THE i PAPER

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Thursday 20 August 2026

No. 4,912

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LIFE

How to keep your summer holiday glow

Expert tips

P36

WORLD

Zelensky's

moment of peril

» President fires top aide over corruption inquiry

» New test of his resilience

P12

P15,56

New skin cancer

vaccine can stop disease and offers hope for era of personalised jabs

Promising treatment sequences a tumour's DNA, before making patient's immune system attack their cancer cells to prevent disease returning

» Patients with high-risk melanoma remained free of cancer for longer after surgery » Treatment uses same mRNA technology that was used to make Covid vaccines » Landmark trial still needs peer review, although independent experts praise 'important moment' and 'proof of principle that personalised cancer vaccines work' » The results have potential to become good news for people with other cancers

P10

OPINION

Jason Arday's death must be a moment of change for Britain

by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

P19

EDUCATION

GCSEs 2026: first-choice college places for students who miss out on grades

P11

HEALTH

Emma Barnett

I felt blindsided and robbed by hysterectomy

P17

CULTURE - WHEN CLASSICAL MUSICIANS LOSE THEIR HEARING P38 | IAN DUNT P22 | FOOTBALL - £51M KONSA TO ARSENAL P51

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THURSDAY

20

AUGUST

Quote of the day

I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours JEROME K JEROME

Birthdays

Robert Plant (below), singer-songwriter, 78; Andrew Garfield, actor, 43; David Wallcams, comedian/author, 55; Amy Adams, actress, 52; KRS-One, rapper, 61; Sophie Aldred, actress/TV presenter, 64; Jamie Cullum, jazz musician, 47; Judd Trump, snooker player, 37

Anniversaries

Sunday 20 August 1882 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture has its premiere in Moscow Written to commemorate Russia's defence against Napoleon's invasion, the spectacular composition eventually became one of the world's best-known orchestral works

index

Crossword	25
TV & Radio	26
Puzzles	27
Culture	38
Money	42
Weather	47

The News Matrix

The day at a glance

Why are lamb Timmy and Shaun the Sheep competing against each other? See p 15

SCOTLAND

Mad cow disease confirmed at farm

A case of classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has been confirmed in a cow on a farm in Dumfries and Galloway. The Scottish Government said investigations to identify the origin of the disease are ongoing as is standard procedure for a case of BSE - commonly known as mad cow disease.

MOTORING

Driving in closed lanes proves costly

Smart motorway drivers have been hit with criminal convictions and more than £100,000 in fines and court costs this year for ignoring "red X" lane closure signs, research has found. Dozens of motorists appear in court in England and Wales every month after being caught in lanes that have been closed.

COURTS

Man who drove at 139mph banned

A speeding driver who reached 139mph and turned his lights off to get away from police has been handed an 18-month driving ban. Morgan Sapsford-Howard, 20, from Attleborough in Norfolk, was arrested eight days after the red Ford Fiesta he was driving was spotted on the A11 at Thetford, Norfolk Police said.

IRELAND

€225,000 raised for family in tragic crash

A fundraiser for four members of the same family who were seriously injured in a horror crash in Co Kildare has raised €225,000 (£193,000).

The GoFundMe was set up by a friend of one of the injured women, who said the family are "facing a long and challenging road ahead".

Sisters Ella Hendricken, Niamh Kinsella and Alma Kinsella, aged in their 20s and 30s, and a young boy were seriously injured when a car crashed into their vehicle head-on in the early hours of Sunday.

Five teenagers in a stolen car, which was travelling the wrong way down the M9 motorway, died.

CRIME

Investigation after woman dies in fire

A murder investigation has commenced after a 48-year-old woman died and a further nine people were taken to hospital following a fire at a property in Hounslow, west London. Officers were called to a property on Berkley Avenue at just after Jam yesterday following reports of a fire.

The List

Childhood memories are made of this

Treasured childhood memories are more about small unplanned moments with family than big occasions, according to research. The survey from Samsung found that family holidays were most fondly remembered. The fondest childhood memories are:

• 1 Family holidays - 43%
• 2 Watching films or TV together with family - 32%
• 3 Family meals - 26%
• 4 Birthdays and celebrations - 19%
• 5 School memories - 18%
• 6 Car journeys - 16%
• 7 Playing board games or card games together - 14%
• 8 Playing in the garden - 13%
• 9 Bedtime routines - 12%
• 10 Going to the park - 8%

POLICE

Death of two men treated as murder

A manhunt is under way following post-mortem examinations after two people were found stabbed to death in Glasgow. Both men were found in a flat in the west end of the city on Sunday. Paul Lafferty, 50, and Gary Beaton, 54, were found with serious injuries within a property in Chancellor Street, Partick.

ANIMALS

100-year-old tortoise gets mobile again

This tortoise, believed to be more than 100 years old, is back on the move after undergoing life-changing surgery. Trotter had to have one of his front legs removed when he was attacked by a wild animal. The tortoise was referred to Vets for Pets in Hereford after his seriously injured leg became infected.

SOCIETY

17% rise in parking tickets in one year

UK drivers have been hit by a 17 per cent annual rise in the number of parking tickets issued by private companies. Meanwhile the delay in the introduction of a legislation-backed code of conduct for the sector reached seven years. A record 16.9 million parking tickets were handed out by private businesses in the year to the end of March.

ENVIRONMENT

Swimmers warned about toxic algae

Swimmers have been warned against taking a dip in London's first official bathing site on the Thames due to pollution from toxic algae.

The Environment Agency has also told locals to avoid going in the water along a broader stretch of the river and warned it was "stably important" to keep dogs away.

The Ham and Kingston bathing site at Kingston upon Thames in south west London opened in May in the latest tranche of new spots for open water swimming.

It became the first designated bathing section on the river and is subject to regular water tests until the end of September.

The Page 3 Profile UKETSU. MAN IN THE PAPER MASK

A mystery writer...

Uketsu has become one of Japan's most popular horror-mystery author's despite his identity remaining a mystery.

When he appears in public he always wears a white papier-mâché mask, a black bodysuit, and uses a voice changer that makes him sound like a young girl.

But his strange appearance hasn't stopped his novel, Strange Maps, topping bestseller and fiction charts in Japan.

How did he rise to fame?

Uketsu first made a name for himself by posting crazy videos on YouTube, where he has more than two million subscribers.

His most popular cliplified Mysterious Story of Real Estate, which sees him examining building floor plans and discussing where dead bodies could be stashed, became the basis of his first major novel, Strange Houses.

Readers of Uketsu's books are invited to try and solve mysteries by examining clues they are show such as disturbing drawings.

More than one million English versions of his books have been printed, and Strange Pictures was shortlisted for a Dagger Award this year, one of the UK's most prestigious crime fiction accolades.

So why is he anonymous?

The author told The Daily Telegraph he decided to keep his identity a mystery when he was working in a supermarket because he was embarrassed at being recognised.

And he reckons that concealing his identity has been a big part of his success.

He told the Japan Times: 'It wasn't until I started making horror videos that I realised my appearance could actually benefit the things I make.'

Brendan McFadden

THEATRE

Sink to the fore for West End debut gong

US actress Sadie Sink and musician Tom Fletcher are among those nominated for the Stage Debut Awards for West End performances.

They will compete for prizes next month alongside stars such as Harry Potter actor Ralph Fiennes, Oscar-nominated star Brendan Gleeson and I Savor actor Robert Aramayo.

Stranger Things actress Sink is among 10 nominees up for best debut performer, joined by her Ramos And Juliet co-star Noah Jape.

Arti Shah has been nominated for her role in Indibigine The Musical, which sees her work closely with puppeteer James Hameed to bring the marmalade-loving bear to life.

Newspapers support recycling. The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2024 was 37.2%.

© Published by Harmsworth Media, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HX. Registered in England and Wales No. 00284425. Printed at Newsprinters Holdings Ltd (Brasbourne), Newsprinters Holdings Ltd (Knowsley), KP Services (Jersey) Ltd, Newsprinters Holdings Ltd (Saracencio), Lanarkshire; Irish Times (Citywest), Dublin, Ireland. Back issues available from Historic Newspapers, info@historic-newspapers.com Thursday 20 August 2026. Registered as a newspaper with the Post Office.

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NEWF 1-33

OPINION 18-22

TV 26-31

LIFE 34-37

CULTURE 38-41

MONKEY 42-45

SPORT 49-56

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2026

3

益社団法人

本外国

派員協会

STRANGE

PICTURES

TECHNOLOGY

Musicians 'squeezed out' by AI content

Musicians are being "squeezed out" and "marginalised" from their industry by AI, researchers have said. A study from Queen's University Belfast examined how AI is being used in music-streaming platforms, online retail for concert tickets and music-related content on social media.

TELEVISION

Solomon a wild card for 'Masked Singer'

Stacey Solomon has said it is a "dream come true" to join The Masked Singer UK. The TV personality will join a fellow new face, comedian and Celebrity Traitors winner Alan Carr, as part of a "Wild Cards panel of detectives" for the upcoming season of the ITV1 reality singing competition.

PEOPLE

Singer Snider 'sorry' about Osbourne post

Dee Snider has apologised to Kelly Osbourne after making claims about her late father Ozzy's song-writing credits. The Twisted Sister frontman, 71, shared a series of posts on X last week that took aim at the Black Sabbath singer. His daughter soon hit back, calling Snider's remarks "spectacularly classless".

SPORT

Boxer Taylor's final fight live on RTÉ

Boxer Katie Taylor's hometown fight at Croke Park will be shown live on Irish national broadcaster RTÉ. The 28-year-old light-welterweight will end her decorated career at the Dublin venue on 5 September and victory over Flora Pili will see her crowned undisputed world champion for the third time.

Letter from the Editor Oliver Duff e@theipaper.com

Warning! This paper contains good news

Good morning. Despite some suggestions to the contrary, the world is not necessarily going to hell in a handcart – and we are pleased to lead today's edition with cheering news.

The i Paper's motto on medical breakthroughs is simple: beware offering false hope. We aim to cover these stories accurately and clearly for you, puncturing hype.

Today's cover story is the news that a skin cancer vaccine can stop the disease from returning (page 10). This technology also has potential to revolutionise treatment for other types of cancer, creating a generation of tailor-made treatments.

But what else do you need to know? Well, this remains an experimental therapy. The landmark trial still needs peer review, because these results were released by the developers. Moderna and Merck (Independent experts did welcome the findings.)

Yes, the vaccine can stop high-risk melanoma from returning, but cannot prevent it in the first place. The treatment is still, at best, several years away from any approval in the NHS. And the price may be eye-watering.

So it's important to separate share-price surges from the clinical results, which will be presented later this autumn.

Ten years ago, the era of personalised treatments was an idea. Ever since, researchers have been trying to turn that dream into a reality – and they may now be succeeding. There will be hurdles ahead. But it is an achievement worth celebrating, a double-punch against cancer that teaches a patient's own immune system which cells to attack.

Good luck to everyone charting a path across this frontier of human knowledge.

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4

NEWS

RAILWAYS

Buckled track may have derailed train

By Neil Lancefield

A train derailment that injured 30 people happened after a track appeared to have buckled on what was the hottest day of the year.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said its investigation into the crash in Lewes, East Sussex, on 13 August would consider the weather conditions.

Investigators described the

fault as a “track geometry irregularity” and further noted that there had been “a sustained period of hot and dry weather” before the accident.

There is a risk of rails buckling during high temperatures as they can be 50°C when the air temperature is 30°C.

After the accident investigators received “several reports of rough riding” from passengers on

other trains at the same location, the RAIB said.

Preliminary analysis of the derailed Southern train’s onboard data recorder show it was travelling at about 65mph as it approached the point of derailment.

About 150 people were onboard the eight-carriage service from London Victoria to Eastbourne.

Three carriages ended up on their side, trapping passengers.

Mourners lay flowers on the beach near the Shoreham RNLI station YUI MOKATA

PEOPLE

Three drowned family members named by police

By Ellie Crabbe, Jack Hudson and Anahita Hossein-Pour

Three members of a British-Palestinian family who died after getting into difficulty in the sea off Shoreham have been named by police.

Hassan El-Khawas, 55, his partner Zeina Alayn, 37, and their 14-year-old daughter Sara El-Khawas are thought to have gone into the water to swim alongside a young female family member near Shoreham Fort in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, on Tuesday afternoon.

Police, paramedics, coastguard crews and a lifeboat went to the scene where four people were pulled from the water.

Three were pronounced dead, while the young girl remains in hospital in a critical condition.

It is understood the family travelled from their home in London to visit Shoreham, officers said.

Adnan Hmidan, chairman of the Palestinian Forum in Britain, said the girl was the couple’s daughter and that two other children were on the shore at the time. They are being cared for by an uncle.

“Like many Palestinian families, members of their extended family have lived in Britain for many years and have built a strong and close-knit community here,” he said. “Our

thoughts and prayers are with the entire family, particularly the children, who are facing an unimaginable loss.”

The forum said the family had roots in the Rashidich refugee camp in Lebanon.

Sussex Police said its investigation remains open, but it is thought the deaths were a tragic accident.

Sources have said there is no evidence to suggest a fishing net was involved.

The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, described the deaths as “a terrible family tragedy” said warned of the dangers of open water swimming.

He said: “The thing I can say – and there is still, I think, a further heatwave to come in this summer period – is just to remind people about the dangers of open water swimming.

“The coldness, even when it feels hot outside, it can shock people and that can cause the difficulties. So people need to remember that.”

The Palestinian embassy said it was “closely monitoring the incident”, while Adnan Hmidan, chairman of the Palestinian Forum in Britain, paid tribute to the family.

HEALTH

Vaping ‘harms young people’

By Ella Pickover

Leading children’s doctors warned that vaping “should not be seen as a harmless part of growing up” after a new review linked it to higher rates of breathing problems in children.

Experts also warned that vaping is a gateway to smoking and could lead to a number of health harms.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health found that vaping was linked to a number of different health harms including respiratory issues such as wheezing and coughing, allergies, sleep issues, eye symptoms, mental health problems including anxiety, depression and panic disorder, and adverse effects on oral and dental health such as inflammation, ulcers and dry mouth.

“This comprehensive review highlights the emerging risks of vaping and e-cigarette use on children,” the authors wrote.

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NEW! 5-33

OPINION 18-22

TV 26-31

LIFE 34-37

GATEWAY 38-41

MONKEY 42-45

SPORT 49-56

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2026

5

DarkSky winners see stars

DarkSky International has announced the winners of its 2026 'Capture the Dark' photography contest, including a hut perched atop Medicine Lake Volcano in California, shot by Ross Steenland, and dazzling aurora over the Prince Christian Sound in Greenland by Dennis Lehtonen. The organisation's goal is to preserve the night-time environment. CAPTURE THE DARK'S WNS

ASTRONOMY

Fastest star in Milky Way found hurtling past massive black hole

By Lewis Smith

The fastest star in the Milky Way has been identified as travelling at up to 56 million mph (90 million kph) – or 15,500 miles every second.

It is so fast that the star, named S301, travels at about 8 per cent of the speed of light.

The newly discovered star could travel between the Sun and Earth within two hours, 100,000 times faster than a commercial jet could cover the same distance.

Speed aside, S301 has excited astrophysicists because of its proximity to Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way.

It passes close enough to the black hole – closer than any other known star – that scientists believe they

have an opportunity to test part of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity.

The distance between the star and Sagittarius A* is so small, in cosmic terms, that spacetime around the star is thought to be distorted.

This offers the possibility of confirming Sagittarius A* spins and how fast.

This would provide an unprecedented test of Einstein's idea that a spinning black hole drags spacetime along with it and twists it.

'For the first time, we would actually be able to measure very directly the spin of a massive black hole, which would be a key test

of Einstein's theory,' said Stefan Gillessen, of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Garching, Germany.

The discovery of S301 was published in the journal Nature.

The Nobel prize winner and MPE director Reinhard Genzel added: 'Decades carefully tracking stars orbiting our galaxy's central black hole, Sagittarius A*, have led to this breakthrough discovery of a very promising star.

'Because it orbits so close to Sagittarius A*, S301 opens a new window to the fundamental properties of spacetime in this extreme black-hole environment.'

S301, was detected using the Very

Large Telescope Interferometer at the European Southern Observatory in Chile.

Felix Mng, a PhD student on the MPE research team, said: 'With this star we hope to measure, within the next 10 years, the spin of the black hole. That would be a dream come true.'

S301 is thought to have been one of a binary pair of stars that were torn apart by the influence of Sagittarius A*.

While S301 became trapped in an orbit round the black hole, its twin is believed to have been flung away with such velocity that it may have gone beyond the outer reaches of the Milky Way.

NATURE

Whales feast on Arctic 'fish bonanza' in warming sea

By Stephen Beech

Whales are being drawn to 'feeding frenzies' within the Arctic Circle by warming waters, research has revealed.

Baleen whales are taking advantage of a newly opened-up fish 'bonanza' in the Greenland Sea – reaching to the Arctic Circle.

Scientists say their findings, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, show that while most species suffer from the effects of global warming, there are a few winners.

Professor Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen, from the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, said: 'We show that rising ocean temperatures and declining sea-ice cover have facilitated the widespread occurrence of baleen whales along the East Greenland coast.

'This has led to regular 'feeding frenzies' of fin whales, humpback whales, and minke whales – species which historically were only rarely observed in coastal East Greenland.'

Heide-Jørgensen along with colleagues in Greenland, Denmark, and Iceland said it could spell major changes up and down the food chain.

The Arctic and North Atlantic are some of the fastest warming regions on Earth.

Heide-Jørgensen and his colleagues estimate that altogether, 4,000 humpback whales, 6,000 fin whales, and 6,000 minke whales visited the Greenland Sea in the summer of 2024.

He said: 'There is little doubt that the three baleen whale species summering in East Greenland coastal waters do so primarily to feed.'

The team found that the trio of species visit the region mainly to hunt for capelin – a cold-loving fish.

Capelin have recently been shown to have shifted their feeding grounds since the mid-2000s from the relatively warmer waters north of Iceland towards the Greenland Sea.

The research team concluded that baleen whales have caught up and 'moved in for the kill'.

Heide-Jørgensen said: 'East Greenland is undergoing a major ecological shift. Ice-associated species such as narwhals are sharing their habitat with, or being displaced by, temperate baleen whales that generally avoid ice-covered waters.'

HERITAGE

Bronze Age site reveals potted history of brands

By Brendan McFadden

Brands existed in the Bronze Age well before they were established in modern society, a study has suggested.

Ancient pottery was analysed by a team from the University of Vienna to establish how people in the Quraysub oasis, a desert settlement in ancient Saudi

Arabia 3,200 years ago, marketed their painted ceramics.

The pottery was exported over hundreds of miles north to parts of the Southern Levant region of West Asia – such as the Tell el-Kheleifeh archaeological site in Jordan – and the Timna temple site in Egypt.

The team says the pottery, which features depictions of

animals and human rituals, is 'so distinctive, appealing and sought-after', that it must be considered a brand.

Marta Luciani, who led the study, said: 'Oasis-dwellers were resourceful and inventive enough to create their own ceramic repertoire: to cherish at home and eventually export abroad.' She added the discovery

sheds light on how communities were far from marginal and 'participated in wider networks of technological know-how' that was shared with neighbours.

The team conducted tests on the pottery, including examining minerals in the clay, to establish it originated from the area, which served as a major industrial, commercial and trading hub.

Humpback whales are just one of the species seen in the Greenland Sea

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6

NEWS

ECONOMY

PM blames Middle East conflict as UK inflation rises to four-month high

By Holly Williams and Emily Braeger

Andy Burnham has pledged to do what he can to help Britons through “really hard” times after figures showed inflation had surged to a four-month high.

The Prime Minister blamed the “effect of the conflict in the Middle East” as official data showed that Consumer Prices Index inflation hit 2.9 per cent last month, up from 2.6 per cent in June and the highest since March.

It followed a 13 per cent hike in Olgem’s energy price cap last month, which increased the average gas and electricity bill by £221 to £1,862 a year.

The Prime Minister vowed to do what he can to help people struggling with rising costs.

Speaking during a visit to the North East, Burnham said: “We can’t control though what is going on in the Middle East and the effect of the conflict there is now being felt in inflation here and in other countries around the world.

“But people can be sure that what I can do to help people, I will do.

“I realise these times are really hard but already people can see a month into office I have done things that will make a difference.”

Mel Stride said Labour’s tax rises and ‘business bashing’ were also to blame

The Chancellor, John Healey, said earlier there was “more to do to restore hope and build a stronger economy” following the inflation data.

With no signs of an end to the Iran war, experts have forecast more cost of living pressures ahead.

Some have suggested that inflation could peak at 3.5 per cent before the end of the year as energy and fuel prices surge.

Matt Swannell, chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club, said: “July’s uptick in inflation will mark the start of a sustained increase in inflationary pressures over the rest of the year.”

The Office for National Statistics said the steep rise in the July to Sep-

tember energy cap was driven by the biggest increase in gas prices for almost four years.

And with oil prices back above $90 a barrel, higher costs at the fuel pumps will also start to filter through to inflation.

The shadow Chancellor, Sir Mel Stride, said it was not only the Iran war that was to blame for rising inflation: “Labour’s tax rises and business bashing have driven the cost of living higher and higher, yet Andy Burnham refuses to rule out yet more tax hikes at the Budget.

“Labour’s economic mismanagement has left us unprepared for global shocks, with the UK having the highest inflation in the G7 at the start of the Iran crisis.

“It is ordinary people who are left paying the price.”

The rise in inflation has implications for people holding savings accounts because of the way it devalues them.

Moneyfactscompare.co.uk’s Caitlyn Eastell said: “With inflation expected to move even higher, savers should pay attention to where their money is held rather than assuming the existing rate is doing enough.”

ENERGY

Bills set to increase to highest since 2023

By Henry Saker-Clark

Household energy prices are set increase again to the highest level for three years heading into winter, according to forecasts.

Bills are due to increase despite the Prime Minister’s plan to remove VAT from household electricity bills from October.

The energy price cap is expected to increase by 4 per cent in October compared with the current rate, experts at Cornwall Insight said.

Analysts said the increase is driven by continued uncertainty linked to the Middle East conflict, which has pushed wholesale energy prices higher.

Heatwaves across Europe have added further pressure by increasing gas demand for power generation to meet air conditioning and cooling demand.

Cornwall said it expected a typical household to be facing an annual bill

of £1,729, up from £1,663, based on Olgem’s updated definition of a typical consumer, which came into effect from July to reflect falling household energy use.

It said this would be the equivalent of £1,941 per year based on its previous calculations, up from £1,862. It would mark the highest average bill since July 2023.

The increased October cap, which will remain in place for three months, will come into force as households start to increase their energy usage further.

Cornwall said the expected increase in October will be less than otherwise expected because of the proposed removal of VAT from household electricity bills.

Andy Burnham has said this would knock around £45 off the annual Olgem price cap from October. However, experts said the recent swing in global energy prices has more than offset the downward impact of the VAT policy.

GREENS

Windfall tax on banks ‘could help end rip-off Britain’

By George Thompson

A windfall tax on big bank profits would help small businesses and end “rip-off Britain”, the Green Party of England and Wales has said.

Zack Polanski, the party leader, has announced that his party would impose a 38 per cent levy on domestic profits above £800m for the UK’s biggest banks, which are “profiteering from chaos”.

The party says this would raise at least £19bn, with money going to help the small businesses that “lie at the heart of our communities”.

By doubling the employment allowance for small and medium enterprises, the Greens said they could take up to £10,500 off a company’s national insurance bills.

Polanski said: “The banks are cashing in on the backs of the small businesses who are the real creators, and profiteering from chaos and misery while ordinary people struggle.”

OUTSOURCING

Call to cap profits for firms running public services

By Jonathan Bunn

All private sector profits generated by delivering statutory public services should be capped, a senior local government figure has said.

The Labour mayor of Middlesbrough Chris Cooke also cautioned against regional mayors being handed too much power over spending under Andy Burnham’s devolution plans, as he called for combined authorities to be reformed.

Cooke, who is the chair of the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities which represents metropolitan councils in the Midlands and the north of England, welcomed the Prime Minister’s pledge to target corporate profiteering across vital public services, with a focus on adult and children’s social care provision.

The mayor said austerity has left public services vulnerable to market forces and private entities which fre-

quently do not provide the required quality of services.

Cooke, who grew up in foster care, added: “There are far too many providers with less good practices than a lot of the local authority provision.

“What we are seeing is gouging on pricing. I really welcome some of the reform that’s coming on the private sector profiteering, but it is doesn’t go quite far enough.”

Burnham has suggested he will tackle profiteering aided by cost-cutting in the care sector by some private companies responsible for services such as care homes and secure accommodation for vulnerable children, describing the approach as “utterly unacceptable”.

But Cooke called for broader changes to restrict private sector involvement.

He said: “I would like to see anything that is a statutory requirement have some level of profit capping.

£1,941 This average energy bill a typical household could expect with the energy cap increase

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NEWS 5-33

OPINION 18-22

TV 29-31

LIFE 34-37

CULTURE 38-41

MOVIES 42-45

SPORT 49-56

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2025

7

Lib Dems set out asylum policy

Sir Ed Davey (left) and Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson visited Dover yesterday to set out a new asylum policy. The party has called for the UK to join the EU's Migration and Asylum Pact to give the UK new powers to return small boat arrivals. The party says the pact would allow the UK to legally to return migrants to the first EU country they entered and grant Britain access to the EU's biometric database. CARETTA FULLERON

LABOUR

Rayner defends Treasury's outsourcing to No 10 North

By David Lynch, Abbie Llewelyn and Nina Lloyd

The Prime Minister's plans to hand responsibilities for economic growth to the new No 10 North are not a demotion for Chancellor John Healey and the Treasury, Angela Rayner has said.

Andy Burnham has said the new Manchester-based satellite office of Downing Street will take over responsibility for growth from the Treasury as part of his drive to push power out of Whitehall.

The Treasury will focus on controlling the public finances instead, he said.

Healey (inset) fully supports the move, according to the Prime Minister, who described it as part of a "huge transfer of power".

Housing Secretary Rayner insisted the Prime Minister's plans for No 10 North were "not at all" a demotion for Mr Healey.

She told Sky News: "The Chancellor is working really hard with

the Prime Minister, with myself and other Cabinet colleagues.

"We were really clear on our intent to put devolution and community empowerment at the heart of this Government.

"What we're all saying, including the Chancellor, is that we're going to work with partners to ensure that they feel empowered in this process, so they can drive their local economies."

Burnham told The Times the Treasury's dual duties of improving the economy and controlling public finances hampered its ability to do either.

He also suggested the UK is not "set up for growth", and hinted at moving to more public control of services like buses, trains and water.

He said: "I would say it's highly pragmatic, because if you don't have the ability to shape those fundamental enabling services, you don't control the destiny of the place you're leading.

"You don't have a handle on the levers of growth."

TRANSPORT

Train fares could rise by more than 4% next year due to inflation jump

By Neil Lancefield

Regulated train fares in England could increase by more than 4 per cent next year.

The potential rise is based on the Office for National Statistics announcing that retail prices index (RPI) inflation rose to 3.2 per cent in July.

The Government has not confirmed what it will do about fare rises in 2027, but last year's 4.6 per cent cap was one percentage point above RPI in July 2024.

If that formula is used to set next year's increase, the cost of train travel will jump by 4.2 per cent.

That would mean an annual season ticket from Brighton to London rising by £219 to £5,423.

A flexi ticket for travel two days per week over a year from Leeds to Manchester would increase by £151.35 to £3,754.95.

Sir Keir Starmer's government froze regulated fares this year.

About 45 per cent of fares on Britain's railways are regulated by the Westminster, Scottish and Welsh governments.

They include season tickets on most commuter journeys, some off-peak return tickets on long-distance routes and flexible tickets for travel around major cities.

Unregulated fares are set by operators, but rises in these are expected to be similar.

A Department for Transport

Ticket prices What your journey could cost

Annual season ticket increase, based on a 4.2 per cent rise

Brighton to London From £5,204 now to £5,423 (£219 rise)

Gloucester to Birmingham From £5,384 to £5,610 (£226 rise)

Whitshaven to Carlisle £2,508 to £2,613 (£105 rise) York to Leeds £3,028 to £3,355 (£127 rise) Bournemouth to Southampton £3,676 to £3,830 (£154 rise)

Flexi tickets for travel two days per week over a year Welwyn Garden City to London From £2,029.20 now to £2,114.40 (£85.20 rise)

Leeds to Manchester £3,603.60 to £3,754.95 (£151.35 rise)

Cambridge to London £4,620 to £4,814.05 (£194.05 rise)

Ipswich to Peterborough £4,947.60 to £5,155.40 (£207.80 rise)

Bath Spa to Bristol Temple Meads £1,056 to £1,100.35 (£44.35 rise)

spokesperson said: "We are working to make transport affordable for everyone.

"The rail fares freeze is giving millions of people breathing space on their travel costs and is expected to save passengers on some of the busiest routes more than £300 a year.

"No decision has been made on fares after the freeze ends."

NORTHERN IRELAND

Commissioner calls for single Donaldson review

By Rebecca Black

The Commissioner for Victims of Crime in Northern Ireland has called for a single review into the actions of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Donaldson.

The former DUP leader was convicted at Newry Crown Court earlier this year of 18 sex offences, including one count of rape, relating to the abuse of two women when they were children.

The offences were committed from 1985 to 2008.

Donaldson has since been stripped of his knighthood and removed from the Privy Council. He is being held at Maghaberry Prison awaiting sentencing.

Since the conviction, the DUP,

and also the UUP - of which Donaldson was previously a member, have announced reviews of his time in their parties.

The Northern Ireland Assembly has separately set up a process looking into behaviour and potential incidents within Parliament buildings during Donaldson's time as an MLA, while the Civil Service has launched a "scoping exercise".

The Commissioner Designate for Victims of Crime in Northern Ireland Geraldine Hanna said the Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant should commission a single, coordinated, independent review.

She said multiple processes risk missing overarching issues and potentially requiring victims to tell their story multiple times.

There are other services that will fall into the category of a statutory legal requirement for that person, and the private sector should not be allowed to have a monopoly on those services.

"There should be a profit cap on anything that is statutorily required."

Cooke cited school meals as service that should not be left vulnerable to profiteering.

He added: "Profiteering on what is a statutory meal is not moral, and it also stops the public sector being able to provide them because we are being undercut by the private sector."

The Prime Minister has also pledged to initiate a radical devolution agenda, handing powers to regions and giving mayors a share of income tax and business rates.

Cooke said empowering areas "makes sense", but admitted concern "about where those powers and financial flexibilities would be placed".

Cooke conceded that a lack of flexibility in the public finances would make social care reform difficult, but argued investment in helping people to avoid reaching crisis point would save money in the long run.

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8

NEWS

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Cash-strapped London councils planning biggest ever tax rise

By Adam Forrest

Cash-strapped London councils are considering the largest council tax increases ever seen - potentially forcing residents to pay several hundred pounds more a year in order to balance budgets.

Conservative-held Wandsworth Council is thought to be discussing whether to raise charges by up to 160 per cent in April next year.

It would mean an extra £800 a year for residents in average Band D properties in the south London borough.

The potential hike "beggars belief", said Labour councillors in Wandsworth. But the Tories blamed the Labour Government - arguing that unfair changes had slashed Whitehall funding in areas which have kept their council tax low.

Westminster Council chiefs, with also some of the lowest rates in the country, have raised the prospect of a mammoth council tax rise of up to 100 per cent, which would hike average bills by more than £500 a year.

Residents in several other parts of London and the South East are also facing significant council tax rises as local authorities struggle with financial black holes and face up to a £7bn gap in funding over the next three years.

Wandsworth Council is discussing whether to raise council tax by as much as 160 per cent in April, Politics Home first reported.

The flagship Tory local authority - once described by Margaret Thatcher as her favourite council - has traditionally kept its council tax rates extremely low.

The average Band D resident in Wandsworth currently pays only £1,020 a year, the lowest in England. In contrast, residents in Pendle, Lancashire, pay approximately £2,500.

Roughly half of that is the council element, while the other half is the charge set by Greater London Authority (GLA).

A rise of 160 per cent in the council element would add an extra £814 to a typical Band D bill - pushing it up to £1,834 a year.

Although nothing has been agreed by Wandsworth councillors, The i Paper understands the council is discussing a potential three-figure percentage increase of 100 per cent or more.

Wandsworth is one of six councils - along with Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, City of London and Windsor and Maidenhead - given special permission to hike council tax beyond the usual 5 per cent limit.

These local authorities are facing significant budget shortfalls after Housing Secretary Angela Rayner changed the formula that divided up how much Whitehall funding goes to each council.

Tory councillor Peter Graham, deputy leader of Wandsworth, said the council was facing a budget shortfall of £137m.

Graham blamed the Government's funding cuts, and the "budget hole" left by the local Labour administration that ran the council for four years up until May's local elections. "We are striving to keep any tax increase as low as we can feasibly make it," added Graham.

Wandsworth's Labour leader Simon Hogg said the new Tory administration "don't have a plan for how to run the council".

More councils across England could still ask for special permission to go over the 5 per cent cap in April next year

PLANNING

Traveller fears are 'scaremongering'

By Abbie Llewelyn

The Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner, has accused Tory frombencher Sir James Cleverly of "scaremongering" over rules for illegal Traveller sites.

Rayner said the Government is making the rules "stronger" on unauthorised developments.

Cleverly, the shadow Housing Secretary, claimed changes to national planning policy frameworks will make it easier

for Travellers to get sites "rubber stamped" retrospectively, "often when they've already erected permanent structures".

Rayner said on LBC: "We explicitly tackle any potential environmental damage and transport impacts and we're making it harder for people to get retrospective permission for development which was built intentionally without approval.

"So I think he's trying to scaremonger."

SOCIETY

Helping homeless a joint effort, Burnham admits

By Aline Fox, Rhiannon James and Dave Biggons

Andy Burnham has admitted government money alone may not be enough to solve the problem of rough sleeping, within hours of £442m funding being announced.

The Prime Minister said he feels "very passionately" about tackling homelessness but indicated that wider society, including community and faith organisations, must play their part.

He visited the Alex's Place homeless facility in Newcastle, run by the charity Changing Lives, yesterday shortly after pledging to offer a place to stay to every rough sleeper by Christmas.

He is attempting a repeat of efforts during the coronavirus pandemic when the Everyone In scheme resulted in thousands of rough sleepers across England being taken off the streets.

An additional £102m, from uncommitted budgets within the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, was found to go along-

More than government money is needed to solve the problem of rough sleeping, the Prime Minister said

side £340m announced last month to get long-term rough sleepers into settled accommodation.

Burnham has also said he will host what is being described as a first-of-its-kind national summit this autumn to "bring together leaders from across society - from business, finance, charities, health, faith

communities and more - to ask what role each of them can play in ending rough sleeping".

As mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham introduced schemes such as A Bed Every Night to provide emergency accommodation. Initially, the number of rough sleepers in Greater Manchester fell, but figures have since risen for the past four years.

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner yesterday defended the Manchester project, telling Sky News: "It's really difficult to do in isolation.

"We saw the figures go down, but obviously then we drew in people from other areas into Greater Manchester who knew that there was an offer there."

The latest annual national statistics, published by the Government in February, estimated there were 4,793 people sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2025 in England.

This was a new record and the fourth annual increase in a row. Burnham said that he accepts not every rough sleeper might take the offer, "for their own reasons".

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NEWS 2-33

OPINION 18-22

TV 28-31

LIFE 34-37

CULTURE 38-41

MONEY 42-45

SPORT 49-56

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2026

9

RELIGION

Farage using Christian faith, says former archbishop

By Áine Fox

A former archbishop of Canterbury has accused Nigel Farage of asserting the UK's Christianity as a way to "channel anti-Muslim feeling".

Rowan Williams (inset), who was the Church of England's leading bishop for 10 years until 2012, also said he would like to ask "some awkward questions" of activist Tommy Robinson, who declares himself a Christian.

In an interview for the Non-Humanist magazine, Williams acknowledged there is an "inevitable scepticism these days about some claims to religious conviction".

The former archbishop said: "I suspect really that [Nigel] Farage and others want to channel anti-Muslim feeling, and it helps to have 'we're a Christian society' to fling back. It gives a sort of ballast."

At Easter, Reform UK leader

Farage made a post online stating: "The Christian values on which our country is built are something to be proud of."

In 2024, he prompted criticism after suggesting there were "a growing number of young people in this country who do not subscribe to British values, in fact loathe much of what we stand for", confirming when asked that he was referring to Muslims.

Farage also criticised an Iftar in Trafalgar Square. Last year, Reform UK announced the appointment of theologian James Orr as a senior adviser to Farage.

Williams said: "Although Nigel Farage thought it was worth getting a theologian on board for Reform UK, I don't think he lies awake at night thinking about his soul."

"I may be doing the man an injustice, but I don't believe he cares about profound theological questions."

Williams also suggested that while he would be "very glad" if "Tommy Robinson is doing his best to lead a life of Christian discipleship", he would want to pose "some awkward questions" to him - specifically about "how attempting to lead a life of Christian discipleship squares with public rhetoric designed to produce hostility and violence".

POLITICS

Immigration reforms stifled by courts and lawyers, says Straw

By Will Hazell

WHITSHALL CORRESPONDENT

An explosion in judicial reviews and public law has made it harder for governments to implement policy in areas such as immigration and asylum. Jack Straw has said.

Straw, who served as Tony Blair's foreign and home secretary, endorsed a report by the ThinkLabour think-tank which says Andy Burnham must rein in judicial reviews and seize back powers from the courts and quanges to push through his agenda on everything from immigration to infrastructure projects.

The report, which was written by a member of Burnham's transition team, points to how judicial reviews related to immigration have "soared" and says legal challenges are getting in the way of removing foreign offenders.

In recent years, Conservative and Labour home secretaries have voiced frustration at the legal system being used to frustrate attempts to remove people from the country.

The Home Secretary, Shahana Mahmood, has vowed to "end vexatious, last-minute claims" and has promised changes to the way the European Convention of Human Rights and Modern Slavery Act are applied to make it easier to remove failed asylum seekers.

In a foreword to the ThinkLabour report, Straw claims there has been an "astonishing explosion in the practice of public law" since the 70s, covering "employment and equal-

Jack Straw has backed a report saying Andy Burnham needs to seize powers

ties law, asylum and immigration law, human rights, and all kinds of applications for judicial review in which the courts are invited to intervene to stop or delay a wide variety of decisions of public authorities".

According to Straw, this has "undermined effective and timely decision making in one area of public administration after another, from immigration and asy-

ThinkLabour was previously known as Labour Together. It was highly influential with Sir Keir Starmer's government, but rebranded in April after it was reported that it commissioned investigators to look into journalists' backgrounds.

TRANSPORT

Badenoch plans to reverse phase-out of diesel trucks

By Helen Corbett

The Conservatives would scrap plans to phase out sales of new diesel trucks and lorries by 2040 that are part of a push to transition to electric vehicles.

The party has pledged to axe the plans to end sales of new heavy goods vehicles that are not zero emissions by 2040, as well as an interim target to halt sales of those weighing up to 26 tonnes by 2030.

It reverses a policy brought in under the Conservative government of Boris Johnson in 2021 as part of his plans to cut transport pollution and help the UK reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Under Kemi Badenoch the party

has also vowed to abolish grants that discount electric vans and trucks, freeing up £877m of funding allocated for them up to 2030.

Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden has argued the phase-out of diesel lorries is likely to raise the cost of transporting food and produce around the UK.

"Britain's hashers keep our shelves stocked and our economy moving. Just as drivers should be able to choose the car that works for them, businesses should be able to choose the truck that works for them," he said.

The Conservatives said they support decarbonising freight but reject that doing so requires total electrification, pointing instead to a "multi-fuel approach".

lum decisions, through to major infrastructure projects".

He goes on: "This over-obsession with procedure is now actively undermining our democracy. Little wonder that public frustration with our system of government is as high as it is." The solution, Straw says, is to shift "political decision making away from the courts".

The ThinkLabour report was authored by Amelia Wood, who provided policy support to Burnham's transition team.

It calls for reform of judicial review to "speed up the process" and "clarify the grounds on which judicial review can be sought and won." "Should the Government lose, we should give the courts better tools to advise on the way forward where the loss was on a procedural basis," it says.

The report recommends ditching all statutory requirements to consult, saying that "if policies need more feedback, let it come from elections".

It also argues that the Government should "prioritise core delivery in public services", rather than secondary goals such giving the NHS more ambitious net zero targets than the rest of the public sector or mandating that new prisons should promote biodiversity.

The report welcomes recent comments by the Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster, Louise Haigh, who has criticised the procurement process as a "tick-box exercise" and said it must be refocused on jobs.

ENERGY

PM 'too chicken to back oilfields'

By Rhiannon James and David Lynch

Andy Burnham is "too chicken" to approve the Jackdaw and Rosebank oil and gas fields in the North Sea, the Tories have claimed.

Production had been approved by the previous government, but those decisions were quashed after a legal challenge by Greenpeace, leaving Labour ministers to decide whether drilling should go ahead.

The shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho accused Burnham of "whirking decisions" on the North Sea yesterday.

She said: "I actually think this is worse than the [former energy secretary] Ed Miliband position because Andy Burnham knows that it's right to sign off those too fields, he's just too chicken to do it."

£877m The amount to grants for discount electric vans and trucks and the figure the Tories pledge to decline

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10

NEWS

Camilla gets racy in York

Queen Camilla attends the first day of the Ebor Festival at York Racecourse yesterday.

During her visit, the Queen met 'unsung heroes' of the venue, including representatives from charities and businesses as well as personnel from medics to cleaners and those who tend the track.

The four-day meeting, first held in 1843, is one of the most prestigious in flat racing.

Ladies Day takes place today, with prizes for the best dressed, with the famous Ebor race held on Saturday. CHRIS JACKSON/PA

Sport, page 49

COVER STORY

Skin cancer vaccine can stop disease - and offers hope for personalised jabs

By Clare Wilson SCIENCE WRITER

Cancer vaccines given as treatment for the disease have moved a step closer after promising results in a medical trial.

The treatment for skin cancer, developed by Moderna and Merck, is based on mRNA, the same technology used to make Covid vaccines.

It was given to patients with high-risk melanoma after surgery to remove their tumour.

The manufacturers have not yet said how much the treatment reduced cancer's return but said there was a "clinically meaningful improvement". Results from a previous smaller study found the treatment halved recurrence.

The vaccine, called Intismeran, is personalised to each patient's tumour and is used along with another cancer drug already prescribed by the NHS, Keytruda.

In the latest trial, 1,137 people received either nine injections of

Intismeran every three weeks alongside Keytruda, or Keytruda alone.

The combination treatment "has the potential to establish a new treatment paradigm, helping patients remain cancer-free for longer", said Professor Georgina Long, the study's principal investigator and medical director of Melanoma Institute Australia.

Stéphane Bancel, chief executive of Moderna, said: "These findings represent a pivotal moment for the field of cancer research. For many years, the idea of creating an mRNA treatment designed specifically for an individual patient's cancer was aspirational. We are now helping turn that vision into a reality.

"We have started to demonstrate the transformative potential of this technology."

The full results of the trials are yet to be peer-reviewed, and treatment could be at least a year or two from being used within the NHS.

The manufacturers first need to file for approval of their treatment

Patients receive a personalised vaccine based on a tumour's DNA

with the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Then, the financial body Nice would need to decide if the treatment could be given through the NHS in England, if it determines it to be cost-effective.

Its decisions are usually also followed in Wales and Northern Ireland, while Scotland has a similar organisation for approval, Sign.

"The companies will engage with regulators on filing submissions for Intismeran in combination with Keytruda," a spokesperson for Moderna and Merck said.

In the US, JPMorgan analyst Chris Schott said the vaccine could be approved as early as 2027.

While vaccines are usually seen as tools for preventing disease, when it comes to cancer they can also be used as treatments, given after the disease has already begun.

Cancer vaccines have long been seen as holding great promise, because the immune system can sometimes naturally recognise cancer cells and destroy them before the person even notices a lump. Unfortunately, as cancers grow they may develop mutations that let them escape this immune response.

Intismeran works by revving up the immune system so it is better

able to recognise the proteins made by the cancer cells' mutated DNA.

Treatment involves removing the patient's cancer, then genetically sequencing the tumour cells. This lets scientists create strands of mRNA that encode instructions for making those cancer proteins.

The mRNA is then injected into the person's body, and their cells start producing the cancer proteins in small amounts.

This trains the person's immune cells to react more aggressively to the cancer cells in a similar way to how a flu vaccine trains the immune system to attack cells infected with the flu virus.

Moderna's share price in New York more than doubled as the success of the trial became public yesterday, and at some points was up by more than 150 per cent. Merck's shares also rose by more than 10 per cent.

Reaction Treatment could be used for other cancers

Independent experts hailed the results. 'This is an important moment for a field that scientists have been working towards for many years,' said Dr Lennard Lee, an oncologist at the University of Oxford, who was not involved in the research.

"These findings are significant. 'This is the first positive [large] trial

of an individualised mRNA-based cancer treatment.'

He added: 'According to the announcement, patients receiving the personalised mRNA cancer vaccine alongside pembrolizumab (Keytruda) had a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in recurrence-free survival compared with

pembrolizumab alone. The study also met the important secondary endpoint of metastasis-free survival.

'That is very encouraging. We should now look forward to seeing the complete data.'

Professor Marco Gertinger, an oncologist at Barts Cancer Institute in London, said the results were positive for cancer patients beyond just those with melanoma.

'I think it is fair to call it a

breakthrough in the development of new cancer immunotherapies as it is the first phase three study that shows that a vaccine can protect against recurrences of one of the deadliest cancer types.

'This is certainly good news for patients with melanoma, but the study has much wider implications - it provides proof of principle that personalised cancer vaccines work.

'This is important as they can be

designed against many different cancer types. I am hopeful that we will see similar successes of this technology in a range of cancer types, such as colon cancer, where a large study has been performed.'

Moderna is already making other mRNA vaccines against tumours including those of the breast, bladder and lungs, while BioNTech is making cancer vaccines in partnership with the UK Government.

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NEWS 5-33

OPINION 16-22

TV 29-31

LIFE 35-37

CATHURIE 38-41

MONDAY 42-45

SPORT 49-50

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2026

11

EDUCATION

More GCSE pupils will get into first choice of sixth form college

By Alexa Phillips EDUCATION CORRESPONDENT

More GCSE pupils could get into their first choice of college this year – even if they get lower grades.

Some oversubscribed sixth-form and further education colleges will be able to accept more students because the Government announced additional funding for places earlier this week, according to the sector.

In previous years, colleges could request funding for extra places but risked not receiving any.

Oversubscribed colleges typically need students to meet high grade requirements in their GCSEs and their chosen subjects – but the changes mean it could be easier for students to get in this year.

The funding increase, which comes ahead of GCSE results today, was made as part of Andy Burnham's effort to reduce the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (Next).

The number of applicants to school sixth forms, sixth-form colleges and further education colleges has been increasing in recent years because of population growth.

Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said it was "perfectly possible" that more young people would get into their first choice of sixth-form college.

"Where in the past colleges might have been reluctant to take a bit of a risk and take more students than they are funded for, they now will be inclined to take more students because they're confident that the funding is coming," he said.

He said acceptance numbers into sixth-form colleges are expected to increase and some colleges will be

able to take in even more students in 2027-28 because the Government is giving them money to expand.

Watkin said more pupils are choosing sixth-form colleges because they are bigger than school sixth forms and offer more subject choices.

Claire Green, a specialist in post-16 and skills policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed the funding increase, adding: "In terms of whether it will increase first choice admissions, I think to some extent yes, it will."

She said this was more likely to be the case at sixth-form and FE colleges than schools, which have smaller sixth-form cohorts.

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said FE colleges could accept pupils at a "record number" following at least four years of growing cohorts.

Hughes said colleges could take in more than 25,000 extra students this year, with some growing their cohort by 300 to 600, which would help reduce the number of Neets.

"Colleges disproportionately take young people with really not very good GCSE results," he said. "It's much more likely to help the young people who really were disillusioned and disengaged with school, maybe had poor attendance, who really need re-motivating and inspiring."

The Department for Education said it wants to "ensure a place is available in post-16 education for every young person that wants one".

An estimated 13.5 per cent of young people aged 15 to 24, are Next, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Dressing up for the stag 'do!

A wildlife lover has spotted a deer in camouflage. Dave Manson photographed the stag in North Yorkshire on Sunday. He said: "I was walking on the Studley Royal Estate and had been watching this particular stag. "He'd somehow managed

to get a huge amount of branches and leaves tangled around his antlers. "He then walked out across the open park and through the herd, seemingly completely unfazed." DAVE MANSON/SWING

MENTAL HEALTH

Exercising students less likely to be anxious

By Brendan McFadden

Higher education students who exercise regularly are less likely to develop mental health disorders such depression and anxiety, a study has found.

Research conducted on 10,460 full-time Norwegian students aged 18 to 35 found those who did not do physical exercise regularly were more likely to develop mental issues a year later.

The findings suggest students who consistently exercise, as oppose to doing intense or long work-

outs, are less likely to suffer from the conditions.

Authors of the study by Western Norway University of Applied Sciences said: "Our findings show that students who engage in regular physical exercise are at lower risk of developing common mental disorders over time.

"These findings highlight the importance of making physical activity a natural part of student life.

"Mental health among students is a growing public health concern. Our findings suggest that supporting students to be physically active

may contribute to better mental health and should be recognised as an important part of a healthy learning environment."

They added "encouraging regular exercise may represent a beneficial component of broader strategies to support student mental health, especially for individuals with emerging or subthreshold symptoms".

Women who did not exercise intensely were found to be more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression, while men who exercised for shorter periods weekly were prone to developing the conditions.

ARTS

Give our children classical music lessons, say parents

By Carla Feric

More than nine in 10 parents think more could be done to engage their children in classical music, according to new research by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO).

The organisation released the findings today as children across the country receive their exam results, amid a 25.6 per cent fall in music GCSE entries in England since 2010.

The Joint Council for Qualifications found that music GCSE entries increased by 6.1 per cent across the UK in 2025 after an 8.7 per cent rise in 2024.

The RPO surveyed 2,000 adults to ask about ways to encourage children to be more involved in classical music, with 94 per cent of parents believing more could be done.

Sarah Bardwell, managing director of the RPO, said: "It is clear

Most parents want more incentives for children to take up classical music

that more needs to be done to safeguard the musicians and audiences of tomorrow."

Culture, page 38

HEALTH

Junk food firms at school show

By Ben Sutherland

A third of the firms that exhibited at the biggest UK school food show were junk food manufacturers, an investigation has found.

A total of 52 of the 137 companies with stands at the School Food People Show and Forum in Birmingham last month were those that produce items high in fat, sugar or salt, according to the British Medical Journal.

Among the items they produce are hot dogs, pizza, muffins and

fizzy drinks. The BMJ said that "there were also seven wholesalers selling chocolate bars, crisps and sweets, five ice cream firms, four soft drinks companies, and other suppliers that make vending machines with confectionery."

The Government is planning to introduce new standards that will limit the sale of unhealthy products on school premises.

Greg Fell, president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said: "What gets marketed is what gets sold."

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12

NEWS

UKRAINE

Zelensky fires senior official in wake of corruption claims

By Hanna Ashirova

Volodymyr Zelensky fired one of his most senior officials yesterday as corruption investigators named a deputy head of the presidential office among the suspects in a money-laundering case.

The developments came a day after the recently fired defence minister demanded national elections, despite Russia's more than four-year-old invasion.

Although the President is not implicated in the graft investigation, it threatens to pull him into another political crisis and provide another test of his resilience.

Investigators have identified a group of people alleged to have laundered 150 million hryvnias (£2.5m) to pay bail for a defendant in a graft case last year, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau said.

That case, involving the state-owned nuclear power company, brought the resignations of Ukraine's justice and energy ministers.

The latest suspects include a former politician, the chairperson of a state bank's board and the head of the bank's supervisory board, as well as a deputy head of the presidential office, the agency said.

Zelensky made no public comment on the investigation but issued a decree dismissing Iryna Mudra as deputy head of the office of the president. Investigators have not named her as a suspect.

Investigators searched Mudra's office yesterday.

Iryna Mudra was fired as deputy head of the office of the president

Zelensky remains dogged by high-level corruption investigations, although he has never been named as a suspect.

Last year, his chief of staff Andriy Yermak resigned and later was named as a suspect in a corruption inquiry involving a luxury construction project.

The EU has identified corruption as one of the major hurdles to Ukraine's membership of the bloc.

Zelensky is already under pressure over his firing last month of the defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov, one of the longest-standing members of his team.

Zelensky, seeking to reconcile tensions between the defence ministry's young and tech-savvy innovators

and Ukraine's seasoned, Soviet-trained battlefield leaders, risked angering both sides by reshuffling his wartime leadership.

He ousted both Fedorov, whose changes to military procurement aimed to stamp out corruption, and commander-in-chief General Oleksandr Syrokyi.

That sparked street protests supporting Fedorov. For Zelensky, it was the second time in a year that a move triggered a strong public backlash, after he tried to curb the powers of anti-corruption agencies in 2025.

Fedorov called on Tuesday for elections - appearing to confront Zelensky, whose term expired in 2024. Ukraine's constitution prohibits such a vote under martial law.

"We must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a full democratic process even amid a prolonged war," Fedorov said.

He said Ukraine faces a crisis in how it is governed, arguing the current system is oriented toward protecting itself and resisting change. He also condemned corruption among officials without naming anyone, saying it had weakened Ukraine's ability to fight.

Zelensky's office did not immediately comment on Fedorov's address.

Politicians approved Zelensky's candidate, Major General Yevhenii Khmara, as the new defence minister yesterday

DEFENCE

Growing number of Britons expect war to reach UK within two years

By Jane Merrick

POLICY EDITOR

More than a quarter of Britons are braced for a war on the UK homeland within the next two years, figures reveal.

A large survey carried out for the Cabinet Office on public awareness of national emergencies found that 28 per cent of people think military conflict is likely or very likely to affect their local area by 2028 - up from 19 per cent last year.

While fears over other disasters like storms, flooding, power cuts and cyber attacks were higher, concerns about the outbreak of a war which directly affects the UK have increased the most from 2025 to 2026.

The survey was taken up to May this year and followed a period of escalating "grey zone" activity from

Moscow such as increasing patrols by Vladimir Putin's shadow fleet in the Channel and surveillance of Britain's undersea cables.

The poll of more than 10,000 people also revealed that 68 per cent of Britons believe the threat of emergencies and disasters will increase over the next two years.

However, just 14 per cent of people have visited the Government's Prepare website, which offers advice on how households should plan for natural disasters, power cuts, war and other emergencies.

Three-quarters of those who did acted on the advice, such as stocking up on battery or wind-up radios and other essential supplies.

Four in 10 people believe they could meet the basic needs of their household for up to three days, such as bottled water and food supplies, but only 12 per cent thought they had

enough for six or more days. A quarter of Britons thought they would only be able to meet the basic needs of their household for one day before needing help.

A total of 19 per cent of people say they have a "grab bag" of emergency supplies in case they need to leave home in a disaster scenario.

Nearly a third, 29 per cent, of respondents said they had been prevented from taking further steps to prepare for emergencies by not having enough money.

MIDDLE EAST

UAE halts trade with Iran over 'missile attacks'

By Brendan McFadden

The United Arab Emirates suspended all trade with Iran yesterday after the UAE said it had come under renewed fire from the country, in a move that will further isolate the Islamic Republic.

Incoming ballistic missile fire triggered nationwide warnings on Tuesday night for UAE residents to seek shelter, the first time in weeks such an alarm had sounded.

Early in the conflict, the UAE regularly came under intense fire from Iran, and most trade between the countries, which had once been important trading partners, ground to a halt.

In late June, as hostilities eased, some maritime trade resumed, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Beyond the trade in domestically produced goods, "the UAE has been very important for Iran as a re-export hub and has helped the

A hotel in Dubai was damaged by an Iranian drone strike early in the war

country absorb some of the shocks caused by sanctions", said Mohammad Farzanegan, a professor of Middle Eastern economics at Germany's University of Marburg.

"Iran therefore depends heavily on the UAE, not because the UAE itself produces one-third of Iran's imports, but because it serves as a major gateway for Iran to access third-country goods and commercial infrastructure."

28% The proportion of Britons who think conflict is likely to affect their local area by 2028

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NEWS 2-33

OPINION 18-22

TV 24-31

LIFE 34-37

CULTURE 38-41

MONDAY 42-45

SPORT 49-56

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2026

13

CROATIA

Ukrainian arrested over pipeline blasts

By Kyriakos Petrakos

A Ukrainian man was arrested yesterday in Croatia in relation to undersea explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany in 2022, Germany's federal prosecutor said.

Ukrainian national Vladimir Z, whose last name was not given in line with German privacy rules, was arrested in Pula, Croatia, by police under a European arrest warrant.

"Vladimir Z is a trained scuba diver who was part of a group of individuals who planted explosives on the Nord Stream One and Two gas pipelines near the [Danish] island of Bornholm in September 2022," prosecutors said.

He was "strongly suspected of jointly causing explosions, anti-constitutional sabotage, and destruction of buildings and structures".

Undersea explosions on 26 September, 2022, damaged pipelines that were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

The damage added to tensions over the war in Ukraine as European countries moved to wean themselves

off Russian energy sources, following the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Prosecutors have said the aim of the plot was to permanently disrupt gas deliveries via the pipelines and prevent Russia from using the revenues from natural gas trading to finance its military operations.

The statement said the suspect should be brought before the investigating judge at Germany's federal court of justice upon his extradition from Croatia.

Last month, German federal prosecutors filed charges against a former Ukrainian army officer also in connection with the undersea explosions that damaged the same Nord Stream gas pipelines.

The suspect, identified only as Serhii K, faces charges of causing an explosion, damaging property, disrupting public service and being an "accomplice to war crimes" by attacking civilian objects.

The pipelines run from Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. Gas flow through the first pipeline was suspended before the explosions, while the second pipeline had not come into service.

ANALYSIS

The crucial role the UK would play if Putin attacks Europe

A Nato plan sets out a three-part response, with Britain key, writes Mark Galeotti

Nato's recently released Land Warfighting Concept outlines how the alliance envisages fighting back any Russian invasion by relying especially on drones and long-range strikes. It would necessarily depend heavily on the UK, as one of Europe's main military powers.

While Russia is now mired in Ukraine, the war will end someday. The expectation is that it will then commit to a significant reconstitution of its military - especially if Vladimir Putin is still in power.

Although this will take years, as a UK Ministry of Defence analyst told The i Paper, it "will have the opportunity to build a new army from the ground up, using its hard-won experience from the war".

Given that in the modern surveillance age, it would be impossible for Russian preparations for any substantial attack to go wholly unnoticed, in a time of heightened alert Britain would likely increase its commitment to the eastern flank.

British forces also regularly move through eastern and central Europe on periodic joint exercises, as well as carrying out sea and air reconnaissance missions and providing allies with additional capacity in times of need.

Until late 2024, for example, a battery of Sky Sabre air-defence missiles protected a vital logistics hub near Rzeszów in Poland. In the event of a Russian attack on Nato's

Why such conflict would not be quickly resolved and equal pressure would fall on the home front?

Nato is ratcheting up its drone technology and capabilities

eastern flank, it would respond with a three-fold strategy. The UK would play a significant role.

First, Nato would use its aerial superiority to target missile and drone platforms and bases. The UK already has significant capabilities, such as air-launched Storm Shadow cruise missiles and sea- and ground-launched Nyan drones. Plus, it is leading a European initiative to develop the next generation of deep precision strike capabilities.

The RAF and Navy's Fleet Air Arm would also provide aircraft, especially stealthy F-35 jets, to joint combat operations.

Second, a defensive buffer zone would be established along the borders of Russia and Belarus. This would be secured by drones operating on land, in the air and on the water. Already, the 1,000-strong British deployment to Estonia is being repressioned as a larger Mobile Anti-Armour Force, relying on drones and highly mobile missile teams to blunt any tank assault.

Finally, although Nato is clear that it would not seek territorial gains inside Russia, it would launch strikes deep into enemy territory, using missiles, drones and special forces. Their targets would be crucial airfields, railway lines, arms factories and bridges.

In this, not only would British special forces play a full role but so too would the intelligence services. The UK is accepted even among its peers as having Europe's most capable intelligence apparatus and this would be crucial in targeting and supporting such operations.

However, any such conflict would probably not be quickly resolved and equal pressure would fall on the home front. It is not just that a conventional military attack would be accompanied by disinformation, cyber attacks and sabotage. It is also a question of the social resilience and ability to ramp up the production of necessary materiel.

Most Western intelligence assessments agree that the risks of Russia initiating open military conflict with Nato remain extremely low. But defence planners must consider any threats. As a Nato official said: "We discuss the unthinkable, we plan for it, in the hope that it ensures it remains theoretical."

Dr Mark Galeotti is a historian and lecturer specializing in Russian crime and security affairs

Following the announcement that two ballistic missiles had been fired toward the UAE, both of which splashed down in the Persian Gulf, the Emirati foreign ministry said it decided to impose the punitive measures, while also saying it remained committed to "dialogue, co-operation and regional integration".

The step halted all trade and financial transactions "until further notice," the ministry said in a statement. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei denied that Iran had launched any missiles toward the UAE.

As part of Iran's efforts to maintain a stranglehold over the Strait of Hormuz, it has regularly attacked ships attempting to use the waterway, including four tankers owned by Abu Dhabi's state-owned Adnoc oil and gas company over the past two weeks.

None of the attacks caused injuries, but they brought harsh condemnation from the UAE and others in the region, including Kuwait.

Iran's ability to control traffic through the strait, through which a fifth of traded oil and natural gas passed during peacetime, has proved its biggest strategic advantage in the war.

While the US and Israel - which launched the war on 28 February - have given various aims for the conflict, it has devolved into a fight over the strait.

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14

NEWS

PROPERTY

Why the housing market is so gummed up

Hamish McRae

The housing market is going through a tough time – or at least in much of the country it is, and in some places it is really gummed up, with it taking two months or more to sell a home. The property website Zoopla reports that the average is 42 days, so for many it is much worse.

As a result a growing number of people feel trapped in their homes. It seemed a sensible, responsible idea to get on “the housing ladder”. Now they are stuck on the bottom rung.

So what’s happening, why, and what should people do about it?

The facts are pretty clear. Overall prices are steady, with the latest official index from the Office for National Statistics out yesterday showing them up 0.1 per cent in June, and up 2 per cent on the year.

But that bumps together losses in London (down 2.5 per cent on the year), a stable market in the South East, and gains of 4 per cent or more in the North East and North West. Scotland and Northern Ireland are well up too.

That dovetails with the evidence on how long it takes to sell, with homes in parts of Scotland and northern England turning over fastest, and those in Westminster in central London taking longest. Overall turnover is running at around two-thirds the level of 2022.

That may not sound too bad, and viewed overall it isn’t a disaster. But you have to remember that ONS data is based on sales that have been completed, so they give a rear-view mirror perspective.

The very latest indications from Rightmove suggest that this month things have slipped further, and now prices are expected to either be stable or fall by 2 per cent in 2026 as a whole. And for some types of

property the market is weak indeed. Inner London flats are now worth less than they were in 2020.

Why has the outlook weakened? There are a host of different factors and it’s hard to figure out which are the most important.

Overhanging everything is the general economic uncertainty. The weak job market shows vacancies at the lowest level for five years. There’s the prospect of higher taxes in the Budget.

There’s the overhang of the increases in stamp duty last year. Mortgage rates have pushed back up, and given the increases in government bond yields (gifts) in the past few days, look set to climb further. This week the Government sold 10-year gifts at 5.155 per cent, the highest level since 2007.

While the London market (top) is weak, Manchester (above) prices are up 70 per cent since 2016 (2017)

There are two further elements. One is the fact that the London market is particularly weak, which gives a negative signal to the country as a whole. What has typically happened in the past is that London moves first. It recovers more quickly from a general

property downturn, but it also starts to weaken more swiftly.

Over the past decade it has significantly underperformed the rest of Britain, with prices in outer London up only 10 per cent since 2016 and prices in inner London actually down. By contrast homes in Manchester are up 70 per cent. It can take a long time for the knock-on impact of the London market to affect prices elsewhere, but that may start to happen now.

The other factor is that it always takes a while for people to realise that the housing market has weakened and if they want to sell

Anyone who really needs to sell should probably take the best offer available

they need to cut the asking price, even if that means taking a loss.

There hasn’t been a serious fall in house prices since 2008, so the temptation is to hold off selling at a loss and hope things will improve. But there are always a few forced sellers, which starts to depress overall selling prices, and when this happens other homes come on to the market as people realise that prices won’t come up soon and they had better take any offer, even a bad one.

So what should anyone who feels they are trapped actually do?

Everyone’s circumstances are different, and as noted above the market in the different parts of the country is very different. So it’s impossible to give more than the most general advice. But I think it is unlikely that there will be a housing boom in the next two or three years, and we have to accept that in London and the South East things may be weak for a while yet. So anyone who really needs to sell should probably take the best offer available rather than wait.

If you are buying, go for what you really like, because you may find it will take a while before you can show a profit and you may have to sit on a loss for a year or two.

Ultimately, however, for most people it is probably worth owning property rather than renting. It is a form of forced saving in that you are acquiring an asset that will eventually be worth more, at least in money terms, than you paid for it. For even if you do pay too much, general inflation will save you in the end.

Money, page 42

ENERGY

Home solar power soars as trend for heat pumps slows

By Emily Beament

The installation of small-scale renewable energy generators in homes and small businesses has grown to a record level this year, driven by interest in solar panels and batteries.

But while overall installations of certified renewables were up 17 per cent in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, the number of heat pumps being installed was down 17 per cent, the figures from certification body MCS show.

In the first half of the year, 210,000 small-scale certified renewables

were installed, beating the previous record set in 2025 for clean tech installations from January to June.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels that generate electricity were the biggest driver of the highs, with nearly 150,000 arrays installed between January to June 2026, the figures show.

Batteries that store solar energy or off-peak grid electricity continue their rapid rise in popularity, with certified installations nearly doubling compared to the first half of 2025 to more than 36,000 this year – and already close to beating the 40,000 figure for last year.

Homeowners are increasingly choosing rooftop solar panels

But the installation of air source heat pumps, which make up the vast majority of certified heat pumps being installed, dropped from 30,000 in the first half of 2025 to just under 25,000 for the same period this year.

The MCS data also show how many families and small businesses are opting for more than one means of clean technology in their homes, with one in three installations going into homes that already had a certified renewable tech or combined more than one technology.

The organisation said 92 per cent of batteries this year went into properties with solar panels. It also esti-

mates that 59 per cent of new-builds had solar panels, as house builders prepare for Future Home Standard rules that make clean tech standard.

Lisa Cooke, managing director at MCS, said: “More and more households are gaining confidence in the benefits of home-grown energy, and the fact that many are now investing in multiple technologies is testament to this.

“As energy markets continue to be influenced by global events, we’re seeing more households than ever before turn to renewables and put their trust in MCS certified businesses.”

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NEWP 2-33

OPINION 18-22

TV 28-31

LIFE 34-37

GM SURVE 38-41

MONKEY 42-45

SPORT 49-56

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2026

15

Folkestone, Kent, was one of the areas that had rain yesterday GARETH FULLER/PA

ENVIRONMENT

Wet weather ends dry spell in many parts of UK but drought continues

By Lucie Heath ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT

It is finally raining in the south of the UK, bringing to an end the over 60-day dry spell in some parts of the country.

The changing weather pattern will be welcomed by many, including farmers whose crops are dying and gardeners who have been restricted by hosepipe bans.

But the wet weather is nowhere near enough to end the drought that is gripping large swathes of the country and even more restrictions could be introduced due to the prolonged period of dry weather.

Over 70 per cent of England and all of Wales is in drought.

Nine water companies have brought in hosepipe bans, affecting more than 27 million people across England and Wales while Severn Trent Water and South Staffordshire Water have asked customers to cut back on usage.

But while most of the UK will experience some form of rain this week, the areas that need it the most will not receive enough.

On Friday, the Environment Agency (EA) said reservoir storage in England had fallen to 65.9 per cent, which is 13.8 per cent below the average for this time of year.

Most river levels are below normal, with almost a third of sites now considered exceptionally low, the regulator said.

Following last summer's dry weather, some parts of the UK re-

mained in drought until January this year and some hosepipe bans remained in place until February.

"Rivers, reservoirs and groundwater stores tend to respond much more slowly than the weather itself," said Dr Jonathan Eden, associate professor in climate and environmental change at Coventry University.

"In many areas, we would need several weeks of sustained rainfall, and in some cases months, before water resources recover to more normal levels."

Despite the rain, it is possible that more water companies could be compelled to introduce hose-

Reservoir levels, such as this one in Derbyshire, are well below average

pipe bans before the winter. It is up to water companies to introduce hosepipe bans, while the EA – or equivalent regulator in the devolved nations – is responsible for declar-

ing a drought. There has been some tension between the regulators and water companies on this and the EA has been critical of some water companies for not imposing hosepipe bans sooner.

After two months of virtually no rain, parts of the UK will need months of above-average rainfall for restrictions to be lifted.

Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern explained that England and Wales had received 150mm less rainfall than average since April.

To put that into perspective, the average rainfall for the whole of September in England is 68.5mm.

McGivern said it was "too simplistic" to say England and Wales needed 150mm of rainfall to end the drought, particularly as the hot weather has caused water to evaporate more quickly leading to "even more of a sorry state in terms of dry ground".

What is clear is that "it's not going to happen overnight", he added.

As Britain's weather changes due to climate change, it is expected that our summers will become drier and the winters wetter. The upcoming El Niño typically brings heavier rainfall to the UK in the colder months.

WEATHER

Alerts issued for thunderstorms

By Emily Beaumont and Erik Olsson

Thunderstorm warnings have been issued for parts of England and Wales, as water companies could be forced to reduce the amount of water they take from the River Severn to prevent parts of it drying out.

It comes as parts of the UK were hit by "heavy pulses" of rain early yesterday, but forecasters and officials warned this week's downpours would not ease the drought overnight.

Some areas in the country were predicted to have the "first

meaningful rain for a long time" this week, the Met Office said, after a summer of punishing heatwaves and extremely dry weather has left some regions facing water shortages.

The forecaster yesterday issued yellow warnings for thunderstorms in northern areas of England and Wales through to this morning and for Northern Ireland until midnight.

One was also issued for eastern Scotland around Aberdeen but that expired at 9pm last night.

Forecast, page 47

News in brief

NATURE

Two tuna caught off Yorkshire

Two Atlantic bluefin tuna have been caught in successive days off the Yorkshire coast – ending 60 years during which none had been caught at all.

The fish had not been seen in the North Sea since the 1960s due to overfishing and the depletion of the herring shoals that make up their food.

But the crew of The Dominator caught a 338kg tuna on Sunday – and then followed up on Monday with another that weighed "just a bit less", said crew member Jack Gardner.

"I have never caught anything like it," he added.

WILDLIFE

Let weeds grow to help honeybees

Letting weeds grow now could help honeybees as they struggle to gather nectar in late summer, research has shown.

The University of Sussex directly measured seasonal changes in the energy honeybees expend and gain from foraging.

The findings, published in Functional Ecology, showed that food shortages were most acute in late July and August.

Co-author Dr Ciaran Harris said that refraining from removing late summer-blooming weeds could be especially important during heatwaves.

SOCIETY

Storm Shaun or Storm Timmy?

The Met Office has invited the public to choose between characters from the animation studio behind Wallace & Gromit to be a future storm name.

Shaun the Sheep fans will get to vote for which character joins the official list of storm names for the 2026-27 season.

The collaboration with Aardman Animations will be decided in a public vote on the Met Office's social media channels until tomorrow, asking people to decide between Shaun and his cousin, a lamb called Timmy (both pictured).

England and Wales need a wet autumn and winter to replenish rivers and reservoirs. This happened last winter following the summer 2025 drought and saved parts of Britain from water shortages.

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16

NEWS

ANIMALS

Zoos 'could be doing more' to help protect the most vulnerable species

By Stephen Beech

Zoos "could be doing more" to help protect endangered species, research has suggested.

Most fish and animals kept in British and Irish zoos and aquariums are non-native and not classified as threatened, which undermines conservation goals, scientists have said.

Fewer than one-third of captive vertebrates are classified as globally threatened and 9 per cent are native to the UK, according to the findings.

Although zoos were originally opened to entertain the public, over time their role in society has expanded to include education, research and conservation – but researchers said those different duties can create conflicting priorities.

For example, large, charismatic species are more likely to attract paying visitors, which are essential for a zoo's financial sustainability.

But often those species are not

Zoos were originally for public entertainment, not conservation

breeding or part of reintroduction projects that would fulfil conservation goals.

The study's lead author, Justin Lennon, from the University of Brighton, and his colleagues compiled data on the species diversity and size of captive populations of vertebrates held by 113 members of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA).

They identified more than 2,600 vertebrate species held in captivity in zoos and aquariums in the region.

Of 106,000 captive individuals, around 61 per cent are fish, 16 per cent are birds, 15 per cent are mammals, 5 per cent are amphibians and 4 per cent are reptiles. Fish are the most diverse group.

Amphibians have the lowest diversity and the smallest number of species in the zoos, despite being the most threatened vertebrate class.

Captive species classified as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List represent 28.5 per cent of the total, and their populations are less than half of non-threatened species.

The findings, published in the journal PLOS One, showed that only 9 per cent of captive species are native to Britain or Ireland and just 2 per cent appear on one or more conservation priority list.

Lennon said the results show that although BIAZA institutions have a bias towards globally non-threatened species, they are contributing to the preservation of the region's native and priority species.

However, he said the zoos and aquariums "could be doing more" to increase the diversity and population sizes of threatened species.

Lennon said: "Modern zoos are no longer simply places where animals are displayed. They have become centres for conservation breeding, scientific research, education and international collaboration, working together to safeguard species that may one day return to the wild."

The study showed that, in British and Irish zoos and aquariums, just one in 50 of vertebrate species are classed as high conservation priority

SCIENCE

Pomegranates could help people with heart failure

By Brendan McFadden

Eating pomegranates could help almost half a million Britons who suffer from a type of heart failure, according to study.

Researchers at King's College London found that the natural compound urolithin A, which is produced in the body after consuming foods such as pomegranates, can relax the heart, prevent it from being scarred and stem any harmful enlargement.

The findings suggested the fruit could help those with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction – a condition where the organ becomes stiff, less able to relax between beats and struggles to fill with blood.

Effective treatments for the condition remain limited because it is driven by many different factors including ageing, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Dr Joseph Burgoyne, the study's senior author, said: "Our findings show that urolithin A can activate this pathway to improve heart relaxation and reduce disease severity.

"This raises the possibility of developing treatments that improve clinical outcomes and quality of life for people living with the condition."

He added: "There isn't enough evidence to suggest people should eat pomegranates to treat heart failure" but the findings "raise the possibility that dietary approaches that enhance urolithin A production may help alleviate this condition".

Urolithin A is also produced by eating walnuts and some berries.

A compound made when eating pomegranates can relax the heart

PEOPLE

'Our car was rocking': rhinos attack vehicles at safari park

By Ben Sutherland

A woman who was with her husband and grandson when their car was attacked by two rhinos at a safari park near Kidderminster earlier this month has spoken about her ordeal.

Zoe Farmer, from Accrington in Lancashire, was on a day trip to West Midlands Safari Park on 9 August when the mammals charged at her vehicle amidst a fight between the pair.

The three occupants of the car were unharmed, although the family's car was damaged.

"In the blink of a second they came hurtling towards us, straight into the bonnet," Ms Farmer told the BBC.

"Our car was rocking and I'd just taken my grandson out his car seat so he could see the animals.

"All that was going through my mind was the car was going to tip and my grandson wasn't safe – it was horrible, a horrible thought."

A rhino at the park and Zoe Farmer, right, whose car was damaged

She added: "I thought we were all going to die, I really did."

The incident affected three vehicles, the park said, adding that keepers "responded immediately" and "checked all guests and offered assistance to those involved".

The Five-Clue Cryptic Crossword No 4912

Solution, page 49

Across

3 Joint, a name for a reefer? (6) 4/5 Endearing urge somehow leading to deep, authentic acceptance and valuing (7,6)

Down

1 "Warrior and fireman" you are texting with artificial intelligence (7) 2 Frenzied woman crazy about old Mrs Sharples (6) 3 Sound volume unit that's above zero (6)

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NEWSP 2-33

OPINION 18-22

TV 26-31

LIFE 34-37

GATEWAY 38-41

MONKEY 42-45

SPORT 46-50

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2026

17

PEOPLE

Barnett 'blindsided' after having hysterectomy due to endometriosis

By Sean O'Grady

The broadcaster Emma Barnett has revealed she had a hysterectomy after years of suffering with endometriosis.

The BBC Radio 4 Today host, 41, said her symptoms became "a lot worse" in the final weeks of filming her BBC documentary Fighting Endometriosis.

Just two days before the programme aired in June, Barnett said she underwent an "extensive" surgery which included a hysterectomy and gallbladder removal.

Barnett wrote on her Substack online publishing platform: "I felt blindsided and robbed, even though my care had been superb and doctors utterly brilliant.

"But this was not the road I had envisioned for myself. I had the hysterectomy I never wanted to have.

"I didn't want this procedure because it's major surgery. It's frightening and a hard recovery - something I am living now.

"I didn't want it because I wanted there to have been medicine or treatment to help my endometriosis. It felt and feels too extreme."

Barnett, a columnist for The i Paper, said before she agreed to have the surgery her symptoms became so bad she could "barely function at home or in work". She also suffers from adenomyosis, a related condition that affects the womb.

She added: "Is such major surgery what anyone would 'choose'? Yes, I officially and legally consented to the procedures - in so much as you

Emma Barnett said: 'This was not the road I had envisioned'. LA TOBYGETTY

can know what you are letting yourself in for."

Barnett said she did not "buy into the idea that the womb is sacred and at the heart of being a woman. I am still very much a woman and me."

She added: "I am grateful to it because somehow it managed to help me have two children. Having your womb removed without having children if you wanted them is a totally different situation - one I must acknowledge."

Barnett said she is now recovering from the surgery and is "physically much stronger" than she was after weeks of being bed-hound.

She wrote: "The pain is very much improved - although I am still healing from the surgery itself so that also feels uncertain and frightening to admit - even to myself."

Endometriosis is where cells similar to those in the lining of the womb (uterus) grow in other parts of the body. It often develops in areas such as the fallopian tubes, ovaries and lining of the pelvis. It also sometimes affects the bladder or bowel.

There is no known cure and treatment is used to help manage symptoms such as pain. It affects one in 10 women, according to Endometriosis UK, and around 1.5 million women in the UK suffer with it.

Symptoms of endometriosis

include period pain, pain in the lower stomach or pelvic area, extreme tiredness and pain or bleeding in other areas.

News in brief

MUSIC

ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard dies

ZZ Top musician Frank Beard has been remembered as "one of the most naturally innovative drummers" following his death aged 77.

The rock band formed in Texas in 1969 with the classic trio consisting of drummer Beard, lead vocalist Billy Gibbons, and bassist Dusty Hill, who died in 2021 aged 72.

The group shared a lengthy tribute to Instagram. It said the band "lost a great friend and collaborator... a great and true son of Texas.

"His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top."

MUSIC

Gun possession puts Drilla in jail

A drill artist with a previous conviction for drug dealing has been returned to prison after he brought a revolver to a meeting with the probation service.

Noble Nevokosha, known as Drilla, had the weapon in his coat when he visited the offices in October 2025.

He had been out of prison on licence having been found to have supplied heroin and cocaine in 2023.

A judge at Southend Crown Court sent him back to jail for four years and eight months after he admitted having the gun.

PEOPLE

No small beer... penny from 1971 buys pint at today's price

By Brendan McFadden

A woman who discovered a penny hidden in the wall of her house in 1971 that was attached to a note promising its finder a pint of beer has claimed her reward, after tracking down its owner.

The card signed by electrician David Judd revealed the 1945 coin was hidden in Ellie Mead's home in Bicester, Oxfordshire, in June 1971.

After appealing for help finding Mr Judd on Facebook, she tracked down his daughter, Helen Russell, who revealed the 92-year-old is now living in Devon - and he has paid her the value of a pint.

Ms Russell said her dad hid coins in houses around the town as a "joke" to say: "I've been here" but this is the first that has been

found - and he will not tell her where the rest of them are.

She told BBC Radio Oxfordshire that Mr Judd had described the coin being found as "absolutely brilliant", adding: "I don't think he ever really expected anybody to find anything at all."

Ms Mead said the coin flew out of the wall when her husband knocked it down during renovations. "Out popped this little coin flying across the room with a little bit of paper," she said. The note reads: "26/6/71 David Judd. One pint best beer if penny (1945) returned."

Ms Mead said the cost of a pint has been handed over - and it will be bought at a Bicester pub which was once run by Mr Judd's father. The price of a pint in 1971 was around 10p.

HEALTH

Summat not reyt? AI fails to help Yorkshire patients

By Ben Sutherland

GP surgeries in Rotherham have attracted patient complaints after an AI system was brought in for appointments - and struggles to understand the Yorkshire accent.

Patients are being triaged at receptions by an AI system called EMMA, which is used nationwide.

But Healthwatch Rotherham says EMMA has failed to respond well to variations in speech, such as regional accents.

Healthwatch Rotherham manager Kym Gleeson said: "One of the issues is this system can't always understand what people's inquiry is about due to their broad Yorkshire accent.

"Across South Yorkshire, accents do vary quite a lot.

"There are different twangs so there's a lot of variation. It seems the system isn't always able to understand, so that causes frustration."

Gleeson said that it did however allow calls to be navigated more

The GP practice introduced the system to help speed up enquiries

swiftly. "In that sense, it is a good system," she added.

EMMA's creators, Quantum-LoopAI, said that the system was designed to understand a range of dialects: "Where she is unable to understand or deal with a patient's request the call is transferred to the reception team.

"No caller is required to continue speaking with EMMA, and anyone can ask to speak to a member of staff at any time."

PEOPLE

Singer's Valentine card up for auction

A Valentine's card sent by Amy Winehouse to her former husband Blake Fielder-Civil is to be auctioned 15 years after her death.

Winehouse sent the note in February 2008, at a time when Fielder-Civil was in prison for attacking a pub landlord.

She had already filed for divorce from Fielder-Civil (below with Winehouse in 2007) at the time and sent the card from the Caribbean, where she was on holiday with a new boyfriend.

"My husband, my Blake, virtue is violent and violets are blue, blue-bruised is my heart, since its beating for you," she wrote.

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18

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The Opinion Matrix

COMMENT FROM HOME AND ABROAD

Copied

ENERGY AND CLIMATE

'Pragmatism' won't lower prices

UnHerd

The politics of climate, for obvious reasons, dovetails with that of energy. We can't have decarbonisation while using more energy than ever. Andy Burnham is likeable, but can be deliver strategic thinking on energy security and climate change? (Aaron Bastiani)

Daily Mail

The Prime Minister has made some positive-sounding noises on the broader energy issue. But even if he takes a more pragmatic approach to North Sea exploration, the benefits will be felt more in terms of energy security than lower prices. (Editorial)

SOCIAL MEDIA ON TRIAL

This could be first of many such cases

The Guardian

The start of the trial against Meta could spell the 'end of social media as we know it'. But past cases cast doubt on how far the litigation is likely to go. Perhaps a more realistic risk is the potential for permanent changes to the way its social networks operate. (Aisha Downs)

The Daily Telegraph

This is the first federal trial in what is expected to be a tidal wave of lawsuits targeting social media companies. Families, educators and state governments in the US accuse the companies of harming the mental health of young people. (Sabrina Penty)

FEARS OF GRAIN CRISIS

Ukraine war in escalation phase

Financial Times

Russia's war in Ukraine has entered a new escalation phase, with dangerous spillover effects for beyond Europe. One of the most pressing risks is a global grain supply crisis resulting from a spate of Russian and Ukrainian attacks on agricultural exports. (Alexander Gabuev)

Bloomberg

Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks on the Black Sea area, raising concerns about global grain supplies. The nations account for more than a quarter of global wheat exports, and the attacks come in the middle of this year's harvest. (Piyotr Kozlov)

NEW MIDDLE EAST ORDER

Security reshaped – without US

Middle East Eye

The signing of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey reveals a growing realisation that the security order that governed the Middle East and south-west Asia is no longer capable of providing the guarantees it did. (Ahmed Altuwojiri)

The Independent

As Donald Trump continued his attacks on Iran this month, a deal that could radically reshape security in the Middle East was being done in Saudi Arabia. Experts say the agreement marks a major shift in the global world order – away from the US. (Moira Butt)

'THE GREAT ADHD MYTH?'

This was polemic, not science

The Times

If this had been a dispassionate science film it would have been flawed by a lack of balance: there was no counter-argument to the idea of ADHD as a 'myth'. This was, really, a polemic. So the question is: was it a valuable one? Yes, because the issues need to be discussed. (James Jackson)

Daily Mirror

Channel 4 has a right to challenge established thinking. But it also has a responsibility not to turn a serious medical condition into provocative television. The Great ADHD Myth? risks sowing doubt before a single piece of evidence is heard. (Editorial)

THE KING'S HEALTH

There has been no news of remission

The Sun

The King and Queen have shown unyielding courage in the way they have faced cancer with dignity and honesty. If their hard work and dedication has made just one person feel less frightened and alone, it will have achieved something truly worthwhile. (Editorial)

The Spectator

While the mood music has been broadly positive when it comes to treating the King's illness, there has been no announcement he is in remission or if the cancer has been cured. This suggests that this continues to be a strain both on himself and those around him. (Alexander Larmon)

Quote of the day

I always get mad when people just dye their hair red, I'm like, 'You don't know what we went through at school!'

Isla Fisher

The actress on the trials of growing up as a redhead

Life In Brief

BEN JONES AMERICAN ACTOR AND POLITICIAN

As the overworked mechanic Cooter Davenport on the Dukes of Hazzard, Ben Jones was known to millions of TV viewers and, more importantly, kept the show's star – the iconic General Lee, a 1969 Dodge Charger coupé – on (and frequently off) the road.

Without him the series' main characters, the moonshine-running cousins Bo and Luke Duke, would not have lasted long in their ongoing battle with the authorities. More than 300 cars were destroyed across the filming of the action comedy's seven series, which aired from 1979 to 1985.

Initially a minor character known as 'Crazy' Cooter, he grew from an unruly caricature of a Southern hillbilly into a key member of the cast, often reminding the demanding Dukes: 'I might be crazy, but I ain't dumb!'

Jones knew the lifestyle portrayed in the hit TV series. He overcame

two decades of alcoholism, multiple divorces, several arrests and spent time in jail before he got his break.

Born into a railroading family in North Carolina in 1941, Jones was raised in Virginia and started his acting career while studying at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

He appeared in more than 100 theatre productions after graduating and made the move into film in the 1970s. He was cast in supporting roles in films including Smokey and the Bandit, The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings and They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way.

In 1975 he had another supporting role in the film Moonrunners, which served as the basis for The Dukes Of Hazzard, which went into production three years later.

Jones appeared in nearly every episode of the series, but then turned

his focus to politics. A year after the show ended, he made a bid to be elected to Congress, challenging the Republican incumbent, Pat Swindall, for his seat representing Georgia in the US House of Representatives. He lost his first run in 1986 but won in 1988.

Jones, a Democrat, served two terms. He later attempted to challenge another high-profile Republican, Newt Gingrich, but lost in the primary.

He returned to acting after losing his seat to redistricting, but had to make do with smaller parts. He ran for office once more in 2002 after moving to Virginia, but was again unsuccessful.

Proud of his Southern heritage, Jones was a defender of the Confederate flag. Writing in The New York Times in 2015 he described it as 'a symbol of a non-racist Southern spirit' but said it had been 'appropriated and desecrated' by racists.

In 1998 Jones and his wife, Alma Viator, opened a Dukes of Hazzard museum in Virginia called Cooter's and would organise reunion festivals for fans of the show.

Jones was also a political commentator for publications including The Washington Post and The New York Times.

He is survived by Viator and his two children, Walker and Rachel Jones.

Born 30 August 1941

Died 9 August 2026

Jonathan Harwood

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NEW! 5-33

OPINION 18-22

TV 26-31

LIFE 34-37

GIRTH/NE 38-41

MONDAY 42-45

SPORT 49-54

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2026

19

My View

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

Arday's death should make us reflect

Accountability is a two-way street - and that includes the media

The saying "it takes a village to raise a child" - a proverb attributed to some African cultures - inspires people who believe in communal responsibility in local and national spheres.

Yet, the most nurturing societies can get swept into a moral panic and brutishly bring down anyone they suspect of wrongdoing. In Uganda, my old homeland, a thief would be chased by a mob, caught, beaten, sometimes to death. It was a human sacrifice, atonement for the sins of the wider community. No one felt guilty. Or sorry. I see similarities between that moralistic mob and what Jason Arday endured week after week and day after day before his death.

The media, academia, social media users and Britons who believe fairness is a defining British value, need to do some honest soul searching.

The chancellor of Cambridge, Lord Chris Smith, voiced his concerns on Monday about the "racist feeding frenzy". Smith also affirmed his commitment to scholastic integrity, given the plagiarism accusations against Arday. Plagiarism allegations about any academic, "whoever they are", he said, must be rigorously investigated. All well and good.

But we also need more robust repudiations of those people who are determinedly obstructing equality, diversity and inclusion in higher education. That, no doubt, began when the first people of colour were admitted into top ranking universities - and it continues.

In 1987, Trinity College Cambridge considered offering a prestigious fellowship to the late Benjamin Zephaniah, a radical, self-taught, wonderful, prize-winning wordsmith. Tabloids went crazy. The fellowship never materialised.

Before Arday died, Afua Hirsch, a writer and public intellectual, wrote this in The Guardian: "Arday doesn't need to be a fantasist to be the kind of man commentators would rather not see at a university like Cambridge - being black is enough. For them, the fact that he made stuff up is simply a massive bonus."

Lest we forget, this was a case of alleged academic plagiarism. Other academic plagiarists were not treated like Arday. Three years ago, Dr William O'Reilly, also at Cambridge, was found to have plagiarised a student's work,

Thousands of people attended vigil to mourn Jason Arday at Trafalgar Square this week. CARLOS JASSO/APRIGETTY

though a university tribunal ruled that this was "negligent" but "not deliberate". He remains in his job.

And this sorry saga was triggered by Nathan Cofnas, an academic and self-described "race realist" who believes in racial differences in IQ and argues that under a true meritocracy, black people would almost "disappear" from elite academic positions.

It remained, at its core, a story about one person in a particular part of a particular university in Britain. While some of the reporting on Arday was fair, part of the reason this story got out of control is related to Arday's race.

Barely 1 per cent of professors at British universities are black. Arday's death is deeply consequential. The sorrow and rage of those who loved him will never subside. And the academic world will have to examine its culture and

record. Several black academics in prestigious universities have told me their confidence in themselves and their institutions has been shaken. One of them said: "Jason was wrong to invent stuff. But most of his students related to his easy manner, the absence of professorial arrogance.

"We who are admitted into the club are made to feel it's a big favour. White plagiarists are forgiven. We cross into their world, but are not trusted, not embraced. And when one of us falls from grace, we all become the fallen. The City is more of a real meritocracy than academia will ever be."

Simon Baron-Cohen, an expert on autism and a Cambridge professor, told BBC Radio 4's Today that Arday, a vulnerable person with disabilities, was used as a "fightning rod for a culture war on diversity, equity and inclusion".

Right-wing media outlets and think-tanks are intensifying these assaults. Academics and journalists committed to equality, diversity and inclusion need to step up.

The media pursuit of Arday was disproportionate. Has the British media ever been this obsessed by the alleged academic misconduct of a single other professor? Some hacks and commentators won't leave him in peace. They are still feeding on a dead man who was a father, son, partner, brother - and mentor to many.

Many people don't trust my industry. The coverage of Professor Jason Arday's life and death will cause many more to lose faith. We cannot demand accountability from politicians, professionals and ordinary citizens and exempt ourselves. More than 90,000 people, including the Labour MP Clive Lewis and broadcaster Carol

Few are talking about where the volume of hate was truly amplified

Vorderman want a public inquiry into the way Arday was pursued.

It's not just the media that has to face some difficult questions. Academia must too. A number of universities, not just Cambridge, come out of this torrid affair looking very bad. Arday ended up in a prominent public position that was unsustainable - and, collectively, they put him there. What reflections are they undertaking? They should have the decency to tell us.

The publishing industry also looks cowardly. After The Salt Path scandal you think they might have learnt. But Simon & Schuster continued to press ahead with Arday's memoir, Great and Unfortunately Things, even after he had resigned his professorship. After his death, they said they were "deeply saddened" and extended condolences to Arday's family. The book kept him in the public eye. And we knew that while he was in the public eye, nothing kept the wolves from him.

Social media was - and is - a cesspit of hate during this saga. Elon Musk has enabled disgraceful behaviour on X and it is not much better on Facebook. While much of the focus is on the big institutions of traditional media and academia, few are talking about where the volume of hate was truly amplified. The way we use social media has to change.

Lord Simon Woolley, a lifelong black activist and principal of Homerton College, Cambridge, told me that he, Diane Abbott and a few close friends had been to see Arday. "He had lost weight and was utterly desperate," he said. "He was on the edge of a cliff surrounded by salivating bounds he could not escape."

Arday, flawed and sometimes unreliable, was also smart and kind. Tens of thousands of people of all races gathered in central London on Monday to mourn him. It is up to us progressives to ensure his death was not in vain.

l@theipaper.com

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20

Tweets, emails and letters to The Editor: The i Paper, 9 Derry Street, London W8 9HY

Things can only get Burnham

While I'm still wary of socialism, this ex-Tory voter is enjoying the optimism of Andy Burnham after the gloom of Starmer and Reeves's reign.

A word to Nigel Farage you and Reform UK are at political risk for being too heavy-handed over dissent and tetchy with questions about finances. ANDREW WILLS EPSOM, SURREY

Immigrants boost workforce

It's good to see Unison highlighting the economic illiteracy of Labour's immigration policy (The i Paper, 19 August). The care sector is set to grind to a halt because of the pursuit of the mindless mantra that cutting immigration is all that matters.

The care sector is one of many suffering skills shortages. This country, with its ageing population, needs migration to sustain and grow the economy.

Despite the myths that migrants come for benefits and housing, the reality is the opposite. Migrants pay taxes and often don't access all the public services to which they are entitled.

If Andy Burnham wants to sort out the care sector and grow the economy, he needs to reverse the regressive policies coming out of the Home Office. Pandering to right-wing myth benefits no one. PAUL DONOVAN WANSTEAD, LONDON

Reservoirs are well needed

Simon Kelner's fantastic article on the lack of water supply infrastructure hit the nail on the head (Opinion, 18 August).

Not only have we built zero new reservoirs

since 1992 during the era of privatised water companies, while European counterparts in Germany and France have ploughed ahead with many projects, we have also failed to invest in the other end of the water issue, namely our sewage disposal. The i Paper has boldly taken up this cause and I hope will keep it in the spotlight.

Other readers have raised the solution of desalination plants, and I feel this too should be part of the fix.

In other news, we are now being warned that Russia may see us as a legitimate target for attack in retaliation for use of drones manufactured here in the UK. What easier target to cripple our country than our now relatively few reservoirs?

The situation is manifestly an emergency and should be a number one priority for the current Government especially as it needs long-term planning and cannot be a quick fix.

I would get water infrastructure plans set in stone before building more new houses that will further deplete water supplies. Ditto new data centres.

The whole issue is complex, but thank you again to Simon Kelner for being spot on. EILEEN BERRIDGE RUGBY, WARWICKSHIRE

No cheap quick fix for ADHD

Whilst the ADHD documentary on Channel 4 can be criticised for its bias (Culture, 19 August) it does highlight the complexity of ADHD support.

The sad fact is that the lack of support for parents and lack of expertise and resources in schools lead to over-diagnosis and to overuse of drugs for our young children.

Water security should take precedence over housing projects, says a reader GETTY.

As usual in our cash-strapped health service and under-resourced schools, the quick, cheap fix prevails.

CAROL PAGE ABERDEEN

Choose self-care or savings

'At 40, we are struggling - millennials were sold a big lie', then, over the page, 'The rise of the wedding planner content creator' (Lifestyle, 18 August).

Sure, baby boomers had it much more easy than today's young people, with plentiful jobs.

With marigolds immersed in stinking nappy buckets we fought for the right to share home ownership with our spouses, earn equal pay and try to ignore the sexist behaviour of our male co-workers and bosses.

The juxtaposition of these two well-expressed features fails to account for the change in expectations between boomers, millennials and Gen Z.

In one article, the younger generations are suffering, over the page we learn wedding content creators are paid to record and dictate a marriage celebration.

Are these brides the same young women who have the cash to keep their lips plumped, their eyelashes falsely fluttering, their brows tattooed, hair styled and long nails gelled? Such maintenance must cost thousands over a year.

If the cost of a wedding is averaged at more than £20,000, how does that equate with saving for a deposit on a home let alone with having to keep up appearances in the demanding and influenced 2020s?

ANDREA HARGREAVES SEAFORD, EAST SUSSEX

Benefit cuts do not create jobs

You do give a broad range of opinion at The i Paper.

Thankfully Vicky Spratt and Ian Birrell, this week had pieces on proposed benefit changes to counterbalance the cruel nonsense from Rupert Yorke, who bangs the old 'we cannot afford it' drum (My View, 18 August).

Spratt points out that the state pension amounts to nearly half of benefits spending, and Birrell looks at who benefits claimants are - people.

There are five unemployed people for every two job vacancies, and reducing benefits does not create more jobs.

Our government

spent to help people and the economy after the Second World War and during Covid. We forget Keynes to our detriment.

We also see little about the huge benefits paid to companies and individuals in tax and pension breaks, not to mention bailouts when the 'too big to fail' fall flat on their faces.

ANNE SMITH LLANELLI, CARMARTHENSHIRE

Rupert Yorke in My View proposes more right-wing austerity, specifically cutting welfare to reduce spending. Doesn't he realise that neo-classical neo-liberal economics has failed?

LAURIE TAYLOR TOTNES, DEVON

Who's to blame for the drought?

Your letter from Simon Bullivant (19 August) regarding the purchase of a sundial has prompted me to apologise to nation, because I bought a water butt just before the drought.

THE REV DR MIKE BOSSINGHAM CROMER, NORFOLK

I bought a fairly expensive waterproof jacket and a pair of roll-up waterproof trousers around Easter.

I was thinking about the unpredictable British weather I am still waiting to try the wet-weather gear out.

I feel I am to blame. Perhaps I should buy some hot-weather gear for next year. TOM GAUNT MILTON KEYNES

MORE COMMENT on theipaper.com

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• THURSDAY • 20 AUGUST 2026

21

I'm all for public displays of affection. What's the gripe?

RELATIONSHIPS

Kate Mulvey

Where do you stand on the touchy matter of a public display of affection? I'm not talking

a matry squeeze or a quick hug with your bestie. It's more lovers walking arm in arm down a sunlit street, sharing drunken kisses, or just huddled together on a sofa in the local pub, a squidgy mass of public togetherness.

Do you give a resounding cheer, or is it a case of, "Eeew, get a room!" Personally, I say pack on the PDA. As a 64-year-old woman, I never miss a chance for a warm hug and a reassuring handhold. Even now, there is nothing nicer than a man who wants to canoodle in the coffee shop, a hand on the small of my back at the counter, a lingering kiss

while waiting for a flat white. And I am not alone.

A recent study published in the journal PLOS One agrees. Researchers found that couples who openly show affection by holding hands, hugging and kissing in public experience higher levels of validation, relationship satisfaction and general happiness.

It makes sense. The pull of emotion over reason is a fundamental human trait and one which is bound to scupper even our best efforts. I may tell myself pre-date that, no matter what, my hands will stay resolutely in my pockets. That is until the gorgeous man opposite pulls me towards him in an amorous clinch, and suddenly I am in claspy paradise.

I get that for more private couples, the idea of a public peck feels uncomfortable and against social etiquette. Yet, for me, it is important. Admittedly snogging in the seafood section and blocking the aisles in the supermarket is overkill. But being glad your partner is standing next to you and sharing a hug while waiting in a checkout queue, or an arm wrapped tightly around a waist to steal a quick kiss while comparing brands

Couples who openly show affection are happier, research has found GETTY

of coffee, isn't a public nuisance. It's a reminder that love can exist in the mundane.

And it is more important for those of us who live alone. Science talks of skin hunger when we don't experience touch from others, deprived of small gestures of affection, we start to lose sense of our own lovability and feel

unsettled. So when the man I really like and haven't seen for days leans in for a lingering smooch, all those jagged anxieties suddenly melt away, leaving me feeling safe, cosy and cherished.

I distinctly remember turning up at a local club a few months ago with my then beau. "Save it for later," friends roared, as we kissed

Science talks of skin hunger when we don't experience touch from others

at the bar. Others turned their back on us but thankfully a few cheered. But even so what's the big deal? PDA and romance isn't just for the young.

I have no desire to disappear into the twilight zone. I want to feel my partner's affection, and I don't care who sees it. To be publicly loved releases a rush of oxytocin (the love chemical). It doesn't just make you feel incredible inside; it lights you up. Don't get me wrong, though, I am not advocating for a total free-for-all. We don't need to see the make of your underwear.

Life is far too short to appease the Pecking Police. We all want to love; we all want to matter. Public affection isn't a performance - it is a glorious way to stay connected to each other and keep the romantic spark alive.

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22

Stalinist suspension highlights Reform's insecurity

POLITICS

Ian Dunt

Freedom of speech is a product of confidence. It is embraced by confident cultures, confident institutions and confident people. This helps explain why Reform UK has turned against it so aggressively: because it is a shallow, fragile entity, without intellectual substance or institutional substance.

This week, Reform suspended the

former Conservative pundit Tim Montgomerie, citing a rule against those who are a "public critic of the party". Even the wording sounds Stalinist, about two steps away from branding him an "enemy of the people". Reform has never looked more fragile and insecure.

Ideologically, Montgomerie is a true friend of Reform. Even when he served as a Conservative adviser

to Boris Johnson as prime minister, he pushed British politics towards the sort of extreme right-wing propositions which Reform now eagerly promotes.

But temperamentally, Montgomerie is a different beast. He is polite and gently spoken. He sounds different from the angry, borderline unhinged, utterances you increasingly get from party figures such as the home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, and the deputy leader, Richard Tice.

Instead, he concedes points to the other side and deploys independent judgement. This approach ensures he is often invited on to TV debates.

If you were a confident hard-right figure, you would quickly recognize how appealing Montgomerie is to your movement. It is precisely the fact that he has an independent mind which makes him more credible. It is his good manners which help conceal the hardline ideological character of the anti-liberal movement.

But needless to say, Farage and his henchmen are not confident hard-right figures. They are hopelessly thin-skinned and intellectually vacuous. So instead these attributes are taken as signs of Montgomerie's thought crime.

In recent months, Montgomerie became increasingly alarmed at his new party's behaviour. His relationship with Yusuf evidently collapsed. "A lot of people are on not-speaking terms with Zia and it's nearly always Zia who initiates it," he told The Spectator podcast. "You cannot behave like a child in politics."

Unlike other Reform commentators, who have tried to present the allegations over the leader's financial arrangements as an establishment stitch-up, Montgomerie accepted the validity and importance of the story. "He cannot hide away from this issue," he told BBC Breakfast. "People do not normally get a £5m gift."

This extended to the pitiful sight of Farage avoiding his own victory count at the Clacton by-election. "This recently far too dominant aggrieved tone is still with us," Montgomerie said. "It's not good. You don't skip your own victory count without a much

better explanation." Every other Reform figure, like Les Anderson or Robert Jenrick, spent their time on television barking insults at the interviewer and outlining an imaginary conspiracy.

Montgomerie was perhaps the last of Reform who still cut a compelling figure on television. From an opponent's point of view, he was deadly. By showing he thought autonomously, he countered the idea that Reform was Farage's one-man band.

By showing politeness, he helped conceal the vicious reality of the party's policy on immigration. By appearing good-humoured, he undercut the conspiratorial lunacy of the party's communication strategy.

Montgomerie has pledged to fight for his place in the party, but it's not clear that he can succeed, because ultimately those concerns about Reform are accurate. It is a one-man band. It is extreme and ideological, with the kind of personalities you usually find in that type of organisation.

Take, for instance, Farage's position as leader. Once upon a time, he simply owned Reform outright, as his own personal business. Now things have marginally improved, but his iron rule can be seen all over the party's leadership procedures.

To launch a challenge against him, 50 per cent of all members would need to write a letter to the party chairman requesting a vote. That's around 180,000 people - basically impossible.

The party structure reflects Farage's internal power. Under its constitution, just three members of the board are elected, with the others made up of the leader, the chairman and other figures selected by the chairman.

This is how insecure people arrange an organisation: by making challenges to their leadership next to impossible and asserting their dominance over its decision-making body. It never works.

You can see why when you look at the Montgomerie case. He was one of their greatest media assets. And it is precisely because of these qualities that they suspended him.

Reform has no real confidence at all, just the paranoia of the vacuous.

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Tim Montgomerie was suspended after criticising Zia Yusuf NURPHOTO/GETTY

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NEWS

NEWS 2-33

OPINION 16-22

TV 25-31

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SPORT 49-56

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2026

23

AUSTRALIA

Mushroom killer claims her trial was unfair

By Alasdair Pal

An Australian court yesterday began hearing the appeal of a woman convicted of murdering three of her estranged husband's relatives with a meal laced with deadly mushrooms.

Erin Patterson, 51, was convicted last year of murdering the three elderly in-laws by feeding them beef Wellington laced with toxic death cap mushrooms, in a case that gripped the country.

A jury found Patterson lured her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson to a July 2023 lunch at her home in Leongatha, a town of about 6,000 people, 84 miles south-east

of Melbourne, and fed them the poisoned meal.

She was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole before 33 years, one of the longest sentences ever given to a woman in Australia. She maintained her innocence throughout the trial.

Patterson (inset, in a court sketch yesterday) is appealing on several grounds, including that pieces of evidence should not have been introduced to the trial, that she suffered unfair cross examination, and that an error that led to the jury being housed at the same hotel as journalists prejudiced the outcome.

Three judges of the Victoria state court of appeal are hearing her appeal over two days against her convictions on three counts of murder and one of attempted murder.

Conversely, prosecutors are appealing against the leniency of her sentence.

If Patterson's appeal succeeds, the judges could order a retrial.

The defence lawyer Richard Edney's first ground for appeal yesterday was an error that resulted in jury members being sequestered in the same hotel as a police witness and members of the prosecution team.

"This was a very serious breach

of sequestration," Edney told the court. But the prosecutor Brendan Kissane said: "There was no actual contact between any juror and any other person."

Another defence lawyer, Veronika Drago, said there was no evidence that Patterson had read online posts that reported death cap mushrooms had been seen near the towns of Loch and Outtrim.

Prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams said the evidence showed that Patterson had an opportunity to deliberately source death cap mushrooms shortly before the lunch

The trial heard evidence from a telecommunications expert that Patterson's phone connected to towers near Outtrim and Loch.

Drago said the evidence was that Patterson's phone had possibly been in the area.

"That in and of itself, in our submission, illustrates just how dangerous and unfair that evidence was" on Patterson's trial, Drago said.

In pretrial testimony, Simon Patterson said he suspected his wife had deliberately made him seriously ill with dishes. No poisons were ever found.

Erin Patterson was initially charged with three counts of attempting to murder him three times. She had denied all charges.

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SPORT

Tennis star Kyrgios suspended after testing positive for cocaine

By Eleanor Crooks

The tennis player Nick Kyrgios has said he made "a huge mistake" after failing a doping test.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency announced yesterday that the Australian player has been provisionally suspended.

Kyrgios gave a sample at an ATP tournament in Mallorca in June that tested positive for benzylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine.

On Instagram, Kyrgios said: "I wanted you to hear this from me first. I recently failed a drug test in Mallorca after testing positive for cocaine. I made a huge mistake and I take full responsibility for it.

"I'm sorry to my fans, my family,

my sponsors and everyone close to me. Above all, I'm sorry to the kids who follow me.

"I know the example this sets and I'm deeply disappointed in myself."

Cocaine is banned in competition and the former Wimbledon finalist has been provisionally suspended since 4 August.

The 31-year-old is prohibited from playing and attending tournaments pending the outcome of a tribunal that will assess his case.

His first-round loss to fellow Australian Adam Walton in Mallorca was his last competitive singles outing and one of only four singles matches he has played this season.

Kyrgios's career has been blighted by knee and wrist problems since his

Nick Kyrgios tested positive at a tournament in Mallorca in June 6/6

run to the Wimbledon final in 2022 and the former world No. 13 has seen his ranking slipped to 919.

He said he would not make "excuses" for the positive test but cited the toll of his physical issues.

"My body hasn't been able to do what my mind expects it do, and coming to terms with being near the end of my career has been harder than I ever imagined," he said.

"However, the good news is that this has given me a wake-up call."

Kyrgios added he will take a 28-day break from social media to focus on "getting myself right", concluding: "I'm sorry, I'll come back better."

Kyrgios could face a ban of up to four years but, if he can prove he took the drug out of competition, the maximum would be three months, reduced to one month if he agrees to an approved treatment plan.

Britain's Dan Evans was banned for a year for taking cocaine out of competition in 2017 but the rules changed in 2021.

James Gray, page 55

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NEWS

NEW 5-31

OPINION 16-22

TV 25-31

LIFE 15-17

GATEWAY 18-21

MONDAY 27-29

SPORT 28-30

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2026

25

MIDDLE EAST

Israeli military to investigate itself over two attacks

By Julia Frankel and Samy Magdy

Israel's military has said it will launch criminal investigations into two high-profile attacks on Palestinians during the war in Gaza, including the killings of five-year-old Hind Rajab and her family and of 15 Palestinian paramedics.

But the military said it would not launch criminal investigations into three other attacks that killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders.

It released the news in a statement that said it had completed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct in Gaza and made decisions on five cases.

Both the killing of Hind in February 2024 and the killing of 15 Palestinian paramedics in May 2025 gained international attention.

Hind was killed alongside her relatives while trying to flee Gaza City amid an Israeli offensive. Israeli troops opened fire on a vehicle carrying her and four of her cousins, and her aunt and uncle.

Hind's cousin, 15-year-old Layan Hamada, called the Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic centre, telling them that a tank was approaching and that her family had been killed.

Seconds later, more gunshots were heard, and Layan's screaming stopped, according to the Red Crescent recording of the call.

Hind was the sole survivor in the car. The Red Crescent stayed in contact with her as they tried to get

permission from the military to rescue her. Contact was lost. Hind, her five relatives and two medics were found dead 12 days later.

The 15 paramedics were killed when Israeli troops opened fire on their vehicles in the southern city of Rafah, then buried them in a mass grave.

Troops shot at a first ambulance that was driving to retrieve casualties from an Israeli offensive, then fired on several other emergency vehicles that went out to look for the first one, according to phone footage and the sole survivor of the shootings.

Troops then bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. UN and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies.

The Israeli military initially said it opened fire because the vehicles were "advancing suspiciously" on nearby troops. But it backtracked after the footage emerged, showing the teams driving slowly with their emergency vehicle lights flashing.

The statement did not mention other high-profile killings

that the military has pledged to investigate throughout the war. It did not mention the Israeli strikes on a hospital in southern Gaza that killed five journalists in August 2025.

Hind Rajab, five, was killed alongside her family in Gaza in 2024 REUTERS

GAZA

Air strikes continue after US talks

By Sally Guyoncourt

Deadly air strikes in Gaza and reports of an Israeli raid there yesterday cast more doubt on any progress made by the latest US efforts to move forward the tenuous ceasefire.

Just two days after US negotiators reportedly asked Israel to draw down attacks in the Gaza Strip, at least 10 people were killed in two strikes, according to local hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Israeli troops also crossed the ceasefire line in southern Gaza and detained a Hamas police colonel, two witnesses and a Hamas official said.

Israel's military said one of the

strikes, in Nuseirat, struck a Hamas commander who had participated in the 7 October 2023 attack.

Jared Kushner, a US negotiator and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, met the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday, and asked him to draw down attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Earlier this month, Trump announced that Hamas had agreed to disarm. But the Islamist group said it would begin to disarm if Israel halted strikes and withdrew.

Netanyahu pushed back on the deal, saying Israel will not withdraw from its current lines in Gaza until Hamas has completely disarmed.

NORTH KOREA

Trump to meet Kim as drills with Seoul cut back

By Joyce Lee and Heejin Kim

Donald Trump has said that he plans to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and claimed that the country holds 57 "very powerful" nuclear weapons.

The remarks came after Trump ordered Pentagon officials to cut short joint exercises with the South Korean military, citing his good relationship with Kim.

The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which began on 17 August, will now run until tomorrow, according to South Korea's joint chiefs of staff and a Pentagon official, instead of the original end date of 27 August.

During Trump's first term, Kim called Trump a "mentally deranged US dotard" and threatened that he had use of a "nuclear button" on his desk.

The leaders' relationship improved, with face-to-face meetings in 2018 and 2019, including a brief exchange at the demilitarised zone.

"I know Kim very well, and he's going to be fine as long as we have a smart president," Trump said yesterday.

"The fact that I get along with him – that's a good thing, not a bad thing," Trump said.

South Korean soldiers participate in Ulchi Freedom Shield drills

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

No 4848 BY ECCLES

ACROSS

1 End of constipation – one mostly passed liquid thanks to these (5,4) 8 Investigation moving quickly to snare Stone at last (7) 10 Speechless with anger when duke denied offence (7) 11 Ate modern cooking in place of worship (5,4) 12 Sign backing top mathematician (6) 15 Photographers capturing her bum, possibly (7) 16 Press X to get medal (4,5) 19 Liquor that Guy drinks at home following low points (5) 20 River that can be seen to be losing volume, which is ludicrous (7) 22 Chap that is squirreling away Euros, primarily? (6) 23 Macron, perhaps, rejected help to get attacker (9) 25 Home of slightly boring headwear (7)

27 I don't laugh a long time after everyone else (7) 28 Model sneered at Cockney (4,5)

DOWN

1 Reminder one with virus is in a bad way (8) 2 Essence of cake that's rising (3) 3 If absolutely necessary, un robinet, ein Hahn, un rubinetto or una spina (2,1,5) 4 Warning of short period without cover (4) 5 Can it sell out and cease trading? (4,2,4) 6 Responsible person conserves energy in race (6) 7 A good and upstanding prophet concurs (6) 9 Finish on a high, picking up answer, sort of (2,1,7) 13 Lucky escape, as Conservative is defeated with experience (5,5)

14 Give running account of one leaving red books at Elon's entrance (10) 17 Make labs seem chaotic (8) 18 Sperm densities regularly start to rise in academic session (8) 20 It partly inspired rages (3,3) 21 One offering shot of weapon to stop outlaw (6) 24 King briefly drinks (4) 26 Bit romantic partner on the way up after scratching bottom (3)

Solution to yesterday's Cryptic

Stuck on the cryptic crossword? For today's solutions, call 0905 789 3580. Calls cast first per minute plus your network access charge. If you are having trouble accessing this number, please call our helpdesk on 0333 202 3390.

Full terms and conditions can be found on page 29

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Television Thursday 20 August

CRITIC'S CHOICE

GERARD GILBERT

PICK OF THE DAY

Ludwig 9pm, BBC One

"I've always enjoyed looking for needles in haystacks. " insists David Mitchell's Beff) socially awkward, cerebral detective and master puzzle-setter John 'Ludwig' Taylor in this immensely enjoyable crime series. A cantankerous old woman - 'no standards anymore, rack and ruin this place, shocking' - is stabbed to death at the theatre. Meanwhile, John's identical twin brother, James, is still missing, and now that he's an official employee of the station, John is forbidden from using any police resources to look for his brother or uncover exactly what he was investigating. Of course, John won't stop and neither will Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin)

The Big Deal With

Steph McGovern 8pm, BBC Two

"I wouldn't go too off-piste," suggests nervous Peter Staunton, an award-winning luxury interior designer who has an 'unscompromising eye' apparently. Sounds painful... The remaining six dealers are split into two larger teams, and each is given a property and a budget of up to £30,000 for new art, with Staunton on hand to tell the dealers about his clients' tastes and share their preferences. They have 48 hours to source the artwork from local galleries and artists, before pitching it to the homeowners. At the end of the challenge, the team who makes the least commission will be up for elimination.

Benidorm Is Murder

9pm, 5

Bingo Babs, five years after scooping a €1m jackpot, is living in a faded caravan, nagged by her daughters for never splashing any cash. In the BingoDome, she's a local legend, except to her Italian rival Valentina, who insists Babs has stolen her winning ticket. But one morning, Bingo Babs is found dead on her caravan floor, with a head wound and a bingo pad in hand, marked with six dabbed numbers.

Better Date Than Never

9pm, BBC Three

"Are you a fan of musicals?" asks Allycia. "I appreciate the art," Cameron responds. Will lovely Allycia ("The

best life lesson I've learnt from my mum is 'wiggle your toes and keep your feet on the ground')" connect with her date at a theme park? "Cameron is very hot... like steamy," she contends. But there isn't a spark. Meanwhile, Charles goes to a speed-dating night. "You think you're a nerd?" he boldly asks one potential candidate, Joseph. And Jack is smitten when he meets someone new. Claire: "I love the nails." They bond over Studio Ghibli. After also goes on her first-ever date ("Chivalry is very, very attractive") in this Australian dating show, which is much kinder than most.

Possession

9pm, Sky Atlantic

"Stay away from that family and stay away from that house," warned

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Games&Puzzles

Dominoes

How to play All of the 28 domino pieces from 0-0 through to 6-6 have been placed once into the grid. Can you work out where each of them is placed?

0	2	2	3	0	3	5	5
6	5	4	4	3	4	1	0
0	4	3	6	3	0	5	6
5	3	6	3	0	0	1	2
0	4	4	1	3	2	1	1
4	6	5	6	6	2	2	6
5	2	5	1	1	4	2	1

0	1	2	3	4	5	6
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Journey Finder

How to play Move between the numbers in order 1,2,3,4, 1,2,3,4, and so on, starting with the grey 1 and ending with the grey 4. On each step you may move one square in any direction (including diagonally). You must form a continuous path that visits every square exactly once.

1	2	2	1	4	3
1	3	3	2	1	2
2	4	3	4	2	1
1	3	4	1	4	3
2	4	2	3	1	3
3	4	1	4	2	4

Making Tracks

How to play

Numbers around the outside indicate how many squares in each row and column the track passes through between A and B. The track either passes straight through a square or turns at right angles in it.

Binary

How to play Complete the grid so that each row and column contains five 0s and five 1s. The same number cannot appear in more than two consecutive squares in any row or column. In the finished puzzle, each row must have a different sequence of 0s and 1s to any other row, and likewise for each column.

	0			0
0
			1				1
	1			0		0
	1		0	1	1
1		1
	0		0	0
	1						0
0		1
				1			1

Number Hexagon

How to play Each hexagon is divided into six triangles. The sum of these six triangles is always 25. Place a number from 1-9 in each empty triangle to complete the puzzle: you cannot repeat a number within a hexagon.

Pathfinder

How to play Moving from letter to adjacent letter, can you create a continuous path that visits every square once and spells out all the words listed to the right of the grid? Start on the shaded square.

B	P	C	A	R	M	I	I	F	F
U	M	I	L	D	O	D	R	I	F
H	S	P	S	S	N	I	T	L	Y
O	D	C	E	C	A	S	H	N	C
H	C	A	T	A	V	N	M	E	U
E	T	S	U	L	A	A	U	D	L
O	C	N	I	S	S	C	D	D	F
M	H	A	C	K	E	S	E	L	T
M	W	E	K	I	H	F	E	F	N
I	T	T	A	N	C	O	R	R	O

Bump Cachet Canvass Cards Casino Commit Filth Fluency Forefront Inches Insulate Midriff Muddled Slipshod Take Whack

Battleships

How to play Locate the position of each of the ships listed below in the grid. Numbers around the edge tell you the number of ship segments in each row and column of the puzzle. Ships are surrounded on all sides by water, including diagonally.

Chain Link

How to play Place the numbers 1-6 in each row, column and along each series of squares linked by the chain.

Daily Quiz

1. Which monarch's victory at Agincourt in 1415 gave England the upper hand in the Hundred Years' War?
2. Which fish was named after the Kent port where it was the main catch during the 19th century?
3. Which French café was once known as the main rendezvous of the literary and intellectual elite of the city?
4. Which modern musical blends versions of two ancient Greek myths, Orpheus and Eurydice and Hades and Persepahone?

Answers, page 49

Jigsawdoku ● Zygolex ● Codeword ● Sudoku ● idoku ● Knight's Tour ● Word Wheel »

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Thai fish cakes with sweet and spicy dipping sauce

SERVES 4

• For the fish cakes
• 400g white fish
• 2tbsp Thai red curry paste
• 1 medium, free-range egg yolk
• 6 green beans, thinly sliced
• 1tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
• 2tbsp oil
• For the dipping sauce
• 50g sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 25ml ginger in syrup (from the jar)
• 1tbsp green peppercorns, drained, crushed in a pestle and mortar
• 75ml white wine vinegar
• Juice of half a lime, or to taste
• 40ml water
• 1 Thai chilli, left whole, split down the middle
• ¼tsp sriracha
• 1 red chilli, deseeded, finely diced
• 1tbsp cucumber, deseeded, finely chopped
• 1tbsp diced shallot (optional)

To make the fish cakes, place the fish, curry paste and egg in a food processor and blitz until combined to a paste, with no visible fish chunks.

Add in the green beans and the chopped coriander and mix together with your hands to combine.

Using wet hands or using two spoons, divide the mixture into even sized balls, then press to form into little patties.

Place the fish cakes on a lined baking sheet and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

To make the dipping sauce in a small pan, combine the sugar, salt, ginger syrup, peppercorns, vinegar, lime juice, water and Thai chilli. Bring to a boil, then reduce and cook for five to seven minutes until thickened.

Remove the Thai chilli and add the sriracha and diced red chilli. Once cooled a little, add the cucumber, and shallots if using.

To cook the fish cakes, add the oil to a large frying pan and over a medium heat, cook the fish cakes in batches, without crowding, for approximately three minutes, before turning and cooking for a further two minutes until cooked through.

Serve with the dipping sauce as a delicious starter.

Recipe from bennettopie.com

Games & Puzzles

Kakuro

How to play Fill the white squares so that the total in each across or down run of cells matches the total at the start of that run. You must use the numbers from 1-9 only and cannot repeat a number in a run.

Jigsawdoku

How to play Place the numbers 1-9 once in each row, column and bold-lined jigsaw region.

Killer Sudoku

How to play Each row, column and 3 by 3 box must contain each number (1 to 9) only once. The sum of all numbers contained within grey lines must match the number printed in its top-left corner. No number can appear more than once in an area formed by grey lines.

Zygolex® In The i Paper every day

Find the missing words by following the RHYME, LETTERS and MEANING links – eg, a word that rhymes with 'cheek', has one letter different from 'pear' and has the same meaning as mountain, would be 'peak'. Full rules at zygolex.com. Solution, page 49

Futoshiki

How to play Place the numbers from 1-5 exactly once in each row and column. The greater than and less than signs ('x' and 'y') indicate where one cell is greater/less than the adjacent cell indicated.

Minesweeper

How to play Find all the mines in the grid. Numbers in certain squares indicate how many mines there are in the neighbouring squares, including diagonally touching squares. Mines cannot be placed in squares with numbers.

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NEW! X-33

OPINION 18-22

TV 25-31

LIFE 34-37

CULTURE 38-41

MONKEY 42-45

SPORT 49-56

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2026

29

Number Square

How to play Fill the empty squares with numbers that will make the across and down calculations produce the results shown in the grey squares. Each numeral from 1 to 9 must only appear once. The calculations should be performed from left to right and top to bottom, rather than in strict mathematical order.

Easier

	-		×	3	6
-		×		-
	-		+		15
-		-		×
7	×		-		2
-10		7		-25

Harder

	×		-		32
-		-		×
	×	8	+		76
-		×		+
	-		×		-6
-3		-6		18

Codeword No 4590

How to play The numbers in the grid correspond to the letters of the alphabet. Solve the puzzle and fill in the letters in the key as you discover them. Three letters are provided to give you a start. The solution will be printed in tomorrow's paper, the solution to Wednesday's codeword is on page 49.

	19		17		18		14		7		9
19	5	20	21	1	12		10	7	15	6	12	18
	20		15		19		18		4		23
19	12	25	15		12	11	21	7	20	25	23	8
			12		15		4		12		25
13	12	7	20	5	21	14		17	18	5	14	23
	22				12		3				5
14	24	7	16	15		1	12	12	23	25	15	4
	5		12		3		15		25
12	14	26	7	24	7	2	12		1	5	5	18
	21		20		6		7		3		6
16	18	25	23	10	12		23	10	18	12	7	2
	12		10		15		10		12		8
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
		B			K				11
14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Need a little help getting started? Then call for up to four extra clue letters on 0901 292 5204. Calls cost £1 plus your telephone company's network access charge (if you are having trouble with the phone service, call the helpline: 0333 202 3390). Or text THE! CLUE to $5200 to receive your clues. Texts cost £1 plus your standard network charge (if you are having trouble with the text service, call the helpline: 0333 335 3351). Clues change each day at midnight.

Word Ladder

How to play

Convert the word at the top of the ladder into the word at the bottom of it, using only the five rungs in between. On each rung, you must put a valid four-letter word that is identical to the word above it, apart from a one-letter change. There may be more than one way of achieving this.

DEFT
RATE

CHAT
BAIT

idoku Exclusive to i

How to play Each numeral from 1 to 9 must appear (once only) in the squares forming the red letter i.

3				4	5	6
	9		3				5
							4	3
						7
		8	7	2	6	5
		7
2	4
	7				1		6
		3	5	8				1

Sudoku Harder

	8		1		3
3		5				2	7
	4			2	8		3
		9					2
	7	2		9		8	1
1						6
	2		5	7			8
		3		8		1	6
	9	1	6		4

Tomorrow: Easier

ABC Logic

How to play Place the letters A, B and C only once in each row and column. Each row and column has two blank cells. The letters at the edge of a row/column indicate which of the letters is the first/last to appear in that row/column.

Word Wheel

How to play How many words can you find using the letters in the wheel? Each must use the centre letter and at least three others. Letters may be used only once. You may not use foreign words, proper nouns or plurals though you may use verb forms ending in 's'. There is at least one nine-letter word to be found.

How you rate 11 good, 16 very good, 21 excellent, 25 genius

Terms &

Conditions

By using The i Paper's text services, you are agreeing to receive occasional SMS messages from DMG Media. You will not be charged for receiving these messages and may opt out at any time by texting STOP to the originating number. SMS services on this page are provided by B6A Digital Ltd, KT18 5AD, helpline: 0333 335 3351. Phone services on this page are provided by Spoke AL10 9NA, helpline: 0333 202 3390, and by Advanced Telecom Services EC1M 4BH. Helpline: 0330 333 6946.

Concise Crossword No 4912

ACROSS

1 Pleated collar (4) 3 Meadow (3) 7 Manner of walking (4) 8 Performer's trial performance (8) 9 Tense and easily upset (6,6) 11 Collapse (4,2) 13 Clinging mollusc (6) 15 Resentment (4,8) 18 Bountiful (8) 20 Rocky outcrop (4) 21 Arithmetical problem (3) 22 Bird's home (4)

DOWN

1 Freshwater fish (5) 2 Tiredness (7) 3 Boy (3) 4 Change (5) 5 Idiom (8) 6 Living room (6) 10 Altruistic (8) 12 Astonished (6) 14 Eyeglass (7) 16 Residue (5) 17 Arrow part (5) 19 Unit of electrical resistance (3)

Stuck on the concise crossword?

For today's solutions, call 0902 789 3590. Calls cost 80p per minute plus your network access charge. If you are having trouble accessing this number, please call our helpdesk on 0333 202 3390.

PUZZLE BOOKS

Our range of puzzle books includes crosswords, codewords, synowdokus, children's games, sudokus and more. Available on Amazon for £799 each.

See the full range at miniURL.co.uk/ibooks

	1		2			3		4
									6
7					8
		9				10
11	12					13		14
15			16						17
18					19			20
			21				22

Solution to yesterday's Concise Crossword

ACROSS 1 Cause, 4 Log (See slug), 8 Lantern, 9 Nacre, 10 Eli, 11 Therefore, 12 Ingratitude, 17 Offspring, 20 Lit, 21 Brass, 22 Thermal, 23 Due, 24, Shard DOWN 1 Caller, 2 Auction, 3 Erect, 4 Lament, 5 Gecko, 6 Uncertainty, 7 Deter, 13 Riposte, 14 Dilemma, 15 Hobby, 16 Stolid, 18 Fraud, 19 Guess.

Today's other puzzles Cryptic Crossword, page 25

Five-Clue Cryptic, page 16, One-Minute Wipuko, page 20

Puzzle solutions See page 49

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30

GAMES & PUZZLES

Children's Corner Number Pyramid

How to play The value of each square in the number pyramid is the sum of the two squares directly under it.

Knight's Tour

How to play A chess knight visits each square of the grid exactly once, starting at 1 and ending at 100 (these squares are shaded). Deduce the whole path of the knight – some of which is already given – and thus complete the grid. The knight moves either two squares horizontally followed by one square vertically, or two squares vertically followed by one square horizontally.

	6			73	76	79	12		18
82	9	72						78
5							14	19
			99	88		60	95		93
		43	86	97	100		92	57
44	41						59
	68			55
	47	38	65	62	51	22	29
		49					24	33
		36	1	64		34	27

Cells

How to play 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.

				4	2
2			5
3
	3	4			6
	2					4
	5					2
	2					5

Word Fit

How to play Can you fit all the words into the grid to complete the puzzle? Some words may initially fit in more than one place, but there is only one way to fit all the words together to complete the grid.

Bridges

How to play Connect every island (represented by circles) into a single interconnected group. To do this draw bridges between islands. The number in each circle states how many bridges must be connected to that island. Bridges cannot cross each other, can only be drawn horizontally or vertically, and there can be a maximum of two bridges between any pair of islands.

Word Search

How to play The classic word-search puzzle, find all the words in the grid. Words may be hidden horizontally, vertically or diagonally and in either a forwards or backwards direction.

M	Z	L	E	S	U	S	K	I	P	P	I	N	G	A
S	G	N	I	N	I	A	R	T	G	O	D	B	L	M
I	O	H	Z	G	L	H	C	G	P	P	E	P	Z	S
N	I	I	Y	N	R	T	N	C	K	A	V	X	N	I
O	J	P	X	L	U	I	O	F	T	M	B	O	O	U
I	U	W	Y	W	C	H	H	B	G	U	I	Y	S	Q
T	G	J	Q	N	F	O	O	G	R	S	S	R	C	O
R	G	V	A	C	B	X	M	L	S	I	I	T	I	L
O	L	D	Z	C	I	M	E	E	N	C	Y	E	T	I
T	I	W	J	N	Q	S	R	G	D	C	R	P	A	R
N	N	M	G	D	Q	P	I	V	T	Y	U	P	B	T
O	G	W	P	U	M	N	C	I	G	A	M	U	O	N
C	Y	O	E	I	G	T	O	Z	L	E	V	P	R	E
H	I	I	S	E	R	U	T	A	C	I	R	A	C	V
E	I	B	Y	S	T	R	A	L	A	I	T	R	A	M

ACROBATICS	JUGGLING
BEATBOXING	MAGIC
BURLESQUE	MARTIAL ARTS
CARICATURES	MUSIC
COMEDY	PUPPETRY
CONTORTIONISM	SINGING
DANCING	SKIPPING
DOG TRAINING	VENTRILOQUISM
IMPRESSIONS	YO-YO

Word Square

How to play Simply answer the clues alongside the grid, writing the answers in the respective rows. The solution must read the same horizontally in each row as it does vertically in each column.

				Floating platform
				Compatant
				Open tart
				Incline

Calcudoku

How to play Place the numbers 1-6 once in each row and column, obeying sums in bold-lined regions. The number in each region indicates the total for the region, and the symbol shows which type of operation should be applied to the numbers: addition, subtraction, division or multiplication. Numbers may repeat within bold-lined regions. With subtraction always take the lower numbers away from the highest number in a region, and with division divide the highest number by the lower numbers.

10+	2+	2+	2-	3+
		11+
5-		9+		40+
12+	2-		8+
		30+
11+			18+

Hexalex

How to play Place each of the letters below once into the empty hexagons, crossing them off as you do so. Enter the letters in such a way that it is possible to find all the words listed alongside the grid by moving from hexagon to adjacent hexagon to spell out each word.

A B C D E F I K P R S T U W Y Z

BOY CEDAR EXAM FUND HUSKY JILT SNUG SPRITZ TIRADE WRAP

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NEW 7-22

OPINION 18-22

TV 24-31

LIFE 18-37

SEAT 28-31

SEAT 42-48

SPORT 40-50

UNIVERSITY OF 20 AUGUST 2025

31

CuiJoe East (Sheldon Shepherd) to Gagu Mbaña-Raw's Claudia and the British lawyer really should have listened to the item. Almost immediately after landing in Jamaica, she witnessed a hanging and her client, creepy aristo Oliver Jimmy Lee Millett, lost the full ticket, attacking Claudia and self-flagellating afterwards. This watchable supernatural thriller, which blends eerie mystery with the vibrant energy of Jamaica, benefits from a committed central performance from Mbaña-Raw, who is grimly determined to unearth past wrongs connected to the slave trade. In this final episode, Claudia must embrace both her British and Jamaican heritage to defeat unhinged Charlotte's spirit and face the grim truth about Hope Hill.

FILM

CHOICE

LAURENCE PHELAN

FILM OF THE DAY

Heat

9pm, Film4

(Michael Mann, 1995)

To the crime thriller what The Godfather is to the gangster drama, this is genre movie-making on an operatically grand scale. And to underline the point, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino (left) were billed together for the first time since The Godfather Port II. They play a thief and a cop, two ultra-masculine obsessives living by their own codes, who develop grudging respect for one another despite existing on either side of the law. To be honest the characterisation isn't what you watch Heat for, it's the high-stakes mood, and the detail of the night-time world they live in and the work they do. The cast also features Val Kilmer.

Promising Young Woman

10pm, Sky Atlantic

(Emerald Fennell, 2020)

Fennell's debut offers a slick, spiky refresh of rape-revenge dramas and Carey Mulligan gives a brilliant performance as the femme fatale on a one-woman mission to teach men a lesson about consent.

xxx

Tár

12.05am, BBC Two

(Todd Field, 2022)

Cate Blanchett absolutely dominates the screen and seems the only possible casting choice in this film about an uncompromisingly highbrow and forceful internationally famous conductor incrementally progressing towards a breakdown.

ON DEMAND

Margo's Got Money Trouble

Apple TV4

Nicole Kidman stars in David E Kelley's fruity drama

Alien: Earth Disney

The second season of the horror franchise.

Dutton Ranch Paramounts

A stirring spin-off series in which Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser reprint their Yellowstone roles.

iiv3

6.00 George And Mildred (1) 6.35 George And Mildred (1) 7.95 Classic Emmerdale (1) 7.35 Classic Emmerdale (1) 6.05 Classic Coronation Street (1) 8.40 Classic Coronation Street (1) 9.10 Agatha Christie's Forest (1) 10.25 Agatha Christie's Forest (1) 11.10 Heartbeat (1) 12.35 Heartbeat (1) 1.35 Midsummer Murders (1) 2.30 Classic Emmerdale (1) 4.40 Classic Coronation Street (1) 5.10 Classic Coronation Street (1) 5.50 Heartbeat (1)

6.55 Heartbeat A bride-to-be glass missing (5)

6.10 6.35 Heartbeat A bride-to-be glass missing (5)

7.00 The Simpsons Homer is gown free plane tickets (5)

8.00 Vera The detective investigated Newcastle's drug underworld (5)

10.00 Midsummer Murders Carpets are found in the middle of crop circles (5)

11.55 Trial & Retribution Part one of two The body of a teenage girl is discovered (5)

12.55 Trial & Retribution Part one of two The body of a teenage girl is discovered (5)

12.55 Trial & Retribution (1) 1.55 George And Mildred (1) 2.20 Unwind Wolff (1) 2.30 Teleshopping

6.00 Modern Family (1) 6.55 Rodelick's Tube Shorts (1) 7.00 Cauglas Come Dine With Me (1) 8.00 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA (1) 9.00 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA (1) 10.00 America's Funniest Home Videos (1) 11.00 Below Deck: Mediterranean (1) 12.00 The Simpsons (1) 12.20 The Simpsons (1) 1.00 The Simpsons (1) 1.30 The Simpsons (1) 2.00 Brooklyn Nine-Nine (1) 2.30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine (1) 3.00 Modern Family (1) 3.30 Modern Family (1) 4.00 Modern Family (1) 4.30 Modern Family (1) 5.00 The Simpsons (1) 2.20 The Simpsons (1)

6.00 The Simpsons Homer wins Zimillion on the lottery (5) 6.30 The Simpsons (5)

7.00 The Simpsons Homer is gown free plane tickets (5) 7.30 The Simpsons (5)

8.00 The Great Celebrity Bake Off For Stand Up To Cancer With David O'Doherty and Suzh Ruffoli (5)

9.00 Cruising Paradise: Above And Below Deck Love is in the air on the Star Princess (5)

10.00 Geggibbox The critics share their opinions on the coronation carremony and cancern (5)

11.05 First Dates Electrician Ross connects with a single candle and dog grammar Bremes (5)

12.10 Naked Attraction (1) 1.15 Cruising Paradise: Above And Below Deck (1) 2.10 Wilderpump Rake (1) 3.00 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA (1) 3.50 The Goldbergs (1) 4.40 Brooklyn Nine-Nine (1)

8.55 Final It, Fix It, Flag It (1) 10.00 Four In A Bed (1) 10.35 Four In A Bed (1) 11.05 Four In A Bed (1) 11.35 Four In A Bed (1) 12.10 Four In A Bed (1) 12.40 Come Dine With Me (1) 1.10 Come Dine With Me (1) 1.40 Come Dine With Me (1) 2.15 Come Dine With Me (1) 2.50 Come Dine With Me (1) 2.50 Four In A Bed (1) 3.00 Four In A Bed (1) 4.00 Four In A Bed (1) 4.50 Four In A Bed (1) 5.00 Four In A Bed (1) 5.50 Car & B B (1)

6.50 Car S.O.S Fuzz Townshend and Tim: Blaze restore a former soldier's Austin army truck (5)

7.55 Grand Designs A couple decide to build a house heavily inspired by American modernist properties (5)

9.00 24 Hours In A&E Cameras follow a 26-year-old man's treatment after he is hit by a car (5)

10.00 24 Hours In A&E Cameras follow a 26-year-old who has saved his finger (5)

11.05 999. On The Front Line Paramedics tend to a young man having a panic attack (5)

12.10 9:00 On The Front Line (1) 1.15 24 Hours In A&E (1) 2.00 24 Hours In A&E (1) 3.45 A Place In The Sun (1) 3.55 Close

6.00 Marroige (R) 6.30 Marroige (R) 7.00 Marroige With Ridge And Frost (R) 7.30 Marroige With Ridge And Frost (R) 8.00 Strangle SG-6 (R) (5) 9.00 Strangle SG-6 (R) (5) 10.00 Will & Grace (R) (5) 10.30 Will & Grace (R) (5) 11.00 The Simpsons (R) (1) 11.30 The Simpsons (R) (1) 12.00 Africa's Hunters (R) (1) 4.00 Hawaii Five-6 (R) (1) 4.00 Hawaii Five-6 (R) (1) 5.00 S.W.A.T. (R) (5) 6.00 S.W.A.T. (R) (1) 5.00 The Simpsons (R) (1) 5.30 The Simpsons (R) (1)

6.00 Rob & Romsash vs Superstar DJs Rob Beckett and Romsash Rangardman enter the DJ world (R) (5)

7.00 The Simpsons (R) (5) 7.30 Live EFL Sheffield Wednesday vs. Bradford City (R)

12.10 9:00 On The Front Line Paramedics tend to a young man having a panic attack (5)

6.00 Rich Town (R) (5) 7.00 Rich Town (R) (5) 8.00 Billions (R) (5) 9.05 Billions (R) (5) 10.05 House Of The Dragon (R) (5) 11.05 House Of The Dragon (R) (5) 12.40 Homicide Life On The Street (R) (5) 1.30 Homicide Life On The Street (R) (5) 2.30 Billions (R) (5) 3.35 Billions (R) (5) 4.30 Stange (R) (5) 5.30 Stange (R) (5)

6.30 House Of The Dragon Guermain lines to persuade the Brackens to bend the knee (R) (5)

7.45 House Of The Dragon Rheonym summons a trusted knight for a risky venture (R) (5)

9.00 Possession Last in the series (5)

10.00 FILM: Promising Young Woman (Bramwell Fennell 2020) Crimea Thriller (R) (5)

11.40 The Paper Nad shaves a story about a local scammer (R) (5)

12.10 The Paper (R) (5) 12.45 Groom (R) (5) 1.40 Belt (R) (5) 2.00 Road Man (R) (5) 3.00 Hawaii Five-6 (R) (5) 4.00 S.W.A.T. (R) (5)

Radio

BBC Radio 1

6.15am Newsbeat 7.00 Radio 1 Breakfast With King James 11.00 Ridley, Malore And Charlie 12.15am Newsbeat 1.00 Matt And Jerry 3.00 Radio 1 Play Anthony 3.30 Newsbeat 2.30 Living Home With Vick Katie And James On Radio 2 5.45 Newsbeat 6.00 Radio c's New Music Show With Joe Saunders 8.00 Radio 1's Have Up With Charlie Tae 10.00 BBC Introducing Dance 11.00 The Residency On Radio 1 Dance 1am Danny Howard's Club Mix 2.00 Radio 1 Anthony 4.00 Radio 1's Workout Anthony 5.00 Radio 1 Early Breakfast

BBC Radio 1Xtra

6.30am 1Xtra Playlists 7.00 1Xtra Breakfast With Nadia Jae 10.00 DJ Day Day 12.15pm Newsbeat 1.00 Kaylee Golding 4.00 Smootie Shy 5.45 Newsbeat 6.00 Smootie Shy 7.00 DJ Target 9.00 Spani B 10.30 Spani B 11.00 1Xtra's Race Show With Jeremiah Akanhah 12.30am 1Xtra's Race Show With Jeremiah Akanhah 1.00 Smootie Shy 3.00 1Xtra Salutist 4.00 1Xtra's R&B Slow Jams Mix With Double 4.30 Throwback Thursday 5.30 1Xtra's Throwback Party

BBC Radio 2

6.30am The Sara Cue Breakfast Show 9.30 Vernon Kay 12.00 Jeremy Vina 2.00 DJ Spoony 4.00 Jason Marthof 7.00 From Nights On Radio 7.30 The Country Show With Darius Rucker 10.00 The Good Groove With Malorie Gibson 12.00AM DJ Boring 3.00 Dance Sounds Of The Jets With Vernon Kay 4.00 Dewan Wyn Evans

BBC Radio 3

6.30am Breakfast 9.30 Essential Classics 1pm Classical Live 4.00 Composer Of The Week Pats Mendelslawn Katy Maltejon follaws Mendelslawn's grand tour through Venice, Rome and Naples 5.00 In Tune Petros: Trubavny is joined by bassoonist Amy Harman 7.00 BBC Promo 2020. A tribute to jazz star Miles Davis in his centenary year 10.00 Night Tracks 11.30 Round Midnight 12.30am Through The Night

BBC Radio 4

6am Today 8.00 Natalie Haynes Stands Up For The Classics 9.30 The Guitar Story 10.00 Woman's Hour 16.00 The Cultural Life 12.45 Book Of The Week The Fire In The Mountain: Sicily, Etna And Her People 12.00am News 12.45 Soam Secrets 12.30 Blood Breast 12.30 Weather 1.00 The World At One 1.45 Human Intelligence 2.00 The Archers 2.15 Drama The Observers Book 3.00 Open Country 3.30 Radio 4. April 3.30 The Metaphor Coronation 4.40 The Briefing Room 4.30 BBC Inside Science 5.00 FM 5.00 Weather 6.00 Six O'Clock News 6.30 Idoland: FM The team

do some fundraising 7.00 The Archers: Robert is pushed to the limit 7.15 Front Row: Arts programme 8.00 At Your Own Part: Lucy Easthope explores the history of rice 8.15 The Media Show: The latest news from the fast-changing media world 9.00 Loose Ends: An Pritchard-McLean presents from the Crossed Wines Festival in Sheffield 9.45 The Cows Are Mad: Former Mark Parrish becomes convinced postcolon are the real of the problem 10.00 The Secret Tonight: News round-up presented by Dean's day 10.45 Book A Road into Mr. Sidhu's Past Office: By Antoinette Brar 12.00 Festival Conversations about the global former company the world 11.30 Poetry Please: Papa Hayward chooses press from the poetry archive 12.00AM News And Weather 12.30 Book Of The Week The Photo The Mountain: Sicily, Etna And Her People 12.30 Shipping Forecast 1.00 At BBC World Service 2.00 News Summary 2.15 The Briefing Room 2.30 Weather 3.30 Shipping Forecast 3.45 Prayer For The Day 3.45 Farming Today

BBC Radio 4 Extra

6am The Absent Guest 7.00 Legal, Decent, Honest And Truthful 7.30 The Burista Vina 8.00 The Train At Platform 8.30 Adrian Male The Cappuccino Years 8.45 Agnes Grey 8.00 Idoland: FM 9.30 The Essay: British Film Comedians 9.45 Daily Service 10.00 Great Lives 10.30 Found in Translation 11.00 The Absent Guest 12.00am Legal, Decent, Honest And Truthful 12.30 The Burista Vina 2.00 The Train At Platform 4.30 Adrian Male The Cappuccino Years 4.45 Agnes Grey 2.30 Dilemma 2.30 Snip 3.00 A Pair Of Blue Eyes 4.00 Great Lives 4.30 Found In Translation 5.00 The Absent Guest 6.00 Legal, Decent, Honest And Truthful 6.30 The Burista Vina 7.00 The Train At Platform 4.70

This Cultural

Life

11am, BBC Radio 4 John Wilson talks to Sebastian Pautas (above), the author of Brottong, The Girl At The Lion Dorand Charlotte Grey, about his influences and formative cultural experiences.

Adrian Male The Cappuccino Years 7.45 Agnes Grey 8.00 Dilemma 8.30 Snip 9.00 A Pair Of Blue Eyes 10.00 Comedy Club: I Idowick FM 10.30 Comedy Club: A Landfault At The Mankies 12.00 Comedy Club: Finish From The Fringe 12.30 Comedy Club: Nadine Wilson's Guide To Normality 12.45 Comedy Club: What's The Story: Ashley Sennett 12.00AM Great Lives 12.30 Found In Translation 1.00 The Absent Guest 2.00 Legal, Decent, Honest And Truthful 2.30 The Burista Vina 3.00 The Train At Platform 3.30 Adrian Male The Cappuccino Years 3.45 Agnes Grey 4.00 Dilemma 4.30 Snip 5.00 A Pair Of Blue Eyes

BBC 5 Live

6am Live Breakfast 5.00 Rima Ahmed 11.00 Gordon Smart 1pm Adam Fleming 2.00 Live Drive 7.00 5 Live Sport 8.00 Live Formula 1 9.00 5 Live Sport The Euro Leagues Podcast 10.00 Dave Kram 1.00 Just Mitchell 2.00 Video Up To Money

BBC 5 Music

7am Nick Grimshaw 10.00 Lauren Lawren 1pm Greg Charles 4.00 Huw Stephens 6.00 Huw Stephens Roundtable 7.00 New Music Fix Daily 9.00 Rina & Coe 11.00 E Music Artist in Residence: Shugart 12.00AM New Music Fix Playlist 1.00 New Album Fix 2.00 E Music's Joshua 2.00 E Music's Famine 4.00 E Music's Famine 5.00 The Romes With Chris Hawkins 5.30 Chris Hawkins

Classic FM

6.30am Classic FM Breakfast With Tim Lohanon 9.00 The Classic FM Hall Of Fame Hour With Tim Lohanon 10.00 And Joint 1pm Annie Nunn Montail 4.00 Margherita Taylor 7.00 Relaxing Evenings With John Brunning 9.00 Classic FM's Composer Carousel With John Brunning, John also is for Zilli Staines, and today's focus is Karl Jenkins 10.00 Classic Classics 1am Bill Overton 4.00 Early Breakfast

Absolute Radio

6am Don Perry 10.00 Claire Sturgess 1pm Ben Burnell 4.00 Homeths With Bush & Richie 7.00 Danielle Perry 10.00 Jay Lawrence 1am Don Noble

Heart

6.30am It And Kelly Brock 10.00 Pandora Christie 1pm Matt Wilkinson 4.00 Rob Howard 7.00 Howard Hall Good Weekend With Dee Griffin 10.00 Don Atkinson 1am Cuy Howard 4.00 Early Breakfast With Lindsey Russell

TalkSPORT

6am TalkSPORT Breakfast With Alan Brazil 10.00 Jim White And Simon Jordan 1pm Newsbeat And Blum 4.00 TalkSPORT Drive 7.00 Rick Off 10.00 The Sports for 1am Extra Time With Paul Ross 5.00 Early Sports Breakfast

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32

NEWS

Panorama

Around the world in 10 stories

THE NETHERLANDS

Sanctions against ICC staff by US a 'flagrant attack'

By Mike Corder

IN THE KNOX

The International Criminal Court has heavily criticised the latest US sanctions targeting senior ICC staff, including its president, as a 'flagrant attack' on the global tribunal's independence and vowed to continue seeking justice for atrocities around the world.

The US State Department announced on Tuesday that it had hit ICC president Tomoko Akane (inset), a Japanese national, and ICC senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, who is from Senegal, with sanctions that freeze any assets they have in US jurisdictions or come into contact with the US financial system.

The Trump administration has now slapped sanctions on nine of the ICC's 18 judges, both of its deputy prosecutors, its former chief prosecutor and one other prosecution office staffer, the court said.

The US accuses the court of overstepping its mandate by investigating and seeking to prosecute senior military and political officials from countries, such as Israel and the United States, that are not members of the court.

The court, which is based in The Hague, said that when 'judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk'.

The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, branded the ICC 'a corrupt and fatally politicised supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate'.

The move came weeks after Rubio announced that the US was launching a 'sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court to US sovereignty'. Rubio said he will pres-

sure the court's 125 member states to withdraw from the institution, sanction organisations that work with the court and ban staff from travelling to the United States.

Since then, Venezuela and Chad have announced they plan to leave the court, bringing the number of countries to pull out of the court in the past year to five.

The sanctions drew rare criticism of the US from Japan, a staunch ally.

'The announced measures are very unfortunate,' Toshihiro Kitamura, press secretary at Japan's foreign ministry, said. AP

DRC

Out of control Ebola hits 5,000 cases

By Constant Same Bagatwa

IN BUNIA

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has reached 5,000 cases, government data showed yesterday, as health workers warn it is spreading at an unprecedented speed and outpacing efforts to slow it in one of the country's remotest regions.

DRC's ministry of health recorded 5,021 cases, including 2,378 deaths as of Sunday, as it rages fuelled by insecurity and displacement.

The outbreak has infected and killed more people at a greater speed than any other outbreak in history. The World Health Organisation estimates it will surpass the outbreak of 2014 to 2016 across West Africa, which was the deadliest Ebola outbreak on record with more than 11,000 deaths.

The current outbreak has spread about three times faster than the deadliest on record. The 'risk of further national and international spread remains high', said the director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. AP

PAKISTAN

Hospital move for Khan is challenged by government

By Asif Shahzad

IN ISLAMABAD

Pakistan's government will challenge a Supreme Court decision that ordered authorities to move jailed former prime minister Imran Khan to a private hospital, law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said.

The move could dash the hopes of Khan's party and family, who have been calling for him to be given access to healthcare and visitation rights, and also spark public discontent over the treatment of the hugely popular cricketer-turned-politician.

Khan (inset), 73, has been in jail since August 2023, convicted in a string of cases that he says were politically driven after he fell out with the country's powerful military and was removed from office the previous year.

The court's order on Tuesday

directed the government to move Khan to the private Shifa International Hospital in the capital Islamabad within two days and that he be given access to his personal physician.

'This order is not within four walls of the law,' Tarar said in a video statement. He said the authorities had deliberated the ruling and decided that the court should be approached for a review of the decision.

Khan's sons repeatedly expressed concern regarding his deteriorating health last year, with his lawyers saying he had lost significant vision in his right eye while in prison.

His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has welcomed the order, saying it should be implemented 'immediately, fully, and without delay'. Since he lost power, Khan has faced multiple legal cases. He denies wrongdoing. REUTERS

SYRIA

Assad officer arrested after Austria return

By Feras Dalatey

IN DAMASCUS

Authorities have arrested a former Assad-era security officer who fled Austria after being sentenced to eight years in prison for abusing detainees and returned to Syria, state media has reported.

Lieutenant Colonel Musab Abu Rukha was arrested in the city of Nawa in Daraa province by internal security forces, SANA said.

He was convicted by a Vienna court last month of bodily harm, aggravated coercion and sexual assault against detained opponents of former president Bashar al-Assad while heading the criminal investigations department in Raqqa a decade ago. He had pleaded not guilty.

Abu Rukha left Austria while challenging his sentence on appeal and returned to Syria in early August. It was not clear what charges he could face or whether Austria requested arrest or extradition. REUTERS

---

KOREA 1-33

OPINION 18-22 TY 26-31

LIFE 34-37

CULTURE 38-41

MONDAY 42-45

SPORT 49-56

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2026

33

Floral display

defies gravity

Colourful ribbons hang alongside floral patterns and three-dimensional flower decorations at the Anti- Gravity Garden in Beijing Fang yesterday SONG JIANJIVGSIGETTY

INDIA

Nine killed

as fire rips through hotels

By Sheikh Saaliq IN NEW DELHI

A fire broke out in a five-storey building that houses several hotels in central Kolkata in the early hours yesterday, killing at least nine people and injuring six others in the capital of India's West Bengal state, police said.

Those killed included two women and a four-year-old child, police said. At least 80 people were rescued from the building.

Deadly fires, often linked to elec- trical faults or gas cylinder explo- sions, are common in India where investigators frequently point to safety lapses and inadequate en- forcement of fire regulations.

On Monday, a blaze at a hotel in the West Bengal town of Tarapith left at least seven people dead. AP

Postcard

From...

Pompano Beach

The floating tentacled predators pulse in hypnotic patterns in the dark museum space, lit primarily by images projected on the walls and the plowing light from the saltwater tanks.

The private Jellyfish Museum in Pompano Beach, Florida, north of Fort Lauderdale, is believed to be the first museum in the US dedicated solely to the translucent invertebrates.

It was created by Alex and Yana Yanovsky, who developed aquariums in Ukraine, including a jellyfish museum in Kyiv. The couple left those facilities when they fled Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion, operations manager Jessica Eisenbarth said.

Jellyfish are older than dinosaurs, surviving over 500 million years

The museum, which opened this past spring, is the couple's first aquatic attraction since immigrating to the US, but they would like to expand.

Eisenbarth said: "When they left Ukraine, they moved to Florida, and then they immediately wanted to share their passion here."

Jellyfish have survived for over 500 million years, making them older than dinosaurs and

even trees. Their ancient origins are part of their allure. They have no heart or brain, and are made up primarily of water.

The nearly 10,000 sq ft Jellyfish Museum houses roughly 20 unique species of jellyfish found in Florida waters and other parts of the world. Different species can be rotated through the museum's 21 tanks. Some current occupants include Japanese sea nettles, moon jellyfish, spotted jellies and upside-down jellyfish, the last of which can be found among Florida's mangrove swamps.

Monty Graham, director of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Centre, said he is not surprised someone made an aquarium dedicated specifically to jellyfish. "Jellyfish are cool, they're things that people don't get to see up close unless they're scuba diving. So here was this opportunity. It was a very good, positive thing." AP

David Fischer

UNITED STATES

Trump crypto dealings unpopular

By Jason Lange and Bo Erickson

A majority of Americans believe Donald Trump and his family have inappropriately profited from cryptocurrency since his return to power and that his policy decisions are influenced by his private busi- ness dealings, a new Reuters/ Ipsos poll found.

The poll found that half of Trump's Republican supporters believe he allows considerations

for his business interests to influ- ence his decisions.

Trump earned more than $1.4bn last year from his family's crypto currency ventures.

In March 2025, two months into his second term, he declared his self-branded crypto coin the "Greatest of them all!"

"The President only acts in the best interests of the American public," a White House spokesper- son said. REUTERS

SPAIN

More earthquakes hit

Granada area overnight

By David Latona

At least 10 earthquakes struck Gra- nada in southern Spain overnight into yesterday, continuing seismic activity that began in the region six days ago and has caused light inju- ries and damage to buildings.

Many shops, churches and museums were closed while the local government shut offices as a precaution.

Local media reported that some residents fled to the coast while others opted to stay outdoors for fear of structures collapsing.

The strongest quake of the se- quence was of magnitude 3.4 at 10.35pm on Tuesday, with its epi- centre in Ogijares, four miles south of Granada city, according to the National Geographic Institute.

It was followed by nine tremors between 1.5 and 2.5 magnitude and dozens of smaller aftershocks.

Health services said they treated 14 cases – mostly panic or anxiety attacks – and more than 500 calls

A car damaged by fallen bricks in Granada on Tuesday

were made to emergency services. About 600 people were evacuated from apartment blocks that re- quired inspection, Antonio Sanz, an official, told reporters.

Paqui Valero, a resident of Albolote on Granada's outskirts, told the local newspaper Ideal that she and her partner abandoned work to drive south with their two children on a jammed highway.

"I felt a lot of panic," she said. REUTERS

VIETNAM

Police decline to

charge politician who killed teen

By Francesco Guarascio

A former Vietnamese politician unintentionally killed a teenager in a traffic accident in central Hanoi last year but was exempted from criminal prosecution, police said, shedding light on a case that has fuelled criticism online for months.

Last week people began leaving flowers at the site where the acci- dent occurred in May 2025.

The driver, Nguyen Sy Cuong, is a former deputy chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Af- fairs Committee and the husband of a current government minister.

Allegations linking him to the case circulated online for months.

Investigators determined that Cuong violated road-traffic regu- lations, but was exempted from criminal liability because of "miti- gating factors", according to Colo- nel Nguyen Duc Long, the deputy chief of the Hanoi police, on state television in an interview. REUTERS

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Faraway

People

Ben Miller

The actor and comedian on meditating and writing his debut novel

▶▶ Page 37

Culture

Earplugs needed

How hearing loss can affect professional classical musicians

▶▶ Page 38

Last week the actress Lucy Davis, best known for her role as Dawn Tinsley in The Office, revealed that she had metastatic breast cancer. She had found a tiny lump 18 months ago, but the cancer had already spread to her bones by the time she was diagnosed.

She shared on Instagram that it was too late for chemotherapy and she is going to make the most of the time she has left. Her news sent chills down my spine. In 2015, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I live in fear of that phone call telling me that it's back and I can't be cured.

I was a 40-year-old breast surgeon at the time. I had no risk factors for breast cancer and no family history. I'd just got into triathlons and I rarely drank alcohol. I also never checked my breasts because I thought it would never happen to me, and I was too young for screening. I'd spent a lot of time breaking bad news, but it's completely different when you're on the other side.

Within a couple of weeks I was sitting in a chemo chair, watching the drugs drip into my veins. My life was put on hold for a year of treatment whilst I came to terms with infertility and an instant menopause. Two local recurrences cost me my career. I retired for ill-health reasons when I was 43. The life I'd dreamt of having was over. This is the impact of getting breast cancer when you're 40 instead of 70.

I'm now 51 and it's three years since my last recurrence on my mastectomy scar. I know there's a good chance that I will get metastatic disease in the future. My original cancer was 13cm in size and had spread to four of my lymph nodes. I now get monthly injections of a hormone-blocking treatment, but cancer is sneaky and it can find ways to get around the drugs.

Accepting that it might happen makes things easier for me to cope with. I eat well and exercise regularly to lower the odds, but I know ultimately it's out of my control.

Young women with cancer aren't treated any differently to our mums and grannies. But young women are more likely to have chemotherapy, because our risk of recurrence is higher. That's partly because our

There has been an increase in younger women being diagnosed with breast cancer. Scientists have identified at least three reasons why, says Liz O'Riordan

I was a breast surgeon – I was shocked by my cancer diagnosis

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DEPART N 33

OPINION 18-22

BY 30-31

LIFE 30-37

CULTURE 38-41

MOUNT 42-45

SPORT 46-50

17 JANUARY & 20 AUGUST 2026

35

Main: former breast surgeon Liz O'Riordan; below, Lucy Davis, who revealed she has metastatic breast cancer (ENNY SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY

cancers aren't picked up through mammogram screening – it's only when we notice a change that we get checked out. This means that our cancers are often larger when they're found. And breast cancers in young women can behave differently. While most breast cancers take 10 years to grow into a lump you can feel, in young women they can grow and spread more quickly, which is another reason why so many of us have chemo.

I spent months beating myself up. If only I'd checked my breasts regularly I might have avoided chemotherapy. Even though I knew most breast cancers are due to bad luck, I worried that all the alcohol I drank at medical school coupled with a bad diet were partly to blame.

Back then, breast cancer in young women was fairly uncommon, but the numbers are steadily growing in women in their twenties, thirties and forties. Diagnoses among these age groups have risen by 40 per cent in the past 20 years.

If you spend any time on social media after a cancer diagnosis, you see breast cancer everywhere. Young women are sharing their stories. It can feel like you'll be next, but the numbers are still small. In your thirties, your risk has gone up from one in 4,000 women to one in 3,000 women. However, if you're the one who's got cancer, it's a huge deal.

Most breast cancers are diagnosed in women in their sixties. The two biggest risk factors are being a woman (simply because you have more breast tissue) and getting older. Like most cancers, the longer you live, the more likely your cells are to make mistakes, develop mutations and become cancerous.

The risk of getting breast cancer is actually highest in your seventies, eighties and nineties. That's why we screen women with mammograms from 50 to 70 to pick up breast cancer at an early stage.

Fewer women are dying of breast cancer. In the 90s, one in seven women died. Today, as a result of enormous advances in screening, awareness and treatment, it's one in 20. However, the small but unexplained rise in breast cancer in young women is causing concern among experts.

It's also worrying that the number of women like Lucy Davis, who are diagnosed with incurable cancer from the start, is also rising. Data collected by the US National Cancer Institute indicated an increase of 1.2 per cent each year, but for the under-40s, it's going up by 3 per cent each year.

So what is causing the rise? The internet is full of people blaming everything from microplastics to Covid vaccines to endocrine-disrupting chemicals called parabens in

Incidence of breast cancer in UK women per 100,000 people, by age group

Source: Barclay, N.L., Bunn, C., Debreault, A. et al. "Tars in a woman's breast cancer: a survey of 20 years of cancer in the United Kingdom from 2000 to 2001. Sci Rep 14, 16189 (2024).

Slim young mothers who don't drink get breast cancer too

your cosmetics and toiletries. And while they can make a very good case using studies done on cells in a lab with massive doses of these products, there is no proof that they cause breast cancer in humans.

Scientists have proven that three things are driving some of the increase in cases – and the first is obesity. For years I was taught that being overweight when you were premenopausal slightly lowered your risk, while obesity after the menopause increased it.

But recent evidence has flipped this on its head. Obesity is now a risk factor for breast cancer in young women, particularly for the invasive triple-negative disease which is harder to treat. Excess body fat can cause chronic inflammation which can trigger mutations in healthy

cells. It will be interesting to see what the impact of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic have on our bodies in 10 years' time.

It's not just our body weight, but what we eat as well. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) hit the headlines in 2023 when The Lancet published a paper stating that people who eat large quantities of UPFs are 10 per cent more likely to get cancer. That sounds terrifying, but it doesn't mean you have a one in 10 chance of getting breast cancer if you eat a takeaway at the weekend.

If a woman lives until she's 80, her lifetime all-cancer risk is about 40 per cent. A 10 per cent increase takes that to 44 per cent. That's an extra four women getting cancer over 60 years. And the cancer risk was only seen with animal-based UPFs, not bread, cereals or dairy produce. Eating UPFs won't automatically give you cancer, but if you eat a lot of them, you're more likely to gain weight and obesity will then increase

your cancer risk. Alcohol is another cause and as a Group 1 carcinogen it increases the risk of seven cancers, including breast. One unit a day increases your risk of breast cancer by seven to 10 per cent.

If you are in your forties, this means an extra 15 cancers for every 10,000 women. It's only a small rise, but the more you drink, the greater the risk. There is no safe amount.

The third factor relates to female hormones and reproduction. Oestrogen is an important hormone in the human body and it helps your breasts develop at puberty and during pregnancy. All healthy cells have receptors, like a lock, and oestrogen is the key. But some breast cancers

PAST FACTS

CASES IN THE UK

Cancer rates in young women under 50 are now 82 per cent higher than in men of the same age, according to Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

There are around 50,000 new cases of breast cancer in women every year, and 4.20 in men. In the UK 76.6 percent of females survive breast cancer for 10 or more years

Overall cancer diagnoses in younger adults (aged roughly 25 to 45) have risen by about a quarter since the early 90s

Around nine in 10 cancer cases still happen in people over 50.

Almost two-fifths (37 per cent) of all new cancer cases in the UK are diagnosed in people aged 75 and over.

Breast and bowel (colorectal) cancers account for roughly 11,500 cases a year in younger UK adults and represent the largest volume of diagnoses.

have a huge number of receptors and oestrogen stimulates the cells to grow.

We know from observational studies that women who've had a longer exposure to oestrogen are slightly more likely to get breast cancer. For example, you get your first period at 10 instead of 15 (and puberty is starting younger in girls), or you have a late menopause. These are out of your control.

Having several children and breastfeeding them decreases your risk. And if everyone delayed having children until their late-thirties instead of their twenties, there would be an extra 40 to 50 cases per 100,000 women a year. But this increase is small and should not be a reason to make decisions about when to start a family. It is not my fault that I got breast cancer because I was 40 and childless. Please don't blame yourself if you're in the same boat.

These three factors aren't the only reason for the rise in breast cancer in young women. Slim young mums who don't drink get breast cancer too. And while scientists are looking at our environment and the microbiome, we still don't have all the answers. The Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Fellowship is behind the Scan-Ray (breast cancer risk assessment in young women) trial trying to identify young women who have a higher risk of breast cancer, but it will take time to get results. So what can we do in the meantime?

Lowering the age of screening sounds like a good idea, but it's not that simple. Mammograms work by picking up tiny areas of cancer before they form a lump. These spots look white. Just like breast tissue. When you go through the menopause your breast tissue starts to turn to fat, which looks black, so small cancers are easier to see.

Mammograms aren't as accurate in young women. And the pick-up rate of cancers will be a lot smaller which makes it hard to justify the expense. And when only 50 to 60 per cent of women in their fifties are taking up their screening mammogram, there is no guarantee that young women would turn up.

The answer is three-fold. There are tools being developed to identify which women have a higher risk. One, called Boadicea developed at Cambridge University and funded by Cancer Research UK, is doing just that. Family history only accounts for 5 to 10 per cent of all cancers, meaning 95 per cent of high-risk young women are being missed. Boadicea also takes into account lifestyle, reproductive and genetic factors.

If we can identify these women before they get cancer, we can discuss treatments like Tamoxifen that can reduce their risk. We also need to remind young women that being overweight, drinking alcohol and not exercising regularly increases risk.

Finally, we need to encourage everyone to check their breasts every month. It was too late for Lucy, but imagine how bad things could have been if she hadn't had that tiny spot checked. No adult is too young to get breast cancer. Finding it early could save your life.

Dr Liz O'Riordan is a former breast surgeon and author of books including 'The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer'. Follow her @DrLizORiordan

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36

Lifestyle

Eight ways to avoid holiday stress and come back home fully relaxed

Going away is meant to be restful and yet it can often feel draining. Catherine Renton speaks to experts about how to keep your holiday glow

There was a time, in the not-too-distant past, when going on holiday was a chance to escape from the stresses of life and truly switch off.

You would often be unreachable, you couldn't take your work with you and you could be present and fully in the moment. Now, instead of a time to relax, recharge and unplug, holidays have become coloured by the stress of planning, preparing and getting behind at work.

It may take days to switch off, and you may find you're only truly relaxed just in time for the journey home. Clinical psychologist Dr Tracy King explains why this happens: "We can't expect a holiday to repair months of accumulated stress in the same way we expect a paracetamol to take away a headache.

"In fact, space and fewer demands can mean we experience more stress that was unable to be fully processed when we were in 'firefighting mode', batting away demand after demand of life."

Here, mental health experts explain how to avoid stress ruining your holiday, and how to arrive home less frazzled and more relaxed.

DON'T EXPECT TO SWITCH TO HOLIDAY MODE IMMEDIATELY Sarah Hodges, therapy network manager at Headspace, says one of the biggest misconceptions

about a holiday is that we should feel relaxed the minute we arrive at our destination.

"Our nervous systems don't work like a light switch, we need time to shift out of 'doing' and into relaxation mode. Instead of rushing to fit everything in, take a walk, unpack and simply let yourself arrive," she says.

Another suggestion Hodges has may surprise you, especially if you're used to documenting every moment of your break: "Try not to take a photo for the first 30 minutes after arriving somewhere new.

"We often shift to document the moment before we give ourselves the opportunity to truly experience it. Give your brain a chance to absorb it first; you'll often feel more grounded and present."

Replace doomscrolling with more relaxing habits like reading GETTY

DON'T OVERFILL YOUR DAYS

There is a temptation to try and maximise every single moment of your time away, especially if you've spent a lot of money on your holiday.

Still, King says, "Overfilled itineraries, pressure to make the most of every day and the pursuit of a perfect, photographable experience can reproduce the same urgency people hoped to escape.

"A restorative holiday is not necessarily the fullest or most impressive one. It is the holiday that allows enough space for the nervous system to stop looking for the next demand."

SHARE THE FAMILY WORKLOAD

Even healthy relationships can be strained on holiday, King says.

"Couples and families may arrive with unexpressed ideas about how much time they will spend together, what counts as relaxation and who will carry the practical workload. Often there can be pressure for a holiday to make a relationship look perfect too, when being away from your routines can cause stress."

Dr Nick Zygouris (inset), consultant clinical psychologist at Stronger Minds, recommends that when two adults are travelling together with children, they should both agree on parental responsibilities beforehand.

He says: "One might focus on the children while the other starts to unpack, before swapping. This prevents one parent from carrying both the mental load and the children's emotional needs."

CREATE A SCROLL REPLACEMENT

If you want to take a break from doomscrolling and truly relax, Hodges says, "replace that habit with something equally easy, like people-watching over coffee, picking up a book or listening to local sounds for a few minutes.

"Your brain gets the pause without disappearing into your feed. Most people don't actually miss their phones; they miss the tiny mental breaks scrolling provides."

CONSIDER THE TRUE COST OF THE JOURNEY HOME

The final day of your holiday may also be the most exhausting, so Zygouris suggests avoiding trying to fit in one more excursion, a late dinner, drinks and last-minute packing as these can leave everyone stressed before the journey home has even begun.

And while we're all trying to save money, that 11pm flight home that saves £20 a head is not always the lowest-cost option psychologically, says Zygouris: "Arriving in the early hours and returning immediately to work or school can reduce sleep, patience and emotional resilience.

"Where affordable, a daytime flight, a more direct journey or an extra day at home may better protect the benefits of the holiday."

CREATE A SOFT LANDING

One of the biggest mistakes people make is planning every detail of the holiday but giving very little thought to the transition back into ordinary life, according to Zygouris: "We organise flights, accommodation and activities, but often fail to plan how we will move from holiday mode back into work, and everyday responsibilities."

Zygouris says the first 24 hours at home should contain fewer decisions and demands, not more.

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NEW! 2-33

OPINION 18-22

TV 26-31

LIFE 34-37

CULTURE 38-41

MOVIES 42-45

SPORT 46-50

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2020

37

'A restorative holiday is not necessarily the fullest or most impressive one. It is the holiday that allows enough space for the nervous system to stop looking for the next demand,' says Dr Tracy King GETTY

So prepare an easy meal, breakfast, clean bedding, towels, work or school clothes and transport arrangements before leaving. The aim is not a deep clean; it is to make life easier for your tired future self.

PLAN FOR CHILDREN'S NEEDS

Children may return overtime, overstimulated or unsettled just as their parents' patience and mental capacity are depleted.

Zygouris says this can create a cycle in which tired children become more demanding, parents become less patient and the whole family becomes frustrated.

'A familiar film, colouring, books, Lego and clean pyjamas can help children settle. They do not necessarily need more entertainment; they often need familiarity, structure, predictability and reassurance that normal routines are returning,' says Zygouris.

BRING SOME THING RESTORATIVE HOME

If you've had a truly relaxing break, but find your stress levels rising as soon as you return to 'normal' life, Zygouris suggests continuing one helpful element of the holiday, such as an evening walk, a slower breakfast, a screen-free meal or reading before bed.

He says: 'A successful holiday should not simply help people escape their lives; it should reveal what their ordinary lives may be missing.'

We often fail to plan how we will move from holiday mode back into work

THE MAKING OF ME

'If there's a secret to marriage, I don't know it'

Ben Miller rose to fame as one half of a double act. Now he spends his time meditating and writing novels

BEN MILLER, 60, is an English comedian, actor and author. He rose to fame as half of double act (Alexander) 'Armstrong and Miller', on their sketch show from 1997-2001.

He studied physics at Cambridge, and joined The Cambridge Featlights while studying for a PhD. He has since gone on to star in 'Death in Paradise', Australian/BBC comedy drama 'Austin' and opposite Rowan Atkinson in the Johnny English films, as well as authoring 13 children's books.

He's married to Jessica Parker, with whom he has two children, Harrison, 14, and Lana, 11. He has a son, Jackson, 19, from a previous marriage.

Here, he remembers the moments that shaped him, from people refusing to take him seriously as an actor, to being diagnosed with OCD, keeping his mental health intact and getting mistaken for Rob Brydon.

One of my earliest memories is getting a 50 coin stuck in my throat.

My dad did that brilliant dad thing of turning me upside down, beating me on the back, until I coughed it up.

It's important to enjoy being a kid. Both my parents were English teachers, so I was surrounded by books, and encouraged to read above my level such as Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy. But they weren't pushy.

My wife and I have adopted the same approach with our kids - to study for enthusiasm and interest, and encourage them through praise.

The characters in my first three children's books were named after my own kids.

Lana's quite keen on being a character, but Jackson and Harrison have never shown any interest.

If there's a magic secret to marriage, I don't know it.

I've been married twice - first to Jackson's mother, now to Jess. We met through work; I'd co-written a film, she worked for the studio, so she was kind of my boss. She still is.

The key is not taking anything for granted. You need to be yourself as much as you can be. It's also about communication. Sometimes the last thing I want to do is be honest about how I'm feeling.

If you met me, you probably wouldn't know I suffer from anxiety. I'm not an introvert. I was diagnosed with OCD in 1998. I don't think it removed the anxiety, so to help with that, I rely on meditation.

I obsessively count objects, like the number of windows in a tower block. I've got a mathematical mind, as opposed to being a germophobe who might obsessively tidy. I also tessellate shapes in my head - so I'll

take objects and repeat them so they fit seamlessly together, like tiles on a floor.

People find me the funniest when I'm trying my hardest to be serious. It was really exciting to study physics at Cambridge, but it was so full-on, I didn't really have time for anything else. It was only when I was doing my PhD that I auditioned for a play.

I got the part of Cassio in Othello, which is a bit of a boring part, but every time I went on stage, the audience burst out laughing. By the second or third performance, I thought: 'I should lean into this.'

The more seriously I played it, the more people would laugh. And that's kind of been what I've done ever since.

The first time Alexander (Armstrong) and I went on stage together was magical. And it's been magical ever since. It's so special that it's beyond belief.

We had our heart set on doing something that seemed so difficult. The sketch show format had fallen completely out of fashion. Harry Hill, who was the darling of the stand-up scene at the time, said: 'You and Alexander are like two old men in one of those old shops in Burlington Arcade, making things nobody wants anymore.'

What turned the tide was The Fast Show, which became this extraordinary phenomenon, and people started deciding maybe they quite liked sketches again.

Rowan Atkinson will always be my comedy hero.

I was very nervous the first time I

went to meet him and read for the part of Bough in Johnny English. But when I ended up doing a screen test with him, on act and in costume, it all clicked. I'd done quite a few films before, but Johnny English was a quantum leap, as they say.

I try to eat 30 different vegetables a week.

Like many middle-aged men, if you ask me about my gut health, I could speak for hours about kimchi and fermented yogurt. I'm really interested in health, so I think about what I eat.

I have therapy once a week and I meditate every day.

I really want to live a full family life and achieve at the highest level I can in my work. You've got to be in pretty good form to do that.

Mental health is really important. I also like to read books about spirituality - I'm a big believer in spirituality and trying to connect with something bigger than yourself.

I'm still fascinated by science, but the laws of physics just tell you how the universe evolves. It doesn't tell you how it came to be there.

People often mistake me for Rob Brydon.

I bumped into him at a members' club in Oxfordshire, and we were both wearing exactly the same clothes - light brown chinos, brown suede shoes, a white T-shirt with a denim jacket over the top. We kissed on an episode of QI once, actually.

As told to Rich Pelley

Miller's debut adult novel, 'A Very Dangerous Pursuit', is out now

'I was diagnosed with OCD in 1998. I don't think it removed the anxiety, so to help with that, I rely on meditation,' says Ben Miller DAVID REISS

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Culture

Quote of the day

There is a joy in dissent. Sadly, my voice doesn't sound great angry. I sound like a 12-year-old who's been ordered to turn the telly off

Paul Heaton The Housemartins and Beautiful South singer-songwriter

What happens when classical musicians lose their hearing?

Many are reluctant to talk about the problem – and even to protect their ears – fearing ridicule and a possible loss of work. By Jessica Duchen

When Sioned Williams first realised that her hearing was not all it should be, she was not in mid-flow playing her harp at the Proms, but at home with her husband. "He asked why the radio was on so loud," Williams says. "It didn't seem loud to me."

Williams, principal harp of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBCSO) from 1990 to 2017, has endured a lifelong struggle with McArdle disease, a rare, inherited, metabolic muscle condition. "I shouldn't really be able to play the harp at all," she remarks. On top of that, hearing loss seemed like the last straw.

"I told nobody and went to Musicians' Hearing Services. When they said I'd got a problem in both ears, serious enough to warrant hearing aids, I completely fell apart."

An alarmingly large number of musicians suffer hearing damage at work. Williams maintains that the

situation is made worse by something of a taboo in the profession. Many musicians are reluctant to talk about the problem and sometimes they demur from protecting their ears at all.

"You don't want to be the one making a fuss," she says, "and people are scared to be different. They're also scared of losing work."

According to a 2015 survey by the charity Help Musicians, professional musicians are four times more likely than the general population to suffer noise-induced hearing loss. Some 47 per cent of respondent musicians reported occasional or permanent hearing problems.

Thirty-nine per cent said that they had not sought professional help, believing the issue an unavoidable effect of their work as a musician. And yet, as Help Musicians points out: "Although noise-induced hearing loss is 100 per cent irreversible, it is 100 per cent preventable."

"John", a violinist with several decades of experience in UK or-

chestras, preferred to speak anonymously. He says he has no hearing loss – but he puts this down to his own painstaking efforts to protect himself. He is shocked at how few others do likewise.

"For 25 years, I've used a custom-made ear protector in my left ear – in the first violins, most of the sound comes from your left," he says. "Sometimes I use them in both ears.

Sioned Williams was principal harp at the BBCSO for 27 years

But often I'm the only one wearing them and when I first started doing it, people would take the mickey."

Why would musicians have such a destructive attitude to protecting the sense on which their livelihood depends? "It was thought that you couldn't hear properly with ear-plugs in," John says. "People used to complain about having to sit in front of the trumpets. I'd say: 'Use ear protectors.' But they'd be convinced that if they did, they wouldn't be able to hear themselves play."

Custom-made ear protectors can cut down damaging decibels while letting you hear the essential sound behind the racket: "It's a matter of getting used to it."

We all start to lose some acuity in our hearing after the age of 20. Actual damage, however, is caused when excessively strong sound vibrations bend the wispy "stereocilia" on top of the hair cells inside the cochlea in the inner ear. While rock musicians tend to have the worst levels of exposure, classical musi-

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cians in orchestra or opera are not so far behind. Sometimes hearing loss is gradual, as in Williams's case. Sometimes it isn't.

In 2012, the violist Christopher Goldscheider in the orchestra of the Royal Opera House developed career-ending acoustic shock and permanent hearing damage after some rehearsals in which he was positioned directly in front of a large brass section.

He used his employers and won a substantial payout. The noise levels around him had peaked at 132-137dB. For comparison, a jet aeroplane 250 yards away reaches your leghole at about 140dB.

John says that his own worst experience was playing in a cramped orchestra pit, close to a wall and sandwiched in front of the percussion. The acoustic makes a difference: a large orchestra becomes more dangerous in a small but resonant space. "Even with my usual ear protectors it was unbearable," he says, "so I got myself those headphones that construction workers wear when using pneumatic drills."

The celebrated pianist Steven Osborne has suffered from tinnitus since his mid-twenties. "I found I would get some ringing in my ears after practising," he says. "At first it would go away after a few minutes, and then one day, it just kept going.

"It was a very high pitch, not loud, but it freaked me out. I went to an audiologist, who helped me get some custom-made earplugs. But it never did go away."

When I first started wearing ear protectors, people would take the mickey

He "catastrophised" at first. "As a pianist, your hearing is your livelihood, and I had no idea how it was likely to progress, how much worse it might get, or if the tinnitus sound would overpower what else I could hear. Apparently, that doesn't happen, but I didn't know that."

Unlike many others, he has always spoken openly about the problem, wanting to normalise the addressing of this issue. It's necessary: a recent report from Tinnitus UK suggests that 59 per cent of music professionals suffer from this irreversible condition. Osborne feels that his earplugs have changed his playing for the better. "I used to play a bit too inwardly. Wearing them helped me play as if reaching out a bit more to the audience."

Trying to imagine the performance from the listeners' point of view, he has found the distancing effect even more helpful. He describes what it's like to perform Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3, one of the biggest – and loudest – in the repertoire. "With earplugs, it's as if I hear the music more as the audience hears it. I don't get so obsessed with tiny details and I follow the flow of the music more easily."

After the EU's 2003 directives for controlling occupational noise were absorbed into the UK in the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, orchestras had until 2008 to implement them. Among the requirements were spacing out the musicians when possible, putting players of noisier instruments on "risers" to project above rather than at their colleagues, and managing the players' average duration of exposure to noise.

That can affect the repertoire choices; a late romantic tone poem involving a large, brass-heavy orchestra could be balanced out by quieter pieces. Duration matters: being exposed for about eight hours a day to sounds above 85dB can damage hearing. In Scandinavian countries, orchestral rehearsals are usually limited to four hours a day; in the UK, it is generally six.

Some orchestras now provide baskets of earplugs to which players can help themselves ("They look like piles of sweets," John says). Players in front of the noisiest instruments, like the brass and percussion, are often shielded with clear acoustic screens.

Williams required hearing aids; these too are more sophisticated than they used to be. She asked for inner-ear aids, which are all but invisible from the front. Custom-built ones work well, moulded to the individual ear, she says, but she was unable to get them on the NHS.

Musicians' support organisations offer invaluable aid, notably in the form of the musicians' hearing health scheme from Help Musicians (the scheme is relaunching in autumn). A small fee provides access to expert assessment, advice and a pair of custom-made earplugs.

Awareness of hearing problems has certainly increased. "I'll do anything I can to protect my hearing," Williams says, "but more and more decibels of sound are around us all the time." The screech, rattle and roar on the London Underground, for instance, at times well exceeds the Health and Safety Executive's 85 dB threshold. Perhaps we should all consider wearing ear protectors now, musicians or not.

NEW! 2-31

OPINION 18-22

TV 26-31

LIFE 34-37

CULTURE 38-41

MOUNT 42-45

SPORT 49-54

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2026

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"SIREN SONG" BY CHLOE MANTRIPP

The Culture Matrix

The arts at a glance

culture matrix@thepaper.com

Visual art

Free festival celebrates Dorset's 'odd' Isle of Portland

The Dorset-based collective B-side has unveiled the programme for its free annual arts festival, That Other Place – part of its six-year Common Lands project exploring land, identity and belonging on the Isle of Portland.

Contemporary art sited across the island from 10 to 13 September will include work from THE Turner

Prize nominee Rory Pilgrim, Kenyan film-maker Jim Chuchu and Brooklyn movement artist Jamal Sterrett.

The festival transforms Portland's streets, quarries and coastline into a parallel Portland, inspired by what the organisers call the area's "unique oddness" and a lost Portland Fair.

Reading list

Hiroshima, 8:15; The Lost Memoir Kiyoshi Tanimoto

This newly discovered, first-hand account of the Hiroshima bombing and its aftermath is by survivor Kiyoshi Tanimoto, a Methodist minister who was just starting his day when the atomic weapon fell on 6 August 1945. He details the ensuing days and weeks of horror, but through his determination to save his

family, church and city from total devastation, he would become internationally recognised as a hero of Hiroshima. Ebury, £16.99

Book now

An Evening with Jimmy Anderson Touring, £6 Jan to 27 Feb 2027

England's greatest fast bowler, Jimmy 'the King of Swing' Anderson, will tour theatres next year to talk about his 22-year international cricket career. He will share the stage with his Tollenders podcast co-host Felix White to unpack some of their favourite cricketing moments

shorturl.at/120W6

Coming soon

Slapstick Conversations St George's, Bristol, 4 October

Graeme Garden and Griff Rhys Jones, plus musician Rick Wakeman, are to take part in three separate fundraising 'in conversation' shows in support of Bristol's Slapstick Festival. All three will reflect on their careers, while prog rock legend Wakeman will also improvise a live piano accompaniment to a classic Laurel and Hardy silent comedy. stgeorgesbristol.co.uk

Critics' view... Film

& SONS (CERTIFICATE 15) Out tomorrow

Bill Nighy stars as a famed, reclusive novelist who invites his estranged sons to his country manor to share a secret involving their teenage half-brother. A unique soft sci-fi twist on the 'terrible dad tries to atone to his kids during the winter of life' tale, it unfortunately doesn't feature enough alterations to that narrative form to sustain its melodrama.

Robert Daniels Screen Daily

No movie with Imelda Staunton and Bill Nighy can be entirely without interest – and they're heading up a mighty cast here under the direction of Argentinian film-maker Pablo Trapero. And yet the resulting picture, adapted from the 2013 novel by David Gilbert, feels nebulous and laborious. It is dependent on a giant twist-reveal, which is bafflingly implausible.

Peter Bradshaw The Guardian

Podcast pick

Matt Baker's Petcast

The TV presenter enters the well-worn celebrity interview space by inviting guests into his caravan

to chat about the pets that have shaped their lives. The first episode features Bill Bailey discussing his menagerie, which has included everything from parrots and lizards to armadillos and his current dog, a Japanese chin named Chocho. Other guests in this weekly series have so far included the actor Martin Clunes and comedian Susan Calman. All podcast platforms

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Galaxy

NEW! 5-33

OPINION 18-22

TV 26-31

LIFE 34-37

CULTURE 38-41

MONKEY 43-46

SPORT 49-56

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2020

41

Keys and Gray are 'back'. Did anyone miss them?

SPORT

Michael

Hincks

There's another new football podcast. Not the Wayne Rooney and Mark Goldbridge one, although that does sound bad. Yeah, worse. Richard Keys and Andy Gray. I know. Apparently, "they're back". Yeah, Qatar. Thirteen years.

Who will listen? I have no idea. Probably people who still think sexism is just banter? And those blokes who get angry when a female commentator does Match of the Day.

It's called Keys & Gray Unleashed. Unleashed from what? No idea. The trappings of reality, perhaps.

They've called the first episode the "Tower Bridge Special", which is either a nod to their supposed imprisonment or a clever Easter egg from producers about how torturous this experience might be.

So it's time to unleash them and ruin my YouTube algorithm. Even before tuning in, I have been fed Keys's X posts, but – hilariously – their new "Unleashed" account was temporarily suspended on Monday. At the time of writing, the account is back and has three followers.

"The boys are back in town," says one excited commenter. So maybe some people do care.

Fully aware I am prejudging this podcast, I go in consciously challenging my premonition, but it gets off to a shaky start. The opening minute is an assault on the senses – the intro music is too loud over snippets of their banter.

"We're not going to get this chance anywhere else, so we should create it for ourselves," Keys says. "It will, I'm sure in some quarters, be not so well received."

Acknowledging that a podcast is the only opportunity to feed your ego is some start, but it shows some self-awareness. However, it quickly becomes evident that this is just "The Keys Show".

His anecdotes lack endings and serve only to name-drop or tease. The first story is about lunch on a boat with Joe Lewis, the former

The ex-Sky pundits have launched a podcast KEYS & GRAY UNLEASHED

Tottenham Hotspur owner, but goes nowhere, and it's then time for champagne when abruptly switching to Qatar.

Keys reminds Gray that they bumped into Ned Kelly (Manchester United's former head of security) in a bar nearby, and does a Ricky Gervais look to camera when saying, "There's a story there," for the second time.

He does not elaborate, but moves on again to explain that he does not want to waste the "best years of what's left" by not living with his wife – "around whom

there are numerous stories" (pauses, looks to camera) – before rambling about "legacy media" and how much journalism has changed. He then name-drops Eamonn Holmes.

Gray calling Qatar, and the bubble they lived in there, a "transient society" was at least an astute point, but Keys's insistence on dominating this "conversation" verges on ignorant.

They then tease a story about the awarding of the Qatar World Cup, tease a story about how

Anecdotes

lack endings and serve only to name-drop

Infantino might go and then talk about hydration breaks a couple of months too late, which segues into how they transformed the game while at Sky.

Keys is the guy you get cornered by at the after-party, and by the point that he suggests Arsenal will "piss" the Premier League, I just don't care. I'm too busy searching for the exit and wondering who will listen to the future episodes that might actually finish these tales.

Their account will reach the thousands eventually I'm sure, but with football podcasts at a fascinating juncture, with Disney and Netflix entering the market, this fight for ears is a battle Keys and Gray will surely lose.

But in keeping with this review, do Keys and Gray care? Provided Keys has a microphone in front of him and continues to have a misguided sense of worth, the answer is not one jot.

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Motives & Business

Quote of the day

The Prime Minister is more interested in telling Donald Trump what he wants to hear on North Sea drilling than taking action to keep us safe

Rachel Millward Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales says Labour is losing votes

@theipaper business@theipaper.com

CONSUMER

'Drip pricing' investigation launched into travel firms

By Henry Saker-Clark

The UK competition watchdog has launched investigations into Trainline, Virgin Atlantic and Red Driving School over concerns that customers were not shown full prices upfront.

Affected consumers could receive compensation if it is found that the companies broke the law, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said.

The probes are part of a wider clampdown by the regulator over misleading pricing practices, including 'drip pricing' – mandatory charges separated from headline prices or added later in the buying process.

Shoppers have faced unexpected costs or have had to calculate the total cost of a purchase themselves.

The CMA said: 'Such practices can also impact competition, as a firm using drip pricing may falsely appear to be cheaper than a rival and attract more customers.'

The Trainline investigation focuses

on whether all mandatory fees were displayed upfront when buying tickets in advance on its app and website.

The CMA said it had observed transactions with additional fees ranging from 50p to £2.79, with a £1.50 booking fee for coach journeys.

The investigation into Virgin Atlantic is looking into mandatory resort fees and local taxes for package holidays, while Red Driving School is being scrutinised over how a mandatory booking fee and so-called digital fee – typically £7 per booking – are displayed for driving lessons.

Emma Cochrane, executive director for consumer protection at the

CMA, said: 'Clear pricing helps people to compare offers confidently and choose the option that works best for them. Unexpected mandatory charges make this much harder, which is why the CMA initially put these firms on notice over concerns about their pricing practices and is now opening formal investigations.'

A Trainline spokesman said: 'Trainline is committed to offering customers a transparent booking experience with clear pricing and genuine value. We've proactively engaged with the CMA over several months and we are taking proactive steps to enhance how certain fees are presented to our customers.

'We will continue engaging with the CMA to address their questions.'

A Virgin Atlantic Holidays spokesman said: 'We take our responsibility to customers incredibly seriously and we always want to ensure they can make an informed decision when booking a holiday with us.

'Mandatory fees are indicated

Mandatory Virgin holiday resort fees and local taxes are being looked into

at multiple stages throughout the booking journey. We are reviewing the points raised by the CMA carefully and will co-operate fully with its investigation.'

Red Driving School has also been contacted for comment.

Sue Davies, head of consumer rights policy at Which?, said: 'The CMA shouldn't hesitate to use its new consumer enforcement powers to fine any firms that have broken the rules – especially after each firm has already received a warning advisory letter.

'This move sends a clear message to all businesses to follow the rules.'

Last week, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that unfair pricing practices had 'no place in our economy' and after yesterday's announcement, shares in Trainline tumbled by around 15 per cent

Unitree robots perform kickboxing at the World Robot Conference in Beijing, China, yesterday | INOSHU WANG/REUTERS

TECHNOLOGY

Kung Fu robots kick off float with 629% surge

By Simon Straker

Chinese robotics pioneer Unitree Robotics made a historic debut on Shanghai's tech-focused Star market yesterday, with its shares skyrocketing by 629 per cent.

The Hangzhou-based company, famous for viral videos of its humanoid machines performing kung fu, backflips, and high-speed running, initially priced its listing at ¥150.80 (£16.43) a share.

But the public tranche was oversubscribed by more than

8,000 times in a retail frenzy, with intraday trading peaking at ¥1,100.

The stock ultimately closed 460 per cent higher at ¥845, giving the firm a market valuation of approximately ¥342bn.

The float, which raised around $905m, is the first for a mainland China humanoid robotics firm.

Backed by tech groups like Tencent, Alibaba and startup DeepSeek, Unitree is a rare profitable front runner in the 'embodied AI' sector, netting

¥278m in 2025 on shipments of more than 5,500 androids.

Despite recent US trade restrictions blocking foreign robot imports, domestic investors are betting heavily on Beijing's strategic push for automation.

Unitree's successful float is now expected to spark a wave of public offerings among rival Chinese robotics firms.

It plans to inject the newly raised capital directly into advanced research and manufacturing expansion.

PROPERTY

London bears the brunt of falling house price inflation

By Vicky Shaw

Average annual house price growth in the UK slowed to 2 per cent in June from 3 per cent the previous month, with the typical home selling for £272,000, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.

The fall was primarily due to stamp duty changes in England and Northern Ireland, the ONS said, with strong price growth recorded in May and June last year after a sharp fall in April. Such a performance was never likely to be replicated at the start of this summer, it added.

Average prices increased in June to reach £293,000 (1.8 per cent annual growth) in England, £213,000 (1.8 per cent) in Wales, and £195,000 (2.3 per cent) in Scotland.

In Northern Ireland, the average was £202,000 in the second quarter of 2026, jumping by 9.2 per cent annually. This was the highest annual inflation rate for Northern Ireland since the fourth quarter of 2022.

In England, the North West had the highest house price inflation, at 4.7 per cent in the 12 months to June, while London bore the brunt of the slowdown with 2.5 per cent growth, down from 3.1 per cent in May.

It is the 10th successive month of annual falls in the capital, mainly caused by decreases in inner London, ONS said.

The ONS also said the average monthly private rent in the UK was £1,293 in July – around £50 (3.7 per cent) higher than a year earlier.

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NEW! 5-33

OPINION 18-22

TV 26-31

LIFE 34-37

CULTURE 38-41

MONEY 42-45

SPORT 46-50

8 THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2026

43

EMPLOYMENT

The ‘confidence tax’ could be holding you back at work

Avoiding questions about promotions or salaries is wreaking havoc on your finances. By Katie Piper

Have you ever felt afraid to ask for a pay rise? Have you found the idea of negotiating a deal awkward? Or refused to open a bank statement? If so, you are almost certainly paying the financial confidence tax.

The confidence tax is the money we lose when self-doubt starts to make our decisions for us. It makes us doubt our worth, our ability to make good choices and our ability to manage money. And it can wreak havoc on your finances.

Many people are assertive in lots of areas of their life, but when it comes to money, suddenly things get difficult.

Doubt creeps in; fear of rejection; the worry that if we ask for more, we’ll come away with nothing.

It is something that can affect anyone – although it tends to affect women more – and when we fall into the confidence trap, we need to find a way out.

Financial confidence starts when we are children, with the messages we absorb from our parents. If you grew up watching your mum having to ask your dad for money, or in a home where women didn’t work, that becomes your framework.

It might also come from what you saw in films and books, where rich people are often portrayed as mean. From there, we get the message that it is wrong to desire wealth makes you materialistic and greedy.

All of this shapes us as adults. Because if we are told that money is scarce, we might feel like we should be grateful for any level of pay.

And if we believe that aspiring to more makes us greedy, we might be afraid to negotiate, whether that’s on a job contract or at the local boot sale.

Financial confidence is knowing what you are worth and being willing to express that.

Lacking that confidence means we miss out and it chips away at the rest of our lives too.

When I worked as a beautician, for example, I’d often not charge enough. I wanted my prices low enough to get customers, but then I became too afraid to increase them for fear of losing those customers. This is how self-doubt can start to control you.

This is partly British culture, where we just don’t talk about money, and partly gender-based.

Women are more susceptible to

The confidence tax is the money we lose when self-doubt starts to make our decisions for us, says Katie Piper

the confidence tax because they are often taught that negotiating as a female is “being difficult”.

When I started in my industry and got approached about work, my first thought was always “I hope they pick me”.

These days, I start with “What am I worth and what can I bring to this project?”

What I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older, and as my business and confidence have grown, is not to catastrophize the “no”.

Sometimes you’ve got to dig your heels in and stand firm. And if I’m not picked, I know it’s not personal.

You established your worth; they made a commercial decision.

And while there are times that I will accept a lower fee, perhaps because it’s a project I’m

Women are caught out by the tax because they are often taught negotiation is ‘being difficult’

particularly passionate about, that decision isn’t due to a lack of confidence.

Of course, some people are more naturally confident anyway. Some people go on holiday to the market and enjoy bartering, while others want to shrivel up into a hole in the ground at the thought of it.

But the good news is that you can change.

First, do your research. Asking for a pay rise? Provide evidence of where you have gone beyond your remit, what you have achieved and what would free you up to do more.

Raising your business prices? Look at the competition and what sets you apart. Going armed with facts takes the emotion away.

Don’t bury your head in the sand. If you’re someone who refuses to look at your banking app or open the post, it’s time to take a deep breath. Being avoidant is just another way our lack of confidence can manifest – and the longer you leave it, the worse it gets.

Start taking control one step at a time: open the app, create a budget, set up a spreadsheet.

Understand your feelings about money. Does it make you feel anxiety, guilt or shame?

Some people feel uneasy having too much, while others feel like money is scarce no matter how much they have. Consider what you learned when you were growing up. Reflecting on this can help tackle your lack of confidence.

And lastly, don’t wait to start advocating for yourself. Sometimes confidence only comes afterwards. Asking for a pay rise might feel awkward, but when your boss says, “yes, you’re really good at your job and I don’t want you to leave”, you’ll know you were right to ask and be more likely to do it the next time.

If you’re waiting to feel confident before you tackle your finances, you’ll be waiting for ever.

Katie Piper OBE is a broadcaster, bestselling author and entrepreneur

PEOPLE

New FRC chair sits on board of cited company

By Simon Straker

The appointment of Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia as the incoming chair of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has sparked controversy after it was revealed that she sits on the board of a real estate and construction firm facing a criminal investigation.

Gadhia, the former chief executive of Virgin Money, was appointed as a non-executive director of Innovo Group in January.

High Court legal disclosures have revealed that entities and individuals associated with the London-headquartered construction firm are under criminal investigation in the UAE, with several executives subjected to travel bans.

While Gadhia is not personally implicated and stresses that the misconduct predates her appointment, the situation has intensified scrutiny over her suitability to lead.

The Government is now faces calls to re-evaluate her appointment to protect the watchdog’s institutional integrity.

MPs on the Business and Trade Committee had already expressed deep concern regarding her potential “overload” from holding seven other board seats and had initially withheld a full endorsement.

EMPLOYMENT

Code update set for disciplinary action and grievances

By Alan Jones

The worst behaviours by workers leading to disciplinary action includes theft, bullying, being rude and taking sick leave when not ill, Acas research has found.

Sexual harassment at work, being under the influence of drugs and leaking confidential or sensitive information were also reasons for action against staff, according to a survey of 1,000 managers by the conciliation service.

A consultation was launched on updates to its Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures to help employers and workers handle concerns.

Baroness Maggie Jones, who chairs Acas, said: “It’s important for the worst type of behaviours to be dealt with as early as possible.

“Others that may lead to disciplinary action may not be as clear-cut.

“Employers and workers have rights and responsibilities at work and handling concerns that come up early can save on costs and stress for everyone concerned.

“Acas’s new code reflects the benefits of informal and early resolution of conflict and seeks views on how to improve the handling of formal procedures.”

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44

BUSINESS

FTSE 100 up 0.14% at 10,743.35

Company	Price	Chg %	High	Low	Company	Price	Chg %	High	Low	Company	Price	Chg %	High	Low
SI Group	2821.0	-0.14%	4667.0	1825.0	Kansas Mortis	19680.0	-0.27%	23540.0	10,4070.0	Reddit Ben	4994.0	+0.08%	6522.9	3664.0
Absorben Group	2433.0	-0.08%	265.0	177.5	Elmware	5861.1	+5.24%	707.2	281.5	MSLX	2560.0	+0.79%	3634.0	1591.0
AB Foods	2025.0	-0.45%	2353.0	1729.5	CDX	1910.0	+1.48%	2282.0	1298.6	Rebrand Initial	544.5	0.35%	507.0	329.6
Admiral	3843.0	-0.30%	4006.0	2624.0	Nelson	3573.5	+0.85%	418.1	374.4	Riogamma	7788.0	+3.70%	9117.0	4440.5
Arctic Africa	3279.0	+0.43%	438.2	213.8	Rohse	3488.0	-2.30%	4902.0	3354.0	Rollo Biopro	1519.4	-1.30%	3580.0	990.0
Alliance Witan	1370.0	+0.07%	1294.0	1178.0	House	1774.0	-1.72%	1904.0	1257.2	SalmburyUt	335.6	+1.45%	380.3	252.3
Anglo-Amer	4670.0	+4.80%	4239.0	2123.0	Howden Jolway	7973.5	+0.31%	981.0	713.0	Schroders	584.0	+0.04%	504.5	358.6
ArkinSports	3752.0	+4.13%	4479.0	2077.0	HSBC/HSBC	5457.1	-1.15%	1810.0	939.1	Scotland Inv Tot	1460.0	+2.17%	1663.0	1015.7
ArlindZeneca	12390.0	+2.07%	15772.0	9892.0	IAS	4274.5	+0.55%	492.9	332.7	Sagro	1658.6	+0.20%	947.4	603.0
Automatic Group	534.4	+1.37%	831.2	428.6	ICS	2028.0	+2.27%	2540.0	1424.5	Severn Trust	3084.0	-0.74%	3326.0	2381.0
Avion	775.4	-2.39%	740.8	550.9	IG Group	1318.0	-4.84%	1856.0	1016.0	Shell	3420.0	+0.96%	2758.5	2053.8
Babcock Intl	1115.5	-0.61%	1527.0	902.4	IBC	3832.0	-1.57%	3166.0	2216.0	StallinMingh	1064.5	-3.78%	1641.5	1050.0
B&E Systems	3190.0	-2.51%	3390.0	1819.0	Imperial Brands	2620.0	-1.83%	3632.0	2625.0	Seattle Up	2550.0	-0.69%	2754.2	2088.0
Barrison	496.1	-3.49%	554.1	352.5	Informa	4944.8	+0.04%	6000.0	716.0	Spinar Group	7000.0	-0.14%	8000.0	5950.0
Barnett Bedtime	515.7	+0.12%	410.3	235.4	IntCout HN	11889.6	+0.83%	13305.1	8618.0	S&S	2082.0	-1.45%	2767.5	1597.0
Beazley	1240.0	+0.04%	1298.0	760.0	InterNet	5845.0	-0.06%	5860.0	3510.4	Stan Chart	1354.0	-2.14%	2276.0	1335.8
BF	526.3	+1.26%	605.4	369.4	Investec	6614.5	-0.23%	6402.0	459.4	Standard Life	906.0	-1.29%	948.5	413.0
British Tobacco	4056.0	-1.23%	5326.0	3677.0	JS Sports Fashion	913.1	+1.03%	106.2	64.0	St James's Place	1172.0	+0.65%	1579.5	1038.8
British Land	423.0	-0.52%	451.6	318.6	Kingfisher	325.6	+1.34%	372.3	240.3	Tecro	648.4	+0.52%	510.4	411.7
BT	263.3	+0.79%	242.1	173.0	Land Svcs	6683.0	-0.60%	724.0	522.5	The Eagle Gra	1073.0	+0.54%	1185.0	771.7
Barrel	2766.0	-0.63%	2846.0	1841.0	Logix & Gen	3485.0	-0.96%	518.1	237.2	Trifon Big Ben	1317.7	+0.57%	1770.0	132.2
Burberry	1063.0	+0.79%	1376.5	876.0	Line Finance	12838.0	-0.82%	13820.0	6905.0	Unilever	4038.5	+1.32%	5542.1	3044.0
Castrica	106.2	-1.23%	220.3	151.4	Lincoln life Sp	1102.5	-2.13%	137.9	77.4	United Utilities	1409.0	-0.42%	1497.0	1072.0
Coca-Cola Europa	7845.0	-0.32%	8545.0	6240.0	LondonMetric Prop	1501.4	+0.58%	238.2	175.3	Weldstone	125.4	-0.29%	131.1	83.4
Coca-Cola MBC	4510.0	-0.86%	5139.0	3270.0	Lon Stock Ex	8518.0	+0.14%	10140.0	6884.0	West	2042.0	+2.17%	3580.0	2254.0
Compass	2311.1	-0.48%	2581.1	2300.0	M&I	3473.5	-2.06%	867.1	247.0	Whitewood	2458.0	-0.32%	3302.0	2098.0
Compasscenter	5025.0	-5.1	5105.0	2234.0	M&I	384.5	-1.31%	418.3	302.1
Comedex	230.6	-1.45%	259.3	193.0	Melrose Ind	483.4	-0.96%	889.0	409.5
Cradix Intl	5279.0	+5.25%	5352.0	2437.0	Melrose Energy	4437.0	-0.10%	4448.1	2843.8
DCC Energy	6305.0	+0.24%	6740.0	4188.0	National Grid	5179.0	-2.64%	5428.5	3380.0
Diapro	3689.5	-0.09%	3542.0	1295.5	NatMed Group	6813.0	-1.62%	726.0	500.2
Diploma	7105.0	-0.83%	7793.0	4970.0	Next	15085.0	+0.67%	15300.0	10120.0
Endurance Mining	4493.0	+7.49%	5620.0	2430.0	Pearson	1187.5	-5.1	1337.0	876.6
Exxon	544.0	-1.09%	515.8	500.4	Pending Square	3602.0	-0.41%	5090.0	3636.0
Experian	2424.0	+1.70%	3087.0	2203.0	Percimex	1161.5	+0.43%	1052.0	947.4
F&L Inv Trust	341.0	+0.71%	1332.0	523.8	Polar CapTech	6470.0	-1.52%	743.5	364.0
Freenillo	3685.0	+7.83%	4472.0	1617.0	Prudential	5023.0	-1.16%	1238.0	843.2

Markets

FTSE 100	10743.35	+0.14%
FTSE 250	24643.5	+0.33%
FTSE All Share	5795.9	+0.36%
FTSE EuroFirst 300	2603.9	-0.09%
Dow Jones *	53423.2	+0.15%
S&P 500 *	7716.9	+0.33%
Nasdaq *	26404.18	+0.44%
DAX	26091.3	-0.14%
CAC 40	8501.9	-0.05%
Hang Sone	25495.1	+0.09%
Nikkei	65326.4	-3.36%

€1.1650

EURO/POUND

$1.3608

DOLLAR/POUND

$4.4566

GOLD

Per tinsy ounce. London pm fix

$4.4566

GIL

Brent crude per barrel.

FOOD & DRINK

Soft drinks keep Carlsberg afloat

Soft drinks and non-alcoholic beer have helped boost trading at Carlsberg, with the Danish beer group reporting earlier than expected gains from its £3.3bn takeover of 220 maker Brivle last year. Despite sliding beer sales, the firm has upped its profit growth guidance to between 4 per cent and 6 per cent for this year – it also cited “strong cost management”.

PEOPLE

National Lottery boss to step down

The chief executive of National Lottery operator Allwyn UK is to step down next month. During her three-year tenure Andria Vidler had overseen a “long-overdue transformation” of the company, including a tech upgrade. She will be replaced by Phil Walker on an interim basis from 7 September, who joins from bookmakers William Hill.

BANKING

Technical issue stalls Monzo app

Thousands of Monzo customers were unable to access their app accounts yesterday due to “technical issues”. The company launched a “stand-in” back-up service as it addressed the problem, with users warned that a “technical issue” was being investigated. After four-and-a-half hours, it said its services had been fully restored.

RETAIL

Refund doubles profits at Target

Profits at US retailer Target have doubled after a $964m (£730m) refund from President Donald Trump’s rescinded tariffs. The firm, in the middle of a turnaround plan to spruce up stores, fix supply-chain problems, lower prices and keep shelves full, was boosted by second-quarter profits totalling $2.6bn, from $1.5bn last year.

ACQUISITIONS

Pinewood agrees Ridgeview buyout

Birmingham-based Pinewood, which develops software for car dealerships, has agreed a £545m takeover by US private equity firm Ridgeview. It comes just months after a higher offer from Ajax was withdrawn. The 448p a share deal represents a 43 per cent premium on Pinewood’s share price on 23 July, the day before Ridgeview’s interest was made public.

AUTOMOTIVE

Chery to open UK research centre

Chery is set to open a new research and development centre to develop driving technology at UTAU Millbrook in Bedfordshire this autumn. The centre’s 45-mile test tracks will also be used to tune the Chinese firm’s UK-bound vehicles. Chery has launched its own brand in the UK, but also owns Omoda, Jaecoo and Lepas.

TECHNOLOGY

Google in $12bn AI deal with Marvell

Google has agreed a $12.2bn (£9bn) AI chip deal to expand its partnership with Silicon Valley semiconductor group Marvell. The agreement, which allows Google to buy up to 58.9 million of Marvell shares at $206.58 each, will mean that specialised hardware can be developed for the search engine’s tensor processing units.

FINANCE

Nine in 10 using digital banking

More than nine in 10 (91 per cent) UK adults now use online, mobile and telephone banking, with cash transactions expected to halve to 4 per cent of all payments by 2035, UK Finance has said. Digital purchases were up by 3 per cent on 2025, with the proportion of all payments in cash now down from 45 per cent in 2015 to 8 per cent.

The markets

The FTSE 100 closed yesterday up by 15.31 points, or 0.14 per cent, at 10.74.3 35. The biggest risers were miners Freenillo, up 22up at 3.085p, and Endeavour, up 307p at 4.405p. The biggest tailers were investment group IG, down 67p at

1.318p, and healthcare firm Smith & Nephew, down 42p at 1.058.5p. In France, the CAC40 fell by 0.09 per cent, while the DAX ended 0.14 per cent lower in Germany. The price of Brent crude oil rose to $92.17 a barrel.

***

The pound gained ground on the dollar, up by 0.66 cents at $1.3608, but fell against the euro, down by 0.31 cents at 6.1560, at the close of trading in London.

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NEW! 5-33

OPINION 18-22

TV 25-31

LIFE 34-37

CM-TUNE 38-41

MONEY 43-45

SPORT 49-56

8 THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2020

45

PERSONAL FINANCE

I'm an NHS GP - can I take a lump sum at 55?

Pensions Clinic

TOM SELBY

In a regular series, our experts answer readers' personal finance questions

Q I am 55 years old and working in Scotland as a GP I have been working under the NHS since 2004. My pension is split between England and Scotland. Would my pension be in a single pot or separate for England and Scotland and is it possible for me to draw a lump sum? Also, who can I contact to find out more about my NHS pension in England?

Name and address supplied

As you are an NHS employee, your pension arrangements will almost certainly be "defined benefit" (DB), providing you with

a promised income from your scheme's "normal pension age" based on your salary and the number of years you have been a member of the scheme.

For each year you are a member, you build up an entitlement to a portion of your pensionable earnings as a guaranteed, inflation-protected retirement income.

Since 2015, NHS workers in both England and Scotland have built up entitlements in a "career average" DB scheme with 1/54th accruals, with the normal pension age aligned to the state pension age.

This means, for each year you are a member, you build up an annual pension equal to 1/54th of that year's pensionable earnings, payable from your scheme's normal pension age.

Assuming you have been a member for your entire NHS career, you will probably also have built up some "final salary" DB entitlements where your pension calculation is based on your salary at the end of your career, rather than the average.

You will likely also have pensions with an earlier normal pension age of 65 (the 2008 scheme) or even 60 (the 1995 scheme). Your scheme

Since 2015, NHS workers have built up entitlements in a 'career average' DB scheme GETTY

administrators should provide you with clear information of how much entitlement you have built up under each relevant scheme and an estimate of the income it should deliver in retirement.

Turning to your first question, while the pension terms offered to NHS workers in England and Scotland are broadly similar, the schemes are legally separate and so you should get communications

You build up an entitlement to an income - there is no 'pot' of money

of the pensions built up under each. It's important to note that because your pensions are DB, you build up an entitlement to an income - there is no "pot" of money administered by each scheme.

In relation to your second question, NHS workers aged 55 and over are entitled to take their lump sum early, although you will have to give up some of your promised retirement income in return. Generally, the NHS scheme requires you to give up £1 of pension income for every £12 of tax-free lump sum you receive.

You should think carefully about what you will do with the lump sum if you go down this road. For

example, if you took the lump sum and left it in a low-interest bank account, its value would be eroded over time by inflation. You also need to consider the impact reducing your pension income will have on your living standard in retirement.

In terms of who to contact at NHS England, your starting point should be the NHS Business Services Authority. The website is www.nhshow.nhs.uk/nhs-pensions or you can call 0300 330 1346.

You'll need your scheme details to hand but they should be able to provide information on things like pension estimates, lump sum options and benefit statements. You should make sure the scheme is aware of your current address and details so they can provide you with relevant information.

Finally, given the complexity of your pension arrangements and the significance of any decision to take an early lump sum, I'd strongly recommend you consider taking professional financial advice to fully understand your options.

Tom Selby is director of public policy at investment platform AI Bell. If you have a question for our experts, email us at money@thepaper.com

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Today's Weather

Rain showers across the UK with some sunny spells in the south-east. Scotland and Northern Ireland will experience more persistent rain

Today's high

Today's low

Moon Phase

Sunrise

Sunset

22°

10°

0554

2013

47

Weather

Around Britain

City	Temp (cm (systime))	Rain (m/s)	Sun (m/s)
Aberdeen	18	SM	6.3 5.3
Aberporth	18	S	1.6 4.3
Aberystwyth	18	SM	3.2 3.2
Ananions	18	SM	0.8 5.2
Balfust	17	SM	2.8 2.3
Birmingham	21	C	2.4 4.6
Bearnemouth	21	SM	9.6 5.6
Bridlington	21	SM	5.7 5.4
Bristol	20	C	5.5 5.2
Cardiff	21	C	2.6 5.9
Cromer	19	C	2.8 5.4
Dunham	18	SM	14.8 4.1
Eastbourne	18	R	12.4 3.1
Edinburgh	18	SM	1.0 5.3
Edinbarnian	15	SM	7.0 2.5
Glasgow	18	SM	3.4 2.7
Highhead	17	C	4.2 4.6
Hove	19	SM	10.2 3.9
Hull	21	C	3.1 5.5
Huntingdon	21	C	2.8 4.1
Ipswich	21	C	4.7 3.7
Isle of Man	14	SM	7.4 3.6
Isle of Wright	20	SM	10.2 5.4
Kintachean	17	SM	2.1 3.3
Kirkwall	13	C	13.2 0.2
Leeds	17	SM	5.4 5.4
Lelwick	13	C	0.2 3.2
Leuchars	18	SM	0.4 7.3
Lincoln	20	C	8.8 5.5
Liverpool	19	C	8.1 3.6
London	21	SM	8.9 2.6
Manchester	19	SM	14.1 2.8
Margate	19	R	8.3 2.6
Midland Haven	20	S	4.5 6.0
Marquette	17	SM	8.6 3.3
Newcastle	18	SM	7.1 3.9
Norwich	22	C	2.8 5.5
Nottingham	20	C	4.5 4.8
Okehampton	18	SM	6.9 4.8
Oxford	23	C	14.1 3.9
Plymouth	20	C	10.4 7.0
Portland	19	C	10.2 7.2
Portsmouth	20	C	10.0 4.8
Prestwick	18	SM	3.4 3.1
Rhyl	18	C	4.6 4.1
Sheffield	19	C	4.2 4.9
Shrendbury	20	C	1.7 4.6
Shepnes	20	C	4.7 5.6
Southend	21	C	5.2 2.9
Stoke	20	SM	2.7 4.0
Stornoway	15	SM	2.3 3.5
Swansea	20	C	2.3 5.4
Trent	14	SM	5.3 3.9

Global

City	Temp (m/s)	Cond	City	Temp (m/s)	Cond
Alta Shale	42	S	Miami	36	S
Alsup	48	TM	Miami	30	S
Allianz	36	S	Moscow	27	SM
Amsterdam	30	C	Mumbai	25	SM
Athens	30	S	Newark	27	F
Bangkok	30	C	New York	28	C
Burnshead	32	S	Nice	30	S
Beijing	30	F	Palma	32	S
Borow	30	R	Paris	28	C
Brussels	20	R	Prague	24	C
Budapest	26	C	Roxburgh	31	C
Chicago	26	F	Rio	29	S
Delhi	33	S	Rome	31	S
Dakar	42	S	Stockholm	24	F
Dublin	19	C	Strasbourg	31	F
Frankfurt	31	TM	Sydney	28	S
Geneva	31	S	Taranto	29	S
Helsinki	18	F	Tokyo	32	S
Hong Kong	30	S	Toronto	26	S
Istanbul	30	S	Vancouver	20	S
Johannesburg	30	S	Vienna	31	F
Lancet	27	F	Warsaw	31	C
Los Angeles	26	S	Washington	29	F
Madrid	14	S	Wellington	10	SM

Key: C=Cloudy; DR=Chrysler.

F=Fair; F=Flag; H=Hot; M=Miss; R=Rain.

S=Sunny, SM=Shower, SL=Slant; SN=Stress.

SD=Sandstorm; TW=Thunderstorm.

Air Pollution Index

Population levels

on 6.1 km (light to)

sh=2nd+6m.govt

Region	Today	Tomorrow
Highlands	1	2
North East Scotland	1	2
Central Scotland	2	2
Scottish Borders	2	2
Northern Ireland	1	2
North West & Midway	2	1
North East	2	2
Yorkshire & Humber	2	1
North Wales	2	2
West Midlands	2	2
East Midlands	2	2
South Wales	2	2
South West	2	2
South East	2	2
Eastern	2	2
Greater London	2	2

GENERAL SITUATION A low-pressure system affects the UK bringing widespread rain showers across the country. North-west Scotland and Northern Ireland will see rain persisting into the afternoon, with breezy conditions. South-east England and London will have sunny spells interspersed with occasional rain showers. Evening rain in south-west England and Wales will clear leading to a drier night across many areas. London, SE Eng, East Anglia, Channelis: The day will start with sunny spells and cloud, bringing warm temperatures. Into the afternoon, there is a threat of showers but warmth persists

By evening, clouds gather more noticeably, though some clear spells remain. Winds will be light to moderate from the west. Max temp: 23C. Tonight, clear spells, chilly. Min temp: 15C. Cen S England, SW England, Midlands, S Wales, N Wales: The day begins with clouds and spells of rain, mainly in the west. By afternoon, rain showers became prominent, with a slight rise in temperatures. Into the evening, rain lessens but cloud cover persists. Westerly winds are light to moderate, picking up slightly in the most northern parts. Max temp: 15C. Tonight, light rain, breezy. Min temp: 12C.

SE Scotland, NE Eng, E Eng: The morning will begin with overcast skies and rain is expected, keeping conditions cool. In the most northern parts, steady rain will persist, while the most eastern parts will experience showers. By the afternoon, rain will ease slightly, but skies stay cloudy with gentle easterly winds throughout. Max temp: 16C. Tonight, clear skies, chilly. Min temp: 11C. NW Eng, SW Scotland, N Ireland, Republic of Ireland, IsM: The morning is expected to begin with overcast skies and rain showers, particularly in the most western areas. This dampness will linger into the afternoon, with rain

persisting. By evening, skies remain cloudy, and showers continue. Temperatures will be cool, with gentle breezes throughout. Max temp: 17C. Tonight, clear skies, mild. Min temp: 13C. NW Scotland, NE Scotland, W Isles, N Isles: Today will be cloudy with occasional rain showers in places. The morning is forecast to begin with overcast skies and rain, especially in northern areas. The afternoon remains damp with lighter showers. By evening, conditions may ease slightly. Winds will be stronger in the northernmost parts. Max temp: 15C. Tonight, light rain, breezy. Min temp: 10C.

Key:

1024

Inshore: air pressure

in millilitre

▲▲

Warm front

▲▲

Cold front

▲▲

Occluded front

SYNOPTIC PRESSURE A low-pressure system centred over the Midlands influences the UK, bringing widespread rain and showers. A secondary low persists over north-west Scotland, maintaining breezy conditions. A ridge of high pressure extends from the western isles, encouraging drier conditions later in south-west England and Wales

HIGHS AND LOWS

(Tuesday, up to 11pm)

Warmest: Hum. Dorset, 2p.

Caldest: Ballaouund No 2 Shelland, Bc.

Wettsat: Kirkwall, Orkney, 23x2mm

Sunniest: Leuchars, Fife, 6.8hrs

HOURS OF DARKNESS

Aberdeen	20.38–05.47
Birmingham	20.32–06.00
Bristol	20.22–06.05
Cardiff	20.24–06.07
Glasgow	20.42–05.59
Hall	20.19–05.50
Inverness	20.46–05.52
Liverpool	20.29–06.01
London	20.13–05.55
Manchester	20.26–05.58
Stornoway	20.59–06.00
Swansea	20.28–06.10
York	20.23–05.52

Five-day outlook

FRIDAY Cloudy with scattered sunny spells in southern regions, stormy showers in eastern areas, mostly dry with sunny spells elsewhere

SATURDAY Northern regions enjoy sunny spells, southern regions, experience mostly fair weather. Rain in western areas, mainly dry elsewhere.

SUNDAY Sunny spells are expected in the south and east. Cloudy with light rain in northern and western areas. Calm winds throughout.

MONDAY A mix of cloudy skies and sunny spells are expected across the UK, with a chance of occasional rain showers likely in the Channel Islands.

TUESDAY Today will experience rain across southern and eastern regions, while northern areas see cloudy skies with some rain showers.

---

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OPINION 10-22

TV 25-31

LIFE 35-37

CULTURE 38-41

MONKEY 42-45

SPORT 49-58

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2025

49

The Sport Matrix

The day's action at a glance

Item delivered for Andrew

Balding to land a 10-1 surprise in the Judsonette International at York - with the big two of Constitution River and Ombudsman third and fourth respectively. Balding has now achieved something his later father, Ian, the trainer of Mill Reef, never managed. "I don't think he had many goes at it." Andrew said. "It's always one of the most important races."

RUGBY UNION

Trailfinders transfer makes Ruby Tui's day

Trailfinders Women have signed World Cup-winning New Zealand international Ruby Tui.

The 34-year-old (above) wing was part of the Black Ferns team who defeated England in the 2021 World Cup final and also has Olympic gold and silver medals from the sevens game.

Trailfinders were by Saracens in last season's Premiership final.

"Ruby is one of the most respected figures in the women's game," head coach Barney Maddison said.

"Her experience of winning at the highest level, combined with the energy and leadership she brings off the pitch, will be an enormous asset to the squad."

FORMULA ONE

Sainz follows Albon to stay on at Williams

Carlos Sainz has signed a multi-year contract with Williams, securing his future with the British outfit and

completing its driver line-up for 2027 alongside Alex Albon.

The Spaniard, 31, joined in 2025 on a two-year deal, following his departure from Ferrari.

Since joining Williams, Sainz (above) has delivered two podium finishes and a Sprint podium.

"I'm as committed as I was on day one to helping Williams back to where it belongs and look forward to creating more memories," he said.

Thai-British driver Albon, 30, extended his stay on Tuesday. Their commitment comes amid a difficult season for Williams, who sit ninth in the constructors' championship.

GOLF

Westwood and Poulter back on DP World Tour

LIV Golf pair Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are set to play again on the DP World Tour at the Alfred Dunhill

Links Championship in October.

The Englishmen - who have settled their hefty fines with the DP World Tour - are part of the field in Scotland alongside Tommy Fleetwood and former Open champion Cameron Smith, who has also been playing on the breakaway circuit, but did take part in last year's links event.

Poulter and Westwood (above) are scheduled for a first appearance on the DP World Tour since 2023, with the event hosted on the Old Course at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns.

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1. Henry V
2. Dover sole
3. Les Deux Magots
4. Hadesstown

Word Ladder

Sudoku

Jigsawdoku

Number Hexagon

Wednesday's Codeword 4589

Word Wheel

NINE-LETTER WORD VEGETABLE

OTHER WORDS abet, aiglet, bate, beat, beet, beetle, begat, beget, belt, beta, betel, blat, bloat, saglet, slate, elevate, gate, gelt, late, legate, legatee, table, tael, tale, teal, valet, vegetal.

Killer Sudoku

Minesweeper

Number Pyramid

Calcudoku

Word Square

Knight's Tour

Pathfinder

Chain Link

Fotoshiki

Hexalex

Word Fit

Cells

Battleships

Bridges

Word Search

Five-Cine Cryptic Crossword

Across: 3 Seam-a-N, 1/5 Genuine regard* Down: 1 Sam-UR-Al, 2 Ma-Ena-d, 3 Stere-o

---

50

SPORT

CYCLING

Tarling will be in our thoughts all this week: says Morris of tribute

By Laura Howard

Anna Morris will keep Finlay Tarling in her thoughts when she clips in to race at the Tour of Britain this week, after riders took part in a tribute to the Welsh rider ahead of stage one yesterday.

Tarling (fishes) died after an incident at the Volta a Portugal last week, with riders taking part in a minute's applause ahead of the Tour's start in Cockermouth in his memory.

At just 19 years old, the Welsh rider from Ceredigion was a highly respected figure in the sport, with his brother Josh, 22, competing for Great Britain.

"We had some really sad news with Fin. That's really hit the cycling world hard, at Welsh, British and world level because the Tarling's are a huge presence in cycling," said Morris. "I'll definitely be riding with lots of thoughts in my head this week. The Tarling family have said Fin loved riding and racing his bike so when we clip in this week, we will definitely have him in our thoughts."

Morris enters the Tour of Britain off the back of a Commonwealth Games in which she bagged three medals, including two golds in the individual pursuit and points race.

The 21-year-old was part of a Welsh cycling contingent who showed their strength on the track in Glasgow, finishing second in the medal table in the velodrome with six golds in total, behind Australia.

Having won the North Yorkshire Grand Prix on her return to the road, Morris is among those billed to continue to demonstrate that Welsh strength on home roads.

"It's amazing seeing the strength and depth we have. It's super exciting to have a couple of stages in Wales," added the Cardiff-born rider.

"We've had national road championships for the past two years and we've got it again next year and then some of the Tour de France going through Wales as well.

"Welsh cycling is in a really good place at the moment. We've got strong Welsh riders racing this week and I'm excited to see the likes of Zoe Backstedt and what they can do."

Fresh from a debut Tour de France Femmes, Pontychois's Backstedt entered the UCI Women's

World Tour event as one of the favourites and will benefit from home support through stages three and four with Great Orme and Llanidloes featuring as stops.

"When you hear your name at the side of the road, it picks you up in the tough moments. We're racing over hours and hours so you go through a lot of different emotions and I'm excited to have that support beside the road," explained Morris.

Carmarthen's Jess Roberts also hits the road for the Great Britain Cycling Team alongside Morris, having won silver and bronze at the Commonwealth Games.

While she bids to maintain fitness for her endeavours on the track, she represents another to watch for Welsh crowds at the largest free-to-attend sporting spectacle in the UK.

"I'm proud to be Welsh, it's nice to showcase Wales," said the 27-year-old. "We're quite a small country and there are going to be some hard stages there. We're all proud to be Welsh and showing that off is nice."

Lorena Wiebes celebrates her first-place finish in Cockermouth on the opening day of the Tour of Britain Women GETTY

Wiebes makes it eight and closes in on Cavendish's Tour of Britain record

By Laura Howard

IN COCKERMOUTH

Lorena Wiebes closed in on Mark Cavendish's stage victory record at the Tour of Britain as she sprinted to an opening stage win in Cockermouth.

The Dutch SD Worx-Protime rider showed no fatigue as she arrived in the Lake District fresh from claiming the sprinters' jersey at the Tour de France Femmes.

Already the most successful rider in the women's edition, yesterday's win marked her eighth stage win at the British UCI Women's World Tour stage race, putting her within reach of Cavendish's overall Tour of Britain record of 10.

"We came into the race as a team looking to go for stage wins and this

We came into the race looking to go for stage wins and this is a nice way to start

is a nice way to start," reflected the 27-year-old.

"After the Tour de France I had a few days off and an easy week but you never knew how your legs will be. I suffered quite a lot during the stage because others made it quite hard with attacks.

"But at the end it came good because the team did a good job."

Wiebes won the first and second stages at the Tour de France Femmes, which finished 10 days prior to a testing stage in England's north-west, and defended the points

classification crown to cement her pedigree as one of the women's tour's best sprinters.

She is more likely to match Cavendish's record than beat it on British shores, with stages three and four in Wales far more fitting for climbers.

Team Picnic PostNL rider Josie Nelson finished as the highest-placed British rider, crossing the line in third position in the final sprint, with Flora Perkins Lith and Pfeiffer Georgi two places further back. Belgian Fleur Moors claimed the young riders' jersey.

British Cycling is inspiring riders and fans across the country through the Lloyds Tour of Britain, bringing the sport to life and celebrating the joy of cycling through Britain's biggest free-to-spectate cycling event. Visit britishcycling.org.uk

Sporton TV

Cricket: England v Pakistan

Sky Sports Cricket, 10.15am

Cycling: Women's Tour of Britain

TNT Sports 1.12.15pm

Golf: Nexo Championship

Sky Sports Golf, 12.30pm

Racing: Our Festival

ITV1, 1.30pm

Golf: BMW Championship

Sky Sports Plus, 3.15pm

Tennis: ATFWTA Cincinnati

Sky Sports Tennis, 4pm

Football: Sheffield Wednesday v

Bradford City

Sky Sports Football, 7.30pm

Football: Rayo Vallecano v Alaves

Premier Sports 1.8pm

Golf: CPKC Women's Open

Sky Sports Golf, midnight

Results Service

FOOTBALL

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAY-OFF FIRST LEG

Celtic 3 LARK 0

Virginia 20, Durian 20 0

Steven Breckinridge 1 CM Colby 0

Hazard Boon Shown 2 Subah Buka 0

BEE 1 BodaGone 0

EFL TROPHY NORTHERN GROUP D

Manchester 0 Man City 0 0

CRICKET FIRETTEST MATCH

5m Lurke c-trellu, Galle, Nola 4/5-1/8 3/5-1, 1/4-1/2 end 100-100 LUTS, 1/4-1/2, 1/4-1/2, 1/4-1/2 end 200-100 LUTS, 1/4-1/2, 1/4-1/2, 1/4-1/2 end

TENNIS

ATP & WTA CINCINNATI OPEN, Ohio, Men's fourth

round 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100

Tennis: ATFWTA Cincinnati

Sky Sports Tennis, 4pm Football: Sheffield Wednesday v

Bradford City Sky Sports Football, 7.30pm

Football: Rayo Vallecano v Alaves Premier Sports 1.8pm

Golf: CPKC Women's Open

Sky Sports Golf, midnight

FOOTBALL EUROPA LEAGUE - PLAY-OFF ROUND-FIRST LEG

SUI 2/4-1/8 3/5-1/2, 1/4-1/2

Bethany, 4/5-1/8 3/5-1/2 Bentley, 4/5-1/2, 1/4-1/2, 1/4-1/2

FF Elyria, 4/5-1/2, 1/4-1/2, 1/4-1/2 Lapidonia, 4/5-1/2, 1/4-1/2, 1/4-1/2

FCF, 4/5-1/2, 1/4-1/2, 1/4-1/2

Malibu AP v Red Bull Salzburg 82

GFI v USA S.Fut 85

Gen. Finster v Omaha Noone 25

Trabzonspor v Parwinswold 81 Jovanindalai Chesna v Anand Armenia 85

Lodi Poccas v Pluel 85

CONFERENCE LEAGUE QUALITYING PLAY-OFF ROUND-FIRST LEG

Gent v Hibernian C 26

Haarte v Rapid Vienna

Lenoir Rollheim v Larnat 82 Muhamadi v Elmberg 87 90

Rangers v Jablonsi

Shahrouk Rovers v SLPT 86 Tomasu v Kingsland 85

SKY BET LEAGUE ONE

Sheffield Wednesday v Bradford 88

CRICKET

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP (First day of Year

1) Lark v Free Division, Humphrey v Yorkshire The Rose Bowl, Leicester 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Lancaster Command v Essex (Taunton) Surrey v

Kent v Eastbourne (Sheila) (Eastbourne) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

Suzuki (England)

Second Division, Derbyshire v Durham (Derby)

Gracie and more v Newcastle (Irvine) (Cheltenham) Leicesters v Northamptonshire (Bull Trafford)

Wickham v York (Northwood)

GOLF

DF WORLD TOUR (KIND CHAMPIONSHIP

D PONTON (Kent)

LIV GOLF INDEMNARCUS (Westfield, Indiana) VSPGA TOUR (NEW CHAMPIONSHIP

Chicago (Hull) (Maryland)

LPSA CPKC WOMEN'S OPEN (Edmonton, Alberta)

Kalpana

(3.35 York)

Technically this

should represent

an easier task than

she faced on her

most recent outing

at Ascot in the King

George. Then she

took on a host of

Group One-winning

colls and geldings

from all over the

world and beat

Calandagan soundly

YORK case to start

LEGENDS GLOBAL YORKSHIRE DAKS (PILLIES AND MAREE GROUP 1) (CLASS 1) (Class one added on 1)

1 70-101 KALPARA (D) 1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 3 2 6-1225 MONDE NAVA (CD) 1-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 330-01 TATTYUOKAN (D) 1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 3 4 2-1230 BARTH SHOT (D) 1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 5 4-1230 ING MGM D (D) 1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 6 3-1225 JOHANNA WALSH (D) 1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 D Breene McManagle T 7

7 16-107 LEGACY LINK (CBSF) 1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 8 1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 9 20-130 SPARAN MIA (D) 1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 R 9-1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 RETEND 1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 R 9-1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 R 9-1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 R 9-1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 R 9-1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 R 9-1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 R 9-1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 R 9-1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 R 9-1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 R 9-1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 R 9-1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 R 9-1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3

NORTH OF & SW-MONY CECIL GALLER STATES CLASS 1 (Class one added on 1)

1 100-20 ARHABIRA D Marquess 3 3 3 2 40-80 CLUB (CLASS 0) 1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 3 10-150 MERRIES (D) 1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 4 20-150 MERRIES (D) 1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 5 40-80 PEPPEST HIGH (D) 1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 6 60-150 PHAPOSOP (E) 1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 7 70-200 RINA (D) 1-0 0-0 0-0 3 3 8 1-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 9 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 10 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 11 1-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 12 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 13 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 14 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 15 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 16 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 17 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 18 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 19 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 20 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 21 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 22 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 23 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 24 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 25 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 26 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 27 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 28 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 29 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 30 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 31 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 32 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 33 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 34 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 35 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 36 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 37 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 38 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 39 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 40 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 41 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 42 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 43 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 44 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 45 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 46 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 47 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 48 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 49 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 50 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 51 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 52 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 53 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 54 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 55 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 56 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 57 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 58 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 59 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 60 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 61 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 62 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 63 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 64 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 65 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 66 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 67 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 68 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 69 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 70 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 71 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 72 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 73 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 74 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 75 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 76 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 77 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 78 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 79 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 80 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 81 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 82 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 83 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 84 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 85 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 86 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 87 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 88 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 89 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 90 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 91 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 92 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 93 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 94 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 95 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 96 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 97 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 98 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 99 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 100 2-1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3

---

NEWS 5-33

OPINION 18-22

TV 29-31

LIFE 34-37

GIRLING 38-41

MONDAY 42-45

SPORT 49-56

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2025

51

FOOTBALL

Arsenal agree £51m switch for Aston Villa defender Konsa

By Jonathan Veal and Phil Duncan

England centre-back Ezri Konsa is set to join champions Arsenal as a summer of change continues at Aston Villa.

The 28-year-old, who played a full part in England's third-placed finish at the World Cup, is expected to undergo a medical in north London today after a £51m deal was agreed.

Villa centre-back Konsa has been a long-time target of the Gunners, who are strengthening their squad as they begin their defence of the Premier League title at home to Coventry City tomorrow night.

The clubs have been apart in valuation but a fee has been agreed and the deal appears primed to conclude by the end of the week.

Gunners manager Mikel Arteta wants to bolster his options in defence after William Saliba sustained a back injury playing for France at the World Cup. Saliba elected against an operation but faces an extended period of rehabilitation.

Fellow defender Jurrien Timber was unable to play for the Netherlands at the World Cup and did not feature in Arsenal's Community Shield win against Manchester City in Cardiff last Sunday.

Konsa joined Villa in 2019 and has made 286 appearances, winning the Europa League last season and helping the club finish in the top four of the Premier League twice.

His impending exit is another blow for Villa, with Konsa set to follow fellow key players Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans out of the door.

There are also doubts over the future of goalkeeper Emiliano Mar-

Ezri Konsa is close to sealing a return to the capital with champions Arsenal

tinez, whose move to Juventus fell through this week, while Villa have rejected interest in striker Ollie Watkins from Al Hilal.

However, they have completed the signings of Japan international goalkeeper Zion Suzuki (left) and Italian left-back Matteo Ruggeri.

Konsa's could make his Arsenal debut against Villa, with the Gunners facing Unai Emery's side in the second game of their title defence, a week on Monday.

He would become Arsenal's fifth signing of the summer, following Bruno Guimaraes' £75m switch from Newcastle United and Christos Tsolis' £34m arrival from Club Brugge. Piero Hincapie also turned his temporary deal into a full-time switch, while goalkeeper Ilan Meckler joined from Leeds United as a free signing.

Mikel Arteta took over at the Emirates Stadium late in 2019

Champions confident of securing new Arteta deal

By Philip Duncan

Mikel Arteta's Arsenal future will be "resolved very shortly", the club's chief executive Richard Garlick has insisted.

The Spaniard, who last season oversaw Arsenal's first Premier League title since 2004, is in the final year of his contract, but said last weekend he is "extremely happy" at Arsenal.

"Mikel wants to be at Arsenal and we want Mikel," Garlick said. "It's only a matter of time before we put that into a new contract.

"Everyone is calm. We're just navigating a transfer window and I'm sure Mikel's contract will be resolved very shortly."

Arteta has transformed Arsenal's fortunes in his near seven-year reign at the club, ending a two-decade title wait while also reaching last season's Champions League final.

In terms of other transfers, Ethan Nwaneri could be leaving on loan before the window closes. Arteta is unable to guarantee the 15-year-old playing time ahead of the new campaign. Myles Lewis-Skelly, also 13, is expected to stay and it is believed that Arsenal would only be tempted to sell if a substantial offer arrives.

SHEFFIELD UNITED

Points threat to Blades after winding-up order

By Jess Glass

A company owned by Sheffield United's chairmen has been wound up at the High Court.

COH Sports faced proceedings brought by United World, the club's former owners.

The takeover of the club by COH Sports, headed by Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, took place in December 2024.

Americans Mr Rosen and Mr Eltoukhy are club co-chairmen.

United World, owned by Prince Abdullah bin Mosa'ad, has claimed it is owed over £55m from the sale, filing a winding up petition last month.

A hearing took place yesterday at the specialist Insolvency and Companies Court in London, which lasted around 10 seconds. Angus Groom, representing United World, asked for the "usual compulsory

order" in the proceedings, which would wind up COH Sports. Judge Paul Greenwood granted the order.

A United spokesperson said: "[The club] is aware of today's hearing. This is a matter between the current owners and former owner. The club is in contact with the English Football League and day-to-day operations are unaffected."

The club could be subjected to a 12-point deduction if the EFL finds the owners to have breached rules.

In June, United said Delaware-based company 1919 Partners is the parent company and "sits at the centre of the ownership structure".

An EFL spokesperson said: "The league will consider the implications in line with its regulations, including whether further action is required. The EFL continues to consider other regulatory matters following changes to the ownership structure."

Football in brief

MANCHESTER CITY

Reijnders switch extends Etihad exits

Tijjani Reijnders has completed his move to Saudi Pro League side Al Qadsiah from Manchester City.

The Dutchman, 28, has moved on a permanent deal after City accepted a bid of £51m.

Reijnders (above) spent a single season at the Etihad Stadium, making 50 appearances and scoring seven goals, after signing from AC Milan for £46.5m last summer.

His departure continues a summer of upheaval after the exits of manager Pep Guardiola and senior players Rodri, John Stones, Bernardo Silva and Nathan Ake. Reijnders, who helped City win a domestic cup double last season, said: "I have been incredibly privileged to play for City and I have relished every minute of my time."

WEST HAM UNITED

Piroe drops down to join Hammers

West Ham United have signed Suriname international striker Joel Piroe on loan from Leeds United.

The Dutch-born 27-year-old has agreed a season-long loan deal with the Championship club, with an option to make the deal permanent next year.

"It's a joy to have got everything over the line," said Piroe (above). "I'm delighted to be here and I'm ready to go. I see West Ham as a club that really wants to be in the Premier League, and should be in the Premier League. With my experience, I can help the club a lot to achieve what they want."

The Hammers are close to agreeing a deal to loan right-back Aaron Wan Bisuska to Champions League-bound Aston Villa.

RACING

Kalpana's turn to become a legend of the Yorkshire Oaks after Enable and Alpinista

By Nick Robson

The only two older horses to triumph in the Legends Global Yorkshire Oaks in the last decade were both Arc winners and Andrew Balding will be hoping that proves to be a good omen ahead of this year's renewal for Kalpana.

Enable had already won the Paris showpiece twice when she turned up at York in 2019 and

landed short odds as a five-year-old, and while Alpinista had at the same age been doing most of her winning abroad, she showed in the 2022 renewal how good she was on the UK stage. She would go on to give Sir Mark Prescott his biggest day in racing that season and now it is the turn of Kalpana (right).

This should represent an easier task than she faced on her most recent outing at Ascot in the

King George. That day she took on a host of Group One-winning colts and geldings from all over the world and beat Calandagan by a length and a half.

That form alone is head and shoulders clear of the rest and while it was only 26 days ago, and Taghrooda did get turned over at 1-5 in 2014 when trying to do the same double, she was only three at the time and Kalpana is two years older.

Johanna Walsh looks the best of the Classic generation after a wide-margin Irish Oaks win and is in receipt of 9th, but she will have to

improve again to trouble Kalpana, in a race in which favourites have performed exceptionally well down the years.

Livenka can give Juddmonte's retained jockey Colin Keane a big-race double in the Sky Bet Lowther Stakes.

Trainer Ger Lyons is a rare visitor to the UK and only makes the journey when he thinks he has a serious chance. This filly looked above average in winning the valuable Ballyhane Stakes at Naas and is clearly on an upward curve.

Her two defeats came against two of Aidan O'Brien's top juveniles and in winning her maiden she beat the roopposing Star Of State, who won by nine lengths next time up.

Sun Goddess is a Group One winner and Tokaido has won a Group Two, so they take out a huge chunk of the market in the Harry's Half Million By Goffs. Owners Middleham

Park Racing have a great record in these sales events however, as does trainer Clive Cox, and they combine with Satellite Of Love.

Unbeaten in two, he has followed a similar route to Song Of The Clyde, who won this race for Cox, and the Lambourn trainer is incredibly going for a fourth win in a row.

Bullet Point was asked a lot last time out in the Sherger Cup and while he was quite a well beaten second, it was at least his best run for some time.

---

52

SPORT

CRYSTAL PALACE

US youth international Zavier Gaza has moved to Selhurst Park

Gozo swaps Salt Lake City for Palace in £11m deal

Crystal Palace have bolstered their squad ahead of another European campaign by signing the US youth international Zavier Gaza.

The Conference League holders have signed the winger, 19, on a five-year deal for £11m from Real Salt Lake.

The MLS club said they will "retain a significant percentage of any future transfer fee" for the player, who, it added, was the first Utah native to join a Premier League club.

Palace open their top-flight season at Everton on Saturday and will play in the second-tier Europa League this season. The league phase draw for the second-tier Uefa competition takes place in Monaco next week.

CHELSEA

I've joined kings of the capital, says Chavarria

Pep Chavarria says he has moved to Chelsea to win trophies at "the best club in London".

The left-back, 28, became Blues boss Xabi Alonso's latest new recruit last week when he completed an £18m switch from

Rayo Vallecano.

"For me, the Premier League is the best league in the world right now," Chavarria (left) said. "There's a lot of quality, intensity and it's the best league for me. I'm here thanks to

Xabi. He's one of the best coaches. He says to feel good and do the same, not change.

"I worked a lot to arrive at this club. I always said that I would arrive at a big club, but I didn't imagine Chelsea. Chelsea always needs to win all the trophies. It's the best club in London."

CONFERENCE LEAGUE

Shankland offers so much both on and off the pitch, claims McInnes

By Ronnie Esplin

Derek McInnes has described Lawrence Shankland as a "brilliant" captain who will have a "big influence" at Rangers, whether or not the forward starts games.

Shankland was captain under McInnes at Hearts and followed his manager to Ibrox this summer, where he took up the same role.

The Scotland striker has not hit the ground running in Govan and was on the bench for the 5-1 home Premier Sports Cup win over St Mirren last Sunday, with Nico Raskin taking the armband.

Ahead of tonight's Conference League play-off first leg against Czech side Jablonec at Ibrox, McInnes said: "I said when I spoke to Lawrence. Being captain does not guarantee anything, and he accepted that. He is not going to stamp his feet. Somebody has to be club captain and, having worked with Lawrence before, he is a brilliant captain and a brilliant boy.

"He has a lot to offer. People can maybe look too much into it. You want your captain to have a big influence on and off the pitch, and I believe Lawrence will have that.

"For me, it is a non-question, although I understand why people might see more in it."

Shankland came off the bench for the second time this season against Saints but could not add to his solitary Gers goal to date, a penalty against Jagiellonia Białystok in the Europa League qualifier a week ago.

However, McInnes is relaxed about the situation and added: "When you have a player like Lawrence, who knows his way around the penalty box and how to score goals, I do not worry too much about it.

"He is too good not to score regularly. He has consistently shown over a period of time in the Premiership, with 20-odd goals a season at Hearts.

"Sometimes people can over-emphasise these things. It is a case of letting him play his natural game.

"The best strikers have that instinctive side to their game, where everything looks natural and seamless, I have no doubt he will do well here."

When you have a player like him, who knows his way round the box, I do not worry

Meanwhile, Kosta Nedeljkovic has joined from Anton Villa on a season-long loan deal, with the Gers having an obligation to buy the defender.

The 20-year-old Serbia international, McInnes' 11th summer signing, will contend with Dujon Sterling and Rose McCrorie for the right-back position.

"It was a position we identified at the start of pre-season," said McInnes. "We looked at various options. The club had been reliant on Dujon, who has had his history of injuries, so we wanted to bring in a different type of full-back.

"I've got a high opinion of Dujon, but with Kosta you get a player similar to [midfielder] Vanja [Dragojevic] real enthusiasm, athleticism, the ability to get up and down.

"He shows good quality and a real eagerness to play the role. As a young player, there will still be areas to improve, but we're looking forward to helping him develop."

Rangers and Lawrence Shankland have struggled to find form this season PA

HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN

Vrancken aims for third time lucky in Europe

By Anthony Brown

Wouter Vrancken has challenged Hearts to seize their third and final chance to secure European league phase football by overcoming Rapid Vienna.

After losing Champions League and Europa League qualifiers against Sturm Graz and Benfica respectively this summer, the Jambos must win their Conference League play-off over the next week if they are to prolong their continental adventure.

"It's very important," said Vrancken, who passed up guaranteed European main phase involvement with former club Sint-Truiden, who are currently in the Europa League play-off round, to move to Tynecastle in June.

"Everybody wants to play in Europe in those league phases. Every coach, every player wants to be part of it and for the club it's also important.

"Also financially probably, but this is something for other people. But I think the sporting side of it, every player, every coach wants to play as far as possible in Europe.

"It's our last chance to reach the league phase, so we have to go all in to try to get there."

Vienna have scored 29 goals in eight this season and arrive at Tynecastle on the back of an 8-0 home win over Grazer AK in the league at the weekend.

"Rapid are a good team," Vrancken said. "When you compare them with Sturm Graz, then they want to also press high, they have a strong pressure style.

"But I think on the ball they are better."

PLANET FOOTBALL

COVENTRY CITY

A new Cherif in town for City and Lampard

Coventry City have signed the Guinea forward Sidiki Cherif from Fenerbahçe, in a £20.5m deal.

The 19-year-old (above) scored twice in 12 Turkish Super Lig appearances last season and becomes Coventry's eighth signing of the summer transfer window.

The club have spent over £90m as Frank Lampard strengthens ahead of their Premier League return, which starts at Arsenal tomorrow night.

Among the new arrivals are midfielder Caleb Vrenley, keeper Carl Rushworth, forwards Lourn Tchaouna and Taiwo Awoniyi, defender Aurele Amenda and Gustavo Hamer, who returns after three seasons at Sheffield United.

LEEDS UNITED

Defender Elvedi signs at Elland Road

Leeds United have signed Switzerland international Nico Elvedi from Borussia Mönchengladbach.

The 29-year-old (above), who played every minute of his country's run to this year's World Cup quarter-finals, has joined for £6.5m, rising to £8.5m with add-ons.

He worked under Leeds manager Daniel Farke at Gladbach and becomes the club's fourth summer buy ahead of Saturday's Premier League opener at Nottingham Forest.

His arrival follows the exit of Sebastian Bornauw, who has signed for Hamburg on loan. The 27-year-old will spend 2026-27 at the Bundesliga outfit after only 17 games since his 2025 arrival.

LIVERPOOL

Italian champions pursuing Jones

Liverpool and England midfielder Curtis Jones is nearing a move to Inter Milan. Having joined the

Reds academy at under-nine level, the midfielder progressed through the ranks and won six trophies across 228 games for his hometown club.

The 25-year-old (above) is preparing for a transfer to the Serie A champions, with a £30m deal close.

Inter attempted to strike a deal in January for Jones, who only made 28 starts last term. He would become the third England international to join Inter this summer, following John Stones and Djed Spence.

Part of Thomas Tuchel's first two England camps, Jones has not added to his six caps since June last year.

REAL MADRID

Mourinho: My Real will not miss Rodri

Jose Mourinho is confident Real Madrid will be fine without Rodri after admitting the club made "a very

good offer" to sign the Spain captain. The World Cup winning-captain (above) joined Barcelona from Manchester City on Tuesday and Mourinho, back for a second stint at Real, spoke twice with Rodri but felt the midfielder did not seem certain.

"The club contacted him but he had some doubts," the returning head coach said. "His doubts created doubts for me. Real is of such stature it can't have players who think twice about being with the club. I don't need Rodri. We have solutions, quality players. Victories are won on the field, they are won with titles."

---

NEWS 2-33

OPINION 18-22

TV 26-31

LIFE 34-37

CULTURE 38-41

MONEY 42-45

SPORT 49-56

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2026

53

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Duran on song in Celtic rout

Celtic took a large step to the league stage of the Champions League after overcoming LASK 3-0 last night in Glasgow.

Benjamin Nygren (left) powered the Scottish champions in front after 26 minutes of the play-off first leg to maintain his record of scoring in every Celtic game this season. Camilo Duran doubled the lead before the break with an equally impressive volley to put the hosts in complete control.

The Colombian grabbed his second after the break to leave Martin O'Neill's side in pole position to qualify in Tuesday's second leg in Austria. The visitors began well and had two efforts ruled offside either side of Nygren's opener, but have it all to do if they are to prevent Celtic, who went out at this stage to Almaty last summer, making next month's league phase.

BRIGHTON & HOVE

Seagulls swoop for Canada ace

Canada forward Promise David has completed a move to Brighton & Hove Albion on loan from Union Saint-Gilloise.

The Seagulls said the deal for the 25-year-old (below) "includes an obligation to buy should certain criteria be met." He played in four of

co-host Canada's games at this summer's World Cup and scored in a 2-1 loss to Switzerland in the group stage.

Union were eliminated in the Champions

League qualifying rounds by Bodo/Glimt last week and will play in the Europa League, as Brighton prepare for a Conference League play-off at Tromso tonight. Brighton and Union have close ties through their owners and share player data analysis by Jamestown Analytics. The data firm, founded by Brighton owner Tony Bloom, is also used by Como and Hearts.

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54

SPORT

CRICKET FIRST TEST

Robinson's 78mph guile slows down a need for speed

PAKISTAN Shahique 51, Tongue 5-4,8, Atkinson 5-5,2

171

ENGLAND

112-2

Chris Stocks

CRICKET CORRESPONDENT AT HEADINGLEY

It was apt that on the first day of Joe Root's second coming as England permanent captain, it was Ollie Robinson, a man ridiculed during his first spell in the job, who led the charge against Pakistan.

Now 32, Robinson is in his third coming as an international bowler after doubts over his fitness and pace meant he drifted in and out of the team since his Test debut in the summer of 2021.

Even on an opening day of this first Test at Headingley that ended with him sealing a fifth career five-wicket haul, there were gripes over his pace. Across his 18 overs he averaged 78.4 miles per hour, with the first ball of his final spell clocked at just 71mph. Yet that resulted in Robinson and Josh Tongue, who also took a five-8er, routing Pakistan for 171, the Sussex man's Test average now standing at 21.25 across 22 matches.

In any other country, a bowler of such skill would be treasured. Yet after a Burball era in which extreme pace was fetishized, Robinson's suitability for this level is still widely questioned.

He was ostracized for four-and-a-half years before returning for the opening Test of this summer against New Zealand at Lord's. Since then he has 12 wickets at 10.6/6.

Headingley scoreboard

FIRST TEST

ENGLAND v PAKISTAN

HEADINGLEY (Five-day off-put) England trial: Pakistan by 3/8 runs with 8 first-innings wickets in hand

England won toss

PAKISTAN – First innings

	Runs 6-4	6-4	8-6	10-12
Ajan Awas (Ira) Robinson	4	2	4	1
Brent LeVinci (Rick) S. Tongue	4	2	4	1
Shay Masood (Ira) Robinson	4	2	4	1
Reid Ash (Rick) S. Thompson	4	2	4	1
Saul Shahan (Ira) Robinson	4	2	4	1
Hajib Satham S. Tongue	4	2	4	1
Wickham (Ira) Robinson S. Tongue	4	2	4	1
Ali Usman (Ira) S. Tongue	4	2	4	1
E. B. Satoun (Aikinson) Robinson	4	2	4	1
Mohammad Abbas S. Tongue	4	2	4	1
Mohammad Ali Vavilad	4	2	4	1

Exims 3-4, 5-6, 7-8

Total: 2-4, 6-4, 7-8

Fall: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18, 19-20, 21-22, 23-24

Bowling: 12, Robinson (2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23, 24-25, 26-27, 28-29, 30-31, 32-33, 34-35, 36-37, 38-39, 40-41, 42-43, 44-45, 46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 52-53, 54-55, 56-57, 58-59, 60-61, 62-63, 64-65, 66-67, 68-69, 70-71, 72-73, 74-75, 76-77, 78-79, 80-81, 82-83, 84-85, 86-87, 88-89, 90-91, 92-93, 94-95, 96-97, 98-99, 100-101, 102-103, 104-105, 106-107, 108-109, 110-111, 112-113, 114-115, 116-117, 118-119, 120-121, 122-123, 124-125, 126-127, 128-129, 130-131, 132-133, 134-135, 136-137, 138-139, 140-141, 142-143, 144-145, 146-147, 148-149, 150-151, 152-153, 154-155, 156-157, 158-159, 160-161, 162-163, 164-165, 166-167, 168-169, 170-171, 172-173, 174-175, 176-177, 178-179, 180-181, 182-183, 184-185, 186-187, 188-189, 190-191, 192-193, 194-195, 196-197, 198-199, 200-201, 202-203, 204-205, 206-207, 208-209, 210-211, 212-213, 214-215, 216-217, 218-219, 220-221, 222-223, 224-225, 226-227, 228-229, 230-231, 232-233, 234-235, 236-237, 238-239, 240-241, 242-243, 244-245, 246-247, 248-249, 250-251, 252-253, 254-255, 256-257, 258-259, 260-261, 262-263, 264-265, 266-267, 268-269, 270-271, 272-273, 274-275, 276-277, 278-279, 280-281, 282-283, 284-285, 286-287, 288-289, 290-291, 292-293, 294-295, 296-297, 298-299, 300-301, 302-303, 304-305, 306-307, 308-309, 310-311, 312-313, 314-315, 316-317, 318-319, 320-321, 322-323, 324-325, 326-327, 328-329, 330-331, 332-333, 334-335, 336-337, 338-339, 340-341, 342-343, 344-345, 346-347, 348-349, 350-351, 352-353, 354-355, 356-357, 358-359, 360-361, 362-363, 364-365, 366-367, 368-369, 370-371, 372-373, 374-375, 376-377, 378-379, 380-381, 382-383, 384-385, 386-387, 388-389, 390-391, 392-393, 394-395, 396-397, 398-399, 400-401, 402-403, 404-405, 406-407, 408-409, 410-411, 412-413, 414-415, 416-417, 418-419, 420-421, 422-423, 424-425, 426-427, 428-429, 430-431, 432-433, 434-435, 436-437, 438-439, 440-441, 442-443, 444-445, 446-447, 448-449, 450-451, 452-453, 454-455, 456-457, 458-459, 460-461, 462-463, 464-465, 466-467, 468-469, 470-471, 472-473, 474-475, 476-477, 478-479, 480-481, 482-483, 484-485, 486-487, 488-489, 490-491, 492-493, 494-495, 496-497, 498-499, 500-501, 502-503, 504-505, 506-507, 508-509, 510-511, 512-513, 514-515, 516-517, 518-519, 520-521, 522-523, 524-525, 526-527, 528-529, 530-531, 532-533, 534-535, 536-537, 538-539, 540-541, 542-543, 544-545, 546-547, 548-549, 550-551, 552-553, 554-555, 556-557, 558-559, 560-561, 562-563, 564-565, 566-567, 568-569, 570-571, 572-573, 574-575, 576-577, 578-579, 580-581, 582-583, 584-585, 586-587, 588-589, 590-591, 592-593, 594-595, 596-597, 598-599, 600-601, 602-603, 604-605, 606-607, 608-609, 610-611, 612-613, 614-615, 616-617, 618-619, 620-621, 622-623, 624-625, 626-627, 628-629, 630-631, 632-633, 634-635, 636-637, 638-639, 640-641, 642-643, 644-645, 646-647, 648-649, 650-651, 652-653, 654-655, 656-657, 658-659, 660-661, 662-663, 664-665, 666-667, 668-669, 670-671, 672-673, 674-675, 676-677, 678-679, 680-681, 682-683, 684-685, 686-687, 688-689, 690-691, 692-693, 694-695, 696-697, 698-699, 700-701, 702-703, 704-705, 706-707, 708-709, 710-711, 712-713, 714-715, 716-717, 718-719, 720-721, 722-723, 724-725, 726-727, 728-729, 730-731, 732-733, 734-735, 736-737, 738-739, 740-741, 742-743, 744-745, 746-747, 748-749, 750-751, 752-753, 754-755, 756-757, 758-759, 760-761, 762-763, 764-765, 766-767, 768-769, 770-771, 772-773, 774-775, 776-777, 778-779, 780-781, 782-783, 784-785, 786-787, 788-789, 790-791, 792-793, 794-795, 796-797, 798-799, 800-801, 802-803, 804-805, 806-807, 808-809, 810-811, 812-813, 814-815, 816-817, 818-819, 820-821, 822-823, 824-825, 826-827, 828-829, 830-831, 832-833, 834-835, 836-837, 838-839, 840-841, 842-843, 844-845, 846-847, 848-849, 850-851, 852-853, 854-855, 856-857, 858-859, 860-861, 862-863, 864-865, 866-867, 868-869, 870-871, 872-873, 874-875, 876-877, 878-879, 880-881, 882-883, 884-885, 886-887, 888-889, 890-891, 892-893, 894-895, 896-897, 898-899, 900-901, 902-903, 904-905, 906-907, 908-909, 910-911, 912-913, 914-915, 916-917, 918-919, 920-921, 922-923, 924-925, 926-927, 928-929, 930-931, 932-933, 934-935, 936-937, 938-939, 940-941, 942-943, 944-945, 946-947, 948-949, 950-951, 952-953, 954-955, 956-957, 958-959, 960-961, 962-963, 964-965, 966-967, 968-969, 970-971, 972-973, 974-975, 976-977, 978-979, 980-981, 982-983, 984-985, 986-987, 988-989, 990-991, 992-993, 994-995, 996-997, 998-999, 1000

PAKISTAN – First innings

R.M. Durbath (Ira) Abbas, 18, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437, 438, 439, 440, 441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446, 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468, 469, 470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 479, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 490, 491, 492, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 507, 508, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 528, 529, 530, 531, 532, 533, 534, 535, 536, 537, 538, 539, 540, 541, 542, 543, 544, 545, 546, 547, 548, 549, 550, 551, 552, 553, 554, 555, 556, 557, 558, 559, 560, 561, 562, 563, 564, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574, 575, 576, 577, 578, 579, 580, 581, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 587, 588, 589, 590, 591, 592, 593, 594, 595, 596, 597, 598, 599, 600, 601, 602, 603, 604, 605, 606, 607, 608, 609, 610, 611, 612, 613, 614, 615, 616, 617, 618, 619, 620, 621, 622, 623, 624, 625, 626, 627, 628, 629, 630, 631, 632, 633, 634, 635, 636, 637, 638, 639, 640, 641, 642, 643, 644, 645, 646, 647, 648, 649, 650, 651, 652, 653, 654, 655, 656, 657, 658, 659, 660, 661, 662, 663, 664, 665, 666, 667, 668, 669, 670, 671, 672, 673, 674, 675, 676, 677, 678, 679, 680, 681, 682, 683, 684, 685, 686, 687, 688, 689, 690, 691, 692, 693, 694, 695, 696, 697, 698, 699, 700, 701, 702, 703, 704, 705, 706, 707, 708, 709, 710, 711, 712, 713, 714, 715, 716, 717, 718, 719, 720, 721, 722, 723, 724, 725, 726, 727, 728, 729, 730, 731, 732, 733, 734, 735, 736, 737, 738, 739, 740, 741, 742, 743, 744, 745, 746, 747, 748, 749, 750, 751, 752, 753, 754, 755, 756, 757, 758, 759, 760, 761, 762, 763, 764, 765, 766, 767, 768, 769, 770, 771, 772, 773, 774, 775, 776, 777, 778, 779, 780, 781, 782, 783, 784, 785, 786, 787, 788, 789, 790, 791, 792, 793, 794, 795, 796, 797, 798, 799, 800, 801, 802, 803, 804, 805, 806, 807, 808, 809, 810, 811, 812, 813, 814, 815, 816, 817, 818, 819, 820, 821, 822, 823, 824, 825, 826, 827, 828, 829, 830, 831, 832, 833, 834, 835, 836, 837, 838, 839, 840, 841, 842, 843, 844, 845, 846, 847, 848, 849, 850, 851, 852, 853, 854, 855, 856, 857, 858, 859, 860, 861, 862, 863, 864, 865, 866, 867, 868, 869, 870, 871, 872, 873, 874, 875, 876, 877, 878, 879, 880, 881, 882, 883, 884, 885, 886, 887, 888, 889, 890, 891, 892, 893, 894, 895, 896, 897, 898, 899, 900, 901, 902, 903, 904, 905, 906, 907, 908, 909, 910, 911, 912, 913, 914, 915, 916, 917, 918, 919, 920, 921, 922, 923, 924, 925, 926, 927, 928, 929, 930, 931, 932, 933, 934, 935, 936, 937, 938, 939, 940, 941, 942, 943, 944, 945, 946, 947, 948, 949, 950, 951, 952, 953, 954, 955, 956, 957, 958, 959, 960, 961, 962, 963, 964, 965, 966, 967, 968, 969, 970, 971, 972, 973, 974, 975, 976, 977, 978, 979, 980, 981, 982, 983, 984, 985, 986, 987, 988, 989, 990, 991, 992, 993, 994, 995, 996, 997, 998, 999, 1000

Rohinson removed four of Pakistan's top five batters with his movement off the seam, ending up with 5-5/1, while Tongue shot out the tail with his pace to finish with 5-4/6. The two 'five-fors' in the same innings created a quandary over which of the bowlers would keep the match ball. The pair solved it by asking the Headingley ground staff to cut the ball in half.

helm. His debut, when he excelled with the ball against New Zealand at Lord's, was marred by media revelations about unsavoury social media content he had posted in the past.

That match also summed up England's negative approach under Root, with his team choosing to shut up shop and go for the draw when set a target of 273 in 75 overs. Burball, under coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes when no target was viewed as too daunting, was a reaction against that match in particular.

The worst of Robinson's lowlights in that initial first spell in Test cricket came during a miserable 2021-22

Ashes series in Australia. First was the sight of the seamer bowling off-spin in Adelaide after England had opted to pick a spinner for that second Test.

Yet the nadir came in the final Test at Hobart, with Robinson first called out publicly by then-bowling coach Jon Lewis over his fitness and then bowled by Pat Cummins with the final ball of the series as he backed away to square leg.

It summed up a sorry tour in which an England team ground down by overbearing Covid restrictions showed little light by the end. Robinson's part in the grisly final act felt fitting.

Turning the tables next summer against Australia would be redemption for both Root and Robinson.

As a bowler, the latter is capable of splitting opinion like few others, mainly due to those fitness concerns.

After his seven-wicket haul at Lord's in June, an issue with his right knee ruled him out of the second Test at The Oval and he was overlooked for the third. When The i Paper spoke to Robinson exclusively last month, he was adamant he was fit for that final New Zealand Test at Trent Bridge.

But it was obvious that England did not trust him to not break down if selected. Now with McCullum and

England's 'five-fors' split the ball as Pakistan struggle with the bat

Josh Tongue revealed he and Ollie Robinson asked Headingley ground staff to split the matchball after both bowlers topped the bill on a dominant opening day for England in the first Test against Pakistan.

The pair took five wickets apiece in Leeds as Pakistan, who have lost 3/4 of their last 18 Tests, struggled in difficult batting conditions and were dismissed for just 171.

Robinson removed four of Pakistan's top five batters with his movement off the seam, ending up with 5-5/1, while Tongue shot out the tail with his pace to finish with 5-4/6.

The two 'five-fors' in the same innings created a quandary over which of the bowlers would keep the match ball. The pair solved it by asking the Headingley ground staff to cut the ball in half.

"We were walking off and I said to Tonguey: 'We should split it' and he said: 'actually think we should do that. It would be quite cool'," said Robinson. "You don't really have too many half cricket balls so it'll be something we never forget. It's not often two guys get five for in the same innings, so it's a nice gesture."

With England reaching 112-2 at stumps, it was a satisfying start as

captain for Joe Root, back in the role for a second full-time stint after the retirement of Ben Stokes and the veteran remained unbeaten on 27 at the close. Root put Pakistan in to bat after winning the toss and Robinson made an instant impact, trapping Azan Awais ibw with the opening delivery of the innings. It was the first time a wicket had fallen to the first ball of a series in England.

When Robinson, who missed the last two tests of the New Zealand series this summer after picking up a knee injury, removed Shan Masood ibw in the fifth over. Pakistan were reeling at 6-2. Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique steadied the

You don't have too many half cricket balls so it'll be something we never forget.

ship either side of a rain delay with a partnership of 51 before Tongue removed Imam to a low catch at second slip by Harry Brook for 4/2 and Shafique fell for 61 to Robinson.

Pakistan's stand-in captain Salman Ali Agha and Ali Usman then went in successive balls to the pace of Tongue and the tourists' tail was quickly polished off, with the last five wickets falling for just 21 runs.

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OPINION 18-22

TV 29-31

LIFE 34-37

CM TIME 38-41

MONKEY 42-45

SPORT 49-56

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2025

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Stokes gone, Robinson has a chance to prove once and for all he has the durability to lead the attack. With this Test starting just five days after Robinson's partner gave birth to a baby girl, maybe it can signal a genuine rebirth of his England career?

He was on the money right from the start at Headingley - trapping Azan Awais lbw with the first ball of the series.

Four of his five scalps were top-five hatters and while his pace is nowhere near that of Tongue, it is Robinson's skill that sets him apart. It was epitomised by the inswinger that bowled Abdullah Shafique and sparked a collapse of 6 for 53 to

wrap up the Pakistan innings. It was also worth noting this wicket came with wicketkeeper Jamie Smith standing up to the stumps - a tactic adopted by both Australia last winter and New Zealand this summer to counter England's aggressive stroke players.

It is also one Rob Key, still England's director of cricket, said was outdated back in 2024. "This 75mph, keeper up, dubbing it on a length - we know that doesn't work in Test cricket, wherever you are."

It is a line that has aged as well as a week-old camembert being left in the boot of a car during this summer's many heatwaves.

England lost Ben Duckett for 15 to the probing Mohammad Abbas - the sixth lbw dismissal of the day - and fellow opener Emilio Gay, who edged Mohammad Ali to Agha at slip to depart for 33.

But an unbroken stand of 64 from Root and Jordan Cox helped England through to the end of play.

"They played some good cricket today but we will try to bounce back tomorrow," maintained Shafique.

"The conditions will be tricky once again in the morning. Joe Root's wicket and Harry Brook's will be crucial, so we will try our best to take them to get back into the game."

Pakistan's Abdullah Shafique was dismissed by Ollie Robinson for 61

TENNIS

Kyrgios has never been willing to make relevant sacrifices

Nick Kyrgios is facing another lengthy absence from tennis after testing positive for cocaine last month.

The 31-year-old is not expected to appeal his suspension, the length of which is yet to be determined.

Sanctions could range from several years to just a few months, with the lack of appeal and apparent entry into some kind of treatment programme working to his advantage.

But the sentence will rest on whether he took drugs deliberately during competition - which he has virtually admitted in his statement. He can expect to be on the sidelines for at least a year, or perhaps longer, based on previous cases.

"I'm sorry to my fans, my family, my sponsors and everyone close to me," he posted on Instagram.

"Above all, I'm sorry to the kids who follow me. I know the example this sets and I'm deeply disappointed in myself.

"I'm not going to make excuses, but I do want to give some context about where I've been. The last couple of years of injuries have taken a huge toll, both physically and mentally. My body hasn't been able to do what my mind expects it to do, and coming to terms with being near the end of my career has been harder than I ever imagined."

I have had some sympathy with Kyrgios over the years, even if his insistence that he "didn't choose tennis - tennis chose me" is overblown. It is true that he was catapulted to fame at 19, a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open with the hopes of a nation thrust onto his shoulders, and clearly he had none of the emotional tools to deal with the attention. That was evident to anyone who had seen him smash a rucket, scream at his coaches or argue with an umpire.

And injuries, to a certain extent, are not necessarily self-inflicted with any player knowing how soul-destroying your body's breakdown can be.

"Letting go of something that has been my whole life is one of the hardest things I've ever had to face. At times I've felt helpless and alone," he added.

As I say, I did have some sympathy.

But that creek has run progressively drier as Kyrgios (above) has increasingly proven

He was catapulted to fame at 19 but had no emotional tools to deal with the attention

James Gray

SPORTS NEWS CORRESPONDENT

his ability to make bad decisions, rather than being a victim of circumstance. Whether, in unequal measure, that was the common assault of his former girlfriend, his retweeting of misogynist influencer Andrew Tate or his apparent lack of interest in the hard work required to be a top tennis player.

It is no coincidence that the greatest tennis player of all time, and the one with more longevity than anyone else, is Novak Djokovic, who has explored every possible avenue to keep himself fit and made huge sacrifices along the way. Has Kyrgios ever been willing to make those same sacrifices? The evidence suggests not.

I am glad he has resolved to get help, but it is a shame that it has taken a missive to the naughty step to make him: in the circumstances, now he is banned from even attending any type of serious tennis event, there was little else he could do.

Maybe other people will give Kyrgios yet another chance. I am not sure I will.

FORMULA ONE

Liam Lawson last competed for Red Bull in March last year

Lawson earns recall from Red Bull after Hadjar injury

By Philip Duncan

Liam Lawson has been handed a Red Bull return for this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix - 17 months after he was axed by the former world champions.

The New Zealander - dropped by Red Bull after just two races last year - will line up alongside Max Verstappen at the four-time world champion's home event following a wrist injury sustained by Isack Hadjar during the summer break.

The Frenchman's demise means Lawson is promoted back from Racing Bulls following Red Bull's decision to drop him in March 2025.

"Isack has sustained a wrist injury that will prevent him from racing," confirmed Red Bull. "We will be welcoming back Liam, who will replace him in RB22 this weekend. The team wishes Isack a speedy recovery and thanks Liam for stepping in on short notice."

Following his demotion from Red Bull last year, Lawson bounced back well with sister team Racing Bulls, scoring 43 points this season to sit ninth in the standings, with no podiums.

Hadjar's demise also opens the door for Vuki Tsunoda to return after the Japanese lost his seat as Verstappen's teammate at the end of last season. The 26-year-old will partner Arvid Lindblad at Racing Bulls - as a replacement for Lawson - in Zandvoort.

Hadjar has scored 68 points in his debut Red Bull year, sitting one place above Lawson, but it is unclear if he will be fit to contest the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on 6 September.

Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli heads into the second half of the season with a 50-point lead over Lewis Hamilton in the standings. Antonelli's team-mate George Russell is nine points further back, ahead of Polo Charles Leclerc.

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Sport

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FOOTBALL

Konsa agrees £51m Arsenal switch from Aston Villa

JAMES GRAY

Kyrgios has never been willing to make the sacrifices

Baleba moves closer to United switch

By Simon Peach

Manchester United are progressing in talks with Brighton & Hove Albion over a deal to sign long-standing midfield target Carlos Baleba.

The Red Devils have been slow to shape Michael Carrick's squad this summer, with no first-team signings since the mid-July acquisitions of Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Karl Darlow.

Casemiro's exit and a knee injury sustained by Manuel Ugarte have

prompted a move for Cameroon international Baleba, 22.

United spoke to Brighton about a potential move last summer, only to cool their interest due to Albion's determination to keep him.

He had a topsy-turvy 2025/26 campaign but the Red Devils have made a renewed push to sign the midfielder, who is currently dealing with an ankle issue.

Talks are under way between the clubs, with United offering in the region of £60m, plus £5m in add-ons.

Baleba moved to the Amex from Lille in 2025 for £23.2m and signed a deal until 2028 after Moises Caicedo's move to Chelsea.

United backed out of a deal with Atalanta to sign Ederson. Aurélien Tchouaméni and Elliot Anderson, who last month joined Manchester City for £106m, were also of interest.

United open their Premier League campaign at promoted Hull City on Saturday lunchtime, with Brighton hosting Aston Villa the following day.

Infantino's decision to sack Lamour was the 'final straw'

By Rohith Nair

More federations and Fifa officials have withdrawn their support for the governing body's president Gianni Infantino after the exit of chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, which one Fifa vice-president described as the "final straw."

Fifa said on Monday that Lamour had left the organisation, weeks after he publicly criticised Infantino's plan to sell a stake in the commercial rights of the World Cup and other tournaments.

His exit prompted Hungary's Sandor Csanyi – one of eight Fifa vice-presidents and a member of

the Fifa Council – to withdraw his support for Infantino, who is under pressure from three confederations to resign.

"The final straw was the unexpected dismissal of Kevin Lamour," Csanyi wrote in a letter to Infantino (right).

"Kevin performed his duties to a high professional and ethical standard and, as a highly competent executive, made a significant contribution to the transparent operation of the organisation. The fact that his dismissal was prompted by his criticism of

the initiative – an initiative that you yourself ultimately acknowledged to have been misguided – points to serious shortcomings in professional judgment, ethical standards and leadership."

Fifa did not respond to requests for comment.

Lamour had said that staff had been "deceived" over the plan, which he described as the project of one person.

Other Fifa vice-presidents who have attacked Infantino's conduct include Uefa president Aleksander

Ceferin, AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa and the Concacaf president Vittorio Montagnani.

Montenegro's Dejan Savicevic, a Fifa Council member since 2017 and president of the country's football association, said they had also withdrawn an earlier letter of support.

Infantino is up for re-election in March as he seeks a fourth term until 2011, and Savicevic wrote a letter to Fifa secretary general Mattias Grafstrom. "Recent developments are extremely worrying and have shown serious lack of communication and transparency," he wrote.