价值，但这并未在公开市场中得到体现。”
“所以，90 天前，KKR 和 ECP 来敲门。拒绝他们的第一次报价非常简单，但考虑到我们对股东承担的受托责任，我们与他们进行了沟通，在 90 天的时间里，我们最终达成了一项我们认为合适的要约。”
左侧的朱一鸣 (Zhu Yiming) 在 CXMT……之后，其财富增加了超过 $12 billion。
在华尔街，完成了全球规模最大的股票销售之一。其在首尔综合股价指数（Kospi）中的市值在 5 月突破了 $1 trillion。 6 Nvidia 准备向由 OpenAI 前首席科学家 Ilya Sutskever 共同创立的初创公司投资 $5 billion。两家公司表示，对 Safe Superintelligence 的这项投资是一项合作伙伴关系的一部分，将增加这家美以人工智能公司可用的计算资源。
从我们股东的角度来看，非常有吸引力。
“虽然我们非常相信我们的战略，但目前摆在桌面上的报价为股东创造了极具吸引力的现金价值，而且是即刻实现的。我们认为大多数股东将支持这项交易。”
这项私募股权报价遭到了主要股东的反对，包括 Fidelity、Aviva 以及该公司创始人 Jim Flavin，该公司总部位于都柏林。
Aviva Investors 的 Matt Bennison 表示，如果董事会建议接受每股 £65.25 的报价，他将感到“失望”，而 Flavin 则将该估值描述为“惨不忍睹”。
Bennison 补充道：“我们坚信，在这个水平上出售业务不符合我们客户的利益。
仅在十年前成立， 长鑫存储 技术公司目前是全球 市场份额第四大的 内存芯片制造商， 仅次于三星电子、 SK海尼克斯和美光 （夏洛特·本德报道）。
CXMT 的董事长兼 创始人，54 岁的朱一明，在该公司昨日挂牌上市后，其财富增加了超过 $120 亿。
伊恩致力于为他人创造机会。通过这家以其家族之名的企业的成长以及数十年的慈善工作，他寻求在苏格兰及全球范围内创造持久的积极改变。
“他深切地感受到，生命中的好运伴随着帮助他人实现自身全部潜力的责任。”
斯温尼表示：“伊恩·伍德爵士是苏格兰最具影响力的商业领袖和慈善家之一，他的远见、决心和慷慨给这个国家及更广阔的地区留下了深刻的印记。”
前首相奇平诺顿的卡梅伦勋爵表示：“伊恩·伍德爵士是苏格兰伟大的企业家和工业领袖之一，是苏格兰工业真正的巨头。”
一家他在 20 多岁时创办并在上海上市的公司。
朱一明在 20 多岁时，在硅谷担任工程师期间决定创办自己的公司，此前他曾在纽约州立大学石溪分校学习电气工程。
根据 2008 年一次与北京清华大学（朱一明在此获得物理学硕士学位）的采访，这位亿万富翁认为中国“已经是世界”，相信国内的机会远大于国外。他的长期
Isabella Fish 零售编辑 pence 给 BritBox，以及为 BBC 和 BritBox 制作的《向零靠近》（Towards Zero）。此外，还交付了一部由露西·福利（Lucy Foley）创作的马普尔小姐续集小说。
在阿加莎·克里斯蒂（Dame Agatha Christie）女士写下最后一部推理小说五个年代之后，线索并未中断——现金流也同样如此。像 Netflix 的《七个日晷》（Seven Dials）这类现代重启剧证明，世界对这位“犯罪女王”致命阴谋的渴求依然如此强烈。
由作者之曾孙詹姆斯·普里查德（James Pritchard）领导的阿加莎·克里斯蒂有限公司（Agatha Christie Limited），在截至 12 月底的年度中实现了 £20 million 的税前利润，高于前一年的 £13.7 million。
该公司的所有权由其家人和总部位于美国的 RLJ Entertainment 电影公司共同持有，支付了 £9.25 million 的股息，而前一年为 £5.3 million。
根据香港报纸《南华早报》（South China Morning Post）看到的、由朱（Zhu）最早的投资者之一李军（Li Jun）保留的电子邮件显示，其野心是“成为中国最大的存储器设计者和制造商”。
在硅谷的一家星巴克向李（Li）进行推介后，朱（Zhu）辞职并注册了兆易创新（GigaDevice Semiconductor）。他与另一位工程师舒（Shu）共同申请了一项专利，该设计是他们在投资者租给他们的一个车库里完成的。
半导体
提交给公司注册局（Companies House）的账目显示，LWT/ITV Studios 在 1989 和 2013 之间制作的波洛（Poirot）和马普尔（Marple）系列在世界范围内继续强劲销售，“证明了客户对经典阿加莎·克里斯蒂改编作品以及新内容的持续渴求，并拥有稳健、可靠的财务尾迹”。
[[IMG_XXXX]] 米娅·麦肯纳-布鲁斯（Mia McKenna-Bruce）在 Netflix 制作的《七个日晷》中
尽管起初在争取大型电子制造商方面较为吃力，但兆易创新最终成长为中国领先的芯片设计公司之一，并于 2016 年 8 月在上海上市。
当年，朱（Zhu）在中国东部合肥市政府的帮助下创办了长鑫存储（CXMT）。到 2018 年，他已从兆易创新退后，专注于长鑫存储，并据报道承诺在存储芯片项目盈利前不从公司领取薪水。在 2023 年亏损 $2.4 billion 后，该项目于去年实现了盈利。
2019, 长鑫存储开始生产其首款自主设计的主流内存芯片，此前朱（Zhu）已获得了最初由 Qimonda 开发的专利许可，后者是一家从英飞凌科技（Infineon Technologies）剥离出来的、已失败的德国存储制造商。这使中国大陆在由海外制造商主导的市场中获得了第一个有意义的立足点。
同年，一项突破以与 WiLan 签署的专利许可协议形式出现。WiLan 是一家加拿大许可公司，它让长鑫存储能够接触到大量的 Dram（动态随机存取存储器）专利组合和技术文档。
随着人工智能导致内存需求激增，长鑫存储在专注于建厂和招募工程师的亏损年份之后， fortunes 发生了转折。据报道，苹果公司（Apple）对此表现出兴趣，在五角大楼因其与北京的关系将该制造商列入军事黑名单后，苹果公司一直向美国当局游说，以寻求使用这些芯片的许可。
长鑫存储已经成长为该国最大的 Dram 生产商，Dram 是一种用于从服务器、摄像头、手机到个人电脑和平板电脑等设备的内存。它还存储 AI 模型所需的数据。根据其招股说明书，长鑫存储的客户包括阿里巴巴、字节跳动（ByteDance）和腾讯，同时也向联想（Lenovo）到小米（Xiaomi）的设备制造商销售。
根据研究机构晨星（Morningstar）的数据，去年 97 ％以上的销售额来自大中华区。
所有类别增长的机会。“新的电视制作和故事片对集团至关重要，不仅是因为通过许可费、广播费和发行收入直接产生的收益，还因为对出版等其他业务领域的间接影响，”该公司补充道。
阿加莎·克里斯蒂通过其巧妙的情节、像赫丘勒·波洛这样的侦探，以及她自己在 1926 年的失踪而成为了全球知名人物。
她写了 66 部侦探小说，销量超过 20 亿册，使其成为历史上最畅销的虚构类作家。她的最著名作品包括《东方快车谋杀案》和舞台剧《捕鼠器》。
中国模式？
商业评论员 James Hurley
中国芯片制造商的震撼首秀，或许并非寻找支持安迪·伯纳姆推动区域增长计划的最显而易见之所。
然而，CXMT（长鑫存储）令人瞩目的崛起——其在上海的股价飙升了 466 百分比——证明了支持企业家的地方领导者能获得怎样的回报。在距离中国著名的技术中心北京和深圳 1,000 多英里之外，坐落着“风险投资之城”合肥，该市政府在支持有前景的技术创业公司方面发挥着积极作用。
除了参与作为国民经济支柱的国有企业外，合肥在股权投资上的力度之大，使其被誉为“中国最激进的风险投资家”。
这座城市在科学研究方面处于世界领先地位，现在也因此拥有了一家上市巨头，部分原因在于当地政府向 CXMT 注入了数十亿美元。该公司上市后的上涨将其市值推高至 3.3 万亿元（$488 billion），使其成为中国大陆最具价值的公司。
在人工智能基础设施投入前所未有地增加的时代，这似乎难以令人相信，但私营投资者最初认为 CXMT 创始人朱一明的计划风险过高，因为他试图在三星、SK海力士和美光组成的芯片制造寡头垄断中闯出一线，这看起来像是一场不切实际的冒险。
合肥政府介入其中，在第一阶段持有 80 百分比的股份，该项目最终演变为一个 150 billion 元的制造项目。关键是，该市在随后的多轮融资中持续支持 CXMT，且目前仍持有其三分之一以上的股份。这项投资帮助合肥从一个相对落后的地区转型为一个主要的技术中心，拥有 6,000 多家技术公司。
其中包括蔚来（NIO），一家电动汽车制造商。合肥在要求其将业务搬迁至当地的条件下，将其从破产边缘挽救回来。当蔚来恢复后，合肥套现了大部分股份——这种策略更多地与风险投资家相关，而非共产党官员。
在人们担心中国经济增速放缓可能会暴露一套过于依赖中央、国家主导投资的策略之际，中国媒体所谓的“合肥模式”可能提供了一种新方法：由地方主导地整合公共和私人创业精神，以及一种振兴“欠发达”城市的方式。
安迪·伯纳姆渴望做类似的事情。昨天，他吹嘘国有的英国商业银行（British Business Bank）将支持一个由养老金供应商财团提出的计划，启动一个“英国规模化基金”（UK scale-up fund），以支持有前景的科技企业。不出所料，伯纳姆表示该计划将“帮助解锁每个邮编区域的良好增长”。
这其中的第一个问题是规模不足。新基金预计将管理超过 £1 billion，这或许能帮助一些有前景的公司获得良好开端，但无法在解决该国日益严重的规模化问题上产生实质影响——即在最好的公司被海外买家抢走之前，如何让它们实现规模化。
该银行还在包括北爱尔兰、威尔士、中英地区（Midlands）和西南地区在内的区域提供本地化资金池。不过，规模再次显得相对 modest。尽管该机构已成为规模化公司、创新和企业家的重要出资方，但其力量仍然不足。
其次是地方区域对于资金如何使用是否拥有足够话语权的问题。
此前将投资计划和决策权从威斯敏斯特（Westminster）移出的尝试均以失败告终。
伯纳姆计划允许各地区在决定自身命运方面做得更多（包括支持私营部门），而他面临的众多挑战之一，就是如何让一个地方主导的投资模式能够在政治周期中生存下来。
合肥对 CXMT 的投资在十年内获得了回报。而英国上一次权力下放运动背后的整个结构，比这个时间仅多持续了三年。
2017 年，就在特蕾莎·梅在随后的那场对其而言灾难性的通用大选前，回答最后一次首相问答（PMQs）的同一天，一名退休高等法院法官被任命领导一项审查，以确定劳埃德银行（Lloyds）是否掩盖了一起 £1 billion 的银行欺诈案。
自那个四月的日子以来，英国又更换了五任首相，而这场贷款骗局中幸存的受害者仍在等待琳达·多布斯女爵（Dame Linda Dobbs）的报告，该报告原本预计仅需“几个月时间”即可完成。
多布斯将其归咎于案件的复杂性、新证据的频繁出现，以及缺乏强制证人就欺诈行为接受审查的能力。在这起欺诈案中，犯罪分子通过中小企业从 HBOS 银行窃取资金，在此过程中摧毁了许多人的生计。
除了受害者在得知调查结果前就已病逝的事实外，这种蜗牛般的进度可能还正中劳埃德银行的下怀，该行在 2009. 年接管了 HBOS。等到报告最终出炉时，银行将能够将任何不当行为归结为“历史性”事件，并可能用一些公司套话来宣称教训已经汲取。
如果假设 75 岁的多布斯在报告发布前会持批评态度，这是否错误？大概率不错误。
在劳埃德银行网站一个不起眼的角落里，有一个最后更新于 5 月的章节，银行在其中表示“已有若干关键教训是我们正在寻求反映的”。这些教训包括承认自身“过度防御且过于执迷于法律程序”；缺乏“对受害者的理解和同情”；与警方调查之间存在“摩擦”；以及更广泛的管理团队对该骗局缺乏足够的“质询和考虑”。
杰克·巴内特 (Jack Barnett)，经济特派员 以及其他与世界杯挂钩的酒精饮料在 7 月降低了整体商店物价的通胀率。
国际足联世界杯期间的零食和酒精类产品的折扣，以及夏季服装促销活动的启动，有助于在过去一个月内抑制商店物价的上涨。
英国零售财团（British Retail Consortium）和 NielsenIQ 今日公布的数据显示，7 月商店价格同比上涨 0.9%，低于前一个月 1.2% 的涨幅。按月计算，价格下降了 0.1%。
该行业游说团体——零售财团的专家表示，啤酒方面的优惠
【图片：Flying colours】 中国山东省青岛港的进口铁矿石码头保持着单台起重机卸矿记录：每小时 3,057 吨
Dobbs 针对 HBOS 诈骗案的审查延迟
詹姆斯·赫利 (James Hurley) 商业编辑助理
保守党主席敦促财政部特别委员会介入，以确保一份长期延迟的审查报告能够公布。该报告旨在调查劳埃德银行集团 (Lloyds Banking Group) 是否试图掩盖一项 £1 billion 的诈骗案。
该委员会前成员凯文·霍林雷克 (Kevin Hollinrake) 表示，国会议员应利用其“权力向劳埃德银行寻求答案”，并向领导此次调查的退休高等法院法官琳达·多布斯 (Dame Linda Dobbs) 寻求答案。他表示，议员们应要求获知审查报告何时公布，寻求其将全文公布的保证，并询问存在什么样的“特殊情况”可以证明进一步延迟是合理的。
在给委员会主席梅格·希利尔 (Dame Meg Hillier) 的一封信中，他表示，“对于一项如此重要且独立且无限期不公布的审查报告，没有任何理由可以证明其合理性”。
针对 HBOS 诈骗案的 Dobbs 审查是在 2017 年 4 月委任的，而劳埃德银行在 2009 年救助了 HBOS，但该审查至今尚未完成，且关于其是否会全文公布仍存在不确定性。
英国零售联盟 (British Retail Consortium) 首席执行官海伦·迪金森 (Helen Dickinson) 表示：“在足球世界杯期间，购物者从零食和酒精饮料的优惠中获益，而服装和鞋类零售商在开始清理夏季库存时提供了大幅折扣。”
临时价格下调可能在近几个月刺激了消费者支出，6 月零售额增长了 1%。消费者信心也获得了动量，受到世界杯和今年夏天创纪录高温的推动。
[[IMG_XXXX]] 凯文·霍林雷克 称议员必须 要求全文公布 审查报告
HBOS 的某个分支机构，在那里的银行家和商业顾问利用鲁莽的信贷政策从贷方窃取资金。银行家林登·斯考菲尔德 (Lynden Scourfield) 安排客户指定并向第三方顾问支付费用，将其作为获得银行持续支持的条件。
数十家中小企业因此被摧毁，另有数百家被卷入其中。六人在 2017 年 2 月被监禁，
马丁·贝多 (Martin Beddoe) 法官得出结论，此事件让人们感到“被欺骗、被击败且身无分文”。
劳埃德银行在 HBOS 合并期间或合并后不久便得知了该诈骗案，但受害者指控该银行试图掩盖真相，对受影响的公司实施止赎，且并未全力配合警方调查。
7 月价格上涨 0.9%，零售商助力推高足球热潮
国家统计局 (Office for National Statistics) 发布的独立数据显示，英国官方通胀衡量指标——消费者价格指数在截至 6 月的一年中上涨了 2.6%。BRC-NielsenIQ 的数据被视为国家统计局官方通胀预测的前兆。
这是英国历史上最旷日持久的审查。它与另一项尚未完成的独立赔偿工作无关。
霍林雷克告诉《泰晤士报》 (The Times)，委员会应询问劳埃德银行该审查目前已花费银行多少资金。该银行尚未披露审查成本，但已就此事件承担了近 £1.3 billion 的费用，其中包括赔偿成本。
在给希利尔的信中，霍林雷克写道：“尽管反复保证正在取得进展，但仍然没有公布的时间表。最近的更新表明证据收集已基本完成，但受害者仍在等待答案。这种延迟不再仅仅令人沮丧，它面临着完全剥夺正义的风险。”
“许多因这场丑闻而失去企业、生计和健康的受害者已经去世。其他人则年事已高或身患重病。每过去一个月，就增加了更多受害者在未能得知真相的情况下去世的可能性——他们将永远无法得知发生了什么，HBOS 和劳埃德银行集团内部了解多少，以及是否错失了预防或阻止错误行为的机会。”
“我们可以预见，在夏季接下来的时间里，促销活动将继续成为驱动需求的关键部分，”NielsenIQ 零售商与商业洞察负责人迈克·沃特金斯 (Mike Watkins) 表示。
迪金森 (Dickinson) 补充道：“部分品类，包括电子产品以及健康与美容产品，由于芯片价格上涨和制造成本传导，出现了更高的通胀。”
BRC-NielsenIQ 的数据很可能已被英格兰银行的利率制定者所关注，他们将于周四公布最新的利率决议。货币政策委员会预计将连续第五次将利率维持在 3.75 per cent 不变。
食品价格在 7 月同比上涨了 2.2 per cent，BRC-NielsenIQ 的数据显示，而 6 月的年增长率为 2.4 per cent。
CN-STR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
劳埃德银行 (Lloyds) 表示，将公布此次审查的“结论”，但未就是否公布完整报告发表评论。
霍林雷克 (Hollinrake) 表示，公众对此次审查有更广泛的兴趣，因为其“代表了现代英国历史上最严重的银行丑闻之一。它对这家英国最大银行之一在公司治理、问责制、监管监督及文化方面提出的质疑仍未得到解决。”
他补充道：“当延迟开始损害此次行动的初衷时，就到了临界点。议会的审查对于确保透明度和问责制至关重要。”
霍林雷克还写信给多布斯 (Dobbs) 表示，他“越来越担心，追求一份完美的报告正以牺牲公正为代价”。
该委员会此前曾表示，尽快完成并公布审查结果至关重要。
多布斯拒绝发表评论。 劳埃德银行表示，“独立调查”的进展属于审查事项。该集团将继续提供审查所需的各项协助，以确保其能够得出结论。
Tom Howard 房地产记者
Vistry 已将其通过“房屋置换”交易收购的数十套房屋以 £15 million 的价格出售，这是其旨在增强资产负债表的最新举措。
这家英国第二大房屋建筑商将分布在全国的 68 套房屋转让给了一家名为 Spring 的公司。该公司提供快速交易，但通常仅支付房产市场价值的约 85%。
Vistry 首席商业官 Michael Stirrop 表示：“此次交易为从一个庞大且多样化的投资组合中释放价值提供了清晰的路径，同时也简化了我们的运营状况。”
“与 Spring 这样的专业机构合作，使我们能够大规模地采取果断行动，降低复杂性，并在整个业务的资本部署方面创造更大的灵活性。这是一个实际的例子，展示了我们如何演进方法，以支持短期交付和长期增长。”
拥有 Bovis Homes 和 Linden Homes 品牌的 Vistry 曾向股东承诺将成为一家“轻资产”企业，但其目前仍有约 £800 million 的净债务。
新任首席执行官 Adam Daniels 将强化资产负债表和减少公司债务规模列为优先事项。他通过在 4,500 人的员工队伍中实施“自愿离职计划”来压缩成本，并试图通过将要价平均降低 7% 来吸引额外现金，以努力清除“周转缓慢的库存”。
近年来，面对依然低迷的市场，房屋建筑商越来越多地使用诸如“房屋置换”之类的激励措施来推动销售。对于潜在客户而言，房屋置换具有吸引力，因为它省去了在搬入新居前必须出售现有房屋的时间和风险。
Vistry 的年度报告显示，截至 12 月底，其资产负债表上有价值 £39.5 million 的置换房产。对于 Spring 而言，这是其与主要房屋建筑商进行的首次“大宗”交易。该公司现在将租赁这些房产或将其转售，希望能获得高于买入价的收益。
Spring 联席首席执行官 Shane Miller-Bourke 表示，公司的服务“为市场中一个否则可能会长期占用资本的领域提供了至关重要的流动性和确定性”。
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美国联邦储备委员会的新任主席凯文·沃什（Kevin Warsh）将在美联储最新的利率决议后，于明天第二次以全球最强金融决策者的身份公开亮相。
沃什不会喜欢我提到这件事。他不希望记者、投资者或大多数美国人期待他在美国货币政策方向上发表任何值得注意的言论。他希望他的新闻发布会简短、乏味，而且看来频率要低得多。沃什聘请了前英格兰银行行长洛斯伯里的金勋爵（Lord King of Lothbury）来就央行如何“传达政策讨论和决定”向其提供建议。几乎可以肯定，结论将是沃什应该比他的前任们少说话。
尽管他在美国货币政策上试图表现得非常毫无趣，但沃什是人工智能对美国经济具有变革潜力的公开支持者。在成为特朗普总统选定的美联储领导者之前，沃什就以人工智能看多者的身份立名。他的推理根植于一种美国例外论的版本。沃什上个月告诉记者：“AI 也许是美国聪明才智的缩写。我的信念是……随着我们沿着这条[路径]走下去，美国将成为赢家。”
现在，沃什的大多数央行同行也在试图模拟 AI 对通货膨胀、就业市场意味着什么，以及少数几家美国科技公司估值的飙升如何影响全球金融稳定。
沃什的盘算则不同。他的看涨根植于一种沙文主义的世界观，在这种观点中，美国公司是无可挑战的创新者，为美国经济创造了“巨大的优势”。他认为，美国的超大规模云计算公司将满足全球对美国领先 AI 模型的贪婪需求，从而为股东赚钱，并改变联邦政府的财政状况。美国在 AI 领域是一个“引领步伐的超级大国”，并且“处于获得优势的最佳位置”。
凯文·沃什相信美国例外论
峰会
谁在真正掌控？ 2026年11月10日，星期二
“随着时间的推移，经济增长将持续提高，”他在去年的《华尔街日报》中写道。“美国科技公司的实力——体现在令其海外同行相形见绌的市值上——赋予了美国巨大的优势。这些所谓的‘超大规模云服务商’并非美国实力的来源，而是其实力的结果。”
对于一名央行行长来说，沃什（Warsh）的观点异常绝对，但在华盛顿并不罕见。这种世界观正面临来自中国的严峻挑战。在沃什两次新闻发布会之间的六周时间里，中国的 Moonshot AI 发布了 Kimi K3 模型，震惊了 AI 领域，该模型的性能与 Anthropic 和 OpenAI 的顶尖模型不相上下。中国的技术人员正以极低的成本，在无法获得美国禁止其访问的世界领先芯片的情况下，生产出接近 AI 创新“前沿”的模型。
沃什及其同僚这些“美国例外论者”将 AI 视为一场零和科技竞赛，认为美国将且必须获胜。尽管在 2025, 1月出现了“DeepSeek 时刻”——当时一家相对默默无闻的中国公司发布了一款可与 OpenAI 的 ChatGPT 媲美的大语言模型——他们仍坚持这一观点。DeepSeek 带来的冲击在单日内令芯片制造商英伟达（Nvidia）市值蒸发了 $600 亿。而在过去的十天里，Kimi K3 已从“科技七巨头”的股票估值中抹去了 $890 百万。
中国在 AI 领域惊人的追赶速度，在世界经济超级大国之间的博弈中开辟了另一个战场。北京宣扬其余世界需要开放、可获取且廉价的 AI 来使用和开发；而美国则希望培养少数几家垄断企业，这些企业正投入巨额资金来创建并巩固技术优势。
这些公司需要全世界支付高昂的费用来获取其技术，从而为其投资产生回报。特朗普则走得更远，禁止外国人访问前沿 AI，以确保美国公司和工人的永久优势。上个月，他禁止非美国公民使用 Anthropic 的 Fable，正是如此。
AI 竞赛反转了霸权者（本例中为美国）与其挑战者（中国）的传统角色。主导超级大国的职责本应是在危机期间通过提供廉价的公共产品来稳定国际体系，正如英国从 19 世纪中期开始，以及美国从 20 世纪中期开始所做的那样。
相应地，挑战者通常采用重商主义工具，如贸易保护主义和武器化的依赖关系，以从竞争对手手中夺取权力和财富优势。然而，在 AI 和能源领域，美国采取了重商主义心态，而中国在习主席上周的表述中，“致力于提供国际公共产品”。
华盛顿对中国 AI 冲击的反应，将是衡量其在多大程度上已成为一个重商主义大国的最佳信号。一名白宫官员指责中国向 Anthropic 等公司“撒谎、作弊和偷窃”。美国财政部长斯科特·贝森特（Scott Bessent）已威胁要对中国 AI 实施制裁。
特朗普和习预计将于 9 月下旬会面。美国如果全面禁止中国 AI，将对其超级大国地位、其储备货币，以及沃什寄予经济厚望的那些“巨大优势”产生重大影响。
如果美国公司在获取封闭、昂贵的知识技术时，需要支付比世界其他地区更高的费用，那么它将无法带来沃什认为能开启低通胀和低利率新时代的永久性生产力优势。
如果美国的 AI 公司（其狂热投资基于向国际客户销售）被切断与全球市场的联系，那么它们目前的估值将毫无意义。
丹妮尔·吉廉-摩尔 (Danielle Gilliam-Moore) Salesforce 全球公共政策总监
而且，如果没有人工智能服务的巨大出口，美国的预算和经常项目赤字将随之恶化。人工智能非但不能开启美国例外论的新时代，反而可能加速美国的衰落时代。
Mehreen Khan 是《泰晤士报》经济编辑
Avid Larizadeh Duggan OBE 创业者及 Venture at Capitalist 风险投资人
英国可以引领下一个 工业时代
许多组织都有光荣的过去，但 遗产并非未来。作为一家今年 迎来 175 周年公司的首席执行官， 我深切意识到，成为推动创新、 繁荣与机遇的力量是势在必行的。
Smiths 公司成立的年份 1851, 同时 也是伦敦举办万国工业博览会 的年份。我们需要从中学习的 并非英国在当时引领世界工程 技术的这一事实，而是德国和 美国由此产生的反应——他们 渴望向英国学习。他们没有 坐以待毙；他们没有等待并 接受自己的命运。
今天，我们正处于一个英国 有机会重新聚焦，并再次成为 工业技术领导者的时点。现在 正是倾听我们的工业领袖并 支持他们的时刻。
即便在现在，英国工业企业 依然在生产支撑全球供应链的 关键部件、系统和材料。这些 努力创造了高质量的国内就业 岗位，推动了出口，并促进了 经济增长。加强这些基础对于 增长和国家韧性至关重要。
英国工程公司在各自领域是 低调的全球领导者，他们投资 现代制造业，建立强化我们工业 生态系统的合作伙伴关系，并 确保对国家和经济安全至关重要的 岗位留在国内市场。
因此，我们拥有强大的基础 可以依托。但如果政府与企业 之间缺乏明确的伙伴关系，且 关键的是，如果不能重塑关于 将工程作为一种职业的叙事， 那么我们确实面临失去这次 机会的风险。
人才是我们创新能力的核心。 英国拥有光荣的工程和技术 教育传统，但对其价值的认可 已有所下降。而且，随着近 一百万年轻人处于非在学、非 就业状态，我们必须解决工程 领域的人才短缺问题。
’’
企业扮演着重要角色，我为 我们自身在此投入的重大投资 感到自豪。但我们需要支持。
英国必须为高质量的后中等 教育和职业培训创造更多 机会——而且这必须在技术学院 和大学中进行，因为我们已经 失去了曾经作为理工学院的 极重要教育层级。我们还 需要在中学中提供有意义的 职业与技术教育。
英国必须重新承诺支持 STEM 教育，特别是当我们挑战将 工业视为“旧经济”一部分的 陈旧观念时。我们是现代经济 的赋能者，提供高质量的就业 岗位和经济增长。我们持续的 领导地位取决于不懈的创新 和新技术的采用，我们需要 有才之士加入这一旅程。
我的经历反映了可能性。 我的整个职业生涯都在 Smiths 公司度过，在 35 年前获得 大学资助后加入该公司。这 改变了我的生活，希望也改变了 很多其他人的生活。现在，作为 首席执行官，我的职责是确保 下一代拥有同样的机会。我曾在 许多表现优于英国的国家工作 过。我知道，只要有正确的 政策、勇气和毅力，我们能够 超越他们。
当工业技术得到支持和规模化， 且政府创造一个让工程公司 能够自信投资的环境时，我们会 看到强大的乘数效应。投资 带动就业，就业带动工资和 消费。增长提高生活水平并 吸引人才，而这又进一步推动 创新、投资和经济扩张。
这就在我们的掌控之中。我坚信 英国拥有引领下一个工业 era. 的 独特机会。这需要雄心，以及 与工业界、教育者和政治家 建立伙伴关系，创造一个超越 短期主义和目前我们所看到的 信心不足的、长期的统一目标。
Lilia Christofi 普华永道 (PwC) 英国 EMEA 金融服务数据、人工智能及 技术负责人
经济实力的构建并非在选举周期和简短的口号中完成，而是通过采取长远眼光来实现。只要各党派能将焦点集中在正确的地方，英国能够且已准备好继续保持其世界顶尖工程国家的地位。
罗兰·卡特 (Roland Carter) 是 Smiths 的首席执行官，该公司是一家富时 100 (FTSE 100) 工业工程公司。
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首席赞助商
实现 800 亿美元销售目标
Alex Ralph 首席商业记者
阿斯利康 (AstraZeneca) 长期担任首席执行官的索里奥表示，他“绝对有信心”实现 2030 年 800 亿美元的标杆销售目标，但同时指出，公司在未来几年的创新过程中必须以“中国速度”运行。
商业板块 (The Business)
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请在您获取播客的所有平台搜索 The Business
在投资者对近期一款重磅心脏病药物研发失败表示担忧后，帕斯卡·索里奥爵士在一份令人安心的半年报更新中表示，关键的“风险调整后”目标“假设了”过程中的“成功与挫折”。索里奥自 2012 年起领导这家总部位于剑桥的富时 100 (FTSE 100) 药业集团。
他补充道：“我们对公司产品管线的实力保持信心，在接下来的 18 个月里，有 20 多个高价值的读数结果即将出炉。”
现年 67 岁的索里奥在做出上述评论之前，本月 Wainua 的一项后期临床试验出乎意料地失败，阿斯利康原计划该药在峰值年份的销售额将超过 50 亿美元。
Wainua 的消息打击了投资者信心，并影响了公司股价。然而，阿斯利康昨天确认了全年业绩指引，预计总收入将增长中至高个位数百分比，而核心每股收益（其首选的利润衡量指标）将增长低两位数百分比。
此次更新与半年报一同发布，结果显示，在恒定汇率下，总收入增长 6% 至 306.7 亿美元。
第二季度收入为 153.8 亿美元，增长 5%，而伦敦城的预测值为 153.9 亿美元；核心收益增长 18% 至每股 2.63 美元，而预测值为 2.48 美元。
肿瘤药物（占集团半年销售额的 46%）和罕见病治疗药物实现了两位数增长，抵消了糖尿病药物 Farxiga 带来的不利影响。Farxiga 是阿斯利康最赚钱的药物，在同期创造了 40 亿美元收入，但该药在最大市场美国失去了独占权，且中国市场出现了采购变化。
半年报在发布的同时，也公布了结果不一的后期临床试验进展。
针对胃癌患者使用 sonesitatug vedotin（一款潜在价值超过 30 亿美元的药物）的 III 期试验显示出积极的高级别结果。但另一项 III 期研究显示，现有药物 Ultomiris 在治疗某些癌症手术后出现的一种罕见疾病时，未能达到其主要目标。
昨日在伦敦证券交易所，阿斯利康股价收盘上涨 218 便士，即 1.7%，报 128.88 英镑，公司估值接近 2000 亿英镑。自 7 月 9 日 Wainua 出现负面读数以来，该股已下跌 11%，那是该股两年多来表现最糟糕的一天。
Wainua 的意外失败增加了另外两款处于 III 期试验的潜在重磅药物即将公布结果的压力，这两款药物被伦敦城和华尔街认为“风险更高”。
这也引发了投资者关于阿斯利康的长期疑问，即是否
Emma Powell 媒体与电信编辑
亚马逊已加强对埃隆·马斯克旗下 Starlink 的挑战，计划发射超过 5,000 颗卫星，以便在全球范围内提供手机服务。
这家由杰夫·贝佐斯领导的美国科技巨头已向联邦通信委员会申请，在 2028. 前发射 5,105 颗卫星。该公司表示，该卫星群将为用户提供语音、短信和数据服务。
该公司称，这些卫星将分布在五个“轨道壳层”中，距离地球表面 510 公里（316 英里）至 580 公里（360 英里）之间，这将提供“人口密集地区的密集覆盖”并“将服务扩展至极地地区”。
这对有效的战斗通信至关重要，同样适用于飞机和船舶。
今年 4 月，亚马逊同意与总部位于路易斯安那州的 Globalstar 合并。Globalstar 以其低地球轨道通信卫星而闻名，并在企业、政府和消费市场提供语音、数据和资产追踪服务。
亚马逊的 Leo 网络（原名为 Project Kuiper）一直饱受延迟困扰，目前约有 375 颗卫星在轨，规模远小于 Starlink 所有者 SpaceX 运营的超过 10,000 颗卫星群。马斯克的低地球轨道卫星群已与包括德国电信（Deutsche Telekom）和 Virgin Media O2 在内的运营商签署协议，提供支持卫星功能的智能手机服务。
帕斯卡·索里奥爵士试图向投资者保证，尽管其药物 Wainua 遭遇挫折，但阿斯利康 依然健康
将实现其 $80 billion 2030 年集团销售额目标，该目标是在 2024 年 5 月于剑桥举行的投资者活动上设定的。
在索里奥的领导下（他曾在 2014, 年击退了辉瑞公司一项 £69 billion 的收购企图），阿斯利康被投资者视为“高端研发特许经营企业”，并建立了极少公布负面临床试验结果的声誉。
这助力该公司成为了伦敦股市上最具价值的两家企业之一，与汇丰银行（HSBC）并列。这一转型
罗伯特·利 (Robert Lea) 工业编辑 这位资深人士 Leiters 曾任英国超级跑车公司迈凯伦 (McLaren) 的负责人。在保时捷，他接替了现任大众汽车 (Volkswagen) 首席执行官奥利弗·布鲁默 (Oliver Blume) 的职位，此前投资者担心布鲁默无法同时主导两家公司的转型。
在与工会达成协议后，这家德国汽车公司将在 2035 年前裁减超过 9,000 个工作岗位。
这意味着在接下来的九年里，保时捷目前约五分之一的员工将失业。
此次重组是德国汽车工业遭遇的最新一轮动荡。在过去的 18 个月里，保时捷已与工人代表商定裁员 4,400 人，现在将在此基础上进一步裁员 5,000 人。保时捷的母公司大众汽车则在寻求高达 100,000 人的裁员规模。
大众汽车是欧洲最大的汽车制造商，旗下还拥有奥迪 (Audi)、兰博基尼 (Lamborghini)、宾利 (Bentley)、Cupra、斯柯达 (Skoda) 和西雅特 (Seat) 等品牌。它是全球第二大汽车制造商，仅次于丰田 (Toyota)。通过复杂的交叉持股，保时捷-皮耶希 (Porsche-Piëch) 家族控制着大众集团的表决权股份。
[[IMG_XXXX]] 保时捷在向电动车转型的过程中遭遇问题
由于中国市场销售额崩溃（当地驾驶者转向本土品牌）、特朗普总统对美国出口产品征收的贸易关税，以及在电动化转型过程中的一系列失策（许多豪华车驾驶者放弃了零排放替代方案），保时捷受到了沉重打击。
【由于中国市场的增长，阿斯利康 (AstraZeneca) 的业绩得到了提升。中国是该公司的第二大市场，索里奥 (Soriot) 在那里主导了数十亿美元的投资以及与生物技术公司的合作伙伴关系。】
索里奥表示，中国企业的创新速度极快，尽管这些企业尚未具备全球商业化的规模，但这意味着阿斯利康必须与他们合作。
然而，他警告说，随着这些企业在国际上的扩张，阿斯利康也必须“学会竞争”，以避免
【像欧洲汽车制造商等其他行业的衰落。】
“你可以看看其他一些行业，他们面对中国创新的出现可能反应不够迅速——我们不想陷入同样的陷阱，”他说。
阿斯利康还在投资利用人工智能 (AI) 进行药物发现和开发。索里奥表示，他不认为这项技术会“消灭”制药行业的就业机会，反而会使其“更快、更智能”。
布鲁默尚未在大众汽车强行推行其裁员和关闭工厂的计划。
在与员工及保时捷监事会就其新的“未来方案”战略达成协议后，Leiters 表示：“未来方案对保时捷是有利的。它为我们提供了战略性重新调整公司并投资于竞争力的机会。”
行业分析师长期以来一直好奇保时捷是如何迷失方向的。Boxster 和 Cayman 等热门车型的停产，恰逢公司力推全电动 Taycan 车型，后者的入门级价格标签接近 £100,000。这款车出现了多个问题，且其所处的细分市场甚至连电动车巨头特斯拉 (Tesla) 都已撤出。
不时地 失败”
故事背后
自本月 Wainua 意外失败以来，阿斯利康 (AstraZeneca) 的市值损失了约 £250 亿，伦敦金融城和华尔街正寻求安慰 (Alex Ralph 撰文)。
昨天，在公司发布上半年业绩的 55 分钟媒体演示及问答环节中——这是自该心脏病药物临床试验受挫后的首次更新——帕斯卡尔·索里奥爵士试图消除外界的担忧，即公司是否仍能实现 $800 亿的销售目标，并克服其现有重磅癌症药物在 2030 年代初面临的“专利悬崖”。
他表示：“我从未如此自信地……认为我们有能力实现我们宏伟的 2030 目标。”
Wainua（或称 eplontersen）在针对转甲状腺蛋白淀粉样变性心脏病（一种心脏病）患者的 III 期临床试验中失败，这提醒人们，“变革性的科学带有内在风险，且并非每个项目都能成功”。
索里奥补充道：“生物学不是数学。它没有那么可预测。生物学的表现并不总是如你预期那样。”
收购华纳交易将完成
Emma Powell
Paramount Skydance 的掌门人坚持认为，尽管该交易目前处于暂停状态，但他仍然“非常有信心”计划中以 $110 billion 收购华纳兄弟探索（Warner Bros Discovery）的方案仍将继续推进。
大卫·埃里森（David Ellison）——甲骨文（Oracle）亿万富翁联合创始人拉里·埃里森（Larry Ellison）之子——在给员工的一封电子邮件中承认，关于延迟和法庭诉讼的报道“可能会引发疑问和不确定性”。
43 岁的埃里森声称，包括欧盟、美国和中国在内的 65 个司法管辖区的监管机构已经批准了该交易；他表示，如果不是因为 12 个美国州以及美国编剧工会（Writers Guild of America）发起的两项诉讼，该交易本将在“未来几周内”完成。
部分失望情绪源于阿斯利康在过去几年中 III 期临床试验的成功率—— 85 到 90 per cent——而行业平均水平为 60 到 65 per cent。
“人们已经习惯了我们能够实现高成功率。但我们必须接受，我们有时也会失败，”索里奥（Soriot）表示。
他指出，Wainua 的失败也提醒人们，在研发项目中进行“非常巨大”的资本投资是必要的。
阿斯利康的投资使其拥有“行业内最大的 III 期管线”，预计在接下来的 18 个月内将有 20 多个“高价值”试验公布结果。此外，公司目标是推出 20 个新分子实体（NMEs）。
“我们已经完成了该目标的一半以上，已有 11 个成功推出，”索里奥说。
在风险调整后的基础上，“假设成功与挫折并存”，这意味着阿斯利康认为其有望实现 2030 年的销售目标。
但索里奥的目光还看向了本十年之后，旨在建立一家能够度过 2030 年代初专利到期的公司。届时，现有的畅销抗癌药物 Tagrisso、Calquence 和 Imfinzi 将迎来专利到期，这将带来超过 $20 billion 的销售逆风，且这部分药物占公司投资组合的四分之一。
在这些新分子实体（NMEs）中，包括 12 个阿斯利康认为在其销售峰值年份可产生超过 $5 billion 销售额的药物。其中之一是用于慢性阻塞性肺疾病患者的 tozorakimab，该药在 3 月份公布了积极的后期试验结果。
另外还有五个——包括 sonesitatug vedotin (Sone-Ve)，后者在胃癌患者中显示出积极的高水平 III 期结果——预计每个将产生 $3 billion 到 $5 billion 之间的销售额。
Sone-Ve 是阿斯利康全资拥有的抗体药物偶联物（ADCs）组合中的首次关键读取结果。ADC 是一种新型抗癌药物，通过追踪癌细胞将化疗药物直接输送到肿瘤中。
索里奥表示，ADC 与免疫肿瘤学药物、细胞疗法及体重管理药物同属新型“变革性技术”，使阿斯利康能够“在下一个十年继续良好增长”。“我们拥有科学基础，拥有管线，也拥有能够实现这一目标的团队。”
索里奥这份 43-slide 的演示文稿有助于安抚投资者和分析师。自 7 月 9 日 Wainua 出现负面读取结果以来，该集团股价已下跌 11 per cent。但昨日收盘上涨 1.7 per cent。
两个流媒体服务和两家大型有线电视运营商，将扼杀竞争并导致消费者支付更高价格。工会还担心这对编剧和电影剧组的影响。
Paramount 认为与华纳兄弟的结合将使观众受益，并誓言每年在电影院发行 30 部电影，这将是目前产出的两倍。
公司还辩称，规模的扩大将使其能够在目前由 Netflix 和迪士尼（Disney）主导的“快速变化的娱乐格局”中更好地竞争。
在经历了激烈的竞价战后，特朗普总统的盟友拉里·埃里森于 2 月份获得了一项收购华纳的协议，同时挫败了来自 Netflix 的竞争报价。
Shore Capital 告知客户：“我们认为，在广泛的畅销药基础和令人羡慕的研发管线支撑下，该公司将继续呈现一个高质量、多元化的增长故事。”
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% 英国基金
头等舱与商务舱度假及航班 020 7368 1400
企业差旅 020 7368 1499
全球度假及航班 020 7368 1200
邮轮度假 020 7368 1300
非洲业务强劲增长推动
Emma Powell 媒体与电信编辑
在法国亿万富翁 Xavier Niel 成为其最大股东后，这家电信巨头在公布首份业绩报告之际，上调了本年度的利润指引。
这家在伦敦上市的集团表示，扣除利息、税项及其他项目的调整后收益将处于其 €13 billion 至 €13.3 billion 指引范围的上限，而调整后自由现金流预计将处于 €2.6 billion 至 €2.9 billion 的上限，这主要得益于其非洲业务的强劲表现。
Niel 家族的投资机构 Vega 表示，在买断阿联酋电信运营商 e& 之后，它将持有沃达丰 16 per cent 的股份，目前该比例已增至近 19 per cent。
58 岁的 Niel 是法国电信公司 Iliad 的创始人兼所有者，他在当时表示，Vega “准备将其深厚的行业专业知识和运营诀窍贡献给未来的成功……我们在帮助企业提升业绩并创造巨额股东价值方面拥有可验证的记录。”
自从 Margherita Della Valle 在 2023, 正式接掌公司以来，她主导了沃达丰剧烈的重组，出售了其意大利和西班牙业务，并与 CK Hutchison 旗下的 Three 在英国完成了价值 £16.5 billion 的合并。沃达丰随后获得了 VodafoneThree 的完全控制权。
然而，尽管公司结构已简化，但人们认为这位法国交易商可能会推动更激进的成本削减。
Niel 在 1999 年互联网泡沫破裂前于巴黎创立了 Iliad 并声名鹊起，目前他掌控着一个电信投资与业务帝国，横跨欧洲和拉丁美洲的 26 个国家。作为一名活跃的交易商，他长期以来一直倡导欧洲碎片化的电信业进行整合。
在今年第一季度，沃达丰的关键绩效指标——有机服务收入增长了 5.2 per cent，这主要受到土耳其和非洲两位数增长的推动。扣除利息、税项及其他项目后的调整后收益增长 6 per cent，达到 €2.9 billion。
通过《泰晤士报》预订。
演员兼歌手汉娜·瓦丁汉在由沃达丰 (Vodafone) 赞助的温布尔登网球锦标赛现场
沃达丰股价
140p 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 2023 2024 2025 2026
2022年12月5日： 前首席执行官 尼克·里德 离职
2022年5月14日：e& 收购最初 9.8% 的股份 2026年7月10日： 克萨维尔·尼尔 收购股份
2023年6月14日：Three 英国合并协议达成
在将肯尼亚最大移动运营商的持股比例提高 20 个百分点至 55% 后，Safaricom 业务已合并至沃达丰账目中。
德拉·瓦莱 (Della Valle)，61 岁，表示该集团在
2023年5月16日：新任首席执行官 玛格丽塔·德拉·瓦莱概述 11,000 个岗位的削减 及重组计划
2024年3月15日： 确认以 €8bn 出售意大利业务
本季度记录了“广泛的增长”。这一业绩得益于德国更强劲的复苏，此前德国因法律变更导致电视电缆、宽带
[[IMG_JONATHAN HORDLE/SHUTTERSTOCK]]
和电话服务被拆分，以及宽带和移动客户流失而受到拖累。
根据 Visible Alpha 的数据，有机服务收入增长了 1.2%，高于城市分析师 0.1% 的共识预测。尽管其移动客户数量进一步下降了 85,000 人，宽带客户流失了 98,000 人。
在英国，有机服务收入增长了 0.6%，好于城市分析师 0.4% 的共识预测。VodafoneThree 旨在到 2030 财年将其总成本和资本支出每年削减约 £700 百万。
这是在不到一年的时间内第二次上调利润指引。
该股在过去 12 个月中上涨了 41%，昨日收盘上涨 5½p，即 4.8%，报 120¼p。
将作物种植者 与实验室基因组学 联系起来
理查德·泰勒 创业者网络编辑
一家牛津大学衍生公司通过编辑种子基因以提高产量并增强作物的抗旱和抗病能力，该公司已收购了一家小麦育种业务，旨在提高英国的产量。
Wild Bioscience 正利用其去年 10 月筹集的 £45 million 风险投资，收购总部位于萨福克的 F1 Seed，该公司由比尔·安格斯 (Bill Angus) 于 2014 年创立。此前，他曾在法国 Limagrain 公司负责英国规模最大的小麦育种计划。
75 岁的安格斯表示，此次交易将基于实验室的基因研究与使用种子的种植者重新联系起来，就像剑桥著名的植物育种研究所 (Plant Breeding Institute) 在 1987 年私有化之前的 75 年里所做的那样。
“我非常担心人们对粮食安全缺乏兴趣，”他说。“我们进口了如此之多的食物，而我们拥有种植更多作物的潜力。我们拥有最好的农民……让我们给他们提供最好的基因。”
安格斯表示，干燥的天气以及黄锈病等疾病的传播，意味着小麦种植者目前“处境艰难”。
“市场由法国和德国的多国公司主导——它们都是非常优秀的公司，”他说。“但现在这是一个向英国种植者宣告‘我们正在为你们服务’的机会。”
F1 从种植其品种的种子公司收取特许权使用费。它在萨福克郡开展了 100,000 条新系的田间试验，有 6 个小麦品种在动物饲料和蒸馏市场上市，另有 3 个品种将于今年推出。安格斯表示，任何一种作物在英国获得 1% 的市场份额，其特许权使用费价值约为 £180,000。
该计划是将 Wild Bioscience 的人工智能能力与 F1 的育种技能相结合，到 2027 年直接向英国农民提供小麦品种。
Wild Bioscience 的联合创始人兼首席执行官罗斯·亨德隆 (Ross Hendron) 表示：“传统育种和生物技术一直处于各自的世界中……我们驻扎在牛津周边，这里的所有农民都无法接触到此类资源。”
JADE GAO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Isabella Fish 零售编辑
快时尚巨头 Shein 第一季度公布亏损近 $100 million，且在计划于香港上市前，其估值大幅下跌。
这家成立于中国的集团报告称，尽管营收增长 8 per cent 至 $41.8 billion，但去年净收入下降 39 per cent 至 $2.06 billion。
在本财年第一季度，Shein 转为亏损 $99 million，公司称这“主要归因于”一项会计规则变更导致的 $328 million 特种投资者股票账面调整。
这一数据来自 Shein 在香港首次公开募股的招股说明书，该文件还显示其估值已从 2022 年的 $98.2 billion 下降至 2024 年的 $64 billion。
这份由 BBC 首先看到的申报文件并未提供关于计划中的首次公开募股的规模、时间表或定价的任何细节。
在此前偏好的上市路径未能获得批准后，在香港上市将标志着 Shein 战略的一次重大转变。
由于美国的监管和政治审查加强，Shein 最初将目标定在纽约，随后转向伦敦。
然而，该公司无法获得中国监管机构对于在英国上市的必要批准，迫使其改变计划。
中国证券监督管理委员会在 7 月 10 日批准了 Shein 在香港出售股票。
Shein 由 Sky Xu 于 2008 年在南京创立，最初是一家名为 Sheinside 的婚纱零售商。
公司在 2015 年更名为 Shein，此后成长为一个巨大的快时尚电子商务平台，主要面向 Z 世代消费者提供廉价且时尚的服装，单件平均价格约为 £7.90。
曾经看似势不可挡的 Shein 近几年日子并不好过。在其最大的市场美国，该公司受到了海关规则变更的影响。
华盛顿取消了一项税收豁免，该豁免此前允许价值低于 $800 的包裹从中国、加拿大和墨西哥免税进口。该规则使得像 Shein 和 Temu 这样的电商平台能够将单个包裹跨境直接发送给客户，而无需将商品运至相关国家后再进行国内处理。
英国最近宣布计划将
Greig Cameron 蘇格蘭商業編輯
奢侈雨衣製造商 Mackintosh 報告稱，儘管其營收下降，但利潤有所增長。
提交至公司登記處 (Companies House) 的年度賬目顯示，截至今年 3 月的 12 個月內，營業額為 £5.3 million。這比上一財年下降了 £1 million，下降主因很大程度上歸因於批發市場的下滑。
賬目指出，實體零售店（Mackintosh 在倫敦擁有一家店，在日本擁有六家店）的銷售表現良好，而電子商務平台上的全價產品在一年中也表現強勁。
董事們表示，由於批發市場的挑戰，某些款式的庫存積累達到了較高水平。他們指出，“多個國家的領先商店”對新系列表現出濃厚興趣。
從 £1.7 million 增加，該企業在最近一年成功削減了行政開支和銷售成本。
董事們表示：“我們將繼續執行現有的降低成本、發展批發及投資在線銷售的策略。儘管在某些市場存在顯著
[[IMG_XXXX]] Mackintosh 的產品系列已擴展至包括鞋類、帽子和包袋
的機遇，但我們尚未能建立足夠的品牌知名度。”
[該品牌]發明了一種新的棉布防水方法。Macintosh 進而開發出橡膠化外衣，隨後 Mackintosh 大衣應運而生。
它成為了家庭必需品，同時也被軍隊、警察部隊和鐵路工人使用。
該企業經歷了多次所有權變更，並在 20 多年前被重新打造為高端時尚品牌。
日本服裝集團 Yagi Tsusho 自 2007 年起擁有 Mackintosh。
其產品範圍已超出外衣，包括服裝、鞋類、帽子、包袋及其他配飾。
它還與其他幾個時尚品牌進行了合作，包括 Victoria Beckham、Céline、CP Company、Balenciaga、Maison Margiela 和 Louis Vuitton。
Jessica Newman 休闲产业记者
在外卖配送平台上销售卷饼（burritos）和玉米片（nachos）提升了 Tortilla Mexican Grill 的销售额。
这家英国最大的墨西哥餐厅连锁店拥有约 80 家餐厅，该公司表示，截至 6 月底的六个月中，同店销售额比去年同期增长了 13.9%。
自 3 月下旬将其产品列入 Just Eat、Deliveroo 和 Uber Eats 以来，整体同店销售额增长了 19.7%，而该期间的配送销售额增长了 54.1%。
该公司表示，菜单的改进以及在 38 家餐厅引入自助点餐机，有助于提高客户每单的消费金额。
快时尚 电商 零售商 Shein 预计今年将在 香港上市。该公司 受到美国取消 小额包裹 免税政策的影响
取消一项名为 “de minimis” 的类似规则，这意味着海外零售商无需为价值低于 £135. 的货件支付进口关税。然而，瑞秋·里夫斯（Rachel Reeves）在担任财政大臣期间表示，她不会在未来几年内取消该规则。
Shein 在文件中表示：“为了应对增加的关税和税收，我们正在寻求多种方案，包括提高美国市场的价格，以抵消部分增加的成本。”
该公司表示，伊朗战争打击了需求，增加了成本，并导致部分市场的配送延迟。尽管如此，文件显示客户数量仍在增加。截至 3 月底的一年里，Shein 拥有 281 million 活跃客户，比一年前增长了 16%。
已联系 Shein 寻求评论。
由于会计问题导致审计师必须重新评估集团账目，相关流程被推迟。
5 月，该公司表示其法国业务中 £2.5 million 的支出“未通过损益账户计入费用”，这意味着其收益将比之前显示的低至 £2.5 million。
Tortilla 最新提交的账目显示，截至 12 月 28 日的年度营收为 £73.8 million，比前一年增长 8.5%，而税前利润从 2024 年的 £3.3 million 增长至 £14.7 million。
Tortilla 创始人兼首席执行官布兰登·史蒂芬斯（Brandon Stephens）表示，公司正在“翻过 2025 财年的篇章，展望未来”。
Robert Stephens Tempus 买入、卖出或持有：今日最佳股票提示 市场对 Fever-Tree 依然渴求吗？
fever-tree
F
市值 £922 million
股价
Fever-Tree 的股价在过去五年中暴跌了 66%。在 Aim 上市的这家饮料公司关键市场持续面临高通胀和相对紧缩的货币政策，许多投资者可能认为股价反弹的可能性极低。
然而，过去五年经济和消费者的困境不太可能在未来几年重复出现。凭借稳健的资产负债表、强大的竞争地位和乐观的财务预测，从长期来看，该公司具有投资吸引力。
Fever-Tree 成立于 2004, 其首款产品是印度汤力水（Indian tonic water）。此后，它扩大了汤力水的系列，涵盖多种口味，同时多元化发展非汤力饮品，如姜啤、柠檬水和可乐，这些产品贡献了其总销售额的 45%。
虽然英国仍是该公司按营收计算的主要市场，在去年的销售额中占三分之一，但欧洲和美国也是关键市场。去年它们分别贡献了总营收的 30% 和 25%。
£30
显然，这三个地区的消费者在过去五年中都面临挑战。例如，在英国，过去 60 个月中有 56 个月的通胀率高于英格兰银行 2% 的目标，而美国和欧洲的情况同样具有粘性。这已
市场报告
Vesuvius 的“运营问题”持续时间比管理层预期的要长，这使其利润和股价大打折扣（Tom Howard 撰文）。
该公司生产用于在钢铁制造过程中输送熔融金属的陶瓷管和闸阀。
Vesuvius 在 5 月曾指出，其部分原材料供应商发送了一批次不合格产品，同时在将生产转移到美国新设施时也出现了磨合问题。
管理层在昨日承认：“这些运营问题虽然是暂时的，但造成的影响比之前预期的要大。”
因此，今年的潜在利润可能仅比 2025 年实现的 £151 million “略高”：几乎比投资者的预期低了 £20 million。
在昨日伦敦所有大型公司中，Vesuvius 的股价表现无疑是最差的，下跌 58p（即 12.8%），至 394p 的三个月低点。
长期吸引力
年营收 £325 million
来源：FactSet
5 26 25 24 23 22 2021
建议：买入 理由：运营前景的改善将催化该股的股价表现
导致该公司面临严峻的运营环境，尤其是考虑到其产品系列通常处于溢价价位。高通胀持续抑制实际工资增长，并促使消费者要么削减非必需消费，要么转向更便宜的替代品。
虽然这种趋势在短期内可能会持续，从而拖累 Fever-Tree 的近期财务状况和股价表现，但预计长期来看将转为更为乐观的局面。
随着投资者准备迎接苹果 (Apple)、Meta 和微软 (Microsoft) 的业绩公布，在美股科技股财报这一关键周的伊始，华尔街的表现较为平淡。芯片股的进一步抛售在很大程度上抵消了市场对美伊紧张局势缓解的乐观情绪。权重股较高的纳斯达克综合指数 (Nasdaq Composite) 扭转了周五的复苏势头，当日下跌 0.18 per cent，收于 24,932.08。标普 500 (S&P 500) 指数和道琼斯 (Dow Jones) 指数则表现出更强的韧性，分别上涨 0.02 per cent 至 7,413.18，以及上涨 0.51 per cent 至 52,210.08。
当日波动最大的股票
营收 营业利润 2021
£56m
£31m
£21m
£33m
£325m £25m
事实上，英国的通胀率预计到明年年底将下降至 2.3 per cent，而美国联邦储备委员会和欧洲中央银行均预计到 2028. 年底将降至 2 per cent。这将减轻消费者支出压力，同时随着中央银行有更大的空间实施货币宽松政策，这将提升实际工资增长的前景。
久而久之，这可能会刺激对 Fever-Tree 所专注的非必需高端产品的更大需求。该公司财务预测证明了这一点，预计在接下来的两个财年里，每股收益 (EPS) 的年化增长率将达到 25 per cent。
当然，投资者被要求为如此卓越的增长支付溢价。即便在
票务应用 Trainline 上涨 5 per cent，因为科技相关股票出现反弹
富时 100 指数 (FTSE 100) 回升 45.52 点，即 0.4 per cent，至 10,781.75；而处于下一层级的富时 250 指数 (FTSE 250) 上涨 96.61 点，即 0.4 per cent，至 23,898.10。
随着投资者重新找回风险偏好，任何与技术相关的公司都迎来了反弹。
票务应用 Trainline 上涨 11¼p，即 5.1 per cent，至 231½p；在线评论网站 Trustpilot 上涨 15¾p，即 6.2 per cent，至 272p；赌博软件制造商 Playtech 上涨 18½p，即 5 per cent，至 390¼p。少数错过此次反弹的公司之一是 Bytes Technology，它是
前述近年来大幅下跌之后，例如，该公司的股票交易市盈率 (P/E ratio) 为 34。虽然这表明向上调高估值的空间很小甚至没有，但该公司的稳健基本面及其快速的预期增长率，意味着它值得更高的市场估值。
£311m
£344m
例如，Fever-Tree 的资产负债表包含极低债务，因此其净现金头寸约为 £88 million。这使其具备财务手段来克服不确定的短期经济前景并继续扩大产品线。
£364m
£369m
该公司还享有极高的品牌忠诚度，这转化为强大的定价权。随着经营状况最终改善，这可能会支撑利润率的增长。
显然，包括中东冲突和持续的全球贸易战在内的地缘政治风险仍可能导致通胀预测上调、利率长期保持高位以及对公司产品需求减弱。在这种情况下，近年来该公司股票所呈现的高波动性及其令人失望的表现可能会持续较长时间。
不过从长远来看，Fever-Tree 具有投资吸引力。鉴于其雄厚的财力和稳固的竞争地位，它在经营环境最终好转时将处于有利地位。虽然其股票无疑价格昂贵，但基于公司乐观的 EPS 增长预测，它们具有良好的性价比。
英国最大的微软软件转售商，原因是瑞银 (UBS) 的分析师建议客户在 2026. 年至今股价表现良好后进行获利了结。Bytes 股价下跌 12¼p，即 2.9 per cent，至 404p，尽管仍比年初起点高出 13 per cent。
但伦敦的石油交易商们则不受青睐，因为在经历了上周的激增后，随着美国和伊朗继续暂停军事行动，波动不定的原油价格有所回落。
简讯
Cranswick 销售额大增
对富含蛋白质食品和“营养均衡”饮食需求的增长，提升了 Cranswick 的销售额。
这家英国最大的猪肉生产商之一表示，在截至 6 月 27 日的 13 周内，同口径收入比去年同期增长 4%，而销量增长了 6.4%。Cranswick 将这一增长归功于其核心产品组合的“强劲需求”，而这正是由消费者“日益重视健康、富含蛋白质且营养均衡的饮食”所驱动的。
这家富时 250 指数 (FTSE 250) 成份公司是一家规模达数十亿英镑的企业，业务涵盖养猪、禽类和动物饲料。该公司表示，其禽类业务的收入增长强劲，而国内新鲜猪肉销售额在零售量两位数增长的推动下，超过了去年同期。
得益于鹰嘴豆泥和蘸酱的尤为强劲的增长，Cranswick 的便捷产品板块销售额也处于领先地位。
在此期间，Cranswick 还与 The Jolly Hog 建立了合作伙伴关系，后者是一家高端系列香肠、培根和熟肉供应商。
Investec 的分析师指出，Cranswick 在能源成本方面采取了良好的套期保值措施，使其具有“极高程度的韧性”。
该公司股价自年初以来上涨了 10%，目前下跌 40p，即 0.7%，至 £54.40。
Serica 赢得 Pharos 交易
英国最大的北海天然气生产商之一达成了一项 £146 million 的交易，旨在进军埃及和越南。Serica Energy 计划在击败以色列 Ratio Petroleum 集团 £124 million 的竞争报价后，收购在伦敦上市的 Pharos Energy。Pharos Energy 的董事会已建议接受该报价。Serica 的方案价值为每股 33.6p，由现金和股息组成。Pharos 的资产将增加相当于每日约 6,000 桶原油的净产量。Serica 在 6 月初表示，其今年的平均日产量为 43,300 桶。
JACK COUSIN/GETTY IMAGES
IP Group 合并计划被放弃
Railpen 已放弃对富时 250 (FTSE 250) 投资公司 IP Group 的收购尝试。IP 的董事会本月一致拒绝了其最大股东提出的 71.3p 每股的提高后报价，理由是 IP 及其前景被低估。Railpen 为铁路养老金计划管理超过 £34 billion 的资产，根据英国接管规则，其截止日期为昨天。Railpen 表示，其“未能就一份双方均可接受的提案条款与董事会达成一致”。IP Group 股价收盘下跌 ½p，至 66p，公司估值 £586.6 million。
Everyman 收入提升
英国最后一家上市的电影院运营商在披露半年销售额和利润大幅增长的同时，正从一个暑期的商业大片热潮中获益。Everyman Media Group 的董事希望取消这家高端连锁影院在 AIM 市场的上市，该公司报告称，在截至 7 月 2 日的 26 周内，由于包括《玩具总动员 5》在内的强力电影排片，收入增长 23.9% 至 £70 million。其 49 家电影院的入场人数增长 20% 以上，达到 2.6 million，而平均票价上涨 4.1% 至 £12.97。强劲的销售额转化为经调整后利润 32% 的增长，达到 £10.8 million。
2026 年 7 月 28 日，星期二 | 《泰晤士报》 商业版
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12 个月 价格 预测 最高 最低 公司 (p) +/- 股息率% 市盈率 (P/E)
Markets LLC. 保留所有权利。禁止重新分发； Tradeweb FTSE 国债收盘价 此处包含的信息为 Tradeweb 专有；不得复制，且不保证其 准确、完整或及时；且不构成投资 建议。Tradeweb 对因使用此信息 而可能导致的任何损失或损害不承担责任。
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基准利率 清算行：3.75% 欧洲央行 (ECB) 再融资利率 2.40% 美联储 (Fed) 基金利率 3.5-3.75% Halifax 抵押贷款利率 (SVR) 7.24%
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《泰晤士报》 | 2026 年 7 月 28 日，星期二 41 登记簿
讣告
对于在 1970 年代长大的人来说，比尔·奥迪 (Bill Oddie) 是那个永恒的“好伙计”——一个戴着长围巾、住在像猪圈一样的房子里与两名好友同居、开着厕所低俗笑话并骑着三人自行车的快活电视角色。后辈们则将他视为野生动物节目主持人，包括《比尔·奥迪观鸟》(Birding With Bill Oddie) 和《比尔·奥迪野蛮生长》(Bill Oddie Goes Wild)，他在节目中展现出充满活力且自然的热情，以及出色的即兴发挥能力，即使摄影机提前布置好等待的稀有物种未能出现，他也从不慌乱。
《好伙计》于 1970 年首次亮相，在 12 年间共播出了 77 集。他们的幽默感带有一种讨喜的傻气和肢体感，很大程度上借鉴了电影动画片和默片中的闹剧风格，在三人骑上他们的“三 tandem（串联车）”时，常伴随爆炸、相机把戏和特效。他们从位于克里克尔伍德 (Cricklewood) 的办公室出发，准备“随时随地做任何事情”，包括被一只巨大的掠食小猫追赶，或被外星兔子绑架。在这些荒诞情节中，他们也触及了诸如种族隔离等议题，例如在其中一个短剧中设定了一个名为“种族高度隔离”(Apart-Height) 的政权，在那里身材矮小的人被与社会其他群体隔离。
他们本身就像卡通人物：蒂姆·布鲁克-泰勒 (Tim Brooke-Taylor)（讣告见 2020 年 4 月 13 日）扮演一名穿着英国国旗背心的庸俗保皇派；格雷姆·加登 (Graeme Garden) 扮演一名戴眼镜的书呆子专家；而奥迪则是那个矮小、圆润且永远邋遢的无政府主义者。
然而，与卡通人物不同，现实生活中的“好伙计”成员并非专业特技演员，经常在拍摄后浑身青紫。在片头演职员表中，布鲁克-泰勒将一根长矛插在树上，然后像 Catherine wheel（烟花转轮）一样在矛端旋转。在其他场景中，奥迪在行驶的双层巴士车顶行走，而加登则冒着被滚下山坡的木桶撞飞的风险。奥迪曾指出：“我们做的是卡通式幽默，而这确实很疼。”
他不仅参与了剧集的编写，还为其创作歌曲，其中几首被发行在专辑和单曲中，最著名的是 1975 年的《放克长臂猿》(Funky Gibbon)，该曲在排行榜上停留了十周，最高排名第 4。当 BBC 在是否拍摄新一季的问题上犹豫不决时，《好伙计》签署了三年合同转投伦敦周末电视台 (London Weekend TV)，但在播完一季后就失去了动力。
由于被认为缺乏深度且受众主要是儿童，《好伙计》从未获得像《蒙提·派森》(Monty Python) 那样的评论界赞誉，而三人组一直抱怨节目没有重播。2005 年，BBC 终于让步，制作了一场致敬之夜。怀旧热潮随之兴起。随后推出了名为《好伙计……终于来了第二次加餐》(The Goodies ... At Last a Second Helping) 的 DVD，奥迪还与布鲁克-泰勒、加登一起在澳大利亚进行了为期两周、场场售罄的《好伙计》回顾展。
然而，奥迪随和的外表下隐藏着复杂的人格。他以脾气暴躁、难以共事而著称；尽管后来性格变得温和，但依然可能令人烦躁。60 岁时，他精神崩溃并被送入精神病院，在那里他反思了童年时期缺乏母爱的经历——这通常被认为是导致晚年抑郁的一个因素。他的母亲是一名暴力的精神分裂症患者，曾试图杀死他的父亲，后来被强制住院，奥迪很少见到她。他说：“其中一段记忆是我大约六岁时放学回家……发现整个房子被砸得稀烂。就像是一场希腊派对结束后的样子，只不过破碎的盘子上全沾满了血。我爸爸被拉到了医院。”
[[IMG_XXXX]] （图注：奥迪在《好伙计》中的剧照，下方与其共演者合影。他后来越来越多地转向自然类节目）
他的治疗师告诉他，婴儿往往与母亲的心理健康相关。而在 2004 年为 BBC 节目《你认为你是谁？》（Who Do You Think You Are?）追溯家族历史时，他发现他的母亲在连续的年份中经历了一次死产并失去了另一个因猝死而夭折的孩子。他认为这个节目令人心碎，但它使他能够以更温情的方式看待母亲的记忆。他现在意识到，他从小就开始对野生动物产生兴趣，其实是一种逃离家庭困扰的方式。
在发现一枚林集雀的蛋后，他在六岁时开始收集鸟蛋。有一年，他要求并收到了一对高质量的双筒望远镜作为圣诞礼物。到 13 岁时，他发现了观鸟，正如他在其著作《离去观鸟》（Gone Birding，1983年）中所写的那样，“立刻变成了一个更好的人”。在青少年时期，他为西米德兰兹鸟类俱乐部的年度报告撰稿，并在 1973 年与德里克·琼斯（Derek Jones）在 Radio 4 的《自然之声》（Sounds Natural）节目中讨论鸟鸣录音。
他的父亲在 14 岁时离开学校，他决定让比尔接受他当年缺失的教育，并鼓励他努力学习。他通过了 11-plus 考试，就读于海尔索温文法学校（Halesowen Grammar School），随后参加了金爱德华学校（King Edward’s School）的进一步考试，并在那里
[[IMG_SHAUN HIGSON/TV TIMES VIA GETTY IMAGES]]
通过加入观鸟、爵士乐和辩论社团而大放异彩。他获得了剑桥大学彭布罗克学院的奖学金，获得英语学位，并成为一名喜剧作家和表演者。
不久，他成为了“足灯剧团”（Footlights）的明星，加入了参与综艺剧《剑桥马戏团》（Cambridge Circus）的团体，成员包括布鲁克-泰勒（Brooke-Taylor）、加登（Garden）、约翰·克利斯（John Cleese）、乔·肯德尔（Jo Kendall）和戴维·哈奇（David Hatch），该剧在西区演出，并前往新西兰和澳大利亚。奥迪与《剑桥马戏团》团队一起转向广播领域，在那里他协助编写了《对不起，我再读一遍》（I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again），这部素描喜剧被誉为“广播版的奶油派”，于 1964 年至 1973 年播出。
他与古典作曲家理查德·罗德尼·本内特（Richard Rodney Bennett）分享生活。他与哈特于 1967 年结婚，他留下了两个女儿：凯特·哈迪（Kate Hardie），一名女演员，他曾与她一起在 1992 年的利里克剧院（Lyric Theatre）出演一部设定在 1920 年代的哥特惊悚剧《幽灵火车》（The Ghost Train），这是他罕见的舞台亮相；以及邦妮（Bonnie）。
节目《世纪大拍卖》（Sale of the Century）。当朋友问他们想要的婚礼礼物时，他开玩笑地回答“一个花园小矮人”，但这个玩笑起到了反作用，结果他们得到了一个堆满小矮人的花园。在 1980 年代，这对夫妇为儿童编写了两部情景喜剧，《顶峰》（From the Top）和《泡泡糖旅》（The Bubblegum Brigade）。博蒙特（Beaumont）在之后留下了他们的女儿罗西（Rosie），一名音乐家。
1967 年，奥迪和加登与迈克尔·帕林（Michael Palin）和特里·琼斯（Terry Jones）共同出演电视系列剧《隔周两次》（Twice a Fortnight），但不同的喜剧风格未能融合。随后，帕林和琼斯加入了克利斯的《蒙提-派森的飞行马戏团》（Monty Python’s Flying Circus），而奥迪和加登则与布鲁克-泰勒一起出演《开阔你的心胸》（Broaden Your Mind），这可以看作是《好伙计》（The Goodies）的一次试水。奥迪和加登还担任了 ITV 剧集《住院医生》（Doctor in the House，1969-70年）的主创，这是一部改编自理查德·戈登（Richard Gordon）小说的医疗喜剧，并为其两部续作《出诊医生》（Doctor at Large）和《首席医生》（Doctor in Charge）撰稿。
1988 年，奥迪罕见地重返剧场，在乔纳森·米勒（Jonathan Miller）为英国国家歌剧院制作的《 the Mikado》中饰演首席刽子手 Koko。
他也偶尔在电视上担任演员，例如在约翰·莫蒂默（John Mortimer）的剧作《夺回蒂特姆斯》（Titmuss Regained，1991年）中饰演一名古怪的鸟类学家。
逐渐地，他的活动重心转移到了野生动物。他起初为 TV-am 录制短片，随后转到 BBC。1985 年，他主持了在巴布亚新几内亚拍摄的系列节目《奥迪在天堂》（Oddie in Paradise）。从 2005 年起，更多的节目被《春季观察》（Springwatch）所取代，该节目每天直播，邀请观众监测野生动物并报告气候变化的影响。该节目拥有 300 万至 400 万人的稳定观众群，一个类似的项目《秋季观察》（Autumnwatch）于 2006 年启动。
他还写了几本关于观鸟的书，曾任皇家鸟类保护学会 (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) 的理事，并为野生动物不遗疲倦地奔走倡导。他最后几次出现在电视屏幕上的机会之一是在《名流英国驳船之旅：往昔与今朝》(Celebrity Britain by Barge: Then & Now (2020)) 节目中，在英国的内陆水道上悠闲地航行。
在离家较近的地方，人们经常能看到奥迪 (Oddie) 穿着抓绒夹克，眼睛地盯着双筒望远镜，与几位观鸟好友一起在清晨的汉普斯特德荒野 (Hampstead Heath) 之中穿行于露珠之中。“请不要叫我们‘追鸟人’ (twitchers)，”他在 1998 年请求一位《泰晤士报》的采访者道。“我们是观鸟者或鸟类爱好者，”他补充说，并坚持认为追鸟人是观鸟中“古板单调的一面”，主要关注的是记录数量。“我们所做的是为了乐趣而观鸟。当然，看到稀有品种很不错，我也会做记录。”然而，不像“好伙计”(The Goodies) 那样，“我不会为了去做这件事而拼命奔跑。”
一位戴着黑色软呢帽的解剖学家，其“人体世界”展览和公开尸体解剖令批评者震惊，却吸引了数百万人的关注
君特·冯·哈根斯快速瞥了一眼面前的尸体，随即举起刀，切入头部并锯开颅骨。在打开胸腔后，他伸进一只手，在一名同事的协助下，挖出了一大把器官。“我已经将肺部和心脏释放出来了，”他兴高采烈地向在亚特兰蒂斯画廊（位于东伦敦砖巷的一家前酿酒厂）内的 500 名满座观众宣布。在屋外风雨中，更多的人正通过大屏幕观看。
那是 2002 年 11 月。冯·哈根斯是一位拥有流行演艺本能的精明商人，他无视宗教批评者的指责、说教式的报纸报道以及警方的警告，决定在英国开展 170 年来的首次公开尸体解剖。他的解剖对象是一位 72 岁的男性，该男性已将身体捐赠给这位备受争议的德国医生的“人体世界”展览。随着敞开的尸体发出的恶臭在房间内弥漫，许多观看者捂住了口鼻。第四频道 (Channel 4) 对整个过程进行了电视转播，不过播出的时间被推迟到了午夜，且在播放前设有观众警告。
在支持者看来，冯·哈根斯是一位科学远见者，他那令人惊叹的展览让数百万人直面死亡的现实。“我的雄心是让解剖学民主化，”他告诉《独立报》。而在批评者眼中，冯·哈根斯则是一个人类怪诞秀的阴森驯兽师——这位面色苍白的解剖学家通过在头上永久扣着一顶略显阴森的黑色软呢帽来塑造这一形象，这是在向伦勃朗 1632 年的绘画作品《杜尔普博士的解剖课》致敬。诺贝尔奖得主、小说家君特·格拉斯将他比作臭名昭著的纳粹医生约瑟夫·门格勒，而其他人则称他为弗兰肯斯坦。
争议围绕着他的人体标本展开。2003 年，西伯利亚的一名验尸官在一次拦截到包含 56 具尸体的运输件后被起诉。有指称称，在吉尔吉斯斯坦，冯·哈根斯每具尸体支付 €10。当《镜报》(Der Spiegel) 在 2004 年发表指控，称其部分标本为中国被执行死刑的受害者时，冯·哈根斯成功在德国法院申请禁令，防止该指控被重复报道。然而，对于标本的确切来源，他始终含糊其辞，并在发现无法解释的颅骨伤口后火化了其中几具。
这些争议和争论并未损害冯·哈根斯的“剥皮与展示”嘉年华——正如《泰晤士报》的一篇社论所称。首场“人体世界”展于 1995 年在东京开幕，随后开始巡演，展出采用塑化技术处理的尸体，并将其摆出击剑、骑马、下棋、端着一杯威士忌或骑自行车等动态姿势。
在布鲁塞尔，比利时人口的 5% 参观了展览，其中许多人离开时面色苍白，并决定停止吸烟或采取其他措施改善健康。据他称，在短短五年内，已有六百万人凝视过冯·哈根斯的尸体。冯·哈根斯及其展品都在詹姆斯·邦德电影《皇家赌场》(2006) 中有过短暂亮相。
这场臭名昭著的英国展于 2002, 3 月开幕，展出了 175 个身体部位和 25 具完整尸体。其中包括一名孕妇，其子宫被切开以展示一个七个月大的胎儿，以及一名被剥皮的男性，其颅骨被切除以露出大脑。这些展品以及冯·哈根斯大肆宣传的 11 月公开解剖计划，令当局开始考虑他是否违反了 1832, 年的《解剖法》——该法是在伯克和海尔丑闻后出台，旨在防止尸体非法贸易。
冯·哈根斯始终坚持，他的展览目的是为了教育。
“我面临过法律挑战，但总是获胜，”他挑衅地宣布。“对展览的批评大多来自那些实际上没看过展的知识分子。我们处理的不是腐败或腐烂的肉体。”
尽管面临这些法律行动的威胁以及警察在场，冯·哈根斯还是继续进行了他在伦敦的尸体解剖。随后，《泰晤士报》采访了观众，他们在观看时心情复杂，既着迷又反感，且无法就他们见证的是教育还是娱乐达成一致。“这非常有教育意义且令人着迷。我不知道大家在吵什么，” 40 岁的办公室经理玛丽娜·巴特拉 (Marina Batra) 说道。英国医学会伦理委员会主席迈克尔·沃克斯 (Michael Walkes) 认为，这更像是一场表演而非讲座，并补充道：“我不认为其中有足够的教育价值。”尽管如此，冯·哈根斯及其团队并未被提起任何刑事指控。
[[IMG_XXXX]]（注：原件为视频/剧集描述），这是一个由四部分组成的系列，记录了冯·哈根斯在德国讲堂工作的场景，在《泰晤士报》的一篇评论中被描述为一场“近在咫尺的、令人毛骨悚然的奇观”。
该频道在 2007 年通过《尸检：急诊室》(Autopsy: Emergency Room，原名为《冈特急诊室》) 提出了一个关于死亡的新视角，利用尸体来研究事故和袭击对身体的影响，并演示能够救命的医疗程序。在其中一集节目中，他对一具尸体进行了气管切开术，将胸腔像“一对双开门”一样打开，将插槽连接到一对风箱上，并让肺部上下起伏。与此同时，一名“解剖艺术家”在一名活着的赤裸女性胸前绘制一组真实的肺部图像——这一切都是在现场观众面前完成的。
SION TOUHIG, FRANCIS DEMANGE/GETTY IMAGES
他说。“在我出现之前，解剖学书籍中没有逼真的姿势。现在它们都有了。我赋予了解剖学生命。”
没有栩栩如生的 姿态。我赋予了它们生命”
他于 1945 年出生在波兰被德国占领期间的波兹南附近 Alt-Skalden（现为 Skalmierzyce），原名 Gunther Gerhard Liebchen。他是 Gerhard Liebchen 与其妻的五个孩子之一，其父是一名 SS 成员，据称曾将 60 名波兰人送入集中营。
当他的父母为了躲避 advancing 的红军，乘马车将他带向西方时，他才五天大。他们定居在格赖茨 (Greiz)，该地最终成为了东德的一部分。冯·哈根斯回忆起童年时在柏林南部的一位叔叔的农场度假的经历。“我对动物很感兴趣，见证了一头牛的出生，并花了六周时间搭建了一个兔子笼，”他回忆道。八岁时，他收到了一把小提琴作为圣诞礼物，此后每年的圣诞前夜他都会演奏它。
由于患有血友病，他在医院度过了大量时间。他回忆起有一次在出血时，无意中听到医生告诉一名同事：“他可能撑不过去了。”这激发了他对医学的兴趣，尽管起初他辍学去做电梯操作员和邮递员。随后他在夜校恢复了学业。那时他是一家药房和医院的护理助理，他非常厌恶在慢性肺病病房为咳嗽患者更换痰盂。在 17 岁时见证了第一次尸体解剖后，他开始在耶拿大学学习医学。
冯·哈根斯还对政治产生了兴趣。他参加了 1968 年的学生游行，分发抗议华沙条约组织军队入侵捷克斯洛伐克的传单。1969 年 1 月，他在试图从捷克边境进入奥地利时被拦截，次日再次尝试但被逮捕并入狱两年。
由于被视为政治犯，在西德政府支付了 43,000 德国马克（约合今天的 £75,000）赎金后，他获得了自由。他继续在吕贝克大学学习，并于 1975 年在海德堡大学完成了博士学位。同年，他与妇科医生 Cornelia Hagens 結婚，并采用了妻子的姓氏，以在心理上与其家庭的纳粹过去拉开距离。他们育有三个孩子：参与《人体世界》展览工作的 Rurik，以及 Bera 和 Tona。
塑料浸渍法 (Plastination) 是他于 1977 年发明的一种技术，旨在用无毒聚合物取代体内的液体和脂肪以防止分解，其目的是为了教育目的而保存尸体。到 1992 年，他完成了首例“全身”塑料浸渍，次年创办了私人经营的塑料浸渍研究所。其总部位于波兰边境的小镇古本 (Guben)。尽管是一位千万富翁，但他没有私家车，穿着廉价衣服，乘坐经济舱飞行，且经常步行进入波兰吃晚餐，因为“那里的食物很好，而且价格只有德国的一半”。
2008 年，冯·哈根斯被诊断出患有帕金森病，并开始出售他的展品。他还开始为宠物主人提供保存 2mm 厚死亡宠物切片的服务，解释称，支付 €460 之后，“这只小狗就可以作为一片透明的切片挂在墙上，永恒地注视着它的主人”。随后，他推出了《动物内部》 (Animals Inside Out)，将塑料浸渍技术扩展到电视节目及自然历史博物馆中的动物身上。
他的第一段婚姻解体，2009 年他与 Angelina Whalley 結婚，后者是一名比他小 20 岁的前学生，曾在《人体世界》项目中工作。她描述了他对解剖学那种专注到极致的追求。“睡觉、社交、外出、跳舞、去看戏……对他来说，这些都是浪费时间，妨碍他去做有用的事情，妨碍他追求目标，”她感叹道。
《人体世界》于 2009, 年重返英国，此次展出地点在伦敦东南部的 O2 体育馆。这一次，尽管展品中包含一对正在交配的尸体，但媒体、公众和当局对此仅是耸耸肩表示淡然。“这是所有行为中最具人性的一种，”冯·哈根斯告诉《泰晤士报》。“如果审查……”
“对我而言，为了不冒犯他人而对性解剖学进行删减，将是对科学的损害，也是一种刻意的误导。”
1972年，随着北海石油成为现实，一名来自阿伯丁郡、名叫梅特兰·麦基 (Maitland Mackie) 的议员，不知怎么地，说服了一群该郡那些往往过于保守的商业领袖前往德克萨斯州进行实地考察。
麦基是一名自由党人，他的家族乳制品业发展出了苏格兰最著名的冰淇淋品牌，他直觉地认为“黑金”能带来财富。但并非每个人都如此确定，其中包括一名叫伊恩·伍德 (Ian Wood) 的年轻代表，当时他大约 30 岁，五年前刚刚接管了父亲在阿伯丁的渔业公司。
伍德原以为石油（首次钻出于 1969 年）可能会带来一些额外的营业额。但直到在当时充满活力的休斯顿，他才意识到这里蕴藏着巨大的财富机会。“我当时完全不知道自己要去寻找什么，但那次经历简直是‘尤里卡’时刻（灵光一现），”他在 25 年后告诉《独立报》。 “我回来后说，‘我们搞错了。我们将不得不成立新公司并招募新员工’。”
每个人都预期石油公司能从北海油气中获利。而伍德——其家族企业既经营拖网渔船也从事维修——意识到，大型钻井运营商需要工程、咨询和物流支持。这一认知让伍德在今年的《星期日泰晤士报》富豪榜中获得了估计超过 £1.8 billion 的财富。
他投资于船厂、货车和专业技术——即便他的父亲警告过风险。到 1982 年，在他 40 岁那年，他将自己的石油工程业务分拆为一个独立公司，即伍德集团 (Wood Group)，该集团在跨国经营的高峰期估值超过 £5 billion。
伍德从未学过德克萨斯石油大亨们那种傲慢的姿态，他形容那些大亨在向当地公司施舍微小机会时表现得“自以为是”。相反，他采取了那种节俭且精明的方式，就像麦基带去美国的苏格兰东北部农业和渔业领导者那样。
即便身为一家跨国公司的首席执行官兼董事长，伍德依然乘坐经济舱。企业家汤姆·亨特爵士 (Sir Tom Hunter) 第一次见到伍德——他说伍德是“我的英雄之一”——是在 STV 电视台的一个商业节目演播室里。“我当时三十出头，开着我的豪车出现是为了炫耀。离开时，伊恩上了一辆破旧的出租车。他要坐火车回阿伯丁，我敢肯定他的针织开衫上有一个洞！我从伊恩身上学到了很多——首先，不要炫耀。他淡然地对待自己的财富。”
前苏格兰民族党 (SNP) 议员及部长理查德·洛克黑德 (Richard Lochhead) 强调了伍德传奇般的节俭。“他总是非常接地气，”他说。“我记得有一次我邀请他来议会，我给他买了一杯咖啡，然后因为没有提供饼干或蛋糕而向他道歉。他告诉我不用担心，然后从他那个破旧的公文包里翻出了两包在不同火车行程中留下的不同品种的黄油短饼。”
伍德能够自嘲他在商业上持有长老会式的态度，承认他的“苏格兰血统”阻碍了他承担一些更大的风险。他将自己称为苏格兰皇家银行董事会中的“约翰·诺克斯” (John Knox)，以此指代那位伟大的苏格兰改革者。
在北海经营公司需要坚韧的意志，尤其是在 1988 年，当时 39 名伍德集团员工在派珀阿尔法 (Piper Alpha) 平台遇难。在苏格兰工业历史上最黑暗的一天中，共有 167 人丧生。
伊恩·伍德于 1942 年出生在阿伯丁，父母是约翰和玛格丽特·伍德。他在收费的罗伯特·戈登学院 (Robert Gordon’s College) 就读，随后进入阿伯丁大学，并于 1964 年以心理学一等荣誉学位毕业。他曾获得一个学术岗位，但在——
好莱坞的生命
《泰晤士报》摄影师 JAMES GLOSSOP
（他）接手了一份他认为是在渔业公司从事拖网渔船操作的夏季工作。“我当时并没有真正考虑过经商，”他后来说道。“我的母亲希望我成为一名专业人士。” 后来他承认，他认为如果进入学术界的政治世界，他将会是一场灾难。
伍德的职业生涯涵盖了巨大的北海石油繁荣期，这使得阿伯丁成为了自封的“欧洲石油之都”，但他也见证了它的衰落。2015年，在与《泰晤士报》交谈时，当时油价在每桶 $50 左右波动——大约是如今价值的一半——他回忆道：“有那么一代人，现在可能是两代人了，他们从未经历过没有石油的阿伯丁。而我经历过。我非常幸运。我在 22 岁时离开大学，所以石油开始出现时我大约 26 岁。”
“所以我了解石油之前的阿伯丁。我将不会知道石油之后的阿伯丁——那时我应该已经不在人世了——但现在有几代人一直将其视为理所当然，并且变得非常、非常依赖石油和天然气工业。他们需要改变自己的思维方式。”
他说，阿伯丁应该开始规划一个“无石油的未来”，他认为这涉及对该地本身的升级。当市议会否决了他提出的一个旨在改造市中心的计划时，他感到很失望，他将那里描述为“目前一个相当凄惨的地方”。他提议的开发项目已有 £140 百万资金准备投资，但尽管有一项由他本人资助且显示出民众支持的当地公投，该计划仍被议员们否决。在他看来，市议会的否决确保了该计划“彻底失效”。
然而，他认为石油繁荣在这座城市培养了一代具有企业家精神的人，他们拥有创造变革的才干和雄心。他给他们的建议是：“停止回顾过去。向前看，看看我们面临的挑战以及我们将如何应对它们。”
伍德在 2006 年卸任伍德集团 (Wood Group) 首席执行官（在将其公司公开上市四年后），并在 2012 年卸任董事长。
在他离开后，该公司陷入了困境，包括支付巨额款项以掩盖其收购的两家子公司的腐败丑闻。今年，该公司因发布误导性财务报表而被罚款，一家名为 Sidara 的总部位于迪拜的公司完成了对这家阿伯丁企业的收购，而该公司此前已从富时 100 (FTSE 100) 指数中剔除。
直到去世，伍德一直领导着一家家族传承企业——唐渔业公司 (The Don Fishing Company)。但他和家人逐渐出售了他们在伍德集团的股份，其中很大一部分是为了资助一系列慈善事业。2015年，他承诺捐出其一半的财富，支持国内外各种正义事业。
伍德是一个滴酒不沾的工作狂，他每天在办公室花费 16 小时，但周末会早早下班。他还担任了多种公共和慈善职务，包括参与阿伯丁的经济振兴。作为一个务实的统一派，他尽管如此，仍就能源政策向洛克黑德 (Lochhead) 和其他苏格兰民族党 (SNP) 部长提供建议。
他的家人强调，他也总是能抽出时间陪伴他的三个儿子：尼古拉斯 (Nicholas)、格雷厄姆 (Graham) 和加雷斯 (Garreth)，以及满足他对体育的热情。他在大学期间橄榄球打得很好，并且直到中年依然热爱壁球、网球和滑雪。他的妻子海伦夫人 (Lady Helen) 和儿子们在他去世后继续生活。
伍德在 1994 年被封为骑士，并于 2016 年被授予大英帝国勋章最高等级的 the Knight Grand Cross。2018 年，他被授予苏格兰最高骑士勋章——蓟花勋章 (Order of the Thistle)。
伊恩·伍德爵士 (Sir Ian Wood)，企业家兼慈善家，出生于 1942 年 7 月 21 日。他于 2026 年 7 月 26 日去世，享寿 84 岁。
宫廷通报
白金汉宫 2026 年 7 月 27 日 国王（皇家荣誉空军准将）今天下午访问了皇家空军马汉基地 (Royal Air Force Marham)，并由诺福克郡的国王代表（丹纳特夫人）和基地指挥官（莱奥尼·博伊德组长）接待。
国王陛下参观了一栋新的住宿楼，随后正式宣布该建筑启用。
国王随后在基地的一座机库内参观了一架 F-35 Lightning 隐形战斗机，并与飞行员和航空人员会面，之后又会见了更多军职人员及其家属。
随后，阁下弗朗西斯·亚当森 (Frances Adamson) 阁下在卸任南澳大利亚州州长后，由国王陛下接见。
罗德·邦滕 (Rod Bunten) 先生亦由陛下接见。
迈克尔·杜利 (Michael Dooley) 先生（陛下的多塞特郡 Lord-Lieutenant）今日在伯恩茅斯机场迎接乌克兰总统抵达，并代表国王陛下对阁下表示欢迎。
圣詹姆斯宫 2026年7月27日 爱丁堡公爵，海斯廷斯和爱德华王子团团长，于今日下午通过视频会议与在加拿大的安杰洛·曼扎拉 (Angelo Manzara) 中校（指挥官）举行会议。
肯辛顿宫 2026年7月27日 肯特公爵，国家陆军博物馆赞助人，于今早接见了卸任馆长的贾斯汀·马切耶夫斯基 (Justin Maciejewski) 先生。
西蒙·梅亚尔 (Sir Simon Mayall) 陆军中将（主席）和乔治·诺顿 (Sir George Norton) 陆军中将（副主席）出席了接见。
在登记册中发布出生、结婚或死亡公告的简便方式。全天 24 小时可用。请访问： newsukadvertising.co.uk
出生、结婚 与死亡
死亡
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上帝足够仁慈，将这项工作托付给我们。这就是我们永不放弃的原因。哥林多后书 4.1 (CEV)
圣经经文由圣经协会提供
出生 HOWARD，2026年7月11日出生于劳拉（原姓 Wood）和克雷格夫妇，得子亚历山大·乔治 (Alexander George)。
BEARDMORE 约翰·亚历克 (John Alec) 教授于 2026年6月29日在医院平静离世，享年 96, 岁，其挚爱的妻子帕特里夏 (Patricia) 和四个孩子在旁陪伴。私人家庭追思礼拜于 2026, 年7月20日在坎伯利 (Camberley) 的圣保罗教堂举行。
ENSUM 帕特里夏 (Patricia) 于 2026年7月21日离世，享年 90. 岁。凯瑟琳 (Kathryn) 挚爱的母亲。原居于威尔特郡的西恩德 (Seend)。帕特在苏格兰的一家护理院平静离世，其女儿在侧。葬礼服务将于 8月7日周五下午 2.点在格拉斯哥 Drumchapel, G15 7XN 的 Alex Black 殡仪服务中心举行。
FERRAND 约翰·杰弗里 (John Geoffrey)（绰号“鱼贩约翰”/“黄鼠鼠”）在短时间患病后于 2026年7月23日平静离世，享年 76 岁。深受爱戴的父亲、祖父、兄弟和朋友。一旦相识，永不遗忘。私人火化仪式及感恩礼拜将于 9月21日周一下午 2.30 在兰伯恩 (Lambourn) 举行。
约翰·霍勒姆 (JOHN HORAM)（格里姆萨格的霍勒姆勋爵 (LORD HORAM OF GRIMSARGH)） 约翰在经历一次事故后，于 7月24日周五虽不舍但平静地离世。一位敬业的政治家，一个善良且慷慨的人。他享年 87. 岁。
私人家庭火化仪式后，将于秋季举行追思礼拜。请不要哀悼，而是请为这个热爱生活的男人静默举杯。
HUSSELBY 威廉·埃里克 (William Eric) OBE, DL，于 2026年7月17日平静离世，享年 87 岁。一位深受爱戴的丈夫、父亲和祖父。将举行私人家庭葬礼，追思礼拜将于 10月举行。
SWORDS 迈克尔·詹姆斯·科尔姆 (Michael James Colm) 于 2026年7月12日离世，享年 91. 岁。家人和朋友深感痛心。葬礼弥撒于 8月13日正午在伦敦伊斯灵顿的圣约翰福音传道者教堂举行。愿他安息。
WALKER 菲利普·尼格尔 (Philip Nigel) 于 2026年7月9日离世，享年 81. 岁。在家中平静离世。苏 (Sue) 最亲爱的丈夫。感恩礼拜于 8月20日下午 1点举行。所有咨询请联系多切斯特庞德伯里 (Poundbury, Dorchester) 的 Matthew Lucas 殡仪服务商。
YARKER 玛格丽特·伊丽莎白 (Margaret Elizabeth) 于 2026年7月11日在伍斯特肯普西 (Kempsey, Worcester) 的 The Lawns 平静离世，享年 84 岁。葬礼服务将于 8月11日周二下午 2点在伍斯特 London Road 的圣马丁与圣彼得教堂 (WR5 2ED) 举行。欲知详情请联系 E Hill & Son 殡仪服务商，电话 01386 552141。
讣告 - 私人 LIPWORTH Bertrand Ivan。怀念 11 年前逝世的 Bertrand： “你的缺席，宛如一场寒冬” （改编自莎士比亚）
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y
T
Sh
Sh
图例：b=晴朗, c=多云, d=毛毛雨, pc=局部多云 du=阴天, f=天气良好, fg=雾, h=冰雹, m=薄雾, r=雨, sh=阵雨, sl=雨夹雪, sn=雪, s=太阳, t=雷暴 =前一日 *=数据不可得
温度 (C) 降雨 (mm) 日照小时* 昨日正午 昨日下午5点前24小时
Aberdeen (阿伯丁) Aberporth (阿伯波思) Anglesey (安格尔西) Aviemore (艾维莫尔) Barnstaple (班斯台普尔) Bedford (贝德福德) Belfast (贝尔法斯特) Birmingham (伯明翰) Bournemouth (波恩茅斯) Bridlington (布里德灵顿) Bristol (布里斯托) Camborne (坎伯恩) Cardiff (卡迪夫) Edinburgh (爱丁堡) Eskdalemuir (埃克斯代尔缪尔) Glasgow (格拉斯哥) Hereford (赫里福德) Herstmonceux (赫斯特蒙克) Ipswich (伊普斯维奇) Isle of Man (马恩岛) Isle of Wight (怀特岛) Jersey (泽西岛) Keswick (凯斯威克) Kinloss (金罗斯) Leeds (利兹) Lerwick (勒威克) Leuchars (卢查斯) Lincoln (林肯) Liverpool (利物浦) London (伦敦) Lyneham (莱纳姆) Manchester (曼彻斯特) Margate (马盖特) Milford Haven (米尔福德港) Newcastle (纽卡斯尔) Nottingham (诺丁汉) Orkney (奥克尼群岛) Oxford (牛津) Plymouth (普利茅斯) Portland (波特兰) Scilly, St Mary’s (西利群岛圣玛丽岛) Shoreham (肖勒姆) Shrewsbury (什鲁斯伯里) Snowdonia (斯诺多尼亚) Southend (索森德) South Uist (南尤伊斯特岛) Stornoway (斯托诺韦) Tiree (提里岛) Whitehaven (怀特黑文) Wick (威克) Yeovilton (尤维尔顿)
ney
ney
Birmingham (伯明翰)
Oxford (牛津)
19 PC 0.0 1.4 19 C 0.0 1.6 17 C 0.0 7.4 16 C 1.8 0.7 20 C 0.0 ** 22 PC 0.0 ** 19 C 0.2 1.5 21 C 0.0 ** 22 PC 0.0 9.7 20 C 0.2 ** 22 S 0.0 6.8 20 C 0.0 7.9 20 C 0.0 9.9 19 R 0.0 3.0 16 C 0.4 3.8 17 C 0.0 3.6 23 PC 0.0 ** 24 PC 0.0 5.4 22 C 0.0 3.7 16 C 0.6 1.8 24 PC 0.0 ** 21 C 0.0 5.2 16 C 0.2 ** 19 ** 0.0 3.7 16 C 0.2 ** 14 PC 7.6 1.8 19 C 3.0 2.9 19 C 0.0 3.9 18 C 0.8 ** 23 PC 0.0 4.7 22 PC 0.0 7.7 20 C 1.2 0.3 21 C 0.0 5.8 20 C 0.0 ** 18 C 0.0 ** 19 C 0.0 5.1 16 C 0.0 ** 22 PC 0.0 ** 22 C 0.0 ** 21 PC 0.0 ** 20 C 0.0 ** 24 PC 0.0 5.0 21 PC 0.0 0.5 15 C 0.2 ** 22 C 0.0 5.1 16 R 0.0 ** 15 D 0.0 5.6 15 R 0.8 5.8 16 C 0.0 4.6 16 C 0.0 ** 22 PC 0.0 7.9
全球天气 所有读数均为昨日当地正午
Alicante (阿里坎特) Amsterdam (阿姆斯特丹) Athens (雅典) Auckland (奥克兰) Bahrain (巴林) Bangkok (曼谷) Barbados (巴巴多斯) Barcelona (巴塞罗那) Beijing (北京) Beirut (贝鲁特) Belgrade (贝尔格莱德) Berlin (柏林) Bermuda (百慕大) Bordeaux (波尔多) Brussels (布鲁塞尔) Bucharest (布加勒斯特) Budapest (布达佩斯) Buenos Aires (布宜诺斯艾利斯) Cairo (开罗) Calcutta (加尔各答) Canberra (堪培拉) Cape Town (开普敦) Chicago (芝加哥) Copenhagen (哥本哈根) Corfu (科孚岛) Delhi (德里) Dubai (迪拜) Dublin (都柏林) Faro (法鲁) Florence (佛罗伦萨) Frankfurt (法兰克福) Geneva (日内瓦) Gibraltar (直布罗陀) Helsinki (赫尔辛基) Hong Kong (香港) Honolulu (檀香山) Istanbul (伊斯坦布尔) Jerusalem (耶路撒冷) Johannesburg (约翰内斯堡) Kuala Lumpur (吉隆坡) Kyiv (基辅) Lanzarote (兰萨罗特岛) Las Palmas (拉斯帕尔马斯) Lima (利马) Lisbon (里斯本) Los Angeles (洛杉矶) Luxor (卢克索)
31 PC 21 PC 33 S
38 S 33 PC 29 PC 28 PC
30 S 21 PC 29 SH 25 B 21 PC 29 S 30 S
33 PC 29 R 11 PC 17 PC 32 B 18 B 31 PC 35 PC 42 PC 19 B 29 S 31 PC 23 PC 26 PC 26 B 19 B 28 PC
27 S 31 PC 18 S 32 SH
29 PC 27 PC 22 PC 34 S 24 B 38 S
Madeira (马德拉群岛) Madrid (马德里) Malaga (马拉加) Mallorca (马略卡岛) Malta (马耳他) Melbourne (墨尔本) Mexico City (墨西哥城) Miami (迈阿密) Milan (米兰) Mombasa (蒙巴萨) Montreal (蒙特利尔) Moscow (莫斯科) Mumbai (孟买) Munich (慕尼黑) Nairobi (内罗比) Naples (那不勒斯) New Orleans (新奥尔良) New York (纽约) Nice (尼斯) Nicosia (尼科西亚) Oslo (奥斯陆) Paris (巴黎) Perth (珀斯) Prague (布拉格) Reykjavik (雷克雅未克) Riga (里加) Rio de Janeiro (里约热内卢) Riyadh (利雅得) Rome (罗马) San Francisco (旧金山) Santiago (圣地亚哥) São Paulo (圣保罗) Seoul (首尔) Seychelles (塞舌尔) Singapore (新加坡) St Petersburg (圣彼得堡) Stockholm (斯德哥尔摩) Sydney (悉尼) Tel Aviv (特拉维夫) Tenerife (特内里费岛) Tokyo (东京) Vancouver (温哥华) Venice (威尼斯) Vienna (维也纳) Warsaw (华沙) Washington (华盛顿) Zurich (苏黎世)
星期日
《泰晤士报》和《星期日泰晤士报》是独特且值得信赖的旅行灵感来源。现在，您可以信任我们带您前往目的地。
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未来五日预报 南部地区基本炎热干燥，但北部和西部地区云量较多，伴有雨水和阵风
风速
34 海况
明天
英国东南部非常炎热、干燥且晴朗。其余英国地区和爱尔兰地区有一带云雨向东推进，天气较凉。 最高 35C，最低 8C
周四
英格兰和威尔士大部分地区干燥，有阳光，但部分较厚的云层可能会带来零星阵雨。苏格兰和爱尔兰地区阳光与分散阵雨交替，有时雨势较大。 最高 29C，最低 7C
周五
北部地区多云并有大范围阵雨，南部地区则干燥晴朗。体感温度大幅下降，但南部依然温暖。 最高 25C，最低 7C
综合情况：南部地区将是另一个炎热、干燥且晴朗的日子。其他地区主要为多云伴有阵雨，其中苏格兰西部地区降雨最为持久。 东安格利亚、伦敦、英格兰东南部、英格兰中南部、东米德兰兹、英格兰东部：早晨云层消散后，将是一个炎热干燥的日子。轻微西南风。最高 31C (88F)，最低 16C (61F)。 北威尔士、南威尔士、西米德兰兹、英格兰西南部、英格兰西北部、英格兰中北部：早晨高地可能出现云层及阵雨，其余地区干燥。
26 PC 30 S 27 PC 30 PC 31 PC 11 DU 24 B 27 ** 32 S 27 SH 27 B 23 B 30 M 22 PC 19 B 31 PC 32 PC 27 PC 29 PC 34 PC 20 S 24 B 17 PC 15 SH 17 PC 22 PC 25 PC 40 S 30 PC 19 PC 17 S 21 S 30 B 27 SH 31 PC 26 S 17 PC 17 PC 31 PC 28 PC 29 PC 17 R
22 PC 20 B 27 B
周六
英格兰和威尔士主要干燥，伴有温暖的阳光。苏格兰和爱尔兰地区相当多云并有阵雨。 最高 26C，最低 6C
潮汐 潮汐预测。 高度以米为单位。所有时间为当地时间
今日 高度 高度 亚伯丁 (Aberdeen) 埃文茅斯 (Avonmouth) 贝尔法斯特 (Belfast) 卡迪夫 (Cardiff) 德文波特 (Devonport) 多佛 (Dover) 都柏林 (Dublin) 法尔茅斯 (Falmouth) 格林诺克 (Greenock) 哈里奇 (Harwich) 霍利黑德 (Holyhead) 赫尔 (Hull) 利斯 (Leith) 利物浦 (Liverpool) 伦敦桥 (London Bridge) 洛威斯特夫特 (Lowestoft) 米尔福德港 (Milford Haven) 莫克姆 (Morecambe) 纽黑文 (Newhaven) 纽基 (Newquay) 欧班 (Oban) 彭赞斯 (Penzance) 朴次茅斯 (Portsmouth) 肖勒姆 (Shoreham) 南安普敦 (Southampton) 斯旺西 (Swansea) 蒂斯 (Tees) 韦茅斯 (Weymouth)
南部地区将再次以晴朗、干燥和温暖为主。苏格兰和爱尔兰地区相当多云并有雨，局部地区雨势较大。 最高 27C，最低 6C
《泰晤士报》天气页面 由以下机构提供
格拉斯哥 (Glasgow) 爱丁堡 (Edinburgh)
卡莱尔 (Carlisle) 纽卡斯尔 (Newcastle)
23 17
曼彻斯特 (Manchester) 利物浦 (Liverpool) 赫尔 (Hull)
什鲁伯里 (Shrewsbury) 诺丁汉 (Nottingham)
普利茅斯 (Plymouth) 埃克塞特 (Exeter) 南安普敦 (Southampton)
y 且更加晴朗 d
下午转为干燥且更加晴朗。轻微西南风。最高 27C (81F)，最低 13C (55F)。 爱丁堡与邓迪、亚伯丁、莫雷海峡、苏格兰东北部、北群岛：早晨多云有雨，下午转为干燥晴朗，随后可能出现阵雨风险。轻至中度南风。最高 22C (72F)，最低 10C (50F)。 苏格兰西北部、中部高地、格拉斯哥、阿盖尔、苏格兰西南部：主要多云
01:27 3.8 14:01 3.7 07:12 11.2 19:35 11.8 11:34 3.1 23:50 3.3 07:04 10.6 19:27 11.2 05:48 4.7 18:04 5.0 11:30 6.0 23:50 6.0 11:20 3.5 23:24 3.8 05:26 4.5 17:42 4.8 --:-- -- 12:45 2.9 --:-- -- 12:03 3.7 10:51 4.8 22:57 5.2 06:16 6.7 18:56 6.4 02:44 4.9 15:15 4.9 11:32 8.2 23:43 8.7 01:54 6.5 14:16 6.5 09:42 2.4 22:31 2.3 06:29 6.0 18:46 6.4 11:43 8.1 23:54 8.7 11:29 5.9 23:40 6.0 05:21 5.8 17:38 6.2 06:06 3.3 18:25 3.6 04:55 4.7 17:12 5.0 11:57 4.3 --:-- -- 11:37 5.5 23:46 5.6 10:57 4.1 23:07 4.1 06:27 8.0 18:49 8.5 03:45 5.0 16:19 4.9 06:53 1.6 19:10 1.9
天气概况 英国南部地区一个轻微的高压脊将带来干燥、晴朗且炎热的天气。 中心位于苏格兰北部的低压将推动一个暖锋，随后一个冷锋将横穿英国北部，带来大部分多云天气及阵雨，主要影响苏格兰西部和爱尔兰北部。
奥克尼 (Orkney) 设得兰 (Shetland)
ney ney
谢菲尔德 (Sheffield)
伴有降雨，有时较强，随后可能转干。轻微南风，随后增强为中等或强劲的西南风。最高 19C (66F)，最低 9C (48F)。 湖区、英格兰东北部、边境地区、爱尔兰共和国、北爱尔兰、马恩岛：大部分地区将多云，并有阵雨。爱尔兰南部大部分地区干燥且有阳光。轻微至中等西南风。最高 22C (72F)，最低 13C (55F)。
黑夜时长 阿伯丁 贝尔法斯特 伯明翰 卡迪夫 埃克塞特 格拉斯哥 利物浦 伦敦 曼彻斯特 纽卡斯尔 诺里奇 彭赞斯 谢菲尔德
22:00-04:31 22:02-04:59 21:36-04:53 21:37-05:02 21:35-05:06 22:02-04:46 21:45-04:53 21:25-04:50 21:42-04:50 21:47-04:40 21:24-04:39 21:41-05:17 21:38-04:47
最暖：肯特郡，弗里滕登，27.0C 最冷：布雷玛，1.2C 最湿：诺森伯兰郡，奇林厄姆谷仓，22.0mm 最晴：圣阿桑，9.9hrs*
日出日落与月相 格林威治 日出： 日落： 月出： 月落：
05.18 20.54 20.47 04.42 周三
满月：7月 29日
保罗·西蒙斯 (Paul Simons)
今年夏天令人窒息的热浪促使越来越多的人在家里安装空调以保持凉爽。但空调的安装成本高，运行费用昂贵，而且通过将建筑内部的热空气抽出并排放到室外，反而加剧了热浪。
科学家们正在寻找冷却建筑的替代方案，而大象或许能为解决这一冷却困境提供灵感。大象无法通过出汗来降温。它们用象鼻向身上喷水，而这不仅仅是为了快速冲澡降温。大象厚实的皮肤上布满了褶皱，有助于锁住水分，水分随后缓慢蒸发，帮助它们降温。
大象褶皱的皮肤现在启发了一种新型的、布满裂缝的水泥基建筑瓷砖。喷在瓷砖上的水会渗入瓷砖内部蜂窝状的微小裂缝网络中，这些裂缝能锁住水分，水分蒸发速度足够缓慢，足以使瓷砖在无需驱动风扇、压缩机或任何活动部件的情况下，保持凉爽长达 20 小时。热力测试显示，原型瓷砖下方的温度稳定在 32°C，而光滑的灰泥瓷砖则达到了 52°C。人们希望通过自动喷水系统，根据天气预报做出响应，使瓷砖保持湿润。
另一种正在测试的冷却技术是使用材料反射热量。在白天，太阳以红外波的形式辐射出热量，这些热量被建筑吸收，导致建筑变热，进而释放出主要加热周围大气的红外波。然而，部分红外辐射可以直接逃逸到太空。通过使用特殊的涂料、玻璃或其他材料，可以反射这些波长，使建筑更加凉爽。在一次测试中，使用微观硅球和铝球的涂料通过将几乎所有太阳能反射回太空，使建筑表面温度降低了 5°C 以上。
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T
百球赛已将单日赛掩埋 —— 英国将如何寻找全格式球员？
Steve James
对比十分鲜明。前一分钟，乔·鲁特（Joe Root）还坐在卡迪夫的一次新闻发布会上，解释为什么他在一个棘手的场地上的单日国际赛中能够理性击球，而他的同事们却做不到。
“对于这支球队——以及现在和不久后将要加入的年轻人来说，最大的挑战之一就是，任何进入这支球队的人都没有丰富的 50 轮板球赛经验和理解，因为我们不再接触这种比赛了，”他说道。
板球
下一分钟，鲁特在同一个球场代表威尔士之火队（Welsh Fire）参加百球赛，这一次他用行动而非言语解释了，为什么在局末进行强力击球并不适合他。他完成了一次出色的修补工作，大部分时间将击球权交给才华横溢的新西兰人拉钦·拉文德拉（Rachin Ravindra），但现在他兴致勃勃地避开了一个来自阿富汗腿速旋转球手拉希德·汗（Rashid Khan）的球，直接走向休息区，甚至没有尝试重新回到击球位置。现在是需要乔丹·考克斯（Jordan Cox）的强力击球，而非鲁特的细腻触球。
这让人想起旧时光，当时一名郡级击球手在拿到百分之球且觉得足够后，可能会对一名大学旋转球手做出同样的行为，但这同时也证实了如今成为一名全格式击球手的困难。
毕竟，我们谈论的是鲁特，他是英国在两种格式（测试赛和单日国际赛）中史上最出色的球员，且足够优秀，曾在 2016 年世界杯击败南非时，在 44 个球中不败获得 83 分，创造了英国最伟大的 T20 局势之一。
目前，在全球排名前十的球员中，没有任何一名击球手（或投球手）在全部三种格式中均名列前茅。哈里·布鲁克（Harry Brook）是最接近这一目标的——测试赛排名第二，单日赛第 17 位，T20 第 7 位；而澳大利亚的特拉维斯·海德（Travis Head）测试赛排名第一，单日赛第 21 位，T20 第 13 位。这要求实在太高了。
我实际上认为，如今成长起来的年轻球员需要开发两套完全不同的技术，一套用于红球赛，一套用于 T20（以及百球赛），因为这两者的要求如此迥异。但当然，这说起来容易做起来难，在练习中为两种方法投入相等的时间几乎是不可能的。
结果
英联邦运动会
格拉斯哥 仅限奖牌项目 艺术体操：男子：自由操 1, L Whitehouse (英) 14. 566pts; 2, R Cournoyer (加) 13.966; 3, J Hardy (澳) 13.433. 鞍马 1, J Carroll (加) 15.000; 2, R Ward (苏格兰) 14.966; 3, C Lynn (苏格兰) 13.833. 吊环 1, Felix Dolci (加) 13.766; 2, W Emard (加) 13.600; 3, J Hardy (澳) 13.500; 5, L Whitehouse (英) 13.100. 女子：高低杠 1, K McDonald (澳) 14.333; 2, E Black (加) 13.900; 3, E Roper (威尔士) 13.666. 跳马 1, L-M Fontaine (加) 14.000; 2, A Martin (英) 13.799; 3, Roper 13.433.
田径：男子：110米栏 1, D Prince (牙买加) 13.17秒; 2, S Bennett (英) 13.30; 3, M Trajkovic (塞浦路斯) 13.32. 跳高 1, R Beckford (牙买加) 2.25m; 2, S Kushare (印度) 2.25; 3, K Jack (英) 2.20. 掷锤 1, E Katzberg (加) 80. 97m (运动会纪录); 2, P Kesidis (塞浦路斯) 76.97; 3, R Hamilton (加) 75.36; 4, J Norris (英) 71.66. 3,000米陡坡跑 1, E Serem (肯尼亚) 8分 18. 23秒; 2, S Koech (肯尼亚) 8:18.59; 3, L Bett (肯尼亚) 8:21.63. 女子：10,000米 1, R Davies (澳) 31:39.32; 2, D Wanza (肯尼亚) 31:50.13; 3, F Niyonkuru (卢旺达) 31:55.47.
游泳：男子：自由泳：800米 1, S Short (澳) 7分 39.81秒; 2, B Goedemans (澳) 7:46.49; 3, M Galea (澳) 7:47.10. 蛙泳：50米 1, S Williamson (澳) 26. 50秒; 2, M Houlie (南非) 26.77; 3, A Ramsay-Peaty (英) 26.94. 蝶泳：200米 1, L Clareburt (新西兰) 1:55.05; 2, H Turner (澳) 1:55.38; 3, M Temple (澳) 1:55.45. 女子：自由泳：100米 1, M Harris (澳) 52.90; 2, M
然后是关于 50 轮比赛的问题，它处于两者之间，并在不同时间需要两者的元素。但正如 Root 所言，英格兰的希望之星们在国内并不参加这种比赛，因为 Metro Bank 单日杯 (One-Day Cup) 由于在 Hundred 赛事的阴影下进行排期，基本上已被降级为一项发展赛。
不过，这里有趣的是，Root 属于那一组击球手，该组还包括 Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Alex Hales, Jason Roy 和 Jonny Bairstow，他们带领英格兰在 2019 世界杯中获得冠军，但他们当时学习如何进行 List A 板球比赛时采用的是 40 轮赛制而非 50 轮。这受益于 2010 年的一项决定，即将 List A 郡级板球赛从两项赛事（一项 40 轮，一项 50 轮）削减为仅一项 40 轮赛事。
在此之前，英格兰培养了许多非常优秀的 List A 击球手，他们的平均分很高，但击球率没那么高。在 50 轮赛制重新引入之前的 4 年里，这种稍短的赛制改变了这一点（而当时在国内不进行 50 轮板球赛被认为是合理的），在 2015 和 2019 年之间，有时看起来英格兰将 ODI（单日国际赛）仅仅视为延长版的 T20 赛。
然而，现在人们会好奇，这种摆动是否过于剧烈，并思考英格兰是否或许需要稍微收敛一下。但他们必须在国际赛场或 Lions 比赛中学会这样做。
当然，说我们的年轻球员没有 50 轮板球赛的经验是不正确的，因为他们在年龄组级别确实参加了很多此类比赛。但我想，仅作为对比，看看印度球员 Shubman Gill 的成长历程。
他目前可能是最好的 ODI 击球手（尽管在官方排名中次于新西兰的 Daryl Mitchell），在 67 场比赛后，其平均分惊人地超过了 60，击球率超过 100。在 2019 年 ODI 首秀之前，Gill 在 Vijay Hazare 奖杯赛中代表旁遮普邦或代表印度 A 队参加了 37 场 List A 比赛。这是一个非常稳固的基础。
但 Root 已经 35 岁，可能可以理解他不在英格兰的 T20 阵容中；而 Gill 仅 26 岁，但目前也不在印度的 T20 阵容中。
Jacob Bethell 在 2024 年 ODI 首秀之前参加了 16 场 List A 比赛。我原以为这个数字会更低，但当你看看 Cox 时，你会发现他在同年首秀之前仅参加了 4 场——其中 3 场是为 Lions 队出战。
Hundred 显然是一个令人激动的议题，而且就记录而言，我实际上很享受观看它。但是，尽管看到这么多年轻球员在单日奖杯赛中获得机会，以及这么多外场被使用令人愉悦，但如果我们真的想认真对待 ODI 板球赛，这在很多方面都绝非最优方案。
O’Callaghan (Aus) 53.25; 3, S Jack (Aus) 53.38. 4 x 200m 接力 1, 澳大利亚 7:42.53; 2, 英格兰 (F Colbert, A Wood, L Schlosshan, F Anderson) 7:50.10; 3, 新西兰 7:51.94. 蝶泳：100m 1, A Perkins (Aus) 56.38; 2, K Macinnes (Scot) 57.33; 3, E Gallagher (SA) 57.39. 个人混合泳：400m 1, J Forrester (Aus) 4:31.19; 2, A Smith (Eng) 4:33.70; 3, E Ramsay (Aus) 4:37.12.
举重：男子：79kg 1, E Muhammad (马来西亚) 331 (赛会记录); 2, V Babu (印度) 330; 3, C Murray (英格兰) 325. 71kg 1, E Umoafia (尼日利亚) 319pts (赛会记录); 2, J Tafi (萨摩亚) 314; 3, E Moses (瑙鲁) 310; 4, J Chin (英格兰) 299. 女子：58kg 1, R Lawal (尼日利亚) 229 (赛会记录); 2, A Taschereau (加拿大) 215; 3, B Sorokhaibam (印度) 199; 4, E Pratt (英格兰) 196. 53kg 1, O Didih (尼日利亚) 206 (英联邦/赛会记录); 2, G Yadav (印度) 199; 3, R Groulx (加拿大) 178; 7, N Gulam (英格兰) 167.
奖牌榜
| 排名 | 金牌 (G) | 银牌 (S) | 铜牌 (B) | 总计 (Total) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1, 澳大利亚 | 26 | 13 | 20 | 59 |
| 2, 英格兰 | 8 | 13 | 11 | 32 |
| 3, 加拿大 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 21 |
| 4, 尼日利亚 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 10 |
| 5, 苏格兰 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| 6, 南非 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| 7, 马来西亚 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 8, 印度 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 9, 泽西岛 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 10, 新西兰 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| 11, 肯尼亚 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 12, 威尔士 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 13=, 塞浦路斯 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 13=, 北爱尔兰 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
我的同事迈克·阿瑟顿 (Mike Atherton) 之前建议在赛季开始时进行一项 50 轮比赛——就像以前的 55 轮本森与希金斯杯 (Benson & Hedges Cup) 那样——但天知道到时候在“百球赛” (the Hundred) 期间还会打什么。
“百球赛”带来了如此之多的连锁反应……
Root 的触球比赛并不适合在“百球赛”中进行强力击球
百球赛 Southern Brave 对阵 MI London 男子组 Utilita Bowl（MI London 赢得掷硬币）：MI London (4pts) 以三个 wicket 击败 Southern Brave Southern Brave (球数) @ J Smith c Jacks b Gleeson 49 (26) B McKinney c Pope b Boult 0 (2) M Stoinis c Rutherford b S Curran 5 (9) T Stubbs c Sowter b Gleeson 38 (31) D Miller c Khan b S Curran 8 (11) N Chaudhary c Vince b Boult 13 (9) S Zaib c Sowter b T Curran 6 (7) C Jordan c Vince b T Curran 5 (3) J Archer 未出局 1 (1) L Wood 被跑杀 0 (1) 杂球 (lb 1, w 3) 4 总计 (9 wkts, 100 balls) 129 A Rashid 未击球。 出局顺序 1-5, 2-36, 3-82, 4-95, 5-104, 6-122, 7-128, 8-129, 9-129。 投球* Boult 20-13-15-2; T Curran 15-4-27-2; Gleeson 15-4-29-2; S Curran 20-4-22-2; Khan 20-8-23-0; Sowter 5-1-9-0; Jacks 5-2-3-0
MI London (球数) W Jacks lbw b Stoinis 54 (41) J Vince c Stubbs b Stoinis 0 (2) @N Pooran c Smith b Stoinis 0 (1) S Curran b Rashid 30 (29) S Rutherford 被跑杀 21 (12) T Curran b Chaudhary 7 (6) O Pope 未出局 6 (4) R Khan 被跑杀 4 (3) T Boult 未出局 1 (2) 杂球 (lb 3, w 4) 7 总计 (7 wkts, 100 balls) 130 R Gleeson 和 N Sowter 未击球。 出局顺序 1-17, 2-17, 3-82, 4-93, 5-115, 6-122, 7-127。 投球* Archer 20-9-20-0; Wood 5-2-9-0; Stoinis 20-10-17-3; Rashid 20-5-26-1; Chaudhary 15-3-21-1; Jordan 20-4-34-0。
| P | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester SG | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Welsh Fire | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| MI London | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Trent Rockets | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Leeds Sunrisers | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| B’ham Phoenix | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Southern Brave | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| London Spirit | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
女子组 Utilita Bowl（MI London 赢得掷硬币）：Southern Brave (4pts) 以 1 分击败 MI London Southern Brave (球数) M Bouchier c Kerr b Matthews 31 (22) †L Lee c Davidson-Richards b Norris 9 (7) L Wolvaardt b Kerr 35 (30) J Rodrigues c Kerr b Matthews 32 (22) *S Molineux st Chathli b Matthews 4 (7) J Grewcock c Norris b Matthews 6 (5) I M Wong st Chathli b Carey 1 (2) N Dattani 未出局 5 (3) S Glenn 未出局 0 (3) 杂球 (w 2, nb 1) 3 总计 (7 wkts, 100 balls) 126 L Bell 和 M Corteen-Coleman 未击球。
出局顺序 1-22, 2-44, 3-104, 4-112, 5-120, 6-121, 7-126。 投球 Henry 15-5-27-0; Carey 20-8-18-1; Matthews 20-8-22-4; Norris 15-5-24-1; Kerr 20-8-21-1; Gregory 10-0-14-0。
MI London (球数) H Matthews b Wong 32 (28) D Wyatt-Hodge 未出局 52 (42) H Armitage c Lee b Glenn 27 (21) C Henry b Molineux 2 (4) N Carey 未出局 8 (5) 杂球 (lb 1, w 3) 4 总计 (3 wkts, 100 balls) 125 A Kerr, †K Chathli, A Davidson-Richards, K Moore, T Norris 和 D Gregory 未击球。 出局顺序 1-42, 2-109, 3-112。 投球* Bell 20-6-30-0; Molineux 20-6-22-1; Wong 20-8-20-1; Corteen-Coleman 15-3-25-0; Glenn 20-5-24-1; Grewcock 5-3-3-0。
| P | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Brave | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Manchester SG | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Trent Rockets | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Welsh Fire | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Leeds Sunrisers | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| London Spirit | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| B’ham Phoenix | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| MI London | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
高尔夫球
（不过，他们在单日杯 (One-Day Cup) 中依然拥有 Dom Sibley, Ryan Patel, Adam Thomas 和 Rory Burns 这前四名球员），而格洛斯特郡 (Gloucestershire) 队则未失一人。
有些人选择使用海外球员——看到印度左手腕速球手库尔迪普·亚达夫 (Kuldeep Yadav) 首次为约克郡队 (Yorkshire) 出战令人惊讶——而有些人则不这么做，但也许英格兰和威尔士板球委员会 (ECB) 需要提供一个更严格的指导，承认这仅仅是一项发展赛事，而不仅仅是允许各郡自行决定如何应对。也许应该禁止海外球员（这无疑是浪费钱），并坚持要求一定数量的球员必须在一定年龄以下。
参加了每一场比赛。以前曾有过一次郡级25岁以下一日制比赛，你知道的。
也许那时的比赛不能被归类为List A，但确实需要一些明确的界定。今年的赛事很幸运，由于一系列不可预见且不太可能重复出现的情况，能够迎来斯托克斯的参与；但纵观得分表和直播流，那里似乎并没有太多潜在的英格兰白球球员潜伏。他们大多数已经进入了Hundred联赛。
其中最令人兴奋的可能当属萨默塞特队的托马斯·鲁（Thomas Rew），他去年参加了一日制杯赛，但此次不太可能再次参加。他必须学习50轮赛制——这种赛制要求能够迅速适应环境和情况——这将是在狮队（Lions）以及极有可能在国际比赛本身中学习。
不足为奇的是，全格式球员（在目前的英格兰击球手中仅剩布鲁克和贝索尔）正变得越来越稀少。事实上，如果红球队和白球队大部分是分开的，情况可能会更容易——这也将有助于解决混乱的教练局面——但遗憾的是，英格兰并没有足够的球员深度来实现这一点。
68, 64, 66; H Matsuyama (日本) 70, 65 65, 64; B Harman 69, 64, 66, 65. 网球
Citi Open 华盛顿：第一轮：男子 A Tabilo (智利) 击败 T Griekspoor (荷兰) 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-4; L Musetti (意大利) 击败 M Arnaldi (意大利) 6-0, 3-1 退赛; T Fritz (美国) 击败 Z Bergs (比利时) 6-3, 6-4。女子 L Fernandez (加拿大) 击败 M Linette (波兰) 6-1, 6-4; E Cocciaretto (意大利) 击败 C Tauson (丹麦) 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-2); E Navarro (美国) 击败 S Kenin (美国) 6-0, 7-5.
WTA 孟菲斯公开赛 第一轮 M Joint (澳大利亚) 击败 W Osuigwe (美国) 6-4, 6-1; A Zakharova (俄罗斯) 击败 L Fruhvirtova (捷克) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1.
赛程
足球
欧冠联赛：第二轮资格赛，次回合 Hearts (0) 对阵 Sturm Graz (4) (7.45)。 板球
古德伍德 (Goodwood) Rob Wright
1.50 Coral 切斯特菲尔德杯让磅赛 (Coral Chesterfield Cup Handicap) ITV (£61,848: 1英里2波兰: 18 匹参赛马)
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2.25 Coral 古董锦标赛 (Coral Vintage Stakes) ITV (Group 2: 2岁马: £113,420: 7波兰) (6)
3.00 香港马会世界彩池伦诺克斯锦标赛 (HKJC World Pool Lennox Stakes) ITV (Group 2: £113,420: 7波兰) (8)
贝弗利 (Beverley) Rob Wright
1.35 让磅赛 (£3,800: 1英里2波兰) (8)
2.10 让磅赛 (£4,004: 1英里4波兰) (7)
2.45 锦标赛 (2岁马: £4,860: 5波兰) (14)
3.20 锦标赛 (2岁马: £6,480: 7波兰) (4)
3.55 让磅赛 (£4,527: 7波兰) (8)
3.35 Al Shaqab 古德伍德杯锦标赛 (Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup Stakes) ITV (Group 1: £283,550: 2英里) (8)
4.10 Coral Rewards Shaker 让磅赛 (Coral Rewards Shaker Handicap) ITV (£38,655: 5波兰) (24)
4.45 英国种马站 EBF 处女赛锦标赛 (British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes) (牡马及阉马) (2岁马: £30,924: 6波兰) (16)
4.30 让磅赛 (£4,527: 5波兰) (9)
雅茅斯 (Yarmouth) Rob Wright
2.35 让磅赛 (£4,397: 1英里6波兰) (3)
3.10 锦标赛 (2岁马: £7,020: 7波兰) (6)
3.45 让磅赛 (£3,768: 1英里) (7)
4.20 让磅赛 (£3,768: 1英里2波兰) (6)
5.25 让磅赛 (£3,768: 7波兰) (9)
福斯拉斯 (Ffos Las) Rob Wright
6.00 育马赛 (2岁马: £3,454: 7波兰) (10)
昨日赛马结果
艾尔 (Ayr)
场地状况：好至坚实 (部分地区为好) 2.15 (7波兰 50码) 1, Bymiddaytomorrow (K Shoemark, 9-4); 2, Kanzi (9-1); 3, Tegernsee (7-1). 5 匹参赛. 1 马身, 1 马身. E Walker. 2.45 (6波兰) 1, Mr Cool (Connor Beasley, 7-2); 2, Great Profit (17-2); 3, Lanarra (12-1). 9 匹参赛. 1 马身, 颈差. C Johnston. 3.15 (7波兰 50码) 1, Imperial Guard (Connor Beasley, 13-8); 2, Abduction (9-2); 3, Carmel Valley (12-1). 5 匹参赛. 没出赛: Roaring Ralph. 鼻差, 1马身. M Dods. 3.45 (1英里) 1, Samra Star (Mark Winn, 25-1); 2, Runninsonofagun (8-15 热门); 3, Union Island (12-1). 9 匹参赛. 颈差, 2马身. Miss L A Perratt. 4.15 (1英里2波兰) 1, Empirical (K Shoemark, 5-2); 2, Colourband (2-1); 3, Geo (8-1). 5 匹参赛. 没出赛: Obito. 1 马身, 1 马身. E Walker. 4.45 (5波兰) 1, Sixcor (Tom Kiely-Marshall, 11-1); 2, Startling (4-1); 3, Henery Hawk (7-1). 8 匹参赛. 没出赛: Supremissy. 1 马身, 颈差. Miss L A Perratt. 5.20 (1英里2波兰) 1, Royal Blaze (Greg Fairley, 3-1); 2, Falcon Nine (4-1); 3, Penelope’s Sister (7-2). 9 匹参赛. 没出赛: Annandale, Lightning Galaxy, Recobella, Zebra Star. 颈差, 37 马身. Ewan Whillans. Placepot: £52.60 Quadpot: £9.50
5.20 Bolney 英国葡萄酒雌马让磅赛 (Bolney English Wine Fillies' Handicap) (£25,770: 1英里) (15)
5.55 World Pool Bet With The Tote EBF 雌马让磅赛 (World Pool Bet With The Tote EBF Fillies' Handicap) (£25,770: 6波兰) (21)
6.30 让磅赛 (£4,187: 7波兰) (5)
7.00 锦标赛 (£3,454: 1英里) (8)
7.30 锦标赛 (£6,480: 1英里4波兰) (4)
南韦尔 (Southwell)
场地状况：标准 2.30 (1英里6波兰 21码) 1, Flash Kozo (Kaiya Fraser, 9-4); 2, Desert Belle (11-4); 3, Glenna (2-1). 9 匹参赛. 1 马身, 1 马身. Harry Eustace. 3.00 (1英里4波兰 14码) 1, Kokbastau (Ray Dawson, 11-4); 2, Turret (9-2); 3, Humphrey (5-4 热门). 14 匹参赛. 颈差, 3 马身. R Varian. 3.30 (1英里3波兰 23码) 1, Roc De Fer (L Morris, 7-4 热门); 2, James Choice (7-1); 3, Prince Of Calypso (12-1). 14 匹参赛. 1 马身, 颈差. Sir Mark Prescott. 4.00 (1英里 13码) 1, Filly Eilish (S De Sousa, 16-1); 2, Venetian Lion (100-30); 3, Kiani King (9-4). 13 匹参赛. 1 马身, 2 马身. I Furtado. 4.30 (7波兰 14码) 1, Roosike (H Crouch, 13-2); 2, Rising Tiger (8-15 热门); 3, Bullrider (3-1). 12 匹参赛. 颈差, 17 马身. R Hughes. 5.00 (7波兰 14码) 1, Storm Free (H Crouch, 7-2 热门); 2, Chalk Mountain (4-1); 3, Spaceman (4-1). 12 匹参赛. 1 马身, 1 马身. J Tate. 5.30 (7波兰 14码) 1, King Of Fury (Sean Kirrane, 12-1); 2, Korbut (12-1); 3, Shaman Champion (13-2). 10 匹参赛. 没出赛: Comic Hero. 颈差, 颈差. M Dods. 6.05 (6波兰 16码) 1, Modern Times (L Morris, 2-1); 2, Pickersgill (22-1); 3, Belsito (12-1).
可能实现 七连胜
Rob Wright 赛马编辑
Scandinavia 在过去 12 个月中已成长为统治级的耐力赛马，在今天的 Al Shaqab 古德伍德杯 (3.35) 中，他追求第七次连续获胜，难以被撼动。
Aidan O’Brien 的这匹爱驹在 12 个月前的这场比赛中证明自己优于厩舍队友 Illinois，且自那时起有所进步：他在 9 月唐卡斯特的圣莱格赛中击败了 Rahiebb，随后在上个月的皇家雅士谷金杯赛中赢得了第三个顶级赛事冠军。
在古德伍德，Scandinavia 必须全力以赴才能击败 Trawlerman，在经历了一场持久的对决后以一个鼻尖之差获胜，两人领先第三名 Sweet William 九个马身。他并不华丽，很少以大优势获胜，但他拥有获胜的习惯，并能延续其连胜势头。
风格独特的 Al Hudaiba 在 William Buick 的引导下，在纽马克特的二级赛中勉强获胜，并可以在 Coral Vintage 锦标赛 (2.25) 中延续势头。在那场比赛的大部分时间里，他看起来很难驾驭，但这次他首次佩戴眼罩，这应该有助于他集中注意力，他有望击败 O’Brien 训练的 Haffner。
HKJC 世界奖金池伦诺克斯锦标赛 (3.00) 可能会由 Witness Stand 第二次夺冠。他在 12 个月前的这场比赛中击败了 Lake Forest；上次在切斯特的发挥低于水准可以被原谅，因为他的跑线比理想状态宽得多。他能够重回状态。
8.00 让磅赛 (£3,454: 1m 4f) (9)
8.30 让磅赛 (£3,454: 6f) (10)
12 匹参赛。未参赛 (NR): D Flawless。 1, 2, 3, James Owen。 Placepot: £3.60 Quadpot: £3.00
里彭 (Ripon)
场地状况：好至坚硬 (Good to Firm) 5.15 (5f 21yd) 1, Too Darn Good (Taryn Langley, 11-1); 2, Moe’s Legacy (5-1); 3, Merrimack (4-1). 11 匹参赛。l, sh. H Candy。 5.50 (1m 2f) 1, Ziata (Rossa Ryan, 9-2); 2, Lucy The Wire (6-5 热门); 3, Sweet Horizon (7-4). 5 匹参赛。sh, 2 l. G Tutty。 6.20 (6f 12yd) 1, Harry Knows (Oisin Murphy, 4-7 热门); 2, Down To You Kid (15-8); 3, Rex Regum (50-1). 7 匹参赛。4 l, l. R Hughes。 6.53 (6f 12yd) 1, Madman (Jack Callan, 11-2); 2, Solar Invincible (5-1); 3, Forever Glamorous (11-4). 6 匹参赛。1l, l. R Cook & J Bridger。 7.28 (6f 12yd) 1, Another Abbot (P J Dobbs, 4-1); 2, Sudden Flight (4-1); 3, Regional Rock (15-2). 13 匹参赛。NR: Uncle Don. l, l. W J Haggas。 8.00 (1m 31yd) 1, Berlinetta (George Bass, 11-2); 2, Eazy On The Eye (4-1); 3, Box Clever (10-1). 8 匹参赛。NR: Toralou. sh, 1l. J Channon。 8.30 (1m 2f) 1, Give Me Sun (Benoit D L Sayette, 6-1); 2, Takeitorleaveit (9-4); 3, Time To Sparkle (2-1). 4 匹参赛。NR: My Old Mate. P Owens。 Placepot: £87.40 Quadpot: £13.80
温莎 (Windsor)
场地状况：好至坚硬 (部分地区好) 6.00 (1m 1f 170yd) 1, Riddikulus (Rhys Elliott, 5-2); 2, Balmoral Boy (14-1); 3, Lc Tiffen (100-1). 7 匹参赛。17 l, 3l. Grant Tuer。 6.30 (6f) 1, Pure Mint (Harry Davies, 11-10 热门); 2, Green Bay Dream (33-1); 3, Reflect On Glory (8-1). 7 匹参赛。4 l, l. S & E Crisford。 7.05 (1m) 1, Prosperity (C Lee, 4-6 热门); 2, Princess Honey Bee (8-1); 3, Fractional (2-1). 5 匹参赛。17 l, 37 l. K R Burke。 7.40 (6f) 1, Paper View (Joe Leavy, 5-2); 2, Harley (9-4 热门); 3, Aura Of Melania (14-1). 6 匹参赛。1 l, ns. R Hannon。 8.10 (1m) 1, (, 热门); 2, Noelan Star (11-4). 5 匹参赛。NR: Enchant. sh。 8.40 (5f) 1, Zuffolo (Rhys Elliott, 7-2); 2, Doralee (15-2); 3, Cheerleader (5-2). 6 匹参赛。hd, hd. M Dods。 Placepot: £83.40 Quadpot: £17.50
O
钩球位置问题 必须立即 采取行动修复
考文-迪基的依赖是巨大的 风险，现在也许是 考虑不确定选项的时候了， 查理·摩根撰文
查理·摩根
在 2023 年的圣诞节期间，当所有参与英格兰队建设的人员坐下来回顾世界杯并思考新四年周期的前进方向时，中勾（hooker）位置无疑在优先级名单上名列前茅。
杰米·乔治在法国经历了一次巨大的工作量，在英格兰对阵萨摩亚的最后一场小组赛中打满了 80 分钟，随后在对阵斐济的四分之一决赛和对阵南非的半决赛中全程出场。西奥·丹虽然在三四名决赛中首发，但在赌注更高的比赛中并未获得信任。
由于卢克·考文-迪基正从颈部神经损伤中恢复，这个问题在 2023 年的六国赛期间也显而易见。在史蒂夫·博思威克作为英格兰主教练的首届赛季共 400 分钟的比赛中，乔治出场了 392 分钟。可怜的杰克·沃克在法国队洗劫特威格登体育场时，仅从替补席获得了 20 分钟的出场时间，而乔治始终没有被换下。沃克在那场 53-10 的惨败下半场进入比赛，起初填补侧翼前卫的位置，最后则出现在后线。他的经历是那个可怕下午的缩影。
英格兰队将在大约 13 个月后公布 2027 年世界杯的参赛名单。在世界杯热身赛之前，他们仅剩九场测试赛——四场在国家冠军赛的第二个阶段，然后是另一届六国赛。而且，尽管博思威克在更新球队其他成员方面做得不错，但过去几周的情况并未证明中勾位置有足够的深度。乔治在所有三场比赛中首发，考文-迪基则在每场比赛的下半场接替他。丹是博思威克巡回赛名单中的第三名中勾，且完全没有出场机会。
自 2024 年初以来，乔治在英格兰队的 32 场测试赛中首发了 22 场。这位 35 岁的球员，由于
戴夫·伦尼在为前往南非参加“最强宿敌”之旅的 44 人全黑队名单中，提名了三名尚未获得过正式比赛出场机会的球员。
在三场国家锦标赛期间，乔治在场时英格兰队没有丢失过一次边线球，并有效地利用了这一平台。在南非，他们的争抢（scrum）表现坚挺，随后在面对斐济和阿根廷时占据优势，尽管在每场比赛中都丢了几个罚球。
一名教练指出，博思维克对钩子（hooker）的主要要求是比赛感和定点球（set-piece）的稳定性。他解释说，后一种品质在现代钩子中很罕见，因为大多数人都是由后排球员转型的。该消息人士建议，如果能保持稳定，北安普敦圣徒队的朗登可能在进入世界杯考虑范围中拥有一个“微小的机会”。
爆发力极强的运动员内森·吉布鲁也被提及，但关于投球“脆弱性”的担忧需要被彻底消除。另一位顶尖教练认为，丹必须与杰米·布拉迈尔和凯普·图伊普洛图一起“在门外敲门”，尽管后者由于年龄原因，在争抢和边线球方面将是一次赌博。共识是，博思维克“知道自己喜欢什么”。
同时加入了一些新面孔。支撑球员西亚莱·劳亚基、后排球员塞米西·图普·塔埃洛亚和飞翼球员乔什·雅科姆将在这场与春羚队（Springboks）的四场系列赛中竞争测试首秀。锁球员法比安·霍兰、侧翼球员伊森·布莱克亚德、中锋蒂莫西·塔瓦塔瓦纳瓦伊以及边锋埃莫尼·纳拉瓦等球员也将回归。
许多英格兰球迷可能会惆怅地思考，如果阿尔菲·巴贝里、李·布莱基特与埃迪·琼斯之间的对话得出了不同的结论，结果会如何。在那些对话中，巴贝里当时效力于黄蜂队，琼斯告诉他，他要么成为一名世界领先的钩子，要么成为一个“英超联赛中平庸的后排球员”。问题在于，当时在第二级别联赛的诺丁汉磨练投球技术的巴贝里，必须乐于承担前排球员的职责。
最终，由于后排球员能更快地获得在第一队稳定出场的机会，巴贝里选择了留在那里。他身高 6英尺 1英寸，体重 18石 4磅，身体维度与法国的皮阿托·毛瓦卡或全黑队的萨米索尼·陶凯阿霍相似，且在进攻推进时同样具有破坏力。
自 2024 年以来，八场英格兰A队和非正式比赛为博思维克提供了观察潜在新人的机会。布拉迈尔在上一届世界杯前夕的一场 20-9 负于威尔士的比赛中赢得了他七次国家队出场中的最后一次，他获得了最多的比赛时间。朗登、奥格尔、丹、吉布鲁、图伊普洛图和萨姆·赖利也都获得了机会。
但在一个年前，在阿根廷之旅之前，乔治在特威克纳姆球场对阵法国XV队时出场 67 分钟，这凸显了博思维克如何青睐他前萨拉森队的队友。
丹在 2023, 曾是世界杯的黑马之选，似乎曾是被选中之人。在 2024, 10 月，他是首批被授予增强版精英球员名单（EPS）合同的球员之一，但仅维持了 12 个月，随后便被科万-迪基在该群体中取代。
这名 25 岁的球员是一名极具冲击力的跑者，在去年圣胡安的比赛中，由于乔治获得了英格兰和爱尔兰狮队（British & Irish Lions）的征召，他曾有绝佳机会证明自己的首发资格。然而边线球表现糟糕，此后丹在正式测试比赛中的出场时间精准地只有 9 分钟。
尽管如此，而且尽管博思维克在最近的 5 月和 6 月训练营中考察了布拉迈尔、吉布鲁和图伊普洛图，拥有 20 次出场经验的丹显然仍然是第三选择。
飓风队（Hurricanes）的共同队长、曾赢得冠军的杜普莱西斯·基里菲也遗憾落选，他成为了激烈的后排竞争的牺牲品。
“卢克 [雅各布森]、安顿 [赛格纳]、彼得·拉凯和阿迪都能踢 7 号位，杜普斯是个好球员，他赛季表现不错，但有很多好球员没进名单，不只有他一个人，”伦尼解释道。
出现。如果我们在某个阶段不召集某人加入，我会感到惊讶。”
雷尼 (Rennie) 确认，萨维亚 (Savea) 将在较晚时候抵达南非。“阿迪从 2025 年 1 月起一直在训练并参赛，”全黑队主教练说道。
他、乔治 (George) 和考恩-迪基 (Cowan-Dickie) 很有可能前往参加世界杯。丹 (Dan) 将在一年后——可能在出场次数上——变得更加老练，这可能会鼓励博斯威克 (Borthwick) 信任他，而延长的季前准备期应该能让这些老将更好地管理身体状态。即便如此，考虑到乔治的年龄以及考恩-迪基的体能问题，如果没有应急预案将是一个巨大的风险。
选择就在那里，且可能分为两组。分别来自莱斯特、布里斯托和北安普顿的一线球员布拉迈尔 (Blamire)、奥格雷 (Oghre) 和兰登 (Langdon) 均 28 岁，并拥有相当丰富的经验。
吉布鲁 (Jibulu) 23 岁，图伊普洛图 (Tuipulotu) 20, 岁，英格兰队还在关注 22 岁的克雷格·赖特 (Craig Wright)，他是 2024 年 U-20 世界锦标赛夺冠的球星。这三人中的任何一个都可能成为“黑马”，而且他们都能在防守端提供破坏对方球权的能力以及对抗时的侵略性。
虽然博斯威克 2023 年的世界杯阵容经验极其丰富，但亚历克斯·米切尔 (Alex Mitchell) 和乔治·马丁 (George Martin) 在出征时两人合计仅有 9 次出场经验，但最终却进入了淘汰赛的先发名单。英格兰队必须迅速采取行动，因为如果 2027 年的任务因钩球手 (hooker) 的问题而受到影响，他们只能自食其果。
寻找一个可以让他恢复状态的时间窗。这看起来是一个明显的机会，所以这是一个相当简单的决定。基于我们认为对他最有利的情况，我们做出了这个决定。
T
尚未结束
处罚后，这位英国车手 失去了领先地位，但 仍有希望， 作者：莫莉·哈德逊 (Molly Hudson)
G
尽管在目前的冠军争夺战中，路易斯·汉密尔顿落后于基米·安东内利 50 分，且这场竞争未能激起预期的热度，但他仍拥有一个优势：他经历过这一切，并曾七次夺冠。
但正是这种经验，让汉密尔顿在近期的比赛中因多次受到处罚和出现失误而感到如此沮丧。这些失误代价高昂，尤其是在前 11 场比赛的大部分时间里，安东内利拥有更好的赛车。
“每一个积分都至关重要，你必须抓住每一个机会，”汉密尔顿在周六晚上的 Instagram 上发布道，承认即使是他也难以保持乐观。
在这里，我们将分析近期错失的机会，并找出下半赛季值得乐观的原因。
处罚情况 最显而易见且有改进空间的，是汉密尔顿近期累计的处罚次数之多。
在银石赛道，他因抢跑被处以五秒时间罚时。虽然汉密尔顿承认自己在红灯亮起前确实移动了车辆，因此承担责任，但他表示……
展现强大心理素质， 在职业生涯第三场赛事中 横扫夺冠 作者：里克·布罗德本特 (Rick Broadbent)
高尔夫球运动迎来了一颗新星。在瑞安·福克斯 (Ryan Fox) 以39, 岁之高赢得首个大奖赛冠军，展现出坚韧的毅力一周后，杰克逊·科武恩 (Jackson Koivun) 在 21 岁时击退斯科蒂·舍夫勒 (Scottie Scheffler) 的挑战，赢得了首个 PGA 巡回赛冠军，进一步证明了外界对其转入职业赛场的极高期待。
科武恩自上个月在美国公开赛中并列第 23 名之后便成为了职业球员，但目前世界排名已达到第 73 位。
在阿拉巴马州奥本大学 (Auburn University) 经历了极其亮眼的大学生涯后，他的转型显得天衣无缝。在明尼苏达州举行的 3M 公开赛中，他打出了一场无博基 (bogey-free) 的 66 杆，最终以三杆之差胜过亚军舍夫勒，而后者自 1 月以来仍在寻求首胜。
在车手简报会上讨论到，处罚的执行标准一直以来“并不一致”。
他说：“过去有些车手在起步时有移动但没有受到处罚。”汉密尔顿表示：“我们讨论了一个事实，即只要在最后一盏灯亮起时没有移动，就不应该受到处罚，因为我当时并没有离开起跑格，他们对此表示同意。所以，他们会对未来的情况进行研究。”
在比利时，他因在首圈与乔治·拉塞尔 (George Russell) 发生碰撞而被罚时 5 秒，这被广泛认为过于严苛。拉塞尔称其为“赛车事故”，而非需要进一步惩罚的原因，尽管这次事故导致他的比赛提前结束。
执行这次时间处罚的代价十分沉重——它导致了一次复杂的双叠顶 (double-stack) 进站，汉密尔顿未能获得他请求的前翼襟翼调整，并撞到了一个机械师，导致整体损失了更多时间。他最终获得第四名，虽然是在合理范围内尝试限制损失，但仍然是一个错失的机会。
随后在上周末，一次真实的夺冠机会在排位赛中被毁掉，原因是他阻碍了奥斯卡·皮亚斯特里 (Oscar Piastri) 的最后一圈冲刺。这次处罚无可争议，但本可以避免，这是一个与汉密尔顿赛车工程师之间的沟通问题，后者在皮亚斯特里接近时通知得太晚。这使他在起跑格上的位置从第二下降到第五，而在这样一个赛道上，超车非常困难。
在正赛中，汉密尔顿因在维修区超速被罚时 5 秒——他超过了 80km/h 的速度限制 0.1km/h，这是一个车手失误。当处罚执行时，他的排名从第四掉到第五，落后于他的法拉利队友查尔斯·列克莱尔 (Charles Leclerc)。
来自加利福尼亚州的科武恩表示。过度炒作天才球员总有风险，而人们对老虎·伍兹之子、17 岁的查理·伍兹 (Charlie Woods) 的关注可能无助于他的进步，但对待科武恩或许无需如此小心翼翼。他的同行和教练都赞扬他的心理强度，这一点从他手套上写着的字就可以看出。“我会写上‘自信’、‘信任’和‘主宰’，”他解释道。
“‘主宰’是我在大学时想出的词，因为我想看看自己能打到什么程度。这是我和我的短杆教练乔希·格雷戈里 (Josh Gregory) 一起想出来的，对我的心态帮助很大。”
右图的科武恩已因头脑冷静而闻名，在周六打出 61 杆后，他从未让环境影响他的打法。因此，他如此描述最后的情绪爆发：“我觉得那是恰当的时机。”如果位于布莱恩的 TPC Twin Cities 赛场并非最严苛的考验——科武恩以创纪录的 25 杆低于标准杆完赛，而迈克尔·金 (Michael Kim) 在第二轮打出了 59 杆——那么这依然是一次令人极其印象深刻的获胜。舍夫勒、松山英树 (Hideki Matsuyama) 和布莱恩·哈曼 (Brian Harman) 这三位大奖赛冠军球员均在他之后。
他的四次处罚
| 地点 | 原因 | 代价 | 是否为他的错？ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 银石 (Silverstone) | 抢跑 | 5sec | 是 |
| 比利时 (Belgium) | 碰撞 | 5sec | 50/50 |
| 匈牙利 (Hungary) | 阻碍 | 三格起跑位罚退 | 否 |
| 匈牙利 (Hungary) | 维修区超速 | 5sec | 是 |
有进步空间 之前出现过一些较小的错误
“我觉得如今在比赛中能看到很多非常、非常优秀的年轻才俊，”谢夫勒（Scheffler）说道。“当你看到那些大学毕业进入职业赛的球员时，他们准备得非常充分，甚至比我们当年毕业时还要充分。很多时候，当他们看到其他球员获得成功时，你可以感受到那种信念。我还没和杰克逊（Jackson）交谈过，还没有机会看他击球。显然，我听说了他在大学时期的显赫资历，但我还没亲眼见过。我很期待。”
科伊武恩（Koivun）在 17 岁时随家人移居北卡罗来纳州，他在 2024 年的大学年度表现极其出色，横扫了大多数主要奖项。他同年在纪念赛（Memorial Tournament）中完成了他的PGA巡回赛首秀，并在去年夏天成为了业余世界第一。他在美国公开赛中获得并列第23名，这意味着他与赖德（Ryder）共同分享了业余选手最低杆荣誉。
考万（Cowan）。通过转为职业球员，他不得不放弃本月公开赛的一个名额，该名额是通过皇家古尔比和古安特俱乐部（Royal and Ancient）授予顶尖业余选手的马克·H·麦考马克奖章（Mark H McCormack Medal）获得的，但他在最近三次职业赛起跑中已有两次进入前十。
与此同时，澳大利亚的卢卡斯·赫伯特（Lucas Herbert）将他在公开赛中的状态延续到了陷入困境的LIV高尔夫系列赛的英国站，该站比赛在罗切斯特（Rocester）的JCB高尔夫乡村俱乐部举行。
赫伯特是在皇家比克代尔（Royal Birkdale）打出 62 杆（追平纪录）的三名球员之一，他在LIV巡回赛中同样表现强劲，最终以低于标准杆 30 杆的成绩，领先泰瑞尔·海顿（Tyrrell Hatton）六杆夺冠。
布赖森·德尚博（Bryson DeChambeau）获得第三名，他依然拒绝解释自己在比克代尔时的糟糕行为，包括在受到两杆罚分后威胁要让唐纳德·特朗普介入。当然，特朗普没能克制住自己。“我认为关于布赖森的判定是个艰难的决定，”他说。
在其他方面，亚巡赛（Asian Tour）、PGA巡回赛和DP世界巡回赛之间的合作伙伴关系损害了LIV的生存追求，尽管高层仍对缩短为十轮赛制且大幅削减奖金池的方案持乐观态度。在密歇根州举行的赛季收官战看来很可能会被取消，预计一个月内将决定该联赛的未来。
这些因素阻碍了他的机会。虽然汉密尔顿（Hamilton）的排位赛状态与他在梅赛德斯（Mercedes）时期的最后几个月以及在法拉利（Ferrari）的首个赛季相比有了巨大的提升，但他在结束一场赛段时经常感觉自己还没有完全榨出赛车的最大潜能。
在布达佩斯，迈凯伦（McLaren）认为兰多·诺里斯（Lando Norris）夺得杆位在很大程度上取决于执行力，即车手和车队完美协作以最大化速度，而数据表明法拉利当时拥有更快的赛车。
这在很大程度上取决于法拉利作为一支车队的执行力，而不仅仅是汉密尔顿本人——法拉利车队领队弗雷德·瓦塞尔（Fred Vasseur）承认，跃马车队（Scuderia）在周末期间犯了太多错误，包括进站速度略慢于往常。
乐观的理由 正如汉密尔顿在暑假前所说，“通常下半赛季 [对我来说] 是一个更强势的时期”。
虽然诺里斯在布达佩斯的胜利看起来是法拉利错失的机会，但它也表明迈凯伦能够利用冠军争夺者偶尔出现的失误日。因此，一个糟糕的日子可能意味着获得第五或第六，而不是第三，从而产生更大的积分波动。
可靠性对于梅赛德斯来说仍然是一个问题，安东内利（Antonelli）在某个阶段可能需要接受动力单元的起跑位罚退。
美网赛前 遭遇挫折
网球 Willis Bennett
在美网赛前五周，英国选手杰克·德雷珀（Jack Draper）昨晚退出了一项在美举办的赛事，其伤后复出之路遭受打击。
这位 24 岁的选手因手臂问题持续困扰而退出 DC 公开赛，这使得他下个月能否参加法拉盛草地球场（Flushing Meadows）的比赛变得不确定。德雷珀今年已经错过了全部三项大满贯赛事。
德雷珀由安迪·穆雷爵士执教，目前世界排名已跌至第 147 位。如此低迷的排名意味着，即便能恢复完全体能，他可能也需要通过资格赛，才能在 8 月 30 日开始的正赛中获得席位。
这位前英国一号种子今年仅参加了 13 场比赛，并且在短期通知内退出温布尔登赛后便未再现身；此前，他左肱骨骨挫伤导致上赛季缺赛八个月。他仍希望能在美网赛前参加蒙特利尔和辛辛那提的比赛，并表示自己“正接近理想状态”。
“这几个月感觉除了逆境就是挫折，”德雷珀在 Instagram 上写道。
Rick Broadbent
Rick Broadbent
“先为人，后为运动员。”这四个字解释了为什么亚当·兰赛-皮蒂（Adam Ramsay-Peaty）在托尔克罗斯游泳中心（Tollcross Swimming Centre）三天内第二次赢得铜牌后能够露出微笑。
这位三届奥运冠军，31, 在 50 米蛙泳的英联邦金牌争夺中从未处于领先地位，但为了在澳大利亚的萨姆·威廉森（Sam Williamson）和南非的迈克尔·胡利（Michael Houlie）之后保住另一个领奖台席位而奋力拼搏。冠军成绩为 26.50秒而兰赛-皮蒂的成绩为 26.94, 这两个成绩在他不可战胜的巅峰时期本应轻而易举，但现在情况不同了。
时代在变，无论是计时钟还是生命阶段。 “Project 56” 曾听起来像是在科幻剧本会议上构思出的寓言，但他在 2019. 年完成了首个 100 米蛙泳 57 秒以下的成绩。显然，并非所有闪光的东西都仅是
作为英国最伟大的体育明星之一以及三次英联邦冠军的得主，戴利·汤普森（Daley Thompson）在评价格拉斯哥接连出现的弃赛情况时，具有很强的权威性。
这位传奇的十项全能运动员认为，那些在没有受伤的情况下选择放弃该赛事的运动员正在错失机会。汤普森告诉《泰晤士报》：“这是一个重量级冠军，是一个赢取荣誉的机会。你永远不知道自己还会获得多少次这样的机会。”
“英联邦运动会无论以何种形式维持下去都至关重要，因为对于那些登顶的人来说，这也是一次极佳的学习经历。我不知道人们退赛的原因。他们可能有些小伤，如果距离欧洲锦标赛还有几周时间，情况可能会有所不同。”
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“代表国家参赛，”英格兰的埃利奥特·琼斯（Elliot Jones）在获得今天100米半决赛资格后说道。
弃赛运动员的人数为那些反对运动会的人提供了口实。在过去一周内，包括核心名将卡塔里娜·约翰逊-汤普森（Katarina Johnson-Thompson）、马修·哈德森-史密斯（Matthew Hudson-Smith）、迪娜·阿舍-史密斯（Dina Asher-Smith）、达里尔·内塔（Daryll Neita）和安伯·安宁（Amber Anning）在内的九名英格兰运动员相继退出。
最后退出的是前NCAA 100米冠军、由卡尔·刘易斯（Carl Lewis）执教的卢伊·欣奇利夫（Louie Hinchliffe），以及奥运接力奖牌获得者查理·多布森（Charlie Dobson）。
据格拉斯哥的广告牌显示，被誉为本届运动会形象大使的苏格兰选手艾丽什·麦考根（Eilish McColgan）也因伤退出。对于组织者来说，这是一个糟糕的开端，他们此前正试图反驳关于该赛事已逐渐失去重要性的观点，特别是由于赛事在剥离体育项目并首次在 70 年间离开BBC之后。
其中一部分原因仅仅是不幸，因为运动员们不愿冒险加重哪怕是最轻微的伤势，因为欧洲锦标赛将在下下周开始。由于英格兰队设有替补名单，选手的参赛名额并未被剥夺，但某些决定的迟缓并没有给琼斯带来帮助，他在从接力队升级为主赛选手后，一直在匆忙为父母和女友寻找酒店房间。
“这简直不可思议，”他说道。
金牌，但伯明翰 2022 依然是他最后一次获得重大冠军。当你长期处于顶峰时，低于此的标准还能令人满意吗？
嗯，答案似乎是肯定的——如果他能改变自己的视角。他与家人之间广为人知的裂痕几乎没有起到正向帮助，而他正期待着与妻子霍莉（Holly）迎来孩子，霍莉是名厨戈登·拉姆齐（Gordon Ramsay）的女儿。在周六100米决赛失利后的情绪波动中，他谈到了自己“经历的那些烂事”，并质疑如果不能通过体育成就获得回报，他的牺牲有什么意义。随后，他的母亲卡罗琳（Caroline）发布了一条消息称，“我们继续在远方支持亚当（Adam）”。这依然是一个混乱的个人背景。
昨晚，拉姆齐-皮蒂（Ramsay-Peaty）似乎对现状更为坦然。“有些东西还没有契合，但我必须从100米中学习，并意识到这是我自巴黎（奥运会）以来的首届锦标赛，能拿到两枚铜牌，我认为这就是成功。我不会对自己太苛刻了，不再那样了，”他说道。
“我的‘超能力’现在看起来大不相同。我想，到时候照顾奶娃娃并陪伴幼儿，我想这是一种不同的超能力。但作为一名职业运动员，我依然致力于此。我们只是必须用截然不同的方式去应对，因为我曾经是那个一直赢的人，而这几乎让你付出所有，我现在不会说那是值得的。”
“对我而言，在那个连续八年未尝败绩的时期，无论如何，运动员身份优先于人类身份。现在是人类优先于运动员，这是一个非常公平的代价，一次非常好的博弈。我说博弈，是因为我们确实不知道结果会如何。”
拉姆齐-皮蒂在体育界一直是一个有趣的现象。他不随波逐流地发表爱国陈词滥调，但曾告诉我，他当时在看《不列颠之战》（Battle of Britain）和《祖鲁》（Zulu）时，他[此处文本缺失/中断]。
说他在成为第三快 的资格赛选手后，尽管 前七名男子 获得了直接晋级资格。“ 我对国家的 民族自豪感非常 高，能够……
六岁，并且热爱王室。 尽管仍对失去“单次 划水的力量”感到沮丧，他表示自己仍有潜力， 但正在学习如何应对挫折。“ 我非常享受其中，”他声称。
Archie Goodburn 在决赛中并列 最后一名，但这位 25 岁的苏格兰人 在 2024 年被诊断出患有终末期脑癌， 却赢得了最响亮的 喝彩声。
当被问及如何保持乐观时， 他说道：“抱歉，我想为 这个问题找一个答案。嗯，我倡导是因为我相信 我的倡导能给我的生活带来改变。 而我能做到的最好方式就是 对现状保持乐观， 并积极寻求改变。
“但我同样也为未来的 Archie 们而倡导。我为那些希望在 国际水平上取得成功的未来的 Archie 们而泳， 同时也为那些 40 岁以下 的年轻患者和脑癌患者而泳。 此刻我虽然感到沮丧，但我 将来会将这视为我生命中一个相当 不可思议的时刻。”
对我来说这就是整个世界。无论时间表如何， 我会接听我收到的每一次国际 电话。”
这位 28 岁的威根人只是一名兼职 跑者，在欧洲赛事的欧足联场地 运营团队工作， 其中包括上赛季热刺与马德里竞技的 交锋。
上周四晚上，他接到了 英格兰短跑主管关于接替 Hinchliffe 的电话。 “她说，‘如果你被给予在个人赛中 参赛的机会，你会有什么感觉？’ 我的反应是，‘让我考虑一下—— 好！’我第二天早上从拉夫堡坐公交车出发， 加上堵车，我们花了七个小时。”
英联邦运动会和欧洲锦标赛 时间相近，这意味着一些成名球星， 例如奥运会 800 米冠军 Keely Hodgkinson， 一直表示他们将缺席格拉斯哥站， 但权衡这两项赛事的各自优势 并不总是那么简单明确。
‘惊人’的 银牌泳池中绽放
Craig Lord
记住这个名字：阿马莉·史密斯 (Amalie Smith)。 这位 16 岁的英国女学生昨晚在格拉斯哥的奥运选手泳池中脱颖而出，在 400 米个人混合泳比赛中获得一枚银牌，这标志着她的国际成年组首秀。
这位青少年选手在 4 分 33.70 秒的成绩下，以第二名的身份排在经验丰富的澳大利亚选手珍娜·福雷斯特 (Jenna Forrester) 之后——仅比汉娜·迈利 (Hannah Miley) 创下的英国纪录慢了短短几秒。
史密斯地让人想起夏伦·戴维斯 (Sharron Davies)，后者在 1978 年 15 岁时就在同一项目中为英格兰赢得了英联邦金牌，并在两年后获得奥运银牌（尽管那场决赛被东德的兴奋剂丑闻所污染）。
史密斯是汤布里奇 (Tonbridge) 威尔德肯特文法学校 (Weald of Kent Grammar School) 的一名学生，自 13 岁起就在 RTW 蒙森游泳俱乐部的教练卡伦·布拉德伯里 (Karen Bradbury) 的指导下训练。
“我太兴奋了，太开心了。我简直不敢相信，”史密斯说。“我来到这里时想着如果能拿一枚奖牌就太好了，但真正实现了，这简直不可思议。入场时我相当紧张，但只要一跳入水中，我就没事了。就像我参加过的任何其他赛事一样。”
史密斯从青少年组到成年组水域的成功过渡，增加了一种她正朝着更大奖项迈进的氛围，但她说：“我认为最重要的是不要操之过急，实际上要后退一步，确保意识到你已经取得了多少成就。这关乎于思考现实的事情，循序渐进地去做，并将这次经历作为一次学习机会。”
当被问及接下来的计划时，她提到了在格拉斯哥的 200 米个人混合泳和接力赛，之后她将“留在现场支持其他[体育项目的]选手，然后回家准备在巴黎举行的欧洲锦标赛”。
“我非常期待，”两周前摘得欧洲青少年冠军的史密斯在谈到那场成年组锦标赛时说道。“场馆看起来太酷了，所以我很期待在那儿比赛。”
当被问及是否觉得现在自己属于成年组行列时，她说：“目前很难说。每个人都很友好且给予很多支持，所以希望在巴黎之后，我会感到很自在。”
奥曼亚拉 (Omanyala) 在四年前通过计时获胜，赢得了英联邦金牌。
艾米·亨特 (Amy Hunt) 和乔治亚·亨特贝尔 (Georgia Hunter Bell) 仍然是英格兰队的明星人物。亨特在去年的世界锦标赛中获得 200 米银牌，展现了她的实力，但她从未赢得过一项重大成年组个人冠军。亨特贝尔虽是奥运会和世界赛奖牌获得者，但从未在户外全球赛事中夺金。
在一个寒冷的早晨，约 7,500 名观众聚集在斯科特斯顿体育场 (Scotstoun Stadium) 观看田径赛开幕，现场氛围热烈但并不嘈杂。另一位到场的人是杰里米亚·阿祖 (Jeremiah Azu)。他去年被加冕为世界和欧洲室内冠军，但尚未赢得过英联邦奖牌。
当被问及为何来到这里时，这位威尔士人指着他背心上的“Cymru”（威尔士语：威尔士）字样说道：“因为这个。在威尔士长大，你会感到与人们之间有如此强烈的联系，对我来说，能够穿上这件背心并尝试登上领奖台是一项巨大的荣誉，我绝不会放弃这个机会。”
T
詹姆斯·吉尔布兰特 (James Gheerbrant) 青少年时期被拘留如何 毁掉了他前途无量的 职业生涯
利桑德罗·克拉罗斯的生活轨迹 在九年前一个阴雨绵绵的周五下午 被不可逆转地改变了。那天早晨醒来时， 他还是一个模范学生和一名出色的高中足球员—— 在他的一位教练看来，他是“[美国]中该年龄段 最好的中后卫之一”，并且拥有大学奖学金 和学习工程学的计划。到了那天傍晚， 他与弟弟迭戈 (Diego) 被拘留， 穿着囚服，准备被驱逐出境。
一年后，他们被送上前往萨尔瓦多的飞机， 前往一个被帮派暴力撕裂的国家， 以及一个主要以制造棺材而闻名的城镇——胡库阿帕 (Jucuapa)。
坐在飞机上时，利桑德罗内心充满恐惧。 他记得，当时他出生地 “帮派问题依然非常严重”。 “我担心他们会以此为目标 [强迫我们] 加入…… 担心我们会步他们的后尘。” 不过，那个恐惧并没有成为现实。 如今，利桑德罗是萨尔瓦多顶尖足球俱乐部 CD Firpo 的队长：他们赢得了 Apertura， 即上赛季上半年的全国冠军。
然而，他所持有的一些其他恐惧却变成了现实。 从美国被驱逐出境的人被禁止在十年内重新进入该国， “所以我真的很担心再也见不到我的母亲，”他说。 她在被驱逐前就患病在身，并且“受打击最深…… 当这一切发生时，我们看到她的病情恶化了很多。 遗憾的是，我没能再次见到她活着的样子……她去年去世了。”
在唐纳德·特朗普第二次总统任期的第一年里， 加州大学伯克利分校和加州大学洛杉矶分校 的驱逐数据项目 (DDP) 的一份报告表明， 驱逐人数增加了五倍。 在 7月 4日 世界杯期间， 国土安全部自豪地宣称其通过 “逮捕犯罪非法移民来庆祝自由 250 周年”： 一名发言人表示，移民和海关执法局 (ICE) 的特工 在周末一直致力于“逮捕最恶劣的人”。
但 DDP 通过《信息自由法》 直接从政府获取数据集，并指出 在特朗普任内，ICE 拘留没有刑事犯罪记录 的人数增加了八倍。 利桑德罗的案例发生在特朗普的第一任总统期间， 是一个令人悲哀的典型案例， 它表明驱逐出境的惩罚可以多么持久且影响深远。
青少年时期，克拉罗斯一家住在马里兰州。 利桑德罗在当地球队贝塞斯达足球俱乐部 (Bethesda Soccer Club) 比赛。 “我们每天训练，每个周末比赛，”他说。 “我的所有家人都在那里，我的兄弟 [和姐妹]、 我的父母，以及我在高中的朋友们。 我努力表现良好，因为我想上大学。 一切都很顺利。我觉得那里就是我该在的地方。”
克拉罗斯一家是零散抵达美国的： 先是父亲，在利桑德罗出生几个月后抵达； 几年后是母亲； 随后孩子们分批抵达，最后是 10 岁和 14 岁的 利桑德罗和迭戈。 他们的旅程充满危险，方式也杂乱无章： 利桑德罗的父母付钱给一位亲戚的朋友， 将他们最小的孩子们带到美国， 结果他们的文件和护照被发现是伪造的。
最初，他们被允许停留。 那是一种不稳定但幸福的生活， 足球活动和家庭聚会穿插在 定期向 ICE 报到的日子之间。 在巴拉克·奥巴马政府时期，驱逐主要集中在驱逐罪犯。 作为一名专注的学生运动员，利桑德罗处于一种温和的停滞状态： 虽未获得永久居留权，但也不太可能被遣返。
[[IMG_XXXX]] 右图克拉罗斯在 2021 年完成了他的国家队首秀，但由于仍被禁止进入美国，他仅有 4 场出场记录。他在 2017 年 17 岁时被驱逐出境（见下图）——这一变故对他父母和兄弟姐妹（见插图）的影响尤为沉重。
一次常规检查最终以他们被拘留而告终。尽管利桑德罗（Lizandro）的学校同学发起了运动，且当地民主党政治家也表示反对，但并未获得赦免。于是，兄弟俩发现自己住在胡库阿帕（Jucuapa）的姑姑和祖父母家中，并很快学会了“必须如何行事，这样我们才不会出错，或说出不该说的话”。
几个月后，他们接受了一项在一家美国大学的尼加拉瓜校区学习的邀请，利桑德罗在那里遇到了他的妻子。他开始在尼加拉瓜乙级联赛的一家俱乐部效力，并享受“与同样的伙伴们在一起，每天训练”的时光。
他决定在萨尔瓦多追求自己的足球梦想。在那里他迅速崛起，并在 22 岁时为顶级俱乐部独立队（Independiente）完成职业首秀。不久后，他就被胡戈·佩雷斯（Hugo Pérez）召入国家队，佩雷斯是一名出生于萨尔瓦多的前美国国家队成员，曾参加过 1994 年世界杯。他在 2021 年的一场对阵墨西哥的世界杯预选赛中完成了首秀，当时负责盯防劳尔·希门尼斯（Raúl Jiménez）。
在全球男性职业足球运动员人口中，仅有约 1 ％的人参加了最近的世界杯。利桑德罗的故事是一个深刻的提醒，揭示了全球 125,000 名以踢球为生的人员中，绝大多数人的生活现状。
“我们的基础设施非常糟糕，”他说。“你去一些俱乐部，他们不给球场浇水，所以草地变得像岩石一样硬。这使得我们的足球水平一直很低。结果就是受伤，比如前十字韧带（ACL）断裂。”在菲尔波（Firpo）队，他们有一个配备康复设备的诊所，但在中美洲，通常情况下“大多数球队没有这种设备……你见不到多少球队试图照顾球员”。
CESAR GOMEZ/JAM MEDIA/GETTY IMAGES
在萨尔瓦多，他说，半数顶级联赛球队支付的薪水高于全国平均水平；大多数其他球队“可能支付两倍的[全国]最低工资”。而且这还是在球员能拿到钱的前提下。“我已经体验过萨尔瓦多足球好的一面，也体验过糟糕的一面，那就是球队欠你 2½ 个月的工资。”
他说，在之前效力于菲尔波期间，他不得不“成为那个去找[前俱乐部]主席的人，要求他尽快[付款]……在过去，我还没有妻子和孩子，一个人生活就很艰难，你懂吗？所以我无法想象那些有家庭的球员[情况会有多难]。”
他很享受担任队长的责任感。“我的性格就是试图推动[年轻队友]做得更好，因为我知道他们能做到，”他说。考虑到他的领导能力、菲尔波队的成功，以及球队约四分之三的成员来自萨尔瓦多联赛，你可能会认为利桑德罗应该是国家队的常客。然而，他仅有四次国家队出场记录，最近一次是在 2022 年，其原因显而易见。
由于在 2017 年被驱逐出境，28 岁的利桑德罗在 2027 年之前无法进入美国。因此，如果萨尔瓦多获得了本届世界杯的参赛资格，他极有可能无法参加。不难理解，为什么这在佩雷斯的继任者眼中成了他的不利因素。
不过，这不仅仅是世界杯的问题。自 1991 年以来，每一届金杯赛（北美及中美洲球队的洲际锦标赛）都全部或部分在美国举行。此外，出于经济、人口和基础设施的考虑，萨尔瓦多绝大多数的友谊赛都在美国进行（本十年初以来 27 场中有 22 场）。
“我认为这是[我没有获得更多出场机会]的一个非常关键的原因，”利桑德罗说。“国家队的球员，所有人都能够参加金杯赛，去美国参加友谊赛。教练总是倾向于让同一批人出战。如果我有更多随国家队出行的机会，我[的职业生涯]可能会有更进一步的成就。”
对他而言，驱逐出境不仅是一次性的惩罚；它一直如影随形，并且在现实层面改变了他为自己开辟的新生活和事业的前景。
利桑德罗展现出了惊人的韧性，且心中并无怨恨。他现在是一名丈夫和父亲，对他从美国梦的碎片中建立起来的生活心怀感激。
“我觉得我可以给我的儿子提供一个非常好的生活，”他说。“在美国生活的人们从早到晚地工作，那真的非常辛苦。”明年，为期十年的禁令将到期，他将能够申请访问签证。自被驱逐出境以来，他曾几次见到他的父亲和姐姐，但还有另一位兄弟，他自那时起就再未见过。
今年3月，他被新任主教练埃尔南·达里奥·戈梅斯（Hernán Dario Gómez）召回萨尔瓦多国家队，戈梅斯在 2018 年萨尔瓦多对阵英格兰队时担任巴拿马队的主教练。
他将自己的未来看在教练方向，并正在学习考取教练证书。当被问及认为自己会在萨尔瓦多还是美国执教时，他表示：“我认为两者皆有。在萨尔瓦多，我们缺乏能够真正培养球员的教练。我相信如果我们有更好的教练、更好的培养者，我们的足球未来将会光明得多。”
他说，他依然“热爱足球到痴迷”。足球是他生命的恒量与指南针，是他
在萨尔瓦多村庄的硬地上
赤脚学会的游戏，
在美国通过专注地追求，
并在一切看似绝望时
救赎了他并给了他方向。
而无论他的天职将他引领至
故乡那干硬的球场，还是
C
如何花费 £210m 且无需担心 受到制裁
自 BlueCo 接管以来， 球员销售总额超过 £900m，起到了关键作用
切尔西暗示他们将在今年夏天改变在转会市场上的策略，但说起来容易，做起来难。
他们最近的两笔签约表明他们正信守承诺。马克桑斯·拉克鲁瓦 (Maxence Lacroix) 正等待从水晶宫转会而来的 £52 million 官方确认，他是切尔西自 2022 年夏天（即 BlueCo 接管后的第一个季前赛）以来签下的首位 26 岁或以上球员。与此同时，俱乐部签下了备受追捧的摩根·罗杰斯 (Morgan Rogers)，他将直接进入一线队。昨天有消息确认，切尔西正在洽谈引进布莱顿与霍夫阿尔比恩 (Brighton & Hove Albion) 的前锋、35 岁的丹尼·韦尔贝克 (Danny Welbeck)，以及布伦特福德 (Brentford) 和英格兰队的 36 岁中场乔丹·亨德森 (Jordan Henderson)。
拉克鲁瓦是一名能够满足即时需求的球员：增强中后卫的稳定性，而这长期以来一直是切尔西球迷诟病的领域。与此同时，尽管冠军球队阿森纳也表现出兴趣，但罗杰斯仍以 £117 million 的巨额转会费被签下，这一价格让所有竞争对手望尘莫及。这对俱乐部来说是一次重要的表态，也表达了对新任主教练哈维·阿隆索 (Xabi Alonso) 的支持，而他的任命也被视为一次成功的抢人行动。
“当我们开始讨论时，我们希望建立一支有竞争力的球队，而你需要能够产生几乎瞬间影响的球员。我相信摩根不需要太多时间就能适应俱乐部、体系和队友，”阿隆索在俱乐部的悉尼季前巡演中表示。“这就是我们想要的理念，即获得一名顶级球员，而摩根就是其中之一。
“这是一次伟大的签约。在那个位置上，我们需要一名关键球员，我相信没有比他更好的选择。这对每个人以及已经在这里的球员来说都意义重大——他们感觉很好，我们期待在几周后能让他加盟。”切尔西还签下了马可·帕莱斯特拉 (Marco Palestra)，俱乐部消息人士指出，作为意甲年度最佳后卫，他同样是一名即插即用的球员，以 £47 million 从亚特兰大 (Atalanta) 转会而来；此外，俱乐部还完成了与吉奥瓦尼·昆达 (Geovany Quenda)、埃马纽埃尔·埃梅加 (Emmanuel Emegha) 和达斯坦·萨特巴耶夫 (Dastan Satpaev) 预先协议的交易。
总计已有超过 £210 million 的转会费被计入俱乐部账目。切尔西可能还没有完事；他们此前对伯恩茅斯 (Bournemouth) 的亚历克斯·斯科特 (Alex Scott) 提出的 £64million 报价被拒绝，并且一直在追逐 28 岁的巴列卡诺 (Rayo Vallecano) 全背风球员佩普·查瓦里亚 (Pep Chavarría)。
“我们必须做好准备，”阿隆索在谈到进一步引进球员时说道。“市场还会开放几周。我们需要留意不同的位置和不同的情况。所以，当然，我们有一个计划，一个想法，并且需要在正确的时间进行评估。”
考虑到切尔西在 BlueCo 持有的四年期间的支出规模，人们质疑他们如何在没有面临更多制裁的情况下再次投入如此巨额资金，这并不奇怪。该俱乐部在最近的 2024-25 赛季账目中披露了英格兰足球历史上最大的税前亏损，连续第四年提交超过 £200 million 的营业亏损。在过去的四个赛季中，他们有三个赛季没有欧冠收入，且连续三个赛季没有长期的球衣前胸赞助商。他们的商业收入一直落后于前六名的竞争对手。
切尔西在英超旧版“盈利能力与可持续发展规则”中勉强过关，这得益于将女足以 £200 million 出售给俱乐部母公司，以及通过将两家酒店出售给另一家姐妹公司而产生的 £70.5 million 收益。但欧足联 (Uefa) 在计算中并不计入这些收入来源，因此切尔西在 2024 财年的账目中违反了其财务法规，并签署了一份和解协议。尽管他们将不参加欧洲赛事，但该协议仍要求俱乐部在即将到来的赛季中遵守设定的财务目标。
上个赛季，他们必须确保亏损不超过 €5 million（£4.3 million）——如果该金额完全由股权覆盖（即非来自所有者团体的贷款），则该限额可增加至 €60 million。若未能达成该目标，将触发最高 €20 million 的罚款；如果亏损超过目标 €20 million，他们将被视为违反协议，并在下次获得参赛资格时被取消欧洲赛事的参赛资格。对于即将到来的一年，亏损目标为零，但根据上赛季目标的超额完成情况，可增加最高 €60 million 的缓冲空间。
俱乐部相关人士拒绝就切尔西是否收到来自俱乐部所有者团体的股权注入以在结算协议中获得喘息空间发表评论。但他们并未违反结算协议，并完全相信他们将保持合规。
——其中 £1.7 million 被有条件地暂停执行——但那是由于违反了欧足联的阵容成本比率 (SCR) 规则，该规则要求俱乐部在工资和转会上的支出仅能占其收入的 70%。英超联赛已从 PSR 转向其自身的 SCR 形式，其支出限制在收入的 85% 以内——在采取体育处罚（而非仅是罚款）之前，有高达 115% 的波动空间。
此前有说法认为，切尔西在最近一次支出之前正处于避免麻烦的轨道上。去年，他们的收入得到了世俱杯成功的助力，价值 £86.5 million，以及因恩佐·马雷斯卡辞职并随后被曼城任命而获得的 £17 million 补偿金。据俱乐部相关人士称，其收入在记录性的 £700 million 左右。
但切尔西在最新账目（2024-25 赛季，当时他们未能进入欧冠联赛）中的收入为 £491 million，且在那个阶段，账面上已经有 £224 million 的摊销转会费以及 £359 million 的工资单。据了解，今年缺失欧冠足球赛可能会让俱乐部损失 £100 million。而且这还没有算上账面上将增加的另一笔 £210 million 的夏季转会支出。这一切都引发了一个问题：他们在依然能够消费的同时，是如何在监管的压力下生存的？
答案很简单。切尔西已经成为了出色的卖家——出色到这成了俱乐部抵消亏损的决定性因素。
自 BlueCo 接管以来，切尔西在球员身上花费了超过 £1.8 billion。但在出售方面，他们获得了超过 £900 million 的收入；上赛季是顶级联赛俱乐部首次回收超过 £300 million 的资金，这几乎完全抵消了他们的转会支出。
今年夏天，由于从马克·库库雷利亚、泰里克·乔治、安德烈·桑托斯以及潜在的亚历杭德罗·加纳乔（他已租借加盟阿斯顿维拉，但带有高额的强制买断条款）的出售中预计回收 £170 million，他们很可能再次接近这些数字。他们预计在 9 月之前，在 BlueCo 旗下将实现超过 10 亿英镑的销售额。
在经历了早期赛季的高额净支出（由一些有争议的权宜之计支持，例如出售女足队）之后，切尔西目前的运作模式是通过销售来抵消购买。他们为球员提供较低的、以激励为导向的基础工资，这有助于俱乐部在球员未能成功时更轻松地将其转会，从而提供了灵活性。
左图的罗杰斯 (Rogers) 和下方的拉克鲁瓦 (Lacroix) 已加入由阿隆索 (Alonso) 和托德·伯利 (Todd Boehly，见下方插图) 监督的切尔西项目。该项目的实现得益于今年夏天通过出售世界杯冠军库库雷利亚 (Cucurella，右图) 以及一些知名度较低的阵容成员，预计回收 £170 million。
每赛季 £42 million 的年度成本，因为入场转会费会在球员合同期内分摊，最高可达五年——这一过程被称为摊销。对于回收的出售款项，利润是通过减去球员摊销转会费中仍需支付的金额来计算的。桑托斯 (Santos) 被以 £48 million（最高可升至 £50million）的价格卖给曼彻斯特联队，是一个非常好的例子，因为他当初是以 £10.2 million 的价格签署八年合同加入的；同样如此的还有学院毕业生乔治 (George)，他以 £24 million 的纯利润被卖给埃弗顿。
阿克塞尔·迪萨西 (Axel Disasi)、本诺特·巴迪亚希尔 (Benoît Badiashile)、特雷沃·查洛巴 (Trevoh Chalobah) 和菲利普·约根森 (Filip Jorgensen) 可能很快都会离开，其他人也可能被出售或外租，包括被估值为 £65 million 的尼古拉斯·杰克逊 (Nicolas Jackson)。去年夏天以 £30 million 身价加盟的利亚姆·德拉普 (Liam Delap) 也面临着不确定的未来，而马洛·古斯托 (Malo Gusto) 和佩德罗·内托 (Pedro Neto) 则能获得高额转会费。切尔赛有信心在不一定损失关键天才的情况下达成销售目标。只有加盟皇家马德里的库库雷利亚可以被视为这种情况。
虽然还需要更多球员离队，但切尔西有信心在遵守欧足联 (Uefa) 和英超联赛规定的同时，支持他们的新任主教练。阿隆索表示：“我们需要灵活且迅速地采取行动。最重要的是我们有一个清晰的想法，一个我们已经制定的清晰计划。在转会窗关闭的最后一天之前，这个计划可能会发生变化。”
接自封底 阿隆索在寻求“成熟度”
接自封底
将经验带入切尔西更衣室。
阿隆索在昨天的谈话中概述，“成熟度”将成为俱乐部今年夏天塑造阵容的一个因素。他说：“我们想要建立一支具有竞争力的球队，我们正处于这个过程中。我们拥有极高的质量和天才，我们需要知道在英超联赛中竞争需要具备什么。我们希望球队在质量和心态之间达到正确的平衡。这些东西需要在成熟度方面相匹配。”
切尔赛今天将面对西悉尼 the Wanderers 队，作为悉尼超级杯的一部分。
利兹联即将完成以 £40 million 的价格从曼彻斯特城签下守门员詹姆斯·特拉福德 (James Trafford)。Trafford, 23, 仅在 12 个月前以 £27million 的价格从伯恩利转会至曼城，但詹路易吉·多纳鲁马 (Gianluigi Donnarumma) 的到来阻碍了他获得一线队常规出场机会的路径。
这位英格兰国脚很可能转会至埃兰路球场，因为利兹联此前已分别失去了被曼彻斯特联队和阿森纳签走的守门员卡尔·达洛 (Karl Darlow) 和伊兰·梅斯利埃 (Illan Meslier)。
称其“播种仇恨”
Martyn Ziegler 首席体育记者
国际足联主席詹尼·因法蒂诺 (Gianni Infantino) 在社交媒体上的一次非同寻常的爆发中，指责他的批评者在“散布仇恨”。
因法蒂诺在 Instagram 上发布了一篇长达 15 页的关于世界杯的辩护文章，文中使用了 7 次“仇恨”或“憎恨”一词。
此前，该赛事面临诸多批评，包括票价过高、设置补水休息时间，以及关于政治干预的指控（美国前锋法洛林·巴洛根在唐纳德·特朗普向因法蒂诺致电后，被国际足联暂停了禁赛处罚）；此外，由于签证限制，多个国家的球迷被禁止前往美国，伊朗队也被迫将训练基地迁至墨西哥。
因法蒂诺发帖称：“对于所有错过我们美丽游戏的人……我想说，很遗憾比赛现在已经结束，很遗憾你们错过了所有那些欢乐与团结。遗憾的是，你们如此沉迷于仇恨和批评，以至于错过了这一切。”
“对于那些躲在笔纸后面、躲在屏幕后面散布仇恨和虚假谣言的人，我想告诉你们，在你们坐享其成的时候，我们国际足联正处于一线，组织协调、努力工作，并呈现世界上最精彩的表演。”
因法蒂诺表示，并没有出现
Peter Rutzler 悉尼
米基·范德文 (Micky van de Ven) 认为，在主教练罗伯托·德泽比 (Roberto De Zerbi) 的带领下，托特纳姆热刺本赛季将踢出更好的足球。他表示，在签下马特乌斯·费尔南德斯 (Mateus Fernandes) 和桑德罗·托纳利 (Sandro Tonali) 之后，俱乐部在转会市场中展现出的“新野心”让他倍感安心。
德泽比于 3 月下旬被任命，他在上赛季最后一天确保了热刺免于从英超联赛降级。自那时起，俱乐部采取了前所未有的招募方式，今年夏天共支出 £237 百万。
布莱顿与霍夫阿尔比恩的后卫扬-保罗·范海克 (Jan Paul van Hecke) 以 £52 百万的价格被签入，随后俱乐部以创纪录的 £85 百万从西汉姆联签下中场球员费尔南德斯，而这一记录随后被从纽卡斯尔联加盟的托纳利以 £100 百万的价格打破。热刺还
由于需要寻找解决方案，因此设立了此次试验。
此次试验允许例外情况；如果门将被犯规、流血、需要被换下或与场上球员相撞，那么其球队将不会暂时少一名球员。
“其目的是确保真正的伤病能继续获得适当的医疗关注，同时消除与比赛停顿相关的任何潜在体育优势，”Pro Ref、英足总（FA）和英超联赛在一份声明中表示。该试验将于周六的联赛杯（Carabao Cup）初步赛阶段开始，并应用于至第六级别的所有男子组比赛。如果成功，可能会在 2027-28 赛季引入永久性的法律修订。
暴力或事件，以及“100% 的安全与保障”。
他补充道：“所有这一切都得益于三个主办国政府及其巨大的贡献。每个城市都挤满了来自全球的球迷。当他们在庆祝时，你们（批评者）却忙于播种仇恨的种子。
“当你们散布仇恨时，我们不懈努力地统一两个处于战争中的国家。伊朗在没有任何事件或冲突的情况下进入了美国。面临严重健康问题或其他挑战的国家获批了签证。你们（批评者）提到少数被拒绝签证的人，却忽略了来自世界各地的数百万获批者。”
在一段看来是直接为巴洛贡（Balogun）决定进行辩护的发言中，他表示：“事实上，‘有争议的’裁判决定或‘奇怪的’纪律裁决，例如可能错误的红牌或黄牌，以及随后在某些情况下决定不对球员进行禁赛，这些在一些全球最大的联赛中都是常规且被广泛接受的。
“令人好奇的是，采用这些做法的正是那些在批评的国家。”
国际足联（Fifa）并未撤销巴洛贡的红牌——这种情况在联赛中经常发生——但将原本应该是自动执行的一场比赛禁赛期推迟了至少一年。国际足联尚未公布纪律委员会主席对该案的判定，也未解释这一在世界杯历史上前所未有的决定。国际足联坚称，该裁决由主席独立做出。
因凡蒂诺称世界杯是 “世界上最精彩的表演”
从伯恩茅斯签下了马科斯·塞内西（Marcos Senesi），从利物浦签下了安德鲁·罗伯逊（Andrew Robertson），并从伯恩利自由转会签下了马丁·杜布拉夫卡（Martin Dubravka）。
范德文（Van de Ven）是一名关键球员，鉴于热刺连续两次获得第 17 名，他的未来一直被质疑，他表示：“你能看到俱乐部做出了一些改变，这非常好。在我看来，他们带来了一位非常出色的一任新主教练和一些非常出色的新援。你可以看到俱乐部有了新的雄心。对于那些在这里呆了很久的球员来说，这一点非常重要。
“希望这将是一个不同的赛季。我们将为此非常努力地工作，以制造一些改变，因为上赛季我们方面的表现有点不可接受。”
这位 25 岁的球员充满信心，认为球队将踢出比上赛季更具吸引力的足球，而上赛季大部分时间是在托马斯·弗兰克（Thomas Frank）的率领下度过的。当被问及热刺是否会成为一支更好的球队时……
英超足球调查发现，85% 的利益相关者认为门将超时问题是一个问题。
这个问题在女子超级联赛（WSL）中可能更为普遍。在 1 月份客场 0-0 战平阿森纳之后，曼联后卫多米尼克·詹森（Dominique Janssen）几乎承认她们队的门将法隆·图利斯-乔伊斯（Phallon Tullis-Joyce）伪装受伤。“法隆为了我们倒地，这样我们才能讨论战术调整，”詹森说。
其他联赛将试行一项法律，即当门将需要治疗时，队长必须离开球场。如果队长是门将，则必须在赛前指定一名离开球场的球员。
挪威准备向国际足联 (Fifa) 的伦理委员会就本案中涉嫌的政治干预提出正式申诉；与此同时，欧足联 (Uefa) 主席亚历山大·塞费林 (Aleksander Ceferin) 通过不参加世界杯决赛，似乎在暗示两个管理机构之间存在分歧。
因凡蒂诺 (Infantino) 的信息最后写道：“对于那些花费时间和精力憎恨我们的人，请花一点时间去反思、冥想、祈祷，或者看一场足球赛，真正观察人们的面孔、眼神和情感。
“愿你们找到平静；我们在国际足联已经找到了，并将其传递给你们，通过举办一场最卓越的国际足联世界杯。愿足球能超越所有仇恨。最后，作为国际足联主席，我非常自豪能为这场演出贡献一份力量，哪怕只有一点点。这是一种极好的感觉！向所有人传递爱。”
在观看比赛时，范德文 (Van de Ven) 表示：“是的，我非常确定。与我们上赛季的前任主教练相比，将会有所不同。我认为会有更多的控球，更多的足球运动。我认为当踢进攻足球时，观众看球也会更加愉快。”
热刺将明天继续与悉尼 FC (Sydney FC) 进行季前赛，随后将于周六参加悉尼超级杯，与切尔西交手。
合同还剩三年的范德文很享受与德泽尔比 (De Zerbi) 的共事。“在上赛季的最后几周，你可以看到[他]给我们的团队带来了很多激情，无论是在心态上还是激情上。我们开始尝试很多控球操作，因为他希望我们掌控球权。
“我喜欢控球，而不是一直跟在球后面跑。他带来了很多积极的能量，而在季前赛中，我们现在真正有时间将他的足球理念融入球队。”
在被替换时。类似的措施在今年夏天的世界杯上也被采用，从而增加了球在场上的有效比赛时间。在赛事期间，裁判还被建议在门将接受治疗时，阻止球员进入技术区。
国际足球协会理事会 (Ifab) 还澄清了“错误身份识别”法律，称该法律不应被用于更改裁判对所犯违规行为的认定。相反，该法律适用于犯规球员身份被错误识别的场景。
另一项 Ifab 的试点计划将允许裁判在进攻方在球开赛前犯规的情况下，判定由自由球或角球产生的进球无效。这一措施在世界杯期间就已启用，导致托比翁·赫格姆 (Torbjorn Heggem) 在挪威对阵英格兰的四分之一决赛中打入的进球被取消，原因是埃尔林·哈兰德 (Erling Haaland) 推了埃利奥特·安德森 (Elliot Anderson)。
2026年7月28日 星期二 | 《泰晤士报》 体育
尽管有 50 分的差距 切尔西转而 考虑亨德森 和韦尔贝克 阿隆索为了追求“成熟度”而采取令人震惊的举措
Paul Joyce, Peter Rutzler
切尔西正在推进一项令人惊讶的交易，计划通过自由转会从布伦特福德签下乔丹·亨德森。
这位英格兰中场受到多家顶级联赛俱乐部的青睐，但切尔西在争夺这位 36 岁球员方面处于领先地位，因为他们希望为教练哈维·阿隆索的球队增加更多经验。这家西伦敦俱乐部还对从布莱顿 & 霍夫阿尔比恩招募 35 岁的丹尼·韦尔贝克感兴趣。
亨德森在从阿贾克斯转会后在布伦特福德度过了一个赛季，其合同还剩一年，但他与现任俱乐部的关系良好，如果他想离开，俱乐部不会阻碍。
接下来的步骤基本上取决于亨德森，这位曾在 2020 年率领利物浦夺得英超冠军的队长，将选择他想去的地方，而加入切尔西的前景显然极具吸引力。
切尔西在今年夏天早些时候曾试图从桑德兰签下 33 岁的格拉尼特·扎卡，但这位曾在阿隆索执教的勒沃库森表现出色的球员的转会被这家东北部俱乐部拦截了。
现在，注意力转向了亨德森，他正在从手臂骨折中恢复。这次受伤发生在英格兰在世界杯上击败墨西哥后的庆祝活动中。由于在尝试跃过一个广告挡板时着地姿势不当，导致手臂两处骨折，这名中场球员接受了手术。
他的领导力使他进入了托马斯·图赫尔的阵容，并且与朱德·贝林厄姆以及
《泰晤士报》填字游戏 29,606 横向 纵向 昨日答案 29,605
摩根·罗杰斯关系密切，后者以 £117 million 的价格从阿斯顿维拉加盟切尔西。
韦尔贝克处于职业生涯的暮年，但在过去两个赛季中在南海岸表现出色——在此过程中，他成为了该俱乐部英超联赛历史上的最高进球者。上赛季，在布莱顿获得欧协联资格的同时，他攻入了 13 个联赛进球，创下职业生涯新高。
切尔西在今年夏天的招募方式发生了改变，寻求为球队增加更多具备英超即战力的球员，而此前他们招募的球员主要在 25 岁以下。即将从水晶宫签下的 26 岁球员马克斯·拉克鲁瓦，将成为他们自 2022 年以来签约的第二大年龄球员。
切尔西目前账上有五名中锋。去年夏天以 £30million 从伊普斯威奇镇签下的利亚姆·德拉普，在斯坦福桥遭遇伤病困扰的首个赛季后，其未来充满不确定性；而尼古拉斯·杰克逊在拜仁慕尼黑的租借期满后返回，因为基于出场次数的强制买断条款未达成，他的身价被评估为 £65 million。
20 岁的前巴塞罗那前锋马克·吉乌、最近以约 £20 million 的费用从斯特拉斯堡加盟的埃马纽埃尔·埃梅加，以及被视为不可触碰的若昂·佩德罗，构成了他们的选择方案。
预计至少有两名前锋将以租借或永久转会的方式离开。韦尔贝克与布莱顿的合同还剩 12 个月，这位前曼联和阿森纳前锋将增加
史蒂夫·博斯威克必须采取行动—— 是否是时候考虑“王牌”选项了？
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ANDREW MILLIGAN/PA
门将浪费时间
Kit Shepard
从下个赛季起，当球队门将接受治疗时，一名场上球员必须离场一分钟，因为英国足球界正试图结束“门将暂停”现象。
英足总 (FA)、英超联赛 (Premier League)、英格兰足球联赛 (EFL) 和国家联赛 (National League) 已就该试点方案达成一致，并获得了国际足球协会理事会 (Ifab) 的批准。这四个英国机构加入了 WSL 足球联赛的行列，后者在去年 2 月决定在最高级别的两级女子联赛中于下赛季采用该试点方案。
目前，如果门将接受队医在场上的治疗，他们不需要离场——而场上其他球员则必须离场。因此，门将可以通过请求治疗来给球队提供喘息机会，而不会在比赛的下一阶段失去一名球员。
根据新规则，如果门将示意需要队医治疗，球队教练将有 10 秒时间指定另一名球员离场一分钟。如果没有足够快地确定球员，则由队长离场一分钟。
“门将暂停”在上个赛季引发了争议。3 月，布莱顿与霍夫阿尔比恩足球俱乐部的主教练法比安·赫尔策勒指责阿森纳在其球队 1-0 负于这家伦敦俱乐部期间多次拖延时间，并提到阿森纳门将大卫·拉亚三次倒地，以便其队友接收教练组的指令。
此前在 11 月，利兹联主教练丹尼尔·法尔克在暗示曼彻斯特城门将吉安路易吉·多纳鲁马以“假伤”倒地，从而在 3-2 负于对方的伊蒂哈德球场比赛中阻断了其球队的势头后，呼吁修改法律。
负责专业裁判工作的 Pro Ref（原 PGMOL）及英国各联赛意识到
& ( 5 9 $ 1 7 ( 6 % 2 * 8 6 8 2 ' 5 1 $ 5 : 6 3 / 2 ' * < 2 8 7 5 $ * ( + / 5 2 : 1 ( < $ 0 ( 4 8 , ' , 6 7 $ 1 7 2 6 7 5 + ' & ( ; 3 2 6 ( 0 2 ' ( 5 $ 7 2 ; % ' 3 $ 5 3 5 2 7 2 = 2 $ 6 7 $ 7 , 1 ( 5 2 2 : + 2 & 5 $ & . ( 5 - $ & . 5 $ : 7 7 % 6 1 0 $ $ 3 2 6 7 / ( $ 1 , 6 ( ( ' 1 5 2 / % ) 1 ( 7 5 < 6 7 / ( , & ( 6 7 ( 5
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在便捷时代 如何培养 有韧性的孩子
如何培养 有韧性的孩子 便捷
如果我的孩子 不吃蔬菜 并不是我的错
如果我的孩子 不吃蔬菜 并不是我的错
引起共鸣的 声音
引起共鸣的 声音
莱卡面料被解雇？！我对 “骑行中年”梅赫梅特深表同情
R
O
尽管我并不想冒犯土耳其总统埃尔多安——这位经常向访问的世界领导人赠送装满子弹的左轮手枪的人——但我认为他不应该因为人们穿着骑行装备而解雇他们。不过，有趣的是，这位眼神空洞、留着阴森胡子的安纳托利亚强人并不在乎我的想法。或者说，如果他在乎，他可能在玩一场复杂的双重掩护。
埃尔多安刚刚开除了一个叫作 Mehmet Fatih Cicekli 的人，他是原阿尔达汉省省长。因为 50 岁的 Mehmet 是一名骑行爱好者，无法停止发布那些穿着紧身莱卡面料（Lycra）的自拍。“这是我在骑行”，“这是我在进行另一次骑行”等等，我们都见过这种人，他们的痴迷虽然令人厌烦，但并无大碍。
这位“中产年龄骑行男”（Mamil）Mehmet 可能认为自己表现得足够阳刚，在推广健康生活方式的同时展示自我，就像皮特·海格塞斯（Pete Hegseth）和小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪（Robert F Kennedy）在五角大楼做引体向上那样。但他做得有些过火了。安卡拉那些梳着偏分头的西装人士在他的车轮辐条里插了一根棍子，彻底地让他栽了跟头。
我同情这位“市政中产骑行男”Mehmet，因为我曾经经历过类似的事情。好吧，没那么像，但没关系。早在 20 世纪 90 年代初，我曾在《泰晤士报》穿着骑行短裤。在那些日子里，骑车通勤是如此古怪，以至于穿着莱卡面料出现就等同于穿着潜水服或宇航服出现。因此，我的穿着被容忍了一段时间，可能是基于心理健康方面的考虑，直到最后有人建议，我选择的这种装束对于职业发展可能并非良策。我认为这更多是基于猥亵的理由，而不是因为紧身衣损害了我的地位，因为我根本没有任何地位。不用说，我随后就循规蹈矩了。
不过，35 年后，我在工作中重新穿回了短裤，尽管是宽松的棉质款，理由是，虽然我依然没有任何值得维护的地位，但天气很热，而且在快 62 岁的时候，这已经无所谓了。战斗仍在继续。
事实上，这场战斗正在升级，因为对非正式着装的反弹并不局限于近东的半独裁国家。看看去年总统泽连斯基在椭圆形办公室被那个谄媚的记者布莱恩·格伦（Brian Glenn）伏击的样子，他因为穿着标志性的军风卫衣而不是西装而受到指责。当一个人在领导英勇的全国抵抗运动以对抗入侵的暴君时，穿什么重要吗？泽连斯基的东道主们应该都穿上绿色 T 恤来接待他，以表示尊重。
还有在世界杯决赛上的吉安尼·因凡蒂诺（Gianni Infantino），他因为西装搭配亮白色运动鞋而遭到猛烈抨击。当然，这个国际足联的“圆锥头”是个坏胚，而那双运动鞋确实是个糟糕的错误，但不是因为它们太休闲，而是因为它们太扎眼了。回到国内，对安迪·伯纳姆刚起步的首相任期的许多批评都集中在他的衣橱上。我告诉你，服装复仇主义正在抬头！
这其实很诡异。看看统治世界的硅谷巨头们：扎克伯格、贝佐斯、奥特曼，以及令人反感的马斯克。他们共同的一点，也是我唯一尊重他们的一点，就是他们对刻意追求非正式感的坚持，这由随意的加州文化所支撑。这种文化对他们大有裨益。在世界许多地方，他们可能因为没打领带而在早起阶段就被挡在门外。
震惊
Mehmet Fatih Cicekli 穿着他的紧身裤
在他从希腊飞往德国的航班上，窗户突然爆炸，他被吸出机舱（随后又突然被吸回了一半）。安全带、妻子以及其他乘客抓住他的腿，综合这些因素挽救了 Karovic 的生命。他仍在从伤痛中恢复。瑞安航空（Ryanair）在事件后的评论是？“一名乘客请求医疗救助。”
与此同时，Karovic 的儿子确实收到了一封来自这家以吝啬著称的运营商的电子邮件……询问他的父亲是否想要重新订票。真是有格调。无论瑞安航空是否提出为这次第二次尝试提供补偿……
婚礼 震惊之举
鉴于许多人只要稍微出名一点，就认为这意味着他们再也不用为任何事情付钱，我现在很少会被名人的贪婪故事所震惊。但前英格兰橄榄球国际球员丹尼·西普里亚尼 (Danny Cipriani) 要求宾客为他的婚礼买单的消息，在我看来尤其令人感到贪婪。
西普里亚尼住在洛杉矶，据估计身家约 £4 million，他将与女演员兼模特安娜-琳·麦考德 (AnnaLynne McCord) 结婚，后者据称也积累了约 £4 million 的财富。这对即将成为新人的夫妇最近发布了一项众筹呼吁，邀请家人和朋友——或许还有被蒙蔽的祝愿者——共同出资支付摄影、彩排晚宴、鲜花，甚至连结婚许可证的费用。太俗气了！
蛋糕的价格是 £450：那是整个蛋糕的价格吗？一层？还是仅仅一片？这样吧，西普斯 (Cips)，我出 1 美元，记得给我寄几块碎屑。作为一名球员，他是天才；但作为一个人类，西普里亚尼仍然是一个“半成品”。
至于前往德国，但没有 500 英里时速的吹风效果，则不得而知。如果他们这么做了，那将是一个美好的姿态。另外：迈克尔·奥利利 (Michael O’Leary)，我知道你很心动，但千万不要想着因为卡罗维奇 (Karovic) 在安全带标志亮起时尝试离开座位而对他处以罚款。
“冒充者” 如何成为 播客之王
有望成为全球收听率最高的节目。达米安·惠特沃思 (Damian Whitworth) 记录了这位大学辍学者的崛起。
呵，我们当时是怎么嗤之以鼻的。今年早些时候，《首席执行官日记》(Diary of a CEO) 的播客达人史蒂文·巴特利特，因为将“自我优化”浪潮推向了自我讽刺的新高度而广受嘲笑。
一段视频在网上疯传，在这段视频中，这位《创业之都》(Dragons’ Den) 的明星表示，在喝了两杯葡萄酒后，“由于它引起的骨牌效应，毁掉了我生命中的三天”。他详细描述了那天晚上他如何睡眠质量下降，第二天饮食不佳，难以正常录制播客，而且——这里是最艰难的部分——甚至无法去健身房。
嘲讽者包括 Radio 1 的 DJ 格雷格·詹姆斯 (Greg James)，他猛烈抨击了“优化”文化这种自我提升趋势。詹姆斯说：“并非所有事情都必须像工作一样。你可以处于开启状态，也可以处于关闭状态。我想提醒大家去浪费一天时间；优化正在扼杀乐趣。我们必须绝对地抵制这一点。”
好吧，虽然不清楚巴特利特获得了多少乐趣，但他确实取得了非凡的成功。本周有报道称，他有望成为播客丛林中最大的巨兽。数据表明，他可能会超越美国播客主持人乔·罗根 (Joe Rogan)，后者的《乔·罗根体验》(Joe Rogan Experience) 是全球收听率最高的节目。在 3 月至 6 月期间，《首席执行官日记》增加了 2.8 million 名订阅者，使巴特利特的订阅数达到 18.5 million。虽然罗根拥有 21 million 名订阅者，但他的增长基本持平。
他可能会超越 美国播客主 乔·罗根 (Joe Rogan)
如果到目前为止我们还不知道巴特利特 (Bartlett) 不太可能再次犯那个错误，那么这确实是一个值得庆祝的理由。不过，对于这位 33 岁的人来说，这证明了一档在近十年间创造了某种可被称为“极端折衷主义”风格的播客的成功——其嘉宾范围涵盖了世界上最有权力的人
到前《爱之岛》(Love Island) 参赛者、马特·汉考克 (Matt Hancock) 以及健康怪人——但显然，它对听众的吸引力之大，是其他任何英国播客都无法比拟的。
该节目的近期剧集包括上个月对美国副总统 JD 万斯 (JD Vance) 的采访，其中包含了关于伊朗的最新情况，标题为“没人预料到这一点，停火是真的”；一次对一名企业家的采访，对方解释说在 32 岁之前赚到 $100 百万美元的秘诀是“不再让他们控制我”；以及一位抗衰老专家的见解：“这能让白发变黑并增强你的精力！”
巴特利特的著作《快乐性感百万富翁》(Happy Sexy Millionaire) 和《CEO 日记：商业与生活的 33 条法则》(The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life) 均成为超级畅销书。他将英国播客界的其余大部分内容斥为“父亲式播客”(dadcasting)，目前正高度专注于在美国建立他的播客。他的公司使用技术将他的节目翻译并配音成多种外语，并利用数据来规划哪些嘉宾、甚至哪些问题能吸引或让听众反感。
巴特利特出生于博茨瓦纳，母亲是一位不识字的尼日利亚企业家，父亲是一位英国土木工程师。他在两岁时随家人搬到普利茅斯。在那里，在一所绝大多数学生都是白人的学校里，他感到自己很显眼。“我当时在用化学药剂让头发变直。我竭尽全力让自己尽可能地像个白人，”他曾回忆道。现在他
曾说道：“我为自己的黑人身份感到非常自豪。小时候我在这方面确实挣扎过。”
尽管他母亲的商业冒险成败参半，且据报道其家庭曾徘徊在破产边缘，但他从小就热爱商业。他在家里铸造自己的纸币并分发给哥哥们，然后由他们“支付”按摩费。他去年表示：“我七岁时为了好玩这么做。32. 岁时我也在为了好玩这么做。其实是一回事。”
他在进入曼彻斯特大都会大学的第一天后就辍学了。“在第一堂课上环顾四周，看到每个人都宿醉未醒，没有人真正关心商业，他们来这里是因为不知道还能选什么。前面的讲师在分发彩色笔，让我们为一家假设的公司制作海报。我当时就想，‘这太糟糕了，简直是浪费钱。’ 对于绝大多数人来说，大学就是一个彻头彻尾的骗局，”他曾告诉《泰晤士报》。
21 岁时，他共同创立了总部位于曼彻斯特的社交媒体公司 Social Chain。该公司收购了其他网站，但巴特利特究竟成为了一个多么巨大的大亨，一直是某些争论的话题。
他的网站曾暗示他已在德国将 Social Chain 进行了上市，且该公司市值达到了 $600 million。事实上，Social Chain 在 2019 年被一家规模大得多的德国电子商务企业收购。当此事在 2023, 年被报道时，巴特利特表示，他在 Social Chain AG 公司中保留了“显著的”持股，并且在 $600 million 估值时，他签署了为该公司处理“一系列战略事务”的合同。
Joe Rogan。上方：Steven Bartlett，以及右上角，与 JD Vance 在一起
不可否认的是，他拥有惊人的个人品牌塑造能力。他在 2017, 年创办了《CEO日记》(The Diary of a CEO)，讲述一份他后来形容为“残酷”的工作中的日常挣扎。在录制了几集后，他开始采访其他高管，并最终将嘉宾范围扩大到更广泛的领域。
巴特利特表示，他将自己视为一名“创作者”而非商人。“我并不是典型的商业人士。我不是一个研究数据的人。我也不是那种会去琢磨流程和运营的人。显然，我也懂一些这些东西，否则我怎么能走到今天？但这并不是我真正的身份，也不是我所做的事情。”
据报道，他的控股公司 Steven.com 估值为 £320 million。在此过程中，该播客节目出现了一些显著的爆料，包括汉考克在节目中以一种令人尴尬的方式，透露他在新冠疫情封锁期间与他的特别顾问吉娜·科拉丹杰洛 (Gina Coladangelo) 的私情。当时她正致力于
他对他邀请的嘉宾 质询得不够强硬
帮助他以一种更具情感智能的方式进行沟通。而当全国观众感到不安时，汉考克坦白道：“我们坠入了爱河。那是完全超出我控制的事情。”有趣的是，巴特利特随后表示，汉考克的团队曾主动接触过他。
去年轮到了米歇尔·奥巴马坦诚地谈论她与巴拉克的婚姻。“我丈夫以及我们这段伙伴关系的绝妙之处在于，我们任何一个人都绝不会轻易放弃，因为那不是我们的为人，”她告诉巴特利特，“我对他是这样了解的，他也对我这样了解。”
巴特利特有一套技巧，能够细心地维持眼神交流并采用温和的访谈风格。对他播客的一种批评是，他对嘉宾的质询不够强硬。
2024年，一项由BBC世界服务调查指控巴特利特在播客中传播与健康相关的误导性信息，因为他允许嘉宾发表误导性言论，包括声称高脂肪饮食可以治愈癌症。
当时，巴特利特旗下公司 Flight Studio 的一名发言人告诉《泰晤士报》：“每期嘉宾节目在委任前都经过了深入研究。[该播客] 为嘉宾提供了表达自由……而不仅仅是那些史蒂文及其团队必然认同的[观点]。”
在未披露自己是投资者的情况下推广 Zoe 和 Huel。
畅销犯罪小说作家兼《Rest Is Entertainment》播客主持人理查德·奥斯曼曾参加过巴特利特的播客。他今年在自己的播客中表示，他担心巴特利特转向推广健康产品可能会在 BBC 引起潜在的问题。“顺便说一句，我喜欢他在《龙穴》(Dragons’ Den) 里的样子，我也喜欢《龙穴》。我非常、非常喜欢那个节目。但这感觉就像是一场蓄势待发事故。”
奥斯曼还透露，节目嘉宾在采访结束后会收到一本定制相册，且他是乘坐一辆印有“SB”字母标号的专车前往录制现场的。他说这次聊得很愉快，但补充道：“我绝对觉得他像是在接受心理治疗。我觉得播客的大部分内容是他通过提问试图弄清楚自己是谁，而这在我看来完全没问题。”
在年之交，巴特利特在与克里斯·威廉姆森（一名由《爱情岛》 contestants 转型为播客主持人的嘉宾）的一期播客后遭到了强烈抵制。威廉姆森将出生率下降归咎于女性中的“反家庭”情绪。巴特利特被指责未能对威廉姆森提出质疑，且成为了“男性圈层 (manosphere) 的特洛伊木马”。
他的团队指出，他的播客周围环绕着女性高管，且节目中邀请了许多著名的女性嘉宾。关于男性圈层的话题，巴特利特此前曾表示：“我们需要另一种关于‘男人’的定义模型——在男性希望成功的任何指标上取得成功，但这种方式必须让他们在社会中保持高效且健康。”
巴特利特与梅拉妮·瓦兹·洛佩斯订婚，她是一名瑜伽练习者和影响力人物，巴特利特告诉《星期日泰晤士报》，她“与我截然相反。温柔、冷静且沉稳”：“家里有这样一个强大的女性，她能让我回到真正重要的事情上：狗喂过了吗，我们共处的时间够吗？”
他回忆道，2021年加入《龙穴》时，他是最年轻的投资者，并且“感觉像个巨大的骗子”：“我就坐在德博拉·米登和彼得·琼斯旁边，我 12 岁起就看他们的节目。我觉得自己像是走进了电视机里。”
但他从未缺乏雄心，并且并不害怕谈论他希望企业走向何方。去年他谈到自己的播客事业时表示：“我认为在未来的 20 年里，我们将建立世界上最重要的媒体公司之一。”
W
一场大火 就在房子 正前方爆发
上周，我们正坐在泳池边，准备开启一瓶桃红葡萄酒，这时我们看到了：蓝天之上盘踞着一团巨大的灰色烟雾。我哥哥跑进屋里给消防员 (pompiers) 打了电话。他们告诉我们不用担心，他们知道你们那个地区的山火情况，目前已在控制之中——请继续享受假期。
于是我们照做了，在科蒂尼亚克 (Cotignac) 房屋周围的葡萄园和丘陵间享受午餐。这里属于普罗旺斯-阿尔卑斯-蓝色海岸大区 (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur)，被广泛认为是法国最美丽的村庄之一。我的丈夫克里斯托弗 (Christopher) 和我在西伦敦的谢泼즈布什 (Shepherds Bush) 居住，并有三个孩子。我们来科蒂尼亚克已经 30 年了，四年前从我父母那里买下了这栋房子。
当天傍晚 6 点，情况开始发生变化。烟雾变得越来越浓，空气感觉很沉重。在与消防员通话后，风向发生了改变，而我们对此并不知情。
突然，我们经常在松树林中散步的贝西隆山 (Bessillon hill) 起火了。房子前变成了炼狱。过去几周天气一直酷热，比我们记忆中的任何时候都要热，而且一切都非常干燥，所以火势迅速蔓延。里奥 (Leo) 是一个住在一英里外英国朋友的 13 岁儿子，他打电话说：“你们必须赶紧离开，因为我们的花园起火了，巨大的火焰正向你们家方向袭来。”他们在惊恐中逃离，深信自己的房子已被摧毁。
我们匆忙往行李箱里塞了几件东西，关上百叶窗并关闭了煤气。我们的孩子——20 岁的米莉 (Millie)、13 岁的海克托 (Hector) 和 11 岁的托比 (Toby)——四处跑动，抓起他们的任天堂游戏机和巧克力。还没意识到的时候，我们已经
跳进车里飞速逃离。这非常可怕，因为我们可以看到路边到处在燃烧的卫星火点，巨大的消防车正向我们家方向疾驰。在布里尼奥勒 (Brignoles) 镇外大约一英里处，也就是我们找到酒店的地方，我们停下车回头看。天空是橙色的，人们就这样站在那里，难以置信地凝视着。像极了一部灾难电影。
当然，我彻夜未眠。凌晨 2.30 分，一些在山顶有度假屋的朋友从英国发来信息说：“我们认为房子没了。”爱尔兰朋友也发来同样的消息。在那一刻，感觉我们的房子被吞噬也成了必然。
第二天早上，我们联系上了邻居西蒙 (Simon)，他说我们的房子还立在那里，但风力很大，我们还没有脱离危险。当我们尝试开车回去时，被拦住了，并被告知现在依然太危险。
我们不断检查名为 Pyrowatch 之类的应用程序，并在 Facebook 上搜寻信息（当然，当我们担心时，孩子们却在享受人生中最快乐的时光）。要弄清楚发生了什么几乎是不可能的，尤其是因为许多电线杆都被烧毁了。我们听说附近的科伦斯 (Correns) 村已撤离。感觉如此不真实。就在几天前，我们还在那里纯净的河流中划皮划艇，周围环绕着水獭，距离布拉德·皮特 (Brad Pitt) 的米拉瓦尔城堡 (Château Miraval) 酒庄仅一步之遥。
周五，当我们制作窗帘的女士发来信息说“我们在为您祈祷”时，我们得知火势已回吹到我们区域。直到周六下午，我们才收到其他消息，那时我们
终于被允许返回，但不知道会看到什么样的景象。
我们房子周围的土地，就在煤气罐后十米处，完全变成了黑色。我们损失了几英亩土地，包括葡萄园，但花园幸存了下来。我们的很多邻居失去了花园，西蒙损失了两辆车。我们很幸运。郊区的房屋被烧毁了，但了不起的消防员成功保护了小镇。信不信由你，尽管直升机仍在盘旋搜寻不断爆发的微小卫星火点，但我们都在努力恢复正常生活。
我们周末出门喝酒吃晚餐，市集仍在营业。每年的这个时候该地区通常挤满了游客，因此支持当地企业至关重要。我们也在鼓励亲朋好友前来——我们家里现在住了 15 个人（尽管我们仍然在室外清理灰烬），而且从 8 月起我们将迎来租赁房客。小镇完好无损，消防员（pompiers）在维持秩序，所以从某种程度上说，这里从未如此安全。
口述给 克莱尔·科恩 (Claire Cohen)
从顶部起顺时针方向：乔·利迪亚德-威尔逊 (Jo Lydiard-Wilson) 及其家人；利迪亚德-威尔逊与其女儿米莉 (Millie)；科蒂尼亚克 (Cotignac) 附近的一名消防员。 下方：艾拉·什梅克 (Ira Szmek)
伊拉·斯兹梅克 (Ira Szmek)，43 岁
在过去的一周里，我的旅游网站和 Instagram (@lost_in_bordeaux) 的收件箱里塞满了信息。有些游客担心前往该地区旅行，而一些在当地拥有第二居所的英国人则对山火感到担忧。
我可以理解原因。在我与伴侣及三个年幼的孩子共同生活了九年的波尔多市中心家中，你可以感受到这种影响无处不在。每天下午天空都会变暗，灰烬从空中飘落，让人难以呼吸。你的头发和衣服上充满了烟味，如果你在室外停留超过几分钟，你会感觉自己仿佛置身于火海之中——而火场距离我们在卡普费雷 (Cap Ferret) 的所在地有 40 分钟车程之远。在此之前的热浪
感觉就像末日一样，仿佛有人要把你活活烧死，而且年年似乎都在恶化。如果家里没有空调，我敢肯定我们早就离开了。
我们的许多邻居，包括一些英国人，已经离开了，尤其是老人和有孩子的家庭。他们向东开车行驶几小时前往更偏远的农村地区，在那里找到了临时的住所。对于那些已经在当地、通过信息联系我希望能搬迁并远离火场继续度假的访客，我也给出了同样的建议。
有些人告诉我，他们的酒店没有回应，存在很大的不确定性。人们来到
天空都会变暗， 灰烬飘落， 令人难以呼吸
博物馆却发现它们关门了。局面相当混乱。许多英国人也给我发信息说，他们在受灾地区的第二居所被毁了。看到你最喜欢的地方被焚毁是非常悲哀的，我也有同样的感受——可能需要多年时间才能重建。
那么，你还应该来吗？官方建议在 7 月底之前不要访问受影响地区。至于 8 月？我想说先不要取消。如果你住在卡普费雷附近，那么请密切关注，而且，是的，也许应该更改行程。但如果你是来参观葡萄园，例如，那里并没有受到影响。仍然有很多尚未被火灾波及的活动可以参与。 （向克莱尔·科恩 (Claire Cohen) 述说）
L
丽莎·道森
上周我去了达勒姆 (Durham) 的护照办公室，因为在前往希腊之前的最后一刻，我需要一本新护照。这成了一个问题，因为我之前没意识到，更新护照是基于签发日期而非过期日期（试着理顺这个逻辑吧）。我决定乘火车前往，在整个旅途中我都感到很恼火，因为由于我尚未离婚，新护照必须使用我的婚后姓氏。
我与分居的丈夫在十个月前分开，之后我一直在思考在姓名方面该如何继续前行。目前我的称呼前缀是“夫人”(Mrs)，使用的是我丈夫的姓氏，但令人沮丧的是，这个名字同时也是我的公司名称。接着我变得更加恼火，因为我当初竟然采用了我丈夫的姓氏。我本应该保留未婚时的原姓，并用那个名字地开启我的室内设计业务。我当时为什么没这么做？
这引导我进入了一条阴郁的、关于父权制的思考路径，意识到我一直在使用“夫人”和丈夫的姓氏，却从未考虑过其中的原因。这真的很令人震惊。
随着年龄增长和学习，人会变得清晰。在我 30 岁结婚时，我期待的是一段永恒的伴侣关系和孩子。说实话，我当时对此感到非常幸福，并没有真正意识到这个标签所隐含的意义。那时我很年轻，而且显然很天真。快进 25 年，生活并非那么完美的“从此过上幸福生活”，但我现在处于一个需要决定未来想要被如何称呼的境地。一个单身女性，即将离婚，三个快成年的孩子，一只狗和一只猫。我将不再是一名已婚女性，那么为什么我还需要保留那个分居丈夫的姓氏？事实是我并不需要，但我的整个职业生涯都建立在这个名字之上。呃。
我在 Instagram 的快拍中发泄了我的愤怒，主要是为了警告人们，如果在创业，要仔细考虑所使用的名称——因为没人知道未来会发生什么（我知道，我真是个“阳光灿烂”的人）。然而，我收到的回应简直疯了。
……关于这个系统以及为什么它应该被废除。在过去的四分之一世纪里，我难道一直在梦游吗？为什么我如此愉快地进入了一个完全基于男性对女性的所有权、且完全不顾女性感受的陈旧婚姻命名系统？我对年轻时的自己感到愤怒，但与此同时，我知道在盲目跳入其中的路上我并不孤单。
我想说，在给我发私信的女性中，有 85 比例的人没有采用丈夫的姓氏。剩下的 15 比例的人虽然采用了，但几乎纯粹是因为她们有孩子，希望家里所有人的姓氏都一样。但最有趣的事实是，在给我发私信的数千人中，几乎所有人使用的都不是“夫人”(Mrs)，而是“女士”(Ms)。作为一个 70 年代长大的人，“女士”(Ms) 这个前缀在我心中一直带有“未婚的脾气古怪的老处女”的含义。为什么从未结婚年长的女性被称为“老处女”(spinsters)，而未婚的年长男性则被称为“单身汉”(bachelors)？“单身汉”听起来有趣且随遇而安，让人想起单身派对、单身公寓，是一种积极的存在状态。但“老处女”？这个词听起来就充满褶皱。
我之前已经被维珍媒体 (Virgin Media) 激怒了，他们将我的宽带账户从分居丈夫的名下转到了我的名下，结果竟然质问我为什么使用“夫人”(Mrs)，因为我丈夫告诉他们我们要离婚了。这怎么会是你们关心的事？亲爱的，这跟你们一点关系都没有。你会询问一个男人的婚姻状况吗？不，你不会。那么，你为什么问我的？
你填写的 每一份表格 依然设有 婚姻 指示性 代词 供勾选
TOM JACKSON 为《泰晤士报》杂志 (THE TIMES MAGAZINE) 撰文
这是一个我之前从未真正考虑过的主题，这本身就很令人震惊，但哦，这是一个重大问题。“原姓”（Maiden names）。父亲在婚礼上将女儿交给丈夫。穿白色礼服以显示我们纯洁无暇。采用丈夫的姓氏以表示所属权。“小姐”（Miss）用来表示你还不够幸运地找到一个男人，并且你正处于可追求的状态。“夫人”（Mrs）则是在说做得好——作为女性已达到了成功的顶峰。
欧洲其他地区并不容忍这一点。Mademoiselle 在 2012 年已从法国文件中删除，目前唯一使用的词汇是 Madame。在德国，他们仅使用 Frau，而 Fräulein 被认为不适用于现代场景。在波兰，Pani 被用于所有成年女性以示尊重，而表示未婚的旧称 Panna 已经在一段时间前被弃用。
在英国，现在确实是时候跟上步伐了，因为在这里你填写的每一份表格依然设有婚姻指示性代词供勾选。在许多情况下，如果你不勾选，就无法完成表格。
那么我的计划是什么？以已婚姓氏创业的问题在于，想改回未婚姓氏很困难（SEO、已出版的书籍，等等）。但我认为这是我迈向新生活的必要组成部分，我将在接下来的 18 个月里下定决心，将姓氏改回我的未婚姓氏。在此期间？统一使用 Ms。
A
在英国，我们没有孤星蜱，也没有关于这里 alpha-gal 发生率的任何官方声明。
这周蜱虫让我很烦。准确地说是我们的狗 Sid，我刚刚从它身上弄掉了三只。而且看来这些虫子也困扰着《奥德赛》明星汤姆·赫兰德 (Tom Holland) 和他的妻子赞达亚 (Zendaya)，据报道，他们要求封锁贝尔沃城堡 (Belvoir Castle) 的长草区，他们显然在那儿举办婚后派对。
人们只能想象，在如此光鲜的聚会上，宾客们为什么会走到粗糙的草丛中，但我猜测绝不是为了去捕捉那里生活的一种蜱虫——或者它们叮咬后可能传播的一种疾病。不仅是莱姆病，还有一种罕见得多的情况——alpha-gal 综合征——它会导致对肉类和乳制品产生严重的、有时甚至危及生命的过敏反应。
我怀疑自己在 1992 年患过莱姆病，当时英国大多数医生还不熟悉这种细菌感染及其症状。我在葡萄牙农村散步后被叮咬，三周后大腿上出现了典型的牛眼形皮疹。没人知道那是怎么回事，但幸运的是，事实证明，我随后因为阑尾破裂引发了腹膜炎，并接受了静脉注射抗生素。这些药物杀灭了蜱虫注入我体内的任何伯氏 Yersinia 菌 (Borrelia)，从而防止了未来的并发症，这些并发症范围从关节疼痛、疲劳到一些人会出现的心脏问题。每一朵乌云背后都有一道银边（不幸中总有万幸）。
然而，那些偶然使用的抗生素并不能防止我患上 alpha-gal 综合征。alpha-gal（又称哺乳动物肉类过敏症）并非由细菌感染引起，而是由人体对某些种类蜱虫唾液中发现的一种糖分子产生的免疫反应所触发的。这会使个体在随后接触到同样的糖分子时产生敏感反应；虽然这种糖分子在人类和其他高等灵长类动物体内不会自然产生，但它存在于许多其他哺乳动物的肉类中，包括牛肉、羊肉和猪肉，以及相关的乳制品。
一些源自哺乳动物或含有明胶等添加剂的药物也可能触发反应。例如，源自小鼠并用于治疗癌症的单克隆抗体西妥昔单抗 (cetuximab)、抗凝血剂肝素 (heparin) 以及包括流感鼻喷雾剂和较早期的带状疱疹疫苗 Zostavax（后来的版本 Shingrix 则没问题）在内的疫苗。
一旦产生敏感——并非所有被叮咬的人都会——进一步的接触可能会触发迟发性过敏反应，通常在食用肉类两到八小时后出现，反应范围从瘙痒性皮疹、模糊的腹胀和不适，到全面的且具有潜在致命性的过敏性休克，此时个体可能会昏厥且呼吸困难。
这正是过敏者在接触花生、抗生素和黄蜂叮咬等诱发因素后可能产生的严重反应。然而，由于 alpha-gal 反应通常在晚餐后数小时、在深夜发作，因此它与食物之间的联系很容易被忽略。
这种综合征在美国更为常见，主要与那里发现的孤星蜱有关。美国疾病控制与预防中心 (CDC) 的数据表明，2010 和 2022, 之间，美国有 110,000 例疑似新病例，但这很可能是低估了，模型预测受影响人数可能高达 450,000 人。
综合征可能 导致严重的 过敏反应
除此之外，这种情况“非常罕见”。然而，它是由与在英国传播莱姆病相同的羊蜱和鹿蜱物种携带的，因此可能比我们想象的更常见，尽管仍然罕见。
任何疑似患有 alpha-gal 综合征的人都应被转诊至过敏专科医生，并通过检测相关特异性 IgE 抗体的血液测试来确认诊断。治疗方法与大多数过敏症一样，依赖于严格避免食用哺乳动物肉类——如牛肉、羊肉和猪肉——及其相关产品，不过许多人仍可以继续食用乳制品。任何有严重过敏反应风险的人都应携带肾上腺素笔。
这种过敏症随时间推移可能会好转，有些人能够逐渐重新引入哺乳动物产品，但对另一些人来说，这将是终身性的。反复被蜱虫叮咬可能会加重并延长该综合征。
禽类（如鸡、鸭和火鸡）是安全的，鱼类和贝类也是如此，尽管有报告称在接触某些类型的鱼籽后出现了反应，但（就我所能找到的资料而言）鱼子酱除外。这就让我回到了荷兰与赞达亚（Holland-Zendaya）的派对。
我绝不是唯一注意到这个讽刺点的人：一名通过饰演蜘蛛侠（其超级英雄能力源于蜘蛛叮咬）而赚了数百万美元的演员，竟然如此费心地防止他的客人们被另一种蛛形纲动物叮咬。而且我觉得有责任警告客人们，蜱虫并不只潜伏在长草丛中。
叮咬该怎么办
6 尽快使用细镊子或蜱虫移除工具（如开槽卡片）将其移除。尽可能靠近皮肤，并用力向上拉。
6 使用防腐剂或肥皂水清洗该区域。
6 在接下来的几周内监测该区域，并向医生报告任何暗示患有莱姆病的症状，例如类流感症状或皮疹（它并不总是呈现扩散的“牛眼型”）。
6 大多数人不会出现任何问题，最新的 Nice 指南不建议在蜱虫叮咬后常规开具“以防万一”的抗生素处方。
欲了解更多信息，请在 ukhsa.blog.gov.uk 搜索 “Lyme disease” (莱姆病)， 并访问 gov.uk/ guidance/alpha-gal- syndrome
作为一种减肥策略，这当然并不新鲜。无论是 5:2 饮食法（追随者每周限制两天热量）、16:8 饮食法（将进食时间限制在 8 小时窗口内），甚至是 OMAD（一日一餐饮食法），间歇性禁食或限时饮食 (TRE) 的益处和风险都已有详尽的记载。
然而，受到影响的不仅仅是我们的腰围。昨天的研究发现，将每日进食时间限制在 9 小时窗口内——并且在睡前 4 小时不再进食——可能与超重女性患痴呆症风险降低相关。新泽西州罗格斯大学 (Rutgers University) 的研究人员要求超重或肥胖的参与者将每日摄入量减少 500 卡路里，其中一半的人还将其进食时间限制在 9 小时窗口内。
六个月后，所有人都减轻了约 14 磅（one stone），但那些在 9 小时窗口内进食的人（其中大多数人在下午 6 点前完成进食）在记忆和学习测试中的错误较少。
人们认为，通过任何方法减轻体重都有助于限制与年龄相关的认知能力下降，但研究负责人苏·沙佩斯 (Sue Shapses) 博士表示：“进食时间窗的缩短预示着更显著的改善。”那么，为什么缩短进食时间会对我们的大脑和身体有好处？而且至关重要的是，对于我们这些人来说，如果沙发上的夜晚就意味着要打开饼干罐，该如何实现这一点？
当我们将食物摄入限制在特定时间段时，我们的身体会发生什么？ 萨里大学 (University of Surrey) 代谢营养学副教授亚当·柯林斯 (Adam Collins) 博士解释说，食用三餐和定期零食使我们处于“喂养状态”，不断地燃烧食物以获取能量。停止进食意味着你处于一种被称为“细胞自噬”的过程，在这个过程中，“你正在休息并修复组织”，此时胰岛素和血糖水平会下降。
像 m-TOR 这样的信号通路（它能促进健康的细胞生长，但也与癌症风险增加相关）会变得不那么活跃。身体不仅开始使用储存的能量（脂肪）作为燃料，还会清除细胞中受损的蛋白质，并清理低效的线粒体（线粒体负责产生细胞能量）。
为什么这对我们的大脑有好处？ 柯林斯表示，脑细胞同样含有线粒体并依赖葡萄糖获取能量，而禁食会触发细胞适应，使它们变得更高效。“任何能让它们变得更高效的手段，从认知角度来看显然会更好。”
（线粒体）会变得低效。他说，禁食“是一种你可以修复它们或清理现场以便构建另一个的方法”。有证据表明，禁食还可能增加脑源性神经营养因子 (BDNF) 的产生，这是一种鼓励神经塑性并支持学习和记忆的蛋白质，尽管还需要进一步研究。柯林斯补充道：“由于这种作用，禁食可能对心理健康有益。在禁食状态下，你会创造出一种不同的激素环境。”
还有其他好处吗？ 是的——你正在提高整体的“代谢韧性”，柯林斯说。限时饮食 (TRE) 导致的较低胰岛素水平和减轻压力的线粒体，可能会减少与无数疾病相关的炎症，从心血管疾病到某些癌症以及自身免疫性疾病。《BMC 医学》的一项研究发现，6 小时的进食时间窗抑制了小鼠肺癌的进展，但还需要在人体中进行更多研究。他说：“这是过剩的信号，处于一种炎症状态。”
我们最少需要禁食多久？ 目前在人类身上的证据尚不明确，迄今为止的大多数研究都是针对动物进行的，但柯林斯表示，“你可能需要给自己至少十小时的禁食时间。你的进食状态通常维持约四小时。但你不会直接从进食状态转入禁食状态——期间有一个称为‘后吸收状态’的阶段，可能会持续另外 6 小时”。他说，我们吃进去的食物中，葡萄糖和蛋白质首先被清除，但“脂肪需要更长时间”。
一天中限制饮食的最佳时间段是什么？ 越早越好。今年一项发表在《BMJ医学》上对 41 项研究的系统回顾发现，在下午 5 点前完成最后一餐的人，比在晚上 7 点后才吃最后一餐的人体重减轻更多，且血糖控制效果更好。本周研究的分析人员认为，进食时间可能会影响控制我们体温、睡眠和激素水平的昼夜节律。柯林斯说：“我们是昼行性动物，天生在白天进食和觅食，在夜晚休息和消化。因此，如果你在深夜进食，你的处理能力就不会那么好。”但他也承认，“对人们来说，推迟开始进食[在一天之中]可能比提前停止进食更容易。那样仍然是有益的”。
时间限制饮食 (TRE) 与睡眠之间有什么联系？ 营养学家、伦敦食物疗法 (London Food Therapy) 创始人劳拉·萨瑟恩表示，在傍晚早些时候进食可以让人更容易入睡，她通常将自己的进食限制在下午 6.30 分至
上午8点，并鼓励客户这样做。“在睡前三四个小时停止进食，是对您的消化系统、代谢健康以及睡眠所能采取的最佳辅助干预措施之一。如果进食时间离睡觉太近，我们的身体要么因为忙于消化食物而无法在夜间进行修复，要么可能难以有效地消化食物。如果您在血糖较高的情况下入睡，身体可能会释放压力激素以尝试稳定血糖，这可能会导致您在半夜醒来，且思维活跃得无法入睡。”
最佳窗口期是多少？ 虽然《英国医学杂志》(BMJ) 的综述发现，进食窗口期在 8 小时以下的人群（或许在预料之中）减轻的体重和脂肪最多，但他们丢失的精瘦肌肉也比窗口期较长的人更多。而且窗口期越小，可持续性就越差。本月，《营养评论》(Nutrition Reviews) 杂志的一项系统性综述发现，16:8 模式能提高胰岛素敏感性；上个月，格拉纳达大学的一项研究表明，将进食时间限制在 8 小时窗口内，还可以帮助超重或肥胖成人维持 12 个月的体重减轻效果。
与此同时，2019 年发表在《细胞代谢》(Cell Metabolism) 杂志上的一项研究发现，参与者在 10 小时窗口期内坚持 12 周，体重和血压有所下降。科林斯表示，无需走极端：“任何能引起轻微代谢压力的行为，都会触发某些修复机制和适应反应。”
进食 窗口 目前是 16 小时， 将其 缩短至 14 小时， 然后 12 小时
那么晚餐可能在晚上 7 点，早餐 在早上 7 点。 “你不必直接 跳到每天八或九小时。无论 你采取什么措施来延长这段时间， 都会有益 [并且] 将优先级 从使用新鲜燃料转变为使用 自身储备，从而允许进行那种‘春季大扫除’。”
在进食窗口内，进食食物的顺序重要吗？ Southern 表示，尝试在窗口 早期食用富含淀粉类 碳水化合物的食物——例如 燕麦粥和全麦吐司：“我们在 一天之中的较早时间胰岛素敏感度较高， 因此能更有效地处理糖分， 将血糖从血液转移到细胞中以提供能量。”
她建议我们将这些碳水化合物 与蛋白质平衡——例如在燕麦粥中加入种子 或在吐司上涂花生酱——以避免血糖 激增。 “在窗口的其余时间内食用碳水化合物是没有问题的，但应优先选择全谷物，例如小扁豆和糙米，而不是白面条，以避免血糖激增。”
TRE（限时进食）有哪些风险？ Collins 表示，一项 2024 年发表在《营养学杂志》(Nutrition Journal) 上的系统综述发现，间歇性禁食通常与疲劳、头痛、胃肠道症状和头晕相关，且“任何患有某种进食障碍的人”可能不适合这种方式，不过与“全有或全无的方式”相比，适度的十小时进食窗口问题较少。
“另一件需要考虑的事情是，你在进食时间内必须保证营养完整，压力会更大。你不能在八小时内只吃垃圾食品。” 他的大学正在招募一项关于老年人是否补充蛋白质进行 TRE 的随机对照
试验。他说，存在一个“潜在的担忧”，即他们可能无法获得足够的营养。
“我们的研究正在探讨我们是否可以在限时进食的基础上使用蛋白质补充剂，以观察这是否会改变他们的身体成分。” 保持适度的怀疑态度可能也有帮助：今年的一项系统综述发现，TRE 带来的减重效果并不比传统饮食显著。
我如何停止在深夜进食？ Southern 建议，如果你渴望甜食，请在一天中较早的时间食用，她自己经常在下午 4 点左右吃一块饼干。 “这样你之后就不会觉得自己在克制。” 通常，我们将晚间零食与放松联系在一起。 “如果这是一种习惯性的‘嘴馋’行为，你需要想想可以用手做些其他事情，无论是钩织还是拼图。”
Collins 表示，在进食窗口之外，喝加奶的茶和咖啡是没有问题的——“所有关于这会打破禁食状态的恐慌宣传都是胡说八道”——而 Southern 则推荐饮用草本茶来获得舒适感并分散注意力。她说，如果必须在睡前吃东西，请选择不会导致血糖飙升的食物，例如燕麦饼和杏仁酱。
我还能有社交生活吗？ 当然可以！ “尝试在下班后的下午 6 点与朋友见面，” Southern 说。 “你可以喝杯酒、吃份甜点，而不会影响睡眠。较早进食将给血糖水平下降留出时间，这会让睡眠更容易，并且更有可能让你活动起来——无论是走回家还是去车站，这同样能降低血糖水平。”
失去听力的 Patrick McAleenan I
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2012 年，我参加了伦敦马拉松赛。像大多数业余跑者一样，我从 10 公里赛跑开始，逐步进阶到半程，最后跑完了 26.2 英里的全程。我在下班后的深夜和周日早晨进行长距离训练。耳机是我形影不离的伴侣。我会把音量调到最大，深信需要沉重的节拍来支撑我坚持下去。在当时看来，这毫无危害。
而现在，在大多数早晨，我在海鸥的鸣叫声和耳中响起的剧烈嗡嗡声中醒来。海鸥的声音在预料之中——因为我住在海岸边——而覆盖在上面的高频鸣响也是如此。这就是耳鸣，我已经患上十多年了。与海鸥不同，这是由我造成的。
我忽略了警告信号。在一些跑步训练结束后，我的耳朵会嗡嗡作响。这种鸣响会在几小时后消退。直到有一天，它不再消失。
噪音停留了下来——虽然不至于震耳欲聋，但是一种持续的嘶嘶声。在我 44, 岁时进行的第一次听力测试显示，我的鼓膜已受到不可修复的损伤。如今我已进入 50 岁，在耳鸣和不断恶化的听力中生活。我并非唯一的一个。去年，由英国国家眼睛健康与听力研究 (UKNEHS) 开展的一项试点研究发现，四分之三的 50 岁及以上英国人——即 20.3 million 人——单耳或双耳患有某种程度的听力损失。
对我而言，听力的清晰度并没有发生戏剧性的骤降。更多的是我意识到自己询问“对不起，你说什么？”的次数变频繁了。如果不治疗，这种情况会渗入生活的每一个部分。例如，当你无法在嘈杂的酒吧里轻松跟上对话时，约会会变得更加复杂。《柳叶刀》在 2020 年和 2024 年的报告指出，中年时期未治疗的听力损失是导致痴呆症的最大可干预风险因素。
但也有一些好消息。首先，检查听力非常简单。在商业街的测试仅需几分钟即可为你提供一个基准值，从而让你了解是否存在问题。小规模的干预也能产生实质性影响。使用合适的耳塞——不是那种免费的泡沫耳塞，而是专为演出和跑步设计的耳塞——以及将耳机保持在敏感水平（并让耳朵休息），真的很有帮助。
我的听力目前仍然尚可，但我感觉到自己正一步步接近需要佩戴助听器的一天。
是否可能是一种情感创伤？
身心之间的联系有多重要？
根据霍华德·舒比纳 (Howard Schubiner) 博士的说法，极其深远。在他担任医学教授的二十年里，他治疗了无数患者，对于这些人来说，他所谓的传统生物医学方法——即寻找结构性损伤并进行修复——根本没有效果。
那么解释是什么？
他通过 Zoom 告诉我，一些人的病症核心在于未解决的情绪痛苦。他目前在密歇根州担任 Ascension Providence 医院身心医学中心的主任。他说，这是可能的，因为“当你遭受身体伤害时激活的大脑区域，与当你遭受情绪伤害时激活的大脑区域是相同的”。
他坚持认为，这“并非关于治愈癌症、心脏病、糖尿病、痴呆症或帕金森病”，但某些疾病在性质上可能是“神经可塑性”的，包括慢性颈痛和背痛、纤维肌痛、肠易激综合征 (IBS)、紧张性头痛和偏头痛、盆腔疼痛综合征、颞下颌关节 (TMJ) 紊乱、眩晕和耳鸣。
舒比纳对此有亲身体验，他在生活中压力过大时曾遭受颈痛之苦。“我的颈部 MRI 显示有三个椎间盘突出和关节炎迹象，”他在最近出版的《忘掉你的疼痛》(Unlearn Your Pain) 一书中写道。但在参加了一次正念静修后，他的不适感有所改善，结果一两个月后又复发了。“如果疼痛是由椎间盘突出和关节炎引起的，为什么它不会一直存在？是否是我生活中的压力积聚触发了发作？我的冥想练习与颈痛减轻之间是否存在相关性？也许吧。”
舒比纳在阅读了康复专家约翰·萨诺 (John Sarno) 博士的《身心处方》(The Mindbody Prescription) 后对这一点进行了反思。萨诺博士观察到，一些患者尽管扫描结果仅显示轻微异常，却承受着剧烈的背痛；而另一些影像学异常严重的人却完全没有感觉。
舒比纳表示，只有在医疗评估排除了身体损伤、肿瘤、急性感染、神经损伤或自身免疫性疾病之后，你才能观察患者是否具有其他神经可塑性病史、童年创伤或与症状发作相关的重大生活压力。“我绝不想将身体疾病误认为神经可塑性病症。那是任何医生都不愿犯的错误。”
面对 身体或 情感 危险时， 大脑 会向我们发出警告
为什么显示异常的 MRI 结果可能不像你想象中那样具有决定性 2015 年，来自梅奥医学中心 (Mayo Clinic) 的 Waleed Brinjikji 及其同事在《美国神经放射学杂志》(American Journal of Neuroradiology) 上发表了他们对 33 项研究的 MRI 数据分析。在 3,110 名报告没有背痛的人中，37% 的无症状 20 岁人群和 96% 的无症状 80 岁人群被发现存在椎间盘退行性变。研究人员写道：“脊柱退行性变的影像学发现出现在很大比例的无症状个体中”，“许多基于影像的退行性特征很可能是正常衰老的一部分，且与疼痛无关”。
为什么疼痛信号可能会出错 Schubiner 在他的书中写道：“当面对达到临界点程度的身体或情感危险时，大脑很可能会向我们发出警告，就像烟雾报警器警告我们火灾一样。”他引用研究表明，情感痛苦——例如在最近分手后看前任伴侣的照片——会激活大脑中与身体受伤相同的疼痛处理区域。
你如何应对疼痛？ Schubiner 表示，大多数患有神经塑性疼痛的人会对症状产生“7 个 F”的反应。 6 恐惧 (Fear)：担心这些症状。 6 关注 (Focus)：频繁地监测这些症状。 6 对抗 (Fight)：抵制这些症状。 6 沮丧 (Frustrate)：对这些症状感到愤怒。 6 琢磨 (Figure them out)：在网上搜索，看更多的医生或其他医疗从业者。 6 修复 (Fix them)：如果一段时间后没有成功，会使症状更加持久。 6 绝望 (Forlorn)：对这些症状感到心烦意乱。
为什么你可能容易患上神经塑性疾病 根据 20 世纪 90 年代的一项研究，童年时期经历过创伤事件的成年人患慢性疼痛以及焦虑和抑郁的几率要高得多。但 Schubiner 提醒道：“你并不一定在童年时期经历过重大创伤才会发展出显著的神经塑性
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《忘掉你的疼痛》(Unlearn Your Pain) 作者：Howard Schubiner (£18.99 Ebury)。 订购请访问 timesbookshop.co.uk。 订单满 £25 免英国境内标准邮费。 Times+ 会员可享受特别折扣。
你自己 “我 怎么了？” 然后 回答 “没什么问题！”
晚年生活中的情况。那些因为想念父母、感到孤独或被欺凌而害怕去学校的孩子，可能会产生腹痛、头痛等神经可塑性症状……”
他表示，某些人格特质（如完美主义和强烈的自我批评）可能会使人们更容易产生神经可塑性疾病。
Schubiner 会评估患者是否符合“Fit”标准。如果症状影响的是该区域的功能而非结构，则疼痛被视为是“功能性”的——例如，在受伤后，伤口本应痊愈，但疼痛依然持续。如果疼痛位置会转移，或随时间点、压力水平而变化，则疼痛是“不一致”的。如果疼痛是由预期压力事件或无害刺激（如某种特定气味）激发的，则疼痛是“被触发”的。
Schubiner 有时会使用“挑衅性测试”，让患者想象在进行一项触发性活动，而仅凭想象就能引起不适。这证明了产生症状的原因是一个习得的神经回路，而非身体损伤。
PRT 的力量 疼痛重新处理疗法 (Pain Reprocessing Therapy, PRT) 是一种循证治疗方法，患者可以通过该疗法“消除”没有医学解释的慢性疼痛。
Schubiner 引用了一项研究，表明自我肯定如何通过降低大脑对威胁的感知来改变大脑。他建议问自己“我怎么了？”，然后回答“没什么问题！”，并重复诸如“我很健康。我很强壮”之类的肯定语。
PRT 的另一部分是躯体追踪 (somatic tracking)，这是一种由心理治疗师 Alan Gordon 开发的正念形式。Schubiner 说道：“这就是尝试将自己从疼痛中分离出来，尝试保持冷淡，尝试保持好奇，尝试保持俏皮，尝试做任何能让大脑从恐惧循环转变为安全循环的事情。”
PRT 的另一个要素是逐渐接触疼痛触发因素和进行身体活动。虽然过度强迫自己并不是一个好主意，但应尝试在症状无论是否出现的情况下地进行活动，Schubiner 将其称为“结果独立性” (outcome independence)。
如何学习放手 Schubiner 认为，自我关怀可以是康复过程中的重要环节。他共同开发了一种疗法，可用于解决最初使危险信号敏感化的潜在原因。
他在书中写道：“鼓励患者回忆一次冲突、一个人或一种情境，以体验、表达并化解包括愤怒、内疚和悲伤在内的情绪。这种情绪表达是在想象中完成的……这一过程避免并积极阻止现实生活中的愤怒或暴力，因为后者通常会导致冲突升级。”
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上周，瑞秋·库斯克（Rachel Cusk）因为在她的新小说中显然是以女演员娜塔莉·波特曼（Natalie Portman）为原型塑造了一个角色而成为新闻焦点。将于8月底出版的《M的一生》（Life of M）讲述了一位与波特曼有诸多相似之处的女演员，她允许一个朋友为自己写传记，但对结果并不满意。“你让这一切看起来就像我缺乏人性……你让这一切看起来就像我无法去爱，”M说道。相当恰当地，一些报道称波特曼对这本书感到“心碎”且“愤怒”，而另一些报道则坚称双方并无芥蒂。
波特曼和库斯克相识多年，波特曼曾将库斯克描述为“我最喜欢的作家之一”。书中的波特曼与M之间确实存在对应点。《M的一生》告诉我们，这位女演员曾饰演一名芭蕾舞演员，并且是“一个大品牌的模特”（核实：波特曼出演过电影《黑天鹅》，且是Miss Dior的代言人），并且“她的第一部电影最初包含几个场景，其中显示该儿童渴望或邀请与核心男性角色进行性互动”（核实：波特曼 1994 年的处女作《这个杀手不太冷》中确实有她与一名成年男性的剧本场景，但在她母亲的要求下被删除了）。
库斯克始终保持缄默，这符合她冷峻的作者形象。尽管如此，在出新书时能登上头条是有利的，而且这也不是库斯克第一次行使她的特权，将她想放入书中的任何人放入其中。这可能会产生后果。“她烧毁人们，然后继续前进，”一位文学评论家说。她在离婚回忆录《余波》（Aftermath，2012）中详细描述了前夫的缺点——他为了照顾孩子而放弃工作，而她对他这种“依赖”和“无薪的家政生活”不屑一顾。
她那诚实得令人振奋的《一项生命之作》（A Life’s Work，2001）讲述了抚养两个女儿带来的挑战——“当我发现自己再次怀孕时，我以一个在逃囚犯被截获时那种毫无喜色的接受态度，迎接我旧有的自我，”她写道。而在她的随笔集《考文垂》（Coventry，2019）中，攻击目标范围从她的父母（他们已不再与她说话——这也是书名的由来）到一名厚颜无耻地穿着“合成纤维衬衫、黑色合成纤维长裤 [以及] 一条廉价领带”的机场官员。
事实上，事情已经发展到这样一种程度：一个现代有效的诅咒可能是“愿你出现在瑞秋·库斯克的一本书里”。但她只不过是一长串作家名单中的最新一人，这些作家都因为显然地将真实人物放入作品中而陷入困境。
菲利普·罗斯（Philip Roth）是利用现实生活创造文学“镜像之厅”的大师，他在《幽灵作家》（The Ghost Writer）、《事实》（The Facts）和《夏洛克行动》（Operation Shylock）等书中放入了不同版本的自己。但当他在 1990 年的小说《欺骗》（Deception）——一部主要通过性行为前后的对话来讲述的故事——中塑造了一个对其妻子克莱尔·布鲁姆（Claire Bloom）进行了轻微伪装的化身时，他陷入了麻烦。在两人不可避免的离婚后，布鲁姆通过回忆录《离开玩偶之家》（Leaving a Doll’s House，1996）进行了报复，导致这场纷争如此激烈，甚至连资深八卦之王戈尔·维达尔（Gore Vidal）都对此撇清关系。“远离他人的离婚事宜总是最好的，”他宣称，“以及他们的内战。”
小说家琳达·格兰特表示，[该作品]曾是“一个愤怒、痛苦且充满怨恨的混乱体”——但也可以被视为某种最终的胜利。毕竟，她补充道，“克莱尔·布鲁姆不可能再写另一本书了”。
诺拉·艾芙隆最以犀利的浪漫喜剧（如《当哈利遇上莎莉》）而闻名，但当她出版小说《心碎》(1983) 时，她将其基础建立在自己与记者卡尔·伯恩斯坦的婚姻上，而这段婚姻在伯恩斯坦与英国首相詹姆斯·卡拉汉的女儿玛格丽特·杰发生外遇后破裂。或许她低估了这位共同揭露水门事件丑闻的记者的资源：伯恩斯坦威胁要起诉，且是认真的。最终，这对夫妇花了五年时间才就离婚条款达成一致，其中大约一半的时间花在满足伯恩斯坦对《心碎》电影改编版中其形象（由杰克·尼科尔森饰演）剧本审核的要求上。
[[IMG_XXXX]] 菲利普·罗斯与他的妻子克莱尔·布鲁姆在 20 世纪 90 年代的照片。上方：瑞秋·卡斯克与娜塔莉·波特曼
与特鲁曼·卡波特在一起时，后者曾是美国最受欢迎的文学微型巨匠。在苦于无法延续《冷血》的成功后，他在 1975 年开始在《时尚先生》杂志上连载关于其上流社会社交圈的故事，包括他们的洗手间和卧室习惯。 “他们太蠢了。他们不会意识到那是他们在写。” 又一次错了！卡波特被切断了纽约社交圈的氧气供应。“他仅仅是个装饰品，”一位朋友观察到，“他没有任何可以依靠的退路。”卡波特再也没有完成另一本书。而最令人羞愧的是？他在《时尚先生》上发表的故事甚至并不怎么出色。
小说家阿曼达·克雷格在 1996 年经历了一次令人心惊胆战的事件，当时她的前男友、文学评论家大卫·塞克斯顿威胁要起诉，理由是他声称自己（包括他穿着的鞋子品牌）与克雷格即将出版的讽刺小说《恶 vicious circle》中一个残酷、放荡的书评人角色之间存在相似之处。尽管克雷格的编辑说“只有疯子”才会声称自己是克雷格笔下的角色，但她的出版商心生恐惧并取消了出版。克雷格修改了小说部分内容，随后该书被一家新出版商接手，并附带了严厉的警告：“《恶 vicious circle》中的讽刺原形与现实生活中的人物及事件之任何相似之处，不仅完全并非有意，而且完全是错误的”。
卡斯克被指控的毁谤在精神上或许更接近小说家朱莉·迈尔森在 2009 年出版名为《迷失之子》(The Lost Child) 一书时被指控的情况。该书将父母与子女斗争的历史案例与她自己 17 岁儿子对“臭鼬”大麻成瘾的经历结合在一起。（迈尔森后来将他赶出了家门。）随后引起了轩然大波，当
人们并向前迈进 一位文学评论家如是说
迈尔森的儿子接受了一次采访，否认自己是瘾君子，拒绝了关于他曾同意出版该书的说法，并且顺便称他的父母“有点疯狂”。迈尔森的出版商做了任何负责任的出版商都会做的事：他们提前出版了这本书，以利用这场争议。
然而，在小说中加入一个真实人物有时在很大程度上是偶然的。1992 年的愚人节，小说家 DJ 泰勒接到了编辑打来的一通焦虑电话。“如果你有任何财产或存款，”对方告诉他，“我建议把它们转到你妻子的名下。”泰勒刚刚出版了他的第二部小说《真实生活》(Real Life)，他在书中借用了多年前在一次聚会上认识的人的名字。问题在于，那个角色竟然是一个色情大亨，而且还是克雷双胞胎的同伙。经过一番法律拉锯战，泰勒的书被销毁，随后在附带免责声明的情况下重新发行，他与出版商共同支付了五位数的金额，以平息该男子的愤怒情绪。
然而，伊恩·麦克尤安在撰写获得布克奖的《阿姆斯特丹》(Amsterdam) 时，将处于性丑闻中心的政治家命名为朱利安·加莫尼 (Julian Garmony)，却逃过了一劫。这是一个“奇特”的姓氏，麦克尤安在临时搬到过一群姓加莫尼的人家附近时偶然接触到了这个名字——结果在书出版后，这些人感到“非常不快”——“但我只是想要一个好听且不寻常的名字！”麦克尤安解释道。虽然没有采取行动，但如果这对加莫尼夫妇（无论他们在哪里）能得到一丝安慰的话，麦克尤安对此“总是感到有点遗憾”。
正如库斯克至少为她的新书赢得了一些知名度一样，这些案例中往往也有积极的一面。今年早些时候，英国作家弗朗西斯·金的一部优秀小说《家畜》(A Domestic Animal) 重新发行了。但该书在 1969 年首次出版时，曾遭到一名国会议员汤姆·斯凯芬顿-洛奇 (Tom Skeffington-Lodge) 的法律威胁，金在塑造一个极力渴望获得贵族爵位的政治家角色时是以他为原型的。书被撤回，金不得不卖掉自己的房子来支付法律费用。但有一个好处：他写了一部关于整个艰辛经历的小说《诉讼》(The Action)。正如我所说，作家们就像是可怕的喜鹊（贪婪的收集者）。
10 2026 年 7 月 28 日，星期二 | 《泰晤士报》 times2 您的工作日大脑强化训练
谜题，让您的大脑进行扩展锻炼 萨穆赖级（中等）
SAMURAI
填充每个方格，使每列、每行和每个 3x3 宫格包含数字 1 到 9。 在谜题重叠之处，行和列不超出其常规长度。
SAKURO
在空格中填入数字 1 到 9，使得 每个圆圈中的数字 等于周围四个空格的 数字之和，且 每个颜色的总和正确
数独
SUDOKU
MINI SUDOKU
填充方格，使 每列、每行和 每个 3x2 宫格 包含数字 1 到 6
周一至周日每天玩微型数独
在线访问 thetimes.com 以及 Live 应用
CODEWORD
右侧十字字谜风格网格中的 每个字母都由 1 到 26 的 一个数字表示。 字母表中的每个字母在 网格中至少出现一次。 利用已提供的字母来推导 其他字母的身份。将字母填入 主网格和较小的参考网格， 直到字母表中的全部 26 个 字母都被找齐。专有名词除外。
KILLER
填充方格，使每列、每行和 每个 3x3 宫格包含数字 1 到 9。由虚线连接的每组 单元格之和必须等于其左上角的 目标数字。在每组由虚线连接的 单元格内，数字不能重复。
铁轨迷宫
铺设轨道使火车能够从 A 村行驶到 B 村。数字表示每行和每列中包含的轨道段数。仅有直线段和曲线段。轨道不能自我交叉。
不等式数独 (Futoshiki) 填充空白方格，使每行和每列中的数字 1 到 5 仅出现一次。方格之间的符号表示该数字比相邻数字大 (>) 还是小 (<)。
不等式数独 (FUTOSHIKI)
谜题
第 14-16 页
I
电视评论
《狂怒》(Furious) Disney+ {{{{(
如果你是在寻找一个好男人，那么不要去看 Disney+ 的阴暗惊悚剧《狂怒》。在这部关于一名女连环杀手向人口贩卖团伙实施复仇的八集系列剧中，我只数出了两个好男人。而且，这部剧并不缺角色。
PA
据称，该剧的创作者伊丽莎白·梅里韦瑟 (Elizabeth Meriwether) 受到了 1987 年惊悚片《黑寡妇》(Black Widow) 的启发，在那部电影中，特蕾莎·罗素 (Theresa Russell) 为了个人利益杀掉富翁。在本剧中，杀戮过程更加残酷，但动机却正义得令人不安。受害者们都是令人厌恶、自以为是的混蛋；甚至当我们看到一个纽约亿万富翁的儿子脸上露出痛苦表情时，也很难产生同情心，因为他正被洛拉·佩蒂克鲁 (Lola Petticrew) 饰演的凯瑟琳无情地处决，而后者告诉他，她不喜欢他发出的声音。
这部剧非常有 2026 年的风格，且处于后爱泼斯坦时代。与《杀死伊芙》(Killing Eve) 类似，猎人与被猎者之间的纽带将本作提升到了高于标准廉价惊悚剧的水准。爱丽丝·布莱克 (Alice Black，艾米·罗瑟姆 饰) 在被她暴力警察男友送进医院后，离开了纽约警局 (NYPD)，在联邦调查局 (FBI) 担任一个低级职位。当我们看到她在家里执着地加班追捕杀手，身边围绕着那些熟悉的苏打水罐和快餐垃圾时，我们知道这两个女人在各自的方式上，都是权力至上且与世隔绝的男性的受害者。在这种情况下，很难不去支持正义。
爱丽丝得到了丹·凯利 (Dan Kelly，斯库特·麦克奈里 饰) 的帮助，他是唯一支持她的 NYPD 同事（他是 1 号好男人），以及一名说话极其直接、厌世的酗酒 FBI 工作人员诺拉·华盛顿 (Nora Washington，昆西·泰勒·伯恩斯坦 饰)，后者每天在密闭的房间里筛查虐待儿童的图像。
这两个女人的创伤之下都隐藏着同情心，即便她们知道自己面对的是什么。华盛顿引用了希腊神话中美杜莎的故事，美杜莎在被波塞冬强奸后变成了怪物。这类剧集可能会被许多类似的严肃时刻拖累，但这部的创作精良。
《无形之手：美国世纪》(Invisible Hands: The American Century) Radio 4, 9am
继出色的《无形之手》系列（他在该系列中探讨了自由市场经济的兴起）之后，上述的大卫·迪姆比尔比 (David Dimbleby) 现在将注意力转向美国如何在 20 世纪成为全球超级大国，通过探索那些帮助实现这一目标的、有时处于阴影中的人物。作为“历史播客”系列的一部分，该系列将包含 7 集。迪姆比尔比从美国财政部官员哈里·德克斯特·怀特 (Harry Dexter White) 开始讲起，他是国际货币基金组织 (IMF) 和世界银行创建过程中的关键人物，以及他与英国经济学家约翰·梅纳德·凯恩斯 (John Maynard Keynes) 之间的博弈。 Clair Woodward
[[IMG_XXXX]] 艾米·罗瑟姆饰演爱丽丝·布莱克，斯库特·麦克奈里饰演丹·凯利
Times Radio 数字端, 网页, 智能扬声器, App
5.00am Tom Nunan 与 Early Breakfast 6.00 Salma El-Wardany 和 Calum Macdonald 10.00 Lara Spirit 1.00pm Mark Urban 2.00 Jane Garvey 和 Fi Glover 4.00 John Pienaar 7.00 Kait Borsay 10.00 Carole Walker 1.00am The Best of Times Radio
Radio 2 FM: 88-90.2 MHz 6.30am Sara Cox 9.30 Vernon Kay 12.00 Jeremy Vine 2.00pm DJ Spoony 4.00 Angela Scanlon 7.00 Jo Whiley 9.00 The Jazz Show 10.00 The Good Groove with Melvin Odoom 12.00 OJ Borg 3.00am Alternative Sounds of the 90s (r) 4.00 Owain Wyn Evans
Radio 3 FM: 90.2-92.4 MHz 6.30am Breakfast 9.30 Essential Classics 1.00pm Classical Live BBC Proms: 威尔第 (《命运》序曲); 奥尔德堡音乐节: “婚姻与婴儿”。普赛尔 (《仙后》中的婚礼赞歌); 施特劳斯 (《献词》Op 10 No 1); 莉比·拉森 (《诞生计划》— No 1 怀孕); 维多利亚·伍德 (《垃圾桶》); 布里顿 (《冬季词作》, Op 52 No 6 骄傲的歌者 “画眉、燕雀与夜莺”); 保尔·卡萨尔斯国际音乐节: 海顿 (C大调弦乐四重奏, Op 20/2, Hob. III:32)。BBC Proms: 马勒 (第六交响曲 A小调)。BBC Proms: 帕里 (《告别之歌》: No 6 — 主啊，让我知晓我的终点) 以及保尔·卡萨尔斯国际音乐节: 贝多芬 (D大调钢琴三重奏 No 5, Op 70/1 “幽灵”)
4.00 本周作曲家： 爱丽丝·玛丽·史密斯 (1839-1884) 唐纳德·麦克劳德探讨史密斯早年与律师弗雷德里克·米多斯·怀特的婚姻生活
5.00 In Tune
7.00 2026年BBC Proms现场直播 BBC交响乐团，由萨卡里·奥拉莫指挥，演出西贝柳斯、特纳奇的作品，以及盖伊·约翰斯顿、布里顿的作品。由汉娜·弗伦奇主持，现场转播自伦敦皇家阿尔伯特音乐厅。马克-安东尼·特纳奇（《Festen组曲》——BBC共同委约作品：英国首演）；布里顿（《大提琴交响曲》）；以及让·西贝柳斯（《D大调第二交响曲》第 2 号）
10.00 Night Tracks
11.30 ’Round Midnight 索韦托·金奇对话加纳小号手彼得·索穆阿
12.30am Through the Night (r)
Radio 4 FM: 92.4-94.6 MHz 5.00am 新闻摘要 5.04 Troubled Town (r) 5.34 航运预报 5.43 今日祈祷 5.45 今日农业 6.00 Today 9.00 Choice Invisible Hands 讲述那个将美国打造为超级大国的男人 (1/6) 9.30 Inside Health 揭秘健康问题 (4/6) 10.00 Woman’s Hour 由努拉·麦戈文主持 11.00 Screenshot 剧情仅限于一天的电影 (4/6) (r) 11.45 Confessions of a Performative Male 作者：达伦·麦加维 (2/5) 12.04pm Call You and Yours 1.00 The World at One 1.45 Dead Rabbit 揭秘猎兔非法地下世界的幕后势力 (7/10)
2.00 The Archers (r) 2.15 戏剧： Our Friends in the North 作者：亚当·乌斯登 (10/10) (r) 3.00 Lady on Trial 主持人：露西·沃斯利 第二次世界大战期间的良心拒服兵役者康妮·博兰 (7/10) 3.30 Heart and Soul (3/10) (r) 4.00 The Writing Life of Sylvia Plath 普拉斯的个人关系如何影响她的作品 (2/3) 4.30 What’s Up Docs? 为什么人们会听信糟糕的建议 5.00 PM 6.00 六点新闻 6.30 Meet David Sedaris (5/6) (r) 7.00 The Archers 爱丽丝陷入尴尬时刻，哈里森寻求建议 7.15 Front Row 艺术节目 8.00 Floor 15 追踪盖伊医院的实验性临床试验 8.40 In Touch 由彼得·怀特主持 9.00 纪录片： The Dream Makers 梦境工程的实验领域 9.30 The Bottom Line 该系列最后一集 (r) 10.00 The World Tonight 10.45 Wild Dark Shore 作者：夏洛特·麦康纳希 (7/10) 11.00 Wild Inside 本·加罗德和杰西·弗伦奇研究猎豹 (1/4) (r) 11.30 A Good Read 达米安·巴尔和本·费格森讨论最喜欢的书籍 (3) (r) 12.00 新闻与天气 12.30am Confessions of a Performative Male 作者：达伦·麦加维 (2/5) (r) 12.48 航运预报 1.00 接入 BBC 世界服务
足够在修辞润色上发挥作用。
在电视的后 #MeToo 时代背景下，小荧幕上并不缺乏扮演施虐者或白痴的男性。在这里，就像第二名受害者的案例中一样，一个由罗布·德莱尼扮演的、举止粗鲁得像头醉象的富豪，同时扮演了这两个角色。在吸食可卡因并跳起“老爹舞”后，他告诉凯瑟琳她“太真实了”，并在性行为（以及死亡）开始前让她签署了一份保密协议 (NDA)。他显得荒唐，几乎是可以被随意抛弃的。但这难道不只是在反转角色，反将一军吗？
这部剧不惧于涉足极端之地，并对极端邪恶的荒诞性有着清醒的认知，有时看来就像是继承了基德和米德尔顿等詹姆斯一世时期戏剧大师最正统传统的复仇剧。即便是一个带有轻微喜剧色彩的场景也令人不安：一名关键证人（一名青少年男孩，在门廊抽大麻时被凯瑟琳闪现身体），他向爱丽丝讲解阴唇和阴道的区别，而我们意识到他是在向一名女性“好为人师”地解释这个主题。
在剧集的语境中，他是一个典型的、尽管危险程度较低的男人。所以，没错。对于我们男性来说，这是一次不舒服的观看体验。但这部剧具有如此不懈且迷人的力量，以至于你无法将目光移开。
仅限数字广播 上午 8:00 《It’s a Fair Cop》；8:30 《Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital》；8:45 《Small Island》；9:00 《Meet David Sedaris》；9:30 《The Time of My Life》；9:45 每日礼拜 (Daily Service)；10:00 《A Good Read》；10:30 《A Fork in the Road》；11:00 《Raffles》；11:30 《Charles Paris: A Deadly Habit》；12:00 《Yes Minister》；下午 12:30 《The Goon Show》；1:00 《It’s a Fair Cop》；1:30 《Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital》；1:45 《Small Island》；2:00 《Hoax!》；2:30 《The Brothers》；3:00 《The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency》；3:45 《The Phoenix and the Carpet》；4:00 《A Good Read》；4:30 《A Fork in the Road》；5:00 《Raffles》；5:30 《Charles Paris: A Deadly Habit》；6:00 《Yes Minister》；6:30 《Goon Show》；7:00 《It’s a Fair Cop》；7:30 《Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital》；7:45 《Small Island》；8:00 《Hoax!》；8:30 《The Brothers》；9:00 《The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency》；9:45 《The Phoenix and the Carpet》；10:00 喜剧俱乐部：访谈 David Sedaris；10:30 《And the Winner Is》；10:55 喜剧俱乐部访谈；11:00 《All the World’s a Globe》；11:15 Foley 与 McColl 访谈；11:30 《Edge Falls》
上午 10:00 Jim White 与 Simon Jordan；下午 1:00 Hawksbee 与 Jacobs；4:00 talkSPORT Drive；7:00 Kick Off；10:00 The Sports Bar；凌晨 1:00 Paul Ross 的 Extra Time
仅限数字广播 上午 6:00 Jeremy Kyle；10:00 Julia Hartley Brewer；下午 1:00 Ian Collins；4:00 Kevin O’Sullivan；7:00 Peter Cardwell；10:00 Petrie Hosken；凌晨 1:00 Paul Ross
仅限数字广播 上午 5:00 Amy Lamé；7:00 Nick Grimshaw；10:00 Jamz Supernova；下午 1:00 Deb Grant；4:00 Huw Stephens；7:00 每日新音乐指南 (New Music Fix Daily)；9:00 Riley & Coe；11:00 《The First Time With》；12:00 6 Music 独立音乐永恒 (Indie Forever)；凌晨 1:00 《You’ll Never Be Sixteen Again》；2:00 Peel Acres；3:00 6 Music 现场小时；4:00 The 6 Music Playlist
仅限数字广播 上午 6:30 Steve Denyer 在 Chris Evans 早餐节目（含 Moneybox 环节）；10:00 Ana Matronic；下午 2:00 Ben Jones；6:00 Geoff Lloyd；10:00 Goldierocks；凌晨 2:00 James Merritt
中波 (MW): 693, 909 上午 5:00 财富觉醒 (Wake Up to Money)；6:00 早餐节目；9:00 Nicky Campbell；11:00 Naga Munchetty；下午 2:00 Matt Chorley；4:00 Drive；7:00 格拉斯哥 2026 (Glasgow 2026)；10:00 Sarah Mulkerrins；凌晨 1:00 Dotun Adebayo
调频 (FM): 100-102 MHz 上午 6:30 Dan Walker 早餐节目；9:00 名人之堂小时 (The Hall of Fame Hour)；10:00 Aled Jones；下午 1:00 Anne-Marie Minhall；4:00 Margherita Taylor；7:00 Zeb Soanes 的轻松夜晚；9:00 Zeb Soanes 的作曲家轮播 (Composer Carousel)；10:00 平静经典 (Calm Classics)；凌晨 1:00 Bill Overton；4:00 早起早餐节目
今日推荐
《格莫拉：起源》 Sky Atlantic, 9pm/10.05pm
“Wow, che spettacolo”（哇，好精彩），一个满脸污垢的孩子说道。这部 1970 年代后期的《格莫拉》前传在拿坡里后街酒吧迪斯科舞厅那泥泞的棕色和橙色烟雾中拉开序幕。的确，真是场“精彩”的演出。自信且不可一世的《格莫拉》在 2021 年播完五季后完结，此前它以毫不掩饰的视角将意大利有组织犯罪的故事呈现在世人面前。这部由马可·达莫雷（Marco D’Amore）执导的新六集剧集，将深入探讨主角皮埃特罗·萨瓦斯塔诺（Pietro Savastano，由卢卡·卢布拉诺饰演）的早期职业生涯，展现他是如何在这座极度贫困的城市中成长起来的——正如新闻报道所称，由于营养不良，该市的婴儿死亡率极高。对于喜欢罗马海洛因贸易故事的观众来说，这部剧有《罗马犯罪》的影子；而对于更喜欢哥伦比亚风情的观众，则有《毒枭》的既视感。 海伦·斯图尔特 (Helen Stewart)
BBC1 BBC2 ITV1 Channel 4 5 6.00am Breakfast (早间节目) 9.30 Animal Park (动物公园) (r) (AD) 10.15 Trace, Track, Get My Car Back (追踪、搜寻，找回我的车) (r) 10.45 Expert Witness (专家证人) (r) 11.15 Homes Under the Hammer (房屋拍卖) 12.15pm Bargain Hunt (寻宝猎人) (r) (AD) 1.00 BBC News at One (一点钟新闻)；天气预报 1.35 BBC Regional News (BBC 地区新闻)；天气预报 1.45 BBC News at One (一点钟新闻)；天气预报 2.00 Money for Nothing. 将一张咖啡桌和一组旧画框进行改造 2.45 Escape to the Country. 一位伦敦买家想要在北约克郡寻找一座小屋 (r) 3.45 The Bidding Room. 拍卖品包括一个音乐凳、一个 19 世纪的家用电击套装、领带压平机和一套银质茶具 (r) 4.30 The Travelling Auctioneers. 收藏品包括一块名贵手表、一组铁路收藏品和一个纺车 (r) (AD) 5.15 Pointless. 由亚历山大·阿姆斯特朗 (Alexander Armstrong) 和盖尔斯·布兰德雷斯 (Gyles Brandreth) 主持的问答赛 (r) 6.00 BBC News at Six (六点钟新闻)；天气预报 6.30 BBC Regional News (BBC 地区新闻)；天气预报
7.00 The One Show 由亚历克斯·琼斯 (Alex Jones) 和弗农·凯 (Vernon Kay) 主持
7.30 EastEnders (东区往事) 谢拉在与格雷的一次紧张会面后感到心惊胆战。另一方面，乔治和尼古拉之间的紧张关系继续升级 (AD)
8.00 The Great British Sewing Bee (英国缝纫大赛) 业余缝纫者们迎来“减量、重复利用、回收”周，将旧 T 恤改为内衣，使用废弃物品装饰其改造作品，并制作具有环保信息的服装 (3/10) (AD)
9.00 Murder 24/7 五名男子如何被判定谋杀 23 岁青年奥曼·辛格 (Aurman Singh)，他是一名 DPD 快递员，在什鲁斯伯里遭到伏击被杀。侦探利用闭路电视 (CCTV)、电话记录和自动车牌识别 (ANPR) 数据追踪到了这群人逃离现场的车辆 (3/8) (AD)
10.00 BBC News at Ten (十点钟新闻)
10.30 BBC Regional News and Weather (BBC 地区新闻与天气预报) 10.40 电影：《盲目之光》(Blinded by the Light) (12, 2019) 贾韦德·汗 (Javed Khan) 是一名英籍巴基斯坦大学生，生活在 20 世纪 80 年代的贝德福德郡，处于一名专制父亲的掌控之下。面对父母的压力和日常的种族主义，他意外地在布鲁斯·斯普林斯汀 (Bruce Springsteen) 的歌曲中找到了对自己挫败感和野心的表达。在这位摇滚之星以及一名鼓励他写作的教师的启发下，他开始追求梦想。一部关于成长的戏剧，由维维克·卡尔拉 (Viveik Kalra)、库尔温德·吉尔 (Kulvinder Ghir) 和米拉·加纳特拉 (Meera Ganatra) 主演
6.30am Bargain Hunt (寻宝猎人) (r) 7.15 Animal Park (动物公园) (r) (AD) 8.00 Sign Zone: The Great British Sewing Bee. 主题为印花与色彩 (r) (AD, SL) 9.00 BBC News (BBC 新闻) 1.00pm Richard Osman’s House of Games. 嘉宾为雅丝敏·阿克拉姆 (Yasmine Akram) 和卡里亚德·劳埃德 (Cariad Lloyd) (r) 1.30 The Finish Line. 由罗曼·肯普 (Roman Kemp) 和莎拉·格林 (Sarah Greene) 主持的问答赛 (r) 2.15 Lightning. 由佐伊·莱昂斯 (Zoe Lyons) 主持的问答赛 (r) 2.45 The Hairy Bikers’ Bakeation. 来自荷兰和比利时的食谱 (r) (AD) 3.45 The Farmers’ Country Showdown. 一对拍档在阿伯格文尼美食节上推出他们的新款辣椒冰淇淋 (r) 4.15 Earth from Space. 巴西泻湖与亚马逊河 (r) (AD) 5.15 Flog It! 来自多塞特郡的卢尔沃斯城堡 (r) 6.00 Richard Osman’s House of Games. 嘉宾为卡伦·豪尔 (Karen Hauer)、斯通·亨特利 (Storm Huntley)、乔·马勒 (Joe Marler) 和汤姆·里德·威尔逊 (Tom Read Wilson) (r) 6.30 Just One Thing. 佐伊·鲍尔 (Zoe Ball) 探讨阳光如何改善心脏健康 (r) (AD)
7.00 Rick Stein’s Food Stories 瑞克在湖区结识了一位寻味厨师和一名著名的养羊农民，然后前往约克郡参观英国最大的豆腐工厂 (2/6) (r) (AD)
8.00 惊艳酒店：大堂之外的生活 (Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby) Rob Rinder 和 Monica Galetti 在伊比萨岛的一家奢华酒店工作，这里在提供可可仪式的同时，还提供最前沿的“生物黑客”疗法 (3/8) (r) (AD)
9.00 莱斯塔特吸血鬼：吸血鬼访谈 (The Vampire Lestat: Interview with the Vampire) 新剧集。由 Jacob Anderson 主演的哥特恐怖剧。莱斯塔特讲述了导致一场惨烈酒店冲突的起因。见当日精选 (1/7) (AD) 9.45 阿波罗剧院现场 (Live at the Apollo) Jamali Maddix 主持在伦敦哈默史密斯阿波罗剧院举行的喜剧秀，在介绍 Fern Brady 和 Sindhu Vee 的演出套路之前先为观众热场 (6/7) (r)
10.30 新闻之夜 (Newsnight) 由 Victoria Derbyshire 主持的头条分析
11.05 电影：《新男孩》(The New Boy) (12, 2023) 澳大利亚剧情片，讲述一名原住民孤儿男孩抵达一座偏远修道院的故事。由 Cate Blanchett, Aswan Reid, Deborah Mailman 和 Wayne Blair 主演
12.35am 手语区 (Sign Zone)：Natalie Cassidy —— 共同护理 (Caring Together) Natalie 了解痴呆症护理，体验患病者的感受，并在一次特别的实习中将所学付诸实践 (r) (AD, SL) 1.05 贝尔热拉克 (Bergerac) (r) (AD, SL) 1.55-2.25 你知道自己的位置吗？(Do You Know Your Place?) (r) (SL)
重塑后的第三季《吸血鬼访谈》回归，放荡不羁的 265 岁法国吸血鬼 莱斯塔特·德·利昂库尔 (Lestat de Lioncourt) (Sam Reid 饰) 现正利用 Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian 饰) 的畅销书《访谈……》(Interview…)，公开以享乐主义摇滚之星吸血鬼的身份出现。其基调与阴郁哥特的前作相比，转变之大足以令人感到眩晕，而且就像莱斯塔特 歌摩拉：起源 (Gomorrah: The Origins) (Sky Atlantic, 9pm/10.05pm)
6.00am 英国早安 (Good Morning Britain) 10.00 早上好 (This Morning)。名人访谈、生活方式专题、建议和竞赛的综合节目 1.00pm ITV 新闻；天气 1.30 Live ITV 赛马：光辉古德伍德赛马会 (Live ITV Racing: Glorious Goodwood)。Ed Chamberlin 和 Francesca Cumani 主持该赛会首日报道，包括重点赛事古德伍德杯 (Goodwood Cup) 以及另外四场支持赛事。由 Jason Weaver 和 Hayley Turner 分析，Rishi Persad, Sally Ann Grassick 和 Luke Harvey 报道，Richard Hoiles 提供解说 4.30 颠覆点：史上最强决赛 (Tipping Point: Best Ever Finals)。由 Ben Shephard 主持的游戏节目带来的戏剧性终局，玩家与机器展开对决以赢取 £10,000 奖金 (r) 5.00 追击 (The Chase)。来自 Blackburn, Norwich, Canterbury 和 Sale 的参赛者希望能够以团队形式赢得数千英镑。Bradley Walsh 负责提问 (r) 6.00 地区新闻；天气 6.30 ITV 新闻；天气
7.30 走进朗廷：英国第一座顶级酒店 (Inside the Langham: Britain’s First Grand Hotel) 一位婚礼策划师竭尽全力地筹备一场令人惊叹且极度排他的仪式 (2/6) (AD)
8.00 艾默代尔 (Emmerdale) Vinny 的嫉妒可能导致问题。Graham 在仓库附近四处窥探 (AD)
8.30 街道冠冕 (Coronation Street) David 和 Shona 就首饰盒的内容物与 Jodie 对质 (AD)
9.00 冷案法医学：上帝银行家的死亡 (Cold Case Forensics: The Death of God’s Banker) 新剧集。探讨意大利银行家 Roberto Calvi 的死亡，其尸体被发现悬挂在 Blackfriars Bridge 下，调查引导人们进入一个晦暗的金融世界。见当日精选 (1/3) (AD)
10.00 ITV 十点新闻；天气；随后是地区新闻
10.45 电影：《坏男孩》(Bad Boys) (15, 1995) 两名侦探在追捕被毒枭偷走的的一批海洛因时被迫交换身份。Michael Bay 执导的动作惊悚片，由 Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Tea Leoni, Tcheky Karyo 和 Theresa Randle 主演 (AD)
1.00am 电视购物 3.00 楼梯 (The Staircase)。Michael 的孩子们在与关于他们父亲的令人震惊的新信息作斗争 (r) (AD, SL) 4.05 与 ITV 一起放松 5.10-6.00 迪金森的真实交易 (Dickinson’s Real Deal)。团队在纽卡斯尔赛马场，物品包括一条钻石金项链 (r) (AD, SL)
莱斯塔特吸血鬼：吸血鬼访谈 (The Vampire Lestat: Interview with the Vampire) BBC2, 9pm
6.25am Cheers (r) 7.45 Everybody Loves Raymond (r) (AD) 9.10 Frasier (r) (AD) 11.10 Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA (r) 12.05pm Channel 4 News Summary 12.10 Find It, Fix It, Flog It. 将一堆旧石板转化为一盏不寻常的灯 (r) (AD) 1.10 The Great House Giveaway. 两名陌生人获得机会在北威尔士购买一套房产 (r) 2.10 Countdown. 主持人：Scarlett Moffatt 3.00 A Place in the Sun. Sara Damergi 帮助好朋友在西班牙东南部海岸的罗凯塔斯德马 (Roquetas de Mar) 寻找度假屋 (r) 4.00 Narrow Escapes. 一个家庭在狭窄船度假结束之之际返回基普顿 (Skipton)，一名船只教练在伍斯特郡帮助一名单人巡航者 (r) (AD) 5.00 Château DIY. 屋主准备举办他们的首次花卉静修会 (r) (AD) 6.00 American Pickers. Mike Wolfe 和 Frank Fritz 投入数千美元，试图与一名强硬的谈判者达成交易 (r) (AD)
7.00 Channel 4 News
8.00 Hotel Chocolat Unwrapped 新系列。带您走进这家巧克力制造商的幕后，该公司正进军烘焙业务，构思新产品，巡访英国夏季节日，并计划在美国开设新店。请参阅当日推荐 (AD)
9.00 The Undeclared War Barbara 与前男友 Nicky Chan 产生交集——首先是在 2014 年在香港执行的一项命中注定的 MI6 任务中，随后是在 2022 年，他在伦敦再次出现。由 Simon Pegg 和 Siân Brooke 主演的惊悚片 (3/6) (AD)
10.00 Gogglebox 扶手椅评论员们分享他们对 The Celebrity Traitors, Trigger Point, Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel, The Great British Bake Off, Love Is Blind 以及 DIY SOS 的看法 (r) (AD)
11.05 First Dates 访客包括一名从未交过男朋友的女性，她通过对时尚的共同热爱与约会对象建立了联系，以及两名因巧克力而产生情愫的陌生人 (r) (AD)
12.05am Naked Attraction (r) (AD) 1.05 Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA (r) 1.55 The Piano (r) (AD, SL) 2.50 电影：American Refugee (15, 2021) 由 Erika Alexander 主演的恐怖片 4.25 Couples Come Dine with Me (r) 5.15 Kirstie and Phil’s Love It or List It: Brilliant Builds (r) 5.45-6.25 Countdown (r)
他自己，结果是一个戏剧性地疯狂且充满色欲的野兽，在诱惑的同时也会让许多人感到震惊。Andrew Male
Cold Case Forensics: The Death of God’s Banker ITV1, 9pm
Angela Gallop 并非典型的电视明星，但这位著名的法医科学家在这部迷人的纪录片中散发出一种冷静且权威的气息。该片回顾了 1982 年 6 月一名 62 岁男性的死亡。
6.00am Milkshake! 9.15 Jeremy Vine 11.30 Storm & Alexis 12.45pm 5 News at Lunchtime 12.50 Matt Allwright 2.20 电影：Mystery of the Dead Nanny (12, TVM, 2022) 在拒绝了一位有影响力的父亲的追求后，一名保姆生活在对安全的恐惧中。由 Nicolette Langley 主演的惊悚片 4.00 Castle. Beckett 和 Castle 伪装成新婚夫妇，前往亚利桑那州一个美国西部风格的度假村，在一名警长拒绝提供帮助后调查一起谋杀案。由 Nathan Fillion 和 Stana Katic 主演 (r) 4.55 Love Nature. 探讨 Feed the Birds，这是一个位于什罗普郡的慈善机构，通过对野生动物的共同热爱来对抗孤独 (r) 5.00 5 News with Dan Walker 6.00 Malta: The Jewel of the Med. 游览这座受欢迎的地中海岛屿，首先参观首都瓦莱塔 (Valletta) 一座闪耀着 24 克金光芒的大教堂 (r) 6.55 5 News Update
7.00 The Yorkshire Vet: At Home with the Greens 纪录片，讲述两名英国最年长的在职农民的生活，他们正在寻找维持农场运转的新方法，包括羊驼散步 (1/4) (r)
7.55 5 News Update
8.00 Inside Longleat 在历史悠久的秘密花园中，团队将全球摇滚明星 Ronnie Wood 的一座青铜雕像安置在绝佳位置。这里为资深饲养员 Ian Turner 举办了一场特别派对，庆祝他在 Longleat 工作 50 年
9.00 The Crow Girl 随着 Jeanette 和
索菲亚深入挖掘维多利亚的过去，她们的关系变得更加亲密，阿玛尔与迈克分享了重要信息，而珍妮特则得知了一个改变一切的秘密。此外，维多利亚和玛德琳制定了一项计划。主演：伊芙·迈尔斯 (5/6) (AD)
10.00 2026年 Commonwealth Games (英联邦运动会)
格拉斯哥第五日的精彩回顾，包括在斯科茨顿体育场举行的男女100米决赛，以及游泳和残疾人游泳赛事的倒数第二天
11.05 Accused: Guilty or Innocent? (被告：有罪还是无辜？)
一名嫌疑人走过刑事司法系统的历程。当一桩十年前的陈年谋杀案再次成为焦点时，警方终于锁定了一名嫌疑人——此人在案发时仅 13 岁 (4/7) (r)
意大利银行家罗伯托·卡尔维，他被发现吊在伦敦黑修士桥下的脚手架上。他的死最初被视为自杀，这让卡尔维家族感到困扰，于是他们聘请了加洛普（前内政部高级法医科学家）来调查这起案件。该案发生之时，意大利有组织犯罪、梵蒂冈财务和政治腐败正处于同一血脉之中。她重建了让其调查得出结论的实验。HS
7.00pm Great British Railway Journeys. 访问邓迪 (AD) 7.30 Walking with Monica Galetti 8.00 Keeping Up Appearances 8.30 One Foot in the Grave 9.00 She-Wolves: England’s Early Queens. 法国的伊莎贝拉与安茹的玛格丽特之生平 (2/3) 10.00 Castles: Britain’s Fortified History. 记录爱德华 I 如何将城堡变为殖民工具 (AD) 11.00 Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World? 审视种族清洗 (5/8) (AD) 12.00 Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World? (AD) 1.00am She-Wolves: England’s Early Queens. 纪录片 2.00 Castles: Britain’s Fortified History (AD) 3.00 Great British Railway Journeys (AD, SL) 3.30am-4.00 Walking with Monica Galetti (SL)
U&Drama
7.00pm The Catch Up 7.05 Deadly 60. 实用的武器 7.35 Deadly 60. 致命生物 8.00 Top Gear. 与 Tinie Tempah 共同主持 9.00 Shabaz Asks: Are Billionaires Bad? 这位广播员对他对超级富豪的看法进行测试，在与一位亿万富翁面对面会面前，质疑他们对社会的正面和负面影响 9.50 Good Bad Billionaire. 新系列。世界最富有的人如何积累财富 10.35 Good Bad Billionaire. 克里斯蒂亚诺·罗纳尔多如何积累财富 11.20 Good Bad Billionaire. MrBeast 如何积累财富 12.10am The Tech Billionaire Takeover (AD) 1.10 OnlyFans: Inside the Machine (AD) 2.10 Dating Apps: The Inside Story (AD) 3.10am-4.00 Shabaz Asks: Are Billionaires Bad? (SL)
Variations
BBC1 北爱尔兰 10.40pm House of the Year (r) 11.10 电影：《被光盲了》(2019) 1.00am-6.00 BBC新闻
BBC1 Scotland 7.00pm-7.30 River City (r) 12.30am Scotcast (r) 1.00 Weather 1.05am-6.00 BBC新闻
BBC2 北爱尔兰 9.45pm If Walls Could Talk (r) 10.00-10.30pm Paula McIntyre’s Hamely Kitchen USA (r)
STV 1.30pm-4.30 Live STV Racing: Glorious Goodwood 1.00am-3.00 Shop on TV 4.05-6.00 Night Vision
Hotel Chocolat Unwrapped Channel 4, 8pm
巧克力爱好者们集合：通过这个品牌的概况（该系列现已回归第二季），人们甚至可能产生一种可可接触快感。这类节目的亮点在于产品开发，通过对这家高端巧克力品牌“inventing rooms”及其进军烘焙食品领域的审视，这一点得到了证明。此外，节目还以更冷静的视角审视了该公司在美国的扩张。Victoria Segal
Sky Arts 6.00am Classic FM’s Rising Stars 2023 7.00 Classic FM’s Rising Stars 2021 8.00 The Joy of Painting (AD) 9.00 Tales of the Unexpected (AD) 10.00 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 11.00 Discovering (AD) 12.00 The Movies 1.00pm Tales of Unexpected (AD) 2.00 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (b/w) 3.00 The Seventies (AD) 4.00 Discovering (AD) 5.00 Portrait Artist of the Year 2021 (AD) 6.00 Tales of the Unexpected (AD) 7.00 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 8.00 The World in a Painting: Caravaggio’s Comb 9.15 Beyond the Brush (AD) 10.15 Wonderland: Gothic (AD) 11.15 Douglas Adams: The Man Who Imagined Our Future (AD) 12.45am Miyazaki: Spirit of Nature (AD) 2.20 电影：《Cover Your Ears》(15, 2023) 4.10 The Art of the Garden 5.05am-6.00 The Movies
6.30am Deal or No Deal (AD) 7.30 Dress to Impress (AD, SL) 8.25 Olivia and Alex: Parenthood (AD) 9.30 The Only Way Is Essex 10.30 The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City 11.20 The Real Housewives of Orange County 12.15pm Dinner Date (AD) 1.15 Supermarket Sweep 2.15 The Floor USA (AD) 3.10 The Only Way Is Essex 4.10 The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City 5.00 The Real Housewives of Orange County 6.00 Celebrity Catchphrase (AD) 7.00 The Floor USA (AD) 8.00 The 1% Club (AD) 9.00 The Princess Diaries. 新剧集。安德烈公主回归 10.00 Love Island: The Debrief 10.30 Family Guy (AD) 11.30 American Dad! (AD) 12.35am Bob’s Burgers (AD) 1.30-1.55am Plebs (AD, SL)
8.00 This Farming Life (r) 9.00 The Beauty Queen and the Catfish (r) 11.15 Scotcast 11.45pm-12.00 Growing Up Scottish (r)
S4C 6.00am Cyw 12.00 新闻；天气 12.05pm Codi Pac (r) 12.30 Heno (r) 1.00 Eigra (r) 1.30 Arfordir Cymru: Sir Benfro (r) 2.00 新闻； 天气 2.05 Prynhawn Da 3.00 新闻；天气 3.05 Gwesty Aduniad (r) 4.00 Awr Fawr: Blociau Lliw (r) 4.05 Twm Twrch (r) 4.15 Fferm Fach (r) 4.30 Blero yn Mynd i Ocido (r) 4.45 Byd Tad-Cu (r) 5.00 Stwnsh: Dreigiau — Marchogion Berc (r) 5.25 Larfa (r) 5.30 Y Doniolis (r) 5.35 Dyffryn Mwmin (r) 6.00 Y Ci Perffaith (r) 6.30 Pobol y Cwm 6.57 新闻 7.00 Heno 7.30 新闻；天气 8.00 Gemau’r Gymanwlad 2026. 格拉斯哥第五晚 10.30-11.35pm Y Fets (r)
流媒体精选
Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark HBO Max
这部喜剧作品部分是单口喜剧特辑，部分是舞台治疗环节，展现了这位前播客主持人兼独立演员在生命低谷时期的心路历程，他正面对伴侣——导演琳恩·谢尔顿 (Lynn Shelton) 离世的打击，并应对父亲的认知障碍症。令人惊喜的是，马龙如何将悲痛转化为能量，从而带来了 60 分钟的
8.55am Heir Hunters 10.00 Four in a Bed 12.40pm Come Dine with Me (AD) 3.20 Four in a Bed 5.50 George Clarke’s Old House, New Home (AD) 6.55 Location, Location, Location 7.55 Grand Designs. 凯文·麦克劳德 (Kevin McCloud) 记录了一对夫妇将一座 1960 年代的林务员小屋改造成一座独特日式住宅的项目，其中包含榻榻米房和纸拉门 (6/12) (AD) 9.00 Oti and Richard’s South African Odyssey. Oti 和 Richard 探索夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省 (AD) 10.00 24 Hours in A&E. 一名 12 岁女孩在跌下楼梯后接受治疗 (AD) 11.05 24 Hours in A&E. 一名女孩 在被汽车撞击并被巴士压在下方后接受治疗 (AD) 12.10am 999: On the Front Line 1.15 24 Hours in A&E (AD) 3.25am-4.00 A Place in the Sun
6.00am George and Mildred 7.05 经典《艾默代尔》(Emmerdale) (AD) 8.05 经典《加冕街》(Coronation Street) (AD) 9.10 《霜之触》(A Touch of Frost) (AD) 11.20 《心跳》(Heartbeat) (AD) 1.30pm Midsomer Murders (AD) 3.30 经典 《艾默代尔》(Emmerdale) (AD) 4.40 经典 《加冕街》(Coronation Street) (AD) 5.50 《心跳》(Heartbeat) (AD) 6.55 《心跳》(Heartbeat) (AD) 8.00 《薇拉》(Vera)。当一名男子的尸体从一个偏远农场的粪池中被捞起时，薇拉必须将受害者与一名受伤的移民联系起来 (3/4) (AD) 10.00 《格兰彻斯特》(Grantchester)。悉尼收到了匿名电话 (1/6) (AD) 11.00 《格兰彻斯特》(Grantchester)。一场村庄板球赛导致了谋杀案 (2/6) (AD) 11.50 《审判与报应》(Trial & Retribution)。一名度蜜月的人失踪了 (1/2) 1.25am-2.25 《威克利夫》(Wycliffe)。悲剧袭击了一场婚礼派对 (1/9)
8.00am America the Bountiful 8.35 Treasures Decoded 9.35 Pirates: Behind the Legends 10.35 Maps of Power 11.50 Auschwitz: The Inside Man 1.00pm America the Bountiful 1.35 Treasures Decoded 2.35 Pirates: Behind the Legends 3.35 Maps of Power 4.50 Auschwitz: The Inside Man 6.00 America the Bountiful 6.35 Treasures Decoded。古罗马的钉十字架习俗 7.35 Pirates: Behind the Legends。爱尔兰海盗女王格雷斯·奥马利的故事 8.35 Maps of Power。探索地理如何影响政府的决策 (1/3) 9.50 Auschwitz: The Inside Man。维托尔德·皮莱茨基不为人知的故事 11.00 Pirates: Behind the Legends 12.00 Maps of Power 1.15am-2.00 America the Bountiful
一部结构精巧的黑色喜剧，触及了从爱情、衰老和死亡到猫、孩子以及反犹主义的所有话题。这里同样蕴含着温暖。AM
电影精选
《乔治王在疯狂》(The Madness of King George) (PG, 1994) Film4, 6.50pm
尼古拉斯·海特纳执导了这部改编自艾伦·贝内特成功的一部悲喜剧舞台剧的作品。
今日 体育赛事直播
网球直播 Sky Sports Tennis, 6am-8am 洛斯卡博斯公开赛（ATP 250赛事）第一日，在墨西哥卡博体育中心举行
测试板球直播： 西印度群岛队 v 巴基斯坦队 TNT Sports 1, 2.30pm-11 在特立尼达和多巴哥举行的两场测试赛系列赛中第四日的报道
The Hundred 直播：利兹太阳神队女队 v 曼彻斯特超级巨人队女队 Sky Sports Cricket, 2.45pm-6, Sky Sports Main Event, 3pm-6 (开赛时间 3.00)。报道在利兹海丁利举行的比赛
网球直播 Sky Sports +, 4pm-4am, Sky Sports Tennis, 4pm-2am 华盛顿特区公开赛第二日报道
The Hundred 直播：利兹太阳神队男队 v 曼彻斯特超级巨人队男队 Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Cricket, 6pm-9.30 (开赛时间 6.30)。报道在利兹海丁利举行的比赛
6.00am Fish Town (重播) 8.00 Billions (重播) (AD) 10.10 The White Lotus (重播) (AD) 12.25pm Homicide: Life on the Street (重播) 2.15 Billions (重播) (AD) 4.25 The White Lotus (重播) (AD) 6.45 The Gilded Age。格拉迪斯与公爵的婚礼在即 (重播) (AD) 7.55 The Gilded Age。格拉迪斯在适应新环境时遇到了麻烦 (5/8) (重播) (AD) 9.00 Gomorrah: The Origins。由卢卡·卢布拉诺主演的犯罪剧前传。见今日精选 (重播) 10.05 Gomorrah: The Origins。安杰洛收到了一份可能改善他处境的邀请。见今日精选 (重播) 11.05 Prisoner。一个更大的威胁开始显现 (重播) (AD) 12.05am The White Lotus (重播) (AD) 2.35 Billions (重播) (AD) 3.40 Urban Secrets (重播) 4.35 Sort Of (重播) (AD) 5.05am-6.00 Urban Secrets (重播)
7.30am Happy In The Morning: Henry Hall Ascot Heaters 7.45 电影：Meet Mr Callaghan (U, 1954) (黑白) 9.30 电影：The Spider and the Fly (U, 1949) (黑白) 11.30 星级 演出：Young Girl in an Apple Tree (黑白) 12.00 Railway Murders 1.00pm The Adventures of William Tell (黑白) 1.30 电影：Home and Away (U, 1956) (黑白) 3.10 乔迪·福斯特： Hollywood Under the Skin 4.15 电影：Doctor in Clover (PG, 1966) 6.15 Look at Life 6.25 Whiplash (黑白) 6.55 The Man from UNCLE 7.55 Buccaneer 9.00 电影：Night of the Eagle (15, 1961) 惊悚片，主演珍妮特·布莱尔 (黑白) 10.45 Fortean TV 11.20 电影：The One That Got Away (U, 1957) (黑白) 1.35am 电影： Bluebeard (18, 1972) 3.55-4.00 每日草图拼图 (Daily Sketch Jigsaw Puzzle)
ITV4 6.00am Magnum, PI 8.05 Dempsey and Makepeace (AD) 9.10 Boon 10.15 The Champions 11.20 Robin of Sherwood 12.30pm Magnum, PI 2.35 Dempsey and Makepeace (AD) 3.45 Boon 4.50 The Champions 5.55 Minder (AD) 7.00 Formula E 精彩回顾。 东京电动分站赛 (Tokyo ePrix) 的精彩瞬间 8.00 King of the Roads。爱尔兰 Skerries 100 的精彩瞬间 9.00 Ice Road Truckers。休和 里克运输一座新机场大楼的预制 构件 10.00 All Elite Wrestling: Collision。 激烈的动作对决，包括 FTR、Thunder Rosa、 Jon Moxley 和 Jay White 等明星 12.00 Dark Side of the Ring。The Fabulous Moolah 12.55am Minder (AD, SL) 1.50-2.40 BattleBots 3.30am-4.00 Auto Mundial
Sky Docs 6.00am The Nineties (r) 7.00 Discovering: Whoopi Goldberg (r) (AD) 8.00 The Directors (r) (AD) 9.00 Ren Faire (r) (AD) 10.00 The Man Who Played with Fire (r) 11.00 Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage and Reckoning (r) 12.00 电影：Val (12, 2021) 聚焦演员瓦尔·基默日常生活的纪录片 (AD) 2.00pm Williams & Mansell: Red 5 (r) (AD) 3.50 My Icon: Natasha Jonas (r) (AD) 4.00 The Directors (r) (AD) 5.00 Discovering: Whoopi Goldberg (r) (AD) 6.00 I Am Paul Walker (r) 7.50 My Icon: Casey Stoney (r) (AD) 8.00 Murder at the Cottage (r) (AD) 9.00 Murder at the Cottage (r) (AD) 10.00 I Am Patrick Swayze (r) (AD) 11.50 UFO. 双片展 (r) (AD) 3.50am Adam Hills: Foot Fault (r) (AD) 5.00am-6.00 Discovering: Whoopi Goldberg (r) (AD)
结果是一部极具娱乐性的 古装剧，讲述了一位陷入困境、 险些失去王位和理智的国王。 提升这部电影水平的是奈杰尔· 霍桑令人惊叹的表演，他曾获得 奥斯卡提名，在此重新演绎他在 舞台剧版本中饰演的乔治三世国王。 一流的配角包括饰演夏洛特王后的海伦· 米伦，以及饰演不走寻常路的 弗朗西斯·威利斯博士的伊恩·霍姆。(110分钟) 温蒂·艾德 (Wendy Ide)
11.00am The Undefeated (PG, 1969) 约翰·韦恩主演的西部片 1.20pm Anne of the Thousand Days (PG, 1969) 理查德·伯顿主演的历史剧 4.10 Twelve O’Clock High (U, 1949) 格雷戈里·派克主演的第二次世界大战 剧情片 (黑白) 6.50 The Madness of King George (PG, 1994) 奈杰尔·霍桑、海伦·米伦和 鲁珀特·埃弗雷特主演的时代剧。参见电影选择 (AD) 9.00 American Star (15, 2024) 一名在执行最后一项任务的杀手被一艘幽灵 沉船吸引。由伊恩·麦克舍恩和诺拉·阿内泽德主演的惊悚片 11.10 Sexy Beast (18, 2000) 一名 住在西班牙的退休金库破解者接到了 前老板不受欢迎的拜访。由雷·温斯顿和本·金斯利主演的犯罪惊悚片 (AD) 12.55am-3.15 Black Sea (15, 2014) 朱德·洛主演的惊悚片
6.00am 电视购物 7.20 《法案》(The Bill) 8.15 《医生》(Doctors) 9.25 《经典霍比市医院》(Classic Holby City) 10.45 《伤员》(Casualty) (AD) 11.40 《法案》(The Bill) 12.50pm 《经典东区》(Classic EastEnders) 2.00 《邻居》(Neighbours) 3.00 《天边之饼》(Pie in the Sky) 4.05 《洛夫乔伊》(Lovejoy) 5.20 《等待上帝》(Waiting for God) 6.00 《夏日之终》(Last of the Summer Wine) 8.00 《你好，你好！》(’Allo ’Allo!) 德国将军们计划乔装在咖啡馆会面 8.35 《你好，你好！》(’Allo ’Allo!) 勒内出发去取回画作 9.10 《你好，你好！》(’Allo ’Allo!) 上校、格鲁伯、贝尔托雷利和勒克莱尔被丹妮丝勒索 9.40 《新线索》(New Tricks)。普尔曼同意重新调查一名被绑架青少年的案件 (7/7) (AD) 11.00 《沉默的证人》(Silent Witness)。一名学校教师失踪 (AD) 1.30am 《洛夫乔伊》(Lovejoy) 2.25 《等待上帝》(Waiting for God) 2.55 《达比与琼》(Darby and Joan) (SL) 4.00am-6.00 电视购物
6.10am 被遗弃的工程 (Abandoned Engineering) (AD) 8.00 破车换钱 (Bangers & Cash) (AD) 10.00 纳粹秘密基地 (Secret Nazi Bases) 11.00 空中俯瞰第二次世界大战 (World War Two from Above) 12.00 古董路演 (Antiques Roadshow) 2.00pm 破车换钱：修复经典 (Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics) (AD) 4.00 纳粹秘密基地 (Secret Nazi Bases) 5.00 空中俯瞰第二次世界大战 (World War Two from Above) 6.00 古董路演 (Antiques Roadshow) 7.00 亚洲。当北亚被冰雪覆盖时，动物如何生存 (AD) 8.00 破车换钱：修复经典。美国海滩摩托车 (AD) 9.00 破车换钱 (Bangers & Cash) (AD) 10.00 破车换钱：修复经典。大众甲壳虫 (AD) 11.00 破车换钱：修复经典。马自达 MX-5 (AD) 12.00 破车换钱 (Bangers & Cash) (AD) 1.00am 寻找、修复、出售 (Find It, Fix It, Flog It) (AD) 2.00 伟大的英国铁路之旅 (Great British Railway Journeys) 3.00am-6.10 电视购物 (Teleshopping)
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Moderate No 695
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37 270 35
276 33 210
79 154 116
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当完成时，网格下方的条带可以分成八对数字。一对数字相加之和是网格中 16 个数字之一。相乘之积是网格中另一个不同的数字。例如，条带中的 4 和 6 可以配对，在网格中形成 10 (4+6) 和 24 (4x6)。将每个和填入网格中相应数字的下方。条带中的空格必须推导出来，请记住数字是以升序排列的。
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下一个 Tetonor 谜题将于周四出现
迷你数独 (Mini Sudoku)、额外代码字谜 (extra Codeword)、
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KenKen 中等难度 No 6896
白方走棋。 此局势来自 Kuandykuly-Liu, Montesilvano 2026.
白方在这里多出两子。 这是一个巨大的子力优势，通常预计会轻松获胜。然而，黑方有 5 个(!) 个兵作为补偿，白方国王处于暴露状态，且 d3 骑士面临严重的牵制。1 Re3 并不差，但更关键的着法是什么？
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代码字谜 (Codeword) No 5904
这个十字谜题风格网格中的每个字母都由 1 到 26 的数字代表。 字母表中的每个字母在网格中至少出现一次。利用已提供的字母来推断其他字母的身份。在主网格和较小的参考网格中填入字母，直到字母表中的所有 26 个字母都被找齐。专有名词不计入内。昨天的答案见右侧。
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Cluelines 代码字谜卡住了？如需 4 个随机提示，请致电 0901 293 6262 或发送短信 TIMECODE 至 64343。通话费用为 £1 加上您电话公司的网络接入费。短信费用为 £1 加上您的标准网络费用。如需完整答案，请致电 0905 757 0142。如果您持有旧报纸并需要过去 7 天的提示，请致电 0905 624 0024。致电 0905 费用为每分钟 £1 加上您电话公司的网络接入费。SP: Spoke, 0333 202 3390 (周一至周五，上午 9 点至下午 5.30 点)。
Lexica 简单难度 No 9019 困难难度 No 9020
将字母水平或垂直地滑回网格中，以完成一个十字谜题。允许字母在其他字母之上滑动。
不等号数独 (Futoshiki) No 5444
填数游戏 (Kakuro) No 4403
铁路轨道 (Train Tracks) No 2929
© PUZZLER MEDIA
铺设轨道使火车能够从 A 村到 B 村。数字表示每行和每列中有多少段轨道。只有直线段和曲线段。轨道不能与自身相交。
利用下方的每个字母仅一次，解开所有 5 个隐喻线索
火山爆发吞没船只 (5)
大炮/神职人员 被捡起 (6)
国王进入沿海地区是 违规 (6)
异教徒在运动场上 (7)
侦探在艰苦的 街区 (8)
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我们新的在线快速游戏 谜题，请访问 thetimes.com/ puzzles 以及 Live 应用程序
你的大脑 使用 益智书
第 2631 号
timesbookshop.co.uk
仅使用 数字 1 到 9 填充网格。 每一排水平或 垂直白色方格 中的数字之和 等于其左侧或 上方的三角形 内所示的总数。 同一个数字在 同一行或同一列 中可以出现多次， 但在同一组白色 方格内不能重复。
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横向 1 台球桌面织物 (5) 4 起源点 (7) 8 缺席 (3-10) 9 穿过天空 (8) 10 獾的洞穴 (4) 12 随意绘制 (6) 13 个人或政治剧烈动荡的时期 (6)
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填字游戏 10,219 解答
8 3 7 2 7 + ( 0 , 1 8 7 ( 1 $ $ * 1 1 ' : , 1 ' % $ * ) $ ' ( ' , 7 & 8 8 < ( $ 5 6 4 8 , 5 5 ( / / 8 7 3 , * ' ( 0 ( $ 1 5 $ ) ) , $ < 7 ( 7 ( 5 - $ 1 ( ( < 5 ( / 2 * 6 5 0 ( / 2 + 2 5 ' ( / 8 & . , / < ( 2 1 ( 8 1 / ' 2 : 1 7 2 7 + ( : , 5 (
需要今日谜题的帮助？请致电 0905 757 0143 查询答案。 通话费用为每分钟 £1，另加您的电话公司网络接入费。SP：Spoke, 0333 202 3390 (周一至周五 9am-5.30pm)。
答案
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答案
桥牌 Andrew Robson
两年一度的欧洲桥牌国家队锦标赛的主要目标是在该组赛中进入前八名，从而获得次年世界桥牌队锦标赛的参赛资格。在最近于拉脱维亚里加结束的第 57 届此类赛事中，英格兰公开队获得第 6 名，混合队获得第 5 名——任务完成得相当出色。高级队在最后四场比赛中输掉三场，遗憾地跌至第 9 名。英格兰女队以最完美的方式晋级——赢得了金牌。向这支年龄跨度接近 60 年的跨世代队伍表示热烈祝贺。三对组合在个人 Butler 计分中均名列前茅：Charlotte Bedford-Lucy Norman (均在十几岁) +.87 (每手牌 imps)，Nicola Smith-Nevena Senior +.67，Helen Erichsen-Fiona Brown +.49。 在今天英格兰对阵波兰的一手牌中，在叫牌进行到 3♠ - Pass - Pass 到你这里后，作为南家你会怎么做？ 有些人叫 4♦ —— 但这种行动能带来多少收益？其他人，例如 1 号桌的波兰南家，选择了安静地 Pass —— 也可以理解，因为你可能会走进一个“马蜂窝”。于是，西家 Nicola Smith 宣布 3♠。她已经不可思议地第九次赢得了欧洲锦标赛（第一次是在 1975 年）。 北家出 ♣2 到 ♣J 和 ♣A。 只有一种出牌转换能击败 3♠ —— 也就是 ♥Q (从而导致第三轮弃牌)。当南家转换到 ♠2 时，庄家很快就开始抽王，利用掩护——
队伍
1 号桌
L O
O A T
16 高飞的鸣禽 (4) 17 女性睡衣 (8) 20 持续困扰 (7) 21 人手的拇指 (5) 22 激光放大设备 (5) 23 极大的痛苦 (7)
纵向 1 垃圾袋 (3,4) 2 包含斯凯岛和马尔岛的群岛 (5,8) 3 门户 (8) 4 适当的，正确的 (6) 5 巴基斯坦语言 (4) 6 壁炉残余物 (7) 7 皮肤水分 (5) 11 强力赛车 (8) 14 甜味发泡粉 (7) 15 幼猪 (6) 16 识别标签 (5) 18 唤醒 (5) 19 超过 (4)
庄家：西家，脆弱性：无
♠A103 ♥K65 ♦Q95 ♣Q1042
♠6 ♥AJ1074 ♦K6 ♣KJ976
♠KQJ9875 ♥982 ♦10 ♣83
N W E S
♠42 ♥Q3 ♦AJ87432 ♣A5
S W(Smith) N E(Senior)
3♠(1) end
(1) 你很难找到一个比这更教科书式的 3♠ 开叫了——弱牌且有 7 张高质量的♠。
2 号桌
S(Brown) W N(Erichsen) E 3♠ Pass Pass 3NT(1) Pass Pass Dbl(2) 4♦(3) Pass Pass(4) Pass
(1) 我喜欢这个叫法！就像已故的 Hugh Kelsey 著名的那句话：“当你在叫牌中已经显示过有阻截牌时，你在实战中就不再需要它了”（防守方可能会误判，认为你在♠上被封死了）。 (2) 很大胆，但很多人（包括我）约定 double 是要求搭档出另一门大牌（即 ♥）。 (3) Brown 不可能知道她的搭档有足以完成 3NT 的牌力。 (4) 很有诱惑力继续加叫 (4NT 或 5♦)，但认为东家可能持有例如 ♥AQJxx，而她只有 ♥Kxx。
W T
在心中盘算并累积 +140。 菲奥娜·布朗 (Fiona Brown) 出了她的 4♦ 以争取 7 个 IMP 的加分。以下是赢得超定约的路径。用 ♠A 赢得西家的 ♠K 领先出牌，然后出 ♦Q，由 ♦K、♦A（以及 ♦10）覆盖。接着，通过 ♦9 切换到另一手，并出 ♥5 给 ♥Q。现在，用 ♣A 和 ♣5 到 ♣10（以及 ♣J）使东家陷入死局。 andrew.robson@thetimes.co.uk
简单 57 x 2 – 18 ÷ 4 – 7 x 5 + 54 – 19 ÷ 12 TIMES ITSELF
中等 57 + 211 ÷ 13 x 3 DOUBLE
困难 578 – 96 – 178 + 225 x 3 6 1/ OF IT x 5 ÷ 4 ÷ 9 SQUARE
Set Square No 4406
Killer Moderate No 10,846 (杀手数独-中级 No 10,846)
Killer Tough No 10,847 (杀手数独-困难 No 10,847)
与标准数独相同，填充网格，使每一列、每一行和每个 3x3 宫格都包含数字 1 到 9。由虚线连接的每组单元格之和必须等于其左上角的目標数字。在每组由虚线连接的单元格中，数字不能重复。
IT ÷ 20 + 122 2 1/ OF IT – 52 10 3/ OF IT +
利用这些字母，组成三个或更多字母的单词，且必须包含中心字母。答案必须出自《牛津简明词典》，不包括大写开头的单词、复数形式、变位动词（如过去式等）、以 LY 结尾的副词、比较级和最高级。 你的评分标准：9 个单词，平均；13 个，良好；17 个，非常好；22 个，优秀
昨天的答案 chore, cor, core, corse, croze, her, hero, hers, hoer, horse, hoser, ocher, ochre, orc, ore, rec, rho, roc, roe, rose, scherzo, score, shore, sore, zero
Cell Blocks No 5787 (单元格区块 No 5787)
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请注意，BODMAS（运算顺序）不适用
Quick Cryptic 3364 (快速隐写词谜 3364)
Codeword 5903 (密码字谜 5903)
GK Crossword 348 (通用知识纵横词谜 348)
Sudoku 16,977 (数独 16,977)
Sudoku 16,978 (数独 16,978)
Lexica 9017 (词汇谜 9017) Cell Blocks 5786 (单元格区块 5786) Set Square 4405 (正方形网格 4405)
Sudoku 16,979 (数独 16,979)
Futoshiki 5443 (不等号数独 5443)
今日答案
Killer 10,844 (杀手数独 10,844)
Concise Quintagram (简明五角星词谜)
1 Bossy 2 Bassy 3 Fossil 4 Blossom 5 Processed
Word watch (词汇观察)
Saikei (b) 一种装饰性微缩景观 (Collins 词典) Muntin (a) 窗户的支撑条 (Chambers 词典) Polyonymous (c) 有多个名字的 (OED 词典)
Killer 10,845 (杀手数独 10,845)
Chess — Winning Move (象棋 — 胜招)
1 Be5! Rxd3 2 Qxd3! Qxd3 完成了铺垫工作，现在白方展示了抽将的力量： 3 Rxg7+ Kh8 4 Rg3+ Kh7 5 Rxd3 最终多出一个车和一个象。
将网格分成正方形或矩形区块，每个区块仅包含一个数字。每个区块包含的单元格数量必须与其内部的数字相符。
在网格中填入 1 到 9 的每个数字，使六组求和正确。我们已经放置了两个数字帮你开始。每组求和应从左到右或从上到下计算。
Kakuro 4402 (数和谜 4402)
Train Tracks 2928 (火车轨道 2928)
S A L A M I
C L A S S
P E E L
KenKen 6895 (肯肯数独 6895)
Lexica 9018 (词汇谜 9018)
D A N C E
X L
J B R I G
Cryptic Quintagram (隐写五角星词谜)
Sakuro 4805 (数和谜变体 4805)
1 Canoe 2 Cannon 3 Breach 4 Infidel 5 District
Easy 100 (简单 100) Medium 2 (中等 2) Harder 121 (较难 121)
Quiz (问答)
1 突尼斯 2 宾·克罗斯比 3 弹出眼 (Popeye) 4 三位：玛格丽特·撒切尔、特蕾莎·梅、莉兹·特拉斯 5 葡萄牙 6 西班牙异端审判所 7 埃尔温·隆美尔 8 谢菲尔德 9 Build Me Up Buttercup (歌曲名) 10 巴登-巴登 11 查伊姆·苏丁 12 大卫二世 13 艾伯泰大学 14 罗伊·基恩 15 美洲豹 (Panthera onca)
数独 简单版 No 16,980 困难版 No 16,981 超级极难版 No 16,982 词汇观察 (Word watch)
David Parfitt
Saikei a 第三大鲸鱼物种 b 一种装饰性微缩景观 c 一种短篇小说形式
Muntin a 窗户的支撑条 b 一种发出吠叫声的小鹿 c 一座小山丘
Polyonymous a 希腊神话中的独眼巨人 b 习惯性乐观的 c 拥有多个名字的
《泰晤士报》每日问答 Olav Bjortomt
1 突尼斯是哪个国家的首都？
2 《Bing Sings the Hits》(1954) 和 《Bing with a Beat》(1957) 是哪位美国情歌歌手的专辑？
3 在 1942 年的动画片《Olive Oyl and Water Don’t Mix》中，哪位水手由 Jack Mercer 配音？
4 保守党产生了多少位女性首相？
5 Mário Soares (1924-2017) 被视为哪个欧盟国家的民主之父？
6 哪一个由三部分组成的《蒙提·派森》(Monty Python) 喜剧短片中出现了 Ximénez、Fang 和 Biggles 三位红衣主教？
《泰晤士报》快速加密字谜 No 3365 由 Joker 出题
请填充网格，使每列、每行和每个 3x3 宫格都包含数字 1 到 9。
7 哪位德国将军在 1942 年利比亚的加扎拉战役中击败了英国第八军？
8 南约克郡的哪个城市是国家应急服务博物馆 (National Emergency Services Museum) 的所在地？
ALAMY
11 哪位俄国出生的法国艺术家创作了《剥皮兔》(c 1921) 和 《剥皮牛》(c 1925)？
12 哪位苏格兰国王在 1329 年开始其 41 年的统治时年仅五岁？
13 1997 年，哪所苏格兰机构成为世界上第一所提供计算机游戏学位的大学？
14 哪位爱尔兰足球传奇人物极大地启发了《Ted Lasso》中的角色 Roy Kent？
9 在《玛丽有种魔力》(There’s Something About Mary) 的片尾演职员表中，演员们对口型演唱的是 Foundations 乐队的哪首歌？
15 西半球最大的猫科动物，图中是哪个物种？
10 伊凡·图尔格涅夫 1867 年的小说《烟》(Smoke) 的背景设定在德国哪个温泉小镇？
横向 7 在低级教会徘徊 (5) 8 凭借冷静的工艺广播 (7) 10 用部分媒体压制工作 (7) 11 一部分菠菜或玉米零食 (5) 12 安静——新的时间旅行者正在打破它 (9) 14 粗糙信号中的奇特字符 (3) 15 轻轻处理没有头的打滑之鱼 (3) 16 允许处决的恶魔中断的家伙们 (9) 18 被接纳并被击败，损失数十亿 (5) 20 什么驱动演员在《竞争者》(The Rivals) 中追求领先角色 (7) 22 宗教教育后不再虚伪 (7) 23 短小而宽的建筑
Sakuro No 4805
在空格中填入数字 1 到 9，使每个圆圈内的数字等于周围四个空格数字之和，且每种颜色的总和正确。
如需互动谜题，请访问 thetimes.com
纵向 1 开放精英主义的粗鲁本性在儿子身上发展 (12) 2 治疗臀部的机构？ (8) 3 鞋子擦得锃亮但不是新的 (4) 4 獾大发雷霆 (6) 5 管理切割大部分优越的发色 (8) 6 时髦的鸟，Kenneth 放弃了 (4) 9 捍卫议长为另一个政府下的国家所做的事情 (12) 13 一个人尝试搬迁以求排队 (8) 14 马车厢爱好者 (8) 17 给许多人敲击的推销员说辞 (6) 19 战斗车辆惨败 (4) 21 什么开始粘贴皮革
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Spain’s military emergencies unit had its work cut out at Navas del Rey, near Madrid. A 39C heatwave is set to hit northeast Spain and southwest France tomorrow
Oliver Wright Policy Editor Ben Clatworthy Whitehall Editor Georgia Lambert Burnham’s ‘hard hat’ schools
Children as young as 14 will be encour- aged into technical training rather than academic education under plans by Andy Burnham to “value the hard hat as much as the graduation cap”.
In an article for The Times, the prime minister announced proposals for a radical shift from the traditional curri- culum by prioritising vocational educa- tion as the “first choice” for many child- ren beginning their GCSEs.
He accused successive governments of devaluing practical skills in favour of academic subjects that he claimed had
Charles aide to quit The King’s most senior aide is to step down next year. Sir Clive Alderton, principal private secretary to Charles and Camilla, has worked for the couple for 20 years.
£3.20 £2.35 to subscribers (based on a 7 Day Print and Digital Subscription) Don’t call me Mrs I’m getting divorced
led to a record one million young adults becoming disenfranchised and not in education, employment or train- ing (Neets).
The move is a sharp shift from more than 15 years of policy, pioneered by Lord Gove when he was education sec- retary, that prioritised academic attain- ment. The new policy will encourage children to combine core subjects such as English, maths and science at GCSE level with high-quality technical sub- jects linked to the jobs available in the local area.
Pupils would go on to study for tech- nical qualifications, such as T-levels or apprenticeships, rather than A-levels, while gaining work experience and
Betrayal of bereaved Robert Bush, a funeral director who has admitted preventing lawful burials, breached the trust of families on “an almost industrial scale”, a court has heard.
Tuesday July 28 2026 | thetimes.com | No 75096
building connections with employers. It is modelled on a system that Burn- ham introduced in Manchester called the MBacc (the Greater Manchester baccalaureate), which encouraged schools to tailor their curriculum to meet the needs of employers in the area, including manufacturing, engi- neering and construction.
Burnham said that in future the cen- tral government would “prioritise funding towards high-quality technical education and practical routes into work”. The Department for Education would reallocate its budgets to spend on technical education.
Ministers will also change the way school performance is measured.
I N T H E N E WS
Tourism clashes Spanish police fired rubber bullets and charged protesters with batons when tens of thousands demanded greater controls on tourism in Palma de Mallorca.
AI ‘will not kill jobs’ AI will not destroy large numbers of jobs and instead will help to boost productivity, according to Sir Pascal Soriot, head of the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.
MILITARY EMERGENCY UNIT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Inspectors will be told to recognise schools that provide high-quality tech- nical education and support young people so they can develop the skills, experience and confidence that employers want.
“For too long, we’ve built an educa- tion system around the idea that there’s only one route to success: university, a degree, a desk,” Burnham wrote.
“But somewhere along the way, we sent another message too: that if your ambition was to do something that required more technical skills, some- how you were aiming lower. That’s why we’re putting technical education back where it belongs — not as a second thought, but as a first choice.”
Chelsea on the hunt Chelsea are hoping to sign the England midfielder Jordan Henderson on a free transfer from Brentford and also want Danny Welbeck of Brighton & Hove Albion. y(7HB7E2*OTSRML( | +@!='
night snacks
your brain
against time to stop fires
David Chazan Gironde
France is racing to contain wildfires across an area a quarter of the size of greater London, before temperatures rise again and risk reigniting those that have been extinguished. Spain is facing the same problem in the regions around Madrid and Valencia.
President Macron said the weeks to come would be “tough and we must hold out” when he visited emergency services in Gironde. “This battle, we are going to win it together, this is the prior- ity,” he said.
The advance of the fires in southwest France slowed after rain and a lull in the wind, meaning they were no longer moving closer to Bordeaux. However, another heatwave is expected to push temperatures to 39C tomorrow.
“This is a moment of false calm,” said Matthieu Jomain, commander of the Gironde fire brigade. “We are likely to be fighting these fires for some time — weeks, perhaps even months before they are fully extinguished.”
More than 220,000 people have fled the fires in France. Macron acknowl- edged residents’ criticism. “I do not un- derestimate the anger,” he said.
The proposal is one of a series of announcements Burnham plans for his second week in Downing Street.
Tomorrow he is expected to set out plans to fast-track social care reforms. Yesterday he refused to rule out a so- called “death tax” to pay for the crea- tion of a national care service.
On Friday he will set out proposals to devolve further tax and spending powers to regional mayors.
A YouGov survey for the Times has found the first evidence of a “Burnham bounce” after Labour drew level with Reform UK in the polls for the first time in almost 16 months.
Labour are on level-pegging with
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William Hague, former Conservative leader, and Kezia Dugdale, former Scottish Labour leader Dr Nigel Fletcher on his new book about Churchill and Elizabeth II Sophie Winkleman on audiobooks and schools The parents of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, right, on the tenth anniversary of her allergy-related death
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BILL ODDIE The comedian and
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dies aged 85
COMMENT 17
WORLD 22 BUSINESS 27 REGISTER 41
LETTERS 20 LEADING ARTICLES 21
Are wildfires the
new normal?
Wildfires have been ripping through towns and villages in France and Spain, forcing at least 325,000 people to flee. And now Britain may be facing its own wildfire crisis. What does the future hold?
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high into winter and beyond
Emily Gosden Energy Editor president for gas and LNG research at Wood Mackenzie, said: “Low European inventories, strong Asian demand and limited new LNG supply growth almost guarantee elevated prices through this winter and into 2027.”
Gas prices are “almost guaranteed” to stay high through the winter and into next year as low levels of gas storage across Europe threaten a supply crisis, analysts have warned.
Households face continued high energy prices as a result, including a possible increase of more than £200 to the typical annual bill by the new year, industry estimates suggest.
Wholesale gas prices in Britain and Europe have risen by about 50 per cent since the middle of June, pushed up by conflict in the Middle East causing renewed disruption to shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar through the Strait of Hormuz.
Wood Mackenzie, the energy con- sultancy, said the disruption combined with historically low levels of gas in storage in Europe, where stores are only slightly above half-full, meant Europe was “approaching energy crisis territory”. Massimo Di Odoardo, vice-
Nigel Farage’s party on 22 per cent of the vote, slightly ahead of the Tories on 21 per cent.
The biggest rise in support for Labour under Burnham has come from younger voters. Before Sir Keir Starmer resigned last month, only 14 per cent of 18-24-year-olds said they would vote for the party — a figure that has risen to 26 per cent.
The education reforms are likely to prove controversial because of con- cerns they could lead to less support for languages, arts and humanities as support and funding are channelled towards technical education.
But in his article Burnham said the present system was failing too many children and fuelling the number of Neets. “From today, Britain will value the hard hat every bit as much as the graduation cap,” he wrote.
From today, Britain will value the hard hat every bit as much as the graduation cap. I see this as more than just education reform. It’s a different approach to welfare too.
“Because getting that right is the dif- ference between a generation of young people growing up with the belief that their talents can take them wherever they want to go, or growing up believing
Comment
ravel a few miles anywhere in Britain and things begin to change. The accents, the food, the footy kits children wear — and the history too. Every place has its own story. But for all that diversity, we still educate our children as though every place is the same.
That is the legacy of choices Britain made decades ago. As power was centralised and industries disappeared, we didn’t just lose jobs, we lost the ladders that helped young people climb into them. Local apprenticeships faded, technical education was pushed into the background and practical skills came to be seen as second class.
Today a million young people are not in education, employment or training (known as Neets). It would be easy to push the blame on them. Why don’t they work a bit harder? Why don’t they want it a bit more? But the truth is: they are and they
Wood Mackenzie said a similar price impact was likely in Britain as its whole- sale gas market was closely correlated with the Continent’s. The markets are linked by pipeline and compete for the same cargoes of LNG.
“Wholesale gas prices are a key component of retail gas prices, so ulti- mately any increase — or decrease — in the European wholesale price will feed through to consumers,” Tom Marzec-Manser, Wood Mackenzie’s European gas head, said.
Britain has significantly less gas storage capacity than its continental neighbours and “current fullness levels are 19 per cent below where they were this time in 2025”, Marzec-Manser said.
However, this was offset by the fact that “Britain produces more gas than
Behind the story
visit by the work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, to the Netherlands last month left him impressed (Ben Clatworthy writes).
He examined how workplace training, vocational colleges and “youth points” helped cut youth unemployment.
there was never a place for them to begin with.
“That’s why I see this as more than just education reform. It’s a different approach to welfare too. Instead of 16- year-olds leaving school with only dead ends, we’re investing early — helping young people build successful working lives from the start.”
Instead of 16-year-olds leaving school with only dead ends, we’re investing early — helping young people build successful working lives from the start. To read the full version of this article visit thetimes.com
do. What’s holding them back isn’t ambition, but the skills and experience to make the most of it. We know one of the key reasons we have a higher proportion of Neets than other countries is our relatively low take-up of technical education.
For too long we’ve built an education system around the idea that there’s only one route to success: university, a degree, a desk. That opened doors for millions of people and rightly so. But we sent another message too: that if your ambition was to do something that required more technical skills, somehow you were aiming lower.
In the age of AI, practical and technical skills haven’t become less valuable — they’ve become more valuable than ever. Our job is to rebuild those ladders of opportunity, rung by rung, step by step, together.
That’s why we’re putting technical education back where it belongs — not as a second thought, but as a first choice. From the age of 14, we will be giving children a new option in school: keeping core maths, English and science, but combining them with a real, hands-on technical
most EU countries and it is very well supplied with both Norwegian-piped gas and LNG”. Marzec-Manser said: “To be clear, there is no risk to gas security of supply — gas will not run out — but to import all the [gas] needed, the price will have to rise.”
Ofgem updates the price cap on standard gas and electricity tariffs every three months based on its assess- ment of costs suppliers are incurring. Prices rose by 13 per cent this month, taking a typical bill — using the energy regulator’s new, lower estimate of typi- cal consumption — to £1,663 a year.
British Gas and EDF, two of the country’s biggest household suppliers, have published forecasts suggesting bills will rise in October and again in January, while Uswitch warned that cheap deals were already disappearing from the market. Sabrina Hoque, an energy expert at the price comparison website, said: “The cheapest deal available today is £111 more expensive than it was just two weeks ago.”
McFadden said: “Inactivity is a last resort, yet in the UK we all too often see young people signed off and written off, without engagement or support.”
knock on their door,” a youth worker said. “It is often a case of tough love, but it works.”
McFadden and Andy Burnham believe the rise in Neets is partly due to pupils skipping school because it does not meet their needs, and that a better range of GCSEs and hands-on work experience will make a big difference.
At a visit to a Jongerenpunt (youth point) in The Hague, McFadden was told what happened when students failed to turn up for lessons or training. “We go and
Alan Milburn, the former health and social care minister, who is examining the youth unemployment crisis, has been increasingly looking overseas for a blueprint to reduce levels of workless- ness. He said Burnham’s reforms were “very welcome and a big step in the right direction”.
education. This will include gaining work experience and creating connections with local employers.
These new routes won’t be designed by Westminster. They’ll be shaped by the people and places they serve. Working with mayors, local leaders, employers and schools, we’ll identify the industries driving growth in local areas and make sure that local children have a clear route into them.
For the first time, technical education will be at the heart of our curriculum, not bolted onto the sides. And when a young person chooses a technical pathway, we’ll celebrate it with the same pride as someone taking the academic one.
S
operator with a sting quits after 20 years
nicknamed ‘the Wasp’ by Harry, has had a ringside seat to history, writes Kate Mansey
The King’s most senior aide, Sir Clive Alderton, is to step down next year, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The principal private secretary has worked for Charles and Camilla for 20 years but will stand down around his 60th birthday in May.
Described as a royal “chess player”, Alderton, who has a remuneration package of about £300,000 a year, has received plaudits for helping to smooth the transition of the change of reign.
He helped the King deliver some of the biggest speeches of his reign, including his address to Congress on the state visit to the US in April and a landmark speech in Berlin when, in 2023, Charles became the first British mon- arch to address the Bundestag.
Knighted in the 2022 birth- day honours list, Alderton’s longevity has been a sign of the King’s affec- tion. Julian Payne,
Comment
omewhere on the upper floors of Buckingham Palace sit the offices that make up the HR department for the royal household. And as of Monday, the team has a big job on its hands. With the news that Sir Clive Alderton has decided to step down from his role as principal private secretary to Their Majesties the King and Queen in the next year, the team must begin the search for his successor.
So, what are the qualifications to be the sovereign’s right-hand man or woman?
Geopolitical experience is a must. The candidate will need an encyclopaedic knowledge of the politics, history and culture of the UK and the 14 other realms where the King is head of state, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
former communications secretary to the King, described Alderton as a “royal ringmaster” who “has had the great good fortune to be surrounded by some incredibly talented colleagues”.
He added that Alderton was part of the “Golden Triangle, acting with the cabinet secretary and prime minister’s principal private secretary as guardians of our unwritten constitution”.
Valentine Low, former royal corre- spondent for The Times, wrote about Alderton in his book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown, describing him as “smooth, charming and humorous”. Low added: “With his boyish face and floppy blond hair, he looks like a caricature of an English gentleman… Some people love Alder- ton, who fits the image of the polished diplomat-turned-courtier; others find him a touch too elusive. He has, they suspect, read his Machiavelli. ‘Clive is a
schemer, a chess player,’ said one
friend. ‘He is a figure from Wolf
Hall or House of
A career dip- lomat, Alder-
ton has been in his post since 2006, bar a four-year stint as British am- bassador to Morocco from
point he was tipped to be the ambas- sador to Wash-
understanding. As the King is supreme governor of the Church of England, any applicant must have an excellent theological and ecumenical understanding.
Next, we have the military. The King is head of the armed forces and an appreciation of the duty and service that goes into the nation’s defences, and their history, is an absolute must. And finally, as well as privy counsellor one might perhaps add family counsellor. Given the role has to deal with the occasional bump involving a brother or perhaps a son, it doesn’t hurt to have a good sense of how to advise in such moments. The role is seven days a week, all day every day except for an hour on Sundays, when Their Majesties are in church.
This is the job Sir Clive Alderton has been doing in different guises over the past 20 years.
ington. He joined the Foreign Office in 1986 and served in Poland, Belgium, Singapore and France before joining the royal household in 2006, initially as deputy private secretary to Charles and Camilla, who were then Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.
Alderton’s current role includes pre- paring the daily red box of government papers for the King’s attention. He is of- ten seen by the King’s side and was re- garded as integral to the monarchy when he formed part of the walking
takes time to welcome newcomers and their families when they come into the unique world of court life, as he did my own when I joined as communications secretary in 2016.
He has a well-developed sense of humour and a quick wit. Knowing how and when to make Their Majesties laugh is actually more important than you might think.
Alongside the softer skills sits a ferocious intelligence and drive. His ability to see round corners and anticipate problems is extraordinary. He can think through each challenge that they are facing and then anticipate the response to any decision taken and then the one after that and so on. Finally, you end up in an entirely theoretical future state but one that has an uncanny habit of coming true.
He is also extremely good at “speaking King”. On an almost daily basis I would see people coming out of an audience with His Majesty utterly certain that he had just authorised one action or another only for Alderton to gently explain
procession behind the coffin during the state funeral of Elizabeth II in 2022.
Arguably one of the most conse- quential private secretaries of the modern era, Alderton went on to chair the coronation committee before the King and Queen were crowned side by side at Westminster Abbey in 2023.
Before Charles was crowned, Alder- ton played a key role in consolidating his many charities and handling the fallout from Michael Fawcett’s depar- ture as chief executive of the Prince’s
the difference between, as he would put it, a royal reaction and a royal decision. They are not necessarily the same thing.
Then there is the diplomacy. From the US and Canada to Europe, Asia, Oceania and even the Vatican, Alderton has faced huge diplomatic and organisational challenges. Whether that is maintaining close ties with the leaders of important countries or ensuring the King is not dragged into the politics of Westminster, there is never a day when the banana skins of public life are not laid at every turn.
It is worth saying, however, that Alderton does not operate alone. Working in the royal household is very much a team sport. Alderton has had the great good fortune to be surrounded by some incredibly talented colleagues. In Whitehall, there is the “golden triangle’: he acts with the cabinet secretary and the prime minister’s principal private secretary as guardians of our unwritten constitution. And within the household itself, a close working
Sir Clive Alderton at the King’s side at Sandringham in March, left, and following him out of St Paul’s cathedral in May, above. Below left: greeting President Trump last year
Foundation, after he was accused of offering to help a wealthy foreign businessman obtain citizenship in ex- change for continuing donations.
As one of the UK’s most senior diplo- mats, Alderton has had a ringside seat to history. During the general election campaign in 2024, he was seated next to Sir Keir Starmer at a state banquet for the visiting Emperor and Empress of Japan at Buckingham Palace.
While the King has relied on him, Al- derton has not always found favour with other members of the royal family.
The Duke of Sussex saw Alderton as one of the “men in grey suits” at the pal- ace. In his 2023 autobiography, Spare, Prince Harry did not refer to Alderton by name but appeared to nickname him “the Wasp”, writing: “Without warning, he’d give you such a stab with his out- sized stinger that you’d cry out in con- fusion.” Some palace insiders, including some senior members of the family, saw Alderton as deeply unpopular and divisive.
Alderton will stay in post until spring or summer next year, overseeing his own “transition”. The search for his successor is likely to include existing palace staff and external candidates.
The latest accounts show that Alder- ton, who has been on a long-term sec- ondment from the Foreign, Common- wealth and Development Office, earned £240,000 to £245,000 for 2025- 2026, with a total remuneration pack- age of £305,000. His salary and pension are reimbursed to the Foreign Office by the sovereign grant, the public money that funds the work of the royal house- hold. Records show that Alderton was provided with a grace-and-favour home “for the better performance of his duties with rent deducted from his salary”. Staff are often allowed to re- main in royal housing after retirement.
relationship with senior colleagues such as the lord chamberlain, the keeper of the privy purse and, of course, his redoubtable private secretary team, and so many others, ensures the essential glue continues to hold everything together.
Now, as he approaches 60 and begins to think about getting at least some of his mornings, evenings and weekends back, he can be satisfied with the achievements he has delivered for the King and Queen: the first accession to the throne in most people’s living memory, the numerous state visits (including that recent highly successful trip to the US), a Commonwealth succession, a coronation and the emergence of Queen Camilla as a much-loved national treasure.
That feels like a track record any public servant can be proud of. Julian Payne was communications secretary to the King and Queen, then the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, for five years until 2021. He is now chief executive of Edelman EMEA
Cross-country Youngsters from Lauder in the Scottish Borders take part in the Apprentice Rideout, a shortened version of the main Common Riding that will be held on Saturday. Dating back to the 1600s, Common Riding was a ceremonial blessing of land where town council members pledged allegiance to their lord
Oxbridge professors, says head
Georgia Lambert
Inappropriate behaviour by professors at Oxbridge has been normalised, the provost of King’s College has said, as the Cambridge college introduces measures to strengthen oversight of academics accused of sexual harass- ment and bullying.
The college has appointed a senior barrister to oversee an independent re- view of its institutional practices and wider culture and is strengthening its human resources processes, Gillian Tett, the college’s head, told The Times.
“What’s happened at King’s has revealed a problem which has been bubbling up right across Oxford and Cambridge in recent years about sexual harassment and bullying,” she said.
“There has been a culture in the past which was considered to be very nor- mal, and not just in Cambridge but in much of the British establishment. But we’re living in a new world where the
Marc Horne
The chief executive of Amnesty Inter- national UK has agreed to meet repre- sentatives of a gender-critical charity after her predecessor said he was too busy to do so.
younger generation is demanding — quite rightly — a much more inclusive culture of equality. That does not mean cancel culture, it does not mean going on witch hunts or finger-pointing. It’s simply a way of signalling that it’s time for us to get into the 21st century.”
King’s has taken action against two senior male academics. The college ex- cluded Herbert Huppert, 82, emeritus professor of geophysics, last year after a series of complaints that included har- assment, inappropriate touching, sexu- alised language and other misconduct.
Meanwhile, The Times revealed in April that Simon Goldhill, a former professor of Greek culture and litera- ture at King’s, was found to have sexual- ly harassed a student in her twenties.
Goldhill, whose academic works in- clude studies of sexuality in ancient Greece, admitted kissing the woman in a way that was “over-exuberant” and “no doubt slobbery”.
External investigators found four
sation but was rebuffed. The Amnesty International UK Charitable Trust is under investigation by charity regula- tors for publishing a report that con- demned dozens of women’s organisa- tions as “anti-rights”.
breaches of university rules on sexual and professional conduct, and he re- signed from the university last month. An investigation into Goldhill’s conduct is ongoing. Goldhill and Hup- pert were approached for comment.
Tett said the two cases should not be conflated because one disciplinary
Gillian Tett, the provost of King’s College, said she wanted it to be part of the solution
process had concluded while the other was ongoing. She added that King’s was “absolutely not unique” in facing scruti- ny over sexual misconduct cases, but hoped the college could help drive wider reform.
In January, The Times revealed that Oxford had been accused of putting
It prompted Sex Matters to write to Amnesty this month, urging it to “apol- ogise to your gender-critical staff, sup- ports and members of the public, as well as the individual groups smeared and to meet with us and others from women’s rights and gay rights organisations to discuss our common interests in human rights and non-discrimination”.
women’s safety at risk by refusing to share details of an internal investi- gation into sexual harassment allega- tions against a senior professor with the relevant college, citing confidentiality.
Oxford said that existing data-shar- ing arrangements were being replaced by a new version, which colleges are signing over the summer, and should be in place across the university by the start of the next academic year.
The changes are part of wider reforms, including mandatory training and a review of its harassment policy. A spokesperson said that sexual harassment and bullying had “no place at Oxford”.
In August last year, the Office for Stu- dents introduced rules requiring uni- versities in England to prevent harass- ment and sexual misconduct. Institu- tions must improve reporting and support for students, ban non-disclo- sure agreements and introduce clear policies on staff-student relationships.
critical groups and activists were an “anti-rights movement” and a “growing threat”. She added: “Its use of language does not reflect the position of Amnes- ty International UK, which is why it was promptly removed. We remain committed to defending human rights, including both the rights of women and the rights of trans people.”
Quintagram® No 2631
Solve all five concise clues using each letter underneath once only
1 Domineering (5)
2 Having a deep resonant tone (5)
3 Prehistoric remnant (6)
4 Flowers on a tree or bush (7)
5 Treated during manufacture (9)
A B B B C D E E
F I L L M O O O
O O P R S S S S
S S S S S S Y Y
Solutions see T2 MindGames p15 Cryptic clues T2 MindGames p14
Three swimmers die
Three people died after getting into difficulty while swimming on Sunday. A father in his sixties and his daughter in her thirties were pronounced dead at Fistral Beach in Newquay, Cornwall. A man, 55, died at a beach in West Wittering, West Sussex, and a second man was taken to hospital. Sussex police said the men were not known to each other.
Protester spared prison
A pro-Palestinian protester who climbed Big Ben barefoot has avoided jail. Daniel Day, 30, of Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, caused “serious disruption” that cost taxpayers an estimated £92,000 after he scaled the landmark and sat on a ledge for 17 hours. He was handed a 14-month prison sentence suspended for two years at Southwark crown court.
Violin teacher in court
An “internationally recognised” violin teacher at the Royal College of Music sexually assaulted a prospective student during a private “taster” session in 2022, Southwark crown court heard. Jan Repko, 67, denies one count of sexual assault by touching and one count of assault by penetration of a woman over 16. The trial continues.
Assault by lobster
A man in his twenties was punched unconscious by someone dressed as a lobster outside the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace, north London, on December 13 last year. The Metropolitan Police has released a CCTV image of a person they are keen to question. The victim received serious injuries from which he is still suffering.
Breakfast: 6am to 10am Our free radio station has all the latest headlines, interviews and debates every morning Listen seven days a week On DAB, app, website and smart speaker
Funeral director ‘breached trust of families on an industrial scale’
Sian Bradley
A grieving husband said “no punish- ment” of the funeral director Robert Bush could replicate his family’s suffer- ing after discovering that he scattered a stranger’s ashes over his stepson’s rest- ing place.
Bush, 48, will be sentenced this week after he admitted 67 charges, including fraud and preventing lawful burials, following the discovery of unburied bodies and ashes at a funeral parlour in Hull in 2024.
Christopher Paxton KC, for the pros- ecution, told Hull crown court that Bush, the former director of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors, breached the trust of families “on an almost industrial scale” while spending their money on himself.
The court heard yesterday that David Gorbutt had felt “abused” when he learnt Bush had given him a stranger’s ashes, despite an assurance they belonged to his late wife. Susan Gorbutt’s body was found at Legacy’s Hessle Road branch in Hull, 180 days after her death in September 2023.
In a victim impact statement read on his behalf, Gorbutt said: “I had scat- tered the wrong ashes ... I have had the uncertainty of not knowing who or what I have scattered over the ashes of Susan’s son. Who was that? One person? More than one? One word — ‘abused’ — springs to mind.
“There is no punishment suitable for him ... nothing can replicate the suffer- ing inside he has caused.”
Gorbutt was one of several victims who described being haunted by their memories of Bush “smiling” as he handed over boxes of strangers’ ashes while leaving their loved ones unburied.
Rhea Burton told the court that Bush had praised as “brilliant” her family’s idea to put her grandfather David’s ashes into memorial jewellery and tattoo ink. In fact, the 77-year-old lay abandoned for 139 days.
“We made necklaces so we would always have him with us,” Burton told the court. “Was Grandad actually in the coffin when we said goodbye? Whose ashes did we have?”
Most of the families still live in Hull. They described the lasting trauma of having to live near the premises on Hessle Road.
Byron Lill said he “can’t accept” that his mother, Muriel, was still lying there “only a matter of feet away” when Bush smiled and handed him a box of
Ali Mitib
A law student accused of driving a bomb across Ireland as part of a sus- pected dissident republican terror attack has been remanded in custody.
Isobella Perrie Sullivan, 25, of Abbey- lands Park in Clane, Co Kildare, was arrested at the scene after a bomb was intercepted in a car last Wednesday outside Carrickmacross, Co Mona- ghan, close to the border with Northern Ireland, where Irish police believe the device was destined. She was charged on Friday evening with possession of explosives in a special sitting of the Trim district court.
Images of the dead, left unburied or who weren’t cremated by Robert Bush. Family members described the trauma of the gruesome discovery at his funeral parlour
stranger’s ashes. Karen King told how her “lovely” father, Norman Bridger, 94, lay unburied in a cardboard casket for 323 days, still wearing the T-shirt in which he died.
“How could someone be so cruel?” King asked.
The conditions at Legacy’s funeral homes were uncovered when Bush
Robert Bush wept as the five-day sentencing hearing began at Hull crown court
asked directors from another funeral home, Evergreen, for help while he was on holiday in the US.
A worker warned them: “You two don’t know the half of it. Bodies have been there for years.”
When police raided the premises, they uncovered 35 bodies in conditions Paxton described as “something like a horror scene”. Bush admitted turning off refrigeration units to save money, while marker pens were used to cover
Troubles, was found during an intelli- gence-led operation by the gar- dai’s special detective unit into the New IRA. A man in his forties, who is alleged to be a member of the Dublin branch of the New IRA, the largest of the violent dissident republican groups opposing the Northern Ireland peace process, was also arrested as part of the operation.
Perrie Sullivan’s solicitor told a dis- trict court hearing on Friday that she had been asked to take a bag to the north and was unaware what was in it, adding she had been “manipulated”. She was granted bail with a host of con- ditions that included a €15,000 bond, the surrender of her passport, a curfew from 9pm to 7am, having a mobile phone on her at all times and signing in each day to a police station.
scrapes on coffins being reused for dif- ferent services.
During the search a police officer found a brown paper bag containing a “tiny item”, which he initially thought was a baby bird but had two hospital wristbands wrapped around the waist with the words: ‘Baby of Jasmine Bever- ley, born on 13/05/22 at 05.04’.”
Beverley’s son, Sunny, was stillborn at about 18 weeks and she believed he had been given a funeral and cremated. Instead, Bush had kept her son’s remains on the cold room floor for almost two years.
Paxton told the court: “In this bag was a white cotton pad. It looked like a dressing-type pad used by hospitals.
“[The officer] opened the pad and inside was a tiny item which he initially thought was a baby bird. Although initially unsure, he suspected it was a human foetus.”
As the scandal of how Bush had been operating his business came to light, police told Beverley about her son.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday, she said: “I dis- covered that he was still in there almost two years after we’d had the funeral and
had him cremated, which wasn’t the case. He was found inside the cold store on the floor in an envelope, and it was quite a distressing time to discover that what you thought had happened hadn’t actually happened.
“We’d always wondered where he’d been found, and we didn’t know whe- ther or not it was with the rest of the people. When we found out he was there with everybody, it sort of gave me a little peace that he wasn’t on his own.”
Gorbutt’s statement said what hap- pened to his wife would have been “her worst nightmare”, and that he felt sad, disappointed and guilty because he was unable to fulfil his wife’s last request to “deal with her death quickly and arrange her cremation as quickly as possible at her request, because as Susan would say: ‘You know I do not like the cold’.”
While industry bodies monitor fun- eral directors’ best practice and stan- dards, there is no regulatory regime in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, funeral directors providing pre-paid funerals are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
In the statement, Gorbutt said he
Yesterday Monaghan district court heard that Sullivan’s defence lawyer was not present and she would be remanded with consent to bail.
During the hearing, Perrie Sullivan, who appeared via video link from the Dochas Centre, a women’s prison in Dublin, wearing a white T-shirt featur- ing a “faith over fear” logo, told Judge Raymond Finnegan: “I thought I was getting out today with bail.”
The judge said he had not received an application to approve the surety. A garda officer told the court they were still making inquiries about the terms of the surety. She is set to appear before Monaghan district court on August 7.
became angry learning that the indus- try was unregulated.
“It is hard to believe a person needs more permits to sell burgers than to deal with the dead,” he said. “Why were no checks made and nobody raised any alarms before this?”
After the Bush case, demands are being made for rules and regulations for funeral directors over how bodies of the deceased are kept and looked after.
Financial records showed that almost £4 million passed through Bush’s accounts between 2017 and 2024 and that he either spent or transferred to his wife a total of £879,655.
Paxton said Bush “raised expecta- tions, made false promises and stole cash donations intended for local and national charities” over 12 years, that he “misled the police of his preparedness to clear the backlog of bodies” and “chose not to deal with those bodies entrusted to him, but instead spend the money on himself and others”.
When he was arrested at the airport returning from Arizona, Bush told police: “I’ve f***ed it all up. Everything. My whole world.”
The hearing continues.
cated” device contained a power unit, a detonator and explosives and was in- tended to be attached to the underside of another vehicle in Northern Ireland.
Justin Kelly, the garda commissioner, said on Friday: “What we found was an extremely significant seizure.”
Kelly said the force was continuing to deal with a “small minority” of “radical- ised republicans”. Kelly said he was not surprised the suspect was in her twen- ties, given attempts to target a new generation. “This is a threat that we’re going to continue to face for some time,” he said.
T
I
‘Death tax’ may be resurrected
Eleanor Hayward Health Editor Oliver Wright Policy Editor
Andy Burnham is looking at plans to introduce a basic level of free social care for all elderly people, as he failed to rule out a “death tax” to pay for the creation of a new national care service.
The prime minister did not deny he was considering a tax on estates to pay for the reforms as he prepares to outline his commitment to social care reform in a speech tomorrow.
Burnham will accelerate a review in- to the sector by Baroness Casey of Blackstock so that some changes can be implemented by the next election and launch a “national conversation” to get public backing for any reforms.
Burnham has said he wants to go as quickly as he can on social care, and has previously favoured a phased approach towards a universal service “operating on the NHS principle”. This will require a new model of funding and Burnham has championed replacing inheritance tax with a “national care levy” of 10 per cent on all assets after someone dies.
Yesterday Burnham refused to rule out introducing a care levy on all estates while Downing Street said it did not want to “get ahead” of his an- nouncement. “You’ve seen his determi- nation to tackle this issue, and I think that gives you a sense of where his feel- ings lie,” the prime minister’s spokes- man said.
The government would have to find an extra £18.5 billion a year to fund a fully universal social care system providing care at the point of need, according to the Health Foundation, a think tank. Some experts believe fiscal constraints would make it impossible to achieve this by 2029, but that cheaper options could be implemented as a first step.
Under proposals he first set out in 2010, Burnham said the “first stage” of a national care service should be offering “free personal care” to all those who needed it. This would mean that, regard- less of wealth, for the first time every adult would be entitled to a basic level of state-funded help with eating, washing and using the lavatory in their own homes. This system, which is in place in Scotland, would cost £6.5 billion a year in England if launched this year.
Eligibility for social care is strictly means-tested and anybody with more than £23,250 in assets has to pay for the entirety of care themselves.
Hugh Alderwick, the director of policy and research at the Health Foun- dation, said offering free personal care
Four days in and Andy’s sweating the small stuff
Labour is on course for a landslide victory in the Greater Manchester mayoral election as opinion polls showed the party reaping the benefits of a “Burnham bounce”.
Bev Craig, the Labour candidate to succeed Andy Burnham as mayor, is comfortably ahead of Reform UK’s Sian Astley in the race for control of the most powerful elected office outside London, according to a survey by More in Common.
Craig would win 39 per cent of first preference votes to Astley’s 19 per cent were the mayoral election held tomor- row, the poll suggests. She would beat Reform by a 30-point margin of 65 per cent to 35 per cent once second prefer- ences were taken into account.
Analysis
here have been 22 failed attempts at reforming adult social care since 1997 (Eleanor Hayward writes). For the 23rd effort to work, it will require a fundamentally different approach by Andy Burnham.
Baroness Casey of Blackstock, who is leading an independent commission on adult social care, has said previous proposals failed because they did not have public backing. Burnham has experience of this. When, in 2009, he proposed funding a national care service via a new levy on estates, it was dubbed a “death tax” and furiously opposed by Conservatives, killing off any prospect of reform.
A proposal by Theresa May to make people pay for care if they had more than £100,000 in assets was characterised as a “dementia tax” and contributed to the Conservatives losing their parliamentary majority in the 2017 election.
Speaking this month at the Local Government Association, Casey outlined how governments had not “secured public consent for the hard choices [social care reform] involves”. She explained: “Without public consent, each time we get close, the debate narrows and becomes caricatured. Everyone remembers the death tax and the dementia tax.”
This week, Burnham will launch a “national conversation” asking people how they think social care should be funded, and how much individuals should have to contribute. Options include a cap on lifetime costs, first proposed in the Dilnot report in 2011 which said no one should have to pay more than £35,000 in their lifetime. A costs cap of £86,000 was proposed by Boris Johnson in 2019, but went on the scrapheap alongside other social care proposals.
There is no shortage of detailed policy proposals for how to reform social care. The hardest bit for Burnham will be picking one and sticking to it.
21 per cent. The survey of 2,328 adults, conducted on July 26 and 27, suggests that Labour’s support has increased by 4 percentage points since Sir Keir Starmer announced his resignation last month, and that Reform’s share of the vote has fallen by 3 points.
It also shows that the youngest voters have responded most enthusiastically to the change of prime minister. Last month, 14 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds said they would vote Labour. That has risen to 26 per cent.
The spike in support for Labour under Burnham appears to have come largely at the expense of the Green Party. Since June 22, its support has dropped from 15 per cent to 13 per cent.
Luke Tryl, More in Common’s UK di- rector, said Labour’s support could rise. He told The Times: “This vote is both one of the first electoral tests of Burn- ham’s legacy in Greater Manchester and an early verdict on his premiership.
would be a “stepping stone” towards a universal system. “Free personal care is an example of how you would offer something for everyone, some kind of universal system, as soon as possible,” he added. “A staged approach would make sense given that public finances are tight. But we need to be really clear what the final vision is.”
However, Alderwick said, unlike a cap on social care costs, free personal care would not solve the issue of some people facing “catastrophic” care home fees in their final years. One in seven individuals face lifetime care costs of more than £100,000.
Casey had not been due to issue her final report on how to fund social care until 2028, but this will be brought for- ward by Burnham, which Alderwick said was essential to “build momen- tum” for change.
Yesterday, Burnham said he wanted “cross-party talks” on the future of social care, adding: “No party is in a position where they’ve got the high ground — we’ve all failed on this issue over decades and the pressure now on the National Health Service as a result of that failure is huge.”
Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has written to Burnham and said he is willing “to work together across party lines to fix social care”.
However, Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives will support reform only if it is funded by spending cuts to welfare, not taxes. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said: “This is a tax on the lower-middle classes who have already spent a lifetime paying into the system. Reform UK will fight a death tax every step of the way.”
In an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, Burnham said he wanted to fast-track some of the reforms within two years, arguing there were “major changes” that could be made before the next election.
He said: “It’s very personal to me. This costs the NHS billions of pounds and we will never get the NHS back to good waiting time standards until we fix social care ... I believe broken social care is the biggest cause of corridor care in the NHS. It’s the biggest cause of bil- lions being spent on people unneces- sarily going into hospital.”
During the Makerfield by-election campaign in June, Burnham told The Guardian that he would “look at all of the kind of implications” regarding inheritance tax and care changes.
became prime minister — and we may yet see a further boost in support for Labour — the data is already looking highly positive: a majority of Greater Manchester residents say Andy Burn- ham has changed the area for the bet- ter, and half believe he’ll be a good prime minister.
“It’s striking how little difference there is between voter groups regarding Burnham’s legacy: even those planning to vote for Reform in this by-election tend to say that Burnham was good for Greater Manchester, although they are far less convinced that he’ll be a good prime minister.”
More in Common surveyed 1,003 adults in Greater Manchester between July 11 and 23.
Yesterday, Burnham appointed Bridget Phillipson, the equalities minis- ter, as the Labour Party chairwoman. He said Phillipson “will help drive the culture change our party needs” and “play a vital role in ensuring the Labour Party is match fit for the next election”.
As Andy Burnham met President Zelensky, Rishi Sunak shared an uplifting
Political Sketch
s Andy Burnham hiding from the media? If you somehow move from being mayor of Greater Manchester to prime minister without holding a single press conference, or taking part in a single TV interview, it’s not surprising people might accuse you of such a thing.
At this point in his political journey, Burnham has faced fewer media questions than either Liz Truss or Pol Pot. The morning after he became MP for Makerfield, he hid from the media as they chased him through the side door of a café at a non-league football ground.
But now we know he’s not been hiding at all. When he was formally declared leader of the Labour Party last Friday, who was hanging around backstage, whispering into the camera but the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg? When he walked through the famous door of No 10 last Monday, whose was the first face arranged to be waiting on the other side? Kuenssberg again.
We know this because this series of historic meetings between Burnham and Kuenssberg has been deployed in a montage-style introduction to the prime minister’s first sit-down TV interview. It took place at Burnham’s new home from home, Heron House in Manchester, which we are sadly compelled to describe as “No 10 North”.
to give elderly free social care
photo of the Wensleydale Heifers and Lord Cameron posed with Jerry Kelly, the 2026 Senior Open winner, at Gleneagles
Burnham said: “We need to honour the manifesto upon which Labour was elected, and if I was to bring forward any changes, obviously people would rightly say, ‘Well, is this consistent with that manifesto?’”
House seems like an unfortunate choice of location. I can’t see it or hear it without thinking of Mick Herron, the writer of Slow Horses, and imagine No 10 North as a home from home for incompetent civil servants who unfortunately know too much to be fired.
But still, there was Burnham, and there was Kuenssberg. Out the window was Manchester, and on the 48-inch TVs in the meeting room, someone had uploaded a screensaver of the number “10” from the famous door on Downing Street, behind which Burnham has declared he does not intend to live.
So where is he living? It’s conceivable that at the end of a long day of radically reforming Britain and also filming TikTok videos about his favourite bar snacks, he unfolds a futon mattress and beds down for the night right there, beneath the Manchester skyline and the pictures on the glowing plasmas of his home far away.
last week. “It was a good call, it was a warm call, it got us off to a good start,” he said. “I always judge people as I find them, and I found him to be completely warm.” It’s an endearing trait to judge people as you find them, but would it be bad to bring in a bit of the president’s well- known contributions to public life over the last several decades?
He was asked whether appointing John Healey as chancellor meant he was committed to increasing defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP, that being the issue Healey resigned over as defence secretary. “The first challenge facing us both is to make sure the defence investment plan is fully funded,” he said. “We have to work that through.” A fascinating answer. The defence investment plan, and the insufficient amount of investment to be found within it, is the very thing that, rather than “work through”, his now chancellor resigned over.
PAUL DEVLIN/GETTY IMAGES; SIMON JONES/PA
nation’s social care crisis, with a plan for social care by the next election? “I will go as quickly as I can,” he said. It didn’t help that he was trying to describe doing something quickly but said it very slowly. The slowing speech is the key Burnham tell, and we can expect to see plenty of it. The slower the words leave his lips the more untethered they are from the truth. We got an impassioned diagnosis of all the ways in which dysfunctional social care cripples the NHS. But we didn’t get a plan for how it might be made right. “I’m only four days in,” he told Kuenssberg, with his head cocked to one side, and his mouth split open into a charmer’s smile.
He is only four days in, but he first came to Westminster more than a quarter of a century ago. He’s been dreaming of these four days all his adult life. He’s wasted no time in finding answers to the small stuff, like nanoscopic cuts to energy bills and reinstating the Tory party’s £2 bus fare cap. He must find answers to the big stuff, and four days in politics is longer than he thinks.
scrapping council tax and stamp duty
Ben Clatworthy
Ben Clatworthy Whitehall Editor the BBC there were “big decisions ahead”. He added: “What we’re trying to do ... is to make taxation fairer. I removed VAT off electricity bills, said we would do that, and that will come through later in the year. We are look- ing at how we take that little bit of pres- sure off people’s shoulders, reduce the cost of living.”
Andy Burnham has ruled out scrapping council tax and stamp duty and replac- ing them with a new property tax.
The prime minister was examining re- placing the taxes with an annual charge based on property values, according to reports. Burnham has insisted the changes “won’t be happening” but did pledge to “make taxation fairer”.
It is understood Burnham was given a policy paper arguing that replacing the taxes with a “single flat rate of 0.48 per cent of a property’s value” would mean a tax cut for 19 million low and middle-income households — 77 per cent of the housing stock.
However, when asked about the sug- gestion, Burnham said: “That won’t be happening. I don’t know actually where some of the stories that have appeared over the last 24 hours have come from.
“It seems that somebody within, I don’t know, 100 yards of me can say something and then all of a sudden it’s my policy. Or someone can pass me something and then I support every- thing within the document. It’s not the case that we are bringing forward plans on that scale at this moment in time.”
Under the proposals, submitted by the Fairer Share Campaign, such a scheme would result in a £556 annual tax cut for 19 million households. For the remaining six million to seven mil- lion households, their tax bill would either rise or remain unchanged. The rate of increase for those affected would be capped at £1,200 a year until the property was sold.
Downing Street said it was not true that the prime minister was actively considering removing council tax.
Stamp duty is paid on property sales upwards of £125,000. First-time buyers benefit from not having to pay the levy on purchases up to £300,000. However, the relief ends at £500,000.
Burnham used his first big interview as prime minister to criticise the unfair- ness of the council tax system, telling PM tells Zelensky: I am with Ukraine 100 per cent
A visit by President Zelensky to a naval base in Portsmouth yesterday sent a “clear message” of Britain’s support for Ukraine, Andy Burnham said.
The prime minister said it was “no accident” that the Ukrainian president was the first foreign leader to come to the UK since he took power, and that he intended to visit Ukraine soon.
The pair visited the naval base, where Burnham announced that Britain would hand over the intellectual prop- erty behind its new Stone Cloak electronic warfare system, enabling Ukraine to produce the technology at scale. The tablet-sized device is designed to block Russian detection of the drones it is fitted to. The Ministry of Defence has already given thousands to Ukrainian forces.
Burnham had previously said he was “persuaded” of the argument for reforming the property tax system.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: “There are people here in Greater Manchester who pay a much higher council tax than people living in much larger homes in London. So Rachel Reeves was right to start to reform council tax to create some fairness there in relation to people in homes that are of much greater value, who haven’t seen their council tax go up over the years because of the failure to revalue the banding.”
Labour has come under pressure from backbenchers to reform council tax, including from Jonathan Brash, chairman of the cross-party group of MPs on council tax reform. The Labour MP for Hartlepool told the i Paper “wholesale reform” was needed.
Brash said: “Council tax is one of the most unfair taxes in Britain, and no- where is that injustice clearer than in towns like Hartlepool.”
The Conservatives claimed Labour was “looking for more ways to tax mid- dle England”. Sir James Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary, said: “Andy Burnham and Labour are just looking for more ways to tax middle England and raise taxes on people’s homes.
“Replacing council tax and stamp duty with a new house-price tax would not be a tax cut for hardworking fami- lies. Quite the reverse — people across England would end up paying more.”
counted on “for as long as it takes”, adding: “Volodymyr, you are the first leader I have welcomed in person since taking office, and that is no accident. It is intended to send a very clear mes- sage: we are with Ukraine 100 per cent, I am personally with you 100 per cent.”
Zelensky responded that the rela- tionship between the two countries was “stronger than ever”, and thanked Burnham for his commitment.
The prime minister said earlier yes- terday: “Britain stands with Ukraine, shoulder to shoulder, and our support remains unwavering.”
The leaders met more than 200 Ukrainian military personnel who have spent the past three weeks in the UK taking part in Exercise Sea Breeze, aimed at strengthening war-fighting capabilities in the Black Sea.
Feisty feline Larry the cat, the long-serving Downing Street mouser who has seen off half a dozen prime ministers, tangles with a police sniffer dog outside No 10
could be set for early release
Matt Dathan Home Affairs Editor
When Kayleigh received the news last month that her father could be released early from prison, it felt like all of her hard work was being undone.
Along with her fellow victim Marie, she had campaigned successfully to change the law to ensure that paedo- philes would spend at least two thirds of their sentence behind bars.
While the change in the law would not apply retrospectively to include people such as Harry Miah, her biologi- cal father who had sexually abused them multiple times as girls and would be released halfway through his sen- tence, they felt they had achieved a vic- tory for future victims.
“We were really proud of that, al- though it wouldn’t affect us,” Kayleigh said. “It’s still quite soul destroying having to go through that, and it was worth it to fight for future victims.”
But now she feels her efforts counted for nothing after she received a call that has turned her life upside down and driven her back into campaign mode.
Not only will sex offenders once again be eligible for release after serv- ing just half of their sentence, but last month she received a call from the Pro- bation Service telling her that Miah could be released even earlier thanks to Labour’s early release scheme.
His original release date was due to be in September 2027 after serving just half of his 18-year sentence. The early release scheme will allow some prison- ers to be released after serving as little as a third of their sentence in prison.
cally, mentally and then it takes time to have to build yourself back up again.
“So last month, when we received the phone call to say you are going to receive a letter, obviously it came out in the headlines as well, that was heart- breaking for me. The fact that they’d completely overturned all the hard work that we had already done.”
Miah was sentenced for multiple counts of sexual abuse against Kayleigh and Marie who have both waived their right to anonymity to speak to The Times. This included the offences of in- decency with a child, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, one count of attempted rape and possession of
Harry Miah was sentenced to 18 years for abusing Kayleigh, above, and Marie
extreme pornography. It took more than 27 years after Kayleigh was first abused by Miah to get justice. She was aged six when he blindfolded her and carried out sexual acts on her.
She reported the abuse to police but it was not until many years later when they received reports from a second victim — Marie — that Miah was charged and prosecuted.
Marie had been sexually assaulted by Miah for four years. The abuse started when she was 11 and he was her council- provided taxi driver to the school she attended in East Sussex.
process at all.” Marie said she has had sleepless nights thinking about his re- lease, which have exacerbated severe mental health problems that she has suffered ever since the abuse.
Kayleigh and Marie are hoping Andy Burnham’s decision to pause the early release scheme while the government considers changes will lead to paedo- philes such as Miah staying in prison.
The scheme is expected to come into effect later this year in some form, given the imperative to create enough room to stop prisons running out of space again. Efforts have turned to excluding the most dangerous and serious crimi- nals from benefiting from the scheme.
The Conservatives have called for paedophiles to be excluded from the scheme, a proposal backed by growing numbers of Labour MPs. Today Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, will call on Burnham to introduce emergency legislation to stop the early release of paedophiles and rapists.
body is freed from jail on September 2, when the law change is due to come in- to effect.
However, the Ministry of Justice said it did not need to pass new legislation to delay the implementation of the scheme beyond September 2.
Today, Kayleigh and Marie will be among a group of victims who are plan- ning to present a letter to Downing Street demanding Burnham scrap the early release scheme altogether.
While they wait to hear the outcome of the prime minister’s review of the scheme, Kayleigh and Marie have been left in a state of purgatory. They were not even told with any certainty when his new release date could be.
Miah’s home is a five-minute drive from where Kayleigh lives. She has family nearby and fears she will en- counter him on a regular basis after his release from prison.
Kayleigh said she would spend the next year living in fear for the day her abusive father is released from prison, adding: “ It’s scary. He’s violent. He’s ex- ceptionally violent. And all I was told on the phone and in the letter is the pos- sibility that he could be released early.
“We don’t have time to put anything in place that should be in place before a perpetrator leaves prison. I don’t know how the government is planning to manage that really.”
Marie said: “I’ve had sleepless nights and mental health problems through- out and I think his release is going to in- crease the anxiety because I don’t know where he’s going to live, I have no idea when he’ll be out. I fear bumping into him in the supermarket.
power grid sidelines boss
Geraldine Scott Assistant Political Editor
The boss of Britain’s electricity grid operator has been sidelined from an investigation into whether it tried to cover up blackout concerns during last month’s heatwave, after questions were raised over the inquiry’s independence.
Fintan Slye, chief executive of the National Energy System Operator (Neso), had been due to receive “regu- lar updates of progress” under terms of reference published by the company. But revised terms have removed him, in addition to the company’s lawyers act- ing as a go-between with investigators.
The investigation, by the law firm Eversheds Sutherland, is examining claims Neso doctored operational records to dodge freedom of informa- tion laws and that its corporate affairs team interfered in control room deci- sions during last month’s heatwave, when the grid came under severe strain.
The climbdown came after a fort- night of pressure from Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary. In a letter to Miatta Fahnbulleh, the new energy secretary, she accused Neso of having “misled the press, their own staff, and potentially ministers”.
The revised terms give staff a confi- dential email address and phone line to contact investigators. Neso said its executive would not be shown the inquiry’s findings until they were final.
shares Farage ‘guillotine’
Daisy Eastlake Political Reporter
Reform UK has reported Zack Polan- ski, the Green Party leader, to police after he shared a photograph of a man in a T-shirt featuring an illustration of a guillotine alongside the message: “We’re only making plans for Nigel”, in an apparent reference to Nigel Farage.
The post appeared on Polanski’s Instagram account after a fundraising event in Bristol. Polanski has since removed the post. A party spokesman said: “After attending a public event, Zack accepted a request to collaborate on a post with several images. Once this image was brought to his attention he immediately unshared the post. He unequivocally does not support this type of dangerous message.”
Reform UK accused Polanski of “incitement to murder” for sharing the post. Farage said that he would “expect to be arrested” if he posted a similar photo.
The Metropolitan Police said it was investigating the report.
Georgia Lambert The research was based on surveys of 110,114 children aged eight to 18 and 3,000 parents of children aged five to 18. It found that 47.3 per cent of children and young people listened to audio content this year, while 69.2 per cent of parents said someone in their house- hold listened to audiobooks.
Audiobooks and podcasts should no longer be treated as an optional extra in schools but become a core part of every child’s reading journey, experts say.
A study by the National Literacy Trust, a charity, and the publisher Pen- guin Books found that almost half of children and young people regularly listened to audio, which experts argue should be embraced by schools along- side traditional reading.
Friends, Romans Garrowhill Bowling Club held its “bowls through the ages pageant and tournament”, part of the Commonwealth Games 2026 festival in Glasgow
Olympiad with a perfect score
Tom Whipple
There was a question on combinatorics, which Alex Chui admits he found a bit tricky. But he got full marks. There was a question on geometry that was good fun. He got full marks on that too.
Overall? Well, Chui said, after nine hours of problems, he found the tough- est school-age maths exam in the world “very enjoyable”.
And, as the British competitor fin- ished with a perfect score, he had also become the most successful Inter- national Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) competitor in history. This week, in Shanghai, Chui, in year 13 at Tonbridge School, was awarded a gold medal — his seventh medal in the annual event.
Podcasts were the most popular for- mat among young listeners: 49.1 per cent listened exclusively to podcasts and 28.7 per cent listened to both pod- casts and audiobooks, while 22.3 per
possible because he entered his first competition at the start of secondary school. “Being at that level at age 11 and 12 is truly remarkable,” Yeo added.
The IMO is considered the pre-emi- nent proving ground for the world’s future professional mathematicians. Each year, countries around the world enter a team of their six top school-age mathematicians, where they will at- tempt six problems over two days.
The British team is selected after a series of examinations held by the UK Maths Trust. Historically, most of the UK team — who this year came eighth — will go on to study maths at Cam- bridge.
Globally, winners of the Fields Medal, the maths equivalent of the Nobel, are often former IMO competi- tors. Of the four mathematicians who won the Fields Medal this week, two previously won medals in the IMO and one in the equivalent computer science competition.
cent listened only to audiobooks. More than 28 per cent of children said listen- ing to audio increased their interest in reading books, while 30 per cent of audiobook listeners said they helped them understand stories when they found reading difficult.
While engagement in audio content has risen steadily in recent years, from 39.4 per cent in 2023 to 42.3 per cent in 2024, the latest research suggests audio has become firmly embedded in child- ren’s daily lives. Researchers said that,
for the first time, more children and young people now engaged with audio content than read for enjoyment.
Jonathan Douglas, chief executive of the National Literacy Trust, said: “Audio is much more than an alternative to print — it is another powerful route into stories, knowledge, and reading for enjoyment.” He added: “We need to ensure that high-quality audio is a core part of every child’s reading journey – at home, in school, and in the community – not just an optional extra.”
testants taking part won gold medals.
“This year was particularly meaning- ful for me as it was my final IMO, which brought some extra pressure because I wanted to make the most of my last opportunity to compete,” Chui said.
“However, once the competition began, I focused on enjoying the prob- lems and the experience itself.”
He added that his love of maths began young.
“I remember learning about prime numbers in primary school and being fascinated that such simple objects could have such unexpected properties. I started taking part in maths competi- tions from an early age, and doing well in them gave me confidence that I could tackle more challenging problems.
“This eventually led me to join Olympiad training when I was nine, where I began exploring mathematics in much greater depth,” he said, adding that he was looking forward to univers- ity-level maths, when he begins at Cambridge next year.
Nadia Shireen, a National Literacy Trust ambassador and author of Bar- bara Throws a Wobbler, said: “There can sometimes be a feeling that listen- ing to an audiobook somehow ‘doesn’t count’ … but I couldn’t disagree more. It’s really useful to now have the data that backs up the value of audiobooks.
“If our aim is to get as many people as possible to connect with stories, we mustn’t ignore the power of oral story- telling — we’ve been doing it for centu- ries, after all.”
JAMIE WILLIAMSON
its appeal as Gen Zers stay close to home
Sanchez Manning Social Affairs Correspondent
The days of ambitious young upstarts heading to the bright lights of the big city to make their fortune may be num- bered, according to a poll.
Almost half of Gen Zers say they are choosing to stay in their own communi- ties rather than moving to London or other big cities to begin their careers after completing their education, the research found.
The poll by research firm Opinium, commissioned by Coca-Cola Great Britain, surveyed more than 2,000 UK adults over a week in June this year. It found that 44 per cent cited a desire to be close to their families as a reason for wanting to stay put, while 27 per cent said a more affordable cost of living was the driving factor.
The findings also gave broader indi- cations of how the ambitions of Gen Z may have changed compared with pre- vious generations. Nearly three in five (58 per cent) said they were considering more vocational job opportunities and over half — 52 per cent — were think- ing about following in their parent’s footsteps by, for example, joining a family business or entering a trade.
The shift reflects the tendency of young people to remain in the family home for longer as the rising cost of liv- ing makes it less affordable to move out.
Researchers from the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies previously ana- lysed data from 10,000 Gen Zers taking part in its Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) and found that 68 per cent were still living with their parents at the age of 23 — three times the number of mil- lennials living at home a decade earlier.
The findings echo the increasing popularity among young people of vo- cational and trade jobs, as fears grow that AI will soon render many white collar roles obsolete. Of those consider- ing following in family footsteps, 32 per named financial stability as one of the benefits and 29 per cent said it gave them a clearer route into the workforce.
Lewis Baker, 17, who joined Coca- Cola as an apprentice and works along- side his father at the company’s Wake- field site in West Yorkshire, told the re- searchers: “Joining the team felt like I was following in my family’s footsteps. He’s been there for 25 years, and work- ing alongside him has taught me so much — not just about the job, but the pride people take in making something that’s part of everyday life for families and businesses.”
hold firm, Macron tells firefighters
David Chazan Saint-Jean d’Illac
Bone-dry pine trees burnt like match- wood, sending columns of thick black smoke billowing over Saint-Jean- d’Illac, a rural area barely nine miles from Bordeaux.
Overhead, a reconnaissance helicop- ter circled the blaze, directing a water- bombing aircraft to its target.
Moments before each drop, a siren on board the helicopter sounded — a warning to the firefighters below to take cover.
“The sirens ensure that we stay safe on the ground and avoid any injuries,” said Matthieu Jomain, a commander with the Gironde fire brigade.
The advance of wildfires in south- western France slowed yesterday after overnight rain and a lull in the wind. “The fire is more stable today than it was in previous days. It’s not moving closer to Bordeaux,” Jomain said.
He cautioned, however, that the res- pite may prove fleeting. A renewed heatwave this week is expected to push temperatures to 38C or 40C. “This is a moment of false calm,” he said. “We are likely to be fighting these fires for some
There was criticism of President Macron for visiting Gironde firefighters
time — weeks, perhaps even months before they are fully extinguished.”
Around the blaze in Saint-Jean- d’Illac, local farmers and emergency workers have bulldozed trees to create a buffer zone in the hope of halting the advancing wall of flames.
President Macron travelled to Gironde and delivered a stark warning to firefighters, soldiers and police officers battling the blazes. “The com- ing weeks are going to be tough and we must hold firm,” he said. “This battle, we are going to win it together, this is the priority.”
He added: “We owe a lot to the fire- fighters. We are infinitely grateful to them. I know that these past few days have been very wearing. We are facing a totally unprecedented fire, the hard- est since the Second World War.”
Macron said: “I do not underestimate the anger.”
In Bordeaux, some residents ques- tioned the timing of his visit, as crews raced to contain the fires before tem- peratures climb again. “There’s a risk that the high temperatures could reignite fires that have died down, or spark new ones,” Jomain said.
Chantal, 46, a hairdresser in Bor- deaux who declined to be identified by her surname, said the president should have waited until the crisis was brought under control before visiting the region.
“I think his presence will distract people from focusing on the job in hand and divert badly-needed resources from firefighting to showing him around and keeping him safe,” she said.
Macron had earlier thanked France’s European partners for their “valuable support”, naming Romania, Croatia, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Switzerland.
Croatia has deployed two water- bombing aircraft and Swiss firefighters have joined French crews on the ground.
Questions have also been raised locally about preparedness. Stéphane Lafitte, 52, who was evacuated from his home in Saint-Médard-en Jalles on Friday night, asked: “Why do we not have more firefighting planes? Was it a question of cost? With climate change, everyone knows the risk is growing — and this fire is larger than anything we’ve seen before.”
The blaze in Gironde, the depart- ment where Bordeaux is located, has already consumed an area four times the size of Paris. “It’s the biggest disaster of this kind that France has ever known,” said Wilfried Schneider, a fire brigade spokesman.
Laurent Nuñez, the French interior minister, described the fire as “unprece- dented” and exceptionally difficult to contain. “It is autonomous, self-sus- taining, and spreads in all directions,” he said. “We have to remain very concentrated, very determined.”
Scientists say the fire was now inter- acting with the atmosphere itself. Fran- cesca Di Giuseppe, of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, said it had begun to generate its own weather systems.
Several pyrocumulonimbus clouds — so-called “fire thunderstorms” — have been observed. These form when intense heat drives smoke and moisture high into the atmosphere, where cool- ing air causes condensation and cloud formation.
Under certain conditions, the clouds can develop into full thunderstorms, producing lightning capable of igniting fresh fires far beyond the original blaze. Rain may also fall, though it often evap- orates before reaching the ground.
Tom Gould
Spanish firefighters are struggling to control raging wildfires in the regions of Madrid and Valencia before a new heatwave expected to hit tomorrow.
Temperatures of up to 42C would cause the fire risk to reach “very high or extreme levels” across most of Spain, the country’s meteorological agency Aemet said yesterday.
Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s prime minis- ter, said: “I ask for understanding and call on all citizens ... to exercise extreme caution and take every possible precau- tion.” He warned there were “difficult hours, complex hours” ahead.
areas west of the capital and near Valencia, in the east. Another 30,000 have been confined to their homes.
The flames outside Madrid were said to have “slowed their advance” over- night between Sunday and yesterday but the regional government stressed the fire remained a threat.
Yesterday afternoon efforts near the capital were concentrated on a “very aggressive” front to the north of the San Juan reservoir on the River Cofio. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid, described the situation as chaotic.
the Spanish Civil War that could detonate if the flames reached it, Chevi Bolumar, the fire chief of the Valencian regional government, told the public broadcaster RTVE.
The Valencian regional govern- ment’s minister for emergencies, Juan Carlos Valderrama, said yesterday the fire in La Vall d’Uixó had been contained but was “neither stabilised nor under control”.
More than 170,000 hectares have been destroyed by forest fires in Spain so far this year, an area larger than the size of Greater London. This figure was six times higher than at the same time last year, according to Sara Aagesen, the minister for ecological transition and demographic challenge.
Analysis
O
ne of the most dramatic phenomena born from the wildfires is the pyrocumulonimbus, or “fire thunderstorm” (Rhys Blakely writes).
At its simplest, a pyrocumulonimbus — often shortened to pyroCb — is a thunderstorm created by a wildfire. The intense heat released by a large blaze causes air, smoke and moisture to rise rapidly.
Left, a resident of Piedralaves, usually a picturesque village in northeast Spain outside her father’s destroyed house; above, a satellite photograph of Lège-Cap-Ferret in Gironde, France; right, firefighters battling a wildfire from spreading in Cestas-Perroton, southwest France; below left, Spain’s military emergencies unit near Navas del Rey, 35 miles west of Madrid; below, a fire in Marcheprime, Gironde, where planes also dropped retardant, below right
South
North
condenses to form a cloud. Under certain conditions, that cloud can continue growing until it becomes a fully fledged thunderstorm.
Only the most intense fires, burning beneath suitably unstable and moist air, produce pyrocumulonimbus clouds. When they do, they can cause dangerous fires to behave even more unpredictably.
UK set for fourth heatwave after 1% of average rainfall
Seren Hughes
Parts of England will swelter in the fourth heatwave of the year this week. Temperatures are expected to peak at up to 35C after record-breaking highs in May and June and another hot spell in mid-July.
This month’s temperatures have been 3C above the average across the country, according to provisional Met Office data, and southern England has had only 1 per cent of the average rain- fall for the month.
A total of 23 million homes are sub- ject to a hosepipe ban and drought has been declared across parts of Wales.
The heatwave this month has set off 19 fires in England and Wales. Yester- day firefighters were continuing to bat- tle a wildfire in the Cairngorms, which was in its 13th day.
Heat health alerts have been upgrad- ed to amber for the East Midlands, East of England, southeast and London from today until Thursday. A yellow alert also covers Yorkshire and the Humber, the West Midlands and the southwest.
The Met Office has said this week’s heatwave, which will be most keenly felt in southeast England, will be “short-lived”. Nevertheless, heat health alerts have been upgraded to amber in some parts of England and wildfire conditions are expected to remain elevated.
Tomorrow
Today
Thursday
Temperatures are expected to rise from today for much of England, Wales and eastern Scotland. Temperatures of 30C could be experienced today, rising to up to 35C in southeast England to- morrow before dropping to a maximum of 29C on Thursday.
A heatwave is defined by the Met Office as a period of at least three con- secutive days when daily maximum temperatures meet or exceed a thresh- old for a particular location.
During May, June and July tempera- tures of at least 35C were recorded for the first time in history, and this year is on course to break the final heat record from 1976 — 33 days where the maximum temperature exceeded 25C or more.
Gregory Wolverson, Met Office dep- uty chief forecaster, said: “This is a short-lived spell of heat, but tempera- tures will climb quickly through the first half of the week, particularly in the southeast.
“By [tomorrow] some areas could see temperatures in the mid-thirties, and while the heat will not be widespread across the whole of the UK, it will be enough for parts of the southeast to likely meet official heatwave criteria by Thursday.”
The UK Health Security Agency has
sudden, erratic surface winds that rapidly spread flames and embers in new directions.
The fire-generated thunderstorm may also produce rain. However, with a pyroCb, the intense heat beneath the cloud may cause this precipitation to evaporate before it hits the ground, a phenomenon known as virga. Firefighters may experience all the hazards of lightning and chaotic wind gusts but get no drenching downpour.
warned of increased health risks, par- ticularly for vulnerable people.
Not all parts of the country will be hot this week. Rain and cloudier condi- tions are forecast for parts of the north- west, with a chance of heavier showers and isolated thunderstorms.
The National Fire Chiefs Council said: “Fire and rescue services have already faced significant pressure this summer, responding to wildfire inci- dents during prolonged spells of warm and dry conditions. With the potential for further hot weather ahead, services remain prepared and ready to respond.
“While firefighters will always be there when they are needed, the vast majority of wildfires are preventable. That’s why we’re asking everyone to do
Three-day forecast
35C (17C)
29C (16C)
25C (16C)
25C (16C)
(min night-time temp in brackets) Source: Met Office
their bit, take extra care and be aware of the increased risk.
“It only takes one spark to start a wildfire ... avoid using disposable barbe- cues in parks, the countryside and other open spaces, never discard ciga- rettes on the ground, and always take litter home.”
Visitors to Normanby Hall Country Park near Scunthorpe have been warned to avoid sitting or parking under older trees with large branches because of heat stress.
Liam Dent, a parks and gardens offi- cer for the park, told the BBC: “Due to a lack of water, the trees are basically going into survival mode. [They are] trying to protect the main trunk and [their] system. Any branches that are untoward or have cracks in them, they’re just shedding them.”
About four or five of the park’s “veteran” trees, including a chestnut and an oak, have lost branches in recent weeks.
part of the convective plume of a pyroCb suddenly cools or loses its upward momentum. Air, smoke and moisture in the cloud rapidly descend, crashing down in a “microburst”. This can spread embers in all directions, instantly surrounding firefighters with new ignitions.
Conversely, in certain atmospheric conditions, the powerful updrafts feeding into the base of a pyroCb can begin to rotate, creating “pyrotornadoes” that can pull burning debris up into the sky.
28C (13C)
21C (12C)
Drug dealer uses child’s bedwetting to stay in UK
Jonathan Ames Legal Editor
An Albanian drug dealer is at the heart of a legal row over claims that he should not be deported because his daughter suffered from nightmares and bed- wetting.
Shpresim Koka was convicted in 2017 of dealing in criminal property and sen- tenced to 21 months in jail.
A deportation order was imposed after that conviction, which the Albani- an, now 38, challenged before he was convicted in 2022 of possession of cocaine with the intention to supply and handed a three-year jail sentence.
That conviction classed Koka — who was also known by the first name, Fation — as a “medium” level offender under immigration law.
Two years later, Home Office offi- cials ruled Koka should be deported after his release — and the Albanian appealed against that decision, arguing that sending him back to Albania would breach his statutory human rights.
Last year, a judge in the first tier of the immigration and asylum tribunal backed Koka’s claim to be allowed to remain in the UK on the grounds that deporting him would have been “unduly harsh” on his daughter, who was 11 at the time.
The tribunal was told that the girl — who was described as having been at “a critical stage of her development” —
Shpresim Koka argued it would not be fair on his daughter if he was deported
“suffered nightmares and was bed- wetting”.
But there was evidence that the girl’s condition had improved when her father returned home after being released from prison.
The original tribunal judge ruled that the effect of deporting the girl’s father would be “unduly harsh” on her because she “would be aware that her father was no longer in the UK and would be unable to be part of her life, other than by remote contact”.
The judge referred to evidence from social workers that remote contact would not be “sufficient” to meet the child’s needs.
That ruling was based on evidence from the child’s mother — who the
judge described as credible, despite there being no supporting evidence from the girl’s teachers or GP.
Social workers said in a report to the tribunal that difficulties faced by the daughter and her sibling, then aged 14, would be exacerbated if their father was deported.
The tribunal came to that decision despite evidence from the Home Office that Koka no longer lived with the family and was “not in a romantic rela- tionship with his children’s mother”.
But the judge noted that Koka main- tained “a genuine and subsisting rela- tionship with his two children” and that he was “closely involved” in their lives, visiting them “most weekends”.
Home Office officials appealed against the first-tier ruling allowing Koka to remain in the UK and an ap- peal tribunal judge has agreed that the earlier judgment contained “material errors of law”.
The appeal judge, Sarah Grey, added that the first ruling was “unsafe” and therefore “must be set aside”.
She ordered the case to be reheard with more “extensive evidence” by another first tribunal judge.
In coming to that decision, Grey noted that Koka’s two children “have now lived apart from their father for a number of years whereas at the time of his previous appeal he was still a part of the family unit”.
In the shades Chloe Hernandez admires the colours of the mixed borders at RHS Wisley in Surrey. The flowers include dahlias, geraniums and ligularias
millionaires in UK falls to a 17-year low
Mehreen Khan Economics Editor
C
The number of millionaires in the UK has fallen to its lowest level since the financial crisis, new analysis shows.
The Adam Smith Institute (ASI), a centre-right think tank, found that the number of people with wealth of more than £1 million slumped to 442,000 in 2025 — down by 7 per cent year-on- year and the lowest since 2008.
Its “millionaire tracker”, which uses data from the Office for National Sta- tistics, measures the number of adults living in Britain with a net worth of at least £1 million. It includes assets such as property, pensions, cash, and invest- ments. It ticked over the one million mark in 2020 before reaching 1.07 mil- lion in 2021. Since then there has been a sharp drop in each of the four years.
The ASI said the value of net assets has been hit by rising interest rates since the pandemic alongside a decline in banks’ savings rates. The index uses “constant prices” which adjust for the impact of inflation and fluctuations in the exchange rate.
In its report, the think tank said: “There has [also] been a well-docu- mented trend of high net-worth indi- viduals either leaving Britain or no longer choosing to move here. Million- aires are leaving the country for a num- ber of reasons, including the abolition of non-dom tax status, high levels of general taxation, and a hostile culture for wealth creators.”
Despite reports of a big wealth exo- dus, HMRC data shows no clear evi- dence that non-doms are leaving the UK in droves. Its latest figures shows there were 60,700 residents who have their permanent home outside the UK in the tax year ending in April 2024. Non-dom status was formally scrapped in April 2025. It allowed some UK resi- dents whose permanent homes were abroad to be exempted from UK tax on income they earn overseas. The status,
Jude Holden
Tom Holland has admitted some of his films are terrible and suggested audiences would be better off not watching them.
The Odyssey and Spider-Man star made the candid assessment while dis- cussing the strain of promoting work he does not believe in.
Speaking on the Dish podcast, hosted by Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hart- nett, Holland said publicity was straightforward when an actor felt gen- uinely proud of a film because recom- mendations to audiences were sincere.
But he said he had also faced inter- views in which he was asked why cinema-goers should buy a ticket for a film he was promoting while privately thinking: “You shouldn’t. Because it’s shit.”
which faced consistent calls to be re- formed from politicians, has been re- placed by new rules where foreign earnings are exempt for up to four years for new UK residents or those return- ing to the country after a decade.
The ONS measures the value of household assets every two years, meaning there are no official figures for the exact number of millionaires living in the country. The latest data shows there are 3.7 million households with net wealth above £1 million, most of which is down to rising house prices.
The ASI said Andy Burnham, the prime minister, should abolish inherit- ance tax and lower the rate of capital gains tax. HMRC data shows that 31,500 estates paid inheritance tax on death, about 4.5 per cent of people in the tax year ending April 2023.
The capital gains levy is applied on assets such as shares or other invest- ments that rise in value. It is applied at the point of sale and levied at two rates: 18 per cent for basic rate tax- payers and 24 per cent for higher and additional payers.
Allies of the prime minister have called on him to equalise capital gains tax with income tax, which is applied at higher rates at bands of 20 per cent, 40 per cent, and 45 per cent.
Burnham has said he will “look in detail” at equalising rates, but has made no policy commitment. He has also previously suggested abolishing inher- itance tax and replacing it with a “care levy” to fund social care reforms.
Andrew Griffith MP, the Conserva- tives’ shadow minister for business and trade, said: “Whatever their personal finances, everyone should care about Britain having fewer millionaires to contribute to the tax pot and creating jobs and businesses here. It’s a competi- tive world and when young and ambi- tious people are voting with their feet and leaving your country that’s a shameful sign.”
His credits outside the Spider-Man franchise include the crime drama Cherry, the dystopian thriller Chaos Walking and The Devil All the Time, a southern gothic drama.
He has played Peter Parker in three previous standalone Spider-Man films, as well as several other Marvel productions, and returned for the fourth instalment, Spider-Man: Brand New Day this year.
Holland has most recently appeared as Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, in Christo- pher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey.
He said promoting the two new blockbusters had felt “like a bit of a victory lap”, adding: “I’m super proud of both of the films.”
tells fans of Parkinson’s diagnosis
arly Simon has revealed that she has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s
The actor said that when performers admired the film they were promoting they did not need to mislead interview- ers or audiences about its quality.
Holland has also appeared in The Impossible, Uncharted and
the television drama The Crowded Room.
The comments emerged as Holland and his wife Zendaya
were reportedly planning a
large celebration in Brit-
ain after what has been
described as a low-key
wedding.
The Mail on Sun- day claimed the couple had chosen
disease after years out of the public eye (Keiran Southern writes).
The singer-songwriter, 83, issued a lengthy statement in which she told fans she also underwent surgery for skin cancer on her face, which made her avoid being seen in public.
Simon, whose best- known songs include You’re So Vain and
leap to Black Panther role
Joshua Thurston
The British actor David Jonsson will take up the mantle of Black Panther in the next instalment of the film fran- chise directed by Ryan Coogler.
The 32-year-old joined Coogler on stage at Marvel Studios’ Comic-Con International presentation in San Diego to announce the news. Jonsson will play the son of the late Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa in the third Black Panther film, due for release in 2028.
At Comic-Con International Jonsson and Coogler were joined by Letitia Wright and Winston Duke, who will reprise their roles of Shuri and M’Baku. “I want to say thank you so much,” Jonsson told the audience. “Believe me, the honour is entirely mine.”
Carly Simon, who is releasing a new album at the age of 83, issued a statement about her health problems after years out of the public eye
I’ve been learning how to live with Parkinson’s disease.”
Simon’s last public performance was in 2018.
Parkinson’s is a neurological condition that affects movement and speech. It is a progressive disease that can also cause depression and anxiety. There is no cure but medication can help manage symptoms.
Simon said: “Parkinson’s is different for everyone, and it can be unpredictable. Some days I’m so tired I can’t get the day moving at all. On others, it gives me a little more room to move, think, work and feel like myself.”
Simon, a Grammy- award and Oscar winner, said her health problems began with arthritis in her knees and hip. She had three joints replaced and assumed her walking problems were “an unfortunate and rather ironic part” of the recovery.
“But my mobility continued to worsen,” Simon said. “Overstuffed furniture became my enemy. Once seated, I could feel as though I had been swallowed by the chair and might remain there permanently, like a guest who had badly overstayed her welcome.”
While coming to terms with her Parkinson’s diagnosis, Simon was also treated for basal-cell carcinoma on her face.
Nobody Does It Better, said she was revealing her health problems because supporters had been asking about her lack of appearances.
“Between my mobility issues, the Parkinson’s diagnosis, the surgery and the emotional effects of it all, withdrawing from public view was the most palatable reaction,” Simon said.
“So many people have written to me, kindly wondering about my relative silence, asking how I am and what I have been doing,” she said in a statement to People magazine. “The truth is,
She will release Comes in Waves next month, her first collection of new songs since 2008’s This Kind of Love.
David Jonsson will portray the son of T’Challa, the role played by the late Chadwick Boseman
in the BBC series Industry, and his roles in Alien: Romulus and last year’s adapta- tion of Stephen King’s thriller The Long Walk.
He began his career in the West End, winning a Black British Theatre Award for his performance in the 2021 play and breathe… . He also has roles in the forth- coming films The Chaperones, Benn/ Eubank and Scandalous, co-directed by Colman Domingo.
final push to find Suzy Lamplugh
estate agent vanished, help is sought before the case is shelved, writes David Woode
Forty years have passed since Suzy Lamplugh, an estate agent who was “fun and full of life”, disappeared after meeting a client in west London.
The 25-year-old left her office in Ful- ham, west London, on July 28, 1986, for a 12.45pm appointment on Shorrolds Road, according to an entry in her work diary. She was never seen again.
Lamplugh was declared legally dead, presumed murdered, in 1993. Her body has not been found.
Now the Metropolitan Police are making one final push to provide Lam- plugh’s family with answers before the case is shelved next year.
Teresa Foster, the detective chief inspector who leads the Met’s cold case homicide unit, said the inquiry “haunts” her team because “Suzy’s never been found”. The convicted killer John Cannan was “the prime suspect”. He denied the accusation and died in prison in November 2024.
Foster said: “We’re not going to stop
A former Royal Navy petty officer jail- ed for life for the murder of two young men has been found guilty of sexually assaulting four people, including a 14-year-old boy, and had considered killing two of them.
Allan Grimson was sentenced in 2001 for the murders of Nicholas Wright and Sion Jenkins in the 1990s.
looking for Suzy. If anyone has infor- mation we will take it, and safeguard and protect them in any way we can.”
A smudged fingerprint on a rear- view mirror remained unidentified, police said. Foster hopes artificial intel- ligence and developments in forensic testing could help crack the case.
Detectives will spend the next year tracing 30 witnesses before the case is “mostly likely put into an inactive phase”. Foster said new information would be followed up but her team “won’t be working on it regularly as we are now”. Lamplugh’s family have been notified, she added.
Tamsin Tomlin and Lizzie Bingham, Lamplugh’s younger sisters, said in an interview with The Times that they felt “lucky” to have had her for 25 years. They said their family had accepted the police’s belief that Cannan was respon- sible and are “at peace”.
Tomlin, 64, a florist and gardener, said the police had “given us comfort they are doing everything possible for us”.
When asked what the ideal outcome would be, Bingham, 56, an operations business partner at United Learning, said: “The police have always been clear it was John Cannan and our family and parents accepted that. It would be good to know what happened to Suzy and where she is now — obviously that would be the ultimate answer. I suppose
other male complainants, between 1994 and 1999.
The double murderer told police that a sailor he had sexually assaulted was “lucky to be alive”, and added: “If you’re going to rape somebody, to get away with it, kill it.”
the ideal outcome is probably where we are now, in that we are at peace.”
Operation Phoebus, the name of the Lamplugh case, is one of the Met’s old- est open murder investigations. A miss- ing person’s report was filed later that day. Her white Ford Fiesta was found
John Cannan, who died in jail in 2024, remains the “prime suspect”
abandoned in Stevenage Road, Ful- ham, that evening with the doors unlocked and the handbrake off. Her purse containing £15 was in the driver’s door pocket.
The original inquiry failed to pro- duce a breakthrough and was closed in 1987. Cannan, whose prison nickname was Kipper, came to detectives’ atten- tion in 1989. A former girlfriend sus-
cent assault of the third complainant, and of indecent assault and of taking an indecent photograph of the fourth complainant, the 14-year-old boy.
John Price KC, prosecuting, had told the court that when Grimson was inter- viewed about the case of Wright in 1999, he had “told police there were others who are lucky to be alive”, whom he had failed to kill only because another person had been nearby.
pected his involvement but the police were unable to link him at the time.
The case was reopened in May 2000. Cannan was serving three life sen- tences for the murder of Shirley Banks, 29, in Bristol in October 1987, the at- tempted kidnapping of a woman and the rape of two more women. He strongly resembled an e-fit of a “well- dressed man” who was seen talking to Lamplugh near the vacant property.
He was interviewed three times but denied involvement. In 2002 detectives declared him the “only suspect”. Police passed a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service but were told there was insufficient evidence to charge him. The Met apologised to Lamplugh’s family for “significant opportunities ... missed during the original inquiry”.
On the day Lamplugh disappeared, Cannan claimed he was in Birmingham “treating my mother to a spot of lunch”. In 2018 police received information that led to a search and excavation of Cannan’s mother’s former home in Sut-
Nicholas Wright was murdered in the 1990s
Suzy Lamplugh was 25 when she went missing. Far left, pictured with her brother, Richard, and sisters Tamsin and Lizzie
ton Coldfield, but nothing was found. Land searches in Worcestershire and Somerset failed to yield answers.
Seat tapings from Lamplugh’s car were sent to the US in 2021 for testing but no DNA profile was found.
Tomlin and Bingham spoke to The Times on the eve of the 40th annivers- ary of their sister’s disappearance. Family and friends had gathered at a garden party in the spring to remember the woman described as “kind, thoughtful, caring, fun and full of life”. Sixty people attended the event in Sur- rey. Bingham and her older brother, Richard Lamplugh, 66, gave “lovely speeches”. They watched home movies and viewed more than 120 photos.
The sisters paid tribute to their parents, Diana and Paul Lamplugh, who founded the Suzy Lamplugh Trust — the UK’s first personal safety charity — praising their “outstanding” work in raising awareness of stalking and har- assment.
Bingham, who was 16 when Lam- plugh went missing, said: “When I reached 26 I was suddenly older than Suzy, having always been the youngest in the family. We’ve grown up, got mar- ried, had families and lost our parents — and we’ve done all of that without her.”
Tomlin spoke on the day her own daughter turned 26: “She is now older than Suzy. We’ve brought our children up to know they have an aunt.” She added: “We’re lucky to have had Suzy for 25 years but you can’t think it would be lovely to have her home. You never forget, never not include, but you move forward.”
A stained glass window commemo- rating Lamplugh’s memory was com- missioned by their parents at All Saints Church in East Sheen, southwest London.
“Our parents were involved with the church for 50 years,” Bingham said. “We didn’t have a body and never held a funeral so it’s a lovely place for the family to sit and reflect.”
Tomlin and Bingham spoke of their pride at their older sister being synony- mous with the protection of women’s personal safety.
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which turns 40 in December, led a campaign that resulted in stricter regulations for private-hire vehicle operators and drivers. It called for legislation change that led to the Protection from Harass- ment Act 1997; has trained more than 1,000 employers to minimise physical and emotional harm to staff, and runs the National Stalking Helpline. Diana and Paul Lamplugh, who were both appointed OBE for their charity work, died in 2011 and 2018 respectively.
Tomlin said: “We’re incredibly proud of what our parents achieved with the Trust. Suzy was always that person helping someone and she would love to know her life wasn’t wasted.”
Bingham added: “Our parents didn’t want others to go through what they had experienced. It’s a wonderful legacy that continues to grow despite neither of them being here.”
the Royal Navy Firefighting School in Horsea Island, Portsmouth. Price said: “That posting brought Mr Grimson in- to contact with many young males aged in their late teens, novices in the naval service subject to a regime of strict dis- cipline and over every one of whom Al- lan Grimson exercised great authority by reason of his status in that service.”
security glass
Douglas Alexander, then transport minister, recalls having a family holiday on the Isle of Mull interrupted by a call from a senior civil servant. “He explained that he was sending a security official to discuss an issue he wasn’t able to discuss on an open phone line,” Alexander, right, tells the ITV documentary Terror in the Skies. The spook “came to the cottage where we were staying and locked my wife and family in the conservatory in order not to inadvertently breach the Official Secrets Act”. Briefed on an imminent bomb threat to transatlantic airlines, Alexander was whisked to London by a waiting RAF Lynx helicopter. He did not mention when — or if — the Alexander clan were ever released from their conservatory quarantine.
larry’s domain Andy Burnham’s premiership may have left Starmerites out in the cold but Larry the cat’s grip on Downing Street remains absolute. Burnham revealed his bichon frisé-poodle cross, Axel, will stay up north.
diary@thetimes.co.uk | @timesdiary
Admitting his pet is an “angry little man”, the PM conceded that Axel “wouldn’t get on with Larry”. Peter Cardwell, author of Political Animals, quips: “Some call No 10 North an expensive gimmick but it’s good value if it keeps Larry and Axel apart.” Cardwell notes that Larry’s long list of vanquished rivals includes Dilyn, Nova, Poppy, Keir Starmer’s cats Jojo and Prince and Rachel Reeves’s kitten Pumpkin. Axel wisely declined a showdown.
The late Bill Oddie was baffled by the urban myths that followed him. He once told a diary elf about a persistent legend that he and “some naughty boys” at King Edward’s, Birmingham, rearranged traffic cones to divert Queen Elizabeth II’s cortège through the school grounds. Oddie heard it so often he almost believed it, but remained defiant: “I didn’t do that any more than me and the rest of the Goodies beat up John Peel in a
nightclub,” he insisted. “Or hit John Craven over the head with a tripod in an argument over a cup of tea ... Where do they get these things?”
brush with the clueless Standard gallery feedback forms used to be free in a box by the cloakroom. The National Gallery, however, has budgeted £250,000 for Sortition — a group seeking to replace the House of Lords with randomly chosen citizens — to convene a 50-person citizens’ assembly to review its purpose. Neither art expertise nor prior visits are required for selection. As one Tory source quipped: “Directors will have to pray a quarter of a million pounds yields something deeper than, ‘Who is Leonardo and why is he so expensive?’ ”
A tip on modern female empowerment from Kathy Lette, who took to Radio 4’s Loose Ends to plug her new novel, The Sisterhood Rules. “Women should be each other’s human Wonderbras — supportive and making each other look bigger and better,” Lette advised. “I’m wearing a Wonderbra now and it’s so cool because when you take it off, you wonder where the hell your breasts went.” Uplifting news, in every sense.
ed halford
in a world of trouble
Rhys Blakely Science Editor it, he said, the observatory would cease operating. He added technology devel- oped for radio astronomy has produced wider benefits, including the invention of wifi and improvements in medical scanners. More recently, Jodrell Bank has developed new ways to track satel- lites and space debris, a capability des- tined to become more valuable.
The Jodrell Bank Observatory, which has been home to the UK’s largest tele- scope for nearly 70 years, faces closure after government funding was with- drawn from its most significant scien- tific project.
The site in Cheshire is dominated by the 76-metre Lovell radio telescope. Since 1957, it has been used to study dis- tant stars and galaxies. During the Cold War, it tracked Soviet space missions.
It is at the centre of e-Merlin, a network of seven radio tele- scopes across En- gland that pro- duce images with a sharpness com- parable to those from the Hubble Space Telescope.
The radio telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire has been in use since 1957
tion and Techno- logy, which over- saw UKRI. “The damage to the UK’s science base has already been substantial,” he said. UKRI said the Jodrell Bank decision came after a “rigorous prioritisation process” aimed at directing money towards areas that would deliver the greatest long-term scientific benefit and value. The agency said it would continue to support other work at the Jodrell Bank site, including its role as headquarters of the Square Kilometre Array Observ- atory, an international project building a new generation of radio telescopes.
However, UK Re- search and Innovation (UKRI), the public body that distributes govern- ment research money, said that the £2.8 million annual funding for e-Merlin would end in March 2028.
Professor Simon Garrington, the ob- servatory’s associate director, said this would “pull the rug out” from under Jodrell Bank’s scientific work. Without
Professor Brian Cox, the physicist and broadcaster, urged the government
to intervene, arguing the cuts
had been inherited from
decisions made before
Andy Burnham be-
came prime minister
and disbanded the
Department for Science, Innova-
Cyclist who accused driver is fined for careless riding
Bill Curtis
A cyclist who sent footage of bad driv- ing to the police has been fined £1,200 because the same video captured him “riding without due care and attention”.
The man, from Leeds, uploaded a video showing a motorist passing close to him on West Yorkshire police’s online reporting portal. However, later in the clip, he was seen approaching a parked car as another vehicle travelled towards him.
Rather than slow down or unclip from his pedals, the rider, who has not been named, chose to travel between the parked car and the vehicle heading directly towards him, according to police.
“This distance was significantly less than the car he reported earlier had given him. The driver was forced to hug the kerb to reduce the risk of contact,”
Jonathan Ames Legal Editor
A 64-year-old amateur stunt pilot is suing for £2 million after blaming a “dodgy nut” for causing his biplane to nosedive into a runway.
Trevor Davis suffered multiple inju- ries, including a cracked skull, when he crashed 15 minutes after take-off at Popham airfield near Basingstoke in 2022. He has told a judge that a mechanical fault caused by a loose or missing nut meant that he was unable to steer the aircraft over the Hampshire countryside.
Davis, a veteran of aerobatics dis- plays, has claimed up to £2 million in compensation for the effects of the accident from the Light Aircraft Asso- ciation, which he said should not have authorised his plane as safe to fly.
However, lawyers for the association have denied that the nut could have been loose or missing during an inspec- tion and they have told the judge that Davis was himself responsible for the accident owing to poor piloting.
West Yorkshire police said on Face- book. It added that the footage had been captured in the village of Men- ston, near Ilkley, and that the rider had been dealt with by magistrates in Brad- ford last week.
The force said: “It is important that all road users are aware of the Highway Code, are considerate to other road users and understand their responsibil- ity for the safety of others.”
The £1,200 cost covered fines and court costs. Footage of the incident, released by police, has gone viral, gain- ing thousands of reactions.
Responding to reactions online, West Yorkshire police said: “As a reminder, let’s not turn this into an anti-cyclist rhetoric.
“This cyclist was in the wrong on this occasion but there are plenty of cyclists on our roads who obey the highway code and ride responsibly.”
Trevor Davis says that after taking off from Popham airfield the joystick on his Pitts Special biplane stopped working
first designed in the 1940s. After its introduction in the United States in the 1960s, the Pitts Special dominated stunt flying because of its excellent manoeuvrability, although it had a rep- utation for being difficult to land.
Home delivery Barn owlets wait for their parents to return with food on a farm in Lincolnshire. A bumper year for voles and mice should mean plenty to go round
The court heard evidence that the aircraft was inspected and ruled safe to fly by an association inspector before Davis took off.
However, Davis said that after 15 minutes in the air, he was unable to control the elevator with his joystick.
that the association inspector failed to “red flag” over the plane’s airworthi- ness.
However, lawyers for the association told the court that there were no obvi- ous shortcomings in the work con- ducted on the biplane and that the inspector “would have detected the absence of the nut/split pin had it been absent during the inspection”.
camp at Carr’s Scottish castle
Stuart MacDonald
Alan Carr plans to host luxury glamp- ing trips in the grounds of Ayton Castle in Berwickshire, which he bought this year for more than £3.3 million.
For £140 to £160 a night, guests will be able to take “serene walks” through the estate’s woodland, and stay in a tent that sleeps up to four people. Cold-water sessions and a sauna will be available.
The glamping experience will run from August 21 to September 11 and will be filmed for a Disney+ series about Carr’s move to the castle.
Carr, 50, has said he is hoping to find love in the village of Ayton, which has a population of 600. He was inspired to buy the castle by his victorious appear- ance on Celebrity Traitors, filmed at Ardross Castle in the Highlands.
his handling of the aircraft as he attempted to land.
Defending the claim, the associa- tion’s lawyers said that Davis could have countered the nose dropping and prevented the crash by increasing throttle to “give a burst of engine power”.
Christopher Loxton, a barrister for the association, argued that Davis “could also have chosen a far less challenging airfield to land at in the vicinity, for example, Thruxton”.
Meanwhile, Davis told the court that he fought desperately to regain control by using the rudder and wing ailerons as he came in to land, but “despite his best efforts” the stunt plane hit the run- way nose first before flipping over.
Davis struck his head on the cockpit rim, resulting in brain damage and a fractured skull, alongside smashed teeth and injuries to his neck, arm and shoulder.
Patrick Vincent KC, representing the pilot, told a preliminary hearing that Davis “continues to suffer from head- aches and cognitive and behavioural problems as a result of the head injury.
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William Hague
omething very unusual happened over the weekend. In India the normally omnipotent government of Narendra Modi was humbled and forced to capitulate to pressure. Millions of young people making up the “cockroach” movement — so- called because they were originally dismissed as cockroaches by the authorities — pushed a ridiculed Modi into a humiliating climbdown. He was forced to sack his education minister and surrender to many other demands.
The protests originated in the leaking of exam papers that forced two million students to resit their exams. But they have illuminated the intensifying anger of Generation Z at arrogant and complacent ministers as their expectations are not met — 60 per cent of unemployed people in India are university graduates. They are part of a global trend, seen in youth-led protests in Nepal, Indonesia, Kenya and Serbia and the ousting of the prime minister of Bangladesh.
Such movements are most likely to take shape in countries with large, youthful populations and ineffective or corrupt ruling parties. They will be at their most dramatic if they ever manage to break through the repression of governments in Iran or China. Yet here in Britain and the rest of Europe, major issues are developing about unfairness between generations that political leaders would be wise to address.
Earlier this year I argued in an interview that late baby boomers such
as me, born in the 1960s, have been the luckiest generation ever. We received free university education, chose among plentiful careers, bought houses that shot up in value and enrolled in defined benefit pensions (that we then closed to new entrants). Talk to recent graduates and you will find very different prospects. The number of entry-level jobs is plummeting. The proportion of twentysomethings living with their parents has been soaring — nearly half a million more among 25 to 29-year-olds on the latest estimates. Some of those are wrestling with student loan repayments that are changed on the whim of each passing government.
The BBC analysed my claim about the lucky generation in an interesting piece by Evan Davis. He came up with a redefinition: that it was a great generation in which to be lucky, since many born in the Sixties never went to university or got into such a
could help with travel, savings and homes
pension scheme. That is a very fair point that I completely accept.
Yet our good fortune as late baby boomers hasn’t just been financial. We have lived through a long period of peace and rising prosperity; no pandemic tore a hole in our formative years; no addictive screens took over our minds; we played freely in childhood before anxiety swept through society; and we were not fed the junk food and highly processed items that are now substituted for actual nutrition. Compared to today’s Gen Z, we are a lucky bunch.
We are also managing to load the costs of our decisions on to later
generations. In Britain, the national debt is reaching the limits of what markets can tolerate. The triple lock on pensions, in its current form, will take the state pension up from 5 per cent to 9 per cent of GDP, to be financed by younger taxpayers. Globally, the immense costs of adapting to climate change and to geopolitical conflict will fall heavily on the next generation. And while they will benefit from the medical and scientific breakthroughs that AI will bring, they will also be in the front line of the mass disruption of jobs and careers that will come with it.
Of course, young people benefit from many things we did not have in the 1960s — foreign holidays, hugely expanded universities and the expectation of future, though very uneven, inherited wealth. But there is no doubting they face more challenges, higher costs and greater insecurity, often combined with less independence and poorer health.
This calls for something more than piecemeal changes, careless indifference or hoping for the best, as Modi can ruefully testify. Recent governments in Britain all have a mixed record on improving the prospects of young people. The last Conservative government chalked up a major success with its insistence on a knowledge-rich curriculum in English schools, with impressive results in reading and maths that are somehow still lost on ministers in Scotland and Wales. Labour ministers should take note. But the Tories slipped up badly in leaving a welfare system that is putting tens of thousands of young people on disability benefits without the need or incentive to find work.
Labour has so far gone in the wrong direction with well- intentioned but counterproductive
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Narendra Modi was forced to climb down and sack his education minister
policies. Higher minimum wage rates and increased employers’ national insurance are hitting young people’s job prospects at the worst possible time. New rules on rental properties will reduce the supply of them. Andy Burnham will soon be saying more about new council houses but in the meantime the construction of new homes in London has fallen to the lowest since records began and lower than any major city in the developed world.
As the prime minister considers his ten-year plan and opposition parties reassess their policies, they should focus on fairness between generations and on helping young people prepare for the more turbulent world we will be passing on to them. There are signs of that. Reforms of the apprenticeship system are under way. The Labour MP Luke Charters has
promenade, browse local markets or enjoy boat trips to the nearby Dalmatian islands. With its relaxed atmosphere, rich heritage and stunning coastline, Split is an ideal destination for a memorable Croatian holiday.
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recently proposed a “youth triple lock” consisting of universal travel discounts for apprentices and school leavers as well as students, tax incentives for under-25s to save and a rent-to-own pathway for the over- 25s. One of the best new policies announced by the Tory front bench is to redirect the first £5,000 of NI contributions paid by a young person into a nominated savings account.
A patchwork of good ideas, however, will not be enough. The parties could develop policies based on intergenerational fairness, from keeping the pensions system affordable to taxpayers to making it easier to build homes where young workers will need them. They could improve the resilience of a new generation by ending the catastrophe of so many being forgotten and left on benefits, now highlighted by the work of Alan Milburn. Above all, they could help to mobilise the brilliance of so many young people by creating a more dynamic economy, with more education on entrepreneurship and tax relief for those who start their own business. Governments have no way of predicting what skills will be needed in the age of AI, but they can help a new generation prepare. The ability to reinvent oneself, to fail and then succeed, to start a new venture, to have ideas not just a job, will be more important than ever.
Across the world, millions of young people are becoming angry and frustrated. They are often right. More political leaders will soon be caught out unless they understand that and act on it.
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Melanie Phillips
@melanielatest
t turns out that I represent the “woke” onslaught against western civilisation. Who knew? It was certainly something of a surprise.
I’ve been banging on for years about the assault mounted by fashionable left-wing ideologies against western culture and the urgent need to defend it. Nevertheless, I’d apparently committed the anti-civilisational crime of hugely enjoying and admiring Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey, based on Homer’s great epic about the protracted return home of Odysseus from the Trojan war.
The reaction to the film has been a seismic eruption. People have either raved about it or treated it as the desecration of a sacred text. Nolan has been accused of twisting the poem to make it relevant and “woke” for a modern audience, thus destroying a pillar of western culture.
Some scholars, while regretting certain notable omissions in the film, have nevertheless applauded Nolan’s faithfulness to the text in the film’s atmospheric strangeness, its episodic structure, its story about a storyteller telling a story and its subtle and moving portrait of the gods.
The classical historian Tom Holland said the film was “really true to the spirit of Homer”. Referring to
School was cruel but we got worst of life over with
he literary biographer Richard Graves (Housman, Powys, his uncle Robert) has just published Imperial Dreams, a memoir of his 1959-64 time at Charterhouse, where he was my form-mate. He describes in the book his enduring disgust that the response to the emotional travails of his brother Simon was to beat him, the school’s remedy for all evils.
In my own case masters and monitors periodically glanced at the calendar, snapped their fingers and exclaimed: “Gosh, we haven’t beaten Hastings for weeks!” The chastisers never lacked indictable evidence to justify making good the omission.
There is nonetheless much to be said for getting the worst bits of life over early, as did Dickens his time in the blacking factory. Those of us who were unsuccessful children often achieve a happier progression thereafter, as poor Simon Graves did not.
the numerous literary and dramatic works that have drawn on the ancient Greek epic, which along with Homer’s Iliad has held supreme status in western culture for centuries, he said the film was “no more transgressive against Homer than what Virgil does, or Dante, or Tennyson, or Joyce, or indeed Dan Simmons or the makers of The Homecoming”.
Furious critics, however, claim Nolan has turned Odysseus from Homer’s heroic warrior into a product of therapy culture, riddled with guilt about his martial exploits. These critics frame the film entirely through the prism of left-wing politics. So they view criticisms of
the culture they so loudly claim to defend
male power from some female characters as proof positive of a diabolical feminist plot by Nolan to downgrade the poem’s innate manly virtues.
But in Daniel Mendelsohn’s preface to his translation of Homer’s poem, he notes that since ancient times critics have remarked on the epic’s sympathy for female psychology and experience. Certain passages can even be read as attempts by Homer to subvert the male-oriented assumptions of his culture. For example, the nymph Calypso, who holds Odysseus captive for seven years, angrily denounces the gods for their double standard over male and female sexual behaviour.
His brother’s memory is prodigious. He notes that Christopher Thorne, senior “beak” of the History VIth and later a distinguished writer on international relations, deplored my essays as over-written journalese. One of Graves’s own efforts was returned to him with a scrawled comment: “We don’t need another Hastings in the class!”
Judging from the modern grandchildren’s school reports that I read, no teacher dares to critique pupils with the savagery that for centuries was the norm. My scripture teacher once wrote: “Appears to have some intelligence, but does not think this subject worth the exercise of it”! Poaching season A
blissful week fishing in Sutherland with the family’s young men, on a river that allows each party to keep one grilse — immature salmon — of six pounds or less, such as I cooked in the lodge. It beats me how anybody can abuse such a thing of beauty by grilling, which renders the flesh dry as our lawn. I took north bay leaves and
Critics accuse Nolan of twisting the narrative to welcome invasion by “barbarians”, aka today’s mass incursion of immigrants into the West. This ignores the fact that in the film Odysseus participates in the indiscriminate and horrific violence in the sack of Troy and takes revenge on his wife’s unwanted suitors by slaughtering them all.
His guilt over what happened in Troy and subsequent introspection is a travesty of Homer’s fierce warrior, say the disparagers. But in the very first lines of the poem, Odysseus is described as having had “many pains in his heart” during his journey home. Mendelsohn describes Homer’s hero as “chameleon-like”, with so many “twists and turns” in his character that — unlike the film’s omniscient critics — readers of the epic feel they don’t know him at all.
It quickly became clear that the most passionate critics were conservatives from a growing group of very angry, mostly young men who believe the liberal intelligentsia is taking their culture away from them. Some of their rhetoric about the film promoting “the great replacement” of ethnic western identity is straight out of the playbook of America’s Maga sub- group led by the isolationist Tucker Carlson and the white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
These critics saw a black actor playing Helen of Troy, read that Nolan had used a feminist translation of Homer’s poem and leapt to the conclusion that this was yet another attempt to trash western culture and identity.
In fact, Nolan took certain key
suchlike for a court bouillon and threw in a few refinements — mint enriches everything.
The case is unanswerable for returning mature salmon to the rivers, but I am not surprised to hear that in starred restaurants gourmets pay £500 to share a little wild fish such as I loved, landed and poached. Trumpian to a tee T
he plane south from Inverness was weighed down with elderly, noisy American golfers, the women wafer-thin, their
corpulent mates wearing baseball caps, one adorned with the Maga acronym. We might
imagine that US travellers
these days tiptoe abroad,
embarrassed by the
havoc their country is inflicting upon the world. Not a bit of it. We are told to take heart from polls showing that 60 per cent of Americans now acknowledge Donald Trump’s unfitness for
office. It seems far
more telling that
themes from Homer and expanded them in a creative and thoughtful way. In particular, he concentrated on a key theme of the poem, the ancient Greek notion of xenia or hospitality. This concept represented a code of behaviour towards both guests and strangers who must assume reciprocal obligations towards each other.
So Nolan’s Odysseus spends his journey home unable to face up to his breaching that code by abandoning the bodies of his dead soldiers whom he led into battle. He’s even depicted as breaching it by his role in the sack of Troy. This is because of his abuse of trust in misrepresenting his wooden horse as an offering to the gods, thus enabling the soldiers hidden inside to open the gates of the city to the waiting Greek army. For all this he must do penance. How can this ethical message of taking responsibility for your actions be “woke”?
At the end, the film is saying that violation of the norms of ethical behaviour will destroy civilisation. Is that not precisely what the Carlson tendency claim to believe? What this row has shown is that they have as superficial an understanding of the western civilisation they so loudly claim to defend as they do of Nolan’s film or Homer’s poem.
The film has got huge numbers reading Homer’s 12,109-line epic for the first time. In a supposedly post- literate culture fixated upon its iPhones, that’s a remarkable achievement. It appears Nolan may have done rather more for western civilisation than those hollering for his wokeish head.
face a further 30 months of his catastrophic presidency. Musical turn C
ountry house opera gets better and better. We saw a wonderful Traviata at Garsington with the historian Margaret MacMillan, her sister Ann and brother-in-law Peter Snow, one of the BBC’s greats. Peter is currently wheelchair-bound and I made myself useful by pushing him. As we weigh the same, and the Garsington grass is bumpy, by going home time I was panting more than somewhat. My wife, who is lightly constructed, said crisply in the car that I should forsake fantasies that she will be manning the handles when my own wheelchair moment comes. Wrong writes E
very author knows the experience of being accosted by strangers who recognise one as having written books, but credit us with the wrong ones. I have been applauded for Stalingrad, Berlin, Operation Mincemeat and much else excepting Middlemarch.
It seems boorish to snub new acquaintances by urging that they save their kind words for Beevor or Macintyre. Instead I embrace the odd impersonation, hoping that Antony and Ben act up likewise for me.
plan is a fast track to economic decline Oliver Kamm J
ohn Healey, the chancellor, said at the weekend: “I’m willing to load unnecessary costs on taxpayers, acquire on their behalf products and services that may not be the best available, constrain productivity gains, breach international commitments and make it harder for British companies to gain overseas contracts.”
OK, I admit he didn’t use those exact words. But my paraphrase is accurate. This is how Mr Healey genuinely summarised to The Sun his approach to public procurement: “Buying British not ‘if possible’, but by design. So every procurement pound supports British jobs, British apprenticeships and British skills.”
Public procurement is the process by which public-sector organisations buy or rent things, from lavatory paper to battle tanks. It accounts for roughly a third of all public spending, amounting to almost £400 billion in 2024/25. If Mr Healey’s pledge means anything, it must be that Labour will require the public sector to purchase domestic goods or services even if these are more expensive and of lower quality than alternatives. This is, to use a technical economic term, bonkers.
The first duty of public procurement is to get the taxpayer value for money. Mr Healey instead seeks to inveigle us into a project that he illegitimately paints as patriotism yet is better depicted as politically motivated favouritism towards sectional interests.
Britain is a party to agreements with the World Trade Organisation and the EU that prevent this sort of discrimination. If the government pursues this course then retaliation is inevitable. British companies will be locked out of bidding for overseas government contracts.
But the economic case is stronger still. Imports are neither a threat nor a sign of weakness. They are a benefit. They expand consumer choice and enable productivity gains in domestic production through the mechanism of specialisation. An official policy of “Buy British” in public procurement would knowingly curtail these benign effects.
Sometimes economic arguments aren’t paramount. We can’t, for example, throw open our defence industry to Chinese or Russian bidders as national security is at issue and these are aggressive and autocratic states. But Mr Healey’s commitment goes far beyond this truism. Above all, it’s flatly untrue that “every procurement pound supports British jobs”. His policy would merely reshuffle British jobs from high-productivity sectors, competitive in international markets, to those dependent on government largesse. This is a fast track to economic decline. Mr Healey should swiftly reverse course.
A
Public are finally tiring of the No 10 Show
James Marriott
@j_amesmarriott
strange air of anticlimax hangs over British politics this summer. A new prime minister has arrived not, as new prime ministers once did, amid excitement and overheated predictions of a new era but amid shrugs and scepticism. Even Andy Burnham himself (not a man given to underrating his own political significance) says he is “acutely conscious” that the seventh prime minister in a decade has limited claims on public fervour.
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage’s attempted showdown with the establishment has proven a squib; he finds himself fighting a lonely by- election against a man dressed as a bin to general public apathy. And for all the predictions of a “febrile” summer, disorder and looting have not burnt through the capital. Some have even begun to wonder (I think prematurely) about the return of two-party politics.
public fury and polarisation will continue to ratchet ever upwards. Every prime minister from Johnson to Starmer has become an object of extraordinary loathing. But the future is not written. Surveying the present mood of summertime listlessness, an optimistic (or semi-optimistic) thought occurs: might it be possible for the public to weary of its rage? Could the passions that drive our feverish politics, unnerving flighty MPs and throwing up new radical parties, one day lapse into something more like indifference? Might we go five years without changing prime minister or trooping to the polls?
without changing prime minister?
Ten exhausting years after Brexit and the beginning of Trump’s first term, events that would once have
seemed “unprecedented” risk seeming merely banal. Even political obsessives I know are beginning to find the relentless carousel of political drama tedious. One new prime minister is thrilling; seven becomes a routine. Likewise, the ceaseless grind of polling bounces, polling collapses, parliamentary scandals and make-or- break by-elections. A world-weary electorate has seen it all before. It
may be that the public lust for drama will be sated and fade into apathy.
Politics, it is frequently remarked, has become a branch of the entertainment industry. It is less often remembered that no Netflix svengali has ever worked out how to keep viewers hooked on a single show for ever. A television series may start out with stunning ratings but you would be naive to imagine it will hang on to its audience indefinitely. Even Breaking Bad came to an end. And in TV, fantastical new plot twists are a sign not of success but of desperation, as producers attempt to win back wearied viewers. Perhaps politics can “jump the shark” (via comedy by-elections and biennial prime ministers) in the same way that a fading series can. Politics is crazier than ever but indifference to it is growing quickly: according to a recent Reuters report “news avoidance” has never been higher. Similarly, the number of people posting on social media is dropping steeply, perhaps implying that less public rage is being pumped into the system.
Also overlooked is the fact that although social media has accelerated politics, it also dethroned it. In traditional media such as newspapers and radio, political news is automatically accorded first importance: front pages, top-of-the hour bulletins. On social media politics must fight for precedence.
For some, political news is more ubiquitous than ever before. Many others can ignore it entirely. Politics seems to be winning the battle for our attention for now. But can it keep winning it for ever? There are a zillion other options competing for our eyeballs in an ever more ruthless attention economy: sports betting, video games, football, pornography, influencer bilge. If political drama ceases to amuse, a jaded public can easily move on and
than politics compete for our eyeballs
seek its thrills elsewhere.
If it seems improbable that the dangerous political energies of our time could be channelled into, say, football, it is worth remembering that political fanaticism often runs less deep than you might assume. People are always moderating their views or drifting away from politics without even realising that is what they are doing. It happens individually — the hundreds of student Marxists who become corporate lawyers every year — and it happens to populations too. Several times in Britain’s history we have seemed to be racing into a doom spiral only to relax into equanimity once again. In the 17th century (if you
will forgive a glib generalisation) Britain was racked by political and religious discord; the 18th century was an age of relative moderation.
To the case against unending chaos you might add more minor examples from recent politics: Italy and Australia were once notorious for churning through prime ministers. Both countries have managed to stick with just one leader for several years. We are all prone to interpret passing trends as historical laws. But life is often more indeterminate than that. On the most superficial level culture is shaped not by unidirectional “trends” but by see-saw cycles of generational backlashes. The political pessimism of my generation is partly a response to the End-of-History blitheness of the grown-ups above us and their so-called “boomer optimism”. It may be that our children will find the earnest political rage of their millennial parents cringeworthy and opt for a pose of affectless disengagement instead.
There are, obviously, many objections to the case for a calmer politics. Growing political partisanship is a trend dating back at least to the 1970s. Polls show voter dissatisfaction, mistrust and anger at record levels. If asked I would bet against the optimistic argument I have laid out here. But in these warm, rather apathetic days it is at least a scenario worth bearing in mind.
Sir, Your editorial (“Flying Blind”, Jul 27) raises an important point: governments should be honest about the costs and trade-offs involved in responding to climate change. But the debate should not be confined to the costs of reaching net zero. The recent heatwave has been estimated to have cost the UK economy about £1 billion. Those are not hypothetical future costs but losses being incurred today, despite progress on decarbonisation.
The UK should continue to pursue rapid emissions reduction, but no credible strategy for managing climate risk can rely on mitigation alone. Even if Britain reached net zero tomorrow, the warming already locked into the climate means that adaptation is now unavoidable.
The choice is not between mitigation and adaptation. We need both: ambitious decarbonisation to limit future warming, and equally ambitious investment in resilient homes, infrastructure, water supplies and public health to reduce the mounting costs of the warming already upon us. If ministers are to be candid about the costs of net zero, they should be equally candid about the far greater costs of failing to prepare for the climate impacts that are already here. Professor Emma Howard Boyd Chair, National Heat Risk Commission
Sir, UK climate change policy has been marked by an unworthy refusal to acknowledge its costs. Your extremely welcome editorial hopefully consolidates the change in public debate about this that has recently taken place. A point must, however, be added. Reducing UK emissions will have only a negligible effect on global emissions. The newly industrialising countries, including China and India, have no intention of sacrificing their economic progress for emissions reduction. These countries account for most of the huge growth in global emissions that has taken place, and will account for the majority of its continued increase. They enjoy a legally binding permission to do this under climate change treaty law.
In this circumstance, appreciation of the costs of the UK’s policy generates a very simple cost-benefit function. There will be no benefits at all, and it is completely irrational to incur the costs you identify. David Campbell Professor of law, Lancaster University
clarifications
6 We wrongly said Louise Haigh was the youngest woman to have been made a cabinet minister (Comment, Jul 27). Ruth Kelly was four months younger when she became education secretary in 2004.
The Times takes complaints about editorial content seriously. We are committed to abiding by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (“IPSO”) rules and regulations and the Editors’ Code of Practice that IPSO enforces. Requests for corrections should be sent to feedback@thetimes.co.uk
Sir, I agree with Libby Purves that our prisons need fixing and I think I know how that can be done (“Fixing our prisons should be top priority”, Jul 27). When I was chairman of Action For Prisoners’ Families I visited about 20 prisons and, for the most part, the inmates were divided into three quite distinct categories. About one third were dangerous people, mostly men, who need to be kept in prison for a long time because they were a danger to the public. Another third were there for drink or drug-related offences: they need to be rehabilitated, otherwise they will return again and again after committing some relatively minor crime so as to buy drink or drugs. This would take time but could be done. The remaining third were people who found it difficult to cope with everyday life, who will continue to commit minor crimes and do not need to be in prisons with bars and tight security. They could easily and safely be accommodated in simpler and cheaper units with a lock and key and some medical supervision. If this third were accommodated thus, it would free up about 30,000 places in our existing prisons.
I believe there are some unused
voters to turn out
Sir, Concerning the possibility of mandatory voting (“Compulsory voting in the mix — with £10 fines for the apathetic”, news, Jul 27), I would like to offer two suggestions to encourage greater turnouts. First, rather than, or in addition to, adopting the stick of fines for all non-voters, we should offer a carrot: all who actually vote could be automatically entered into an election draw for a tempting substantial prize. Second, offering the option to vote online (with suitable safeguards in place) would have the potential to increase turnout, encourage younger people’s engagement in politics, assist the counting process and — unlike postal voting — would allow voters to follow campaigns through to the day of the election itself. Peter Saunders Salisbury
Sir, Compulsory voting sounds more like autocracy than democracy to me. Barry Baines Weymouth, Dorset
‘RUM RING’ IS
from the times july 28, 1926
The discussions between American and British officials on the prevention of liquor smuggling into the United States came to a satisfactory conclusion yesterday, when a final meeting was held at the Foreign Office in the morning.
The new proposals do not in any way impair the “Convention respecting the Regulation of the Liquor Traffic” which was signed by the United States and British Governments in Washington in January 1924. They merely elucidate it in the light of two years’ experience of its working. The
army barracks that could be adapted to house these prisoners while we wait for relatively low-cost extensions to be built on to existing prisons. David Astor Milton under Wychwood, Oxon
Sir, If the prime minister wants to end rough sleeping, then what happens to prisoners really matters. Too many end up homeless on release and it’s not simply because there isn’t anywhere to house them: the right information is not passed on to housing providers, and people are not able to get the benefits they need to cover their housing bills. And even when they do get a roof over their head, too often they do not get the support they need to stay off drugs or access mental health treatment. Without that support, they can end up breaking their tenancy agreements, becoming homeless or returning to prison. There are solutions, but it will require a government that is firmly focused on the connection between what happens in prison and the challenges people face on release, including access to housing, healthcare, and substance misuse treatment. Enver Solomon Chief executive, Nacro
Sir, Your leading article “Dirty Business” (Jul 25) rightly calls for tougher penalties for those who continue to pollute our rivers. Here in Carmarthenshire, the River Towy is not just an environmental asset but the heart of a centuries-old cultural tradition, where at one time US presidents would come to fish for salmon and sewin (sea trout). The coracle fishery, recognised as part of Wales’s living heritage, depends on a healthy river. Repeated pollution incidents, poor water quality and declining fish stocks now threaten not only wildlife but the survival of a tradition passed down through generations. If action continues to be delayed by National Resources Wales, Welsh Water and the Senedd, we risk losing an irreplaceable part of our history as well as our river.
Protecting our waterways is about more than the environment: it is about safeguarding communities, livelihoods and traditions before they disappear for ever. Julie Rees Secretary, Carmarthen Coracle & Netsmen’s Association
negotiators have reached an understanding in regard to the kind of help which the British authorities can give in the prevention of smuggling from the sea and especially from the favourite bases of the smugglers in the West Indies. Their proposals are now being considered by the two Governments.
It is obviously impossible to give details as to the proposed improvements in procedure, since their disclosure would be of benefit only to the smugglers. But it may be said that they include better methods of observation within the territorial waters of the West Indian islands, and a closer supervision of ships’ clearance papers. 6 Mr William V Dwyer, a wealthy sportsman and race-track owner, who was alleged by the Government to be the head of a liquor smuggling syndicate with a turnover of $40,000,000 (£8,000,000) in two years, was found guilty in the Federal
Sir, In September 2024, five of the most senior former judges in England and Wales called on the government to reverse the trend of imposing ever-longer prison sentences. While Alex Norris might be advised in your leading article (“Jail Break”, Jul 24) to “urgently revisit the detail of this policy”, he should also remember this intervention.
The “inertia” in the prisons system is caused by the lack of willingness of successive governments to address its multiple problems. This is because it is not a vote winner. Investing vast amounts in building more prisons might be popular but it is not a solution. The average number of convictions of a prisoner in England and Wales is 19, which shows the “revolving door” effect that the present system creates. The only way to change this is for the main political parties to work together, using Norway as their template. Recidivism there was reduced from 70 per cent in the 1990s to its present rate of 20 per cent. The country achieved this by focusing on rehabilitation. Fiona Sample CEO, the Oswin Project; Employment Advisory Board chair, HMP Northumberland
Sir, Nicholas Pennington (letter, Jul 27) insists that a crossword must be solved purely from “one’s own knowledge” without reference to external sources. But unless he was born with an innate understanding of 17th-century poets and obscure botanical terms, all human knowledge was acquired from dictionaries, encyclopaedias, or experience at some point in time. Martin Wainscott Bagshot, Surrey
Sir, When my husband and I complete any crossword in The Times he places a large tick next to it. If we have had to resort to outside information he then crosses the stem once for each case. On a bad day there may be two crosses. It doesn’t count if you are merely checking an answer, provided it has already been filled in on the grid. Rae Robbins Woking, Surrey
Letters to The Times must be exclusive and may be edited. Please include a full address and daytime phone number.
Court in New York yesterday, together with Mr EC Cohron, his so-called “pay-off man”, of conspiracy to violate the national Prohibition Law. Judge Mack sentenced Dwyer to two years’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay a fine of $10,000 — the maximum penalties for the offence. He gave Cohron a like sentence of imprisonment and fined him $5,000. Six co-defendants were acquitted, among them a former captain of the coastguards.
The so-called “rum ring” proposition has attracted a great deal of attention because of the Government’s attempt to prove that Dwyer and his fellow-defendants conducted operations on the scale of a large business corporation, with the protection of the Federal and New York City police.
Sir, Emma Duncan says “the planning system, along with the listed buildings system, has done a good job of protecting lovely places (“Here’s a plan: relax home improvement rules”, Jul 24). May I steer her to the Victorian and 20th Century Society’s “at risk” lists? The Southbank Centre was so badly preserved that when, at long last, it was listed, it only got grade II protection. Arguably the most beautiful 50-metre pool in England, Coventry Central Baths, is being demolished by the city council just when the demand for places to swim has catapulted. A caseworker for C20 comments: “Its backlog of repairs need addressing rather than demolition.” I disagree with Emma Duncan on the change of laws needed. It will continue to be too easy, cost-effective and environmentally disastrous to bulldoze old buildings when VAT is charged on refurbishments and not on new-builds. Joyce Glasser London NW3
Sir, I much enjoyed Mike Atherton’s article on Jim Laker (“Curious tale of legend’s lost jumper”, Jul 25) and was privileged as a ten-year-old boy to watch the great man’s memorable achievement on our black-and-white television. I also remember Laker as a superb cricket commentator who grasped what many present-day commentators seem to forget, that viewers can see for themselves what’s happening. He would often remain silent for several minutes as the on-field action unfolded, speaking only when necessary. Contrast this with the “motor-mouth” delivery of some sports commentators today, especially during the Fifa World Cup: some barely stopped for breath in their clamour to describe the obvious. Chris Hunt Neale, Co Mayo
Sir, I agree with Robin Lamport’s letter (Jul 23) about Operation Brock on the M20. My husband and I returned from France a few days ago and on leaving the Channel Tunnel were greeted with a narrow two-lane motorway. The hard shoulder was for lorries and the other thin lane for cars, all sandwiched in by concrete blocks. Had there been an accident the whole road would have been blocked and no access possible for ambulances or fire engines. Meanwhile, traffic in the other direction was flowing freely while our lane crawled along for no apparent reason. Summer madness. Pam Gillham Sevenoaks, Kent
Sir, You report that “capping”, whereby boys acknowledge a schoolmaster when passing them outdoors, has died out at Eton (“George’s Eton days a lesson in change”, Jul 25). This tradition was not only at Eton. As a boy of 12 attending the local grammar school in Holywell in the late 1950s, I would walk into town on a Saturday with my father, who had attended the same school years earlier. We would often bump into Mr Thomas, the retired deputy headmaster. My father and I would raise our knuckles to our forehead, and he would raise his trilby and reply: “Morning, boys.”
Daily Universal Register
UK: Unilever and GSK results; road fuel prices published; day six of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, including the 100m finals.
Nature notes
Wild carrot, a biennial umbellifer that looks superficially like hogweed and cow parsley, does well in dry spells due to clever adaptations for drought conditions. The swollen tap root, laid down in the first year, stores starches, sugars and carbohydrates that, in drought conditions, become more concentrated, lowering its osmotic potential and acting as a sponge, drawing moisture in from the surrounding soil. At the same time, foliage growth stops, and energy is put instead into the development of fine, lateral rootlets to maximise absorption. The plant’s lacy leaves reduce the surface area available to the sun, helping it to resist drying out, while the flower heads can contract to form a ball, preventing the developing seeds from drying out. melissa harrison
Birthdays today
Harry Kane, pictured, footballer, Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspur (2009-23) and captain of the England national team, 33; Val Bourne, gardening writer, Tough Plants (2025), 76; Santiago Calatrava, architect and structural engineer, World Trade Center Transportation Hub, New York City (2016), 75; Michael Carrick, footballer, England (2001-15) and Manchester United (2006-18), head coach, Manchester United, 45; Bernard Cohen, abstract artist, 93; General Sir Peter Cosgrove MC, governor-general of Australia (2014-19), 79; Beverley Craven, singer- songwriter, Promise Me (1991), 63; Harriet Dart, tennis player, UK No 5, 30; Jim Davis, cartoonist, creator of Garfield, 81; Prof Sir Anthony Finkelstein, president of City, University of London, 67; Ben Hawes, three- time field hockey Olympian, 46; Baroness (Sue) Hayman of Ullock, minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 64; Richard Heffer, actor, Colditz (1972-74), 80; Kelly Hoppen, interior designer and writer, a Dragon on Dragons’ Den (2013-15), 67; Fern Horine, UK ambassador to Moldova, 57; Leo Houlding, climber, the first Briton to free-climb El Capitan in the Yosemite Valley, US, 46; Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Johns, chief of Air Staff (1997-2000), 87; Anna Lapwood, organist, conductor and broadcaster, 31; Riccardo Muti, conductor, 85; Jim Pettigrew, chairman, Allied Irish Banks Group (financial services), 68; Dame Barbara Stocking, president of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge (2013-21), 75; Robert Swan, polar explorer, the first man to walk to both the North and South Poles, 70; Maha Vajiralongkorn, King of Thailand, 74; Sir Colman Treacy, lord justice of appeal (2012-18), 77; Hannah Waddingham, actress, Ted Lasso (2020-26), 52; John David Washington, actor, Tenet (2020), 42; Rosie Wrighting, Labour MP for Kettering, 29.
On this day
In 1858 fingerprints were used for the first time to identify a party to a contract, in Jangipur, West Bengal, India.
The last word
The bloody conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are converging and becoming even more dangerous. Strong defences have never been so vital
President Zelensky is on the road again. This week the Ukrainian leader is in Britain to persuade Andy Burnham to agree to a long-term drone research and production pact, and shortly afterwards in Washington to bring Donald Trump around to the idea that he should be tougher with Vladimir Putin. His most persuasive argument in both these sensible causes is that the defence of Kyiv and the defence of free passage in the Strait of Hormuz are fronts on the same extended battle- field against the world’s autocrats.
Like it or not, says Mr Zelensky, there is a strategic overlap between the two fierce wars. It is no coincidence, after all, that the Israeli prime minis- ter, Binyamin Netanyahu, is also in the United States this week. In his travel bag, Mr Zelensky brings information that he hopes will convince the US president that the dots should be joined.
First, by striking an Iranian arms shipment in the Caspian Sea destined for Russia, the Ukrainians have demonstrated that Moscow and Tehran are in cahoots, and that Kyiv can dismember a supply chain that has become crucial to current wars. Second, Ukraine wants to present evidence that Russia has been mapping US airbases in the Middle East — including Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait — and then passing on the
Andy Burnham is wrong that the state must fully subsidise social care for all
It has been 15 years since Sir Andrew Dilnot pub- lished his report on fixing social care — a crisis that no one disputed existed then and one that has only worsened since with an ageing society. At present only those with assets less than £23,250 qualify for free care. Everyone else in England must fund their care themselves. Sir Andrew’s report, which recom- mended a cap of £35,000 for what individuals should contribute to their care, was warmly received. It was then cast into the black hole where all of the UK’s difficult policy problems go. Every successive government has pledged to grasp this nettle before ultimately deciding not to, deeming it overly expensive or explosive to touch.
Andy Burnham is the latest occupant of Down- ing Street to say something must be done. The prime minister has warned that the NHS will collapse unless social care is reformed and has pledged he will not leave office without having done something. What that something is remains unclear: Mr Burnham has, so far, declined to offer any specifics about what his reformed system would look like beyond a broad description of “major” change. Baroness Casey of Blackstock,
Birdwatchers will need to keep one eye on their new code of conduct
Asked to conjure up the prototypical twitcher, a familiar stereotype probably springs to mind: patient, nature-loving, silently inquisitive. But should you spot a birdwatcher in the wild, and catalogue their behaviour, you may quickly form a very different impression.
In seeking their quarry, these mild-mannered hobbyists can develop a scarily competitive edge. Pursuing a rare bird — known in the community as a “mega” — whole flocks of birdwatchers will migrate across the country in unison, their long- lens cameras, binoculars and gear in tow. Once they have homed in on their prey, they are not
information to Tehran. The two countries, in other words, are integrating target acquisition, a very sophisticated level of military collaboration. Russia is trading satellite intelligence, guidance algorithms and electronic warfare systems in return for Iranian drones and weaponry.
Mr Zelensky’s message has to be taken seriously. Russia and Iran have become more than allies: they are jointly collaborating in military tech- nology. Russia uses adapted Shahed 136 drones from Iran against Ukrainian cities and backs up these deadly swarms with anti-jamming naviga- tion and decoys. These systems, having been road- tested against Ukraine, are then fed back into the Middle East conflict when Iran attacks the Gulf states for their supposed alignment with the US.
The US president may suspect that Mr Zelensky is simply striving to make himself continually relevant to Washington. He may even believe that the Ukrainian leader, struggling to stay in control of his country’s war management and its war economy, is trying to pull the wool over his eyes. But Mr Zelensky’s fears are real enough. Mr Trump’s eagerness to delegate the Ukraine war to his European allies, in order to focus on Hormuz, may shred his previous promises to Kyiv. AtNato’s recent Ankara summit, the US promised Amer-
the perennial Whitehall fixer, is formulating a new plan for social care. She may be asked to come up with answers sooner than expected.
Mr Burnham has mooted that he would like a national social care system to “operate on the NHS principle”, so to be free at the point of use. This would come in at an astronomical cost of £18.5 bil- lion a year. As this newspaper has reported, this universal offer would still not include daily living costs such as energy bills and accommodation — echoing countries such as France and Denmark. In others, such as Germany and Japan, individuals pay their full accommodation costs while the care costs are split with the state.
There is a broader question of what exact prob- lem Mr Burnham is trying to solve: is it to ease pressure on the NHS? Is it to improve the quality of care? More availability? Or more fairness? Until Mr Burnham explains, it is difficult to say whether the plan is the right one. The principle of a universalist solution, however, is misguided. It would be too great a burden on the state, while stifling private sector provision of care. Sir Andrew was on the money when he suggested there needs
averse to swooping in, Hitchcock-style, with their cars and equipment planted on nearby lawns, driveways, private property and farmland.
Welcome though enthusiasm for the natural world undoubtedly is, these excesses must some- times be reined in. The British Birds Rarities Com- mittee has therefore published a “Birders’ Code of Conduct” to let the twitching community know what sorts of behaviour won’t fly. Sensibly enough, the guidance urges watchers not to obstruct emer- gency vehicles. Dogs should be kept on leads, and birds should not be disturbed at close quarters, especially during mating season when the playing
ican licences for Ukraine to manufacture Patriot missile components locally. Ukrainian cities des- perately need air defence; Mr Zelensky makes the case that the battle over Ukrainian skies is rede- signing the war in the Middle East. It is therefore a Trump promise worth keeping.
Mr Zelensky’s demands of Mr Burnham are more modest. They include contributions to air defence systems, electronic warfare jamming kit — or at least the intellectual property rights to this tech so that Kyiv can build its own — and counter- mining training programmes in the Black Sea. These are not unreasonable requests. The prime minister should not need the kind of persuasion being applied to a sceptical US administration. But Mr Zelensky is surely in his rights to ask whether Mr Burnham, his new friend in Downing Street, intends to commit to serious defence-spending targets to end the slaughter of Ukrainian civilians.
The British too would be happy to hear the answer. So far, there has been only vagueness from Mr Burnham and his new government, at a time of dangerously entangled wars, as to whether the government will meet its Nato promise to spend 3 per cent of GDP by 2030, let alone approach 3.5 per cent by 2035. Leadership, in war as in peace, demands that clarity.
to be a cap on individual costs, but also a means- tested contributory principle. It should not be right that all individuals must sell their homes to pay for care; nor should it be right that the state fails to take wealth into account.
Needless to say, there has been no explanation from the Burnham government yet about how this potential national care service would be paid for. Given that the prime minister has insisted he will stick to the fiscal framework outlined in the party’s last election manifesto, funding it through more borrowing is out of the question. So too is raising more funds through VAT, national insurance or income tax rises.
During his last stint in government, Mr Burn- ham — then the health secretary — proposed an inheritance levy to pay for a social care service that was rapidly dubbed a “death tax” by the Conservatives. He may be about to revisit this idea, but he should not underestimate the strength of feeling against it. At a time when state spending is rising, almost without restraint, tackling this would be a better solution to providing the funds. Mr Burnham needs to think beyond headlines.
of recorded birdsong can be disruptive. In extremis, twitchers are warned that disturbing rare birds is punishable by fines of £5,000 or six months in jail.
The need for such rules is in part welcome evidence of birdwatching’s soaring popularity, especially among the young. Ten times as many members of Gen Z list birdwatching as a hobby as did back in 2018. The Royal Society for the Protec- tion of Birds boasts some 1.2 million members — numbers political parties could only dream of. With sensible new guidance, birdwatchers can now pursue their passion without having to get twitchy about their fellow hobbyists’ indiscretions.
22 Tuesday July 28 2026 | the times World
to human touch in hunt for Ayatollah
P
Khamenei has spurned technology in favour of agents on the ground, writes Michael Evans
It is the covert operation that is never officially discussed or confirmed but the hunt for Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is preoccupying Mossad and the CIA.
While President Trump considers his next move in the war with Iran, Israel’s foreign intelligence service and their American counterparts are jointly try- ing to trace the supreme leader who took power after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on February 28.
The challenge for the world’s most sophisticated intelligence agencies is that the target has gone silent.
Mojtaba appears not to have picked up a phone or opened a laptop for about 150 days. He is somewhere in a deep shelter, his face disfigured from injuries sustained in the airstrike that killed his father, and he does not dare emerge into daylight for fear of being spotted by an American spy satellite.
To track his father, Israel and the US used every cybertrick in the book, including hacking traffic cameras in Tehran to spot the vehicles used by the former supreme leader’s bodyguards and associates. Technology, orches- trated by the American National Secur- ity Agency (NSA) and Israel’s equiva- lent, known as Unit 8200, uncovered where Ali Khamenei and his principal military and intelligence officials would be on that day. They were all eliminated.
This time, it is different. Whether or not it makes sense to try to assassinate the new supreme leader when it is clear the military is really in charge of Iran, the fact remains that Mojtaba has a key role in the regime and decisions on mil- itary action and he has gone missing.
The key to pinpointing his location is human intelligence (humint), not eavesdropping and surveillance tech- nology. There are still people in the intelligence community who believe he may be dead and that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is faking his survival to legitimise its war with the US.
So what is needed is proof of his exis- tence and confirmation of where he is hiding, perhaps in one of the tunnels under Tehran or the military bunker close to the religious city of Qom, about 90 miles south of the capital.
“The challenge for Israel is the same problem we had in trying to find and release hostages in Gaza,” said Rami Igra, a former division chief of Mossad.
“Israeli intelligence controlled the whole of Gaza, every toilet was rigged [bugged] to trace where they were being held but we didn’t find them. There was too much reliance on electronic tech- nology and not enough on real people, human intelligence.
“Mojtaba may not be using a phone but if he exists at all, he has other forms of communication, like little pieces of paper. They are using multiple layers of couriers carrying messages. These cou- riers are unaware of what they’re doing, other than taking messages from one person to the next. So, if they [Mossad] find him it will be because of a human element. But the regime in Tehran is aware of this danger.”
Just as Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaeda, was traced by the CIA through a courier, so Mossad’s focus is on identifying and following those carrying messages to and from Mojtaba.
“The only real way to get to Mojtaba is to recruit an agent who is in contact with him,” said Igra.
“But this is very difficult because there is tough screening in Iran of all people close to him, and probably only two or three members of the IRGC know how to contact him.
“We can also track other people using their phones and listen in on discus- sions about Mojtaba and where he might be. Iran is a country where the people are suffering from lack of money and we have ways of offering rewards on the internet,” he said.
Are Mossad agents following key members of the regime to track Moj- taba? President Pezeshkian, for exam- ple, claimed he had spent two and half hours with the injured supreme leader and said he was fine.
Saddam Hussein did,” he said. He added: “Mojtaba stays in different loca- tions and people are employed to feed him. But what they don’t know is whe- ther the food they are providing is for the real Mojtaba or a double. So they go home at night and believe they are looking after the supreme leader when in fact he’s probably a fake.”
At some point, the Iranian people will demand to see their new supreme leader. He failed to appear for his father’s funeral this month. They only evidence for his existence is several official statements about the war issued in his name.
Is it possible that to appease the Iran- ian people, Mojtaba might record a per- sonal message, just like bin Laden used to do when he was hiding in the border area of Afghanistan and Pakistan?
“Even if he doesn’t show his face, he could use his voice to give a message to the Iranian people,” Avraham said. “But that could make him vulnerable. It’s possible to glean information from the voice file, such as the type of recorder used and possibly the location where the voice was recorded.”
A former senior US defence official said: “I am quite sure, given [the air- strike] on February 28, that Mojtaba is practising much better operational security and, as a result, human intelli- gence will be more important in the hunt for him. I am sceptical about US humint since Iran has been a denied area for 40 years. Israeli human intelli- gence is clearly much better but it also has its limits.”
If Mossad and the CIA manage to establish Mojtaba’s whereabouts, political leaders in the US and Israel will have to decide how to act on the information.
A former leading US intelligence official summed up their dilemma: “I think we have probably dispatched enough Iranian leaders for the time being, unless there is very strong confi- dence that the current leader will be replaced by someone committed to a democratic future for Iran and who will ride in on a white horse.”
A billboard in Tehran depicts Iran’s three supreme leaders: Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in February, and his son, Mojtaba, the current ayatollah
clash with Palma police
olice fired rubber bullets and charged protesters with batons as tens of thousands took to the streets to demand greater controls on tourism in Palma de Mallorca on Sunday (David Sharrock writes).
Organisers of the march, which police said was attended by 25,000 people, called for the right to better housing for residents and fewer tourists to be allowed to visit the island. Those behind the march said 70,000 had attended.
police closed off access to Ses Voltes, a square in front of the city’s cathedral where organisers were due to read out their manifesto, leaving many unable to join.
people chanting slogans including “I’d be ashamed to be a police officer” and “Out with the occupying forces”.
When a small group of protesters threw plastic bottles, police fired rubber bullets and charged using batons. Paramedics treated eight people, two of whom were taken to hospital with minor injuries. One man was left with a bleeding head wound.
witnesses, some tourists passing through the area were indirectly caught up in the incident.
Dani Comas, a spokesman for the demonstration, said Mallorca was at breaking point and the regional government was not doing enough to solve the problems.
The march took place under the slogan: “For the right to decent housing. Stop ‘touristification’.”
took place at the same time in Barcelona, San Sebastian and Granada.
Police with batons, shields and rubber bullets confronted protesters in the Mallorcan city after they began throwing plastic bottles, leaving some with minor injuries
Lidia Sintes, holding a banner reading “My home is not your hotel”, said she was taking part “in defence of identity and in order to live with a normal rent”. Her quality of life had diminished due to the tourist influx, she said.
JOAN MATEU PARRA; MIQUEL A BORRAS/EPA
more hotels, no room for more tourist rentals, no room for more coffee franchises, fast food or cheesecake shops, and no room for more tourists.”
More than 100,000 properties were devoted to legal or illegal tourist rentals, they said. “More and more of us are being pushed to leave,” they added.
three women in Paris was ‘sent by Allah’
France Adam Sage Paris
Three women have been stabbed in Paris and a man, who claimed to have been sent by Allah, has been arrested.
The alleged attacker, who is believed to have had two knives, was detained in Porte de Clichy, where the city’s main courts complex is situated.
The victims were 19, 24 and 36. Geoffroy Boulard, the district mayor, said one of the women was pregnant.
Officials said two of the women, one of whom was stabbed in the lower back and the other in the abdomen, were in critical condition, although their lives were not believed to be in danger.
Witnesses said the attacker initially struck a woman waiting for a tram before stabbing two others close to Les Deux Coupoles brasserie.
Laurent Nuñez, the French interior minister, said the man was tackled by an off-duty police officer before being arrested. Nuñez paid tribute to the offi- cer’s bravery. A video on social media shows the man walking down the street and holding two knives. It then cuts to a second scene showing him being held on the ground by several people, appar- ently awaiting the arrival of police.
A police source said the man said: “Allah sent me to kill women.”
Despite his reported words, the case is not being treated as a terror attack. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecu- tor’s Office said it was “observing” the case but that inquiries were being over- seen by the Paris Prosecution Office.
Nuñez said: “We have to be very cau- tious about the motives behind this ex- tremely violent act. The individual is making incoherent statements.”
A police source said the attacker ap- peared to have mental health problems.
A witness told Le Parisien news- paper: “I saw a young woman stretched out on the ground in the bar. She had blood everywhere.”
Mohammed-Ali Bouhadjar, a sales- man who said he had intervened with
controls for killing at Pride
Germany Elizabeth Rushton Berlin
Friedrich Merz, the German chancel- lor, has questioned his country’s lax controls on extremists after a convicted Islamist attacked a Berlin Pride event.
“I cannot understand how I can track my mobile phone from anywhere in the world — or even use it to determine the location of my iPad, for instance — yet it is supposedly impossible, or techni- cally unfeasible, for security authorities in Germany to determine the where- abouts of individuals classified as secur- ity threats to that same extent,” Merz said yesterday.
The alleged attacker in Paris is believed to have used two knives
other passers-by, denied that the assail- ant had been stopped by a police officer. “I want people to understand that this was a civic and human act,” he said.
He told Le Parisien that after leaving a supermarket: “I saw a man armed with two kitchen knives about 20cm long running after people to stab them.”
He initially filmed the scene, but then put his phone away to intervene and to urge other passers-by to do the same.
“When I saw that he was stabbing a woman from behind, I shouted: ‘Come on, let’s catch him’,” he said. “I tripped him up and he fell to the ground, and we all threw ourselves on him.”
Kheira, an employee at a nearby ke- bab shop, said a waiter from the brasse- rie used a chair to hold the assailant down. Bouhadjar said that once on the ground, the assailant seemed “a bit lost”. Djahel Ahmed, Bouhadjar’s friend, who was also present, said he had asked the man why he had stabbed women in the street. “He said it was Allah who ordered him,” said Ahmed.
Issa Besseka, who works at the brasserie, said he had seen the attacker “heading toward people and threat- ening them. He went towards a lady who hadn’t seen him coming, and he started stabbing her in the shoulder and buttocks.”
29 injured in the attack at the Christo- pher Street Day event on Saturday. The suspect, Abdul Ballout, 21, fled the scene but was later shot dead by police. His father, Tawfik Ballout, 64, said his son had been “brainwashed”.
The authorities are facing questions about why Ballout, a German citizen known to police as an Islamist extrem- ist, was able to carry out the attack. Ac- cording to public broadcasters, police had even installed a camera near Ball- out’s house to monitor his movements.
In May last year, he attempted to join Islamic State in Syria but was unsuc- cessful. He was arrested on his return to Berlin and held until May, when he was convicted of planning a “state-endan- gering act of violence”. Ballout was tried as a juvenile and given a suspended sen- tence as he was aged 20 when arrested.
In the pink The Yuncheng Salt Lake, in Shanxi province, China. The summer heat helps algae in the water to reproduce rapidly, which then produces vibrant colours
home, vows Chinese dissident
China Richard Spencer China Correspondent
It is hard to be a dissident. It is some- times harder to be related to one.
When Qi Hong finally took the step he had long pondered, cutting off his ties to China with one irrevocable act of defiance, he told no one in advance.
He had prepared his move to Britain. His wife and teenage daughters, how- ever, had no clue their lives were about to be uprooted for ever. They thought they were going on holiday. Only once they arrived did Qi, 44, tell them they were not going back.
His brother was arrested. His mother is slowly coming to terms with the fact that she is unlikely to see her son again. As for the extended family, suffice to say that he is now shut out of most of the group chats.
“I can’t say my wife is happy here, no,” he said. “My brother doesn’t pick up when I try to call him. My nephew is still in prison — I had stayed with him, so they thought he was connected to what happened. They must all be very angry with me. But then, in China they have been persecuted before, in the Cultural Revolution for example, so they are scared of the authorities.”
What “happened” was a form of pro- test typical of dissent in 21st century China, where social control has become scientific and universal, making polit- ical activism impossible. Qi’s rebellion was as solitary as it was eccentric.
including banned books like George Orwell’s 1984. But he was fed up with the Communist Party, and knowing there was no way of organising against it, decided to “do his bit” in his own way.
He rented a flat in the city of Chong- qing. He rigged up a projector pointing at the university building opposite, and a couple of video cameras to record events, all connected to a laptop.
Once he had arrived in Britain with his family, he pressed “play” remotely. The university wall lit up with revolu- tionary slogans. “Down with red fas- cism, overthrow the communist tyran- ny,” read one. Others read: “No lies, we want the truth” and “Tyrannical Com- munist Party, step down”.
As an exercise in gadfly activism, it worked perfectly. The slogans circu- lated briefly on the Chinese internet, before being censored. Qi also circu- lated the images on overseas social me- dia to which many Chinese have access via VPNs, plus video of policemen bursting into the room to disable the projector.
As an exercise in bringing down the Communist Party, the effect is harder to judge. President Xi’s power, over his closest aides down to the humblest pensioner, is probably greater than that of any predecessor back to the peak years of the Qing dynasty in the 18th century.
There is a strong streak of pessimism among many dissidents, going back even before communism. Some be- lieve that China’s national culture in- evitably makes its people accept dicta- torship.
Qi Hong’s anti-communist slogans lit up a prominent building in Chongqing
people. I feel sorry for them: they work so hard, for no rights in return. But I despise a culture which always expects a strong leader to come and rescue them instead of fighting for their own rights.”
This mindset has echoes going back at least as far as Lu Xun, the pre-revolu- tionary radical writer who is still vener- ated in China, including by the party. He portrayed China as a cannibalistic society, feeding on its own misery, and the Chinese as sleeping people suffoca- ting in an iron chamber.
The party, naturally, believes it has itself “rescued” China from this state. But there are plenty who disagree and are as insistent as Qi that change is needed, however that comes. Diver- gence of thought is natural. In China it is often rooted in a past that is hard to discuss.
that was defeated in the Chinese civil war — and was jailed after the Commu- nist takeover in 1949. His mother suffered discrimination throughout the Mao era as the daughter of a “black hand”.
In 1996 his elder half-brother tried to find his grandfather in the labour camp in the far western region of Xinjiang where his mother had last seen him 14 years previously, but without luck. To this day, the family do not know when he died, let alone where he is buried.
Qi grew up in poverty but had bet- tered himself, training as an electrician and ending up working for a multi- national property company.
He said there had been change from time to time. China became more open after Mao’s death in 1976, but it was becoming more closed again. After trying to support himself in Britain, Qi was granted asylum, universal credit and accommodation. He said the Chi- nese authorities had yet to catch up with him.
He attends English classes, with the hope of going to university. His daugh- ters, 13 and 16, are likely to get there faster, with the older one having had English language tuition at school in China. She has already sat two GCSEs.
His wife misses her family. “She would prefer to go home,” Qi said. He can speak to his mother by phone but everyone else, he said, knew what the system was like and feared to cross it.
That in itself is enough for him to be determined to stick out life in a country he had never visited before his “holiday”. He speaks with a bluntness characteristic of working-class dissent. “I would simply rather die than go home.”
Russia hits ports while Ukraine strikes Rostov Ukraine Russia struck three Ukrainian ports, including fuel loading and storage facilities that benefited the Ukrainian army at the port of Odesa, Russia’s defence ministry said yesterday.
Moscow said Russian forces also carried out strikes on storage tanks containing fuel and lubricants intended for the Ukrainian army at the port of Chornomorsk and struck a cargo ship at the port of Mykolaiv that had delivered military supplies.
Overnight into yesterday, Ukrainian drones killed five people, including a child, in the southern Russian city of Rostov- on-Don, the regional governor said. Yury Slyusar added that apartment blocks, warehouses and a shelter for homeless people had been damaged. He said that air defence forces had shot down about 50 Ukrainian drones over his region and that Kyiv had targeted the cities of Rostov, Taganrog and four districts — Chertkovsky, Tarasovsky, Sholokhovsky and Millerovsky.
On Russia’s Navy Day on Sunday, President Putin attended a ceremony featuring a poster of a naval submarine, rather than a parade of warships. Celebrations were suspended for the second year, possibly linked to concerns about Ukrainian drone attacks. Instead of showcasing its vessels, the authorities hosted concerts, museum exhibitions and commemorative ceremonies.
Russia’s Navy Day ceremony held in front of a poster of a submarine
Kim lauds war veterans
North Korea Kim Jong-un met veterans and laid flowers at the graves of guerilla fighters to mark the 73rd anniversary of the end of the Korean War, the state news agency KCNA said. The supreme leader, who was joined by his daughter, repeated his claim of a “great victory” in the 1950-53 war, which ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
Racism ruling upheld
Australia A court has rejected an appeal from Pauline Hanson, the leader of the right-wing One Nation party, to overturn a ruling that she racially discriminated against a Muslim senator by telling her to “piss off back to Pakistan”. Judges in the Full Federal Court upheld a ruling that the tweet to Mehreen Faruqi of the Greens was unlawful.
Violence at rail protest
Italy Violent clashes over a new railway caused €1 million worth of damage in Piedmont at the weekend. The Lyon-Turin line aims to cut road and air travel with a faster rail route. Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister, said more than 120 officers had been hurt. “This is organised, premeditated violence and must be treated as such,” she added.
ugly head after black woman wins pageant
Italy James Imam Milan
James Imam
Being crowned Miss Bologna was a long-cherished dream for Marta Bunda. Beaming as the pageant organiser draped a silver sash across her shoulders and placed a crown on her head, Bunda, 25, savoured a moment that remains rare in Italy: the victory of a black woman in a significant beauty contest.
“It was a complete surprise, and I was absolutely thrilled when they called my name,” she told The Times. “Ever since I was a little girl, I’d dreamt of a moment like this.”
The joy, however, quickly faded when Bunda’s social media accounts were inundated with racist abuse. Com- menters sarcastically jibed that she looked “typically Bolognese” and had “classic Emilian traits”, a reference to the Emilia-Romagna region whose capital is Bologna. Others accused the jury of political correctness and choosing her “only because she is black”. The most offensive comments have been removed.
Bunda was taken aback. “I was expecting some controversy, but I never imagined it would lead to such nas- tiness,” she said.
“It was as if I didn’t have the right to be
James Imam unrealistic expectations of rural life.
Tourists come to the lush Brembana Valley for its fairytale villages, hiking trails snaking through the surrounding mountains, and, perhaps most of all, some peace and quiet.
Those expectations, however, do not always meet the realities of countryside life. Now, a row has erupted after holidaymakers in the mountain village of Serina moaned about noisy cows.
A couple are trying to persuade the mayor of Serina, 30km north of Berga- mo, to silence the bells worn by cows grazing near their holiday home.
“It’s impossible to holiday in Serina with the cows’ bells less than 10m from the block of flats, day and night,” Piera Cristina Villa, a pensioner from near the town of Cremona, wrote on Face- book last week. “Some holidaymakers have already gone home. The mayor is nowhere to be found and doesn’t reply.”
Villa’s husband, Giambattista Bergo- mi, wrote to the mayor in 2024 and asked him again to intervene last year.
there. It highlighted a problem I hadn’t fully realised still existed.”
Bunda’s victory came three decades after Denny Mendez, who was born in the Dominican Republic, became the first ethnic-minority winner of the Miss Italy title in 1996. Thirty years on, Bunda’s experience has exposed the ugly side of Italy’s race relations, raising questions about what it means to be Italian in an increasingly diverse society.
Many rallied behind Bunda, includ- ing Marco Pellegrini, the pageant’s organiser, who said at the time: “Hear- ing these things still fills me with great sadness.”
Mendez — now a prominent TV actress and glamour model known for her diversity and inclusion activism — also expressed solidarity, telling Bunda in a video message: “I experienced first-
hand what you went through ... go on
with your head held high.”
Mendez said the fact she remained the only ethnic-minority
Miss Italy winner in the 80-year
history of the pageant “tells us
that there is still a long way to
go”. She told The Times: “The problem is not [the identity of] the winner, but that some cannot accept that Italy is now multicultural.” Born in Imola, near Bolo- gna, to Congolese migrants,
Bunda received her first Ital-
ian passport only when she
turned 18. Italy’s laws deter-
Holiday home owners are claiming that cow bells are a form of noise pollution
Responding on social media, Mi- chele Villarboito, the mayor, said cow- bells were “part of our history and cul- ture”. He later posted a mock decree joking that he had “called the cows into the town hall to sign a gagging order”, adding: “Unfortunately, they respond- ed with a very unco-operative moo.”
mine citizenship by parents’ nationali- ties rather than place of birth. About 50,000 foreign citizens were born in the country in 2024, 13.5 per cent of all births, according to the Istat statistics agency.
Bunda worked as a receptionist in Imola while studying for a degree in business and languages, and met Pelle-
“Some people come expecting the rhythms and comfort of city life,” he said. “People who spend all year in a city need time to adapt to nature.”
His social media pages have since filled with messages of support. Some locals have jokingly suggested handing out earplugs, while others have pro- posed synchronising grazing times with visitors’ afternoon naps.
Serina’s population of 2,100 swells to 20,000 in summer. Alongside tourism, dairy farming is one of the main eco- nomic activities, with about 500 cows grazing on mountain pastures.
This isn’t the first time that com- plaints about the sounds of rural life have riled up locals. In 2021, Ramón Ca- nal, mayor of the coastal Asturian ham- let of Ribadesella, created a poster cam- paign warning townies that they would have to put up with the sound of church bells, cattle herds and tractors “working to feed you”.
Elsewhere in Europe, however, local politicians have taken noise complaints more seriously. Last week, the mayor of the French village of Vindry-sur-Tur- dine, where a church bell rings every half hour, silenced it from 10pm to 6am after complaints from villagers.
grini at a Latin American dance event. By chance, she arrived just as a casting session for the beauty pageant at the same venue was drawing to a close.
Pellegrini encouraged her to take part. She hesitated for two months, convinced she would not get far, but eventually submitted her application.
After progressing through the selec-
on horse-drawn carriages
Horse-drawn carriages that carry tour- ists around Palermo are to be replaced by electric vehicles over fears that animals cannot cope with Italy’s soar- ing temperatures.
Carriage operators’ licences will be converted over the next year into per- mits for electric golf carts, tuk-tuks or vehicles designed to look like carriages.
Roberto Lagalla, the mayor of Palermo, said increasingly frequent heatwaves, which push the tempera- ture in Sicily to nearly 40C, were be- hind the move.
“Animal welfare is a battle for civili- sation,” he said. “An issue that concerns respect for the rights of those who have no voice.”
Animal rights groups welcomed the decision. The Anti-Vivisection League said it was a decision of “exceptional im- portance” in a city where the animals had been forced to work in extreme heat, over scorching asphalt and in noisy, polluted conditions.
Marta Bunda received a torrent of racist online abuse after she was crowned Miss Bologna. Her success comes 30 years after Denny Mendez, below, won the Miss Italy title
tion rounds, she went on to beat 25 other contestants in the Miss Bologna final.
Her victory earned her a place in the Miss Emilia-Romagna regional com- petition next month and, if successful there, a chance to compete in Miss Italy in the autumn.
It would be a striking victory. Italy is increasingly multicultural, with 5.4 mil- lion foreign citizens legally resident last year, an 8 per cent increase from ten years earlier.
A generation of successful black ath- letes has embodied this changing ident- ity, including the volleyball national team player Paola Egonu, who was born in Italy to Nigerian parents, and the sprinter Marcell Jacobs, the 2020 Olympic 100m champion, who is the son of a black American serviceman.
Yet political opposition to multi- culturalism remains potent. Roberto Vannacci, the former military general who launched a successful political party this year, suggested in a best- selling 2023 book that black people cannot be Italian, identifying Egonu as an example.
“The problem hasn’t been solved,” Bunda said of racism in Italy. “It’s still there, so let’s talk about it.”
Others around the world have faced similar hostility. After winning Miss England 2021, Rehema Muthamia, then a 25-year-old health technology consultant, said she was subjected to online abuse because of her Kenyan heritage.
Bunda noted that many of the offen- sive messages came from people living outside Italy, including in Venezuela and the United States.
For Mendez, however, Bunda’s story is already a powerful symbol. “When- ever a competition rewards merit rather than stereotypes, it sends a cul- tural message that is far more powerful than one might think,” she said.
Bunda acknowledged that the intense media attention from her victory had helped to bring the issue of racial dis- crimination to a wider audience.
“If, in my own small way, I can help ensure that this issue remains in the spotlight and that we continue to fight prejudice, I’m absolutely determined to do my very best.”
and goods in Palermo until the 1950s, when many operators began replacing traditional brightly coloured carts with rickshaw-style covered carriages.
Today 38 carriage operators — known in the local dialect as gnuri — are still active, according to the local newspaper La Sicilia.
However, images of exhausted horses collapsing in sweltering heat in Italy have become common in recent years.
This month a video of a horse collapsing on a bridge in Rome in al- most 40C heat shocked Italians. Last year, a Palermo carriage owner was fined after his horse collapsed while working in extreme temperatures in the historic centre.
Not everyone supports the change, however. One Palermo carriage opera- tor told the BBC: “I’m staying right here with my carriage. This horse will die with me. It puts food on my table.”
from gene therapy paper’
China Richard Spencer China Correspondent
A leading Chinese neuroscientist is under investigation after excluding from a research paper on his new gene therapy technique the fact that its trial patient, a six-year-old girl, had died after undergoing it.
Zilong Qiu, a neuroscientist at the Songjiang Research Institute at Shanghai Jiaotong University, one of China’s best-known institutions of higher education, is one of several re- searchers worldwide working on new gene therapy techniques. His experi- ment last year was an attempt to more precisely “edit” the genes of neurons in the brains of children with developmental disorders.
A week after receiving the therapy, which involved injecting viruses con- taining the “editing tool” into her spi- nal fluid, the girl died from a severe immune reaction.
Nevertheless, Qiu went ahead with the publication of a peer-reviewed paper in Nature magazine on the pre- liminary tests for the therapy con- ducted on animals. The paper was widely welcomed for holding out
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hope for children suffering from simi- lar development disorders.
An original version of the paper, written before the child was treated but shown to her family, included de- tails of her proposed therapy, but these had been removed before pub- lication. Also omitted was the fact that the fees Qiu and his institution charged the girl’s parents, amounting to $860,000 (£645,000), had effec- tively funded the trial.
The incident was revealed at the weekend by Science magazine, work- ing with a watchdog organisation, Retraction Watch. They received no response to inquiries from Qiu or the university.
The girl’s family had been told by the university that no action was being taken against Qiu, and that the research published in Nature was re- garded as separate from their daugh- ter’s trial. However, since Science published its article, the authorities have swung into action. The univers- ity said it had set up a “special work- ing group to conduct a comprehen- sive investigation into the case”.
Nature said it had not been made aware of the outcome of the trial.
Guided tours and visits, including guided tours of Dubrovnik, Split and the Emperor Diocletian’s Palace, Hvar and Korčula, and visits to Mljet and the islet of St Mary’s, Pučišća and Stari Grad Swim stops in secluded, idyllic island locations
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denies succession row
France Adam Sage Paris
The luxury goods tycoon who is France’s richest person has denied reports of family infighting over his succession.
Bernard Arnault, 77, said in an open letter published on the X account of LVMH, his company, that the mem- bers of his family were “all united”.
The multi-billionaire added that anyone “gambling on a split in the family to sell papers [would] wait for a long time”.
The tycoon was responding to a se- ries of six articles about him in Le Monde, the last of which claimed that his children were jostling to take over from him amid a backdrop of rivalry and animosity.
All five hold positions of power within the group and its brands. Le Monde quoted Arnault as saying that his successor might be from outside the family. “But it’s better if it’s some- one from the family,” he added, ac- cording to the newspaper.
Arnault has two children from his first marriage to Anne Dewavrin: Delphine Arnault, 51, who is chief ex- ecutive of Christian Dior; and Anto- ine Arnault, 49, LVMH’s director of image and environment, and also a director of Paris FC, the first division football club owned by the family. He has three children with his second wife, the concert pian- ist Hélène Mercier-Arnault, 66: Alexandre Arnault, 34, the deputy chief executive of Moët Hennessy champagne; Frédéric Arnault, 31, the chief executive of the Ital- ian fashion house Loro Piana; and Jean Arnault, 27, the watch director at Louis Vuitton.
high-ranking posts within LVMH, Arnault had “made them rivals and weakened both his family and his group”.
The daily claimed that Alexandre Arnault coveted his sister’s post at Dior, but had been criticised for his performance at the head of Tiffany & Co, the US jewellery brand which was acquired by LVMH. It also claimed he was viewed by other members of the family as ostentatious, notably because of his marriage in Venice in 2021 to Géraldine Guyot, the founder of Destrée, a fashion brand.
Le Monde wrote that Frédéric Ar- nault held Antoine, who is in charge of LVMH’s public relations strategy, responsible for the sometimes nega- tive portraits of him and Alexandre
that have appeared in the
media. The newspaper
said Frédéric had taken
on his own public rela- tions consultant.
According to Le Monde, another conflict
within the family pitted
Arnault’s second wife
Jean, Frédéric, Bernard and Antoine Arnault in 2023. Below, Delphine Arnault and her partner, Xavier Niel. Le Monde claims Niel is “hated” by some of the Arnault family
fone’s biggest shareholder and is a bil- lionaire himself. Paris is awash with rumours that he would like to take over LVMH although its corporate statutes appear to rule this out.
Niel was an important shareholder in Le Monde before transferring his stock to an endowment fund.
Mercier-Arnault was quoted by Le Monde as saying that Niel did not fit in with the rest of the household.
“He has never been integrated into the family,” she was quoted as saying.
The daily said her “hatred” of him had reached such a level that he was no longer invited for Christmas.
It also quoted her as criticising An- toine’s public relations skills, saying he “does not protect his father enough” and “shouldn’t handle his communication”.
The daily said Niel and Delphine and Antoine Arnault claimed that Mercier-Arnault’s mind was “wan- dering”.
Arnault’s response was a mixture of irony and cold anger. He said he had invited Le Monde’s journalists to meet him and his children and had been “punished for his transparency”.
the times | Tuesday July 28 2026 27 Business
WORLD MARKETS
£/€ €1.1693 (-0.0022) ¤ FTSE 100 10,781.75 (+45.52)
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Martin Strydom Jack Barnett Economics Correspondent
The price of oil tumbled after the US and Iran ceased fighting and Oman led diplomatic efforts to get ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz again.
Brent crude, the international oil price benchmark, fell by about 10 per cent a barrel, having cleared $100 a bar- rel at the end of last week, reaching a low of $87.64. That decline tempered during afternoon trading, with prices exceeding $90 a barrel again. West
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denies AI will hit jobs
Alex Ralph Chief Business Correspondent
Artificial intelligence will not “kill” large numbers of jobs and will instead help to boost productivity, according to the chief executive of AstraZeneca, one of Britain’s biggest public companies
Sir Pascal Soriot said AI was making operations “faster and smarter” and that he does not expect a “big reduction of headcount” at the pharmaceutical group or in the life sciences industry.
The comments from the FTSE 100 leader come as companies around the world race to invest in AI and deploy it, fuelling fears that the technology could lead to widespread job losses.
“I personally think that the story about AI killing jobs is a bit of a fake story, honestly,” Soriot, 67, said.
“It may apply to some industries, but in many industries, certainly like ours, it will make people faster and smarter … because I mean, the responses you get, the help you get, the interaction you can get with good AI tools really makes you more efficient.
“So it will lift our productivity. We’ll produce more products — hopefully, better-quality products — faster.”
He added: “There are areas and tasks that will of course be impacted and where headcounts may reduce, but overall I don’t think we will see a big reduction of headcount — at least not in our industry and certainly not in our company.”
(Change on the day)
Dow Jones 52,210.08 (+262.83)
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Texas Intermediate, another price market, dropped by a similar degree.
The halt in hostilities will again raise hopes that a solution can be found to de-escalate the conflict in the Middle East and end the disruption to shipping through the strait.
On Sunday, Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News that President Trump had decided to pause US strikes in order to allow the opportunity for talks between the two sides. Iran said it would halt attacks so long as the US did the same,
announcement, said the company must operate at “Chinese speed” to avoid falling behind the rapid innovation coming out of the country, where AstraZeneca has invested billions and struck numerous partnerships.
A number of multinationals have set out job cuts in recent months, with some citing AI. They include British American Tobacco, the London- headquartered maker of Dunhill ciga- rettes and Vuse vapes, which said last month that out of a 47,000-strong workforce, about 9,000 jobs are set to be affected by a £600 million shake-up partly driven by AI.
Paul Thwaite, the boss of NatWest Group, said in June that the shape of the bank’s 60,000 workforce “is definitely going to change” as it deploys AI.
Georges Elhedery, the HSBC chief executive, said in May that “we all know generative AI will destroy certain jobs and will create new jobs”. John Wal- dron, president and chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs, described the Wall St bank as a “human assembly line” that could be automated.
In its annual assessment this month of the long-term outlook for the public finances, the Office for Budget Respon- sibility, the government’s fiscal watch- dog, estimated that 10 per cent of the labour force was “exposed” to substitu- tion by AI in the next decade, but that just under a third of jobs could be com- plemented by the technology, potent- ially boosting productivity.
COMMODITIES CURRENCIES
Brent crude (6pm)
$86.26 (-4.74)
$
£/$
$1.3302 (-0.0042)
Gold $4,084.35 (+7.30)
4,500
with the American military understood to be concerned about dwindling sup- plies of missiles.
Yet over the weekend, Yemen’s Iran- aligned Houthis still attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast, threatening another waterway vital to the global oil trade. The development has raised the possibility of vessels diverting to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is used by Suez Canal traffic, just as they did in 2023 amid Houthi strikes.
Members of the Omani government
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led talks in Tehran on Friday and Satur- day in an effort to pave the way towards an agreement to allow vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian regime hailed the nego- tiations as “fruitful” and said “some progress was made”.
European stocks squeezed out gains yesterday. London’s FTSE 100 rose by 0.42 per cent and the Stoxx Europe 600 was up by 0.02 per cent. In the US the S&P 500 opened 0.29 per cent lower.
The decline in oil prices eased infla- tionary concerns among investors,
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sparking a rally in government bonds before key interest rate decisions from the Bank of England, US Federal Re- serve and Bank of Japan this week.
The yield on the benchmark ten-year UK government bond dipped by as much as 0.07 percentage points to 4.97 per cent, while the yield on the German equivalent fell by 0.06 per- centage points to 3.12 per cent. US Trea- sury yields also fell.
Bitcoin declined by 0.6 per cent to $64,937 and the price of an ounce of gold jumped by 0.65 per cent to $4,079.
DEREK IRONSIDE/NEWSLINE
Sir Ian Wood dies aged 84
David Leask Greig Cameron Scottish Business Editor
Sir Ian Wood, one of Britain’s most significant oil and gas figures, has died, prompting tributes from the business and political worlds.
Wood, 84, died peacefully at home surrounded by his family.
John Swinney, the SNP first minister, said Wood had “helped shape modern Scotland”. Sir Tom Hunter, another Scottish billionaire, called him a hero.
Wood, who was born and raised in Aberdeen, was best known for building the international engineering consult- ancy Wood Group. He grew the com- pany out of his family fishing business, John Wood & Son, where he became managing director in 1967, just three years after graduating with a psycholo- gy degree from Aberdeen University.
By 1982, Wood Group was spun off as a separate company providing opera- tions, design and maintenance services to the oil industry around the world. It was floated on the London Stock Ex- change in 2002 and became a member of the FTSE 100 index. Wood stepped down as chief executive in 2006 but remained as chairman until 2012.
In 2014, Wood was hired by the UK government to outline the future prospects for the oil and gas sector. The Wood review advocated for maximis- ing the economic recovery from the North Sea and laid out a path through to 2050 for the industry.
Also in 2014, there was a rare inter- vention in politics when Wood came out against Scottish independence before the referendum that year.
Alongside his business life, he had a commitment to philanthropy with the Wood Foundation working on projects in the UK and Africa. More recently Wood had supported Opportunity North East, an economic development agency helping to diversify the eco- nomy in the northeast of Scotland.
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Gas prices are “almost guaranteed” to stay high through this winter and into next year as low levels of gas storage in Europe threaten a supply crisis, analysts at Wood Mackenzie have warned. 2
Artificial intelligence will not “kill” large numbers of jobs and will instead help to boost productivity, according to the chief executive of AstraZeneca. Sir Pascal Soriot said he does not expect a “big reduction of headcount” at the pharmaceutical group or in the life sciences industry. 3
The price of oil tumbled after the United States and Iran ceased fighting for the first time in weeks. Brent crude, the oil price benchmark, slid by about 10 per cent, having cleared $100 a barrel at the end of last week, reaching a low of $87.64 at one stage yesterday. 4
Sir Ian Wood, one of Britain’s most significant oil and gas figures, has died aged 84. John Swinney, the SNP first minister, said he had “helped shape modern Scotland”. Sir Tom Hunter, the Scottish billionaire, called him a hero. 5
China’s leading memory chipmaker CXMT became the country’s most valuable company after rising 466 per cent on its market debut. 6
China’s leading memory chipmaker CXMT became the country’s most valuable company after rising 466 per cent on its market debut.
The Conservative Party chairman, Kevin Hollinrake, has urged the Treasury select committee to intervene to ensure the publication of a long-delayed review into whether Lloyds Banking Group tried to cover up a £1 billion scam. 7
Sir Pascal Soriot has said he is “absolutely confident” of AstraZeneca hitting a headline $80 billion sales target for 2030 but said the company must operate at “Chinese speed” to continue innovating in the years ahead. 8
Vodafone has raised its profits guidance for the year, in the telecoms group’s first results since the French billionaire Xavier Niel became its largest shareholder.
reversed the traditional roles of hegemon, in this case the US, and challenger, China
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chipmaker soars 466% on its debut
Martin Strydom
The shares jumped from a float price of 8.66 yuan a share, valuing the com- pany at $85.5 billion, to 49 yuan, giving it a market capitalisation of 3.3 trillion yuan ($488 billion), overtaking Indus- trial and Commercial Bank of China as the country’s most valuable company.
The chipmaker’s first-day gain also eclipsed the debut performance of China Resources New Energy, whose shares more than doubled after a $3.6 billion IPO this month.
The rise reflects domestic investors’ bullish sentiment towards the memory chip company, which is a key part of Beijing’s drive to build a self-sufficient chip industry.
The Chinese government, which held 36.29 per cent of CXMT before the float, is increasingly counting on home- grown hardware to boost its position in the AI race against the United States, which has restricted China’s access to advanced chips. The successful debut came amid a sell-off in global techno- logy stocks on concerns about multibil- lion-dollar spending on AI.
CMXT, or ChangXin Memory Tech- nologies, is the world’s fourth-largest maker of Dram (dynamic random access memory) chips, with an 8 per cent market share.
It wants to rival South Korea’s Sam- sung Electronics and SK Hynix, and the US giant Micron, which have seen profits and share prices jump recently, boosted by the push to build data cen- tres that power artificial intelligence.
Advanced memory chips are in huge demand for their key role in AI servers, alongside other powerful data-crunch-
Helen Cahill Financial Correspondent
A FTSE 100 energy group has recom- mended that shareholders accept a £5.75 billion bid from a consortium of private equity firms as the buy-up of London’s listed companies picks up pace.
DCC Energy has agreed to the bid from KKR, the American private equity firm, and Energy Capital Partners, a subsidiary of Bridgepoint, despite facing initial opposition from a number of the group’s shareholders.
The private equity firms have offered cash of £65.25 a share and agreed to deliver the 147.2p-a-share final dividend previously promised to investors. The consortium has also agreed to pay up to £1.25 a share if DCC secures at least $800 million from a sale of Nexora, its technology distribution business.
ing semiconductors made by compa- nies such as Nvidia. That has created a major shortage of the less flashy Dram chips used in laptops, phones and other electronics, pushing up prices.
Only 6.73 per cent of CXMT’s enlarged share capital was freely tradable at the listing as most shares are locked up, which is expected to magnify price swings. Some market analysts are sceptical about whether the jump in the shares can be sustained.
Jing Jie Yu, equity analyst at Morn- ingstar, said the deal was priced at a steep discount. He argued the stock’s first-day rise was excessive, pointing to the memory sector’s cyclical nature and the longer-term drag from US export controls that restrict access to advanced chipmaking technology.
Yu said: “Investor appetite is largely being driven by providing Chinese in- vestors a way to meaningfully get expo- sure to the current memory supercycle.”
CXMT’s big jump has led to concerns about a bubble. The company’s growing dominance in China has enabled it to raise prices for customers such as Huawei. Yuan Yuwei, hedge fund man- ager at Trinity Synergy Investments, said the stock was “too expensive and smells of speculation”, adding that “it’s hard to say the optimism is sustainable”.
In its prospectus, CXMT said the growing appetite for AI had driven de- mand for memory chips but cautioned the market could weaken if AI invest- ment slowed. The company expects first-half revenue to rise more than sev- enfold to between 110 billion and 120 billion yuan, with net profit of between 66 billion and 75 billion yuan, reversing a loss in the previous year.
CXMT is not the only chipmaker whose shares have benefited hugely from the AI boom. SK Hynix rose 13 per cent on its first day of trading this month
said the transaction provided a “com- pelling opportunity” for shareholders to exit at a premium of 24 per cent to the group’s undisturbed share price.
DCC initially rejected a £58-a-share offer from KKR and ECP, but later said it was “minded to recommend” a deal comprising cash of £65.25 a share, plus the dividend.
Murphy said the group had “worked hard” to raise the group’s market capital- isation during its time on listed markets but that private infrastructure firms had valued the business more highly.
He added: “The value hasn’t been created in the share price. We’ve created very significant intrinsic value but it hasn’t reflected into the public market.
“So, 90 days ago we got a knock on the door from KKR and ECP. It was very easy to reject their first offer but given our fiduciary duties to our share- holders, we interacted with them and over 90 days we’ve ended up with an offer on the table that we believe is
Zhu Yiming, left, added more than $12 billion to his fortune after CXMT, the
on Wall Street, capping one of the world’s biggest ever stock sales. Its market capitalisation on Seoul’s Kospi index rose past $1 trillion in May. 6 Nvidia is set to invest $5 billion in the start-up co-founded by OpenAI’s former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. The investment in Safe Superintelli- gence is part of a partnership that will boost the Israeli-American artificial in- telligence business’s available comput- ing resources, the companies said.
very compelling from our shareholders’ perspective.
“While we very much believe in our strategy, the offer that’s on the table creates compelling value for sharehold- ers, in cash, now. We think the majority of our shareholders will be in favour of the transaction.”
The private equity offer faced opposi- tion from major shareholders, includ- ing Fidelity, Aviva and Jim Flavin, the founder of the company, whose head- quarters are in Dublin.
Matt Bennison, of Aviva Investors, said he would be “disappointed” if the board recommended an offer at £65.25 a share, while Flavin described the valuation as “miserable”.
Bennison added: “We firmly believe that it is not in the interest of our clients to sell the business at this level.
F
ounded only a decade ago, ChangXin Memory Technologies is the world’s fourth-largest memory chipmaker by market share, behind Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron (Charlotte Bend writes).
Zhu Yiming, 54, the chairman and founder of CXMT, added more than $12 billion to his fortune after the company’s listing yesterday in
Ian dedicated his life to building oppor- tunities for others. Through the growth of the business that bore his family name and through decades of philan- thropic work, he sought to create last- ing positive change both in Scotland and around the world.
“He felt deeply that good fortune in life carries with it a responsibility to help others realise their own full potential.”
Swinney said: “Sir Ian Wood stands as one of Scotland’s most influential business leaders and philanthropists, a figure whose vision, determination and generosity have left a lasting mark on the nation and far beyond.”
Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, the former prime minister, said: “Sir Ian Wood was one of Scotland’s great entrepreneurs and industrial leaders, a true titan of Scottish industry.”
A
company he founded while in his 20s, listed in Shanghai
Shanghai. Zhu decided to set up his own company in his 20s while working as an engineer in Silicon Valley, having studied electrical engineering at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
According to a 2008 interview with Tsinghua University in Beijing, where Zhu graduated with a master’s degree in physics, the billionaire viewed China as “already the world”, believing the opportunities back home were far greater than abroad. His long-term
Isabella Fish Retail Editor pence for BritBox and Towards Zero for the BBC and BritBox. A new Miss Marple continuation novel written by Lucy Foley was also delivered.
Five decades after Dame Agatha Chris- tie penned her final mystery, the trail has not gone cold — and neither has the cash flow. Modern revivals such as Netflix’s Seven Dials prove that the world’s hunger for the queen of crime’s deadly intrigue is as potent as ever.
Agatha Christie Limited, led by the author’s great-grandson James Pri- chard, made pre-tax profits of £20 mil- lion in the year to the end of December, up from £13.7 million the year before.
The company, whose ownership is split between her family and the US-based film company RLJ Enter- tainment, paid out a dividend of £9.25 million, compared with £5.3 mil- lion the year before.
ambition was “to be the biggest memory designer and maker in China”, according to emails seen by the Hong Kong-based newspaper the South China Morning Post that were retained by Li Jun, one of Zhu’s earliest investors.
After making a pitch to Li in a Starbucks in Silicon Valley, Zhu quit his job and registered GigaDevice Semiconductor. He applied for a patent with another engineer, Shu
semiconductor
Accounts filed with Companies House stated that Poirot and Marple series produced by LWT/ITV Studios between 1989 and 2013 continue to sell
Mia McKenna- Bruce in the Netflix production of Seven Dials
strongly around the world, “demon- strating consistent customer appetite for evergreen Agatha Christie adapta- tions as well as for the newer content, and a solid, reliable financial tail”.
Qingming, for the design they had been working on in a garage rented to them by an investor.
Despite struggling to win over large electronics manufacturers at first, GigaDevice eventually grew into one of China’s leading chip- design companies and listed in Shanghai in August 2016.
That year, Zhu launched CXMT with the help of the Hefei municipal government in eastern China. By 2018 he had stepped back from GigaDevice to focus on CXMT and reportedly pledged not to draw a salary from the company until the memory-chip project became profitable. It did last year, after a loss of $2.4 billion in 2023.
In 2019, CXMT began producing its first self-designed mainstream memory chip, after Zhu had secured licences to patents originally developed by Qimonda, a failed German memory maker spun out of Infineon Technologies. This gave mainland China its first meaningful foothold in a market dominated by manufacturers overseas.
A breakthrough also arrived that year in the form of a patent licence agreement with WiLan, a Canadian licensing company that offered CXMT access to a substantial portfolio of Dram (dynamic random-access memory) patents and technical documents.
As artificial intelligence led to a boom in demand for memory, CXMT’s fortunes took a turn from its loss-making years when it focused on building factories and recruiting engineers. Apple has reportedly taken an interest, lobbying the US authorities for clearance to use the chips after the Pentagon placed the manufacturer on a military blacklist for its ties to Beijing.
CXMT has grown to
become the country’s
largest producer of
Dram, a type of
memory used for
devices from
servers, cameras and mobile phones to personal computers and tablets. It also stores the data that AI models need. According to its prospectus, CXMT includes Alibaba, ByteDance and Tencent among its customers as well as selling to device makers from Lenovo to Xiaomi.
According to the research firm Morningstar, more than 97 per cent of sales last year came from the Greater China region.
nities for growth in all categories. “New TV productions and feature films are important to the group not only because of the revenue generated di- rectly through licence fees, broadcast fees and distribution income, but also because of the indirect impact on other areas of the business such as publish- ing,” it added.
Agatha Christie became a global name through her clever plots, detect- ives like Hercule Poirot and her own disappearance in 1926.
She wrote 66 detective novels and sold more than two billion copies, making her history’s bestselling fiction writer. Her most famous works include Murder on the Orient Express and the stage play The Mousetrap.
the Chinese way?
business commentary James Hurley
Chinese chipmaker’s blockbuster debut might not be the most obvious place to look for support for Andy Burnham’s drive to boost regional growth.
Yet one aspect of the remarkable rise of CXMT, whose shares surged by 466 per cent in Shanghai, demonstrates the rewards on offer for local leaders who back entrepreneurs. More than 1,000 miles away from China’s famous technology hubs of Beijing and Shenzhen lies the “venture capital city” of Hefei, where the city government takes an active role in backing promising tech ventures.
Alongside involvement in the state-owned enterprises that are a pillar of the national economy, Hefei makes equity bets to such a degree that it has been called “China’s most aggressive venture capitalist”.
The city is a world leader in scientific research and now has a listed giant to show for it, partly due to the billions of dollars that the local government poured into CXMT, whose post-float rally pushed its market value to 3.3 trillion yuan ($488 billion), making it the most valuable firm in mainland China.
It may seem hard to believe in an era of unprecedented spending on AI infrastructure, but private investors initially thought the plans of CXMT founder Zhu Yiming were too risky as he pursued an apparently quixotic venture to break into the chipmaking oligopoly of Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron.
Hefei stepped in, taking an 80 per cent stake in the first stage of what became a 150 billion yuan, manufacturing project. Crucially, the city backed CXMT through successive funding rounds and still owns more than a third of it. The investment has helped to transform Hefei from a relative backwater into a major technology hub, with more than 6,000 tech firms.
These include NIO, an electric vehicle maker that Hefei rescued from the brink of bankruptcy on the condition it moved operations there. When NIO recovered, Hefei cashed out much of its stake — a tactic more associated with venture capitalists than communist officials.
Amid concerns that China’s slowing economy might be exposing a strategy too reliant on centralised, state-led investment, what Chinese media call the “Hefei model’’ may offer a new approach: local-led integration of public and private entrepreneurship and a way to regenerate “under-developed” cities.
Andy Burnham is keen to do something similar. Yesterday, he was boasting how the state-owned British Business Bank would back plans from a consortium of pension providers to launch a “UK scale-up fund” to back promising science and technology businesses. Perhaps predictably, Burnham said the scheme would “help unlock good growth in every postcode”.
The first problem with that is lack of scale. The new fund is expected to manage more than £1 billion, which might help to get some promising companies off to a good start but won’t make a dent in the nation’s growing problem with getting its best companies to scale
before they are snapped up by overseas buyers.
The bank also provides localised funding pots in areas including Northern Ireland, Wales, the Midlands and the South West. Once again, though, the scale is relatively modest. While the agency has become an important funder of scale-ups, innovation and entrepreneurs, it is underpowered.
Then there’s the question of whether local areas have enough of a say over how funds are spent.
Previous attempts to move investment programmes and decision-making away from Westminster have floundered.
With Burnham’s plans to allow regions to do more to determine their own destinies, including by backing the private sector, one of many challenges he faces is working out how a local-led investment model can survive political cycles.
Hefei’s CXMT investment paid off in a decade. The entire structure behind the UK’s last devolution drive lasted only three years longer than that.
I
n 2017 on the same day that Theresa May answered her final PMQs before what would be a disastrous general election for her, a former High Court judge was being appointed to lead a review into whether Lloyds had covered up a £1 billion bank fraud.
The UK has had five more prime ministers since that April day and surviving victims of the lending scam are still waiting for Dame Linda Dobbs’s report, which was supposed to take a “matter of months”.
Dobbs has blamed factors such as the complexity of the case, the frequent emergence of new evidence and a lack of ability to compel witnesses for examination of the fraud, which saw criminals steal from HBOS via small and medium- sized companies, ruining livelihoods in the process.
Along with the fact that victims are getting sick and dying before they get to hear the findings, the glacial progress may also play into the hands of Lloyds, which rescued HBOS in 2009. By the time the report emerges, the bank will be able to point to the “historic” nature of any misconduct and perhaps offer some corporate babble about lessons having been learnt.
Is it wrong to assume Dobbs, 75, will be critical in her report before it lands? Probably not.
In an obscure corner of the Lloyds website, there is a section, last updated in May, where the bank says “there are a number of key lessons which we are already seeking to reflect”. These include admissions about being “overly defensive and legalistic”; a lack of “understanding and empathy for victims”; “friction” with the police investigation; and not enough “interrogation and consideration by the wider management team” of the scam.
Jack Barnett Economics Correspondent and other alcoholic drinks tied to the World Cup pushed down overall shop price inflation in July.
Discounts on snacks and alcohol dur- ing the Fifa World Cup and the launch of summer clothing sales helped to keep a lid on shop price inflation in the past month.
Figures from the British Retail Con- sortium and NielsenIQ released today show that prices in shops rose by 0.9 per cent on an annual basis in July, down from an increase of 1.2 per cent in the previous month. On a monthly basis, prices declined by 0.1 per cent.
Experts at the consortium, the sec- tor’s lobby group, said that deals on beer
Flying colours The imported iron ore terminals of Qingdao Port, Shandong province, China, hold the record for one crane unloading the mineral: 3,057 tonnes an hour
Dobbs review on HBOS scam
James Hurley Assistant Business Editor
The Conservative Party chairman has urged the Treasury select committee to intervene to ensure the publication of a long-delayed review into whether Lloyds Banking Group tried to cover up a £1 billion scam.
Kevin Hollinrake, a former member of the committee, said MPs should use their “powers to seek answers from Lloyds” and from Dame Linda Dobbs, the retired High Court judge leading the investigation. MPs should demand to know when the review will be published, seek assurances it will be published in full and ask what “excep- tional circumstances” there are to justi- fy any further delays, he said.
In a letter to Dame Meg Hillier, the committee’s chairwoman, he said there “can be no justification for an inde- pendent review of such significance re- maining unpublished indefinitely”.
The Dobbs review into a scam at HBOS, which Lloyds rescued in 2009, was commissioned in April 2017 but is still not complete and there is uncer- tainty over whether it will ever be published in full.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “Shoppers benefited from deals on snacks and alcoholic drinks during the football World Cup, while clothing and footwear retailers offered significant discounts as they started clearing summer stock.”
Temporary price reductions are like- ly to have stimulated consumer spend- ing in recent months, with retail sales rising by 1 per cent in June. Consumer confidence has also gained momen-
branch of HBOS, where bankers and business consultants exploited reckless credit policies to steal from the lender. Lynden Scourfield, a banker, arranged for customers to appoint and pay fees to third-party consultants as a condition of continued bank support.
Scores of small and medium-sized businesses were wrecked and hundreds more were caught up in the fallout. Six people were jailed in February 2017 and
Kevin Hollinrake says MPs must demand the review is published in full
Judge Martin Beddoe concluded that the affair had left people “cheated, de- feated and penniless”.
The scam was brought to the atten- tion of Lloyds during, or shortly after, the HBOS merger but victims allege the bank tried to cover it up, foreclosed on affected companies and did not fully co-operate with the police inquiry.
Prices rose by 0.9 per cent in July as retailers helped stoke football fever
Separate data released by the Office for National Statistics showed that the consumer prices index, the UK’s official inflation measurement, climbed by 2.6 per cent in the year to June. The BRC-NiselsenIQ numbers are seen as a precursor to the ONS’s official inflation estimate.
the most protracted in British history. It is unrelated to a separate compensation exercise, also not yet complete.
Hollinrake told The Times that the committee should ask Lloyds how much the review has cost the bank so far. The bank has not disclosed the costs of the review but has taken close to £1.3 billion of charges in relation to the affair, including compensation costs.
In his letter to Hillier, Hollinrake wrote: “Despite repeated assurances that progress is being made, there remains no timetable for publication. The most recent update indicated that evidence gathering was substantially complete, yet victims are still waiting for answers. This delay is no longer simply frustrating. It risks denying justice altogether.
“Many of those whose businesses, livelihoods and health were destroyed by the scandal have already died. Others are elderly or seriously unwell. Every month that passes increases the likelihood that more victims will die without ever knowing the full truth about what happened, what was known within HBOS and Lloyds Banking Group, and whether opportunities to prevent or stop the wrongdoing were missed.”
tum, lifted by the World Cup and record hot weather this summer.
“We can expect promotions to con- tinue to be an important part of driving demand for the rest of the summer,” Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at NielsenIQ, said.
Dickinson added: “Some categories, including electricals and health and beauty, saw higher inflation as rising chip prices and manufacturing costs fed through.”
The BRC-NielsenIQ figures are like- ly to have been noted by rate setters at the Bank of England, who will an- nounce their latest interest rate deci-
Lloyds has said that it will publish “findings” of the review but has not commented on whether it will publish the full report.
Hollinrake said there was a wider public interest in the review because it “represents one of the most serious banking scandals in modern British history. The questions it raises about corporate governance, accountability, regulatory oversight and culture within one of Britain’s largest banks remain unresolved.”
He added: “There comes a point where delay undermines the very purpose of the exercise. Parliamentary scrutiny is essential to ensure transpar- ency and accountability.”
Hollinrake also wrote to Dobbs to say he was “increasingly concerned that the pursuit of a perfect report is coming at the expense of justice”.
The committee has previously said it is essential the review is concluded and published as soon as possible.
Dobbs declined to comment. Lloyds has said that the progress of the “independent investigation is a matter for the review. The group will continue to provide every assistance the review requires in order that it can conclude.”
sion on Thursday. The monetary policy committee is expected to leave rates unchanged at 3.75 per cent for the fifth consecutive meeting.
Food prices rose by 2.2 per cent year- on-year in July, the BRC-Nielsen IQ data revealed, compared with an annual increase of 2.4 per cent in June.
CN-STR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
off homes to strengthen its finances
Tom Howard Property Correspondent
Vistry has sold dozens of homes that were acquired in part-exchange deals for £15 million, in its latest move to bolster its balance sheet.
Britain’s second-biggest housebuild- er offloaded the 68 homes, spread around the country, to a company called Spring, which offers rapid trans- actions but typically only pays about 85 per cent of a property’s market value.
“This transaction provides a clear route to unlocking value from a large and diverse portfolio, while simplifying our operational position,” Michael Stirrop, Vistry’s chief commercial officer, said.
“Partnering with a specialist like Spring enables us to move decisively at scale, reducing complexity and creat- ing greater flexibility in how we deploy capital across the business. It is a practi- cal example of how we are evolving our approach to support both near-term delivery and longer-term growth.”
Vistry, which owns the Bovis Homes and Linden Homes brands, has prom- ised shareholders that it will be a “capital-light” business, but it still has about £800 million of net debt.
Adam Daniels, the new chief execu- tive, has prioritised strengthening the balance sheet and reducing the com- pany’s debt pile. He has clamped down on costs by running a “voluntary exit scheme” among the 4,500-strong workforce and has sought to bring in extra cash by cutting asking prices by an average of 7 per cent in an effort to get rid of “slower-moving stock”.
Housebuilders have increasingly used incentives such as part exchange in recent years to drive sales in what remains a slow market. For prospective customers, part-exchange can be ap- pealing because it takes out the time and risk of having to sell their current home before moving into a new one.
Vistry’s annual report showed that at the end of December it had £39.5 mil- lion worth of part-exchange properties on its balance sheet. For Spring, this was its first “bulk” deal with one of the major housebuilders. It will now either rent out the properties or sell them on, hopefully for more than what it paid.
Shane Miller-Bourke, co-chief exec- utive of Spring, said that the company’s offering “provides vital liquidity and certainty into an area of the market that can otherwise tie up capital for extend- ed periods”.
M
end up backfiring on America
‘‘
Kevin Warsh, the new chairman of the US Federal Reserve, will make his second appearance as the world’s most powerful financial policymaker tomorrow after the Fed’s latest interest rate decision.
Warsh won’t like the fact I’m mentioning it. He doesn’t want journalists, investors or most Americans to expect him to say anything of note about the direction of US monetary policy. He wants his press conferences to be brief, boring and, it seems, far less frequent. Warsh has hired Lord King of Lothbury, a former governor of the Bank of England, to advise him on how the central bank “conveys policy deliberations and decisions”. It’s almost certain to conclude that Warsh should talk far less than his predecessors.
Despite his attempts at being very uninteresting on US monetary policy, Warsh is an outspoken champion of the transformative potential of artificial intelligence for the US economy. Before becoming President Trump’s choice to lead the Fed, Warsh staked his name on being an AI bull. His reasoning is rooted in a version of American exceptionalism. Warsh told journalists last month that “AI is shorthand perhaps for American ingenuity. My conviction … is the United States is a winner as we go down this [path].”
Now, most of Warsh’s fellow central bankers are also trying to model what AI means for inflation, the jobs market, and how soaring valuations for a handful of US tech companies affect global financial stability.
Warsh’s calculation is different. His bullishness is rooted in a jingoistic vision of the world, where American firms are unchallenged innovators creating “formidable advantages” for the US economy. He thinks US hyperscaler firms will serve the world’s insatiable demand for America’s leading AI models, making their shareholders money and transforming the federal government’s finances. The US is a “pacing superpower” in AI “and is best positioned for
advantage.
Kevin Warsh believes in American exceptionalism
Summit
Who’s Really in Control? Tuesday, November 10, 2026
sustained increases in economic growth over time,” he wrote in The Wall Street Journal last year. “The strength of America’s tech companies, reflected in market capitalisations that dwarf their overseas peers, gives the US formidable advantages. These so-called hyperscalers aren’t the source of America’s strength. They are the result.”
Warsh’s outlook is unusually categorical for a central banker, but not uncommon in Washington. It is a world view that is coming under severe challenge from China. In the intervening six weeks between Warsh’s two press conferences, China’s Moonshot AI has shocked the AI world with the release of its Kimi K3 model, which is on a par with the cutting-edge performance of models from Anthropic and OpenAI. China’s technologists are producing models close to the “frontier” of AI innovation at a fraction of the cost and without access to the world’s leading chips, which the US has banned them from accessing.
Warsh and his fellow American exceptionalists see AI as a zero-sum tech race that the US will, and has to, win. They’ve persisted in this view despite the “DeepSeek moment” of January 2025, when a relatively unknown Chinese firm released a large language model that was comparable to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The DeepSeek shock wiped $600 billion off the value of the chipmaker Nvidia in a single day. Kimi K3 has erased $890 million from the stock valuation of the “Magnificent Seven” tech giants in the last ten days.
China’s breakneck catch-up in AI has opened another front in the battle
between the world’s economic
superpowers. Beijing extols the
need for open, accessible and
cheap AI for the rest of the world to use and develop, while the US
wants to cultivate a handful of
monopolist firms who are
spending vast amounts of
money to create and
entrench a technological
These firms need the world to pay a lot of money to access their technologies and generate returns on their investment. Trump has
gone further and banned
foreigners from accessing
Danielle Gilliam-Moore Director for Global Public Policy at Salesforce
leading-edge AI, to secure a permanent advantage for American firms and workers. This was the case last month when he barred non-US citizens from using Anthropic’s Fable.
The AI race has reversed the traditional roles of hegemon, in this case the US, and its challenger, China. The dominant superpower is meant to stabilise the international system by providing cheap public goods during times of crisis, as Britain did from the mid-19th century and the US from the mid-20th.
The challenger in turn adopts mercantilist tools like protectionism and weaponised dependencies to claw power and wealth advantages over rivals. Yet in the realm of AI and energy, the US has adopted a mercantilist mindset, while China, in the words of President Xi last week, “is committed to providing international public goods”.
Washington’s response to the China AI shock will offer the best sign yet of how far it has become a mercantilist power. A White House official has accused China of “lying, cheating and stealing” from the likes of Anthropic. Scott Bessent, the US Treasury secretary, has threatened sanctions on Chinese AI.
Trump and Xi are due to meet in late September. A wholesale US ban on Chinese AI would have major repercussions for the US’s superpower status, its reserve currency and the “formidable advantages” that Warsh is banking on for the economy.
If American firms have to pay more to access closed, expensive knowledge technologies compared with the rest of the world, it will not bring the permanent productivity advantages that Warsh thinks will deliver a new age of low inflation and interest rates.
If US AI firms, whose wild investment has been based on selling to international customers, are cut off from global markets, their current valuations are worthless.
And without the huge exports of its AI services, the US’s budget and current account deficit will deteriorate in turn. Rather than ushering in a new era of American exceptionalism, AI could accelerate the era of US decline.
Mehreen Khan is Economics Editor of The Times
Avid Larizadeh Duggan OBE Entrepreneur and Venture at Capitalist
Britain can lead the next industrial era
any organisations have a proud past, but heritage isn’t the future. As chief executive of a company that turns 175 this year, I am acutely conscious of the imperative to be a force for innovation, prosperity and opportunity.
The year in which Smiths was founded, 1851, also saw London host the Great Exhibition. It isn’t the fact that the UK led the world in engineering at that point that we need to learn from. It is the reaction that it created in Germany and the US, to learn from Britain. They did not sit still; they did not wait and accept their fate.
Today, we are at a point where the UK has an opportunity to refocus and once more become a leader in industrial technology. This is the time to listen to our industrial leaders and support them.
Even now, UK industrials produce the critical components, systems and materials that underpin global supply chains. These efforts create high-quality domestic jobs, drive up exports and contribute to economic growth. Strengthening these foundations is essential for growth and national resilience.
UK engineering companies are quiet global leaders in their fields, investing in modern manufacturing, building partnerships that reinforce our industrial ecosystem, and ensuring roles critical to national and economic security are based in-market.
So we have strong foundations to work on. But there is a real danger this opportunity will be missed without clear partnership between government and business and, critically, a resetting of the narrative around engineering as a career.
Talent is what sits at the core of our ability to innovate. Britain has a proud tradition of engineering and technical education, but the acknowledgment of its value has diminished. And with nearly one million young people not in work or education, we must address the talent shortage in engineering.
’’
Businesses have an important role to play and I am proud of our own significant investment here. But we need support.
The UK must create more opportunities for high-quality post-
Lilia Christofi EMEA FS Data, AI and Tech Lead at PwC United Kingdom
secondary education and vocational training — and this must take place in technical colleges and universities now that we have lost the very important educational layer that were polytechnics. We also need meaningful career and technical education in secondary schools.
Britain must renew its commitment to Stem education, particularly as we challenge outdated perceptions of industrials as part of the “old economy”. We are enablers of the modern economy, providing high-quality jobs and economic growth. Our continued leadership depends on relentless innovation and the adoption of new technologies, and we need talented people to be part of this journey.
My journey reflects what’s possible. I have spent my entire career at Smiths, joining after being sponsored at university over 35 years ago. That changed my life and hopefully many other people’s. Now, as chief executive, it’s my duty to ensure that the next generation has those same opportunities. I have worked in many of the countries that outperform Britain. I know we can outperform them with the correct policies, courage and perseverance.
When industrial technology is supported and scaled, and when government creates an environment where engineering companies can invest confidently, we see a powerful multiplier effect. Investment drives jobs, which drive wages and spending. Growth raises living standards and attracts talent, and that fuels further innovation, investment and economic expansion.
This is within our grasp. I strongly believe the UK has a unique opportunity to lead the next industrial era. It requires ambition and partnership with industry, educators and politicians creating a long-term unity of purpose that transcends short-termism and the lack of confidence we currently see.
Economic strength isn’t built in election cycles and soundbites, but by taking a longer-term view. With the right cross-party focus the UK can, and stands ready to, remain one of the world’s top-tier engineering nations.
Roland Carter is the chief executive of Smiths, the FTSE 100 industrial engineering company
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meeting $80bn sales target
Alex Ralph Chief Business Correspondent
The longstanding chief executive of AstraZeneca is “absolutely confident” of hitting a headline $80 billion sales target for 2030 but said the company must operate at “Chinese speed” to continue innovating in the years ahead.
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In a reassuring half-year results up- date after investor concerns about the recent failure of a blockbuster heart dis- ease drug, Sir Pascal Soriot, who has led the Cambridge-based FTSE 100 phar- maceutical group since 2012, said the key “risk-adjusted” target “assumes successes and setbacks” along the way.
“We remain confident in the strength
of our pipeline and have more than 20 high-value readouts due over the next 18 months,” he added.
The comments from Soriot, 67, come after the surprise failure this month of a late-stage trial of Wainua, for which AstraZeneca had been targeting more than $5 billion in peak-year sales.
The Wainua news had dented inves-
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tor confidence and hit the company’s share price. However, yesterday Astra- Zeneca confirmed its full-year gui- dance for total revenue to increase by a mid-to-high single-digit percentage and for core earnings per share, its pre- ferred measure of profit, to increase by a low double-digit percentage.
The update was given alongside half-year results showing total revenue up by 6 per cent to $30.67 billion at con- stant exchange rates.
Revenue for the second quarter was $15.38 billion, an increase of 5 per cent, against City forecasts for $15.39 billion, while core earnings rose 18 per cent to $2.63 per share, compared with fore- casts of $2.48.
Double-digit growth in oncology, which represented 46 per cent of group half-year sales, and rare diseases treat- ments offset headwinds from the diabetes drug Farxiga — AstraZeneca’s most lucrative drug, which generated $4 billion during the period — losing exclusivity in the US, its largest market, and procurement changes in China.
The half-year results were issued alongside mixed late-stage clinical trial updates.
A phase III trial for sonesitatug vedotin, a potential $3 billion-plus drug, in patients with gastric cancers showed positive high-level results. But a separate phase III study showed Ultomiris, an existing drug, did not meet its main target for treating patients with a rare disorder that occurs after a procedure to treat some cancers.
Shares in AstraZeneca closed up by 218p, or 1.7 per cent, at £128.88 on the London Stock Exchange yesterday, valuing the company at close to £200 billion. The shares had fallen 11 per cent since the negative readout for Wainua on July 9, the stock’s worst day in more than two years.
The surprise failure of Wainua has raised pressure on the im- pending results of two other potential blockbusters in phase III trials, which are deemed “more risky” in the City and Wall Street.
It also raised longer-term investor questions over whether AstraZeneca
satellites in Starlink rivalry
Emma Powell Media and Telecoms Editor
Amazon has stepped up its challenge to Elon Musk’s Starlink, with plans to launch more than 5,000 satellites that would allow it to provide mobile phone services around the world.
The US technology giant, led by Jeff Bezos, has applied to the Federal Com- munications Commission to launch 5,105 satellites by 2028. The constella- tion will deliver voice, messaging and data services to users, the company said.
The satellites would be distributed across five “orbital shells”, ranging from between 510km (316 miles) and 580km (360 miles) above the Earth’s surface, which would provide “dense coverage across heavily populated regions” and “extend service toward polar areas”, the company said.
vital for effective combat communica- tions, as well as on aeroplanes and ships.
In April Amazon agreed a merger with Globalstar, which is based in Loui- siana. Globalstar is known for its low- Earth-orbit communication satellites and offers voice, data and asset-tracking services across enterprise, government and consumer markets.
The Amazon Leo network, formerly known as Project Kuiper, has been beset by delays and has about 375 satel- lites in orbit, dwarfed by the constella- tion of more than 10,000 satellites oper- ated by SpaceX, the Starlink owner. Musk’s low-Earth-orbit constellation has signed deals with operators includ- ing Deutsche Telekom and Virgin Me- dia O2 to offer satellite-enabled smart- phone services.
Sir Pascal Soriot sought to reassure investors that AstraZeneca is in good health despite the setback with its Wainua drug
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will hit its headline $80 billion 2030 group sales target, set at its Cambridge investor event in May 2024.
Under Soriot, who defended Astra- Zeneca from a £69 billion takeover attempt by Pfizer in 2014, it has become viewed by investors as the “premium R&D franchise” and built a reputation for rarely posting negative trial results.
It has helped to turn the company into one of the two most valuable busi- nesses on the London stock market, alongside HSBC. The transformation
Robert Lea Industrial Editor veteran, Leiters has also been boss of McLaren, the British supercar com- pany. At Porsche he replaced Oliver Blume, now chief executive of Volks- wagen, after investors fretted that Blume would not be able to oversee the turnaround of both companies.
Porsche is to axe more than 9,000 jobs by 2035 after the German car company reached an agreement with its trade unions.
The cuts mean that about one in five of Porsche’s current workforce will lose their jobs over the next nine years.
The restructuring is the latest shake- up to hit the Germany automotive industry. Porsche had already agreed 4,400 job cuts with workers’ represent- atives over the past 18 months, and it will now cut a further 5,000 jobs on top of that. Volkswagen, the parent com- pany of Porsche, is seeking up to 100,000 redundancies.
Volkswagen is Europe’s largest car maker and is also behind brands such as Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Cupra, Skoda and Seat. It is the second biggest in the world after Toyota. Through complex cross-shareholdings the Porsche-Piëch families have control of voting shares in the Volkswagen group.
has been boosted by growth in China, AstraZeneca’s second-largest market, where Soriot has overseen multibil- lion-dollar investments and partner- ships with biotech companies.
The speed of innovation among Chinese companies, which do not yet have the scale to commercialise globally, meant AstraZeneca had to collaborate with them, Soriot said.
However, he cautioned that it also had to “learn to compete” with them as they expand internationally, to avoid
Porsche has been hit by problems amid the transition to electric cars
because of a collapse in sales in China as motorists there turn to domestic brands, President Trump’s trade tariffs on exports to the US and a series of mis- steps in the electric transition, in which many drivers of luxury vehicles have turned their backs on zero-emission alternatives.
the decline of other industries such as European carmakers.
“You can look at other industries that haven’t maybe reacted as fast as they should have to the emergence of Chinese innovation — and we don’t want to fall into the same trap,” he said.
AstraZeneca is also investing in utilising AI for drug discovery and development. Soriot said he did not believe the technology would “kill jobs” in the pharma industry but instead make it “faster and smarter”.
Blume has yet to force through his job cuts and factory closure pro- gramme at Volkswagen.
After an agreement with workers and Porsche’s supervisory board over his new “future package” strategy, Leiters had said: “The future package is good for Porsche. It gives us the opportunity to strategically realign our company and invest in our competitiveness.”
Industry analysts have long won- dered how Porsche had lost its way. The retirement of popular models such as the Boxster and Cayman coincided with a push for the all-electric Taycan, a vehicle nearing an entry-level price tag of £100,000. This car has had multi- ple problems and is positioned in a part of the market from which even Tesla, the electric car leader, has withdrawn.
from time to time’
Behind the story
ith about £25 billion having been lost from AstraZeneca’s market valuation since the surprise failure of Wainua this month, the City and Wall Street were looking for reassurance (Alex Ralph writes).
Yesterday, in a 55-minute media presentation and Q&A alongside the company’s first-half results — the first update since the trial setback for the heart disease drug — Sir Pascal Soriot tried to quash concerns over whether it could still hit its $80 billion sales target and overcome a “patent cliff” for its existing blockbuster cancer drugs in the early 2030s.
“I have never been more confident in ... our ability to achieve our ambitious 2030 target,” he said.
The failure of Wainua, or eplontersen, in a phase III trial for patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, a type of heart disease, was a reminder that “transformative science carries inherent risk and that not every programme will succeed”.
Soriot added: “Biology is not mathematics. It’s not as predictable. Biology doesn’t always behave the way you expect it would.”
Warner takeover to close
Emma Powell
The boss of Paramount Skydance has insisted that he remains “highly confi- dent” its planned $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros Discovery will still go ahead, despite the deal being on pause.
David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellis- on, the billionaire co-founder of Oracle, wrote an email to employees in which he accepted that reports of delays and court proceedings “can create ques- tions and uncertainty”.
Ellison, 43, claimed that regulatory bodies in 65 jurisdictions, including the European Union, the US and China, have cleared the deal and that it would have closed “in the coming weeks” had it not been for two lawsuits filed by 12 US states and the Writers Guild of America trade union.
Part of the disappointment stems from AstraZeneca’s phase III success rate — 85 to 90 per cent — in the past couple of years, compared with the industry average of 60 to 65 per cent.
“People have got used to us delivering at a high success rate. But we have to accept we will fail from time to time,” Soriot said.
Wainua’s failure was also a reminder, he said, of the necessity of “very large” capital investments in R&D programmes.
AstraZeneca’s investments meant it had the “largest phase III pipeline in the industry”, with more than 20 “high-value” trials expected to deliver results in the next 18 months. And it is targeting the launch of 20 new molecular entities (NMEs).
“We are already more than halfway toward that goal, with 11 already launched,” Soriot said.
On a risk-adjusted basis, “assuming both successes and setbacks”, it means AstraZeneca believes it is on course to reach its 2030 sales target.
But Soriot is also looking beyond the end of the decade, and building a company to grow through the patent expiries in the early 2030s of existing blockbuster cancer drugs Tagrisso, Calquence and Imfinzi, a $20 billion- plus sales headwind and a quarter of the company’s portfolio.
The NMEs include 12 that AstraZeneca believes can generate more than $5 billion
two streaming services and two large cable-TV operators, would stifle competition and lead to consumers paying higher prices. The union was also worried about the impact on writers and film crews.
Paramount believes that a combina- tion with Warner Bros would benefit viewers and has vowed to release 30 films in cinemas every year, double their current output.
It has also argued that the increased scale would allow it to better compete “in a rapidly changing entertainment landscape” that is now dominated by the likes of Netflix and Disney.
After a protracted bidding war, Larry Ellison, an ally of President Trump, secured a deal to buy Warner in Febru- ary, at the same time thwarting a rival bid from Netflix.
in peak-year sales. Among these are tozorakimab for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which delivered positive late-stage trial results in March.
And there are another five — including sonesitatug vedotin (Sone-Ve), which showed positive high-level phase III results in patients with gastric cancers — that are each expected to generate between $3 billion and $5 billion.
Sone-Ve is the first pivotal readout from AstraZeneca’s wholly- owned portfolio of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), a new class of cancer drugs that hunt down cancer cells to deliver chemotherapy directly into the tumour.
ADCs are among new “transformative technologies”, along with immuno- oncology drugs, cell therapies and weight management drugs, that set AstraZeneca up to “grow well into the next decade”, Soriot said. “We have the science, we have the pipeline and we have the team to make this happen.”
The 43-slide presentation by Soriot helped to soothe investors and analysts. The group’s shares had fallen 11 per cent since the negative readout for Wainua on July 9. But yesterday they closed up 1.7 per cent.
Shore Capital told clients: “We continue to see the delivery of a high-quality, diversified growth story, underpinned by its broad blockbuster base and an enviable pipeline.”
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after stronger growth in Africa
Emma Powell Media and Telecoms Editor
Vodafone has raised its profits guidance for the year, in the telecoms giant’s first results since the French billionaire Xavier Niel became its largest share- holder.
The London-listed group said that adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and other items would be at the top end of its guidance range of between €13 bil- lion and €13.3 billion, while adjusted free cashflow was set to be at the upper end of €2.6 billion to €2.9 billion, largely due to a stronger performance from its African operations.
The Niel family’s Vega investment vehicle said it would be taking a 16 per cent stake in Vodafone, since increased to almost 19 per cent, after buying out e&, the Emirati telecoms operator.
Niel, 58, who is the founder and owner of the French telecoms company Iliad, said at the time that Vega was “ready to contribute our deep sector expertise and operational know-how to its future success … we have a proven track record of helping businesses to perform better and create substantial shareholder value.”
Margherita Della Valle has led a dramatic reshaping of Vodafone since taking charge on a permanent basis in 2023, selling its Italian and Spanish operations and sealing a £16.5 billion merger with CK Hutchison’s Three in the UK. Vodafone has since taken full control of VodafoneThree.
However, despite the simplification of the company, it is thought the French dealmaker could push for more aggressive cost cuts.
Niel, who made his name as the founder of Iliad in Paris in 1999 just before the dotcom bubble burst, con- trols an empire of telecoms invest- ments and businesses spanning 26 countries in Europe and Latin America. As an active dealmaker, he has long championed consolidation in Europe’s fragmented telecoms industry.
Over the first quarter of this year, Vodafone’s organic service revenue, a key performance metric, rose 5.2 per cent, lifted by double-digit growth in Turkey and Africa. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and other items rose 6 per cent to €2.9 billion.
with The Times.
source of travel inspiration. Now you can trust us to take you there too.
Hannah Waddingham, the actress and singer, at the Wimbledon tennis championships, which are sponsored by Vodafone
Vodafone share price
140p 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 2023 2024 2025 2026
Dec 5, 2022: Nick Read, former chief executive, steps down
May 14, 2022: e& buys initial 9.8% stake Jul 10, 2026: Xavier Niel buys stake
Jun 14, 2023: Three UK merger agreed
The Safaricom business has been consolidated into the Vodafone ac- counts after it raised its stake by 20 per cent to 55 per cent in Kenya’s largest mobile operator.
Della Valle, 61, said the group had
May 16, 2023: New chief executive Margherita Della Valle outlines 11,000 job cuts and restructuring
Mar 15, 2024: Confirms €8bn sale of Italian business
recorded “broad-based growth” over the quarter. The performance was boosted by a stronger recovery in Germany, which has been weighed down by a change in the law to unbundle television cable, broadband
JONATHAN HORDLE/SHUTTERSTOCK
and telephone services, as well as broadband and mobile customer losses.
Organic service revenue rose by 1.2 per cent, above a consensus forecast of 0.1 per cent from City analysts, accord- ing to Visible Alpha. That was despite a further 85,000 decline in its mobile customer numbers and 98,000 broad- band customer losses.
In the UK, organic service revenue rose by 0.6 per cent, better than a con- sensus forecast of 0.4 per cent by City analysts. VodafoneThree is aiming to shave about £700 million a year from its total costs and capital spending by the 2030 financial year.
It is the second increase in profit guidance in less than a year.
The shares, which have risen 41 per cent over the past 12 months, closed up 5½p, or 4.8 per cent, at 120¼p yesterday.
links crop growers with lab genetics
Richard Tyler Editor, Entrepreneurs Network
An Oxford University spinout that edits seed genes to boost yields and make crops more drought and disease- resistant has acquired a wheat breeding business and aims to boost production in Britain.
Wild Bioscience is using some of the £45 million in venture capital it raised last October to acquire the Suffolk- based F1 Seed, which was founded in 2014 by Bill Angus. He previously ran the UK’s largest wheat-breeding pro- gramme for the French firm Limagrain.
Angus, 75, said the deal reconnected lab-based genetic research with grow- ers using the seed, much as the world- renowned Plant Breeding Institute in Cambridge did for 75 years before it was privatised in 1987.
“I am extremely concerned about the lack of interest in food security,” he said. “We are importing so much food and we have the potential to grow so much more. We have the best farmers ... let’s give them the best genetics.”
Angus said the dry weather and spread of diseases such as yellow rust meant wheat growers were “up against it” at the moment.
“The market is dominated by French and German multinationals — all very good companies,” he said. “But now this is an opportunity to say to British growers: ‘we are working for you.’ ”
F1 receives royalties from seed com- panies that grow its varieties. It has field trials in Suffolk for 100,000 new lines, and six wheat varieties on the market for animal feed and distilling, with three more launching this year. Securing a 1 per cent UK market share for any crop is worth about £180,000 in royalty pay- ments, Angus said.
The plan is to combine Wild Biosci- ence’s AI capability with F1’s breeding skills to provide wheat varieties direct to UK farmers by 2027.
Ross Hendron, co-founder and chief executive of Wild Bioscience, said: “You have had traditional breeding and bio- technology sitting in their own worlds ... We are based around Oxford and all of the farmers around here can’t access any of these sorts of things.”
JADE GAO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Isabella Fish Retail Editor
The fast-fashion giant Shein posted a loss of nearly $100 million in the first quarter and saw its valuation plummet before a planned listing in Hong Kong.
The group, founded in China, report- ed a 39 per cent fall in net income to $2.06 billion last year despite an 8 per cent rise in revenue to $41.8 billion.
In the first quarter of the current financial year, Shein swung to a $99 million loss, which it said was “mainly attributable” to a $328 million paper adjustment required by an accounting rule change for special investor shares.
That is according to Shein’s prospec- tus for its stock market debut in Hong Kong, which also showed that its valua- tion had fallen from $98.2 billion in 2022 to $64 billion in 2024.
The filing, first seen by the BBC, did not offer any details on the size, timeta- ble or pricing of the planned initial public offering.
A Hong Kong listing would mark a significant shift in strategy for Shein after its preferred routes to market failed to get the green light.
Shein initially set its sights on New York before turning to London, as regulatory and political scrutiny in the US intensified.
However, it was unable to secure the necessary approvals from Chinese regulators for a UK float, forcing it to change its plans.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission gave Shein approval for a Hong Kong share sale on July 10.
Shein was founded in 2008 in Nan- jing by Sky Xu, initially as a wedding dress retailer called Sheinside.
The company rebranded as Shein in 2015 and has since grown into a huge fast-fashion ecommerce platform, primarily targeting Gen Z consumers with cheap, trendy clothing, which averages about £7.90 per item.
Shein, which once seemed unstoppa- ble, has had a difficult few years. In the US, its biggest market, it has suffered from changes to customs rules.
Washington scrapped a tax exemp- tion allowing packages worth less than $800 to be imported duty-free from China, Canada and Mexico. The rule enables marketplaces like Shein and Temu to send individual packages to customers across borders instead of shipping its goods to countries to be processed domestically.
The UK recently announced plans to
Greig Cameron Scottish Business Editor
The luxury raincoat maker Mackintosh has reported a rise in profit even though its revenue dropped.
Annual accounts lodged at Compa- nies House show turnover was £5.3 mil- lion for the 12 months to March this year. That was a drop of £1 million from the previous financial year, with the decline largely attributed to a fall in the wholesale market.
The accounts note that sales from physical retail premises — Mackintosh has one shop in London and six in Japan — performed well while full- price products on ecommerce plat- forms also had a strong year.
The directors said there had been an accumulated high level of stock in certain styles because of the challenges of the wholesale market. They noted that there had been strong interest in new collections from “leading stores in several countries”.
from £1.7 million, with the business managing to trim administrative expenses and sales costs during the most recent year.
The directors said: “We will continue with the existing strategy of reducing costs, developing wholesale and invest- ing in online sales. Despite significant
The Mackintosh range has grown to include shoes, hats and bags
opportunities in certain markets we have not been able to establish enough brand recognition.
invented a new method for waterproof- ing cotton. Macintosh went on to devel- op rubberised outerwear and from that the Mackintosh coat was born.
It become a household staple as well as being used by the army, police forces and rail workers.
The business has undergone many changes of ownership and was revamped as an upmarket fashion label more than two decades ago.
Yagi Tsusho, the Japanese clothing group, has owned Mackintosh since 2007.
Its range has grown beyond outer- wear to include clothing, shoes, hats, bags and other accessories.
It has also collaborated with several other fashion brands including Victoria Beckham, Céline, CP Company, Balenciaga, Maison Margiela and Louis Vuitton.
numbers after suspension
Jessica Newman Leisure Industries Correspondent
Selling burritos and nachos on takea- way delivery platforms has spiced up sales at Tortilla Mexican Grill.
Britain’s biggest Mexican restaurant chain, which has about 80 restaurants, said like-for-like sales rose 13.9 per cent in the six months to the end of June, compared with the previous year.
Since listing its products on Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats in late March, overall like-for-likes have risen by 19.7 per cent, while delivery sales for the period were up 54.1 per cent.
The company said improvements to its menu and the introduction of self-ordering kiosks in 38 restaurants helped to increase how much custom- ers spend on each order.
The fast-fashion ecommerce retailer Shein is due to list in Hong Kong this year. It has been hit by the removal of a US duty-free exemption for small-value packages
scrap a similar rule called “de minimis”, which means overseas retailers do not have to pay import duties on shipments worth less than £135. However, Rachel Reeves, when she was chancellor, said that she would not scrap it for another few years.
Shein said in the filing: “In response to the increased duties and taxes, we are pursuing a wide range of options, in- cluding increasing our prices in the US market to offset a portion of the in- creased costs.”
The company said that the Iran war had hit demand, increased costs and caused delays of deliveries in some markets. Nevertheless, the filing showed customer numbers had still been increasing. Shein had 281 million active customers in the year to the end of March, up from 16 per cent a year earlier.
Shein was contacted for comment.
were delayed after accounting issues that meant auditors had to reassess the group’s accounts.
In May the company said £2.5 million of spending in its French business was “not expensed through the profit and loss account”, meaning its earnings would be up to £2.5 million lower than previous indicated.
Tortilla’s newly filed accounts showed revenues of £73.8 million for the year to December 28, an 8.5 per cent increase on the year before, while pre-tax profits were up from £3.3 mil- lion in 2024 to £14.7 million.
Brandon Stephens, Tortilla’s founder and chief executive, said it was “turning the page on the 2025 financial year and looking to the future”.
Robert Stephens Tempus Buy, sell or hold: today’s best share tips Is there still a thirst for Fever-Tree?
fever-tree
F
Market cap £922 million
Share price
ever-Tree’s share price has slumped by 66 per cent over the past five years. Amid continued high inflation and relatively tight monetary policy across the Aim-quoted beverage firm’s key markets, many investors may feel that a share price recovery is highly unlikely.
However, the past five years of economic and consumer difficulties are unlikely to be mirrored over the coming years. With the company having a solid balance sheet, a strong competitive position and upbeat financial forecasts, it offers investment appeal on a long-term view.
Founded in 2004, Fever-Tree’s first product was Indian tonic water. Since then, it has expanded its range of tonics to include a variety of flavours while diversifying into non- tonic drinks such as ginger beer, lemonade and cola that contribute 45 per cent of its total sales.
Although the UK remains the firm’s main market by revenue, accounting for a third of sales last year, Europe and the US are also key markets. They contributed 30 per cent and 25 per cent respectively of total revenue last year.
£30
Clearly, consumers in all three geographies have faced a challenging past five years. In the UK, for example, inflation has been above the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target in 56 of the past 60 months, while it has been similarly sticky in the US and Europe. This has
issues erupt at Vesuvius
market report
Vesuvius’s “operational issues” have dragged on longer than bosses had hoped, which is putting a big dent in its profits and its share price (Tom Howard writes).
The company makes ceramic pipes and gate valves to move molten metal during the manufacture of steel.
Vesuvius flagged in May that some of its raw material suppliers had sent a duff batch while there were also teeth- ing problems when moving production to new facilities in the US.
“The operational issues, whilst tem- porary, are causing a greater impact than previously anticipated,” manage- ment conceded yesterday.
As a consequence, this year’s under- lying profit will likely only be “slightly ahead” of the £151 million it delivered in 2025: almost £20 million less than in- vestors had been expecting.
Vesuvius shares were, by some dis- tance, the worst performers among all of London’s biggest companies yester- day, dropping 58p, or 12.8 per cent, to a three-month low of 394p.
Long-term appeal
Annual revenue £325 million
Source: FactSet
5 26 25 24 23 22 2021
ADVICE Buy WHY An improving operating outlook is set to catalyse the stock’s performance
contributed to a tough operating environment for the firm, particularly given the typically premium price points of its product range. High inflation has persistently weighed on real-terms wage growth and encouraged consumers to either cut back on discretionary items or trade down to cheaper alternatives.
While this trend may persist in the short run, thereby acting as a drag on Fever-Tree’s near-term financial and share price performance, it is expected to give way to more sanguine conditions in the long run.
It was a muted day on Wall Street at the start of a major week for US tech earnings, as investors braced for results from Apple, Meta and Microsoft. A further sell-off in chip stocks largely offset optimism around easing tensions between America and Iran. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite reversed Friday’s recovery and ended the day down 0.18 per cent at 24,932.08. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones proved more resilient, ending the session up 0.02 per cent to 7,413.18 and 0.51 per cent higher at 52,210.08 respectively.
The day’s biggest movers
Revenue Operating profit 2021
£56m
£31m
£21m
£33m
£325m £25m
In fact, inflation in the UK is forecast to fall to 2.3 per cent by the end of next year, while both the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank anticipate a drop to 2 per cent by the end of 2028. This should ease pressure on consumer spending, while boosting the outlook for real-terms wage growth as central banks have greater scope to implement monetary policy easing.
Over time, this is likely to prompt greater demand for the discretionary, premium products on which Fever- Tree is squarely focused. This is evidenced in the firm’s financial forecasts, with the company expected to produce an annualised rise in earnings per share (EPS) of 25 per cent over the next two financial years.
Of course, investors are being asked to pay a premium price for such exceptional growth. Even after
Trainline, the ticketing app, rose 5 per cent as tech-related stocks had a bounce
FTSE 100 recovered 45.52 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 10,781.75 while, a tier below, the FTSE 250 increased 96.61 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 23,898.10.
With investors rediscovering their risk appetite, any technology-related company enjoyed a bounce.
Trainline, the ticketing app, improved 11¼p, or 5.1 per cent, to 231½p; Trustpilot, the online review site, added 15¾p, or 6.2 per cent, to 272p; and Playtech, the maker of gambling software, gained 18½p, or 5 per cent, to 390¼p. One of the few to miss out on the rally was Bytes Technology, the
their aforementioned sharp decline in recent years, for example, the company’s shares trade on a price- earnings (P/E) ratio of 34. While this suggests there is little, if any, scope for an upward rerating, the firm’s sound fundamentals, alongside its rapid prospective growth rate, mean it is worthy of a premium market valuation.
£311m
£344m
Fever-Tree’s balance sheet, for instance, contains minimal debt, so that it has a net cash position of around £88 million. This provides it with the financial means to overcome an uncertain near-term economic outlook and continue to expand its range of products.
£364m
£369m
The company also enjoys significant brand loyalty that equates to substantial pricing power. This is likely to support profit margin growth as operating conditions ultimately improve.
Clearly, geopolitical risks including conflict in the Middle East and the ongoing global trade war could yet lead to inflation forecasts that are revised upwards, higher-for-longer interest rates and weaker demand for the firm’s products. In this instance, the elevated volatility that has been a feature of the company’s shares in recent years, alongside their disappointing performance, could persist for a sustained period.
In the long run, though, Fever- Tree offers investment appeal. It is well placed to benefit from an eventual upturn in its operating environment, given its solid finances and sound competitive position. And while its shares are undoubtedly expensive, they offer good value for money based on the company’s upbeat EPS growth forecasts.
UK’s largest reseller of Microsoft soft- ware, after analysts at UBS advised clients to take profits following a decent run for the shares so far in 2026. Bytes shares fell 12¼p, or 2.9 per cent, to 404p, although they remain 13 per cent higher than where they started the year.
But London’s oilers were out of favour as volatile crude prices, having jumped last week, retreated as the US and Iran continued to pause their military action.
news in brief
Cranswick bulks up sales
Rising demand for protein-rich foods and “nutritionally balanced” diets has boosted sales at Cranswick.
The company, one of Britain’s biggest pork producers, said that in the 13 weeks to June 27, like-for-like revenues were 4 per cent up on the same period a year earlier, while volumes rose by 6.4 per cent. Cranswick attributed growth to “robust demand” across its core product portfolio, which is being driven by consumers’ “growing prioritisation of a healthy, protein- rich and nutritionally balanced diet”.
The FTSE 250 company is a multibillion-pound business that spans pig farming, poultry and animal feed. It said revenues from its poultry business grew strongly, while domestic fresh pork sales were ahead of the same period last year on double-digit retail volume growth.
Sales in Cranswick’s convenience products segment were also ahead, thanks to particularly strong growth for hummus and dips.
Over the period, Cranswick also formed a partnership with The Jolly Hog, a supplier of premium range sausages, bacon and cooked meats.
Analysts at Investec noted Cranswick’s well-hedged position in energy costs gives it a “very high degree of resilience.”
The shares, which are 10 per cent up since the start of the year, were down 40p, or 0.7 per cent, to £54.40.
Serica lands Pharos deal
One of Britain’s biggest North Sea gas producers has struck a £146 million deal to move into Egypt and Vietnam. Serica Energy plans to buy London-listed Pharos Energy after gatecrashing a rival £124 million bid from the Israeli group Ratio Petroleum. The board of Pharos Energy has recommended the offer. The Serica package is worth 33.6p per share, made up of cash and dividends. The Pharos assets would add net production equivalent to about 6,000 barrels of oil per day. Serica said in early June that its average production this year had been 43,300 daily barrels.
JACK COUSIN/GETTY IMAGES
IP Group tie-up abandoned
Railpen has walked away from a takeover attempt for IP Group, the FTSE 250 investment company. IP’s board this month unanimously rejected a sweetened 71.3p-a-share offer from its largest shareholder, citing undervaluation of IP and its prospects. Railpen, which manages more than £34 billion worth of assets for railway pension schemes, had until yesterday to make a firm offer under UK takeover rules. It said it had “been unable to reach agreement with the board on the terms of a mutually acceptable proposal”. IP Group shares closed down ½p at 66p, valuing it at £586.6 million.
Everyman revenue boost
The UK’s last listed cinema operator is reaping the rewards of a summer of blockbusters as it revealed a sharp rise in half-year sales and profits. Everyman Media Group, whose directors want to scrap the upmarket chain’s listing on Aim, reported a 23.9 per cent jump in revenues to £70 million in the 26 weeks to July 2, due to a strong film slate including Toy Story 5. Admissions to its 49 cinemas rose more than 20 per cent to 2.6 million, while the average price paid for ticket prices increased by 4.1 per cent to £12.97. Strong sales translated into a 32 per cent rise in adjusted profits to £10.8 million.
Tuesday July 28 2026 | the times Business
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Obituaries
For those who grew up in the 1970s Bill Oddie was the eternal Goodie, a cheer- ful television character in a long scarf who lived in a pigsty of a house with two friends, cracked lavatorial jokes and rode a bicycle made for three. Later generations knew him as a presenter of wildlife programmes including Birding With Bill Oddie and Bill Oddie Goes Wild, displaying a lively and unforced enthu- siasm as well as an ability to talk off the cuff, never fazed when the rare species for which the cameras had been set up failed to appear.
The Goodies took its first bow in 1970, running for 77 episodes over 12 years. Their humour was endearingly daft and physical, owing much to the slap- stick of cinema cartoons and silent films, with explosions, camera tricks and special effects as the trio mounted their “trandem”. Setting off from their office in Cricklewood, they were pre- pared to do “anything, anytime”, in- cluding being chased by a giant ma- rauding kitten and abducted by alien rabbits. Amid the nonsense they ad- dressed issues such as apartheid, with a sketch featuring a regime called Apart- Height where short people were segre- gated from the rest of society.
They were almost cartoon figures themselves: Tim Brooke-Taylor (obitu- ary, April 13, 2020) playing an effete royalist in a Union Jack waistcoat; Graeme Garden as a bespectacled bof- fin; and Oddie the short, plump and eternally scruffy anarchist.
Unlike cartoon characters, however, the real-life Goodies, none of them trained stuntmen, often emerged bruised. In the opening credits Brooke- Taylor stuck a pike into a tree then spun around on the end of it like a Catherine wheel. Elsewhere Oddie walked on the roof of a moving double-decker bus while Garden risked being mowed down by a barrel hurling down a hill. “What we do is cartoon humour, and it hurts,” Oddie noted.
He not only helped to write the show but also composed songs for it, several of which were released on albums and as singles, most memorably Funky Gib- bon (1975), which spent ten weeks in the charts, peaking at No 4. When the BBC prevaricated over whether to do another series, The Goodies moved to London Weekend TV on a three-year contract but ran out of steam after one season.
Because of its perceived lack of so- phistication and popularity among children, The Goodies was never ac- corded the critical acclaim of Monty Py- thon and the trio’s constant gripe was that the shows were not repeated. In 2005 the BBC relented and produced a tribute evening. The nostalgia gathered momentum. There was a DVD entitled The Goodies ... At Last a Second Helping and Oddie joined Brooke-Taylor and Garden for a two-week, sold out Good- ies retrospective in Australia.
Yet Oddie’s easygoing appearance hid a complex personality. He had a reputation for being bad-tempered and difficult to work with and while he mel- lowed later, he could still be irritating. At 60 he had a nervous breakdown and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, where he reflected on a lack of mater- nal affection during childhood, a factor often associated with depression in
Oddie, right in The Goodies and below with his co-stars, turned increasingly to nature programming
later life. His mother, a violent schizo- phrenic who tried to kill his father, had been sectioned and Oddie saw little of her. “One of the memories is coming back from school when I can only have been about six ... and finding the whole house smashed up. It was like the end of a Greek party, except that the smashed plates were all covered in blood. My dad had been carted off to hospital,” he said.
His therapist told him that babies were often involved in maternal mental health and while tracing his family his- tory in 2004 for the BBC programme Who Do You Think You Are?, he discov- ered that in successive years his mother suffered a still-born baby and lost another child to cot death. He found the programme harrowing but it enabled him to soften the memory of his mother. He now realised that his inter- est in wildlife, which started in child- hood, had been a way of escaping his family troubles.
egg collecting at the age of six after finding a dunnock’s egg. One year he asked for and received a pair of good binoculars for Christmas. By 13 he had discovered birdwatching and, as he wrote in his book Gone Birding (1983), “immediately became a better person”. In his teens he wrote contributions to the West Midlands Bird Club’s annual reports and in 1973 discussed birdsong recordings with Derek Jones for Sounds Natural on Radio 4.
His father, who had left school at 14, was determined that Bill should have the education he missed and encour- aged him to work hard. He passed the 11-plus, went to Halesowen Grammar School and took a further exam for King Edward’s School, where he was
SHAUN HIGSON/TV TIMES VIA GETTY IMAGES
able to shine amid societies for bird- watching, jazz and debating. He won an exhibition to Pembroke College, Cambridge, taking a degree in English and emerging as a comedy writer and performer.
Before long he had become a star of Footlights, joining a group that includ- ed Brooke-Taylor, Garden, John Cleese, Jo Kendall and David Hatch in the revue Cambridge Circus, which played in the West End and went to New Zealand and Australia. Oddie moved with the Cambridge Circus team into radio, where he helped to write I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again, a sketch show billed as “a radio custard pie” that ran from 1964 to 1973.
sharing with Richard Rodney Ben-
nett, a classical composer. He and
Hart were married in 1967 and he
is survived by their two
daughters, Kate Hardie,
an actress with whom
he made a rare stage
appearance in The
Ghost Train, a
gothic thriller
set in the 1920s, at the Lyric Theatre in 1992; and Bonnie.
show Sale of the Century. When friends asked what they wanted for a wedding present he jokingly replied “a garden gnome”, but the gag backfired and they ended with a garden full of them. In the 1980s the couple wrote two sitcoms for children, From the Top, and The Bubble- gum Brigade. Beaumont survives him with their daughter, Rosie, a musician.
In 1967 Oddie and Garden were joined by Michael Palin and Terry Jones in a television series, Twice a Fortnight, but the different comedy styles failed to gel. Palin and Jones then joined Cleese in Monty Python’s Flying Circus while Oddie and Garden ap- peared with Brooke-Taylor in Broaden Your Mind, a sort of dry run for The Goodies. Oddie and Garden were also principal writers for ITV’s Doctor in the House (1969-70), a medical comedy loosely based on the novel by Richard Gordon, and wrote for two sequels, Doctor at Large and Doctor in Charge.
Oddie made a rare return to the theatre in 1988 playing Koko, the Lord High Executioner, in Jonathan Miller’s
production of The Mikado for
English National Opera.
He also took occasional
acting spots on televi-
sion, such as playing
an eccentric orni-
thologist in John
Mortimer’s drama,
Titmuss Regained (1991).
Gradually the focus of his activi- ties shifted to wild- life. He began with small slots for TV-am and then moved to the BBC. In 1985 he presented Oddie in Paradise, a series filmed in Papua New Guinea. More pro- grammes were succeeded from 2005 by Springwatch, which went out live daily and invited viewers to monitor wildlife and report on the effects of climate change. The programme drew a regular audience of three million to four mil- lion people and a similar project, Au- tumnwatch, was launched in 2006.
He also wrote several books about birdwatching, was a council member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and campaigned tirelessly on be- half of wildlife. One of his last television appearances was on Celebrity Britain by Barge: Then & Now (2020), gently navi- gating the country’s inland waterways.
Closer to home, Oddie could often be found squelching through the early morning dew on Hampstead Heath with a couple of birding friends, wrapped in fleece jackets and with bin- oculars to their eyes. “Please don’t call us twitchers,” he begged of a Times in- terviewer in 1998. “We are birdwatchers or birders,” he added, insisting that twitchers are the “anoraky side of bird- ing”, concerned largely with collecting numbers. “What we do is watch birds for pleasure. Of course it’s nice to see rare stuff and I do make records.” How- ever, unlike The Goodies, “I’m not going to break my neck racing somewhere to do it.”
Anatomist in a black fedora whose Body Worlds exhibitions and public autopsy appalled critics and fascinated millions
Gunther von Hagens glanced briefly at the corpse in front of him before raising a knife, cutting into its head and sawing through the skull. Opening the chest he stuck a hand in and, with the help of a colleague, dug out a large handful of or- gans. “I have liberated the lungs and the heart,” he declared with glee to the 500- strong sold-out audience at the Atlantis Gallery, a former brewery on Brick Lane, east London. More were watch- ing on big screens in the rain outside.
This was November 2002 and von Hagens, a shrewd salesman with the in- stincts of a popular showman, was defy- ing religious critics, moralising news- papers and police warnings to under- take the first public autopsy in Britain for 170 years. His subject was a 72-year- old man who had donated his body to the controversial German doctor’s Body Worlds exhibition. Many of those watching covered their mouths and noses as the stench from the open ca- daver wafted through the room. Chan- nel 4 televised the proceedings, though transmission was delayed until mid- night and was preceded by a viewer warning.
To his supporters von Hagens was a scientific visionary whose spectacular exhibitions opened the eyes of millions to the reality of death. “My ambition is to democratise anatomy,” he declared to The Independent. To his critics von Hagens was the sinister ringmaster of a human freakshow, an image the pallid- faced anatomist cultivated with a slightly sinister black fedora clamped permanently to his head, a nod to Rem- brandt’s 1632 painting The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp. Günter Grass, the Nobel-prizewinning novel- ist, likened him to the notorious Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, while others called him Frankenstein.
Controversy surrounded his human specimens. In 2003 a coroner in Siberia was prosecuted after a shipment was in- tercepted containing 56 bodies. There were claims that in Kyrgyzstan von Hagens paid €10 for each corpse. When Der Spiegel published allegations in 2004 that some of his subjects were Chinese victims of executions, von Hagens successfully sought an injunc- tion in the German courts preventing the allegations being repeated. How- ever, he remained vague about their ex- act origins and cremated several after finding unexplained skull wounds.
These controversies and debates did no harm to von Hagens’s “flay and dis- play” carnival, as a Times leading arti- cle called it. The first Body Worlds, fea- turing plasticised corpses in active pos- es such as fencing, horse riding, playing chess, cradling a glass of whisky or rid- ing a bicycle, opened in Tokyo in 1995, before going on tour.
In Brussels, 5 per cent of the Belgian population visited, many of whom left pale-faced and determined to stop smoking or to take other measures to improve their health. Within half a decade, six million people had gazed at von Hagens’s corpses, or so he claimed. Both von Hagens and his exhibits made a cameo appearance in the James Bond film Casino Royale (2006).
The notorious British exhibition opened in March 2002, displaying 175 body parts and 25 whole bodies. They included a pregnant woman with her womb exposed to reveal a seven-month foetus and a skinned man whose skull had been cut away to reveal his brain. These and von Hagens’s much-vaunted plan for the public autopsy in Novem- ber left the authorities considering if he was contravening the Anatomy Act 1832, brought in after the Burke and Hare scandal to prevent illicit trade in corpses.
Von Hagens always insisted that the purpose of his exhibits was educational
faced a legal challenge, but always won,” he declared defiantly. “Criticism of the exhibition mostly comes from in- tellectuals who haven’t actually seen it. We are not dealing with decay or rot- ting flesh.”
Despite these threats of legal action and the presence of police officers, von Hagens went ahead with his London autopsy. Afterwards The Times spoke to members of the audience who, having watched with a mixture of fasci- nation and revulsion, could not agree on whether they had witnessed educa- tion or entertainment. “It was very edu- cational and fascinating. I don’t know what all the fuss is about,” said Marina Batra, 40, an office manager. Michael Walkes, head of the British Medical Association’s ethics committee, said it was more of a show than a lecture, add- ing: “I’m not satisfied there was suffi- cient educational value.” Nevertheless, no criminal charges were brought against von Hagens or his team.
ners, a four-part series featuring von Hagens at work in a German lecture theatre, which was described in a Times review as a “ghoulish spectacle close to the bone”.
The channel came up with a new an- gle on death in Autopsy: Emergency Room (originally called Gunther’s ER) in 2007, using corpses to examine the impact of accidents and assaults on the body and demonstrating medical pro- cedures that could have saved their lives. In one show he performed a tra- cheotomy on a corpse, opening up the chest “like a pair of double doors”, connecting the socket to a pair of bellows and pumping the lungs up and down. At the same time an “anatomy artist” was paint- ing a realistic set of lungs on the chest of a naked, liv- ing woman — all in front of a live audience.
SION TOUHIG, FRANCIS DEMANGE/GETTY IMAGES
said. “Before I came on the scene, anat- omy books contained no lifelike poses. Now they all have them. I gave anato- my life.”
contained no lifelike poses. I gave them life’
He was born Gunther Gerhard Lieb- chen in 1945 in Alt-Skalden (now Skal- mierzyce), near Poznan, in German-oc- cupied Poland, one of five children of Gerhard Liebchen, a member of the SS who allegedly sent 60 Poles to a con- centration camp, and his wife.
He was five days old when his parents took him west by horse and cart to es- cape the advancing Red Army. They settled in Greiz, which wound up in East Germany. Von Hagens recalled childhood holidays at an uncle’s farm south of Berlin. “I was intrigued by the animals, saw the birth of a cow and took six weeks to build a rabbit hutch,” he re- called. At the age of eight he was pre- sented with a violin for Christmas, which thereafter came out every Christmas Eve.
As a haemophiliac he spent much time in hospital, recalling that on one occasion while bleeding he overheard his doctor tell a colleague: “He will probably not make it.” This stimulated an interest in medicine, though first he dropped out of school to work as a lift
operator and postman. He resumed his education at evening classes. By then he was a nursing assistant at a pharma- cy and hospital, detesting having to change the spittoons for coughing patients on a chronic pulmonary ward. Having witnessed his first autopsy at 17, he began studying medicine at the Uni- versity of Jena.
Von Hagens also developed an inter- est in politics. He took part in the 1968 student demonstrations, distributing leaflets protesting against the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops. He was stopped trying to cross the Czech border into Austria in Janu- ary 1969 and tried again the next day but was arrested and jailed for two years.
Considered a political prisoner, he was freed when the West German gov- ernment paid a ransom of 43,000 deutschmarks (about £75,000 in today’s money). He continued his studies at the University of Lübeck and in 1975 com- pleted his PhD at the University of Hei- delberg. That year he married Cornelia Hagens, a gynaecologist, adopting her surname to distance himself from his family’s Nazi past. They had three children: Rurik, who worked on the Body Worlds exhibition, Bera and Tona.
Plastination, a technique he devised in 1977 to replace the body’s fluids and fats with a non-toxic polymer that pre- vented decomposition, was designed to
preserve the body for educational pur- poses. By 1992 he had completed the first “whole-body” plastination and the next year started the privately run Institute for Plastination. His head- quarters were at Guben, a small town on the Polish border. Despite being a multimillionaire he did not own a car, wore cheap clothes, flew economy class and walked into Poland for supper because “the food is good and half the price compared with Germany”.
In 2008 von Hagens was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and began sell- ing off his exhibits. He also began offer- ing to preserve 2mm slices of deceased pets for their owners, explaining that for €460 “the little dog can then hang as a transparent slice on the wall and look at his master for all eternity”. Later came Animals Inside Out, extending plastination to animals on television and at the Natural History Museum.
His first marriage was dissolved and in 2009 he married Angelina Whalley, a former student 20 years his junior who had worked on Body Worlds. She described his single-minded pursuit of anatomy. “Sleeping, socialising, going out, dancing, visits to the theatre ... they are all, to him, a waste of time that keeps him from doing something useful, from pursuing his goals,” she sighed.
Body Worlds returned to Britain in 2009, now at the O2 arena in southeast London. This time the press, public and authorities merely shrugged at its pres- ence, despite the inclusion of a cadaver-
ous couple copulating. “It is
the most human of all acts,”
von Hagens told The
Times. “To censor the
anatomy of sex so as not to offend would be compro- mised science and a con- trived mischief to me.”
In 1972, as North Sea oil became a reality, a councillor in Aber- deenshire called Maitland Mackie somehow convinced a group of the county’s all-too-of- ten staid business leaders to go on a fact-finding trip to Texas.
Mackie, a Liberal whose family dairy was to develop Scotland’s best-known ice- cream brand, had an inkling there was money to be made out of black gold. Not everyone was so sure. That included a young member of the delegation called Ian Wood, then aged about 30, who five years earlier had taken over his father’s fishing firm in Aberdeen.
Wood had thought there might be some extra turnover from oil, which had been first struck in 1969. But it was in Houston, then buzzing with energy, that he realised there were fortunes to be made. “I hadn’t a clue what I was going for, but it was a complete eureka experience,” he told The Inde- pendent 25 years later. “I came back and said, ‘We’ve got it wrong. We’re going to have to form new companies and take on new people’.”
Everybody expected oil com- panies to profit from North Sea oil and gas. What Wood, whose family business had repaired trawlers as well as run them, figured out was that the big drill- ing operators would need engi- neering, consulting and logisti- cal support. That realisation earned Wood a fortune estimat- ed at more than £1.8 billion in The Sunday Times Rich List this year.
He invested in yards and lor- ries and expertise — even as his father warned of the risks. By 1982, the year he turned 40, he had spun his oil engineering business into a separate firm, Wood Group, which at its multi- national height was worth more than £5 billion.
Wood never adopted the swagger of the Texan oil barons, whom he described as “patro- nising” when they offered crumbs to local firms. Instead he adopted the frugal, canny style of the kind of northeast of Scot- land farming and fishing leaders Mackie had taken to America.
Even when chief executive and chairman of a multination- al, Wood would fly economy. The entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter first came across Wood — “one of my heroes,” he said — in an STV studio for a business programme. “I was in my early thirties and turned up in my fan-
cy car to show off. When we were leaving Ian got into an old taxi. He was getting the train back to Aberdeen and I’m sure he had a hole in his cardigan! I learnt a lot from Ian — firstly, don’t show off. He wore his wealth lightly.”
The former SNP MSP and minister Richard Lochhead stressed Wood’s legendary thrift. “He was always down to earth,” he said. “I remember when I invited him into parlia- ment and I bought him a coffee and then apologised for not of- fering him a biscuit or cake. He told me not to worry as he dug into his old battered briefcase and produced two different packets of shortbread from dif- ferent rail journeys.”
Wood was capable of mock- ing his Presbyterian attitude to business, admitting that his “Scottish streak” had stopped him taking some bigger risks. He referred to himself as the “John Knox” member of the board of the Royal Bank of Scotland, re- ferring to the great Scottish re- former.
Running a company in the North Sea took moral fibre, not least in 1988 when 39 Wood Group employees died on the Piper Alpha platform. They were among 167 men killed on the darkest day in the history of the industry in Scotland.
Ian Wood was born in 1942 in Aberdeen to John and Margaret Wood. He was educated at the fee-paying Robert Gordon’s College and then at Aberdeen University, from which he grad- uated in 1964 with a first-class degree in psychology. He was of- fered an academic post but in-
The lives of Hollywood
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JAMES GLOSSOP
stead took what he thought was a summer job at the fishing busi- ness, running trawlers. “I’d not really thought about going into business,” he later said. “My mother wanted me to be a pro- fessional.” Later still he admit- ted he thought he would have been a disaster in the political world of academia.
Wood’s career encompassed the great North Sea oil boom that made Aberdeen the self- proclaimed “oil capital of Europe”, but he also witnessed its decline. Speaking to The Times in 2015, as oil prices hov- ered around $50 a barrel — ap- proximately half today’s value — he recalled: “There’s a gener- ation, probably two generations now, which have never known Aberdeen without oil. I did. I was dead lucky. I left university at 22 so I was about 26 when the oil started to appear.
“So I had known Aberdeen pre-oil. I won’t know Aberdeen post-oil — I will have gone — but there are generations out there who have always just taken it for granted, and who have become very, very depend- ent on the oil and gas industry. They need to change their thinking.”
Aberdeen, he said, should begin planning for “an oil-free future”, which he believed in- volved upgrading the place it- self. He was disappointed when the council turned down a plan he had proposed to regenerate the city centre, which he de- scribed as “a pretty sad place right now”. The development he proposed had £140 million of funds ready to be invested, but it was rejected by councillors de-
spite a local referendum, which he himself funded, and which suggested popular backing. The rejection by the council ensured the plan was, in his view, “dead in the water”.
He believed, however, that the oil boom had created a gen- eration of entrepreneurial people in the city who had the talent and ambition to create change. His advice to them was: “Stop looking backwards. Look forwards, look at the challenges we have and how we are going to deal with them.”
Wood retired as chief execu- tive of Wood Group in 2006, four years after taking it public, and as chairman in 2012.
The company after his depar- ture was to run into difficulties, including making large payouts to cover for corruption scandals in two subsidiaries it had ac- quired. This year it was fined for making misleading financial statements and a Dubai-based company called Sidara complet- ed a takeover of the Aberdeen business, which had lost its list- ing on the FTSE 100.
Right up to his death Wood chaired a family legacy business, The Don Fishing Company. But he and his family gradually sold off their share in Wood Group, not least to finance a wave of philanthropy. In 2015 he com- mitted to give away half his for- tune, supporting good causes at home and abroad.
A teetotal workaholic, Wood would spend 16 hours a day at the office but clock off early at weekends. He also served in a variety of public and charitable positions, including in eco- nomic regeneration for Aber- deen. A pragmatic unionist, he nevertheless advised Lochhead and other SNP ministers on energy policy.
His family stressed that he al- so always found time for his three sons, Nicholas, Graham and Garreth, and for his passion for sport. He had played rugby, well, at university, and enjoyed squash, tennis and skiing well into middle age. His wife, Lady Helen, and his sons survive him.
Wood was knighted in 1994, and made Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Em- pire in 2016. He was appointed to the Order of the This- tle, Scotland’s highest order of chivalry, in 2018.
Sir Ian Wood, businessman and philanthropist, was born on July 21, 1942. He died on July 26, 2026, aged 84
Court Circular
Buckingham Palace 27th July, 2026 The King, Royal Honorary Air Commodore, this afternoon visited Royal Air Force Marham and was received by His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk (the Lady Dannatt) and the Station Commander (Group Captain Leonie Boyd).
His Majesty viewed a new accommodation block and subsequently officially opened the building.
The King afterwards viewed an F-35 Lightning stealth fighter jet inside one of the Station hangars and met pilots and aviators, before meeting more Service personnel and their families.
Later, Her Excellency the Hon Frances Adamson was received by The King upon relinquishing her appointment as Governor of South Australia.
Mr Rod Bunten was also received by His Majesty.
Mr Michael Dooley (His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset) was present at Bournemouth Airport today upon the Arrival of The President of Ukraine and welcomed His Excellency on behalf of The King.
St James’s Palace 27th July, 2026 The Duke of Edinburgh, Colonel- in-Chief, The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, this afternoon held a Meeting via video link with Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Manzara (Commanding Officer) in Canada.
Kensington Palace 27th July, 2026 The Duke of Kent, Patron, National Army Museum, this morning received Mr Justin Maciejewski upon relinquishing his appointment as Director.
Lieutenant General Sir Simon Mayall (Chairman) and Lieutenant General Sir George Norton (Deputy Chairman) were present.
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Births HOWARD on 11th July 2026 to Laura (née Wood) and Craig, a son, Alexander George.
BEARDMORE Professor John Alec passed away peacefully on 29th June 2026, aged
96, in hospital surrounded by his beloved wife Patricia and his four children. A private family memorial service was held at St Paul's Church,
Camberley, on 20th July 2026.
ENSUM Patricia on 21st July 2026, aged 90. Beloved mother of Kathryn. Formerly of Seend, Wiltshire. Pat died peacefully at a care home in Scotland, with her daughter by her side. Funeral service at Alex Black Funeral Care, Drumchapel, Glasgow G15 7XN, Friday 7th August, 2pm.
FERRAND John Geoffrey (Johnny the Fish / The Ferret) died peacefully after a short illness on 23rd July 2026, aged 76. Much-loved father, grandfather, brother and friend. Once met, never forgotten. Private cremation with a service of thanksgiving in Lambourn at 2.30pm on Monday 21st September.
JOHN HORAM (LORD HORAM
OF GRIMSARGH) John died reluctantly but comfortably
on Friday 24th July, following an accident. A dedicated politician and a kind and generous man. He was 87.
A private family cremation will be followed by a memorial service in the
autumn. Please do not mourn, but
drink a silent toast to a man who
loved life.
HUSSELBY William Eric OBE, DL, died peacefully on 17th July 2026, aged 87. A hugely loved husband, father and grandfather. A private family funeral will be held, with a memorial service to follow in October.
SWORDS Michael James Colm died on 12th July 2026, aged 91. Sadly missed by family and friends. Funeral mass at noon 13th August at St John the Evangelist, Islington, London. May he rest in peace.
WALKER Philip Nigel on 9th July 2026, aged 81. Died peacefully at home. Dearest husband of Sue. Thanksgiving service 20th August, 1pm. All inquiries c/o Matthew Lucas, funeral directors, Poundbury, Dorchester.
YARKER Margaret Elizabeth died peacefully at The Lawns, Kempsey, Worcester, on July 11th 2026, aged 84. Funeral service will be held at the church of St Martin & St Peter, London Road, Worcester WR5 2ED, on Tuesday 11th August at 2pm. For further details please contact E Hill & Son funeral directors, 01386 552141.
In Memoriam - Private LIPWORTH Bertrand Ivan. In cherished memory of Bertrand, who died 11 years ago: “How like a winter your absence has been” (adapted from Shakespeare)
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y
T
Sh
Sh
Key: b=bright, c=cloud, d=drizzle, pc=partly cloudy du=dull, f=fair, fg=fog, h=hail, m=mist, r=rain, sh=showers, sl=sleet, sn=snow, s=sun, t=thunder =previous day *=data not available
Temp C Rain mm Sun hr* midday yesterday 24 hrs to 5pm yesterday
Aberdeen Aberporth Anglesey Aviemore Barnstaple Bedford Belfast Birmingham Bournemouth Bridlington Bristol Camborne Cardiff Edinburgh Eskdalemuir Glasgow Hereford Herstmonceux Ipswich Isle of Man Isle of Wight Jersey Keswick Kinloss Leeds Lerwick Leuchars Lincoln Liverpool London Lyneham Manchester Margate Milford Haven Newcastle Nottingham Orkney Oxford Plymouth Portland Scilly, St Mary’s Shoreham Shrewsbury Snowdonia Southend South Uist Stornoway Tiree Whitehaven Wick Yeovilton
ney
ney
Birmingham
Oxford
19
PC
0.0
1.4
19
C
0.0
1.6
17
C
0.0
7.4
16
C
1.8
0.7
20
C
0.0
**
22
PC
0.0
**
19
C
0.2
1.5
21
C
0.0
**
22
PC
0.0
9.7
20
C
0.2
**
22
S
0.0
6.8
20
C
0.0
7.9
20
C
0.0
9.9
19
R
0.0
3.0
16
C
0.4
3.8
17
C
0.0
3.6
23
PC
0.0
**
24
PC
0.0
5.4
22
C
0.0
3.7
16
C
0.6
1.8
24
PC
0.0
**
21
C
0.0
5.2
16
C
0.2
**
19
**
0.0
3.7
16
C
0.2
**
14
PC
7.6
1.8
19
C
3.0
2.9
19
C
0.0
3.9
18
C
0.8
**
23
PC
0.0
4.7
22
PC
0.0
7.7
20
C
1.2
0.3
21
C
0.0
5.8
20
C
0.0
**
18
C
0.0
**
19
C
0.0
5.1
16
C
0.0
**
22
PC
0.0
**
22
C
0.0
**
21
PC
0.0
**
20
C
0.0
**
24
PC
0.0
5.0
21
PC
0.0
0.5
15
C
0.2
**
22
C
0.0
5.1
16
R
0.0
**
15
D
0.0
5.6
15
R
0.8
5.8
16
C
0.0
4.6
16
C
0.0
**
22
PC
0.0
7.9
The world All readings local midday yesterday
Alicante Amsterdam Athens Auckland Bahrain Bangkok Barbados Barcelona Beijing Beirut Belgrade Berlin Bermuda Bordeaux Brussels Bucharest Budapest Buenos Aires Cairo Calcutta Canberra Cape Town Chicago Copenhagen Corfu Delhi Dubai Dublin Faro Florence Frankfurt Geneva Gibraltar Helsinki Hong Kong Honolulu Istanbul Jerusalem Johannesburg Kuala Lumpur Kyiv Lanzarote Las Palmas Lima Lisbon Los Angeles Luxor
31 PC 21 PC 33 S
38 S 33 PC 29 PC 28 PC
30 S 21 PC 29 SH 25 B 21 PC 29 S 30 S
33 PC 29 R 11 PC 17 PC 32 B 18 B 31 PC 35 PC 42 PC 19 B 29 S 31 PC 23 PC 26 PC 26 B 19 B 28 PC
27 S 31 PC 18 S 32 SH
29 PC 27 PC 22 PC 34 S 24 B 38 S
Madeira Madrid Malaga Mallorca Malta Melbourne Mexico City Miami Milan Mombasa Montreal Moscow Mumbai Munich Nairobi Naples New Orleans New York Nice Nicosia Oslo Paris Perth Prague Reykjavik Riga Rio de Janeiro Riyadh Rome San Francisco Santiago São Paulo Seoul Seychelles Singapore St Petersburg Stockholm Sydney Tel Aviv Tenerife Tokyo Vancouver Venice Vienna Warsaw Washington Zurich
Sunday
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Five days ahead Largely hot and dry in the south, but cloudier with rain and blustery winds further north and west
Wind speed
34 Sea state
Tomorrow
Very hot, dry and sunny in southeastern Britain. Cooler with a band of cloud and rain pushing eastwards across the rest of Britain and Ireland. Max 35C, min 8C
Thursday
Mainly dry across England and Wales with sunny spells, but some thicker cloud may bring an isolated shower. Sunny spells and scattered showers in Scotland and Ireland, heavy at times. Max 29C, min 7C
Friday
Cloud and widespread showers across the north, with dry and sunny conditions further south. Temperatures feeling much cooler, but still warm in the south. Max 25C, min 7C
General situation: Another hot, dry and sunny day in the south. Mainly cloudy elsewhere with showery rain, most persistent in western Scotland. E Anglia, London, SE Eng, Cen S Eng, E Mids, E Eng: A hot and dry day after early cloud clears. Light southwesterly winds. Maximum 31C (88F), minimum 16C (61F). N Wales, S Wales, W Mids, SW Eng, NW Eng, Cen N Eng: Cloudy with some possible showers over high terrain in the morning, otherwise dry elsewhere.
26 PC 30 S 27 PC 30 PC 31 PC 11 DU 24 B 27 ** 32 S 27 SH 27 B 23 B 30 M 22 PC 19 B 31 PC 32 PC 27 PC 29 PC 34 PC 20 S 24 B 17 PC 15 SH 17 PC 22 PC 25 PC 40 S 30 PC 19 PC 17 S 21 S 30 B 27 SH 31 PC 26 S 17 PC 17 PC 31 PC 28 PC 29 PC 17 R
22 PC 20 B 27 B
Saturday
Mainly dry with warm spells of sunshine over England and Wales. Rather cloudy with showery rain across Scotland and Ireland. Max 26C, min 6C
Tides Tidal predictions. Heights in metres. All times in local time
Today Ht Ht Aberdeen Avonmouth Belfast Cardiff Devonport Dover Dublin Falmouth Greenock Harwich Holyhead Hull Leith Liverpool London Bridge Lowestoft Milford Haven Morecambe Newhaven Newquay Oban Penzance Portsmouth Shoreham Southampton Swansea Tees Weymouth
Mainly sunny, dry and warm once again in the south. Rather cloudy with rain across Scotland and Ireland, heavy in places. Max 27C, min 6C
The Times weather page is provided by
Glasgow Edinburgh
Carlisle Newcastle
23 17
Manchester Liverpool Hull
Shrewsbury Nottingham
Plymouth Exeter Southampton
y and sunnier d
Turning dry and sunnier during the afternoon. Light southwesterly winds. Maximum 27C (81F), minimum 13C (55F). Edinburgh & Dundee, Aberdeen, Moray Firth, NE Scotland, N Isles: Cloudy with rain in the morning, turning dry and sunnier during the afternoon, before the risk of a shower later. Light to moderate southerly wind. Maximum 22C (72F), minimum 10C (50F). NW Scotland, Cen Highland, Glasgow, Argyll, SW Scotland: Mainly cloudy
01:27 3.8 14:01 3.7 07:12 11.2 19:35 11.8 11:34 3.1 23:50 3.3 07:04 10.6 19:27 11.2 05:48 4.7 18:04 5.0 11:30 6.0 23:50 6.0 11:20 3.5 23:24 3.8 05:26 4.5 17:42 4.8 --:-- -- 12:45 2.9 --:-- -- 12:03 3.7 10:51 4.8 22:57 5.2 06:16 6.7 18:56 6.4 02:44 4.9 15:15 4.9 11:32 8.2 23:43 8.7 01:54 6.5 14:16 6.5 09:42 2.4 22:31 2.3 06:29 6.0 18:46 6.4 11:43 8.1 23:54 8.7 11:29 5.9 23:40 6.0 05:21 5.8 17:38 6.2 06:06 3.3 18:25 3.6 04:55 4.7 17:12 5.0 11:57 4.3 --:-- -- 11:37 5.5 23:46 5.6 10:57 4.1 23:07 4.1 06:27 8.0 18:49 8.5 03:45 5.0 16:19 4.9 06:53 1.6 19:10 1.9
Synoptic situation A slight ridge of high pressure over southern Britain will bring dry, sunny and hot conditions. Low pressure centred near northern Scotland will push a warm front, followed by a cold front across northern Britain, bringing mostly cloudy conditions with outbreaks of rain, primarily in western Scotland and the north of Ireland.
Orkney Shetland
ney ney
Sheffield
with rain, heavy at times, perhaps turning drier later. Light southerly winds, increasing to moderate or fresh southwesterly. Maximum 19C (66F), minimum 9C (48F). Lake District, NE Eng, Borders, Republic of Ireland, N Ireland, IoM: Most areas will be cloudy with outbreaks of showery rain. Mainly dry with sunny spells in the south of Ireland. Light to moderate southwesterly winds. Maximum 22C (72F), minimum 13C (55F).
Hours of darkness Aberdeen Belfast Birmingham Cardiff Exeter Glasgow Liverpool London Manchester Newcastle Norwich Penzance Sheffield
22:00-04:31 22:02-04:59 21:36-04:53 21:37-05:02 21:35-05:06 22:02-04:46 21:45-04:53 21:25-04:50 21:42-04:50 21:47-04:40 21:24-04:39 21:41-05:17 21:38-04:47
Warmest: Frittenden,
Kent, 27.0C
Coldest: Braemar, 1.2C
Wettest: Chillingham Barns,
Northumberland, 22.0mm
Sunniest: St Athan, 9.9hrs*
Sun and moon For Greenwich Sun rises: Sun sets: Moon rises: Moon sets:
05.18 20.54 20.47 04.42 Wed
Full moon: July 29
Paul Simons
his summer’s stifling heatwaves have encouraged a big rise in the number of people turning to air conditioning at home to stay cool. But air conditioning is expensive to install, costly to run and adds to the heatwaves by drawing hot air out of buildings and dumping it outdoors.
Scientists are looking for alternatives to cool buildings, and elephants may inspire one solution to the cooling dilemma. Elephants cannot sweat to cool off. They spray themselves with water using their trunks, and this is more than just a quick shower to cool off. The elephants’ thick skin is covered in wrinkles that help to trap the water, which then slowly evaporates and helps to cool them.
The elephant’s wrinkly skin has now inspired a new type of cement- based building tile riddled with cracks. Water sprayed on the tiles seeps through a honeycomb network of tiny cracks in the tile that hold on to water, which evaporates slowly enough to keep the tiles cool for up to 20 hours without any need to power fans, compressors or any moving parts. Heat tests showed that the temperature under the prototype tiles stayed at a steady 32C, compared with smooth stucco tiles that reached 52C, and it is hoped that an automatic water spraying system could respond to weather forecasts to keep the tiles damp.
Another cooling technique being tested out is using materials to reflect heat. During the day, heat radiates out from the sun in the form of infrared waves, which are absorbed by buildings that become hotter and in turn release infrared waves that mostly heat up the surrounding atmosphere. Some infrared radiation can escape straight into space, however. These wavelengths can be reflected using special paints, glass or other materials to leave buildings cooler. In one test, paints using microscopic silicon and aluminium spheres cooled the surfaces of buildings by more than 5C by reflecting almost all the solar energy back into space.
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T
Hundred has buried the one-day game — how will England find all-format players?
Steve James
he contrast was stark. One minute Joe Root was sitting in a press conference in Cardiff explaining why he could bat sensibly in a one-day international on a tricky surface while his colleagues could not.
“One of the biggest challenges for this team — and the young guys coming through not just now, but in the next little while — is that anyone that comes into this team does not have a wealth of experience and understanding of 50-over cricket because we are not exposed to it any more,” he said.
Cricket
The next minute Root was playing for Welsh Fire on the same ground in the Hundred and was explaining, this time in deed not word, why power-hitting at the end of an innings is not for him. He had staged an excellent repair job, mostly allowing the brilliant New Zealander Rachin Ravindra the strike, but now he gleefully ran past one from the Afghanistan leg spinner Rashid Khan and headed off towards the dugout without even attempting to regain his ground. It was time for the power of Jordan Cox, not the touch of Root.
It was reminiscent of the old days when a county batsman might have done the same to a university spinner, having reached his century and had enough, but it was also confirmation of the difficulties of being an all- format batsman these days.
This is Root we are talking about, after all, England’s finest ever in two of the formats (Tests and ODIs) and good enough to play one of England’s greatest T20 innings when making an unbeaten 83 from 44 balls to beat South Africa in the 2016 World Cup.
There is not one batsman (or indeed bowler) in the top ten of the
Results
Commonwealth Games
Glasgow medal events only Artistic gymnastics: Men: Floor 1, L Whitehouse (Eng) 14.566pts; 2, R Cournoyer (Can) 13.966; 3, J Hardy (Aus) 13.433. Pommel 1, J Carroll (Can) 15.000; 2, R Ward (Scot) 14.966; 3, C Lynn (Scot) 13.833. Rings 1, Felix Dolci (Can) 13.766; 2, W Emard (Can) 13.600; 3, J Hardy (Aus) 13.500; 5, L Whitehouse (Eng) 13.100. Women: Uneven bars 1, K McDonald (Aus) 14.333; 2, E Black (Can) 13.900; 3, E Roper (Wales) 13.666. Vault 1, L-M Fontaine (Can) 14.000; 2, A Martin (Eng) 13.799; 3, Roper 13.433.
Athletics: Men: 110m hurdles 1, D Prince (Jam) 13.17sec; 2, S Bennett (Eng) 13.30; 3, M Trajkovic (Cyp) 13.32. High jump 1, R Beckford (Jam) 2.25m; 2, S Kushare (India) 2.25; 3, K Jack (Eng) 2.20. Hammer 1, E Katzberg (Can) 80.97m (Games record); 2, P Kesidis (Cyp) 76.97; 3, R Hamilton (Can) 75.36; 4, J Norris (Eng) 71.66. 3,000m steeplechase 1, E Serem (Ken) 8min 18.23sec; 2, S Koech (Ken) 8:18.59; 3, L Bett (Ken) 8:21.63. Women: 10,000m 1, R Davies (Aus) 31:39.32; 2, D Wanza (Ken) 31:50.13; 3, F Niyonkuru (Rwa) 31:55.47.
Swimming: Men: Freestyle: 800m 1, S Short (Aus) 7min 39.81sec; 2, B Goedemans (Aus) 7:46.49; 3, M Galea (Aus) 7:47.10. Breaststroke: 50m 1, S Williamson (Aus) 26.50sec; 2, M Houlie (SA) 26.77; 3, A Ramsay- Peaty (Eng) 26.94. Butterfly: 200m 1, L Clareburt (NZ) 1:55.05; 2, H Turner (Aus) 1:55.38; 3, M Temple (Aus) 1:55.45. Women: Freestyle: 100m 1, M Harris (Aus) 52.90; 2, M
world rankings in all three formats right now. Harry Brook is the closest to that — second in Tests, 17th in ODIs and seventh in T20s — while Australia’s Travis Head is first in Tests, 21st in ODIs and 13th in T20s. It is just too much to ask.
I actually think young players coming through these days need to develop two completely different techniques, one for the red-ball game and one for T20 (and the Hundred), because the requirements are so different, but that is, of course, much easier said than done and to devote equal time in practice to both methods is nigh on impossible.
And then there is the question of the 50-over game, which sits between the two and requires elements of both at varying times, but, as Root has said, is not being played domestically by England hopefuls because the Metro Bank One-Day Cup has been essentially downgraded to a development competition by its scheduling in the shadow of the Hundred.
What is interesting here, though, is that Root was among the group of batsmen that also included Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Alex Hales, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow who powered England to triumph in the 2019 World Cup but had all learnt how to play List A cricket in the 40-over format rather than 50 overs, benefiting from the decision in 2010 to prune List A county cricket from two competitions — one of 40 overs and one of 50 — to just one of 40 overs.
Before that England had produced a lot of very good List A batsmen with high averages but not such high strike rates. The slightly shorter format for four years before 50 overs was reintroduced altered that (and not playing 50-over cricket domestically was slated at the time) and there were times between 2015 and 2019 when it seemed England were treating ODIs as just elongated T20s.
You do wonder now, however, if that pendulum has swung too far and ask whether perhaps England need to
O’Callaghan (Aus) 53.25; 3, S Jack (Aus) 53.38. 4 x 200m relay 1, Australia 7:42.53; 2, England (F Colbert, A Wood, L Schlosshan, F Anderson) 7:50.10; 3, New Zealand 7:51.94. Butterfly: 100m 1, A Perkins (Aus) 56.38; 2, K Macinnes (Scot) 57.33; 3, E Gallagher (SA) 57.39. Individual medley: 400m 1, J Forrester (Aus) 4:31.19; 2, A Smith (Eng) 4:33.70; 3, E Ramsay (Aus) 4:37.12.
Weightlifting: Men: 79kg 1, E Muhammad (Malaysia) 331 (Games record); 2, V Babu (India) 330; 3, C Murray (Eng) 325. 71kg 1, E Umoafia (Nigeria) 319pts (Games record); 2, J Tafi (Samoa) 314; 3, E Moses (Nauru) 310; 4, J Chin (Eng) 299. Women: 58kg 1, R Lawal (Nigeria) 229 (Games record); 2, A Taschereau (Can) 215; 3, B Sorokhaibam (India) 199; 4, E Pratt (Eng) 196. 53kg 1, O Didih (Nigeria) 206 (Commonwealth/Games record); 2, G Yadav (India) 199; 3, R Groulx (Can) 178; 7, N Gulam (Eng) 167. Leading medals
G S B Total 1, Australia 26 13 20 59 2, England 8 13 11 32 3, Canada 7 8 6 21 4, Nigeria 6 4 0 10 5, Scotland 5 4 2 11 6, South Africa 3 3 5 11 7, Malaysia 3 0 2 5 8, India 2 5 3 10 9, Jersey 2 0 0 2 10, New Zealand 1 4 3 8 11, Kenya 1 2 2 5 12, Wales 0 2 5 7 13=, Cyprus 0 1 1 2 13=, Northern Ireland 0 1 1 2
rein things in a little. But they will have to learn to do that on the international stage, or in Lions matches.
It is, of course, wrong to say that our young players have no experience of 50-over cricket, because they do play a lot of it at age-group level, but I thought, just as a comparison, I would look at the formative career of India’s Shubman Gill.
He is probably the best ODI batsman at present (despite being second to New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell in the official rankings), with an astonishing average a notch over 60 and a strike rate over 100 after 67 matches. Well, before his ODI debut in 2019 Gill had played 37 List A matches, either for Punjab in the Vijay Hazare Trophy or India A. That is a very decent grounding.
But while Root is 35 years old and perhaps understandably not in England’s T20 side, Gill is only 26 and yet not in India’s T20 outfit at the moment.
Jacob Bethell had played 16 List A matches before his ODI debut in 2024. I thought that figure might be lower, but then you look at Cox and realise he had played just four – three of them for the Lions – before his debut in the same year.
The Hundred is clearly an emotive subject and, for the record, I actually enjoy watching it. But, as pleasurable as it is to see so many young players being granted opportunities in the One-Day Trophy, as well as so many outgrounds being used, this is hardly an optimal scenario in so many ways if we really want to take ODI cricket seriously.
My colleague Mike Atherton has previously suggested playing a 50-over competition at the start of the season — as the old 55-over Benson & Hedges Cup was — but goodness knows what would be played during the Hundred then.
There are so many knock-on effects from the Hundred at the
Root’s touch game is not suited to power hitting in the Hundred
The Hundred Southern Brave v MI London Men Utilita Bowl (MI London won toss): MI London (4pts) beat Southern Brave by three wickets Southern Brave (balls) @ J Smith c Jacks b Gleeson 49 (26) B McKinney c Pope b Boult 0 (2) M Stoinis c Rutherford b S Curran 5 (9) T Stubbs c Sowter b Gleeson 38 (31) D Miller c Khan b S Curran 8 (11) N Chaudhary c Vince b Boult 13 (9) S Zaib c Sowter b T Curran 6 (7) C Jordan c Vince b T Curran 5 (3) J Archer not out 1 (1) L Wood run out 0 (1) Extras (lb 1, w 3) 4 Total (9 wkts, 100 balls) 129 A Rashid did not bat. Fall of wickets 1-5, 2-36, 3-82, 4-95, 5-104, 6-122, 7-128, 8-129, 9-129. Bowling Boult 20-13-15-2; T Curran 15-4-27-2; Gleeson 15-4-29-2; S Curran 20-4-22-2; Khan 20-8-23-0; Sowter 5-1-9-0; Jacks 5-2-3-0 MI London (balls) W Jacks lbw b Stoinis 54 (41) J Vince c Stubbs b Stoinis 0 (2) @N Pooran c Smith b Stoinis 0 (1) S Curran b Rashid 30 (29) S Rutherford run out 21 (12) T Curran b Chaudhary 7 (6) O Pope not out 6 (4) R Khan run out 4 (3)
T Boult not out 1 (2) Extras (lb 3, w 4) 7 Total (7 wkts, 100 balls) 130 R Gleeson and N Sowter did not bat. Fall of wickets 1-17, 2-17, 3-82, 4-93, 5-115, 6-122, 7-127. Bowling Archer 20-9-20-0; Wood 5-2-9-0; Stoinis 20-10-17-3; Rashid 20-5-26-1; Chaudhary 15-3-21-1; Jordan 20-4-34-0.
P W L T NR Pts NRR Manchester SG 2 2 0 0 0 8 2.35 Welsh Fire 2 2 0 0 0 8 0.53 MI London 3 2 1 0 0 8 0.18 Trent Rockets 2 1 1 0 0 4 -0.13 Leeds Sunrisers 2 1 1 0 0 4 -0.61 B’ham Phoenix 2 1 1 0 0 4 -1.92 Southern Brave 3 0 3 0 0 0 -0.20 London Spirit 2 0 2 0 0 0 -0.27 Women Utilita Bowl (MI London won toss): Southern Brave (4pts) beat MI London by one run Southern Brave (balls) M Bouchier c Kerr b Matthews 31 (22) †L Lee c Davidson-Richards b Norris 9 (7) L Wolvaardt b Kerr 35 (30) J Rodrigues c Kerr b Matthews 32 (22) *S Molineux st Chathli b Matthews 4 (7) J Grewcock c Norris b Matthews 6 (5) I M Wong st Chathli b Carey 1 (2) N Dattani not out 5 (3) S Glenn not out 0 (3) Extras (w 2, nb 1) 3 Total (7 wkts, 100 balls) 126 L Bell and M Corteen-Coleman did not bat.
Fall of wickets 1-22, 2-44, 3-104, 4-112, 5-120, 6-121, 7-126. Bowling Henry 15-5-27-0; Carey 20-8-18-1; Matthews 20-8-22-4; Norris 15-5-24-1; Kerr 20-8-21-1; Gregory 10-0-14-0. MI London (balls) H Matthews b Wong 32 (28) D Wyatt-Hodge not out 52 (42) *H Armitage c Lee b Glenn 27 (21) C Henry b Molineux 2 (4) N Carey not out 8 (5) Extras (lb 1, w 3) 4 Total (3 wkts, 100 balls) 125 A Kerr, †K Chathli, A Davidson-Richards, K Moore, T Norris and D Gregory did not bat. Fall of wickets 1-42, 2-109, 3-112. Bowling Bell 20-6-30-0; Molineux 20-6-22-1; Wong 20-8-20-1; Corteen-Coleman 15-3-25-0; Glenn 20-5-24-1; Grewcock 5-3-3-0.
P W L T NR Pts NRR Southern Brave 3 3 0 0 0 12 0.25 Manchester SG 2 1 0 0 1 6 3.29 Trent Rockets 2 1 1 0 0 4 2.68 Welsh Fire 2 1 1 0 0 4 1.30 Leeds Sunrisers 2 1 1 0 0 4 0.94 London Spirit 2 1 1 0 0 4 -1.43 B’ham Phoenix 2 0 1 0 1 2 -7.77 MI London 3 0 3 0 0 0 -1.84 Golf
(they still have a top four of Dom Sibley, Ryan Patel, Adam Thomas and
Rory Burns in the One-Day
Cup, mind), while
Gloucestershire have lost none.
Some choose to use overseas players — it was a surprise to see the India left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav first appearing for Yorkshire — and some do not, but perhaps the ECB needs to provide a stricter lead and admit that it is only a development competition and not just permit the counties to make up their own minds about how to
approach it. Perhaps ban overseas players (surely a waste of money) and insist that a certain number of players under a certain age are
played in every game. There was a county under-25 one-day competition once, you know.
Maybe games could not be classed as List A then, but some clarity is surely needed. The competition has been fortunate this year in enjoying the presence of Stokes due to an unforeseen and unlikely to be repeated set of circumstances, but, looking around the scorecards and streams, there do not appear to be too many potential England white-ball players lurking there. They are mostly already in the Hundred.
Probably the most exciting of them all, Somerset’s Thomas Rew, played in the One-Day Cup last year but is unlikely to do so again. He will have to learn the 50-over format, with its sharp necessity to adapt to conditions and circumstances, for the Lions and, more than likely, in the international game itself.
Little wonder that the all-format players, just Brook and Bethell among England’s batsmen now, are becoming rarer. In truth it could be easier if the red-ball and white-ball sides were mostly separate — that would help the muddled coaching situation too — but, sadly, England just do not have the depth for that.
68, 64, 66; H Matsuyama (Japan) 70, 65 65, 64; B Harman 69, 64, 66, 65. Tennis
Citi Open Washington: First round: Men A Tabilo (Chile) bt T Griekspoor (Neth) 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-4; L Musetti (It) bt M Arnaldi (It) 6-0, 3-1 ret; T Fritz (US) bt Z Bergs (Bel) 6-3, 6-4. Women L Fernandez (Can) bt M Linette (Pol) 6-1, 6-4; E Cocciaretto (It) bt C Tauson (Den) 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-2); E Navarro (US) bt S Kenin (US) 6-0, 7-5.
WTA Memphis Open First round M Joint (Aus) bt W Osuigwe (US) 6-4, 6-1; A Zakharova (Russ) bt L Fruhvirtova (Cz) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1.
Fixtures
Football
Champions League: Second qualifying round, second leg Hearts (0) v Sturm Graz (4) (7.45). Cricket
Goodwood Rob Wright
1.50 Coral Chesterfield Cup Handicap ITV (£61,848: 1m 2f) (18 runners)
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
2.25 Coral Vintage Stakes ITV (Group 2: 2-Y-O: £113,420: 7f) (6)
3.00 HKJC World Pool Lennox Stakes ITV (Group 2: £113,420: 7f) (8)
Beverley Rob Wright
1.35 Handicap (£3,800: 1m 2f) (8)
2.10 Handicap (£4,004: 1m 4f) (7)
2.45 Stakes (2-Y-O: £4,860: 5f) (14)
3.20 Stakes (2-Y-O: £6,480: 7f) (4)
3.55 Handicap (£4,527: 7f) (8)
3.35 Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup Stakes ITV (Group 1: £283,550: 2m) (8)
4.10 Coral Rewards Shaker Handicap ITV (£38,655: 5f) (24)
4.45 British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes (Colts and Geldings) (2-Y-O: £30,924: 6f) (16)
4.30 Handicap (£4,527: 5f) (9)
Yarmouth Rob Wright
2.35 Handicap (£4,397: 1m 6f) (3)
3.10 Stakes (2-Y-O: £7,020: 7f) (6)
3.45 Handicap (£3,768: 1m) (7)
4.20 Handicap (£3,768: 1m 2f) (6)
5.25 Handicap (£3,768: 7f) (9)
Ffos Las Rob Wright
6.00 Nursery (2-Y-O: £3,454: 7f) (10)
Yesterday’s racing results
Ayr
Going: Good to Firm (good in places) 2.15 (7f 50yd) 1, Bymiddaytomorrow (K Shoemark, 9-4); 2, Kanzi (9-1); 3, Tegernsee (7-1). 5 ran. 1 l, 1 l. E Walker. 2.45 (6f) 1, Mr Cool (Connor Beasley, 7- 2); 2, Great Profit (17-2); 3, Lanarra (12-1). 9 ran. 1 l, sh. C Johnston. 3.15 (7f 50yd) 1, Imperial Guard (Connor Beasley, 13-8); 2, Abduction (9-2); 3, Carmel Valley (12-1). 5 ran. NR: Roaring Ralph. ns, 1l. M Dods. 3.45 (1m) 1, Samra Star (Mark Winn, 25- 1); 2, Runninsonofagun (8-15 fav); 3, Union Island (12-1). 9 ran. nk, 2l. Miss L A Perratt. 4.15 (1m 2f) 1, Empirical (K Shoemark, 5- 2); 2, Colourband (2-1); 3, Geo (8-1). 5 ran. NR: Obito. 1l, 1 l. E Walker. 4.45 (5f) 1, Sixcor (Tom Kiely-Marshall, 11-1); 2, Startling (4-1); 3, Henery Hawk (7- 1). 8 ran. NR: Supremissy. l, nk. Miss L A Perratt. 5.20 (1m 2f) 1, Royal Blaze (Greg Fairley, 3-1); 2, Falcon Nine (4-1); 3, Penelope’s Sister (7-2). 9 ran. NR: Annandale, Lightning Galaxy, Recobella, Zebra Star. nk, 37 l. Ewan Whillans. Placepot: £52.60 Quadpot: £9.50
5.20 Bolney English Wine Fillies' Handicap (£25,770: 1m) (15)
5.55 World Pool Bet With The Tote EBF Fillies' Handicap (£25,770: 6f) (21)
6.30 Handicap (£4,187: 7f) (5)
7.00 Stakes (£3,454: 1m) (8)
7.30 Stakes (£6,480: 1m 4f) (4)
Southwell
Going: Standard 2.30 (1m 6f 21yd) 1, Flash Kozo (Kaiya Fraser, 9-4); 2, Desert Belle (11-4); 3, Glenna (2-1). 9 ran. 1 l, l. Harry Eustace. 3.00 (1m 4f 14yd) 1, Kokbastau (Ray Dawson, 11-4); 2, Turret (9-2); 3, Humphrey (5-4 fav). 14 ran. nk, 3 l. R Varian. 3.30 (1m 3f 23yd) 1, Roc De Fer (L Morris, 7-4 fav); 2, James Choice (7-1); 3, Prince Of Calypso (12-1). 14 ran. 1 l, nk. Sir Mark Prescott. 4.00 (1m 13yd) 1, Filly Eilish (S De Sousa, 16-1); 2, Venetian Lion (100-30); 3, Kiani King (9-4). 13 ran. l, 2 l. I Furtado. 4.30 (7f 14yd) 1, Roosike (H Crouch, 13- 2); 2, Rising Tiger (8-15 fav); 3, Bullrider (3-1). 12 ran. nk, 17 l. R Hughes. 5.00 (7f 14yd) 1, Storm Free (H Crouch, 7-2 fav); 2, Chalk Mountain (4-1); 3, Spaceman (4-1). 12 ran. l, l. J Tate. 5.30 (7f 14yd) 1, King Of Fury (Sean Kirrane, 12-1); 2, Korbut (12-1); 3, Shaman Champion (13-2). 10 ran. NR: Comic Hero. nk, sh. M Dods. 6.05 (6f 16yd) 1, Modern Times (L Morris, 2-1); 2, Pickersgill (22-1); 3, Belsito (12-1).
can make it seven in row
Rob Wright Racing Editor
Scandinavia has developed into the dominant stayer over the past 12 months and he is difficult to oppose in the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup (3.35) to- day as he seeks a seventh straight win.
Aidan O’Brien’s charge proved too good for stablemate Illinois in this race 12 months ago and has improved since then, beating Rahiebb in the St Leger at Doncaster in September before claim- ing a third top-flight success in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot last month.
Scandinavia was forced to pull out all the stops to beat Trawlerman at Ascot, prevailing by a head after a sustained duel that saw the pair pull nine lengths clear of third-placed Sweet William. He is not flashy, rarely winning by a wide margin, but has the winning habit and can keep his streak going.
The quirky Al Hudaiba was coaxed to a narrow success by William Buick in group two company at Newmarket and can follow up in the Coral Vintage Stakes (2.25). He looked a tricky ride for most of that race but is fitted with blink- ers for the first time here, which should help him to concentrate, and he can see off the O’Brien-trained Haffner.
The HKJC World Pool Lennox Stakes (3.00) can go to Witness Stand for a second time. He beat Lake Forest in this race 12 months ago and can be forgiven a below-par effort at Chester last time as he raced much wider than ideal. He can bounce back to form.
8.00 Handicap (£3,454: 1m 4f) (9)
8.30 Handicap (£3,454: 6f) (10)
12 ran. NR: D Flawless. l, l. James Owen. Placepot: £3.60 Quadpot: £3.00 Ripon
Windsor
Going: Good to Firm 5.15 (5f 21yd) 1, Too Darn Good (Taryn Langley, 11-1); 2, Moe’s Legacy (5-1); 3, Merrimack (4-1). 11 ran. l, sh. H Candy. 5.50 (1m 2f) 1, Ziata (Rossa Ryan, 9-2); 2, Lucy The Wire (6-5 fav); 3, Sweet Horizon (7-4). 5 ran. sh, 2 l. G Tutty. 6.20 (6f 12yd) 1, Harry Knows (Oisin Murphy, 4-7 fav); 2, Down To You Kid (15- 8); 3, Rex Regum (50-1). 7 ran. 4 l, l. R Hughes. 6.53 (6f 12yd) 1, Madman (Jack Callan, 11-2); 2, Solar Invincible (5-1); 3, Forever Glamorous (11-4). 6 ran. 1l, l. R Cook & J Bridger. 7.28 (6f 12yd) 1, Another Abbot (P J Dobbs, 4-1); 2, Sudden Flight (4-1); 3, Regional Rock (15-2). 13 ran. NR: Uncle Don. l, l. W J Haggas. 8.00 (1m 31yd) 1, Berlinetta (George Bass, 11-2); 2, Eazy On The Eye (4-1); 3, Box Clever (10-1). 8 ran. NR: Toralou. sh, 1l. J Channon. 8.30 (1m 2f) 1, Give Me Sun (Benoit D L Sayette, 6-1); 2, Takeitorleaveit (9-4); 3, Time To Sparkle (2-1). 4 ran. NR: My Old Mate. P Owens. Placepot: £87.40 Quadpot: £13.80
Going: Good to Firm (good in places) 6.00 (1m 1f 170yd) 1, Riddikulus (Rhys Elliott, 5-2); 2, Balmoral Boy (14-1); 3, Lc Tiffen (100-1). 7 ran. 17 l, 3l. Grant Tuer. 6.30 (6f) 1, Pure Mint (Harry Davies, 11-10 fav); 2, Green Bay Dream (33-1); 3, Reflect On Glory (8-1). 7 ran. 4 l, l. S & E Crisford. 7.05 (1m) 1, Prosperity (C Lee, 4-6 fav); 2, Princess Honey Bee (8-1); 3, Fractional (2-1). 5 ran. 17 l, 37 l. K R Burke. 7.40 (6f) 1, Paper View (Joe Leavy, 5-2); 2, Harley (9-4 fav); 3, Aura Of Melania (14-1). 6 ran. 1 l, ns. R Hannon. 8.10 (1m) 1, (, fav); 2, Noelan Star (11-4). 5 ran. NR: Enchant. sh. 8.40 (5f) 1, Zuffolo (Rhys Elliott, 7-2); 2, Doralee (15-2); 3, Cheerleader (5-2). 6 ran. hd, hd. M Dods. Placepot: £83.40 Quadpot: £17.50
O
hooker problem and must act now to fix it
Cowan-Dickie is huge risk and it may be time for a wild-card option, writes Charlie Morgan
Charlie Morgan
ver the Christmas of 2023, as everyone involved with the England set-up sat back and reflected on the World Cup and pondered their way forward for the new four-year cycle, the hooker position would have been high on the priority list.
Jamie George had just grafted through an immense workload out in France, playing all 80 minutes of England’s last pool game against Samoa before the entirety of the quarter-final against Fiji and the semi-final against South Africa. Theo Dan did start the third-place play-off, yet was not backed when the stakes were higher.
With Luke Cowan-Dickie recovering from nerve damage in his neck, the issue had also been apparent during the 2023 Six Nations. George was on the pitch for 392 of the 400 minutes that comprised Steve Borthwick’s maiden campaign as England head coach. Poor Jack Walker did see 20 minutes from the bench as France ransacked Twickenham but George did not come off. Walker arrived in the second half of that 53-10 thrashing, filling in at flanker initially before finishing up in the back line. His experience was emblematic of a gruesome afternoon.
England name their party for the 2027 World Cup in about 13 months’ time. They have only nine Test matches — four during the second block of the Nations Championship and then another Six Nations — until the World Cup warm-ups. And, though Borthwick is doing a decent job of regenerating the rest of the squad, these past few weeks have not endorsed hooker depth. George started all three games with Cowan-Dickie replacing him in the second half of each one. Dan was the third hooker in Borthwick’s touring group and did not feature at all.
Since the beginning of 2024, George has started 22 of England’s 32 Test matches. The 35-year-old, due to
Dave Rennie has named three un- capped players in a 44-man All Blacks squad for the Greatest Rivalry tour of South Africa.
England did not lose a lineout while George was on the pitch over their three Nations Championship matches, and used that platform effectively. Their scrum stood firm in South Africa before squeezing Fiji and Argentina, notwithstanding the concession of a couple of penalties in each of those matches.
One coach pinpointed game sense and set-piece solidity as Borthwick’s major requirements in a hooker. The second of those qualities, they explained, is rare in modern hookers as most of them are converted back-rowers. This source suggested that Langdon of Northampton Saints could have an “outside chance” of breaking into the World Cup reckoning if he remains consistent.
Nathan Jibulu, an explosive athlete, was also mentioned, but concerns of throwing “frailty” would need to be definitively dispelled. Another elite coach believes Dan must be “knocking on the door” along with Jamie Blamire and Kepu Tuipulotu, even if the latter would represent a gamble — especially around the scrum and lineout — because of his age. The consensus was that Borthwick “knows what he likes”.
while adding a sprinkling of new faces. Prop Siale Lauaki, back-rower Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa and fly half Josh Jacomb will all be vying for Test debuts over the four-match series against the Spring- boks. Lock Fabian Holland, flanker Ethan Blackadder, centre Timoci Tavatavanawai and wing Emoni Nara- wa are also returning, among others.
There will be many wistful England supporters who wonder what might have been had the conversations between Alfie Barbeary, Lee Blackett and Eddie Jones reached a different conclusion. Over those chats, while Barbeary was with Wasps, he was told by Jones that he could either be a world-leading hooker or a “mediocre back-rower in the Premiership”. The catch was that Barbeary, who had been working on his throwing at Nottingham in the second tier, would have to relish his front-row responsibilities.
Ultimately, with back row a quicker route to consistent first-team action, Barbeary stayed there. At 6ft 1in and 18st 4lb, his physical dimensions are similar to those of Peato Mauvaka of France or Samisoni Taukei’aho of the All Blacks, and he can be as destructive a carrier.
Eight England A and uncapped fixtures since 2024 have provided chances for Borthwick to monitor potential newbies. Blamire, who won the last of his seven senior caps in a 20-9 defeat by Wales on the cusp of the last World Cup, has been granted the most game time. Langdon, Oghre, Dan, Jibulu, Tuipulotu and Sam Riley have all had opportunities as well.
But George seeing 67 minutes against a France XV at Twickenham a
Rugby-winning Hurricanes co-captain Du’Plessis Kirifi, who has fallen victim to fierce back-row competition.
“Luke [Jacobson], Anton [Segner], Peter Lakai and Ardie can all play seven, and Dups is a good player, he had a good season, but there are good players who have missed the squad, not just him,” Rennie explained.
year ago, prior to the tour of Argentina, underlines how Borthwick has favoured his former Saracens team-mate.
Dan, something of a World Cup bolter in 2023, had appeared to be the chosen one. He was part of the inaugural group of players to be awarded an enhanced Elite Player Squad (EPS) contract in October 2024, but lasted only 12 months before Cowan-Dickie replaced him in that cohort.
A vicious pinball of a runner, the 25-year-old had a gilt-edged shot to state his starting credentials in San Juan last year after George received his British & Irish Lions call-up. The lineout faltered badly and Dan has seen precisely nine minutes of Test action since.
Despite this, and although Borthwick looked at Blamire, Jibulu and Tuipulotu in training camps as recently as May and June, 20-cap Dan apparently remains third choice.
arises. I’d be surprised if we don’t call someone in at some stage.”
Rennie confirmed that Savea would be a late arrival in South Africa. “Ardie has been training and playing since January 2025,” the All Blacks head coach said.
It could well be that he, George and Cowan-Dickie go to the World Cup. Dan will be a year — and possibly a few caps — wilier, which may encourage Borthwick to trust him, and the extended pre-season should allow the veterans to manage their bodies. Even so, given George’s age and the fitness issues of Cowan- Dickie, it would be a huge risk not to have contingencies.
Options are there, and probably fall into two groups. Blamire, Oghre and Langdon, the front-liners at Leicester, Bristol and Northampton respectively, are all 28 with a healthy amount of know-how.
Jibulu is 23 and Tuipulotu 20, with England also tracking 22-year-old Craig Wright, a star of the under-20 World Championship victory in 2024. Any of these three would be a wild card, yet all of them offer defensive breakdown spoiling and aggression in contact.
While Borthwick’s 2023 World Cup squad was hugely experienced, Alex Mitchell and George Martin travelled with nine caps between them, and ended up in the starting line-up for the knockout rounds. England must act quickly because if 2027 is compromised by problems at hooker, they will have only themselves to blame.
find a window where we can freshen him up. This seemed like an obvious time, so it was a pretty simple decision. It’s a decision that we’ve made on what we think is best for him.”
T
bid is not over – yet
after spate of errors and penalties, but there are still reasons for hope, writes Molly Hudson
G
here is an advantage that Lewis Hamilton takes into this summer break, despite being 50 points behind Kimi Antonelli in a title race that has failed to ignite: he’s been here, done it, and won it — seven times.
But that very experience is what has left Hamilton so frustrated over recent races, having received several penalties and made errors. Those are costly, particularly when Antonelli has had the best car for the majority of the 11 races so far.
“Every point counts and you have to seize every opportunity,” Hamilton posted on Instagram on Saturday evening, admitting even he was finding it difficult to remain positive.
Here we break down the recent missed opportunities, and identify reasons for optimism for the second half of the season.
the penalties The most glaringly obvious room for improvement is in the sheer number of penalties Hamilton has accumulated of late.
At Silverstone, he received a five- second time penalty for a false start. While Hamilton accepts responsibility because he did move before the lights, he said it has been
by holding off Scheffler for victory
shows mental fortitude by sweeping to win in only his third pro event, writes Rick Broadbent
olf has a new rising star. A week after Ryan Fox showed the power of perseverance by winning his first major at the age of 39, Jackson Koivun underlined the hype swirling around his move to the pro ranks by fending off the challenge of Scottie Scheffler to gain his first PGA Tour triumph at 21.
Koivun has been a professional since finishing in a tie for 23rd place at the US Open last month but is already the world No 73.
After a hugely impressive college career at Auburn University in Alabama, he made the switch look seamless as a bogey-free 66 at the 3M Open in Minnesota earned him a three-shot victory over runner- up Scheffler, who is still looking for his first win since January.
discussed in the drivers’ briefing that penalties have been applied on an “inconsistent” basis.
“There’s drivers in the past that have moved and haven’t been penalised,” he said. “We discussed the fact [that] as long as you’re not moving when the last lights are on, you shouldn’t be penalised, because I wasn’t out of my box, and they agreed. So, they’re looking into that for the future,” Hamilton said.
In Belgium, his five-second penalty for causing a collision with George Russell on the opening lap was widely regarded as harsh. Russell called it a “racing incident” rather than a cause for further punishment, despite it ending his race.
Serving that time penalty proved costly — it played into a complicated double-stack pitstop in which Hamilton failed to receive the front wing flap adjustment he had requested, and drove into a mechanic, leading to more overall time loss. His fourth-place finish was a reasonable attempt at damage limitation, but still a missed opportunity.
Then last weekend a realistic chance of victory was ruined by a penalty in qualifying for impeding Oscar Piastri on his final flying lap. There can be no disputing the penalty, but it was avoidable, a miscommunication issue with Hamilton’s race engineer, who told him too late that Piastri was approaching. That demoted him from second to fifth on the grid, at a circuit where it is tricky to overtake.
In the race, Hamilton received a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane — he was 0.1km/h over
who is from California, said. There is always a danger in overhyping prodigies and the attention given to the 17-year-old Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, is unlikely to aid his progress, but there may be no need for kid gloves with Koivun. His peers and coaches laud his mental strength, which is clear from the words scrawled on his glove. “I write ‘confidence’ and ‘trust’ and ‘dominate’,” he explained.
“ ‘Dominate’ is a word I came up with in college because I just wanted to go see how good I can play. I came up with it with my short-game coach, Josh Gregory, and it helped me a lot with my mindset.”
Koivun, right, is already known for being level-headed and after Saturday’s round of 61 he never looked like allowing circumstances to affect his methodology. Hence the way he described his emotional outburst at the end: “I felt like that was an
His four penalties
Where What Cost His fault? Silverstone False start 5sec Yes Belgium Collision 5sec 50/50
Hungary Impeding Three-place
grid penalty No
Hungary Speeding in pitlane 5sec Yes
the 80km/h speed limit — a driver error. When the penalty was applied, he dropped from fourth to fifth, behind Charles Leclerc, his Ferrari team-mate.
room to improve There have been smaller mistakes
appropriate time.” If TPC Twin Cities in Blaine was not the hardest test — Koivun finished at a record 25 under par while Michael Kim signed for a second-round 59 — it was a hugely impressive win. Scheffler, Hideki Matsuyama and Brian Harman were three major winners in his wake.
“I feel like we’re seeing a lot of really, really good young talent in the game today,” Scheffler said. “When you see guys come out of college, they’re really prepared, even more than when we were coming out. A lot of the time you can see that belief when they see some other guys have success. I haven’t spoken to Jackson yet. I haven’t had a chance to see him hit a shot yet. Obviously, I’ve heard about his pedigree in college but I
haven’t seen it in person. I’m
looking forward to that.”
Koivun, whose family relocated to North Carolina when he was 17, had a stellar college year in 2024, scooping
most of the major prizes. He
made his PGA Tour debut
that year at the
Memorial Tournament and became the amateur world No 1 last summer. His tied-23rd place at the US Open meant he shared the low amateur honours with Ryder
that have hampered his chances. While Hamilton’s qualifying form has improved vastly compared with the closing months of his time at Mercedes and his maiden Ferrari season, he often concludes a session feeling as though he has not quite extracted the maximum possible.
In Budapest, McLaren felt Lando Norris’s pole was largely down to execution, driver and team working perfectly to maximise their pace, when data showed Ferrari had the faster car at their disposal.
That was as much down to the execution of Ferrari as a team as Hamilton himself — and Fred Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal, admitted that the Scuderia had made
Cowan. By turning pro he had to give up a place at this month’s Open Championship, gained via the Royal and Ancient’s Mark H McCormack Medal given to the top amateur, but has now had two top-ten finishes in three pro starts.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Lucas Herbert carried his Open form into the UK leg of the beleaguered LIV Golf series at JCB Golf and Country Club in Rocester.
Herbert was one of three players to achieve a record-equalling round of 62 at Royal Birkdale, and he was too good on the LIV circuit where 30 under par gave him a six-stroke win over Tyrrell Hatton.
Bryson DeChambeau was third and still declines to explain his abject behaviour at Birkdale, including his threat to involve Donald Trump after receiving a two-stroke penalty. Trump, of course, could not contain himself. “I thought the Bryson call was a tough call,” he said.
Elsewhere, the partnership between the Asian Tour, PGA Tour and DP World Tour has hurt LIV’s survival quest, although chiefs remain optimistic about a shortened ten-round series with vastly reduced prize pots. The season finale in Michigan looks likely to be scrapped and a decision on the future of the league is expected within a month.
too many mistakes over the weekend, including slightly slower than usual pitstops.
reasons for optimism As Hamilton said before the summer break “usually the second half [of the season] is a stronger period for me”.
While Norris’s victory in Budapest looked like a missed opportunity for Ferrari, it also showed McLaren can capitalise on any rare off-days for the title contenders. So a bad day could mean fifth or sixth, rather than third, with bigger points swings.
Reliability also continues to be an issue for Mercedes, with Antonelli likely to need to take a power-unit grid penalty at some stage.
setback ahead of US Open
Tennis Willis Bennett
Jack Draper’s comeback from injury was dealt a blow five weeks before the US Open when the Briton pulled out of an event in America last night.
The 24-year-old withdrew from the DC Open because of an ongoing arm issue, leaving his participation at Flushing Meadows next month in doubt. Draper has missed all three grand-slam events so far this year.
Draper, who is coached by Sir Andy Murray, has fallen to No 147 in the world. This lowly rank means that he would probably have to come through qualifying – assuming a return to full fitness – to secure a place in the main draw, which starts on August 30.
The former British No 1 has played only 13 matches this year, and has not appeared since pulling out of Wimble- don at short notice because of the bone bruising in his left humerus that kept him off court for eight months last season. He remains hopeful of playing in Montreal and Cincinnati before the US Open, and has said he is “getting closer to where I want to be”.
“These last months have felt like nothing but adversity and setbacks,” Draper said on Instagram.
success, my superpower is being dad
Rick Broadbent
Rick Broadbent
“Human first, athlete second.” They were four words that explained why Adam Ramsay-Peaty was able to raise a smile after winning a bronze medal for the second time in three nights at the Tollcross Swimming Centre.
The three-times Olympic champion, 31, was never in the frame for the Commonwealth gold in the 50m breaststroke but fought hard to hang on for another podium finish behind Australia’s Sam Williamson and South Africa’s Michael Houlie. The winning time was 26.50sec and Ramsay-Peaty’s was 26.94, both of which would have been a breeze in his undefeated pomp, but things are different now.
Times change, both in terms of the clock and stages of life. Project 56 once sounded like a fable hatched in a sci-fi script meeting, but he knocked off the first sub-57 100m breaststroke swim in 2019. All that glitters is clearly not only
As one of Britain’s greatest sport stars and the owner of a hat-trick of Com- monwealth titles, Daley Thompson is well placed to judge on the drip-feed of dropouts in Glasgow.
And the legendary decathlete thinks athletes who chose to skip the event without injury are missing out. “It’s a big title and a chance to win some- thing,” Thompson told The Times. “You never know how many of those opportunities you are going to get.
“It’s really important for the Com- monwealth Games to stay in whatever form because it’s also a brilliant learning experience for those who get to the top. I don’t know the reasons why people are pulling out. They might have knocks and if there were a few weeks before the Europeans, maybe it would be different.”
gold, but Birmingham 2022 remains his last significant title, and when you have been the best for so long, can anything less be satisfying?
Well, the answer seems to be yes it can — if he can change his perspective. The much-publicised rift with his family can scarcely help, and he is ex- pecting a child with wife Holly, daugh- ter of the celebrity chef Gordon Ram- say. After the emotional aftermath of Saturday’s defeat in the 100m, when he talked of the “shit I’ve been through” and questioned the point of his sacrifi- ces if it was not compensated with sporting excellence, his mother, Caro- line, posted a message that said “we continue to support Adam from afar”. It remains a messy personal backdrop.
Last night, Ramsay-Peaty seemed more resigned to where he is. “Some- thing is not clicking but I have to learn from the 100m and the perspective of it’s my first champs since Paris [Olym- pics] and to get two bronzes I’d say
represent the country,” England’s Elliot Jones said after qualifying for today’s 100m semi-finals.
The number of athletes pulling out has provided fuel for the Games naysayers. Over the past week, nine English athletes, including leading lights Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Dina Asher- Smith, Daryll Neita and Amber Anning, have withdrawn.
The last to go were Louie Hin- chliffe, the former NCAA 100m champion coached by Carl Lewis, and Charlie Dobson, an Olympic relay medallist.
With Scotland’s Eilish McColgan, billed as the face of these Games judging by the Glas- gow billboards, also pulling out with an injury, it has been a troubled start for organisers already trying to fend off no- tions that the event has faded into irrelevance by
that’s success. I’m not going to be too hard on myself, not any more,” he said.
“My superpower looks very different now. I think juggling babies with milk and having a toddler around is, I guess, a different superpower when that time comes. But as a professional athlete, I’m still committed. We just had to ap- proach it very differently because I’ve been that person who wins all the time, and it costs you pretty much every- thing, and I won’t say it’s worth it now.
“For me, that period where I was undefeated for eight years, whatever it was, it was athlete first, then human. Now it’s human first, then athlete, which is a very fair price to pay, a very good gamble. I say gamble because, again, we don’t really know what the outcome is going to be.”
Ramsay-Peaty has always been an interesting presence in the sporting firmament. He does not spout patriotic platitudes, but once told me that he was watching Battle of Britain and Zulu as a
stripping away sports and moving from the BBC for the first time in 70 years.
Some of this is just unfortunate as athletes refuse to risk exacerbating even the slightest injury with the Euro- pean Championships starting the week after next. With Team England having a reserve list, people have not been denied places, but the lateness of some
decisions did not help Jones, who
has been scrambling to find hotel
rooms for his parents and girl- friend after being upgraded from the relay squad.
“It is absolutely incredible,” he
said after being the third-
fastest qualifier, albeit
the top seven men were
given a bye. “The
national pride I have
for my country is so
high, and to be able
six-year-old, and loved the royal family. Still frustrated by the loss of “the power per stroke”, he says he still has more but is learning to cope with setbacks. “I really enjoyed it,” he claimed.
Archie Goodburn finished tied for last in the final but the 25-year-old Scot, who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2024, received the loudest chorus of approval.
Asked how he remained positive, he said: “Sorry, I want to find an answer for this. Well, I advocate because I believe my advocacy can make a difference to my own life. And the best way I can do that is to be positive about the situation and positive for change.
“But I also advocate for the future Archies. I swim for future Archies that want to succeed on an international level, but also young patients and people with brain cancer under the age of 40. Right now I’m frustrated but I’m going to look back at this as a pretty incredible moment in my life.”
world to me. Regardless of timetables, I’m going to take every international call I get.”
The Wiganer, 28, is only a part-time runner and works for Uefa’s venue operations team at European matches, which included Tottenham Hotspur’s clash with Atletico Madrid last season.
Last Thursday night he got a call from England’s sprint manager about replacing Hinchliffe. “She said, ‘How would you feel if you were offered the chance to run in the individual event?’ I was like, ‘Let me think about that — yes!’ I got the bus the next morning from Loughborough and it took us seven hours with the traffic.”
The proximity of the Common- wealth and European showpieces meant some established stars, such as the Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson, have always said they would skip Glasgow, but weighing the respective merits of the two events is not always clear-cut.
‘incredible’ silver swim
Craig Lord
Remember the name. Amalie Smith. The 16-year-old English schoolgirl last night emerged from a pool of Olympi- ans in Glasgow with a silver medal in a 400m medley that marked her inter- national senior debut.
The teenager finished second behind the experienced Australian Jenna Forrester in a time of 4min 33.70sec — only a couple of seconds shy of Hannah Miley’s British record.
Smith evokes memories of Sharron Davies, who was 15 when she won Com- monwealth gold for England in 1978 in the same event, two years out from taking Olympic silver in a final tainted by East German doping.
A schoolgirl at Weald of Kent Gram- mar School in Tonbridge, Smith has trained at RTW Monson Swimming Club under the guidance of coach Karen Bradbury since she was 13.
“I’m so excited, so happy. I can’t believe it,” Smith said. “I came in here thinking I would love to get a medal, but to actually achieve it is incredible. Going in I was quite nervous but as soon as I dived in, I was fine. It was just like any other event I’ve been to.”
Smith’s successful transition from junior to senior waters adds to the sense of an athlete heading for much bigger prizes, but she said: “I think it’s just not getting ahead of myself and actually taking a step back and making sure that you realise how much you have achieved. It’s about just thinking about things that are realistic and doing them progressively and using this as a learn- ing experience.”
Asked what was next, she noted the 200m medley and relays in Glasgow, after which she would be “sticking around to support everyone else [in other sports] before going home to get ready for the European Championships in Paris”.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Smith, who claimed the European junior crown two weeks ago, said of those senior championships. “The venue looks so cool, so I’m looking forward to racing there.”
Asked if she felt she belonged in senior company now, she said: “It’s hard to say at the moment. Everyone is really friendly and so supportive, so hopefully after Paris I will feel quite at home.”
Omanyala clocked to win Common- wealth gold four years ago.
Amy Hunt and Georgia Hunter Bell remain as star names on the England team. Hunt showed her class when winning a 200m silver medal at last year’s World Championships, but she has never won a major senior solo title. Hunter Bell, an Olympic and world medallist, has never won a global gold outdoors.
About 7,500 fans were in Scotstoun Stadium on a cold morning for the start of the athletics and there was a warm if not raucous atmosphere. Another man who did turn up was Jeremiah Azu. He was crowned world and European in- door champion last year, but he has not won a Commonwealth medal.
Asked why he was here, the Welsh- man pointed to the word “Cymru” on his vest and said: “Because of this. Growing up in Wales, you feel such a sense of connection to the people, and for me to be able to put this vest on and try and take it to a podium is such an honour, and I would never put that opportunity to the side.”
T
by run-in with ICE nine years on
James Gheerbrant how being detained as a teen wrecked his promising career
he course of Lizandro Claros’s life was irrevocably altered on a rainy Friday afternoon nine years ago. He woke up that morning as a model student and a stellar high-school footballer — “one of the best central defenders [for his age] in the [United States]”, in the estimation of one of his coaches — with a college scholarship and a plan to study engineering. By that evening, he and his brother Diego were detained, dressed in prison uniforms and bound for deportation.
A year later, they were put on a flight to El Salvador, heading for a country riven by gang violence, and a town, Jucuapa, known primarily for the manufacture of coffins.
Sitting on that plane, Lizandro was full of fears. At that time, he remembers, “the gang problem was still going pretty hard” in the country of his birth. “I was scared they would target [us] to join them … that we could fall into following in their footsteps.” That fear did not come true though. Today, Lizandro is the captain of one of the top Salvadoran football clubs, CD Firpo: they won the Apertura, the national championship for the first half of last season.
Some other fears he held, however, have been realised. Deportees from the US are banned from re-entering the country for ten years, “so I was really worried I wasn’t going to see my mum again,” he says. She was ill prior to the deportation and “was hit the hardest ... we saw her get much worse when all this happened. Sadly, I couldn’t see her again alive ... she passed away last year.”
During the first year of Donald Trump’s second presidency, a report by UC Berkeley and UCLA’s Deportation Data Project (DDP) suggests, deportations increased by a factor of five. On July 4, during the World Cup, the Department of Homeland Security boasted it had “celebrated Freedom 250 by arresting criminal illegal aliens”: a spokeswoman said agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had spent the weekend “arresting the worst of the worst”.
But the DDP, which uses the Freedom of Information Act to gather datasets directly from the government, notes that under Trump there has been an eight-fold increase in ICE detentions of people with no criminal convictions. Lizandro’s case, which occurred during the first Trump presidency, is a sadly typical one, which shows how long-lasting and far-reaching the punishments of deportation can be.
During his teenage years, the Claros family lived in Maryland. Lizandro played for Bethesda Soccer Club, a local team. “We would train every day and play every weekend,” he says. “I had all my family there, my brothers [and sister], my parents, my friends in high school. I was trying to
Claros, right, made his full international debut in 2021 but has only four caps because he is still barred from entering the US. He was deported aged 17, below, in 2017 — a development which hit his parents and siblings, inset, especially hard
do good because I wanted to go to college. Everything was good. I felt like that was my place to be.”
The Claros family had arrived in the US in dribs and drabs: his father first, a few months after Lizandro’s birth; his mother a few years later; followed in instalments by their children, latterly Lizandro and Diego, aged ten and 14. Their journey was hazardous, their methods haphazard: Lizandro’s parents paid a friend of a relative to bring their youngest children to America, where their papers and passports were found to be fraudulent.
Initially they were allowed to stay. It was a precarious but happy life, with football and family gatherings interspersed with periodic check-ins with ICE. Under Barack Obama’s administration, deportations focused mainly on expelling criminals. As a dedicated student-athlete, Lizandro was in a sort of benign limbo: not granted permanent residency, but not likely to be removed either.
be a routine check-in ended with them being detained. Despite a campaign by Lizandro’s schoolfriends, and the opposition of local Democrat politicians, there was no reprieve. And so the brothers found themselves living with their aunt and grandparents in Jucuapa, learning quickly “how things had to be, so we wouldn’t make a mistake or say something we shouldn’t”.
A few months later, they took up an offer to study at the Nicaraguan campus of an American university, where Lizandro met his wife. He began playing for a club in the Nicaraguan second division, and enjoyed “spending time with the same guys, training every day”.
He decided to pursue his football dream in El Salvador, where he rose quickly, and made his professional debut for Independiente, a top-flight club, aged 22. It didn’t take long for him to be called up to the national team by Hugo Pérez, an El Salvador- born former USA international who played at the 1994 World Cup. He made his debut in 2021, in a World Cup qualifier against Mexico, marking Raúl Jiménez.
About 1 per cent of the global population of male professional footballers went to the recent World Cup. Lizandro’s story is a salutary reminder of what life is like for a much greater proportion of the 125,000 men around the world who play football for a living.
“Our infrastructure is pretty bad,” he says. “You go to clubs where they don’t water the field, so they get hard as a rock. It maintains the level of our football pretty low. The outcome of that is injuries, ACL tears.” At Firpo, they have a clinic with rehabilitation
CESAR GOMEZ/JAM MEDIA/GETTY IMAGES
machines but more usually in Central America “most teams don’t have that equipment ... you don’t see many teams try to take care of players”.
In El Salvador, he says, half the top-flight teams pay a salary above the national average; most of the others “pay maybe double the [national] minimum wage”. That’s if the players get paid at all. “I’ve been on the good side of El Salvador soccer now, and the bad side, which is the team owing you 2½ months’ pay.”
During a previous spell at Firpo, he says, it fell to him “to be the one to go to the [former club] president and ask him to make [payment] as [soon] as possible … back in the day, I didn’t have my wife, my kids, and it was hard for me on my own, you know? So I can’t think [how hard it must be for] the guys who have families.”
He enjoys the responsibility of being captain. “My character is trying to push [my younger team-mates] to do better because I know they can,” he says. Given his leadership credentials, Firpo’s success, the fact
about three quarters of the squad are drawn from the Salvadoran league, you might imagine Lizandro would be a regular for the national team. Yet he has only four caps, the most recent of which came in 2022, for reasons which become apparent.
Having been deported in 2017, Lizandro, 28, cannot enter the US until 2027. So had El Salvador qualified for this World Cup, he would most likely have been unable to participate. It’s not hard to understand why that counted against him with Pérez’s successors.
It’s not just the World Cup though. Since 1991, every edition of the Gold Cup, the continental championship for teams from North and Central America, has been held wholly or partly in the US. Moreover, for reasons of economics, demographics and infrastructure, El Salvador play the vast majority of their friendly matches in the US (22 out of 27 since the start of this decade).
“I think that’s a really big part of [why I haven’t won more caps],” Lizandro says. “The guys in the national team, all of them will go to the Gold Cup, to friendlies in the US. The coach will always try to keep the same guys going. I probably could have done much more [in my career] if I’d had that possibility to go more with the national team.”
For him, deportation has not only been a one-time punishment; it has continued to follow him and, in a very real way, altered his prospects in the new life and career he has forged for himself.
Lizandro is remarkably resilient and lacking in bitterness. He is a husband and father now, grateful for the life he has built from the wreckage of his American dream.
“I feel I can give my son a really good life,” he says. “People who live in the US are working from daylight to daylight, and it’s really hard.” Next year, the ten-year ban expires and he will be able to apply for a visa to visit. He has seen his father and sister on a couple of occasions since his deportation, but also has another brother whom he has not seen since.
In March, he was recalled to the El Salvador squad by the new manager Hernán Dario Gómez, who was Panama’s manager when they played England in 2018.
He sees his future in coaching and is studying for his badges. Asked whether he sees himself coaching in El Salvador or the US, he says: “I think both. Here in El Salvador, we’re missing coaches who really develop players. I believe that if we had better coaches, better developers, our future in soccer would be much brighter.”
He is still, he says, “crazy for soccer”. It has been the constant and the compass of his life, the game he
learnt barefoot on the hard ground
of his village in El Salvador,
pursued with dedication in the
US, and which rescued him
and gave him direction
when all seemed lost.
And whether his vocation leads him to
the hard-baked pitches of
his homeland or the
C
spent £210m this summer without fear of sanctions
player sales, totalling more than £900m since the BlueCo takeover, hold key
helsea suggested they would alter their approach to the transfer market this summer but it is one thing to talk about it, and another to do it.
Their two latest signings show they are being true to their word. Maxence Lacroix, who is awaiting official confirmation of his £52 million move from Crystal Palace, is the first player aged 26 or over signed by Chelsea since the summer of 2022 — the first pre-season of the BlueCo ownership — while in Morgan Rogers, the club have signed a widely coveted player who will slot straight into the first team. Yesterday it was confirmed that Chelsea are exploring deals for Danny Welbeck, 35, the Brighton & Hove Albion forward, and the 36- year-old Brentford and England midfielder Jordan Henderson.
Lacroix is a player who meets an immediate need: greater security in central defence, a longstanding area of complaint for Chelsea fans. Rogers, meanwhile, was signed despite interest from champions Arsenal and for a huge fee of £117 million that blew any competition out of the water. It was an important statement for the club, and a show of support for the new manager, Xabi Alonso, whose appointment was also regarded as a coup.
“When we started talking, we wanted to build a competitive squad, and you need players who can have that almost instant impact. I’m sure Morgan won’t need much time to adapt to the club, to the system, to his team-mates,” Alonso, speaking in Sydney on the club’s pre-season tour, said. “That was the idea that we wanted, to get a top player, and Morgan is one of them.
“It’s a great signing. In that position we needed an important player and I’m sure there were not many better options than him. It means a lot for everyone and for the players that are already here as well — they have a good feeling and we’re looking forward to
having him in a few weeks. Chelsea have also signed Marco Palestra, who, club sources point out, is also a ready-made player as the Serie A defender of the year, for £47 million from Atalanta, and have concluded pre-agreed deals for Geovany Quenda, Emmanuel Emegha and Dastan Satpaev.
Altogether, more than £210 million in transfer fees has been added to the club’s books. Chelsea may not be finished yet either; they had a £64million bid rejected for Bournemouth’s Alex Scott and have been chasing Pep Chavarría, a 28- year-old Rayo Vallecano full back.
“We have to be ready,” Alonso said of further incomings. “The market is open for a few weeks. We need to be aware of different positions, different situations. So, for sure, we have a plan, an idea, and we need to assess in the right moments.”
Given the extent of Chelsea’s expenditure in four years of BlueCo ownership, it is unsurprising that questions have been asked about how they have been able to invest such sums again without facing more sanctions. The club revealed the biggest pre-tax loss in English football history in their recent accounts, for the 2024-25 season, submitting an operating loss above £200 million for a fourth successive year. They face a third season in four without Champions League income, and have not had a long-term front-of-shirt sponsor for three seasons. Their commercial income has trailed that of their top-six rivals.
Chelsea have navigated the Premier League’s old Profitability and Sustainability Rules, assisted by the £200 million sale of the women’s team to the club’s parent company and the £70.5 million generated from the sale of two hotels by Chelsea to another
sister company. But Uefa does not include those sources of income in its calculations and Chelsea therefore fell foul of its financial regulations for their 2024 accounts, entering into a settlement agreement that, even though they will not be involved in European competition, still requires the club to abide by set financial targets for this coming season too.
Last season they had to ensure they did not surpass a €5 million (£4.3 million) deficit — a figure that could be increased to €60 million if it is covered entirely by equity, so not a loan from the ownership group. Failure to meet that target would trigger a fine of up to €20 million; if the deficit is greater than the target by €20 million, they would have breached the agreement and could be thrown out of European competition when they next qualify. For this coming year, the deficit target is zero, with added headroom based on overperformance from last season’s target, up to a maximum of €60 million.
Club sources will not comment on whether Chelsea received an equity
injection from the club’s
ownership group to provide
some breathing space in their settlement agreement. But they did not breach the settlement, and have full confidence they will remain compliant.
— of which £1.7 million was conditionally suspended — but that was for breaching Uefa’s Squad Cost Ratio rules (SCR), which require clubs to spend only 70 per cent of their revenue on wages and transfers. The Premier League has moved on from PSR to its own form of SCR, where spending is limited to 85 per cent of revenue — with wiggle room up to 115 per cent before sporting sanctions, not just fines, are imposed.
It had been suggested that Chelsea were on track to avoid trouble before their latest outlay. Last year their revenue was bolstered by success at the Club World Cup, worth £86.5 million, as well as compensation received for Enzo Maresca’s resignation and subsequent appointment at Manchester City, worth £17 million. Their revenue, according to club sources, was in the region of a record £700 million.
But Chelsea’s revenue in their latest accounts — the 2024-25 season, when they were out of the Champions League — was £491 million, and they already at that stage had £224 million worth of amortised transfer fees moving through the accounts and a wage bill of £359 million. This coming year, it is understood that a lack of Champions League football could cost the club £100 million. And that is before another £210 million figure for summer transfer spending is added to the books. It all raises the question: how are they keeping their heads
above regulatory water while still being able to spend?
The answer is simple. Chelsea have become good sellers — so good that it has become the determining factor for the club in offsetting their losses.
Chelsea have spent in excess of £1.8 billion on players since the BlueCo takeover. But in sales, they have taken in more than £900 million; last season was the first time a top- flight club recouped more than £300 million, which almost entirely matched their transfer spend.
They are likely to go close to those numbers again this summer, having recouped a forecast £170 million from the sales of Marc Cucurella, Tyrique George, Andrey Santos and potentially Alejandro Garnacho, who has joined Aston Villa on loan but with a high obligation-to-buy fee. They expect to pass £1 billion in sales under BlueCo before September.
After their initial high net spends of early seasons — supported by controversial workarounds, like selling the women’s team — Chelsea are operating with their purchases regularly offset by sales. Their model of lower, incentive-driven basic salaries for players helps the club move players on more easily if they do not succeed, offering flexibility.
Rogers, left, and Lacroix, below, have joined the Chelsea project overseen by Alonso and Todd Boehly, inset below, which has been made possible by recouping a forecast £170 million from the sale of World Cup winner Cucurella, right, and some less prominent squad members this summer
annual cost of £42 million per season, as incoming transfer fees are spread over a player’s contract to a maximum of five years — the process known as amortisation. For sales recouped, the profit is calculated by subtracting the amount still to be paid on the player’s amortised transfer fee. Santos, sold to Manchester United for £48 million rising to £50million, is a particularly good example given he was signed for £10.2 million on an eight-year deal, as is George, an academy graduate, who was sold to Everton for £24 million of pure profit.
Axel Disasi, Benoît Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah and Filip Jorgensen could all leave soon and others may be sold or sent out on loan, including Nicolas Jackson, who has been valued at £65 million. Liam Delap, signed last summer for £30 million, also faces an uncertain future, while Malo Gusto and Pedro Neto would command high fees. Chelsea are confident of hitting their sales targets, without necessarily losing key talents. Only Cucurella, who has joined Real Madrid, could be seen in that vein.
More outgoings are needed but Chelsea are confident they can back their new manager while complying with Uefa and Premier League regulations. “We need to be flexible and quick to act,” Alonso said. “The main thing is that we have a clear idea, a clear plan that we have built. Probably it will change until the last day of the market being open.”
continued from back Alonso in search of ‘maturity’
continued from back
experience to the Chelsea dressing room.
Alonso, speaking yesterday, outlined that “maturity” would be a factor in how the club mould their squad this summer. “We want to build a competi- tive team, we are in that process,” he said. “We have great quality, great talent and we need to know what it takes to compete in the Premier League. We want a squad with the right balance between quality and mentality. Those things need to match in terms of maturity.”
Chelsea face Western Sydney Wan- derers today, as part of the Sydney Super Cup.
Leeds United are on the verge of sealing the £40 million signing of the goalkeeper James Trafford from Man- chester City. Trafford, 23, only moved to City from Burnley 12 months ago for £27million, but Gianluigi Donnarum- ma’s arrival blocked his route to regular first-team appearances.
The England international’s likely move to Elland Road comes with Leeds having lost goalkeepers Karl Darlow and Illan Meslier to Manchester United and Arsenal respectively.
for ‘planting seeds of hate’
Martyn Ziegler Chief Sports Reporter
The Fifa president Gianni Infantino has accused his critics of “spreading hate” in an extraordinary outburst on social media.
Infantino posted a lengthy defence of the World Cup over 15 pages on Instagram in which he used the word “hate” or “hatred” seven times.
It follows criticism of sky-high ticket prices at the tournament, hydration breaks, allegations of political interfer- ence after the USA striker Falorin Balogun had a ban suspended by Fifa after a call from Donald Trump to In- fantino, a number of countries having fans blocked from visiting the United States due to visa restrictions and the Iran team being forced to move their training base to Mexico.
Infantino posted that “to everyone who missed our beautiful game… I say sorry that the matches are now over and sorry that you missed all that joy and togetherness. Sorry that you were so consumed by hate and criticism that you missed it all.
“To those behind their pens and papers, behind their screens spreading hate and false rumours, I want to say that while you are sitting behind, we at Fifa are on the front lines organising, working hard, and delivering the best show in the world.”
Infantino said there had been no
Peter Rutzler Sydney
Micky van de Ven believes Tottenham Hotspur will play better football this season under their head coach Roberto De Zerbi, and says the club have reassured him by showing “new ambition” in the transfer market after the signings of Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali.
De Zerbi, who was appointed in late March, ensured Tottenham avoided relegation from the Premier League on the final day of last season, since when the club have taken an unprecedented approach to recruitment, spending £237 million this summer.
The Brighton & Hove Albion defend- er Jan Paul van Hecke was signed for £52 million, followed by a record deal to land midfielder Fernandes for £85 million from West Ham United, which was then surpassed by the arrival of Newcastle United’s Tonali for £100 million. Tottenham have also
of the need to find a solution and the trial has therefore been created.
The trial does allow for exceptions; if the goalkeeper is fouled, is bleeding, needs to be substituted or collides with an outfield player, then their team would not lose a player temporarily.
“The aim is to ensure genuine inju- ries continue to receive appropriate medical attention while removing any potential sporting advantage asso- ciated with stoppages,” Pro Ref, the FA and the Premier League said in a statement. The trial will begin in the Carabao Cup preliminary round on Saturday, and be utilised at every men’s level down to the sixth tier. If successful, a permanent law change could be introduced for the 2027-28 season.
violence or incidents and “100% safety and security”.
He added: “All of this was made possible thanks to the governments of the three host countries and their tremendous contributions. Every city was packed with fans from all around the globe. While they celebrated, you [critics] were busy planting seeds of hate.
“While you spread hatred, we worked tirelessly to unite two countries at war. Iran entered the United States without incident or conflict. Countries
Infantino says the World Cup was “the best show in the world”
facing serious health issues or other challenges were granted visas. You [critics] mentioned the few people denied visas and overlooked the millions who were approved, from all parts of the world.”
In what appeared to be a direct de- fence of the Balogun decision, he said: “Indeed, ‘arguable’ referees’ decisions or ‘strange’ disciplinary rulings such as for instance potentially mistaken red or yellow cards or subsequent decisions not to ban players in certain situations
signed Marcos Senesi from Bourne- mouth, Andrew Robertson from Liverpool and Martin Dubravka from Burnley on free transfers.
Van de Ven, a key player whose future has been questioned given Tottenham’s successive 17th-placed finishes, said: “It’s really good that you can see the club has made some changes. They have brought a really good new manager, in my opinion, and some really good new signings. You can see the club has new ambition. It’s some- thing that’s really important for players that have been there for a long time.
“Hopefully it will be a different kind of season. It’s something we are going to work really hard on, to make some differences because last season was a bit unacceptable from our side.”
The 25-year-old is confident that the team will play much more attractive football than last season, the majority of which was under Thomas Frank. Asked if Spurs will be a better team to
Premier League Football Survey found 85 per cent of stakeholders considered goalkeeper timeouts to be an issue.
The problem is perhaps even more prevalent in the WSL. After January’s goalless draw away to Arsenal, the Manchester United defender Domini- que Janssen all but admitted her team’s goalkeeper, Phallon Tullis-Joyce, had feigned an injury. “Phallon went down for us so we could discuss tactical changes,” Janssen said.
Other leagues will trial a law where- by the captain must always leave the field when a goalkeeper requires treat- ment. If the captain is the goalkeeper, then the player to leave the field must be nominated before the match.
are routine and widely accepted in some of the biggest leagues worldwide.
“It’s curious that the same countries employing these practices are the ones criticising.”
Fifa did not overturn Balogun’s red card — something which does happen regularly in leagues — but deferred what should have been an automatic one-match ban for at least a year. It has yet to reveal the disciplinary committee chairman’s judgment on the case or explain the decision, which is unprece- dented in the World Cup. Fifa insists the chairman alone made the ruling.
Norway is set to make a formal com- plaint to Fifa’s ethics committee about alleged political interference in the case, while the Uefa president, Alek- sander Ceferin, appeared to signal a split between the governing bodies by not attending the World Cup final.
Infantino’s message concluded: “To those spending their time and energy hating us, please take a moment to reflect, meditate, pray, or watch a football match and truly observe the faces, the eyes, the emotions.
“May you find peace; we at Fifa have found ours and we deliver it, by deliver- ing the most outstanding Fifa World Cup. May football rise above all hate. Finally I am incredibly proud, as Fifa president, to have contributed, even a little, to this show. It’s a great feeling! Much love to all.”
watch, Van de Ven said: “Yeah, I know that for sure. It’s going to be different compared to the former manager we had last season. It’s going to be more with the ball I think, more playing football. I think it’s going to be more enjoyable also for people to watch, when playing offensive football.”
Tottenham continue their pre-sea- son against Sydney FC tomorrow, followed by a clash with Chelsea on Sat- urday as part of the Sydney Super Cup.
Van de Ven, who has three years left on his contract, has enjoyed working with De Zerbi. “The last couple of weeks of last season, you saw [he] brought a lot of passion into our group, a lot mentality wise, passion wise. We started to play a lot with the ball, because he loves us to be on the ball.
“I like being on the ball, instead of running behind the ball the whole time. He brings a lot of good energy and from pre-season, we have really got the time now to bring his football into the team.”
when substituted. Similar measures were used at this summer’s World Cup, which returned an increased ball-in- play time. During the tournament, ref- erees were also advised to stop players going to the technical area when a goalkeeper was receiving treatment.
Ifab has also clarified the mistaken identity law, saying it should not be used to change the referee’s decision on what offence was committed. Instead, the law relates to scenarios when the player who committed the offence is incorrectly identified.
Another Ifab trial will allow referees to rule out goals from free kicks or cor- ners if the attacking team commit an offence before the ball is in play. This measure was in use at the World Cup, and led to Torbjorn Heggem’s goal for Norway in their quarter-final against England being chalked off for a push by Erling Haaland on Elliot Anderson.
Tuesday July 28 2026 | the times Sport
despite 50-point deficit Chelsea turn to Henderson and Welbeck Alonso’s shock moves in search for ‘maturity’
Paul Joyce, Peter Rutzler
Chelsea are working on a surprise deal to sign Jordan Henderson on a free transfer from Brentford.
The England midfielder is wanted by a number of top-flight clubs, but Chelsea are leading the way for the 36-year-old as they seek to add more experience to manager Xabi Alonso’s squad. The west London club is also in- terested in recruiting Danny Welbeck, 35, from Brighton & Hove Albion.
Henderson has spent one season at Brentford after a move from Ajax and has a year remaining on his contract, but relations with his current club are strong and they would not stand in his way if he wants to depart.
The next step is essentially for Henderson, a Premier League title- winning captain with Liverpool in 2020, to choose where he wants to go and the prospect of joining Chelsea is understandably enticing.
Chelsea tried to sign Granit Xhaka, 33, from Sunderland earlier this sum- mer, but a move for the player who starred for Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen was blocked by the North East club.
Now attention has turned to Henderson, who is recovering from the broken arm he suffered amid the celebrations after England’s win over Mexico at the World Cup. The mid- fielder needed surgery after snapping his arm in two places when landing awkwardly having attempted to vault an advertising hoarding.
His leadership had earned him a place in Thomas Tuchel’s squad and he was close to Jude Bellingham and
Times Crossword 29,606 across down Yesterday’s solution 29,605
Morgan Rogers, who has joined Chel- sea from Aston Villa for £117 million.
Welbeck is in the twilight of his career but has enjoyed a purple patch on the south coast over the past two seasons — and in the process has become the club’s all-time Premier League top goalscorer. Last season he scored 13 league goals, a career-high, as Brighton qualified for the Confer- ence League.
Chelsea have altered their approach to recruitment this summer by seeking to add more Premier League-ready personnel to their squad, having previ- ously recruited players mainly under the age of 25. The impending signing of Maxence Lacroix, 26, from Crystal Palace, would be their second-oldest acquisition since 2022.
Chelsea have five centre forwards on the books. The future of Liam Delap — signed for £30million from Ipswich Town last summer — is uncertain after an injury-hit first season at Stamford Bridge, while Nicolas Jackson, who re- turned from his loan at Bayern Munich after the obligation-to-buy clause — based on appearances — was not met, is valued at £65 million.
Marc Guiu, the 20-year-old former Barcelona striker, Emmanuel Emegha, who recently signed from Strasbourg for a fee in the region of £20 million, and João Pedro, who is regarded as un- touchable, complete their options.
At least two forwards are expected to depart either on loan or permanently. Welbeck has 12 months on his Brighton contract and the former Manchester United and Arsenal forward would add
Steve Borthwick must act – time for a wild-card option?
1 Emu wants to transform, becoming
this? (4,4) 5 Gossip good when appropriate (6) 10 Rules unfairly applied in tennis
match, restricting quality (6,9) 11 Unearths former partner of
philosopher (7) 12 Medical speciality doubled
European understanding (7) 13 What troubles flesh or bay’s rear?
(8) 15 Restrained Republican newspaper
commentary (5) 18 Serviceman giving up coat for
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illustrious techie (8) 23 Superseded instrument in fire ship
from the east (7) 25 She released evil men held inside
police car (7) 26 Deceived with myth on broadcast
about one medieval work (3,6,6) 27 Two or three brought into Irish
compound (6) 28 Spy husband in Paris securing
cover for each revolutionary (4,4)
1 Spooner’s guided writer in selection
of music (6) 2 Skill shown by driver with any luck
(5,4) 3 Short sailor all but unsuitable for
naval battle (7) 4 Unaltered having adopted parking
orbit position (5) 6 Professional called to account in
Listener (7) 7 Times perhaps writing about
romantic figure (5) 8 Behave as faithful sweethearts? So
get day fixed (2,6) 9 Judge an AA Milne character
shunning love in classic (4,4) 14 Jet following unseats Mike in
spectacular rise (8) 16 Flower power on the up must
embrace hard facts (9) 17 Sister to volatile pre-Raphaelite
founder (8) 19 British earl returned billions
reportedly secured in current recession (3,4) 21 Travel north: see the sights of
coastal city in boat (7) 22 Pascal, detective keeping your old
ANDREW MILLIGAN/PA
time-wasting goalkeepers
Kit Shepard
An outfield player will have to leave the field for a minute when their team’s goalkeeper receives treatment next season, as English football bids to end “goalkeeper timeouts”.
The FA, Premier League, EFL and National League have agreed to the trial, which has been approved by the International Football Association Board (Ifab). The four English bodies join WSL Football, which decided last February to adopt the trial for next season in the top two women’s tiers.
At present, goalkeepers do not have to leave the field if they receive on-pitch treatment from their physio — unlike outfield players. Consequently, goalkeepers could call for treatment to give their teams a break without losing a player for the next phase of the game.
Under the new law, if the goalkeeper signals for physio treatment, the team’s coach would have ten seconds to nominate another player to leave the pitch for one minute. If no player is identified quickly enough, the captain must leave the field for a minute.
Goalkeeper timeouts stoked contro- versy last season. In March, Fabian Hürzeler, the Brighton & Hove Albion head coach, accused Arsenal of repeat- edly running down the clock during his side’s 1-0 defeat by the London club, and cited Arsenal’s goalkeeper David Raya going down three times to allow his team-mates to receive instructions from coaching staff.
The previous November, the Leeds United head coach Daniel Farke called for a law change after implying that the Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma went down with a “fake injury” that stunted his team’s momen- tum in a 3-2 defeat at the Etihad.
Pro Ref (formerly PGMOL), the body responsible for professional refereeing, and the English leagues are conscious
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Lycra?! I sympathise with Mehmet the Mamil
R
O
eluctant as I am to offend President Erdogan of Turkey, a man who hands out loaded revolvers as gifts to visiting world leaders, I don’t think he should sack people for wearing cycling gear. But, funnily enough, the dead-eyed Anatolian strongman with the sinister moustache doesn’t care what I think. Or if he does, he’s working a complex double bluff.
Erdogan just binned a chap called Mehmet Fatih Cicekli, the now ex-governor of Ardahan province, because Mehmet, 50, a keen cyclist, couldn’t stop posting Lycra-heavy selfies. “Here’s me out for a pedal”, “Here’s me out for another pedal” etc, we’ve all met these guys, their obsession is tedious but harmless.
Mehmet the Mamil probably thought he was being suitably macho, showing off while promoting a healthy lifestyle, like Pete Hegseth and Robert F Kennedy doing their chin-ups at the Pentagon. But he took things a lunchbox too far. The side- parted suits in Ankara stuck a stick in his spokes, good and proper.
I sympathise with Mehmet the Municipal Mamil because something similar once happened to me. Well, not that similar, but never mind. Back in the early 1990s I used to wear cycling shorts at The Times. In those days commuting by bike was so eccentric that turning up in Lycra was equivalent to turning up in a wetsuit, or dressed as an astronaut. Thus my clothing was indulged for a while, possibly on mental health grounds, before it was eventually suggested that my chosen garb might not be a great career move. More on grounds of obscenity, I think, than the fact the snug fit undermined my status, because I didn’t have any status. Needless to say, I got in line.
Still, 35 years later I have reverted to shorts at work, albeit of the baggy cotton variety, on the basis that, while I still don’t have any status worth protecting, it’s hot, and at almost 62 it doesn’t matter. The fight goes on.
The fight, indeed, intensifies, because the backlash against informal dressing is not just confined
away by response
Mehmet Fatih Cicekli in his leggings
to semi-dictatorships in the Near East. Look at the way President Zelensky was ambushed by that toady hack Brian Glenn in the Oval Office last year, taken to task for wearing his trademark military-style sweatshirt rather than a suit. When a guy is leading heroic national resistance to an invading tyrant, what does it matter what he wears? Zelensky’s hosts should all wear green T-shirts to receive him, as a mark of respect.
Then there was Gianni Infantino at the World Cup final, brutally slagged off for teaming his suit with bright white trainers. Sure, the Fifa conehead is a wrong ’un, and the trainers were a terrible error, but not because they were casual, more because they were utterly heaving. Closer to home, much of the critique of Andy Burnham’s nascent premiership has focused on his wardrobe. I tell you, sartorial revanchism is on the march!
It’s bizarre, actually. Look at the Silicon Valley titans who rule the world: Zuckerberg, Bezos, Altman, the egregious Musk. One thing they’ve got in common, and the only thing I respect about them, is their commitment to studied informality, sustained by laid-back Californian culture. That culture served them well. In much of the world they would have been thwarted early doors for not wearing a tie.
the airline he was on (and then, abruptly, half-on) when his window exploded on a flight from Greece to Germany. A combination of seatbelt, wife and other passengers grabbing his legs saved Karovic’s life. He is still recovering from his injuries. Ryanair’s comment
after the incident? “A passenger requested medical attention.”
Karovic’s son, meanwhile, did get an email from the notoriously frugal operator… asking if his dad would like to rebook. Classy. Whether Ryanair offered to comp this second attempt to get
wedding shocker
I’m rarely shocked any more by tales of celebrity greed, given that many people who become even a little bit famous think that means they don’t ever have to pay for anything ever again. But the news of the former England rugby international Danny Cipriani asking guests to stump up for his wedding struck me as particularly venal.
Cipriani, who lives in Los Angeles and is reckoned to be worth about £4 million, is getting hitched to AnnaLynne McCord, an actress and model, also said to have amassed about £4 million. The soon-to-be happy couple recently posted a crowdfunding appeal inviting family and friends — and maybe deluded well-wishers — to chip in to cover the photography, the rehearsal dinner, the flowers, even the marriage licence. Super tacky!
The cake is priced at £450: is that the whole thing? A layer? Or just a slice? Tell you what, Cips, put me down for a dollar and make sure to send a few crumbs. A genius as a player, Cipriani remains a work in progress as a human being.
to Germany, only without the 500mph blow-dry, is not known. It’d be a nice gesture if they had. Also: Michael O’Leary, I know you’re tempted, but don’t even think about trying to fine Karovic for trying to leave his seat while the seatbelt sign was illuminated.
Dragons’ Den ‘impostor’ became the podcast king
looks set to become the world’s most listened to show. Damian Whitworth charts the rise of the college dropout
h, how we sniggered. Earlier this year Steven Bartlett, the Diary of a CEO podcast bro, was widely derided for riding the wave of self-optimisation to a new height of self-parody.
A clip went viral in which the Dragons’ Den star said that after drinking a couple of glasses of wine “it ruined three days of my life because of the domino effect it caused”. He detailed how he got worse sleep that night, ate poorly the next day, struggled to do his podcast properly and — here it gets really tough — couldn’t even go to the gym.
The mockers included Greg James, the Radio 1 DJ, who delivered a broadside against “optimisation” culture, the self-improvement trend. “Not everything has to be like work. You can be on, you can be off,” James said. “This is my reminder to waste a day; optimisation is killing fun. We have to absolutely rail against that.”
Well, it may not be clear how much fun Bartlett is having but he is certainly having extraordinary success. This week it was reported that he is on course to become the biggest beast in the podcasting jungle. Figures suggest he could overtake Joe Rogan, the American podcaster whose Joe Rogan Experience is the world’s most listened to show. Between March and June The Diary of a CEO gained 2.8 million subscribers, taking Bartlett to 18.5 million. While Rogan is on 21 million, his growth was roughly flat.
he could overtake Joe Rogan, the US podcaster
A cause for celebration, then, if we didn’t know by now that Bartlett is unlikely to make that mistake again. Still, for the 33-year-old it is vindication of a podcast that over almost a decade has created a blend that might be called extreme eclecticism — ranging from the world’s most powerful people
to former Love Island contestants, Matt Hancock and health cranks — but clearly appeals to listeners like no other British podcast.
Recent episodes of the show have included an interview last month with the American vice-president JD Vance, which included an update on Iran and was headlined “No one saw this coming, the ceasefire is real”; an interview with an entrepreneur who explained that the secret of making $100 million before turning 32 was “to stop letting them control me”; and the insights of an anti-ageing expert: “This reverses gray hair and boosts your energy!”
Bartlett, whose books Happy Sexy Millionaire and The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life have been huge bestsellers, and who has dismissed much of the rest of the British podcast scene as “dadcasting”, is now highly focused on building his podcast in the US. His company uses technology that dubs his shows into several foreign languages and uses data to plot which guests and even which questions attract, or turn off, listeners.
Bartlett was born in Botswana to an illiterate Nigerian entrepreneur mother and a British father who was a civil engineer. The family moved to Plymouth when he was two. There, in a mostly white school, he felt conspicuous. “I was chemically relaxing my hair. I was making every attempt to be as white as I possibly could be,” he once recalled. Now he
has said: “I’m so proud to be black. When I was a kid I really struggled with it.”
Although his mother’s business ventures had mixed success and the family reportedly flirted with bankruptcy, he loved the idea of business from a young age. He minted his own paper currency at home and gave it to his older brothers, who would then “pay” him for massages. “I was doing that for fun at seven. I’m doing it for fun at 32. It’s the same thing,” he said last year.
He dropped out of Manchester Metropolitan University after the first day. “Looking around in my first lecture and seeing everyone hungover, no one actually cared about business, they were there because they didn’t know what else to pick. The lecturer at the front was handing out felt-tips to make a poster for a hypothetical business. I just thought, ‘This is awful and a waste of money.’ University is a total scam for the vast majority of people,” he once told The Times.
At 21 he cofounded Social Chain, a Manchester-based social media company. The company bought other websites, but just how big a tycoon Bartlett became has been a subject of some debate.
His website once suggested he had taken Social Chain public, in Germany, and that it had reached a market value of $600 million. In fact Social Chain was acquired in 2019 by a much larger German ecommerce business. When this was reported in 2023, Bartlett said that he retained a
Joe Rogan. Top: Steven Bartlett and, top right, with JD Vance
“significant” shareholding in the company Social Chain AG, and that he was under contract to work for the company “on a range of strategic matters” at the time of the $600 million valuation.
What is undeniable is his astonishing ability to build his own brand. He started The Diary of a CEO in 2017, explaining the day-to-day struggles of a job he later said was “brutal”. After a few episodes he started interviewing other executives and eventually a much wider range of guests.
Bartlett has said he regards himself as “a creator” rather than a businessman. “I’m not really like a businessperson in the typical sense. I’m not the numbers guy. I’m not the type of guy that’s gonna figure out
processes and operations. Obviously I know some of that stuff. Because how could I have got here without it? But it’s not really quite what I am or what I do.”
Steven.com, his holding company, was reportedly valued at £320 million. Along the way there have been some notable scoops on the podcast, including when Hancock came on to spill the beans, in toe-curling fashion, about his affair with his special adviser, Gina Coladangelo, during Covid lockdown. She was working to
that he doesn’t interrogate guests robustly enough
help him communicate in a more emotionally intelligent way and “we fell in love. And that’s something that was completely outside my control,” Hancock confessed as the nation squirmed. Interestingly, Bartlett later said that Hancock’s team had approached him.
Last year it was the turn of Michelle Obama to talk candidly about her marriage to Barack. “The beauty of my husband and our partnership is that neither one of us was ever really, ever going to quit at it, because that’s not who we are,” she told Bartlett. “And I know that about him. He knows that about me.”
Bartlett has a trick of carefully maintaining eye contact and a gentle interviewing style. One of the criticisms of his podcasts is that he does not interrogate his guests robustly enough.
In 2024 an investigation by the BBC World Service accused Bartlett of spreading health-related misinformation in the podcast by allowing guests to make misleading claims, including that cancer could be cured by a high-fat diet.
At the time a spokesman for Flight Studio, a Bartlett company, told The Times: “Each guest episode is thoroughly researched prior to commission. [The podcast] offers guests freedom of expression… not just those [whose views] Steven and the team necessarily agree with.”
Zoe and Huel without disclosing that he was an investor.
Richard Osman, the bestselling crime writer and Rest Is Entertainment podcaster, who has been on Bartlett’s podcast, said on his own podcast this year that he was concerned that Bartlett’s move into promoting wellness products could be potentially problematic at the BBC. “I love him on Dragons’ Den, by the way, and I love Dragons’ Den. I love that show. I really, really do. It feels like an accident waiting to happen.”
Osman also revealed that guests on the show are given a custom photo book after their interview and that he was chauffeured to the recording in a car with “SB” monograms. He said that he had an interesting chat but added: “I absolutely felt like he was in therapy. I felt like a lot of the podcast was him asking questions and trying to work out who he was and that’s absolutely fine by me.”
Bartlett faced a significant backlash at the turn of the year after a podcast with Chris Williamson, a former Love Island contestant turned podcaster, who blamed “anti-family” sentiment among women for birth rate decline. Bartlett was accused of failing to challenge Williamson and of being a “Trojan horse for the manosphere”.
His team pointed out that he is surrounded by female executives at his podcast and has many prominent women on his shows as guests. On the subject of the manosphere, Bartlett has previously said: “We need another model of what a man is — succeeding in whatever metric that men want to succeed, but in a way where they’re being productive and healthy in society.”
Bartlett is engaged to Melanie Vaz Lopes, a yogi and influencer who is “the opposite of me. Sweet, calm and composed”, he told The Sunday Times. “I have this strong woman at home who will bring me back to what actually matters: has this dog been fed, have we had time together?”
When he joined Dragons’ Den in 2021 he was the youngest investor and “felt like a massive impostor”, he later recalled. “I’m sat next to Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones, who I’ve watched since I was 12. I felt like I had walked into the TV.”
But he has never lacked ambition and has not been afraid to talk about where he wants his business to go. Last year he said of his podcast enterprise: “I think we’ll build one of the most important media businesses in the world over the next 20 years.”
W
there was an inferno right in front of the house
France, Jo Lydiard-Wilson, 52, and her family went from lunch by the pool to fleeing hours later
e were sitting around the pool last week, about to open a bottle of rosé, when we saw it: a giant plume of grey smoke looming in the blue sky above us. My brother ran into the house and called the pompiers. Don’t worry, they told us, we know about the wildfire in your area and it’s under control — go back to your holiday.
So we did, enjoying lunch among the vineyards and hills that surround our house here in Cotignac, part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region and widely recognised as one of the most beautiful villages in France. My husband, Christopher, and I live in Shepherds Bush in west London with our three children. We’ve been coming to Cotignac for 30 years and bought the house from my parents four years ago.
By 6pm that evening, things had started to change. The smoke was getting thicker and the air felt heavy. Unbeknown to us, since speaking to the pompiers the wind had changed.
Suddenly the Bessillon hill, where we often walk in the pine forests, caught on fire. There was an inferno in front of the house. It’s been boiling for weeks, hotter than any of us can remember, and everything is very dry, so it just went up. Leo, the 13-year-old son of some British friends who live a mile away, rang, saying, “You’ve got to get out because our garden is on fire and there are massive flames coming towards your house.” They fled in a panic, absolutely convinced their house had been destroyed.
We bunged a few bits in a suitcase, closed the shutters and turned off the gas. Our children — Millie, 20, Hector, 13, and Toby, 11 — were running around, grabbing their Nintendos and chocolate. Before we knew it, we were
in the car speeding away. It was very frightening because we could see lots of satellite fires burning along the side of the road and huge fire trucks were racing towards our house. About a mile outside the town of Brignoles, where we’d found a hotel, we stopped the car and looked back. The sky was orange and people were just standing around staring in disbelief. It was like a disaster film.
Of course, I didn’t sleep a wink. At 2.30am some friends with a holiday home on top of the hill messaged from England to say “we think it’s gone”. Irish friends messaged to say the same. At that point it felt inevitable that ours would be taken too.
The next morning we got hold of our neighbour, Simon, who said that our houses were still standing but the winds were high and we weren’t out of trouble yet. When we tried to drive back, we were stopped and told it was still too dangerous.
We were constantly checking apps called things like Pyrowatch and scouring Facebook for information (although, of course, the kids were having the time of their lives while we worried). It was impossible to find out what was going on, not least because many of the telegraph poles had burnt down. We heard that the nearby village of Correns had been evacuated. It felt surreal. Just days earlier we’d been kayaking down the pristine river there, surrounded by otters, a stone’s throw from Brad Pitt’s Château Miraval winery.
On Friday we learnt that the fire had blown back into our area when the lady who’d made our curtains messaged “we’re praying for you”. We didn’t hear anything else until Saturday afternoon, when we were
finally allowed back, not knowing what we were going to find.
The land surrounding our house, ten metres behind the gas tank, is completely black. We’ve lost a couple of acres, including vineyards, but the garden survived. Lots of our neighbours lost theirs and Simon lost two cars. We’ve been lucky. Houses on the outskirts were burnt down but the amazing pompiers managed to protect the town and, believe it or not, we’re all trying to get back to normal despite circling helicopters searching for the tiny satellite fires that keep breaking out.
We went out for drinks and dinner over the weekend and the market is still going. The area is usually packed with visitors at this time of year so it’s important to support local businesses. And we’re encouraging our friends and family to come — 15 of us are in the house (albeit we’re still brushing ash outside) and we’ll have rental guests here from August. The town is intact and the pompiers are keeping an eye on things, so in some ways it’s never been safer. As told to Claire Cohen
Clockwise from top: Jo Lydiard-Wilson and her family; Lydiard-Wilson and her daughter, Millie; a firefighter near Cotignac. Below: Ira Szmek
take years to rebuild Ira Szmek, 43 O
ver the past week the inboxes of my travel site and Instagram (@lost_in_bordeaux) have been overflowing with messages. There are tourists worried about travelling to the region and Brits with second homes concerned about the wildfires.
I can understand why. From my home in the centre of Bordeaux, where I’ve lived for nine years with my partner and our three young children, you can feel the effects everywhere. Every afternoon the sky goes dark, ash falls from the sky and it’s hard to breathe. Your hair and clothes are saturated with the smell of smoke and if you’re outside for more than a few minutes you feel as though you’re in the fire itself — and that’s with it being 40 minutes’ drive away from us in Cap Ferret. The heatwave that
came before it felt apocalyptic, like someone was burning you alive, and it seems to be getting worse each year. If we didn’t have air conditioning in our house, I’m pretty sure we’d already have left.
Many of our neighbours, including some Brits, already have, especially the elderly and those with children. They’ve driven a couple of hours east to more rural areas, where they’ve been able to find last-minute places to stay. That’s the advice I’m giving to those visitors already here who are messaging me in the hopes of relocating and continuing their holidays away from the fires.
Some are telling me that their hotels aren’t responding and there’s a lot of uncertainty. People are turning up to
the sky goes dark, ash falls and it’s hard to breathe
museums to find them closed. There’s quite a bit of chaos. Many Brits are also sending me messages to say that they’ve lost their second homes in the affected regions. It’s very sad to see your favourite places burn down and I feel the same — it will probably take years to rebuild.
So should you come? The formal advice is not to visit the affected areas before the end of July. As for August? I’d say don’t cancel yet. If you’re staying near Cap Ferret then keep an eye on that and, yes, maybe move your trip. But if you’re coming to the vineyards, for instance, that hasn’t been affected. There’s still a lot to do that hasn’t been touched by the fire. As told to Claire Cohen
what do I call myself now?
separated from her husband. As her passport is up for renewal, she’s in a prefix conundrum L
Lisa Dawson
ast week I went to the Passport Office in Durham because I needed a new passport at the last minute before going to Greece. It had become an issue because I hadn’t realised that the need to renew is based on the issue date, not the expiry date (try and make sense of that). I decided to take the train, and spent the entire journey annoyed that the new passport would need to be in my married name because I am not yet divorced.
I separated from my estranged husband ten months ago and had been thinking a lot about how I was going to move forward, namewise. At the moment my prefix is Mrs and I have my husband’s name but, frustratingly, that name is also my business. Then I got even more annoyed that I had taken my husband’s name to start with. I should have kept my unmarried name and started my interiors business using that. Why hadn’t I done this?
This sent me down a dismal patriarchal path of thoughts around the fact that I have been using Mrs and my husband’s surname without considering the reasons. Which is astonishing really.
Clarity comes as we age and learn, and when I got married at 30 I was looking forward to a forever partnership and children. In all honesty I was just really happy about it all and the implications of the label didn’t really occur to me. I was young and, apparently, naive. Fast forward 25 years and it’s not quite so happy ever after, but I am now in a position where I need to make decisions about what I want to be called in the future. Single woman, soon to be divorced, three almost adult kids, a dog and a cat. I will no longer be a married woman so why would I need to keep my estranged husband’s name? The fact is that I don’t but my entire career is based on it. Urgh.
I posted my wrath in an Instagram story, mostly to warn people that if they were starting a business to think carefully about the name they used — no one knows what’s going to happen in the future (I know, I’m such a ray of sunshine). However, the reaction I received in response was quite frankly insane.
system and why it should be abolished. Had I been sleepwalking for the past quarter of a century? Why had I merrily entered into an antiquated marital naming system that was entirely based on a man’s ownership of a woman with no consideration whatsoever? I was furious with the young me but, at the same time, knew I was not alone in jumping in.
I would say that 85 per cent of the women who messaged me had not taken their husband’s name. The remaining 15 per cent had done so but almost purely because they had children and wanted everyone in the family to have the same name. But the most interesting fact is that almost all of the thousands who messaged me did not use Mrs but Ms. As a Seventies child, the prefix Ms has always had “unmarried grumpy spinster” connotations for me. Why are older women who have never married called spinsters while older unmarried men are named bachelors? Bachelor sounds fun and happy-go-lucky, and recalls bachelor parties, bachelor pads, a positive state of being. But spinster? It even sounds wrinkly.
I’d already been riled by Virgin Media, which transferred my broadband into my name from my estranged husband’s only to query why I used Mrs, since my husband had told them we were divorcing. Why is it your business? It’s literally nothing to do with you, love. Would you ask a man his marital status? No. No, you would not. So why are you asking mine?
every form you fill in still has marital indicative pronouns to tick
TOM JACKSON FOR THE TIMES MAGAZINE
This is a subject I have never really considered before, which is shocking in itself, but oh, it’s a big one. “Maiden” names. Fathers handing over daughters to husbands in marriage ceremonies. The wearing of white dresses to show we are unblemished. Taking our husband’s name to show ownership. “Miss” to show you have not yet been lucky enough to find a man and that you’re available for courting. “Mrs” to say well done — peak success as a woman achieved.
The rest of Europe doesn’t tolerate this. Mademoiselle was removed from French documentation in 2012 and the only term used is Madame. In Germany they solely use Frau, and Fräulein is considered inappropriate for modern use. In Poland Pani is used for all adult women as a sign of respect, the old term of Panna signifying that you are unmarried having been dropped some time ago.
It is surely time to get with the programme here in the UK, where every form you fill in still has marital indicative pronouns to tick. In many cases you are unable to complete a form without doing so.
So what is my plan? The problem with starting a business in your married name is that changing back to your unmarried name is hard (SEO, books written, blah blah blah). But I feel this is an essential part of my move forward into a new life, and I’m going to bite the bullet over the next 18 months and make the swap to my unmarried name. In the meantime? It’s Ms all the way.
A
bites and you should be too
We don’t have the lone star tick here in the UK, nor any official statement on the incidence of alpha-gal here T
icks are bothering me this week. Well, our dog Sid anyway, from whom I have just removed three. And it seems they are bothering the Odyssey star Tom Holland and his wife, Zendaya, too, after reports that they have asked for the long grass to be cordoned off at Belvoir Castle, where they are apparently holding their post-wedding party.
One can only imagine why guests would wander off into the rough at such a glamorous do, but I am guessing it won’t be to pick up one of the ticks that live there — or a disease that their bites can pass on. And not just Lyme disease but a much rarer condition — alpha-gal syndrome — that can lead to a serious, sometimes life-threatening allergy to meat and dairy products.
I suspect I had Lyme disease in 1992 before most doctors in the UK were familiar with the bacterial infection and its symptoms. I had been bitten after walking in rural Portugal, and three weeks later developed the classic bull’s-eye rash on my thigh. No one knew what it was but, fortunately, as it turned out, I went on to develop peritonitis from a ruptured appendix and was put on intravenous antibiotics. These would have wiped out any Borrelia bacteria injected into me by the tick, preventing future complications ranging from joint pain and fatigue to the heart problems some people develop. Every cloud has a silver lining.
However, those serendipitous antibiotics would not have prevented me from developing alpha-gal syndrome. Rather than a bacterial infection, alpha-gal, otherwise known as mammalian meat allergy, is triggered by the body’s immune response to a sugar molecule found in the saliva of some species of tick. This can sensitise the individual to subsequent exposure to the same sugar, which, although it doesn’t occur naturally in humans and other higher primates, is found in many other mammalian meats, including beef, lamb and pork, and associated products such as dairy.
Some medicines derived from mammals or containing additives such as gelatin can also trigger a reaction. Examples include the monoclonal antibody cetuximab, which is derived from mice and used to treat cancer, the anticoagulant heparin and vaccines including the nasal spray for flu and the older shingles type Zostavax (the later version Shingrix is fine).
Once sensitised — and not all those bitten will be — further exposure can trigger a delayed allergic reaction, typically two to eight hours after eating meat, that can range from an itchy rash and vague abdominal bloating and discomfort to full-blown, and potentially lethal, anaphylaxis, where the individual collapses and struggles to breathe.
It’s exactly the sort of severe reaction people with allergies can get after exposure to triggers such as peanuts, antibiotics and wasp stings. However, because alpha-gal reactions typically strike in the middle of the night, hours after supper, the link to food is easily missed.
The syndrome is much more common in America, where it is mainly associated with the lone star tick found there. Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest there were 110,000 suspected new cases in America between 2010 and 2022, but this is likely to be an underestimate, with modelling suggesting that as many as 450,000 people may be affected.
syndrome can lead to a serious allergy
other than that it is “very rare”. However, it is carried by the same species of sheep and deer tick that can spread Lyme disease in the UK and could well be more common than we think, albeit still rare.
Anyone with suspected alpha-gal syndrome should be referred to an allergy specialist, and the diagnosis is confirmed using a blood test that looks for the specific IgE antibodies responsible. Treatment, as with most allergies, rests on careful avoidance of mammalian meat — such as beef, lamb and pork — and related products, although many people can continue to eat dairy. Anyone at risk of anaphylaxis should carry an adrenaline pen.
The allergy can get better with time, with some people able to gradually reintroduce mammalian products, but for others it will be lifelong. Repeated tick bites can exacerbate and prolong the syndrome.
Poultry such as chicken, duck and turkey are safe, as are fish and shellfish, although there have been reports of reactions after exposure to some types of fish roe, albeit not caviar (that I can find). Which brings me back to the Holland-Zendaya party.
I can’t be the only one to pick up on the irony of an actor who has made millions playing a character — Spider-Man — whose superhero powers are the result of a spider bite, going the extra mile to prevent his guests from being bitten by another arachnid. And I feel duty bound to warn guests that ticks don’t hide only in long grass.
you are bitten by a tick
6 Remove it as soon as possible using fine tweezers or a tick removal device such as a slotted card. Go as close to the skin as possible and pull firmly upwards.
6 Clean the area with an antiseptic or soap and water.
6 Monitor the area for the next few weeks and report any symptoms suggestive of Lyme disease, such as flu- like symptoms or a rash (it won’t always be the spreading “bull’s-eye” type) to your doctor.
6 Most people won’t have any problems, and the latest Nice guidance does not recommend routine prescription of “just- in-case” antibiotics after a tick bite.
For more information search “Lyme disease” at ukhsa.blog.gov.uk and visit gov.uk/ guidance/alpha-gal- syndrome
reduce the risk of dementia, a new study suggests. The experts tell Antonia Hoyle the most mindful practice to adopt
s a weight-loss strategy, of course, it isn’t new. Whether the 5:2 diet, in which followers restrict calories for two days a week, the 16:8 diet, where eating is restricted to an eight-hour window, or even the OMAD (one meal a day diet), the benefits and risks of intermittent fasting, or time-restricted eating (TRE), have been well documented.
However, it’s not only our waistlines that are affected. Yesterday research found limiting food to a nine-hour window each day — and not eating for four hours before bed — may be linked to a reduced risk of dementia in overweight women. Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey asked overweight or obese participants to cut their daily intake by 500 calories, with half also restricting their eating to a nine-hour window.
After six months all had lost about a stone but those who’d eaten in a nine- hour window, most of whom finished eating at 6pm, made fewer mistakes in memory and learning tests.
Losing weight through any method is thought to help limit age-related cognitive decline but, the study lead Dr Sue Shapses said, “Reduction in the eating window predicted greater improvements.” So why can cutting the periods in which we eat be good for our brain and body? And, crucially, how can those of us for whom evenings on the sofa are synonymous with the biscuit tin manage it?
What happens to our body when we limit our food intake to specific periods? Consuming three meals and regular snacks keeps us in a “fed state”, constantly burning food for energy, explains Dr Adam Collins, associate professor of metabolic nutrition at the University of Surrey. Taking a break from food means “you’re resting and repairing tissues” in a process known as autophagy, during which insulin and blood-sugar levels fall.
Signalling pathways such as m-TOR, which promotes healthy cell growth but is also linked to an increased risk in cancer, become less active. The body not only starts using stored energy (fat) as fuel but gets rid of damaged proteins in cells and clears out inefficient mitochondria, which produce cells’ energy.
Why is this good for our brain? Brain cells also contain mitochondria and rely on glucose for energy, says Collins, and fasting triggers cell adaptation, making them more efficient. “Anything you can do to make them more efficient is obviously going to be better from a cognitive point of view.”
become less efficient. Fasting “is a way you can repair that or clear the decks ready to build another one”, he says. There is some evidence that fasting may also increase production of brain- derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that encourages neuroplasticity and supports learning and memory, although more research is needed. “Fasting could be beneficial for mental health because of the effects of that,” Collins adds. “You’re going to create a different hormonal milieu in a fasted state.”
Are there any other benefits? Yes — you’re improving overall “metabolic resilience”, Collins says. Lower insulin levels and less stressed mitochondria as a result of TRE may reduce inflammation linked to myriad diseases, from cardiovascular disease to some cancers and autoimmune disease. A study in BMC Medicine found a six-hour eating window inhibited lung cancer progression in mice, but more research is needed in humans. “It is a signal of excess, being in a state of inflammation,” he says.
What’s the minimum time we need to stop eating for? The evidence isn’t yet clear in humans, with most of the research to date conducted on animals, but Collins says “you probably need to allow yourself at least ten hours of fasting. Your fed state is usually about four hours. But you don’t go straight from fed to fasted — there’s a period called the post- absorptive state which can last another six hours”. Glucose and protein clear from the food we eat first, he says, but “the fat takes longer”.
What time of day is it best to restrict eating to? The earlier the better. This year a systematic review of 41 studies in BMJ Medicine found those who had their last meal before 5pm lost more weight and gained better blood-sugar control than those who ate their last meal after 7pm. Researchers from this week’s study believe the time we eat might influence the circadian rhythms that control our body temperature, sleep and hormone levels. “We are diurnal animals, designed to feed and forage during the day and rest and digest at night,” Collins says. “So if you’re eating quite late at night your ability to deal with things is not as good.” But he accepts, “it’s probably easier for people to start eating later [in the day] rather than stop eating earlier. There’s still a benefit to that”.
What’s the link between TRE and sleep? Eating earlier in the evening can make it easier to nod off, says the nutritionist Laura Southern, founder of London Food Therapy, who usually restricts her eating from 6.30pm to
8am and encourages clients to do the same. “Stopping eating three or four hours before bed is one of the best supportive interventions you can make for your digestive and metabolic health and sleep. Eat too close to bedtime and our body is either too busy digesting food to repair overnight or it might struggle to effectively digest your food. And if you go to sleep with high blood sugar your body may release stress hormones to try and stabilise them, which could cause you to wake up in the middle of the night with a racing mind.”
What’s the optimum window? While the BMJ review found people with an eating window under eight hours, perhaps predictably, lost most weight and fat, they also lost more lean muscle than those with a larger window. And the smaller the window, the less sustainable it is. This month a systematic review in the journal Nutrition Reviews found the 16:8 led to improved insulin sensitivity, and last month a study by the University of Granada revealed that limiting food to an eight-hour window can also help maintain weight loss in overweight or obese adults for 12 months.
A 2019 study in the journal Cell Metabolism, meanwhile, found participants on a 10-hour window for 12 weeks reduced their weight and blood pressure. There’s no need to go to extremes, Collins says: “Anything that causes a bit of metabolic stress will trigger some of the repair mechanisms and adaptation.”
eating window is currently 16 hours, break it down to 14 hours and then 12 hours
So dinner might be at 7pm, breakfast at 7am. “You don’t have to go straight to eight or nine hours a day. Whatever you do to lengthen that period is going to be beneficial [and] change priorities from using fresh fuels to using your own stores and allow that spring cleaning.”
Does it matter what order I eat food in my eating window? Try and eat foods high in starchy carbohydrates — porridge and wholemeal toast, for example — early in your window, Southern says: “We’re more insulin sensitive earlier in the day so can handle sugar more effectively, moving glucose out of our blood to our cells to provide energy.”
She suggests we balance those carbs with protein — add seeds to your porridge or peanut butter to toast, for example — to avoid blood-sugar spikes. “Carbohydrates are fine to eat throughout the rest of the window but prioritise wholegrain, such as lentils and brown rice, rather than white pasta, to avoid blood-sugar spikes.”
What are the risks of TRE? A 2024 systematic review in Nutrition Journal found intermittent fasting was commonly associated with fatigue, headaches, gastrointestinal symptoms and dizziness, and “anyone who has some form of disordered eating” may be unsuited to it, Collins says, although this is more problematic with “an all or nothing approach” than a moderate ten-hour eating window.
“The other thing to consider is you’ve got more pressure on the times you do eat to be nutritionally complete. You can’t just eat rubbish for eight hours.” His university is recruiting for a randomised controlled
trial of TRE in older adults with or without protein. There is a “potential worry” they won’t get enough, he says.
“Our study is looking at whether we can use supplements of protein in addition to time-restricted eating to see whether that changes their body composition.” A healthy dose of cynicism is probably also helpful: this year a systematic review found that TRE didn’t lead to significantly greater weight loss than conventional diets.
How do I stop eating at night? If it’s a sweet treat you’re craving, have it earlier in the day, suggests Southern, who often enjoys a biscuit at about 4pm. “Then you won’t feel you’ve denied yourself later on.” Often, we associate evening snacks with relaxation. “If it’s a hand-to-mouth action you need think of something else you can do with your hands, whether crochet or a jigsaw.”
Tea and coffee are fine to drink with milk outside your eating window — “this whole scaremongering that it’s going to break your fast is nonsense,” Collins says — while Southern recommends herbal tea for comfort and distraction. If you must eat before bed, she says, make it something that won’t send blood sugar soaring, such as oatcakes and almond butter.
Can I still have a social life? Yes! “Try meeting friends at 6pm after work,” Southern says. “You can have a glass of wine and dessert without impacting your sleep. Eating earlier will allow time for your blood-sugar level to lower, which makes sleep easier, and make it more likely that you will move — be it walking home or to the station, which also lowers blood-sugar levels.”
my hearing, aged 44 Patrick McAleenan I
GETTY IMAGES
n 2012 I ran the London Marathon. Like most amateur runners, I worked my way up from 10Ks to halves to the full 26.2 miles, clocking up long runs in the dark after work and on Sunday mornings. Headphones were my constant companion. I’d crank up the volume, convinced I needed the heavy beat to keep me going. At the time it felt harmless.
Now, on most mornings, I wake to the cries of seagulls and a loud ringing in my ears. The birds are expected — I live on the coast — as is the high- pitched whine layered over them. That’s tinnitus, which I’ve had for more than a decade. Unlike the seagulls, it’s there because of me.
I ignored the warning signs. After some of those running sessions I’d finish with my ears buzzing. The ringing would fade after a few hours. Then one day it didn’t.
The noise stayed — not deafening, but a persistent hiss. My first hearing test, at 44, revealed I had damaged my eardrums irreparably. Now in my fifties, I live with tinnitus and steadily deteriorating hearing. I’m not the only one. Last year a pilot study carried out by the UK National Eye- Health and Hearing Study (UKNEHS) found that three in four Britons aged 50 and over — 20.3 million people — suffer from some form of hearing loss in one or both ears.
For me, there was no dramatic drop in clarity. It was more a case of noticing myself asking, “Sorry, what?” a bit more often. Untreated, it seeps into every part of life. Dating, for example, becomes more complicated when you can’t follow conversations easily in a busy bar. Reports from The Lancet in 2020 and 2024 identified untreated hearing loss in midlife as the largest modifiable risk factor for dementia.
But there is some good news. The first is that getting your hearing checked is simple. A high street test takes minutes and gives you a baseline, so you can see if there’s an issue. Small interventions also make a real difference. Proper earplugs, not the free foam ones but those designed for gigs and running, and keeping headphones at sensitive levels (and giving your ears breaks) really helps.
My hearing is still proficient but I feel myself edging closer to the day I’ll need hearing aids.
could it be an emotional injury?
trauma, Dr Howard Schubiner tells Elisabeth Perlman H
ow important is the connection between mind and body? Profoundly, according to Dr Howard Schubiner. In his two decades as a professor of medicine, he has treated countless patients for whom the traditional biomedical approach, as he calls it, which looks for structural damage to fix, simply didn’t work.
So what was the explanation? Unresolved emotional pain is at the heart of some people’s conditions, he tells me over Zoom from Michigan, where he is director of the Mind Body Medicine Center at Ascension Providence Hospital. That’s possible, he says, because “the parts of the brain that are activated when you have a physical injury are the same parts of the brain that are activated when you have an emotional injury.”
This “is not about curing cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dementia or Parkinson’s disease”, he insists — but some ailments can be “neuroplastic” in nature, including chronic neck and back pain, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), tension and migraine headaches, pelvic pain syndromes, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, dizziness and tinnitus.
Schubiner has experience of this, having suffered neck pain at a point in his life when he was overwhelmed by stress. “The MRI of my neck showed three bulging discs and evidence of arthritis,” he writes in his recent book, Unlearn Your Pain, but after attending a mindfulness retreat his discomfort improved, only to return a month or two later. “If the pain was due to bulging discs and arthritis, why wasn’t it there all the time? Was it stress building up in my life that triggered the attacks? Was there a correlation between my meditation practice and a reduction in neck pain? Maybe.”
Schubiner reflected on this after reading The Mindbody Prescription by Dr John Sarno, a rehabilitation specialist who observed that some patients suffered intense back pain despite having only mild abnormalities on scans, while others with severe imaging abnormalities felt none at all.
Only when physical damage, tumours, acute infections, nerve damage or an autoimmune disease are discounted by a medical evaluation can you look at whether a patient has a history of other neuroplastic conditions, childhood trauma or significant life stress that correlates with the symptom onset, Schubiner says. “I never want to mistake a physical disease for a neuroplastic condition. That error is one that no physician ever wants to make.”
faced with physical or emotional danger, the brain warns us
Why an MRI showing abnormalities may be less conclusive than you think In 2015 Waleed Brinjikji and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic published their analysis of MRI data from 33 studies in the American Journal of Neuroradiology. Of 3,110 people who reported no back pain, disc degeneration was found in 37 per cent of asymptomatic 20-year-olds and 96 per cent of asymptomatic 80- year-olds. “Imaging findings of spine degeneration are present in high proportions of asymptomatic individuals,” the researchers wrote. “Many imaging-based degenerative features are likely part of normal ageing and unassociated with pain.”
Why pain signals may go awry “When faced with a critical amount of either physical or emotional danger, the brain is likely to warn us, much like a smoke alarm warns us of fire,” Schubiner writes in his book. He cites studies showing that emotional distress — such as looking at a photograph of an ex-partner after a recent break-up — activates the same
pain-processing regions in the brain as physical injuries.
How do you respond to pain? Most people with neuroplastic pain react to symptoms with the 7 Fs, Schubiner says. 6 Fear: worrying about them. 6 Focus: frequently monitoring them. 6 Fight: resisting them. 6 Frustrate: getting angry at them. 6 Figure them out: internet searching, seeing more doctors or other healthcare practitioners. 6 Fix them: which, when unsuccessful over time, makes the symptoms more persistent. 6 Forlorn: getting upset about the symptoms.
Why you may be prone to a neuroplastic condition According to a study from the 1990s, adults who suffer traumatic events in childhood have a much higher chance of developing chronic pain as well as anxiety and depression. But Schubiner cautions: “You don’t have to be exposed to major trauma in childhood to develop significant neuroplastic
GETTY IMAGES
Unlearn Your Pain by Howard Schubiner (£18.99 Ebury). To order a copy go to timesbookshop.co.uk. Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members.
yourself ‘what’s wrong with me?’ and answering ‘nothing!’
conditions in later life. Children who are feeling fearful of going to school because they miss a parent, feel alone or are being bullied can develop neuroplastic symptoms of abdominal pain, headaches…”
He says certain personality traits such as perfectionism and intense self- criticism may make people more prone to developing neuroplastic conditions.
Schubiner assesses whether or not a patient meets the “Fit” criteria. The pain is “functional” if symptoms affect the function, not the structure of the area — eg, if after an injury pain persists long after the wound should have healed. The pain is “inconsistent” if it shifts locations or varies based on the time of day or stress levels. The pain is “triggered” if it’s activated by anticipating a stressful event or by innocuous stimuli like a specific smell.
Schubiner sometimes uses “provocative testing”, getting patients to imagine doing a triggering activity and that alone causes discomfort. This demonstrates that a learnt neural circuit, not a physical injury, is to blame for generating the symptom.
The power of PRT Pain reprocessing therapy (PRT) is an evidence-based treatment by which patients can “unlearn” chronic pain that has no medical explanation.
Schubiner cites a study showing how self-affirmations can change the brain by reducing its perception of threat and suggests asking yourself “what’s wrong with me?” and answering “nothing!” and repeating affirmations such as “I am healthy. I am strong”.
Another part of PRT is somatic tracking, a form of mindfulness, developed by the psychotherapist Alan Gordon. “It’s about trying to separate from the pain, trying to be indifferent, trying to be curious, trying to be playful, trying to be anything that changes the brain from the fear cycle to the safety cycle,” Schubiner says.
Another element of PRT is gradual exposure to pain triggers and physical activity. While it’s not a good idea to push yourself too much, try to do the activity whether symptoms occur or not, which Schubiner refers to as “outcome independence”.
How to learn to let it go Self-compassion can be an important part of the healing process, Schubiner believes. He co-developed a therapy that can be used to address the underlying causes that sensitised the danger signal in the first place.
“Patients are encouraged to recall a conflict, a person or a situation to experience, express and resolve emotions including anger, guilt and sadness,” he writes in his book. “The emotional expression is done in their imagination... This process avoids and actively discourages real life anger or violence, which typically leads to escalating conflicts.”
L
ast week Rachel Cusk made the news for apparently basing a character in her new novel on the actress Natalie Portman. Life of M, which is published at the end of August, is about an actress with several similarities to Portman who allows a friend to write her biography but is unhappy with the results. “You’ve made it seem like I lack humanity... You’ve made it seem like I’m unable to love,” M says. Aptly enough, some reports suggest that Portman is “devastated” and “outraged” by the book, while others insist there are no hard feelings.
Portman and Cusk have known one another for years, and Portman described Cusk as “one of my favourite writers”. There are certainly points of correspondence between Portman and M in the book. Life of M tells us that the actress played a ballerina and is “the model for a major brand” (check: Portman was in the film Black Swan and is the face of Miss Dior) and that “her first film originally included several scenes in which the child was shown wanting or inviting sexual interaction with the central male character” (check: Portman’s debut Leon in 1994 had scripted scenes of her with an adult male, which were cut at her mother’s request).
Cusk has remained tight-lipped, in keeping with her austere authorly persona. Still, it’s handy to be in the headlines when you have a new book coming out and this isn’t the first time Cusk has exercised her prerogative to put whoever she likes into her books. This can have consequences. “She torches people and moves on,” said one literary critic. Her divorce memoir Aftermath (2012) detailed her ex- husband’s faults — he gave up work to look after their children and she is scornful of his “dependence” and “unwaged domesticity”.
Her bracingly honest A Life’s Work (2001) was about the challenges brought on by parenting her two daughters — “I greeted my old cell with the cheerless acceptance of a convict intercepted at large,’’ she writes when she discovers she is pregnant again. And in her essay collection Coventry (2019), targets ranged from her parents (who had stopped speaking to her — hence the title) to an airport official who has the cheek to wear a “synthetic shirt, black synthetic trousers [and] a cheap tie”.
It has reached the stage, in fact, where an effective modern curse might be “May you appear in a Rachel Cusk book”. But she is only the latest in a long line of writers who got into hot water by apparently putting real people in their work.
Philip Roth was a master of creating literary halls-of-mirrors from real life, putting versions of himself in books like The Ghost Writer, The Facts and Operation Shylock. But it was when he cast a thinly disguised avatar of his wife, Claire Bloom, in his 1990 novel Deception — a story told mostly in dialogue before and after sex — that he got into trouble. After their inevitable divorce, Bloom took revenge with a memoir, Leaving a Doll’s House (1996), resulting in a feud so explosive even the arch-gossip Gore Vidal washed his hands of it. “It’s always best to stay out of other people’s divorces,” he declared. “And their civil wars.”
your new novel
uncannily similar to her friend Natalie Portman. She’s not the first to plunder from real life, says John Self
was, said the novelist Linda Grant, “an angry, bitter, resentful mess” — but also a final victory of sorts. After all, she added, “it’s not like Claire Bloom has another book in her”.
Nora Ephron is best known for spiky romantic comedies such as When Harry Met Sally but when she published a novel, Heartburn (1983), she based it on her marriage to the journalist Carl Bernstein, which broke down after he had an affair with Margaret Jay, the daughter of the British prime minister James Callaghan. Perhaps she underestimated the resources of the reporter who jointly uncovered the Watergate scandal: Bernstein threatened to sue, and meant it. In the end it took the couple five years to agree terms for their divorce and about half the time was taken satisfying Bernstein’s demands for script approval over how he would be portrayed (by Jack Nicholson) in the film adaptation of Heartburn.
Philip Roth with his wife, Claire Bloom, in the 1990s. Top: Rachel Cusk and Natalie Portman
with Truman Capote, then America’s
favourite literary miniature, who —
struggling to follow up the success
of In Cold Blood — in 1975 began
serialising in Esquire magazine
stories about his upper-class
social circle, including their
bathroom and bedroom habits. “They’re too dumb. They won’t know who they are.” Wrong again! Capote was cut off from the oxygen of the New York scene. “He was only an ornament,” one friend observed. “There was nothing for him to fall back on.” Capote never completed another book. And the greatest shame of all? The stories he published in Esquire weren’t even very good.
The novelist Amanda Craig had a nerve-jangling experience when in 1996 her ex-boyfriend, the literary critic David Sexton, threatened to sue over what he claimed were similarities between him (including the make of shoes he wore) and a cruel, debauched book-reviewer character in Craig’s soon-to-be-published satire A Vicious Circle. Despite Craig’s editor saying “nobody but a lunatic” would claim to
be one of Craig’s characters, her publisher got cold feet and cancelled publication. Craig revised parts of the novel and the book was taken up by a new publisher, with the stern warning that “any resemblance of the satirical archetypes in A Vicious Circle to real- life people and events is not only wholly unintended but entirely wrong”.
Cusk’s alleged traducement is perhaps closer in spirit to that which the novelist Julie Myerson was accused of when in 2009 she published a book titled The Lost Child. It brought together historical examples of parent- and-child struggles with her own experience of her 17-year-old son’s addiction to “skunk” cannabis. (Myerson later threw him out of the family home.) Uproar ensued when
people and moves on, said one literary critic
Myerson’s son gave an interview denying he was an addict, rejecting claims that he had agreed to the book’s publication and calling his parents “slightly insane” into the bargain. Myerson’s publisher did what any responsible publisher would do: they brought forward publication of the book to capitalise on the controversy.
Sometimes, however, the inclusion of a real person in a novel is largely accidental. On April Fool’s Day in 1992, the novelist DJ Taylor took an anxious phone call from his editor. “If you’ve got any property or savings,” he was told, “I should put them in your wife’s name.” Taylor had just published his second novel, Real Life, and had borrowed a character’s name from someone he met at a party years before. The trouble was that the character was, er, a porn baron and associate of the Kray twins. Following a legal to-and-fro, Taylor’s book was pulped, then reissued with a disclaimer, and he and his publisher jointly shelled out a five-figure sum to quell the man’s outraged feelings.
Ian McEwan, however, got away with it when he wrote his Booker winner Amsterdam and used the name Julian Garmony for the politician at the centre of a sex scandal. It was a “curious” surname that McEwan came across when he temporarily had neighbours called Garmony — who turned out to be “very upset” when the book came out — “but I just wanted a lovely unusual name!” McEwan explained. No action was taken but, if it’s any consolation to the Garmonys, wherever they are, McEwan “always feel[s] a bit sad about it”.
And just as Cusk has at least earned some publicity for her new book, there is often a silver lining in these cases. Earlier this year an excellent novel called A Domestic Animal by the English writer Francis King was reissued. But when the book was first published in 1969, it was the subject of legal threats from an MP, Tom Skeffington-Lodge, on whom King had based one of his characters, a politician desperate for a peerage. The book was withdrawn and King had to sell his home to cover the legal costs. But there was one upside: he wrote a novel, The Action, about the whole ordeal. Writers, as I say, are terrible magpies.
10 Tuesday July 28 2026 | the times times2 Your weekday brain boost
puzzles to give your brain an extended workout Samurai medium
SAMURAI
Fill each grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9. Where the puzzles overlap, the rows and columns do not go beyond their usual length.
SAKURO
Place the numbers 1 to 9 in the spaces so that the number in each circle is equal to the sum of the four surrounding spaces, and each colour total is correct
Sudoku
SUDOKU
MINI SUDOKU
Fill in the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x2 box contains the digits 1 to 6
Play Mini Sudoku every day Monday-Sunday
online at thetimes.com and on Live app
CODEWORD
Every letter in the crossword-style grid, right, is represented by a number from 1 to 26. Each letter of the alphabet appears in the grid at least once. Use the letters already provided to work out the identity of further letters. Enter letters in the main grid and the smaller reference grid until all 26 letters of the alphabet have been accounted for. Proper nouns are excluded.
KILLER
Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9. Each set of cells joined by dotted lines must add up to the target number in its top-left corner. Within each set of cells joined by dotted lines, a digit cannot be repeated.
TRAIN TRACKS
Lay tracks to enable the train to travel from village A to village B. The numbers indicate how many sections of track go in each row and column. There are only straight sections and curved sections. The track cannot cross itself.
Futoshiki Fill the blank squares so that every row and column contains each of the numbers 1 to 5 once only. The symbols between the squares indicate whether a number is larger (>) or smaller (<) than the number next to it.
FUTOSHIKI
puzzles
Pages 14-16
I
Dowell TV review
Furious Disney+ {{{{(
wouldn’t come to Disney+’s dark thriller Furious if you’re looking for a nice man. I counted two in the eight-part series about a female serial killer enacting vengeance over a child trafficking ring. And it’s not a show short of characters.
PA
We are told that its creator Elizabeth Meriwether was inspired by the 1987 thriller Black Widow in which Theresa Russell bumped off rich men for personal gain. Here the killings are nastier, but the motive is troublingly righteous. The murder victims are ghastly, entitled creeps, and sympathy is a struggle even when we see the distress on the face of a New York
Invisible Hands: The American Century Radio 4, 9am
Following the terrific Invisible Hands series, in which he examined the rise of the free market economy, David Dimbleby, above, now turns his attention to how America became a global superpower in the 20th century, by exploring the sometimes shadowy figures who helped made it happen. Part of the History Podcast strand, the series will have seven episodes. Dimblebly begins with the US Treasury official Harry Dexter White, a key player in the creation of the IMF and World Bank, and his battle with the British economist John Maynard Keynes. Clair Woodward
billionaire’s son as he is ruthlessly dispatched by Lola Petticrew’s Catherine, who tells him she doesn’t like the sounds he is making.
It’s very 2026 and post-Epstein. And as with Killing Eve, the bond between hunter and hunted elevates this above the standard schlocky thriller. Alice Black (Emmy Rossum) has left the NYPD for a lowly posting at the FBI after being hospitalised by her violent cop boyfriend. When we see her working determinedly late at home pursuing the killer, with all those familiar cans of soda and fast food detritus, we know that both women are, in their own ways, victims of powerful, insulated males. And it’s hard not to root for justice.
Alice is helped by Dan Kelly (Scoot McNairy), the only NYPD colleague who stood by her (he’s decent bloke number one), as well as the fantastically straight-talking jaded alcoholic FBI staffer Nora Washington (Quincy Tyler Bernstine), who spends her days in a locked room trawling through child abuse images.
There is compassion beneath both women’s wounds, even if they know what they are up against. Washington invokes Greek myth and the story of Medusa, who was transformed into a monster after being raped by Poseidon. This could be weighed down by many similar moments of earnestness, but it is crafted with
Times Radio Digital, web, smart speaker, app
5.00am Tom Nunan with Early
Breakfast 6.00 Salma El-Wardany
and Calum Macdonald 10.00 Lara
Spirit 1.00pm Mark Urban 2.00
Jane Garvey and Fi Glover 4.00
John Pienaar 7.00 Kait Borsay
10.00 Carole Walker 1.00am
The Best of Times Radio
Radio 2 FM: 88-90.2 MHz 6.30am Sara Cox 9.30 Vernon Kay 12.00 Jeremy Vine 2.00pm DJ Spoony 4.00 Angela Scanlon 7.00 Jo Whiley 9.00 The Jazz Show 10.00 The Good Groove with Melvin Odoom 12.00 OJ Borg 3.00am Alternative Sounds of the 90s (r) 4.00 Owain Wyn Evans
Radio 3
FM: 90.2-92.4 MHz
6.30am Breakfast
9.30 Essential Classics
1.00pm Classical Live
BBC Proms: Verdi (Force of
Destiny Overture); Aldeburgh
Festival: “Marriage & Babies”.
Purcell (Epithalamium from The
Fairy Queen); Strauss (Zueignung
Op 10 No 1); Libby Larsen (The
Birth Project — No 1 Pregnant);
Victoria Wood (Litter Bin); Britten
(Winter Words, Op 52 No 6 Proud
Songsters “Thrushes, finches
and nightingales”); Pau Casals
International Music Festival:
Haydn (String Quartet in C,
Op 20/2, Hob. III:32). BBC Proms:
Mahler (Symphony No 6 in A
minor). BBC Proms: Parry (Songs
of Farewell: No 6 — Lord, let me
know mine end) and Pau Casals
International Music Festival:
Beethoven (Piano Trio No 5
in D, Op 70/1 “Ghost”)
Emmy Rossum as Alice Black and Scoot McNairy as Dan Kelly
4.00 Composer of the Week:
Alice Mary Smith (1839-1884)
Donald Macleod explores the early
years of Smith’s marriage to a
lawyer, Frederick Meadows White
5.00 In Tune
7.00 Live BBC Proms 2026
The BBC Symphony Orchestra,
conducted by Sakari Oramo in
Sibelius, Turnage, and with Guy
Johnston, Britten. Presented by
Hannah French, live from the Royal
Albert Hall, London. Mark-Anthony
Turnage (Festen Suite — BBC co-
commission: UK premiere); Britten
(Cello Symphony); and Jean
Sibelius (Symphony No 2 in D)
10.00 Night Tracks
11.30 ’Round Midnight
Soweto Kinch hears from
Ghanaian trumpeter Peter Somuah
12.30am Through the Night (r)
Radio 4
FM: 92.4-94.6 MHz
5.00am News Summary
5.04 Troubled Town (r)
5.34 Shipping Forecast
5.43 Prayer for the Day
5.45 Farming Today
6.00 Today
9.00 Choice Invisible Hands
The story of the man who made
America into a superpower (1/6)
9.30 Inside Health
Demystifying health issues (4/6)
10.00 Woman’s Hour
Nuala McGovern presents
11.00 Screenshot
Films that confine their action
to a single day (4/6) (r)
11.45 Confessions of
a Performative Male
By Darren McGarvey (2/5)
12.04pm Call You and Yours
1.00 The World at One
1.45 Dead Rabbit
Powers behind the hare coursing
criminal underworld (7/10)
2.00 The Archers (r)
2.15 Drama:
Our Friends in the North
By Adam Usden (10/10) (r)
3.00 Lady on Trial
with Lucy Worsley
Second World War conscientious
objector Connie Bolam (7/10)
3.30 Heart and Soul (3/10) (r)
4.00 The Writing Life
of Sylvia Plath
How Plath’s personal relationships
informed her work (2/3)
4.30 What’s Up Docs?
Why people follow bad advice
5.00 PM
6.00 Six O’Clock News
6.30 Meet David Sedaris (5/6) (r)
7.00 The Archers
There is an awkward moment for
Alice, and Harrison seeks advice
7.15 Front Row
Arts programme
8.00 Floor 15
Following experimental clinical
trials at Guy’s Hospital
8.40 In Touch
Presented by Peter White
9.00 The Documentary:
The Dream Makers
The experimental field of
dream engineering
9.30 The Bottom Line
Last in the series (r)
10.00 The World Tonight
10.45 Wild Dark Shore
By Charlotte McConaghy (7/10)
11.00 Wild Inside
Ben Garrod and Jess French
examine the cheetah (1/4) (r)
11.30 A Good Read
Damian Barr and Ben Fergusson
discuss favourite books (3) (r)
12.00 News and Weather
12.30am Confessions
of a Performative Male
By Darren McGarvey (2/5) (r)
12.48 Shipping Forecast
1.00 As BBC World Service
enough vim for the rhetorical flourishes to work.
In TV’s post-Me Too landscape there is no shortage of men across the small screen who are abusers or imbeciles. Here, as in the case of victim number two, a wealthy sleazebag played with the subtlety of a drunk elephant by Rob Delaney, they can be both. After snorting coke and dad-dancing he tells Catherine she is “so real” and gets her to sign an NDA before the sex (and death) begins. He feels ridiculous, almost disposable. But isn’t this merely putting the boot on the other foot?
Unafraid to venture to extreme places and armed with an awareness of the absurdity of extreme wickedness, this seems at times like revenge drama in the best traditions of Jacobean masters such as Kyd and Middleton. Even a vaguely comic scene where a key witness, a teenage boy flashed by Catherine while he was smoking pot on his porch, is unsettling. He tells Alice about the difference between a vulva and a vagina, and we realise that he is mansplaining this subject to a woman.
In the context of this show he is a typical, if less obviously dangerous, bloke. So yes. An uncomfortable watch for us men. But such is this drama’s relentless, mesmerising power, it is impossible to avert your gaze.
Radio 4 Extra
Digital only
8.00am It’s a Fair Cop 8.30
Sounds Like London: 100 Years of
Black Music in the Capital 8.45
Small Island 9.00 Meet David
Sedaris 9.30 The Time of My Life
9.45 Daily Service 10.00 A Good
Read 10.30 A Fork in the Road
11.00 Raffles 11.30 Charles Paris:
A Deadly Habit 12.00 Yes Minister
12.30pm The Goon Show 1.00
It’s a Fair Cop 1.30 Sounds Like
London: 100 Years of Black Music
in the Capital 1.45 Small Island
2.00 Hoax! 2.30 The Brothers 3.00
The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
3.45 The Phoenix and the Carpet
4.00 A Good Read 4.30 A Fork in
the Road 5.00 Raffles 5.30 Charles
Paris: A Deadly Habit 6.00 Yes
Minister 6.30 Goon Show 7.00
It’s a Fair Cop 7.30 Sounds Like
London: 100 Years of Black Music
in the Capital 7.45 Small Island
8.00 Hoax! 8.30 The Brothers 9.00
The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
9.45 The Phoenix and the Carpet
10.00 Comedy Club: Meet David
Sedaris 10.30 And the Winner Is
10.55 The Comedy Club Interview
11.00 All the World’s a Globe
11.15 Foley and McColl: The
Interview 11.30 Edge Falls
10.00 Jim White and Simon Jordan 1.00pm Hawksbee and Jacobs 4.00 talkSPORT Drive 7.00 Kick Off 10.00 The Sports Bar 1.00am Extra Time with Paul Ross
Talk
Digital only
6.00am Jeremy Kyle 10.00
Julia Hartley Brewer 1.00pm Ian
Collins 4.00 Kevin O’Sullivan 7.00
Peter Cardwell 10.00 Petrie
Hosken 1.00am Paul Ross
6 Music
Digital only
5.00am Amy Lamé 7.00 Nick
Grimshaw 10.00 Jamz Supernova
1.00pm Deb Grant 4.00 Huw
Stephens 7.00 New Music Fix
Daily 9.00 Riley & Coe 11.00 The
First Time With 12.00 6 Music’s
Indie Forever 1.00am You’ll Never
Be Sixteen Again 2.00 Peel
Acres 3.00 6 Music Live Hour
4.00 The 6 Music Playlist
Virgin Radio
Digital only
6.30am Steve Denyer on The Chris
Evans Breakfast Show with
Moneybox 10.00 Ana Matronic
2.00pm Ben Jones 6.00
Geoff Lloyd 10.00 Goldierocks
2.00am James Merritt
Radio 5 Live MW: 693, 909 5.00am Wake Up to Money 6.00 Breakfast 9.00 Nicky Campbell 11.00 Naga Munchetty 2.00pm Matt Chorley 4.00 Drive 7.00 Glasgow 2026 10.00 Sarah Mulkerrins 1.00am Dotun Adebayo
Classic FM
FM: 100-102 MHz
6.30am Breakfast with Dan Walker
9.00 The Hall of Fame Hour 10.00
Aled Jones 1.00pm Anne-Marie
Minhall 4.00 Margherita Taylor
7.00 Relaxing Evenings with
Zeb Soanes 9.00 Composer
Carousel With Zeb Soanes
10.00 Calm Classics 1.00am
Bill Overton 4.00 Early Breakfast
PICKS OF THE DAY
Gomorrah: The Origins Sky Atlantic, 9pm/10.05pm
“Wow, che spettacolo,” says a grubby child as this late 1970s prequel to Gomorrah begins in a sludge brown and orange haze of bar-room disco dancing on the backstreets of Naples. Wow, what a show indeed. The confident and swaggering Gomorrah ended in 2021 after five seasons, having brought the story of Italian
BBC1 BBC2 ITV1 Channel 4 5 6.00am Breakfast 9.30 Animal Park (r) (AD) 10.15 Trace, Track, Get My Car Back (r) 10.45 Expert Witness (r) 11.15 Homes Under the Hammer 12.15pm Bargain Hunt (r) (AD) 1.00 BBC News at One; Weather 1.35 BBC Regional News; Weather 1.45 BBC News at One; Weather 2.00 Money for Nothing. Transforming a coffee table and a collection of old frames 2.45 Escape to the Country. A London buyer would like a North Yorkshire cottage (r) 3.45 The Bidding Room. Items include a music stool, a 19th-century home electric shock kit, tie presses and a silver tea set (r) 4.30 The Travelling Auctioneers. Collectibles include a rare watch, a collection of railwayana and a spinning wheel (r) (AD) 5.15 Pointless. Quiz hosted by Alexander Armstrong and Gyles Brandreth (r) 6.00 BBC News at Six; Weather 6.30 BBC Regional News; Weather
7.00 The One Show Presented by
Alex Jones and Vernon Kay
7.30 EastEnders Sheila is left shaken after
a tense visit with Gray. Elsewhere, tensions continue to rise between George and Nicola (AD)
8.00 The Great British Sewing Bee
The amateur sewers tackle reduce,
reuse, recycle week, turning old
T-shirts into underwear, using
waste items to decorate their
transformations and making outfits
with an eco-message (3/10) (AD)
9.00 Murder 24/7 How five men were
convicted of the murder of
23-year-old Aurman Singh, a DPD
driver who was ambushed and killed
in Shrewsbury. Detectives used
CCTV, phone records and ANPR
data to trace the vehicle in which
the men fled the scene (3/8) (AD)
10.00 BBC News at Ten
10.30 BBC Regional News and Weather 10.40 FILM: Blinded by the Light (12,
2019) Javed Khan is a British-
Pakistani college student living
in 1980s Bedfordshire under a
domineering father. Facing parental
pressure and everyday racism, he
unexpectedly finds his frustrations
and ambitions expressed in Bruce
Springsteen songs. Inspired by
the rock star and a teacher who
encourages his own writing, he sets
out to fulfill his dreams. Coming-of-
age drama starring Viveik Kalra,
Kulvinder Ghir and Meera Ganatra
organised crime to life with an unsparing eye. This new six-part series, directed by Marco D’Amore, will delve into the early career of its protagonist Pietro Savastano (Luca Lubrano) as he is shaped by a city marked by such poverty that, as a news report announces, it suffers from a high infant mortality rate as a result of malnutrition. There are shades of Romanzo Criminale, for those who enjoyed the tale of the Roman heroin trade, and of Narcos, for those who prefer Colombian. Helen Stewart
6.30am Bargain Hunt (r)
7.15 Animal Park (r) (AD)
8.00 Sign Zone: The Great British Sewing
Bee. Prints and colours theme (r) (AD, SL)
9.00 BBC News
1.00pm Richard Osman’s House of Games.
With Yasmine Akram and Cariad Lloyd (r)
1.30 The Finish Line. Quiz hosted by
Roman Kemp and Sarah Greene (r)
2.15 Lightning. Quiz hosted by Zoe Lyons (r)
2.45 The Hairy Bikers’ Bakeation. Recipes
from the Netherlands and Belgium (r) (AD)
3.45 The Farmers’ Country Showdown.
A pair launch their new chilli ice-cream
at Abergavenny Food Festival (r)
4.15 Earth from Space. Brazilian lagoons
and the Amazon river (r) (AD)
5.15 Flog It! From Lulworth Castle, Dorset (r)
6.00 Richard Osman’s House of Games.
With Karen Hauer, Storm Huntley,
Joe Marler and Tom Read Wilson (r)
6.30 Just One Thing. Zoe Ball looks at how
sunlight can improve heart health (r) (AD)
7.00 Rick Stein’s Food Stories Rick meets
a foraging chef and a famous sheep farmer in the Lake District, then heads to Yorkshire to see the UK’s biggest tofu factory (2/6) (r) (AD)
8.00 Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the
Lobby Rob Rinder and Monica Galetti work at a luxury hotel in Ibiza, where cutting edge “biohacking” therapies are offered alongside cacao ceremonies (3/8) (r) (AD)
9.00 The Vampire Lestat: Interview with
the Vampire New series. Gothic
horror starring Jacob Anderson.
Lestat recounts what led to a
brutal hotel confrontation.
See picks of the day (1/7) (AD)
9.45 Live at the Apollo Jamali Maddix
comperes the comedy show at
London’s Hammersmith Apollo,
warming up the audience before
introducing routines by Fern
Brady and Sindhu Vee (6/7) (r)
10.30 Newsnight Headline analysis
presented by Victoria Derbyshire
11.05 FILM: The New Boy (12, 2023)
Australian drama following an Aboriginal orphan boy as he arrives at a remote monastery. Starring Cate Blanchett, Aswan Reid, Deborah Mailman and Wayne Blair
12.35am Sign Zone: Natalie Cassidy —
Caring Together Natalie learns about
dementia care, experiencing what it is like to
have the disease and putting her learning
into practice on a special placement (r)
(AD, SL) 1.05 Bergerac (r) (AD, SL)
1.55-2.25 Do You Know Your Place? (r) (SL)
The rebranded third series of Interview with the Vampire is with us, with the licentious 265-year-old French vampire Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) now exploiting Daniel Molloy’s (Eric Bogosian) bestselling Interview… book and going public as a hedonistic rock star-vampire. The tonal shift from its doomy gothic predecessor is enough to give you whiplash and, much like Lestat Gomorrah: The Origins (Sky Atlantic, 9pm/10.05pm)
6.00am Good Morning Britain
10.00 This Morning. A mix of celebrity chat,
lifestyle features, advice and competitions
1.00pm ITV News; Weather
1.30 Live ITV Racing: Glorious Goodwood.
Ed Chamberlin and Francesca Cumani
present coverage of day one of the meeting,
including feature race the Goodwood Cup,
and four more supporting races. With
analysis from Jason Weaver and Hayley
Turner, reports by Rishi Persad, Sally
Ann Grassick, and Luke Harvey, and
commentary by Richard Hoiles
4.30 Tipping Point: Best Ever Finals.
Dramatic endgames from the game show
hosted by Ben Shephard, as players take on
the machine for its £10,000 jackpot (r)
5.00 The Chase. Contestants from
Blackburn, Norwich, Canterbury and Sale
hope they can win thousands of pounds as a
team. Bradley Walsh asks the questions (r)
6.00 Regional News; Weather
6.30 ITV News; Weather
7.30 Inside the Langham: Britain’s First
Grand Hotel A wedding planner pulls out all the stops for a breathtaking, ultra-exclusive ceremony (2/6) (AD)
8.00 Emmerdale Vinny’s jealousy could be
causing a problem. Graham goes snooping around the depot (AD)
8.30 Coronation Street David and Shona
confront Jodie over the contents
of her trinket box (AD)
9.00 Cold Case Forensics: The Death of
God’s Banker New series. A look at
the death of Italian banker Roberto
Calvi, whose body was found
hanging under Blackfriars Bridge
with the investigation leading
to a murky world of finances.
See picks of the day (1/3) (AD)
10.00 ITV News at Ten; Weather;
followed by Regional News
10.45 FILM: Bad Boys (15, 1995) Two
detectives are forced to swap
identities as they hunt for a heroin
consignment stolen by a drug
kingpin. Michael Bay’s action thriller
starring Will Smith, Martin Lawrence,
Tea Leoni, Tcheky Karyo and
Theresa Randle (AD)
1.00am Shop on TV 3.00 The Staircase. Michael’s children grapple with shocking new information about their father (r) (AD, SL) 4.05 Unwind with ITV 5.10-6.00 Dickinson’s Real Deal. The team is at Newcastle racecourse, where items include a diamond and gold necklace (r) (AD, SL)
The Vampire Lestat: Interview with the Vampire BBC2, 9pm
6.25am Cheers (r)
7.45 Everybody Loves Raymond (r) (AD)
9.10 Frasier (r) (AD)
11.10 Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA (r)
12.05pm Channel 4 News Summary
12.10 Find It, Fix It, Flog It. Turning a pile of
old slate into an unusual lamp (r) (AD)
1.10 The Great House Giveaway. Two
strangers are given the opportunity
to buy a property in north Wales (r)
2.10 Countdown. With Scarlett Moffatt
3.00 A Place in the Sun. Sara Damergi helps
best friends find a holiday home in Roquetas
de Mar on Spain’s south east coast (r)
4.00 Narrow Escapes. A family heads back
to Skipton as their narrowboat holiday
comes to an end and a boat instructor helps
a solo cruiser in Worcestershire (r) (AD)
5.00 Château DIY. Owners prepare to
host their first floral retreat (r) (AD)
6.00 American Pickers. Mike Wolfe and
Frank Fritz put thousands on the line to
strike a deal with a tough negotiator (r) (AD)
7.00 Channel 4 News
8.00 Hotel Chocolat Unwrapped New
series. Behind the scenes at the
chocolatier as the company moves
into the bakery business, dream up
new products, tour UK summer
festivals and plan a new store in
the US. See picks of the day (AD)
9.00 The Undeclared War Barbara crosses
paths with her ex-boyfriend Nicky
Chan — first in 2014 in Hong Kong on
a fated MI6 mission, and then again
in 2022, when he reappears in
London. Thriller starring Simon
Pegg and Siân Brooke (3/6) (AD)
10.00 Gogglebox The armchair critics
share their opinions on The Celebrity
Traitors, Trigger Point, Michael
McIntyre’s The Wheel, The Great
British Bake Off, Love Is Blind
and DIY SOS (r) (AD)
11.05 First Dates Visitors include a woman
who has never had a boyfriend who connects with her date over a shared love of fashion, and two strangers who bond over chocolate (r) (AD)
12.05am Naked Attraction (r) (AD) 1.05 Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA (r) 1.55 The Piano (r) (AD, SL) 2.50 FILM: American Refugee (15, 2021) Horror starring Erika Alexander 4.25 Couples Come Dine with Me (r) 5.15 Kirstie and Phil’s Love It or List It: Brilliant Builds (r) 5.45-6.25 Countdown (r)
himself, the result is a theatrically manic and erotically charged beast that will shock as many as it seduces. Andrew Male
Cold Case Forensics: The Death of God’s Banker ITV1, 9pm
Angela Gallop is not an obvious television star but the renowned forensic scientist exudes an air of calm authority in this fascinating documentary. It reflects on the June 1982 death of the 62-year-old
6.00am Milkshake! 9.15 Jeremy Vine 11.30 Storm & Alexis 12.45pm 5 News at Lunchtime 12.50 Matt Allwright 2.20 FILM: Mystery of the Dead Nanny (12, TVM, 2022) After declining the advances of an influential father, an au pair lives in fear for her safety. Thriller with Nicolette Langley 4.00 Castle. Beckett and Castle go undercover as newlyweds at an Old West- style resort in Arizona to investigate a murder after a sheriff refuses to help. Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic star (r) 4.55 Love Nature. Examining Feed the Birds, a Shropshire charity combating loneliness through a shared love of wildlife (r) 5.00 5 News with Dan Walker 6.00 Malta: The Jewel of the Med. A tour of the popular Mediterranean island, beginning with a look round a cathedral in the capital, Valletta, gleaming with 24-carat gold (r) 6.55 5 News Update
7.00 The Yorkshire Vet: At Home with the
Greens Documentary following the lives of two of Britain’s oldest working farmers who are looking for new ways to keep their farm afloat, including alpaca walks (1/4) (r)
7.55 5 News Update
8.00 Inside Longleat In the historic Secret
Garden, the team manoeuvres a bronze sculpture by global rock star Ronnie Wood into prime position. There is a very special party for senior keeper Ian Turner to celebrate 50 years of his work at Longleat
9.00 The Crow Girl As Jeanette and
Sophia dig deeper into Victoria’s past, their relationship grows closer, Amar shares important information with Mike, and Jeanette learns a secret that changes everything. Also, Victoria and Madeleine hatch a plan. Starring Eve Myles (5/6) (AD)
10.00 Commonwealth Games 2026
Highlights from the fifth day in
Glasgow, which included the men’s
and women’s 100m finals at
Scotstoun Stadium and the
penultimate day of swimming
and para swimming
11.05 Accused: Guilty or Innocent?
A suspect’s journey through the
criminal justice system. When a
ten-year old cold murder case heats
back up, the police finally have
a suspect — who would have
been 13 at the time (4/7) (r)
12.05am Accused: Guilty or Innocent? (r) 12.55 Entertainment News on 5 1.00 Cruise TV (r) 2.00 Building the Impossible (r) 2.50 Malta: The Jewel of the Med (r) 3.45 Friends (r) (AD) 4.35 The Highland Vet (r) (SL) 5.25 Entertainment News on 5 5.35 Milo (r) (SL) 5.45-6.00 The Adventures of Paddington (r)
Italian banker Roberto Calvi, who was found hanging from scaffolding beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London. His death was initially deemed a suicide, which troubled the Calvi family, who brought Gallop (a former Home Office senior forensic scientist) in to examine a case that occurred at a time when Italian organised crime, Vatican finance and political corruption shared the same bloodstream. She reconstructs the experiments that brought her investigation to a conclusion. HS
7.00pm Great British Railway
Journeys. Visiting Dundee (AD)
7.30 Walking with Monica Galetti
8.00 Keeping Up Appearances
8.30 One Foot in the Grave
9.00 She-Wolves: England’s Early
Queens. The lives of Isabella of
France and Margaret of Anjou (2/3)
10.00 Castles: Britain’s Fortified
History. Charting how Edward I
turned the castle into an
instrument of colonisation (AD)
11.00 Corridors of Power: Should
America Police the World?
A look at ethnic cleansing (5/8) (AD)
12.00 Corridors of Power: Should
America Police the World? (AD)
1.00am She-Wolves: England’s Early
Queens. Documentary 2.00 Castles:
Britain’s Fortified History (AD)
3.00 Great British Railway Journeys
(AD, SL) 3.30am-4.00 Walking
with Monica Galetti (SL)
U&Drama
7.00pm The Catch Up 7.05 Deadly 60. Useful weapons 7.35 Deadly 60. Deadly creatures 8.00 Top Gear. With Tinie Tempah 9.00 Shabaz Asks: Are Billionaires Bad? The broadcaster puts his feelings about the super-rich to the test, questioning their positive and negative influence on society before meeting a billionaire face to face 9.50 Good Bad Billionaire. New series. How the world’s richest people made their fortune 10.35 Good Bad Billionaire. How Cristiano Ronaldo made his fortune 11.20 Good Bad Billionaire. How MrBeast made his fortune 12.10am The Tech Billionaire Takeover (AD) 1.10 OnlyFans: Inside the Machine (AD) 2.10 Dating Apps: The Inside Story (AD) 3.10am-4.00 Shabaz Asks: Are Billionaires Bad? (SL)
Variations
BBC1 N Ireland 10.40pm House of the Year (r) 11.10 FILM: Blinded by the Light (2019) 1.00am-6.00 BBC News
BBC1 Scotland 7.00pm-7.30 River City (r) 12.30am Scotcast (r) 1.00 Weather 1.05am-6.00 BBC News
BBC2 N Ireland 9.45pm If Walls Could Talk (r) 10.00-10.30pm Paula McIntyre’s Hamely Kitchen USA (r)
STV 1.30pm-4.30 Live STV Racing: Glorious Goodwood 1.00am-3.00 Shop on TV 4.05-6.00 Night Vision
Hotel Chocolat Unwrapped Channel 4, 8pm
Chocoholics assemble: it is possible to get a cacao contact high from this brand profile, back for a second series. The high point of this kind of show is the product development, and so it proves with this look at the high-end chocolate brand’s “inventing rooms” and its venture into the world of baked goods. There is also a more hard-nosed look at the company’s expansion into America. Victoria Segal
Sky Arts 6.00am Classic FM’s Rising Stars 2023 7.00 Classic FM’s Rising Stars 2021 8.00 The Joy of Painting (AD) 9.00 Tales of the Unexpected (AD) 10.00 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 11.00 Discovering (AD) 12.00 The Movies 1.00pm Tales of Unexpected (AD) 2.00 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (b/w) 3.00 The Seventies (AD) 4.00 Discovering (AD) 5.00 Portrait Artist of the Year 2021 (AD) 6.00 Tales of the Unexpected (AD) 7.00 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 8.00 The World in a Painting: Caravaggio’s Comb 9.15 Beyond the Brush (AD) 10.15 Wonderland: Gothic (AD) 11.15 Douglas Adams: The Man Who Imagined Our Future (AD) 12.45am Miyazaki: Spirit of Nature (AD) 2.20 FILM: Cover Your Ears (15, 2023) 4.10 The Art of the Garden 5.05am-6.00 The Movies
6.30am Deal or No Deal (AD) 7.30 Dress to Impress (AD, SL) 8.25 Olivia and Alex: Parenthood (AD) 9.30 The Only Way Is Essex 10.30 The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City 11.20 The Real Housewives of Orange County 12.15pm Dinner Date (AD) 1.15 Supermarket Sweep 2.15 The Floor USA (AD) 3.10 The Only Way Is Essex 4.10 The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City 5.00 The Real Housewives of Orange County 6.00 Celebrity Catchphrase (AD) 7.00 The Floor USA (AD) 8.00 The 1% Club (AD) 9.00 The Princess Diaries. New series. Princess Andre returns 10.00 Love Island: The Debrief 10.30 Family Guy (AD) 11.30 American Dad! (AD) 12.35am Bob’s Burgers (AD) 1.30-1.55am Plebs (AD, SL)
8.00 This Farming Life (r) 9.00 The Beauty Queen and the Catfish (r) 11.15 Scotcast 11.45pm-12.00 Growing Up Scottish (r)
S4C 6.00am Cyw 12.00 News; Weather 12.05pm Codi Pac (r) 12.30 Heno (r) 1.00 Eigra (r) 1.30 Arfordir Cymru: Sir Benfro (r) 2.00 News; Weather 2.05 Prynhawn Da 3.00 News; Weather 3.05 Gwesty Aduniad (r) 4.00 Awr Fawr: Blociau Lliw (r) 4.05 Twm Twrch (r) 4.15 Fferm Fach (r) 4.30 Blero yn Mynd i Ocido (r) 4.45 Byd Tad-Cu (r) 5.00 Stwnsh: Dreigiau — Marchogion Berc (r) 5.25 Larfa (r) 5.30 Y Doniolis (r) 5.35 Dyffryn Mwmin (r) 6.00 Y Ci Perffaith (r) 6.30 Pobol y Cwm 6.57 News 7.00 Heno 7.30 News; Weather 8.00 Gemau’r Gymanwlad 2026. The fifth night in Glasgow 10.30-11.35pm Y Fets (r)
STREAMING CHOICE
Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark HBO Max
Part stand-up comedy special, part on-stage therapy session, this comedy set finds the ex-podcast host and indie actor at a dark place in his life, dealing with the loss of his partner, the director Lynn Shelton, and navigating his father’s dementia. The surprise is in how Maron uses his grief as a store of energy, resulting in 60 minutes of
8.55am Heir Hunters 10.00 Four in
a Bed 12.40pm Come Dine with Me
(AD) 3.20 Four in a Bed 5.50 George
Clarke’s Old House, New Home (AD)
6.55 Location, Location, Location
7.55 Grand Designs. Kevin McCloud
follows a couple’s project to
transform a 1960s forester’s lodge
into a unique Japanese home,
complete with a tatami room and
sliding paper walls (6/12) (AD)
9.00 Oti and Richard’s South African
Odyssey. Oti and Richard explore
the province of KwaZulu-Natal (AD)
10.00 24 Hours in A&E. A
12-year-old girl is treated after
falling down a flight of stairs (AD)
11.05 24 Hours in A&E. A girl is
treated after being hit by a car and
knocked under a bus (AD)
12.10am 999: On the Front Line
1.15 24 Hours in A&E (AD)
3.25am-4.00 A Place in the Sun
6.00am George and Mildred 7.05
Classic Emmerdale (AD) 8.05
Classic Coronation Street (AD) 9.10
A Touch of Frost (AD) 11.20
Heartbeat (AD) 1.30pm Midsomer
Murders (AD) 3.30 Classic
Emmerdale (AD) 4.40 Classic
Coronation Street (AD) 5.50
Heartbeat (AD) 6.55 Heartbeat (AD)
8.00 Vera. When a man’s body is
dredged up from a slurry pit on a
remote farm, Vera must connect the
dots between the victim and a
wounded immigrant (3/4) (AD)
10.00 Grantchester. Sidney receives
anonymous phone calls (1/6) (AD)
11.00 Grantchester. A village cricket
match results in murder (2/6) (AD)
11.50 Trial & Retribution.
A honeymooner vanishes (1/2)
1.25am-2.25 Wycliffe. Tragedy
hits a wedding party (1/9)
8.00am America the Bountiful 8.35
Treasures Decoded 9.35 Pirates:
Behind the Legends 10.35 Maps of
Power 11.50 Auschwitz: The Inside
Man 1.00pm America the Bountiful
1.35 Treasures Decoded 2.35
Pirates: Behind the Legends
3.35 Maps of Power 4.50
Auschwitz: The Inside Man
6.00 America the Bountiful
6.35 Treasures Decoded. The
Roman practice of crucifixion
7.35 Pirates: Behind the Legends.
The story of Grace O’Malley,
the Pirate Queen of Ireland
8.35 Maps of Power. Exploring
how geography has shaped the
decisions of governments (1/3)
9.50 Auschwitz: The Inside Man.
The untold story of Witold Pilecki
11.00 Pirates: Behind the Legends
12.00 Maps of Power 1.15am-2.00
America the Bountiful
structured dark comedy that touches on everything from love, ageing and death to cats, children and antisemitism. There is also warmth here. AM
FILM CHOICE
The Madness of King George (PG, 1994) Film4, 6.50pm
Nicholas Hytner directed this adaptation of Alan Bennett’s successful tragicomic stage play.
Live sport today
Live Tennis Sky Sports Tennis, 6am-8am Day one of the Los Cabos Open, the ATP 250 event, at Cabo Sports Complex, Mexico
Live Test Cricket:
West Indies v Pakistan
TNT Sports 1, 2.30pm-11
Coverage of the fourth day of
the first Test in the two-match
series in Trinidad and Tobago
Live The Hundred: Sunrisers
Leeds Women v Manchester
Super Giants Women
Sky Sports Cricket, 2.45pm-6,
Sky Sports Main Event, 3pm-6
(Start-time 3.00). Coverage of
the match in Headingley, Leeds
Live Tennis Sky Sports +, 4pm-4am, Sky Sports Tennis, 4pm-2am Coverage of day two of the Washington DC Open
Live The Hundred: Sunrisers
Leeds Men v Manchester
Super Giants Men
Sky Sports Main Event, Sky
Sports Cricket, 6pm-9.30
(Start-time 6.30). Coverage of
the match in Headingley, Leeds
6.00am Fish Town (r) 8.00 Billions
(r) (AD) 10.10 The White Lotus (r)
(AD) 12.25pm Homicide: Life on the
Street (r) 2.15 Billions (r) (AD) 4.25
The White Lotus (r) (AD)
6.45 The Gilded Age. Gladys and the
duke’s wedding is imminent (r) (AD)
7.55 The Gilded Age. Gladys has
trouble adjusting to her new
circumstances (5/8) (r) (AD)
9.00 Gomorrah: The Origins. Crime
drama prequel starring Luca
Lubrano. See picks of the day (r)
10.05 Gomorrah: The Origins.
Angelo receives an invitation that
could improve his situation.
See picks of the day (r)
11.05 Prisoner. A wider threat
begins to emerge (r) (AD)
12.05am The White Lotus (r) (AD)
2.35 Billions (r) (AD) 3.40 Urban
Secrets (r) 4.35 Sort Of (r) (AD)
5.05am-6.00 Urban Secrets (r)
7.30am Happy In The Morning: Henry Hall Ascot Heaters 7.45 FILM: Meet Mr Callaghan (U, 1954) (b/w) 9.30 FILM: The Spider and the Fly (U, 1949) (b/w) 11.30 Star Performance: Young Girl in an Apple Tree (b/w) 12.00 Railway Murders 1.00pm The Adventures of William Tell (b/w) 1.30 FILM: Home and Away (U, 1956) (b/w) 3.10 Jodie Foster: Hollywood Under the Skin 4.15 FILM: Doctor in Clover (PG, 1966) 6.15 Look at Life 6.25 Whiplash (b/w) 6.55 The Man from UNCLE 7.55 Buccaneer 9.00 FILM: Night of the Eagle (15, 1961) Thriller with Janet Blair (b/w) 10.45 Fortean TV 11.20 FILM: The One That Got Away (U, 1957) (b/w) 1.35am FILM: Bluebeard (18, 1972) 3.55-4.00 Daily Sketch Jigsaw Puzzle
ITV4
6.00am Magnum, PI 8.05 Dempsey
and Makepeace (AD) 9.10 Boon
10.15 The Champions 11.20 Robin
of Sherwood 12.30pm Magnum, PI
2.35 Dempsey and Makepeace (AD)
3.45 Boon 4.50 The Champions
5.55 Minder (AD)
7.00 Formula E Highlights.
Action from the Tokyo ePrix
8.00 King of the Roads. Action from
the Skerries 100 in Ireland
9.00 Ice Road Truckers. Hugh and
Rick transport prefabricated
sections of a new airport building
10.00 All Elite Wrestling: Collision.
Hard-hitting action, featuring stars
including FTR, Thunder Rosa,
Jon Moxley and Jay White
12.00 Dark Side of the Ring. The
Fabulous Moolah 12.55am Minder
(AD, SL) 1.50-2.40 BattleBots
3.30am-4.00 Auto Mundial
Sky Docs 6.00am The Nineties (r) 7.00 Discovering: Whoopi Goldberg (r) (AD) 8.00 The Directors (r) (AD) 9.00 Ren Faire (r) (AD) 10.00 The Man Who Played with Fire (r) 11.00 Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage and Reckoning (r) 12.00 FILM: Val (12, 2021) Documentary focusing on the daily life of actor Val Kilmer (AD) 2.00pm Williams & Mansell: Red 5 (r) (AD) 3.50 My Icon: Natasha Jonas (r) (AD) 4.00 The Directors (r) (AD) 5.00 Discovering: Whoopi Goldberg (r) (AD) 6.00 I Am Paul Walker (r) 7.50 My Icon: Casey Stoney (r) (AD) 8.00 Murder at the Cottage (r) (AD) 9.00 Murder at the Cottage (r) (AD) 10.00 I Am Patrick Swayze (r) (AD) 11.50 UFO. Double bill (r) (AD) 3.50am Adam Hills: Foot Fault (r) (AD) 5.00am-6.00 Discovering: Whoopi Goldberg (r) (AD)
The result is a highly entertaining costume drama about an embattled king who comes close to losing his crown and his marbles. What elevates the film is an astonishing performance from Nigel Hawthorne, who was nominated for an Oscar, reprising the role of King George III that he played in the stage version. The first-rate supporting cast includes Helen Mirren as Queen Charlotte and Ian Holm as the unconventional Dr Francis Willis. (110min) Wendy Ide
11.00am The Undefeated (PG,
1969) Western starring John Wayne
1.20pm Anne of the Thousand Days
(PG, 1969) Historical drama starring
Richard Burton 4.10 Twelve O’Clock
High (U, 1949) Second World War
drama starring Gregory Peck (b/w)
6.50 The Madness of King George
(PG, 1994) Period drama starring
Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren and
Rupert Everett. See film choice (AD)
9.00 American Star (15, 2024)
An assassin completing his final
assignment is drawn to a ghostly
shipwreck. Thriller starring Ian
McShane and Nora Arnezeder
11.10 Sexy Beast (18, 2000) A
retired safe-breaker living in Spain
receives an unwelcome visit from
his former boss. Crime thriller with
Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley (AD)
12.55am-3.15 Black Sea (15, 2014)
Thriller starring Jude Law
6.00am Teleshopping 7.20 The Bill
8.15 Doctors 9.25 Classic Holby
City 10.45 Casualty (AD) 11.40 The
Bill 12.50pm Classic EastEnders
2.00 Neighbours 3.00 Pie in the Sky
4.05 Lovejoy 5.20 Waiting for God
6.00 Last of the Summer Wine
8.00 ’Allo ’Allo! German generals
plan to meet at the cafe in disguise
8.35 ’Allo ’Allo! Rene sets out
to retrieve the paintings
9.10 ’Allo ’Allo! The Colonel,
Gruber, Bertorelli and Leclerc
are held ransom by Denise
9.40 New Tricks. Pullman agrees to
reinvestigate the case of a teenager
who was abducted (7/7) (AD)
11.00 Silent Witness.
A schoolteacher is missing (AD)
1.30am Lovejoy 2.25 Waiting for
God 2.55 Darby and Joan (SL)
4.00am-6.00 Teleshopping
6.10am Abandoned Engineering
(AD) 8.00 Bangers & Cash (AD)
10.00 Secret Nazi Bases 11.00
World War Two from Above 12.00
Antiques Roadshow 2.00pm
Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics
(AD) 4.00 Secret Nazi Bases 5.00
World War Two from Above
6.00 Antiques Roadshow
7.00 Asia. How animals survive
when northern Asia is transformed
by snow and ice (AD)
8.00 Bangers & Cash: Restoring
Classics. American beach bike (AD)
9.00 Bangers & Cash (AD)
10.00 Bangers & Cash: Restoring
Classics. A VW Beetle (AD)
11.00 Bangers & Cash: Restoring
Classics. A Mazda MX-5 (AD)
12.00 Bangers & Cash (AD) 1.00am
Find It, Fix It, Flog It (AD) 2.00
Great British Railway Journeys
3.00am-6.10 Teleshopping
S
S
L
Y
I
A
T H
M E
I
I
S
E
M
S
S
Y
N
O
R
Moderate No 695
168 31 300
37 270 35
276 33 210
79 154 116
2 2 3
8
15
18
21
77 92
When complete, the strip below the grid can be split into eight pairs of numbers. Adding the numbers in a pair gives one of the 16 numbers in the grid. Multiplying them gives a different number in the grid. For example, a 4 and 6 in the strip could be paired to make 10 (4+6) and 24 (4x6) in the grid. Enter each sum below the corresponding number in the grid. The blanks in the strip must be deduced, bearing in mind the numbers are listed in ascending order.
B
S C
G O
O M
L E
V
W
The next Tetonor puzzle will appear on Thursday
Mini Sudoku, extra Codeword,
O P
O T
KenKen Medium No 6896
White to play.
This position is from
Kuandykuly-Liu, Montesilvano
2026.
White is two pieces ahead here. This is a huge material advantage that would normally be expected to result in an easy win. However, Black does have five(!) pawns in compensation, the white king is exposed and there is a nasty pin against the d3-knight. 1 Re3 isn’t bad but what is more to the point?
B A
Codeword No 5904
Every letter in this crossword-style grid is represented by a number from 1 to 26. Each letter of the alphabet appears in the grid at least once. Use the letters already provided to work out the identity of further letters. Enter letters in the main grid and the smaller reference grid until all 26 letters of the alphabet have been accounted for. Proper nouns are excluded. Yesterday’s solution, right
H L
Y O
Cluelines Stuck on Codeword? To receive 4 random clues call 0901 293 6262 or text TIMECODE to 64343. Calls cost £1 plus your telephone company’s network access charge. Texts cost £1 plus your standard network charge. For the full solution call 0905 757 0142. If you have an old newspaper and need clues from the past 7 days, call 0905 624 0024. Calls to 0905 cost £1 per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge. SP: Spoke, 0333 202 3390 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5.30pm).
Lexica Easy No 9019 Hard No 9020
Slide the letters either horizontally or vertically back into the grid to produce a completed crossword. Letters are allowed to slide over other letters
Futoshiki No 5444
Kakuro No 4403
Train Tracks No 2929
© PUZZLER MEDIA
Lay tracks to enable the train to travel from village A to village B. The numbers indicate how many sections of track go in each row and column. There are only straight sections and curved sections. The track cannot cross itself.
Solve all five cryptic clues using each letter underneath once only
1 Volcano erupting engulfs vessel (5)
2 Large gun member of clergy picked up (6)
3 King entering coastal area is violation (6)
4 Heathen in playing field (7)
5 Detective with tough neighbourhood (8)
A A A B C C C C
D D E E E F H I
I I I L N N N N
N O O R R S T T
our new online Quick Play puzzles at thetimes.com/ puzzles and on the Live app
your mind with puzzle books from
No 2631
timesbookshop.co.uk
Fill the grid using the numbers 1 to 9 only. The numbers in each horizontal or vertical run of white squares add up to the total in the triangle to its left or above it. The same number may occur more than once in a row or column, but not within the same run of white squares.
Y
L
Brain Trainer
Brain Trainer
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
9 10
12 13 14
16 17 18
20 21
22 23
Across 1 Billiard table fabric (5) 4 Points of origin (7) 8 Absence (3-10) 9 Through the sky (8) 10 Badger’s home (4) 12 Draw casually (6) 13 Period of intense personal
B A D G E R
or political turbulence (6)
IT
Solution to Crossword 10,219
8 3 7 2 7 + ( 0 , 1 8 7 ( 1 $ $ * 1 1 ' : , 1 ' % $ * ) $ ' ( ' , 7 & 8 8 < ( $ 5 6 4 8 , 5 5 ( / / 8 7 3 , * ' ( 0 ( $ 1 5 $ ) ) , $ < 7 ( 7 ( 5 - $ 1 ( ( < 5 ( / 2 * 6 5 0 ( / 2 + 2 5 ' ( / 8 & . , / < ( 2 1 ( 8 1 / ' 2 : 1 7 2 7 + ( : , 5 (
Need help with today’s puzzle? Call 0905 757 0143 to check the answers. Calls cost £1 per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge. SP: Spoke, 0333 202 3390 (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm).
ANSWER
ANSWER
ANSWER
Bridge Andrew Robson
The main aim in the biennial
European Bridge National Teams
Championships is to finish in the
top eight in your series, qualifying
for the World Bridge Team
Championships the following year.
In the 57th such event, recently
concluded in Riga, Latvia, the
England Open Team finished 6th
and the Mixed Team finished 5th
— job done nicely. The Senior
Team lost three of their last four
matches and sadly dropped to 9th.
The England Women qualified
in the best way possible — win-
ning the gold medal. Many con-
gratulations to their cross-genera-
tional team with an age range of
almost 60 years. All three pairs
finished near the top of the indi-
vidual Butler scoring: Charlotte
Bedford-Lucy Norman (both in
their teens) +.87 (imps per board),
Nicola Smith-Nevena Senior +.67,
Helen Erichsen-Fiona Brown +.49.
On today’s deal from England v
Poland, what would you do as
South after the bidding goes 3♠ -
Pass - Pass to you?
Some bid 4♦ — but is that an
action that rates to gain much?
Others, such as the Polish South at
Table One, chose to go quietly —
understandable, you could be
walking into a hornet’s nest. And
so Nicola Smith, West, who won
the European Championships for
an incredible ninth time (the first
was in 1975), got to declare 3♠.
North led ♣2 to ♣J and ♣A.
There is only one switch that
defeats 3♠ — and that’s ♥Q (lead-
ing to a third-round ruff). When
South switched to ♠2, declarer
was soon drawing trumps, finess-
Teams
Table One
L O
O A T
16 High-flying songbird (4) 17 Women’s nightwear (8) 20 Persistently trouble (7) 21 Pollex of the human hand (5) 22 Light amplification device (5) 23 Great distress (7)
Down 1 Refuse sacks (3,4) 2 Archipelago including Skye
and Mull (5,8) 3 Gateway (8) 4 Appropriate, proper (6) 5 Pakistani language (4) 6 Fireplace remnants (7) 7 Skin moisture (5) 11 Powerful racing car (8) 14 Sweet fizzy powder (7) 15 Young of a sow and boar (6) 16 Identifying sticker (5) 18 Bring out of sleep (5) 19 More than (4)
Dealer: West, Vulnerability: Neither
♠A103 ♥K65 ♦Q95 ♣Q1042
♠6 ♥AJ1074 ♦K6 ♣KJ976
♠KQJ9875 ♥982 ♦10 ♣83
N W E S
♠42 ♥Q3 ♦AJ87432 ♣A5
S W(Smith) N E(Senior)
3♠(1) end
(1) You could hardly get a more textbook 3♠ opener – weak with seven good spades.
Table Two
S(Brown) W N(Erichsen) E 3♠ Pass Pass 3NT(1) Pass Pass Dbl(2) 4♦(3) Pass Pass(4) Pass
(1) I like it! As the late Hugh Kelsey famously said, “When you’ve shown a stop- per in the bidding, you don’t need one in the play” (the defence may misfire, thinking you’re covered in spades). (2) Bold but many (like me) have the agree- ment that double asks partner to lead the other major (ie hearts). (3) Brown can’t know that her partner has a hand to make 3NT. (4) Tempting to bid on (4NT or 5♦) but thinks East has eg ♥AQJxx over her ♥Kxx.
W T
ing in hearts and chalking up +140. Fiona Brown made her 4♦ for a seven-IMP pick-up. Here’s the line to make the overtrick. Win West’s ♠K lead with ♠A and lead ♦Q, covered by ♦K, ♦A (and ♦10). Next, cross to ♦9 and lead ♥5 to ♥Q. Now ♣A and ♣5 to ♣10 (and ♣J) endplays East. andrew.robson@thetimes.co.uk
EASY 57 x 2 – 18 ÷ 4 – 7 x 5 + 54 – 19 ÷ 12 TIMES ITSELF
MEDIUM 57 + 211 ÷ 13 x 3 DOUBLE
HARDER 578 – 96 – 178 + 225 x 3 6 1/ OF IT x 5 ÷ 4 ÷ 9 SQUARE
Set Square No 4406
Killer Moderate No 10,846
Killer Tough No 10,847
As with standard Sudoku, fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9. Each set of cells joined by dotted lines must add up to the target number in its top-left corner. Within each set of cells joined by dotted lines, a digit cannot be repeated.
IT ÷ 20 + 122 2 1/ OF IT – 52 10 3/ OF IT +
From these letters, make words of three or more letters, always including the central letter. Answers must be in the Concise Oxford Dictionary, excluding capitalised words, plurals, conjugated verbs (past tense etc), adverbs ending in LY, comparatives and superlatives. How you rate 9 words, average; 13, good; 17, very good; 22, excellent
Yesterday’s answers chore, cor, core, corse, croze, her, hero, hers, hoer, horse, hoser, ocher, ochre, orc, ore, rec, rho, roc, roe, rose, scherzo, score, shore, sore, zero
Cell Blocks No 5787
© PUZZLER MEDIA
© PUZZLER MEDIA
Please note, BODMAS does not apply
Quick Cryptic 3364
Codeword 5903
GK Crossword 348
Sudoku 16,977
Sudoku 16,978
Lexica 9017 Cell Blocks 5786 Set Square 4405
Sudoku 16,979
Futoshiki 5443
Today’s solutions
Killer 10,844
Concise Quintagram
1 Bossy 2 Bassy 3 Fossil 4 Blossom 5 Processed
Word watch
Saikei (b) An ornamental miniature landscape (Collins) Muntin (a) A supporting bar for a window (Chambers) Polyonymous (c) Known by several names (OED)
Killer 10,845
Chess — Winning Move
1 Be5! Rxd3 2 Qxd3! Qxd3 completes the spadework and now White demonstrates the power of the discovered check: 3 Rxg7+ Kh8 4 Rg3+ Kh7 5 Rxd3 with an extra rook and bishop.
Divide the grid into square or rectangular blocks, each containing one digit only. Every block must contain the number of cells indicated by the digit inside it.
Enter each of the numbers from 1 to 9 in the grid, so that the six sums work. We’ve placed two numbers to get you started. Each sum should be calculated left to right or top to bottom.
Kakuro 4402
Train Tracks 2928
S A L A M I
C L A S S
P E E L
KenKen 6895
Lexica 9018
D A N C E
X L
J B R I G
Cryptic Quintagram
Sakuro 4805
1 Canoe 2 Cannon 3 Breach 4 Infidel 5 District
Easy 100 Medium 2 Harder 121
Quiz
1 Tunisia 2 Bing Crosby 3 Popeye 4 Three: Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May, Liz Truss 5 Portugal 6 The Spanish Inquisition 7 Erwin Rommel 8 Sheffield 9 Build Me Up Buttercup 10 Baden- Baden 11 Chaïm Soutine 12 David II 13 Abertay University 14 Roy Keane 15 Jaguar (Panthera onca)
Sudoku Mild No 16,980 Difficult No 16,981 Super fiendish No 16,982 Word watch
David Parfitt
Saikei a The third-largest whale species b An ornamental miniature landscape c A form of short story
Muntin a A supporting bar for a window b A small deer with a barking call c A hillock
Polyonymous a A cyclops in Greek myth b Habitually optimistic c Known by several names
The Times Daily Quiz Olav Bjortomt
1 Tunis is the capital of which country?
2 Bing Sings the Hits (1954) and Bing with a Beat (1957) are albums by which American crooner?
3 Which sailor is voiced by Jack Mercer in the 1942 cartoon Olive Oyl and Water Don’t Mix?
4 The Conservative Party has produced how many female prime ministers?
5 Mário Soares (1924- 2017) is regarded as the father of democracy in which EU country?
6 Which three-part Monty Python sketch features Cardinals Ximénez, Fang and Biggles?
The Times Quick Cryptic No 3365 by Joker
Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9.
7 Which German general defeated the British Eighth Army at the 1942 Battle of Gazala in Libya?
8 Which South Yorkshire city is home to the National Emergency Services Museum?
ALAMY
11 Which Russian-born French artist painted Flayed Rabbit (c 1921) and Flayed Ox (c 1925)?
12 Which king of Scots was aged five when he began his 41-year reign in 1329?
13 In 1997, which Scottish institution became the first university in the world to offer degrees in computer games?
14 Which Irish football legend heavily inspired the Ted Lasso character Roy Kent?
9 In the closing credits of There’s Something About Mary, the cast lip-sync to which Foundations song?
15 The western hemisphere’s largest cat, which species is pictured?
10 Ivan Turgenev’s 1867 novel Smoke is set in which German spa town?
Across
7
Loiter in low church (5)
8 Broadcasts with cool craft (7)
10 Hold down work with part of
the media (7) 11 A portion of spinach or maize
snack (5) 12 Quiet — new time traveller is
breaking it (9) 14 Odd characters in crude signal
(3) 15 Gently handle headless fish
that’s slippery (3) 16 Fellows interrupting devil
allowed to execute (9) 18 Taken in and defeated, losing
billions (5) 20 What’s driven thespian to
chase leading parts in The Rivals (7) 22 Not hypocritical after religious
education (7) 23 Short and wide building
Sakuro No 4805
Place the numbers 1 to 9 in the spaces so that the number in each circle is equal to the sum of the four surrounding spaces, and each colour total is correct
For interactive puzzles visit thetimes.com
Down
1
Rude nature of open elitism
developing over son (12)
2 Institution treated hips a lot?
(8) 3 Footwear was highly polished
but not new (4) 4 Badger lashes out (6) 5 Manage cutting mostly
superior colour of hair (8) 6 Fashionable bird Kenneth’s
abandoned (4) 9 Defend what Speaker does
for country under another government (12) 13 One tried moving to get lined
up (8) 14 Horse box enthusiast (8) 17 Person giving many a tap
salesman’s spiel (6) 19 Fighting vehicle to fail
disastrously (4) 21 What begins attaching leather
© PUZZLER MEDIA
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Artificial - WARNING: translated output contains large residual English-looking blocks
结论：翻译质量未通过 (Quality Audit Failed) 译文在完整性和忠实度方面存在严重缺陷。最核心的问题是严重的幻觉 (Hallucinations)：译文引入了大量来源文本中完全不存在的内容（如伊朗战争、天然气价格危机、具体的政治投票百分比等），同时遗漏了源文中的大量关键板块。
译文出现了大规模的“无中生有”，这些内容在提供的 SOURCE PREVIEW 中完全没有出现： - 虚构主题：出现了关于“伊朗战争”、“天然气价格上涨”、“欧洲能源危机”的长篇讨论。 - 虚构数据：出现了“22% 的选票”、“14% 的 18-24 岁人群”等具体的政治统计数据。 - 虚构人物/事件：出现了“帕特·麦克法登 (Pat McFadden) 访问荷兰”、“海牙青年点 (Jongerenpunt)”等详细情节。 - 结论：译者可能误用了其他文档的翻译结果，或在缺乏上下文的情况下进行了极其严重的过度推演。
源文中的多个核心板块在译文中被完全跳过或简化： - 缺失文章： - 关于 AstraZeneca (阿斯特拉捷尼卡) 的详细分析（Wainua 药物失败、$80 billion 销售目标、专利悬崖等）被完全遗漏。 - 关于 Paramount Skydance 计划收购 Warner Bros Discovery 的报道被完全遗漏。 - 关于 Chelsea 寻找 Jordan Henderson 的体育快讯被遗漏。 - 缺失细节： - 第一页中关于“39C 热浪”和“西班牙警察在马略卡岛驱散抗议者”的快讯缺失。 - 关于“Robert Bush 葬礼导演违规”的快讯缺失。
75096 等编号在正文中未正确体现。[[IMG_XXXX]] 等内部清理/占位标签，属于交付缺陷。该译本存在灾难性的质量问题。它不仅未能完成对源文的翻译，反而创造了一篇与源文完全不符的虚构文章。
建议：全篇重译，严禁使用任何未经验证的外部上下文。