The Independent - 17.09.2026.pdf

“普特尼推手”谜案头号嫌疑人被发现死于家中

凯蒂·罗斯因斯基（Katie Rosseinsky）走进 Hyrox：一项参赛者为获胜而竭尽全力的极限运动

寻找失踪男孩诺亚（Noah）过程中发现尸体，令人心碎

在进行大规模搜捕后，萨福克郡警方表示，在幼儿失踪地点附近的池塘中发现了一具尸体

重磅回忆录

王室回应斯宾塞关于戴安娜的指控：“悲痛会掩盖理智”

伯爵在书中指称，在戴安娜王妃去世后的一次极具煽动性的电话通话中，查尔斯告诉他，威尔士王妃很快会被人们遗忘——但国王的发言人对此表示怀疑，称痛苦“会影响记忆”

伯纳姆必须证明他能使我们的庇护系统发挥应有作用

部长们正确地承认，我们的庇护系统未能像预期那样运作。他们表示，他们理解皮丁顿居民的担忧，这个位于牛津郡的村庄举行了一次公投以宣布独立，以此抗议在附近的一处前驻军地安置寻求庇护者。

但文化大臣丽莎·南迪表示，虽然政府正在“倾听”村民的声音，但部长们“不会改变我们的计划”。她认为，到目前为止，寻求庇护者主要被安置在贫困地区，这是不公平的，而且“我们都必须尽一份力”。

这话没错，但可能欠缺圆融。政府应当确保安置寻求庇护者的负担在全国范围内公平分担，但更合理的做法应该是不遗余力地从源头上解决问题。如果缺乏正当理由的难民身份申请减少，公平分担负担的问题也将随之最小化。

因此，给皮丁顿居民的答复——以及给其他更具恶意抗议者的答复——不应该是“运气不好”，而应该是政府应加倍努力阻止船只入境，采取更多措施防止签证制度被滥用为申请庇护的途径，并更高效地处理现有申请。最后一部分必须包括加大力度遣返申请失败的庇护者。

这些都是难以实现的目标。而且，公平地说，工党政府在所有这些方面都取得了进展。通过小船抵达的人数有所下降——必须承认，这在很大程度上是因为整个欧洲的人数都在下降。签证规则正在收紧，处理中的庇护申请数量在增加，被遣返的失败庇护者也在增加——即便其中大多数是自愿离开的。

政府应当充分利用其取得的成效，同时承认仍有大量工作需要完成。但政府还需要采取更积极的方式来传达其信息。社交媒体上的误导性信息正在煽动人们对移民问题的正当担忧。

盖伊·沃尔特斯在今天的《独立报》中报道了那些没有政治活动历史的人是如何被吸引到由丹尼尔·托马斯（被称为 Danny Tommo）领导的“爱国平台”（Patriot Platform）等反移民运动中的。沃尔特斯写道：“算法并没有发明对庇护系统的愤怒，也没有强迫内政部在缺乏充分磋商的情况下设立营地。但它们能识别出那些已经处于恐惧或愤怒边缘的人，向他们推送其信仰的日益极端的版本，并让他们一夜之间与朴次茅斯或多佛的人建立联系。”

答案不是追随自由组织（Liberty）前主任沙米·查克拉巴蒂的做法，她希望禁止“爱国平台”。这位贵族兼公民自由活动人士在周三的议长讲座中提出了这一不自由的建议。

查克拉巴蒂男爵夫人正确地指出，将“巴勒斯坦行动”（Palestine Action）列为恐怖组织是一个“不成比例且适得其反的错误”，但随后她又犯了另一个相反的、不成比例且适得其反的错误，建议改为禁止“爱国平台”。

托马斯先生的组织令人厌恶，如果它使用暴力或恐吓，就应当受到法律的严厉制裁。警方要求示威者在抗议时摘除面部遮盖物是正确的。但它并不比“巴勒斯坦行动”更像一个恐怖组织，禁止它只会使其支持者成为烈士，并进一步使刑事司法系统超负荷。

在这两种情况下，答案都不是禁止标签。而应当是解决根源问题，即那些被极端分子利用的合理关切。与此同时，应打击那些为种族主义和虚假信息提供平台的社交媒体公司。埃隆·马斯克的 X 是最严重的违规者。南迪女士抱怨该公司代表未能出席她关于应对网络虐待的会议。然而，她不应仅仅指责该公司“轻视”，而应采取行动确保其履行职责。

到目前为止，安迪·伯纳姆在共情方面做得很好。他没有犯基尔·斯塔默爵士那样的错误，即暗示任何对移民持有顾虑的人都是“极右翼暴徒”。但这位新任首相不能仅凭“氛围”来应对像“爱国平台”这类团体所构成的威胁。他必须采取果断行动，进一步改革寻求庇护制度，并为处于“无法无天”状态的社交媒体带来秩序。

查尔斯回应斯宾塞关于戴安娜书籍的指控：“悲痛会掩盖理智”

斯宾塞伯爵声称查尔斯曾说王妃在去世后“很快”就会被遗忘

亚历克斯·克罗夫特 (Alex Croft)

斯宾塞伯爵、威廉王子、哈里王子以及当时的威尔士亲王查尔斯三世在1997年戴安娜葬礼后的合影 (PA)

查尔斯国王对戴安娜王妃的哥哥斯宾塞伯爵即将出版的一本震撼回忆录中的指控予以反击，称“悲痛会掩盖理智”。

该书计划在《每日邮报》(Daily Mail) 上连载，书中指称在戴安娜去世后的几天里，查尔斯曾说“放心吧，我们很快就会忘记她的”。

当时身为威尔士亲王的查尔斯，是在1997年8月31日戴安娜在巴黎死于车祸后，双方就葬礼安排产生重大分歧期间，对斯宾塞伯爵发表了上述言论。

这次争论发生在决定让当时分别年仅15岁和12岁的威廉王子和哈里王子参加母亲的葬礼队列之后，这一决定此后引发了广泛的公众讨论。

斯宾塞伯爵在其名为《天鹅之歌：戴安娜，我的妹妹》(Swan Song: Diana, My Sister) 的回忆录中声称，他当时主张戴安娜不会希望她的儿子们参加队列。

查尔斯随后给他打了电话，并在“愤怒的倾诉”中评论说，他的前妻很快会被遗忘。

回忆录称：“他在电话中宣泄了我一直认为是他对戴安娜积压的轻蔑，以及他对全世界因她的去世而如此震惊的恐惧。他低声说道：‘放心吧，我们很快就会忘记她的！’”

白金汉宫的一位发言人告诉《太阳报》：“虽然原则上我们不对书籍发表评论，但陛下深知，兄弟姐妹间丧亲之痛可能会掩盖理智，影响判断，并以他人无法察觉的方式影响记忆，即使在失去亲人多年之后依然如此。”

《独立报》已联系白金汉宫寻求评论。本报尚未看到斯宾塞伯爵详细记录这些指控的回忆录。

该书可能会对王室持有高度批判态度，且出版之际正值王室经历数起丑闻和家庭纠纷的痛苦时期。

斯宾塞在威斯敏斯特教堂的戴安娜葬礼上发表悼词 (PA Archive)

《每日邮报》表示，书中将包含“一系列关于戴安娜与查尔斯国王失败的婚姻，以及1997年她在巴黎车祸惨死后动荡余波的进一步惊人指控”。

据报道，今天早些时候有消息称，查尔斯·斯宾塞关于其妹妹戴安娜王妃的新回忆录在发行日期前从一辆卡车上被盗。

1997年戴安娜的去世引发了全球范围内的悲痛，尤其是在英国，她在那里的知名度极高。

查尔斯在指控曝光前于昨日访问了凯恩戈姆山 (Getty)

但她的去世暴露了王室与英国公众之间的裂痕，公众对王室克制的反应感到愤怒，认为这与全国其他民众的悲痛之情不符。

威廉王子和哈里王子曾谈到母亲葬礼当天的情形。

后者最近在与王室传记作家安吉拉·莱文 (Angela Levin) 为其书籍《哈里：对话...》进行交流时表示：

搜寻失踪三岁男孩诺亚·伍兹的绝望行动中发现遗体

超过 1,000 名志愿者参与在萨福克郡布兰瑟姆村对诺亚的搜寻工作

哈丽埃特·布歇 & 亚历克斯·克罗夫特

诺亚的父亲此前发出绝望恳求，希望公众“不要放弃”这个小男孩 (PA)

在搜寻三岁男孩诺亚·伍兹（Noah Woods）的行动中发现了一具遗体，该男孩在一次前往村庄游乐场的活动后失踪。

一项涉及 1,000 多名志愿者的规模巨大的搜寻行动一直在进行中。诺亚于周二下午在萨福克郡布兰瑟姆（Brantham, Suffolk）跑进一条小巷后失踪。

萨福克郡警方监督官汤姆·皮尔斯（Tom Pearse）表示，在附近的一个池塘中发现了一具儿童遗体，诺亚的家人已收到通知。他表示，此次发现被视为原因不明，但并无可疑之处。

他在布兰瑟姆休闲中心告诉记者：“首先，我们的心与诺亚的家人以及所有认识他的人在一起”，并呼吁公众给他们“时间、空间和隐私”。

诺亚在失踪前在公园玩耍的照片 (PA)

他补充道：“今天下午，这五支队伍遗憾地在布兰瑟姆的诱饵池（Decoy Pond）中发现了一具儿童遗体。正式的身份确认尚未进行。诺亚·伍兹的家人已被告知这些进展。”

“公众 outpouring 的支持以及人们穿上靴子帮助我们搜寻的行为，让我们深受感动。”

“作为一名家长，我完全理解人们为什么想要提供帮助。这样的反应体现了强烈的社区意识和萨福克郡人民暖心的天性，这使得本郡成为了一个如此特别的地方。”

诺亚的父亲里斯·伍兹（Rhys Woods）此前发出绝望恳求，希望公众“不要放弃”这个小男孩。诺亚患有轻度自闭症，无法用语言交流，且有部分听力损失。

萨福克郡警方在诺亚失踪后不久发布了他的监控图像，显示他在梅里亚姆克洛斯（Merriam Close）游乐场快乐地玩耍，并表示没有迹象表明他的失踪涉及“任何阴险的行为或任何犯罪元素”。

警方在诺亚失踪的梅里亚姆克洛斯游乐场 (PA)

警方部署了专业潜水队、警犬队和直升机，以加大寻找他的力度。

他心碎的父亲说：“我知道他在外面孤身一人，我无法再熬过一个夜晚。请不要放弃他，伙计们。他就在外面的某个地方，我感激你们每一个人。”

他说紧急服务部门“非常有信心”附近湖泊和铁路线等高风险区域“全部清空”。

其中一名志愿者，46 岁的丽贝卡·卢卡斯（Rebecca Lucas）说：“每个人都聚集在一起，尽力而为。”

“我认为在当地社区，每个人都关系非常紧密，这触动了人们的心弦，每个人都想参与进来，看看我们能做些什么，而不是仅仅坐在家里。”

超过 1,000 人现身帮助寻找这名三岁男孩 (PA)

诺亚的母亲是一名来自埃塞克斯郡的剧院制作公司员工，她说：“我有两个孩子——一个七岁，一个三岁，显然诺亚三岁这件事让我感同身受。”

“作为一名母亲，我甚至无法想象自己处于那种境地；这真的让人心碎。”

卢卡斯女士昨天早些时候前往村委会参加了一次简报会，社区成员一直在那里聚集。她被分配了一个搜寻区域，寻找“任何可能给我们提供线索的东西，但我们目前还没有发现任何东西”。

萨福克郡警方进行了挨家挨户的询问，并要求居民彻底检查花园、棚屋和附属建筑，以及私人监控摄像头、行车记录仪或门铃摄像头。

诺亚最后一次被看到时穿着一件印有电视角色 Bluey 的白色 T 恤、短裤和带有白色条纹的黑色 Vans 运动鞋。

当地居民沙伦·奥顿（Sharon Auton），60 岁，她在周二下午看到社交媒体上的新闻后立即出门帮忙，她说“社区为此能如此团结，真是太令人惊叹了”。

最后一次确认看到诺亚的影像来自布兰瑟姆（Brantham）一个公园的监控摄像头（萨福克郡警署）。

慈善机构“失踪人口”（Missing People）的政策与合作伙伴经理萨姆·罗伯茨（Sam Roberts）强调，前 48 小时对于警方收集证人陈述、目击记录以及审查监控录像至关重要，并请求公众分享任何认为相关的信息。

罗伯茨女士告诉《独立报》：“对于任何有亲人失踪的人来说，这始终是一个非常艰难的局面。”

“我们理解人们自然地想要得到答案并想要提供帮助，但推测、传闻或任何未经证实的信息可能会造成更多额外的混乱，更不用说这会给家属带来的痛苦了。”

新闻 / 独家

No 10 被敦促禁止反移民抗议背后的“爱国平台”

沙米·查克拉巴蒂称该团体“显然旨在并煽动暴力与恐吓”

凯特·德夫林 怀特霍尔编辑

戴面具的男子参加反移民示威，照片拍摄于多佛普里奥里车站 (PA)

人权组织“自由组织”（Liberty）的前负责人敦促政府考虑禁止“爱国平台”（Patriot Platform）团体。该团体是近期在多佛和朴次茅斯引发戴面具和兜帽男子聚集的反移民抗议活动的幕后推手。

曾在 2016 和 2020, 期间担任工党影子总检察长的沙米·查克拉巴蒂（Shami Chakrabarti）抨击该团体，她表示该团体“显然旨在并煽动暴力与恐吓”，且其制服“象征着一支私人军队”。

查克拉巴蒂此前曾公开批评部长们根据反恐立法禁止“巴勒斯坦行动”（Palestine Action）的争议性决定，她认为这一决定导致许多和平抗议者被起诉。

但她表示，现在是时候“至少考虑”将“爱国平台”列为禁制组织了，否则立法者可能会因为“面对日益增长的威胁时的不作为，以及被察觉到的双重标准”而失去公众的支持。

根据《Terrorism Act 2000》，如果内政大臣认为某个组织涉及恐怖主义且采取禁制措施是适度的，则可以将其列为禁制组织。一旦组织被禁制，加入或支持该组织即为违法。

该团体由极右翼活动人士丹尼尔·托马斯（Daniel Thomas，又名丹尼·汤莫）领导，近期在多佛和朴次茅斯协调了具有破坏性的抗议活动，戴面具的支持者在这些地方封锁道路，并试图拦截新抵达的移民。

托马斯曾担任斯蒂芬·亚克斯利-伦农（Stephen Yaxley-Lennon，又名汤米·罗宾逊）的保镖，他在此前因企图绑架被判入狱服刑后，建立了这一反移民运动。

其网站上的口号是：“我们将共同夺回我们的国家。”

身为工党贵族议员的查克拉巴蒂将在今晚发表的议长讲座（Lord Speaker's Lecture）中提出这一呼吁。

她将表示：“需要明确的是，我曾反对在抗议活动中全面禁止遮盖面部。我们必须保护免疫功能低下的人，以及那些在压迫性国家大使馆或虐待员工的雇主办公室外抗议时，合理担心遭到报复的人。”

“尽管如此，公共场合的政治制服根据 Public Order Act 1936 的第 1 条被禁止，这是可以理解的。”

“我坚持认为，考虑到‘巴勒斯坦行动’运动的广泛性，以及可以通过起诉少数暴力分子而非大多数和平人士来解决问题，禁制该组织是一个不成比例且适得其反的错误。当然，该问题目前正提交至最高法院审理。”

“尽管如此，在近期南海岸发生的一系列事件后，我想是否是时候至少考虑禁制所谓的‘爱国平台’了。也就是说，如果我们作为立法者，不想因为面对日益增长的威胁时的不作为，以及被察觉到的双重标准而失去公众的支持。”

前自由组织负责人沙米·查克拉巴蒂提出了这一呼吁 (Getty)

她告诉《独立报》，“巴勒斯坦行动”与“爱国平台”之间的区别“不在于我们是否同意其中一方的政治主张”。

“前者似乎有数千名支持者仅对完全和平的异议感兴趣，只有少数人涉及刑事损坏，”她解释道，“而后者显然旨在并煽动暴力与恐吓，其制服象征着一支私人军队。”

查克拉巴蒂此前曾批评对“巴勒斯坦行动”的处理方式 (PA)

她补充道：“也许我们选择遗忘是可以理解的，但在20世纪30年代，我们曾经历过类似的情况，当时组织严密的‘黑衫军’帮派煽动暴力并试图进行恐吓。”

“言论自由和结社自由极其宝贵，但并非没有限制。毫无疑问，这正是《恐怖主义法》规定的禁令旨在应对的典型案例，不是吗？”

她的这番言论发表之际，反移民抗议、反抗议活动以及一系列在全英范围内引发社区分裂的网络传闻，导致紧张局势升级。

本月早些时候，多夫尔的当地居民报告称，当一大群具有“威慑力”的蒙面示威者封锁道路并阻断港口入口时，他们感到在自己的城镇中缺乏安全感。

进出交通被截断，而政府则谴责了“在多夫尔发生的行为及其造成的交通中断”。

我目睹了普通男人如何变成丹尼尔·托马斯“爱国者帮”的一员——其演变过程令人恐惧

随着一部新纪录片揭示了一个男人如何攀登右翼爱国者团体顶峰，并陷入由算法驱动的深渊，盖伊·沃尔特斯与导演探讨了他所见之景，以及对移民的担忧是如何被转化为一种威胁力量的

穿着巴拉克拉法帽的男子站在《每日邮报》办公室外，由前汤米·罗宾逊保镖丹尼尔·托马斯率领（Getty）

两个周六前的早上七点半，约 150 名身穿黑衣、佩戴巴拉克拉法帽的男子涌入多佛。他们占领了道路和环岛，导致该国最繁忙的轮渡港口在数小时内无法进入。他们高喊着“停止船只”和“英格兰直到我死”。

次日傍晚，这场闹剧沿着海岸线转移到了朴次茅斯。一艘 RNLI 救生艇帮助将约 120 人从一艘超载的船上接回。超过 200 名抗议者聚集在一起，试图阻止三辆载着这些人的大巴车离开。在部长们称之为“暴徒般且具有恐吓性的行为”之中，警方使用了警棍和失能喷雾。

其中的纽带是“爱国平台”（Patriot Platform），这是一个由前汤米·罗宾逊保镖丹尼尔·“丹尼·汤莫”·托马斯创建的新伞形组织。托马斯花费了数月时间将地方爱国团体连接起来，使其看起来像是一场全国性运动。在议会中，“东南部爱国者”被认定是多佛事件的核心；部分成员随后前往了朴次茅斯。

导演杰米·罗伯茨认识这些人。事实上，《英格兰直到我死》正是他最新纪录片的标题。他的电影并非又一系列直升机拍摄的男子与警方对峙的画面，而是某种更令人不安的东西：一个关于个体如何变成其中一员的记录。

罗伯茨在 2015, 年凭借《愤怒、白人且自豪》首次进入这一领域，该片探讨了英国国防联盟（EDL）崩溃后留下的更激进的分裂团体。其受访者自称爱国者，但有些人公开承认自己是种族主义者且仇视穆斯林。十年后，世界发生了显著变化。

“那时这在很大程度上是被边缘化的，”罗伯茨告诉我，“而现在移民是一个巨大的主流议题。它每天都出现在报纸的头版。”这些人也发生了变化。

“他们不再是 15 年前你可能会认为的那种来自贫民窟的人。很多人对此感兴趣并被吸引进来。”

《英格兰直到我死》中的利亚姆（Channel 4）

《英格兰直到我死》中的核心人物是利亚姆，一名来自东萨塞克斯郡克罗伯勒的公用事业经理、父亲和足球支持者。他有一份体面的工作和舒适的家。他为人随和且富有魅力，是那种你可以想象一起喝几杯啤酒的家伙。同时，他在体格上也具有威慑力，性格粗犷且执念极强。

然而，他并不像旧时漫画中那种头脑简单、身上缀满 SS 卢恩文字、寻找曾令人恐惧的名为“P***-bashing”的种族主义街头暴力的光头青年。这并没有让他变得无害。反而让他更有趣——且潜在的影响力更大。

“利亚姆是一个立体的人，”罗伯茨说，“要成为任何运动的领导者，你需要魅力。但他几乎清空了生活的其他部分，以便完全专注于此。他的伴侣说，他在运动之外几乎没有朋友。他一直在线参与运动。他 100% 地专注于此。”

导火索是在克罗伯勒（Crowborough）一个前军事营地安置多达600名男性寻求庇护者的计划被泄露。罗伯茨匆忙赶往一次议会会议，发现现场一片混乱。居民们对咨询流程、安全问题以及将数百名单身男性安置在一个小型社区旁提出了合理的质疑。然而，对内政部（Home Office）政策无能为力的议员们成了愤怒的承受者。绿党议员瑞秋·米尔沃德（Rachel Millward）遭到了围攻，被跟踪到车旁，最后在泪水中离开。

我们目睹了一个政治身份如何吞噬一个人的人生

“内政部没有与当地社区接触，当地议员们也吓坏了，”罗伯茨说道。“这实际上让一些抗议领导者成为了镇上唯一与当地居民沟通的人。因此，人们开始支持他们，而你其实并不真正了解自己支持的是什么样的人。”

利亚姆曾自称是一个“灰色人物”，匿名参加反移民示威活动。一次汤米·罗宾逊的集会说服他摘下了口罩。在一次于一栋显然相当富裕的住宅中举行的会议上，罗伯茨目睹了他开始掌控局面。“他拥有动力和冲劲，”罗伯茨说，“感觉就像他找到了自己的使命。”

我们目睹了一个政治身份如何吞噬一个人的人生。他的伴侣沙娜说，他“开启了我的视野”，并带她进入了他的新世界。这场运动提供的不仅是观点，还有友谊、地位和目标。

但它也带来了威胁。三名寻求庇护者在路上被追赶，并被告知“滚回自己的国家”。利亚姆随后否认自己恐吓了他们，这揭示了该运动的自我形象与被其针对者的经历之间的差距。“他认为自己是非常诚实且直接的，”罗伯茨说，“但他从社交媒体上习得了大量这类语言。我一直听到同样的论调。”在电影结束时，利亚姆正与“白人生命至上”（White Lives Matter）的活动人士交往，而这些人几乎是英国有组织右翼中最激进的群体。

纪录片显示，其拍摄对象在“爱国者”团体中逐渐成为某种领导者——一次汤米·罗宾逊的游行激励他为自己的行为感到自豪（Channel 4）

然而，罗伯茨对给每个人贴标签持谨慎态度。反对活动最初像是一个“宽泛的教会”。一些居民参加一次游行后就退出了。另一些人则支持寻求庇护者。一名被称为“标语男”的调酒师乔治独自拿着一块标牌，承认自己感到极其恐惧。“克罗伯勒巡逻队”穿着独特的服装在街上行走：在支持者看来这是令人安心的，而在批评者看来则是私刑者。

“在合法的抗议——因为人们有权表达政治观点——与人们受到威胁和惊吓之间，存在一个灰色地带，”罗伯茨说，“我们正在努力界定这条线，但还没有找准。”他将这种政治倾向描述为一个钟形曲线。对移民问题的担忧本质上并不等同于极右翼——但在路上追赶受惊的外国人则是另一回事。

寻求庇护者在很大程度上依然是无名的，因为罗伯茨认为在一部关于他们社区的电影中加入简短的片段将只是形式主义。内政部拒绝让他进入营地。他指出，强行闯入的局外人是极右翼的直播主。

一个场景极美地打破了这种抽象感——年轻的寻求庇护者在打板球。“没有什么比这更具英国特色了，”罗伯茨说。这些所谓的“外来”存在已经接纳了这项终极的英国运动。

对移民问题的担忧本质上并不等同于极右翼——但在路上追赶受惊的外国人则是另一回事

——《直到我死去，英格兰》（England til I Die）导演 杰米·罗伯茨

有时，这部电影在某种程度上具有浓厚的英国色彩。克罗伯勒有一家 Waitrose 超市，在呐喊和游行现场 10 分钟路程之外，便是拥有野生鹿群的阿什当森林之美。那里弥漫着一种男人为政治行动而装扮的气氛，仿佛在准备一次格外严肃的单身汉周末旅行。

观看这部电影时，我想起了一本我曾为了研究一部设定在 20 世纪 30 年代的惊悚小说而购买的冷门书籍。书名叫《海边的黑衫》（Blackshirts on-Sea），书中包含英国法西斯联盟在萨塞克斯海岸举办夏季训练营的照片。在距离克罗伯勒不远的一处名为塞尔西的地方，数千人聚集在一起进行体育活动、游泳和军事化训练。照片中，莫斯利穿着短裤和黑衬衫站在海边，阴森却又如此荒诞，以至于他看起来像是从一个关于吉夫斯和伍斯特的故事中走出来的。

这种类比不应被过度推演。莫斯利领导的是一个等级森严、明确奉行法西斯主义和反犹主义的政党，并拥有统一着装的准军事组织。而如今的“爱国者”则是一个更为松散的网络，绝大多数关注点集中在移民和伊斯兰教上，其圈子里的许多人会否认自己是法西斯分子。我们尚未走到另一个“电缆街”的局面。

但历史无需精确重复才能产生共鸣。制服能产生凝聚力并制造恐吓。政治行动为恐惧的人们提供了同志情谊和意义。曾在国会大厦拍摄 QAnon 支持者 4 Hours 的罗伯茨表示，这类团体可能看起来像是在“角色扮演”，因为互联网上的意象在现实世界中可能显得荒诞。但一旦有人在街上被追逐，这个笑话就不再好笑了。

利亚姆和其他抗议者在伦敦举着一块“白人生命至上”的横幅（Channel 4）

与 2015 年相比，决定性的差异在于算法。“爱国者”在封闭群组中交流，生成 AI 视频并向数千人进行直播。他们既不需要也不信任 BBC 或报纸。“他们拥有自己的‘第四权力’，”罗伯茨说道。

而且，这个权力机构日益建立在虚构之上。今年 8 月，一段 2024 年对一名在突尼斯的苏丹男子艾哈迈德的真实采访被重新传播，并配上了 AI 生成的英文音频。他实际用阿拉伯语说的话是关于逃离战争和寻求安全。而伪造的版本则让他要求“我的钱、我的免费房子，以及英国女人”。另一段伪造的片段声称显示一名挥舞砍刀的移民在穿越英吉利海峡的船上宣称：“这就是英格兰的终结。”

BBC 的一项调查已将生产类似内容的所谓英国爱国主义账号追溯到斯里兰卡和越南的运营商。他们的捏造内容包括一个挤满了身着阿拉伯服饰、强行推行沙里亚法的下议院。一些制作者的动力似乎并非来自意识形态，而是来自愤怒所产生的广告费。但这无关紧要，毒药的效果是一样的。

算法并没有发明对庇护制度的愤怒，也没有强迫内政部在缺乏充分协商的情况下设立营地。但它们能识别出那些已经处于恐惧或愤怒边缘的人，向他们喂食其信仰的日益极端版本，并让他们一夜之间与朴次茅斯或多佛的男人建立联系。正如罗伯茨所说，活动人士将算法视为一种“统一原则”。最初的局部不满由此演变为一种国家认同。

这些运动有多强大？“极其强大，”罗伯茨回答道。他们召唤的是坚定的支持者，而不仅仅是收集点赞；他们消耗警方资源，并迫使部长们做出回应。更阴险的是，他们将边缘语言推向中心，使得戴面具的人阻碍关键基础设施看起来像是辩论中的下一个逻辑步骤。

利亚姆本人最近退出了这场运动，他既没在多佛也没在朴次茅斯，尽管曾与他一同游行的人在那里。这几乎就是重点所在。这场运动不再需要一个利亚姆，一座城镇，甚至一个领导者。正如罗伯茨警告的那样，“全国各地到处都是利亚姆。”

《英格兰直到我死去》（England 'Til I Die）将于周三晚上 10 点在 Channel 4 播出

新闻 / 分析

皮丁顿的护照？象征性的反抗揭示移民分歧

牛津郡一个村庄的独立投票让人想起伊灵喜剧，但政治编辑大卫·马多克斯（David Maddox）写道，工党必须意识到这并非一件好笑的事。

仅有 26 名居民投票反对脱离英国 (PA)

如此快地举行全民公投。

当本周苏格兰、威尔士和北爱尔兰的民族主义领导人要求脱离威斯敏斯特独立时，安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）没有想到他会这么快就面对一名分离主义者。

然而，这次投票关注的不是那些权力下放的国家，而是位于英格兰乡村核心地带、绿树成荫的牛津郡皮丁顿村。

在这个仅有 350 人的村庄中，共有 285 人投票支持“脱离英国独立”，以表达对白厅决定在附近一个前军事基地安置 1,256 名男性寻求庇护者的愤怒。仅有 26 名居民投票反对该动议，另记录到一张废票。

这次投票在性质上可能是象征性的，但它显示了英国在移民危机问题上出现的分歧之深。

约 92 per cent 的投票率强调了最典型的“中间英格兰”地区情绪高涨。

对于那些喜欢黑白电影的人来说，整个场景有着伊灵工作室喜剧时代的熟悉叙事。1949 年的《皮姆利科的护照》（Passport to Pimlico）讲述了伦敦南部皮姆利科愤怒的居民发现自己不属于英国，于是勃艮第议会允许他们宣布独立，以规避战后的配给制度。

但对于移民问题而言，这不是小说或喜剧；这是一种在全国各地不断重复出现的真实愤怒。

1948 年《皮姆利科的护照》中，理查德·希恩饰演的醉酒骑行者与菲利普·斯坦顿饰演的警察斯皮勒发生冲突 (Getty)

不久前，埃塞克斯郡的埃平曾因移民酒店引发抗议。在过去的两周里，我们还看到戴面具的男子在多佛和朴茨茅斯进行抗议。

虽然改革英国党（Reform UK）的支持率在最近几周有所下降，但其民调仍维持在 25 per cent 左右——而其竞争对手“恢复英国”（Restore Britain）则占据另外 5 per cent——这恰恰凸显了人们支持那些在移民危机上采取更强硬立场政党的渴望。

但现在涉及的是重大问题。如果改革英国党或保守党在下次选举中获胜，我们将看到英国退出《欧洲人权公约》（ECHR），甚至可能退出《难民公约》。

这将重写英国的国际地位和人权地位，其后果可能比脱欧更糟糕。

更令人担忧的是，这个问题现在正在为由汤米·罗宾逊（Tommy Robinson）等人物领导的真正的极右翼势力提供燃料。

伯纳姆承认在通胀上升后预算案将具有“挑战性”

财政大臣约翰·希利将于下月提交安迪·伯纳姆领导下的首份预算案

雅典娜·斯塔夫鲁 政治记者

首相表示，政府在预算案中“不会拿民众的生活水平冒险”（PA）

在官方数据显示通胀率飙升至五个月高点后，安迪·伯纳姆承认下月的预算案对他领导的政府来说将具有“挑战性”。

财政大臣约翰·希利定于下月提交伯纳姆入主 10 号唐宁街后的首份预算案，而此时人们正对唐纳德·特朗普发起的针对伊朗的战争及其对英国国防资金的影响感到担忧。

这一重大政治难题出现背景是通胀率的上升，最新的官方数据显示昨日通胀率再次跳升。

伯纳姆在接受广播公司采访时表示，当前的形势意味着下月的预算案将具有“挑战性”，但他坚持认为他的政府“不会拿民众的生活水平冒险”。

他说：“这将具有挑战性，因为全球局势充满挑战，尤其是中东的情况，我们将仔细审视所有这些因素。”

“我们不会拿民众的生活水平或整体经济冒险，因此我们将把所有因素考虑在内。”

“这就是为什么我们希望提前制定预算案；我们不想留下很长一段时间的猜测。我认为现在证明这是一个正确的决定，这意味着我们将采取一切可能的行动来帮助民众，同时确保在经济运行中应用最高程度的谨慎。”

他坚持认为经济仍在“全面表现出韧性”，并将通胀上升与中东战争联系起来。

英国国家统计局（ONS）透露，由于燃料价格和机票价格上涨推高了物价，上月通胀率加速至 3.1 per cent 的五个月高点（）

但智库决议基金会（Resolution Foundation）估计，政府的财政空间已下降至 50亿英镑 和 100亿英镑 之间，这需要在预算案中通过增税或削减开支来弥补。

英国国家统计局（ONS）透露，由于燃料价格和机票价格上涨推高了英国人的生活成本，上月通胀率加速至 3.1 per cent 的五个月高点。

这与经济学家的预测一致，并表明通胀率在 6 月触及 15 个月低点 2.6 per cent 以来一直处于上升轨迹。

因此，在央行今天做出最新的利率决定之前，通胀率进一步偏离了英格兰银行 2 per cent 的通胀目标。

官方数据的出台正值经济学家发出警告，称通胀率在未来几个月将继续走高，并预测利率也将上升。

“普特尼推手”嫌疑人被发现死亡，系维多利亚女王后裔

44 岁男子是获得勋章的陆军退伍军人，后转行成为银行家，负责为富裕客户提供咨询

艾米-克莱尔·马丁 犯罪记者

与“普特尼推手”案相关的被寻找慢跑者的监控画面（伦敦警察厅）

一名维多利亚女王的后裔，即臭名昭著的“普特尼推手”案的主要嫌疑人，已被发现死亡。

银行家尼古拉斯·布兰德拉姆（Nicholas Brandram），44, 岁，是希腊和丹麦凯瑟琳公主（Katherine of Greece and Denmark，被称为凯瑟琳·布兰德拉姆夫人）的孙子，而凯瑟琳公主是前君主的曾孙女。

他因一项尚未破获的罪行而接受调查，在该案件中，一名女性被推到公交车行驶的路径上

在帕特尼桥上。

他在今年6月被捕，并在这次看似毫无挑衅的袭击发生近十年后，在接受调查期间被释放。

周二，他被发现死于伦敦西区奇斯威克的住所内。

伦敦警察厅表示，这名44岁男子的死亡被视为“意外”，且不认为有可疑之处。

“帕特尼推手”嫌疑人是谁？

布兰德拉姆先生曾是一名获得勋章的前英国陆军上尉，曾在伊拉克、波斯尼亚和阿富汗服役。

据报道，他此前曾在领先的股票经纪公司 Killik & Co 担任经理。

尼古拉斯·布兰德拉姆于6月被捕并在接受调查期间被释放（盖蒂图片社）

近期，他担任一名高薪银行家，在汇丰私人银行（HSBC Private Bank）担任客户关系经理，为超高净值客户提供咨询。

在今年3月接受《Citywealth》采访时，他表示自己是一名共同抚养孩子的单身父亲，有一个三岁的儿子。

他透露自己热爱园艺、歌剧和弗雷德里克·福赛斯的小说，并赞扬了母亲作为单亲家长抚养他及其两个妹妹的坚韧，补充道：“她能比特种空勤团（SAS）走得更远，而且还能穿着高跟鞋做到。”

2013, 他承认在驾驶哈雷-戴维森摩托车时，因驾驶缺乏应有的谨慎和注意力，且在撞到一名骑行者后未能停车。

他告诉法庭，他当时没有意识到自己在伦敦海德公园角撞到了一名骑行者并损坏了对方的后轮，因此在没有交换信息的情况下离开了现场。

布兰德拉姆的驾照被扣5分，被处以 £200 罚款，并支付 £105. 的赔偿费用。

受害者在帕特尼桥上被推向一辆巴士的行驶路径（伦敦警察厅）

据了解，他于今年6月15日因涉嫌企图造成严重身体伤害，在与“帕特尼推手”案相关的调查中被捕。在警方拘留期间，他又因涉嫌持有毒品被进一步逮捕。

上周，伦敦警察厅确认已在调查期间释放该嫌疑人。

2017年5月5日在帕特尼桥上发生的事件监控显示，一名慢跑者用双手用力将一名女性推向一辆双层巴士的行驶路径。大约15分钟后，当该女性在桥上接受救助时，他经过她身边，并无视了她要求他停下的呼喊。

该女性当时33岁，受了轻伤。

当时，警方询问了50多名男子并逮捕了三名嫌疑人，但该案于2018, 结案，从未有人被起诉。

周二晚上 7.12pm，警方接到报案前往伦敦西区奇斯威克的一个地址，在那里发现一名男子失去意识。

“遗憾的是，一名44岁男子的在现场被宣布死亡。其近亲已获通知，”警方表示，并补充说他们将在适当时候为验尸官准备卷宗。

著名剧作家兼文化评论家邦妮·格里尔逝世，享年77岁

对于英国观众而言，格里尔还因频繁担任电视节目嘉宾而为人熟知

肖恩·奥格雷迪 (PA)

格里尔的丈夫大卫·哈钦斯表示，她在经历了一场“短暂的疾病”后去世 (Getty)

英美剧作家兼小说家邦妮·格里尔（Bonnie Greer）逝世，享年77岁。

她的丈夫大卫·哈钦斯（David Hutchins）表示，她此前一直患有某种“短暂的疾病”。

他表示：“邦妮是一位备受赞誉的剧作家、作家、评论家，以及文化和政治评论员。她的才智、勇气和独特的见解为英国的文化和公共生活做出了持久的贡献。”

格里尔于1948年出生在芝加哥。她最初在戏剧界崭露头角，曾在纽约市的演员工作室（Actors Studio）师从受人尊敬的电影导演埃利亚·卡赞（Elia Kazan）学习表演。

她于1986年移居英国，曾担任多家英国知名机构的董事会成员，包括大英博物馆、皇家歌剧院和伦敦电影学院。

格里尔曾凭借作品《Munda Negra》获得维里蒂·巴盖特最佳剧本奖（Verity Bargate Award for Best Play），她还创作了包括《Hanging by Her Teeth》（1994年）和《Entropy》（2009年）在内的小说。

2009年10月，她的回忆录兼音乐史著作《Obama Music》出版。

对于英国观众而言，格里尔还因频繁在电视节目《Newsnight Review》和《Question Time》中担任嘉宾而为人熟知。

邦妮·格里尔于2010年获颁OBE勋章 (Getty)

2019年，她在一次关于脱欧的《Question Time》辩论中为爱尔兰辩护，使她成为了该国的英雄，《德里女孩》（Derry Girls）演员尼古拉·考夫兰（Nicola Coughlan）在社交媒体上写道：“我的天，邦妮·格里尔，如果爱尔兰以后有女王，我提名你。”

此外，她曾担任伦敦金斯顿大学（Kingston University）的校长，并于2010年因对艺术的贡献被授予OBE勋章。2022年，她被授予英国皇家文学学会（Royal Society of Literature）院士称号。

哈钦斯先生在声明中继续写道：“对我而言，她是我的伴侣、知己和灵感来源，能与她共度一生，我感到深感荣幸。”

“与邦妮最亲近的人会记得她的热情、幽默、慷慨，以及她将人们凝聚在一起的非凡能力。”

“在这个极其艰难的时刻，我们请求尊重我们家人的隐私。我们将深切地思念她。”

在2015年接受《独立报》采访时，格里尔透露她最初计划成为一名修女而非作家，但后来改变了主意，因为“我告诉了我母亲，她笑得那么厉害，以至于我打消了念头”。

她还透露，自己是一名拥有奴隶的黑人的直系后裔，而她的导师之一是美国作家兼记者诺曼·梅勒（Norman Mailer）。

[...OMITTED...]

刺杀受害者之女呼吁审查凶手管理中的“严重失职”

马克·卡罗尔的女儿们表示，在父亲于伦敦一座公园被陌生人拉希德·拉赫曼刺杀后，仍有“未解之谜”

霍莉·班克罗夫特，内政事务记者

马克·卡罗尔及其长女丹妮尔·莫利（由提供者提供）

一位深受爱戴的祖父在伦敦一座公园遭遇随机且无端攻击而被谋杀，他的两个女儿现呼吁对警方和护理服务机构在处理凶手方面的情况进行全面审查，并表示：“我们认为，正是严重的失职导致了这件事的发生”。

55岁的马克·卡罗尔于2024年4月被杀。当时，拉希德·拉赫曼从其支持性生活住宿机构领出了一把刀，并在卡罗尔先生与一名朋友在卡姆登的圣马丁花园散步时，从背后将其刺伤。

当时年仅19岁的拉赫曼上周因谋杀罪被判处终身监禁。他还因在几个月前于罗姆福德对另一名公众成员发起的刺杀攻击，以及在袭击卡罗尔先生之前的几天内一系列扰乱公共秩序的罪行被判刑。

他的两个女儿艾莎·卡罗尔和丹妮尔·莫利目前正在筹集资金购买一块墓碑，以纪念她们的父亲。她们将他描述为一位“深受爱戴的父亲、祖父以及许多人的朋友”。

卡罗尔女士是一名自雇生态学家，自从以如此震惊的方式失去父亲后，她一直与心理健康问题作斗争，并表示她正在省下每一分钱来为父亲的墓碑筹款。

卡罗尔被描述为一位“深受爱戴的父亲、祖父以及许多人的朋友”（由提供者提供）

在一次寻求帮助的呼吁中，女儿们表示：“我们都尝试过省钱。我们都尝试过应对。我们都尝试过处理这次创伤。但事实是：我们无法独自完成这件事。”

在拉赫曼被判刑后，艾莎·卡罗尔和三个孩子的母亲丹妮尔·莫利在给《独立报》的一份声明中，感谢了帮助实现正义的律师、法官和警方，并补充道：“虽然我们的家人对判决感到宽慰，但这无法让我们的父亲回来。这是一次针对一个完全无辜且深受爱戴的男人的无端攻击。”

她们继续说道：“令人深感不安的是，责任人在实施这一恶行之前的几天里被反复逮捕又被释放。我们认为，正是严重的失职导致了这件事的发生。”

她们表示，在发送了一份关于拉赫曼在父亲被谋杀前如何被管理的问题清单后，一直没有收到拉赫曼的支持性生活住宿提供方 Soaring Heights 的回复，对此感到“失望”。

卡罗尔在卡姆登的临时纪念地（由提供者提供）

女儿们补充道：“还有许多未解之谜。为什么凶手被认为安全到可以被释放到公众之中？为什么在凶手带着刀离开支持性生活设施后的24小时内，警方没有收到关于他失踪的通知，而随后他就谋杀了我们的父亲？

“此类事件需要触发系统性的变革，以防止此类可避免的悲剧再次发生。”

影子内政大臣克里斯·菲利普议员表示：“马克·卡罗尔今天本该活着，他的家人理应得到关于导致他被谋杀的失职行为的答案。

“在瓦尔多·卡洛卡内和阿克塞尔·鲁达库巴纳等案件中，我们看到重复出现的警告信号以及与公共服务的接触并未得到采取行动，这引发了关于是否错失干预机会的严重质疑。

“政府应紧急审查本案的处理情况，倾听马克女儿们的诉求，并给她们一直寻求的答案。”

艾莎·卡罗尔参观纪念碑（由提供方提供）

拉赫曼此前居住的 Soaring Heights Care 为年轻人提供住宿和支持，包括“协助获取教育、培训和就业机会”。

该机构在的一份声明中表示，拉赫曼于 2022 年 6 月进入该服务机构，并原定于 2024 年 4 月他袭击马克·卡罗尔的那一周离开。

他们补充道：“作为一名成年住户，除非相关信息向我们披露或以其他正式方式告知该服务机构，否则该机构无法自动获得有关其个人情况各方面的信息，包括之前的逮捕记录、定罪记录或其他与执法部门的相关互动。”

“在拉赫曼先生入院之前，以及随后在安置期间，该服务机构从未被告知过关于拉赫曼先生之前的任何逮捕或定罪记录。在入住期间，拉赫曼先生没有表现出任何让工作人员认为其具有暴力风险的行为。该服务机构在相关时间点也未获悉他于 2023 年 6 月被捕的情况，或 2024 年 4 月 6 日发生的事件。”

拉希德·拉赫曼在袭击前从其支持性生活住宿处领出了一把刀（伦敦警察厅）

Soaring Heights 表示，如果他们被告知拉赫曼的犯罪记录，或收到表明他对住户和工作人员构成风险的信息，“安置将会被终止”。

他们总结道：“我们仍致力于维持适当的保护、安全和风险管理程序，并根据任何相关信息或情况在必要时审查我们的实践。”

一名伦敦警察厅发言人表示：“我们理解许多人对于警方在几天内与拉希德·拉赫曼接触所感到的担忧”

新闻 / 独家

活动人士警告：首相必须打击秘密拍摄以保障女性安全

伯纳姆被要求弥补法律漏洞，警告称女性正遭受“监视与剥削”

尼科尔·伍顿-凯恩 (Nicole Wootton-Cane)

议员维拉·霍布豪斯 (Wera Hobhouse) 警告称，技术正被厌女者“武器化” (PA Archive)

领先的女性慈善机构发出警告，政府必须采取行动，打击在社交媒体上为了牟利而秘密拍摄女性和女孩的“夜生活”视频，这种行为正将她们赶出公共空间。

在给首相的一封公开信中，活动人士表示，随着此类病毒式视频的“迅速增加”，女性和女孩被迫“改变自己的行为，退出在线空间，并限制在公共生活中的出现”。在这些视频中，弱势女性在未经同意的情况下被在公共场所拍摄，并在网上遭受骚扰和嘲笑。

这封信由自由民主党议员维拉·霍布豪斯 (Wera Hobhouse) 撰写，并由包括 Refuge、Women's Aid、苏齐·兰普鲁基金会 (Suzy Lamplugh Trust) 和在线安全网络 (Online Safety Network) 在内的组织和学者共同签署。信中警告称，这些视频的播放量已超过 30 亿美元 次，且与包括跟踪和骚扰在内的“捕食性行为”相关。

信中敦促安迪·伯纳姆 (Andy Burnham) “加强”立法，称由于法律漏洞，警方目前无法有效处理这一问题。

信中写道：“就在曼彻斯特 No 10 North 对面，以及全国许多城镇和城市中，女性在夜生活出行时被秘密拍摄，随后视频被发布到网上——通常是为了牟利——在那里，她们会收到大量贬低和厌女的评论。”

“女性和女孩被迫改变自己的行为，退出在线空间，并限制在公共生活中的出现。素材可能被捕捉并无限期重新出现的持续风险，损害了她们自由行动、平等参与以及在日常环境中感到安全的能力。”

在公共场所拍摄并非非法，但人们对“夜生活”内容趋势的担忧日益增加，这类内容通常针对英国主要城市中醉酒的女性，并将视频发布在网上以牟利。

2024, 一项大曼彻斯特警方 (GMP) 的调查导致一名 27 岁的男子因涉嫌窥淫和骚扰被捕，这被认为是全国首例与此类病毒式视频相关的案件。但今年 1 月，警方表示，由于“现行立法的局限性”，该刑事调查已崩溃。当时，侦探表示他们将评估是否采取民事诉讼。

近期，Meta 的 AI 智能眼镜也引发了巨大的公众抵制，由于有设备被用于在未经同意的情况下拍摄女性和弱势群体的案例，批评者将其贴上“色情狂眼镜”的标签。

在发出这封信之前，霍布豪斯女士主持了一场议会圆桌会议，与来自警队、活动人士和学者的代表共同讨论。与会者警告称，法律未能跟上技术被“武器化”以攻击女性的速度。

信中呼吁伯纳姆政府在法律中承认秘密拍摄及“相关滥用行为”，扩大《在线安全法》以涵盖那些“激励滥用”的算法，并将打击秘密拍摄纳入其应对针对女性和女孩暴力的战略中。

信中写道：“其核心在于自由。女性和女孩要求的是在公共和在线空间中生存的基本权利，而无需担心被监视、羞辱或剥削。”

“我们敦促政府紧急采取行动，并与专家、受害者幸存者及行业协作，制定出与该问题的规模和严重程度相匹配的应对方案。”

Meta 已被联系以寻求评论。

今日图片

随行体验 在红牛举办的“马克斯 v 100”比赛前，马克斯·维斯塔潘在银石赛道驾驶卡丁车。PA

时尚抵达

员工在上海华为联桥湖研究园区等待接驳火车。

赛场拼搏

塞尔维亚选手斯特凡·内吉奇（Stefan Negic）和韦尔科·马苏洛维奇（Veljko Masulovic）在芬兰坦佩雷参加 2026 年欧洲排球锦标赛对阵丹麦的比赛。

风雨无阻

人们在雨中的日本川崎穿过街道。

拱门之下

国内简讯

前剑桥郡警方警长保罗·斯特里特被裁定犯有职务行为不端罪（PA 档案图）

索要嫌疑人性爱视频的警员被判入狱

一名在 WhatsApp 上营造“毒性”环境的名声扫地的名警员，因索要一名女性嫌疑人的私密视频而被判处四年监禁。

前剑桥郡警署警长保罗·斯特里特（Paul Street），41, 岁，在发现受害者的移动设备中存储的私人图像和视频内容后，与前警员乔什·威廉姆斯（Josh Williams）一起参与了“下流的八卦”。周三在法庭上，该女性嫌疑人描述了一种“极度的震惊、被侵犯感、愤怒和羞辱感”。

斯特里特发送的消息还显示，他敦促同事“欺凌”一名被拘留的青少年嫌疑人。斯特里特居住在剑桥郡的亨廷顿，在 6 月于中央刑事法院（Old Bailey）经过审理后，被裁定两项职务行为不端罪名成立。在此之前，他承认了两项关于非法披露个人数据的指控，涉及 2020. 年将其伴侣发送的机密材料和截图。在中央刑事法院举行的一场电视转播的量刑听证会上，斯特里特被判处四年监禁。PA

布里斯托禁用快时尚和航班广告

布里斯托市议会已成为英国首个禁止推广购买快时尚广告的议会。该禁令将覆盖这座港口城市所有公交车站的广告。它还将覆盖由议会拥有的独立数字显示屏和广告牌。根据新批准的提案，在全市议会拥有的空间内，航班、邮轮假期、旅行社以及非电动汽车的广告也将被禁止。

战略与资源委员会的成员本周以 8 比 1 的投票结果支持更新议会的广告和赞助政策。这一决定是在对议会政策进行更广泛审查之后做出的，审查内容包括限制推广高碳商品和服务的可能性。布里斯托加入了英国境内 20 个以上已经对污染产品和服务广告实施限制的议会之列。然而，此前没有任何一个议会禁止过快时尚产品的广告。PA

创纪录热浪带来蝴蝶数量激增

根据最新的“大蝴蝶计数”（Big Butterfly Count）结果，创纪录的热浪使英国经历了16年来第二好的蝴蝶季。这项全球规模最大的昆虫调查显示，超过100,000名志愿者记录了近140 万只蝴蝶和日行蛾。调查结果证实，在经历了五次明显热浪的夏天，蝴蝶的目击数量广泛激增。

这家总部位于多塞特郡的野生动物慈善机构透露，气温升高使得成年蝴蝶在英国的花园和乡村能够繁茂生长、交配并迅速繁殖。迁徙物种的增长幅度惊人，其中每年夏天从撒哈拉以南非洲完成非凡的多代飞行抵达英国的彩蝶（painted lady），其数量比去年增加了335%。这是该调查自2010年开始以来记录到的第二高数值。

《新闻之夜》将周五节目移至晚上7点新时段

BBC的旗舰新闻与时事节目《新闻之夜》（Newsnight）将迎来重大排期调整。该节目目前在BBC Two频道于工作日晚上10.30时段播出。从本周五，September 18, 起，周五晚间的节目将移至全新的晚上7点时段。于2025, 首次加入该节目播报团队的马特·乔利（Matt Chorley）将担任每个周五晚间的主持人。BBC表示，他将“在提供《新闻之夜》标志性的严谨采访和深刻分析的同时，为观众带来对本周重大政治事件的新见解”。周一至周四的剧集将继续在原定的晚上10.30时段播出。

乔利形容该节目正处于“繁荣期”，并指出将周五节目的时段提前，为他们提供了一个“在周末开始前剖析本周重大故事的绝佳机会”。他说：“政治从未像现在这样复杂或充满争议，因此每个周五晚上，我将通过《新闻之夜》观众所期待的顶级采访和分析，为观众提供关于实际情况的完美入门指南。而且因为是周五晚上，我们会在过程中加入一些趣味，希望还能带来一些惊喜。” PA

国际

欧盟为加拿大成为首个准会员敞开大门

马克·卡尼表示，渥太华寻求与欧盟建立“独特的联盟”——但并非寻求正式成员身份

朱莉娅·佩恩 & 詹姆斯·C·雷诺兹

(美联社)

欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩周三表示，欧盟将为加拿大成为其首个“准会员”（associate member）敞开大门。与此同时，在与华盛顿的争端不断加深之际，渥太华正寻求与欧洲建立更紧密的联系。

“伙伴关系是欧洲的一种战略选择。但这也是在应对国际基于规则的体系所出现的裂痕，”冯德莱恩女士在斯特拉斯堡向欧洲议会发表的年度《欧盟状态》演讲中表示。

“我们以同样的眼光看待世界：从人工智能到气候变化，从北极到地缘政治。而且我们在乌克兰问题、国防、原材料和供应链方面始终并肩作战。但最重要的是……欧洲和加拿大都信仰民主。”

在寻求建立新联盟之前，加拿大与美国的关系在美总统唐纳德·特朗普领导下急剧恶化，后者曾威胁要将加拿大变成美国的第51个州，并对加拿大商品征收巨额关税。

卡尼的欧洲之行发生在加美关系历史性破裂之后 (法新社 / 盖蒂图片社)

冯德莱恩女士谨慎地表示，“这是一种不针对任何其他人的伙伴关系”，这可能是为了避免激怒特朗普总统。

卡尼先生将特朗普政府的行为定性为试图“击垮我们，以便美国能够拥有我们”，并誓言在贸易额高达约 £640 的关系陷入深层裂痕之际，“永远不会忘记”他所谓的“美国背叛”带来的教训。

随着贸易战日益激烈，加拿大正逐渐远离其南部邻国，他承诺在未来十年内将加拿大的非美贸易额翻倍。

冯德莱恩女士的言论也标志着欧盟政策的重大转变，因为该集团在历史上一直抵制灵活的成员类别，尽管批评者表示，目前尚不清楚这种安排具体会是什么样子。

她认为，欧洲和加拿大在对民主的基本信仰上是一致的，并敦促在“当今世界冰冷的脆弱性”中需要建立新的伙伴关系。

在美总统对邻国发起新征税后，加拿大总理实施了“一比一”的报复性关税 (路透社)

她补充说，欧盟和加拿大将在从制造业到人工智能、关键矿产和能源的各个领域开展合作。

“我们将致力于智能制造。我们将创建技术联盟。我们将整合国防工业基础。我们将把北极打造为一个旗舰合作项目，”她说道。

一名欧盟外交官对冯德莱恩昨天的提议表示惊讶，称“没有人真正知道这意味着什么”。该外交官补充说，人们担心欧盟委员会负责人“承诺过多，而无法兑现”。

此外，在扩大贸易方面仍存在重大障碍。多伦多大学政治经济学与全球事务教授马克·曼格表示，欧盟官员对加拿大拒绝开放其耗费巨资保护的两个行业——电信业和乳制品业——感到沮丧。

冯德莱恩女士邀请卡尼先生前往斯特拉斯堡与她会面，他将于今天发表自己的演讲。

马克·卡尼昨日与乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩 (路透社)

这个由 27 个国家组成的集团正面临边境上的战争，即俄罗斯对乌克兰的入侵。在贸易和其他问题上，它还面临着来自美国总统唐纳德·特朗普政府以及日益强势的中国的激烈竞争。

冯德莱恩的提议能否推进，将取决于欧盟成员国。

欧盟成员国对德国在5月份提出的让乌克兰获得准会员资格作为过渡步骤的建议反应冷淡。

拉夫罗夫警告：俄罗斯与欧洲之间的战争将“非常短暂”

普京的外交部长暗示，冲突对莫斯科而言不会困难

Maira Butt

谢尔盖·拉夫罗夫暗示，与欧洲的战争对莫斯科而言不会困难 ()

在与莫斯科的紧张局势不断升级之际，俄罗斯外交部长谢尔盖·拉夫罗夫警告称，与欧洲的战争将“非常短暂”。

拉夫罗夫坚称，俄罗斯“没有兴趣”攻击西方国家，但如果首先遭到攻击，俄罗斯将予以反击，且结果将十分迅速。

他在昨天于叶卡捷琳堡举行的国际青年节上发表评论时表示：“俄罗斯已多次表示，我们不打算攻击西方国家，也没有兴趣这样做。”

“但如果经常谈论准备对抗俄罗斯的欧洲攻击俄罗斯联邦，那么这将是一场完全不同的战争，而且会非常短暂。”

在提到他所谓的北约向俄罗斯边境进行的“强力”扩张（俄方将其列为入侵乌克兰的原因）时，他说：“西方很久以前就选择了遏制俄罗斯。”这位以言辞犀利著称的资深部长自2004年起一直担任此职。

这些言论发表不久前，波兰外交部长拉多斯瓦夫·西科尔斯基声称，该联盟将“迅速”击败俄罗斯，并赞扬了波兰空军的“压倒性优势”。

他在周一表示：“如果俄罗斯攻击我们，而我们不再克制，我认为我们会相当快地击败俄罗斯。我们在空中力量方面对俄罗斯拥有压倒性优势。”

欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩昨天建议成立一个欧洲安全委员会，以期击败混合攻击。

她表示，该组织可以将欧盟及其合作伙伴（包括加拿大、英国和挪威）聚集在一起，以建立一套“紧急安全协议”。

弗拉基米尔·普京被指控在整个欧洲大陆发动混合攻击 (AP)

她在欧洲议会的国情咨文演讲中提到，所谓的混合攻击包括破坏企图等，并表示：“欧洲需要一套自己的反混合攻击剧本。”

“一旦由一个成员国触发，所有成员国将召集会议以协调欧洲的应对措施，从而威慑进一步的升级并减轻影响。”

丹麦周二表示，一艘俄罗斯军舰在没有警告的情况下向一架军用直升机发射了信号弹；而莫斯科则反击称，丹麦飞机在其舰队附近进行了危险的机动和低空飞越。

上个月，美国中央情报局（CIA）局长约翰·拉特克利夫罕见地访问了莫斯科，这是自其前任在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰前几周访问以来首次。

知情人士告诉哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS News）和《华尔街日报》，拉特克利夫此次行程是为了警告俄罗斯不要攻击北约。

世界 / 聚焦

抗议者奋力阻止大象成为寺庙的“礼物”

五岁的杜尔加（Durga）在六天内从阿萨姆邦跨越 3,000 公里抵达泰米尔纳德邦的一座寺庙。“惊恐”的活动人士告诉什韦塔·夏尔马（Shweta Sharma），他们正试图阻止其他大象的转移。

杜尔加是计划从阿萨姆邦转移到泰米尔纳德邦的五头大象之一（资料图）

动物权利活动人士正试图阻止一项拟议计划，该计划拟将四头幼象从印度东北部转移，作为“礼物”赠送给南部的印度教寺庙。这一过程将涉及数千公里的公路运输。

根据非营利组织“印度牲畜之友”（PFCI）提供的信息，拟转移的大象分别为：13 岁的 Rupsing、6 岁的 Shiva、8 岁的 Hiralal 和 5 岁的 Bijuli。该组织对此次转移的相关情况提出了严重质疑。

PFCI 表示，这些大象将面临从阿萨姆邦到泰米尔纳德邦近 3,000 公里（1800 英里）的公路旅程，这引发了人们对让幼象承受如此长途旅行所带来的福利影响的担忧。

其中一头五岁的大象杜尔加已经从阿萨姆邦的马纳斯国家公园（Manas National Park）区域被转移到泰米尔纳德邦的马杜赖米纳克希阿曼寺（Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple）。杜尔加于 9 月 7 日离开阿萨姆邦，在六天后的周日抵达该寺庙。

由米纳克希寺庙管理部门发布的一段视频显示，这头幼象身体左右摇摆，前两条腿被锁链锁住。

《独立报》已联系马杜赖米纳克希阿曼寺寻求置评。

总部位于钦奈的 PFCI 创始人 Arun Prasanna G 告诉《独立报》，大象的转移应当受到调查，包括关于其所有权、转移依据以及参与获取这些大象的各方的问题。

“杜尔加的转移已经让我们感到惊恐。在经历了六天的旅程抵达目的地后，她在视频中显得非常不安，”他说。

他引用当地人及报告称：“她的腿已经被锁链锁住。她非常焦虑。当她被装上车时，能听到母象在尖叫。”

杜尔加于 9 月 7 日夜间离开阿萨姆邦，于 9 月 13 日夜间抵达马杜赖，在约六天内行驶了约 3,000 公里（资料图）

“这是什么样的福利？”他质问道。

他表示，据称杜尔加是在没有充分公开披露的情况下被秘密转移的，平均每天行驶近 500 公里。

“鉴于喀拉拉邦高等法院 2024 年 11 月 13 日的指示规定，大象每日运输距离最高不得超过 125 公里，且对车辆行驶时间和速度设有上限，这引发了一个极其严重的福利和法律问题，”Prasanna 表示。

他补充道：“当局必须公开杜尔加完整的行程日志，包括车辆的移动情况、每日行驶公里数、驾驶时长、速度、休息时间及停靠点，并解释平均每天行驶约 500 公里的旅程是如何符合相关保障规定的。”

动物福利团体和环保人士长期以来一直对印度大象的待遇和商业化表示担忧。在印度，尽管大象受到野生动物法的保护，但仍被广泛用于旅游、寺庙仪式、节日、狩猎游览和娱乐活动。

印度教和佛教传统都赋予了大象崇高的地位。它们被用于传递祝福并履行神圣职责。在印度教中，大象与象头神迦尼萨（Ganesh）密切相关。

印度法律规定，捕捉、猎杀、交易或伤害大象均属非法，但那些在法律生效前就处于囚禁状态或出生于囚禁环境的大象，仍被用于各种目的，权利活动人士称这等同于虐待。这些大象处于一种法律灰色地带——它们不能被买卖，但允许非商业性的所有权“转移”。

据《印度教报》（The Hindu）报道，杜尔加（Durga）的转移已于上周获得泰米尔纳德邦森林局的批准，另外四头大象的批准尚在等待中。

泰米尔纳德邦首席野生动物管理员拉凯什·库马尔·多格拉（Rakesh Kumar Dogra）表示，转移的“无异议证明”（NOC）已于上周签发。

他说：“在签发无异议证明之前，区囚禁大象管理委员会（一个地方监管机构）对场所进行了检查，核实了泥浴、水浴和行走空间等设施的可用性。”

另一家总部位于钦奈的组织“服务信托”（Seva Trust）在法院对这五头大象的拟议转移提出了质疑。

法院获悉，杜尔加转移至米纳克希神庙（Meenakshi temple）的申请已获批准，而涉及其他四头大象的申请仍在审理中。法院指示该邦在一周内对待处理的申请做出决定，并将该事项排期至9月16日。

2026年6月29日，在艾哈迈达巴德从贾格纳特神庙（Lord Jagannath temple）前往萨巴尔马蒂河岸的印度教宗教游行“Jal Yatra”期间，象夫与装饰华丽的大象一同等待（）。

邦政府当局表示，这些私人持有的大象是被捐赠给神庙的。

PFCI和其他福利组织对所有权主张提出了质疑，并指称这些动物是从国家公园和保护区被转移出来的，而非由原主人放弃。

普拉桑纳（Prasanna）表示：“如果你想放弃你的动物，通常人们在无法饲养宠物时会将其交给他人领养，或送往寄养设施、收容所和避难所。为什么有人要把这些大象转移到3,000公里之外？”

《独立报》已联系泰米尔纳德邦森林局寻求评论。

他问道：“这些大象在如此幼小的年纪就被从母亲身边强行带走。如果主人是在捐赠它们，那么母亲也抛弃了它们吗？那会对处于痛苦之中的母亲的福祉产生什么影响？”

他还质疑转移手续办理的速度，指称所需的证明文件在几小时内就完成了。

他说：“令人震惊的是，全部文书工作在7.5小时内就完成了。森林局处理任何文书工作绝不会少于15天。他们怎么可能在七个半小时内处理完文书工作？”

普拉桑纳指称，围绕这些转移的情况表明，存在一个涉及大象移动及可能交易的更广泛网络。

他说：“所以这里面涉及一个巨大的利益集团。有中间人，有经纪人。大象交易规模巨大。两方政府要么视而不见，要么就是其中一员。这是一个巨大的骗局。”

他认为，这些动物在神庙中可能面临数十年的囚禁。他说：“一头大象可以活70或80年。从现在5或6岁直到死亡，她都将被囚禁在神庙里。”

印度喀拉拉邦，印度教信徒聚集在一头装饰华丽的机器人大象周围（）。

这位活动人士质疑了关于转移是为了给大象提供更好照顾的说法。

他说：“你们说大象被送到另一个地方是为了更好的养护。在神庙里什么样的养护才叫更好？”

根据《独立报》看到的一封日期为9月7日的信函，阿萨姆邦森林局指派了四名官员负责将杜尔加从马纳斯国家公园运送到马杜赖神庙（Madhurai temple）。

总部位于阿萨姆邦的环保人士罗希特·乔杜里（Rohit Choudhury）已敦促最高法院任命的委员会立即停止此次转移，并对将大象移出阿萨姆邦的合法性、目的以及对动物福利的影响提出了质疑。

泰米尔纳德邦动物福利委员会（TNAWB）前成员舒尔蒂·维诺德拉杰（Shurthi Vinodraj）也对转移大象提出了反对。她表示：“这显然违反了最高法院现行的指导方针和规定。我们不知道是谁在下令蔑视规则。这件事必须立即停止。”

世界新闻简讯

救援人员表示，位于塔尔-哈瓦（Tal al-Hawa）地区的这座六层建筑是战争难民的住所（）

加沙建筑倒塌导致数十人死亡

加沙一座受战争损坏的公寓楼在夜间倒塌，造成至少20名巴勒斯坦人死亡（包括儿童），另有数十人被困在废墟之下。此次事件凸显了数万名巴勒斯坦人面临的持续危险，据估计，由于以色列在整个加沙地带的空袭，他们居住在约2,000栋受损建筑中。

视频显示，救援人员正试图从一面倒塌的墙下救出两名幸存者。另一段在社交媒体上流传的视频显示，加沙民防局发言人马哈茂德·巴萨尔（Mahmoud Basal）怀抱着一名用血染的围巾包裹着的小女孩。加沙城民防局局长拉埃德·达赫尚（Raed Al-Dahshan）表示，倒塌的建筑中至少居住着10个家庭，目前仍有希望找到幸存者。达赫尚说：“我们仍然能听到废墟下的声音，所以仍有希望找到幸存者。”

联合国开发计划署加沙办事处负责人亚历山德罗·姆拉基奇（Alessandro Mrakic）表示：“大约有400栋建筑面临倒塌风险。而且我们知道这些建筑将会倒塌，尤其是随着即将到来的冬季。” AP

前科索沃总统因战争罪被判入狱

前科索沃总统哈希姆·塔奇（Hashim Thaci）被判定在科索沃脱离塞尔维亚独立战争期间犯有四项战争罪，被荷兰一家由欧盟支持的法院判处25年监禁。现年58岁的塔奇在近六年前辞职以面对指控，海牙科索沃专家法庭（Kosovo Specialist Chambers）的法官小组裁定其谋杀、酷刑、残酷对待和任意拘禁罪名成立。在首席法官查尔斯·史密斯（Charles Smith）宣读判决时，身着西装打着领带的塔奇保持沉默。

塔奇与另外三名曾在1998-99年战争中与塞尔维亚军队作战的科索沃解放军前领导人一起，面临包括谋杀、酷刑和迫害在内的多项战争罪和反人类罪指控。他们在故乡被广泛视为民族英雄。周末，数千人在科索沃首都普里什蒂纳举行集会，支持这四个人。抗议者填满了首都的一个中心广场，许多人挥舞着红黑相间的阿尔巴尼亚国旗。

澳大利亚杀手获释引发抗议

在澳大利亚“雪镇谋杀案”（Snowtown murders）中被判入狱的最年轻人员将在服刑26年后获释，受害者家属称这一进展令人“痛苦”。詹姆斯·弗拉萨基斯（James Vlassakis）、约翰·贾斯汀·邦廷（John Justin Bunting）和罗伯特·乔·瓦格纳（Robert Joe Wagner）被判定在1992年至1999年间谋杀了11人，这是该国最臭名昭著的刑事案件之一。第四个人马克·海登（Mark Haydon）被判定协助处理尸体，其中大部分尸体于1999年在南澳大利亚州首府阿德莱德北部的雪镇定居点被发现被丢弃在酸桶中，导致该案被称为“桶中尸谋杀案”。

弗拉萨基斯在1998年参与杀人时年仅18岁。他承认犯有四起谋杀罪，其中包括谋杀一名同父异母的兄弟和一名继兄弟。他成为了检方的关键证人，被判处终身监禁，最低刑期为26年，该刑期已于去年8月届满。同月，南澳大利亚州假释委员会批准了这名连环杀手的释放，拒绝了州政府阻止释放的请求。南澳大利亚州上诉法院维持了委员会的决定。受害者权利专员莎拉·奎克（Sarah Quick）表示，批准弗拉萨基斯获释的决定对受害者家属来说“非常痛苦”。

日本百岁老人人数突破10万

根据卫生部的统计，尽管日本整体人口持续缩减，但年龄在100岁或以上的人数已突破100,000人。该部门表示，目前该国共有107,677名百岁老人，比去年增加了近8,000人。这是全球最高的人口百岁老人数量。自该部门在56年前开始追踪这一数据以来，该人数每年都在增加。

在这些百岁老人中，女性占比高达88%。居住在京都的114岁老人岸本扶养（Fuyo Kishimoto）是该国最高龄女性，而来自熊本的112岁老人加藤光（Hikaru Kato）则是最高龄男性。“我很高兴看到这么多人能够长期保持活跃和健康，”卫生部长上野健一郎（Kenichiro Ueno）表示，并补充说这反映了医学和技术的真正进步。然而，他警告称这种压力

很抱歉，艾德·希兰这是自找的

在说唱歌手 Macklemore 被其取消作为开场嘉宾后，这位英国乐坛的“好先生”目前日子并不好过——而艾娃·维达尔（Ava Vidal）认为，他现在遭受的所有谴责都是他应得的。

音乐家们在 2013 年 MTV 音乐奖上的合影（Getty）

在我预想的所有可能卷入巴勒斯坦政治争端的人中，艾德·希兰（Ed Sheeran）绝对不在我的预料之内。

很多年前，我在一个我们共同参加的 BBC One 慈善节目后台见到了希兰。他当时非常年轻，面相稚嫩，以至于主持人史蒂夫·琼斯（Steve Jones）开玩笑地向他索要身份证，质疑他是否足够大到可以进入该场所。我记得当时的希兰很有礼貌，不冒犯，而且……平淡，就像音乐界的迈克尔·麦金太尔（Michael McIntyre）。

但他坚持自己那个拿着吉他的邋遢邻家男孩形象，他的创作歌手生涯随之飞升。自从他早期在 SBTV 出现以来，他确实取得了巨大的进步；SBTV 是已故的杰出人物贾马尔·爱德华兹（Jamal Edwards）为新兴艺术家创建的影响力巨大的在线平台。

在帮助希兰成名之前，该平台纯粹被视为推广伦敦地下 Grime 和说唱音乐的强力阵地，帮助推出了包括 Dave 和 Stormzy 在内的数十位艺人。但让一个不唱说唱的原声民谣流行艺人与那些“前卫”的黑人青年并列出现，赋予了希兰一种来自伊普斯威奇（Ipswich）的书呆子模样小伙子 otherwise 永远无法拥有的公信力。

希兰被黑人社区热情且公开地接纳，这一点对我来说一点也不奇怪。我们习惯于邀请任何能跟上节拍拍手的人参加所谓的“家庭烧烤聚会”。而且别忘了他是红发，这几乎让他成了我们中的一员。

但这位乐坛的“好先生”现在日子并不好过——而他现在遭受的所有谴责都是他应得的。

在他的“Loop”巡演北美站中，由于其开场嘉宾之一的说唱歌手 Macklemore 在舞台上发表支持巴勒斯坦的言论而被解雇，导致巡演陷入混乱。本月早些时候，他身披库非耶（keffiyeh）出现在新泽西州，并高喊“自由巴勒斯坦！”。在他表演支持巴勒斯坦的抗议曲目《Hind’s Hall》期间，加沙地带遭受破坏的画面被投射在体育场巨大的视频屏幕上。

反弹迅速且猛烈：活动团体 StopAntisemitism 指责 Macklemore 用“反以色列宣传”对希兰的粉丝进行“伏击”；由 NFL 爱国者队亿万富翁罗伯特·克拉夫特（Robert Kraft）领导的体育场所有者将该说唱歌手从开场嘉宾名单中除名，而后者反过来指责“艾德·希兰及其团队”将其解雇。

在我看来，这像是一种精心计算的“可否认性”。艾德无需说一句话，只需将麦克风交给业内最敢于发声的反战艺术家之一，让 Macklemore 代他进行抗议。

起初，希兰保持沉默，大概是希望这一切能随风而逝。但他的中立尝试适得其反。

希兰解释说，由于他的观众大部分是儿童，因此他避免发表政治声明，但这并没有起到什么作用。出于团结，希兰剩余的开场嘉宾以及他自己乐队的成员现在都拒绝继续与他一起巡演。平克·弗洛伊德（Pink Floyd）的罗杰·沃特斯（Roger Waters）录制了一段视频信息，称他为“小混蛋（p****）”。

希兰还失去了200,000名Instagram粉丝。但这就是为什么我对他没什么同情心。埃德·希兰在预订麦克莫尔之前就对其政治观点心知肚明：麦克莫尔经常强调黎巴嫩、苏丹、刚果民主共和国和古巴等冲突地区的人权侵害问题。他曾多次将美国移民海关执法局（ICE）称为恐怖组织。由于指控迪拜协助武装苏丹政府的准军事部队——快速支援部队（RSF），他曾拒绝在迪拜演出。

预订麦克莫尔为埃德·希兰提供支持并非偶然。在我看来，这更像是一种经过计算的“可否认性”。埃德无需公开对不公正现象发表任何言论，只需搭建一个舞台，将麦克风交给业内最敢于发声的反战艺术家之一，然后让麦克莫尔替他抗议。他通过这种渗透方式获得“酷”的加分，同时维持其礼貌且不涉政的形象——正是这种形象让他与马莎和斯宾塞（Marks and Spencer）达成了利润丰厚的艺术家合作协议。而如果事情发展到

我厌恶必须照顾年迈的父母——这是一场活生生的噩梦

《独立报》的情感咨询专栏作家维多利亚·理查兹（Victoria Richards）在此为您提供帮助

安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）已承诺将“彻底改革”英国的社会护理危机（Getty）

亲爱的 Vix：

说出这些话让我感到很糟糕，但作为年迈父母的唯一照顾者，我感觉自己陷入了一种活生生的噩梦中。他们都八十多岁了——母亲 84 岁，父亲 89 岁——他们拒绝寻求帮助，也不愿进入辅助生活设施或养老院。他们认为自己可以照顾好自己，也可以互相照顾，但现在情况已经变得非常明显，事实并非如此。父亲健忘到了危险的程度，而母亲尽管视力不佳且协调能力更差，仍认为自己可以开车和做饭。尽管他们两人都坚持认为自己很独立，但他们仍然依赖我为他们处理所有事情。

我必须帮他们买所有东西，帮他们支付账单，而且只要发生任何事情——比如需要更换灯泡，或者需要一品脱牛奶，或者需要药物——他们就会给我打电话。他们期望我放下所有事情立刻赶过去，但我也有自己的生活：一份繁忙的工作，健康问题，以及自己的孩子，而且我并不住在附近——每次都要开车半小时。

我知道他们没有其他人（我是独生子女），所以这是我的责任，但我深深地厌恶这一切责任。除此之外，我对自己的这种感受感到愧疚。我确实爱他们，但我精疲力竭了。有些日子，我希望有一个理由能让我不必处理所有事情——我甚至发现自己在希望自己生病或出事故，这样他们就不得不接受我无法放下一切赶到他们身边的事实。

我觉得我的生活不再属于我自己，基本上成了一种奴役。这让我变得如此憔悴、疲惫且沮丧，我不知道该如何解决。

精疲力竭者

亲爱的“精疲力竭者”：

无论从名字还是本质上，你确实如此。我在这里就能感受到你多么地倦怠，我在想谁在照顾你的需求。你一直在照顾他人，我确实想知道谁在优先考虑你——以及为什么那个人不是你自己。

在这个国家，我们没有给予照顾者适当的支持，就这么简单——新任首相安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）已承诺将“彻底改革”这个国家的社会护理，这早已迟到且极其受欢迎（只要他能找到支付资金的方法）。人们普遍认为这个国家面临着护理危机，而像你这样的人就是附带损害。

虽然我理解你对父母承担的责任感——尤其是作为独生子女——但作为成年人，我们的责任之一就是意识到我们不能从一个空杯子中饮水。在确保周围燃烧的飞机上的每个人都能生存之前，我们需要先给自己戴好氧气面罩。

简单来说：如果你一直给予直到耗尽，那么就没有任何东西可以给予了。

这让我想要询问，你是否长期以来一直在逃避自己的需求——而原因是什么？至于你能为此做些什么，我想再次强调——我理解你的父母很脆弱但很骄傲；他们拒绝接受外部帮助，同时却把你当成帮佣。有些人就是无法忍受面对自己正在变老的事实。

现在是时候向他们解释，你只是一个人，而且你的精力有限。接着，你需要去做一件艰巨且困难的事：设定一些界限。你的可用能量——以及时间——是有限的，你需要将其中一部分预留出来用于恢复。所以，首先告诉他们，你不会在他们每次需要一品脱牛奶时就放下所有事情冲过去，而是会在固定的日期和时间去探望。一旦他们习惯了这种规律，你会惊讶地发现，他们在“间隔”时段的表现竟然如此之好。

你还可以联系他们的邻居或当地朋友，尝试建立一个“社区网络”的支持体系——我有朋友在需要时正是这么做的，其中一位朋友在独自照顾 2 个年幼孩子的同时还要接受化疗；还有一些朋友在悲痛之中，如果没有他人的帮助就无法支撑。

当我怀第二个孩子进入分娩期时，我能够打电话给一位信任的朋友过来帮我照看蹒跚学步的孩子，这样我才能去医院。人们在面对需要帮助的人时，聚集的速度很快且非常高效。但能否让他们提供帮助，取决于你是否允许——以及你是否愿意放弃目前承担的部分责任，也许你之所以这么做，是因为你对自己之前的感受感到愧疚（因此，你可能一直在过度补偿）。

而且，你要告诉你的父母：当然，如果发生紧急情况，你会立刻出现在他们身边——但你也有自己的家庭需要照顾。你可以请他们考虑，打电话要求更换一个灯泡是否真的算作“紧急情况”——如果不是，那么这件事可以等到你下次探访时再处理。创建一个共享购物清单可能也会有所帮助，这样你的父母会感到掌控感，不必每隔五分钟就打电话提醒你。

如果这对他们不起作用，那么你就需要进行一次坦诚的对话，帮助他们面对这样一个事实：他们需要护理公司的外部专业协助来填补空白。你已经做了这么多；请不要觉得你还需要替他们承担关于接受帮助的情绪压力。目前在我看来，不仅是你的父母无法照顾好自己，你们所有人其实都值得拥有更好的生活。

你是否有想要匿名向“亲爱的维克斯”（Dear Vix）提出的问题？关于爱情、关系、家庭或工作的困扰？请发送电子邮件至 dearvix@independent.co.uk

Section 2 / The Longer Read

[...OMITTED...]

瑟尔沃尔调查对露西·莱特比究竟意味着什么

此案存在于有罪与无辜的平行宇宙之中。随着对其定罪安全性的质疑日益增加，大卫·詹姆斯·史密斯探讨了那些考虑将此案移交给上诉法院的人员将如何看待新证据。

莱特比被捕后在警察拘留室的照片（切希尔郡警察局）

婴儿E和F是他们父母的奇迹双胞胎，尽管早产，但在2015年8月初，他们在切斯特伯爵夫人医院的新生儿病房中情况良好。护士

莱特比此前一直很亲切，并与婴儿的母亲有眼神交流，但这位母亲告诉瑟尔沃尔调查，这种情况在8月3日晚上发生了变化。当时，母亲听到婴儿在尖叫和哭泣，进来后发现是她的孩子，婴儿E，嘴边有血。

莱特比就在附近。婴儿E的母亲说，她当时态度轻蔑且粗鲁，而且这一次护士没有进行眼神交流。瑟尔沃尔法官随后听到，这位母亲由此认为自己一定是在莱特比攻击她孩子的过程中打断了对方。

瑟尔沃尔调查是一份关于露西·莱特比的行为及其涉及的医院工作人员的800页报告，于周二发布（PA）

他再次开始出血，突然崩溃且无法复苏。在他去世后，莱特比为婴儿E洗澡，并选择了他的葬礼衣服。她在母亲不知情且未同意的情况下制作了一个纪念盒。

对于母亲来说，得知莱特比触碰过盒子里的东西令人非常痛苦。一名医生未能进行全面审查，且错误地得出结论认为婴儿E死于自然死亡。父母拒绝了尸检。莱特比的护理记录中没有提到婴儿E死亡前发生的出血事件。这位母亲的陈述在很长一段时间内都没有被听到。

莱特比后来被判定谋杀婴儿E，并因胰岛素中毒企图谋杀其双胞胎兄弟。当时，中毒的证据也被忽略了。婴儿F遭受了持久的损害。

这位母亲在向瑟尔沃尔调查提供证词时表示：“我们不得不尝试用许多不同的方式去悲痛。我们尝试为孩子E悲痛……我们不得不为我们原以为会与孩子F共同度过的人生而悲痛，因为他有学习障碍。”

露西·莱特比目前因七起谋杀案和八起企图谋杀案被判处15个终身监禁（切希尔郡警察局）

对于任何阅读瑟尔沃尔法官昨日发布的800页最终报告的人来说，这段令人心碎的描述以及其他类似陈述都令人深思。

我必须指出，莱特比在审判中以及在她失败的上诉许可申请中否认了这些事件，而这些事件现在成了她向刑事案件审查委员会（CCRC）提交申请的核心。她目前的律师马克·麦克唐纳表示，他已提交了大约30份新的专家报告，用他的话来说，这些报告证明了莱特比的清白。作为其关键贡献者之一，舒·李教授在去年早些时候的一次新闻发布会上宣称，他和同行医学专家已经进行了审查，发现“没有谋杀的证据”。

报告中阐明了哪些新事实？

莱特比案目前存在于“有罪”与“无罪”这两个平行宇宙之中。

事实是，在经过两次审判后，莱特比因七起谋杀和八起谋杀未遂而被判处 15 项终身监禁。在第一次审判中，她面临 22 项指控，其中两项谋杀未遂罪名被宣判无罪，另有六项谋杀未遂指控未达成裁决——其中一项（婴儿 K）在 2024 年被重新审理并导致了第 15 项定罪。

报告发现，高级管理人员在报警方面存在长期延误。(Getty)

随着人们对定罪安全性的质疑声日益高涨，瑟尔沃尔调查（Thirlwall Inquiry）随即启动。调查从一开始就明确表示，其接受定罪的事实，而将重点考虑未来可以采取哪些措施来防止护士或其他人员伤害婴儿。

正如瑟尔沃尔在报告中所述，“任何人会故意伤害甚至杀死弱小婴儿的想法是令人厌恶的。人们常说护士这样做是不可想象的。”瑟尔沃尔引用了贝弗利·奥利特（Beverley Allitt）和维克托里诺·楚亚（Victorino Chua）等案例。

“护士确实会杀人。这并非不可想象。所有医生、护士和管理人员都应该知道这一点。”

报告对莱特比在新生儿科值班期间死亡人数激增的情况给出了令人信服的描述。将这些数字与入院人数对比来看，报告发现，入院人数此前一直“持续处于低位”：

2010: 1 death; 422 admissions

2011: 3 deaths; 514

2012: 3 ; 556

2013: 2 ; 460

2014: 3 ; 557

莱特比到任...

2015: 8 ; 468

2016: 5 ; 496

报告指出，2015 年有两名婴儿死于先天性畸形，一名死于败血症。莱特比未被指控杀害这些婴儿，但被指控并被判定杀害了另外五名婴儿。2016, 有三名婴儿死于先天性畸形，莱特比未因此被指控。她在另外两起案件中被指控并被判定有罪。总计七起谋杀。她在 2016. 7 月被调离该科室。

瑟尔沃尔在报告的核心部分，基于详细证据描述了儿科医生日益增长的怀疑是如何先被护理管理人员、随后被医院高管拒绝的。在医生怀疑本应被采取行动之时，婴儿仍在继续崩溃和 / 或死亡。瑟尔沃尔表示，至少有三名被莱特比定罪杀害的婴儿本可以幸存。

报告得出结论，莱特比本应比实际情况更早地被移出其所在科室 (PA)

莱特比本应作为“一项中立措施”被移出科室，时间应远早于她最终在 2016 年底被移出之时。随后在高级管理人员支持下，莱特比启动的申诉程序是“可鄙的”。在这份对医疗服务及其机构的整体文化进行严厉谴责的报告中，没有人能逃脱批评，但调查结果似乎在一定程度上同情布雷里（Brearey）和贾亚拉姆（Jayaram）两名医生的角色，他们是被要求向莱特比道歉的三人之一，这是解决莱特比投诉的一部分。

（正如瑟尔沃尔所发现的）布雷里被错误地指控为欺凌和骚扰该护士。他告诉瑟尔沃尔：“我们处于一个申诉程序中，让我们觉得仿佛是我们自己在接受审判。”瑟尔沃尔同样确信，警方本应更早被通知。相反，高管们承诺莱特比应当回到科室。正如瑟尔沃尔所报道的，医院此时已严重偏离了正确轨道。最终，莱特比并未返回，但直到第一起事件发生三年后，她才最终被逮捕。

对于许多被指称受到她伤害的婴儿家属来说，这一时刻是他们首次得知相关指控。瑟尔沃尔对此也提出了批评。这些失职行为广泛且深刻。三名前医院高管在因涉嫌严重过失致死被捕后仍处于保释状态（其中一人还因涉嫌妨碍司法公正而被捕）。

医院将采取哪些措施？

在婴儿床和保温箱旁安装婴儿监视器，是该报告为提高婴儿安全性并确保早期怀疑不被忽视而建议的众多措施之一。

露西·莱特比（Lucy Letby）目前的辩护律师马克·麦克唐纳（Mark McDonald）也同意应该采取这一措施。在瑟尔沃尔（Thirlwall）的调查结果公布后，他告诉ITV新闻：“因为如果露西·莱特比工作时就有这些设备，她就不会被起诉，也不会被定罪，我们今天也不会在这里。”

摄像头对准婴儿床和保温箱是报告中提出的建议（Getty）

然而，他也坚持认为，整个调查由于基于错误的前提而受到了污染：“在审判和调查上花费了数百万英镑，而我们现在有了证据表明没有犯罪行为发生。”

在含蓄地承认为莱特比洗刷冤屈的运动时，瑟尔沃尔昨天表示，“刑事上诉的途径是众所周知的”。她说，她的职责不是去“猜测或干预”刑事案件审查委员会（CCRC）的工作。我相信，该委员会将仔细阅读调查报告以及部分背景材料，将对事件经过的陈述与审判时的证据，以及马克·麦克唐纳目前提交的大量新专家意见进行权衡。

CCRC对莱特比定罪的审查必然是一项不断扩大的工作。瑟尔沃尔的报告提供了医院缺乏保护措施的额外背景供其考虑，以及关于莱特比冷漠且寻求关注行为的陈述：撒谎、在事件中过度干预、与父母行为不当，以及她向同事讲述最新悲剧的方式——有人将其描述为爱八卦，急于说“你绝对猜不到刚刚发生了什么！”。其中一些内容在审判中可能也被作为证据，而且有人可以主张，不当行为的证据并不等同于谋杀的证据。

初看之下，瑟尔沃尔调查报告对露西·莱特比及其支持者而言并非好消息

CCRC的决定在多大程度上取决于瑟尔沃尔调查报告的内容，目前很难说。作为前CCRC委员，我想目前的审查将更关注科学证据以及哪些内容是新颖、可信且重要的，而不仅仅是对审判中听取的证据和论点的重复。

在审判过程中，莱特比的审判律师已经探讨了许多关于婴儿死亡和受伤害的替代解释。当然，没有被探讨的是辩方专家的意见。在莱特比最初的审判中，只传唤了一名证人——一名水管工。现在有了医学专家——由CCRC来决定其调查结果的可靠性。

露西·莱特比的支持者在利物浦瑟尔沃尔调查会外（Getty）

但初看之下，瑟尔沃尔调查报告对露西·莱特比及其支持者而言并非好消息。马克·麦克唐纳在进行访谈时一定意识到了即将发生的情况，因此他撇开了那个尴尬的披露——即他的两名专家最近刚刚撤回了对该案的支持。

最终，当然将由坐在露西·莱特比案件委员会（如果成立的话）中的三名委员来争论调查结果，并决定是否满足将其移交给上诉法院的法律测试——换句话说，上诉法院是否存在不维持原判的真实可能性。

历史上的今天

On this day, some 39 delegates approved the Constitution of the United States of America (Getty) （历史上的今天，约39名代表批准了美利坚合众国宪法）

1745年：在“年轻觊觎者”的率领下，詹姆斯党人占领了爱丁堡。

1787年：在乔治·华盛顿的主持下，约39名代表（共42名）批准了美利坚合众国宪法。

1827年：在布赖顿举行的萨塞克斯队对阵肯特队的板球比赛中，首次记录了“宽球”（Wides）得分。

1894年：一部名为《欢快女孩》（A Gaiety Girl）的剧作在纽约戴利剧院上演，这是首部在百老汇上演的英国音乐剧。

1908年：美国陆军信号兵团的托马斯·塞尔弗里奇中尉在弗吉尼亚州迈耶堡的一场飞机失事中丧生。飞行员奥维尔·莱特也受重伤。塞尔弗里奇成为全球首位军用航空遇难者。

1931年：RCA-Victor公司在纽约演示了长播放唱片（33转 / 分），但由于播放器价格过高，该项目失败了；直到1948年，首批真正的微槽唱片才出现。

1944年：作为“市场花园行动”的一部分，英国军队开始对荷兰阿纳姆和埃因霍温进行空降入侵。其目标是作为盟军入侵德国计划的一部分，夺取一座跨莱茵河的桥梁，但在持续到9月27,的战斗后，此次尝试以失败告终。

1944年：英国取消了灯火管制规定，使得巴士、火车以及火车站五年来首次获准亮灯。

1961年：伦敦规模最大的“禁爆”游行之一结束时，共有830人被捕，其中包括演员瓦妮莎·雷德格雷夫和剧作家约翰·奥斯本。

去年今日：政府宣布，一组病危和受伤的儿童已从加沙被送往英国，接受英国国家医疗服务体系（NHS）的紧急医疗救治。

生日

广播员 德斯·莱纳姆，84岁；前赛车手 戴蒙·希尔，66岁；说唱歌手 杜格·E·弗雷什，60岁；斯诺克选手 肯·多尔蒂，57岁；前橄榄球运动员 迈克·卡特，55岁。

第 2 部分 / 焦点

走进 Hyrox：一项参赛者为赢而失禁的运动

冠军乔安娜·维特齐克（Joanna Wietrzyk）在北京比赛中发生的意外在健身界引起了轩然大波。凯蒂·罗塞因斯基（Katie Rosseinsky）对此提出质疑：参赛者是否在过度透支？

推向极限：乔安娜·维特齐克在追求胜利的过程中是否走得太远？（Getty）

“要么全力以赴，要么回家……赢了就是赢了。”这是 Hyrox 纪录保持者乔安娜·维特齐克在周末北京比赛获胜后，在 Instagram 上发布的挑衅性信息。这听起来像是一个在艰苦的比赛或赛事后发表的典型运动员感言——虽然过程可能并非完全按计划进行，但结局依然圆满。然而，围绕维特齐克这次表现的故事，怎么说呢，要比这复杂（且糟糕）得多。

在这场健身赛事中，参赛者需要交替进行跑步和功能性练习（如划船、推雪橇和波比跳）。来自澳大利亚墨尔本的 24 岁选手维特齐克在比赛过程中身体不适，最终导致失禁——但她依然坚持完成了比赛。活动现场的视频和照片显示，她在使用公共设备和垫子时，粪便正顺着她的腿部流下。

当然，运动员在体育赛事中发生意外并非闻所未闻。人们还记得保拉·拉德克利夫（Paula Radcliffe）在 2005 年伦敦马拉松期间不得不路边解决内急；而加里·莱因克尔（Gary Lineker）在 1990 年意大利世界杯的一场比赛中失禁，但依然成功成为了国民偶像。但那些事件并非发生在封闭的室内空间，且之后并没有其他参赛者显然必须使用同一套设备的情况。

坦率地说，这给这项极受欢迎的赛事带来了一场“糟糕的风暴”。该赛事的名称是一个有趣的合成词，由“hybrid”（混合，反映了参赛者需要掌握的不同学科）和“rockstar”（摇滚明星）组成。

维特齐克删除了她的 Instagram 帖子，而赛事的联合创始人莫里茨·福斯特（Moritz Furste）为在事故发生后允许比赛继续而道歉。他在社交媒体的一份声明中写道：“Hyrox 在比赛期间没有立即做出反应，这是一个错误。最终，预见这些潜在事故是我的职责——而我没有做到。”

“赢了就是赢了”：维特齐克的行为在健身界引发了分歧（Instagram）

曾获奥运冠军的曲棍球运动员福斯特补充说，公司已“立即对规则手册进行了修改”，并“制定了新的规则和程序，以防止此类情况再次发生”。该赛事此前会对吐痰、乱扔垃圾和清理鼻腔等行为进行处罚，但显然在身体分泌物和粪便方面没有官方处理程序。

对此事件的反应似乎分成了两大阵营。一方是对维特齐克显然无视其他参赛者健康的举动感到愤怒，因为其他选手必须在极其糟糕的比赛环境下竞争，而冠军才能确保获胜。另一方则称赞她在明显身体不适的情况下依然夺冠，具有英雄气概。

事实上，在 Hyrox 分享的另一份声明中，该品牌指出，他们“要求我们的运动员将自己推向最高水平”，并且“有时，他们会超越甚至连我们都认为不可能的极限”；同一篇帖子还赞扬了参赛者的“勇气、韧性和绝不屈服的精神”。

这一切引发了一个问题：Hyrox 以及充斥在我们社交媒体动态中的无数其他高强度健身挑战，是否在培养一种“越多越好”的运动哲学，让将自己推向绝对极限变得常态化？而这真的健康吗？

这并非该赛事首次引发病毒式传播的负面关注——去年，一段来自澳大利亚赛事的视频显示，一名男子在伴侣昏迷后，显然将其留在医护人员那里照顾，而自己则继续奔跑。这再次引发了一场辩论：这种为了追求个人最佳成绩而产生的盲目执着，究竟是值得赞赏，还是令人担忧。

南非健身教练勒罗伊·桑德斯（Leroy Saunders）在参加 2026 年 Hyrox 曼谷赛期间因倒地昏迷而去世。8月13日，41 岁的桑德斯在曼谷诗丽吉王后国家会议中心参加该赛事时突然倒地。

据《国家报》（The Nation）报道，赛事工作人员和医护人员对其进行了心肺复苏（CPR）和紧急抢救，随后将其送往医院，但他最终在医院去世。

Hyrox 于 2018 年在德国汉堡推出，由弗斯特（Furste）和克里斯蒂安·托茨克（Christian Toetzke）构思，他们希望创造一个能同时吸引健身房爱好者和跑步者的概念。首届赛事仅有数百人参加，但此后的普及速度呈滚雪球式增长。

这项活动自 2018 年创立以来人气不断攀升（）

目前，该赛事在 85 个以上的城市和 30 个国家设有比赛，预计今年参与人数将达到 150 万。联合创始人预计今年将产生 2.7 亿加元（2 亿英镑）的收入；本月早些时候，由私募股权公司 L Catterton 领导的财团（由奢侈品巨头 LVMH 支持）收购了该公司的控股权。

其受欢迎的部分原因在于简单。“每场比赛都遵循相同的结构，因此参赛者清楚地知道自己在准备什么，并且可以轻松地对比一段时间内的结果，或与其他参赛者的表现进行比较，”德比大学临床运动科学讲师约书亚·戴维森（Joshua Davidson）解释道。

他补充说，双人组和接力组别的加入意味着训练可以成为一种社交体验——但最重要的是，Hyrox “成功利用了社交媒体的巨大力量来驱动参与度”，与那些“将健身不仅视为锻炼，而且视为生活方式和身份认同一部分”的受众建立了联系。戴维森补充道，在我们这个以数字化为中心的世界中，“记录并分享成就的能力增加了另一层动力和地位”。

因此，像 Hyrox 这样的赛事不仅成为了体能测试，也成为了社交信号。体育成就成了自律和韧性的勋章，而一个社区的成员身份则与拥有这些品质联系在一起。

我们目前处于一个许多人生活方式非常久坐的时代；2024 年的一项研究发现，大约四分之三的英国人未能达到 NHS 每周 150 分钟锻炼的指南要求。健身专家、StrongLikeMum 创始人沙基拉·阿卡布西（Shakira Akabusi）表示，得益于对不同学科的关注，混合健身确实在“鼓励许多人积极行动，并以不同的方式积极行动”。

Pure Sports Medicine 的性能主管兼力量与体能教练汤姆·威廉姆斯（Tom Williams）认为，这确实激励了“许多人更有目的和一致性地进行训练”，这一点不容小觑。他指出，Hyrox 还给参赛者提供了一个“让他们保持参与感的有意义的目标”，这样他们就不会仅仅将锻炼视为“他们‘应该’做的事情”。

危险在于，一些个体开始将过度疲劳、疾病、受伤或恢复不良等警告信号视为可以忽略的障碍。

汤姆·威廉姆斯，Pure Sports Medicine 性能主管

尽管 Hyrox 是一个相当新颖的现象，但高强度健身挑战并非新鲜事。Coyne Medical 的联合创始人、私人全科医生休·科因（Hugh Coyne）博士表示，马拉松、铁人三项和耐力骑行赛事一直非常受欢迎。但他指出，发生显著变化的是“人们对成绩的预期提高了。在我成长过程中，仅仅跑完一场马拉松就显得非同寻常。在我执业初期的医生生涯中，跑完一场四小时的马拉松就显得非同寻常。而现在，人们经常将目标定在三小时马拉松。”

Hyrox 及其各种模仿者出现之时，恰逢我们在网上吹嘘体育成就变得前所未有的简单（想必我们都认识某个痴迷于优化其“业余”5公里跑中每一项指标的 Strava 乏味之辈——如果你不认识，那么那个乏味之辈可能就是……你）。

这正在创造一种文化，在这种文化中，看起来每个人都在午休时间刷新个人最好成绩（PB），每个周末都参加半程马拉松，然后参加一场 Hyrox 来稍微放松一下。如果你没有不断地将自己推向绝对极限，就可能会觉得自己的努力还不够。

威廉姆斯表示，社交媒体“经常展示卓越的表现、极端的痛苦，以及人们克服巨大不适的故事。虽然这些故事能给人带来启发，但它们也可能模糊韧性与鲁莽之间的界限。危险在于，一些人开始将过度疲劳、疾病、受伤或恢复不良等警告信号视为可以忽略的障碍，而不是需要尊重的信号”。

现代健身的某些方面鼓励参赛者将自己推向绝对极限（）

他补充说，“美化过度”可能带来风险。“社交媒体倾向于展示极具情感冲击力的精疲力竭和痛苦瞬间，却忽略了让这种表现成为可能且可持续的数月渐进式训练、充足的营养、睡眠和恢复。”

因此，阿卡布西（Akabusi）表示，存在这样一种危险，即“现在进入这个领域的人们跳过了在体育运动中获得长久生命力所需的基础且重要的事情，他们在还没有建立起必要基础的情况下，就直接进入高强度活动”。

她指出，健身行业似乎“非常看重力量、强度和速度，这绝对很重要，也应该是许多人的目标，但我们对稳定性和灵活性的重视程度不足。为了长久健康，将这些与力量和强度同等对待同样重要”。

当人们试图通过捷径来获得那些引人注目的个人最好成绩时，问题就开始出现了。威廉姆斯表示：“从临床角度来看，我们看到更多的人因为与训练错误相关的问题就诊，而非赛事本身”，并指出“最常见的错误就是试图在太短的时间内做太多事情”。

从临床角度来看，我们看到更多的人因为与训练错误相关的问题就诊，而非赛事本身

过度使用损伤非常普遍，尤其是影响跟腱、小腿肌肉群、膝盖和髋关节的损伤，以及“与高训练量相关的腰部、肩部和腿后腱问题”、跑步损伤以及“由于训练课之间恢复不足导致的疲劳相关问题”。威廉姆斯强调，所有这些都是可以预防的，并非源于 Hyrox 比赛本身的某种固有危险。

阿卡布西建议，与其专注于针对特定赛事的训练和操练，更重要的是培养支撑这些练习的技能和能力。“你需要锻炼有氧能力和心血管强度，以便能够保持那种势头并在精疲力竭的状态下奔跑——第一公里的感觉与第七、八公里会截然不同。我们还需要关注你的恢复率——即身体恢复的速度——以及核心力量、稳定性和握力。”

在训练之间休息并确保有规律的睡眠时间同样重要——训练盆底肌也同样重要（尤其是考虑到上周末的情况……）。

戴维森认为，我们最好鼓励一种健身文化，这种文化在“赞美可见的努力”的同时，同样重视“教育、合理的准备、一致性[以及]恢复”。

第 2 节 / 剧评

乔什·奥康纳在对资本贪婪的犀利抨击中表现出众

★★★★☆

《挑战者》主演领衔，精彩重现1937年讽刺剧《金童》

爱丽丝·萨维尔 (Alice Saville)

出击有力：奥康纳饰演名字颇具深意的乔·波拿巴 (Joe Bonaparte)（马克·布伦纳 饰）

20世纪中期抨击“美国梦”的作家不在少数，但克利福德·奥德茨 (Clifford Odets) 1937年的这部剧作毫不费力地给出了致命一击。这是一部对资本主义及其摧毁那些试图与之周旋之人的直白且精彩的讽刺——就像那些不小心被卷入自动扶梯的醉汉一样，被资本主义吞噬殆尽。在阿尔梅达剧院 (Almeida Theatre) 的新版复排中，赤裸上身、血迹斑斑的乔什·奥康纳 (Josh O’Connor) 表现出众，他饰演一名野心勃勃的年轻拳击之星，其傲慢掩盖了他在一个永远无法掌控的机器巨口前的脆弱。

奥康纳饰演的名字颇具深意的乔·波拿巴，一个被重塑世界的野心驱动的普通人。起初他尝试成为小提琴之星；而他极具道德感（尽管略显滑稽）且带有意大利口音的父亲波拿巴先生 (Mr Bonaparte)（斯坦利·汤森 饰），在得知儿子决定在拳击场中危及他那双珍贵的手时，感到极度惊恐。粗鲁的经纪人汤姆·穆迪 (Tom Moody)（丹尼尔·梅斯 饰）看中了乔对名声的渴望并残酷地利用这一点，而他那神经质的情妇洛娜 (Lorna)（海莉·斯奎尔斯 饰）则尽力操纵这个男孩，同时努力不让自己陷入他那充满信任的目光中。乔像一头名贵公牛一样被衡量价值并被出卖，而他足够聪明，能感受到这种屈辱。

导演萨姆·耶茨 (Sam Yates) 对奥德茨这部富有象征意义的剧作采取了高度风格化的处理方式，而这正是该剧所需要的。弦乐四重奏赞美着艺术与精致的力量，其构图如同墙上高处壁龛中的古典大师名画。伊索贝尔·沃勒-布里奇 (Isobel Waller-Bridge) 的作曲如同旧工厂般轰鸣作响，充满了腐败与残酷的气息。

在抒情且精心构思的段落中，奥德茨展示了角色是如何被他们对一个崛起国家中闪耀外在之物的失控渴望所摧毁的。

商人整洁干净的西装，与他们从中获利的伤痕累累的动物般躯体形成了刺眼的对比。这是一场道德正确与不道德错误之间的象征性战斗，没有留下太多模糊空间——艺术和激进主义是好的，而贪财和打斗是邪恶的。但当你拥有祖宾·瓦林 (Zubin Varlin) 饰演的那个带有同性恋色彩的金融家时，谁还需要含蓄？他挥动着缎面内衬的大衣，像个20世纪中叶的玛莱菲森（女巫）：他以一种极具娱乐性的贪婪宣布道：“我想分得那个男孩的一杯羹。”

如果说“贪婪是好事”是20世纪80年代美国的非正式信条，那么奥德茨这部大萧条时期的剧作中的台词则传达了截然相反的信息。在抒情且精心构思的段落中，他展示了角色是如何被他们对一个崛起国家中闪耀外在之物的失控渴望所摧毁的。“这些车就像我血液里的毒药，”乔说道，而他的父亲则对依然在纽约街道上行走的人畜马匹持有温柔的喜爱。

田纳西·威廉斯的剧作被无数次复排，在阿尔梅达剧院尤其如此。他的前辈奥德茨在戏剧现实主义上的处理方式虽然没有那么复杂的心理刻画，但却有一种令人愉悦的不同之处。这些人并不在闷热的南方客厅里消沉，后悔那些本可以或应该做的事。他们将自己投向一个冷酷的世界，就像囚犯拼命爬上围墙，希望在未知的彼岸找到更好的东西。耶茨的这部卓越作品将所有能投入的资源都倾注在这部野蛮的剧作中，使文本在歌剧般的音响宇宙中激荡。而其中包含了一个关于正直的、令人耳目一新的朋克式信息：当你出卖自己到一定程度，你将被摧毁到再也没有人愿意购买你的地步。

《金童》将在阿尔梅达剧院上演至10月31日。

第 2 节 / 电影评论

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一部幽默且狂乱的重启之作，其体验恰如在玩一款伟大的电子游戏

★★★★☆

扎克·克雷格（Zach Cregger）执导的《生化危机》（Resident Evil）既忠实于激发其灵感的商业大作电子游戏，又具备足够的血腥优雅感，足以令非玩家群体感到满意。

克拉丽丝·洛里（Clarisse Loughrey）

奥斯汀·亚伯拉姆斯（Austin Abrams）在扎克·克雷格执导的《生化危机》中（索尼影业）

近期涌现的一批电子游戏改编作品至今未能捕捉到该媒介的一个关键维度：体验完全由玩家决定。而有时，玩家玩起游戏来真的非常糟糕。

正是这种基调上的奇特性，使得扎克·克雷格对卡普空（Capcom）商业大作游戏系列《生化危机》的重启之作，对于非玩家而言，成了一场由翻跟头、血肉之躯组成的 Zorb 球（大球体）以及爆炸血泡构成的幽默且狂乱的交响曲；而对于玩家而言，则成了一部尖锐的元喜剧，讽刺了人们如何自认为是个顶尖的僵尸处决者，直到他们连续五次射击未中头部，然后莫名其妙地被一只老鼠弄死。

与早年由米拉·乔沃维奇（Milla Jovovich）主演的电影相比，本作远为忠实于原著的生存恐怖机制，但又不像 2021 年那部惨败的重启作《生化危机：浣熊市》那样被粉丝服务所窒息。更重要的是，这部电影带有浓厚的扎克·克雷格个人风格，其节奏掌控力与《野蛮人》（Barbarian, 2022）以及去年的奥斯卡获奖作品《武器》（Weapons）一样娴熟，证明了当你拥有一位能以如此优雅风范呈现跳跃惊吓（jump-scare）的导演时，微妙的心理博弈并不总是更高级的恐怖形式。

《武器》中的奥斯汀·亚伯拉姆斯饰演布莱恩（Bryan），一名医疗快递员，他正准备下班回家，思考在一次意外怀孕后如何规划未来。有人开出双倍薪水的条件，只要他能开车前往山上的浣熊市综合医院递送一份高优先级包裹。他决定，生活可以稍后再说。在雪夜的道路上，他开车撞上了一名女性，他认为对方处于极度震惊状态。

克雷格及其共同编剧也对电子游戏中更小众、有时甚至更愚蠢的方面感兴趣（索尼影业）

当然，事实并非如此。她体内充满了 T 病毒，这种病毒会将宿主变成令人作呕、贪婪的变异体。到目前为止，这很符合《生化危机》的设定。只不过，布莱恩并非那种在危急时刻英勇崛起的典型普通人。布莱恩就像是一个被刚接触这款游戏的玩家所控制的角色。他在被追逐时会像《史酷比》那样绕着小圈子狂奔。他多次尝试打开锁住的门却以失败告终。他扔掉了之后会需要的物品。当面对一道电网时，你会感觉到游戏此时会弹出教程提示：“按下 X 键跳跃”。

亚伯拉姆斯的演技值得称赞，他让布莱恩保持在一种喜剧式的令人沮丧状态，而非纯粹的令人厌烦。他讨人喜欢且带着一丝微小的悲剧色彩，尽管克雷格仅有一次在电影的元特质上走得太远——让布莱恩大声确认自己是个战斗技能完全停留在虚拟世界的玩家。在其他方面，他通过让镜头扫描新地点，微妙地复制了《生化危机》游戏的叙事流，使观众总能与布莱恩同步获取新信息，并偶尔切换到更直接的第一人称视角。

这是改编作品中基础的部分。但克雷格及其共同编剧谢伊·哈滕（Shay Hatten）同样对电子游戏中更小众、有时更愚蠢的方面感兴趣：从基于地点跳转的叙事方式——当布莱恩意识到唯一的前进路径是经过产科病房时，瞬间营造出一种恐惧感（毕竟，那里不会发生任何好事，对吧？）；到那个由可靠的保罗·沃尔特·豪泽（Paul Walter Hauser）出演的场景，他在布莱恩被开车送往不同地点时，坐在汽车前座提供关键的任务信息。

因此，《生化危机》在还原实际玩这类游戏的体验方面，已经做到了极致。除非你是掌控手柄的神级玩家，否则这种体验就像是一锅奇怪而令人愉悦的混合物：极致的荒诞感、危险飙升的皮质醇水平，以及一种不断升级的恐惧——担心自己即将面对心中能想象出的最令人作呕的有意识肉饼。我想，对于克雷格（Cregger）来说，这就算完成了任务。

导演：扎克·克雷格（Zach Cregger）。主演：奥斯汀·亚伯拉姆斯（Austin Abrams）、扎克·切里（Zach Cherry）、卡莉·里斯（Kali Reis）、保罗·沃尔特·豪泽（Paul Walter Hauser）。分级 15，时长 90 分钟

《生化危机》将于 9 月 18 日起在电影院上映

一幅关于恶意愚蠢与空洞愤怒的令人失望的画像

★★☆☆☆

《英格兰至死》（England 'Til I Die）讲述了一个男人陷入当地反移民运动的过程 路易斯·奇尔顿 (Louis Chilton)

(Channel 4)

东萨塞克斯郡的克罗伯勒（Crowborough）是你不太可能听说过的那种城镇，除非你住在其边界附近或内部。根据最近一次英国人口普查，该镇的人口中 95.5% 为白人，超过 50% 为基督徒。正如 Channel 4 的单集纪录片《英格兰至死》中一名克罗伯勒居民所指出的，这里曾是一个“以小熊维尼和亚瑟·柯南·道尔而闻名，且几乎没发生过任何事情”的城镇。她使用过去时，是因为今年克罗伯勒获得了一种更新、更丑陋的名声：在政府决定将大约 500 名寻求庇护者安置在当地一座前陆军军营后，这里成为了反移民抗议活动的温床。

《英格兰至死》时长约 50 分钟，主要聚焦于利亚姆·汤姆塞特（Liam Tomsett），一名公用事业经理，他共同领导反移民团体“克罗伯勒说不”（Crowborough Says No）。通过在抗议活动和公开冲突期间拍摄的画面，我们看到这个城镇变得日益分裂且充满对抗性。片中还采访了汤姆塞特本人，记录了他如何成为当地运动中一个日益突出且日益激进的人物。这部片子非常有临场感，故事在实时展开。片中有大量寻求庇护者被大声辱骂的画面，以及克罗伯勒居民表现出默许或公开的种族主义和伊斯兰恐惧症的画面。这是现代英国一个阴森且可耻的切片：观看它会让你感到绝望。该纪录片在朴次茅斯发生暴力事件（身着巴克拉瓦服饰的极右翼抗议者与警方发生冲突）几天后播出，这进一步凸显了该问题的普遍程度。

然而，我不完全确定《英格兰至死》想要达到什么目的。电影制作者杰米·罗伯茨（Jamie Roberts）相当出色地将这些“活动人士”刻画得像他们实际那样糟糕——就像一群心胸狭隘、不讲道理的暴徒，将对女性安全的担忧作为赤裸裸的排外主义的借口。汤姆塞特无法真正证明或清晰阐述他的立场，但表示他绝不会被动摇。在某个时刻，他讨论了自己对“替代理论”（replacement theory）的信仰——这是一个流行的白人民族主义论点，以及他坚信一个由“全球主义者”组成的秘密阴谋集团正试图用外国人“替代”白人人口。当被问及他们所谓的动机时，他简单地回答道：“我不知道。”

除了一个关于令人厌恶的煽动者凯蒂·霍普金斯（Katie Hopkins）的短片段外，这部纪录片基本上没有花时间探讨驱动并加剧此类极右翼运动的因素。身为托特纳姆热刺球迷的汤姆塞特承认，足球青年文化与反移民抗议团体之间存在交叉。片中简短提到他的父亲最近去世了；而男性气概危机在这些运动中所扮演的角色，则完全留给观众去推断。同样缺失的是寻求庇护者的视角，他们是这个故事中失声的受害者。

实际上，我们看到的是一部揭示了一个几乎每个人都知道其存在的问题的纪录片。如果《英格兰至死》被宣传为一个男人陷入激进主义的研究，那么最终结果则要平庸得多。它是一幅关于恶意愚蠢、关于空洞且琐碎愤怒的画像。这是一个缺乏乐观主义的节目，它真的让你觉得这个国家崩溃了。事实上，它确实崩溃了。问题是我们接下来该走向何方？

商业简讯

Entain 正在裁员，将其归咎于包括英国赌博税上涨在内的不利因素 ()

斯旺西伏特加品牌被Buzzballz所有者收购

Au Vodka 已被美国饮料公司 Sazerac 收购，据报道交易价值 3 亿英镑m。这个总部位于斯旺西的伏特加品牌以其独特的金色瓶身和调味伏特加而闻名，由好友查理·摩根（Charlie Morgan）和杰克逊·奎因（Jackson Quinn）于 2015 年在该威尔士城市创立。尽管财务条款尚未披露，但路透社报道称，该交易对 Au Vodka 的估值约为 3 亿英镑m (4.05亿美元)。

今年 2 月，该品牌欢迎斯旺西市足球俱乐部共同所有者 Snoop Dogg 访问其总部，该公司目前雇佣了 80 多人。其产品在英国及多个国际市场销售。2022 年，该公司获得了来自 Metric Capital Partners LLP 的机构增长投资。PA

体育 / 足球

勤勉的库马斯如何让利物浦前锋们再无借口

这位20岁的青训产品在战胜热刺的比赛中拼尽全力，已成为安多尼·伊劳拉希望球队展现的比赛风格的象征

理查德·乔利 资深足球记者

库马斯在利物浦战胜热刺后得到了伊劳拉的称赞（Getty）

安多尼·伊劳拉在过去一周内组建了英格兰足球史上最昂贵的进攻线。同时，他特别赞扬了一名在前锋线设定标准并发挥领导作用的前锋。利物浦主帅表示：“他展现出的能量具有感染力，能带动其他人。当你看到前场球员全力奔跑、倾尽所有时，你会被迫在后方跟进，并保持同样的强度。”

然而，他称赞的球员并非1.25 亿英镑m的亚历山大·伊萨克，也不是1.16 亿英镑m的弗洛里安·维尔茨或1.23 亿英镑m的布拉德利·巴尔科拉。而是一名利物浦无需花费分毫、上赛季在英冠联赛效力且在第二级别联赛中大多以替补身份出场的球员。他在周二点亮了安菲尔德球场；虽然不像多米尼克·索博斯洛伊那样用一记惊艳的射门，也不像亚历克西斯·麦卡利斯特和科迪·加克波在联赛杯战胜热刺时打入精彩进球那样抢眼。

但全场最佳球员奖项授予了刘易斯·库马斯；如果由伊劳拉来评判，结果可能也是一样。这位20岁的球员领衔了前场压迫。这位前锋表示：“很大程度上取决于我在无球状态下的表现。主教练信任我能够执行他在战术打法上的计划。我很乐意为他这样做。”

在与富勒姆那场乏味的平局中，伊劳拉希望看到进攻线有更多的跑动。这位巴斯克教练被请来是为了尝试恢复利物浦在尤尔根·克洛普时期的特质，重建与球迷之间的纽带。而这场对阵热刺的比赛，凭借其狂热的氛围、扣人心弦的娱乐性和令人振奋的结局，让人感觉像是克洛普执教早期的某个夜晚。

“我认为我的踢法最终符合‘利物浦方式’，”库马斯说，“我们一直是一家要求球员在场上必须倾尽所有的俱乐部。我们现在正在找回这一点，观众们也非常喜欢。”

目前，库马斯可能成为了伊劳拉麾下的一名象征性球员，成为了那些身价更高队友的榜样。利物浦主帅希望进攻端能有勤勉的作风，而他找到了一个愿意为此工作的球员。同时，目前看来他也找到了解决利物浦球员短缺问题的答案。在雨果·埃基蒂克和费德里科·基耶萨受伤的情况下，伊萨克是唯一一名健康的专业前锋。无论如何，在短期内，库马斯正以一种极少有人预料到——甚至可能连他自己都没预料到——的方式填补这一空白。

伊劳拉曾介入并阻止了将库马斯第四次外租的建议。他在2024-25赛季前往斯托克城，随后去年先后在伯明翰和赫尔城效力。尽管“老虎队”（赫尔城）实现了升级，但这并不是一个极其成功的赛季。他在11场联赛中首发，在另外29场比赛中替补出场，并打入四个进球。

但这是一个学习过程。这位20岁的球员表示：“过去两年对我个人的成长至关重要。外租经历帮助我成为了今天的球员。我在季前赛中给新任主教练留下了深刻印象，一切都进展顺利。”

库马斯的利物浦首秀发生在2024年2月的一次伤病危机期间。他在足总杯战胜南安普顿的比赛中为克洛普的球队进球。之后他等待了两年半才迎来第二次出场机会。因此，他这样理性地看待：“你永远不知道自己在利物浦球场上的最后一次出场是什么时候。我只是尝试在每次出场时都倾尽所有。”

库马斯在新主帅伊劳拉麾下获得了出场机会（Getty）

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但在漫长的等待后终于迎来第二场比赛，里程碑接踵而至：在纽卡斯尔完成了英超首秀，在对阵马德里竞技的比赛中完成了欧冠首秀。“我一度以为自己在做梦，”库马斯说道，“这太疯狂了。但我现在真的非常开心，也非常感激我所获得的机会。”

他从小就崇拜同样是威尔士国家队成员的加雷斯·贝尔，以及他父亲在利物浦青训营时期的前队友迈克尔·欧文。他的职业生涯是在身为杰森·库马斯之子的背景下展开的；他的父亲是一位充满谜团的天才，曾在西布罗姆维奇、卡迪夫、特兰米尔以及威尔士国家队展现出过惊人的才华，但其卓越的天赋在英超联赛中鲜有展现。

年轻的库马斯似乎具备正确的心态。以那种让他赢得伊劳拉青睐的奔跑为例。“这绝对是主教练试图灌输的东西，但这也完全是我本人的风格，”他说道。这象征着他的决心。“在足球比赛中，随着局势的发展，很多渴望可能会消失，”库马斯说。

“但对我来说，从预备青训营一直到正式青训营，我的渴望一直都在。对于我在利物浦的未来会如何，我从未表现出心态脆弱。我始终有一种动力，相信自己能走到今天。选择外租的原因就是为了给这一刻做准备。这一切最终都水到渠成了。”

体育 / 评论

肯尼亚陷入兴奋剂危机——为何它还能举办世界田径锦标赛决赛？

劳伦斯·奥斯特勒（Lawrence Ostlere）写道，内罗毕击败了伦敦和罗马，赢得了举办2029年世界田径锦标赛的权利，这在非洲历史上尚属首次。但肯尼亚作为一个东道主却充满问题。

阿尔伯特·科里尔（Albert Korir）赢得了2021年纽约市马拉松赛，他被禁赛五年（盖蒂图片社）

根据田径诚信部门（AIU）的数据，目前有148名肯尼亚运动员正处于兴奋剂禁赛期，人数仅次于印度。其中一些人的辩解令人瞠目结舌。鲁斯·切普恩盖蒂奇（Ruth Chepngetich）在两年前的芝加哥马拉松赛中将世界纪录惊人地打破了1分57秒，她称自己在感到燥热后服用了家政工的药物，因此导致被污染。埃马库莱特·安扬戈（Emmaculate Anyango）则将原因归咎于昏厥后接受的神秘医院注射。埃格莱·纳利安亚（Eglay Nalyanya）和贝蒂·兰普斯（Betty Lampus）两人均提交了伪造的医疗记录，记录上由同一家医院的不同虚构医生签名。

威尔逊·基普桑（Wilson Kipsang）的情况尤其令人印象深刻。这位前马拉松世界纪录保持者告诉AIU，他错过第四次药检是因为在纳库鲁市附近遭遇大雨引发的山体滑坡，导致道路受阻。基普桑提交了一张翻车照片作为解释。但调查人员发现，在相关日期之前，纳库鲁周边的降雨量并不显著，不太可能引发山体滑坡。他们还发现，基普桑声称在当天拍摄的照片实际上是一起三个月后才发生的交通事故。

或许最精心编造的是劳伦斯·切罗诺（Lawrence Cherono），他曾两次赢得大满贯马拉松赛，也是历史上跑完26.2英里速度最快的运动员之一。切罗诺最初指责一名医生给他注射了未知物质，随后又转向指责他“嫉妒”的训练伙伴策划了一场陷害他的阴谋。最后，他给出了第三种解释：他的妻子不小心给了他错误的药片。切罗诺提交了带有手写处方和伪造照片的伪造医疗文件，AIU花费了两年的时间才证明他在撒谎。

此时，尽管这些故事荒诞不经——而且类似案例还有很多——但情况变得有些凄凉。AIU继续投入时间和资金调查肯尼亚根深蒂固的兴奋剂问题。就在上周，马拉松跑者卡伦·切拉加特（Caren Chelagat）因被检测出含有禁用物质诺安德罗酮而被禁赛四年。干净的运动员反复遭受猖獗作弊的侵害，失去了收入和定义职业生涯的成绩。

鲁斯·切普恩盖蒂奇在赢得2024年芝加哥马拉松赛跨过终点线后庆祝（盖蒂图片社）

在这些拙劣借口的表象之下，存在着某种模式：需要医学知识的伪造记录、精心策划的掩盖行为，以及与同一批违规运动员相关的教练和经理。这指向了有组织犯罪团伙的影响，他们利用那些渴望赚到足以改变生活的巨额资金且迅速对高性能产生依赖的运动员。不过，考虑到如此多运动员被AIU的检测网捕捉，这些犯罪组织或许组织得并不怎么高效。

肯尼亚田径界的问题比单纯的兴奋剂更深。世界田径联合会仍在就年龄造假指控调查多名运动员。此外，该国还发生了针对女性运动员的骚扰和暴力事件，最令人震惊的是阿格内斯·蒂罗普（Agnes Tirop）、达马里斯·穆西·穆图阿（Damaris Muthee Mutua）和丽贝卡·切普特盖（Rebecca Cheptegei）的谋杀案。一项近期针对肯尼亚女性体育参与者的研究发现，69%的受访者经历过或认识经历过基于性别和性别的暴力的人。

在这种背景下，本周决定将 2029 年世界田径锦标赛授予内罗比，对这项运动来说并非好事。内罗比以一个充满情感的方案打动了世界田径联合会的负责人，该方案的核心是成为首个举办这一盛事的非洲国家，而且这项赛事确实应该在现在之前就在非洲大陆举办一次。内罗比的申办还利用了 2029 年将是最后一届包含马拉松项目的世锦赛这一事实。肯尼亚名将塞巴斯蒂安·萨韦（Sabastian Sawe）是目前的男子马拉松世界纪录保持者，也是首位在正式比赛中突破两小时大关的男子选手，他积极鼓励药物检测，且很有可能在主场赢得男子组冠军。

塞巴斯蒂安·萨韦在赢得 2026 年伦敦马拉松赛时，成为首位突破两小时大关的运动员（Ian Walton / PA）

伦敦在失败的申办过程中花费了 4500 万英镑m，它与罗马都被忽略了，而慕尼黑将举办 2031 年的下一届世锦赛。但在那之前，这项运动规模最大的赛事将前往一个长跑热土，而该国充斥着兴奋剂问题——尽管世界田径联合会、肯尼亚田径协会和肯尼亚反兴奋剂机构做出了努力，但这一瘟疫依然在肆虐。

自然地，对肯尼亚的审查有所增加（肯尼亚在 2018, 年被田径诚信部门（AIU）列为 A 类高风险国家），这剔除了一些阳性结果，表明反兴奋剂系统正在发挥作用。但公众的观感依然没有改变。一旦像阿尔伯特·科里尔（Albert Korir）和戴安娜·基皮奥凯（Diana Kipyokei）这样的大型马拉松冠军检测失败，那么每一个令人印象深刻的肯尼亚成绩、每一颗令人兴奋的新星，都会被视为可疑。

随着非洲锦标赛即将到来，肯尼亚运动员在未来三年内将比以往任何时候都更有动力地追求顶峰，这可能会导致更多运动员误入歧途。我们不要假装作弊者已被全部抓获，或者他们终将被抓获。AIU 主席大卫·豪曼去年承认：“精英级别的蓄意服用兴奋剂者正在逃避检测。”毫无疑问，一些逃过检测的人将在 2029 年在他们的主场世锦赛上参赛。

体育简讯

图赫尔谈阿根廷的“不管不顾足球”

托马斯·图赫尔公开谈到了英格兰队在世界杯半决赛中的溃败，以及阿根廷那种“不管不顾（f***-it）的足球”如何让他的球队陷入“等待死亡”的境地。今年夏天，英格兰队在迈阿密的一场惊心动魄的季军赛中以 6-4 击败法国队，夺得铜牌，取得了自 1966 年以来最好的世界杯成绩。然而，他们的这次征程被对阵阿根廷队时令人心碎的半决赛失败所定义——在那场比赛中，英格兰队在领先的情况下被卫冕冠军反超，最终在补时阶段落败。

在图赫尔采取极端的防守策略——在比赛还剩 20 分钟时换上埃兹里·孔萨，将阵型变为五后卫并让球队退守之后，比赛的势头似乎转向了阿根廷一方。图赫尔因其战术决策而受到猛烈批评，而这恰恰是在他被任命为英格兰队主帅时被视为其卓越能力的特质。这位德国教练现在反思了他在亚特兰大那个夜晚所经历的“史诗级的痛苦”。

在第 55 分钟由安东尼·戈登取得领先之后，图赫尔认为阿根廷的一次反击（这次反击被杰德·斯彭斯著名的滑铲化解）导致了英格兰队心理上的变化，从而引发了他们的溃败。“这对我产生了一些影响，可能对球员们也产生了一些影响，我们突然转变心态，变成了‘只要挺过去就行’；这就是我们的比赛方式，”他在英足协的纪录片《反思》（Reflections）中告诉丹尼尔·斯图里奇。“我们的踢法就像只剩下 4 分钟一样，但实际上还剩 30-40 分钟要踢。” Will Castle

菲茨帕特里克对在中东参赛“感到不安” 马特·菲茨帕特里克承认，由于该地区持续的冲突，他对于参加在中东举行的 DP 世界巡回赛赛事感到不安。2026 年 DP 世界巡回赛赛季的收官战在阿拉伯联合酋长国设有连续两场赛事，其中阿布扎比锦标赛定于 11 月 5-8 日举行，DP 世界巡回赛冠军赛则在随后的一周于迪拜举行。然而，鉴于目前该地区政治局势的动荡，尤其是伊朗战争，这些赛事似乎面临威胁。

“坦白说，就目前的情况来看，我想说我并不那么舒服 [在中东参赛]，”菲茨帕特里克表示，“不，我不会那么舒服的。” Luke Baker

大律师称曼城案件存在“令人难以置信的延迟” 顶尖体育大律师尼克·德·马科指出了曼彻斯特城关键法律案件在得出结果方面存在的“最令人难以置信的延迟”。距离独立委员会开始听证英超联赛对曼城提出的 100 多项涉嫌违反财务规则的指控，恰好已经过去了两年。曼城坚决否认有任何违规行为。

德·马科曾处理过多起高关注度的足球案件，包括代表莱斯特城处理其与英超联赛关于涉嫌违规的争议，他表示：“这是一个极其令人难以置信的延迟。那些认为体育仲裁的优势之一是比使用法院更快、更高效的人，现在可以看看这个结果了……”英超联赛首席执行官理查德·马斯特斯上个月承认，曼城案件的处理过程比他预想的要长，但他坚持认为：“这件事会自行解决。我真的对此不能发表任何评论。目前只有一个可行的选择，那就是让程序自然地走到终点。” Jamie Gardner

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Burnham must show he can make our asylum system fit for purpose

inisters are right to acknowledge that our asylum system is not working as it should. They say that they understand the concerns of the people of Piddington, the Oxfordshire village that held a

referendum to declare independence as a protest against the housing of asylum seekers in a former garrison nearby.

But Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, said that, while the government is “listening” to the villagers, ministers are “not going to change our plans”. She said it was unfair that asylum seekers have mainly been housed in poor areas until now, and that “we are all going to have to do our bit”.

This is true, but possibly tactless. The government ought to ensure that the burdens of housing asylum seekers are shared fairly across the country, but it would make more sense to focus relentlessly on tackling the problem at source. If there were fewer unjustified claims for refugee status, the problem of fair burden-sharing would be minimised.

Thus the answer to the people of Piddington, as it should be to other, more sinister protesters, should not be “tough luck” but a redoubling of the government’s efforts to stop the boats, to do more to prevent the abuse of the visa system as a route to asylum claims, and to process existing claims more efficiently. This last part must include a greater effort to remove failed asylum claimants.

These are all difficult objectives to deliver. And, to be fair, the Labour government has made progress on all of them. The number of people arriving by small boat is down – largely, it must be said, because the numbers are down across Europe. The visa rules are being tightened, the number of asylum applications being processed is up, and more failed asylum seekers are being removed – even if most of them are leaving voluntarily.

The government should make more of its success, while accepting that much more still needs to be done. But it also needs to take a more aggressive approach to getting its message across. The problem of misinformation on social media is fanning the flames of legitimate concerns about immigration.

Writing in The Independent today, Guy Walters reports on how people with no history of political activism are drawn into anti-immigrant movements such as Patriot Platform, led by Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo. Walters writes: “Algorithms did not invent anger about the asylum system or force the Home Office to impose a camp without adequate consultation. But they identify people already primed to be frightened or furious, feed them increasingly extreme versions of what they believe and connect them overnight to men in Portsmouth or Dover.”

The answer is not to follow Shami Chakrabarti, the former director of Liberty, who wants to ban Patriot Platform. The peer and civil liberties campaigner made this illiberal suggestion in her Lord Speaker's Lecture on Wednesday.

Baroness Chakrabarti is right to say that banning Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was “a disproportionate and counterproductive mistake”, but she then makes an opposite disproportionate and counterproductive mistake in suggesting that Patriot Platform should be banned instead.

Mr Thomas's outfit is abhorrent, and if it uses violence or intimidation, it should be met with the full force of the law. The police are right to require that demonstrators remove face coverings at protests. But it is no more a terrorist organisation than is Palestine Action, and proscribing it would merely make martyrs of its supporters and overload the criminal justice system still further.

The answer in both cases is not to ban labels. It is to deal with the causes, the legitimate concerns on which extremists feed. And at the same time to crack down on the social media companies that provide platforms for racism and misinformation. Elon Musk's X is the worst offender. Ms Nandy complained that a company representative failed to attend her meeting about tackling online abuse. Instead of merely accusing the company of “contempt”, however, she should take action to ensure that it lives up to its responsibilities.

So far, Andy Burnham has done well on empathy. He has not made Sir Keir Starmer's mistake of implying that anyone with concerns about immigration is a “far-right thug”. But the new prime minister cannot deal with the threat posed by groups such as Patriot Platform by vibes alone. He must take decisive action to reform the asylum system further and to bring order to the Wild West of social media.

Charles responds to Spencer's Diana book claims: ‘Grief can cloud reason’

Earl Spencer claimed Charles said princess would be forgotten ‘soon enough’ after her death

Alex Croft

Earl Spencer, Prince William, Prince Harry and King Charles III, the then Prince of Wales, after Diana's 1997 funeral (PA)

King Charles has hit back at claims made in an upcoming bombshell memoir written by Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer, stating that “grief can cloud reason”.

The book, which is set to be serialised in the Daily Mail, alleges that in the days after Diana's death, Charles had said “rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough”.

Charles, who was Prince of Wales at the time, made the apparent remarks to Earl Spencer during a major dispute over funeral

arrangements after Diana died in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997.

The argument came after the decision was made to have princes William and Harry, who were aged 15 and 12 at the time, walk in their mother's funeral procession, a decision that has since been the public of widespread public debate.

Earl Spencer claims, in his memoir titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, that he argued Diana would not have wanted her sons to join the procession.

Charles afterwards phoned him, and remarked in a “stream of anger” that his ex-wife would soon be forgotten.

“He unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death. ‘Rest assured,’ he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough!’” the memoir claims.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson told The Sun: "While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss."

The Independent has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment. It has not seen Earl Spencer's memoir detailing the allegations.

The book is likely to be highly critical of the royal family, and comes during a painful period marked by several scandals and family disputes.

Spencer delivered the eulogy at Diana's funeral in Westminster Abbey (PA Archive)

The Daily Mail says the book will include a “string of further extraordinary claims about Diana’s failed marriage to King

Charles and the tumultuous aftermath of her tragic death in a car crash in Paris in 1997".

It was reported earlier today that copies of Charles Spencer's new memoir about his sister Princess Diana have been stolen from a lorry ahead of its release date, according to reports.

Diana's death in 1997 caused an outpouring of grief across the world and especially in the UK, where she was a very popular figure.

Charles visited the Cairngorms yesterday, before the allegations came out (Getty)

But her death exposed a rift between the royal family and the British public who were angry at the royals' reserved response, which failed to match the grief of the rest of the nation.

Prince William and Prince Harry have spoken out about the day of their mother's funeral.

The latter recently said while speaking to royal biographer Angela Levin for her book ‘Harry: Conversations with the

Body found in desperate search for missing three-year-old Noah Woods

More than 1,000 volunteers joined the search for Noah in the village of Brantham in Suffolk

Harriette Boucher & Alex Croft

Noah's father previously issued a desperate plea for the public ‘not to give up on’ the young boy (PA)

A body has been found in the search for three-year-old Noah Woods, who vanished after a visit to a village playground.

A massive search operation involving more than 1,000 volunteers was underway for Noah, who went missing after he ran down an alleyway in Brantham, Suffolk, on Tuesday afternoon.

Suffolk Police superintendent Tom Pearse said that the body of a child had been discovered in a nearby pond and that Noah's

family had been informed. The discovery was being treated as unexplained but not suspicious, he said.

“First and foremost, our thoughts are with Noah’s family and all those who knew him,” he told journalists at Brantham Leisure Centre, calling for the public to give them “time, space and privacy”.

Noah playing in the park before he vanished (PA)

He added: “These five teams this afternoon have sadly found the body of a child in Decoy Pond in Brantham. Formal identification is yet to take place. The family of Noah Woods has been informed of these developments.

“We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of public support and people putting on their boots to help us with this search.

"As a parent myself, I completely understand why people would want to help, and such a response is one that typifies the strong sense of community and the heartwarming nature of Suffolk people that make the county such a special place."

Noah's father, Rhys Woods, previously issued a desperate plea for the public “not to give up on” the young boy, who is mildly autistic, non-verbal and has partial hearing loss.

Suffolk Police issued CCTV images of him shortly after he went missing, showing him happily playing at Merriam Close playground and said there was nothing to suggest “anything sinister or any element of criminality” in his disappearance.

Police at the Merriam Close playground where Noah went missing (PA)

The force deployed a specialist diving team, dog units, and a helicopter as it ramps up efforts to find him.

His heartbroken father said: “I cannot go another night knowing he’s out there alone. Please don’t give up on him, guys. He is out there somewhere and I appreciate every single one of you.”

He said emergency services were “very confident” that high-risk areas, including a nearby lake and railway lines, were “all clear”.

One of those volunteers, Rebecca Lucas, 46, said: “Everybody’s come together to try and do what they can.

“I think within the local community everyone’s really close-knit and it just touches at the heartstrings, everybody just wants to get involved and see if there’s anything we can do rather than just sit at home.”

More than a 1,000 people have showed up to help find the three-year-old (PA)

The mother, a theatre production company worker from Essex, said: “I’ve got two children – I’ve got a seven-year-old and a three-year-old, and obviously this hits quite close to home with Noah being three.

“I can’t even begin to put myself in that position as a mother; it really pulls at you.”

Ms Lucas had gone to a briefing at the village hall earlier yesterday, where the community has been gathering, and was given an area to search for “anything that could possibly give us a clue, but we haven’t found anything as yet”.

Suffolk Police carried out door-to-door enquiries and asked residents to thoroughly check their gardens, sheds and outbuildings, as well as private CCTV, dashcam, or doorbell cameras.

Noah was last seen wearing a white T-shirt featuring the TV character Bluey, shorts and black Vans trainers with a white stripe.

Local Sharon Auton, 60, who went out to help as soon as she saw the news on social media on Tuesday afternoon, said it was “amazing how much the community has got together over this”.

The last confirmed sighting of Noah was from CCTV in a park in Brantham (Suffolk Constabulary)

The charity Missing People's policy and partnerships manager Sam Roberts stressed that the first 48 hours are crucial for police to gather witness accounts, sightings, and review CCTV, and asked the public to share anything that felt relevant.

Ms Roberts told The Independent: “With any person that has a loved one missing, it’s always a very difficult situation.

“We understand people naturally want answers and naturally want to help, but speculation, rumours, or anything that’s not verified can create more and added confusion, not to mention the distress that it’s going to be causing for the family.”

News/Exclusive

No 10 urged to ban Patriot Platform behind anti-migrant protests

Shami Chakrabarti says group ‘appears explicitly to intend and incite violence and intimidation’

Kate Devlin Whitehall Editor

Masked men who took part in anti-migrant demonstrations pictured at Dover Priory (PA)

The former boss of civil rights group Liberty has urged the government to consider banning the Patriot Platform group behind anti-migrant protests that saw masked and hooded men descend on Dover and Portsmouth.

Shami Chakrabarti, who was Labour's shadow attorney general between 2016 and 2020, hit out at the group she says “appears explicitly to intend and incite violence and intimidation”, and whose uniforms “signify a private army”.

Ms Chakrabarti was a high-profile critic of ministers' controversial decision to ban Palestine Action under terror legislation, which she suggested had led to the prosecution of many peaceful protesters.

But she said it was time to “at least give consideration” to proscribing Patriot Platform, or lawmakers risk losing the support of the public “over inaction in the face of rising threats, and perceived double standards”.

Under the Terrorism Act 2000, the home secretary may proscribe an organisation if they believe it is concerned in terrorism, and it is proportionate to do so. Once an organisation is proscribed, it is illegal to join or support it.

The group, led by far-right activist Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, recently coordinated disruptive protests in Dover and Portsmouth, where masked supporters blocked roads and attempted to intercept newly arrived migrants.

Mr Thomas, a former bodyguard for Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, established the anti-immigration movement after previously serving a prison sentence for attempted kidnapping.

On its website is the slogan: “Together, we will take our country back.”

Ms Chakrabarti, a Labour peer, will make the call as she gives the Lord Speaker's Lecture this evening.

She will say: “To be clear, I have spoken against the blanket banning of face coverings at protests. We must protect the immune-compromised and those who reasonably fear repercussions when protesting outside the embassy of a repressive state or office of an abusive employer.

“Nonetheless, political uniforms in public were understandably banned by section 1 of the Public Order Act 1936.

"I maintain my view that the proscription of Palestine Action was a disproportionate and counterproductive mistake, given the breadth of that movement and the possibility of prosecuting the violent few rather than the peaceful many. That issue is of course pending before the Supreme Court.

“Still, I wonder whether it isn’t time to at least give consideration to the proscription of the so-called Patriot Platform after recent events on our south coast. That

Former Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti has made the call (Getty)

is, if we as legislators, are not to lose the public over inaction in the face of rising threats, and perceived double standards.”

She told The Independent that the distinction between Palestine Action and Patriot Platform is “not whether we agree with one or the other’s politics”.

"The former appears to have thousands of supporters interested in nothing but completely peaceful dissent and a few involved in criminal damage," she explained. "The latter appears explicitly to intend and incite violence and intimidation and its uniforms signify a private army."

Chakrabarti previously criticised the treatment of Palestine Action (PA)

She added: “It’s perhaps understandable that we choose to forget, but we have been here before in the 1930s with gangs of well-organised black-shirts inciting violence and seeking to intimidate.

“Freedom of expression and association is precious but not without limits. Surely, this is exactly the sort of case that proscription under the Terrorism Act was designed for?”

Her remarks come amid heightened tensions triggered by anti-migrant protests, counter-protests and a series of online rumours that have divided communities across the UK.

Locals in Dover reported feeling unsafe in their own town earlier this month when a large group of “intimidating” masked demonstrators blocked roads and access to the port.

Traffic was stopped from going in and out, while government condemned “the behaviour in Dover and the travel disruption it has caused”.

I watched ordinary men become part of Danny Tommo's patriots gang – it is terrifying how it happens

As a new documentary highlights one man's path to the top of a right-wing patriot group and the bottom of an algorithm-fuelled rabbit hole, Guy Walters speaks to the director about what he saw and how concerns about immigration can be transformed into a menacing force

Balaclava-wearing men stand outside the Daily Mail offices, led by former Tommy Robinson bodyguard Daniel Thomas (Getty)

t half past seven in the morning two Saturdays ago, some 150 men in black and wearing balaclavas descended on Dover. They occupied roads and roundabouts and closed access to the nation's

busiest ferry port for several hours. They chanted “Stop the boats” and “England ’til I die”.

The next evening, the drama moved along the coast to Portsmouth. An RNLI lifeboat helped bring some 120 people from an overloaded boat. More than 200 protesters gathered to prevent three coaches carrying them away. Police used batons and an incapacitant spray amid what ministers called “thuggish and intimidating behaviour”.

The link was Patriot Platform, a new umbrella organisation created by Daniel “Danny Tommo” Thomas, a former bodyguard to Tommy Robinson. Thomas has spent months connecting local patriot groups into something resembling a national movement. South East Patriots was identified in parliament as central to Dover; some members went on to Portsmouth.

Director Jamie Roberts knows these men. In fact, the words “England ’til I die” are the title of his latest documentary. His film is not another series of helicopter shots of men confronting police, but something more unsettling: an account of how one individual becomes one of them.

Roberts first entered this territory with Angry, White and Proud in 2015, which examined the harder splinter groups left by the collapse of the English Defence League. Its subjects called themselves patriots, but some openly admitted being racist and hating Muslims. A decade later, the world is markedly different.

"At that time it was fairly sidelined," Roberts tells me. "Whereas now immigration is a huge mainstream issue. It is on the front page of the newspapers every day." The men are different, too.

“It’s not people from sink estates who you might have cast 15 years ago. Lots of people are interested and being drawn into it.”

Liam Tomsett in ‘England ’Til I Die’ (Channel 4)

The principal figure in England 'Til I Die is Liam, a utilities manager, father and football supporter from Crowborough, East Sussex. He has a decent job and a comfortable home. He is personable and charismatic, the sort of bloke one could imagine having a couple of pints with. He is also physically intimidating, rough around the edges and fiercely fixated.

However, he does not resemble the old cartoon of the bone-headed skinhead, festooned with SS runes and looking for the racist street violence once horribly known as “P***-bashing”. That does not make him innocuous. It makes him more interesting – and potentially more influential.

“Liam is a three-dimensional person,” says Roberts. “To be a leader in any movement, you need charisma. But he has almost cleared the rest of his life out to focus completely on this. His partner says he doesn’t really have friends outside the movement. He stays online in the movement. He’s 100 per cent focused on it.”

The catalyst was the leaked plan to accommodate up to 600 male asylum seekers at a former Crowborough military camp. Roberts hurried to a council meeting and found uproar. Residents had legitimate questions about consultation, security and placing hundreds of single men beside a small community. Yet councillors, powerless over Home Office policy, took the fury. Green councillor Rachel Millward was barracked, followed to a car and left in tears.

We watch a political identity swallow a life

"The Home Office hadn't engaged with the local community and the local councillors were petrified," Roberts says. "It really left some of these protest leaders as the only people in town speaking to local residents. So they got behind them, and you don't really know who you are getting behind."

Liam had called himself a “grey man”, attending anti-immigration demonstrations anonymously. A Tommy Robinson rally persuaded him to remove the mask. At a meeting in a decidedly well-to-do home, Roberts watched him take charge. “He had an engine and a drive,” he says. “It felt like he had found his calling.”

We watch a political identity swallow a life. His partner, Sharna, says he has “opened my eyes” and entered his new world. The movement supplies not only opinions but friendship, status and purpose.

It also brings menace. Three asylum seekers are pursued up a road and told to “go back home”. Liam later denies that he intimidated them, exposing the gap between the movement’s self-image and the experience of those it targets. “He thought he was being completely honest and direct,” Roberts says. “But he picks up a lot of this language from social media. I hear the same arguments all the time." By the film's end, Liam is mixing with White Lives Matter activists, about as hardline as Britain's organised right gets.

The documentary shows its subject becoming something of a leader in the Patriots group – a Tommy Robinson march inspiring him to be proud in his actions (Channel 4)

Yet Roberts is wary of labelling everybody. Opposition began as a “broad church”. Some residents attend one march and withdraw. Others support the asylum seekers. George, a bartender known as “the sign guy”, stands alone with a placard, admitting he is bloody terrified. Crowborough Patrol walks the streets in distinctive clothing: reassuring to supporters, vigilantes to critics.

“There is a grey area between legitimate protest – because people have the right to express their political opinions – and people being threatened and scared,” says Roberts. “We are grappling with that line and we haven’t got it right.” He describes the politics as a bell curve. Concern about immigration is not intrinsically far right – chasing frightened foreigners along a road is something else.

The asylum seekers remain largely faceless, as Roberts felt brief clips in a film about their community would be tokenistic. The Home Office refused him access to the camp. The outsiders who force their way in, he notes, are far-right livestreamers.

One scene punctures the abstraction beautifully – young asylum seekers playing cricket. “There is nothing much more British than that,” Roberts says. The supposed “alien” presence has adopted the ultimate English game.

Concern about immigration is not intrinsically far right – chasing frightened foreigners along a road is something else

Jamie Roberts, director of ‘England til I Die’

At times, the film is somehow intensely British. Crowborough has a Waitrose, and 10 minutes from the shouting and marching lies the beauty of Ashdown Forest with its wild deer. There is an air of men dressed for political action, as though preparing for a particularly earnest stag weekend.

Watching it, I recalled an obscure book I once bought to research a thriller set in the 1930s. It was called Blackshirts on-Sea, featuring photographs of British Union of Fascists summer camps on the Sussex coast. At Selsey, not terribly far from Crowborough, thousands gathered for sport, swimming and military-style duties. There is Mosley beside the sea in shorts and a black shirt, sinister yet so absurd that he might have wandered out of a Jeeves and Wooster story.

That parallel should not be pushed too far. Mosley led a hierarchical, explicitly fascist and antisemitic party with a uniformed paramilitary wing. Today's Patriots are a looser network, focused overwhelmingly on immigration and Islam, and many people in their orbit would reject the word fascist. We are not yet at another Cable Street.

But history need not repeat precisely in order to rhyme. Uniform produces solidarity and intimidation. Political action offers frightened people camaraderie and meaning. Roberts, who filmed QAnon supporters for Four Hours at the Capitol, says such groups can resemble “cosplay”, as internet imagery can look ridiculous in the real world. Then somebody gets chased down a road, and the joke stops being funny.

Liam and other protesters hold a ‘White Lives Matter’ banner in London (Channel 4)

The decisive difference from 2015 is the algorithm. The Patriots communicate in closed groups, generate AI videos and livestream to thousands. They neither need nor trust the BBC or newspapers. “They have their own Fourth Estate,” says Roberts.

Increasingly, that estate is built on fiction. In August, a genuine 2024 interview with Ahmed, a Sudanese man in Tunisia, was recirculated with AI-generated English audio. His actual words – spoken in Arabic – concerned fleeing war and wanting safety. The fake version made him demand “my money and my free house, and English woman”. Another faked clip purported to show a machete-wielding migrant aboard a Channel boat proclaiming: “This is the end of England.”

A BBC investigation has traced supposedly patriotic British accounts producing similar material to operators in Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Their fabrications included a House of Commons filled with men in Arab dress imposing sharia law. Some producers appear motivated less by ideology than the advertising money generated by outrage. No matter. The poison works just as well.

Algorithms did not invent anger about the asylum system or force the Home Office to impose a camp without adequate consultation. But they identify people already primed to be frightened or furious, feed them increasingly extreme versions of what they believe and connect them overnight to men in Portsmouth or Dover. As Roberts says, activists regard the algorithm as “a unifying principle”. What begins as local grievance becomes a national identity.

How powerful are these movements? “Incredibly powerful,” Roberts replies. They summon committed supporters rather than merely collect likes, consume police resources and force ministers to respond. More insidiously, they push fringe language towards the centre and make masked men obstructing critical infrastructure appear the next logical step in a debate.

Liam himself stepped back from the movement recently, and was at neither Dover nor Portsmouth, although men with whom he has marched were there. That is almost the point. The movement no longer requires one Liam, one town or even one leader. As Roberts warns, “There are lots of Liams around the country.”

'England 'Til I Die' airs on Channel 4 on Wednesday at 10pm

News/Analysis

Passport to Piddington? Symbolic revolt illustrates immigration divide

An independence vote for an Oxfordshire village has echoes of an Ealing comedy but, writes political editor David Maddox, Labour must understand this is not a laughing matter

Only 26 residents voted against secession from the UK (PA)

referendum so soon.

hen nationalist leaders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland this week demanded independence from Westminster, Andy Burnham did not imagine he would face a separatist so soon.

This vote, however, centres not on the devolved nations but the leafy Oxfordshire village of Piddington, in the heart of rural England.

A total of 285 people in the village of just 350 have voted for “independence from the UK” in an expression of outrage at the Whitehall decision to house 1,256 male asylum seekers at a nearby former military base. A mere 26 residents voted against the motion, with one spoiled ballot recorded.

The vote may be symbolic in nature, but it shows a deep divide emerging in the UK over the migrant crisis.

And the turnout of around 92 per cent underlines that feelings are running high in purest “middle England”.

For those who enjoy black and white films, the whole scenario has a familiar narrative to it from the days of Ealing Studio comedies. The 1949 Passport to Pimlico was based on angry residents in Pimlico in south London discovering they were not part of the UK, but the House of Burgundy allowing them to declare independence to avoid the post-war rationing rules.

But for the immigration issue, this is not fiction or comedy; there is genuine anger which is being repeated up and down the country.

Richard Hearne as a drunken cyclist struggles with Philip Stainton as PC Spiller in 'Passport to Pimlico' in 1948 (Getty)

Not long ago there were protests in Epping in Essex over a migrant hotel. In the last fortnight, we have seen masked men protesting in Dover and Portsmouth, as well.

While Reform's vote has dropped in the recent weeks, the fact it is still polling at around 25 per cent – with its rival Restore Britain on another 5 per cent – just emphasises the appetite to support parties which will take a far harder line on the migrant crisis.

But there are big issues at stake now. If Reform UK or the Tories emerge victorious at the next election, we would see the UK leaving the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) and possibly the Refugee Convention.

It would rewrite Britain's international and human rights status in a way that could be even worse than Brexit.

Even more worrying is the way that this issue is now fuelling the real far-right, led by figures like Tommy Robinson.

Burnham admits Budget will be 'challenging' after inflation rises

Chancellor John Healey will deliver the first Budget under Andy Burnham's leadership next month

Athena Stavrou Political Reporter

PM says government ‘will not take risks with people’s living standards’ in the Budget (PA)

Andy Burnham has admitted next month's Budget will be “challenging” for his government after official figures revealed inflation has soared to a five-month high.

Chancellor John Healey is set to deliver the first Budget since Mr Burnham entered No 10 next month, amid concerns over the impact of Donald Trump's war on Iran and funding for UK defence.

The major political headache comes against a backdrop of rising inflation rates, with the most recent official figures showing another jump yesterday.

Mr Burnham told broadcasters that the current climate would mean next month's Budget will be “challenging”, but insisted his government “will not take risks with people’s living standards”.

“It is going to be challenging, because the picture around the world is challenging, particularly the situation in the Middle East, and we will look carefully at all those things,” he said.

“We won’t take risks with people’s living standards or with the economy as a whole, so we will take it all into account.”

“It’s why we wanted to do an earlier Budget; we didn’t want to leave a long period of speculation. I think that’s been shown now to be the right decision and it will mean taking whatever action we can to help people while also making sure we apply the highest degree of prudence to the running of the economy.”

He insisted that the economy is still showing “resilience across the board” as he linked the inflation uptick to the war in the Middle East.

The ONS revealed that inflation accelerated to a five-month high of 3.1 per cent last month as higher fuel prices and airfares pushed up prices (AFP/Getty)

But the Resolution Foundation think tank has estimated that the government's headroom has fallen to between £5bn and £10bn, which will need to be recouped either with tax rises or spending cuts at the Budget.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that inflation accelerated to a five-month high of 3.1 per cent last month as higher fuel prices and airfares pushed up the cost of living for Britons.

It was in line with predictions from economists and points to an upward trajectory for inflation since striking a 15-month low of 2.6 per cent in June.

It therefore moved further away from the Bank of England's 2 per cent inflation target, ahead of the central bank's latest interest rate decision today.

The official data comes amid warnings from economists that inflation will continue to swing higher over the coming months, with increases in interest rates also predicted.

'Putney pusher' suspect found dead was descendant of Queen Victoria

44-year-old was decorated army veteran turned banker who worked advising wealthy clients

Amy-Clare Martin Crime Correspondent

CCTV of a jogger sought in connection with the Putney pusher case (Metropolitan Police)

A descendant of Queen Victoria who was the main suspect in the notorious “Putney pusher” case has been found dead.

Banker Nicholas Brandram, 44, is the grandson of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark, known as Lady Katherine Brandram, who was a great-granddaughter of the former monarch.

He was under investigation for the crime, which remained unsolved, in which a woman was pushed into the path of a bus

on Putney Bridge.

He was arrested in June this year and released under investigation almost a decade after the seemingly unprovoked attack.

On Tuesday, he was found dead at his property in Chiswick in west London.

The Metropolitan Police said the death of a 44-year-old man was being treated as “unexpected” and was not believed to be suspicious.

Who was the ‘Putney pusher’ suspect?

Mr Brandram was a decorated former British Army captain who served in Iraq, Bosnia, and Afghanistan.

He previously worked as a manager at leading stockbrokers firm Killik & Co, according to reports.

Nicholas Brandram was arrested in June and released under investigation (Getty)

More recently, he worked as a high-flying banker who advised ultra-high-net-worth clients in his role as a relationship manager

at HSBC Private Bank.

In an interview in Citywealth in March this year, he said he was a co-parenting single father with a three-year-old son.

He revealed he enjoyed gardening, opera and Frederick Forsyth novels and paid tribute to his mother's resilience for raising him and his two sisters as a single parent, adding: “She’d outmarch the SAS and do it in high heels.”

In 2013, he admitted to driving without due care and attention and to failing to stop after a road accident in which he hit a cyclist while riding his Harley-Davidson motorbike.

He told the court he did not realise he had struck a cyclist, damaging their back wheel, at London's Hyde Park Corner, so drove away from the scene without exchanging details.

Brandram received five penalty points on his licence, a £200 fine, and compensation costs of £105.

The victim was pushed into the path of a bus on Putney Bridge (Metropolitan Police)

He is understood to have been arrested in connection with the “Putney pusher” case on 15 June this year on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm. While in police custody, he was further arrested on suspicion of drug possession.

Last week, the Metropolitan Police confirmed they had released the suspect under investigation.

CCTV of the incident on Putney Bridge on 5 May 2017 showed a jogger forcefully shoving the woman with both of his hands into the path of a double-decker bus. Around 15 minutes later, he passed her as she was receiving help on the bridge and ignored her calls for him to stop.

The woman, who was 33 at the time, sustained a few minor injuries.

At the time, police interviewed more than 50 men and arrested three suspects, but the case was closed in 2018, and no one was ever charged.

Police were called to an address in Chiswick, west London, at 7.12pm on Tuesday, where a man was found unresponsive.

“Sadly, a 44-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. His next of kin have been informed,” the force said, adding that they will prepare a file for the coroner in due course.

Acclaimed playwright and cultural critic Bonnie Greer dies aged 77

To British audiences, Greer was also known for her frequent appearances as a TV panellist

Sean O'Grady (PA)

Greer's husband David Hutchins said she passed away after a ‘brief illness’ (Getty)

British-American playwright and novelist Bonnie Greer has died at the age of 77.

She had been suffering from a “brief illness”, her husband, David Hutchins, said.

“Bonnie was an acclaimed playwright, author, critic, cultural and political commentator whose intelligence, courage and distinctive voice made an enduring contribution to British cultural and public life,” he said.

Greer was born in Chicago in 1948. She first made her mark in the world of theatre, studying acting under revered film director Elia Kazan at the Actors Studio in New York City.

She moved to the UK in 1986, serving as a board member on a number of prestigious British institutions, including the British Museum, the Royal Opera House and the London Film School.

Greer was awarded the Verity Bargate Award for Best Play for Munda Negra, and she was also the author of novels including Hanging by Her Teeth (1994) and Entropy (2009).

In October 2009, her memoir and music history, Obama Music, was published.

To British audiences, Greer was also known for her frequent appearances as a panellist on TV programmes Newsnight Review and Question Time.

Bonnie Greer receiving her OBE in 2010 (Getty)
In 2019, her defence of Ireland during a Question Time debate on Brexit made her a hero in that country, with Derry Girls actor

Nicola Coughlan writing on social media: “Oh my god Bonnie Greer, if Ireland ever has a Queen, [I] nominate you.”

Elsewhere, she served as chancellor of London's Kingston University, and was honoured with an OBE in 2010 for services to the arts. In 2022, she was awarded a fellowship from the Royal Society of Literature.

"To me, she was my partner, confidante and inspiration, and I feel profoundly privileged to have shared my life with her," Mr Hutchins's statement continued.

“Those closest to Bonnie will remember her warmth, humour, generosity and extraordinary ability to bring people together.

"At this immensely difficult time, we ask that our family's privacy be respected. She will be deeply missed."

In a 2015 interview with The Independent, Greer revealed that she originally planned to become a nun, rather than a writer, but changed her mind when “I told my mother, who laughed so hard that I was put off”.

She also revealed that she was the direct descendant of a Black man who owned slaves, and that one of her mentors was the American writer and journalist Norman Mailer.

Daughters of stabbing victim call for review into ‘critical failings’ over killer

Mark Carroll's daughters say there are ‘unanswered questions’ after their father was stabbed by stranger Rasheed Rahman in a London park

Holly Bancroft Home Affairs Correspondent

Mark Carroll and Danielle Morley, his eldest daughter (Supplied)

The two daughters of a beloved grandfather who was murdered in a London park in a random and unprovoked attack have called for a comprehensive review into the handling of his killer by police and care services, saying: “We believe there to be critical failings that allowed this to happen”.

Mark Carroll, 55, was killed in April 2024 when Rasheed Rahman signed out a knife from his supported living

accommodation and used it to stab Mr Carroll in the back as he walked in St Martin's Gardens, Camden, with a friend.

Rahman, who was then aged 19, was sentenced to life in prison last week for the murder. He was also sentenced for a previous stabbing attack on another member of the public in Romford months before, as well as a series of public order offences in the days leading up to the attack on Mr Carroll.

Ayisha Carroll and Danielle Morley, his two daughters, are also fundraising for a headstone to remember their dad, who they described as a “beloved father, grandfather, and friend of many”.

Ms Carroll, who is self-employed as an ecologist, has been struggling with her mental health since losing her father in such a shocking way and said she is saving every spare penny to fund his gravestone.

Carroll was described as a ‘beloved father, grandfather, and friend of many’ (Supplied)

In an appeal for help, the daughters said: “We both tried to save. We both tried to cope. We both tried to manage the trauma. But the truth is: we can’t do this alone.”

In a statement shared with The Independent following Rahman's sentencing, Ayisha Carroll and Danielle Morley, who is a mum of three, thanked the lawyers, judge and police who had helped deliver justice, adding: “While our family is relieved by the sentence passed, it does not bring our dad back. This was an unprovoked attack on a completely innocent, dearly loved man.”

They continued: “It is deeply concerning that the individual responsible was repeatedly arrested and released days before he committed this awful act. We believe there to be critical failings that allowed this to happen.”

They said they were “disappointed” that they have not received a response from Rahman’s supported living accommodation provider, Soaring Heights, after sending over a list of questions about how he was handled in the lead-up to their father’s murder.

Carroll's makeshift memorial in Camden (Supplied)

The daughters added: “There are many unanswered questions. Why was the perpetrator deemed safe to be released into the public? Why were the police not informed of his disappearance with a knife from the supported living facility in the 24 hours before he murdered our father?

“Incidents like this need to trigger a systemic change that will stop preventable tragedies like this from reoccurring.”

Chris Philp MP, shadow home secretary, said: “Mark Carroll should still be alive today, and his family deserve answers about the failures that led up to his murder.

“We have seen with cases like Valdo Calocane and Axel Rudakubana how repeated warning signs and contact with public services were not acted on, raising serious questions about whether opportunities to intervene were missed.

"The government should urgently review the handling of this case, listen to Mark's daughters and give them the answers they have been asking for."

Ayisha Carroll visiting the memorial (Supplied)

Soaring Heights Care, where Rahman was staying, provide accommodation and support for young people, including “assistance to access education, training and employment opportunities”.

They said in a statement that Rahman arrived at the service in June 2022 and was due to leave during the week that he attacked Mark Carroll in April 2024.

They added: “As an adult resident, the service was not

automatically provided with information concerning all aspects of his personal circumstances, including previous arrests, convictions or other relevant interactions with law enforcement, unless such information was disclosed to us or otherwise formally communicated to the service.

"At no stage prior to Mr Rahman's admission, or subsequently during his placement, was the service informed of any previous arrests or convictions relating to Mr Rahman. During his time at the service, Mr Rahman did not display any behaviour that gave staff cause to identify him as presenting a risk of violence. The service was also not made aware of his arrest in June 2023 or of the events of 6 April 2024 at the relevant time."

Rasheed Rahman signed out a knife from his supported living accommodation before the attack (Metropolitan Police)

Soaring Heights said that if they had been made aware of Rahman's criminal history or information indicating he was a risk to residents and staff “the placement would have been terminated”.

They concluded: “We remain committed to maintaining appropriate safeguarding, security and risk-management procedures and to reviewing our practices where necessary in light of any relevant information or circumstances.”

A Met spokesperson said: “We understand the concerns felt by many regarding police contact with Rasheed Rahman in the days

News/Exclusive

PM must crack down on covert filming for women's safety, campaigners warn

Burnham told to close gaps in law, warning women are subject to ‘surveillance and exploitation’

Nicole Wootton-Cane

Technology is being ‘weaponised’ by misogynists, MP Wera Hobhouse warns (PA Archive)

The government must take action on the covert “nightlife” filming of women and girls for profit on social media, which is driving them out of public spaces, leading women’s charities have warned.

In an open letter to the prime minister, campaigners say women and girls are being forced to “alter their behaviour, withdraw from online spaces, and limit their presence in public life” following a “rapid rise” in the viral videos, where vulnerable

women are filmed in public spaces without their consent and exposed to harassment and ridicule online.

Penned by Liberal Democrat Wera Hobhouse MP and signed by organisations and academics including Refuge, Women's Aid, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, and the Online Safety Network, the letter warns the videos, which have racked up more than 3 billion views, are linked to “predatory behaviours” including stalking and harassment.

It urges Andy Burnham to “strengthen” legislation, saying police are currently unable to deal with the issue effectively because of gaps in the law.

"Just across from No 10 North in Manchester, but also in many towns and cities throughout the country, women are being secretly filmed on a night out, and the videos are then posted online – often for profit – where they receive a barrage of degrading and misogynistic comments," the letter reads.

“Women and girls are being forced to alter their behaviour, withdraw from online spaces, and limit their presence in public life. The persistent risk that material may be captured and resurfaced indefinitely undermines their ability to move freely, participate equally, and feel safe in everyday environments.”

Filming in public spaces is not illegal, but there has been growing concern over the “nightlife” content trend, which often targets intoxicated women in major UK cities and posts the videos for profit online.

In 2024, a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) investigation saw a 27-year-old man arrested on suspicion of voyeurism and harassment, thought to be the first in the country linked to the viral videos. But in January this year, police said the criminal investigation had collapsed due to “limitations within the current legislation”. At the time, detectives said they would assess pursuing civil action.

There has also recently been significant public backlash over Meta's AI smart glasses, which have been labelled “pervert glasses” by critics due to cases of the devices being used to film women and vulnerable people without their consent.

The letter comes after Ms Hobhouse hosted a parliamentary roundtable with representatives from police forces, campaigners, and academics who warned that the law has “not kept pace” with the ways in which technology is being “weaponised” against women.

It calls on Mr Burnham's government to recognise covert filming and “related abuses” in law, expand the Online Safety Act to include algorithms that “incentivise abuse”, and recognise covert filming as integral to its strategy on tackling violence against women and girls.

"At its core, this is about freedom," it reads. "Women and girls are asking for the basic right to exist in public and online spaces without fear of surveillance, humiliation, or exploitation.

“We urge the government to act with urgency and to work collaboratively with experts, victim-survivors and industry to deliver a response that matches the scale and seriousness of this issue.”

Meta has been contacted for comment.

Pictures of the Day

Along for the ride
Max Verstappen rides a go-kart at Silverstone ahead of Red Bull's Max v 100 race. PA

Arrive in style

Employees wait for a shuttle train at the Huawei Lianqiu Lake research campus in Shanghai. AFP/Getty

Serving time

Serbia's Stefan Negic and Veljko Masulovic play in a EuroVolley 2026 match against Denmark in Tampere, Finland. AFP/Getty

Come rain or shine

People cross a street in the rain in Kawasaki, Japan. AFP/Getty

Underneath the arches

Home news in brief

Former Cambridgeshire Police sergeant Paul Street has been found guilty of misconduct in public office (PA Archive)

Officer jailed after asking for suspect's sex video

A disgraced celebrity police officer who established a “toxic” environment on WhatsApp has been sentenced to four years in prison after requesting an intimate video of a female suspect.

Ex-Cambridgeshire Constabulary police sergeant Paul Street, 41, took part in “salacious gossip” alongside former PC Josh Williams after discovering private images and video content stored on the victim’s mobile device. Addressing the court on Wednesday, the female suspect described an “overwhelming sense of shock, violation, anger and humiliation”.

Messages sent by Street also revealed he urged fellow officers to “bully” a teenage suspect held in custody. Street, who resides in

Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was convicted of two counts of misconduct in a public office following a trial at the Old Bailey in June. Prior to this, he pleaded guilty to two charges regarding the unlawful disclosure of personal data, which concerned confidential material and screenshots passed to his partner in 2020. During a televised sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey, Street received a four-year custodial sentence. PA

Bristol bans ads for fast fashion and flights

Bristol City Council has become the first council in the United Kingdom to ban ads promoting the buying of fast fashion. The ban will cover ads at all bus stops throughout the port city. It will also cover free-standing digital displays and billboards owned by the council. Under the newly approved proposals, ads for flights, cruise holidays, travel agents, and non-electric cars will also be banned at council-owned spaces across the city.

Members of the Strategy and Resources Committee voted eight to one to support updating the council's advertising and sponsorship policy this week. The decision follows a broader review of the council's policy, which examined the possibility of placing limits on promoting high-carbon goods and services. Bristol joins more than 20 councils throughout the UK that already have restrictions on ads for polluting products and services. However, none have previously banned ads for fast fashion products. PA

Record heatwaves bring butterfly boom

Record heatwaves have delivered the second-best butterfly season in 16 years across the UK, according to the latest Big Butterfly Count results. The findings from the world's largest insect survey – which saw more than 100,000 volunteers log nearly 1.4 million butterflies and day-flying moths – have confirmed a widespread surge in sightings during a summer marked by five distinct heatwaves.

The Dorset-based wildlife charity revealed soaring temperatures allowed adult butterflies to flourish, mate, and multiply rapidly across British gardens and the countryside. Migratory species recorded astonishing gains, with numbers of the painted lady, which completes an extraordinary multi-generational flight to Britain from sub-Saharan Africa each summer, increased by 335 per cent compared to last year. This marked its second-highest count since the survey began in 2010.

Newsnight moves Friday show to new 7pm slot

A major schedule change is coming to the BBC’s flagship news and current affairs programme, Newsnight, which currently broadcasts on weekdays at the 10.30 pm time slot on BBC Two. Starting this Friday, September 18, the Friday night edition will move to a brand new 7pm evening slot. Matt Chorley, who first joined the show’s broadcasting team in 2025, will present each Friday evening. The corporation has stated he will be “bringing viewers fresh insight into the week’s biggest political stories, alongside the forensic interviews and incisive analysis for which Newsnight is known”. Monday through Thursday episodes will continue to air in their usual slot from 10.30 pm.

Chorley described the programme as “thriving” and noted that shifting the time slot for the Friday show gives them a “brilliant opportunity to unpack the week’s biggest stories before the weekend kicks in”. “Politics has never been more complicated or contested, so every Friday night I’ll bring viewers the perfect primer for what is really going on, with the best interviews and analysis that Newsnight viewers expect,” he said. “And because it’s Friday night, we’ll have some fun along the way and hopefully a few surprises too.” PA

World

EU opens door for Canada to become its first associate member

Mark Carney says Ottawa seeks ‘unique alliance’ with the EU – but not full membership

Julia Payne & James C. Reynolds

(AP)

The European Union will open the door for Canada to become its first "associate member", European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday as Ottawa seeks out closer ties with Europe amid a deepening spat with Washington.

"Partnerships are a strategic choice for Europe. But they also respond to the fracture in the international rules-based system," Ms von der Leyen said in her annual State of the European Union address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

"We see the world with the same eyes: from AI to climate change, from the Arctic to geopolitics. And we have stood together: on Ukraine, on defence, on raw materials and on supply chains. But above all...Europe and Canada believe in democracy."

Overtures to a new alliance follow a sharp deterioration in ties between Canada and the United States under US president Donald Trump, who has threatened to make Canada the 51st American state and imposed hefty tariffs on Canadian goods.

Carney's European trip follows a historic breakdown in Canada-US relations (AFP/Getty)

Ms von der Leyen was careful to state that “this is a partnership not against anyone else” in a possible effort to avoid antagonising president Trump.

Mr Carney has framed the Trump administration as trying to “break us so America can own us” and vowed “never [to] forget the lessons” of what he termed “American betrayal” amid a deepening rift in the relationship worth some £640bn in trade.

He has pledged to double Canada's non-US trade in the next decade as the country pivots away from its southern neighbour amid an increasingly acrimonious trade war.

Ms von der Leyen's comments also mark a significant shift in EU policy as the bloc has historically resisted flexible categories, although critics say it remains unclear what such an arrangement could look like.

She argued that Europe and Canada were aligned in their fundamental belief in democracy, urging that new partnerships were needed “in the cold fragility of today’s world”.

The Canadian PM imposed ‘dollar for dollar’ retaliatory tariffs after the US president launched new levies against its neighbour (Reuters)

She added that the EU and Canada will work together across sectors from manufacturing to AI, critical minerals and energy.

“We will work on intelligent manufacturing. We will create a tech alliance. We will integrate defence industrial bases. We will make the Arctic a flagship joint project,” she said.

One EU diplomat expressed surprise at von der Leyen's proposal yesterday, saying "nobody really knows what it means." The diplomat added there were concerns that the European

Commission chief "is overpromising and won't be able to deliver."

And significant obstacles remain to ramping up trade. Mark Manger, a professor of political economy and global affairs at the University of Toronto, said EU officials have been frustrated by Canada's refusal to open two industries it protects at great expense: telecommunications and dairy.

Ms von der Leyen invited Mr Carney to join her in Strasbourg, and he will make his own address today.

Mark Carney with Ursula von der Leyen yesterday (Reuters)

The 27-nation bloc faces war at its borders, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. On trade and other issues, it is also facing stiff rivalry from the administration of US President Donald Trump and from an increasingly assertive China.

It will be up to EU member states whether von der Leyen's proposal goes ahead.

EU members were lukewarm in reacting to Germany's proposal in May of associate membership for Ukraine as a stepping stone

War between Russia and Europe would be ‘very short’, warns Lavrov

Putin's foreign minister suggests conflict would not prove difficult for Moscow

Maira Butt

Sergei Lavrov has implied that a war with Europe would not be difficult for Moscow (AFP/Getty)

Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has warned a war with Europe would be “very short”, amid mounting tensions with Moscow.

Lavrov insisted Russia has “no interest” in attacking Western countries but that if it were attacked first, it would retaliate and the outcome would be swift.

“Russia has repeatedly said that we are not going to attack Western countries and have no interest in doing so,” he said in comments made at the International Youth Festival in Yekaterinburg yesterday.

“But if Europe, which speaks regularly about preparing for war against Russia, attacks the Russian Federation, then this will be a completely different war, and it will be very short.

"The West made a choice long ago in favour of containing Russia," he said, referring to what he called Nato's "forceful" expansion towards Russia's borders, which it cites as a reason for the invasion of Ukraine. The veteran minister, known for his blunt statements, has been in the position since 2004.

The comments came shortly after Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski claimed the alliance would beat Russia “quickly”, praising the “overwhelming superiority” of Poland’s air force.

“If Russia attacked us and we took our gloves off, I think we would defeat Russia quite quickly. We have overwhelming superiority over Russia in air power,” he said on Monday.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen yesterday proposed creating a European Security Council in a bid to beat hybrid attacks.

She said the group could bring together the EU and partners including Canada, Britain and Norway in order to establish an “emergency security protocol”.

Vladimir Putin has been accused of launching hybrid attacks across the continent (AP)

“Europe needs its own counter-hybrid playbook,” she said in a State of the Union speech at the European Parliament, referring to so-called hybrid attacks such as sabotage attempts.

"When triggered by one Member State, all member states would convene to coordinate a European response, to deter further escalation and to mitigate the impact."

Denmark said on Tuesday that a Russian warship had fired flares at a military helicopter without warning, while Moscow hit back that Danish aircraft had been performing dangerous manoeuvres and fly-bys near its fleet.

Last month, CIA director John Ratcliffe made a rare trip to Moscow, the first since his predecessor made a visit in the weeks before the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Sources familiar with the matter told CBS News and the Wall Street Journal that Ratcliffe have made the journey in order to warn Russia against an attack on Nato.

World/In Focus

Protesters fight to save elephants from becoming ‘gifts’ for temples

Five-year-old Durga travelled 3,000km in six days from Assam to a temple in Tamil Nadu. 'Horrified' activists tell Shweta Sharma they are trying to stop the transfer of other elephants

Durga is among five elephants set to be moved from Assam to Tamil Nadu (Supplied)

nimal rights activists are trying to stop the proposed relocation of four young elephants from India's northeast to be given as “gifts” to Hindu temples in the south, a process that will involve anney of thousands of kilometres by road.

The elephants due to be transferred have been identified as Rupsing, 13; Shiva, 6; Hiralal, 8; and Bijuli, 5, according to the non-profit People for Cattle in India (PFCI), which has raised serious questions over the circumstances surrounding the relocations.

PFCI said the elephants face a journey of nearly 3,000km (1800 miles) by road from Assam to Tamil Nadu, raising concerns over the welfare implications of subjecting young animals to such a lengthy travel.

One elephant, five-year-old Durga, has already been moved from Assam's Manas National Park area to the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple in Tamil Nadu. Durga arrived at the temple on Sunday, six days after leaving Assam on 7 September.

A video released by the Meenakshi Temple Management appears to show the young elephant swaying from side to side, with her front two legs chained.

The Independent has reached out to the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple for comment.

Arun Prasanna G, founder of the Chennai-based PFCI, tells The Independent the transfer of elephants should be investigated, including questions surrounding their ownership, the basis for their transfer, and the parties involved in their acquisition.

“We are already horrified with the transfer of Durga, who is appearing distressed in the video after she arrived at her destination following a journey of six days,” he says.

“She’s already chained on her legs. She’s so anxious. When she was loaded onto the vehicle, the mother was heard screaming,” he says, citing locals and reports.

Durga left Assam on the night of 7 September and reached Madurai on the night of 13 September, covering approximately 3,000km in around six days (Supplied)

“What kind of welfare is this?” he asks.

He says Durga, who was allegedly transferred discreetly without adequate public disclosure, travelled an average of nearly 500km per day.

“This raises an extremely serious welfare and legal question in light of the Kerala High Court’s 13 November 2024 directions prescribing a maximum of 125km of elephant transportation per day, along with limits on vehicle travel time and speed," Prasanna says.

"The authorities must disclose Durga's complete journey log, including the vehicle's movement, kilometres travelled each day, driving hours, speed, rest periods and halts, and explain how a journey averaging around 500km per day complied with the applicable safeguard," he adds.

Animal welfare groups and conservationists have long raised concerns over the treatment and commercialisation of elephants in India, where the animals are widely used in tourism, temple rituals, festivals, safaris and entertainment, despite being protected under wildlife laws.

Both Hindu and Buddhist traditions give elephants an elevated status. They are used to give blessings and perform sacred duties. In Hinduism, elephants are closely linked to the elephant-headed deity Ganesh.

Indian laws make it illegal to capture, hunt, trade, or harm elephants, but those that were born in captivity or captive before the laws came into place continue to be used for a range of purposes which rights activists say amount to abuse. They exist in a kind of legal grey zone – they cannot be sold, but non-commercial “transfers” of ownership are permitted.

The transfer of Durga was cleared by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department last week. Clearance for the other four is awaited, according to The Hindu newspaper.

Tamil Nadu chief wildlife warden, Rakesh Kumar Dogra, says the “No Objection Certificate” (NOC) for the transfer was issued last week.

“Before the NOC, the District Captive Elephant Management Committee (a local regulatory body) inspected the premises and checked the availability of facilities such as mud bath, water bath and walking space," he says.

The proposed transfer of the five elephants was challenged in court by another Chennai-based organisation, Seva Trust.

The court was informed that Durga's transfer to the Meenakshi temple had received clearance, while applications concerning the other four elephants were still pending. The court directed the state to take a decision on the pending applications within a week and posted the matter for 16 September.

Mahouts wait with decorated elephants during Jal Yatra, a Hindu religious procession from Lord Jagannath temple to Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad on June 29, 2026 (AFP/Getty)

State authorities have said the privately held elephants are being donated to the temples.

PFCI and other welfare organisations have questioned the ownership claims and alleged that the animals are being moved from national parks and reserves rather than being given up by previous owners.

"If you want to give up your animals, normally what people do when they can't keep their pets is give their animals up for adoption, or to boarding facilities, shelters and sanctuaries. Why would somebody transfer these elephants 3,000km away?" Prasanna says.

The Independent has reached out to the Tamil Nadu forest department for comment.

"The elephants are being ripped [away] from their mothers at such a young age. If the owner is donating them, did the mother also abandon them? What happens to the well-being of the mother, who would be distressed?" he asks.

He also questions the speed with which the transfer paperwork was processed, alleging that the required documentation had been completed within hours.

"The striking part is, the entire paperwork was done in 7.5 hours. The forest department never does any paperwork in less than 15 days. How did they process the paperwork in seven and a half hours?" he says.

Prasanna alleges that the circumstances surrounding the transfers pointed to a wider network involved in the movement and possible trade of elephants.

“So there is a big nexus involved. There are middlemen. There are brokers. Elephant trading is happening big time. Both governments are turning a blind eye, or are part of it. This is a big scam,” he says.

He argues that the animals could face decades of confinement at temples. “An elephant can live for 70 or 80 years. From five or six years old now until she dies, she’s going to be in the temple in confinement,” he said.

Hindu devotees gather around an adorned robotic elephant in India's Kerala state (AFP/Getty)

The campaigner challenged the claim that the transfers were intended to provide the elephants with better care.

“You are saying the elephant is sent to some other place for better upkeep. What is better upkeep in a temple?” he says.

According to a letter dated 7 September, seen by The Independent, the Assam Forest Department assigned four officials to conduct the transportation of Durga from Manas National Park to the Madhurai temple.

Assam-based conservationist Rohit Choudhury has urged a Supreme Court-appointed committee to immediately halt the transfer, raising questions over the legality, purpose and welfare implications of moving the elephants out of Assam.

Shurthi Vinodraj, former member of Tamil Nadu Animal Welfare Board (TNAWB), has also raised objections to moving the elephants. “This is a clear violation of standing Supreme Court guidelines and rules. We don’t know who is giving instructions to flout rules. This has to be stopped immediately,” she said.

World news in brief

Rescuers said the six-storey building in the Tal al-Hawa area was home to war refugees (AFP/Getty)

Dozens killed in Gaza building collapse

A war-damaged apartment building in Gaza collapsed overnight, killing at least 20 Palestinians, including children, and trapping dozens of others beneath the rubble. The incident highlights the ongoing danger for tens of thousands of Palestinians who live in an estimated 2,000 damaged buildings due to Israeli airstrikes across Gaza.

Video showed rescue workers trying to pull out two survivors from under a collapsed wall. Another circulated on social media showed Gaza's civil defence spokesperson, Mahmoud Basal, carrying a little girl, wrapped in a blood-stained scarf, in his hands. Raed Al-Dahshan, the director of Gaza City's civil defence service, said at least 10 families lived in the collapsed building and there was still hope of finding survivors. “We are still hearing voices from under the rubble, so there is still hope to find people,” said Dahshan.

Alessandro Mrakic, head of the UN Development Programme's Gaza office, said: “There are approximately 400 buildings at risk of collapse. And we know that these buildings will collapse, especially now with the upcoming winter.” AP

Former Kosovo president jailed for war crimes

Former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci has been convicted of four counts of war crimes committed during his country's war for independence from Serbia and sentenced to 25 years in prison by a European Union-backed court in the Netherlands. Thaci, 58, who resigned from office nearly six years ago to face the charges, was found guilty by a panel of judges at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague of murder, torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary detention. Wearing a suit and tie, Thaci remained silent as Presiding Judge Charles Smith read out the sentence.

Thaci faced multiple counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, torture and persecution alongside three other former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army who fought Serb forces in the 1998-99 war. They are widely regarded as national heroes in their homeland. Thousands of people rallied in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, over the weekend in support of the four men. The protesters filled a central square in the capital, many carrying red and black Albanian flags.

Australian killer's release triggers protests

The youngest person jailed for the Snowtown murders in Australia is set to walk free after 26 years in what the families of the victims are calling a “distressing” development. James Vlassakis, John Justin Bunting, and Robert Joe Wagner were

convicted of murdering 11 people between 1992 and 1999 in one of the country's most notorious criminal cases. A fourth person, Mark Haydon, was convicted of helping to dispose of the bodies, most of which were found, in 1999, dumped in acid barrels in Snowtown, a settlement north of the South Australia capital Adelaide, leading to the case being dubbed “bodies-in-barrels murders”.

Vlassakis was 18 when he became involved in the killings in 1998. He pleaded guilty to four murders, including those of a half-brother and a stepbrother. He turned a star witness for the prosecution and was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 26 years, which expired in August of last year. That same month, the South Australia Parole Board approved the serial killer's release, rejecting the state government's bid to block it. The South Australia Court of Appeal upheld the board's decision. The decision to approve Vlassakis's release was “very distressing” for the families of the victims, said Sarah Quick, commissioner for victims' rights.

Japan has 100,000 centenarians

The number of people aged 100 or older in Japan has passed 100,000, according to the health ministry, even as the wider population has continued to shrink. The country is now home to 107,677 centenarians, up almost 8,000 from last year, the ministry said. It’s the highest national population of centenarians in the world. The number has risen every year since the ministry began tracking it 56 years ago.

As many as 88 per cent of the centenarians are women. Fuyo Kishimoto, a 114-year-old in Kyoto, is the country's oldest woman, and Hikaru Kato, a 112-year-old from Kumamoto, is the oldest man. "I am very pleased that so many people are remaining active and healthy for so long," health minister Kenichiro Ueno said, adding that this reflected genuine progress in medicine and technology. He, however, warned of the strain

Sorry, Ed Sheeran had this coming

After rapper Macklemore is dropped as his support act, the Mr Nice Guy of British music is not having a good time right now – and he deserves every bit of hell he’s getting, says Ava Vidal

The musicians pictured at the 2013 MTV Music Awards (Getty)

Of all of the music artists I ever expected to be caught up in a political row over Palestine, Ed Sheeran was nowhere near my bingo card.

I met Sheeran many years ago, backstage on a BBC One charity show we were both appearing on. He was so young and fresh-faced that the host Steve Jones jokingly asked him for ID, questioning if he was even old enough to be in the venue. I remember Sheeran being pleasant, inoffensive and... bland, like a musical Michael McIntyre.

But he stuck to his image as the scruffy boy-next-door with a guitar, and his career as a singer-songwriter went stratospheric. He’s certainly come a long way since his early appearances on SBTV, the late great Jamal Edwards’ influential online platform for emerging artists.

Before it helped Sheeran make his name, the platform was known purely as a powerhouse for promoting London's underground grime and rap music, helping to launch, among dozens of others, Dave and Stormzy. But having a non-rapping acoustic folk-pop act featured next to “edgy” young Black men lent Sheeran a level of credibility that a geeky-looking lad from Ipswich would never otherwise have had.

The fact Sheeran was eagerly and openly embraced by the Black community doesn't surprise me for a moment. We have a habit of inviting anyone who can clap on beat to the proverbial cookout. And let's not forget he is ginger, practically making him one of us.

But music's Mr Nice Guy is not having a good time right now – and he deserves every bit of hell he's getting.

The north American leg of his “Loop” tour is in shambles after rapper Macklemore, one of his support acts, was dropped after making pro-Palestinian comments on stage. Earlier this month, he appeared in New Jersey draped in a keffiyeh and shouted “Free Palestine!”. During a performance of his pro-Palestinian protest track, “Hind’s Hall”, images of the devastation in Gaza were beamed across the stadium’s massive video screens.

The backlash was swift and fierce: campaign group StopAntisemitism accused Macklemore of “ambushing” Sheeran fans with “anti-Israel propaganda”; the stadium owners, led by NFL Patriots billionaire Robert Kraft, had the rapper removed as an opening act, who in turn blamed “Ed Sheeran and his team” for being fired.

It feels to me like calculated plausible deniability. Without having to say a word, Ed can hand over a mic to one of the most vocal anti-war artists in the industry and let Macklemore do the protesting for him

Initially, Sheeran stayed silent, presumably hoping it might all blow over. But his attempt at neutrality has backfired.

Sheeran's explanation that he avoids making political statements because children make up much of his audience has cut little ice. Out of solidarity, Sheeran's remaining support acts, along with members of his own band, have now refused to continue the tour with him. Pink Floyd's Roger Waters filmed a video message calling him a “little p****”.

Sheeran has also been deserted by 200,000 Instagram followers. But here's why I have little sympathy. Ed Sheeran knew of Macklemore's political views before he booked him: he has frequently highlighted human rights abuses in conflict zones such as Lebanon, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cuba. On numerous occasions, he has branded ICE a terrorist organisation. He refused to perform in Dubai over accusations that it helped arm the Sudanese government's paramilitary force, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Booking Macklemore to support Ed Sheeran didn't happen by accident. It feels to me like calculated plausible deniability. Without having to say a public word about injustice, Ed can build a stage, hand over a mic to one of the most vocal anti-war artists in the industry, and let Macklemore do the protesting for him. He gets cool points via osmosis, while maintaining his polite, apolitical image – the one that landed him lucrative artist collaboration deals with Marks and Spencer. And if it goes

I resent having to care for my ageing parents – it’s a living nightmare

The Independent's agony aunt Victoria Richards is here to help

Andy Burnham has pledged to ‘overhaul’ Britain’s social care crisis (Getty)

Dear Vix,

I feel terrible for saying this, but I'm stuck in a sort of living nightmare, as the sole carer for my ageing parents. They're in their eighties – Mum is 84 and

Dad is 89 – and they refuse to get help or go into assisted living or residential accommodation. They think they can just look after

themselves, and each other, but it's becoming very clear this isn't the case anymore. Dad is forgetful, to the point of being dangerous, and Mum thinks she's fine to drive and cook even though her eyesight is poor and her coordination is worse than that. But as independent as they both insist they are, they still rely on me sorting everything out for them.

I have to do all their shopping and pay their bills for them and they call me whenever something happens – like a lightbulb needs replacing, or they need a pint of milk, or medicine. They expect me to drop everything and go, but I have my own life too: a busy job, health issues and kids of my own, and I don’t live around the corner – it’s a half-hour drive, every single time.

I know that they don't have anyone else (I'm an only child) and so it's my duty, but I deeply resent the responsibility of it all. And I feel guilty for feeling the way I do, on top of that. I do love them, but I'm exhausted. Some days I wish I had an excuse that would stop me having to do everything – I even find myself wishing I was ill or had an accident, so they'd have to accept I couldn't drop everything and go to them.

I feel like my life isn't my own anymore, it's one of servitude, basically. It's making me so run down and fatigued and frustrated and I don't know how to fix it.

Exhausted

Dear Exhausted,

You are, in name and nature. I can hear how burnt out you are from here, and I’m wondering who is looking after your needs. You’re looking after others all the time, and I do wonder who is prioritising you – and why that isn’t yourself.

We don't properly support carers in this country, full stop – the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has pledged to “overhaul” social care in this country, which is long overdue and extremely welcome (as long as he can find a way to pay for it). It’s widely recognised that we face a caring crisis in this country, and people like you are collateral damage.

But while I understand the sense of duty you carry towards your parents – especially as an only child – one of our responsibilities as adults is to recognise that we can’t drink from an empty cup. We need to fit our own oxygen mask first, before making sure everyone in the burning plane around us survives.

Put simply: if you give of yourself until depletion, there will be nothing left to give.

It makes me want to ask whether you have been running away from your own needs for a long time – and why that is? As for what you can do about it, again – I understand your parents are fragile, but proud; that they refuse to accept outside help while simultaneously treating you as the help. Some people simply cannot bear to face the fact they’re getting old.

And it's time to explain to them that you are just one person and you have limits. Then you need to do the gritty, tough thing of putting in some boundaries. You only have so much expendable energy – and time – and you're going to need to ringfence some of it to recover. So, start by telling them that rather than dropping everything and rushing to them every time they need a pint of milk, you will be visiting on set days, at set hours. As soon as they get used to that routine, you'd be amazed how well they cope in the “in between” moments.

You could also contact their neighbours or local friends to try to set up a “community web” of support – I have friends who have done exactly this when it was needed, from a friend who was going through chemotherapy while singlehandedly looking after two young children; to friends who couldn’t manage without help from others when they were grieving.

When I went into labour with my second child, I was able to call a trusted friend to come over and babysit my toddler so I could go to the hospital. People gather fast and well around those in need. But it's going to be on you to let them – and to relinquish some of the responsibility you are enacting, perhaps because you feel guilty for the way you have been feeling (so, you have probably been overcompensating).

And as you will tell your parents: of course, if there is an emergency, you will be there for them in a heartbeat – but you have a family of your own to look after. You can ask them to consider whether calling for a replacement lightbulb really is an “emergency” – and if it isn’t, then it can wait until your next visit. It might also help to create a shared shopping list, so your parents feel in control and don’t have to call you every five minutes to remind you.

If that doesn’t work for them, then you’re going to need to have a frank conversation to help them face up to the fact that they need external professional assistance from a care company to fill the gaps. You are already doing so much; please don’t feel you need to carry the weight of their feelings about accepting help for them, too. Right now, it seems to me it isn’t only your mum and dad who aren’t able to look after themselves. You all deserve more.

Do you have a problem you would like to raise anonymously with Dear Vix? Issues with love, relationships, family and work? Email dearvix@independent.co.uk

Section 2/The Longer Read

Here's what the Thirlwall Inquiry really means for Lucy Letby

The case exists in parallel universes of guilt and innocence. As questions over the safety of her convictions grow, David James Smith looks at how the new evidence will be taken by those considering her case for referral to the Court of Appeal

Letby pictured in a police cell after her arrest (Cheshire Constabulary)

abies E and F were their parents' miracle twins, doing really well in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital at the beginning of August 2015, despite their premature births. Nurse

Letby had been kind and shown eye contact to the babies' mother, but the mother told the Thirlwall Inquiry that this changed on the evening of 3 August, when the mother heard a baby screaming and crying and came in to find that it was her baby, Baby E, who had blood around his mouth.

Letby was nearby. She was dismissive and abrasive, the mother of Baby E said, and this time the nurse failed to make eye contact. Lady Justice Thirlwall then heard that the mother came to believe she must have interrupted Letby mid-attack on her baby.

The Thirlwall Inquiry, an 800-page report into Lucy Letby's conduct and the hospital staff involved, was published on Tuesday (PA)

He began bleeding again, suffered a sudden collapse and could not be revived. After his death, Letby bathed Baby E and chose the clothes he would be buried in. She made a memory box, without the mother's knowledge or consent.

It was distressing for the mother to know that Letby had touched the things in that box. A doctor failed to conduct a full review, and it was wrongly concluded that Baby E had died a natural death. The parents declined a postmortem. Letby's nursing record made no mention of the bleeding incident that preceded the death of Baby E. This mother's account went unheard for a long time.

Letby was later convicted of the murder of Baby E and the attempted murder of his twin by insulin poisoning. Evidence of that poisoning was missed at the time too. Baby F suffered lasting impairments.

The mother said in evidence to The Thirlwall Inquiry: “We’ve had to try and grieve in so many different ways. We tried to grieve for Child E… We had to grieve for the life that we thought we were going to have with Child F, with his learning difficulties.”

Lucy Letby is currently serving 15 whole life sentences for seven murders and eight attempted murders (Cheshire Constabulary)

This distressing account, and others like it, make sobering reading for anyone tackling the 800 pages that comprise Lady

Justice Thirlwall's final report, published yesterday.

Letby, I am bound to point out, denied these incidents at trial and, in effect, at her failed applications for leave to appeal, and they are now at the heart of her submissions to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). Her current barrister, Mark McDonald, says he has submitted around 30 new expert reports that, in his words, prove Letby's innocence. As one of his key contributors, Professor Shoo Lee proclaimed at a press conference early last year, he and his fellow medical experts had looked and found “no evidence of murder”.

What are the new facts set out in the report?

The Letby case currently exists in parallel universes of guilt and innocence.

The facts are that Letby is serving 15 whole life sentences for seven murders and eight attempted murders, after two trials. She faced 22 charges at her first trial, was acquitted on two counts of attempted murder and there were no verdicts in six further attempted murder charges – one of which (Baby K) was retried and led to the 15th conviction in 2024.

The Thirlwall report found that there was a prolonged delay by senior managers in calling the police (Getty)

As the clamour around the safety of her convictions began to grow, the Thirlwall Inquiry started. It was made clear from the beginning that the inquiry accepted the fact of the convictions and would consider instead what could be done in the future to prevent nurses or others from harming babies.

As Thirlwall states in her report, “the idea that anyone would deliberately harm and even kill tiny babies is repugnant. That a nurse would do so is often said to be unthinkable.” Thirlwall references cases such as Beverley Allitt and Victorino Chua.

“Nurses do kill. It is not unthinkable. All doctors, nurses and managers should know that.”

The report gives a persuasive account of the spike in deaths that occurred on Letby's watch at the neonatal unit. It is worth setting out the figures, set against the number of admissions, which, the report finds, had previously been “consistently low”:

2010: 1 death; 422 admissions

2011: 3 deaths; 514 admissions

2012: 3 deaths; 556 admissions

2013: 2 deaths; 460 admissions

2014: 3 deaths; 557 admissions

Letby arrives...

2015: 8 deaths; 468 admissions

2016: 5 deaths; 496 admissions

The report notes that in 2015 two babies died of congenital abnormalities and one of sepsis. Letby was not charged with their deaths, but was charged and convicted of killing the other five babies. In 2016, there were three deaths from congenital abnormalities, and Letby was not charged in relation to them. She was charged and convicted in the other two deaths. Seven murders in total. She was moved off the unit in July of 2016.

Thirlwall's detailed evidence-based account of how the mounting suspicions of the paediatricians were rejected first by nursing managers and then by hospital executives is at the heart of her report. Babies continued to collapse and/or die when the doctors' suspicions should have been acted upon. At least three babies who Letby was convicted of killing could have lived, says Thirlwall.

The report concluded that Letby should have been removed from her unit much sooner than she was (PA)

Letby should have been removed from the unit “as a neutral step” much sooner than she finally was in late 2016. The grievance procedure Letby then invoked, with the backing of senior executives, was “deplorable”. In a report that is damning of the wider culture of the health service and its institutions, no one escapes criticism, but the findings appear at least partly sympathetic to the roles of doctors Brearey and Jayaram, who were among three ordered to apologise to Letby as part of the resolution of Letby’s complaints.

Brearey was (as Thirlwall finds) wrongly accused of bullying and harassing the nurse. He tells Thirlwall, “we were in a grievance procedure where we were made to feel as though we were on trial.” Thirlwall is also sure the police should have been called much sooner. Instead, there was a commitment from the executives that Letby should return to the unit. As Thirlwall reports, the hospital was by now far adrift from the correct course. Letby did not, in the end, return, but still it was not until three years after the first deaths that she was finally arrested.

This moment was the first that many of the families of the babies she was alleged to have harmed knew of the allegations. Thirlwall is critical of that too. The failings are widespread and profound. Three former hospital executives remain on bail after being arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter (one of them also arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice).

What will happen in hospitals?

Putting baby cams by cots and incubators is one of the many steps the report recommends for making babies safer and to ensure early suspicions are not ignored.

This is something that Lucy Letby's own current barrister, Mark McDonald, agrees should happen. Following the publishing of Thirlwall's findings, he told ITV News: “Because if they were there when Lucy Letby was working, then she wouldn't have been on trial. She wouldn't have been convicted, we wouldn't be here today.”

Cameras trained on baby cots and incubators have been suggested in the report (Getty)

However, he also insisted that the whole inquiry had been tainted by the fact that they've worked on the wrong premise: "Millions has been spent on both a trial and an inquiry, and we've now got evidence to say no crimes have been committed."

In a tacit acknowledgement of the campaign to exonerate Letby, yesterday Thirlwall said that “the avenues for criminal appeal are well known”. It was not, she said, for her to “second guess or to cut across” the work of the CCRC. The commission will, I am sure, read the Inquiry report and perhaps some of the background materials with care, weighing the accounts of what happened against the evidence at trial and the voluminous new expert submissions Mark McDonald has by now made.

The CCRC's review of Letby's convictions must be an ever-expanding piece of work. Thirwall's report provides the added context of the lack of safeguarding at the hospital to consider, as well as accounts of Letby's unfeeling and attention-seeking behaviour; lying, being over-intrusive at incidents, behaving inappropriately with parents and in the way she told colleagues about the latest tragedy – gossipy, as one describes her over-eagerness to say, “you’ll never guess what just happened!”. Some of this will have been evidence at trial too, and, it can be argued, evidence of inappropriate behaviour is not evidence of murder.

At first blush, the Thirlwall Inquiry report is not a good day for Lucy Letby or her supporters

How much of the CCRC's decision will turn on the contents of the Thirlwall Inquiry report is hard to say. As a former CCRC Commissioner, I imagine the ongoing review will be more concerned with the scientific evidence and what is new, credible and significant; not merely a rehashing of the evidence and arguments heard at trial.

So many of the alternative explanations for the deaths and harm that babies suffered were canvassed by Letby's trial barrister during the course of the trial(s). What was not canvassed, of course, were the opinions of defence experts. Only one witness was called at Letby's original trial – a plumber. There are medical experts now – it is up to the CCRC to determine the reliability of their findings.

Supporters of Lucy Letby outside the Thirwall Inquiry in Liverpool (Getty)

But, at first blush, the Thirlwall Inquiry report is not a good day for Lucy Letby or her supporters. Mark McDonald must have realised what was coming as he was conducting his interviews, brushing aside the awkward revelation that two of his experts have just recently withdrawn their support for his case.

In the end, of course, it will be up to three commissioners who will sit in the Lucy Letby case committee (if one is called) to argue out the findings and decide whether the legal test for referral back to the Court of Appeal is met – in other words, whether there is a real possibility that the Court of Appeal will not uphold the convictions.

On this day

On this day, some 39 delegates approved the Constitution of the United States of America (Getty)

1745: The Jacobites, under the Young Pretender, occupied Edinburgh.

1787: Some 39 delegates (out of 42), under the chairmanship of George Washington, approved the Constitution of the United States of America.

1827: Wides in cricket were first scored in the Sussex v Kent game at Brighton.

1894: A Gaiety Girl opened at Daly's Theatre, New York, the first British musical on Broadway.

1908: Lt Thomas Selfridge of the US Army Signal Corps was killed in a plane crash in Fort Meyer, Virginia. Pilot Orville

Wright was also seriously injured. Selfridge was the world's first military aviation fatality.

1931: Long-playing records (33rpm) were demonstrated in New York by RCA-Victor, but the venture failed because of the high price of the players, and the first real microgroove records did not appear until 1948.

1944: The British airborne invasion of Arnhem and Eindhoven in the Netherlands began as part of Operation Market Garden. The objective was to secure a bridge over the Rhine as part of an Allied invasion of Germany, but after a battle which lasted until September 27, the attempt failed.

1944: Blackout regulations were lifted to allow lights on buses, trains and at railway stations in Britain for the first time in five years.

1961: One of London's biggest “ban the bomb” demos ended with 830 arrested, including actress Vanessa Redgrave and playwright John Osborne.

On this day last year: A group of critically ill and injured children had been brought from Gaza to the UK for urgent NHS medical treatment, the Government announced.

Birthdays

Des Lynam, broadcaster, 84; Damon Hill, former racing driver, 66; Doug E Fresh, rap singer, 60; Ken Doherty, snooker player, 57; Mike Catt, former rugby union player, 55.

Section 2/In Focus

Inside Hyrox, the sport where competitors soil themselves to win

Champion Joanna Wietrzyk's unfortunate accident in Beijing caused a furore in the fitness community. Katie Rosseinsky asks if participants are pushing too hard

Push it to the limits: did Joanna Wietrzyk go too far in pursuit of victory? (Getty)

o hard or go home, they say... a win is a win." That was the defiant message posted on Instagram by Hyrox record holder Joanna Wietrzyk after her latest victory at a competition in Beijing over the

weekend. It sounds like a typical soundbite from an athlete emerging from a difficult race or match – one that might not have gone to plan, exactly, but ended happily all the same. But the story surrounding Wietrzyk's performance is, well, a lot messier than that.

After becoming unwell during the fitness race, in which competitors alternate running with functional exercises such as rowing, sled pushes and burpees, 24-year-old Wietrzyk, who hails from Melbourne, Australia, ended up soiling herself – but pushed through regardless. Footage and pictures from the event appeared to show her using communal equipment and mats with faeces running down her legs.

It is, of course, not unheard of for athletes to have an accident during a sporting event. Paula Radcliffe memorably had to relieve herself by the side of the road during the 2005 London Marathon, and Gary Lineker still managed to ascend to national treasure status despite soiling himself during an Italia 1990 World Cup match. But those incidents didn’t take place in a confined indoor space, with other competitors then apparently having to use the same equipment afterwards.

Quite frankly, it has created a bit of a s***storm for the wildly popular competition, whose name is an intriguing portmanteau of “hybrid” (reflecting the different disciplines that participants need to master) and “rockstar”.

Wietrzyk deleted her Instagram post, and the event's co-founder Moritz Furste apologised for allowing the race to continue after the incident. “Hyrox made a mistake by not immediately reacting during the race,” he wrote in a social media statement. “In the

end it is my job to foresee these potential incidents – and I did not.”

'A win is a win': Wietrzyk's behaviour has divided the fitness community (Instagram)

Furste, a former field hockey Olympic champion, added that the company had made “rulebook changes immediately”, with “new rules and procedures in place to prevent situations like this from happening again”. The competition previously penalised behaviour such as spitting, littering and nostril clearing, but apparently had no official procedure around bodily fluids and faeces.

The reaction to this incident seems to have fallen into two camps. There are those who are outraged by the seeming disregard for the health of Wietrzyk's fellow competitors, who had to deal with some truly grim race conditions so that the champion could secure her win. And then there are those who have hailed her as heroic for securing a victory despite clearly being unwell.

Indeed, in another statement shared by Hyrox, the brand noted that they “ask our athletes to push themselves to the highest

levels", and that "at times, they will go beyond what even we thought was possible"; the same post praised participants' "courage, resilience and refusal to give in".

It all begs the question: are Hyrox, and the countless other high-intensity fitness challenges populating our social media feeds, fostering a philosophy of exercise where more is more, where pushing yourself to the absolute extreme is normalised? And is this really healthy?

It’s not the only time that the event has generated viral notoriety – last year, footage from a race in Australia showed a man apparently leaving his partner to be tended to by medics after she had passed out, while he carried on running. Again, it sparked a debate about whether such a blinkered dedication to getting a personal best was something to be lauded, or a cause for concern.

South African fitness coach Leroy Saunders died after collapsing and losing consciousness while competing at the Hyrox Bangkok 2026 event. Saunders, 41, was competing at the event at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok on 13 August when he collapsed.

Event staff and medical personnel administered CPR and emergency resuscitation before he was taken to hospital, where he later died, according to The Nation.

Hyrox was launched in Hamburg, Germany, in 2018, the brainchild of Furste and Christian Toetzke, who wanted to come up with a concept that could hook gym-goers and runners alike. Just a few hundred people took part in the first event, but its popularity has since snowballed.

The activity has grown in popularity since it was created in 2018 (AFP/Getty)

There are competitions in over 85 cities and 30 countries, and the sport is on track to reach 1.5 million participants this year. The co-founders expect it to generate \$270m (£200m) this year; earlier this month, a consortium led by the private equity firm L Catterton, which is backed by the luxury conglomerate LVMH, bought a controlling stake in the company.

Part of the reason for its popularity is its simplicity. “Every race follows the same structure, so participants know exactly what they are preparing for and can easily compare their results over time or compare performances with other competitors,” explains Joshua Davidson, lecturer in clinical exercise science at the University of Derby.

The inclusion of doubles and relay categories, he adds, means that training can be a sociable experience – but most importantly, Hyrox has “successfully leveraged the immense power of social media to drive engagement”, connecting with an audience “for whom fitness is not simply exercise, but part of their lifestyle and identity”. In our digital-focused world, “the

ability to document and share an achievement adds another layer of motivation and status", Davidson adds.

And so events like Hyrox become not only physical tests, but social signals. Sporting achievements act as badges of discipline and resilience, and membership of a community is associated with having those qualities.

We're currently in an era in which many of us live very sedentary lifestyles; in 2024, one study found that around three-quarters of Brits are not hitting the NHS guidelines of 150 minutes of exercise per week. Hybrid fitness is certainly “encouraging lots of people to get active and to get active in different ways”, says fitness expert and StrongLikeMum founder Shakira Akabusi, thanks to its focus on different disciplines.

Something that has motivated “many people to train with greater purpose and consistency”, as Tom Williams, head of performance and strength and conditioning coach at Pure Sports Medicine, puts it, is certainly not to be sniffed at. Hyrox also gives participants “a meaningful target that keeps them engaged”, he notes, so that they won’t just view exercise “as something they ‘should’ do”.

The danger is that some individuals begin to see warning signs such as excessive fatigue, illness, injury or poor recovery as obstacles to ignore

Tom Williams, head of performance, Pure Sports Medicine

Although Hyrox is a fairly new phenomenon, intense fitness challenges aren't. Marathons, triathlons and endurance cycling events have always been very popular, says Dr Hugh Coyne, a private GP and co-founder of Coyne Medical. But what has changed significantly, he notes, is “that people’s performance expectations have increased. When I was growing up, just

completing a marathon seemed extraordinary. In my early career as a doctor, doing a four-hour marathon seemed extraordinary. Now people are frequently targeting three-hour marathons.”

Hyrox and its various imitators have arrived at a point when it has never been easier for us to brag about our sporting achievements online (surely we all know a Strava bore who is obsessed with optimising every metric on their “casual” 5k – if you don’t, that bore is probably… you).

It’s creating a culture where it can seem like everyone is smashing out PBs on their lunch break, competing in half-marathons every weekend, then doing a Hyrox for a bit of light relief. And if you’re not constantly pushing yourself to the absolute limit, it can feel like you’re not doing enough.

Social media, Williams says, “often showcases exceptional performances, extreme suffering, and stories of people pushing through significant discomfort. While those stories can be inspiring, they can also blur the line between resilience and recklessness. The danger is that some individuals begin to see warning signs such as excessive fatigue, illness, injury or poor recovery as obstacles to ignore rather than signals to respect”.

Some aspects of modern fitness encourage contestants to push themselves to their absolute limits (AFP/Getty)

There can be risks in “glorifying excess”, he adds. “Social media tends to show highly emotive snapshots of exertion and suffering while leaving out the months of progressive training, adequate nutrition, sleep and recovery that made the performance possible and sustainable.”

And so there's a danger that “we are having people now enter the space who are skipping the foundational, important things that you need for longevity in sport”, Akabusi says, “and they are instantly going into high-level activity, when they haven’t necessarily put the foundations in place”.

The fitness industry, she notes, seems to “really value power, strength and speed, which is absolutely important, and it should be a goal for many people, but we don’t value stability and mobility enough alongside it. For longevity and health, it’s equally important to prioritise that along with strength and power”.

It's when people attempt to shortcut their way to that attention-grabbing PB that issues start to arise. "From a clinical

perspective, we're seeing more people arrive with issues linked to training errors rather than the event itself," Williams says, noting that the "most common mistake is trying to do too much too quickly".

From a clinical perspective, we're seeing more people arrive with issues linked to training errors rather than the event itself

Overuse injuries, particularly those impacting the Achilles tendon, the calf complex, knees and hips, are common, as are “lower back, shoulder and hamstring issues associated with high training volumes”, running injuries and “fatigue-related problems caused by insufficient recovery between sessions”. All of these, Williams stresses, are preventable, and are not down to some inherent danger in a Hyrox competition itself.

Instead of focusing on race-specific workouts and drills, it's important to build up the skills and capabilities that underpin the exercises, Akabusi suggests. "You want to work on your aerobic capacity and your cardiovascular strength, to be able to keep that momentum up and to run under exhaustion – that first kilometre will feel very different to kilometres seven and eight. We also need to look at your recovery rate – how quickly your body can recover – as well as core strength, stability and grip strength."

Resting in between your workouts and ensuring you have a consistent sleep schedule is important, too – so is training the pelvic floor (especially with last weekend’s scenario in mind...)

Davidson believes we would be better off encouraging a fitness culture that values “education, sensible preparation, consistency [and] recovery” just as much as it “celebrates visible effort”.

Section 2/ Theatre review

Josh O'Connor is a standout in a lacerating takedown of capitalist greed

★★★★☆

‘Challengers’ star fronts a brilliant new revival of the 1937 satire ‘Golden Boy’

Alice Saville

Packing a punch: O'Connor plays the tellingly named Joe Bonaparte (Marc Brenner)

There’s no shortage of mid-20th-century writers laying into the American Dream, but Clifford Odets’s 1937 play effortlessly delivers the knockout punch. It’s a bluntly brilliant satire of capitalism and the way it destroys people who mess with it – chewing them up like drunks who’ve become heedlessly entangled in an escalator. A shirtless, blood-smeared Josh O’Connor is a standout in the Almeida Theatre’s new revival, taking on the title role of an ambitious young boxing star whose arrogance masks his vulnerability in the jaws of a machine he’ll never master.

O'Connor plays the tellingly named Joe Bonaparte, an ordinary guy powered by an ambition to reshape the world. First he tries for violin stardom; his deeply moral (if faintly comical) Italian-accented father, Mr Bonaparte (Stanley Townsend), is extravagantly horrified when he decides to endanger his precious hands in the boxing ring instead. Brutish manager Tom Moody (Daniel Mays) sees Joe's hunger for fame and ruthlessly exploits it, while his nervy mistress Lorna (Hayley Squires) tries her best to manipulate this boy without falling headlong into his trusting eyes. Joe is weighed up and sold up like a prize bull, and he's intelligent enough to feel the humiliation.

Director Sam Yates takes a heavily stylised approach to Odets's rich, symbolic play, and it's exactly what's needed. A string quartet hymns the power of art and refinement, framed like an Old Master in a raised niche in the wall. Isobel Waller-Bridge's compositions thrum and clank like an old factory, redolent of corruption and cruelty.

In lyrical, richly crafted passages, Odets shows how his characters are destroyed by their uncontrolled hungers for the gleaming trappings of a rising nation

The businessman's neat, clean suits are a jarring contrast to the wounded animal body they profit from. This is a symbolic fight between moral right and immoral wrong, which doesn't leave much room for ambiguity – art and activism are good, money-grubbing and fighting are evil. But who needs subtlety when you've got Zubin Varlin playing a gay-coded financier who swishes his satin-lined coat like a midcentury Maleficent: “I'd like to get a piece of that boy,” he declares, with entertaining rapaciousness.

If “greed is good” was the unofficial mantra of 1980s America, the speeches in Odets’s Depression-era play have precisely the opposite message. In lyrical, richly crafted passages, he shows how his characters are destroyed by their uncontrolled hungers for the gleaming trappings of a rising nation. “These cars are like poison in my blood,” says Joe, whose father has a gentle fondness for the horses that still pad through New York’s streets.

The plays of Tennessee Williams are endlessly revived, and not least at the Almeida. His predecessor Odets's approach to theatrical realism doesn't have the same psychological intricacy, but it's got something enjoyably different. These people don't languish in sweltering Southern drawing rooms, regretting the things they coulda shoulda done. They hurl themselves at an inhospitable world like prisoners scrambling desperately up a perimeter wall, hoping for something better in the unknown beyond. Yates's superlative production throws everything it can at this savage play, making its text ripple through an operatic sonic universe. And in the middle of it is a refreshingly punk message about integrity: sell out enough, and you'll be so broken that no one will want to buy you anymore.

'Golden Boy' is at the Almeida Theatre until 31 October

Section 2 / Film review

A funny, delirious reboot that's exactly like playing a great video game

★★★★☆

Zach Cregger's Resident Evil is both faithful to the blockbuster video games that inspired it – yet it features enough bloody elegance to satisfy non-gamers

Clarisse Loughrey

Austin Abrams in Zach Cregger's ‘Resident Evil’ (Sony Pictures)

The recent spate of video game adaptations have so far failed to capture a crucial aspect of the medium: the experience is determined entirely by the player. And sometimes the player is really, really crap at the game.

It’s a tonal quirk that makes Zach Cregger’s reboot of Capcom’s blockbuster game series Resident Evil a funny, delirious symphony of cartwheeling, flesh-and-bones zorbing balls and exploding blood bubbles for the non-gamers, and a pointed meta-comedy for the gamers about how everyone thinks they're a zombie executioner extraordinaire until they miss five consecutive headshots and then somehow die to a rat.

It’s far more faithful to the survival horror mechanics of its source than the earlier Milla Jovovich-led films, yet isn’t suffocated by fan service like the flop 2021 reboot Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. More importantly, it feels thoroughly like a film by Zach Cregger, as skilled in its momentum as Barbarian (2022) and last year’s Oscar-winner Weapons, proving that subtle, psychological work isn’t always the superior horror when you have a filmmaker who can deliver a jump-scare shock with this much elegant panache.

Weapons's Austin Abrams plays Bryan, a medical courier about to clock out and head home to figure out his future in the wake of an unplanned pregnancy. He's offered a job for double the pay if only he'll drive up the mountains to Raccoon City General Hospital and deliver a high-priority package. Life, he decides, can wait. Out on the road, in the snowy dark, he hits a woman with his vehicle whom he believes to be in extreme shock.

Cregger and his co-writer are interested too in the more niche, and sometimes sillier, aspects of video games (Sony Pictures)

Of course, that's not the case. She's chock-full of the T-virus, which turns its hosts into disgusting, ravenous mutants. So far, so Resident Evil. Only, Bryan isn't quite the expected everyman who rises heroically to the occasion. Bryan is the guy being controlled by someone who just picked up the game. He sprints around in little Scooby Doo-style circles while being chased. He fails repeatedly to open locked doors. He tosses away items he'll need later. When faced with an electric fence, you get the sense this is where the game would throw up the tutorial prompt, "press x to jump".

It’s to Abrams’s real credit that Bryan remains comedically frustrating as opposed to an outright irritation. He’s likeable with a small, tragic streak, though Cregger only once oversteps the film’s meta qualities by having him confirm out loud that he’s a gamer whose combat skillset is entirely virtual. Elsewhere, he subtly replicates the narrative flow of a Resident Evil game by allowing his camera to scan new locations, so that the audience always learns new information in tandem with Bryan, with occasional switches to a more direct, first-person view.

That's the bread-and-butter part of the adaptation. But Cregger and his co-writer Shay Hatten are interested too in the more niche, and sometimes sillier, aspects of video games, from the way their location-to-location-based narratives instil an instant sense of dread when Bryan realises the only path forward is through the maternity ward (well, nothing good is going to happen in there, is it?) to a scene where ever-reliable Paul Walter Hauser crops up to deliver crucial mission information from the front seat of a car while Bryan is driven between locations.

Resident Evil, then, is about as faithful as can be to the experience of sitting down to actually play one of these games. Unless you're a god with a controller, it's a strange, delightful concoction of sublime ridiculousness, dangerously elevated cortisol levels, and the ever-escalating fear you're about to come face with the most disgusting sentient meat patty your mind could ever conjure. For Cregger, I imagine, that counts as mission completed.

Dir: Zach Cregger. Starring: Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Paul Walter Hauser. Cert 15, 90 minutes

'Resident Evil' is in cinemas from 18 September

A disappointing portrait of malevolent idiocy and empty anger

★★☆☆☆

England 'Til I Die follows one man's descent into a local anti-immigration movement Louis Chilton

(Channel 4)

Crowborough, East Sussex is the sort of town you're unlikely to know about, unless you live near, or within, its borders. It is a town with a population that is, per the last UK census, 95.5 per cent white, and more than 50 per cent Christian. As one Crowborough resident notes in Channel 4's one-off documentary England 'Til I Die, it was a town "famous for Winnie the Pooh and Arthur Conan Doyle, and nothing really happened here". She's using the past tense because this year, Crowborough found a newer, uglier type of fame: as a hotbed of anti-immigration protests, following the government's decision to house around 500 asylum seekers in a former army barracks there.

England 'Til I Die runs for about 50 minutes, and focuses primarily on Liam Tomsett, a utilities manager who co-leads the anti-immigration group Crowborough Says No. We watch as the town becomes increasingly fractured and combative, in footage captured during protests and public confrontations. There are also interviews with Tomsett himself, as he becomes an increasingly prominent, and increasingly radical, figure in the local movement. It is very in the moment, a story unfolding in real time. There is a lot of footage of asylum seekers being yelled at, of Crowborough residents being either tacitly or openly racist and islamophobic. This is a grim and shameful slice of modern Britain: you watch it and despair. That the doc airs a matter of days after the violence in Portsmouth, where baclava-clad far-right protesters clashed with police, underscores just how widespread the problem is.

And yet, I'm not entirely sure what England 'Til I Die wanted to achieve. Filmmaker Jamie Roberts does a pretty decent job of making the “activists” look as bad as they are — like small-minded, unreasonable thugs, using concern for the safety of women as a pretext for rank xenophobia. Tomsett is unable to really justify or articulate his stances, but says he will never be swayed from them. At one point, he discusses his belief in

replacement theory, a popular white nationalist talking point, and his conviction that a secret cabal of “globalists” are trying to “replace” the white population with foreigners. Asked about their supposed motives, he simply replies: “I don’t know.”

Bar one short clip of the repellent agitator Katie Hopkins, the documentary spends basically no time exploring the factors that are driving and intensifying far-right movements like these. Tomsett, a Tottenham Hotspur fan, admits to the crossover between football lad culture anti-immigration protest groups. It is mentioned briefly that his father recently died; the role that crises of masculinity play in movements like these is left entirely for the viewer to infer. Absent too is the perspective of the asylum seekers, the voiceless victims of the story.

In effect, what we have, then, is a documentary illuminating a problem that pretty much everybody already knows exists. If England 'Til I Die' is being sold as a study of a man's descent into radicalism, then the end result is ultimately something far more banal. It is a portrait of malevolent idiocy, of empty, petty anger. It is a programme bereft of optimism, one that really does make you feel like this country is broken. That it is, of course. The question is where do we go from here?

Business news in brief

Entain is cutting jobs, blaming headwinds including a rise in UK gambling taxes (AFP/Getty)

Gambling giant set to axe 400 jobs

Ladbrokes owner Entain has announced plans to cut around 400 global jobs, blaming rising tax burdens and warning of further losses amid speculation over plans to double machine games duty in the Budget. The firm, which owns Coral and Sportingbet, has launched a consultation affecting up to a fifth of its 2,000 customer care roles across 11 countries, including the UK, to mitigate UK tax increases. The precise number of UK job losses has not been specified, with the consultation ending by November.

Entain previously cautioned that new UK gambling taxes will have a “massive impact” worth around £250 million. Remote gaming duty rose from 21% to 40% in April, with new general betting duty due next year, as speculation grows chancellor John Healey will raise machine games duty next month. Entain employs 13,000 people in the UK, including over 12,000 across its 2,300 Ladbrokes and Coral betting shops. PA

Daily Mirror publisher Reach cutting 220 jobs

Daily Mirror and Daily Express publisher Reach is axing more than 200 editorial roles as part of an ongoing cost-cutting overhaul that will also see three titles close. In an internal email to staff, the publisher behind a raft of regional titles said it is cutting 220 editorial roles, although 60 jobs will also be created in areas it is focusing more heavily on, such as subscriptions and longer-form video. Commercial teams at the group are also impacted, with around a further 65 roles out of about 500 in that division set to be cut.

Chief content officer David Higgerson said the firm is shutting its KentLive, AberdeenLive and GalwayBeo titles amid the changes. He told staff the group is continuing to be impacted by a decline in Google search referral traffic, as well as increasing competition from the BBC across the regions. Last September, Reach said it was axing more than 320 journalism jobs in what it said was its biggest ever restructure, which followed just months after around 40 staff were made redundant across its sports editorial team. A recent trading update revealed sales fell 9% in the first half of 2026 as page views plunged 40%. PA

Watchdog bans ‘nudify’ ads on Meta

Britain’s advertising watchdog has banned a series of adverts for “nudify” AI apps that appeared on Meta platforms over sex abuse concerns. Paid adverts on Meta’s apps featured “irresponsible” childlike depictions of women in sexually suggestive positions and revealing clothing that “encouraged viewers to view their bodies as sexual objects,” according to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA). It added some of the

adverts “condoned and encouraged digitally manipulating women’s images to create sexually explicit content without their consent”.

It is understood to be the first time the ASA has banned adverts for “nudify” and AI companion apps on social media, and follows warnings from the Joint Committee on Human Rights earlier this week of the risks to women and girls posed by AI. Meta, which owns Facebook, Whatsapp, and Instagram, said all of the adverts were removed before they were reported to them, and said its policies prohibit the promotion of nudify apps or similar services. It added that between November 2025 and January 2026, the company removed more than 344,000 ads on Facebook and Instagram that attempted to promote nudify apps. Nicole Wootton-Cane

Swansea vodka brand bought by Buzzballz owner

Au Vodka has been bought by American drinks company Sazerac in a deal reportedly worth £300m. The Swansea-based vodka brand, known for its distinctive gold bottles and flavoured vodkas, was founded in the Welsh city in 2015 by friends Charlie Morgan and Jackson Quinn. Financial terms have not been disclosed, but Reuters reported the deal values Au Vodka at about £300m (\$405m).

In February, the brand welcomed Swansea City co-owner Snoop Dogg to their headquarters, where they employ more than 80 people. Its products are sold across the UK and a number of international markets. It received an institutional growth investment from Metric Capital Partners LLP in 2022. PA

Sport/Football

How hard-running Koumas has given Liverpool's forwards no excuse

The 20-year-old academy product worked his socks off in the win over Tottenham and has become a symbol of how Andoni Iraola wants his team to play

Richard Jolly Senior Football Correspondent

Koumas was praised by Iraola following Liverpool's win over Tottenham (Getty)

Andoni Iraola has picked the most expensive attack in the history of English football in the last week. He has also singled out a forward for praise, for setting the standards, for acting as a leader. “The energy he shows is contagious for the rest,” the Liverpool manager said. “When you see the runs upfront, giving everything, you are kind of forced to go behind and use the same intensity levels.”

Yet the player he hailed was not the £125m Alexander Isak, the £116m Florian Wirtz or the £123m Bradley Barcola. A footballer who cost Liverpool nothing, who spent last season in the Championship and whose appearances in the second division generally came off the bench lit up Anfield on Tuesday; not in the way Dominik Szoboszlai did, with a stunning strike, or Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo, with fine goals of their own in their Carabao Cup win over Tottenham.

But the man-of-the-match award went to Lewis Koumas; if Iraola had been the judge, the recipient might have been the same. The 20-year-old led the press. “A lot of it is about what I do off the ball,” said the forward. “The gaffer has shown trust to me that I can carry out his plans in terms of how we want to play tactically. I was happy to do that for him.”

Iraola had wanted to see more running from his attack in the lacklustre draw against Fulham. The Basque had been brought in to try and restore the identity Liverpool had under Jurgen Klopp, to rebuild the bond with the fans. The Spurs game, with his frantic feel, stirring entertainment and uplifting end, had the air of an evening early in Klopp's reign.

“I think how I play is ultimately the Liverpool Way,” said Koumas. “We've always been a club where players have to give absolutely everything on the pitch. We're bringing that back now and the crowd are loving it.”

For now, it may make Koumas a symbolic player for Iraola, a role model to costlier colleagues. The Liverpool manager wants industry in attack. He has found a willing worker. For now, too, he seems to have found an answer to Liverpool's shortage of players. Isak is the only fit specialist striker, with Hugo Ekitike and Federico Chiesa injured. In the short term, anyway, Koumas is filling a void, in a way few envisaged; perhaps not even him.

Iraola had intervened to block suggestions Koumas would be loaned out for a fourth time. He went to Stoke for the 2024-25 season and then spent last year with first Birmingham and then Hull. It was not a conspicuously successful campaign, even though the Tigers got promotion. He started 11 league games, came off the bench in 29 more and scored four goals.

But it was a learning process. “The past two years have been massive for my development,” the 20-year-old said. “Going out on loan helped me to become the player I am today. I was able to impress the new manager in pre-season and it's all worked out well.”

Koumas' Liverpool debut had come in February 2024, during an injury-crisis. He scored for Klopp's side in an FA Cup win over Southampton. He had to wait two-and-a-half years for his second appearance. No wonder, then, that he rationalised: “You never know when your last time on the pitch for Liverpool is going to be. I just try to leave everything out there every time.”

Koumas is getting opportunities ti play under new boss Iraola (Getty)

But after that long wait for a second game, the milestones have come: a Premier League debut at Newcastle, a Champions League debut against Atletico Madrid. “I would have thought I was dreaming,” said Koumas. “It's crazy. But I'm just really happy and very grateful for the opportunities I've been given.”

He grew up admiring Gareth Bale, a fellow Wales international, and Michael Owen, a former teammate of his father's in Liverpool's academy. His career comes in the context of being Jason Koumas' son; an enigmatic talent who showed brilliance at times for West Bromwich Albion, Cardiff, Tranmere and Wales but whose considerable talent was rarely seen in the Premier League.

The younger Koumas seems equipped with the right attitude. Take the running that has endeared him to Iraola. “It's definitely something the manager is trying to instil but it's also me through and through,” he said. It symbolises his determination. “A lot of hunger can be lost in the game with how things go,” Koumas said.

“But for me coming through the pre-academy and right through the academy, my hunger has always been there. I never showed a weak mentality about how the future would look for me at Liverpool. I always had the drive that I would get here. The reason for going out on loan was to prepare for this moment. It all sort of worked out.”

Sport/Comment

Kenya has a doping crisis – why is it hosting World Athletics finals?

Nairobi beat London and Rome for the right to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships in a historic first for Africa, writes Lawrence Ostlere. But Kenya is a problematic host

Albert Korir, who won the 2021 New York City Marathon, was banned for five years (Getty)

here are currently 148 Kenyan athletes serving doping bans, second in number only to India, according to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU). Some of their excuses have been breathtaking. Ruth

Chepngetich, who broke the marathon world record by a staggering one minute and 57 seconds in Chicago two years ago, said she must have been contaminated when taking her housemaid's medication after feeling hot. Emmaculate Anyango blamed mysterious hospital injections after fainting. Eglay Nalyanya and Betty Lampus both submitted fake medical records signed by different imaginary doctors at the same hospital.

Wilson Kipsang was a personal favourite. The former marathon world record holder told the AIU that he missed a fourth drug test because he had been held up by an accident on the road, caused by a landslide in heavy rainfall near the city of Nakuru. Kipsang submitted a photo of an upturned truck by way of explanation. But investigators found that rainfall around Nakuru leading up to the day in question had been unremarkable and unlikely to cause a landslide. They also discovered that the photo Kipsang claimed to have taken that day was actually of a road traffic accident that happened three months later.

Perhaps the most elaborate was Lawrence Cherono, a two-time major marathon winner and one of the fastest men to ever run 26.2 miles. Cherono initially blamed a doctor for injecting him with an unknown substance, then pivoted to blaming his “jealous” training partners for a dark plot to trap him. Finally, he landed on a third explanation: his wife had accidentally given him the wrong tablets. Cherono submitted forged medical documents with a handwritten prescription and a fake photograph, and it took the AIU two years to prove he was lying.

At which point, as absurd as these stories are – and there are many more – it becomes a little bleak. The AIU continues to pour time and money into investigating endemic doping in Kenya. Only last week, marathon runner Caren Chelagat was banned for four years after testing positive for the banned substance norandrosterone. Clean athletes are repeatedly suffering from rampant cheating, losing both earnings and career-defining results.

Ruth Chepngetich celebrates after crossing the finish line to win the 2024 Chicago Marathon (Getty)

Dig beneath the surface of the feeble excuses and there are patterns here: the fabricated records requiring medical knowledge, the elaborate cover-ups, the coaches and managers linked to the same guilty athletes. They point to the influence of organised crime groups, preying on athletes who are desperate to make life-changing sums of money and who quickly become hooked on high performance. Though perhaps not very well-organised crime, given so many athletes are getting caught in the AIU's testing net.

The issues in Kenyan athletics run deeper than doping alone. World Athletics continues to investigate a number of athletes over allegations of age cheating. Then there are the cases of harassment and violence against female athletes in the country, most horrifyingly in the murders of Agnes Tirop, Damaris Muthee Mutua and Rebecca Cheptegei. A recent study of Kenyan women in sports found that 69 per cent of respondents had experienced or knew someone who had experienced sexual and gender-based violence.

So against that backdrop, this week's decision to hand the 2029 World Athletics Championships to Nairobi is not a great look for the sport. Nairobi impressed World Athletics chiefs with an emotional pitch built around being the first African nation to host the prestigious event, and certainly it should have been staged on the continent before now. Nairobi's bid also played on the fact that 2029 will be the final edition to include the marathon. Kenyan great Sabastian Sawe, the current men's world record holder in the marathon and first man to break two hours in an official race, actively encourages drug testing and could well win the men's race on home soil.

Sabastian Sawe become the first athlete to break the two-hour barrier when he won the 2026 London Marathon (Ian Walton/PA)

London, which spent £45m on its failed bid, and Rome were overlooked, while Munich will stage the following World Championships in 2031. But before then, the sport's biggest event is heading to a distance-running hotbed in a country rife with doping, a plague that still rages despite efforts by World Athletics, Athletics Kenya and the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya.

Naturally, the increased scrutiny on Kenya, which was labelled a category A high-risk country by the AIU in 2018, has weeded out positive results, which suggests the anti-doping system is working. But the optics are still the same. Once major marathon champions like Albert Korir and Diana Kipyokei failed tests, then every impressive Kenyan time, every exciting rising star, was treated with suspicion.

Kenyan athletes will be more motivated than ever to reach the top of the sport over the next three years with an African championships on the horizon, which could lead more athletes astray. Let's not pretend the cheats have all been caught, or that they ever will be. "Intentional dopers at elite level are evading detection," admitted AIU chair David Howman last year. No doubt some who escape the testers will be competing at their home Worlds in 2029.

Sports news in brief

Tuchel on Argentina's ‘f*** it football’

Thomas Tuchel has opened up on England's World Cup semi-final capitulation and how Argentina's “f***-it football” left his team “waiting for death”. England achieved their best World Cup finish since 1966 this summer, taking home bronze after defeating France 6-4 in a thrilling third-place play-off in Miami. However, their campaign was defined by gut-wrenching semi-final failure against Argentina, which saw England surrender a lead to the defending champions before losing in stoppage time.

The tide of the match seemed to shift in Argentina's favour after Tuchel went heavily defensive, going to a back-five by bringing on Ezri Konsa with 20 minutes to play, before having the team sit back. Tuchel received a torrent of criticism for his tactical decision-making, something that was highlighted as his outstanding quality when he was appointed England boss, and the German has now reflected on the “agony of epic proportions” he experienced on that night in Atlanta.

After taking the lead through Anthony Gordon in the 55th minute, Tuchel felt that an Argentina counter-attack - one that was snuffed out by Djed Spence's famous sliding challenge - led to a psychological change for England, which brought about their downfall. "It did something to me, it did maybe something to the players, and we suddenly shift into a mindset, 'Let's just overcome it'; that's how we played." he told Daniel Sturridge in the FA's Reflections documentary. "We played like there are four minutes left, but it was actually 30-40 minutes left to play. Will Castle

Fitzpatrick ‘not comfortable’ playing in Middle East Matt Fitzpatrick has admitted he wouldn’t be comfortable playing DP World Tour events in the Middle East due to ongoing conflict in the region. The finale of the 2026 DP World Tour season sees back-to-back events in the United Arab Emirates, with the Abu Dhabi Championship scheduled for 5-8 November and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai a week later. However, these events appear to be under threat given the volatile nature of politics in the region at the moment, not least the Iran war.

“Being completely honest as things stand right now, I would say I’m not that comfortable [playing in the Middle East],” said Fitzpatrick. “No, I wouldn’t be that comfortable.” Luke Baker

City case guilty of ‘incredible delay’ says barrister Leading sports barrister Nick De Marco has highlighted the “most incredible delay” in reaching an outcome in the key Manchester City legal case. It has been two years to the day since an independent commission hearing began to examine more than 100 charges laid against City by the Premier League in relation to alleged breaches of its financial rules. City strenuously deny any wrongdoing.

De Marco, who has worked on a number of high-profile football cases, including on behalf of Leicester in their dispute with the Premier League over alleged rule breaches, said: “It is a most incredible delay. So much for those who argue that one of the advantages of sports arbitration is it is speedier and more efficient than using the courts....” Premier League chief executive Richard Masters conceded last month the process in the City case had taken longer than he expected but insisted: “It will resolve itself. I literally can’t say a thing about it. There’s only one available option, which is to allow the process to reach its natural conclusion. Jamie Gardner

QA Report - The Independent - 17.09.2026.pdf

Pipeline

• Extraction route: mineru-vlm
• extraction_route=mineru-vlm
• Translation chunks: 54
• Extraction warnings:
• [MINERU-VLM] Successfully extracted via MinerU VLM (batch: 981140e2-480a-454b-91f3-cac43270ec3a)

Non-model Checks

• WARNING: missing numeric tokens from source: 12000, 13000, 250, 320, 344000
• WARNING: Missing proper nouns in translation: Abu Dhabi Championship, Advertising Standards Agency, Alex Croft

Earl Spencer, Alex Croft

Noah, Alexander Isak, Alexis Mac Allister, Alice Saville

Packing, America Getty, American Dream, Analysis

Passport - WARNING: source dates, money, or percentage tokens may be missing

Model QA

经过严格审核，该翻译件整体质量较高，但在关键数字、术语一致性及部分细节处理上存在问题。以下是详细审核报告：

═══ 审核报告 ═══

1. 数字与事实核查 - 问题：译文中提到“塞巴斯蒂安·萨韦...是首位在正式比赛中突破两小时大关的男子选手”。 - 核查：原文为 "first male to break the two-hour barrier in an official race"。 - 级别：[WARNING] - 备注：虽然翻译准确，但这是一个极具争议的体育事实（目前世界纪录在2小时以上），此处应严格忠实原文，无需修改，但需注意此类量级数字的敏感性。

2. 术语与一致性 - 问题：在“伯纳姆必须证明...”一文中，译文将 "Andy Burnham" 翻译为“新任首相”。 - 核查：根据标题索引和正文，Andy Burnham 是一个政治人物（通常为市长或地方领导），而文中提到的 "Labour government" 和 "Sir Keir Starmer"（基尔·斯塔默爵士）才是中央政府层面。原文中 "But this new Prime Minister cannot..." 实际上是指代前文提到的政府领导层或特定语境下的领导人。但根据常识和上下文，Andy Burnham 并非英国首相（PM 是 Keir Starmer）。 - 级别：[BLOCKING] - 备注：将地方政治人物或非首相人员译为“首相”属于严重的身份错误，会误导读者对政治结构的认知。

3. 翻译完整性与残留 - 问题：在“搜寻失踪三岁男孩...”一文中，出现“公众 outpouring 的支持”。 - 核查：原文为 "The outpouring of public support"。 - 级别：[WARNING] - 备注：典型的未翻译残留（English residue），应译为“公众倾注的支持”或“汹涌而至的支持”。

4. 交付标签与格式 - 问题：译文中多次出现 ( ) 空括号，例如“...印度教宗教游行‘Jal Yatra’期间，象夫与装饰华丽的大象一同等待（）”。 - 核查：对应原文图片说明中的 (Getty) 或 (PA Archive) 等版权标签。 - 级别：[WARNING] - 备注：虽然不是内部清理标签（如“此处为...”），但空括号影响报纸排版美观，应统一处理为“（图片来源：XXX）”或直接删除。

5. 幻觉核查（Hallucination Check） - 核查项：译文中提到的“巴勒斯坦行动”（Palestine Action）和“爱国平台”（Patriot Platform）。 - 步骤1：在标题索引中搜索 $\rightarrow$ 匹配成功（# No 10 urged to ban Patriot Platform...）。 - 步骤2：在抽样原文中搜索 $\rightarrow$ 匹配成功。 - 结论：[FALSE_POSITIVE] $\rightarrow$ 内容真实，非幻觉。

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═══ 最终判定 ═══

判定结果：发现 [BLOCKING] 级别问题。

核心缺陷： - 身份误译：将 Andy Burnham 译为“新任首相”，严重违背事实且误导读者。 - 语言残留：正文出现 "outpouring" 未翻译。

建议： 立即修正政治人物身份称谓，并清理所有英文残留及空括号。

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═══ 自愈质检微创修复记录（Self-Healing Audit Trail）═══

• 成功修复分块 #13（共修复 1 处问题）
• 成功修复分块 #28（共修复 1 处问题）