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|今年夏季苍蝇泛滥的原因是什么？

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|英格兰的荣耀：60年前的今天，已是天壤之别  体育

| | |---|---|---| | |Thursday 30 July 202

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£3.50| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |科特雷尔在母亲向改革英国党捐款前数日向其转移 $2m

独家报道 Anna Isaac

卫报 获悉，被定罪的诈骗犯 乔治·科特雷尔 在其母亲 菲奥娜·科特雷尔 于 2024 捐款的前几天，向其转移了总计 $2m 以上的资金。

金融业人士告诉 卫报，菲奥娜·科特雷尔 收到了一笔 $1.4m (£1m) 的存款和两笔每笔超过 $300,000 的款项——当银行人员询问这些存款时，她将这些钱归功于其儿子 乔治。

卫报 获悉，每次转移都发生在 菲奥娜 直接向 改革英国党 捐款，或通过该政党的筹款机构 英国意味着商业 捐款前的 24-72 小时内。

据消息人士称，这些大额资金在进入 菲奥娜·科特雷尔 的账户之前，经过了总部位于美国的加密货币交易所。这些平台允许将加密资产兑换为硬通货，如美元或英镑。其中一些是通过货币兑换服务路由给她的。

伦敦警察厅 正在调查 改革英国党 的资金来源，重点审查是否存在企图掩盖捐款最终来源的行为。

这些披露将增加 改革英国党 及其领导人 奈杰尔·法拉奇 面临的质疑，自从 卫报 揭露他收到了加密货币亿万富翁 克里斯托弗·哈博恩 £5m 的馈赠以来，他的财务状况一直处于聚光灯下。

菲奥娜·科特雷尔 是 2024, 该党最重要的捐赠者之一，进行了秘密和公开的捐赠。她在 2024 年 5 月捐赠了两笔 £250,000 的款项，这些款项已透明地披露给 选举委员会。现可透露，在此之前，她收到了其儿子转移的 $318,878 和 $328,815。

正如 卫报 首先揭露的那样，她在 2024. 6 月还向 英国意味着商业 捐赠了 £1m 以上，该公司由该党的副党魁 理查德·泰斯 控制。该笔转移在当时并未正式申报，且

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英格兰半数地区宣布进入干旱状态

Pippa Neill

环境署表示，在冬季洪水之后，英格兰半数地区已正式进入干旱状态，且 7 月将成为有记录以来最干燥的月份。

由于异常低降雨量和高温，此次“闪电干旱”迅速形成。

处于干旱状态的七个区域为：东英吉利 (East Anglia)、赫特福德郡 (Hertfordshire) 和整个伦敦、泰晤士河谷 (Thames Valley)、汉普郡 (Hampshire) 和怀特岛 (Isle of Wight)、德文郡 (Devon) 和康沃尔郡 (Cornwall)、西米德兰兹 (West Midlands)，以及威塞克斯 (Wessex)（涵盖多塞特郡、萨默塞特郡、威尔特郡和格洛斯特郡南部）。

环境署水务总监兼国家干旱小组主席 Helen Wakeham 表示：“炎热干燥的天气意味着我们目前用水的速度超过了自然补水的速度。

“连续第二个夏季出现干旱是一个极其严重的情况，这将对我们的环境和野生动物产生深远影响。

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▲ 伦敦布莱克希斯 (Blackheath) 全圣教堂附近的焦黄草地，是英格兰南部大部分地区的典型景象 | |伯纳姆将三叉戟核计划置于英国更新的核心

Dan Sabbagh

国防与安全编辑

安迪·伯纳姆今天将前往巴罗因弗内斯宣布核潜艇更换计划的下一阶段，他将把三叉戟核计划的更新置于其重新工业化英国愿景的核心。

这位新任首相打算强调，在坎布里亚郡城镇建造的价值 £31 Dreadnought-class 潜艇等国防项目的支出，是纳税人投资振兴英国各地社区的典型案例。

“确保这个国家的安全是任何政府的首要责任——但安全不仅在于我们建造了什么，还在于谁来建造，以及谁从中获益，”伯纳姆在访问前表示。

唐宁街表示，作为已达成协议的 Dreadnought 计划的一部分，一轮价值 £8.4 的新合同将有助于在 2030 年前在核国防领域增加 18,000 个就业岗位，并在 2035, 年前增加 22,000 名学徒。

“对于全国的每一个年轻人，我想

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摄影：JUSTIN TALLIS/GETT

|内页 30/07/26 每日四版|

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以及经济。我们希望每个人在炎热天气中都能保持安全和水分充足，但我们能节省的每一滴水，都能为自然和农业多留一滴。”

昨天的公告意味着英格兰在过去五年中已有三年经历了干旱：2022, 2025 和 2026 年。

7 月仅实现了预期降雨量的 7%，在英格兰南部更是下降至 1%，且近期没有实质性降雨。德文郡的部分地区已连续 50 天没有降雨。

环境署表示，创纪录的冬季降雨曾有助于补充水库和地下水，但目前水库蓄水量已比平均水平低 7.4%

Priya Bharadia

一名挪威少年被裁定有罪，他前往英格兰是为了执行一项

一场由与伊朗有关联的犯罪团伙下令的谋杀案。

来自挪威斯塔万格的 19 岁青年 约翰内斯·孔格斯内斯·纳特兰 在去年3月同意以 €25,000 (£21,500) 的报酬枪杀一名身份不明的人。在他抵达英国两天后，武装警察在西约克郡哈德斯菲尔德的一家酒店房间内将其逮捕，并缴获了两把枪和弹药。

经过 17 小时 6 分钟的审议，the Old Bailey (伦敦中央刑事法院) 的陪审团在重新审理后裁定他共谋谋杀罪名成立。

纳特兰对裁决没有明显的反应。奇玛-格鲁布法官 (Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb)

将其还监候审，将于10月宣判。

纳特兰在一家披萨店兼职，他被狐步网络 (犯罪组织) 招募，这是一个与伊朗政府有关联的瑞典有组织犯罪团体。

他告诉陪审员，最初他同意参与谋杀计划是为了换取买药的钱，当时认为这只是个“玩笑”或“骗局”。

他说，在意识到自己陷入了该团伙的“困境”后，他计划通过“射击自己的脚”来避免执行暗杀任务。

纳特兰的潜在受害者尚未公开身份。伦敦警察厅 表示，其反恐官员已“发现了大量证据……证明纳特兰完全清楚自己被要求在英国杀人”。

“我要去执行一项疯狂的任务，”纳特兰曾给女友发短信称，“杀一个人会有点酷。如果我没被抓到，我们得庆祝一下。”

当武装警察敲响他的酒店房间门时，纳特兰微笑着出现，身上只穿着一件内裤，并用空手比划着枪杀其中一名警察的动作。

随后，警察在他酒店的床下发现了一个塑料袋，里面装着一把半自动手枪、一把左轮手枪和 19 发弹药。

在纳特兰的审判中，他的一位朋友回忆起一次对话，被告在对话中吹嘘他“将获得大量资金，而且有人将会死去”。纳特兰告诉陪审员，这些话只是“虚张声势”，而他内心其实“非常恐惧”。

“我不是国际杀手，”他说。“我想人们有这种印象，并期待我成为那样的人。但我知道我不是。”

但陪审员听闻纳特兰在被捕后撒谎，并曾尝试在监狱拨打的电话中说服其女友不要提供证词。

公诉人阿里斯泰尔·理查森 (Alistair Richardson) 表示：“事实是，被告是一个内心混乱但危险的年轻人。

一个为了钱而同意在外国杀人的年轻人。”

法庭获悉，纳特兰从 13 岁开始吸毒，并在一家护理之家生活过，在那里他首次接触到一名狐步网络 (犯罪组织) 的青少年成员，随后被引荐给一名被称为“将军 (Generalen)”的招募者。

2025 年 3 月 17 日，纳特兰持有临时护照，乘坐航班从斯塔万格前往曼彻斯特。他被边境执法局 官员拦截，后者允许他保释并要求其乘坐下一班直飞航班回国。

然而，他却乘出租车前往哈德斯菲尔德，在那里领取了 £2,000 现金、两把枪和子弹，以及一辆挂有假车牌的盗窃车辆。他于次日被捕。

纳特兰由一名被称为“特工 47 (Agent 47)”的英语老板控制——这显然是指向电子游戏《杀手 (Hitman)》——此人的身份和行踪目前仍然未知。

尽管近年来多次逮捕高级成员，但狐步网络 (犯罪组织) 仍是瑞典的主导帮派，被认为对该国大部分帮派暴力事件（包括大规模枪击和谋杀）负责。其领导人、被称为“库尔德之狐”的拉瓦·马吉德 (Rawa Majid) 被认为

总部位于伊朗。

在这个时节。几乎一半的所有水库被归类为低于正常水平，其中由 South West Water 运营的 Wimbleball 和

由 Bristol Water 运营的 Blagdon 均处于“极低”水平。

环境署表示

水资源储备“在接下来的几个月内，直到下一个持续降雨期之前，应该足够”。

然而，气象局首席气象学家 Will Lang 表示，目前“几乎没有迹象表明会出现能够对受干旱影响最严重地区产生显著影响的广泛且持续的降雨”。

在英格兰，40% 的人口正处于软管禁令之下，共有七家水务公司——Ainity Water, Anglian Water, Cambridge Water, Southern Water, South East Water,

在这个时节。低河水位意味着洄游鱼类（如大西洋鲑鱼）无法

溯流而上。在牛津郡法林登的 Tuckers Pond，环境署采用了化学曝气法来挽救鱼类，防止其死亡，因为在炎热干燥的天气中滋生的藻类导致氧气含量骤降。

除了缺雨，英国正经历这个夏天的第四次热浪。据预测，气温在昨天达到顶峰，部分地区达到 35C。同样在昨天，一个由气象局现场评估团队核实的英格兰及英国 6 月日最高气温新纪录 38 C 被确认——高于此前报告的 37.7 C。

环境署还指出，水分正在从土壤和植被中蒸发。

最近的分析发现，破纪录的热浪导致河流和湖泊以及土壤和植物中的水分蒸发。由于西欧化石燃料污染造成的全球变暖，这种情况发生的可能性增加了 80 倍，而在东欧则增加了 40 倍。

这种蒸发增加了野火发生的可能性。今年到目前为止，英格兰受保护程度最高的地点共发生了 110 起野火。与此同时，法国和西班牙正在与

“末日般”的野火搏斗，波尔多附近旅游景点的近 4,000 人被撤离。

英国周边的海域也正经历海洋热浪情况。科学家此前警告称，全球海洋高温可能会导致某些物种出现“大规模死亡事件”。

到 2055, 年，英格兰每天将需要额外 50 亿升水以满足公共供水需求。NFU 表示，政府可以采取简单的措施来储存更多水，包括解锁建设更多水库所需的投资和规划变更——自 1992 年以来，英格兰尚未完工任何新水库。

欧洲野火 第 16 页

热浪夏季持续，英格兰半数地区宣布干旱

19, 岁挪威人被判在英国受雇杀人罪名成立

接第 1 页

◀ 南安普敦公共地的田野

直观地呈现了环境署所称的极其严重的情况


摄影：OLLIE THOMPSON/ SOLENT NE S

▲ 纳特兰表示他与该犯罪团伙陷入了‘困境’

Thames Water 和 South West Water

——均限制用水。

绿色和平组织英国分会（Greenpeace UK）最近的研究发现，水务公司

通过渗漏管道浪费的水量是全国范围内软管禁令所能节省水量的五倍。

国家农民联合会副主席

Paul Tompkins

Helena Horton

该慈善机构计划将更多植物移至北部，因为它们在曾一度繁茂的萨里郡（Surrey）正遭受生存困境。这包括其珍贵的杜鹃花收藏，将移至北约克郡的哈罗卡尔（Harlow Carr），以及威斯利（Wisley）的鲁巴布（rhubarb）和醋栗国家收藏，将移至索尔福德（Salford）的布里奇沃特花园（Bridgewater garden）。

绣球花以其繁茂的叶片以及随土壤而变化的粉色、紫色或蓝色花朵，成为英国人心目中的挚爱。

拥有超过 600,000 名会员，这意味着在收到的咨询中很容易发现花园趋势和担忧。

这些灌木在夏季开花，历史上在温和湿润的英国气候中生长茂盛。但皇家园艺学会（RHS）警告称，更炎热的夏季以及本周袭击英格兰部分地区的这类热浪，正使该国南部的这些花卉面临风险。

这家园艺慈善机构正考虑将其位于萨里郡威斯利花园的绣球花收藏，转移到其位于大曼彻斯特和北约克郡的北部花园，预计那里的条件将更加有利，且不会那么炎热干燥。

部分植物生长良好，无花果树和杏树在 RHS 花园中表现出色。香蕉和莲花也在哈罗卡尔开花，

这在 10 年前被认为是不可能的。

RHS 首席园艺师 Guy Barter 表示：“炎热干燥的夏天对绣球花并不理想，尽管受影响最大的主要是大叶绣球类（球花和蕾丝花），尤其是在阳光充足的地点和如我们这里的沙质土壤中。”

RHS 园艺咨询服务数据显示，自 2023, 年以来，关于干旱和高温损害影响绣球花的咨询量增加了一倍多，使其成为高温天气问题中报告最频繁的植物。

RHS 花园总监 Tim Upson 表示：“我们在自己的花园中亲眼看到，在长期炎热干燥天气中，生长在遮荫位置的绣球花比暴露在全日照下的绣球花应对能力强得多。”

炎热天气中使用桑拿？科学家称这可能帮你应对

Community Sauna Baths 表示，

伍斯特大学（University of Worcester）生理学高级讲师 Jessica Mee 博士表示，定期接触高温还会改变人们对热度的感觉以及行为方式。她补充道：“习惯于高温的人在节奏掌控上更合理，补水更规律，并且能更早地识别出自身的警告信号。”

能够增加出汗量和皮肤血流量。

他表示：“益处更有可能与通过定期接触高温而产生的长期适应有关，而不是将桑拿作为极端高温天气期间的一种急性治疗手段。”

随着温度升高，预订量最初有所下降。“但现在我们看到预订量在回升，”她说道，并补充说所有地点均为户外，并配备有桑拿房和冷水池。

对于患有急性疾病或发烧、不稳定型心绞痛、近期心脏病发作或未控制的低血压的人群，使用桑拿和热水浴也存在安全顾虑。Laukkanen 指出，这些人应避免此类接触，直到经过医学评估或治疗。

东芬兰大学（University of Eastern Finland）的心脏病专家 Jari Laukkanen 教授曾对桑拿的健康益处进行研究，他表示

Mee 表示：“热习服（Heat acclimation）是针对温和月份的准备策略，而不是针对一年中最热那一天的应对策略。”

然而，热习服

重复接触高温可以帮助身体逐渐提高应对高温的能力。

可能并非对每个人都同样有效。极端环境研究员 Heather Massey 博士

他补充说，热适应并不等同于热保护。“目前缺乏证据表明，在热浪期间去洗桑拿本身能保护人们免受与高温相关的疾病或其他情况的影响。”

她补充说，在炎热的一天中，一个问题是使用桑拿或热水浴后没有产生实质性的恢复。

“这在运动生理学中已有充分证明，运动员在炎热环境下比赛前，会刻意通过重复的热暴露来提高耐热力，”他说道。“事实上，被动热暴露（如桑拿浴和热水浸泡）也可能产生非常相似的生理适应。”

以及朴茨茅斯大学的生理学专家表示：“这些适应在很大程度上依赖于身体的……”

“你是在一个极有可能已经经历了连续几个晚上睡眠不足、一定程度脱水以及累积性心血管压力负担的身体上，叠加一个又一个的热挑战，”她说。“这正是热相关疾病发生的典型情况。”

◀ 关于桑拿健康益处的研究发现，重复接触高温可以逐渐帮助身体更好地应对高温

Nicola Davis

科学记者

即便夏季气温飙升，桑拿趋势依然在兴起，一些场所将其宣传为避暑之法。虽然专家们对在炎热天气中通过出汗排毒持谨慎态度，但越来越多的研究正在探讨热训练是否能帮助人们为热浪做准备。

Laukkanen 表示，热适应包括更早且更高效的排汗、改善皮肤血流、增加血浆容量以及在随后的热暴露期间减轻心血管压力。

Laukkanen 表示，他鼓励人们在热浪期间遵循公共卫生建议。“定期热暴露不能替代补充水分、在一天中最热的时段避免剧烈活动以及照顾弱势群体，”他说。“这些仍然是最重要的措施。”

“换句话说，定期热

摄影：RICHARD BALL/GETTY

暴露可能帮助身体更有效地调节体温，”他补充道。

Nicola Pegues 是伦敦一家非营利组织的运营主管

4 新闻

乔治·科特雷尔（左）与奈杰尔·法拉奇在 2019, 的合影。据称他在其母亲向改革英国党捐款前不久，向其转移了 $2。

摄影：MARK KERRISON/ALAM

▲ Glenn Gibbins 已被改革英国党复职

科特雷尔在其母亲向该党捐款前几天向其转移了 $2

他通过律师表示，“他的母亲所做的任何政治

社交媒体 Gibbins 因发帖被起诉

捐款完全是她自己的决定，属于她的个人事务”。

菲奥娜·科特雷尔未对 卫报 的多次联系尝试做出回应。乔治·科特雷尔居住在黑山，并表示出于税务目的他在那里定居。他

一名改革英国党的议员因涉嫌对尼日利亚人发表种族主义言论，在社交媒体上发布严重冒犯性信息而被起诉。

被改革英国党内部人士称为法拉奇的幕僚长，尽管该党称他仅是一名志愿者。

来自桑德兰市议会的 Glenn Gibbins， 66, 岁，已被指控

涉嫌违反 2003 , 年《通信法》(Communications Act 2003 )，诺森比亚警方表示。

警方称，该指控与 2024 年的一篇提及尼日利亚社区的帖子有关。警方在 5 月收到该帖子的举报并启动调查。Gibbins 将在南泰赛德

菲奥娜·科特雷尔当年共捐赠了 £1.5。根据 2024 年 5 月和 6 月的汇率数据，这些金额大致相当。

接第 1 页

乔治·科特雷尔在 2024 年向改革英国党提供的唯一申报捐款为 £15,000，用于部分资助法拉奇 12 月前往佛罗里达州的行程，他在那里会见了埃隆·马斯克。

是通过 Oneify（一家澳大利亚货币兑换服务公司）的银行账户转出的。该金额的一半被

两名在 2024 年投票前参与党内筹款的改革英国党消息人士告诉卫报，乔治曾向党内高级人物保证，在投票前的冲刺阶段，会有部分资金汇入该党的金库。其中一名消息人士表示：“他扮演的是某种影子财务长的角色，称他会想办法弄到更多钱。”

几天后，这笔钱由理查德·泰斯直接转交给该党，且未声明其源自菲奥娜·科特雷尔。

与此同时，改革英国党的领导层面临着越来越大的压力，要求其解释个人出资者与政治支持者之间缺乏透明度以及明显重叠的问题。

8月21日在地方法院。

一名北安伯里亚警方发言人表示，此案引起了“极大关注”，并敦促人们“不要在网络和社区中对此案进行猜测”。

现在可以透露的是，消息人士告诉卫报：

• 菲奥娜·科特雷尔的儿子在她在 2024, 6月10日（就在大选前几周）向英国意味着商业（筹款机构）捐赠 £1,075,000 之前，向其账户存入了 $1,400,000。

总计，卫报被告知，乔治·科特雷尔向其母亲的账户存入了：

• $2,047,693。考虑到她在 2024 年向英国意味着商业（筹款机构）和改革英国党提供的捐赠，

卫报最近几周披露，理查德·泰斯从同样向改革英国党捐款的乔治·科特雷尔那里收到了一笔未披露的 £80,000 贷款。

工党党主席布里奇特·菲利普森呼吁改革英国党党魁奈杰尔·法拉奇解释为什么吉本斯在内部纪律处分程序后被恢复职务。

在被问及这些转账时，乔治·科特雷尔的律师表示其客户不作进一步评论。

今年4月，本报还披露法拉奇从该党最重要的捐赠者哈博恩那里收到了一份未披露的 £5 礼赠。

在之前的法律信函中，乔治并未否认向其母亲提供巨额资金。相反，

其中几笔交易

Josh Halliday 和 Ben Quinn

据金融业消息人士透露，这些交易导致银行通过可疑活动报告 (SARs) 向英国国家犯罪局提出了潜在的洗钱担忧。在克拉克斯顿补选后，法拉奇面临议会标准专员的调查，调查其是否应该申报这 £5 以及关于乔治·科特雷尔提供的实物利益的问题。

在自上周接受《电讯报》采访时，法拉奇似乎首次承认他应该在国会议员利益登记册上申报这 £5 :“好吧，也许我应该填一张纸。如果这是我人生中做过最糟糕的事——没填一张表——我想这还不算太糟。”

尽管银行向理查德·泰斯表达了对其资金来源的担忧，但他仍未能就其从乔治·科特雷尔处获得的贷款，以及决定将 £500,000 从英国意味着商业（筹款机构）转至改革英国党的问题做出回应。他指责伦敦警察厅参与了针对他的抹黑活动并向媒体通气。他在 X 上发帖称：“建制派在玩比以往更肮脏的把戏，试图抹黑并诋毁改革英国党的领导层。”

伦敦警察厅对菲奥娜·科特雷尔在 2024 年的四笔捐款的调查已持续一年多。

伦敦警察厅最近几周发表了以下声明：“在收到选举委员会关于 2024 年英国大选前向一个政党捐款的转介后，于 2025年2月启动了调查。伦敦警察厅特别调查小组的侦探正在调查涉嫌违反《2000 年政党、选举和全民公投法》第 61 条的行为。

“目前已向皇家检控署寻求初步调查建议，两名人员在警告下接受了询问。尚未进行逮捕。”

“本节项下的违规行为并非选举委员会（Electoral Commission）可以调查的事项，因此，这属于警方管辖之范畴。”

在被问及改革英国党（Reform UK）是否得到了乔治·科特雷尔（George Cottrell）将找到提供资金途径的保证，以及他是否被视为影子财务主管时，一名发言人表示：“我们完全否认这一点。改革英国党为其严格的捐款审查感到自豪，并始终确保严格遵守《2000年政党、选举和公民投票法》中选举委员会关于捐款的指南，所有捐款均如此。”

黑客从教育部和警方数据库窃取个人信息

……警察部队，也遭到入侵，黑客声称窃取了 135,000 条数据。PNLD 表示，被盗信息涉及“警员及刑事司法工作者，包括其姓名、所属部队或组织及其工作电子邮箱地址”。

一个此前不为人知的自称 ExilSquad 的黑客组织对此认领，并在网上发布了数据样本，这是寻求赎金的网络罪犯常用的伎俩。

政府表示，针对教育部（DfE）遭黑客攻击一事，其正与国家网络安全中心和国家犯罪局密切合作。教育部和 PNLD 均已向信息专员办公室报告了此事件。

根据《卫报》（The Guardian）看到的一条消息，黑客要求教育部和 PNLD 支付款项，以换取不公布所有数据。消息指出，如果教育部、PNLD 和其他黑客攻击受害者不支付一项未披露的款项，全部数据将被公开上传。

根据黑客设立的网站，已有超过 600,000 行数据从……被盗。

Dan Milmo Vikram Dodd

一名教育部发言人表示，已采取“迅速行动”以控制事态。他们表示：“涉及的信息仅限于与个人和组织相关的客户服务联系详情。没有其他数据被访问。”

该部门表示，该数据库不持有机密的受害者、证人或犯罪者信息，但补充称，部分使用其“咨询警方”（Ask the Police）服务的公众姓名和地址……

教育部的客户帮助门户网站，包括工作人员和家长的全名及联系方式。此外，从该部门管理留学计划的 Turing 门户网站中还窃取了一小包类似数据。

一次网络攻击针对教育部和一个警方数据库，导致超过 740,000 条数据泄露。

政府官员、

均在被盗数据之列。

“我们要求你们支付的款项，与你们数据泄露后的诉讼成本相比，仅仅是一个四舍五入的误差。聪明点，付钱吧，”消息内容如此写道。

据了解，客户帮助

学校领导、大学工作人员、警员和公众

尽管令人尴尬，但警方法律数据库的泄露被认为并不严重。

门户网站的数据包括互不关联的数据集，无法轻易将彼此连接。

为英国提供法律援助的警察国家法律数据库（Police National Legal Database）

均已受损。

2026年7月30日，星期四 卫报 • “板球界的阿根廷” 5 名索特本居民谈作弊丑闻 第 7 页

Glen Hansard

爱尔兰歌手去世，享年 56 岁，各界纷纷悼念 第 19 页

英格兰和威尔士的人口增长率触及疫情以来最低点

V&A东区仓库员工就厕所休息时间争议投票决定罢工

……为收入高于生活工资的员工加薪，银行假期工作获得 1.5 倍薪资，在 12 个月内获得伦敦生活工资雇主认证，以及改善 V&A 东区场地的食物供应。

在 V&A 博物馆各馆，83% 的投票者支持采取罢工行动，投票率为 82%，且 95% 的投票者支持采取低于罢工的行动。任何工业行动的具体时间尚未决定。

工会要求每天提供两次有薪休息时间，并表示员工在被描述为“极其繁重”的日程安排中，需要时间使用洗手间和补充水分。工会称，一项集体申诉未能为一项“极其合理的惯例有薪休息请求”赢得支持，而该组织其他地点的员工则享有此项权利。

“我们经历了严重的脱水情况，有时人们甚至一整天都不去洗手间。”

Nadia Khomami

Prospect 工会的总书记迈克·克兰西（Mike Clancy）表示：“这种展示我们遗产的绝佳新方式，是由那些被剥夺了足够休息时间去上厕所或喝水的员工们实现的。”

艺术与文化记者

V&A 博物馆在东伦敦最新场馆的员工们以压倒性多数投票决定罢工，起因是对他们所称的洗手间和补水休息时间不足的争议。

另一名 Prospect 成员表示：“每天我们去上班，总有人因为脱水而头痛。管理层说我们总有时间休息和喝水。但我们需要有人接替我们，因为我们不能在不监管的情况下离开存放馆藏物品的推车……”

PA Media

“访客们如果得知工会所反对的、出现在亚马逊等公司中的那种工作实践，竟然也存在于一家国际知名的文化遗产机构中，将会感到震惊。”他表示，这场争议反映了博物馆对员工“令人震惊的缺乏尊重”。

数据显示，英格兰和威尔士的人口增长率已放缓至新冠疫情以来的最低水平。

他们将加入伦敦 V&A 各馆员工的行列，后者在昨天就薪资、工作条件以及博物馆拒绝寻求生活工资认证等更广泛争议的投票中决定罢工。

Prospect 表示，许多员工是从当地社区招募的，V&A 曾公开强调这一点，但这些员工受到的待遇却比其他场馆的同事更差。

这种增长放缓在很大程度上是由于进入英国的净迁移量下降，在 2023. 达到创纪录水平后，该数字大幅下降。自然增长（出生人数与死亡人数之差）也略有下降。

“我们是 V&A 最新的部门。我们是后台最多样化的部门。我们很清楚自己是被雇来代表东伦敦社区的，但我们的福利却被忽视了。”

一名 Prospect 成员表示：“我们只有一小时无薪午休时间，尽管我们要长时间站立，与公众互动并从事大量体力劳动。”

贸易工会 Prospect 表示，在 2025 , 5 月开业的 V&A 东部仓库（V&A East Storehouse）工作的成员，在白天被剥夺了足够的上厕所或补水时间。

V&A 已被要求就此发表评论。在之前回应公共和商业服务工会（PCSU）的一次单独罢工投票时，V&A 表示所有员工都可以使用饮用水、洗手间设施并享有定期休息，并指出了在今年夏季热浪期间采取的额外措施，如增加休息时间和员工轮岗。

“休息是一个福利问题。仓库是专为存储物品而建的，但他们没有真正考虑到人性化方面——比如我们在大楼内需要走多远，或者洗手间在哪里。”

在 V&A 东部仓库，100% 的投票者支持罢工行动，投票率接近 88%，而 92% 的人支持采取低于罢工的行动。

根据国家统计局（ONS）发布的估计数据，在截至 2025, 年中的一年里，大约四分之一的地方区域人口有所下降。

此次争议的核心是负责“订购物品”服务的藏品获取员，该服务是该场馆向公众提供 V&A 庞大馆藏访问权限的核心部分。

作为更广泛争议的一部分，Prospect 正在寻求至少 4% 的薪资增长。

威尔士的人口在十年中首次下降，而由于更多的人搬离首都前往其他地方居住，伦敦的总人口也略有下降。

英国国家统计局（ONS）表示，2025年中期英格兰和威尔士的总人口估计为 62 million，比 2024年中期的 61.8 million 增加了 224,900 (0.4%)。

这是自 2020年中期以来最低的增长率，此前经历了一系列更为剧烈的跳升，包括 2023年的 1.4% 和 2024年的 1.0%。

在截至 2025年中期的一年里，英格兰和威尔士的国际净迁移人数（即从英国境外迁入人数与迁往国外人数之差）为 211,700，低于前 12 个月的 612,500。

期间有 588,000 次出生和 568,400 次死亡，这意味着自然增长仅为 19,600。出生人数为 1978年中期以来最低，而死亡人数为 2019年中期以来最低。

据估计，去年英格兰和威尔士约有 709 人年龄在 105 岁或以上，比前一年的 529 人增加了 34%。

英国国家统计局表示，这一跳升是因为第一次世界大战后出生的庞大世代开始达到这个年龄。第一次世界大战于 1918 年结束，随后在 1919 年和 1920 年出现了出生高峰。

在 2025年中期至少 105 岁的人群中，有 629 人是女性，80 人是男性。

英国国家统计局人口统计负责人 Nigel Henretty 表示：“在过去四分之一个世纪里，迁移一直是英格兰和威尔士人口变化的主要驱动力。”

他在 Norah Lopez Holden 饰演的公主以及弗拉门戈艺术家 Pablo Egea 表演时站在她身后。

摄影：TRISTRAM KENTON/ 卫报

“虽然这种情况依然如此，但近期迁移人数的下降导致了自疫情高峰以来最小的人口增长。”

这是在伦敦莎士比亚环球剧院上演的一部以弗拉门戈为灵感的《爱的徒劳》剧作中。导演印第安纳·劳恩-柯林斯（Indiana Lown-Collins）是西班牙裔，她说她“很清楚”在环球剧院的橡木舞台上表演弗拉门戈“听起来会非常不可思议”。

••• 卫报 2026年 7月 30日 星期四

国家

雅典行李箱内发现的尸体为 38 岁英国女性

贾里德·莱托面临四项刑事性行为指控

Helena Smith

雅典

在雅典市中心一座废弃建筑的行李箱中发现的一具尸体已被确认是一名 38 岁的英国女性。

一部新的 BBC 纪录片中共有 10 名女性指控 54 岁的莱托对她们采取了性不当行为。

Nadia Khomami

艺术与文化记者

在发现尸体 11 天后，在警方向外国执法机构发出呼吁后，消息人士于昨日揭开了这个谜团的一部分。

演员兼歌手贾里德·莱托（Jared Leto）在一部 BBC 纪录片中被四名女性指控从事刑事性行为，指控的犯罪行为发生在该女性还是青少年时期。

“我们可以确认，遗体已被鉴定为一名英国女性，”一名知情人士表示。“她的近亲已被通知，”该人士补充道，并确认受害者于 1988 年出生在苏格兰。

据称这些事件发生在 2002 年至 2016 年之间，当时莱托处于 30 岁和 40 岁阶段。他现在 54 岁。

摄影：TAYLOR HILL/WIREI AGE

昨天晚些时候，希腊媒体将受害者命名为伊丽莎白·简·罗斯（Elizabeth Jane Ross）。几家媒体刊登了罗斯对着镜头微笑的照片。

其中一名女性指控这位奥斯卡获奖者在她 17 岁时在一家汽车旅馆的浴室里袭击了她。另一名女性指控他在她 19 岁时，因两人意外地被单独留在酒店房间内，他威胁要对她进行性侵犯。

据报道，罗斯曾飞往

来自美国的希腊人，于 29 June 经由塞浦路斯抵达。她一直住在雅典的朋友家中，朋友报告称最后一次见到她是在 15 July，大约是在法医

第三名女性指控她在 17 岁时与 Leto 在加利福尼亚州发生了性关系，这将被定性为法定强奸。她声称该演员在谈到该州法定同意年龄为 18 岁时“耸耸肩就敷衍过去了”。

科学家认为她被杀害。希腊公共广播公司 ERT

报道称，一名无家可归者于 18 July 在基普塞利（Kypseli）一座废弃建筑中发现了该行李箱，该地区位于雅典市中心，深受外国国民欢迎。

第四名女性指控 Leto 在她 16 岁时多次向她拨打含有性暗示的电话，且至少有一次建议他们应该发生性关系。随后她收到了一份保密协议（NDA），以阻止她谈论与 Leto 的关系，BBC 表示已见过该协议。该女性拒绝签署该保密协议。

该演员兼音乐家对她们采取了不恰当的性行为，其中九人分享了她们

对他行为的不适感。她们指控他有时会邀请青少年女孩去他的后台化妆间或他录音的住所。

如《The Kill》、《Kings and Queens》和《This Is War》等曲目。他们将于明年在伦敦和曼彻斯特演出，作为欧洲巡演的一部分。

BBC 表示，这些故事首次公开披露。该广播公司补充说，它已与“当时被告知与 Leto 接触情况的朋友和家人核实了其中部分女性的陈述”。

警方发言人 Konstantina Dimoglidou 此前表示，目前正在研究闭路电视（CCTV）监控，试图追踪该女性死亡前的行踪。她告诉该广播公司

去年，美国 DJ Allie Teilz 指控 Leto 在她 17 岁时对其进行袭击。在数字时事通讯《Air Mail》的一篇独立报告中，九名女性指控 Leto 存在不当行为。他否认了这些指控。

自 1990 年代起，Leto 就成了一名著名的演员，其早期的主要电影包括《Fight Club》、《The Thin Red Line》和《Girl, Interrupted》。

Skai TV 称，鉴于发现尸体的情况，此事件被视为“刑事犯罪行为”。

该机构表示，在某些案例中，它还看到了“支持这些女性陈述”的照片和信息。

他因在

尽管多次尝试联系，BBC 表示 Leto 尚未对这些指控做出回应。

《Dallas Buyers Club》中的角色而获得奥斯卡奖，并出演了如《Suicide Squad》、《Blade Runner 2049》以及最近的《Masters of the Universe》等热门电影。

当地媒体引用尸检结果称，受害者在被发现前已死亡八天，且“没有证据”显示有挣扎或受伤迹象。

强奸危机中心（Rape Crisis）在英格兰和威尔士提供支持电话 0808 500 2222，在苏格兰为 0808 801 0302，在北爱尔兰为 0800 0246 991。

该纪录片还包含了两个与 Leto 的乐队“三十秒钟前向火星”（Thirty Seconds to Mars）共事过的人员的陈述，他们表示工作人员感到

《贾里德·莱托：好莱坞的黑暗秘密》（Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret）于昨日发行。它

“三十秒钟前向火星”乐队成立于 1998 年，以

共计 10 名女性指控

全国

“不绅士”：北约克郡海滨小镇在“手指弹响”之谜的诡谲球面前陷入沉默

Mark Brown

英格兰北部特派记者

在索尔特本（Saltburn）的60岁以上尤克里里俱乐部里，当人们听到该镇板球俱乐部被比作阿根廷足球队时，反应很明显：一阵大笑。随后，他们兴致勃勃地演奏了一曲《I Love to Boogie》。

在海滨，一名清理垃圾的志愿者正期待着问答之夜，好打听一下八卦。但她有自己的看法。“我只想说，这简直不符合板球运动的精神（it’s just not cricket），不是吗？”

比尔·彼得斯（Bill Peters）是一名退休钢铁工人，他与妻子珍妮特（Janet）从米德尔斯堡（Middlesbrough）来这里游玩。他回想在圣卢西亚（St Lucia）成长并打板球时的情景。他缓慢且坚定地说：“那一定会引发一场大打架。”

索尔特本海滨（Saltburn-by-the-Sea）是英格兰东北部一座可爱的维多利亚时代海滨小镇，这里通常以崖壁电梯（cliff lift）闻名——那是大不列颠目前仍在运行的最古老的用水平衡缆车，尽管它目前处于停运状态。

北约克郡和南达勒姆板球联赛（North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League）。

本周，该镇成为了

当《卫报》访问板球俱乐部时，没有人愿意交谈。在相邻球场准备比赛的网球运动员们直接笑出了声。

一起震惊全球的作弊事件的中心。

这一切始于一段在网上发布的视频，内容是周六索尔特本二队（Saltburn second XI）与诺顿二队（Norton second XI）之间的比赛。视频显示，一名外野手在击球手挥棒击球时弹响了手指。该外野手被指控企图欺骗裁判，使其认为球在被接住前碰到了球拍边缘。

在索尔特本球员庆祝时，可以看到困惑的击球手正在向裁判抗议。

一个人究竟如何能将手指弹得如此响亮，以至于裁判能听到，这令许多人感到困惑。评论员乔纳森·阿格纽（Jonathan Agnew）告诉 BBC Breakfast：“我无法想象。我在 30 码外能听到有人弹手指吗？那个裁判……听力一定惊人。”

这起事件被地称为“弹指门”（clickgate），那名外野手被起绰号为“弹指庞廷”（Clicky Ponting），尽管他的名字叫布莱恩（Brian）。需要强调的是，澳大利亚板球传奇人物庞廷（Ponting）对此完全没有责任，除了他的名字 Ricky 与 Clicky 押韵外，与此事毫无关系。

守门员单局接球的测试纪录是 7 次。

▲ 比尔·彼得斯与妻子珍妮特从米德尔斯堡来索尔特本游玩，他认为如果在故乡圣卢西亚，这种情况会导致打架

谢恩·罗利（Shane Rowley）当时为希尔登铁路队（Shildon Railway）效力，他确信自己成了“弹指”的受害者。当他被判定出局时，他对裁判说：“拜托，求你了。你知道我没击中那个球。我离它远得很。我希望我离它近一点！”

“这简直令人难以置信。我打球 30 年了，从八岁开始，从未见过这样的事情。”

“他们管这叫绅士的游戏，但实际上并不是。”

该视频已被观看超过 700 万次，并被众多新闻机构报道，不出所料，澳大利亚的媒体也报道了。Facebook 上一个幽默的网友评论道：“正式宣布，索尔特本是当地板球界的阿根廷。”

这个故事引发了许多笑话——但如果你是在联赛中打球，这就不是一件好笑的事了。

他没有听到球击中球拍 – “但其他所有人都听到了”，罗利告诉《卫报》。真的听到了吗？

在索尔特本（Saltburn）之前的比赛中，对手是希尔顿铁路（Shildon Railway）二队，在该队以 22 跑获胜的比赛中，wicketkeeper（接球手）竟然完成了惊人的 8 次接球。该男子...

比赛结束后，在经历了 8 次接球之后，罗利（Rowley）表示他们对糟糕的裁判工作提出了投诉。在点击门（clickgate）视频在社交媒体上流传后，罗利说他给一名裁判官员打电话道歉。“我说，我能否撤回本周早些时候所说的话并道歉，并请向裁判们转达我的歉意。”

罗利表示，有三名球员在被接球之前确实击中了球边缘。其他人则发誓没有击中，并感到“绝对愤怒”，包括他自己在内。

“这简直令人难以置信，”罗利说。“我已经打球 30 年了，从 8 岁起就开始打，但我从未在比赛中见过类似的事情。”

说其他俱乐部感到恼火可能还说轻了。纽顿艾克莱夫板球俱乐部（Newton Ayclife Cricket Club）主席伊恩·帕尔默（Ian Palmer）表示，如果属实，这就是“丑闻”。

他补充道：“这些年轻人牺牲了整个周六的时间来打一场板球赛，如果他们被欺骗了，这实在是不太合适。”

这名被戏称为“Clicky Ponting”的球员已被确认为布莱恩·德文（Brian Devine），一名 38 岁的公司秘书，他已经失去了当地一家印度餐厅的赞助。未经确认的报道称，他已被俱乐部停赛。德文在被要求置评时未予回应。

对于索恩比板球俱乐部（Thornaby Cricket Club）前主席、参与该运动 50 年以上的尼尔·图尔森（Neal Toulson）来说，这些指控反映了一种更广泛的病态。“我认为板球运动整体上在比赛技巧（gamesmanship）方面变得糟糕了一些，”他说。“当我还是个孩子的时候——那是很久以前了——除非你认为确实出局了，否则你根本不会申诉。现在每个人对每件事都大喊大叫。而且还有‘垃圾话’（sledging）。”

图尔森说，在低级别联赛板球赛中，通过侮辱或嘲讽来干扰击球手的阴暗艺术——即“垃圾话”——一直存在。

他补充道：“你会以为他们在为钱而战。很疯狂，对吧？我一直严肃对待板球，我尽全力竞争，但与此同时——你要公平竞争。”

图尔森表示，他希望能够进行全面调查，如果发现作弊，结果应该是禁赛。

“这看起来像是个笑话，但并不是。这是作弊。如果这个人被判定有罪，就应该受到惩罚。我见过球员因为自言自语地咒骂而被禁赛，而这比那糟糕得多。”

• 卫报 2026 年 7 月 30 日，星期四

国家政治

▼ 安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）昨天在伦敦的一家养老院谈论社会护理改革

照片：KIRSTY WIGGL SWORTH/AP

首相表示，在讨论协助死亡之前，必须先解决姑息治疗和社会护理问题

议员劳伦·爱德华兹（Lauren Edwards）作为这项私人会员法案的新赞助人，表示他们将推进 9 月份的投票。

……这最初可能包括一种更自愿的方式，或者可以包括一个社会护理系统改革的路线图。

伯纳姆暗示，他的计划可能需要提高税收——

伯纳姆补充说，“在理想世界中”，没有人应该为了支付护理费而不得不卖掉自己的房子，他 2010 年的提案就是为了解决这个问题，因为如果每个人都贡献一点，他们奋斗的大部分成果就能得到保护。

▲ 有指控称，在周六与诺顿（Norton）二队的比赛中，索尔特本二队的一名球员伪造了球击中球拍的声音，这让这座维多利亚风格度假小镇（左图）的许多人感到困惑，包括下方的 60 岁以上尤克里里俱乐部。

所有照片：GARY CALTON/ 卫报

索尔特本和诺顿均未对此事发表评论，该事件目前正由...调查中。

谢恩·罗利（Shane Rowley），当地板球运动员

尽管让 NHS（国家医疗服务体系）和护理系统更具整合性，从而提高效率，在最初阶段会有所帮助——并且他重申，在本届议会期间将坚持执行工党的税收宣言。

“我认为对于经历过这一切的人来说，整个过程是非常可怕的。支付的护理费用却往往换不来足够的质量。在理想世界里，不，我不希望看到那样的情况。”

“我认为利用现有资源可以实现更多。而我今天谈到的事情，特别是关于劳动力的部分，将获得全额资助。我认为通过现有预算可以做得更多，”他说道。

议会，他表示他现在认为优先级应该是改善临终关怀支持。

在 2024 , 他表示，在随后的九年里，由于他的父亲罗伊（Roy）在护理院患有认知障碍，家庭经历改变了他的看法。“我认为我们确实让人们以及他们的家庭承受了太多的痛苦，”他说道。

Pippa Crerar Jessica Elgot

安迪·伯纳姆 (Andy Burnham) 表示，在过去三十年经历了 22 次失败尝试后，如果他允许“尖叫的头条新闻”阻碍他尝试改革该体系，他将永远无法原谅自己。

当该法案的最新版本——该版本已在后议员之间引发了沿传统党派路线的分歧——在 9 月提交投票时，他的谨慎可能会让一些工党议员陷入沉思。

安迪·伯纳姆 (Andy Burnham) 表示，关于辅助死亡的辩论需要等到

“我们希望在最充分意义上完成的一些工作将需要做出艰难的决定……但我们会向人们坦诚对待这些决定。我们会在合适的时间将它们提交给国家，并希望在获得人们同意的情况下推进。”

姑息治疗（palliative care）和社会护理得到解决，随后他阐述了解决英国政治中最棘手问题之一的路径。

当时，他为其支持设定了前提条件，称在任何新法律实施之前，他希望要求临终关怀医院必须得到“适当的资金支持并妥善处理”。

“在这个问题上，请我们能否进行一次基于事实的辩论？能否让人们权衡不同的选项……然后仅基于这些事实得出深思熟虑的观点？”

“我的观点是，那场辩论——我并不是说在某个时间点不应该就这些问题进行辩论——就个人而言，我认为有些事情需要先完成，”伯纳姆告诉记者。

首相表示，他不反对就辅助死亡进行辩论，但告诉记者，在护理系统处于更好的状态之前，引入这一极具争议的立法将“非常有挑战性”。

该法案的支持者，包括

然而，首相表示，生活已经发生了“变化”，在他 2010 年担任戈登·布朗（Gordon Brown）政府的卫生大臣并尝试实现社会护理改革时——当时的选择方案包括对遗产征收 10% 的税款

“我认为这并不算过分的要求，因为我认为公众会给出他们的看法。他们会非常清晰地表明他们认为什么是可以接受的，什么是不可以接受的。”

‘在人们对护理缺乏安心感的背景下，引入更广泛的辩论是非常具有挑战性的’

“那就是解决姑息治疗和社会护理的资金问题。我认为，在人们无法获得此类护理且对此缺乏安心感的背景下，引入更广泛的辩论是非常具有挑战性的。”

这位新首相的言论发表于昨天在伦敦北部一家护理院关于社会护理改革的演讲中，关于这个问题，他曾多次表示准备投入他的政治资本。

他宣布，路易丝·凯西（Louise Casey）

——暗示一种“更自愿的方式”现在可能效果更好。

将把她对社会护理方案的独立审查提前一年，到 2027, 夏季，并且护理人员的公平薪酬协议

伯纳姆已邀请保守党和自由民主党在唐宁街进行会谈，试图在这一问题上寻找共识，并表示他接受自己可能需要做出一些妥协。

当安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）此前担任国会议员时，出于对保障措施的担忧以及人们感到压力过大的顾虑，他在 2015 年的一次关于将辅助自杀合法化的另一项法案投票中投了弃权票。

这将是使该行业向 NHS 标准靠拢的开始。

尽管作为大曼彻斯特市长的安迪·伯纳姆表示，他可能会投票支持一项正在审议的私人议员法案。

新任卫生大臣伊薇特·库珀（Yvette Cooper）将于今年夏天任命一名痴呆症

安迪·伯纳姆 首相

但当这个问题再次出现时，

“我认为有几种看待的方式

顾问。

案例研究 “你只能安静地坐着直到死亡”

◀ 玛丽，最左侧，

素描 约翰·克雷斯 (John Crace)

为了资助她已故丈夫的护理而放弃工作并卖掉了家庭住宅，导致她几乎没有积蓄。左侧是安娜贝尔和她的儿子弗雷德，安娜贝尔说，弗雷德的护理费用部分从他的福利金中扣除，导致他剩下的生活费太少。

我们终于再次拥有了一位领导人——一个准备像对待成年人一样与选民交流的成熟人士。

“我租房住在一些朋友那里，”这位来自肯特郡的 67 岁老人说道。她说，他们曾努力工作以建立良好的生活，而放弃这一切令人沮丧。“我是一个非常积极、有韧性的人，但我认为我经历了一段极其阴暗的隧道，而且几乎没有得到什么帮助。”

克劳迪娅·埃费米尼 (Claudia Efemini)

玛丽的已故丈夫理查德在 2015 年被诊断出患有早发性阿尔茨海默症。

• M

玛丽还必须在照顾理查德与购物、整理账单等日常琐事之间艰难兼顾。虽然她对来自阿尔茨海默症协会等慈善机构的支持表示感激，但她希望有更多的

萨默塞特郡每周从他的福利金中扣除 £147.54 用作护理费，导致他剩下的生活费极少。作为居家护理的提供者，议会有权决定收取多少护理费。

在 55 岁时。她不得不辞去时装设计师的工作来照顾他，每周支付 15 小时的护理费，每年总计近 £27,000。当理查德于 2024 年进入养老院时，这对夫妇被迫卖掉他们在伦敦的房子，以支付每周 £2,000 的护理费用。

感觉英国终于又有了首相。不是那个在犹豫不决中陷入瘫痪的“梅机器人”（Maybot）。不是那个在自身自恋的重量下崩溃的、像小丑一样的鲍里斯·约翰逊。不是那个荒谬的利兹·特拉斯。不是那个被碾压的

I

“如果弗雷德住在

里希·苏纳克，对他来说一切都不可行。不是那个像自动机一样的基尔·斯塔默，他从未完全确定自己想做什么。而是一位具有情感智能的首相。能够理解这个国家并与之产生共鸣。准备投入政治资本地去完成那些其他政治家因过于软弱而不敢触碰的事情。

汉默史密斯和富尔汉姆，那里不收居家护理费，那么他每周会多出 £147；如果在威尔士，他会多出 £47，因为那里的居家护理费用上限是

一个人被诊断出患有痴呆症时，能够帮助护理人员管理财务的指导方案。

£100 ，”安娜贝尔说道。

她认为痴呆症——一种终末期神经系统疾病——被系统忽视了。“如果不是可以用药物治疗的东西，你就会被抛弃。你只能安静地坐着直到死亡，并希望你的朋友和家人能照顾你。”

她认为社会护理需要政府的适当投资。

这是安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）就任以来的首次重大活动。他直接切入了社会护理这一议题——在过去的 30 年中，历届政府都极力回避这一问题。尽管成立了皇家委员会，进行了 22 次审查，但情况完全没有任何改变。因为这太困难，需要做出太多艰难的选择。维持一个失效的系统要简单得多。把问题留给下一任政府处理吧。“对我来说，这是私人的事情，”伯纳姆在北伦敦的 Jewish Care 面对一小群护理工作者和媒体时说道。之所以说是私人，是因为他的父亲患有痴呆症，需要日常护理。

“向领取救济金的人收取护理费，似乎不是一件合理的事情，”她说。

她现在担心孩子们的未来。“这让我夜不能寐。当我的孩子们需要护理时，他们将没有任何积蓄。”

未来，安娜贝尔（Annabel）希望看到社会护理像 NHS（国民医疗服务体系）一样获得全面资助。她对未来感到焦虑；她的母亲患有痴呆症，不得不卖掉房子搬进护理院。然而，弗雷德（Fred）无法自食其力。

玛丽（Mary）很愿意支付更多的税来帮助资助社会护理。“我们为汽车支付保险，没有人抱怨，”她说。“为什么我们不能支付保险，以便在年老时得到照顾？”

“至少她还能卖掉房子，”安娜贝尔说。“如果你天生残疾，你永远不会得到这笔钱。这不应该是我们照顾社会最弱势群体的方式。”

对我们许多人来说，这都是私人的事情。对我来说也是。我的母亲患有阿尔茨海默症，在去年去世前，她在护理院住了七年。我和我的姐妹们不得不卖掉她的房子来支付她的护理费用。我们并不对此感到愤慨。这是必须要做的事情，

安娜贝尔 27 岁的儿子弗雷德在护理人员的帮助下独立生活，这些人员协助他的日常生活。他的当地议会，北

她从主要由海外员工组成的团队那里得到了极好的护理。但如果我的母亲知道我们做了什么，她一定会非常难过。她一直以此为傲，认为能够将房子留给孩子们。

然后我们进入了问答环节。一些媒体抱怨伯纳姆在回避质询。但他回答了所有问题。

分析：帕特里克·巴特勒（Patrick Butler） 政策细节不多，但方向明确，且现场气氛激昂

或者那些对英国摇摇欲坠的成年人社会护理系统未能修复而感到永恒失望的活动人士，他们担心

将其带回工党的第二个任期。

他抵达 10 号唐宁街时承诺，他将以不同的方式进行政治运作，而这次活动是对其他主要政党采取同样行动的挑战。他不会被诱导地透露是否会提高税收，但感觉他已经准备好测试

F

伯纳姆明白这是一个噩梦。他说，有太多不奏效的地方。比如 15 分钟的护理方案。紧急呼叫。床位占用（bedblocking）。那些通过他人不幸获利的护理院。这种随机性

凯西夫人（Lady Casey）关于国家护理服务（National Care Service）的建议将在 12 个月内公布。他承诺将 “100% ” 支持凯西。

那就是安迪·伯纳姆的演讲与其说是“美丽新世界”，不如说是“土拨鼠之日”（指周而复始、毫无进展）。

他没有透露具体形式。凯西将提出资金方案。但这不仅仅是钱的问题：社会护理的质量必须提高，与 NHS 更加紧密地合作，并围绕护理使用者的需求而构建。

政府可能会通过提高税收来修复社会不公。他曾在某处说道：“如果每个人按照 NHS 的原则贡献一点，就意味着每个人都能保护他们奋斗所得的大部分财产。” “现在我知道《邮报》可能以及《电讯报》不支持这一点。但我不知道——人们是否支持？”

谁能负担什么样的护理水平。这是一个最终不可持续的系统。它与美国的医疗系统一样不公平，在那里，最脆弱的人一次又一次地被要求买单。

伯纳姆承认他以前经历过这种情况。早在 2010 年，他在担任卫生大臣期间宣布了

因此将会有三项改变。将审查提前到明年完成。统合社会护理与 NHS 的劳动力。而且，最重要的是，启动跨党派对话。凯米·巴登诺克（Kemi Badenoch）和埃德·戴维（Ed Davey）在周末给伯纳姆写了信，因此他邀请他们参与达成共识。大概奈杰尔·法拉奇没有写信，而更倾向于在场边就“遗产税”指手画脚。

全面改革社会护理的方案，但这些方案最终在右翼媒体的敌意以及关于“遗产税”的争论中崩溃。

将会有对劳动力的投资和关注，提高薪资和培训。他不反对私人供应商（目前英格兰的大部分护理由其提供），但他不会容忍“牟利行为”。需要为无偿护理人员提供更多支持。

新任首相可能会在公开场合大谈如何为一个他心中极其重视的问题投入政治资本，但近期的历史表明，社会护理改革最终总是落入金王基金会（King’s Fund）智库所称的“威斯敏斯特良好意愿之坟场”——在过去的 30 年中，22 次官方审查全部无果而终。

社会护理领域的共识是，这是一个令人印象深刻的开始。“房间里弥漫着一种兴奋感，”一名资深活动人士告诉卫报。“他有无数次机会来降低预期，但他没有这样做。”

接着进入了问答环节。在这里，伯纳姆同样给人带来了惊喜。一些媒体一直抱怨伯纳姆在回避质询。

然而，核心信息关乎政治。他说，英格兰社会护理状况如此糟糕，责任在于他那一代政治家。他们接连回避改革挑战，将刷存在感置于修正不公正之上，并

但他回答了所有问题。没有啰嗦。没有回答那些他希望被问到但实际没被问到的问题。只有直截了当的回答。成年人与成年人的对话。是的，这将很困难。是的，他相信共识——处理大事意味着放弃政治上的得分游戏。而且，是的，尽管部分成本可以通过效率提升来弥补，但在税收方面不可避免地需要做出艰难选择。

伯纳姆简单地界定了这些不公正。他将英格兰社会护理的不平等与私有化的美国医疗系统相类比：“弱势群体付出了所有，最后可能让他们变得一无所有。”

伯纳姆昨天在伦敦北部的一家犹太护理院发表了一次简短且部分即兴的演讲，勾勒出他的宏伟目标。虽然缺乏具体的政策细节，但足以显示一个明确的行进方向。

催生了一种厌恶风险且停滞不前的政治文化。

伯纳姆带着微笑离开。也许这只是容易的部分，即让球滚动起来。但总比忽视它要好。如果他在任期间除了修复社会护理以外什么都不做，他所取得的成就也将超过大多数其他首相。

“我们怎么就陷入了这样一个局面：修复我们彼此之间、作为人类所接收的基础护理竟然变得如此困难？”他问道。

他将加速路易丝·凯西（Louise Casey）对社会护理的审查，该审查在基尔·斯塔默（Keir Starmer）领导下原定于 2028 年完成，实际上是将时间提前了。

一些观察人士说，这一次，他们带着一丝惊讶地发现，出现了明确的政治意愿。出现了一种罕见的希望与乐观气息。

••• 卫报 2026 年 7 月 30 日，星期四

10 国家政治

波兰斯基在伦敦警察厅放弃起诉后，拒绝就照片向法拉奇道歉

向法拉奇道歉。“如果我是故意的，我会道歉，”他说。“但因为这是一个错误，我认为重要的事情是我指出这是一个错误，我也确保我谴责政治暴力，并且至关重要地承诺在我的社交媒体上做得更好。”

Aletha Adu

政治记者

在扎克·波兰斯基（Zack Polanski）分享了一张一名男子身穿印有断头台图案及“我们正为奈杰尔制定计划”字样T恤的照片后，警方将不再采取进一步行动。

伦敦警察厅做出这一决定之前，英格兰和威尔士绿党领袖表示，他犯了一个“无意之错”，且不会向奈杰尔·法拉奇道歉。

改革英国党已向伦敦警察厅举报了波兰斯基。该党内政发言人齐亚·尤苏夫（Zia Yusuf）指责他“煽动谋杀”。法拉奇则要求逮捕波兰斯基。

波兰斯基周二在BBC的《Newsnight》节目中表示，他接受了在Instagram上与一名摄影师“合作”的请求。在一组 20 张照片中，第一张显示的是波兰斯基，第五张显示的是一名穿着该T恤的男子。

该图片随后从波兰斯基的动态中删除，绿党表示该T恤“显然品味低劣”。

伦敦警察厅的一位发言人表示：“我们完全理解人们对这张图片在网上分享的反应，尤其是在对政治家的威胁日益增加的背景下。”

法拉奇在《每日邮报》撰文称，波兰斯基必须“为他令人震惊的决定承担后果”，并补充道：“政治暴力是真实的，是严重的，需要予以处理。”

“失去一份你热爱的工作很痛苦” 斯塔默忠诚者在内阁降职后继续奋斗

“虽然有些人会认为分享这张Instagram帖子图片的人应该受到刑事追究，但我们的审查结论是，在这种情况下，尚未达到起诉门槛。”

波兰斯基在《Newsnight》中强调：“这不是我的帖子——这是一个来自摄影师的合作。它包含 20 张图片，我只是没有仔细查看就接受了。”

波兰斯基多次排除

政治记者

但伦敦警察厅表示，在“进行调查”后，其结论是，在网上分享该图像不太可能构成刑事犯罪。

然而，警方补充说，穿着该T恤的行为应被记录为犯罪，并已将一项犯罪报告移交给负责布里斯托尔（照片拍摄地）的埃文河与萨默塞特郡警方。

“一旦我意识到发生了什么，我就取消了接受并将其删除。我认为警察找我谈话会很奇怪，因为我认为很明显，除了犯了一个无意之错之外，我没有做任何错事。话虽如此，如果警察想和我谈谈，我当然非常乐意配合。”

劳工党主席的角色较为模糊。部分时候是选举策划者、行政人员和政党啦啦队——其重要性很大程度上取决于首相的支持。周一，伯纳姆表示，菲利普森将在让劳工党“在下次选举中与之抗衡”方面发挥“关键作用”。

如果布里吉特·菲利普森（Bridget Phillipson）因失去一份工作而感到愤怒——在基尔·斯塔默（Keir Starmer）劳工党政府成立之初短暂的太平日子里，她将其称为“我一生的荣耀”——那么她掩饰得很好。

劳工党的通讯强调，这一任命显示了伯纳姆致力于建立“一个统一团队”的承诺。菲利普森——这对斯塔默盟友来说显然是伸出的一根橄榄枝。

（菲利普森）在10月担任副党魁，现在接替她的位置担任教育大臣。“那次竞选几乎是一年前的事了。那是过去的事，露西是一个伟大的同事，”她说。“我们一起工作了很多年，她得到了我的全力支持。”菲利普森还希望她能成为斯塔默忠诚者（许多人在幕后并不掩饰他们的愤怒）与伯纳姆团队之间的桥梁。

Alexandra Topping

“如果奈杰尔·法拉奇想为他多次将他人置于危险之中的行为道歉，那么我将很乐意接受他的道歉。”

“我知道人们会有什么样的感受，那些遭受损失的人——我知道这很痛。失去一份你热爱并全身心投入的工作是很痛的，”她说。“但我知道，无论人们此刻感觉如何，他们像我一样希望在下次选举中获胜。”

“失去一份你热爱的工作是很痛的，”她说。“担任教育大臣的经历非常奇妙……我对我那时所取得的成就感到非常自豪。”

呼应称，工党将通过“团结一致”来“为社区带回希望，并增强英国社会抵御那些企图分裂我们的人的能力”。

在被问及该争议时，工作与养老金大臣帕特·麦克法登（Pat McFadden）表示，所有政治人物都有“在发布内容时保持谨慎的职责”。他表示人们可能会犯错，至于是否需要采取行动，将由警方决定。

在安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）对斯塔默内阁进行清理时，这位前教育大臣被撤职，

团结将涉及与鲍威尔和谐共事，正是这位女性在竞争中击败了她，成为了

尽管她比该职位的某些前任（包括安吉拉·雷纳和汤姆·沃森）性格更温婉，但菲利普森坚称她不会“手下留情”。她指出了自己在处理学校特殊教育需求供应改革这一棘手问题上的记录，以及她如何促使斯塔默和瑞秋·里夫斯最终取消了两孩福利上限。“我是独立自主的，我一直相信有效工作有多种不同的方式，”她说。

新任首相于上周就职，她的位置由

伯纳姆的盟友露西·鲍威尔（Lucy Powell）接任。但与一些被冷落的同事不同，

本周的一项全国民意调查显示，绿党的得票率下降了三个百分点，而另一项调查显示该党维持在 13%，远高于去年九月波兰斯基就任领导人之前的水平。

‘我们在接下来的大选中面临着人生中最关键的一战，我们的国家正处于一个危险时刻’

菲利普森并没有离开政府，而是接受了职责范围缩小的妇女与平等事务——目前这是一个内阁职位——该职位她之前是与教育事务共同担任的。

一名绿党发言人表示：“警方已经审查了证据，并得出结论认为没有犯罪行为。这一点从一开始就很明显，同样明显的是，改革英国党一直将其作为政治筹码，出于其自身愤世嫉俗的目的，以转移人们对其自身可疑捐款问题的关注。”

本周在访问剑桥的一家强奸危机中心期间，保留该角色现在看来是一个精明之举。周一，新首相任命这位霍顿与桑德兰南区议员为工党的新任主席。

对抗改革英国党的战斗——在一次选民意向调查中，该党首次在超过 1 年的时间里掉到工党之后，位列第二。

▲ 上图为嘲讽奈杰尔·法拉奇的图片，右侧，该图出现在扎克·波兰斯基的 Instagram 动态中，左侧

布里奇特·菲利普森 工党主席

▼ 布里奇特·菲利普森，新任工党主席，与诺拉·阿尔-安尼在剑桥强奸危机中心

摄影：JILL MEAD/卫报

在这次之后进入议会，”伯纳姆说。“在我们的北约承诺方面，我已经明确表示我们将履行这些承诺。”他补充道：“这意味着要准备面对具有挑战性的问题。”

续接第 1 页

三叉戟核计划成为工业复兴计划的核心 首相

新型潜艇巨型号级 (Dreadnought级) 潜艇旨在取代日益老旧的先锋级 (Vanguard-class) 潜艇，其中一艘始终在海中执勤并携带英国的核武器。现有每艘潜艇可携带 40 枚核弹头，其威力足以摧毁莫斯科及其他几个俄罗斯主要城市。

“……让你们知道，有一条通往重新工业化英国的道路，而这条路就始于我们今天通过这项投资资助的学徒计划，”首相补充道。

潜艇巨型号级 (Dreadnought级) 计划最新阶段的最大份额被授予了巴罗造船厂的所有者 BAE Systems。这家英国国防巨头获得了一项新的 £5.9bn 合同，用于完成四艘新舰中的第一艘——HMS Dreadnought，以便其能在 2030 年代初投入使用。

此次访问也为强化伯纳姆支持三叉戟核计划 (Trident) 的资历提供了机会。首相在 2016, 投票支持建造新潜艇，当时工党就此问题产生了分歧，其时任党魁杰里米·科尔宾投了反对票。

伯纳姆此前与外交和国防政策的接触有限，他在一周多前刚就任，立即倾向于履行北约承诺，即每年增加超过 £25bn 的国防开支，到 2035 达到 GDP. 的 3.5%。

▲ 位于克莱德海军基地的 HMS Vigilant，英国一艘日益老旧的先锋级核潜艇

照片：JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGE

该项工作是总额为 £31bn 的潜艇巨型号级 (Dreadnought级) 计划的一部分，由于该计划极其复杂，其中包含 £10bn 的应急资金以应对超支。由于对该计划规模的担忧，政府采购监督机构已将其列为黄色警报状态。

新任国防大臣韦斯·斯特雷廷和财政大臣约翰·希利也是投票支持的议员之一，尽管

当希利辞职时，他还呼吁将军事预算在 2030. 达到 GDP. 的 3% 作为中期目标，以表明英国致力于实现北约目标。而斯塔默此前仅愿意将比例提高到 GDP. 的 2.68%。

关于其前任基尔·斯塔默是否认真对待该承诺的争论，导致希利于上月辞去国防大臣一职。这进而促使了斯塔默本人的辞职。

伯纳姆团队中另一位重要人物、负责新首相办公室的露易丝·海格投了反对票。

但在昨天的新闻发布会上，伯纳姆拒绝承诺到 2030 达到 3% 的目标。相反，他提到了英国满足 2035, 达到 3.5% 的北约目标的承诺，并重复了斯特雷廷和希利此前发表的言论。

三叉戟核计划 (Trident) 的弹头在伯克郡奥尔德马斯顿和伯吉尔德的 AWE 设计并制造，那里雇佣了 9,000 人；同时，德比市劳尔斯-罗伊斯公司的 4,000 名工人协助制造为潜艇巨型号级 (Dreadnought级) 及英国皇家海军其他潜艇提供动力的核反应堆。

英国的军事核活动目前支持 47,000 个就业岗位，其中 13,500 个在巴罗造船厂。其周边选区在历史上一直在工党和保守党之间摇摆，并在 2024 年上次大选中被工党夺得。

£31bn

潜艇巨型号级 (Dreadnought级) 潜艇计划的成本，No 10 (唐宁街 10) 称其为区域投资的案例研究

“在国防方面，显然这些承诺……与

大曼彻斯特工党预计将在补选中保留市长之位

本周一年——这是一个她反复提及的信息。

以及在 2 月份补选中赢得的戈顿和登顿选区。

“为了在下次大选中获胜，我们正面临人生中最艰苦的战斗，我们的国家正处于危险时刻，”她说。“我们必须使我们的政党和运动现代化并团结起来，向改革英国党发起挑战。”

对于绿党而言，在 2024 年上次曼彻斯特市长选举竞选时，他们获得了 7% 的选票；如果此次选票份额能够翻倍或更多，将证明其有能力在近期形成的城市自由主义权力基地之外进行扩张。

她指责 奈杰尔·法拉奇 及其政党“可耻地”将女性的痛苦武器化，重点关注巴基斯坦诱骗帮（grooming gangs）以及外国人实施的性暴力。她表示：“无论背景如何，无论种族如何，我们都应该追究任何对女性和女孩实施暴力的行为。”

所有政党都将在明天审视选举结果，并以此展望明年 5 月的下一轮地方选举，届时

曼彻斯特市议会领导者，领先 改革英国党 的 Sian Astley 20 个百分点。

Josh Halliday

英格兰北部编辑

大曼彻斯特地区的 10 个自治区将成为争夺目标，这可能会

在 1,000 人的调查中，大部分是在 安迪·伯纳姆 成为首相之前进行的。绿党以 14 票位列第三，略领先于保守党。

今天正在进行英国政治史上规模最大的补选，共有超过 2 million 人

V

给 安迪·伯纳姆 带来选举上的头疼。

改革英国党 将在明年关注对包括博尔顿、威根和罗奇代尔在内的议会的控制权，而绿党则希望威胁工党对曼彻斯特市议会长达半个世纪的控制，目前绿党在该议会中是第二大政党。

菲利普森坚称，尽管 安迪·伯纳姆 至今未提及此事，但工党在政纲中承诺在十年内将针对女性和女孩的暴力（VAWG）减少 50% 的承诺依然有效。她表示，她的角色被设为内阁职位便“证明了他的承诺”，并补充说，部长们将跟踪《英国犯罪调查》中报告的 VAWG 犯罪情况。

此次竞选是由 安迪·伯纳姆 在 6 月 18 日赢得梅克菲尔德补选而触发的，这意味着他必须辞去伦敦以外最强大综合权力机构市长的职务。

▲ 预计工党的 Bev Craig 将在今天的补选中击败 改革英国党 候选人，成为大曼彻斯特地区的下一任市长。

有资格选择 安迪·伯纳姆 的继任者担任大曼彻斯特地区市长。

如此大规模且具有政治意义的补选通常会在数周内占据头条，尤其是直到最近，工党高层还担心将这一关键的市长职位输给

如果最终失败，将是对 改革英国党 的打击。该党在 5 月的选举中在大曼彻斯特地区赢得了超过 100 个席位，包括威根 25 个竞选席位中的除一个外的全部，以及泰姆赛德 19 个席位中的 18 个，而这些地区曾是稳固的工党阵地。

本次补选采用补充投票制，这意味着如果没有单一政党获得 50% 的选票，那么第二志愿的选择将发挥作用。

然而，工党和绿党的竞选人员表示，人们对今天投票的认知度较低，这可能会增加民调机构预测的难度。结果预计将在明天下午公布。

奈杰尔·法拉奇 的 改革英国党 。

改革英国党 的预期得票率在近几周在全国范围内下降——本周，由于 法拉奇 面临对其资金来源的严厉审查，这个极右翼政党在民调顶端首次被工党超越，这是自 2025 年 3 月以来的首次。

在这种制度下，工党被广泛认为具有优势，因为该党更有可能被绿党、自由民主党甚至部分保守党选为第二选择。相比之下， 改革英国党 无法指望如此广泛的支持。

“我对基尔的结局感到非常难过，因为他实现了极少数工党领导人能做到的事情，即从反对党转变为执政党并赢得压倒性胜利，”她说道。但她明确表示，她现在的忠诚对象是唐宁街 10 号的新主人。“我认为支持你党的领导人并支持你的首相是正确的，”她说，“因此，现在 安迪 赢得我们所有人的忠诚是正确的。”

与马克菲尔德（Makerield）、戈顿（Gorton）和登顿（Denton）不同，街道上几乎没有明显迹象表明这样一场规模巨大的补选正在进行，这在很大程度上是因为在一个拥有 2 million 选民的地区开展竞选活动费用极高。

但现在，预计工党的贝芙·克雷格（Bev Craig）将在这次竞选中心中轻松获胜，而这次竞选在很大程度上被伯纳姆（Burnham）迅速崛起成为首相所掩盖。

工党从民调中的“伯纳姆效应”中获益，而改革英国党的焦点已转移到埃塞克斯郡的克拉克顿（Clacton），法拉奇在那里与 34 名其他候选人（包括 Binface 伯爵）进行一场他自愿参与的议会补选。

绿党消息人士表示，他们认为大曼彻斯特地区的民调低估了该党的受欢迎程度，且其支持范围远超曼彻斯特市中心——该党在 5 月份赢得了那里大片原属于工党的席位，且已接近议会[此处原文缺失]。

鉴于部分居民在过去五个月中已投票三次，许多人预计投票率将低于 2024. 年的 32%。然而，即使只有三分之一的登记选民投票，600,000 人的裁决也将值得认真对待。

More in Common 的民调发现：

如果改革英国党获得第二名，工党的领先优势将扩大到 30 points，因为克雷格是大多数绿党成员和相当数量保守党成员最受欢迎的第二选择。

More in Common 周二发布的一项民调显示，克雷格[此处原文缺失]。

任何低于第二名的结果[此处原文缺失]

• 卫报 2026 年 7 月 30 日，星期四

1 全国

▼ “一个长着橙色翅膀的灰色团块”：在萨塞克斯郡拍到的一只迁徙的蜂鸟天蛾

摄影：LUKE BURSTOW

温暖天气导致来自南欧的飞蛾出现次数增加

皇家昆虫学会名誉研究员理查德·哈灵顿（Richard Harrington）表示，近期热浪带来的温暖南风可能促使大量飞蛾进入英国。他说：“也可能是它们在地中海繁殖地的食源植物正在枯萎。”

英国昆虫与自然历史学会理事雷·巴内特（Ray Barnett）认为，英国阳光明媚的天气可能促使人们在花园中花费比平时更多的时间，从而增加了发现这种飞蛾的机会。他说：“我在布里斯托，当地有很多人在记录这一现象。”

伯斯托（Burstow）与妻子在 6 月 30 日发现了一只正在享受醉美花蜜的蜂鸟天蛾，他表示：“这与你平时看到的任何东西都完全不同。” 之后

克里斯·巴拉纽克 (Chris Baraniuk)

来自萨塞克斯郡的卢克·伯斯托（Luke Burstow）回忆道，他刚在花园里坐下来准备吃晚餐，一个快速的访客就嗖地飞过了——一个“长着橙色翅膀的灰色团块”。那是一只蜂鸟天蛾，一种从欧洲大陆和北非迁徙到英国的飞行昆虫。这位软件项目经理说：“我的反应是：‘哇！’，我甚至不知道有这种生物。”

伯斯托在谷歌上搜索了该物种，随后赶紧拿来相机并拍了几张照片。他惊叹于即使使用了快速快门，这种飞蛾的翅膀——每秒大约扇动 80 次——在照片中仍然显得有些模糊。

如果由于全球变暖，英国继续经历较为温和的冬季，蜂鸟天蛾有可能在此停留，巴内特补充道。

在英国冬季幸存的冬眠成年蛾可能会在英国定期繁殖。

伯斯托是近期在社交媒体上描述看到这种飞蛾的许多英国野生动物观察者之一。一名 Reddit 用户在目击后写道：“这让我的心情变得很好。”

蝴蝶保护协会（Butterfly Conservation）记录计划官员理查德·奥斯汀（Richard Austin）表示：“今年我们收到的关于蜂鸟天蛾的目击报告和咨询量大幅增加。我们预计这将是它们表现出色的一年。”

蜂鸟天蛾的幼虫以包括林地草（lady’s bedstraw）和篱边草（hedge bedstraw）在内的植物为食，这些都是英国常见的野花。

蝴蝶和飞蛾专家告诉卫报，在最近几周目击数量激增之后，2026年可能是英国蜂鸟天蛾的大年。炎热的天气和强风似乎将许多此类昆虫从更南方的气候区带到了这里。

然而，奥斯汀（Austin）警告说，现在将它们的数量与往年进行比较还为时过早。

“如果这种天气模式持续下去，那么[这种飞蛾]将能够定期在冬季生存，”巴内特（Barnett）表示，“它几乎正在变成一个定居物种，而不再是一个纯粹的迁徙物种。”

蜂鸟天蛾可能会在英国各地被发现，包括北爱尔兰甚至苏格兰北部。

研究表明，在网上花费过多时间与更高的压力相关

压力、情绪和诱惑可用于预测一个人的日常互联网使用情况，此外，这些因素反过来又如何影响日常的快感、缓解压力以及对其他活动的忽视。

研究人员强调，并非所有类型的互联网使用都会产生负面结果，而是问题性或过度使用才会如此。

在两周时间里，参与者每晚完成一次评估，报告他们的情绪和压力水平、从事问题性互联网使用的诱惑，以及他们总体的上网时间。

该研究的共同作者 Silke M Müller 表示：“我们要指出，只有极小比例的互联网用户会产生病理性使用模式。只要生活中其他重要领域没有被系统性地忽视，使用互联网就能以一种充实的方式带来快乐、趣味和/或缓解压力。”

“帮助人们识别并管理上网的诱惑可能会更有效”

Tobi Thomas

健康与不平等记者

分析显示，在网上花费过多时间与更高的压力水平、更差的情绪以及对其他活动的更多忽视相关。

该评估还衡量了用户从互联网使用中获得多少快感，以及是否因此忽视了其他活动。

这项由杜伊斯堡-埃森大学学者开展并发表在《PLOS One》杂志上的新研究，

“这些领域不仅包括必要的职责和义务，还包括其他已被证明对我们的福祉和健康有积极影响的活动，例如锻炼、户外活动或与朋友共事。”

问题性互联网使用情况更严重的参与者，通常伴随着更差的情绪、更大的压力、更长的上网时间和对生活其他领域的更多忽视。研究还发现，诱惑是持续使用互联网的主要驱动力，而快感和缓解感则是强化因素。

Andreas Oelker 研究共同作者

在 2025 年对 900 名德国成年人进行了调查，这些人在过去一年中报告过至少一次参与游戏、使用色情内容、使用社交网络或进行在线购物。

既有回报性后果，也有有害后果。

“了解有问题性互联网使用风险的个体为何在特定时刻上网，对于制定更好的预防和治疗策略至关重要。我们的研究结果表明，帮助人们识别并管理诱惑，可能比单纯关注压力或情绪更有效。”

先前的研究表明，患有互联网成瘾的年轻人其大脑化学成分会发生变化，这可能导致更多的成瘾行为；且在参与者休息时，大脑部分区域的活动增加，这些影响在脑内多个神经网络中均有体现。

根据使用频率，其互联网使用被标记为病理性、风险性或无问题性。该研究将问题性互联网使用定义为：过度使用在线应用程序，以至于导致功能损害或痛苦。

该研究的共同作者 Andreas Oelker 表示：“比起实际的压力或单纯的情绪，正是那种想上网的瞬间冲动，决定了人们是否参与在线活动并体验到”

研究结果证实了研究人员的假设，即每日

研究参与者随后

扎迪·史密斯和帕蒂·史密斯成为杜阿·利帕文学节的嘉宾

今年的南岸文学节策展人杜阿·利帕（Dua Lipa）将与包括扎迪·史密斯（Zadie Smith）在内的大腕对话，

左下为扎迪·史密斯，右侧为帕蒂·史密斯（Patti Smith），后者将讨论她的回忆录

摄影：ARTURO HOLMES/ GETTY IMAGES

穆斯塔法（Mustafa）、诺贝尔和平奖得主纳迪亚·穆拉德（Nadia Murad）讨论她的回忆录《我选择我的起点》（I Choose My Beginning），以及塔-内哈西·科茨（Ta-Nehisi Coates）与塔雷克·巴科尼（Tareq Baconi）就巴科尼关于巴勒斯坦的新书进行的对话。

Emma Lo agen

其他活动还包括一个翻译小说展、与凯·滕佩斯特（Kae Tempest）共度的诗歌与音乐之夜，以及与英文笔会（English PEN）合作探讨言论自由威胁的“审查直播！”（Censorship Live!）。

随着这位流行歌手在南岸中心揭晓她为今年伦敦文学节策划的方案，扎迪·史密斯、帕蒂·史密斯和穆斯塔法等明星嘉宾已列入采访名单。

利帕已日益将自己塑造为阅读的坚定倡导者。她在 2023 年成立了自己的读书会，作为其更广泛的文化平台 Service95 的延伸，该平台每月进行选书，并对包括玛格丽特·阿特伍德（Margaret Atwood）、乔治·桑德斯（George Saunders）和奥尔加·托卡尔丘克（Olga Tokarczuk）在内的作家进行深度采访。

南岸中心。

该文学节现已进入第 19 年，将于 10 月 21 日至 11 月 1 日举行，这位获得布里特奖（Brit award）的歌手将通过与她的 Service95 读书会合作来制定活动计划。

Lipa 表示，策划该项目是“一种真正的快乐”，并补充说，她希望将“全球一些最令人兴奋的作家、诗人及其思想者”与一些更熟悉的名字聚集在一起。

上个月，她在葡萄牙波尔图的历史悠久的 Lello 书店（Livraria Lello）开设了一个由 100 本被禁止、被审查和被质疑的书籍组成的永久收藏展。

她将于 10 月 24 日与 扎迪·史密斯（Zadie Smith）面对面，讨论其 2000 年出版的处女小说《白牙》（White Teeth），该书在史密斯仅 24 岁时出版。

南岸中心（Southbank Centre）的艺术总监马克·鲍尔（Mark Ball）表示，Lipa 对“世界的深切好奇心”使她成为该场馆 75 周年庆典的合适策划人。“这是一个里程碑之年，而她是帮助我们庆祝这一时刻的完美策划人，”他补充道。

预计两人将反思“如何学习接纳在如此年轻时就获得的艺术成就”，以及小说中的人物在今天的英国可能会如何生存。

此次文学节还包括免费的家庭活动和更广泛的国家计划，这是南岸中心旨在 2026 年覆盖全英一百万人的努力的一部分。

次日晚上，她将采访

帕蒂·史密斯（Patti Smith），探讨她的回忆录《天使之面包》（Bread of Angels），该书记录了史密斯从童年开始的生活，包括她与弗雷德·“索尼克”·史密斯（Fred “Sonic” Smith）的婚姻，以及在丈夫去世后重返音乐之途的经历。

去年，该文学节由 Self Esteem 策划，之前的领衔人物包括 艾未未（Ai Weiwei）。

该节目还将邀请苏丹裔加拿大诗人兼音乐家

格蕾塔·通贝里（Greta Thunberg）、马拉拉·尤萨夫扎伊（Malala Yousafzai）、玛格丽特·阿特伍德（Margaret Atwood）、菲利普·普尔曼（Philip Pullman）、汤姆·汉克斯（Tom Hanks）和尤莉娅·纳瓦尔娜亚（Yulia Navalnaya）出席。

埃塞克斯海岸事故导致一名男孩死亡，其姨妈和表妹此前已遇难

杰米·格里尔森（Jamie Grierson）

一名七岁男孩在埃塞克斯海岸的一起事故发生一周后死亡，在那场事故中，他的表妹及其母亲在试图营救他时不幸丧生。

穆萨·艾哈迈德（Musa Ahmed）在 7 月 22 日于西默西亚（West Mersea）海滩附近被救起后，一直接受生命危险伤势的治疗。

41 岁的 谢莉娜·拉赫曼（Shelina Rahman）及其 15 岁的女儿 萨米哈（Sameeha）在事故后死亡。

在的一份声明中，男孩的家人表示：“我们想感谢皇家伦敦医院重症监护室的医生和护士团队，在我们在医院期间，他们展现了卓越的护理和尊严。”

他们补充道：“我们还想感谢整个社区的支持和祈祷。在这个极其艰难的时刻，我们希望获得隐私。”

据报道，拉赫曼及其女儿是在穆萨陷入困境后尝试帮助他。

拉赫曼的丈夫是 曼苏尔·拉赫曼（Mansur Rahman），他是 Jubo Dal UK 的领导人，该组织是孟加拉国民族党在英国的海外青年之翼。

据了解，该家庭当时正在西默西亚进行夏季度假旅行，由于强烈的上涨潮导致脚下的沙地陷落，三名成人和三名儿童被卷入水中而陷入困境。

本周早些时候，穆萨的父亲 沙欣·艾哈迈德（Shahin Ahmed）发表了一份声明，呼吁审查海滩的安全措施。

“我强烈同意当地居民关于审查西默西亚海滩安全措施的呼吁，包括提供额外的救生设备和清晰的警告标志，”他表示。

“虽然现在没有任何行动可以消除我们所承受的痛苦，但我们希望能够汲取教训，以帮助防止未来发生类似的悲剧。”

埃塞克斯警方表示，在收到数人在海景大道（Seaview Avenue）附近水域陷入困境的报告后，警员于 7 月 22 日下午 5.35pm 接到了救护车的电话。

英东救护车服务中心表示，在海景度假公园（Sea View Holiday Park）发生的事故后，一名患者通过航空运输、三名患者通过陆路运输送往医院。

负责领导此次行动的 侦查总警司（DCI）阿尔·皮彻（Al Pitcher）

针对该事件的调查表示：“我们所有的心愿都与涉事者的家人和朋友在一起——自上周该事件发生以来一直如此。他们的勇敢和坚强令人心折。

“我们继续在构建导致此次事件情况的完整画面，我们的工作正与合作伙伴共同进行。”

将尸体肢解并藏在森林中的三重复杀凶手被判终身监禁

位于康沃尔郡南部他有时居住的一间小屋附近的林地。

阿奎利诺（Aquilino）的家人表示，他曾是一位有天赋的艺术家和一名出色的厨师，尽管成瘾问题使他的生活变得非常艰难。

在审判前被关押在埃克塞特监狱期间，他杀害了室友 65 岁的史蒂文·肯普斯特（Steven Kempster），显然是因为对方的打呼噜声让他感到厌烦。

代表德斯伯勒（Desborough）的肖恩·布伦顿（Sean Brunton）KC 表示，此人在谋杀案发生前 20 年仅出过一次问题。

在量刑听证会上，法庭宣读了令人动容的受害者陈述，明确指出被杀害的男子们深受喜爱，且拥有有价值的生活。

大律师表示，德斯伯勒“非常聪明”，年轻时具有巨大的潜力并获得过一定的成功。在法庭上，他彬彬有礼且容易打交道。

科尔曼（Coleman） 14 岁的女儿说：“我爱他。我曾是个‘爸爸的小女孩’；现在我不能再是了。想到我再也看不到他的微笑，我就心痛。”她说，想到父亲被杀时一定很恐惧，让她感到非常恐怖，并称德斯伯勒是一个“恶劣的凶手”。

布伦顿表示，无法确定这些“凄惨的事件”是由酒精和药物引起的，还是因为德斯伯勒错误地认为他杀掉的那些人已经没有什么值得活下去的希望。

▼ 克劳迪奥·阿奎利诺（Claudio Aquilino，左）和丹尼尔·科尔曼（Daniel Coleman）被德斯伯勒在他康沃尔郡的小屋附近肢解

史蒂文·莫里斯（Steven Morris）

在为期 175 天的森林搜寻行动中，有超过 700 名警员和科学家参与其中，德文郡和康沃尔郡警方还调用了另外五个警局的资源。当时天气非常炎热，地形类似于丛林且泥泞不堪。

照片：PA MEDIA

一名在等待审判期间在狱中将第三名男子勒死，此前又杀害并肢解了两名朋友尸体的三重复杀凶手被告知，他将在狱中度过余生。

负责量刑的赛尼（Saini）法官

警方表示，他们甚至改变了一条溪流的走向，以便对 300 米的河床进行系统筛查，他们称这是首次尝试。他们发现了来自阿奎利诺身体的 1,900 块烧焦的骨碎片以及科尔曼的遗骸。

在温彻斯特刑事法院， 40 岁的詹姆斯·德斯伯勒（James Desborough）表示，本案的情况是独特的。

赛尼法官在给予德斯伯勒罕见的终身监禁令时表示，该凶手是一个极其危险的人，他认为自己的受害者是“毫无价值”的。

阿奎利诺和科尔曼都深受长期成瘾之苦，此前曾与德斯伯勒一起住在纽基（Newquay）的一家无家可归者收容所。

法官表示，德斯伯勒杀掉他的两名朋友是因为他们脆弱、无家可归且体型瘦小，他认为鉴于这些人混乱的个人生活，他们不一定会被人思念。

德斯伯勒在这些人死后利用他们的钱购买毒品和酒精。

“我还发现你并不认为他们作为人类值得被尊重，”法官说道。赛尼补充说，终身监禁令是“最后的手段”，仅在案件严重程度“极高”时才会使用。

德文郡和康沃尔郡警方透露，他们正在审查四名与德斯伯勒及其两名受害者同时住在无家可归者收容所的人员的死亡情况。

重大犯罪调查小组负责人 Rachael Bentley 警司表示，目前警方不认为 Desborough 杀害了这四个人中的任何一个，“但调查仍在进行中”。

Desborough 杀害了 57 岁的 Claudio Aquilino 和 43 岁的 Daniel Coleman，并将他们的尸体肢解后藏在

在对 40 岁的 James Desborough 判刑时，Saini 法官表示，他认为其受害者是“毫无价值的”。

BTS 对格莱美奖增设类别表示谴责并宣布退出考虑

他们认为需要有更多机会来庆祝不同且新颖的音乐流派”。

直到 2021 年 BTS 获得提名之前，还没有任何 K-pop 艺人获得提名——但他们的表现很出色。来自热门电影《KPop Demon Hunters》的歌曲《Golden》获得了最佳视觉媒体歌曲奖：这是 K-pop 艺人的首次获胜。《Golden》还与另一位 K-pop 艺人 Rosé（凭借其与 Bruno Mars 合唱的单曲《APT》）一同入围了“四大”奖项之一的年度歌曲奖。

考虑到亚洲和拉丁流行音乐市场绝非“新颖”——在经过数十年的成熟后，它们各自掌握着巨大的收入和观众群（包括在美国）——这种措辞或许并不恰当。因此，亚洲流行音乐界担心，这一类别最终可能会将亚洲流行歌手隔离起来，使他们无法在最高奖项类别中竞争。

今年参加格莱美奖。我希望音乐能因其本身的价值而被听到和热爱，而不是被地区或语言所划分。”

Ben Beaumont-Thomas

《Golden》和《APT》的大部分歌词是用英语编写的，因此它们可能不符合要求“有意义地使用”亚洲语言的亚洲流行音乐类别。

东亚最大的流行组合 BTS 已宣布退出 2027 年的格莱美奖，暗示这一决定是因为新增了最佳亚洲流行音乐表演奖。

这些言论是对录音学院新设类别的有力——尽管措辞温和——的谴责。

上个月在宣布该奖项以及另一个区域性奖项（最佳拉丁歌曲）时，录音学院主席 Harvey Mason Jr 表示，这一决定是因为“我们的音乐界向我们反馈，他们认为需要有更多机会来庆祝不同且新颖的音乐流派”。

录音学院尚未对 BTS 的决定发表评论。《卫报》已请求置评。

但 BTS 最近的专辑《Arirang》绝大部分是韩语，这使得他们几乎肯定会被纳入该类别。

这个韩国组合的 7 名成员分别在 Instagram 上写道：“我们决定不

亚洲流行音乐艺人传统上一直被这个以美国为中心的颁奖礼所忽视——直到 2021 年之前没有任何 K-pop 艺人获得提名。

颁奖典礼将于 7 February 在洛杉矶举行。

希思罗机场在追回扩建费用后，旅客面临票价上涨

Gwyn Topham

在监管机构推翻航空公司的反对意见，允许机场对拟建第三跑道的规划工作收费后，希思罗机场的乘客将面临数十年的票价上涨。

民航局（CAA）表示，它已允许希思罗机场有限公司（HAL）追回自 2025 年起用于制定扩建计划的最高 £320m 的前期成本。

用于规划的资金将通过向航空公司收取更高的费用来回收，而这些费用通常会通过机票价格转嫁给乘客，回收期约为 20 到 25 年。

民航局还表示，它将允许由房地产亿万富翁 Surinder Arora 领导的竞争性扩建方案“西希思罗”（Heathrow West）追回其在 2025 年政府宣布 HAL 的方案为首选方案之前，在计划上花费的 £4.1m。民航局称，为了促进竞争，Arora 的退款将从希思罗机场的额外收费中支付。

目前的收费标准约为每位乘客 £26.22。民航局表示，其决定将使 2028 年每位乘客的最高机场收费增加约 15 便士，随后的几年预计将增至 30 便士。

这一举措将加剧航空公司的担忧，即希思罗机场第三条跑道的建设（根据HAL估计成本约为 £33bn ）将增加费用并推高票价。根据一份民航局（CAA）的文件，希思罗机场最大的航空公司英国航空表示，早期的成本回收将产生一种风险，即扩建工程将变得“对于消费者而言难以负担，且与可靠的效益分析不一致”。

航空公司多次抱怨希思罗机场的收费是全球所有机场中最高的。CAA消费者与市场总监蒂姆·约翰逊（Tim Johnson）表示：“我们的决定在通过希思罗机场扩建的及时进展来支持向消费者提供利益，以及保护他们免受不当涨价之间取得了平衡。”

机场发言人表示，扩建计划将给乘客提供更多选择，同时为“每个地区提供真实的经济推动”。

追加报道：PA Media

▲ 航空公司通常通过票价将机场的收费转嫁给客户

• 卫报 2026 年 7 月 30 日 星期四

1 全国新闻 气候危机

欧洲各地消防员在努力控制野火时，克里特岛三名消防员丧生

……文件，没有家”，他在回到佩拉约斯-德-拉-普雷萨（Pelayos de la Presa）的房屋遗骸后说道。“这个地方已经完全变成了一片废墟。”

由于二氧化碳污染导致欧洲升温速度比全球平均水平快两倍，野火季正变得越来越长。今年的接连热浪使植被干燥，将森林和灌木丛变成了火药桶。欧盟官员表示，野火在 11 月可能仍会燃烧。

欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩（Ursula von der Leyen）昨日感谢消防员的“勇气和奉献”。

在克里特岛，当局表示三名消防员在试图扑灭克里特岛雷西姆农（Rethymnon）地区的火灾时“在履行职责中英勇牺牲”。

欧洲森林火灾信息系统显示，尽管法国和西班牙经历了破纪录的火灾数量。南欧已有超过 330,000 人从家中和酒店撤离。

阿吉特·尼兰詹 (Ajit Niranjan) 詹妮弗·兰金 (Jennifer Rankin)

“随着法国和西班牙的火灾继续肆虐，欧洲的团结没有限度，”她在社交媒体上表示。“罗马尼亚和希腊已决定延长其任务，继续支持受灾地区。从周六起，波兰也将加入战斗。”

周二平静的夜晚使得法国的火点得以被扑灭，但官员警告称，不利的演变天气条件可能会阻碍进展。

希腊消防部门表示，昨日三名消防员在扑救克里特岛和南部大陆的野火时丧生，极高温度阻碍了控制火势的努力。

随着火势得到控制，官员于周二开始解除撤离令，允许波尔多、马德里和巴伦西亚附近城镇的数万名民众返回家中。有些人发现只剩下被烧毁的建筑。74 岁的退休人员何塞·费尔南德斯（José Fernández）告诉法新社，他“没有钱，没有文件，没有家”。

肆虐欧洲。

吉伦特省（Gironde）政府表示，自火灾开始以来已有 126 名消防员受伤，但昨日被吞噬的总面积稳定在 42,000 公顷（104,000 英亩）。

这场从大西洋海岸延伸到地中海东岸，从苏格兰延伸到西班牙南部的残酷火灾弧线引起了专家的警觉，因为许多火灾失去了控制，且在靠近城镇和城市的区域燃烧。

本周，欧盟委员会表示，它已从远至瑞典和土耳其向法国派遣了 7 架飞机和 4 架直升机；而在西班牙，它表示已动员了来自希腊、意大利和土耳其的 6 架飞机，以及来自葡萄牙的 134 名人员和 41 辆车辆。一架来自塞尔维亚的超级美洲狮（Super Puma）直升机预计于昨日抵达马德里，随后将有 40 名人员和 18 辆车辆抵达。

山火已烧毁法国创纪录的面积，来自

气候崩溃导致气温进一步攀升，昨日波尔多达到38C，当地消防员已阻止附近松林的大火蔓延至郊区；而马德里达到37C，据内政部长费尔南多·格兰德-马拉斯卡 (Fernando Grande-Marlaska) 称，西班牙记录中最大规模的山火在其西侧已在“技术上趋于稳定”。

欧洲的干旱状况增加了火灾风险

综合干旱指标，2026年6月

• • 监测 - 降水不足
• • 警告 - 土壤湿度下降
• • 警报 - 植被生长负增长

欧洲应急响应协调中心的火灾专家莫伊塞斯·加兰·圣塔诺 (Moisé s Galá n Santano) 表示，在预防山火方面需要做更多工作，且这将是一项需要多年持续的任务。他说：“［应急］响应并非唯一的答案。它是最后的手段。我们需要将重点放在预防上。”

该地区应急服务部门表示，数十支地面救援队伍在夜间控制住了西班牙首都西侧的火势，但瓦伦西亚 (València) 附近的一场独立火灾仍处于失控状态。

今年，一份委员会政策文件阐述了各国如何能更好地预防并从火灾中恢复，而火灾预计将变得规模更大且破坏性更强。该文件推广了诸如扩大放牧范围、恢复湿地、河流和泛滥平原、改善森林火灾数据，以及提高公众对风险行为和安全疏散意识等措施。

西班牙首相佩德罗·桑切斯（Pedro Sánchez）在纳瓦尔卡内罗（Navalcarnero）指挥中心发表讲话时表示，首都附近的情况正在好转，但他强调，这是首次将野火警报提升至“运行级别 3”，由国民政府接管响应工作。

伴随着强风，西欧夏季的第四次热浪让消防员们感到惊恐，他们表示，这使得火势更难扑灭，并增加了已稳定区域再次起火的风险。

科学家表示，西欧酷热的夏天因化石燃料污染而进一步恶化。快速分析发现，如果没有气候崩溃，6 月的热浪将“几乎不可能”发生；而土壤干燥程度——导致更大规模火灾的驱动因素——则增加了

新发火灾还引发了土耳其和希腊的疏散行动，

可能性增加了五倍。

来源：欧洲干旱观测站，2026 年 6 月 21-30 日

“这里就像地狱一样” 马德里以西火灾后居民返回家中

在消防员急于遏制这场吞噬了西班牙首都以西数万公顷土地的大火而导致该地区成为许多被疏散区域之一之后，返回埃尔莫罗（El Morro）的居民们正试图消化所发生的一切。

花园和露台家具已被大火吞噬。

Sam Jones

“我们回到村里，看到发生了什么，简直快窒息了，”一名女性说道。

纳瓦斯-德尔-雷 (Navas del Rey)

在马德里以西一小时山区的一座房子前门贴着的 handwritten 标牌，提供了对近期事件一个简明扼要的总结，正如您将看到的。

T

梅赛德斯·梅里诺（Mercedes Merino）在埃尔莫罗生活了 35 年（她今年 70 岁），她对无法给访客提供除温水以外的任何东西表示歉意——电力依然被切断。

有些人给保险公司打电话，有些人清扫房屋内外的碎片，而有些人仍深陷震惊之中。

——她指着自己被烧黑的花园，那里有扭曲的柏树、枯死的枇杷树和满是烟灰的游泳池。不过，至少她的房子保住了。

上面写着：“空”， “此处无人员或动物”。

埃尔莫罗（El Morro）是纳瓦斯德尔雷（Navas del Rey）镇郊外的一个小村庄。这里寂静的街道上留有更多证据：两辆被烧毁的汽车，勉强能辨认出是一辆奥迪和一辆西特；门柱顶上被熏黑的小矮人像；焦黑的树篱，叶子已碎成细灰；而且到处弥漫着木材被烧焦或仍在阴燃的味道。

一名男子引导着年迈的父亲走出被大火烧空的房子，告诉他该去换身衣服了。“我们都还过得去，”儿子说道，这听起来很勇敢，但不太像真的。

“这里以前也发生过火灾，但从未像这次这样，”她说。“我知道回来会看到什么，因为村子里很多视频一直在流传。我们都感到非常沮丧……有些人失去了房子，比如隔壁那个人。”

在埃尔莫罗的边缘，一对中年夫妇在曾经的花园里徘徊。房子除了被烟熏染外幸免于难，但

▲ 梅赛德斯·梅里诺（Mercedes Merino）的房子保住了，但她的花园受损严重

昨天，几乎一周

摄影：SAM JONES/卫报

1

根本原因 为什么今年的损失如此严重？

这些云团由火灾产生的热量形成，并演变成自给自足的火风暴，引发进一步的火灾。

此次火灾极端的严重程度是今年“鞭梢式”湿-干交替天气的结果，而这一切都被气候危机所加剧。去年冬季和今年春季的大部分时间，西欧地区非常潮湿，刺激了树木、灌木和其他植被的剧烈生长。

数以千计的居民和游客不得不撤离，这通常是由发送到他们手机上的紧急警报促成的。应急避难所已经建立，其中 78 个由西班牙红十字会设立。

然而，到 5 月，一系列热浪中的第一波袭击了欧洲。所有热浪在化石燃料燃烧引起的全球变暖作用下，都变得更加剧烈且更易发生。6 月底的那波热浪是欧洲有记录以来最严重的，如果没有一个多世纪的碳污染带来的热量，这种情况本不会发生。高温意味着炽热的大气层蒸发了河流和湖泊中的水分，抽干了植物和土壤，而全球变暖使这种情况发生的可能性增加了 80 倍。由于干旱条件，植被变成了易燃物，山火风险激增，导致了一系列被科学家描述为“火浪”的山火。

对房屋和生计的更长期影响尚待评估，但规模将会很大。波尔多周边的山火已经吞噬了该地区一些著名的葡萄园，而巴伦西亚周边的旅游业和制造业也受到沉重打击。

另一个更长期的影响将是对健康的损害。据估计，每年约有 1.5 million 人因山火烟雾而缩短寿命。

由于热穹顶现象的增加，以及靠近冰雪迅速融化的北极，欧洲是所有大洲中变暖最快的。

联合国气候主管西蒙·斯蒂尔（Simon Stiell）表示：“关于原因的科学结论是不容置疑的：由人类燃烧巨量煤炭、石油和天然气驱动的全球变暖，正使持久的热浪、严重的洪水和剧烈的超级风暴变得更加频繁、更加猛烈且代价更高昂。这场气候危机带来的可怕代价——无论是人力还是经济——现在正达到国家紧急状态的水平。”

这种情况因法国出现了前所未有的巨大“火云”——火积雨云——而进一步恶化。

▲ 一名男子走在法国波尔多以西朗通（Lanton）被山火烧焦的森林中。左图，消防人员和应急车辆在附近与大火搏斗

“需要做的事情同样清晰：更快地摆脱煤炭、石油和天然气，扩大可再生能源规模，并在受影响最严重的地区保护民众。”

土耳其，穆拉 (Muğla)，

该路段导致费特希耶-安塔利亚公路关闭。没错，

在面对政治反对和企业游说时，欧盟在过去一年中淡化了绿色措施。欧盟危机准备委员会委员 Hadja Lahbib 告诉《金融时报》：“委员会的雄心只能基于成员国的意愿。当成员国在[气候变化]问题上拖延时……将产生真正的危险，并付出无法估量的代价。”

在法国吉伦德省，一只鹿站在被烧黑的树木灰烬中

摄影：SARAH MEYSSONNIER/ 路透社；YVES HERMAN/ 路透社；ANADOLU/ 盖蒂图片社

▲ 西南法国的消防员正在与大火搏斗，巨大的“火云”效应使火势进一步扩大

Damian Carrington

就像那些被烧毁的汽车一样，隔壁的景象与之前的模样几乎完全不同。那里不再是一栋房子，而是一团扭曲且被焚毁的建筑材料，屋顶塌陷成波浪状的瓦片，烟囱则诡异地呈水平状。

而西班牙国民卫队 (Guardia Civil) 的到来提醒他们撤离令即将发布，这促使他们尽快离开。

西欧记录了 2026 年有史以来最热的 6 月

6 月平均地表气温异常值（相对于 1990-2020 基准线）

4C

尽管他们昨天早上回家时面对的损失很小，但山脉和村庄的状态仍让他们感到震惊。

2026 年 6 月

2003

+3.06C 2025

+2.75C

+2.85C

“消防员们太出色了，”Merino 说，“但在覆盖着松树的山区生活，你怎么能阻止这样的火灾？我们一定有守护天使在看着我们，保护着我们的房子。”

2

“当我们到达这里时，所看到的景象简直就像但丁笔下的地狱，”68 岁的 Herraiz 说，“这里原本如此美丽，但……现在看起来就像地狱。”

家庭住宅的损失仅限于一根扭曲的管道和一个雨水箱的损失，而雨水箱在融化并向下方露台倾倒内容物时，可能在一定程度上保护了房产。

0

道路对面，刚刚在向西南方向逃往卡塞雷斯 (Cáceres) 后返回埃尔莫罗 (El Morro) 的 Javier Herraiz 及其家人正坐下来吃西班牙土豆饼，并庆幸自己的幸运。

−2

“我们太幸运了，”Herraiz 说，“有些人失去了房子，而其中一些人还背着抵押贷款。”

上周末在山顶升起的烟雾，加上国民卫队的到访，说服了他们尽早离开。

▲ 上周被撤离后，居民们正在评估损失情况

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025

来源：Copernicus ERA5/ECMWF

摄影：MIGUEL RIOPA/ 美联社/ 盖蒂图片社

National 19

哈里王子在失败的隐私案件中面临巨额法律账单

他们指控 77 名记者、编辑和高管存在不当行为，包括“在许多情况下等同于刑事犯罪的严重错误”，尽管其中仅有 23 人涉及相关指控。

Caroline Davies

伦敦高等法院获悉，萨塞克斯公爵及其共同原告在输掉针对《每日邮报》（Daily Mail）出版商的隐私诉讼后，可能会损失数百万英镑。

White 表示，此次法律行动是一场“运动”的一部分，旨在证明 ANL 曾“误导 Leveson 调查”，利用高知名度人士说服政府执行该调查的第二部分。

包括哈里王子、多琳·劳伦斯（Doreen Lawrence）和埃尔顿·约翰（Elton John）在内的七名原告起诉关联报业有限公司（Associated Newspapers Limited, ANL），指控其非法搜集信息，但其主张在 7 月 7 日被尼克林法官（Mr Justice Nicklin）驳回。现在，他们的保险可能无法涵盖 ANL 为辩护而产生的费用。

他表示，此次诉讼被视为在“诉讼盛宴”之前的第一波攻势，其策略旨在用其他潜在诉求淹没 ANL。

White 补充说，即使并非所有指控都得到证实，任何针对 ANL 的裁决对于这家《每日邮报》出版商来说都将是一场“灾难”。

在从昨天开始、为期两天的关于如何支付费用的听证会上，法院获悉，原告的 £16.2m 保险额度与 ANL 报告的 £34.5m 费用之间存在缺口。

White 难过地表示，被谋杀的青少年斯蒂芬·劳伦斯（Stephen Lawrence）的母亲劳伦斯，是被哈里作为一名“国民瑰宝”招募进本案以博取公众同情的。他指出，哈里和劳伦斯在审判后发表的一份声明称该裁决是

[[IMG_XXXX]] ▲ Glen Hansard 在 2024 年表演。向他致敬的人包括爱尔兰总统和音乐家艾德·希兰 (Ed Sheeran) 摄影：EARL GIBSON III/SHUTTERSTOC

ANL 的律师表示，原告应在补偿基准（indemnity basis）下支付其费用，在这种基准下，败诉方需承担对方的费用，无需证明这些费用是成比例的。ANL 要求支付 £9,950,624.37 的临时款项。原告则提供了 £8m。

Irglová 共同创作了这首歌，并与 Hansard 共同获得了奥斯卡奖。2011 年，《曾经》(Once) 被改编为舞台剧。

凯瑟琳·康诺利（Catherine Connolly）总统率领众人向 Hansard 致敬，称其为“爱尔兰最伟大的词曲作者之一”。

Ben Beaumont-Thomas

一次“明显的掩盖”。

原告代表 Nicholas Bacon KC 在书面陈述中表示，法官不应在补偿基准下授予 ANL 其费用。他补充说，这些费用“超过了其批准的预算”，反映出“令人震惊的高额法律支出”，违背了旨在确保双方处于平等地位的比例原则。

Hansard 还是

布鲁斯·斯普林斯汀（Bruce Springsteen）在 Instagram 上表示他“心碎了”。他写道：“我们很多年前在爱尔兰相识，他一直是一位伟大的音乐家、一个好朋友，以及一个慷慨而优雅的人。总是积极、微笑且准备好歌唱。愿上帝保佑他及其亲人。”

爱尔兰民谣摇滚音乐家兼演员 Glen Hansard 逝世，享年 56 岁。他曾领衔乐队 The Frames，并凭借 2007 年电影《曾经》(Once) 获得奥斯卡奖。

The Frames 乐队发行了六张录音室专辑，包括 2004 年在爱尔兰榜单夺冠的《Burn the Maps》。

ANL 代表 Antony White KC 主张，原告的行为证明了应在补偿基准下支付费用，并表示相关指控“范围极广且极其严重”。

Hansard 的代表表示，他的家人“对这一悲剧性的损失深感震惊和心碎，并礼貌地请求隐私。”

他于昨天早些时候在都柏林郊区的卢坎（Lucan）因摩托车事故去世。在未点名的情况下，

Ed Sheeran 在 Instagram 上表示：“听到关于 Glen 的消息，我心碎了。他是一个如此不可思议的人，一个强大的力量。我很感激我们共同度过的时光，向他的家人发送深深的爱。”

警方表示，他在现场接受了治疗，但不久后去世。

“一位伟大的音乐家，一个好朋友，一个优雅的人”

Bacon 表示，该团体“行为诚实且出于善意”。在提到 Harry 和 Lawrence 的审后声明时，他说道：“本次听证会所订定的费用涉及的是行动本身，而非对该行动的反应。”

萨塞克斯公爵及其共同原告称，其案件被驳回是“明显的洗白”

Hansard 凭借《Falling Slowly》获得了奥斯卡最佳原创歌曲奖。这首歌是电影《Once》的核心，Hansard 在片中与另一位现实生活中的音乐家 Markéta Irglová 共同主演，讲述了在都柏林奋斗的音乐家之间展开的一段试探性恋情；

Hansard 留下了他的妻子，芬兰诗人 Maire Saaritsa，以及他们三岁的儿子 Christy。

Bruce Springsteen

听证会继续进行。

国家司法基础 (National Base justice)

20

部长将询问警方为何将严重案件交给美国军事法庭

涉及他在英格兰涉嫌袭击女性的行为。

在两名英国女性联系萨福克郡（Sufolk）警方，称他在一家夜总会见面后与另一名美国飞行员对她们实施药物迷奸和强奸后仅 11 天，萨福克郡警方就将卢博（Loubeau）案移交给了军事检察官。

针对《卫报》对此类案件的报道，国家警察局长委员会（NPCC）主席加文·史蒂芬斯（Gavin Stephens）已致函英格兰和威尔士的所有首席警长，以确保各警力部门了解在涉及访英美军案件中的法律义务。

Harry Davies, Rob Evans, Emine Sinmaz, Louisa Loveluck

据熟悉政府讨论的消息人士称，部长们在得知英国警方在将调查移交给美国军方之前可能未向皇家检控署（CPS）寻求建议时感到震惊。

政府部长和警察首脑正在审查一个流程，即被指控在英国领土上犯严重罪行的美国军事人员是如何逃避英国司法系统的。

根据追溯至 1950 年代的立法，访英美国武装部队可以在其人员在执行任务期间，或针对另一名军人、军事财产或家属（如配偶或子女）实施犯罪时，对其人员进行起诉。

此次行动旨在研究为何拥有对此类案件首要调查责任的英国警方，一直在将管辖权让给美国军事调查人员。

在所有其他情况下，英国警方拥有决定是否对美国军事人员启动调查的首选权。《卫报》揭露的案件表明，美国一直在推动接管那些它并不拥有首要管辖权的调查。而英国警方似乎在配合这些请求。

此类决定为涉嫌犯罪者在美国军事法庭审判程序中受审铺平了道路。在这种替代系统中，受害者

▲ 雅各布·沃尔夫森（Jacob Wulfson，中间），在萨福克郡空军基地的军事法庭上被裁定勒死他人罪名成立，但被裁定性侵指控不成立。照片：美国中央空军

通常无法获得在英国法院能获得的同等保护。

在《卫报》揭露一系列英国警方允许美军接管严重性犯罪指控调查的案件后，政府和警方的审查工作随即启动。

发言人表示，官员们正与国家警察局长委员会（NPCC）密切合作，“以审查现有的指导方针，确保案件能正确提交给皇家检控署寻求建议”。

在英国领土收到犯罪报告后的天数。

两个警区——萨福克郡和剑桥郡——正在对其如何处理涉及美国军事人员的调查进行审查。

汉内斯·马绍莱克（Hannes Marschalek）涉嫌在剑桥郡的小港（Littleport）向一名 16 岁的女孩和四名年轻女性暴露身体。在军事法庭达成认罪协议后，他承认了一项猥亵行为指控。该判决随后因技术原因被撤销。

剑桥郡警方在一份声明中表示：“我们正在由调查标准部门主导进行一项政策审查。”该警区补充说，此次审查针对的是 2018 年以后的案件，目前尚不清楚具体有多少起。

当第一起案件在6月被披露时，唐宁街表示，英国当局未参与一名被指控强奸并勒死一名英国女性的美国战斗机飞行员的起诉，这“非常令人担忧”。

部长们已承诺将敦促美国政府就Wulfson案的经过提供全面说明。外交部在的一份声明中表示，其“一直就此事与美国方面进行沟通”。

Tyrion Davis被指控在萨福克郡强奸了两名英国女性。他在被军事法庭审理时被判定一项性侵罪名成立，但另外10项性侵和虐待性接触的指控被判无罪。

萨福克郡警方表示：“我们正在审查围绕将主导权移交给美国空军的决策过程，以及更广泛的案件移交惯例。”

莎拉·斯蒂尔（Sarah Steele），在两人通过约会软件相识后，于他的公寓内[遭遇袭击]。

卫报发现了其他几起涉及美国空军人员的案件，尽管这些人涉嫌在休职期间犯罪，但仍避开了英国法院的审判。在每起案件中，当地警方都将调查移交给军事检察官，有时在[短时间内]就完成了移交。

在剑桥郡警方允许美国军事警察接管此案后，该飞行员雅各布·伍尔夫森上尉（Capt Jacob Wulfson）在萨福克郡的一个美国空军基地接受军事法庭起诉。由全体男性空军军官组成的陪审团判定伍尔夫森勒死亲密伙伴的罪名成立，但判定他性侵无罪。

詹姆斯·卢博（James Loubeau）同样避开了英国法院。他被指控在东英吉利地区实施了一系列强奸和性侵行为，包括给某些女性下药以及闯入其他女性家中。

有超过12,000名美国军事人员驻扎在英国，分布在至少15个基地和设施中。人员最集中的地方是位于萨福克郡的两个美国军事设施：莱肯希斯皇家空军基地（RAF Lakenheath）和米尔登霍尔皇家空军基地（RAF Mildenhall）。大量美军生活在周边地区，包括诺福克郡和剑桥郡。

“语言具有分量” 不透明的司法系统加深了幸存者的创伤

司法部长莎拉·萨克曼（Sarah Sackman）表示：“我们的心与那些经历被揭露的受害者在一起”

他在一次军事法庭审判中被判无罪，而那次审判仅针对六名指控他袭击的女性中的一名女性所提出的指控。随后，在FBI的一项调查之后，他因另一名女性的指控在迈阿密的一家法院被定罪。

那些遭受美国军事人员性攻击且符合英国通用强奸定义的受害者发现，他们的袭击者反而被指控较轻的罪名。

来自不同政党的国会议员们对美国服役人员逃避英国司法系统的问题提出了关注。保守党司法发言人尼克·蒂莫西（Nick Timothy）表示，伍尔夫森“本应由英国警方进行全面调查并在我们的法院受审”。

根据管辖美军的一套法律（即《统一军事司法法典》，UCMJ），强奸的定义比英国法院的定义更窄，这意味着许多案件被改为指控为性侵。

伍尔夫森被判处六个月监禁，目前在莱肯希斯皇家空军基地服刑。

自由民主党司法发言人杰丝·布朗-富勒（Jess Brown-Fuller）表示：“英国公众期望在英格兰犯下的罪行能够根据英国法律在英格兰法院被起诉。这种期望不应仅仅因为被告是外国军队成员而改变。”

最近几周，内政部和司法部部长与斯蒂尔会面，讨论她的案件，以及是否应该改变英国警方和检察官处理涉及美国军事人员案件的方式。

一名政府发言人表示，斯特尔“在站出来时展现了惊人的勇气”，且部长们已“致力于识别并吸取该案例中的任何教训，以确保受害者能够获得支持，并得到他们应有的严肃对待、尊严和同情”。

在本月早些时候就此事在议会回答问题时，司法部长莎拉·萨克曼（Sarah Sackman）表示：“我们的心与受害者在一起，也与那些随后被披露经历的其他受害者在一起。”

▲ 莎拉·斯特尔一直与部长们会面，讨论她作为受害者在美军司法系统中的经历 摄影：ANTONIO OLMOS/THE GUARDIAN

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◀ 驻英的 12,000 名美军人员其罪行可能会由军事法庭而非英国司法部门判定。强奸受害者面临的美军审判采用了截然不同的定义和证明标准，她们表示这剥夺了她们获得正义的机会。

反映她们真实生活经历的方式，对于受害者如何处理其经历至关重要。

伦敦大学犯罪学与刑事司法教授卡特琳·霍尔（Katrin Hohl）表示：“他人对你遭遇之事的反应方式，以及他人将其定义、框定和看待的方式，对于你能够向前迈进的能力具有深远的影响。如果刑事司法系统以一种否认你认可度的方式对待你，它不仅不能帮助你康复，实际上还会增加进一步的创伤。”

早先版本的《统一军事司法法典》（UCMJ）第 120 条对性暴力犯罪的定义较为宽松，但在 2007, 年采用并此后经过多次修订的新定义中，确立了更狭义的强奸定义。

插图：GUARDIAN DESIGN/ GETTY IMAGES

第 120 条的批评者认为，该条款未能帮助受害者，因为它在制定时没有咨询受害者权利组织以及性侵领域专家。

“美国空军挑选指控罪名，然后他们挑选陪审员，这完全不公平”

“我认为初衷是好的，”曾在 2010 和 2014 年间担任美国空军首席检察官的唐·克里斯滕森（Don Christensen）说道。“他们参考了一些州法律来做出这些修改，但据我了解，他们并没有真正地与我们许多负责起诉案件的人沟通，以询问问题出在哪里。”

蕾切尔·范兰丁汉姆（Rachel VanLandingham）

前美国空军法律顾问

法学教授、曾参与军事法律改革工作的前美国空军法律顾问蕾切尔·范兰丁汉姆表示，根据 UCMJ 起诉性犯罪的更深层问题是结构性的。

要求将其关押在惩教设施中六个月。

她说：“如果被告的职业将幸存者拖入一个她并不太熟悉或不理解，且让她觉得没有话语权的司法系统中，这令人担忧。”

那些认为强奸的通用定义不适用的人也发现，他们的袭击者反而因较轻的罪行被起诉，而这些罪行的量刑更为宽松。

Louisa Loveluck Harry Davies

斯特尔说：“文字是有力量的。法律术语不仅仅是一项技术操作，它塑造了人们如何理解受害者。我尊重法律使用精确定义，但这些语言对我来说承载着深重的情感重量。”

在英国领土上被指控强奸的美国服役人员，正被其军队以较轻的罪名起诉。

在管辖美军的一套法律——即《统一军事司法法典》（UCMJ）下，强奸罪的定义比英国法院的定义更狭义，这意味着许多案件被改为以性侵犯名义起诉。

“他们挑选指控罪名，然后他们可以挑选陪审员，这在结构上完全不公平，但这个系统设计之初就不是为了公平。它是被设计成指挥官维持严格纪律的工具，”她说。

凯莉·约翰逊 (Kelly Johnson) 是格拉斯哥大学的一名高级犯罪学讲师，致力于研究警方对性暴力的应对措施。“一个流程可能会声称它在遵守自身的正式规则，但在幸存者看来，这仍然是疏离的、贬低的，且根本上是不公平的。”

她回忆道，“必须解释法律标签意味着什么，以及不意味着什么。不得不反复解释这种区别令人精疲力竭，而且坦率地说，这是一种二次创伤。”

法院，专家表示这种差异在判决下达后很长一段时间内，仍在加深对幸存者的创伤影响。

英国法律将强奸定义为：某人在未经他人同意的情况下，将阴茎插入另一人的阴道、肛门或口腔，最高可判处终身监禁。受害者是否处于醉酒状态并不相关；法律关注的是被指控的受害者是否同意该性行为。

对于受害者而言，他们的经历被引导通过这样一个不透明且军事化的流程，其后果可能是毁灭性的。约翰逊表示：“当受害者觉得自己没有被认真对待，没有获得尊重和尊严，没有被倾听时，这会导致再次创伤，或所谓的二次受害。”

在英国全境的美国军事基地中，有超过 12,000 名人员驻守，其中大部分在英格兰。尽管英国执法部门对人员在非值班期间发生的犯罪拥有首要管辖权，但当地警方经常选择将权力让给美国军方。

在美军战斗机飞行员雅各布·沃尔夫森 (Jacob Wulfson) 上尉的案例中，检察官指控他在 2023, 12 月的一次约会中，在其公寓内给英国学者萨拉·斯蒂尔 (Sarah Steele) 下药并将其勒颈，随后在未经其同意的情况下将阴茎插入其阴道。

在另一起案件中，美国空军士兵提利昂·戴维斯 (Tyrion Davis) 在 2022 年 6 月接受军事法庭审判，此前包括其妻子在内的两名英国女性指控其强奸。官方起诉书称，他被判定一项性侵罪名——被描述为在未经同意的情况下将阴茎插入受害者阴道——但被判处 10 项进一步的性侵和虐待性接触罪名，以及两项袭击罪名无罪。

相比之下，根据《统一军事司法法典》(UCMJ) 第 120 条，强奸指控要求检方证明被告在未经同意的情况下使用了暴力或使用了麻醉剂。在受害者自愿饮酒，或无法证明其被暴力压制的情况下，该案件被指控为性侵，最高刑期为 20 年。

针对非自愿插入的指控为性侵和“加重性接触”——这是一种甚至没有出现在英国法规中的罪行。

当这种情况发生时，英国受害者被抛入一个陌生世界，他们指控的攻击者在军事法庭接受审判，且审判员通常是由驻在同一基地的美国军事人员组成。

一些受害者表示，这比最初的经历更深刻地造成了损害和伤害。

强奸危机中心 (Rape Crisis) 提供支持电话：英格兰和威尔士 0808 500 2222，苏格兰 0808 801 0302，北爱尔兰 0800 0246 991。

一个全由空军人员组成的男性评审团判定沃尔夫森性侵指控不成立，但勒颈罪名成立。他们判处其 22 年。

与性暴力幸存者合作的专家表示，一种感知认为起诉书上的罪名与实际经历不符。

受军事人员性攻击且符合条件的受害者……

目击者

城市肖像 Spanning the US from coast to coast and the 20th and 21st centuries, 位于南伦敦的 杜尔维奇画廊（Dulwich Picture Gallery）通过图像探索美国 100 年的城市生活。此次展览展出阿尔弗雷德·斯蒂格利茨（Alfred Stieglitz）、海伦·莱维特（Helen Levitt）、多萝西亚·兰格（Dorothea Lange）、刘易斯·海因（Lewis Hine）、贝雷尼丝·艾伯特（Berenice Abbott）、黛安·阿勃丝（Diane Arbus）、盖里·威诺格兰德（Garry Winogrand）和布鲁斯·戴维森（Bruce Davidson）等大师的作品，展览将一直开放至 10 月 4 日，旨在追溯现代城市环境的双重构建与摄影语言的演变。从大萧条到新政及其之后，城市的乐观主义逐渐转向某种更为阴郁的基调。

▲ 在帝国大厦高处骑球，约 1930 年，刘易斯·海因（Lewis Hine）为高空钢结构工人们拍摄的英雄主义肖像

维克多·“法语”·戈塞林（Victor ‘Frenchy’ Gosselin）。右图：潜水员，东河，1948, 由

亚瑟·莱普齐格（Arthur Leipzig）拍摄。左图：哈莱姆区，1960 , 由索尔·莱特（Saul Leiter）拍摄，他捕捉狂躁氛围中个人特质的彩色照片如今被认为是纽约市最杰出的摄影作品之一

照片提供：纽约 HOWARD GREENBERG GALLERY

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◀ 纽约，1972, 由基本自学的纽约人海伦·莱维特（Helen Levitt）拍摄。右图：美国游牧民（向西迁移的奥基人），1936,

约翰·古特曼（John Gutmann）以包豪斯风格构图拍摄的移民。最右图：路易斯·福雷尔（Louis Faurer）拍摄的 Rockefeller Center 的 RCA 大厦，1949

照片提供：FILM DOCUMENT LLC, COURTESY ZANDER GALERIE, COLOGNE PARIS; CENTER FOR CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY, ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS; HOWARD GREENBERG GALLERY

沃克·埃文斯（Walker Evans），第42街和第六大道，1929 . 下方：玛丽·艾伦·马克（Mary Ellen Mark）拍摄的无家可归者图像，

洛杉矶，车中的达姆一家，1987

照片提供：大都会艺术博物馆；玛丽·艾伦·马克基金会

全国 25

迈克·利（Mike Leigh），83岁，表示健康状况不佳，新片很可能是他的最后一部作品

“它不是一种商品” 呼吁停止为采石场而砍伐古老林地

达米安·盖尔 (Damien Gayle)

本杰明·李 (Benjamin Lee)

环境记者

电影制作人迈克·利表示，他的下一部电影很可能是他的最后一部。

在七条森林小径的交汇处，艾莉森·斯威特曼 (Allison Sweetman) 停下了脚步。四周树木耸立，唯有东北方向有一块最近被砍伐过的小径。

这位曾获奥斯卡提名的编剧兼导演是在伦敦的一次宣传活动上发表的上述言论，旨在推广他的下一部电影《温柔呵护》(Tender Loving Care)，该片预计将于今年秋季首映。

正午的热浪使大多数鸟类安静了下来，但这种寂静是平和的。“这就是他们所说的‘七路口’ (Seven Wents)，”她说。几个世纪以来，肯特郡的人们通过这条路往来，从东马林 (East Malling) 到巴明 (Barming)，从迪顿 (Ditton) 到泰斯顿 (Teston)，为了礼拜、贸易和走访亲友。“在400年前的地图上就能找到它。”

这位83岁的老人拍摄的作品包括《赤裸》(Naked)、《秘密与谎言》(Secrets & Lies)、《特纳先生》(Mr Turner) 和《又一年》(Another Year)。据行业网站 Indiewire 报道，他说由于健康原因，再拍一部电影将“非常困难”，并且“不可能实现”。

这种情况可能即将结束。“七路口”是橡树林 (Oaken Wood) 的一部分，其中40公顷的土地几乎注定被夷为平地。开发商想要地下的石头。由改革英国党领导的肯特郡议会本月投票决定将其纳入矿产资源地规划。这使其成为相邻采石场的潜在扩建区域。

利此前曾提到自己被诊断出患有肌炎，这是一种影响免疫系统并导致慢性肌肉炎症的疾病。当被问及《温柔呵护》是否将成为他的最后一部电影时，他回答道：“绝对是。我认为极有可能，是的。我的意思是，我知道女孩们不喜欢听到我说这话，但我认为事实就是这样。”

议会表示，其决定尚未等同于规划许可——在许可授予前，该计划需要政府批准。然而，这意味着它已将森林下方的土地确定为建筑和修复项目的重要石材来源。

▲ 隐修院采石场 (Hermitage Quarry) 毗邻肯特郡的橡树林。左起：瑞秋·罗德韦尔 (Rachel Rodwell)、艾莉森·斯威特曼 (Allison Sweetman)、朱莉·里德 (Julie Read) 和布隆蒂·安塞尔 (Brontie Ansell)

照片：DAN KITWOOD/GETTY; GRAEME ROBERTSON/卫报

这部电影是一部喜剧正剧，由利的长期合作伙伴兼伴侣马里昂·贝利 (Marion Bailey) 以及 Apple TV 剧集《寡妇湾》(Widow’s Bay) 的突破性之星凯特·奥弗林 (Kate O’Flynn) 主演。参与其中的还包括他的几位经常合作者，如制片人乔治娜·洛 (Georgina Lowe)、美术指导简·布罗迪 (Jane Brodie) 和选角导演尼娜·戈尔德 (Nina Gold)。

现在，抗议者们开始行动起来。橡树林自1600年以来一直保持林地状态，它是建立在古老林地遗址上的种植林 (PAWS)，这意味着它是一个经过重新种植的古森林遗址。几个世纪以来，这里一直被用作甜栗树林，通过轮伐整个区块，让树桩重新生长。

“瞧，它就被取代了，”安塞尔说。罗德韦尔补充道：“它被对待得就像花园顶层土壤一样。而他们忘记了互联性。这不仅仅是土壤，而是一个生命系统。”

《温柔呵护》的剧情尚未揭晓，但被描述为“对当代世界的深刻探索”。该片将于今年秋季在各大电影节首映，有可能在8月底的科罗拉多州特柳赖德电影节举行全球首映。

去年，有超过 25,000 人在一次关于该计划的磋商中表达了担忧。林地信托基金会（Woodland Trust）和肯特野生动物信托基金会（Kent Wildlife Trust）对此表示反对。Sweetman 和 Rodwell 所在的梅德斯通区议会（Maidstone borough council）即将通过一项关于自然权利的动议。

“我很幸运能拍完这部最后的电影，”Leigh 说道。“人们给了我很多帮助。当你看到我起身时，你会发现我的朋友们都帮我站了起来。所以，我可能无法再拍更多了。”

阳光几乎直射在头顶，但森林冠层下的空气很凉爽。Sweetman 非常熟悉这片森林，并且是当地绿色党的区议员，他带领大家穿过由几乎不可逾越的人工林林带组成的绿色走廊，前往另一个最近经过林分更新（coppiced）的地点。

他两年前的电影《艰辛真相》（Hard Truths），由 Marianne Jean-Baptiste 主演，获得了广泛好评。彼得·布拉德肖（Peter Bradshaw）在为卫报撰写的四星级评论中称其为“一部深沉、忧郁且富有同情心的戏剧”。

包括冬眠鼠、夜鹰和猫头鹰在内。在甜栗林分更新地旁矗立着古树，包括古老的橡树。风信子和其他野花在这里绽放。肯特野生动物信托基金会表示，土壤本身由历经亿年积累的菌根网络联结，是一个种子库和碳汇。

“它在法律上的保护方式完全一样，因为这不仅仅关乎是否有较新的树木生长，”她说。

离开 Seven Wents 后，该小组向北走，前往现有的采石场旧址，该采石场在十多年前吞噬了 32 公顷的林地。随着每一步的前行，机器的声音变得越来越大。

“这里有所有的土壤，有真菌，有所有的野生动物。”但她补充道：“它仍然是不可替代的。你无法在其他地方创造出这样的环境。”

随行人员包括同样是绿色党区议员的 Rachel Rodwell、活动家 Julie Read，以及管理董事 Brontie Ansell。

很快，空气中弥漫着浓重的尾气味和气动锤击石的声音。白色的粉末（显然是岩石粉尘）像一层薄膜一样覆盖在森林叶片上。一只死掉的鼩鼱躺在地上。“你可以呼吸到它，能闻到它，能感觉到它在你的肺里，”Rodwell 说道。

但如果开发计划得以实施，这正是其计划的一部分。经营 Hermitage 采石场的 Gallagher 集团表示，林地下的土壤将被“迁移并保留”——即挖掘并移至他处。而自罗马帝国时代就在英国生长的“非原生”栗树将被

开发商想要的是土壤之下的资源。肯特石灰岩（Kentish ragstone）至少从罗马时代起就被开采，它是罗马伦敦的建筑基石。肯特郡议会表示，这对于古建筑的保护至关重要，包括

自然律师协会（Lawyers for Nature），该协会一直支持他们拯救森林的活动。

“大约需要七年时间，它们才能再次进行林分更新，”Sweetman 说道。“在生长的过程中，它们实际上比成年树木吸收大气中更多的碳……同样，它们的根系继续生长，这能吸收雨水地表水。”

“我们将自然视为商品或资源，而忘记了我们本身就是这个系统的一部分。正是这种认为我们可以随意剥离和掠夺自然的特权感，”Rodwell 补充道。

伦敦塔和坎特伯雷大教堂。反对者认为，将建筑环境的保护置于自然保护之上是错误的。议会拒绝发表评论。

移走，而他们将“在恢复的原生林地中补种双倍以上的树木”。

活动人士对此持怀疑态度。“本质上，他们把大量表土掀起……然后把表土扔在某个地方，然后说：”

Ansell 表示，Oaken Wood 与任何其他古老林地之间几乎没有区别。

这片森林也是一个关键的生态站点，支持着野生动物

“这在全国各地，乃至全球范围内都在重复上演。”

▲ 这位编剧兼导演正在宣传他的最新电影《细致关怀》（Tender Loving Care）

• 卫报 周四 30 July 2026 2

◀ 巴格达的哀悼者们抬着在昨天的美国和沙特空袭中丧生的PMF战士的遗体

摄影：MURTADHA RIDHA/AFP

将冲突的背景视为削弱伊朗的机会。

分析人士称，美沙在伊拉克的袭击将该地区推入了“未知领域”

她说，在沙特方面，也存在一种希望显得不可预测的类似欲望。“没有人想维持现状，”她补充道。

“我认为从沙特人的角度来看，他们觉得伊朗人之所以这么做，是因为他们认为海湾阿拉伯国家不会在升级阶梯上采取行动，”皇家联合服务学会（RUSI）智库中东研究高级研究员 H A Hellyer 表示。

即便他声称在伊拉克的袭击与政府协调一致（尽管巴格达方面对此表示谴责），他仍表示将“猛击 [伊朗]”。

伊拉克的哈拉卡特-努贾巴（Harakat al-Nujaba），一个由伊朗支持的民兵组织，补充说华盛顿和利雅得的利益与安全将面临后果；与此同时，哀悼者们高喊着什叶派宗派口号以及“美国之死！”

美国及其盟友的设施（包括在沙特阿拉伯的设施），尽管美国曾短暂暂停行动。

Peter Beaumont

高级国际记者

中东地区日益加剧的混乱感被总结为：

分析人士昨日表示，美国和沙特对伊拉克境内一个伊朗支持的民兵组织的袭击，已将该地区推入了“未知领域”。

伊拉克总统府称，

“沙特希望明确一点，即这种评估是错误的；如果德黑兰认为海湾国家是容易下手的猎物，那就错了。”

对PMF（阿拉伯语称为 Hashd al-Shaabi）的袭击——这是一个包括强大亲伊朗派系的武装联盟——是“对伊拉克主权的公然侵犯，目标是其官方机构”。

查塔姆研究所（Chatham House）智库中东和北非项目主任 Sanam Vakil。

——他们正将遇难战士的遗体从伊拉克北部摩苏尔的一家医院抬出。

伊拉克的大部分石油通过霍尔穆兹海峡出口，而该海峡的关闭已对其造成严重影响，伊拉克一直难以防止美国与伊朗之间的战争波及边境。

据报道，作为战争的一部分，沙特阿拉伯曾参与过几次针对伊朗的秘密袭击，但利雅得此次公开参与标志着冲突的一个转折点。就在一周前，也门受伊朗支持的胡塞武装宣布封锁红海入口处的沙特港口和货物。此次战斗的最新升级

在关于冲突范围扩大且日益不可预测的严厉警告中，利雅得决定加入美国，袭击与伊拉克人民动员部队（PMF）相关的地点，造成至少 20 名战士死亡，这为战争增添了另一个复杂的维度。

PMF 是一个由什叶派占多数的激进派系网络，成立于 2014 年，旨在对抗伊斯兰国（Islamic State）。他们的行动由伊朗将军卡塞姆·苏莱曼尼（Qassem Suleimani）监督，后者曾任伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队海外行动部门库德斯部队的负责人。

“每个人都试图在日益荒诞的局面中寻找意义，”她说。“一种观点是，美国对伊朗直接袭击的非正式暂停，导致压力 [对华盛顿] 的维持方式从德黑兰转移到了其代理人身上。但现在已经不再有可信的否认空间了，因为每个人都知道这些关系是如何交织在一起的。”

Hellyer 表示，问题在于，虽然沙特可能将对 PMF 的袭击合理化为一次精确计算的行为，但可能无法预见对方的反应。

“因为我们不了解这一点，所以我们正处于未知的领域，这不仅是因为今年的战争背景，还因为该地区的更广泛问题，”他说道。“而且这是冒险的，因为德黑兰认为自己在美国和以色列发起的生存之战中成为了目标。”

昨天的美沙联合袭击

发生在美军对伊朗目标攻击短暂平息之后。与此同时，伊朗于昨日向约旦境内的美国军事设施发射导弹，这是自与美国暂停战斗以来，伊朗在该地区发起的首次袭击。

Vakil 表示，德黑兰战术的不可预测性似乎是旨在向特朗普施压的蓄意尝试，目的是使其“要么陷入对抗，要么做出让步”，旨在维持“对霍尔木兹海峡的扼制”。

苏莱曼尼在特朗普的第一任期内被美国在巴格达的导弹袭击击毙。

伊拉克总理阿里·扎伊迪（Ali al-Zaidi）最近会见了特朗普，他呼吁在

Hellyer 补充道：“他们通过一个棱镜来看待一切，认为他们必须戏剧性地重新设定该地区的博弈规则，即使他们错了，或者过度操纵自己的筹码。”

在这一系列互报复的袭击之后，停火状态似乎已经结束，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普表示，美国将

今天在吉达与沙特王储穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼（Mohammed bin Salman）举行会晤，以应对此次空袭。

此前几天，德黑兰及其代理人一直以基地和

Vakil 还表示，该地区的国家正在将这种混乱的

Thursday 30 July 2026 卫报 • After Lenin 27 乌克兰计划为反俄英雄建立雕像 Page 31

日本地震 生存与损失的故事浮出水面

Page 29

Fauci 拒绝在参议院关于新冠肺炎的听证会上作证，理由是宪法第五修正案

质询。“这关乎轻蔑——对本机构的轻蔑，以及对美国人民的轻蔑。”

与此同时，民主党人为

Fauci 使用该修正案的行为进行了辩护。在由康涅狄格州民主党参议员理查德·布卢门撒尔（Richard Blumenthal）大声宣读的一份声明中，Fauci 的律师认为保罗“一心想看到 Fauci 博士因虚构的罪行而被起诉”。

[情报]？”Fauci 回答道：“根据法律顾问的建议，我基于宪法第五修正案赋予我的权利，恭敬地拒绝回答。”

Jessica Glenza

在听证会之前，共和党人将他们的工作描述为调查“新冠肺炎（Covid-19）的起源以及风险性的由纳税人资助的生命科学研究”。科学家们则将这次调查描述为对 Fauci 的“诽谤和骚扰”，他在 2022 年退休前领导美国国家过敏和传染病研究所（NIAID）长达 38 年。

安东尼·Fauci 博士在新冠肺炎大流行期间曾担任唐纳德·特朗普和乔·拜登的关键顾问，他拒绝在一次高调的国会听证会上回答问题，指责一名共和党参议员对他有着“失控的执念”。

保罗继续追问：“Fauci 博士，今天你是否至少愿意回答这一个问题，并让我们知道，关于功能增强 [研究] 的收益是否超过风险，你是否改变了想法？”

俄亥俄州共和党参议员伯尼·莫雷诺（Bernie Moreno）要求 Fauci 为一项要求服役人员必须接种新冠疫苗的军事政策向美国人道歉，为在大流行期间失去企业的美国人道歉，并向一名俄亥俄州的单身母亲道歉，她正处于

▲ 搁浅船只的船壳正被入侵物种覆盖，这些物种可能会被带到世界各地。摄影：SHADY ALASSAR/ANADOLU/GETTY

福齐（Fauci），这位国家过敏和传染病研究所（Niaid）的前资深所长，在昨天出席参议院委员会时，行使了宪法赋予他的防止自我指控的权利。

福齐回答道：“基于法律顾问的建议，我基于宪法第五修正案赋予我的权利，礼貌地拒绝回答。” 显然感到沮丧的保罗

被困在海湾的船只对全球生物多样性构成威胁，科学家警告

离开海湾时携带的藤壶、藻类、贻贝和其他生物，可能会引入入侵物种，从而排挤原生野生动物，传播疾病并永久性地改变海洋生态系统。

因在户外足球赛期间未佩戴口罩而被捕。

责备福齐道：“主席已经否决了你关于特权的主张，”他说。随后他补充道：“你今天拒绝作证将会产生后果。”

威斯康星州的共和党参议员罗恩·约翰逊（Ron Johnson）称新冠疫苗（科学家认为该疫苗挽救了数百万人的生命）为一种“实验性基因疗法”。

坦布里（Tamburri）表示：“当你移动生物时，它们可能会降低被入侵地区的生物多样性，导致被其取代的当地生物灭绝。”

他表示，发起此次听证会的肯塔基州共和党参议员兰德·保罗（Rand Paul）对他以及大流行起源进行了长达 19 年的调查，旨在使其“难堪并恐吓”他，并且

当一名福齐的律师试图在桌旁陪同他时，保罗要求该律师离开。“这就是安东尼·福齐想被人们记住的方式——因为一名不遵守规则的律师……安保人员请将他带离房间，”保罗说道。该律师在一名安保人员的陪同下自愿离开。

保罗长期支持“实验室泄漏”理论——即大流行始于武汉病毒研究所的泄漏。许多病毒学家认为这不大可能。

他补充说，入侵物种还可能摧毁渔业，堵塞发电厂的冷却系统，且每年需要花费数十亿美元进行管理。

将其“投入监狱”。

“因此，尽管我这样做很痛苦，但基于我对政府立法部门的尊重以及我数十年来与国会合作的记录，在我的律师建议下，我将行使宪法第五修正案赋予我的权利，拒绝回答你们的问题，”福齐在开场白中说道。

马修·皮尔斯 (Matthew Pearce)

该海湾已经是海洋入侵的热点地区，之前的

一项 2024 年针对全球灾难风险研究所病毒学家的调查发现，大多数人认为大流行始于所谓的“溢出事件”——即病毒从受感染的动物跳跃到人类身上。

霍尔穆兹海峡的关闭为极端的全球生物多样性威胁创造了条件，

研究确定了数十种主要由商业航运引入的非原生物种。研究人员表示，该地区极端的温度和盐度可能会使这些生物具有极强的生命力。

保罗的挫败感至少部分

可能源于福齐收到了拜登的总统赦免。

科学家警告称，一旦数千艘搁浅的船只重新起航，可能会在世界海洋中传播入侵海洋物种。

此次听证会发生在保罗发布他所谓的福齐“日记”仅几天之后，这份文件长达 1,100 多页，被描述为揭示了福齐在实验室泄漏理论上的内心冲突。科学家表示，这是科学辩论的正常部分。

专家们对于第五修正案的适用范围存在争议。一些人认为，一旦一个人接受了总统赦免，就不能再行使第五修正案。如果没有这项权利，国会可能会判定证人藐视法庭，这可能导致罚款，甚至在极端情况下导致入狱。其他人则认为，只要存在有效的起诉威胁（特别是州政府起诉），该权利就依然有效。

“它们相当顽强，”Tamburri 说道。“它们适应极端环境、高温和高盐度。那些通常能承受这些极端环境的强韧生物，往往会成为非常成功的入侵者。”他补充道

福西（Fauci），85 岁，曾服务于七任美国总统，并经历了多次健康危机，包括艾滋病（HIV）危机、埃博拉疫情以及第 1 次冠状病毒 outbreak，被称为 Sars-CoV-1。

自从 28 February 美国-以色列与伊朗战争爆发导致该战略水道关闭以来，已有 1,500 艘以上的商船被困在海湾中。

在开场陈述之后，听证会很快变成了保罗（Paul）与福西之间的你来我往。由于福西拒绝回答，保罗明显变得激动，他用“后果”威胁这位科学家，然后

一个国际海洋生物学家团队表示，由于搁浅的船只没有移动，它们的船体正被海洋生物所覆盖——从微生物、藻类到藤壶和其他无脊椎动物——当贸易恢复时，这些生物可能会搭便车前往世界各地的港口。

日记中还包含关于特朗普（Trump）的记录，福西在疫情初期曾向其提供密切建议。他将总统描述为“ rambling（胡言乱语）”、“疯狂”、“绝望”、“笨拙”、“无能”、“一个白痴”、“真正的耻辱”、“完全疯了”以及“真正讨人厌的青少年”。

印度和新加坡等具有类似温暖、高盐条件的地区面临的威胁最大，相关部门应保持警惕。

研究称，单艘船只可能已经向海湾海域释放了数百万个幼体。随着航运恢复，压载水中的生物，以及在殖民船体的“生物fouling群落”中的寄生虫和病原体，可能会通过全球航运网络迅速传播。

将福西的一名律师赶出了听证室。

“你在第五修正案下没有任何权利，”来自密苏里州的共和党参议员乔什·霍利（Josh Hawley）在一段指责性的发言中说道。

“【国家卫生研究院（NIH）】是否曾资助过关于猴痘的 gain-of-function（功能增强研究）？”保罗问道，他指的是科学家通过操纵病毒使其更有效的研究。

该研究的第一作者，马里兰大学环境科学中心（University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science）的马里奥·坦布里（Mario Tamburri）教授表示：“如果你要设计一个最坏的情况，我不知道你是否能比这做得更糟。这是一场完美的风暴。”

坦布里敦促政府和航运公司在船只离开海湾前尽可能进行检查和清理，而预计有船抵达的港口应加强对入侵物种的监测并建立快速反应计划。

“在法律顾问的建议下，基于我在宪法第五修正案下的权利，我恭敬地拒绝回答，”

研究将这种情况描述为潜在的海洋“生物入侵超级传播事件”，认为此前没有哪次航运中断涉及如此多船只在长时间内处于闲置状态。

福西说道。

在听到了另一个保罗认为不可接受的研究描述后，他问道：“福西博士，NIH 是否曾为情报部门的任何部门，如中情局（CIA）、【国家情报总监办公室】或与其协调开展研究？”

通过与公共卫生的对比，坦布里表示，应对措施应效仿遏制传染病的努力。

根据研究，船只通常在港口锚泊仅 1 到 3 天，这限制了

它们浸没表面的生物生长。但许多被困在海湾的船只已经

“早期检测非常重要——在它们扩散之前进行预防非常重要，”他说道。

“在很多方面，这就像追踪流感或新冠。你需要为此做好准备，尽早检测。如果你发现了某些东西，立即进行处理。”

安东尼·福齐博士（Dr Anthony Fauci），他在新冠疫情期间为特朗普和拜登提供咨询，出席了昨天的听证会

在数月内保持静止，使得密集的海洋群落得以建立。如果有数千艘船只

摄影：ANNA MONEYMA ER/GETTY

全新的 YouTube 系列节目

主持人：吉米·法穆雷瓦 (JIMI FAMUREWA)

探索英国最美味的饮食趋势

埃塞克斯郡的叛逆拉面店和贝尔法斯特的香料袋专家。伦敦备受追捧的混合烘焙店和约克郡的美式三明治熟食店。跟随美食记者兼广播员吉米·法穆雷瓦，在新系列节目中结识那些塑造我们饮食方式的人们和菜肴。请在 YouTube 或 卫报 观看。

每周一和周四更新剧集

世界 2

日本地震后数千人逃离，生存与失去的故事随之浮现

◀ 上图：熊本县发生的 6.8 级地震破坏并摧毁了道路和走道；下图：神社和寺庙；最左侧及底部：房屋。据当局称，所有这些地方仍面临进一步地震活动的风险

摄影：KYODO/REUTERS; YUICHI YAMAZAKI/ A P/GETTY IMAGES

成员爬进去将他拉了出来。他的头部在流血。我很高兴他幸存了下来。”

加文·布莱尔 (Gavin Blair) 东京 蕾切尔·霍尔 (Rachel Hall)

日川有许多老房子，那些未在地震中被毁的房屋现在面临余震带来的显著风险。许多居民周二晚上住在车内，停在

至少 13 人在周二袭击日本南部的 6.8 级地震中丧生，数百人受伤，数万户家庭失去电力和水源。

镇政府大楼外，工作人员在那里分发食物和饮料。

“仍有人在等待救援，这是一场与时间的赛跑，”首相

其中包括 79 岁的岩冈茂美 (Iwaoka Shigemi) 和他的妻子 77 岁的美智代 (Michiyo)，据《每日新闻》报道。由于预计昨天气温将达到 35 摄氏度，这对夫妇表示他们担心中暑的风险。

高市早苗 (Sanae Takaichi) 昨天表示。“我们将全力以赴，尽可能地寻找并营救更多的人。”

周二下午，地震袭击南部九州岛的熊本县时，在日本震度级（shindo intensity scale）上记录到的最大震级为

• 7。

79 岁的永田须美 (Suemi Nagata) 告诉当地一家报纸，由于她的车库被毁，她无法开车逃离日川，但她与丈夫和姐姐一起到达了镇政府大楼。“横向摇晃比 10 年前的熊本地震还要糟糕，太恐怖了，”她说。“能活下来就值得感激了。”

政府内阁官房长官木原实 (Minoru Kihara) 表示，截至昨天早晨，全国有超过 9,000 人在避难中心。日本气象厅

警告称，由于这次浅层地震引发了该地区的地震活动，震动最剧烈的地区在约一周内仍面临进一步强震和山体滑坡的风险。

今年 4 月，熊本县纪念了 7 级地震导致 275 人以上死亡并造成广泛破坏 10 周年。

截至昨天早晨，该机构已记录到 60 次以上余震，震级在 1 到 4 之间。地震后立即发布了海啸预警，但在两小时内被解除。

在那次情况下，一次 6.2 级前震发生两天后出现了致命的主震——这件事将在未来几天内让整个县的数万人心存顾虑。

志愿者消防员 Tomohide Nagata 在接受《熊本来日日新闻》（Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun）采访时，讲述了他在农村小镇应对紧急情况的经历。

在位于日川（Hikawa）以北 15 英里的鹿岛（Kashima），熊本永旺（Aeon）购物中心遭受了严重破坏，据了解是由于地震引发的燃气爆炸所致。在地震发生后随顾客一起撤离后，部分员工返回建筑内，随后被卷入爆炸之中。

日川是该地区受灾最严重的地区之一，靠近地震震中。

“有一个声音从一座倒塌的房子里传出来，我能看到一只手，”他说。“我们的一位资深[成员]……”

一名在爆炸前瞬间随其他购物者撤离的 16 岁女孩告诉《朝日新闻》（Asahi Shimbun），她当时感觉“一旦到室外就完全安全了”，结果却在爆炸产生的尘埃和浓烟中陷入呼吸困难。

在日川和鹿岛之间，宇城市（Uki）也经历了震级达到震度表（shindo scale）最高 7 级的震动。在这里，居民们讲述了侥幸逃生和救援失败的经历。

一名 40 多岁的女性在用身体挡住掉落的家具以保护孩子后，成功带着三代家人到达了避难所。

一名经常在购物中心购物的 74 岁老人告诉《日本经济新闻》（Nikkei），他刚刚得知一名在那里工作的朋友受伤了。“我也可能会被卷进去，”他说。

在丰野小学（Toyono elementary school）接受《熊本来日日新闻》采访时——由于当地防灾设施的天花板坍塌，该校被用作避难所——她说道：“我在家里被一个抽屉柜压住了。我保护了孩子们，然后匆忙撤离。”

最初报告称有多达 30 名员工被困在内部，其中 4 人仍然失踪。

其他人讲述了在市内的浅川（Asakawa）区试图将一名老人从被毁房屋中救出的失败尝试。周二晚上，当邻居和亲戚试图互相确认情况时，他们发现一座房子被完全夷为平地。志愿者消防员尝试救援，但受限于现场情况而未能成功。

“那个男人是我儿时的好友，”当地一名显然受到惊吓的 70 岁区长告诉熊本当地报纸。“我们试图把他拉出来，但余震接二连三地袭来，所以我们别无选择，只能放弃。”

与日川一样，许多宇城市居民睡在车里，当地政府工作人员分发水和食物。由于受损的防灾设施无法使用，该市在一个停车场设立了临时应急指挥部。

在距离日川向南 7 英里的八代市（Yatsushiro），一名 63 岁的人表示，他的行程救了他的命。“那天是[休息日]，我没在上班，所以我保住了性命，”这名个体经营者说，他的单层木结构工作场所已经坍塌。

“我完全不知道明天开始该怎么办，”他补充道。

• 卫报 2026 年 7 月 30 日，星期四

30 世界

“这在意大利和法国相当普遍。我能说的唯一一点是，圣马可药房有自己的配方。”

佛罗伦萨修士的配方是可口可乐的前身吗？

Kola Coca 是一种 1885 年由西班牙瓦伦西亚蒸馏商制造的酒精糖浆，也被认为是可口可乐的潜在灵感来源。

Russo 发现的其他文件显示，佛罗伦萨修士调制出的这种药剂，价格在 2 到 6 意大利里拉之间（相当于今天的不到 1 欧分），在顾客中极受欢迎。

在佛罗伦莎圣马可修道院的档案中发现了一份与可口可乐类似的药用药剂配方

Angela Giufrida

▲ 周二晚上在北岛拍摄到的火球

罗马

两颗疑似陨石在纽西兰引发关注

一名意大利修士在佛罗伦萨一座古老修道院的药房档案中发现了一份文件

“因为它具有神奇的功效，可以对抗疲劳，以及随年龄增长而产生的疲劳，”鲁索（Russo）说道。

该文件描述了一种由玻利维亚古柯叶和可乐果制成的药剂，从而引发了人们的猜测，认为它可能是美国著名软饮料可口可乐的前身。

“直到玻利维亚古柯叶被禁止为止——因为到那时人们已经意识到可卡因是一个问题，而非一种疗法——我想它是我们的畅销产品之一。”

照片：UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP/GETTY

圣马可修道院（San Marco convent）的院长曼努埃尔·鲁索（Manuel Russo）神父表示，他在整理档案时偶然发现了这份发黄的文件，这是一种类似于宣传单的叶子。

圣马可修道院于 1436 年在佛罗伦萨建立，药房于 1460 年开业，旨在为当地的贫困社区服务。

Eva Corlett

该传单详细记录了一款名为 elixir vinoso ricostituente（恢复性葡萄酒灵药）的配方，由 10g 玻利维亚古柯叶和 30g 可乐果与葡萄酒混合制成。调制该药剂的修士们将其宣传为一种补剂，用于使身心从疾病和衰老引起的疲劳中恢复。

惠灵顿

由于使用了葡萄酒，因此他将这些成分与碳酸水结合。彭伯顿（Pemberton）的补剂最终演变成了可口可乐。

鲁索表示，这家药房被他描述为“修道院里最美丽的事物之一”，目前仍在运行，尽管 1995 年其地点被转移到了这座托斯卡纳城市（Tuscan city）的另一个部分。

近日，两颗巨大的疑似陨石在纽西兰上空闪现并发出巨响，令目击者感到兴奋，但也导致一些动物陷入疯狂。

在得知鲁索的发现后，一些当地新闻机构在思考

这款软饮料的起源是否

在佛罗伦萨而非美国佐治亚州的亚特兰大市。

然而，原址依然完好，包括一只从尼罗河带来的鳄鱼标本，自 17 世纪以来一直悬挂在天花板上。

北岛在周二晚上 10.20 分后出现了一颗火球，此前在周日晚上，另一颗火球划过南岛上空。

该文件没有标注日期，但据信是在

然而，由于没有证据证明修士们的创作与可口可乐配方之间存在联系，

19 世纪中叶制作的，当时修士们大量贸易玻利维亚古柯叶。这些叶子由传教士进口到意大利，远早于 1961 年因含有用于制造可卡因的天然生物碱而在全球范围内被禁止。

行车记录仪、监控摄像头和专业陨石相机的捕捉画面显示，北岛上空被巨大的闪光照亮，数十人在社交媒体上描述了随之而来的“巨大轰鸣声”。

19 世纪欧洲的化学家经常在店铺天花板上悬挂鳄鱼和其他

鲁索还发现了几只装有该药剂的空瓶，他对此持谨慎态度。

爬行动物，以此向顾客表明他们能够获得稀有且异域的原材料。

“我不希望招来可口可乐的起诉或类似的事情，”他开玩笑说。“彭伯顿先生发明了自己的配方，而且没有酒精。此外，当时其他人也在用古柯叶生产这种药物。”

30g

该配方与美国药剂师所使用的配方相似。

鲁索还发现了纯氧、干邑白兰地和精制石油溶剂的标签。

“绝对疯狂。我以为那是架起火的飞机，”一个人写道。另一个人说：“它非常巨大，球体是橙色的，带着一条紫色尾巴。我们看到它在掉黑烟。”另一名目击者表示，他们的“牛群都疯了”。

约翰·彭伯顿，他在 1886 年通过将古柯叶提取物和可乐果混合，创造出了一种甜味糖浆。

上述修士配方中，与 10g 玻利维亚古柯叶和葡萄酒混合的可乐果数量

“药店档案中的库存令人难以置信，”他说。

当地法律阻止了他

Steve Wyn-Harris，Fireballs Aotearoa 的主任，这是一个由地质学家、天文学家和公民科学家组成的组织，专门追踪流星和陨石。当天空亮起时，他正处于霍克斯湾的温泉浴缸中。“我在天空中看到一道巨大的闪光，心想：‘不，这不可能是火球——这太美好以至于不真实’，”他说。

在草原上 传统的吉尔吉斯斯坦毡房文化，游牧生活在高原地区依然繁荣。毡房（可移动帐篷）对于从事畜牧业的家庭的季节性迁徙至关重要。

他起初以为是闪电，直到他的手机开始弹出目击者的报告。

“更重要的是，令人兴奋的是人们听到了声音，即音爆，”他说，这意味着该流星已接近地面。

周日，南岛也报告了类似的光迹。

Fireballs Aotearoa 鼓励居民从周二起留意碎片——即陨石。Wyn-Harris 说道：“留意那些通常不会出现在那里的黑色石头。”

在过去的 150 年中，新西兰仅确认发现了 10 颗陨石。回收陨石可能非常困难：新西兰人口较少，不太可能发现流星；地形茂密，可能会阻碍对碎片的搜寻；且缺乏帮助确定着陆点的三角测量基础设施。

不过现在，Fireballs Aotearoa 在全国范围内拥有 200 个摄像头，而安保摄像头的增加可能有助于搜寻工作。“我们拥有世界上最好的覆盖范围之一，这就是为什么我们现在能看到这些现象，”Wyn-Harris 说道。

照片：AYTEN ALTINTAS/ ANADOLU/GETTY

世界 3

▼ 上周，一名父亲和儿子在基辅的佩切尔斯克修道院参观伊万·马泽帕的新胸像

照片：ALESSIO MAMO/卫报

布尔加科夫博物馆仍在其前住所内开放。

再见，列宁 乌克兰计划通过竖立雕像提升反俄英雄地位

博物馆负责人 Liudmyla Habianuri 承认，布尔加科夫在其小说《白卫军》中对乌克兰民族主义力量进行了负面描写，并表示她并不反对移除该雕像。但她补充道：“布尔加科夫是他那个时代的见证者。而且是一个讽刺作家。他谁也不喜欢。这包括共产主义者和神职人员。”

她说，俄罗斯目前的战争促使乌克兰人思考自己是谁。“这是一个非常痛苦的问题。如果我说俄语，看俄罗斯电影，而俄罗斯人却在杀死我，那么我必须放弃所有这些。那时我才是乌克兰人，”她说。“而且如果我是乌克兰人，我必须尽快变得‘乌克兰化’。”

Luke Harding

基辅

这导致人们以各种方式加入这场身份认同之争，包括在社交媒体上，以及通过攻击纪念碑，Habianuri 推论道，布尔加科夫经常成为此类斗争的目标。

基辅塔拉斯·舍甫琴科大道的尽头处的基座自 2013 年起就一直空得诡异——尽管有人在上面贴了东西。

“现在这里有一张只有两列的表格：正号或负号。作为一个没有从乌克兰防御者角度写作的俄罗斯人，布尔加科夫无法获得正号，”她说。

一个乌克兰三叉戟，取代了列宁曾经伫立的地方。这座雕像是在该国处于共产主义统治时期建立的，在推翻亲俄政府的乌克兰迈丹革命期间被推倒并砸碎。

哈比亚努里（Habianuri）警告称，一个“简化”过程正在进行中，但她承认在列宁雕像被推倒时她感到非常高兴，并表示：“这个人是全人类的敌人。” 她说

六月，弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基（Volodymyr Zelenskyy）建议在基座上放置一个新人物：伊万·马泽帕（Ivan Mazepa），一位哥萨克军事和政治领袖，他在18世纪初与莫斯科决裂并为乌克兰独立而战。“我确定，在列宁倒下之处，马泽帕将屹立不倒，”泽连斯基在站在一座马泽帕胸像旁时说道

马泽帕是一个“独特的人”，曾激发了拜伦勋爵（Lord Byron）创作了一首著名的诗，但她质疑列宁之前的基座是否是放置他的合适地点。

“我知道这是一个对俄罗斯的快速反击，但这里不是英雄该待的地方，”她说。“二战期间，德国人在这里绞死了人们。”

在佩切尔斯克修道院（Perchersk Lavra），一座被俄罗斯导弹击中的古老修道院。

拟议在列宁原址设立的马泽帕纪念碑引发了关于文化纪念以及它如何体现不断变化的国家认同的激烈辩论。在1991年从俄罗斯赢得独立后，乌克兰移除大量苏联时期的雕像并重新命名街道，将其作为“去共产主义化”过程的一部分。

虽然列宁的纪念碑被大锤砸碎，但布尔加科夫（Bulgakov）的雕像被仔细包装并交还给了已故雕塑家尼古拉·拉帕伊（Mykola Rapay）的家人。他的女儿卡特琳娜（Katyrena）拒绝了卫报拍摄该作品新位置照片的请求，称她已获得官方保证，该作品将保持在“公共空间之外”。

▲ 塔拉斯·舍甫琴科大道上曾由列宁雕像占据的柱子，以及另一尊被推翻的列宁像（左） 摄影：ALESSIO MAMO/THE GUARDIAN; PRYLEPA OLEKSANDR/A P/ GETTY IMAGES

乌克兰作家和人权活动家阿里姆·阿里耶夫（Alim Aliev）说：“我们正在夺回我们自己的声音和名字。”他举了瓦西里·斯图斯（Vasyl Stus）的例子，这位20世纪的诗人兼异见人士领导了乌克兰的国家复兴，并于1985年在苏联集中营中去世。从九月起，斯图斯的肖像将出现在一张新的乌克兰钞票上。

在2014年俄罗斯吞并克里米亚且顿巴斯地区开始战斗后，该国进一步推进了这一进程，而在2022年弗拉基米尔·普京对整个乌克兰发动全面的“特别军事行动”后，进程速度变得更快。

“这不是我的心血来潮。这座雕塑不是我的财产。我是其保存的保证人，”她解释道。

在佩切尔斯基修道院，游客们走过马泽帕胸像，它被新安装在喷泉和一片宜人的阴凉花园旁。它是该建筑群的一部分，其中包括11世纪的圣母安息大教堂，中世纪时期被用于埋葬显赫人物。

基辅塔拉斯·舍甫琴科国立大学文化史教授纳塔莉亚·克里夫达（Nataliia Kryvda）表示，乌克兰仍处于一个去殖民化时期。“苏联吸收了民族文化。它试图将苏联公民打造成为一个统一的民族，”她说。“今天的俄罗斯看着乌克兰并说我们是一个民族。这不是真的。我们有自己的思维方式、历史命运、信仰和梦想。我们的认同是一个动态的过程。”

阿里耶夫说，乌克兰现在是在“没有中间人”的情况下讲述自己的过去，因此拆除另一位诗人、俄罗斯人亚历山大·普希金（Alexander Pushkin）的雕像是合适的。“他对克里米亚持完全的帝国主义观点，”他说。

直到他戏剧性地改变了自己的生活和历史的那一刻。

“我知道这是一个对俄罗斯人的反击，但［列宁的基座］不是英雄该待的正确地方。德国人曾在那里绞死人们”

马泽帕是一位艺术赞助人，曾捐款用于支付大教堂的巴洛克风格翻修。今年6月，一架俄罗斯无人机撞入其屋顶并引发火灾，导致外部的圣徒画像被熏黑。其他圣像和宗教文物则被成功救出。

作为哥萨克乌克兰的领袖，马泽帕在彼得大帝统治的大部分时间里都效忠于这位俄罗斯沙皇。但当彼得在 1708 年拒绝保护乌克兰领土免受瑞典入侵者攻击时，马泽帕

关于拟建的马泽帕雕像，阿利耶夫补充道：“我认为这不是一个有争议的想法。”

上个月，基辅的工人拆除了一座关于另一位俄罗斯文学巨匠的纪念碑。米哈伊尔·布尔加科夫的雕像——他出生于基辅的一个俄罗斯家庭，当时那里还是俄罗斯帝国的一部分——自 2007. 年起一直立在他前居所的外面。该作家的纪念牌已在市内的其他地方被拆除，但一座

与入侵者结盟。克里夫达说：“马泽帕是欧洲乌克兰的建筑师。”

克里夫达表示她支持建立马泽帕纪念碑，并补充道：“为什么不呢？他是我们的领导者。每种文化都需要用纪念碑来标记自己的空间。它们将记忆对象化。”她将马泽帕描述为“矛盾的”，且并非一个“完美的英雄”，他“直到……确实曾是俄罗斯的朋友和政治伙伴”。

一名乌克兰游客奥莱娜·波利舒克表示，她来自英国，自普京入侵以来一直住在那里。她如何看待马泽帕？她说：“他是个名人。我很高兴他能被纪念。他是我们历史中的重要组成部分。”

在佩切尔斯克修道院的演讲中，泽连斯基表示，俄罗斯几个世纪以来一直抹黑马泽帕，将其描绘成叛徒。他说，其目的是让乌克兰人“透过他人的眼睛来看待自己的历史”。

柳德米拉·哈比亚努里 博物馆策展人

ri

周四 30 July 2026 卫报 •

33

FTSE 100 All share Dow Indl Nikkei 225 £/€ £/$

+37.39 +17.47 -792.17 -930.73 1.1676

1.3289

10908.41 5856.59 51955.15 61434.19 +0.0002 0.0003

来源：ICE www.ice.com/data

人工智能股票抛售引发其他市场动荡，富时 100 指数创历史新高

数据中心项目在接入电网时可能面临费用

在接入电网，但对于满足该国的电力需求至关重要。

运行电网的国家能源系统运营商（Neso）

从队列中清理了数百个可疑的“僵尸”项目，以为那些最有可能实现政府能源目标的清洁电力方案让路。

然而，解决数据中心队列的问题将更加复杂，因为政府内部对于英国需要多少数据容量几乎没有共识，

相当于项目平均成本的 2.5% 到 7.5% 之间

Dan Milmo

以确保获得电网连接日期。这笔费用将在数据中心启动后退还，或者在项目停滞时被没收。

Joanna Partridge

根据一项旨在解决日益增长问题的提案，英国的数据中心项目将被迫支付数亿英镑才能接入电网。

尽管全国范围内正在推动创建人工智能增长区。

这意味着，包括亚马逊和微软等公司在内的数据中心提供商，可能被要求缴纳 £350m 的保证金，以为其新设施预留 500MW 的电网容量。

能源系统运营商对大不列颠数据中心容量到本十年末的最保守预测为 3.7GW，而最高端估计为 6.7GW。政府的“计算路线图”要求“到 2030 年至少拥有 6 GW 的人工智能能力数据中心容量”。

伦敦的富时 100 股票指数已经

3. 6. 6

电力连接僵局。

在投资者因全球科技股抛售而将资金从科技和半导体股票中转移的同时，受强劲的企业业绩推动，触及新高。

行业监管机构 Ofgem 表示，它正在采取行动，以阻止“投机性”的数据中心项目导致电网连接队列出现不必要的延迟，该队列

▲ 位于赫特福德郡沃尔瑟姆十字的一个谷歌所有的数据中心

开发商还将被要求在连接日期之前达成“硬性里程碑”，否则将被移出队列，以确保国家有限的电网容量用于“最有可能建成项目的，而非保留选项的项目”。

以避免等待电网连接，但大多数开发商仍倾向于从电网中取电。

英国蓝筹股指数在昨天上午一度攀升至 10,951 点，随后略有回落，这是自 2 月 27 日以来的最高水平，而 2 月 27 日即美国和以色列开始袭击伊朗并引发股市波动的前一天。

包括医院、学校和住宅开发项目。

能源大臣 Michael Shanks 表示：“英国需要一个适应 21 世纪且能让企业投资与增长、并在全国范围内创造就业机会的电网连接系统。”

根据 Ofgem 的数据，目前有 315 个数据中心在排队连接，代表 73GW 的需求。在过去一年中，这一数字增长了近 50%，比全国 45GW 的峰值能源需求高出近 30GW。

寻求电网连接的数据中心数量增加，是由于英国政府声明要“在 AI 时代处于领先地位”，且恰逢为减少化石燃料使用而导致电力需求广泛增加。

数据中心是聊天机器人等 AI 工具的中枢神经系统，但随着其使用率和能力的提升，其能源需求也日益增加。一些项目正在探索私有的现场发电作为临时解决方案，以

“这就是为什么本届政府改革了连接流程，以及为什么 Ofgem 的行动将有助于确保可行且具备连接条件的项目能够启动，而不会被投机性申请所阻碍。”

在科技股权重较高的纳斯达克指数再次下跌的一天里，富时 100 指数 (FTSE 100) 收盘上涨 0.3%，报 10,908 点，略低于其 2 月份 10,910 点的最高收盘记录。

英国能源监管机构表示，计划引入一种新的“数据中心承诺费”。

发电和储能方案存在积压，这些方案在获得连接许可方面面临多年的延迟。

富时 100 指数的权重集中在金融和能源领域，这意味着它在很大程度上避开了令其他全球市场（尤其是亚洲和纽约）动荡的科技股抛售。专注于亚洲市场的渣打银行和矿业巨头力拓

肯特郡酿酒师迎来辉煌时刻，销售额增长 19%

于昨天宣布增加股东分红。

富时 100 指数的攀升发生之时，由于对该技术支出成本的担忧，与 AI 相关的公司股价连续第二天暴跌，导致韩国和日本股市大跌。

▶ Chapel Down 表示，通过将更多土地投入生产来满足需求

Sarah Butler

炎热的天气和美国市场的扩张帮助这家英国起泡酒

与此同时，在美军表示已击落伊朗的导弹齐射，并与沙特阿拉伯军队合作打击德黑兰支持的民兵近期用于发动攻击的伊拉克地点后，油价继续上涨。布伦特原油

制造商 Chapel Down 在今年上半年的销售额增长了 19%，但其葡萄园的产量预计将低于去年。

摄影：CHRIS RATCLIFFE/ BLOOMBERG/GETO

这家总部位于肯特的公司表示，其葡萄藤受益于长期的炎热天气，但预计不会重复去年的丰收情况，去年的产量比

伦敦地区在傍晚时分涨至每桶 $90 以上，涨幅超过 7%。

首尔的综合股价指数（Kospi index）由半导体制造商主导，芯片制造商 SK Hynix 的业绩令人失望，导致该指数一度下跌多达 12.6%。在前一日下跌近 11% 之后，该指数最终下跌 6% 收盘，触及 4 月初以来的最低水平，且较一个月前达到的峰值下跌了近 40%。

五年平均值——因为植株受到了 5 月下旬霜冻的影响。今年的作物预计将与五年平均值持平。

“去年真的是非常特殊的一年，”Chapel Down 的首席执行官 James Pennefather 说道。

去年收获的葡萄酿成的葡萄酒将在大约三年后可以饮用。Chapel Down 表示，随着近年来的一系列种植行动，其 1,000 英亩（400 公顷）的葡萄园正逐渐投入生产，从而满足日益增长的需求。

15%

在 8% 的暴跌触发全市场熔断后，交易连续第二个交易日暂停 20 分钟。

去年 Chapel Down 的收获量超出五年平均值的幅度——该酒将在约三年后可以饮用。

日本日经指数昨日收盘下跌 1.5%，创两个月新低。

Chapel Down 表示，截至 6 月 30 日的六个月内，销售额达到 £9.4m，因为年轻饮用者越来越多地转向使用起泡酒来庆祝生日和周年纪念等活动

SK Hynix 生产对 AI 数据中心扩容至关重要的芯片，该公司报告了第二季度创纪录的利润，但低于投资者的预期。另一家芯片制造商三星电子（Samsung Electronics）的股价收盘下跌 5%。

• 以及更正式的场合，例如

• 婚礼。

• 3 商业

电动汽车销售规则正“推迟英国投资”

攻击美国初创公司的 OpenAI 违规代理又袭击了四家公司

Hugging Face 可能会托管该测试的解决方案。Hugging Face 表示，它已恢复了该代理执行的 17,600 次“攻击者操作”。

“我们认为，从该代理的角度来看，整个入侵行为是一次尝试作弊的尝试：旨在接触我们的生产系统并窃取测试答案，而不是独立解决挑战，”Hugging Face 说道。

环境——并在将其转变为更广泛攻击的发射台之前，黑进了另一个“托管在第三方供应商基础设施上”的沙箱。

Dan Milmo

Jasper Jolly

全球技术编辑

该初创公司表示，该代理已接触到其内部基础设施，但仅访问了与网络安全测试相关的内容。这次攻击

OpenAI 透露，由一个违规 AI 代理发起的网络攻击不只一个受害者。

据英国汽车工业游说团体负责人称，在电动汽车销售规则放宽之前，汽车制造商们正在推迟投资英国工厂的最终决定。

Modal 的首席技术官 Akshat Bubna 告诉路透社，受影响的客户“发布了一个未经身份验证的端点，允许互联网上的任何人使用其沙箱执行代码”

这家 ChatGPT 开发商表示，该代理——一个无需人工帮助即可执行一系列指令的自主工具——在接触美国初创公司 Hugging Face 之外，还定位并使用了登录凭据访问了其他四家未具名的“公开可用服务”。

• Hugging Face 表示，攻击持续了五天，其执行的操作量“远远超过了操作员能够手动维持的程度”。

Hugging Face 在将该代理的攻击威胁描述为真实的同时，表示该代理

订阅即可享受最高 31% 的零售价优惠

扫描二维码或访问 theguardian.com/newspapersubscription

显示的优惠为每月相对于零售价的节省金额。仅限 18 岁以上且居住在英国的新订阅者。每年最多可暂停投递或领取 5 周。完整套餐详情、投递区域及参与门店请见我们的网站。订阅条款与条件适用，详见：theguardian.com/subscription/terms

2026 年 7 月 30 日，星期四 卫报 •••

商业 35

面对中国竞争对手压力，宝马将削减 8,000 个工作岗位

宝马此次削减人数是在此前担任生产主管的 Milan Nedeljković 于 5 月接任首席执行官之后进行的。

Jasper Jolly

宝马（BMW）计划裁员至多

宝马的一位发言人表示，该集团正在“积极塑造其运营环境中正在发生的深刻变化”，包括“汽车工业的技术转型、地缘政治的不确定性、市场条件的改变以及中国的进展”。

据报道，将裁减 8,000 个德国岗位，这是欧洲最大汽车制造商在面对中国竞争对手压力而降低成本的最新迹象。

这位宝马发言人昨天表示，这家总部位于慕尼黑的公司已启动一项与员工代表达成一致的自愿冗员计划。

大众（Volkswagen），德国规模最大的汽车制造商，周五确认其将从 650,000 人的总员工人数中裁减至多 100,000 个岗位。该计划包括关闭四家工厂并将生产车型数量减半。

Greggs 销售额激增，因连锁店调整菜单以应对热浪

发言人表示，该公司及其职工委员会已达成一项针对行政和开发部门的遣散计划。生产部门不在此列。宝马的总员工人数

她说，公司今年已经能够对 90% 的能源成本进行套期保值，明年的一半成本也已对冲，使其免受近期油价上涨的影响；而可可和咖啡等关键商品的成本在经历了一段时间的高通胀后已有所回落。

▲ Greggs 表示其新款鸡肉卷取得了巨大成功；左图，该公司还扩大了冰饮系列，其中包括抹茶拿铁

保时捷（Porsche），这家由大众部分持有的跑车品牌，也正在

约为 160,000 人。

近年来，德国汽车制造商面临巨大压力，

经历着严重的重组。本周又达成协议裁员 5,000 人，使得到 2035 年为止计划裁员总数达到 9,000 人——占其员工总数的五分之一。这家总部位于斯图加特的公司昨天报告的税前利润为 €1.4bn (£1.2bn)，高于一年前的 €1.1bn。

该连锁店的税前利润

摄影：MIKE KEMP/ INPICTURES/GETTY

随着中国竞争对手的崛起，后者迅速在电动汽车市场占据主导地位。中国制造商在其本土市场发起了一场激烈的价格战，而此前该市场一直是包括宝马在内的欧洲品牌的丰厚出口收入来源。

比一年前增长近 20% 至 £76m（今年上半年），公司称这是由于成本控制以及其“在家烘焙”冷冻甜点系列的增长，该系列

四月被誉为“卓越的成功”，而 Greggs 表示，重新推出的蛋白质含量更高的沙拉系列，包括鸡肉凯撒沙拉和虾仁分层意面沙拉，提供了更健康的午餐选择。

Joanna Partridge Sarah Butler

该系列在冰岛超市扩大了规模，并于今年在 Tesco 上市。

保时捷在中国的销售额在 2026 年上半年骤降 30% 至 14,500 辆，跌幅快于整个集团 17% 的整体下降幅度。唐纳德·特朗普撤销对保时捷 Taycan 等电动汽车的补贴也打击了北美的销售额。

冰抹茶拿铁以及更丰富的沙拉和鸡肉卷系列帮助

这一结果标志着与去年夏季相比的情况有所好转，当时由于顾客在炎热天气中避开肉派（steak bakes）和纯素香肠卷等糕点，其销售额和利润受到影响。

欧洲汽车制造商还必须为自己从汽油向电力的转型寻找资金，并应对美国关税的影响。包括大众在内的几家制造商——

Greggs 在一系列夏季热浪期间提升了销售额并表明

Currie 表示，Greggs 通过去年引入冰饮以及今年推出“更具吸引力”的沙拉选择，适应了英国更温暖的天气。她说：“随着我们看到炎热天气变得更加常态化，我们变得更具韧性。”

这家烘焙连锁店昨天表示，它正在适应英国日益炎热的夏天。

Stellantis 和福特——已转向与中国竞争对手建立合作伙伴关系，以帮助他们在欧洲进行生产和销售。

阿斯顿·马丁在中国和美国市场也举步维艰。尽管这家总部位于沃里克郡的公司表示其扭转局面努力已提升了销售额，但其上半年的亏损仍有所增加。

这促使分析师和消费者质疑英国是否已经达到了“Greggs 巅峰”。库里在去年夏天坚决否认了这一点，表示该公司此前曾从其他低谷中反弹。

在 2026 年的前六个月中，这家英国最大的快餐企业的总销售额增长至 £1.1bn——比去年同期高出 7.2%。

Greggs 还能通过提供新饮品吸引新的年轻客户，包括柠檬水和冰抹茶，这种富含抗氧化剂的绿茶已在 Z 世代消费者中变得流行。

销售额的增长主要归功于门店的增加，该连锁店净增 34 家新店，至 6 月底其在英国的总店数达到 2,773 家。这家总部位于纽卡斯尔的公司表示，新店表现良好，她将其归功于“对高质量地点的纪律化关注”。

这家汽车制造商昨天报告 2026 年第二季度税前亏损为 £89m，高于去年同期的 £61m。这使得前六个月的亏损达到 £154m。

这种复苏似乎已经在顺利进行，Greggs 表示，菜单中新产品的推出有助于吸引关注健康的客户，即使是在热浪期间。

库里表示，最新业绩显示公司“继续跑赢市场”，且仍有增加门店的空间，特别是高速公路旁、交通枢纽、工业区和零售园。

在推出了一个鸡肉卷后，这家富时 250 (FTSE 250) 公司的股价上涨了 3.5%，因为该公司表示其上半年业绩“显著改善”，营收增长 38% 至 £629m。

“随着我们看到炎热天气成为常态，我们变得更有韧性”

在 2026 年初关键产品的一波涨价推动下，该公司现有门店在 1 月至 6 月间的销售额增长了 2.1%。

▲ 宝马（BMW）慕尼黑总部

她表示：“我们仍然专注于在更多区域开设店铺，并为客户提供购买 Greggs 热门产品的便捷方式，同时根据口味和趋势的变化来扩大和创新我们的菜单。”

阿斯顿·马丁自 2018. 年在伦敦股票市场上市以来，经历了多年的动荡。该公司在 2 月份裁掉了五分之一的员工。

160,000

其首席执行官 Roisin Currie 表示，Greggs 预计今年不会进一步涨价，因为其对成本通胀的预测已从 3% 下调至 2%。

宝马的总员工人数，该人数将通过德国的自愿离职计划而减少。

Roisin Currie，Greggs 首席执行官

附加报道：PA Media

尽管特朗普要求降息，美联储仍维持利率不变

降低一个百分点。在美联储的 6 月会议上——这是在新任主席凯文·沃什（Kevin Warsh）领导下的首次会议——该央行 18 名成员中有一半预测到年底前将至少加息一次。目前利率维持在 3.5% 至 3.75% 的区间。

沃什发出信号，表明他正在央行开启一个新时代，一个强调对前瞻性指引保持谨慎的时代。

在他 6 月的首次会议上，他宣布成立五个新工作组——

他在本月早些时候的一次国会听证会上表示：“我们委员会的成员对持续高企的通胀零容忍，我们共同致力于确保价格稳定。”

2 月份，[某种因素]推高了美国家庭和企业的能源价格，沃什公开承认了这一压力并誓言要将其消除。

来自怀俄明大学的教授及其同事对美国超过三十年的大气水分运动进行了模拟，结果显示在

闭塞锋 (Occluded front)

槽线 (Trough)

西南部和南部平原，大气中的水分比 35 年前多传输 30 到 50 英里，在化为雨水落下之前，在空中停留的时间额外增加了两到四个小时。

日与月

高潮位

© 皇冠版权和/或数据库权利。经公共记录保管员和英国水文局许可转载。

他们的研究结果发表在

阿伯丁 (Aberdeen) 0135 4.1m 1409 3.9m 埃夫穆斯 (Avonmouth) 0738 11.9m 1957 12.3m 巴罗 (Barrow) -- -- 1200 8.4m 贝尔法斯特 (Belfast) 1143 3.1m 2349 3.4m 科夫 (Cobh) 0552 3.8m 1810 3.9m 克罗默 (Cromer) 0648 4.8m 1927 4.6m 多佛 (Dover) 1137 6.3m 2352 6.2m 都柏林 (Dublin) -- -- 1208 3.7m 戈尔韦 (Galway) 0545 4.6m 1753 4.9m 格林诺克 (Greenock) 0043 3.4m 1256 3.0m 哈里奇 (Harwich) 0008 3.7m 1219 3.8m 霍利黑德 (Holyhead) 1054 5.1m 2302 5.5m 赫尔 (Hull) 0633 7.1m 1908 6.8m 利思 (Leith) 0255 5.2m 1522 5.2m 利物浦 (Liverpool) 1141 8.6m 2351 9.1m

伦敦桥 (London Bridge) 0217 6.7m 1434 6.7m 洛西茅斯 (Lossiemouth) 0007 3.9m 1243 3.7m 米尔福德港 (Milford Haven) 0640 6.4m 1856 6.7m 纽基 (Newquay) 0530 6.3m 1746 6.6m 北希尔兹 (North Shields) 0342 4.8m 1614 4.7m 欧班 (Oban) 0619 3.6m 1837 3.9m 彭赞斯 (Penzance) 0505 5.0m 1721 5.3m 普利茅斯 (Plymouth) 0612 4.9m 1824 5.2m 朴茨茅斯 (Portsmouth) -- -- 1211 4.5m 南肖波特 (Southport) 1116 8.3m 2326 8.8m 斯托诺韦 (Stornoway) 0726 4.2m 1930 4.7m 波特兰 (Portland) 0720 1.8m 1935 2.0m 惠特比 (Whitby) 0416 5.3m 1646 5.2m 威克 (Wick) -- -- 1201 3.1m 沃金顿 (Workington) -- -- 1204 7.6m

贝尔法斯特 (Belfast) 2130 至 0534 伯明翰 (Birm’ham) 2102 至 0525 布莱顿 (Brighton) 2049 至 0525 布里斯托 (Bristol) 2102 至 0534 卡莱尔 (Carlisle) 2118 至 0519 科克 (Cork) 2127 至 0555 都柏林 (Dublin) 2124 至 0539 格拉斯哥 (Glasgow) 2129 至 0521 哈莱赫 (Harlech) 2113 至 0533 殷内斯 (Inverness) 2136 至 0510 伦敦 (London) 2051 至 0522 曼彻斯特 (M’chester) 2108 至 0524 纽卡斯尔 (Newcastle) 2114 至 0514 诺里奇 (Norwich) 2051 至 0512 彭赞斯 (Penzance) 2108 至 0550

《地球物理研究快报》(Geophysical Research Letters) 中还显示，海洋表面的蒸发正在增加，而陆地表面的蒸发在减少。这影响了降水的发生地点和时间，从而对土地利用产生影响。研究人员还指出，水分传输距离增加的趋势将导致更多国家和地区的用水安全日益超出其国界，需要邻国之间开展更广泛的合作。

日出 0521 日落 2051 月出 2122 月落 0558 下弦月 8月6日

• 吉隆坡 31 加德满都 27 喀布尔 34 金斯敦 33 加尔各答 30
• 洛杉矶 30 拉各斯 28 利马 25

预测和图表由 AccuWeather ©2026 提供

Kate Ravilious

2026年7月30日星期四 卫报 •

赛马

高尔夫

37

Bow Echo 在古德伍德再次击败 Gstaad

经历多次失利后，Hull 志在公开赛夺冠

• 第 39 页

第 40 页

卢克·利特勒 (Luke Littler) 和塔代伊·波加查 (Tadej Pogacar) 在赢得世界赛 (World Matchplay) 和环法自行车赛 (Tour de France) 时表现得无坚不摧。

赛历，利特勒今年六场比赛全胜，此前已连续八场获胜，过去 11 场中赢了 9 场。他的奖金榜总额 £3.1m 是第二名卢克·汉弗莱斯 (Luke Humphries) 的三倍多。他在过去 37 场排名赛中取得了 36 场胜利的记录，足以与伟大的菲尔·泰勒 (Phil Taylor) 相媲美，而后者是在一个竞争对手较少且不够职业化的 era 中进行比赛的。

M

在 800 英里之外的 Le Lioran 山坡上，类似的现象正在上演。是的，从一个重要的层面来看，我意识到 Littler 和 Tadej Pogacar 是截然不同的运动员。但在观看了两者的众多比赛后，我最深刻的感受是

路透社；A

被他们的相似之处、共同的体感，以及一种奇妙的悖论所震撼——当你看到某人在某方面表现得如此卓越，以至于人们指责他们破坏了其他所有人的乐趣时，这种悖论就出现了。

b

“这就像是在看两种不同的运动，”TNT Sports 的评论员在 Pogacar 于第 10 赛段超越 Richard Carapaz，将其对 Jonas Vingegaard 的领先优势扩大到几乎不可撼动的三分钟时，激动地感叹道。正是在这个赛段，巴士底日的人群开始对 Pogacar 嘘声四起，因为他开始对这项运动产生掌控力。“黑粉总会黑的，”Pogacar 说道，其他骑手也纷纷出来为他辩护。这一切的核心在于一个问题：我们在多大程度上希望看到统治级的运动员实施统治？

对于 Pogacar 来说，这些问题承载了公路自行车运动阴暗的历史。无论他通过了多少次兴奋剂检测，无论他提供了多少透明度，总有一部分自行车迷认为统治力必然等同于可疑。而且——至关重要的一点是——这种怀疑永远无法被真正地反驳。如果你不信任反兴奋剂协议，也不真正相信环法冠军可以通过干净的方式赢得，那么你最初为什么要看这项运动？

相比之下，对于 Littler 而言，迷人之处恰恰在于缺乏解释，飞镖运动的词汇量完全不足以将他的表现情境化。Littler 的至高无上由一种氛围、一种暗示、一种恐怖组成，即一种他可以用任何他想要的方式赢得比赛的感觉。他可以在几分钟或几小时内摧毁你；无论是在领先还是在追赶，无论是以微笑还是以凶狠的神情。

结果或许从未悬而未决，但几乎其他所有环节都充满了变数。

T

Luke Littler 今年赢得了六项主要冠军中的六项

三双-20。“噢，他没中。”三双-19。“噢，你这个心狠手辣的年轻人。”Bull。 “你这个狠人！这太离谱了！”正如往常一样，周日晚上为 Sky Sports 评论世界名将赛决赛的 Wayne Mardle 将其描述得最为精炼。

双顶（Double tops），Littler 和 Pogacar 独成一档，但没有什么是永恒的

与 Pogacar 一样，Littler 的统治力在最近几个月里引发的负面评论与正面评论一样多。这种道德恐慌的部分原因在于他们还年轻——Pogacar 27 岁，Littler 19 岁，两人都能让整整一代挑战者感到心灰意冷。

伟大的个人冠军需要一种报复性的特质。不仅要能够驾驭自己的力量，还要能将其与对手最脆弱的时刻精准契合。感知弱点，识别疑虑，并无情地猛扑其上。去培养并渴望那些我们在孩子身上试图熄灭和抑制的特质。在一次重大决赛中，当你的对手正处于双 10 位时，你能找到一个 167 分的结盘方案。

即使是最伟大的人，其统治地位也只是转瞬即逝。埃迪·默克斯（Eddy Merckx），或许是 Pogacar 唯一剩下的、作为史上最伟大自行车手的竞争者，他在 1967 到 1975 年的八年时间里赢得了他几乎所有能赢得的冠军。罗杰·费德勒的帝国时期持续了六年；尤塞恩·博尔特和施特菲·格拉夫的统治期大约为八年。

前前周末，我去了伦敦体育场，观看另一位看似无敌的运动员大显身手。蒙多·杜普兰蒂斯在四年内打破了男子撑竿跳高世界纪录 13 次，而且不可避免地会再次打破。然而，他这次没能做到。他受伤了，只能屈居第二，尽管他跳出的高度仍是令人难以想象的 5. 95米。

公平地对待卢克·利特勒（Luke Littler），无论他怎么做，无论他如何投掷飞镖，无论他是否表现得仁慈，他可能都会获胜。这就是他与那些被我们委婉地称为“竞争对手”的人之间存在的巨大差距。格温·普莱斯（Gerwyn Price）在周日的决赛中打出了或许是他职业生涯中最高水平的飞镖；可以说比他在 2021. 年赢得世界冠军时还要出色。在所有挑战利特勒王冠的竞争者中，普莱斯似乎在如何进入这个青少年选手的心理状态、如何不被震慑、以及如何利用观众和自己压倒性的自信来让自己成为一个难题方面思考得最深。而利特勒在短短一小时多一点的时间里，就以 18-9 击败了他。

我离开时并没有感到失望，反而感到一种奇怪的忧郁，这提醒我，当时感觉不可阻挡的事情并不是一种新常态，而是一个短暂的异常现象。也许我们低估了真正统治地位的短暂性，低估了它在多大程度上并非永久状态，而是一次暂时的行星排列，一种纯粹完美的难以捕捉。

乔纳森·利尤 (Jonathan Liew)

这是利特勒连续第二次获得世界赛（World Matchplay）冠军，同时还拥有连续第二次的世界冠军和连续第二次的英国公开赛冠军。在这些赛事中共有 11 场重大比赛。

波加查尔、利特勒、杜普兰蒂斯、亚尼克·辛纳、巴塞罗那女队、澳大利亚女队：如果你必须讨厌他们，那就讨厌吧。但也要知道，这一切在明天都可能烟消云散。

••• 卫报 周四 2026 年 7 月 30 日

38 体育 英联邦运动会

澳大利亚选手霍尔澄清其并未在格拉斯哥目击谋杀案

该跑者确认当时他在距离犯罪现场六英里外进行训练跑步

肖恩·英格尔 (Sean Ingle)

斯科茨顿体育场

现任英联邦运动会冠军被问及是否在格拉斯哥目击了一场谋杀案，这种情况并非每天都会发生。不过，对于澳大利亚 1500 米跑者奥利·霍尔（Olli Hoare）来说，这几天的经历确实非同寻常。在昨天参加男子一英里赛的预赛后——他在被绊倒后带着血迹斑斑的膝盖完赛——这位 29 岁的人被问及有关他与队友凯·鲁宾逊（Ky Robinson）在训练期间偶遇谋杀现场的报道。

“不，不，我没看到谋杀案，”霍尔说。“报道中提到的谋杀案发生在六英里外，而且是在不同的时间。”不过，霍尔和鲁宾逊在跑步时遭到了起哄，其中至少有一名向两人叫喊的人拿着刀。因此，澳大利亚队被告知在市区内不要穿着队服。

最初人们认为这对组合在周五目击了该市东端保罗·麦克米尼格尔（Paul McMinigal）被谋杀后的现场。“我不知道那是怎么传出来的，因为凯和我是在下午跑步，”霍尔说。“我们在河边跑步。不知怎么地，这些‘传声筒’式的谣言就传开了。”

霍尔的好友杰克·怀特曼（Jake Wightman）——一名与澳大利亚人住在同一家酒店的苏格兰 1500 米跑者——表示：“我很确定我...

我可以这么说，他看到了一个拿着刀的人。就那样。而现在他们却说他身处谋杀现场。这是把两个故事拼凑在了一起。但我们开玩笑说，他穿着一件防刺背心在跑道上奔跑。

“格拉斯哥就像任何一座城市一样。有好的地方，也有坏的地方，你会看到一些不一定想看到的事情。不幸的是，他正好撞到了那里，我希望这没有影响到他。”

“我们还在拿这件事开玩笑，因为在所有你希望格拉斯哥展现最佳面貌的几周里，偏偏在他的第一次奔跑时发生了这件事。”

霍尔决定继续前进。“我们遇到了一场警方处理的争执，”

格拉斯哥之吻

伊迪·阿明之孙因顶人被取消资格

伊迪·阿明的孙子在英联邦运动会上的首秀以耻辱告终，这名拳击手在第三轮因顶撞英国对手达马尔·托马斯（Damar Thomas）而被取消资格，随后他又对裁判发动了言语攻击。来自乌干达的 25 岁选手阿齐兹·阿卜杜尔（Aziz Abdul）在赛后还拒绝与一名记者交谈，因为该记者写了关于那位暴政独裁者的内容。

当阿卜杜尔在计分板上以 20-16 落后时，他顶了托马斯一下。赛后他抱怨说决定是不公正的。“有很多犯规，”他说。“抱摔、肘击，很多鬼话。” 肖恩·英格尔（Sean Ingle）

他说。“有些人走来走去说着什么。但我从未受到威胁。”

“发生的事情并没有什么可怕的。我们只是在跑步经过，那里有几个古怪的人，就这样。”

当被问及对方是否携带刀具时，霍尔说：“他们看起来像是带了什么东西，但他们并没有威胁我们。那里有警察。当凯和我在他们身边跑过时，他们正在化解一场争执，我们甚至没想过要举报。”

“当我们回来时，突然间杰克·怀特曼（Jake Wightman）和所有伙伴都跑过来对我说‘你在报纸上了’，我想：‘为了什么？难道我穿一件澳大利亚啤酒 T 恤冒犯了谁吗？’”

至于有人对他喊了什么，霍尔说：“我认为重复那些话是不合适的，所以我不会重复。但这不仅仅在这里发生；到处都会发生。”

“第二天，我没有穿队服，因为我不希望引起注意。我认为特别是对于四处奔跑的女性来说，她们的处境比我要困难得多。”

“在那一点上我想：‘嗯，最好省着点用这套衣服，因为我没有洗衣机。’ 我不能把所有东西都洗了，我想确保每样东西看起来都很好，这样在比赛中就不会有汗渍。那是主要原因。”

至少霍尔的一天有所好转，他在周六通过申诉恢复了决赛资格。然而，面对乔什·克尔（Josh Kerr）、澳大利亚年轻超级巨星卡姆·迈尔斯（Cam Myers）以及世界 1500 米银牌得主怀特曼，他面临着一项艰巨的任务，他们在预赛中看起来都非常强劲。

▲ 中距离跑手奥利·霍尔在男子 1 英里赛的一组预赛中绊倒

克尔在以 3 分 58.57 秒赢得预赛后，心情显得格外自信。“那里将是一场战争，”他说。“有主场观众，

马丁·里克特/ A

拉姆塞·皮蒂在澳大利亚之日摘银

恩加克现实生活中的电影剧本以英国夺牌收尾

但由于今年已经赢得了一枚欧洲奖牌，恩加克在第一项赛事抓举中展现了实力，以 108kg 的强力举重领跑女子 87kg 级比赛。

恩加克的头发染成了红色，那是她祖国的颜色。赛后她表示，这是英国队双倍奥运奖牌得主艾米莉·坎贝尔（Emily Campbell）的主意，她

这让她领先澳大利亚的艾琳·西卡马塔纳（Eileen Cikamatana） 3kg。然而，在挺举中，西卡马塔纳将 140kg 的杠铃像布娃娃一样举过头顶，获得了 245kg 的总成绩——创下运动会纪录——以 6kg 的优势摘金。

今天参赛。恩加克还解释说这仅仅是

“当我 2012 年离开奥运会时，我上了一辆公共汽车，”她说。“在最后一站，他们告诉我：‘这里关闭了，’所以我没地方去。于是我决定在公交车站露宿。我露宿了大约一个月。没有人照顾我。”

在 2017 年之后，她才获得了合法工作的资格。她在利兹做过九年的办公室清洁工，年收入约为 £2,000。不过，她最近搬到了诺丁汉，接受全职运动员训练，并希望参加 2028 年的洛杉矶奥运会。

Sean Ingle

SEC Armadillo

Yara El-Shaboury

首先，马迪亚斯·恩加克（Madias Ngake）将一台立式钢琴的重量扛在肩上。随后，在又一次惊人的力量与反抗之举中，她将一根 128 公斤的杠铃高举过头顶。

但恩加克在赛后并没有感到太失望。当被问及她的生活是否像电影一样时，她回答道：“是的。我从未相信过自己能够来到这里。”

在澳大利亚队在泳池中统治了六天之后，2026 年格拉斯哥运动会的游泳项目以熟悉的方式落下帷幕，绿金之师在水域中以惊人的 37 枚金牌、16 枚银牌和 23 枚铜牌结束比赛，夺得了最后一次胜利。收官之战也创造了一段英联邦运动会历史，南非队在男子 4 x100 米混合泳接力赛中获得铜牌，使查德·勒·克洛（Chad le Clos）获得了创纪录的第 21 枚英联邦运动会奖牌，使他成为该赛事历史上最成功的运动员。

“我必须离开，因为队里有人知道了我的情况，知道我是同性恋。”

令人惊讶的是，如果她能赢得一枚奥运奖牌，那将是她的第二枚。这是因为在 2019, 年，在三名在比赛中排名高于她的举重运动员因兴奋剂违规被取消资格后，她被授予了 2012 年伦敦奥运会的铜牌。

就这样，这位 34 岁的英格兰队举重运动员赢得了一枚银牌，并写下了本届运动会最非凡的故事之一。

马迪亚斯·恩加克，她染红的头发代表了她的出生地喀麦隆，以及她的银牌。

十四年前，恩加克在 2012 年伦敦奥运会比赛中获得第六名后离开了奥运村，最终露宿了一个月。

然而，由于奖牌被寄到了喀麦隆，而恩加克一直没有回国，所以她从未见过那枚奖牌。

原因何在？她当时代表喀麦隆参赛，而喀麦隆将同性恋定为非法，队里有人发现她是同性恋。就这样，一段旅程开始了，导致恩加克放弃顶尖体育运动十多年，决定在 2023, 年回归，并在一年后转而效力于英国。

“我想拥有它，是的，”她说。“但我觉得这不可能实现，因为奖牌在喀麦隆，而且那里有特殊情况，我不想掺杂政治。”

比赛历史。

与此同时，亚当·拉姆塞-皮蒂（Adam Ramsay-Peaty）在英格兰队在最后一项游泳赛事中屈居澳大利亚队之后，带着一枚银牌告别了本届运动会。澳大利亚队在最后阶段发力。

但恩加克知道如何赢取奖牌。而她的养育之国昨晚无疑对此感到欣喜。

2026 年 7 月 30 日星期四 卫报 •••

39

赛马

‘孩子’比利在 Echo 脱困后谢幕

Greg Wood

古德伍德

比利·劳南（Billy Loughnane）在昨日萨塞克斯锦标赛（Sussex Stakes）中骑乘 Bow Echo 获得令人难忘的惊险胜利后，将护目镜扔向了簇拥在获胜圈周围的狂热观众。他没扔中，但这是他全天唯一的一次失误。

最终落后很远，但他确实拥有强劲的动力。”

▲ 身披黄色赛衣的 Bow Echo，在前往萨塞克斯锦标赛胜利的途中

在上个月雅士谷赛马场（Ascot）的一场比赛中，他在最后冲刺阶段以微弱差距负于 Gstaad，而这次在面对所有年龄组马匹的首场比赛中取得的半马身胜利，巩固了他作为欧洲顶尖一英里赛马的地位，并且极有可能在未来进一步提升。

ANDREW MATTHEWS/ A

无与伦比的 Frankel 曾完成了 2,000 顾内亚锦标赛（2,000 Guineas）、圣詹姆斯宫锦标赛（St James’s Palace Stakes）和萨塞克斯锦标赛（Sussex Stakes）的一英里三冠王。与此同时，他的骑师正迅速成为平地赛马的公众面孔——他是莱斯特（Lester）和弗兰基（Frankie）这种只需提及名字就家喻户晓的骑师的继承人，同时也是一个像其支持者一样享受获胜时刻的表演者。

至少在技术层面上，Billy “the Kid” 仍是 Bow Echo 这位 20 岁骑师的一个恰当绰号。不过，这对于马匹和骑师来说是一个成年礼时刻，应能见证这对组合晋升至赛马界的

“他最近参加了几次激烈的争夺，今天他展现出了斗志，”Boughey 表示。“我知道这听起来很疯狂，因为他至今未尝败绩，但他一直在进步。他正在学习如何比赛，学习如何在争夺中胜出。”

既定精英阶层。

Loughnane 在驾驶 Bow Echo 时表现出色：冷静、自信、耐心，随后在进入最后两分之一个英里（two-furlong）杆时，果断地将这匹三岁马从马群中抽离，并将其推向赛道中央。Ryan Moore 驾驶的 Gstaad 曾在 2,000 顾内亚锦标赛和圣詹姆斯宫锦标赛中屈居 Bow Echo 之后，在对手陷入交通堵塞时抢占了有利的领先位置，但 Loughnane 对 Bow Echo 的终点冲刺速度充满信心，在看台观众的巨大欢呼声中，他们在最后几步冲线前将其追上。

“我们知道比赛速度会很快。一旦我找到了 Ryan 的马尾，我就很满意了，但随后 [驾驶 Puerto Rico 的] Christophe [Soumillon] 出现在我的外侧，所以我知道要把马带出来会面临一些挑战。一旦脱离，它就真的全速冲向终点了。”

对于 Loughnane 而言，这可能是他 20 岁年纪就在全球舞台上创造的另一个职业生涯高峰。“他真的是个表演天才，不是吗？”Boughey 说。“他热爱这一切。今天进入马厩前我相当紧张，而他却非常淡定。”

Bow Echo 目前在六场比赛中保持不败，且是自 Hyperion 以来第一匹完成此成就的马。

“今天对他来说是一场艰苦的比赛。参赛者很多，我们

“我们回顾了数以百万次这些比赛的录像，”Loughnane 在谈到自己和 Bow Echo 的练马师 George Boughey 时说，“我们一直觉得，在最后冲刺阶段几乎肯定能追上来。”

Bow Echo 可能会前往法国参加下一场比赛，either 是在多维尔（Deauville）的雅克·勒·马罗奖（Prix Jacques le Marois），或者是朗香（Longchamp）的穆兰奖（Prix du Moulin），而他的长期目标是 10 月 31 日在肯塔基州基尼兰（Keeneland）举行的育马者杯一英里赛（Breeders’ Cup Mile）。

这是我们的赛道，我们的观众。其他家伙想抢走属于我们的东西。他们在周六晚上必须拿出点真本事，因为他们不会轻易得手的。”

使用了 222 根钉子的鞋钉来打破一英里世界纪录，这种鞋钉速度极快但没有后跟。“这绝对感觉有点大材小用——就像开着一辆一级方程式赛车在街上买杯咖啡，”他说。

女子 200 米蛙泳：1 A Evans (Sco) 2:23.79; 2 K Corbett (SA) 2:24.46; 3 E McCartney (Eng) 2:24.73.

Kia Oval MI 伦敦 151-4. 伦敦精神队 (London Spirit) 151-5. 比赛平局。

结果

男子 200 米自由泳：1 K Taylor (Aus) 1:45.22;

THE HUNDRED 男子赛 索菲亚花园 威尔士之火 (Welsh Fire) 122-7. 特伦特火箭队 (Trent Rockets) 126-1 (BM Duckett 52 未出局)。特伦特火箭队以 9 个 wicket 击败威尔士之火队。

• 2 J Guy (Eng) 1:45.72; 3 M Richards (Wal) 1:45.72. 女子 50 米自由泳：1 M Harris (Aus) 25.23;

• 2 A Perkins (Aus) 24.53; 3 S Jack (Aus) 24.57.

男子 50 米蝶泳：1 K Chalmers (Aus) & B Armbruster (Aus) 22.73; 3 C McEvoy (Aus) 22.92.

女子 200 米蝶泳：1 B Castelluzzo (Aus) 2:06.56; 2 K MacInnes (Sco) 2:06.76; 3 L Dekkers (Aus) 2:06.91.

男子 1500 米自由泳最快组：

• 1 S Short (Aus) 14:42.11; 2 D Wiffen (NI) 14:44.70;

3 B Goedemans (Aus) 14:49.50. 女子 4 x 100 米混合泳接力：1 澳大利亚 3:54.25;

• 2 苏格兰 3:57.02； 3 南非 3:58.58。

Kerr 穿着他定制的 Brooks

Kia Oval MI 伦敦 164-5 (WG Jacks 65)。伦敦精神队 165-3 (LG Pretorius 64)。伦敦精神队以 7 个三柱门胜过 MI 伦敦队。

足球

通过该项地确保金牌，创造了 3分 28.71秒 的比赛纪录；而英格兰由 Oliver Morgan、Ramsay-Peaty、Edward Mildred 和

在澳大利亚以另一项纪录时间夺金的情况下，他们穿着苏格兰裙出场，在女子 4 x100米 混合泳接力赛中获得一枚银牌，为这个难忘的夜晚画上了圆满句号。

地铁银行一日杯（男子组）Gosforth 格拉摩根 326-6 (EJ Byrom 76, Zain-ul-Hassan 65)。达勒姆 328-7 (WMH Rhodes 148 不出局, KL Aldridge 78)。达勒姆以 3 个三柱门击败格拉摩根。约克 伍斯特郡 230 (HJ Cullen 70, DH Lategan 67, MJ Waite 53)。约克郡 231-4 (W Luxton 126)。约克郡以 6 个三柱门击败伍斯特郡。

欧冠联赛

第二轮资格赛：次回合 Gornik 1 费内巴切 1 (总比分 1-2)；哈颇尔贝尔谢瓦 2 维京古尔 0 (总比分 3-2)；凯拉特

• 1 奥莫尼亚 0 (加时赛；总比分 1-1；凯拉特 6-5 点球胜)；考诺 1 KÍ 0 (总比分 1-0)；波兹南莱赫 1 AGF 4 (加时赛；总比分 5-5；AGF 4-3 点球胜)；红星 5 拉恩 0 (总比分 9-0)；布拉提斯拉瓦 Slovan 1 伊比利亚 1999 1 (总比分 3-1)；克拉约瓦大学 2 索非亚列夫斯基 2 (总比分 2-3)。欧协联 第二轮资格赛：次回合 哥本哈根 2 波利西亚 1 (总比分 5-4)；杜卡吉尼 1 卢加诺 5 (总比分 1-6)；维也纳快速 6 圣科洛马 2 (总比分 9-3)。英联邦运动会

3X3 篮球 男子金牌赛：英格兰 19 澳大利亚 17 男子铜牌赛：苏格兰 18 新西兰 16 女子金牌赛：澳大利亚 21 乌干达 11 女子铜牌赛：新西兰 18 牙买加 13 3X3 轮椅篮球

男子金牌赛：澳大利亚 19 英格兰 13 男子铜牌赛：加拿大 19 苏格兰 9

女子金牌赛：英格兰 18 苏格兰 10 女子铜牌赛：澳大利亚 19 加拿大 17

田径 男子跳远：1 T Gayle (牙买加) 8.15；

• 2 Sreeshankar (印度) 8.09； 3 S MacKenzie (苏格兰) 8.08。

Jacob Mills 以 3:30.68 夺得银牌。Morgan 在第一棒以 53.20 为英格兰队取得了强势开局，随后

“这绝对太神奇了，”Katie Shanahan 说道。“没有什么比在主场比赛中赢得银牌更好的收官方式了。这简直是一场太棒的比赛。”

男子 4 x 100米 混合泳接力：1 澳大利亚 3:28.71； 2 英格兰 3:30.68； 3 南非 3:31.13。

埃哲巴斯顿 华威郡 341-4 (EG Barnard 140, VL Jani 66 不出局, ZUA Malik 58)。萨里 296 (DP Sibley 74, JW Blake 71; OJ Hannon-Dalby 5-60)。华威郡以 45 跑分胜过萨里。

残疾人游泳 女子 100米 自由泳 S9：1 L Patterson (澳大利亚) 1:02.99； 2 E Beecroft (澳大利亚) 1:03.56； 3 T Shaw (苏格兰) 1:04.71。

Ramsay-Peaty 以 58.74 的分段成绩将球队保持在第二位。Mildred 在第三棒尽管跑出了 51.04，但位置短暂下滑至第三，随后 Jacob Mills 在最后一棒跑出 47.70，将英格兰队重新拉回第二名。

阿伦德尔 埃塞克斯 316-8 (NRM Thain 102, T Westley 81, MJJ Critchley 64)。萨塞克斯 320-5 (C Tear 73, JA Leaning 59, JJ Carson 53)。萨塞克斯以 5 个三柱门击败埃塞克斯。

男子 50米 自由泳 S7：1 C Sadie (南非) 28.06； 2 Toh W-S (新加坡) 29.36； 3 B Dee (英格兰) 31.33。

“这是我们留到最后一晚才做的事，”Evelyn Davis 在谈到穿着苏格兰裙出场时说。“Katie 在出场时摔了一跤，实际上在观众再次沸腾之前缓解了我的紧张情绪，所以很有趣。”

举重 女子 77KG：1 S Stowers (圣基茨和尼维斯) 237； 2 I Brown (英格兰) 229； 3 L Hughes (威尔士) 224。男子 94KG：1 MSB Nor-Ghazali (马来西亚) 347； 2 A Bellemarre (加拿大) 346； 3 OR Saxton (澳大利亚) 336。女子 86KG：1 EFM Cikamatana (澳大利亚) 248； 2 M Ngake (英格兰) 239； 3 R Beaudoin (加拿大) 230。

网球

ATP WTA 穆巴达拉花旗 DC 公开赛（华盛顿特区）男子：单打：16 强：L Musetti (意大利) 胜 A Vukic (澳大利亚) 6-3 5-7 6-3

“能和伙伴们一起拿到银牌，我完全没话说，”Morgan 说。“我们中有些人经历了一周的艰苦挑战，但这显示了我们团队的韧性。”

女子：单打：16 强：L Samsonova (俄罗斯) 胜 王 X (中国) 6-2 6-2； A Eala (菲律宾) 胜 L Fernandez (加拿大) 6-2 7-6 (1)

Shanahan, Angharad Evans 和 Keanna MacInnes 在整个过程中一直为领先地位而竞争，随后 Davis 凭借沉稳的最后一棒，顶住南非和加拿大的压力，确保获得第二名。

赛程

板球

足球（除非另有说明，否则均为下午 6 点）欧联杯第二轮资格赛：次回合 Anderlecht 对阵 Hammarby（晚上 7.30，总比分 1-1）；Benfica 对阵 St Gallen（晚上 8 点，总比分 1-2）；CSKA Sofia 对阵 Qarabag（晚上 7 点，总比分 0-0）；Ferencvaros 对阵 Twente（晚上 7.30，总比分 2-1）；Hradec Kralove 对阵 Tromsø（总比分 1-0）；Maccabi Tel Aviv 对阵 Sheriff（下午 5 点，总比分 5-0）；Midtjylland 对阵 Besiktas（总比分 0-1）；Pafos 对阵 Hajduk Split（总比分 0-2）；PAOK 对阵 Dynamo Kyiv（晚上 6.45，总比分 3-2）欧协联第二轮资格赛：次回合（精选）Coleraine 对阵 HJK（晚上 7.45，总比分 0-5）；HB 对阵 Motherwell（总比分 0-2）；Hibernian 对阵 Malisheva（晚上 8 点，总比分 0-2）；The New Saints 对阵 Flora（晚上 6.30，总比分 0-1）联盟式橄榄球 Betfred 超级联赛 Huddersfield 对阵 Hull FC（晚上 8 点）板球 The Hundred 女子赛 Southern Brave 对阵 Birmingham Phoenix，Utilita Bowl（下午 3 点）The Hundred 男子赛 Southern Brave 对阵 Birmingham Phoenix，Utilita Bowl（晚上 6.30）Metro Bank 一日杯男子组 A 组 Lancashire 对阵 Nottinghamshire，Preston

THE HUNDRED 女子赛

在倒数第二场比赛中，苏格兰

Sophia Gardens Welsh Fire 129-3。Trent Rockets 132-2（BL Mooney 57）。Trent Rockets 以 8 个 wicket 击败 Welsh Fire。

女子铅球：1 S Mitton（加）19.88；2 J Oji（尼）17.87；3 L Cameron（牙）17.87。

Greg Wood 的赛马预测

早些时候，Evans 通过赢得本届运动会的第二枚蛙泳金牌，令主场支持者欣喜若狂。这位 23 岁的选手在赢得女子 100 米蛙泳冠军后，又赢得了女子 200 米蛙泳冠军。

女子 3,000 米陡坡赛：1 F Cherotich（肯）9:01.76；2 E Thorner（英）9:05.45；3 P Chemutai（乌）9:09.96。

残疾人田径女子掷圆盘 F42-44/F61-64：1 G Nwachukwu（尼）39.66；2 F Oduwaiye（威尔士）38.52；3 B Cronin（威尔士）36.00。女子 1500 米 T54 决赛：1 M Woods（苏）3:33.39；2 E Kottas（英）4:22.07；3 M Dingley（澳）4:42.25。男子掷圆盘 F42-44/F61-64：1 A Davies（威尔士）48.38；2 P Halgahawela（斯里兰卡）46.84；3 A Stewart（特立尼达和多巴哥）56.82。男子 100 米 T47：1 DM Gavit（印）10.71；2 MB Morssinganakath（印）10.83；3 K Santos（英）10.85。游泳男子 100 米仰泳：1 P Coetze（南非）51.77；2 O Morgan（英）52.66；3 R van Renen（南非）53.31。

Goodwood 1.50 Ciarra Abu 2.25 Flann Sunna

• 3.00 Sahara King 3.35 Friendly Soul (nb) 4.10 Pilu (nap)

• 4.45 The Ginger Kid 5.20 Clarity 5.55 Exclusive Code Nottingham 2.00 Roots In Touche 2.35 Relevant Range

• 3.10 Bee Farmer 3.45 Marquessofanglesey 4.20 Sixty Plus

• 4.55 Muddy Nora 5.25 Poet’s Dawn Wolverhampton 4.35 My Mate Mackley 5.10 Between Me And U 5.47 Chimes O f Thunder 6.22 Supreme Star 6.57 Jungle Drums 7.32 Goldfinder 8.07 Emery Down 8.42 Reputation Epsom 5.30 Magical Merlin 6.05 Out Of This World 6.40 Imperial Cult 7.15 Trio 7.50 Credit Forgedd It 8.25 Twirler

南非的 Pieter Coetze 以压倒性优势卫冕了男子 100 米仰泳冠军。他跑出了 51.77 的英联邦运动会纪录，在格拉斯哥摘得他的第三枚金牌。

Angharad Evans 帮助苏格兰在混合接力赛中获得奖牌

板球

Fleming 即将出任英格兰测试赛主教练

Simon Burnton

Stephen Fleming 预计将被任命为英格兰测试赛主教练，他在面试中给英格兰和威尔士板球委员会留下了深刻印象。这位 5 3 岁的选手将与他的前任、同胞、前队友兼好友 Brendon McCullum 共同工作，后者继续负责白球赛队伍。

弗莱明本月卸任了印度超级联赛（IPL）特许经营球队金奈超级国王队（Chennai Super Kings）的主教练一职，同时也卸任了其子公司——南非 SA20 联赛的约翰内斯堡超级国王队（Joburg Super Kings）和美国大联盟板球赛（Major League Cricket）的德克萨斯超级国王队（Texas Super Kings）的主教练。在这一宣布之前，金奈超级国王队在今年的 IPL 中在 10 支球队中排名第八，而 2025 年则排名垫底；此外，此次宣布距离麦卡伦被英格兰和威尔士板球委员会（ECB）解雇测试赛主教练职位的时间不足 24 小时。

预计弗莱明将执掌从 12 月开始的南非巡回赛，但 8 月 19 日在海丁利（Headingley）开始的三场对阵巴基斯坦的测试赛系列赛可能仍由临时教练监督，大概率是马库斯·特雷斯科西克（Marcus Trescothick）。

弗莱明拥有丰富的英国板球经验，不仅是因为

▲ 布伦登·麦卡伦曾在斯蒂芬·弗莱明麾下代表新西兰队出战

他在 1994 年至 2004 年间在该国参加了 10 场测试赛和 17 场单日国际赛（ODIs），此外还曾在米德尔塞克斯（Middlesex）、约克郡（Yorkshire）和诺丁汉郡（Nottinghamshire）短暂任职。他还曾在“百球赛”（the Hundred）中执教南方勇士队（Southern Brave）两年，于 2024 年离任。

2009 年，在他球员退役后不久，英格兰队曾向他发出邀请，但被他拒绝了。“能收到邀请我感到很荣幸，”他说道，“关键在于当时时机未到。如果我（作为教练）能再多积累两年的经验，我就能看出这是否是我想要做的事情，以及我是否擅长此道。”

英格兰队最终选择了安迪·弗劳尔（Andy Flower），他此前一直是接替麦卡伦的首选人选，而现在他通过拒绝这份工作回报了对方，从而为弗莱明的任命打开了大门。

弗莱明与麦卡伦的关系使其在竞争英格兰队主教练一职时，比竞争对手——澳大利亚的汤姆·穆迪（Tom Moody）、前英格兰击球手兼阿富汗队教练乔纳森·特罗特（Jonathan Trott）以及格拉摩根队（Glamorgan）主教练理查德·道森（Richard Dawson）更具优势。

除了友谊之外，两人还在两家公司中担任商业伙伴：软件公司 CricHQ 和出口贸易公司 Quality New Zealand。

另一位在英国执教的前新西兰队长、现利兹太阳神队（Sunrisers Leeds）教练丹尼尔·韦托里（Daniel Vettori）将两人描述为“非常好的朋友”，且拥有“许多相似的特质”。

麦卡伦在接替弗莱明之前，在弗莱明的队长带领下完成了其 432 场国际比赛中的 126 场，并将弗莱明描述为对他影响深远的人物。

在该领域竞争，且同样参加 LPGA 巡回赛的姐姐也帮助她调整了心态。此外，令人沮丧的 2025 年也起到了作用。

高尔夫 AIG 女性公开赛

一级方程式赛车

科达带来公开赛星光，但支持主场热门选手赫尔

多梅尼卡利反击：“车迷们热爱新规则”

“我的家人总是确保我的电量得到补充，”她说道。“这是一个有趣的对话；我的爸爸和妈妈总是告诉我多休息几天。而我则觉得：‘不，不，我不想。我想在我的技艺上精进。’”

世界第一在父母和姐姐的引导下——“他们见过我所有的样子，最了解我”

Giles Richards

“赛季中会到这样一个点，我会感到非常疲惫。不仅是高尔夫，不仅是旅途奔波。这是一种结合了所有人们在幕后看不到的事情的综合状态。”

斯特法诺·多梅尼卡利（Stefano Domenicali）对一级方程式赛车新规的批评者发表了强有力的反驳，声称大多数车迷比以往任何时候都更享受这项运动。

Ewan Muray

“我的父母是我随时寻求建议的人。我姐姐也是。她今年参加了很多大满贯赛事。他们就是我的依靠。在他们面前我可以非常自在，也可以展现脆弱。他们见过我所有的样子，最了解我。”

皇家利瑟姆和圣安妮球场 (Royal Lytham & St Annes)

这位一级方程式赛车首席执行官还确认，如果由于中东战争导致最后两场大奖赛（卡塔尔站和阿布扎比站）被取消，本赛季的收官战将在欧洲举行。

内莉·科达（Nelly Korda）是最有希望赢得女性公开赛的选手，但毫无疑问，谁会是最

• N

“我决定我得停止对所有事情感到如此沮丧。我打了一记好球，结果掉进了草皮坑，我就开始沮丧。怎么会这样？为什么我会遇到这样的反弹？持有这种心态很耗精力。我告诉自己：‘我不能再用这种心态面对了。’”

卫冕世界冠军兰多·诺里斯（Lando Norris）上周在匈牙利赛车场抨击 F1，称其为了吸引发动机制造商而将利润置于运动之上。

热门的查理·赫尔（Charley Hull）与大满贯荣誉擦肩而过——她曾五次获得亚军——这反而增强了人们希望这位 30 选手能够最终夺冠的广泛愿望。皇家利瑟姆与圣安妮球场（Royal Lytham & St Annes）提供了最新的机会，让这位个性鲜明的英国女性争取胜利。

与此同时，新规则引起了争议。车手们普遍反感对电能管理的关注。

然而，多梅尼卡利（Domenicali）认为 F1 的粉丝群并不认同这些反对意见。他说：“赛道上有大量的动作，人们很喜欢。他们关注的是赛道上发生的事情。他们不理解我们的技术，什么‘削减’（clipping）或其他术语，因为那太专业了。”

科尔达（Korda）抵达兰开夏郡时，她四次大满贯冠军中的两次是在 2026. 获得的。或许这位佛罗里达人可以表现得慷慨一些，她支持赫尔的前景。科尔达说：“她的个性非常棒。如果她能在主场夺冠，那将太棒了。她是一名出色的球员，我很喜欢和她一起打球。这对这项运动将大有裨益。”

利瑟姆的星光还包括莉迪亚·高（Lydia Ko），她在 2024. 击败科尔达赢得了女子公开赛冠军。高从她的新西兰同胞瑞安·福克斯（Ryan Fox）在附近的皇家比尔克代尔（Royal Birkdale）夺冠中获得了启发。福克斯成为第四位赢得大满贯冠军的新西兰选手，高在美国西海岸观看时激动地流下了眼泪。

“他非常谦逊，我想说他是一个典型的基维（Kiwi）男人，恰好是个天赋异禀的运动员，”高说。“我去健身，无论走到哪里我都说：‘请打开公开赛频道。’结果电视打不开，所以我让我的教练在手机上打开。我完全不记得我怎么锻炼的了，因为我的全部注意力都在那里。”

赫尔似乎不是那种会被擦肩而过而气馁的人。

一年前，她被山下美由（Miyu Yamashita）险胜。在上个月的美国女子公开赛中，赫尔在冠军科尔达之后仅差一杆。科尔达说：“有时情况就是这样。关键是让自己处于那个位置。你无法控制别人的表现，但她做对了某些事情，才能一直处于竞争地位并保持竞争力，处于争冠行列。”

“就像萨姆·伯恩斯（Sam Burns）一样。他在多次大满贯锦标赛中都处于竞争状态，但没能最终成功。最终他会做到的。你不能气馁，必须保持积极。”

“我打车回家。我一到家，他正打到第 18 洞，当我看到那一杆开球时，我感到非常欣慰，但也非常兴奋，超级激动。”

“对于绝大多数人来说，相信我，他们只想看赛道上发生了什么。他们对节气门角度或刹车压力的百分比，以及你如何通过这些来超越一名车手并不感兴趣。”

根据 F1 的数据，现场观众人数有所增加，全球电视观众量也有所增长，尽管没有给出具体广播数字。最显著的是人口统计数据的持续变化。F1 表示，其观众中目前有 42% 为女性，女性占新粉丝的四分之三，而总粉丝群中 43% 在 35 以下。

▲ 英国的查理·赫尔曾在五项大满贯赛中获得第二名

WARREN LITTLE/GETTY IMAGE

这在某种程度上也是一次试运行，因为男子公开赛预计将在 2028 回归。

这位 61 人士表示，F1 将在 9 月中旬做出决定。

大满贯胜利。被烈日灼烧的链路球场将使其成为一次绝佳的考验。科尔达估计每轮她最多只会使用五次发球杆，而是增加了一支 4 号铁杆进入她的装备库。

关于卡塔尔和阿布扎比的比赛是否会如期举行。“如果情况不能按照我们认为的方式解决，我们将做出决定，”他补充道。“如果这不可行，赛季将在欧洲结束，因为我们不能去其他地方。”据信，意大利的伊莫拉是首选地。

科达比以往任何时候都更能适应成为众人关注的焦点。在职业生涯早期，这位世界第一曾难以应对名声和关注。她的父母曾是职业网球运动员，她的哥哥仍然

“当他的制胜推杆进洞时，我尖叫了起来。我关上门尖叫。我的丈夫跑出来问：‘发生什么了？’十秒钟后，我就哭了。”

历史在赫尔这一边。上一次女子公开赛在这里举行是在 2018, 年，英格兰的乔治亚·霍尔夺得了她的首个

▲ Nelly Korda 在 2025 年经历了一段令人沮丧的时光，但今年占据了主导地位

体育 足球

41

曼城领导反对 £1.5bn EFL 资金计划

他们所熟知。他们不像那些不可接触的超级巨星。如果我在他们的家用电话上留言，他们会立即回电。这与我后来在 BBC 试图采访的大多数足球名人截然不同。

6 月的会议上，该提案以 19 比 1 的投票结果被否决。

1966 年的英格兰英雄们有趣、谦逊，与今天的球星截然不同

据了解，曼城和其他大俱乐部对通过将转会费征收额从 4% 提高到 6% 来资助财务重新分配方案的建议感到不满，这将使开支较大的俱乐部面临巨额账单。英超联赛只有在

我与 1966 年队一起参加的一些活动是为业余足球俱乐部举办的。我们会与致敬表演者或当地喜剧演员一起参与娱乐环节。晚上有时会以一场宾果游戏开始。有一次晚餐非常不同。董事会研究所邀请我主持一场演出，并尽可能多地邀请英格兰队的成员参加在伦敦举行的一次企业午宴。我在绿色休息室等待，他们开始陆续进入。就像在做梦一样，我幻想自己身在温布利球场的更衣室。他们鱼贯而入：乔治·科恩、雷·威尔逊、诺比·斯泰尔斯、赫斯特、罗杰·亨特、艾伦·鲍尔、马丁·彼得斯、鲍比和杰克·查尔顿，此外还有 BBC 电视的肯尼斯·沃尔斯滕霍姆，他贡献了体育广播史上最伟大的解说词。

据消息人士描述，尽管面临一些反对，但高管们持谨慎乐观态度，英超联赛对能够获得提案通过所需的 14 票充满信心。

马特·休斯 (Matt Hughes)

英超联赛提议的年均贡献额为 £150，与 2023, 年 9 月提出的五年 £750 的类似方案相比没有显著变化，不过协议期限延长了一倍。

曼城正领导反对英超联赛向英格兰足球联赛 (EFL) 提供 £1.5bn 的计划，这是一项具有里程碑意义的财务结算，将在今天 20 家俱乐部的会议上进行讨论。

在 60 年前的今天举起奖杯后，球员们在那个简单得多的时代里并未被名声所影响

英超联赛希望将其拟议的方案（将分 10 年执行）提交表决，希望在赛季开始前解决此事，但据了解，由于对资金来源的担忧，曼城提出了一个反建议。

如果获得俱乐部批准并被 EFL 接受，本赛季将支付 £100 的初始款项，随后几年将增加贡献额，直到 2035-36 赛季。

加里·理查森 (Garry Richardson)

随着每一届世界杯的更迭，我都会想起与那些优秀的球员共处的时光。

W

目前尚不清楚英格兰足球联赛（EFL）是否会接受英超联赛的首个报价，因为据信其主席里克·帕里（Rick Parry）仍在等待一份规模更大的协议。

曼城的一些顾虑也被所谓的“六大俱乐部”中其他成员所共有，这些俱乐部将被要求向“足球新政”（New Deal for Football）支付比其他英超俱乐部更多的资金，但目前尚不清楚他们中有多少人准备支持自己的竞争对手。

斯泰尔斯（Stiles）是一位出色的说故事者。他最喜欢的一个轶事是关于英格兰在四分之一决赛中对阵阿根廷的那场比赛。赛前，球队中的硬汉诺比（Nobby）被兰姆齐（Ramsey）叫到一边。

“66年的男孩们”。在那个一个简单得多的时代能够结识他们是一件多么荣幸的事，当时人们不像今天的那些被娇惯的球星，家喻户晓的名人并未受到金钱和名声的影响。

如果获得批准，EFL 将把“新政”资金的 80% 分配给冠军联赛俱乐部，12% 分配给英甲，8% 分配给英乙。

▲ 戴帽戏法英雄杰夫·赫斯特（Geoff Hurst）成为了球场上天生的表演者

曼城和英超联赛均拒绝置评。

他们道别后，赫斯特转向兰姆齐说：“下次见，阿尔夫（Alf）。”

1966年7月30日，英格兰赢得世界杯的那一天，你在哪里？我在我外公外婆家。他们有一台很小的电视机，看起来不比火柴盒大多少。黑白画面在屏幕上断断续续地滚动。这简直让人抓狂。我的外公提到需要“修复水平同步”（除非你到了某个年纪，否则你需要去谷歌搜索一下这是什么意思）。那时我九岁。

曼城在顶级联赛中依然缺乏盟友，他们正等待一个独立法庭对其被指控违反 115 项

“诺比，阿根廷最好的球员是安东尼奥·拉廷（Antonio Rattín），我要你盯死拉廷，”兰姆齐说。在一段完美的停顿之后，诺比抛出了笑点：“阿尔夫，你是想让我在这场比赛中盯死他，还是在他的一生中都盯死他？”

“也许吧，杰夫，也许吧，”

兰姆齐回答道。杰夫说这句话真的让他思考，尽管自己上演了帽子戏法，但他的位置依然没有保证。

财务公平竞争规则的期待裁决，尽管曼城去年就其

Ramsey 作为英格兰队主教练的起薪为每年 £4,500，最高可增至 £5,000。他还请求英足总帮他买一套房子。

这是一个能让全场哄堂大笑的故事。

关联方交易规则与英超联赛达成了一项长期法律纠纷的结算。

《卫报》获悉，曼城在英超联赛年度股东大会前提交了一系列关于拟议规则变更的深夜修正案，这引起了几家俱乐部的反感。

曼城担心该方案将如何融资

1982 年，我被 BBC 体育广播电台的编辑伊恩·托马斯（Ian Thomas）要求在利物浦街车站会见兰姆齐。BBC 预约了兰姆齐，希望他能发表反应

I

在 20 世纪 80 年代以及之后的许多年里，体育晚餐会形成了一个巨大的巡回圈。这些活动通常在英格兰北部举行，地点在工人俱乐部。许多 1966 年英格兰队的成员都是经常参加的表演者。与如今每月赚取数十万英镑的英超球星不同，“66年的男孩们”通过在这个巡回圈中表演来增加收入，我正是通过这种方式结识他们的。

在那场决赛（的痛苦）30 年后，有人敲响了我家前门。看到杰夫·赫斯特站在我的门槛上，这是一种超现实的体验；而当他走到我客厅的一端，站在沙发后面时，情况变得更加诡异。我走到另一端坐在一把椅子上。英格兰世界杯帽子戏法英雄杰夫来到了我家，为了排练他的晚餐会演讲。沙发充当了临时的主席台。我是他唯一的观众。

利物浦准备竞购巴尔科拉，但巴黎圣日耳曼要求打破英国转会费记录

前往 1982 年世界杯决赛的抽签仪式。他立刻让我想起了《爸爸军队》(Dad’s Army) 里的梅温灵上尉。他说话带着一种上流社会的口音，看起来是个非常严肃的人。当时我只有 24 岁，我简直不敢相信自己的运气。

想要转会至英超联赛，预计利物浦将在未来几天内对这名法国国脚发起报价。他们是否愿意满足巴黎圣日耳曼（PSG）的估价仍有待观察，但俱乐部将尝试将巴尔科拉打造为今夏的标志性签约。

Andy Hunter

那是完全不同的时代。我至今仍觉得不可思议，在 1966 年决赛的那个早晨，彼得斯告诉我，“时间似乎在缓慢地拖延”，所以一些球员去亨登（Hendon）的高街购物了。

有时他们会进行自己的常规表演，而其他时候我会采访他们，为他们的轶事做铺垫。有一天在舞台上，我对杰克·查尔顿说：“杰克，你哥哥鲍比怎么样？”鲍比有时非常严肃，不常微笑。“不太好，”杰克回答道。“噢，为什么？”我追问道。“嗯，他现在被当地的酒吧禁入了，店主说在快乐时光时段不希望他出现在那里。”

纽约

在与巴黎圣日耳曼前锋的代表进行谈判后，利物浦正准备为布拉德利·巴尔科拉提供一份开价。

他的表演开始了。“我

• 有一天在帕丁顿车站，一个人跑向我并说：‘杰夫，杰夫，我等了 20 年才等到你，我清楚地记得 1966 年你上演帽子戏法那天我在哪里。’‘在哪里？’杰夫问。‘彭顿维尔监狱，’那人回答道。‘我们太高兴了，把牢房都给砸了。’st”

在英格兰于温布利球场获胜后，足协为球员们安排了一场晚宴，但令人惊讶的是，他们的妻子没有被邀请。球员们非常愤怒，当晚餐结束时

巴尔科拉是利物浦的主要目标，因为他们希望为安多尼·伊劳拉的阵容增加一名经过验证的边锋。

利物浦今夏从奥萨苏纳签下了多才多艺的前锋维克多·穆尼奥斯，并以 5500 万英镑（£55m）的初始费用完成了从雷恩引进杰里米·雅克的情节，但他们希望在进攻和防守端进一步加强，尤其是伊劳拉担心他的防守选择。

在新赛季开始之前。此前他们一直想要扬·迪奥曼德，但在巴黎圣日耳曼退出与 RB莱比锡边锋的交易后，他很可能会加盟皇家马德里。

赫斯特告诉我，他和几名其他球员及其妻子前往了丹尼·拉鲁的卡巴莱俱乐部。

那些英格兰球员参与了英国体育史上最伟大的一天，但你永远不会

巴黎圣日耳曼对巴尔科拉的估价在 1.45 亿英镑（£145m）左右，这将创下英国纪录。他与这支欧洲冠军队的合同还剩两年，但据信他拒绝了续约邀请，因为他在路易斯·恩里克极具天赋的球队中顺位有所下降。

我为杰夫写过部分剧本，并帮助他进行演说，但他很快就成了一名天生的表演者。

时代发生了多么巨大的变化，而我认识 1966 年那支球队又是多么幸运？他们很谦逊，相处起来非常有意思，我至今仍觉得不可思议，我与他们度过了这么多美好时光。

看到杰夫·赫斯特站在我的门前是一次超现实的体验。

杰夫的另一个故事提供了一个迷人的视角，揭示了主教练阿尔夫·拉姆齐如何确保他的球员永远不会自满。在世界杯决赛后，赫斯特参加的一场英格兰比赛中，球员们回到了球队酒店。

利物浦一直在探讨这位 23 岁的球员是否愿意离开巴黎圣日耳曼前往安菲尔德。在收到鼓励他

加里·理查森今晚 8 点在 Boom Radio 播报 1966 年世界杯周年特别节目

▲ 巴黎圣日耳曼对布拉德利·巴尔科拉的估价在 1.45 亿英镑（£145m）左右

足球

评论员 Nick Ames

欧足联必须展现骨气：具体行动可令国际足联的世界杯计划变得不可行

明年在巴西举行的版本，情况因国际足联章程中的一项条款而变得复杂，该条款规定其成员有义务参加其赛事。避免面临财务上难以承受的制裁的唯一方法，可能是威胁采取最激进的一步：退出国际足联并为足球创建一种新的治理模式。

随着世界杯接近尾声，欧洲足球的一位领先人物在思考如何

通过其机构的财务影响力，这将给国际足联带来重大打击。只要欧洲几个主要国家采取具体行动，且其政府步调一致，就足以让任何出售足球“皇冠上的明珠”的计划变得不可行。

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欧足联的处境可能会因为与目前保持缄默的欧洲足球俱乐部协会（EFC）的密切关系而变得更加棘手，后者希望与国际足联建立合资企业来运营俱乐部世界杯。EFC 和欧足联已经运营着一家名为 UC3 的合资企业，负责欧足联赛事的商业运作，但与国际足联提案的一个关键区别在于，它不涉及私人资本。

詹尼·因凡蒂诺（Gianni Infantino）可能会试图洗掉 Folarin Balogun 丑闻带来的损害。这一切最终都归结于钱。“他只会宣布给每个人更多资金，”这就是其要点，尽管赛事在没有解释国际足联将如何瓜分其创纪录的 $15 (£11.2) 收益的情况下结束了。

现在是时候记住，正如卫报在 7 月中旬披露的那样，国际足联 211 个成员中的 200 已经提交了支持他在明年早些时候竞选连任的信函。大多数抵制压力、拒绝提供支持的成员来自欧洲，其中德国是最引人注目的坚守者。但英格兰足协（FA）——它正希望其主办 2035 年女足世界杯的申请获得正式批准——

无论如何，如果想要应对因凡蒂诺，必须将所有人团结在一起。另一种方法则是削弱

S

这只是冰山一角。因凡蒂诺在周二（决赛后九天）宣布将世界杯的部分权益出售给私人投资者，这一计划在体育界引起了剧烈震动，并让高级人员措手不及。由于国际足联在所谓的足球休赛期顶峰期间，仅给各足协到 19 September 的时间来决定是否接受最初的 $20 款项（这实际上将被视为对新方案的认可），因此几乎没有时间做出协调一致的反应。

因凡蒂诺的势头，可以通过推出一个严肃的竞选对手来削弱。在 Balogun 事件后，体育界各层级的人物都在推测，欧足联

在没有时间玩长期博弈的情况下，因凡蒂诺计划瓜分足球的未来

是否会在 3 月支持自己的候选人竞选国际足联主席。共识认为现在还太早；这将是为 2031 年做定位的时期，根据国际足联目前的规则，因凡蒂诺届时必须卸任。

因凡蒂诺对扩张的渴望从一开始就很明显

反应必须迅速。也许，当欧足联评估其下一步行动时，它会回顾 2021 年，并想起它当时乐于积累的信誉

但当因凡蒂诺计划迅速地将足球的未来切割给私人利益集团时，已经没有时间来玩长线博弈了。同样，也没有机会等待欧洲委员会对国际球员工会 Fif Pro 以及欧洲联赛组织就国际比赛赛程被国际足联掌控而提交的投诉作出回应，该投诉已于10月提交。

在今年夏天之前就迅速表示支持。

此外还有像芬兰这样的案例，其足协主席阿里·拉赫蒂（Ari Lahti）在6月表示，他的国家旨在通过拒绝支持因凡蒂诺来“不成为眼中钉”。这是一个普遍的立场，甚至在那些私下对国际足联践踏准则以及与唐纳德·特朗普政府关系亲近而深感厌恶的足协中也是如此。无论国家规模大小，都有责任暂停这场“选美比赛”。

阻止提议中的欧洲超级联赛。国际足联的计划可能会允许私人投资者对赛事的运行方式和时间拥有话语权，这在潜在影响上更具地震级规模且范围更广。如果说足球的未来在因凡蒂诺治下一直处于定时炸弹的滴答声中，那么现在时间已接近午夜前一分钟。欧足联对该计划的响应速度与其重新燃起的斗志一致——在过去 15 个月中经过多次冲突后，这种斗志已变得敏锐，旨在重击国际足联。欧足联表示：“这越过了足球管理机构绝不应越过的底线”，尽管任何感到

2024. 一个有利的结果可能会为国际足联或其私人投资领域的朋友扩展赛事的任何计划设置障碍，但目前看来还没有解决方案。

此外还有关于他过多使用私人飞机的私下议论。

国际足联出售世界杯商业权益份额的计划，是其主席一系列权力运作的最新举措。

任何关于抵制未来世界杯的讨论（这肯定得包括女足世界杯在内）

那时，因凡蒂诺被描述为一个典型的瑞士官僚，但现在没有人会做这样的类比。足球界的领导人们反而更倾向于

回想起来，从一开始这一切就摆在明面上。当吉安尼·因凡蒂诺在 2016 年首次当选国际足联主席时，这在某种程度上是一次令人震惊的胜利，并引发了

I

因凡蒂诺可以通过依赖绝大多数足协（主要分布在欧洲以外）的投票来快速通过其提案，这些足协向他的管理层表示效忠。但是，来自足球界最强大洲的骨气展示——这是一个在赛场上吞噬了所有竞争对手并

由亚历山大·切费林（Aleksander Ceferin）领导的欧足联迅速对国际足联的提议做出了反应。

欧足联和欧洲必须采取领导地位并拒绝现状。这样做可能会在意想不到的地方发现盟友。在其他协会中，肯定有亚洲国家会对更好的路径之明确建议持开放态度。令人担忧的是，如果出现一大批模糊的声明（例如丹麦足协对因凡蒂诺计划的回应，强调需要“全面了解该提案及其背后的流程”），将导致的结果除了标准的拖延和默许之外将一无所有。

保罗·麦金尼斯 (Paul MacInnes)

• 这种既视感只需将时间线回溯三周。6 July，欧足联的另一份声明称，搁置巴洛根的禁令“越过了红线”。这些词汇有力且准确，但它们能被使用的次数有限。

诸如“他认为自己在经营一个主权国家”之类的评论。在国际足联未经磋商便宣布计划将世界杯商业权益的部分份额出售给外部投资者的这一周里，这种说法显得尤为贴切。但因凡蒂诺发展职业足球及其创造收入的欲望一直是他主张的核心。随着其主席任职时间的延长，他更加执着于这一愿景。

在塞普·布拉特（Sepp Blatter）的黑暗日子之后，人们希望能够取得进步。因凡蒂诺曾承诺要恢复“国际足联的形象”，但同时也预料到“全世界都会为我们鼓掌”。他承诺了问责制和透明度，但向其选民传达的核心信息是，预计资金将有“非常显著的增加”。顺带一提，

如果足球想要以任何接近其目前形式的状态生存下去，现在比以往任何时候都更需要勇气和坚强的脊梁。

因凡蒂诺在 2016 年首次提出扩大世界杯规模，并提出了推出增强版俱乐部世界杯的可能性。

43

“每一项决定都必须由良好治理引导”

缺乏正当程序。我们与

◀ 詹尼·因凡蒂诺（Gianni Infantino）与唐纳德·特朗普的密切关系最终可能会付出沉重代价

我们地区的许多人以及足球界共同感到失望，因为这种级别的细节在与相关管理机构和利益相关者进行任何讨论之前，就已经被设计并公开分享了。”

亚足联（AFC）发表了类似的反对声明，值得注意的是，据了解该声明得到了沙特阿拉伯足球协会的支持，后者是因凡蒂诺的密切盟友，也是 2034 年世界杯的东道主。

IAN MACNICOL/ GETTY IMAGES

接后页

认可，从而取消投票的必要性。

“今天我们得知，国际足联给各协会设定了期限，要求其支持其提案，否则将撤回一次性付款方案，”欧足联（Uefa）表示。“这足以说明该计划的一切。但在与足球界许多利益相关者讨论后，欧足联知道人们对国际足联方案的反对情绪显著且在不断增长。国际足联不能继续利用我们的运动来让自己及其朋友致富。我们可以正确地发展这项运动。现在是时候优先考虑协会、俱乐部、联赛、球员和球迷了。”

“亚足联在提案过程中未被咨询，且对如此重要的事情在亚足联大家庭有机会通过适当且既定的治理渠道进行审查和讨论之前就进入公众领域感到失望，”该组织表示。

“虽然亚足联认可探索能够加强全球足球未来的创新方法的必要性，但如此规模和影响力的计划必须建立在良好治理、透明度和有效协商的原则之上。”

欧足联的第二份谴责声明是在中北美及加勒比海足联（Concacaf）发表同样强烈的干预声明之后发布的。考虑到该联合会刚刚举办了利润最丰的世界杯，且涵盖了带来拟议新投资（来自纽约的 Thrive Eternal）的地区，这一点尤为重要。

顶尖俱乐部也表达了不满，欧洲足球俱乐部组织（EFC）指出，尽管两家机构签署了谅解备忘录，但国际足联并未与其协商。

中北美及加勒比海足联主席维克托·蒙塔利亚尼（Victor Montagliani）在

“作为一个代表超过 850 家足球俱乐部的机构——其成员俱乐部、球员和社区是全球足球（尤其是国际足联赛事）的基本参与者——让 EFC 在如此重大提案中获得充分咨询将是完全合适的，”该组织表示。

美国、墨西哥和加拿大申办该赛事的成功过程中起到了关键作用，但与另外七名国际足联副主席及国际足联理事会成员一样，他对此计划也被蒙在鼓里。

“中北美及加勒比海足联仅通过媒体报道以及随后的媒体发布会才获知此事，”中北美及加勒比海足联表示。“我们对

“EFC 获知此提案的方式与大多数全球足球利益相关者相同——毫无预警且通过媒体得知。”

三名阿根廷球员及一名教练被起诉

世界杯。2018年，他提出了建立全球国家联赛的想法，并试图创建一个由外部投资资助的新企业平台来实现这一目标，但该计划最终在压力下被放弃。201 7年还确认，2026年锦标赛的世界杯将扩军至48支球队。2021年有报道称，12家超级联赛俱乐部原本预计国际足联会支持他们的脱离行为，但该计划最终在压力下被放弃。那年年底，因凡蒂诺宣布计划将世界杯改为每两年举办一次。

是在吞噬因凡蒂诺吗？是什么驱动了他对扩张的持续渴望？最常见的论点是政治庇护；即通过扩大赛事筹集资金——并将其重新分配给成员协会——在更新任期时确保一个支持性的选民基础（当然，因凡蒂诺在就任后更改了国际足联主席可任职期限的规则）。但因凡蒂诺已经

被地位和权力所掌控。这个在富裕的瑞士工人阶级家庭长大的瑞士-意大利裔孩子，曾因红发而遭受欺负，如今已坐在最高权力之席。成年后的他始终表现出对奢华生活和与名流交往的渴望（除了私人飞机，他还招募了十几名原职业球员，现在被称为

面临国际足联纪律准则下的三项袭击指控，而后卫纳胡埃尔·莫利纳面临两项袭击指控（一项既遂，一项未遂）和一项非体育精神行为指控。

助理教练罗伯托·阿亚拉面临一项袭击指控，以及

（接后页）

决赛中的未使用替补球员蒂亚戈·阿尔马达面临一项非体育精神行为指控。西班牙的加维也面临一项非体育精神行为指控。

白宫国际足联工作组负责人安德鲁·朱利亚尼为阿根廷球员辩护，称美国相信言论自由。

国际足联传奇球星，以支持他2016年的竞选）。在成为国际足联主席后，他的重心转向了与世界领导人交往并模仿他们的行为。他与弗拉基米尔·普京、卡塔尔埃米尔、沙特阿拉伯王储以及最终与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的关系，将因凡蒂诺置于一个全新的、远为宏大的语境之中。

“根据国际足联

在实际操作中，自就任主席以来，他使国际足联的收入增加了三倍——难道这还不足以赢得支持吗？而且即便有了新的规则手册，因凡蒂诺几乎已确定的第三个完整任期也将是他的最后一个。

这并不是阿根廷队第一次表达此类情绪。2014年，国际足联因阿根廷球员在拉普拉塔与斯洛文尼亚的一场友谊赛前举起的一面巨大的横幅而对其处以£20,000的罚款。

纪律准则，被响应者现在有机会陈述其立场，随后国际足联纪律

委员会将适时做出决定，”国际足联表示。

此后，活动节奏进一步加快，在足球运动从新冠肺炎（Covid-19）疫情中走出并遭受重大财政损失（国际足联试图部分利用其 Forward 计划的资金来弥补）后，可察觉到更多拟议的创新。其中包括启动32支球队参加的俱乐部世界杯并立即讨论其扩军计划，毫无争议地将2034年世界杯授予沙特阿拉伯，将2030年世界杯扩展到三个大洲和六个主办国，以及该赛事

的可能性。

他最新计划的具体性质产生了另一种可能的解释：因凡蒂诺正在扩大国际足联（Fifa）的影响力，以便在离任后为自己创造一个有俸无职的闲职。据《泰晤士报》报道，因凡蒂诺在离开主席之位后可能会成为这家新企业的首席执行官，并获得更符合企业领导者而非非政府组织（NGO）负责人身份的报酬。国际足联否认曾进行过此类讨论，但即使真的出现了一个新的高薪职位，似乎仍不足以解释此前发生的所有混乱行径。

国际足联针对阿根廷足协的完整世界杯指控清单还包括：

他的新身份赋予了因凡蒂诺更多权力，或者至少给人一种权力增加的感知，他能够强制推行许多变革，而没有受到来自内部的有效阻力。

“歧视性口号和手势、开球延迟、未能遵守比赛和安保协议、球队及观众展示不当信息，以及观众在多场比赛中投掷物品”。

国际足联或更广泛的足球运动。但政治联盟往往不稳定，且通常具有交易性质。风险在于它们可能会索取沉重的代价，一位资深足球人物将这项新的商业计划描述为根本不是因凡蒂诺的雄心之作。“吉安尼在与特朗普打交道时深陷其中，无法自拔，”他们说，“他 [特朗普] 现在正在抽取他分得的世界杯奖赏。”

多名球员也因阿根廷在决赛中加时赛 1-0 负于西班牙后出现的混乱场面而接受调查。当西班牙队试图庆祝时，纽约新泽西体育场（New York New Jersey Stadium）的球场各处爆发了冲突。

可能会再次扩大，以容纳 64 支国家队。强制性补水休息时间是去年年底采纳的一个想法。

第三个更为平淡的观点，但却日益难以被忽视，那就是因凡蒂诺仅仅是

阿根廷中场球员莱安德罗·帕雷德斯（Leandro Paredes）被看到将西班牙球员埃里克·加西亚（Eric García）摔在地上，

足球界决策者经常问的一个问题是：什么

▲ 阿根廷球员在半决赛后展示了马尔维纳斯群岛（Falklands）横幅

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新曙光：英格兰准备任命弗莱明为测试赛教练

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一线希望：拉姆齐-皮蒂助力混合泳接力队夺得第二名

卫报 周四 2026 年 7 月 30 日

名称为

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第 40 页 英联邦运动会 第 38 页

欧洲权衡抵制：随着对国际足联出售计划的反对声音增加，欧足联召集紧急会议

创建新的商业实体——国际足联前行企业 [Fifa Forward Enterprise, FFE]——并向投资者出售 20% 的股份，将需要修改国际足联章程，而这需要 75% 的多数票通过，这将难以实现。

昨晚，因凡蒂诺发布了一段视频以应对抵制浪潮。“FFE 实际上是一项提案，一项邀约，”他说，“它是民主进程——一个咨询过程——的一部分，而且最重要的是，这是一个机会而非义务。这是一个加速全球足球运动发展的绝佳机会。”

在初步报告中被提及

线索显示，应有足够的选票来否决该提案。

早前，欧足联（Uefa）在被披露以下情况后，再次加强了对国际足联（Fifa）的攻击，指责这个世界体育管理机构“利用我们的运动来让自己及其朋友获利”。

马特·休斯（Matt Hughes）、尼克·艾姆斯（Nick Ames）

讨论结果显示，尽管某些方面不愿让女子足球因为抗议国际足联的提案而遭受损失，但这些提案主要围绕着将男子世界杯和世俱杯货币化。

这三个联合会占据了 211 个国际足联成员中的 143 个，但一致性并不能得到保证，正如捷克足协成为欧洲第一个支持该计划的成员所表明的那样。

欧足联已召集其 55 个成员召开紧急会议，以讨论针对吉安尼·因凡蒂诺（Gianni Infantino）向私人投资者出售世界杯股份计划的协调应对方案。欧洲杯赛抵制国际足联赛事是正在考虑的选项之一。

因凡蒂诺向成员们给出的截止日期是 19 September，以决定是否申请从拟议的出售方案中获得 $20m (£15m) 的初步付款。

欧足联最初谴责国际足联计划“出卖”足球“灵魂”的行为，得到了中北美及加勒比足联（Concacaf）和亚洲足联（AFC）的强力支持。如果他们的成员遵循其

在收到 200 多封支持其明年连任的背书信后，因凡蒂诺对他拥有足够票数充满信心——尽管目前尚不清楚该提案是否需要简单多数才能通过。几位消息人士表示

每家协会未来还将获得进一步的 $20m，但目前尚不清楚接受这笔钱是否等同于正式

吉安尼·因凡蒂诺的计划引发了强烈的谴责

作为国际足联日程表中的下一个重大赛事，抵制明年的女足世界杯已

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阿根廷因横幅及决赛混乱被起诉

约翰·阿什当（John Ashdown）

国际足联已针对阿根廷在亚特兰大世界杯半决赛击败英格兰后展示的马尔维纳斯群岛（福克兰群岛）横幅启动纪律程序。

当阿根廷队以 2-1 的戏剧性胜利庆祝晋级决赛时，几名球员举起一块写着“Las Malvinas son Argentinas”（马尔维纳斯群岛属于阿根廷）的标牌，指的是南大西洋的英国海外领地。

关于这些群岛的争端自 1833, 起由英国统治，一直延续至今，并在 1982, 导致了一场 74 天的冲突，期间有 900 多人（649 名阿根廷人和 255 名英国人）丧生。

1966 60 年前的一天，以及遥远的彼方

国际足联的纪律准则禁止“利用体育赛事进行非体育性质的演示”，该横幅在在大西洋两岸引发了政治辩论。时任英国首相基尔·斯塔默（Keir Starmer）的一位发言人表示：“世界杯可能不属于我们，但马尔维纳斯群岛绝对属于我们。”

加里·理查森（Garry Richardson）回忆英格兰的辉煌

第 41 页

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ALLSPORT HULTON GETTY/ALLSPORT

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当世界在燃烧时，45 项气候政策被弃之不理 比尔·麦奎尔（Bill McGuire），第 3 页 如果我的孩子选择戴安全帽的生活，这样可以吗？艾玛·布罗克斯（Emma Brockes），第 4 页 迈克·索尔兹伯里（Mike Salisbury），以《生命》野生动物系列著称的电视制作人 讣告，第 6 页

每日精选生活与艺术版 内部

卫报

2026 年 7 月 30 日，星期四

观点与思想

这场关于社会护理的战斗将定义我们。而且必须获胜

“讨好者！”这是安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）的敌人对他嗤之以鼻的侮辱。是的，他需要发挥全部的最强讨好天赋，才能争取到选民来为一个新的国家护理服务做出贡献。选择这一永远失败的政策（ 22 次重大审查

它曾经是。许多人在为家人需要这项服务时会感到震惊，而且如果他们的储蓄超过 £23,250 ，他们就必须付费。只有 4% 的人将社会护理列为国家的首要任务；它的政治显著性较低，因为在任何一个时间点，使用它的人很少——而且之后他们就会将其抛之脑后。在英格兰，这项不被关注的服务耗尽了当地议会资金中惊人的 78%：难怪人们认为他们的议会税物有所值，因为可见的服务为了支付这项费用而不断萎缩。关于它的一切都崩溃了。

插图：BILL BRAGG

（跨越三十多年）将其作为他的第一个重大挑战，这是一个非凡的勇敢之举。任何单纯讨好他人的人都不会敢于尝试。

要启动一项国家护理服务，将耗费大量的政治资本。这并非在攫取低垂的果实，也不是在寻求快速获胜。这是一个基于深厚信念的事业。在北伦敦一家护理院发表的演讲中，首相讲述了他患有痴呆症的父亲，以及家庭在寻求任何帮助时的挣扎、许多护理服务的低劣质量、部分家庭承受的天文数字般的成本，以及收购护理院的私募股权公司的牟利行为。这会引起许多人的共鸣，但他现在的挑战是赢得那些对社会护理一无所知的人的关注、心意与认可。

人们需要意识到我们所面临的局面。他们需要知道，命运的轮盘决定了哪些家庭会被痴呆症击中：现今生存的人中，每 3 人中就有 1 人会患上这种最可怕的疾病。有些人可能会在养老院生活多年：

每 7 人中就有一人将支付超过 £100,000 ，而有些人则不得不出售家庭住宅。

Polly Toynbee

但这个赌徒之国仍然在耸肩。人们打赌这永远不会发生在自己身上；打赌当时间到来时，他们会直接死去。安迪·伯纳姆 正确地将英国的社会护理系统描述为与美国医疗系统一样不公平：它会让一些人破产。人们是宁愿支付一个确定的金额，还是冒着失去一切的风险？这是一个为了防止灾难性损失的保险方案。

去年的一项调查发现，英格兰 33% 的人认为护理在需要时通常是免费的，就像 NHS 一样，另有 18% 的人不知道是否如此。

2 接前页 这场关于社会护理的战斗将定义我们。而且必须赢得胜利 Polly Toynbee	创立于 18 ，由 Scott Trust 独立所有 № 55,972 ‘评论是自由的……但事实是神圣的’ CP Scott

健康基金会（Health Foundation）的研究发现，公众支持资金改革，但——问题在于——只有在“人们了解当前系统之后”才会支持。随着 Louise Casey 开启关于护理的“大对话”（Big Conversation），教育人们了解该系统将是她的首要任务。

这也关乎更好的护理。布拉瓦特尼克政府学院（Blavatnik School of Government）发现，营利性护理的质量低于志愿、非营利或由地方当局运行的护理服务。这个混乱的系统包括 16,500 家护理院：85% 为营利性，其中许多是小型家族企业，以及一些不会成为一部分的私募股权大连锁店。

新的护理服务。

为什么我们要忍受这种几乎没有监管、几乎没有检查的混乱拼凑之局？这是另一个灾难性的玛格丽特·撒切尔私有化产物，正是伯纳姆打算修复的那类问题。在超级市场高管罗伊·格里夫斯（Roy Griffiths）于 1988 年提交一份报告后，撒切尔实际上命令地方议会关闭自己的养老院和服务机构，将其外包给私营部门，并关闭了 NHS 的老年护理病房。在这种局面下打造一个新的国家护理服务，将是所有内部回源（in-sourcing）任务中最困难的一项。

本周，首相警告称，除非修复社会护理，否则 NHS 可能会崩溃。上个月，约有 13,600 张床位被那些仅因其他地方缺乏社会护理而滞留的人员占据，而延迟出院去年给 NHS 造成了 £2.7bn 的损失。伯纳姆谈到了将 NHS 与社会护理相结合，使员工最终在薪资和职业晋升路径上保持一致。

W

人们会同意付费吗？有迹象表明他们会：当鲍里斯·约翰逊（Boris Johnson）

提议征收护理税时，该提案出乎意料地受欢迎。但在实施之前，它被夸西·夸滕（Kwasi Kwarteng）废除了。这其实

正好，因为该计划会使雇员和雇主的国民保险（NI）增加 1.25 个百分点。这意味着由劳动者而非养老金领取者买单。股息或其他不涉及 NI 缴费的非劳动收入将无需缴纳额外税款。

无论最终出台什么样的制度，必须坚持的一个原则是：年轻人不能为老年人多付一分钱。

英国的养老金领取者是最不容易陷入贫困的群体（当然，有些人除外）。他们通常拥有最多的财富和房产，同时享有最终薪资和三重锁定（triple-locked）的养老金。他们是 NHS 绝大多数的受益者。说年轻人是未来并非陈词滥调，因此他们必须被放在首位，获得更好的幼儿教育、假期儿童看护，以及拥有更广泛的技术、艺术、戏剧、体育和设计课程的学校，同时让进一步教育获得所需的资金和地位。老年人必须以某种方式为老年人买单。

这是一个雷区。社会护理的政治问题比伯纳姆在起步阶段可能选择的所有其他重大问题都更为艰巨。但他的演讲基调表明，新任首相确实可能将此作为国家优先事项。保守党和改革英国党中的破坏者们可能会发现自己措手不及

并且再次与公众情绪脱节。

当伯纳姆说我们需要“一种不同类型的政治：解决问题，而不是相互指责”时，一些老手叹息道：“祝你好运！”但伯纳姆可能会引起共鸣。一个对政治早已产生敌意的公众可能会看穿凯米·巴德诺克（Kemi Badenoch）为达成共识协议而故意设定的不可能条件，因为她愤世嫉俗且幼稚地要求既不借贷、不征税，也不从“那些一生之中已经做好了准备并积蓄了财富的人”那里拿钱。他们知道必须有人买单，这包括那些足够幸运地“做好了准备”的人。

挑战社会护理改革的时机从未真正地“正确”过。但现在或许可以，因为有一位由个人信念驱动的领导人处于任期早期，且仍拥有大量的政治资本。他已经抓住了这个难题：社会、政治和媒体会这样做吗？如果现在不行动，那么什么时候行动？|安迪·伯纳姆非常有资格就社会护理政策可能出现的问题发表看法。在 2010, 年担任卫生大臣期间，他提议通过征收 10% 的遗产税来资助改革。这被反对派称为“死亡税”。它被

从未被引入。

在伯纳姆先生失败之后，此后也没有任何人取得成功。戴维·卡梅伦接受了 2011 年迪尔诺特委员会（Dilnot commission）的建议，该委员会建议对个人支付的护理费用设定上限，但国库的成本压力阻碍了实施。特蕾莎·梅建议通过修订资产调查来填补资金缺口，且不设立个人上限。这被反对者贴上了“失智症税”的标签，并最终未能付诸实施。

鲍里斯·约翰逊计划在资产调查的基础上设立一项“医疗和社会护理征收金”。这与保守党对增税在意识形态上的反感相冲突而失败。工党在 2024 年的选举宣言中承诺建立一个“国家护理服务”。随后，基尔·斯塔默爵士委托由路易丝·凯西（Louise Casey）领导的一项审查，以探索改革方案并在 2028, 年提交报告，这一时间表使得在下次大选前实现变革变得不太可能。

伯纳姆先生已将凯西审查报告从搁置状态中重新启用。该报告将于明年提交。首相还呼吁进行一场“全国性对话”，旨在就英格兰的社会护理达成跨党派共识。他邀请了自由民主党和保守党的领导人参加会谈（但值得注意的是，并未邀请改革英国党或绿党）。路易丝女爵士将监督一次

更广泛的咨询活动，征求公众意见。也可以从苏格兰和威尔士的权力下放护理模式中吸取经验。首相的话说，这一进程旨在使社会护理政治中的“问题解决更多，得分之争更少”。

这个想法值得赞赏。在昨天的演讲中，伯纳姆先生就威斯敏斯特文化必须做出哪些改变发表了雄辩的演说：需要营造一种氛围，让人们能够诚信地讨论困难问题，而不会为了短期党派利益而破坏长期的国家利益。

首相对护理工作者的赞美也令人耳目一新且慷慨，他认可了他们在报酬不足的情况下所面对的技术和情感挑战。他说他们理应获得更高的工资，并明确指出全英国都欠这部分劳动力之情，而这部分劳动力很大程度上由移民组成。

精神上的慷慨比分发资金更容易。伯纳姆先生进入唐宁街的时间还不长，因此他可以承担设定宽泛原则而无需被具体细节束缚的代价。这种特权不会持续太久。他承认，致力于处理一个众所周知会损耗政治资本的问题是一场赌博。如果任何筹款机制都可能被谴责为不合理的税收掠夺，那么跨党派共识将依然难以捉摸。保守党和改革英国党已经表明了这一立场，他们放弃了表现出宽容胸襟的机会。

伯纳姆先生拥有足够的工党议员，无需反对党的支持即可实施变革。如果足够多的选民被说服这些变革是必要且公平的，那么在财政规则内，各项改革及其配套的出资方案将成为未来共识的基础。在这次宣传活动开始之前还有很长一段路要走，但首相迈出的第一步是正确的。

社会护理

关于改革的全国性对话必须包含关于增税的诚实态度| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |就像一个体育界的邦格洛斯博士（Dr Pangloss），国际足联主席吉安尼·因凡蒂诺（Gianni Infantino）希望说服足球追随者，让他们相信自己生活在所有可能的世界中最好的一个。令他抓狂的是，许多人并不认同。周一，因凡蒂诺发布了一篇 15 页的 Instagram

一段发帖，他在其中抱怨近期男足世界杯期间流传的“仇恨和虚假谣言”。白宫对关键裁判判罚的干预、高昂的票价、不必要但利润丰厚的补水休息时间；在他政治上的挚友唐纳德·特朗普看来，这一切都是“假新闻”。

但在世界足球管理机构主席看来是“黑粉”的地方，其他人则看到了对这项运动真正热爱且对其发展方向深感担忧的人。周二，国际足联（Fifa）确认，它希望向私人投资者出售世界杯及其他赛事的股份，投资者可能包括特朗普女婿贾里德的兄弟约书亚·库什纳。投资者将入股一家新的 $20bn 公司——国际足联前行企业（Fifa Forward Enterprise），该公司将出售国际足联所有的商业权利（包括门票），并负责世界杯的“运营交付”。$20

特朗普家族的成员通常不会出于在世界上传播“欢乐与幸福”的愿望而考虑商业投资（而令人厌恶的因凡蒂诺先生将此视为自己的使命）。如果这些计划得以实施——并由向国家协会提供 $30m 意外之财的诱惑来润色——投资者最大化收益的欲望无疑将加速已经在进行的世界杯超货币化进程。$30

几乎可以肯定，俱乐部和国家队级别将会面临增加赛事频率和扩大规模的压力，这将扭曲国际赛事的赛程，从而损害国内联赛。尽管欧足联（Uefa）等欧洲足球管理机构表示反对，但因凡蒂诺先生已经表示，他会对这种扩张持积极态度。像被广泛厌恶的补水休息时间这种创新——通过将比赛像美国体育赛事那样分为四个节，从而增加了额外的广告时段——无疑将会激增。

这一前景唤起了由失败的欧洲超级联赛方案所引发的恐惧，该方案在 2021. 年遭到了足球支持者的强烈反对。在今年夏天于美国举办的世界杯期间，库什纳先生和其他人将亲身体会到一个在媒体碎片化时代能够凝聚全球观众的赛事的巨大商业潜力。作为该项运动最高级别的管理人，国际足联的首要职责是保护足球免受那些试图通过出卖灵魂来利用其吸引力的势力的侵害；然而，在因凡蒂诺先生的领导下，它似乎很乐意替这些人完成这项工作。

欧足联和中北美及加勒比足联（Concacaf，北美和中美地区的同类机构）对该计划的愤怒反对表明，这项运动的管理可能正处于十字路口。因凡蒂诺先生不倦的自我推销，以及不加掩饰地讨好特朗普政府的努力，长期以来一直令人反感。但将全球关注度最高的体育赛事置于私人资本掠夺的风险之中，则完全是另一个数量级的性质。

世界杯的远见创建者儒勒·里梅希望它能有助于促进国家间的统一与团结。因凡蒂诺先生经常在口头上支持此类理想，在他的 Instagram 长文中再次如此。然而在现实中，他正不顾一切地追随金钱的指引，将世界上最受欢迎的运动与其根基拉得越来越远。

詹尼·因凡蒂诺的出售计划应被视为一次红牌犯规

世界杯| |

观点

3

燃料公司以及其他选择不这样做的人。但我们也需要自己的说客——那些有资格且处于能够向权力讲述真相之地位的人，能够就我们已经陷入的绝境发声，并为这场喧闹的辩论增加可信度。现在轮到全球气候科学家登场了。在这个关键时刻，科学有责任在声音上盖过并比企业那些模棱两可的措辞和政府的不负责任更加亮眼。问题是，即便在现在全球变暖速度已经翻倍的情况下，这种情况依然没有发生。

当然，现在确实有一些气候科学家在直言不讳，大肆发声，且往往不惜以自己的生计和职业前景为代价，但他们仍然是例外而非主流。由于各种原因，仍然有太多人保持沉默，低头潜伏，将恐惧和焦虑深藏心中。

在 2021 年，我给所有气候科学家写了一封公开信，提醒他们有责任发声，打破沉默，并迫使那些需要了解真相的人倾听真相。遗憾的是，五年过去了，情况并没有太多改变。对于太多人来说，对资金、学术晋升、名望以及同事轻视或嘲笑的恐惧，仍然高于发声的意愿。

随着气温继续攀升，很明显这种情况不能继续下去。如果我们希望有机会压过那些决心阻止严肃气候行动之人的虚假胡言，那么

W

气候科学家——事实上所有科学家——现在都需要觉醒并让他们自己的声音被听到。

气候科学是一个巨大的领域，涵盖了地质学、化学、物理学、海洋学、气象学、经济学、社会科学及许多其他领域，因此，某个将全球气候科学家人数定为 18,000 人的来源几乎肯定低估了。而说到所有类型的科学家，全球总数接近 10 million 。想象一下，如果科学界能以统一的声音发声——要求恢复气候友好政策，主张更迅速地减排，同时压制那些游说维持现状之人的阴险惯性呼吁——将会产生多么巨大的影响力。

世界在燃烧，又有 45 项气候政策被放弃

在波尔多和马德里城门外燃烧的山火规模如此惊人，以至于如果这种情况发生在 20, 甚至 10 年前，很可能会震惊世界，促使其采取应对气候危机的行动。但就像谚语中那个在温水锅里的青蛙一样，我们已经变得习以为常；不仅是对气候崩溃带来的日益严重的破坏性影响，而且越来越多地对抑制全球变暖所需采取的行动感到麻木。

即使在超过 35,000 场山火在我们的世界表面肆虐，且我们继续让地球的气候倒回至类似于遥远过去的高温时期时，各国政府和贸易集团仍非常刻意地背离气候行动。

这可能是我们扭转局面的最后机会；帮助政治家培养起敢于对抗既得利益集团所需的骨气。在这个关键时刻，每位科学家都需要审视自己的良知，接受这样一个现实：在死掉的星球上不会有研究经费——并据此采取行动。

照片：MOHAMAD SALAHELDIN/ ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES; JUAN CARLOS LUCAS/ ZUMA PRESSWIRE/ SHUTTERSTOCK

最新的证据表明，我们不仅做得太少，而且随着时间的推移，做得越来越少。这一证据由气候行动媒体平台 “We Don’t Have Time” 提供。该平台上周报告称，截至今年 7 月的 12 个月里，全球范围内有 45 项气候政策被撤销。气候行动的倒退是全球性的，但此前被视为减排领导者的欧洲正处于前沿，全面削弱相关措施，包括碳定价、甲烷排放以及逐步淘汰汽油和柴油车辆等领域。

比尔·麦奎尔 (Bill McGuire)

Bill McGuire 是伦敦大学学院 (UCL) 地球物理与气候灾害的荣休教授，以及《温室地球：居民指南》(Hothouse Earth: an Inhabitant’s Guide) 的作者。

由于无数其他气候政策的延续性证明，这尚未成为大多数气候承诺的末日式反转。然而，我们正处于一个极其关键的时期：如果我们不想让气候行动的倒退继续下去，我们现在就必须采取行动。

《我们没有时间》(We Don’t Have Time) 将责任直接归咎于化石燃料部门以及其他敌视气候行动的行业的游说活动，并指出，只要那些惯犯在决策会议上继续制造最大的噪音，他们就将得偿所愿。那么，我们必须做的是制造更大的噪音——在街头，通过选票以及在媒体上——向政治家和政府施压，使他们不会向既得商业利益低头。

卫报气候论坛 2026 10 月 20 日，请加入 Damian Carrington 及我们的专家小组，参加一个专注于解决方案的夜晚。请在 theguardian.com 预订门票。

我们必须强迫掌权者将席卷欧洲的火灾、太平洋中形成的厄尔尼诺现象以及化石燃料的活动联系起来。

4 观点

BEN JENNING

如果我的孩子选择“戴安全帽”的生活，这没问题吗？

因此，尽管自 90 年代媒体研究专业出现以来，“低价值”学位一直成为嘲讽的目标，但当你深挖人们希望孩子上大学的原因时，这与社会效益的关系与学术成就一样密切。如果不是在三年时间里坐着看早间电视，在缓慢成长为成年人的过程中，他们什么时候能遇到那些能陪伴他们、并为他们孩子做教父母的朋友呢？这些友谊是否每年价值 10 grand？具体来说，你如何衡量非学术类事物的价值？我总是想起 Don DeLillo 曾经说过的一句话，关于满足多年“喝咖啡并观察世界”的需求，这件事在当前的经济环境下听起来像是一种荒谬的放纵。然而，对于许多 18 岁 的年轻人来说，这仍然是一次有价值的练习。

针对所有年轻人的（观点）时机恰到好处，表述得体，听起来不应该像它那样激进。当然，这是对现有规范的一种修正，即“全民大学”是一个适当的国家目标，且是衡量野心和成功的唯一个人决定因素。相比之下，Burnham 在周二表示，在谈到量身定制技术和职业培训以满足当地就业需求并解决青年失业问题时，这个国家应该“像重视毕业帽一样重视安全帽”。

证据表明，文化转变已经在进行中，而 Burnham 只是在验证一个既有的趋势。我目前在美国，这里的上大学成本回报比如此失衡，以至于学生人数多年来一直在下降。播客上的聪明人们引导年轻人前往州立大学，那里的费用仅为声名显赫的私立大学的一小部分（常春藤盟校除外，因为它们能够资助年收入低于 $400,000 的家庭，但那些较小的、精品自由艺术学院的年学费高达 $80,000 ）。

Emma Brockes

但并非所有人都这么认为。伯纳姆演讲的主要启示无疑是在提醒人们，实现目标的方法不止一种。你可以选择读大学，或者不读，或者在 35 岁而不是 18 岁时再去读，所有这些选择都应被视为平等的。与此同时，关于大学的整个讨论，仅仅是关于工作模式变革这一更大讨论的一部分。根据目前的证据，Z 世代证明他们不愿

最近，我一直在与朋友们进行一些在几年前简直无法想象的对话。部分原因是，当我们试图想象孩子们的生活轨迹与我们不同时，我们往往都倾向于过于保守。但这也与世界的改变有关。我认识的一位才华横溢的年轻

L

同样在英国，过去两年大学入学人数略有下降。这部分是人口结构变化的结果——家庭规模缩小意味着 18 岁离校青少年的供应量减少——部分与成本有关。

重复他们父母那一辈的经历去从事办公室工作——而 X 世代对此则有抵触情绪，因为他们认为自己是在办公室结构中成长起来的，这教会了他们各种有用的事情，例如如何与那些让他们觉得简直无法忍受的人共事。

问题在于，这对人们关于读大学是否有用（或无用）的认知产生了什么影响，而我们知道，这不仅仅关乎赚钱潜力。

在探讨如何生活这个问题时，我们每个人都带有偏见。我上过大学，希望我的孩子也能一样。我的母亲原本很想上大学，但她 16 岁就不得不离开学校，我确信这也影响了我的看法。但当家里讨论起大学教育的问题时，我努力让自己摆脱代际的“自动驾驶”模式，不再被先例所束缚，并认真考虑替代方案。

人离开了学校，参加了一次实习，将其转化为一份正式工作，现在她 20 岁出头，没有债务，并且在一家大型时尚公司拥有很不错的职位。“也许我也不去读大学了，”我的其中一个孩子说道，同时观察着我的反应，而我则若有所思地边点头，边努力平复内心的恐慌。

无论在美国还是英国，大学毕业生的平均中位收入仍然高于非毕业生。但尽管中产阶级经常开玩笑说他们的水管工可能比他们赚得多，但事实依然是，其他因素——即大学教育带来的文化和社会资本——强化了这种特定的偏见。

安迪·伯纳姆本周宣布，大学不应该是唯一的、令人向往的目标

读者来信 guardian.letters theguardian.letters.com

| | | |---|---| | | | | | | |今年早些时候，保罗·麦卡特尼发布了一张名为《地牢巷的男孩》（The Boys of Dungeon Lane）的专辑。在毫不掩饰的怀旧情怀中，有一首惆怅的曲目《我们留下的日子》（Days We Left Behind），唤起了他与乔治·哈里森及朋友们一起前往默西河岸的记忆。原来，年轻的保罗曾是一个热衷于观鸟的人。

或许不可避免地，这张专辑吸引了大批游客前来拍摄这里的路标。他们大多聚集在小巷的斯皮克（Speke）端，那里毫无吸引力，周围被一家被拆除的酒吧遗迹、一个太阳能电站和一个电力变电站所包围。

地牢巷的南端是保罗拿着双筒望远镜会去的地方。这一段延伸至地牢湾（Dungeon Bay）和奥格莱特岸（Oglet Shore），无论过去还是现在，这里都是鸟类和野生动物的重要栖息地。尽管海岸线可能侵蚀得更严重了，但保罗依然能认出这里。

小巷的中间部分在几年前被

利物浦约翰·列侬机场，但好奇的访客仍可以通过稍微绕道到达海岸。这里的海岸之美令人心醉。七月是鸟类沉寂的月份，但金翅雀、林花雀和普通白喉 the common whitethroats 仍在低声鸣叫。茂密的黑莓丛守护着小路，在这个夏季热穹顶的影响下，沿岸生长着早熟且丰茂的植被。红兵虫在野胡萝卜花丛中探索，而千里光和醉花柳在这里承载着朱红蛾的幼虫和

许多蝴蝶。

其他特征则指向了披头士乐队之前的历史。二战时期的石金字塔是用于击退入侵敌军的反坦克路障。紧邻海岸的一面砂岩墙是这里曾经繁荣的盐业唯一的证据。一座盐精炼厂于 17 世纪末在此建成，而这面墙可能是砂岩码头的遗迹。仔细观察可见旧时的涂鸦名称和首字母。

两个女孩坐在墙上，凝望着默西河（或许年轻时的保罗也曾这样做，等待涉禽出现）。我们简短地聊了聊；她们谈到了这里的美景，并誓言会再次回来。在走回来的路上，一名年轻男子走近。他回忆起小时候骑车经过地牢巷（Dungeon Lane）的情景。他说，那些追随麦卡特尼的游客参观的是小巷“错误”的部分。“他们应该来这里。”

Jennifer Jones

伯纳姆巴士票价上限带来的快感

成立于 1906

乡村日记 利物浦地牢巷

伦敦怎么会变成这样（租户在空调被“关闭”后于高温中病倒，7 月 28 日）？你们的报道称，包括幼童在内的无家可归家庭在热浪期间被安置在一座玻璃塔楼中，并被告知不能使用建筑的空调，因为空调“未被提供作为一项便利设施”。如果这还没让每个伦敦人震惊得停下脚步，那么我们已经变得危险地麻木了。这不再仅仅是一场住房危机，而是一场基本人类尊严的危机。

伦敦自豪地将自己定位为世界最伟大的城市之一：一个金融资本充盈的全球金融中心

热浪中对家庭的耻辱对待

• 乔纳森·弗里德兰（Jonathan Freedland）钦佩那些能通过重大声明来定义其任期的领导者。

他提到的人选褒贬不一。尼尔·贝文（Nye Bevan）在建立国民医疗服务体系（NHS）上是正确的，哈罗德·威尔逊（Harold Wilson）建立开放大学同样正确，但玛格丽特·撒切尔（Margaret Thatcher）的“购房权”政策正确吗？结果只是导致了房价上涨、不公平的财产暴利，且许多房产最终落入贪婪的私人房东手中。

至于戈登·布朗（Gordon Brown）赋予英格兰银行的独立性，结果只是让货币政策和财政政策被隔绝在各自的孤岛中，对经济繁荣或崩溃毫无影响。在 1997 到 2007 年的 10 年间，高银行利率在抑制狂欢方面毫无作用；而在 2010 到新冠疫情期间的十年里，0.5% 或更低的银行利率也绝对无法让经济恢复到正常的增长水平。如果政治家们能对他们的头条政策进行更长久的思考，是否会是更好的主意？今日是头条新闻，明日就成了炸鱼薯条的包装纸。大卫·雷德肖（David Redshaw），东萨塞克斯郡索尔特丁（Saltdean）

乔纳森·弗里德兰讲述了他 14 岁时的情况，

由肯·李维斯通（Ken Livingstone）领导的大伦敦议会在一项名为“票价公平”（Fares Fair）的计划中，将儿童巴士票价降低至 5 便士（如果你想嘲笑他的巴士票价请便——首相知道自己在做什么，7 月 25 日）。在 20 世纪 50 年代的利物浦，

市政当局为假期中的学童提供了一项计划，让他们可以用“一便士往返票”前往有电车网络覆盖的任何地方。例如，你可以从码头头（Pier Head）出发，通过...

Mersey 乘坐 10 路有轨电车前往 Prescot（距内陆近 10 英里）并往返。或者，您可以将车票用于从第一个目的地转乘到另一个目的地，而不是将其作为往返票使用。遗憾的是，最后一班有轨电车在 1957 年运行。

我记得有一次在电车上，一个相当高大的男孩要求买一张 1 便士的往返票。乘务员显然怀疑他已经超过了年龄限制。他给了男孩车票，但问他：“你怎么没把老婆带来？”顺便说一句，这当然是指旧便士，当时 240 便士等于 1 英镑。Joe Cocker，Herefordshire，Leominster

• 安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）的巴士票价上限让我回想起了往事：在 20 世纪 80 年代初，南约克郡的同类措施是将成人票价降至 10p，儿童票价降至 2p。小事亦有深远影响：在谢菲尔德，近半个世纪后，每当我们感叹私有化巴士那糟糕的、限制生活的、损害经济的现状时，这件事仍会被提及。为了节省小钱而做出的小改变，可能会带来一次激进的档位切换。请抓稳扶手。Robin Hughes

谢菲尔德

• 在 20 世纪 40 年代末和 50 年代，从南约克郡的 Thorne 到 Doncaster（单程 10 英里）的巴士往返票价是 1 先令 10 旧便士。我父亲总是说我们的票价在英格兰是最便宜的。这让我们觉得出行负担得起，并鼓励我们去各地走走。

我们还会更频繁地前往最近的大城镇 Doncaster 进行购物旅行。廉价的公共交通能传播愉悦感。昂贵的交通则意味着压力以及对服务提供方的不信任。所以，干得好，安迪·伯纳姆。Jennifer Kennerley，诺里奇

• 亲爱的安迪·伯纳姆，请为什罗普郡提供全面的巴士服务，以便居民能够从 £2 的巴士票价上限中获益。Roz Conway，Shropshire，Shrewsbury


这里有奢华的开发项目、十亿英镑的房产组合以及创纪录的房地产价值。然而，在这些财富的阴影下，孩子们却被要求忍受危险的高温公寓，而那些旨在使建筑物适宜居住的系统，实际上被视为一种奢侈品。

当一座城市发展到脆弱家庭被安置在像烤箱一样的建筑中，而解决方案虽然存在却被认为不可触及的时候，某些事情已经严重出错了。

这并非行政疏忽。这是官僚主义战胜了常识，并最终战胜了同情心。政治家们多年来一直在告诉我们伦敦正在繁荣。对谁而言在繁荣？对于创纪录数量地被困在临时住所中的家庭，或者在没有……环境下长大的孩子来说，绝对不是在繁荣。

我们不发表仅提供电子邮件地址的信件；请提供详细的邮寄地址、参考文章以及白天的联系电话。我们可能会对信件进行编辑。信件的提交和发表须遵守我们的条款和条件：详见 theguardian.com/letters-terms

我很有兴趣地阅读了 Polly Hudson 的文章（《我一直以来对 WhatsApp 的看法错了吗？》，7 月 27 日），但我认为蓝色打勾（已读回执）不再流行是因为一个更简单的原因——它们把使用 WhatsApp 变成了一项全职工作。在如今这样一个许多人试图从屏幕中夺回一点时间和注意力的时代，关闭“已读”回执给人们带来了一种微小但有意义的掌控感。

时刻保持可联系状态是令人精疲力竭的。阅读消息和回复消息是两回事，但蓝色打勾抹去了这两者之间的间隙。

在 WhatsApp 上找回你的平静

稳定的家园。

历史告诉我们，衡量伟大城市的标准不在于摩天大楼的高度，而在于它们如何对待那些最没有权力的人。在这一衡量标准下，伦敦应该感到深深的羞愧。一个空调普及但同情心被关闭的城市，不再是一座世界级城市。它简直是一个反乌托邦。Fernando Quintana Marrero 伦敦

在它们之间。当它们变成蓝色的一刻，一场无形的倒计时就开始了。关闭它们是为了夺回这样一个激进的想法：我现在可以阅读你的消息，稍后再回复，因为在你发信息的那一刻，我可能正试图回想为什么我会走进厨房。Tallis Morris 布里斯托尔

• Polly Hudson 的文章描述了提高隐私设置可能涉及关闭 WhatsApp 上的蓝色打勾（已读）选项。我多年前就出于隐私原因关闭了它们。检查人们是否读了你的消息实在太诱人了。如果他们读了，回复需要花多久？更糟糕的是，没被阅读的消息意味着你绝对不在那个“酷友圈”里，这令人沮丧。在 WhatsApp 上禁用蓝色打勾意味着你可以将消息发送到虚空中，除非收到回复，否则你根本不知道谁费心阅读了它们。这对心理健康大有裨益，而且节省了大量时间和精力。Kim Ware 亨廷顿，剑桥郡|更正与澄清| | |• 在苏格兰联邦运动会获得铜牌的 4x100 米混合接力队中，游泳仰泳的是 Matthew Ward，而非我们误称的 “Katie Ward”。此外，游泳蛙泳腿的是 Angharad Evans，而非 “Kara Hanlon Evans”（《泽西男孩 Nowacki 在游泳比赛中大获全胜》，7月29日，p42，晚刊）。Kara Hanlon 是一位参加了 2022 年联邦运动会的苏格兰游泳运动员。

编辑投诉和更正可发送至 guardian.readers@theguardian.com 或 The readers’ editor, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU。您也可以在 020 3353 4736 留下语音留言

很遗憾听到比尔·奥迪 (Bill Oddie) 去世的消息

（报道，7月28日）。他最初在 20 世纪 60 年代的广播节目《对不起，我会再读一遍》(I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again) 中吸引了我的注意，那是一个拥有卓越喜剧才华的节目：John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, David Hatch, Jo Kendall。比尔的歌曲总是很幽默。我记得去观看该节目的录制，看着他面对“他与那双大蛋子作斗争”这句台词时的样子。对于一个 14 岁的人来说，那太好笑了。作为一个终身抑郁症患者，当我听到比尔自己的抗争时，我对他感到同情，也为自己找到了慰藉。Chris House 赫特福德

• 关于最好的冰淇淋，Lucy Knight 给 Marmite 涂吐司作品的味道打 5/10 分（G2，7月28日）。对于 Marmite 来说，唯一合适的评分应该是 10 分或 0 分吧？Adrian Brodkin 伦敦
• 关于 Terry Scragg 博士关于讣告的信（7月28日），用来形容逝者最一致的词之一是“慷慨”。我渴望读到“吝啬鬼”——还是说他们永远不会死？Siobhán Ní Chuanaigh

爱尔兰，都柏林

• 关于在“短时间患病”后死亡的情况过多，伟大的美国小丑 Pali 过去常在节目结束时向观众提供一个捐款箱，建议他们为研究最危险的疾病——“自然原因”捐款。Antony Bellekom 科灵厄姆，诺丁汉郡
• 关于消失的牛肉块、狗和丢失的盘子的谜团（信件，7月29日），


Jeanette Hamilton 检查过洗碗机了吗？Paul Wright 金斯林，诺福克

比尔·奥迪如何给我带来慰藉

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6 讣告

当这段经历结束时，迈克被告知，如果他想在电视领域工作，就需要提出节目构思。于是，在开货车的休息时间里，他通过电话联系世界各地的科学家，自称是 BBC 的员工。他的坚持最终得到了回报，获得了一份合同。

他还从事轻娱乐节目工作，为 1971 年首播的迈克尔·帕金森 (Michael Parkinson) 访谈节目邀请嘉宾，其中包括穆罕默德·阿里、约翰·列侬和小野洋子；随后，他成功申请进入位于布里斯托的自然历史单位 (Natural History Unit)，担任儿童节目《动物魔术》(Animal Magic) 的演播室导演。

在他的第一集节目中，他体验到了电视直播的惊险：一只犀鸟——在排练时一直非常配合——竟在片头字幕播放时决定飞向演播室的灯光。他的重大突破是在担任助理制片人期间，参与了后来成为爱登堡里程碑式系列剧的《生命之源》(Life on Earth)，该剧拍摄历时三年，于 1979 年播出。

在为《冰熊王国》(Kingdom of the Ice Bear) 拍摄北极熊时，他和摄影师休·迈尔斯 (Hugh Miles) 说服挪威军队捐赠了一些反步兵爆炸物，以便在动物靠近时将它们吓走。然而，有一天早晨他们醒来发现，在夜间，一只雌性北极熊闯入了他们的储藏雪屋，并吃掉了所有的爆炸物——而且显然没有受到任何不良影响。这次拍摄取得了巨大成功，拍到了三只幼熊从地下洞穴中钻出的画面。

迈克·索尔兹伯里 (Mike Salisbury)，野生动物电视制片人，曾与大卫·爱登堡共同制作《生命》系列剧

迈克最伟大的成就之一是《植物的私生活》(The Private Life of Plants)。在该剧拍摄的非视频时代，团队通过开创性的延时摄影序列将电影技术推向了极致。然而，该系列剧之所以能够启动，全靠好莱坞影星简·方达 (Jane Fonda)。

在一次与广播大亨特德·特纳 (Ted Turner)（方达当时的丈夫）举行的紧张会议中，事实证明 BBC 所要求的合拍资金对美国人来说太高了。正如迈克回忆的那样，简突然介入道：“噢，特德，我爱花，我认为你必须这么做。”特德微笑道：“好吧，你的 $4 m 到手了，现在赶紧去执行吧。”

成就。直到自己的名字被宣布时，他才意识到爵士大卫一直在谈论他。

在长达四十多年的电影拍摄生涯中，迈克·索尔兹伯里在短暂患病后于 84 岁去世，他曾担任 BBC 自然历史单位一些最具突破性节目的系列制片人。

在很小的时候，他的母亲就教他识别他们在遛狗时看到的鸟类、植物和昆虫的名称。

20 世纪 70 年代，索尔兹伯里在坦桑尼亚为《生命之源》进行实地拍摄（主图），以及与大卫·爱登堡讨论《灌木丛中的生命》(Life in the Undergrowth) 中关于天蛾蛾的一段序列（2005 年）。

在非视频时代，团队通过开创性的延时摄影序列将电影技术推向了极致。

这一奖项，随后的 2007 年

在圣乔治学校完成英语、动物学和植物学的 A-level 课程后，迈克决定不去读大学。相反，他成为了 VSO 的志愿者，乘坐蒸汽船前往斯威士兰（现为埃斯瓦蒂尼），在那里他教导纳尔逊·曼德拉的孩子们，同时也担任机械师。非洲异域的野生动物为静态摄影提供了空间。回国后，他加入了父亲的公司。但迈克向往更精彩的生活。

他的 OBE 勋衔任命认可了迈克在创新和创意方面的声誉。

他并没有走成为野生动物电影制片人的传统路线。他 20 多岁时在海外做志愿者，随后做了一系列杂活，同时为当地业余戏剧社导演并出演剧本。甚至在他最终成为电视研究员时，他最初是在科学和轻娱乐领域工作，直到 20 世纪 70 年代初才进入 BBC 自然历史单位。

以及受欢迎的节目。其中包括《冰熊王国》（Kingdom of the Ice Bear）。

由于用他的热情、善良和慷慨激励了众多同事，迈克于 2006 年离开了 BBC。

(1985) 的《植物的私生活》（The Private Life of Plants），

(1995) 的《鸟类的生活》（The Life of Birds (1998)），

《哺乳动物的生活》（The Life of Mammals (2002)）以及《地底生物的生活》（Life in the Undergrowth (2005)）——这些“生活”系列全部由他童年时期的偶像大卫·艾登伯勒爵士（Sir David Attenborough）撰写并主持。在 1990 年代，迈克担任《自然世界》（The Natural World）的系列编辑，引导这一长寿系列关注触及核心的自然保护问题。

1969, 年他与维夫·富特（Vyv Foot）结婚，后者后来成为了西英格兰大学应用微生物学教授。她与他们的孩子本（Ben）、克莱尔（Clare）和艾莉（Elly），孙辈莫莉（Molly）、汤姆（Tom）、贝拉（Bella）、维克（Vic）、科马克（Cormac）和佩吉（Peggy），以及他的兄弟姐妹安吉拉（Angela）和皮特（Pete）共同在世。

BBC; TOM CLARKE/ NATURE PICTURE LIBRAR

最初，他不断恳求 BBC 科学旗舰节目《地平线》（Horizon）的编辑彼得·古德查尔德（Peter Goodchild）提供实习机会。他一次又一次地被拒绝，并被告知没有空缺。最终，他促成了一次与古德查尔德的面谈，并被提供了一个为期两周的度假顶替研究员岗位。

出生于北爱尔兰德里（Derry），

迈克是一个谦逊的人，在 2006 年的 Wildscreen 熊猫奖上，他以浓厚的兴趣倾听艾登伯勒列举

迈克是莫莉（Molly，原姓海伍德 Heywood）和弗雷迪·索尔兹伯里（Freddy Salisbury）的三个孩子中最小的一个，后者经营一家

斯蒂芬·莫斯 (Stephen Moss)

割草机业务。迈克在赫特福德郡的哈彭登（Harpenden）长大，在那里培养了对野生动物的热爱。

约翰·迈克尔·索尔兹伯里（John Michael Salisbury），电视制作人，出生于 1942 年 3 月 29 日；逝世于 2026 年 5 月 13 日。

这位杰出奖项获得者的成就。

obituaries theguardian.com

伊斯兰教早期的穆罕默德，并将该运动带到了西班牙南部的安达卢西亚。他的母亲，谢哈·艾莎·宾特·哈马德·阿提亚（Sheikha Aisha bint Hamad Al Attiyah），在他出生后不久去世。在这个强大的部落血统中长大，他的早年生活由传统习俗和迅速现代化的世界共同塑造。

在个人生活中，哈马德在他的三位配偶之间平衡部落联盟与个人兼容性，他共有 24 个孩子。他的第二任妻子，谢哈·莫扎·宾特·纳赛尔·阿尔-米斯内德（Sheikha Moza bint Nasser al-Misned），成为了他的主要战略合作伙伴，在国家教育和社会改革方面进行了深度协作。哈马德仔细管理大庭家庭的抚养教育，刻意营造一个竞争且纪律严明环境，以选出最能干的继承人来维持国家的稳定。

谢赫·哈马德·本·哈利法·阿勒萨尼 (Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani) 卡塔尔务实的埃米尔及半岛电视台 (Al Jazeera) 媒体网络创始人

在青少年时期，哈马德经历了一些对他未来的治理哲学产生影响的决定性遭遇。他第一次接触民主是在少年时期的一次伦敦之行。这个概念在他看来如此荒谬，以至于在目睹了第一次议会辩论后，他由于歇斯底里的笑声而被带离了下议院的阳台。

对于一位海湾地区的统治者来说，哈马德采取了一个极不寻常的举措，他在 2013 年选择自愿退位，将接力棒传给下一代。他退隐到由安静的外交、历史研究和文化倡导组成的生活中，时间分配在多哈和他的

哈马德治理卡塔尔就像是一家全球企业的总经理

1995 年 6 月，卡塔尔埃米尔谢赫·哈利法·本·哈马德·阿勒萨尼（Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani）在瑞士日内瓦的一个豪华湖滨度假村度假。他的儿子，谢赫·哈马德·本·哈利法·阿勒萨尼（Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani），在实际上

至关重要的是，他在 1996 年通过创办半岛电视台 (Al Jazeera) 将卡塔尔确立为全球媒体中心，该电视台最初是一个阿拉伯语新闻卫星

I

对于一位海湾地区的统治者来说，他选择在 2013 年自愿退位

回到家乡，他的早期正式教育由

电视台，随后将其影响力扩大到英语和西班牙语。1998 年，他废除了相关部委

流亡的埃及教师，在他们的影响下，他成为了一名激进的纳赛尔主义者。这种反殖民热情在 1967 年左右达到顶峰，当时他参与了政治抗议活动，向英国大使馆投掷石块，导致其金属卷帘门凹陷。

在欧洲的房产。

继任埃米尔的是他的儿子塔米姆谢赫，他继续引导国家沿着其父亲独特愿景所开辟的战略道路前进。他们最令人惊叹的部署

信息，从而结束了官方的国家审查制度。

DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP/ GETTY IMAGE

在哈利法长期出国期间，负责管理该国日常事务十多年的人决定废黜他。在一场迅速且无需流血的行动中，

他的逝世标志着这个小波斯湾半岛一个变革时代的结束，他凭一己之力将该国从区域性的默默无闻中拖入全球地缘政治的中心。在维持与美国国防和安全联系的同时，他保持着对巴勒斯坦事业深植内心的承诺，这一观点继承自他的父亲。他为哈马斯领导人在多哈提供了基地，此举旨在将该激进组织从伊朗和叙利亚的“抵抗之弧”中拉出来，让他们面对现实并进行谈判。

他后来意识到，这些激进的泛阿拉伯运动误导了他的这一代人，这一顿悟促使他终身致力于通过后来创建的

卡塔尔基金会 (Qatar Foundation) 用本土的世界级卡塔尔机构取代外国教育影响，从而促进教育、科学研究和社区发展。

软实力的体现是在 2010 年宣布卡塔尔将举办 2022 年男子足球世界杯。

这位 43 岁的王储宣布自己为新埃米尔，这一举动将永久改变其国家的轨迹并重塑现代中东。

这位“父亲埃米尔”留下了三任妻子，11 个儿子和 13 个女儿。Hugh Miles

在这次大胆的接管之后，去世时年 74 岁的哈马德成为了一个与区域内同时代领导者完全不同的领袖。他摒弃了海湾君主传统的仪式化、巴洛克式的华丽装饰和冷漠，他治理卡塔尔更像是一家全球公司的总经理。

哈马德·本·哈利法·阿勒萨尼 (Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani)，卡塔尔埃米尔，出生于 1952 年 1 月 1 日；逝世于 2026 年 7 月 12 日

为了准备国家职责，他在英国的桑赫斯特皇家军事学院就读，并于 1971 年毕业。回国后，他担任了多个军事职务，并在 1977 年被任命为

在接下来的二十年里，随着他的父亲在法国里维埃拉度过的时间越来越多，

在 2011 年的阿拉伯之春期间，谢赫·哈马德顺势而为，积极倡导其“阿拉伯人解决阿拉伯问题”的政策，支持利比亚和叙利亚的革命运动，通过半岛电视台放大民众起义，并将卡塔尔定位为塑造整个地区政治伊斯兰教的影响者，与此同时，他选择性地向巴林派遣军队以维护逊尼派的至高无上地位。

生日

他以务实著称，经常亲自驾驶车辆在多哈街道上行驶，并在安保极少的情况下在当地餐厅用餐。作为一名“大局观”思考者，他专注于长期战略，而将日常治理的琐碎细节交给信任的技术官僚。这种独特的决心得到了外国观察者的广泛认可；WikiLeaks 发布的一份 2008 年 7 月泄露的美国大使馆电报中引用了一位消息人士的话，称：“埃米尔似乎是政府中唯一一个对这个国家有愿景的人。然而，那个愿景的细节除了埃米尔本人及其最亲近的助手外，没人完全清楚。”

詹姆斯·安德森爵士 (Sir James Anderson)，板球运动员，44 岁；保罗·安卡 (Paul Anka)，作曲家兼歌手，85 岁；詹妮弗·巴恩斯 (Jennifer Barnes)，歌剧演唱家及音乐学家，66 岁；斯蒂芬·布莱克莫尔教授 (Prof Stephen Blackmore)，植物学家，74 岁；彼得·波特利爵士 (Sir Peter Bottomley)，前保守党议员，82 岁；凯特·布什 (Kate Bush)，歌手兼词曲作家，68 岁；阿伦·凯恩斯 (Alun Cairns)，前保守党国防部长。

I

在超过 30 年的现场广播生涯中，我仅有一次在播音时抽泣。那是前几周，在一次与一位心理学教授 Katriona O’Sullivan 的电台访谈中。她现在的身份是基尔代尔郡梅努斯大学的教授。在此之前，她在都柏林圣三一学院工作，

卫生纸。从来没有肥皂。我们中没有人拥有牙刷。”霍尔小姐把她带到洗手间，锁上门，教她如何清洗。并且给了她几条印有星期几的干净内裤。我对此无言以对。

在国际空间站生活，比起住在考文垂不恰当地段的一栋高层公寓里，作为底层阶级的一员而生存——仅仅是生存——来说，前者反而更容易。我知道“底层阶级”是一个令人厌恶的词，这可能正是我们不喜欢使用它的原因之一。更可能的是，这只是另一个视而不见并假装那个世界不存在的借口。很有可能你甚至还没有读到这里。

那里她还获得了博士学位。在此之前，她参加了让自己进入圣三一学院的入学辅导计划。在那之前，她在都柏林过着混乱的生活，一个几乎一无所有的单身母亲。

在一个童话故事中，这本应是事情开始好转的时刻。嗯，确实好转了，但大部分时间并没有。接下来的几年是极度的混乱，那些可怕的事情我无法在此讲述。而且她告诉我，有些事情她自己都无法下笔写出来。至于那是些什么，我想想就感到恐惧。

O’Sullivan 的故事在剧情极具戏剧性的转折后，迎来了一个快乐的结局。她在 2008 年金融危机之前抵达都柏林，当时“凯尔特之虎”依然充满活力。那时资金充裕——有资金去帮助她那个世界里的人们。提供育儿帮助、成瘾治疗、心理咨询，以及为那些生命轨迹永远无法接近高等教育的人提供升学课程。最终这一切都得到了圆满解决。能够与她一同回顾这段旅程是一件令人愉悦的事。

“缩减量”（shrinklation）：即减少食品份量的做法——比如在包装袋里放入更少的薯片——而价格保持不变。阴险。是否还有其他啤酒品牌在考虑采取类似做法？很多品牌已经这么做了：福斯特（Foster’s）在过去三年中将酒精含量从 4.0% 降至 3.4%；Sol 在 2025. 年从 4.2% 降至 3.4%。嘉士伯（Carlsberg）、格罗奇（Grolsch）、约翰·史密斯（John Smith’s）、库尔斯（Coors）和安斯特（Amstel）也降低了酒精含量。这是因为饮酒者更喜欢低度啤酒吗？还是为了暗中限制国家的酒精消费？都不是。这是为了省钱并最大化利润。通过降低几个微不足道的百分点酒精含量能省多少钱？很多。但花钱的不是酒精，而是税收。如果你不明白我在说什么，这一举动可能与 2023 , 年酒精消费税的变更有关，根据新规，酒精含量在 3.5% 到 8.4% 之间的包装啤酒需缴纳 £ 22.58 的税款。

她讲述了一个令人振奋但又残酷的故事，而且讲得非常好。这得益于我非常喜欢她的声音，那是两种我最喜欢的口音的结合：我自己的，呃，西米德兰兹口音，以及都柏林口音。听她讲述时，我突然意识到，我们对各种普通人和非凡人物的生活了解之深。名人向我们详细描述他们的每一步行动。运动员、演员、音乐家、政治家；凡是你能想到的。有些人的描述比其他人的更好，有些则比其他人的更诚实。但我们确实拥有这种洞察力。电影制作者也做了重要工作，努力展示地球遥远角落的生活模样。

她来到都柏林是为了逃避在伯明翰更加混乱的生活，而在此之前，她在考文垂度过童年，在令人心碎、艰辛、痛苦、悲惨且恐怖的贫困中成长。没有一个形容词能在这里充分表达，所以我尽可能地把我想到的词都用上了。

她比我更擅长措辞，如果你读过她的回忆录——书名叫《贫穷》（Poor），你就会发现。我买了这么多本她的书送给别人，以至于她可能很快得写一本叫《富有》（Rich）的书。我的使命是让全国的人都读到它。

接下来的结语，也就是她的后记，像是一记猛击，直击太阳穴。如果你刚好从这个故事中得出了错误的结论，这基本上就是她对你的一番严厉训斥。热爱这种“从寒门到豪门”的奋斗历程没什么不对——谁不爱呢？——但如果你将其视为证明，只要足够努力，你就能成为

封面照片：COOKELMA/GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO。本页：JOHNNY SAVAGE/卫报

这一切都很好，但奇怪的是，我们了解泰勒·斯威夫特或克里斯蒂亚诺·罗纳尔多是什么样子，或者了解生活在孟加拉国或亚马逊盆地是什么样子，比我们了解这个国家数百万像卡特里奥娜那样童年的人的生活状态要多得多。

欧苏利文和她的兄弟姐妹们被两名海洛因成瘾者“养育”——如果这个词恰当的话（其实并不恰当）。她忍饥挨饿，既缺乏食物，也缺乏爱。她第一次真正感受到这两者是在小学。在那里她遇到了阿金森女士和霍尔小姐。如果考文垂能为马背上的戈迪娃夫人立一座雕像，我认为它也应该为阿金森女士和霍尔小姐找个位置立一座。

你想成为任何样子都能实现，那么她用很多文字表达了，这纯属胡扯。

大多数在她所熟知的那个世界中起步的人从未能走出来。她坚持认为自己能成功，仅仅是因为在相对富裕的时代，人们做出了政治决定，资助了那些能够帮助她的社会服务。此后，爱尔兰和英国的许多此类服务已被削减。

▼ “她讲述了一个令人振奋但残酷的故事” ……卡特里奥娜·欧苏利文

每升纯酒精的税额。我不知道这具体意味着什么。对于 4.0% 的啤酒，每品脱约 41 便士。而 3.4% 的啤酒每升纯酒精的税额仅为 £9.96，约每品脱 19 便士。这差别相当大，但如果人们不喜欢卡林（Carling）的新款淡啤酒怎么办？该公司声称 3.4% 的版本在消费者测试中“整体口感排名更高”。它还通过在 2 月推出一款更浓且更昂贵的黑标（Black Label）版本（酒精含量 4.7%）为此次减量奠定了基础，在品牌内部创造了一个“价值-高端价格阶梯”。建议说：“酒精税必须在增加收入和改善健康之间取得一个困难的平衡。”不要说：“3.4%？我的尿液都比这浓。”

我们大多数人可能对……

身为教师的阿金森女士是爱尔兰人，知道欧苏利文的血统。“我的班里有一个爱尔兰女孩——真是太棒了。”对于欧苏利文来说，有一个成年人很高兴她在房间里是一种全新的感觉。“我爱阿金森女士，我知道她也爱我，”她写道，“她的眼神是这么说的。她帮助我的方式也是这么说的。”霍尔小姐是教师助理，她和阿金森女士一样，以及学校里的每个孩子一样，都意识到可怜的卡特里奥娜身上有味道。一些同学叫她“尿裤子”。就像处于危机中的孩子经常那样，她每晚都尿床。而且她不知道怎么洗澡。“我们的浴室里没有毛巾，几乎没有……”

至于在电台直播中让我哽咽的部分，是关于她书中描述她对学校晚餐的喜爱和需求时，句子中跳出来的三个词。让我触动的不是她对食物的描述——而是她几乎像随口一提那样提到她的同学：“其他孩子，那些被爱着的人，有时会抱怨，但我根本不在乎供应什么。我什么都吃。”

被爱着的人。意识到除了你之外的所有人都被爱着，那得是什么样的感觉。

“经历了太多的失去”

迈克尔·托马斯（Michael Thomas）的第一本书让他成名——随后他花了 20 年时间试图撰写续作却未能成功。他解释了其中阻碍他的因素。

我把它告诉了我的编辑；我还与出版商开了一个会。他们说：“太棒了，去按照你的想法做吧。”我对这件事信口开河，像是：“没问题，我半年到一年就能把它写完。我可以写精神疾病，”

“——但不是我的。”他停下来，对这种讽刺地笑了笑。“是我父亲和哥哥的。然后我经历了一次崩溃，一次真正令人瘫痪的崩溃。”

宣传新书、旅行、做演讲；尝试写作、教学、阅读、为人父母；拖延、睡眠不佳、咖啡喝得太多，他变成了他现在所描述的“短周期躁郁症”患者。“我会经历两小时的‘灵光乍现’，然后我没时间记录下来，接着就陷入抑郁状态。在几天之内，我可能会经历多种状态，于是那些绝妙的想法会变得平庸、深奥或碎片化，几乎就像是在听一个陌生人讲述故事一样。”

史蒂夫·罗斯 (Steve Rose)

I

当一名有抱负的作家在经历了多年的贫困和艰苦奋斗之后，出版了自己的处女作并赢得赞誉和奖项时，这本该是一个某种形式的圆满结局——但迈克尔·托马斯（Michael Thomas）的经历并非如此。他 2006 年的小说《Man Gone Down》似乎预示着一个强有力的文学新声的到来，以及一段辉煌职业生涯的开始。他登上了《纽约时报》书评版（New York Times Book Review）的封面，赢得了 100,000 欧元（€100,000）的都柏林文学奖——这是图书界最丰厚的奖项之一——并被晋升为纽约亨特学院（Hunter College, New York）的助理教授，在那里教授创意写作。但直到现在，20 年后，续作才终于问世。托马斯的这部新回忆录《The Broken King》在一定程度上解释了期间发生了什么。它同时也证明了他强大的才华。

在美国，评价一直非常积极：《纽约时报》的托马斯·查特顿·威廉姆斯（Thomas Chatterton Williams）写道：“托马斯优美地呈现了一种令人心碎的生存状态，让人无法移开目光。”

托马斯在第一次获得文学成功时并没有感到“享受”。事实上，这反而导致了他的崩溃。他通过视频通话告诉我，获得都柏林文学奖并没有让他觉得“我是一个伟大的作家”。他的反应更多的是一种解脱，因为这样他就可以偿还部分债务。他也没有沉溺于关注度：“当我开始获得评论界的赞赏并出现在封面上的时候，我感觉不到。我一直试图告诉人们我没感觉，但他们认为我是在自鸣得意或谦虚。实际上，我正处于为期一年的崩溃下滑期。”

当他在堪萨斯市进行图书巡演且孤身一人时，情况达到了顶峰，他当时“看到了巨龙、恶魔和各种各样的东西”。在等待登机回家时，他在机场精神崩溃。“我知道我疯了，”他写道。当他的妻子把他带回纽约的一家精神病院时，他告诉医生：“‘失去理智’（out of your mind）这个词很奇妙……我现在的问题是”

他就坐在他位于亨特学院的办公室里。在他身后是书籍、器物、一把原声吉他和曼哈顿的壮阔景色。“这里正处于施工状态。我在这里做一面悬浮的桦木墙，”他指着镜头外道歉道。他的说话语气温和，带有音乐般的抑扬顿韵，看起来比他 58 岁的实际年龄要年轻得多——部分原因是他不仅有艺术天赋，而且非常有运动天赋。他热爱锻炼和体力劳动（如盖房子），就像热爱教学和写作一样。他认为“在做一套高强度硬拉时思考我想写的诗”并没有什么矛盾。

“我不希望发生在我身上的事情发生在我的孩子身上”

这是一部非凡的读物——极其私人且亲密，但同时又广阔而自由，涵盖了从 T.S. 艾略特（书名取自艾略特的诗作《Little Gidding》）到詹姆斯·鲍德温（James Baldwin）、巴西足球以及滚石乐队（Rolling Stones）的一切。托马斯的故事贯穿了他所描述的“条件的完美风暴”：贫困、被父母抛弃、种族主义、酗酒、性暴力、自我破坏和精神疾病。人们很容易将其归类为某种“悲惨回忆录”，但它既不阴森也不平庸——托马斯作为一名作家的造诣太高，不至于那样写。

2007 年底，在《Man Gone Down》出版不到一年后：“我有一份六页的计划书，非常简洁干净。我交给”

（他在八岁时被抛弃的父亲，长期与抑郁症作斗争，酗酒严重，有时住在车里）；他的哥哥（偷窃家人及他人财物，多次出入监狱）；以及他的两个长子（他还有一个女儿），他担心这些人注定会延续这个充满问题的男人的血脉。

他表示，目前他能够坦然地谈论这件事，但当他向朋友提起时，经常感到后悔。“这并没有给我带来任何清晰的认识，反而伤害了他们，”他解释道，“就像是给了他们太多需要处理的东西。多年来，或者仅仅在几周的时间里，看着人们在思考该如何面对我以及面对那个信息，他们不得不对我采取不同的对待方式。”他认为，这些事情可能会变成审视他人行为举止的一面镜子。对于种族、神经多样性、性别或任何数量的因素，你也可以这么说。

“我敏锐地意识到自己的古怪，但我对此并不感到抱歉”

在书的中段有一个恍然大悟的时刻：一名职能治疗师诊断他的次子迈尔斯患有“非特定认知障碍”，并建议道：“有其父必有其子。”托马斯说，这让他“完全出乎意料”，但直到很久以后他才采取行动。在那之前，他将生活中的困难归结为

我告诉他，考虑到他如此坦诚地书写自己的生活，我在采访托马斯时感到有些忐忑。他承认自己也有同样的感觉，因为他已经数十年没有处于公众关注之下了，尽管在我们 90 分钟的交谈中，他一直表现得很放松且健谈，期间有时会离题聊到体育队或我们最喜欢的披头士专辑。然而，考虑到他上次获得文学成功是如何导致他精神崩溃的，是否担心这次会发生同样的事情？

共和国，或者个体认为我应得的”。

▲ 2009 年获得都柏林 Impact 文学奖时

托马斯与一名相对富有的白人女性结婚，这在与他的白人姻亲相处以及抚养混血孩子方面，使事情变得更加复杂。“就像我母亲不希望她的经历成为我的经历一样，我不希望发生在我身上的事情发生在我的孩子身上，”他说。“不过，我不担心他们‘失去他们的黑人性’。他们可以定义自己是谁。”他说，所有的黑人文化都属于他们，正如其他所有文化一样——就像这些文化曾经属于他，就像它们应该属于每一个人那样。

他似乎没那么担心了。在中间的二十年里发生了许多事情。他获得了

托马斯的故事中还有另一个具有挑战性且复杂化的元素：在书的开头，他透露自己在七岁时被强奸过。他没有详细描述——除了说这件事发生在波士顿的一个日间营地。他当时没有告诉任何人；事实上，他竭力向父母隐瞒这一事件，甚至在事后烧掉了衣服。“我知道我的痛苦会杀了他们，”他写道。他坦诚地讲述了这段经历如何扭曲了他的生活。“在成长为青年期间，我冷漠、任性、狂野、酗酒。我可能会很残忍。我会对我认识的所有人都撒谎。”他与自残、酗酒、抑郁、身体和情感的亲密关系作斗争——“我生活在永恒的创伤后状态中。”他在 20 多岁时告诉未来的妻子，他在阅读鲍尔德温小说中一段关于强奸的文字后再次陷入创伤。读完后他立即发烧，在公寓里被困数日并产生幻觉，最终因肺炎住院。他才刚刚康复，一次关于性的晚餐派对谈话就导致他陷入封闭，三天没有说话。

“种族、阶级、艺术气质，以及其他太多因素。书本、电影和音乐中的模型，以及这种疏离感和隔阂感……但不对，不是神经多样性。”在孩童时期，他被诊断出患有阅读障碍、多动症（ADHD）和其他疾病，但直到成年后才被定义为 1 级自闭症。因此，《破碎之王》（The Broken King）在其他方面也是一部关于神经多样性的记录。“我希望这听起来不会显得不敏感：这本书是自闭的，”托马斯说。“它实际上就是一个 1 级自闭症患者试图讲述故事的研究。”

在 2014 年离婚，这不可避免地影响了他的孩子们。他的母亲在 2020 年死于新冠肺炎（他说他的下一本书将关于她的生活）。他的长子 Alex 现在 30 岁，是一名社会工作者。他的次子 Miles 27 岁，应对自身神经多样性（neurodivergence）的方式与 Thomas 完全不同。“他没有那么强烈的控制常规世界的欲望。他没有那么愤怒。”Thomas 还有一个与新伴侣所生的八岁儿子。他说，他不知道自己作为一个父亲的表现如何：“有时我认为我加剧了他们的一些痛苦……有时我觉得我给了他们很多……”

Thomas 的故事引发了关于神经多样性与艺术天赋、先天与后天之间关系的思考。如何将他的诊断结果与成长过程中其他创伤性元素相结合：贫困、酗酒、被遗弃？种族主义也起到了作用。他告诉我，他的曾祖父出生在弗吉尼亚州，曾是一名奴隶。他在小时候记得他的曾祖母。他给我看一张 1951 年他母亲在弗吉尼亚州的照片。照片中的她正看着高中校外一个被点燃的十字架。她向北迁移到波士顿，并在那里遇到了他的父亲，但基本是靠单身母亲独自抚养他及其两个年长的兄弟姐妹。“我们在公共住房中长大，单亲母亲相信教育是伟大的平等器，而她为此拼尽全力。”

有时我只是觉得，我变成了拥有特权和安全网的父亲。如果不是在特权阶层附近长大，随后在文学和学术上取得成功并获得终身教职，而且这些年来一直有人帮我度过难关，我现在可能正住在车里。”

小时候，Thomas 在社交和种族方面都难以融入（他还拥有爱尔兰和美洲原住民血统）。“我很小就能阅读，能帮我哥哥做作业，但我不会系鞋带。”他认同黑人榜样——马尔科姆·X、马丁·路德·金、斯托克利·卡迈克尔、弗雷德里克·道格拉斯——但他也热爱披头士、鲍勃·迪伦和希腊神话。“我被叫作‘奥利奥’ [外黑内白]，或者‘白化黑人’ (honky nigger)，或者‘并不真正是黑人’。”

总的来说，感觉他已经找到了一些稳定性。“我现在正试着通过鲍伊 (Bowie) 来弄清楚，”他开玩笑地说道，引用了《Changes》中的歌词：“‘我转身面对自己，但从未瞥见……’我正敏锐地意识到自己的古怪，但对此并不感到局促，也不道歉或具有攻击性。”

▲ 今天，Thomas 找到了稳定性：“我不再像以前那样愤怒。我不再恐惧。”

在某种程度上，我部分地深陷其中。比以往任何时候都深。医生，这不是一个好的环境。”

照片：KACEY JEFFERS/卫报；PA IMAGES/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

与书中的其他部分一样，Thomas 以近乎摄影般的细节记录了这些事件，但叙述也扩展到了他的记忆、焦虑以及广博的文化背景之中。对于《破碎之王》(The Broken King) 的庞大篇幅，他几乎在道歉：“部分原因是意识到这将会多么私人化，因此试图使其更加复杂，以便真正地将自己与作品拉开距离。”

◀ Thomas 小时候难以融入

这是否带来了释放？“它平息了一些噪音，”他回答道。“这听起来可能很陈词滥调：我不知道我是否与自己和解了，但我认为我开始接受自己了。我也快 59 岁了，所以不再有年轻人的那种冲劲和戾气。我想我变得更内省，不再那么冲动。我不再像以前那样愤怒。我不再像以前那样恐惧——至少在这一刻是这样。我知道它可能会再次袭来。我觉得极其清醒。在过去的十年里经历了许多失去，所以……今天我觉得还好。”《破碎之王》由迈克尔·托马斯 (Michael Thomas) 著，由 Summit 出版 (£16.99)。

与此同时，托马斯写道：“白人很危险，因为他们极端。他们要么试图帮助我进入他们的隔离世界，要么试图阻挡我。仁慈的白人不认为我是黑人。无论我拥有什么样的天赋，都与我的种族无关。‘黑人性’成了他们认为我在克服的东西。”与此同时，他“承受了大多数慢性且系统性的，以及急性且任意的暴力，这些暴力……

《Man Gone Down》是对托马斯 30 多岁时生活的轻微虚构叙述，当时他正拼命地在财务和心理上维持生存，并试图维系他的婚姻和三个年幼的孩子。《The Broken King》大大扩展了这一叙事，特别是托马斯的男性关系：与他的父亲……

戴维斯说，整个晚上都被“电得噼啪作响”。

“这让你觉得自己的房子非常脏”

由于苍蝇的滋扰，这家人曾考虑搬离该地区，并表示一些前邻居已经这样做了。但戴维斯说，她不愿放弃这栋令她“感到自豪且喜爱”的房子。“这是一个绝佳的居住地。西希斯（West Heath）非常漂亮，每个人都那么友善。”

此外，安德鲁指出，“你得在冬天卖房，”因为潜在买家在看房时如果看到苍蝇到处飞，肯定会被吓跑。相反，戴维斯正试图通过发起请愿书，向议会和环境署 (Environment Agency) 施压要求调查。该请愿书目前已有 1,000 多个签名，要求地方当局“严肃对待此事，并优先考虑我们社区的福祉”。

该请愿书吸引了许多其他当地人的评论，其中一位住在距离安德鲁和戴维斯步行 20 分钟路程的地方。该评论者表示：“我整天都在不停地把 40 多只苍蝇从厨房里赶出去。这是一场持久战。”安德鲁说，他与许多同样在与这一问题作斗争的邻居谈过：有人在夏天每天点外卖以避免下厨，而另一个人则在新生婴儿的婴儿床周围挂上了蚊帐。“他们都受够了，”安德鲁和戴维斯的邻居布莱恩·斯塔尔（Bryan Stahl）在我们在路对面走到他家时说道，街道居民普遍认为他的房子受虫灾影响最严重。

如果仅仅一只苍蝇在头顶嗡嗡作响就令人厌烦，那么想象一下，周复一周地被成群的苍蝇包围是什么样子。我们走访了英国受昆虫侵害最严重的社区之一。

虽然我们在聊天时不断挥手赶走苍蝇，很难让人相信，但斯塔尔告诉我，今天对于苍蝇来说是一个相对温和的日子，因为风比最近几周要大。在英国的最高峰期……

露西·奈特 (Lucy Knight)

F

rancesca Davies 的客厅里简直到处都是苍蝇。当你进入这位呼叫中心员工的家中时，

近期的热浪期间，这位 54 岁的人及其伴侣一直待在室内，或者待在用防蝇网围起来的凉亭花园椅下。Davies 和 Andrew 的花园里也有类似的结构，那是为了让女儿们使用充气游泳池而搭建的。Stahl 是一位学校的高级教学助理，他认为自己在凉亭和大量防蝇网上花费了约 £500 —— 并且正在考虑再花数千英镑安装永久性防蝇窗。他说：“这让你觉得家里非常脏。”

“一个健康的星球，”无脊椎动物保护慈善机构 Buglife 的运营主管 Andrew Whitehouse 说道。事实上，他补充道，有些植物只能由苍蝇授粉 —— 其中就包括可可树。“所以如果没有苍蝇，你就没有巧克力了。”

如果没有一群昆虫从沙发或地板上飞起在你的脸边盘旋。Davies 及其家人住在 West Heath，这是柴郡 Congleton 镇的一个郊区。Davies 的丈夫 Alex Andrew 是一位 29 岁的维修工程师，他在这个集镇长大，过去他认为 West Heath 是一个令人向往的地区，那里房屋维护良好且拥有绿地空间。当他和 Davies 在 2019 年通过共有产权计划在这里买下一套新房时，他们觉得非常幸运。直到他们搬进去后才意识到，每年夏天成群的苍蝇都会降临到他们的社区，Davies 说这个问题“正在恶化”。

尽管我们可能会觉得苍蝇如此被粪便或腐烂物质吸引是很恶心的，但实际上这是一件好事。“苍蝇幼虫或蛆虫会食用大量死亡的有机物，”Whitehouse 说。“通过这样做，它们将营养物质循环回土壤中，它们在清除……

尽管现在很难找到比 West Heath 居民更厌恶苍蝇的人，但这并不是说苍蝇在很多人中受欢迎。无论是 Jeff Goldblum 在大卫·柯能堡 1986 年的恐怖电影《苍蝇》中那令人毛骨悚然的变身，还是上帝在旧约圣经中将成群的苍蝇作为降在埃及人的 10 大灾难之一，以说服法老释放以色列人，其传达的信息都很明确：苍蝇是令人厌恶的。

“我们已经习惯了整夜听到苍蝇被电击的声音”

▲ 一只绿瓶蝇，生活在英国的 7,000 种苍蝇之一

目前，这位 27 岁的人每天晚上在让小女儿们睡觉之前，都会把她们卧室里的苍蝇拍掉，并尽可能地保持门窗关闭或覆盖防蝇网。她和 Andrew 甚至为厨房买了一个工业级灭蝇灯（就像那些经常出现在炸鱼薯条店里的那种），因为开始烹饪而不吸引更多昆虫几乎是不可能的。两人已经习惯了苍蝇“被电击”的声音。

而在旧约中，信息很明确：苍蝇是恶心的。

但它们是否应该重新塑造形象？毕竟，蜜蜂同样嗡嗡作响且令人烦躁，甚至会刺伤我们，但这似乎并未损害它们“可爱”的声誉，它们的形象被印在 T 恤或桌布上。就像蜜蜂一样，苍蝇也是授粉者，并且“对……至关重要”。

◀ 柴郡的 Congleton，受影响最严重的城镇之一

◀ Francesca Davies 在花园里使用苍蝇陷阱

一只被捕捉在室外陷阱中的苍蝇

“如果所有昆虫都死掉了，我们很快就会陷入一个恶性循环”

McAlister 并不是说我们都应该像 Davies 和 Andrew 那样生活。她很清楚，大规模出现苍蝇可能会成为一个问题

– 但杀死它们，尤其是以“可怕且不人道的方式”（例如使用胶带），并不总是解决办法。她表示，矛盾的是，创造对蝇类友好的环境，比如在花园里挖池塘，甚至在阳台上放“一只水桶”，会吸引各种野生动物，包括像鸟类和青蛙这样捕食蝇类的动物，因此蝇类实际上会被吃掉，最终减少对人类的干扰。

她说，在面对蝇类泛滥时，进行害虫防治是“有理由的”，但最重要的事情是“找出为什么会发生这种情况。因为蝇类是一个指标，表明可能发生了其他事情”。馆长表示，每当夏天报告蝇类泛滥时（目前，莱斯特郡的赛勒比、卡马森郡的拉内利以及西希思的居民都在遭受困扰），通常可以发现这与“某种废物事件或某种环境扰动”有关。戴维斯和她的邻居认为，他们的蝇类问题与当地由该公司经营的一家回收厂有关。

“我试图让人们把它们看作是，‘太神奇了，这些野生动物就在你面前游荡’。”麦卡利斯特鼓励人们了解蝇类从幼虫到成虫的“迷人”变态发育，或者它们能倒着着陆的事实，以及它们的眼睛由数千个小面组成，每个小面就像一个独立的摄像头。她说，每一秒钟，“它们都在处理数以千计的图像”。考虑到包括蝇类在内的整体昆虫数量在大幅下降，以积极的态度看待蝇类就显得更为重要。麦卡利斯特说，尽管一些迁徙物种在逆势增长，但由于英国对野生动物的接纳程度降低，依赖特定宿主植物或地点的英国本土物种正“遭受严重影响”。她认为：“我们需要政治家在做出所有决定时，真正将其纳入一个生态框架中。”而且这是为了保护我们自己的未来，而不仅仅是蝇类的未来。麦卡利斯特说：“如果我们灭绝了，昆虫不会在意。但如果昆虫灭绝了，我们很快就会陷入非常剧烈的下降螺旋”——因为我们依赖于它们的传粉服务。

Tandom。Tandom在发送给《卫报》的一份声明中表示，公司已“实施了一系列额外的预防措施”，并且正“与环境署、柴郡东区议会以及我们的独立害虫防治专家进行建设性合作”，但强调：“目前没有证据表明蝇类在我们的场地上滋生。”环境署的一位发言人证实，该署正与Tandom保持联系，并表示已指示该公司“立即采取措施解决该问题”，并补充说，如果需要，“将毫不犹豫地采取适当的执法行动”。

……像死尸和粪便之类的东西。这也能防止疾病的传播。所以这极其重要。”

她说。但蜜蜂幼虫在成长为成虫之前除了进食什么也不做，而蝇类在“出生时就被踢了出来”，而且作为幼虫，“它们已经在那里帮助清理我们的环境了”。对于任何坚持认为蝇类不像蜜蜂那样可爱的人，她敦促他们“去查查蜂蝇（bee-fly）”，她说这“可以说是英国最可爱的物种之一”。

……方式，就像你如何处理钱财，或者你走进一家酒吧，或者与人握手一样”。至于蝇类在食物上“呕吐”——这是你经常听到的人们对蝇类厌恶者的另一种抱怨——她说，这并不是我们认为的人类呕吐那样是在“呕吐”。“它们不是在吐出肠道内容物”，而是在食物上释放消化酶以将其分解，“因为它们没有咀嚼式口器”。

此外，怀特豪斯说，“很多其他动物吃蝇类”。“首先想到的是蜘蛛，但很多脊椎动物也吃。所以鸟类、蝙蝠、两栖动物、爬行动物和鱼类都以成虫蝇或其幼虫为食。它们是许多此类动物非常重要的食物来源。”

当然，麦考利斯特（McAlister）承认，一只“在粪便与食物之间，或在腐烂食物与另一种食物之间走动”的苍蝇可能会传播病原体，但在“很大程度上——它们基本上是用一根吸管或一块海绵来吸取这些成分的”。

在英国发现了 7,000 多种苍蝇，包括蓝瓶蝇、绿瓶蝇、食蚜蝇、蚊子、果蝇和长腿蝇（Daddy longlegs）。家蝇（那种典型的粗壮黑蝇；大多数人想到苍蝇时可能会想到的那种）通常被认为是英国最常见的，尽管很难确定，因为“奇怪的是，研究苍蝇的人不够多”，苍蝇专家兼自然历史博物馆馆员埃里卡·麦考利斯特（Erica McAlister）说道。

麦考利斯特认为，与其在苍蝇干扰我们时自动将其归咎于它们，我们应该寻找潜在的人为因素。虽然我们经常认为家蝇是肮脏的，因为它们以粪便为食并出现在肮脏区域，但实际上它们“必须完全相反——它们必须异常干净，因为它们有时处于糟糕的环境中”，她说道。“但那是我们的环境；是我们创造了这个环境。所以，你知道，我们是在向一个指示某些事情可能出问题的‘指标’扔石头。”

◀ 亚历克斯·安德鲁（Alex Andrew）用防蝇网将女儿花园里的戏水池包裹了起来

家蝇在全球范围内都是重要的授粉者——事实上，麦考利斯特说，一种普通家蝇的近亲是北极地区主要的授粉者。“人们固执地认为蜜蜂是最重要的授粉者——它们确实很出色，我不会否认这一点，”

布莱恩和黛比·斯塔尔（Bryan and Debbie Stahl）位于他们的防护屏风之后

那么，或许真正有害的是人类，而不是苍蝇。

艺术

8

“我收到信说，我把可口可乐倒入了一桶优质麦芽威士忌中”

在排练中很明显，整个夜晚就是一个悲伤的循环。”

在早期，安德鲁斯（Andrews，出生于澳大利亚，现居冰岛，自称为“冰澳人”）曾有一个想法，让凯特·布兰切特（Cate Blanchett）和尼娜·霍斯（Nina Hoss）在《埃莱克特拉》（Electra）中交替饰演埃莱克特拉和克吕泰Мне斯特拉，并在《人格》（Persona）中交替饰演伊丽莎白和阿尔玛；前半场扮演埃莱克特拉的人将重新出现并饰演伊丽莎白，而克吕泰Мне斯特拉则重新出现并饰演阿尔玛。最初的计划是让布兰切特和霍斯在演出开始时在舞台上掷硬币，但汤姆·斯托帕德（Tom Stoppard）的《罗森克兰茨和吉尔登斯特恩死了》，其中硬币连续 92 次出现正面，使得这一策略变得冒险。“而且，”安德鲁斯说，“我对凯特和尼娜说，‘为了发挥出最佳水平，你们是否需要早起研究《埃莱克特拉》或《人格》的剧本？’她们说可能需要。最终，她们将有一个时间表并每晚交换角色，但观众在第一位演员登场之前不会知道谁在演谁。”而且如果我对票务处说，我已经看过一种组合，想看另一种组合，他们不会告诉我时间？安德鲁斯停顿了一下。“不会。”

▲ “伯格曼是我的北极星”……比比·安德森（Bibi Andersson）和莉芙·乌曼（Liv Ullmann）在原版《人格》中

谋杀、复仇与崩溃

尽管他以导演激进的新版经典剧目而闻名——包括 2024 , 在唐玛仓库剧院（Donmar Warehouse）上演的契诃夫《樱桃园》，以及 2014 在青年维克剧院（Young Vic）使用旋转舞台上演的田纳西·威廉姆斯《欲望号有轨电车》——但《埃莱克特拉/人格》是一个大胆的项目。另一位编剧兼导演艾伦·艾克伯恩（Alan Ayckbourn）曾说过，在导演过程中，他发现自己在咒骂编剧交给他的任务。安德鲁斯是否理解为了准备各种排列组合，实际上必须将两部剧各演练两次是什么感觉？

在一场由凯特·布兰切特和尼娜·霍斯主演的、大胆且角色互换的新作中，国家剧院将索福克勒斯与英格玛·伯格曼融合在一起。那么，两部相隔 23 个世纪的故事能告诉我们关于道德危机的什么呢？

“是的，排练时间很长，”他笑着叹了口气。“昨天，不寻常的是，我们整天都在排演《伊莱克特拉》，但最后我还是花了一个小时排演《人格面具》。每天两部剧都排一遍很重要。尽管它们需要截然不同的能量。这不是双剧目演出，而是一个衔接的作品。前半部分有来自伯格曼的切入点，后半部分则来自索福克勒斯。”

在《伊莱克特拉/人格面具》（Electra/Persona）中，导演

Mark Lawson

本尼迪克特·安德鲁斯将两个故事分别安排在中场休息前和后，并由前半段结束时一个惊人的戏剧性反转（coup de theatre）将两者联系起来。“《人格面具》是现代主义电影的巅峰，伯格曼是我的北极星，”安德鲁斯说。“长期以来，我一直被将《人格面具》搬上舞台的‘不可能之举’（在好的意义上）所吸引，因为这部电影在很大程度上依赖于摄影机、沉默和特写：将脸视为一片领域。而且我一直对伯格曼为何选择让伊丽莎白在扮演伊莱克特拉时崩溃感到好奇，所以我想把它们放在一起。我认为这已经变成了

I

在公元前 420 年左右，索福克勒斯上演了《厄勒克特拉》，剧中的标题人物为她被母亲克吕泰Мне斯特拉杀掉的父亲报仇。而在 1966 年，

到这个阶段，安德鲁斯认为自己仅仅是一名导演：“我们有个关于曾经有个编剧的笑话。我们叫他多米尼克。他被锁在桌子旁两周时间进行重写，但现在我们已经把他送上拖网渔船回冰岛了。”

瑞典电影导演英玛·伯格曼首映了《人格面具》，片中一名精神科护士阿尔玛在照顾伊丽莎白，后者是一名在扮演厄勒克特拉时精神崩溃的演员。这两部相隔 23 个世纪的剧作，现在在国家剧院一部迷人的新制作中共享舞台。

我最近看了一场热门演出，当时的替演演员在场

◀ “她们是令人惊叹的演员”……布兰切特（左）与霍斯

——他们模仿了缺席的表演者，在这种情况下这是标准做法。但布兰切特和霍斯是否会有

我的最佳拍摄

9

Attilio Fiumarella

不同的互动？“绝对会有。她们两位都是同样令人惊叹的演员，但演奏她们‘乐器’的方式不同。凯特和妮娜是好朋友，并且合作过

从我们交谈的国家剧院会议室出发，步行不久即可到达 BFI Southbank 的克里斯托弗·诺兰电影《奥德赛》，或者到达 The Bridge 剧院观看西蒙·斯通执导的

“当我拍摄这 11 位在当地泳池中的伯明翰游泳者时，我在想兵马俑。那个泳池面临关闭。他们在那儿站了一个小时，等待太阳出来。”

《奥瑞斯特亚》。如果古希腊作家的后代能领取版税，他们现在应该都拥有私人飞机。“是的！我认为他们现在之所以回归，是因为在如今这种巨大的政治和道德危机时代，我们需要他们。我们之所以在这些希腊的瓦砾和土壤中挖掘，是因为这些剧作诞生于一个最初辉煌、随后分崩离析的帝国战争帝国。而我们现在正见证着美国帝国主义的同样过程。

电影《塔尔》，在片中妮娜扮演凯特的妻子。所以我认为与她们合作会很棒。她们看起来不像，但彼此之间有一种共鸣：她们可以是姐妹。在排练中，你会看到她们在想：‘哦，她们在那一部分那样处理？我是跟从那个方案，还是做我自己的诠释？’我们正在寻找一种方式，让她们各自演绎场景的逻辑，但这可能会以不同的方式呈现。”

履历

当我们从小在这样的观念中长大——美国，即我们的罗马、我们的雅典

当我告诉他，我在唐马仓库剧院两次观看《樱桃园》时的感受完全不同时

——不仅是军事强权，也是文化强权。而它现在正在分崩离析。于是我们回到一个经历过战争，但同时也赋予我们哲学和戏剧，并给弗洛伊德提供俄狄浦斯神话以解剖家庭关系的文化。而且这些剧作也应该让我们质疑法律和正义的概念。”

• 他热情地 nodding（点头），尽管有些导演面对这种情况会发起公开调查。“很好！”他说。“我在排练中将洛帕欣和瓦里之间的（被拒绝的浪漫）场景演练了数十次，随后的演出也是如此——每一次都不同。我鼓励这样做，因为最终，你希望每晚演出都能呈现出那一刻的真实感。作为导演，你建立了一个永动机，演员们可以继续在其中发展。”

出生地：那不勒斯，1978年 最高光时刻：看到长期项目随时间推移地找到了它们的观众，从赢得2020年“人性肖像”（Portrait of Humanity）奖，到受我所尊重其作品和价值观的机构委约。 顶层建议：要坚持，并且深切关怀你拍摄的人。作为摄影师，我们有责任帮助他们的故事触及更广泛的受众。

伦敦的澳大利亚导演影响力日益增强。除了斯通（Stone）——其作品《俄瑞斯忒亚》（Oresteia）继其《费德拉》（Phaedra）和《海边之女》（The Lady From The Sea）之后推出——基普·威廉姆斯（Kip Williams）也经常在伦敦工作：近期包括《多里安·格雷的画像》（The Picture of Dorian Gray）和《德古拉》（Dracula）。

安德鲁斯（Andrews）正处于一个“古希腊时期”，他之前的演出是在冰岛演绎的埃斯库罗斯的《俄瑞斯忒亚》，该剧与《厄勒克特拉》（Electra）有共同角色，包括克吕泰涅斯特拉、俄瑞斯特斯和厄勒克特拉本人。那么，他在接连上演的两部希腊悲剧中是否存在大量重叠？“非常多。我在两场演出之间移动了一些部分。去年大部分时间我都在为《俄瑞斯忒亚》准备文本。然后，在排练开始前有一段时间的间隔——为了将其翻译成冰岛语——在此期间我写了《厄勒克特拉/人格》（Electra/Persona）。我没预料到这部剧会上演得这么快。我没预料到自己要和这个疯狂的混蛋家庭生活这么久！”

《女仆》（The Maids）。安德鲁斯是否与他的同乡侨民有WhatsApp群组或团聚烧烤活动？“并不完全是。但基普曾是我的助理导演。西蒙曾在我的一个作品中出演，在《谁害怕弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫？》（Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?）中他在一个玻璃盒子中旋转。我们彼此都认识，并且有共同的合作者。”

安德鲁斯、斯通和威廉姆斯都颠覆了经典文本——这是澳大利亚人的特质吗？某种文本上的反殖民主义或共和主义？“当我在悉尼执导首部《三姐妹》（Three Sisters）时，[契诃夫]的传统仍然是‘蕾丝与亚麻’（保守且精致）。我收到信说，你就像把可口可乐倒入一桶优质麦芽威士忌中一样。巴里·科斯基（Barrie Kosky）当时也在做类似的事情，我们当时可能就像一根破城槌，冲击着澳大利亚州立剧院的保守主义。但我曾在德国工作很长时间，在那里，激进的重新思考正是导演的工作，所以对我来说，‘忠于’经典从来没有意义。那到底意味着什么？我不认为这是在颠覆经典。我是在尝试挖掘作品中的神话力量；透视其内在含义。”《厄勒克特拉/人格》将于8月19日至10月10日在伦敦国家剧院上演。

两部戏都是室内剧——在雷克雅未克有5名演员，在伦敦有4名——因此，除了《厄勒克特拉/人格》中的角色互换，还有角色扮演，其中将幕后角色的背景故事演绎出来：“它有时就像一个……”

我在2014年7月20日在伯明翰拍摄了这张图像——这是我的第一个专业摄影项目的一部分。我在2013年搬到这座城市，每天乘坐巴士前往市中心时都会经过这座建筑。我记得观察其立面，并被三个不同的入口所吸引并感到好奇——它们曾经分别是头等舱、二等舱和女性入口。

幸运的是，许多人帮助实现了这一点。来自圣保罗社区信托基金（St Paul’s Community Trust）的伊恩·爱德华兹（Ian Edwards）用扩音器协调所有人，而他与一群志愿者利用他们搭建的临时楼梯帮助人们进入空泳池。

然后我遇到了光线问题。我知道上午11点，光线会从右向左透过窗户射入，这正是我想要的精确角度，但当天天气阴沉。等待了大约一小时后，人们开始变得焦虑，但在最后的20分钟里，太阳终于出现，我拍到了照片。

有一天，我决定下公交车去看看那栋建筑到底是什么。门开着，一位亲切的女士欢迎我进去，并开始向我讲述它的历史。那是莫斯利路浴场（Moseley Road Baths），一座爱德华时期的社区建筑。2014年，第二个泳池仍在运行，但我在照片中拍摄的那个盛会泳池（gala pool）已经空了。该建筑需要修复，由于缺乏资金，议会计划将其永久关闭。我在那里遇到的那位女士给我讲了很多关于这个地方的故事——人们来到这里学习游泳，这里在第二次世界大战期间曾作为伤员站，甚至还被用作舞厅。这是一个非常有魅力的地方，拥有令人惊叹的历史：当我看到那个盛会泳池时，我就知道我必须填满那个雄伟的空白空间。

格式塔治疗游戏，在这种游戏中你扮演你的压迫者。而“人格”（persona）是指面具，指我们扮演的角色。国王和法官穿上那些长袍，扮演那些角色。戏剧如何批判所有这些权力关系？但另一方面，戏剧如何让我们审视我们在自己的生活、心理和梦境中所扮演的所有角色？

在我的作品中，我总是引用建筑——这是我的背景。在这张照片中，我想到的是兵马俑。关于这张照片，让我惊讶的是它如何成为了团结与共同体的表达。2020年，它赢得了“人性肖像”（Portrait of Humanity）奖，现在它再次引起了关注

© ATTILIO FIUMARELLA. COURTESY OF THE ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

——我认为是因为它反映了我们所处时代的某些特质。我们需要团结起来，出现，并夺回权力。我认为这张照片是一种抵抗行为——这些游泳者从未见过我，但他们为了捍卫一个他们深切关心的场所而现身。

“我们正目睹美国帝国主义的瓦解”……安德鲁斯（Andrews）

几个月后，我成功获得了一项当地社区助学金，开展一个关于泳池社区及其与建筑之间关系的肖像项目。在 2014, 年 7 月，我组织了这次拍摄

最近，莫斯利路浴场获得了完成修复所需的最终资金。在修复工程完工期间，该建筑暂时关闭，但它很快将以全新的目标和新的公共空间重新开放。我的贡献只是这个故事中极小的一部分，但我认为它在某种程度上有所帮助。回想起来，我认为所有这些人所做的事情都非常慷慨。他们穿着泳装站在一起，听从一个疯狂意大利人的指挥。对我来说，这张照片简单地在说：“我们在这里，在一起，为我们信仰的东西而战。”

让我至今仍会微笑的是，我决定在这样一个项目中首次尝试使用大画幅相机。回想起来，这似乎有点疯狂。那是一次强烈的体验。泳池里有 118 个人，而一切都取决于能否拍好单张底片。有很多环节可能会出错。

采访由夏洛特·詹森（Charlotte Jansen）完成。Attilio Fiumarella 的作品参加在伦敦萨奇美术馆（Saatchi Gallery）举行的皇家摄影学会第167届年度国际展出，展期为 7 August 至 11 September

PHOTOGRAPHS: ANTONIO OLMOS/THE GUARDIAN; TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/GETTY IMAGES;

——这是该项目的最后一张照片。“莫斯利路浴场之友”帮助招募了游泳者，我还在附近社区分发了传单，鼓励人们参与。这张照片最绝妙之处在于它反映了当地社区的多样性，以及在那里游泳的跨越多个世代的人群。

观看指南

电视与广播

10

不要与布兰登约会 (Don’t Date Brandon)

STUART HERITAGE 评论

晚上 10点，Channel 4

贾里德·莱托：好莱坞的黑暗秘密 (Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret)

安伯·拉斯穆森在 Tinder 上与布兰登·约翰逊相识时，认为他是一个“完美的人”。他们很快就订婚了，但出现了一个问题：他的那个“疯前任”。

雅典娜·克林格曼显然在提出一些离谱的要求。正如这部三集的真实犯罪系列剧所展示的——令人震惊的是！——其实是布兰登在制造各种麻烦。后来，这些女性联手制作了一个播客，揭露他的谎言。

◀ 历史指控…… 贾里德·莱托

电影。他带着乐队巡演。有一段时间，世界似乎对此视而不见并继续前行。

这些令人不安的虐待故事最终必须承担后果

Hollie Richardson

然而，《好莱坞的黑暗秘密》将难以被忽视。该片在 YouTube 和 BBC 同时发布，以确保最大的影响力，它令人不安地审视了据称是一种令人作呕的行为模式。杰西卡·萨特内尔及其团队整理出的案件具有明显的深入调查痕迹。显然，这类指控往往需要很长时间才能见光，因为存在一种沉默文化。人们通常因为害怕耻辱或报复而不敢公开，而且许多人的经济利益要求贾里德·莱托的“机器”尽可能长久地运转下去。

萨特内尔能够找到四位女性，并消除她们的顾虑使其愿意在荧幕上露面，这本身就说明了许多问题。我们应该让她们的证词自己说话（这是一部值得观看而非通过阅读了解的纪录片），但她们的勇气应当受到赞扬。

★★★★★

BBC iPlayer

翻修救援 (Renovation Rescue) 晚上 8点，Channel 4	之前曾是 Stacey Solomon 电影宇宙的一部分，这部家居改造节目现在由 Vogue Williams（曾参加过《我是名人》，但拥有建筑管理和工程量测量学位）和 Luke Mabbott（曾参加过《热爱岛》，但是一名受过训练的暖通工程师）主持。首先，他们来到了北安普顿郡。Jack Seale
五星周末 (The Five-Star Weekend) 晚上 9点，Sky Atlantic	这部星光熠熠的夏季剧集将进行双集连播，悲伤的厨师 Hollis (Jennifer Garner) 带着女孩们去吃晚餐，随后前往一家当地的潜水酒吧。群体中的秘密开始泄露，但神秘的 Gigi (Gemma Chan) 会揭露关于那次情事的全部真相吗？还是 Brooke (D’Arcy Carden) 会替她揭露？HR
Talking Pictures: 七十年代传奇 第二部分 (Seventies Legends Part II) 晚上 8点，BBC Four	在《驱魔人》中令人眩晕的恐怖！《出租车司机》中莫霍克发型威胁罗伯特·德尼罗！通过《星球大战》进行第一次太空之旅！70 年代是电影的史诗时代，塞莉亚·伊姆里在回顾那些定义该时代的瞬间时玩得很开心。她还记得杰克·尼科尔森一次格外令人难忘的颁奖典礼演讲。HR
狩猎派对 (The Hunting Party) 晚上 9点，U&Alibi	一部会让你检查床底的令人不安的剧集。连环杀手从秘密监狱逃脱已经两个月了——前 FBI 分析师 Bex (Melissa Roxburgh) 即将揭露掩盖真相的行径。与此同时，“波吉曼”杀手 Ron Simms (Will & Grace 演员 Eric McCormack 饰) 正在寻找受害者。HR
你认为你是谁？ (Who Do You Think You Are?) 晚上 9点，BBC One	演员哈丽艾特·沃尔特并不太了解她母亲的历史——但她对自己意大利家族传承的发现非常惊人。第二次世界大战是她的切入点。沃尔特的母亲在 D-day 登陆中扮演了关键的秘密角色，这迫使沃尔特在全新的视角下重新审视她。HR

J

ared Leto 长期以来一直是一个在名声上存在问题的人。其公众可见的一面已经足够糟糕——据报道，在 2016 年出演《自杀者敢死队》（Suicide Squad）中的小丑时，他向合作演员发送老鼠、死猪和用过的避孕套——但

尽管这些指控是历史性的——这些女性现在都处于 20 多岁、30 多岁和 40 多岁——但看着她们讲述自己在未成年时期所经历的事情仍然令人难以忍受。她们中的一些故事完全出自好莱坞掠食者的“剧本”：由 Leto 的团队招揽，然后被带到阴暗的酒店房间。另一些故事则更令人心惊，例如一名女性在 16 岁时收到来自 Leto 的露骨性暗示电话，随后又收到性质类似的电话，她认为对方是 Leto 在扮演另一个角色。

多年来，关于他在私生活中的所作所为一直有令人不安的传闻。经过长时间的调查，BBC 纪录片《贾里德·莱托：好莱坞的黑暗秘密》（Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret）终于将其中一些内幕揭露在世人面前。

你可以想象，这并不是一部好看的影片。该片记录了关于数十年来针对十几岁女孩进行系统性犯罪行为的指控。受访女性指控其涉及性侵犯、威胁性侵犯、性化诱导（sexualised grooming）以及法定强奸。此外，一些匿名的男性前同事也提供了支持，他们声称曾亲眼目睹 Leto 为了从演唱会中招揽未成年女孩而建立的机制。

当这些故事与 Leto 搂着年轻女孩的演唱会档案片段、他在脱口秀节目中吹嘘与粉丝共眠的片段，以及一段极其令人不安的、引用《迷失大校园》（Dazed and Confused）关于高中女生的老台词——“我一直在变老，但她们保持在同一个年龄”——的片段累加在一起时，其效果完全是令人心惊胆战的。

【What’s On】扫描下方二维码订阅 What’s On 通讯，我们的免费电视电子邮件，每周一将最佳评论和新闻直接发送到您的收件箱

到目前为止，Leto 面对此类指控一直能化险为夷，但你禁不住地感觉到这部影片将给予他沉重的一击。当然，值得注意的是，纪录片的时机可能起到了作用。Leto 不再像以前那样是票房保证。去年的

《Tron: Ares》据报道损失了大约 $130m 左右，而他的最新电影——《宇宙之主》（Masters of the Universe）——是今年迄今为止最大的票房惨败之一。好莱坞只有在底线（盈利能力）被削弱后才会选择攻击所谓的性掠食者，这并不是好莱坞最光彩的一面，但迟到总比不到好。

《好莱坞的黑暗秘密》特别令人愤慨的一点是，这并不是有人第一次尝试调查这些指控。早在 2005 , 《纽约邮报》（New York Post）的八卦专栏就曾声称 Leto 在一家纽约酒店“激进地追求”被描述为“未成年欲望对象”的人。到 2018, 演员 Dylan Sprouse 和导演 James Gunn 曾在网上开玩笑谈论 Leto 对十几岁女孩的兴趣。去年，《Air Mail》的 Elena Clavarino 采访了九名女性，她们分别声称 Leto 追求她们、与她们进行露骨的电话性谈话、在她们面前裸露身体并自慰——而当时她们都还未成年。

与他给《Air Mail》调查结果的强硬否认不同，Leto 拒绝就此向 Sartenaer 及其团队发表评论。这是否预示着洪水之门终于要打开了？

在英国，强奸危机中心（Rape Crisis）提供支持，英格兰和威尔士请拨打 0808 500 2222，苏格兰请拨打 0808 801 0302，北爱尔兰请拨打 0800 0246 991

当那篇报道发表时，Leto 的代表发表了否认声明。一切似乎在照常运行。他宣传了他的

11

BBC One BBC Two ITV1 Channel 4 Channel 5 BBC Four

• 8.0 《真伪之辨？》(Fake Or Fortune?) (T) 菲奥娜·布鲁斯和菲利普·莫德调查一幅被认为出自法国艺术家安德烈·德兰之手的绘画。

• 9.0 《你想成为谁？》(Who Do You Think You Are?) (T) 演员哈莉特·沃尔特发现了一群色彩斑斓的祖先，这段旅程让她从债务人法庭走到了歌剧院。

• 8.0 《挖掘英国》(Digging for Britain) (T) (R) 考古学家探索英格兰中部的过去。

• 9.0 《家族中的魔鬼：露比·弗兰克的陨落》(Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke) (T) 露比开始将家人逐出家门。

9.50 《北约克沼地：野性一年》(The North York Moors: A Wild Year) (T) 关注冬季北约克沼地的羊群。

8.0 《艾默代尔》(Emmerdale) (T) 克洛黛特达成了一笔交易，而仓库那边可能存在危险。

• 8.30 《街道 the Coronation Street》(Coronation Street) (T) 卡西回顾她的“最强时刻”，罗斯成了她的新目标。

• 9.0 《环球追击》(The Chase Around the World) (T) 各参赛队抵达里斯本，挑战“黑暗毁灭者”和“罪人”，后者设定了一系列问答题目。

• 8.0 《翻新救援》(Renovation Rescue) (T) 新剧集。沃格·威廉姆斯和卢克·马博特为房主提供实用的DIY和设计建议。

• 9.0 《谋杀案：数字侦探》(Murder Case: The Digital Detectives) (T) 在奥姆斯克克，马修·道尔比被致命刺杀后，需要通过数字取证来确定责任人。

• 8.0 《康沃尔：海边的一年》(Cornwall: A Year By the Sea) (T) 在圣艾夫斯，艺术家伊奥娜主持一场风景画大师班。

• 9.0 《贝尼多姆谋杀案》(Benidorm Is Murder) (T) 新剧集。一名心力交瘁的前警官和一名演员在西班牙海岸解决犯罪。剧情片，由约翰·汉娜和卡罗琳娜·贝克尔主演。

• 8.0 《谈话影像：七十年代传奇 第二部分》(Talking Pictures: Seventies Legends Part II) (T) 塞莉亚·伊姆里回顾电影史上最伟大的十年之一。

• 9.0 《出租车司机》(Taxi Driver) (马丁·斯科塞斯, 1976) (T) 一名孤僻的纽约出租车司机变得日益不安。剧情片，由罗伯特·德尼罗、乔迪·福斯特和西比尔·谢泼德主演。

• 6.0 《早餐》(Breakfast) (T) 9.30 《动物公园》(Animal Park) (T) (R) 10.15 《追踪，寻回我的车》(Trace, Track, Get My Car Back) (T)

• (R) 10.45 《专家证人》(Expert Witness) (T)

• (R) 11.15 《锤下之屋》(Homes Under the Hammer) (T) 12.15 《议价猎手》(Bargain Hunt) (T) (R) 1.0 新闻 (T)

• 1.35 地区新闻与天气 (T) 1.45 新闻 (T)

• 2.0 《白捡钱》(Money for Nothing) (T) 2.45 《逃往乡村》(Escape to the Country) (T) (R) 3.45 《竞拍室》(The Bidding Room) (T) (R) 4.30 《巡回拍卖师》(The Travelling Auctioneers) (T) (R) 5.15 《毫无意义》(Pointless) (T) (R) 6.0 新闻 (T) 6.30 地区新闻与天气 (T) 7.0 《那个节目》(The One Show) (T) 7.30 《东区东区》(EastEnders) (T)

10.0 新闻 (T)

• 10.30 地区新闻(T)天气

• 10.40 《谋杀 24/7》(Murder 24/7) (T) (R) 在奥曼·辛格被谋杀后，五名男子如何被定罪。

• 11.40 《谋杀 24/7》(Murder 24/7) (T) (R) 2024年发生在伍斯特郡的谢丽尔·麦肯娜致命刺杀案。
• 12.35 《艾伦·卡尔的图片大比拼》(Alan Carr’s Picture Slam) (T) (R) 1.20 下周天气预报 (T) 1.25 新闻 (T)

10.0 《走私生意：卧底》(The Smuggling Business: Undercover) (T) 一项针对人口走私团伙的调查。

• 10.30 《新闻之夜》(Newsnight) (T) 天气
• 11.0 高尔夫：2026年女子公开赛集锦 (T)
• 12.0 《黑化》(The Blackening) (2023) (T) 喜剧恐怖片。 1.35 《标志区域：救护车》(Sign Zone: Ambulance) (T) (R) 2.35 《进化》(Evolution) (T) (R)

10.0 新闻 (T) 天气 10.30 地方新闻(T) 天气 10.45 《坏男孩 2》(Bad Boys II) (2003) (T)

两名卧底警察试图阻止一名毒枭。犯罪惊悚片，由威尔·史密斯和马丁·劳伦斯主演。 1.25 电视购物 3.0 《峰会》(The Summit) (T) (R) 4.0 ITV放松时光 (T) 5.05 《交易或不交易：名人特辑》(Deal Or No Deal: Celebrity Special) (T) (R)

10.0 《不要和布兰登约会》(Don’t Date Brandon) (T)

新剧集。三集连播。

1.05 《犯罪现场清理员》(Crime Scene Cleaners) (T) (R) 1.55 《拉姆齐的厨房噩梦 美国版》(Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA) (T) (R) 2.40 《未宣战之战》(The Undeclared War) (T) (R) 4.30 《情侣请我吃饭》(Couples Come Dine With Me) (T) (R) 5.20 《克斯蒂和菲尔的爱它还是挂单：精彩建筑》(Kirstie and Phil’s Love It Or List It: Brilliant Builds) (T) (R) 5.45 《倒计时》(Countdown) (T) (R)

• 10.0 2026年英联邦运动会 (T) 第七日集锦。
• 11.05 《逃票者》(Fare Dodgers) (T) (R)
• 12.05 《街头警察》(Street Cops) (T) (R) 1.0 邮轮电视 (T) (R) 2.0 《店贼：你能抓到我吗》(Shoplifters: Catch Me If You Can) (T) (R) 2.50 《马耳他：地中海之珠》(Malta: The Jewel of the Med) (T) (R) 3.45 《老友记》(Friends) (T) (R) 4.35 《高地兽医》(The Highland Vet) (T) (R) 5.35 《米洛》(Milo) (T) (R) 5.45 《帕丁顿》(Paddington) (T) (R)

10.50 《柏林之葬》(Funeral in Berlin) (盖·汉密尔顿, 1966) (T) 一名间谍策划了一名俄罗斯官员的投奔。惊悚片，由迈克尔·凯恩主演。

12.30 Talking Pictures：七十年代传奇 第二部分 (T) (R) 1.30 成为弗里达·卡罗 (T) (R) 2.30 英国铁路之旅 (T) (R) 3.0 与斯特凡妮·麦戈文同行 (T) (R)

6.30 不劳而获 (T) (R)

• 7.15 竞拍室 (T) (R)

• 8.0 标志地带：园艺世界 (T) (R) 9.0 新闻 (T) 1.0 理查德·奥斯曼的游戏之家 (T) (R) 1.30 终点线 (T) (R) 2.15 闪电 (T) (R) 2.45 毛毛骑手烘焙之旅 (T) (R) 3.45 农民乡村对决

• (T) (R) 4.15 太空看地球

• (T) (R) 5.15 甩卖它！ (T) (R) 6.0 理查德·奥斯曼的游戏之家 (T) (R) 6.30 仅此一项 (T) (R) 7.0 逃往乡村 (T) (R)

6.0 英国早安 (T) 10.0 早上好 (T) 1.0 新闻与天气 (T) 1.20 地方新闻与天气 (T) 1.30 ITV 赛马：辉煌古德伍德 (T) 4.30 翻牌点：史上最强决赛 (T) (R) 5.0 追击 (T) (R) 6.0 地方新闻与天气

• (T) 6.30 新闻与天气
• (T) 7.30 汤姆·克里奇烹饪意大利 (T)

6.25 干杯 (T) (R) 7.45 每个人都爱雷蒙德 (T) (R) 9.10 弗雷泽 (T) (R) 11.10 拉姆齐美国厨房噩梦 (T) (R) 12.05 新闻 (T) 12.10 寻找、修理、甩卖 (T) (R) 1.10 豪宅大赠送 (T) (R) 2.10 倒计时 (T)

• 3.0 阳光下的地方 (T) (R)
• 4.0 惊险逃脱 (T) (R)
• 5.0 城堡 DIY (T) (R) 6.0 美国拾荒者 (T) (R) 7.0 新闻 (T)

6.0 Milkshake! 9.15 杰里米·维恩 (T) 11.30 斯多姆与亚历克西斯 (T) 12.45 新闻 (T) 12.50 马特·奥尔赖特 (T) 2.20 被盗婴儿：海蒂·布鲁萨德谋杀案 (Michelle Ouellet, 2023) (T) 4.0 城堡 (T) (R) 4.55 热爱自然 (T) (R) 5.0 新闻 (T) 6.0 马耳他：地中海之珠 (T) (R) 7.0 与乔西·吉布森乘坐头等舱环游世界 (T) (R)

7.0 英国铁路之旅 (T) (R) 迈克尔·波蒂略探索德比和诺丁汉。 7.30 与

斯特凡妮·麦戈文同行 (T) (R) 这位广播员在约克郡山谷度过了一天。

其他频道 广播

BBC Three

7.0pm 追击 7.05 致命 60 7.30 致命 60 8.0 顶极装备 9.0 加拿大叛徒 10.05 加拿大叛徒 10.50 加拿大叛徒

• 11.35 加拿大叛徒 12.20 加拿大变装皇后秀：加拿大对战世界 1.35 Smoggie Queens U&Dave

E4

Radio 3

辛普森一家 6.0

渔民的

克里斯托弗·李之死 11.10 锤子：英雄、传奇与怪物 1.05 国家剧院现场：战略上等博士 3.0 文森特笔下的梵高 4.0 花园艺术 5.0 电影

• Loose Ends (R) 9.45 疯牛 (R) 9.59 天气 10.0 今夜世界 10.45 野蛮黑暗之岸。夏洛特·麦康纳希 著。(9/10) 11.0 激进 11.30 佳作推荐 (R) 12.0 新闻与天气 12.30 本周之书 (R) 12.48 航运预报 1.0 世界服务 5.0 新闻
• 5.04 简报室 (R) 5.32 天气 5.34 航运预报 5.43 今日祷告 5.45 今日耕作 Radio 4 Extra

• 6.0am 拉夫尔斯 (4/6)

• 6.30 查尔斯·帕里斯：致命习惯 (3/4)

• 7.0 资本收益 (2/4)

• 7.30 伯基斯之路

变化 (4/6) 3.0 第一夫人侦探社 (3/4) 3.45 凤凰与地毯

戴珍珠耳环的女孩。

6.0am 摩登家庭 6.50 Rude(ish) Tube 短片 7.0 夫妻来我家吃饭 8.0 拉姆齐的厨房

朋友 (2019) 9.0 野兽 (2022)

• 动物控制 6.30
• 动物控制 7.0 The

6.30am 早餐 9.30 经典精选 1.0 古典现场。来自逍遥之夜 (Proms)，再次聆听西曼诺夫斯基的《圣母颂》，由瑞安·班克罗夫特指挥 BBC NOW 及合唱团、伦敦爱乐合唱团，女高音玛丽·埃里克莫恩，女中音保拉·穆里希，男高音詹姆斯·韦和男低音希蒙·梅赫林斯基演出。 4.0 本周作曲家：爱丽丝·玛丽·史密斯 (4/5)

• (4/4) 10.0 女性小时 11.0 儿童三个时代 (R) 11.45 本周之书：《表演性男性的忏悔》。达伦·麦加维 著。

• (4/5) 12.0 新闻 12.04 骗局秘密。消费者建议，由莎莉·瓦尔主持。(1/8) 12.32 切片面包。格雷格·富特调查空调。(5/8) 12.57 天气 1.0 一点钟的世界 1.45 死兔子。丹和露西会见被指控在店外丢弃动物尸体的人。(9/10)

• 10.50 最后的决斗 (2021) 1.50

发生 (2021)

PBS America

7. 6. 6 2 1

6.0am 电视购物 8.0 丰饶的美国 (America the Bountiful) 8.35 珠峰：西南壁 (Everest: The South West Face) 9.45 海盗：传奇背后的故事 (Pirates: Behind the Legends)

• 10.40 权力地图 (Maps of Power)

• 11.50 硫磺岛的最后登陆 (A Final Landing on Iwo Jima) 1.0 美国

• 丰饶的美国 (the Bountiful) 1.50 珠峰：西南壁 (Everest: The South West Face) 3.0 海盗：传奇背后的故事 (Pirates: Behind the Legends) 4.0 权力地图 (Maps of Power) 5.15 硫磺岛的最后登陆 (A Final Landing on Iwo Jima) 6.25 珠峰：西南壁 (Everest: The South West Face) 7.40 海盗：传奇背后的故事 (Pirates: Behind the Legends) 8.40 权力地图 (Maps of Power) 9.50 硫磺岛的最后登陆 (A Final Landing on Iwo Jima) 11.0 海盗：传奇背后的故事 (Pirates: Behind the Legends) 12.0 权力地图 (Maps of Power) 1.15 美国

• 丰饶的美国 (the Bountiful) 2.0 电视购物

Sky One

6.0am Ridge 和 Frost 的早晨 (Mornings With Ridge and Frost) 8.0 星之门 SG-1 (Stargate SG-1) 9.0 NCIS：洛杉矶 (NCIS: Los Angeles) 10.0 威尔与格蕾丝 (Will & Grace) 10.30 威尔与格蕾丝 (Will & Grace) 11.0 辛普森一家 (The Simpsons) 11.30

辛普森一家 (The Simpsons) 12.0 大猫之国 (Big Cat Country) 1.0 夏威夷五勇士 (Hawaii Five-0) 2.0 夏威夷五勇士 (Hawaii Five-0)

• 3.0 特种部队 (S.W.A.T) 4.0 特种部队 (S.W.A.T) 5.0 辛普森一家 (The Simpsons) 5.30

• 辛普森一家 (Simpsons) 7.30 辛普森

• 一家 (Simpsons) 8.0 Rob & Romesh 对决 UFC (Rob & Romesh vs UFC) 9.0 戴尔夫妇的房车公园 (The Dyers’ Caravan Park) 10.0 Katie Price：毫无保留 (Katie Price: Nothing to Hide) 11.10 别管那些大牛 (Never Mind the Buzzcocks) 12.10 动物管制 (Animal Control) 12.40 动物管制 (Animal Control) 1.10 格林 (Grimm) 2.0 格林斯堡 (Grimsburg) 2.30 格林斯堡 (Grimsburg) 3.0 夏威夷五勇士 (Hawaii Five-0) 4.0 特种部队 (S.W.A.T) 5.0 特种部队 (S.W.A.T) Sky Arts

• (4/5) 4.0 伟大人生 (Great Lives)

• 4.30 英国雷鬼革命 (The British Reggae Revolution) 5.0 拉斐尔 (Rafles)

(4/6) 5.30 夏尔·帕里斯：致命习惯 (Charles Paris: A Deadly Habit)

• (3/4) 6.0 资本收益 (Capital Gains)

• (2/4) 6.30 伯基斯之路 (The Burkiss Way) (1/15) 7.0 相信它！ (Believe It!) (3/4) 7.30 听起来像伦敦 (Sounds Like London) (4/5) 7.45 小岛 (Small Island) (4/15) 8.0 我们以前来过这里 (We’ve Been Here Before) (3/4) 8.30 变革 (The Change) (4/6) 9.0 第一女士侦探社 (The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency) (3/4) 9.45 凤凰与地毯 (The Phoenix and the Carpet)

(4/5) 10.0 POV (6/6)

• 10.30 1966 and All That (3/4) 10.55 喜剧俱乐部访谈 (The Comedy Club Interview)
• 11. 马克斯和伊万的案件簿 (The Casebook of Max and Ivan) (2/4)

• 11.30 小场景 (Small Scenes) (4/4) 12.0 伟大人生 (Great Lives)

• 12.30 英国雷鬼革命 (The British Reggae Revolution) 1.0 拉斐尔 (Rafles) (4/6) 1.30 夏尔·帕里斯：致命习惯 (Charles Paris: A Deadly Habit) (3/4) 2.0 资本收益 (Capital Gains) (2/4) 2.30 伯基斯之路 (The Burkiss Way) (1/15) 3.0 相信它！ (Believe It!)

• (3/4) 3.30 听起来像伦敦 (Sounds Like London) (4/5) 3.45 小岛 (Small Island) (4/15) 4.0 我们以前来过这里 (We’ve Been Here Before) (3/4)

• 4.30 变革 (The Change) (4/6)

• 5.0 第一女士侦探社 (The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency) (3/4)

• 5.45 凤凰与地毯 (The Phoenix and the Carpet) (4/5)

• 美国噩梦 (Nightmares USA) 9.0 拉姆齐的厨房噩梦 (Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA)

• 美国噩梦 (Nightmares USA) 10.0 美国最搞笑家庭视频 (America’s Funniest Home Videos) 11.0 下层甲板：大洋洲 (Below Deck Down Under) 12.0 辛普森一家 (The Simpsons) 2.0 布鲁克林

Sky Atlantic

6.0am 理查德·E·格兰特的酒店秘闻 (Richard E Grant’s Hotel Secrets) 8.0 亿万 (Billions)

• 九九警局 (Nine-Nine) 2.30 布鲁克林

• 九九警局 (Nine-Nine) 3.0 摩登家庭 (Modern Family) 5.0 辛普森一家 (The Simpsons) 5.30 辛普森一家 (The Simpsons) 6.0

• 辛普森一家 (The Simpsons) 6.30

• 辛普森一家 (The Simpsons) 7.0 辛普森

• 一家 (Simpsons) 7.30 辛普森

• 一家 (Simpsons) 8.0 下层甲板：大洋洲 (Below Deck Down Under) 9.0 航行天堂：上下甲板 (Cruising Paradise: Above and Below Deck)

• 10.0 电视观察 (Gogglebox) 11.0 电视观察 (Gogglebox) 12.05 第一次约会 (First Dates) 1.05 航行天堂：上下甲板 (Cruising Paradise: Above and Below Deck) 2.05 下层甲板：大洋洲 (Below Deck Down Under) 2.55 阿博特小学 (Abbott Elementary) 3.20 戈德堡一家 (The Goldbergs) 3.45 戈德堡一家 (The Goldbergs) 4.10 布鲁克林

九九警局 (Nine-Nine) 4.30 布鲁克林九九警局 (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) 4.55 拉姆齐的厨房噩梦美国篇 (Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA)

Film4

• 11.0am 沿莫霍克河前进 (Drums Along the Mohawk)

• 9.05 亿万 (Billions) 10.05 白莲花度假村 (The White Lotus) 11.25 任务 (Task) 12.35 杀手：街头生活 (Homicide: Life on the Street) 1.30 杀手：街头生活 (Homicide: Life on the Street) 2.25 亿万 (Billions) 3.30 亿万 (Billions) 4.30 任务 (Task) 5.40 任务 (Task) 6.45 镀金时代 (The Gilded Age) 7.55 真探：夜之国 (True Detective: Night Country) 9.0 五星周末 (The Five-Star Weekend) 9.55 五星周末 (The Five-Star Weekend)

• 10.40 全是她的错 (All Her Fault)

• 11.45 任务 (Task) 1.0 任务 (Task) 2.05 任务 (Task) 3.10 亿万 (Billions)

• 6.0am 电视购物

• 7.30 Top Gear 8.20 边境执法局：美国篇 (Border Force: America’s)

• 6.0am 太阳马戏团：沃尔塔 (Cirque Du Soleil: Volta) 8.10 绘画之乐 (The Joy of Painting) 8.40 绘画之乐 (The Joy of Painting) 9.10 意想不到的故事 (Tales of the Unexpected) 9.35 意想不到的故事 (Tales of the Unexpected) 10.0 阿尔弗雷德·希区柯克呈现 (Alfred Hitchcock Presents) 10.30 阿尔弗雷德·希区柯克呈现 (Alfred Hitchcock Presents) 11.0 发现：雪莉·麦克琳 (Discovering: Shirley MacLaine) 12.0 电影 (The Movies) 1.0 意想不到的故事 (Tales of the Unexpected) 1.30 意想不到的故事 (Tales of the Unexpected) 2.0 阿尔弗雷德·希区柯克时间 (The Alfred Hitchcock Hour) 3.0 七十年代 (The Seventies) 4.0 发现：查尔斯·布朗森 (Discovering: Charles Bronson) 5.0 年度肖像画家 2021 6.0 意想不到的故事 (Tales of the Unexpected) 6.30 意想不到的故事 (Tales of the Unexpected)

• 7.0 阿尔弗雷德·希区柯克呈现 (Alfred Hitchcock Presents) 7.30 阿尔弗雷德·希区柯克呈现 (Alfred Hitchcock Presents)
• 8.0 发现：加里·奥德曼 (Discovering: Gary Oldman) 9.0 生活与 (The Life and)

What’s behind this summer’s plagues of flies? BUZZ OFF!  Life & Arts	England’s glory60 years ago today and a world away  Sport
	Thursday 30 July 202 From £2.4 for subscribers £3.50
Cottrell transferred $2m to mother days before her Reform donations Exclusive Anna Isaac The convicted fraudster George Cottrell transferred a total of more than $2m to his mother, Fiona Cottrell, in the days before her 2024 donations to Reform UK, the Guardian understands. Financial industry sources told the Guardian that Fiona Cottrell received one deposit of $1.4m (£1m) and two tranches of more than $300,000 each – money she attributed to having come from her son, George, when bankers asked about the deposits. On each occasion, the Guardian understands transfers were made 24-72 hours before Fiona made a donation either directly to Reform, or via Britain Means Business, a fundraising vehicle for the political party. According to sources, the lump sums went through US-based cryptocurrency exchanges before entering Fiona Cottrell’s account. These platforms allow crypto assets to be changed for hard currenc y, such as US dollars or sterling. Some were routed to her via money exchange services. The Metropolitan police are investigating the funding of Reform UK, with a focus on scrutinising whether there were attempts to disguise the ultimate source of donations. The disclosures will add to questions facing Reform and its leader, Nigel Farage, whose inances have been under the spotlight since the Guardian revealed he received a £5m gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. Fiona Cottrell was one of the most important donors to the party in 2024, making secret and public donations. She gave two lots of £250,000 in May 2024, which were disclosed transparently to the Electoral Commission. It can be revealed that these were preceded by transfers of $318,878 and $328,815 from her son. As irst revealed by the Guardian , she also gave more than £1m to Britain Means Business, a company controlled by the party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, in June 2024. That transfer was not declared oicially at the time, and 4 
••• Drought declared in half of England Pippa Neill Half of England is oicially in drought, with July set to be the driest on record after winter loods, the Environment Agency has said. The “lash drought” developed quickly because of unusually low rainfall and high temperatures. The seven areas in drought are East Anglia, Hertfordshire and the whole of London, Thames Valley, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight , Devon and Cornwall, the West Midlands, and Wessex (covering Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire and south Gloucestershire). Helen Wakeham, the director of water at the Environment Agency and chair of the National Drought Group , said: “The hot and dry weather means we are currently using water faster than nature can replenish it. “A second consecutive summer drought is an exceptionally serious situation and one that will have long-lasting impacts on our environment, wildlife 2  ▲ The scorched grass near All Saints’ church in Blackheath, London, is typical of much of southern England		Burnham puts Trident at heart of UK renewal Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor Andy Burnham will place the renewal of Trident at the heart of his vision of a re industrialised Britain today when he travels to Barrow-in-Furness to announce the next phase of the nuclear submarine replacement programme. The new prime minister intends to emphasise that defence spending on projects such as the £31bn Dreadnought -class vessels built in the Cumbrian town is a case study of taxpayer investment revitalising communities around the UK. “Keeping this country safe is the irst responsibility of any government – but security is not only about what we build, it is about who builds it, and who benei ts from it,” Burnham said before his visit . A new phase of contracts worth £8.4bn, part of the already agreed Dreadnought programme, will help support 18,000 extra jobs in nuclear defence by 2030 and 22,000 additional apprentices by 2035, Downing Street said. “To every young person across the country, I want 11 

PHOTOGRAPH: JUSTIN TALLIS/GETT

Inside30/07/26 Four sections every day	News and the economy. We want everyone to stay safe and hydrated during the hot weather but every drop we can save is a drop more for nature and agriculture.” The announcement yesterday means England has experienced drought in three of the past ive years : 2022, 2025 and 2026. In July only 7% of the expected rainfall came, falling to 1% across southern England, with no substantial rainfall on the way. Some parts of Devon have not had rain for 50 consecutive days. The Environment Agency said record winter rainfall had helped to replenish reservoirs and groundwater, but reservoir storage ha d now fallen to 7.4% below the average Priya Bharadia A Norwegian teenager has been found guilty of travelling to England to carry out a killing ordered by a crime gang linked to Iran. Johannes Kongsnes Natland , 19, from Stavanger, Norway, agreed to shoot an unknown person for €25,000 (£21,500) in March last year. Two days after he arrived in the UK, armed police arrested him in a hotel room in Huddersield, West Yorkshire, seizing two guns and ammunition. After deliberating for 17 hours and six minutes, a jury at the Old Bailey found him guilty of conspiracy to murder following a retrial. Natland did not visibly react to the verdict. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb remanded him into custody to be sentenced in October. Natland, who worked part-time in a pizza restaurant, was recruited by the Foxtrot Network, a Swedish organised crime group with links to the Iranian government. He told jurors he had agreed at irst to the murder plot in exchange for money to pay for drugs, thinking it was just a “joke” or “scam”. On realising he was in a “pickle” with the gang, he planned to “shoot himself in the foot” to avoid carrying out the assassination, he said. Natland’s potential victim has not been publicly identiied. The Metropolitan police said its counterterrorism oicers had “uncovered a signiicant amount of evidence … that Natland was fully aware he was being asked to kill someone in the UK”. “I’m going on crazy mission,” Natland had texted his girlfriend. “It will be a bit cool to kill someone. If I don’t get caught we have to celebrate.” When armed police banged on his hotel room door, Natland emerged smiling, wearing only boxer shorts, and mimed shooting one of the oicers with his empty hands. Oicers then found a plastic bag under his hotel bed containing a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver and 19 rounds of ammunition. At Natland’s trial, one of his friends recalled a conversation where the defendant bragged he was “going to get a lot of money and somebody is going to die”. Natland told jurors these statements were “bravado” and he was secretly “terriied”. “I wasn’t an international assassin,” he said. “I thought people had this impression and expected me to be this guy. I knew I wasn’t.” But jurors heard Natland lied after his arrest and had tried to persuade his girlfriend not to give evidence in phone calls made from prison. Prosecuting, Alistair Richardson said: “The reality is the defendant is a troubled but dangerous young man. A young man who agreed to kill in a foreign country for money.” The court heard that Natland began taking drugs aged 13 and spent time in a care home, where he irst met a teenage member of the Foxtrot Network and was passed on to a recruiter known as “Generalen”. On 17 March 2025, Natland took a light from Stavanger to Manchester on a temporary passport. He was stopped by Border Force oicials , who bailed him to catch the next direct light home. Instead, he took a taxi to Huddersield, where he picked up £2,000 in cash, two guns and bullets, and a stolen car with fake number plates. He was arrested the following day . Natland was controlled by an English-speaking boss called “Agent 47” – an apparent reference to the Hitman video game – whose identity and whereabouts remain unknown. Despite several high-ranking arrests in recent years, the Foxtrot Network is still the dominant gang in Sweden, thought to be responsible for the majority of gang violence in the country including mass shootings and murders . Its leader, Rawa Majid , known as the Kurdish Fox, is believed to be based in Iran . for this time of year. Almost half of all reservoirs are classed as below normal levels, with Wimbleball , operated by South West Water, and Blagdon , operated by Bristol Water, both “exceptionally low”. The Environment Agency said water reserves “should be enough for the coming months until the next period of sustained rainfall ”. However, Will Lang, the Met Oice’s chief meteorologist , said there was “little sign of the widespread, sustained rainfall that would be needed to make a signiicant difference to the areas most afected by the dry weather”. In England, 40% of the population are under a hosepipe ban, with seven water companies – Ainity Water, Anglian Water, Cambridge Water, Southern Water, South East Water, for this time of year. The low river lows mean migratory i sh, such as Atlantic salmon, are unable to move upstream. At Tuckers Pond in Faringdon , Oxfordshire, the Environment Agency used chemical aeration to save ish from dying as algae that had lourished in the hot and dry weather caused a crash in oxygen levels. As well as a lack of rain, the UK is experiencing its fourth heatwave of the summer. Temperatures were forecast to peak yesterday, with 35C in places. Also yesterday, a new England and UK June daily temperature record of 38 C was veriied by the Met Oice’s site assessment team – higher than the previously reported 37.7 C. The Environment Agency also pointed out that water was evaporating from soils and vegetation. Recent analysis found the recordbreaking heatwaves were evaporating water from rivers and lakes – as well as soils and plants. This has been made 80 times more likely by global heating as a result of fossil fuel pollution in western Europe and 40 times more likely in eastern Europe. This evaporation makes wildires more likely. A total of 110 wildires have been burning at England’s most protected sites so far this year. Meanwhile France and Spain are battling “apocalyptic” wildires , with almost 4,000 people evacuated from tourist sites near Bordeaux. Waters surrounding the UK are also experiencing marine heatwave conditions. Scientists previously warned that high ocean temperatures globally could result in “mass mortality events” for some species. By 2055, England will need an additional 5bn litres of water a day to meet demand for public water supply. The NFU said there were simple steps the government could take to store more water, including unlocking the investment and planning changes needed to build more reservoirs – none of which have been completed in England since 1992. European wildires Page 16 Drought declared in half of England as summer of heatwaves continues Norwegian, 19, convicted of visiting UK to kill for money Continuedfrom page 1 ◀ The ields of Southampton Common o er a visible representation of what the Environment Agency said was an exceptionally serious situation PHOTOGRAPH: OLLIE THOMPSON/ SOLENT NE S ▲ Natland said that he had got into a ‘pickle’ with the criminal gang Thames Water and South West Water – all restricting water use. Recent research by Greenpeace UK found that water companies were wasting ive times more water through leaky pipes than even a nationwide hosepipe ban could save. Paul Tompkins , the deputy president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), said this drought announcement “should matter to everyone”, adding: “Water is a vital ingredient in food production, and without a secure supply, we cannot build resilient farm businesses or strengthen the country’s food security. ” The lack of rain also means rivers are running dangerously low. In England, 78% of rivers are now classiied as below normal or lower and 17% of rivers are “exceptionally low”
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News

▼ Harlow Carr in North Yorkshire, where the RHS plans to send more of its plants, including hydrangeas

PHOTOGRAPHS: DANNY LAWSON/PA; ALA Y

Heatwave putting hydrangeas at risk in south of England, warns RHS charity

have at Wisley. However, in light shade, north facing slopes or where the soil is a bit moister, they remain a fantastic plant for summer lowers, especially the more resilientHydrangea paniculata.”

At its Manchester garden in Bridgewater , the RHS has conducted a study into how hydrangeas are faring in the UK amid climate breakdown. During this 2021- 25 trial, the shrubs faced challenging weather conditions including drought and record heat in 2022, heavy rain in 2024 and more hot weather in 2025. This damaged the plants and afected their performance and how well they bloomed.

Hydrangeas rose from seventh to irst place between 2023 and 2025 and remain the most frequently reported plant suf ering from drought and high temperatures in 2026. The RHS has

Helena Horton

The charity plans to send more

plants north as they suf er in Surrey, where they used to thrive. This includes its prize collection of rhododendrons , which will go to Harlow Carr in North Yorkshire , and Wisley’s national collections of rhubarb and gooseberries, which will be taken to the Bridgewater garden in Salford.

With their lush foliage and blooms which turn pink, purple or blue depending on the soil, hydrangeas are a irm favourite in Britain.

more than 600,000 members, meaning garden trends and worries are easily spotted among queries sent in.

The shrubs bloom in summer and have historically thrived in the mild, damp British climate. But hotter summers and heatwaves such as the one hitting parts of England this week are putting the lower at risk in the south of the country, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has warned.

The gardening charity is considering moving its hydrangea collection from its garden in Wisley, Surrey , to its northern gardens in Greater Manchester and North Yorkshire, where conditions are expected to remain more favourable and less hot and dry.

Some plants are lourishing, with fig and almond trees doing well in RHS gardens. Banana and lotus have also lowered at Harlow Carr ,

something not thought to have been possible 10 years ago.

Guy Barter , RHS chief horticulturist , said: “Hot dry summers are not the best for hydrangeas, although it is mainly the Hydrangea macrophyllatypes ( mophead and lacecaps ) that suf er most, especially in sunnier sites and sandy soils such as we

RHS gardening advice service data show queries about drought and heat damage afecting hydrangeas have more than tripled since 2023, making them the most frequently reported plant for hot weather problems.

Tim Upson , RHS director of gardens, said: “ We’ve seen irst-hand at our gardens that hydrangeas growing in shadier positions cope far better during prolonged hot dry weather than those exposed to full sun .”

Saunas in hot weather? They could help you to cope, say scientists

Community Sauna Baths, said

Dr Jessica Mee , a senior lecturer in physiology the University of Worcester, said regular heat exposure also changed how hot people felt and how they behaved. “People who are accustomed to heat pace themselves more sensibly, hydrate more consistently and recognise their own warning signs earlier,” she added.

ability to increase sweating and skin blood low.”

conditions,” he said. “The beneits are more likely related to long-term adaptation through regular heat exposure rather than using a sauna as an acute treatment during very hot weather.”

bookings had fallen initially as temperatures rose. “But now we’re seeing bookings come back,” she said, adding that all of the sites were outdoors with saunas and cold plunges .

There are also safety concerns around saunas and hot baths for

people with an acute illness or fever, unstable angina, a recent heart attack, or uncontrolled low blood pressure, with Laukkanen noting they should avoid such exposure until medically assessed or treated.

Prof Jari Laukkanen , a cardiologist at the University of Eastern Finland who has carried out research into the health benei ts of saunas , said

Mee said: “Heat acclimation is a preparation strategy for the mild months, not a coping strategy for the hottest day of the year .”

However, heat acclimation

repeated exposure to heat could help the body gradually become better at coping with high temperatures.

may not benei t everyone equally. Dr Heather Massey , an associate professor in extreme environments

He added that heat adaptation wa s not the same as heat protection. “There is currently limited evidence that going to a sauna during a heatwave itself protects people from heat-related illness or other

She added that one issue on a hot day wa s that there wa s no meaningful recovery after using a sauna or hot bath.

“This is well established in sports physiology, where athletes deliberately use repeated heat exposure to improve heat tolerance before competing in hot environments,” he said. “Indeed, quite similar physiological adaptations may also occur with passive heat exposure such as sauna bathing and hot water immersion.”

and physiology at the University of Portsmouth, said: “The adaptations rely heavily on the body’s

“You are stacking one thermal challenge on top of another on a body that in all likelihood is already dealing with several consecutive nights of poor sleep, some degree of dehy dration and cumulative cardio vascular strain,” she said. “That is precisely the proile in which heatrelated illness develops.”

◀ Research into the health beneits of saunas found that repeated exposure to heat could gradually help the body become better at coping with high temperatures

Nicola Davis

Science correspondent

Even as summer temperatures soar, the sauna trend is booming , with some venues touting them as a way to beat the heat . But while experts have urged caution about sweating it out in hot weather, a growing number of studies are considering whether heat training could help people prepare for heatwaves.

Laukkanen said heat adaptations included earlier and more eicient sweating, improved skin blood low, expansion of plasma volume and reduced cardiovascular strain during subsequent heat exposure.

Laukkanen said he would encourage people to follow public health advice during a heatwave. “Regular heat exposure is not a substitute for staying hydrated, avoiding strenuous activity during the hottest part of the day, and looking after vulnerable people,” he said. “Those remain the most important measures.”

“In other words, regular heat

PHOTOGRAPH: RICHARD BALL/GETTY

exposure may help the body regulate temperature more efficiently,” he added.

Nicola Pegues , the head of operations at the London not-for-proit

4 News

George Cottrell, left, with Nigel Farage in 2019, is alleged to have transferred $2m to his mother shortly before she made a donation to Reform UK

PHOTOGRAPH: MARK KERRISON/ALAM

▲ Glenn Gibbins had been reinstated by Reform UK

Cottrell transferred $2m to his mother days before her Reform donations

he said via lawyers that “any political

Social media Gibbins charged over post

donations his mother has made have been entirely her own decision, and are a matter for her”.

Fiona Cottrell has not responded to several attempts by the Guardian to contact her . George Cottrell lives in Montenegro and has said he is resident there for tax purposes. He has

A Reform UK councillor has been charged with posting a grossly ofensive message on social media after allegedly making a racist comment about Nigerians.

been called Farage’s chief of staf by Reform insiders, even though the party says he is only a volunteer.

Glenn Gibbins , 66, of Sunderland city council, has been charged

with the of ence under the

His lawyers have said he is a permissible donor, despite living abroad, but have not explained how he meets the criteria . The only declared

Communications Act 2003 , Northumbria police said.

The force said the charge was in relation to a post from 2024 which referenced the Nigerian community. It was alerted to the post in May and launched an investigation . Gibbins is due to appear before South Tyneside

Fiona Cottrell gave a total of £1.5m that year. These amounts are roughly equivalent , based on exchange rate data from May and June 2024.

Continuedfrom page 1

donation George Cottrell made to Reform in 2024 was £15,000 to partfund Farage’s trip to Florida that December , where he met Elon Musk.

was routed via the bank account of Oneify, an Australian money exchange service. Half that sum was

Two Reform UK sources who were involved in party fundraising before the 2024 vote told the Guardian that George had assured senior party igures that some money would be on its way into the party’s cofers in the

transferred directly to the party days later by Tice, with no declaration it originated from Fiona Cottrell.

It comes as pressure mounts on Reform’s leadership to explain the lack of transparency, and apparent overlap, between personal funders and political backers.

magistrates court on 21 August.

A Northumbria police spokesperson said there has been “signiicant interest” in the case and urged people “not to speculate both online and in the community in relation to this case ”.

It can now be revealed that sources have told the Guardian that

• $1,400,000 was deposited into Fiona Cottrell’s account by her son before she gave the £1,075,000 to Britain

Means Business on 10 June 2024, just weeks before the general election.

In total, George Cottrell deposited

• $2,047,693 into his mother’s account, the Guardian has been told. Taking into account her 2024 donations to Britain Means Business and Reform ,

run-up to the vote. “He was acting as a sort of shadow treasurer, saying he would ind a way to get more money in,” one of the sources said.

The Guardian revealed in recent weeks that Tice had received an undisclosed loan of £80,000 from George Cottrell, who has also donated to Reform UK.

The Labour party chair, Bridget Phillipson , called on Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, to explain why Gibbins was reinstated after an internal disciplinary process.

Asked about the transfers, lawyers for George Cottrell said their client had no further comment.

In April, this newspaper also revealed that Farage received an undisclosed gift of £5m from the party’s most important donor, Harborne.

In previous legal correspondence, George has not denied giving his mother large sums of money. Instead,

Several of these transactions

Josh Halliday and Ben Quinn

caused bankers to raise potential money-laundering concerns with the UK’s National Crime Agency, via suspicious activity reports (SARs), according to financial industry sources. After the Clacton byelection, Farage faces investigations by the parliamentary standards commissioner into whether he should have declared the £5m and also over beneits in kind given by George Cottrell.

In an interview with the Telegraph last week, Farage appeared for the irst time to acknowledge that he should have declared the £5m on the register of MPs’ interests: “All right, perhaps I should have illed in a piece of paper. If that’s the worst thing I’ve done in life – not i lling in a form – I would say that’s not too bad.”

Tice has failed to engage with questions about his loan from George Cottrell and decision to transfer £500,000 to Reform UK from Britain Means Business despite bankers raising concerns with him about the origin of the funds. He has accused the Metropolitan police of being involved in a smear campaign against him and brieing the media. He posted on X: “The Establishment are playing dirtier than ever to try to smear & discredit Reform leaders.”

The Met investigation into Fiona Cottrell’s four donations in 2024 has been continuing for more than a year.

The Met issued this statement in recent weeks: “An investigation was launched in February 2025 after a referral was made to the Metropolitan police by the Electoral Commission

relating to donations made to a political party ahead of the 2024 UK general election. Detectives from the Met’s special inquiry team are investigating alleged ofences under section 61 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.

“Early investigative advice has been sought from the Crown Prosecution Service and two people have so far been interviewed under

caution. No arrests have been made.

“An ofence under this section is not one that the Electoral Commission can investigate and, as such, it is a matter for the police.”

Asked whether Reform had been assured that George Cottrell would ind a way to provide funds, and was regarded as a shadow treasurer, a spokesperson said: “We deny this completely. Reform takes pride in its stringent vetting of donations and always ensures that the Electoral Commission guidelines on donations, as set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, are strictly followed, as has been the case with all donations.”

Hackers steal personal details from DfE and police databases

police forces, was also breached, with the hackers claiming to have taken 135,000 pieces of data. The PNLD said the stolen details related to “police oicers and those working in criminal justice including their name, the force or organisation they work for and their work email address ”.

A previously unknown hacking gang calling itself ExilSquad has claimed credit and posted samples of the data on line, a typical gambit for cyber criminals seeking a ransom .

The government said it was working closely with the National Cyber Security Centre and the National Crime Agency on the DfE hack. The DfE and the PNLD have both reported the incident to the Information Commissioner’s Oice.

The hackers are demanding a payment from the DfE and PNLD in exchange for not posting all the data, according to a message seen by the Guardian. It indicates that the full tranche of data will be uploaded publicly if the DfE, PNLD and other hacking victims do not make an unspeciied payment.

According to a website set up by the hackers, more than 600,000 lines of data ha ve been stolen from the

Dan Milmo Vikram Dodd

A DfE spokesperson said “swift action” had been taken to contain the incident . “The information involved is limited to customer service contact details relating to individuals and organisations,” they said. “No other data has been accessed .”

It said the database does not hold coni dential victim, witness or ofender information , but added that the names and addresses of some members of the public who ha d used its “Ask the Police ” service

DfE’s customer help portal , including full names and contact details for staf and parents. A smaller package of similar data has also been taken from the department’s Turing portal, which manages a scheme for students studying abroad.

A cyber-attack has targeted the Department for Education and a police database , exposing more than 740,000 pieces of data.

Details of government oicials,

were among the data taken.

“The payment we request of you is simply a rounding error compared to the litigation costs of your data leaking. Be smart and just pay,” it read .

It is understood the customer help

school leaders, university staf, police oicers and members of the public

While embarrassing, the breach of the police legal database is not thought to be serious.

portal data includes disparate sets of data that cannot be connected to each other easily.

The Police National Legal Database , which provides legal assistance to UK

have all been compromised.

Thursday 30 July 2026The Guardian • ‘Argentina of cricket’ 5 Saltburn residents on the cheating scandal Page 7

Glen Hansard

Tributes after Irish singer dies aged 56 Page 19

Growth rate of population in England and Wales lowest since pandemic

Staff at V&A East Storehouse vote to strike in toilet break row

rise for staf earning above the living wage, time-and-a-half for bank holiday working, accreditation as a London living wage employer within 12 months, and improved food provision at V&A East sites.

Across the V&A, 83% voted for strike action on an 82% turnout, and 95% voted for action short of a strike. The timing of any industrial action has yet to be decided.

The union is calling for two paid breaks a day, saying staf need time to use the toilet and hydrate during what it describes as a punishing schedule. It said a collective grievance had failed to secure an “extremely reasonable request for customary paid breaks”, which workers elsewhere in the organisation receive.

“We’ve experienced a lot of dehydration, and sometimes people don’t even go to the bathroom for the whole day.”

Nadia Khomami

Mike Clancy, Prospect’s general secretary, said: “This incredible new way of showing of our heritage is being delivered by workers who are denied adequate break time to use the toilet or have a drink of water.

Arts and culture correspondent

Staf at the V&A’s newest site in east London have voted overwhelmingly to strike in a dispute over what they say are inadequate toilet and hydration breaks.

Another Prospect member said: “Every day we go into work there’s someone who has a headache because they’re dehydrated. Management says we always have time to take breaks and drink water. But we need someone to relieve us because we can’t leave trolleys of collection objects unattended …

PA Media

“Visitors will be appalled to learn that the kinds of working practices unions campaign against in companies like Amazon also exist in an internationally renowned heritage institution.” He said the dispute relected “a shocking lack of respect” for staf across the museum.

Population growth in England and Wales has slowed to its lowest rate since the Covid-19 pandemic, gures show.

They will join staf across V&A sites in London who voted yesterday to strike in a wider dispute over pay, working conditions and the museum having declined to seek living wage accreditation .

Prospect said many of the staf had been recruited from the local community, which the V&A had highlighted publicly, but they were treated worse than colleagues at other sites.

The slowdown is largely due to a fall in net migration to the UK, which has dropped sharply since hitting record levels in 2023. There has also been a slight fall in natural change – the diference between the number of births and deaths.

“We are the newest department at the V&A. We are the most diverse back-of-house department. It’s not lost on us that we were hired to represent the east London community, but our welfare is being neglected.”

One Prospect member said: “We get just one unpaid lunch hour, even though we’re on our feet for long hours, interacting with the public and doing a lot of manual labour .

The trade union Prospect said members at V&A East Storehouse , which opened in May 2025 , were denied enough time during the day for toilet breaks or hydration.

The V&A was approached for comment. Responding previously to a separate strike ballot by the Public and Commercial Services Union , it said all staf had access to water, toilet facilities and regular breaks, and pointed to additional measures during this summer’s heatwaves, such as extra rest breaks and staf rotations .

“Breaks are a welfare issue. The Storehouse is purpose-built for storing objects, but they haven’t really thought about the human aspect – how far we have to travel around the building or where the bathrooms are.

At V&A East Storehouse, 100% of those voting backed strike action on a turnout of nearly 88%, while 92% supported action short of a strike.

About one in four local areas experienced a fall in their population in the year to the middle of 2025, according to estimates published by the Oice for National Statistics (ONS).

The dispute centres on collections access oicers who facilitate the “order an object” service, a central part of the site’s ofering of public access to the V&A’s vast collection.

As part of the wider dispute, Prospect is seeking a minimum 4% pay

The population in Wales dropped for the rst time in a decade, and the total for London fell slightly as a result of more people moving out of the capital to live elsewhere.

The overall population of England and Wales was an estimated 62 million in mid-2025, up 224,900 (0.4%)

from 61.8 million in mid-2024, the ONS said.

This is the lowest rate of increase since mid-2020 and follows a run of much steeper jumps, including 1.4% in 2023 and 1.0% in 2024.

Net international migration to England and Wales, the diference between the number of people immigrating from outside the UK and those moving abroad, was 211,700 in the year to mid-2025, down from 612,500 in the previous 12 months.

There were 588,000 births and 568,400 deaths, meaning natural change contributed an increase to the population of just 19,600. The number of births was the lowest since mid-1978, while deaths were their lowest since mid-2019.

About 709 people in England and Wales were estimated to be aged 105 or over last year, up by 34% from 529 the previous year.

The jump was a result of the large generation born after the rst world war starting to reach this age , the ONS said. The rst world war ended in 1918 and was followed by a spike in births in 1919 and 1920.

Of the 709 people aged at least 105 in mid-2025, 629 were women and 80 were men.

Nigel Henretty, head of population statistics at the ONS, said: “Migration has been the main driver of population change in England and Wales for the past quarter of a century.

He’s behind you Norah Lopez Holden as the Princess and flamenco artist Pablo Egea perform

PHOTOGRAPH: TRISTRAM KENTON/ THE GUARDIAN

“While that has continued to be the case, the recent fall in migration has led to the smallest population growth since the height of the pandemic. ”

in a flamenco-inspired production of Love’s Labour’s Lost at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre in London. The director, Indiana Lown-Collins , is half Spanish and says she ‘just knew it would sound incredible’ to perform flamenco on the Globe’s oak stage.

••• The Guardian Thursday 30 July 2026

National

Body in suitcase found in Athens is that of British woman aged 38

Jared Leto faces four allegations of criminal sexual conduct

Helena Smith

Athens

A body found in a suitcase in an abandoned building in central Athens has been identii ed as that of a 38-yearold British woman .

A new BBC documentary features a total of 10 women who allege Leto, 54, behaved in a sexually inappropriate way towards them

Nadia Khomami

Arts and culture correspondent

Eleven days after the ind, sources shed some light on the mystery yesterday after the police appeal ed to foreign law enforcement agencies.

The actor and singer Jared Leto has been accused in a BBC documentary of criminal sexual conduct by four women , with the alleged ofences taking place when the women were teenagers.

“The remains, we can conirm, have been identiied as belonging to a British woman,” one well-placed source said . “Her next of kin have been informed,” they said, adding it had been ascertained the victim was born in Scotland in 1988.

The incidents are alleged to have taken place between 2002 and 2016 , when Leto was in his 30s and 40s. He is now 54.

PHOTOGRAPH: TAYLOR HILL/WIREI AGE

Late yesterday, Greek media named the victim as Elizabeth Jane Ross. Several outlets carried pictures of Ross smiling into the camera.

One of the women alleges the Oscar winner assaulted her in a motel bathroom when she was 17. Another alleges that he threatened her with sexual assault when she was 19 and had been unexpectedly left alone with him in a hotel room.

Ross had reportedly flown to

Greece from the U S, arriving on 29 June via Cyprus. She had been staying with friends in Athens, who reported seeing her for the last time on 15 July, about the time forensic

A third alleges she had sex with Leto in California when she was 17, which would be classiied as statutory rape. She claims the actor “shrugged of” a conversation about the age of consent being 18 in the state.

scientists believe she was killed. The Greek public broadcaster ERT

reported that a homeless man discovered the suitcase on 18 July in a derelict building in Kypseli , a n area of downtown Athens popular with foreign nationals .

A fourth woman alleges that Leto made repeated sexually explicit phone calls to her when she was 16, and on at least one occasion suggested they should have sex. She was subsequently sent a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to prevent her from talking about her relationship with Leto, which the BBC said it had seen. The woman refused to sign the NDA.

the actor and musician behaved in a sexually inappropriate way towards them, with nine of them sharing their

uncomfortable about his conduct. They allege he would sometimes invite teenage girls backstage to his dressing room or to the house where he was recording.

tracks such as The Kill , Kings and Queens and This Is War . They are to perform in London and Manchester next year as part of a European tour.

stories publicly for the irst time, the BBC said. The broadcaster added it ha d corroborated “a number of the women’s accounts with friends and family who were told about the encounters with Leto at the time ”.

Konstantina Dimoglidou, a police spokesperson, previously said CCTV was being studied in an attempt to trace the woman’s movements before her death. She told the broadcaster

Last year, the American DJ Allie Teilz alleged Leto had assaulted her when she was 17. In a separate report in the digital newsletter Air Mail , nine women accused Leto of engaging in inappropriate behaviour . He denied the allegations.

Leto has been a prominent actor since the 1990s, with Fight Club , The Thin Red Line and Girl, Interrupted among his early major ilm s.

Skai TV the incident was being treated “as a criminal act, given how the body was found” .

In some cases, it said it had also seen pictures and messages that “support the women’s accounts ”.

He won an Oscar for his role in

Despite repeated attempts to contact him, the BBC said Leto ha d not responded to the allegations .

Dallas Buyers Club and has also appeared in hit ilms such as Suicide Squad , Blade Runner 2049 and, most recently, Masters of the Universe .

Local media, citing the results of a post mortem, said the victim had been dead for eight days before the discovery , and there was “no evidence” of a struggle or signs of injury.

Rape Crisis ofers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland , or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland

The documentary also features two accounts from individuals who worked with Leto’s band , Thirty Seconds to Mars, who say staf felt

Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret was released yesterday. It

Thirty Seconds to Mars were formed in 1998 and are known for

features a total of 10 women alleging

National

‘Not gentleman-like’ North Yorkshire seaside calm bowled a googly by mystery of click on willow

Mark Brown

North of England correspondent

t the Saltburn over60s ukulele club there was an obvious reaction to news that the town’s cricket club was being compared

A

to Argentina’s football team: laughter. Then a spirited rendition of I Love to Boogie.

On the seafront, a litter-picking volunteer was looking forward to

quiz night just to get the gossip. But she had her own view. “All I would say is it’s just not cricket, is it?”

Bill Peters, a retired steel worker on a day out from Middlesbrough with his wife Janet, relected on what would have happened in St Lucia where he played cricket growing up. “There would have been a big i ght,” he said slowly and purposefully.

Saltburn-by-the- Sea is a lovely Victorian seaside town in northeast England whose usual claim to fame is the clif lift, the oldest water-balanced funicular still in operation in Great Britain – though it is currently out of operation.

North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League.

This week the town has become

When the Guardian visited the cricket club no one wanted to talk. Tennis players arriving for games on the adjacent courts just burst out laughing.

the centre of a cheating story that has made headlines all over the world.

It began after a video was posted online of Saturday’s game between

In town, Pete Welsh, part of the litter-picking posse, was struggling to get his head round it. “It must have been a very loud click,” said the retired teacher. “If he was doing it and cricket is a gentleman’s game, it wasn’t very gentleman-like. I reckon if the lad has anything about him he will come forward and say yes, it was me.”

Saltburn second XI and Norton second XI . The video appeared to show a i elder clicking his ingers as the batter swings for the ball. The ielder has been accused of trying to trick the umpire into thinking the ball clipped the edge of the bat before being caught.

The bemused batter can be seen protesting to the umpire as Saltburn players celebrate.

Just how someone managed to click his i ngers so loud that the umpire heard it is baling a lot of people. The commentator Jonathan Agnew, told BBC Breakfast : “I can’t wrap my head round it. Can I hear someone click his i ngers from 30 yards away? That umpire … must have incredible hearing.

It has been called “ clickgate” and the i elder nicknamed “Clicky Ponting”, though his name is Brian. Ponting, an Australian cricket legend, is, it should be stressed, entirely blameless and not a character in the afair beyond his name Ricky rhyming with Clicky.

Test record for catches by a keeper in an innings is seven.

▲ For Bill Peters, visiting Saltburn with his wife, Janet, on a day out from Middlesbrough, ghting would have ensued in his native St Lucia

Shane Rowley was playing for Shildon Railway and is sure he was a victim of clicking. When he was judged out, he said to the umpire: “Come on, please. You know I haven’t hit that one. I was miles away from it. I wish I was somewhere near it!”

‘It’s unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it and I’ve been playing for 30 years, since I was eight’

“They call it a gentleman’s game, but it’s not really.”

The clip has been viewed more than 7m times and has been picked up by numerous news outlets including, as would be expected, in Australia. One wit on Facebook remarked: “It’s oicial, Saltburn are the Argentina of local cricket.”

The story has prompted many jokes – but if you play cricket in the league then it is less of a laughing matter.

He didn’t hear the ball hit his bat

– “but everyone else did ”, Rowley told the Guardian. Or did they?

In Saltburn’s previous match, against Shildon Railway second XI, the wicketkeeper made an incredible eight catches in his team’s 22-run victory. The men’s

After the game and the eight catches behind, Rowley said they raised complaints about poor umpiring. After clickgate footage

Neither Saltburn nor Norton have commented on the afair, which is being investigated by the

Shane Rowley Local cricketer

▲ Accusations that a player for Saltburn second XI faked the sound of ball on bat in Saturday’s game with Norton second XI has

bemused many in the Victorian resort town, left, including at the over-60s ukulele club, below

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS: GARY CALTON/ THE GUARD AN

emerged on social media, Rowley said he rang an umpiring oicial to apologise. “I said, can I just retract what I said earlier in the week and apologise and please extend apologies to the umpires.”

Rowley said three players did get a nick on the ball before being caught. The others swore they did not and were “absolutely fuming”. Including him .

“It is unbelievable,” said Rowley. “I’ve never been involved in a game where I’ve seen anything like it and I’ve been playing for 30 years, since I was eight.”

To say other clubs are annoyed might be an understatement. Ian Palmer, chair of Newton Ayclife Cricket Club , said, if true, it was “scandalous”.

He added: “These are lads giving up all of their Saturday to play a game of cricket and if they are being cheated it is just not on really.”

The “Clicky Ponting” player has been identii ed as Brian Devine, a 38-year-old company secretary who has lost sponsorship from a local Indian restaurant. Unconirmed reports suggest he has been suspended by his club. Devine did not respond to an approach for comment.

For Neal Toulson , a former chair of Thornaby Cricket Club and someone involved in the game for more than 50 years, the allegations are a relection of a wider malaise. “I think cricket in general has gone down the pan a little bit with regards to gamesmanship,” he said. “When I was a lad – and it’s a while ago now – you never even appealed unless you thought it was genuinely out. Now everybody’s shouting for everything. And then there’s the sledging.”

Sledging, the dark art of trying to put of a batter with insults or teasing, goes on all the time in lower league cricket, Toulson said.

He added: “You’d think they were playing for money. It’s crazy, right? I always took cricket seriously, I competed as hard as I could but at the same time – you play fair.”

Toulson said he hoped there would be a full investigation and if cheating was found then a ban should be the consequence.

“It has come across as a bit of a joke but it’s not. It’s cheating. If the guy is found guilty he should be punished. I’ve seen players banned for swearing to themselves and it is a lot worse than that.”

• The Guardian Thursday 30 July 2026

National Politics

▼ Andy Burnham at a residential home in London yesterday, when he talked about social care reform

PHOTOGRAPH: KIRSTY WIGGL SWORTH/AP

PM says palliative and social care must be fixed before assisted dying is debated

the MP Lauren Edwards , who is the new sponsor of the private member’s bill, have said they will press ahead with the vote in September.

at this that could include a more voluntary approach initially, or could include a roadmap to a reformed social care system.”

Burnham indicated that his plan would probably require tax rises –

Burnham added that “in an ideal world”, nobody would have to sell their home to pay for care , and that his 2010 proposals had been designed to address that, because if everybody contributed a little, most of what they had worked for would be protected.

though making the NHS and care system more integrated and therefore more efficient would help initially – and he repeated his promise to stick to Labour’s manifesto on tax for this parliament.

“I think the whole thing is horrendous for those who live through it. Paying for care that often isn’t good enough. In an ideal world, no, I wouldn’t want to see that.”

“I think more is possible from within existing resources. And the things that I’ve talked about today, particularly around the workforce, will be fully funded. I think it is possible from existing budgets to do much more,” he said.

parliament, he said he now thought the priority should be to improve end -of -life support.

in 2024 , he said that his family experience in the nine years since – with his father, Roy, in a care home with dementia – had changed his view. “I think we do allow people to sufer and families to sufer too much,” he said.

Pippa Crerar Jessica Elgot

Burnham said he would never forgive himself if he allowed “screaming headlines” to deter him from trying to reform the system , after 22 failed attempts over the past three decades.

His caution may give some Labour MPs pause for thought when the latest version of the bill – which has divided backbenches across the usual party lines – comes before them for a vote in September.

Andy Burnham said the assisted dying debate nee ded to wait until

“Some of what we would want to [do] in the fullest sense will require diicult decisions … But we will be honest with people about those. We will put them before the country at the right time, and we will hopefully proceed with people’s consent.”

palliative care and social care were ixed, as he set out his path to resolving one of the most intractable problems in British politics.

At the time, he caveated his support , saying he would want a requirement, before any new law was implemented, that hospices would be “properly funded and sorted out”.

“On this issue, please can we have a factual debate? Can we allow people to weigh up the diferent options … and then just come to a considered view based on those facts?

“I take the view that that debate – and I don’t say that there shouldn’t be a debate at some point about those issues – personally, I think there’s something that needs to happen irst,” Burnham told reporters .

The prime minister said he was not opposed to having the debate on assisted dying, but told reporters it would be “very challenging” to introduce the controversial legislation until the care system was in a better place.

The bill’s proponents, including

However, the prime minister said life had “moved on” from when he last tried to achieve social care reform as health secretary under Gordon Brown in 2010 – when options had included a 10% levy on inheritances

“ I don’t think it should be too much to ask, because I think the public will give us their view. They’ll make it really clear what they feel they can accept and what they can’t.

‘It is very challenging to introduce that wider debate in a context of people not having peace of mind about care’

“That is the ixing of the funding of palliative care and social care. I think it is very challenging to introduce that wider debate in a context of people not receiving that care and having the peace of mind about that care. ”

The new prime minister’s remarks came during a speech yesterday at a care home in north London about social care reform, an issue on which he has repeatedly said he was ready to expend his political capital.

He announced that Louise Casey

– suggesting that a “more voluntary approach” may work better now.

would bring forward her independent review into social care options by a year, to summer 2027, and that the fair pay agreement for care staf

Burnham has invited the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats for talks in Downing Street as he attempts to ind common ground on the issue , saying he accepted that he may need to make some compromises .

When Burnham was previously an MP, he abstained from a 2015 vote on another bill to legalise assisted dying because of concerns over safeguards and people feeling under pressure.

would be the start of bringing the sector closer to NHS standards.

Although as Greater Manchester mayor Burnham said he would probably vote in favour of a private member’s bill going through

Yvette Cooper , the new health secretary, will appoint a dementia

Andy Burnham Prime minister

But when the issue came up again,

“I think there are ways of looking

adviser this summer.

Case studies ‘You have to sit quietly until you die’

◀ Mary, far left,

Sketch John Crace

gave up work and sold the family home to fund care for her late husband and is left with little savings . Left, Annabel with her son, Fred, who has his care costs partly deducted from his bene ts leaving him too little to live on, she says

At last we have a leader again – a grownup who is prepared to speak to voters as fellow adults

friends who I rent from,’” says the 67-year-old from Kent. They had worked hard to build a good life, and it was frustrating to give it all up, she says. “I’m a very positive, resilient person but I think I’ve been through a really ugly tunnel with very little help.”

Claudia Efemini

ary’s late husband, Richard, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2015

• M

Mary also had to juggle caring for Richard with everyday tasks such as shopping and sorting bills. Though she is grateful for the support she has received from charities such as Alzheimer’s Society , she wishes there was more

Somerset, charges him £147.54 a week from his beneits to pay for his care, leaving him with very little to live on. As providers of home care, councils have the power to decide how much to charge for care.

at the age of 55. She had to quit her job as a fashion designer to care for him and paid for 15 hours of care a week, amounting to nearly £27,000 a year. When Richard went into a residential care home in 2024, the couple were forced to sell their house in London to meet care bills of £2,000 a week.

t feels like the UK has a prime minister again. Not the Maybot paralysed with indecision. Not the clown-like Boris Johnson who crumbled under the weight of his own narcissism. Not the ridiculous Liz Truss . Not the steamrollered

I

guidance available to help carers manage their i nances when a loved

“Fred would be £147 a week better o if he lived in

Rishi Sunak for whom everything was impossible. Not the automaton-like Keir Starmer who was never entirely sure what he wanted to do. But a prime minister who is emotionally intelligent. Who understands the country and can connect with it. Who is prepared to expend political capital to get the things done that other politicians were too weak to go near.

Hammersmith and Fulham , where they don’t charge for home care, and £47 better o in Wales, where the cost cap for care at home is

one is diagnosed with dementia.

She feels dementia – a terminal neurological disease – is neglected by the system. “If it is not something you can give a drug to, you’re swept aside. You have to sit quietly until you die and hope your friends and family look after you.”

“I’m left with virtually no savings, living on my pension, working a bit and I have very good

£100 ,” says Annabel.

She believes social care needs proper government investment.

This was Andy Burnham ’s i rst big set piece since taking oice. And he went straight for social care. An issue that previous governments over the past 30 years have done their utmost to avoid. A royal commission, 22 reviews and absolutely nothing has changed. Too diicult, too many hard choices. Far simpler to keep on with a system that’s failing. Let the next government deal with it. “This is personal to me,” said Burnham, as he addressed a small audience of care workers and the media at Jewish Care in north London. Personal because his father has dementia and needs daily care.

“Charging people on beneits for their care doesn’t seem like a reasonable thing to do ,” she says.

She now worries about her children’s future. “It’s giving me sleepless nights. When my children may need care, they won’t have any savings.”

In the future, Annabel wants to see social care fully funded like the NHS. She is anxious about the future; her mother, who has dementia, had to sell her house and move into a care home. Yet Fred cannot provide for himself .

Mary is happy to pay more tax to help fund social care. “We pay insurance for our cars and no one complains,” she says. “Why can’t we pay insurance to take care of us when we’re older?”

“At least she could sell her home,” Annabel says. “If you are born with a disability, you’re never given the money. This is not how we should look after the most vulnerable in our society .”

It’s personal for a lot of us. It’s personal for me. My mother had Alzheimer’s and needed to be in a care home for seven years before she died last year. My sisters and I had to sell her home to pay for the care she got. We didn’t resent it. It was what needed to happen,

Annabel’s 27-year-old son, Fred, lives independently with the support of carers who help with his daily living. His local council, North

and the care she got from a mostly overseas staf was superb. But my mother would have been bitterly upset had she been aware of what we had done. She had always been so proud she would be able to leave her house to her children.

Then we got to the questions. Some media outlets moan about Burnham avoiding interrogation. But he answered everything

AnalysisPatrick Butler Little policy detail but a clear direction of travel and excitement in the room

or campaigners perpetually disappointed by the failure to ix England’s creaking adult social care system, the fear

it back into a Labour second term.

He arrived at No 10 promising he would do politics diferently, but this was a challenge to the other main political parties to do the same. He wouldn’t be drawn on whether he’d raise tax , but it felt like he was prepared to test the

F

Burnham gets that it’s a nightmare. There was so much that didn’t work, he said. The 15-minute care packages. The emergency calls . The bedblocking. The care homes that proi ted from others’ misfortunes. The random nature

Lady Casey’s recommendations for a National Care Service would be published within 12 months. He would back Casey “100% ”, he promised.

was that Andy Burnham’s speech would be less brave new world, more Groundhog Day.

He was dropping no clues as to what it might look like. Casey would come up with funding options. But it wasn’t just about money: the quality of social care had to improve, work more close ly with the NHS, and be built around the needs of care users.

idea government might raise tax to ix a social injustice. “If everybody, on the NHS principle, contributed a little, it would mean everyone could protect the majority of what they’d worked for,” he said at one point. “Now I know the Mail and probably the Telegraph doesn’t support that. But I don’t know – do people support that?”

of who could aford what level of care provision. A system that was ultimately unsustainable. Every bit as unfair as the US health system, where time and again it’s the vulnerable who are left to pick up the tab.

Burnham acknowledged he had been here before. Back in 2010, as health secretary, he announced

So there would be three changes. Bringing forward the review to be completed next year. Converging the social care and NHS workforce. And, most importantly, starting cross-party talks. Kemi Badenoch and Ed Davey had written to Burnham at the weekend so he had invited them to be part of the consensus. Presumably Nigel Farage had not written, preferring to snipe from the sidelines about a death tax.

proposals to overhaul social care, only for them to collapse amid right wing media hostility and rows about “death taxes ”.

There would be investment and focus on the workforce, improving pay and training. He wasn’t against private providers (which currently provide most care in England) but he wouldn’t put up with “proiteering ” . There needed to be more support for unpaid carers .

The new prime minister might talk a good game about expending political capital on an issue close to his heart, but recent history suggests social care reform always ends up in what the King’s Fund thinktank calls the “Westminster graveyard of good intentions ” – 22 oicial reviews in the past 30 years, all come to nothing

The consensus in the social care world was that it was an impressive start. “There was a sense of excitement in the room,” one veteran campaigner told the Guardian. “He had every opportunity to downplay expectations but he didn’t.”

Then we got to the questions. Here Burnham was also a revelation. Some media outlets have been moaning about Burnham avoiding being interrogated.

The central message, however, was about politics. Blame for the dire state of English social care lay with his generation of politicians, he said. They had serially ducked the challenge of reform, put pointscoring before ixing injustices and

But he answered everything. No rambling. No answering questions he wished he had been asked. Just straightforward responses. Grown up to grown up. Yes, it was going to be diicult. Yes, he did believe in consensus – doing the big stuf involved dropping the political point-scoring . And yes, though some of the costs could be met from eiciency savings, there would inevitably be hard choices on tax to be made.

Burnham framed the injustices simply. He compared the inequity of social care in England to the privatised US healthcare system: “The vulnerable pay with everything and it can completely leave them with nothing.”

Burnham sketched out his broad ambitions in a brisk, partly of-thecuf speech at a Jewish care home in north London yesterday. There was little policy detail, but enough to show a clear direction of travel.

fomented a political culture of risk aversion and inertia.

Burnham left with a smile. Maybe this had been the easy bit. Starting the ball rolling. But it was better than ignoring it. If he were to do nothing in his time in oice but ix social care, he would have achieved more than most other prime ministers.

“How have we’ve got to a position where it’s too diicult to ix the basic care that we give to each other, that fellow human beings receive ?” he asked.

He would be accelerating Louise Casey ’s review of social care, which under Keir Starmer had been slated for 2028, in efect pushing

For once, some observers said, with a icker of amazement, there was clear political will . There is the rare whif of hope and optimism.

••• The Guardian Thursday 30 July 2026

10 National Politics

Polanski rules out apology to Farage over photo as Met police drop case

apologising to Farage. “If I’d done it deliberately, I’d be apologising,” he said. “But because this was a mistake, I think the important thing is that I point out it’s a mistake, that I also make sure that I condemn political violence and also crucially make a commitment to be better on my social media.”

Aletha Adu

Political correspondent

No further action will be taken by police after Zack Polanski shared a photo of a man with a T-shirt showing a guillotine and the phrase “we’re only making plans for Nigel”.

The Metropolitan police’s decision comes after the Green party leader for England and Wales said he had made an “inadvertent mistake” and would not apologise to Nigel Farage.

Reform UK had reported Polanski to the Met . Zia Yusuf, the party’s home a airs spokesperson , accused

him of “inciting murder”. Farage called for Polanski to be arrested.

Polanski told the BBC’s Newsnight programme on Tuesday he had accepted a request on Instagram to “collaborate” with a photographer on the platform . The irst photo in a set of 20 show ed Polanski, and the ifth

But the Met said that after “conduct ing inquiries” it had concluded that it was unlikely the sharing of the image online would constitute a criminal o ence.

However, it added that the wearing of the T-shirt should be recorded as a crime and had referred a crime report to Avon and Somerset police, which covers Bristol, where the photo was taken.

show ed a man in the T-shirt.

The image was later removed from Polanski’s feed, with the Greens saying the T-shirt was “clearly in poor taste”.

A Met spokesperson said: “We absolutely understand the reaction to this image being shared online, particularly in the context of increasing threats toward politicians.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Farage said Polanski must “face the consequences of his appalling decisions”, adding: “Political violence is real, it is serious, it needs dealing with.”

‘It hurts to lose a job you love’ Starmer loyalist fights on after cabinet demotion

“While there will be people who will argue that those who shared the image in this Instagram post should be subject to criminal action, our review has concluded that on this occasion, the threshold is not met.”

Polanski stressed on Newsnight: “This was not my post – it was a collaboration from a photographer. It had 20 images and I just didn’t look carefully enough and I accepted it.

party – an apparent olive branch to Starmer allies .

deputy leader in October, and has now replaced her as education secretary. “That contest was almost a year ago. It’s in the past, and Lucy’s a great colleague,” she says. “We’ve worked together for many years, and she has my full support .” Phillipson also hopes she can act as a bridge between Starmer loyalists – many are making no secret of their anger behind the scenes – and Burnham’s team.

Alexandra Topping

“As soon as I was aware of what happened, I unaccepted it and took it down. I think it would be odd for the police to speak to me about that because I think it’s quite obvious that I’ve not done anything wrong other than making an inadvertent mistake. That being said, if the police do want to talk to me, of course I’m very happy to cooperate.

The role of Labour party chair is a nebulous one. In parts election planner, administrator and party cheerleader – its importance rests heavily on the backing of the PM. On Monday, Burnham said Phillipson would play a “vital role” in getting Labour “match it for the next election”.

Polanski repeatedly ruled out

Political correspondent

f Bridget Phillipson is angry at losing a job – which, in the briefest of halcyon days at the start of Keir Starmer ’s Labour government, she called the “honour of my

I

life” – she is doing a good job of hiding it.

Labour’s communications stressed the appointment showed Burnham’s commitment to building “one united team”. Phillipson

“If Nigel Farage wants to apologise for all the times that he’s put other people in danger than I’ll be happy to make an apology.”

“I know how people will feel, those who have lost out – I know it hurts. It hurts to lose a job that you have loved and put heart and soul into,” she says. “But I know that however people feel at the moment, they want to win the next election as much as I do .”

“ It hurts to lose a job you love,” she says . “Being education secretary was amazing … and I’m really proud of what we achieved in that time.”

echoed that it was by “uniting together” that Labour would “bring hope back to communities and strengthen British society against those working to divide us”.

The work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden , when asked about the controversy, said all politicians had “a duty to be careful about what they post”. He said people could make mistakes and it was for the police to decide if any action was needed.

The former education

secretary was removed during Andy Burnham ’s clear-out of Starmer’s cabinet when the

Unity will involve working harmoniously with Powell, the woman who beat her to become

Despite being a gentler character than some of her predecessors in the role, including Angela Rayner and Tom Watson, Phillipson insists she won’t “pull her punches”. She points to her record in landing the fraught issue of reforming special educational needs provision in schools and pushing Starmer and Rachel Reeves to eventually lift the two-child beneit cap . “I’m my own person, and I’ve always believed that there are di erent ways of being e ective,” she says.

new prime minister took oice last week, and was replaced by

Burnham’s ally Lucy Powell. But unlike some spurned colleagues,

One national opinion poll this week showed the Greens’ score falling by three percentage points , while a second showed the party holding at 13%, well above the level before Polanski became leader last September.

‘We’ve got the fight of our lives on our hands to win at the next general election, our country is at a perilous moment’

Phillipson didn’t walk away from government, instead accepting the diminished brief of women and equalities – now a cabinet position

– that she had previously held alongside education.

A Green party spokesperson said: “The police have examined the evidence and concluded that no crime was committed . This was obvious from the start, as was the fact that Reform were always using this as a political football for their own cynical purposes to distract from questions about their own dodgy donations.”

During a visit to a Rape Crisis centre in Cambridge this week, retaining that role now seems like a canny move. On Monday, the new prime minister appointed the Houghton and Sunderland South MP as the new chair of the Labour

The ight against Reform UK – which slipped into second place behind Labour in a voter intention poll for the irst time in more than

▲ Top, the picture mocking Nigel

Farage, right, which appeared on the Instagram feed of Zack Polanski, left

Bridget Phillipson Labour party chair

▼ Bridget Phillipson , the new Labour party chair, at Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre with Nora Al-Ani

PHOTOGRAPH: JILL MEAD/THE GUARDIAN

to the parliament after this one,” Burnham said. “In terms of our Nato commitments, I have been very clear that we will honour those commitments.” He added: “It does mean being prepared to look at challenging issues .”

Continuedfrom page 1

Trident at heart of plan for industrial renewal PM

The new Dreadnought submarines are intended to replace the ageing Vanguard -class submarines, one of which is always at sea carrying Britain’s nuclear weapons. Each of the existing submarines can carry 40 nuclear warheads, with enough

you to know that there is a path for you into a reindustrialised Britain, and it starts with the apprenticeships we are funding through this investment today,” the prime minister added.

power to destroy Moscow and several other major Russian cities.

The largest share of the latest phase of work in the Dreadnought programme is being awarded to BAE Systems, the owner of the Barrow shipyard. The British defence giant has been given a new £5.9bn contract to complete the irst of the four new

The visit also presents an opportunity to reinforce Burnham’s pro-Trident credentials. The prime minister voted to build the new submarines in 2016, when the Labour party split over the issue and its then leader, Jeremy Corbyn, voted against.

Burnham, who has had limited previous engagement with foreign and defence policy, entered oice just over a week ago and immediately lean ed into a Nato commitment to increase defence spending by over £25bn a year to reach 3.5% of GDP by 2035.

▲ HMS Vigilant at the Clyde naval base, one of the UK’s ageing Vanguard-class nuclear submarines

vessels, HMS Dreadnought, so it can be ready for service in the early 2030s.

PHOTOGRAPH: JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGE

The work is part of the overall £31bn Dreadnought programme, which is so complex it includes a £10bn contingency to cover overspends. Concern about the scale of the programme has meant it has already been placed on amber alert by government procurement monitors.

Wes Streeting, the new defence secretary, and John Healey, the chancellor, were also among the MPs who voted in favour, though

When Healey quit, he had also called for military budgets to hit 3% of GDP by 2030 as an interim target, to show the UK was committed to the Nato goal. Starmer had only been willing to ofer an increase to 2.68% of GDP.

A row over whether his predecessor, Keir Starmer, was serious about the commitment had led to the resignation of Healey as defence secretary last month. This precipitated Starmer’s own resignation.

another important igure in Burnham’s team, Louise Haigh , who runs the new oice of the prime minister , voted against.

But at a press conference yesterday, Burnham declined to commit to hitting the 3% target by 2030. Instead he referred to the UK promise to meet the Nato target of 3.5% by 2035, reiterating comments already made by Streeting and Healey.

Trident warheads are designed and built at AWE in Aldermaston and Burghield in Berkshire , which employs 9,000 people, while a further 4,000 workers at Rolls-Royce in Derby help to build the nuclear

The UK’s military nuclear activities currently support 47,000 jobs, including 13,500 in the Barrow shipyard. Its surrounding constituency has historically switched from Labour to Conservative, and was

£31bn

Cost of Dreadnought submarine programme, which No 10 says is a case study in regional investment

reactors that power the Dreadnought and other submarines used by the Royal Navy.

re taken by Labour at the last general election in 2024.

“When it comes to defence, obviously those commitments … relate

Greater Manchester Labour expected to retain mayoralty in byelection

a year this week – is a message she returns to repeatedly.

constituency of Gorton and Denton it won in a February byelection.

“We’ve got the i ght of our lives on our hands to win at the next general election, our country is at a perilous moment,” she says. “We’ve got to modernise and unite our party and our movement, and take the ight to Reform. ”

For the Greens, who won 7% of the vote against Burnham when the Manchester mayoralty was last contested in 2024, a doubling or more of its vote share would demonstrate an ability to expand outside its recently formed, urbanliberal power base.

She accuses Nigel Farage and his party of “shamefully” weaponising women’s pain with their focus on Pakistani grooming gangs and sexual violence committed by foreigners . “We should go after whoever commits violence against women and girls, whatever their background, whatever their ethnicity,” she says.

All parties will be scrutinising the result tomorrow with a view to the next set of local elections next May , when a third of all seats in

the leader of Manchester city council, a 20-percentage point lead over Reform UK’s Sian Astley .

Josh Halliday

North of England editor

Greater Manchester’s 10 boroughs will be up for grabs in what could

Most of the 1,000-voter survey was carried out before Burnham became prime minister. The Greens were in third on 14 points, just ahead of the Conservatives.

oting is taking place today in the biggest byelection in British political history, with more than 2 million people

V

present an electoral headache for Burnham.

Reform UK will be eyeing control of councils including Bolton, Wigan and Rochdale next year, while the Greens will hope to threaten Labour’s half-century control of Manchester city council, where it is now the second biggest party.

Phillipson insists that Labour’s manifesto commitment to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade still stands , despite Burnham making no reference to it so far. That her role has been made into a cabinet position “demonstrates his commitment ”, she says, adding that ministers will be tracking VAWG crimes reported in the British Crime Survey .

The contest was triggered by Burnham winning the Makerield byelection on 18 June, meaning he had to step down as mayor of the most powerful combined authority outside London.

▲ Labour’s Bev Craig is expected to

see o the Reform UK candidate in today’s byelection and become the next mayor of Greater Manchester

eligible to choose Andy Burnham ’s successor as the mayor of Greater Manchester .

Such a large and politically signiicant byelection normally would have dominated the headlines for weeks, particularly as senior Labour igures until recently feared losing the prize mayoralty to

inish would be a blow to Reform UK, which won more than 100 seats in Greater Manchester in the May elections, including all but one of the 25 contested in Wigan and 18 out of 19 in Tameside, once solidly Labour areas.

The byelection is taking place under the supplementary voting system, which means that if no single party achieves 50% of the vote then second-choice preferences will come into play.

Yet campaigners in Labour and Green camps say awareness of

today’s vote is low, potentially complicating pollsters’ predictions. The result is expected tomorrow afternoon.

Nigel Farage ’s Reform UK.

Reform UK’s projected vote has fallen nationally in recent weeks – the hard-right party was overtaken at the top of the polls by Labour this week for the irst time since March 2025 – as Farage has faced intense scrutiny over his funding .

Labour is widely seen as having an advantage under this system as the party is more likely to be picked as the second choice of Greens, Liberal Democrats and even some Conservatives. Reform UK , by contrast, cannot count on such broad support.

“I am very sad at how things ended for Keir because he has achieved something that very few Labour leaders ever do, which is going from opposition into government and winning a landslide ,” she says. But she makes it clear that her loyalties now lie with the new man in No 10. “ I believe it is right that you support the leader of your party and you support your prime minister,” she says. “It is therefore now right that Andy commands that loyalty from all of us.”

Unlike in Makerield and Gorton and Denton, there is little obvious sign on the streets that such a mammoth byelection is under way, largely due to the huge expense of campaigning across a region of 2 million voters.

But now Labour’s Bev Craig is expected to win comfortably in a contest that has been largely overshadowed by Burnham’s rapid ascent to prime minister.

Labour has beneited from a “Burnham bounce” in the polls and Reform UK’s focus has shifted to Clacton in Essex, where Farage is i ghting a self-imposed parliamentary byelection against 34 other candidates, including Count Binface.

Green sources said they believed the Greater Manchester polls had underestimated the party’s popularity and that its support extended far beyond Manchester city centre, where it won a swathe of what had been Labour seats in May, and is near the parliamentary

Given some residents will have voted three times in the past ive months, many expect turnout to be lower than the 32% in 2024. Yet if even a third of registered voters cast their ballot, the verdict of 600,000 people would be worth taking seriously.

The More in Common poll found

Labour’s lead would stretch to 30 points if Reform UK inished second, as Craig is the most popular second-choice of most Greens and a siz able number of Conservatives.

A poll by More in Common published on Tuesday gave Craig,

Anything short of a second place

• The Guardian Thursday 30 July 2026

1 National

▼ ‘A grey lump with orange wings’: a migratory hummingbird hawk-moth photographed in Sussex

PHOTOGRAPH: LUKE BURSTOW

Warm weather brings extra sightings of moth from southern Europe

Warm southerly winds associated with recent heatwaves could have helped bring high numbers of the moths to the UK, said Rich-

• ard Harrington , an honorary fellow of the Royal Entomological Society . “It may also be that their food plants
• are drying out in their Mediterranean breeding areas,” he said.

Sunny weather in the UK has perhaps encouraged people to spend more time than usual in their gardens, raising the chances that they will spot one of the moths, according to Ray Barnett , a council member at the British Entomological and Natural History Society . “I’m in Bristol and there’s lots of people recording it locally,” he said.

Burstow, who, along with his wife, spied the hummingbird hawk-moth enjoying buddleia lowers on 30 June, said: “It was just so diferent to everything else you normally see.” After

Chris Baraniuk

He had just sat down to dinner in the garden when a speedy visitor whizzed by – a “grey lump with orange wings”, recalled Luke Burstow, from Sussex. It was a hummingbird hawk-moth , a lying insect that migrates to the UK from continental Europe and north Africa. “I was like: ‘Wow!’,” said the software project manager. “I didn’t even know they existed.”

Googling the species, Burstow ran to grab his camera and managed to take some photos . He marvelled at how, even with a fast shutter speed, the moth’s wings – which beat roughly 80 times per second – still appeared slightly blurry in his photos.

There is a chance the hummingbird hawk-moths could stick around, should the UK continue to experience milder winters as a result of global

“We’ve had a big increase in sightings and inquiries about the hummingbird hawk-moth sent to us this year,” said Richard Austin , a recording schemes o cer at the charity Butterly Conservation . “We expect it is going to be a great summer for them.”

heating, Barnett added.

Hibernating adults that make it through the British winter may go on to reproduce in the UK on a regular basis.

Burstow is one of many UK wildlife watchers who have described seeing the moth on social media lately. “This made my day,” wrote one Reddit user after their sighting.

Hummingbird hawk-moth larvae feed on plants including lady’s bedstraw and hedge bedstraw , which are common wildl owers in the UK.

Butterly and moth experts told the Guardian that 2026 could be a bumper year for hummingbird hawk-moths in the UK after a boom in sightings during recent weeks. Hot weather and strong winds appear to have brought many of the insects here from more southerly climes.

Austin cautioned, however, that it was too early to compare their numbers with previous years.

“If these weather patterns continue, then [the moth] is going to survive winters regularly,” said

Hummingbird hawk-moths may be spotted all around the UK, including in Northern Ireland and even northern Scotland.

Barnett. “It’s almost becoming a resident species rather than a purely migratory species.”

Study links excessive time spent online to higher stress

stress, mood and temptation could be used to predict a person’s daily internet usage, and further, how these factors in turn afect daily pleasure, relief and neglect of other activities.

Researchers stress that not all types of internet usage have negative outcomes, but rather problematic or excessive usage.

completed an assessment every evening for two weeks, where they reported their mood and stress levels, temptation to engage in problematic internet use, and their total time spent on the internet more generally.

Silke M Müller , co-author of the study, said: “ We’d like to note that only a small percentage of internet users develop pathological use patterns. Using the internet brings joy, fun, and/or relief from stress in an enriching way as long as other important areas of life are not systematically neglected.

‘Helping people to recognise and manage temptation to go online may be more effective’

Tobi Thomas

Health and inequalities correspondent

Spending excessive time online is associated with higher stress levels, worse mood, and greater neglect of other activities, according to analysis.

The assessment also measured how much pleasure was derived from internet usage and whether any other activities were neglected as a result.

The new study by academics at the University of Duisburg-Essen published in the journal PLOS One ,

“These areas include not only essential duties and responsibilities, but also other activities that have been proven to have a positive efect on our well being and health, such as exercise, spending time outdoors, or doing things with friends.”

Participants with more severe problematic internet usage were associated with worse mood, more stress, longer internet use times and greater neglect of other areas of life. The study also found that temptation was the main driver for continued internet use, with feelings of pleasure and relief emerging as reinforcing factors.

Andreas Oelker Study co-author

surveyed 900 German adults in 2025 who reported engaging in gaming, pornography use, social network use, or online shopping at least once in the past year.

both rewarding and harmful consequences.

“ Understanding why individuals at risk of problematic internet use go online at particular moments is essential for developing better prevention and treatment strategies. Our indings suggest that helping people recognise and manage temptation may be more efective than focusing on stress or mood alone.”

Previous studies have suggested that young people with internet addiction experience changes in their brain chemistry which could lead to more addictive behaviours, and that these efects were evident throughout multiple neural networks in the brain alongside increased activity in parts of the brain when participants were resting.

Depending on the frequency of their usage, their internet use was labelled as either pathological, risky, or non-problematic. Problematic internet usage was deined by the study as the excessive use of online applications to the point of functional impairment or distress.

Andreas Oelker , co-author of the study, said: “ More than actual stress or mood alone, it is the momentary urge to go online that determines whether people engage in online activities and ex perience

The study’s results conirmed the researchers’ hypothesis that daily

The study’s participants then

Zadie Smith and Patti Smith among Dua Lipa’s guests at literary festival

Dua Lipa, the curator of this year’s Southbank literary festival, will speak to big names including Zadie Smith,

below left, and Patti Smith, right, who will discuss her memoir

PHOTOGRAPH: ARTURO HOLMES/ GETTY MAGES

Mustafa , the Nobel peace laureate Nadia Murad discussing her memoir, I Choose My Beginning , and a conversation between Ta-Nehisi Coates and

Tareq Baconi on Baconi’s new book about Palestine.

Emma Lo agen

Other events include a translated iction showcase, a poetry and music night with Kae Tempest , and Censorship Live!, a collaboration with English PEN examining threats to free expression.

Zadie Smith , Patti Smith and Mustafa are among the star names lined up to be interviewed by as the pop star reveals her curation of this year’s London literature festival at the

Lipa has increasingly established herself as a n advocate for reading. She launched her book club in 2023 as an extension of her wider cultural platform Service95 , which sees monthly selections and longform author interviews with writers including Margaret Atwood , George Saunders and Olga Tokarczuk .

Southbank Centre .

The festival, now in its 19th year, will run from 21 October to 1 November , with the Brit award-winning singer shaping a programme of events in collaboration with her Service95 book club .

Lipa said curating the programme had been “a true joy”, adding that she wanted to bring together “some of the most exciting writers, poets and thinkers from around the globe”, alongside more familiar names.

Last month, she opened a permanent collection of 100 banned, censored and challenged books inside the historic Livraria Lello bookshop in Porto, Portugal.

She will sit down with Zadie Smith on 24 October to discuss her 2000 debut novel, White Teeth , published when Smith was just 24 .

Mark Ball, the Southbank Centre’s artistic director, said Lipa’s “deep curiosity about the world” made her a itting curator for the venue’s 75th anniversary . “It’s a milestone year and she’s the perfect curator to help us celebrate it,” he added.

The pair are expected to relect on “learning to live with an artistic legacy earned at such a young age”, and how the novel’s characters might fare in Britain today.

The literature festival also includes free family events and a wider national programme, part of Southbank Centre’s eforts to reach a million people across the UK in 2026.

The night after, she will interview

Patti Smith about her memoir Bread of Angels , which charts Smith’s life from childhood, through her marriage to Fred “Sonic” Smith , and her return to music after his death.

Last year, the festival was curated by Self Esteem , and previous headliners include Ai Weiwei ,

The programme will also feature appearances from the Sudanese Canadian poet and musician

Greta Thunberg , Malala Yousafzai , Margaret Atwood , Philip Pullman , Tom Hanks and Yulia Navalnaya .

Boy dies after Essex coast incident that killed his aunt and cousin

Jamie Grierson

A seven-year-old boy has died a week after an incident of the Essex coast in which his cousin and her mother died as they tried to rescue him.

Musa Ahmed was being treated for life-threatening injuries after being pulled from the sea near West Mersea beach on 22 July.

Shelina Rahman , 41, and her 15-year-old daughter, Sameeha , died after the incident .

In a statement, the boy’s family said: “We would like to thank the Royal London hospital intensive care unit team of doctors and nurses who demonstrated outstanding care and dignity whilst we have been at the hospital.”

They added: “We would also like to thank the whole community for their support and prayers. We would appreciate privacy during this very diicult time.”

It ha d been reported that Rahman and her daughter were attempting to help Musa after he got into diiculty.

Rahman’s husband is Mansur Rahman , the leader of Jubo Dal UK , the overseas youth wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist party in Britain.

The family are understood to have been on a summer holiday trip

to West Mersea, whe n three adults and three children got into diiculty after a heavy incoming tide caused the sand beneath their feet to give way, sweeping them into the water.

Earlier this week, Shahin Ahmed , Musa’s father , shared a statement

that called for a review of safety measures at the beach .

“I strongly agree with the calls from local residents for a review of safety measures at West Mersea beach, including the provision of additional life-saving equipment and clear warning signage,” he said.

“While no action now can undo the pain we are suf ering, we hope

lessons can be learned to help prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future.”

Essex police said oicers were called by the ambulance service at 5.35pm on 22 July after reports that several people had got into diiculty in the water near Seaview Avenue .

The East of England Ambulance Service said one patient was transported by air and three by road to hospital after the incident at Sea View Holiday Park .

DCI Al Pitcher , who is leading the

investigation into the incident, said: “All our thoughts are with the family and friends of those involved – as has been the case since this incident took place last week. Their bravery and strength has been humbling.

“We continue to build a complete picture of the circumstances which led up to this incident and our work is continuing alongside our partners.”

Whole-life sentence for triple murderer who dismembered bodies and hid them in woods

woodland close to a shack where he sometimes lived in south Cornwall.

Aquilino’s family said he had been a talented artist and a good cook, although addiction problems had made his life very diicult.

While in Exeter prison before his trial he murdered his cellmate, Steven Kempster, 65, apparently because his snoring annoyed him.

Sean Brunton KC, for Desborough, said he had been in trouble only once before, 20 years before the murders.

During the sentencing hearing, emotional victim statements were read out that made clear the men who were killed were loved and did have worthwhile lives .

The barrister said Desborough was “highly intelligent” and as a younger man had had great potential and found some success. In court he was polite and easy to deal with.

Coleman’s 14-year-old daughter said: “I love him. I was a daddy’s girl; now I can’t be. It hurts to see I’ll never see him smile again.” She said it terriied her to think her father would have been frightened when he was killed and told Desborough he was a “miscreant killer”.

Brunton said it was not possible to say if the “bleak events” had been brought on by drink and drugs or because Desborough had wrongly perceived the men he killed had nothing to live for.

▼ Claudio Aquilino , left and Daniel Coleman were dismembered by Desborough close to his Cornwall hut

Steven Morris

More than 700 oicers and scientists were involved in the 175-day search of the woods, with Devon and Cornwall police drawing on resources from ive other forces. The weather was very hot and the nature of the terrain jungle-like and boggy.

PHOTOGRAPH: PA MEDIA

A triple killer who murdered and dismembered the bodies of two of his friends before strangling a third man to death in prison while awaiting trial has been told he will spen d the rest of his life behind bars.

Mr Justice Saini , who sentenced

The force said they had even diverted a stream to enable the systematic sieving of 300 metres of its bed, which they said was a irst. They discovered 1,900 burned bone fragments from the body of Aquilino and the remains of Coleman.

James Desborough , 40, at Winchester crown court, said the circumstances of the case were unique.

Handing Desborough a rare wholelife order, he said the killer was a highly dangerous person who had considered his victims “worthless”.

Aquilino and Coleman, who suffered from long-term addictions, had previously lived with Desborough at a homeless hostel in Newquay.

The judge said Desborough killed his two friends because they were vulnerable, homeless, physically slight individuals who he considered would not necessarily be missed given their chaotic personal lives.

Desborough used the men’s money to buy drugs and alcohol after their deaths .

“I also find you did not consider them to be worthy of respect as humans,” the judge said. Saini added that a whole-life order was a “last resort”, used only when the seriousness of a case was “exceptionally high”.

Devon and Cornwall police have revealed they are reviewing the deaths of four people who were living in a homeless shelter at the same time as Desborough and his two victims.

Det Supt Rachael Bentley , the head of the major crime investigation team, said at this stage the force did not believe Desborough had killed any of the four , “ but it’s an ongoing investigation” .

Desborough killed Claudio Aquilino , 57, and Daniel Coleman , 43, cut up their bodies and hid them in

Sentencing James

Desborough , 40, Mr Justice Saini said he considered

his victims to have been ‘worthless’

BTS rebuke Grammys as they withdraw from consideration

they felt they needed to have more opportunities to celebrate di erent and new genres of music ” .

nominated until BTS in 2021 – but they had a good showing . Golden, from hit i lm KPop Demon Hunters, won best song written for visual media: the irst win for a K-pop act. Golden was also up for one of the “big four” prizes, song of the year, alongside another K-pop artist, Rosé, for her Bruno Mars duet APT.

That was perhaps unfortunate wording, given Asian and Latin pop markets are far from “new”: each command vast revenues and audiences, including in the US, after decades of maturity. There have therefore been fears in the Asian pop sphere that the category could end up ringfencing Asian pop artists away from contention in the top categories.

enter the Grammys this year. I hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language.”

Ben Beaumont-Thomas

The majority of lyrics in Golden and APT are in English, so they may not have qualiied for the Asian pop category which requires “meaningful use” of an Asian language.

BTS, the biggest pop act in east Asia , have withdrawn themselves from 2027’s Grammy awards, intimating that their decision is due to the addition of a new award for best Asian pop performance.

The comments are a striking – if gently worded – rebuke of the Academy’s new category .

Announcing the award last month, along with another region al award for best Latin song, the Recording Academy president, Harvey Mason Jr , said the decision was due to “our music community sharing with us that

The Recording Academy has not commented on BTS’s decision. The Guardian has requested comment.

But BTS’s recent album Arirang is overwhelmingly in Korean, making them a near-certainty for inclusion .

Writing on Instagram, each of the South Korean group’s seven members said: “We have decided not to

Asian pop artists have traditionally been ignored by the US-centric awards show – no K-pop act was even

The ceremony will take place on 7 February in Los Angeles.

Heathrow travellers face higher fares as it recovers expansion fee

Gwyn Topham

Heathrow passengers face decades of higher fares after the regulator overrode airline objections to allow the airport to charge for planning work to build its proposed third runway.

T he Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it ha d permitted Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) to recover early costs of up to £320m spent on developing its expansion plan since 2025.

The money spent on planning will be recouped through higher charges to airlines, which are typically passed on to passengers in air fares, for about

between 20 and 25 years.

The CAA said it would also allow a rival expansion scheme, Heathrow West, led by the property billionaire

Surinder Arora , to claim back the £4.1m it spent on its plan in 2025 before the government announced that HAL’s proposal was its preferred option . Arora’s refund, which the CAA said was needed to promote competition, will be paid out from Heathrow’s additional charges.

Current charges are around £26.22 per passenger. The CAA said its decision would increase the maximum airport charge per passenger by about 15p in 2028, rising to an estimated 30p in subsequent years.

The move will fuel airline fears that construction of a third runway, which HAL estimates will cost about £33bn , will pile on charges and drive up fares. British Airways, the largest airline at Heathrow, said early cost recovery would create a risk that expansion would be “una ordable for consumers and inconsistent with a credible benei ts case”, according to a CAA document.

Airlines have repeatedly complained that Heathrow has the highest charges of any airport in the world. Tim Johnson, CAA’s director of consumers and markets, said: “Our decision strikes a balance between supporting the delivery of beneits to consumers through timely progress on Heathrow expansion, whilst protecting them from undue increases .”

A spokesperson for the airport said the expansion scheme would give passengers more choice while providing a “real economic boost to every region ”.

Additional reporting PA Media

▲ Airlines typically pass on charges from airports to customers via fares

• The Guardian Thursday 30 July 2026

1 NationalNews Climate crisis

Three firefighters killed in Crete as crews across Europe struggle to contain wildfires

documents, no home” after he came back to the remains of his house in

Pelayos de la Presa . “This place has been reduced to a total ruin.”

The wildire season is growing

longer as CO2 pollution heats Europe twice as fast as the global average. Repeated heatwaves this year have dried vegetation and turned forests and shrubland into tinderboxes . EU oicials said wildires could still be burning in November.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, yesterday thanked ireighters for their “courage and commitment” .

where authorities said three ireighters “fell heroically in the line of duty” while trying to extinguish a blaze in the Rethymnon region in Crete .

the European Forest Fire Information System shows, while France and Spain have experienced recordbreaking numbers of ires . More than 330,000 people in southern Europe have been evacuated from homes and hotels.

Ajit Niranjan Jennifer Rankin

“As the ires in France and Spain continue to ravage, European solidarity knows no limit,” she said on social media . “Romania and Greece have decided to extend their missions, continuing their support to the afected regions. And from Saturday Poland will join the fray.”

A calm night on Tuesday allowed French lare-ups to be extinguished, but oicials warned of unfavourable developing weather conditions that could hamper progress.

Three ireighters died yesterday while tackling wildires in Crete and

the southern mainland, the Greek ire department said, as extreme heat hinder ed eforts to control blazes

Officials began to lift evacuation orders on Tuesday as ires were brought under control, allowing tens of thousands of people from towns near Bordeaux, Madrid and València to return home . Some found only burn t-out buildings . José Ferná ndez, a 74-year-old pensioner, told Agence France-Presse he had “no money, no

ravaging Europe.

The prefecture of Gironde said 126 ireighters had been injured since the start of the ire but the total area engulfed remained stable at 42,000 hectares (104,000 acres) yesterday .

The arc of brutal i res, which runs from the Atlantic coast to the eastern Mediterranean, and from Scotland to the south of Spain, has alarmed experts because many of the ires have been out of control and burning close to towns and cities.

This week, the commission said it had sent France seven planes and four helicopters from as far away as Sweden and Turkey, while in Spain, it said it had mobilised six planes from Greece, Italy and Turkey, along with 134 personnel and 41 vehicles from Portugal. A Super Puma helicopter from Serbia was expected to arrive in Madrid yesterday, with 40 personnel and 18 vehicles to follow.

Wildires have burned a recordbreaking area of France, data from

Temperatures pushed higher by climate breakdown reached 38C

Drought conditions in Europe have heightened the risk of fires

Combined drought indicator, June 2026

in Bordeaux yesterday, where ireighters have kept a blaze in nearby pine forests from reaching the suburbs, and 37C in Madrid, to the west of which Spain’s largest wildire on record had been “technically stabilised”, according to the interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska .

• • Watch - precipitation deficit
• • Warning - declining soil moisture
• • Alert - negative vegetation growth

Moisé s Galá n Santano, a ire expert at Europe’s emergency response coordination centre, said more needed to be done to prevent wildires and that it would remain a task for many years. “The [emergency] response is not only the answer. It’s the last answer,” he said. “We need to focus on prevention.”

Dozens of ground crews contained the ire burning west of the Spanish capital overnight, emergency services for the region said , but a separate ire near València was still out of control.

This year, a commission policy paper set out how countries could better prevent and recover from ires, which are expected to become bigger and more damaging . It promoted measures such as more extensive grazing, the restoration of wetlands, rivers and loodplains, better data on forest ires and raising public awareness of risky behaviour and safe evacuation.

Speaking from the Navalcarnero command centre , Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said the situation near the capital was improving but stressed it was the irst time a wildire had been raised to “operational level 3”, with the national government taking over the response.

Accompanied by strong winds, the fourth heatwave of western Europe’s summer has alarmed ireighters , who said it ma de blazes harder to quell and raise d the risk of ires restarting in areas that ha d been stabilised.

Scientists say western Europe’s scorching summer has been exacerbated by fossil fuel pollution. Rapid analyses have found June’s heatwave would have been “ virtually impossible” without climate breakdown, while the level of soil dryness – a driver of bigger blazes – was made

New fires have also prompted evacuations in Turkey and Greece,

ive times more likely .

Source: European Drought Observatory, 21-30 June 2026

‘ It’s like hell’ Residents return to homes after blazes west of Madrid

after the area was one of many evacuated as ireighters rushed to contain the blazes that have consumed tens of thousands of hectares of land west of the Spanish capital , the returning residents of El Morro were trying to process what had happened.

garden and the patio furniture had been chewed up by the ire.

Sam Jones

“We came back to the village, saw what had happened and the breath just went out of us,” said the woman.

Navas del Rey

he handwritten sign taped to the front gate of a house in the mountains an hour west of Madrid ofered as succinct a summary

T

Mercedes Merino , who has lived in El Morro for 35 of her 70 years, apologised for being able to ofer visitors nothing but lukewarm water – the electricity was still of

Some phoned their insurance companies, some swept up the debris in and around their homes, and some were still too deep in shock.

of recent events as you will ind.

– as she pointed to her blackened garden, with its lame-twisted cypress, dying loquat and sooty swimming pool. Still, at least her house had been spared.

“EMPTY,” it said. “No people or animals here.”

The quiet streets of El Morro , a hamlet on the outskirts of the town of Navas del Rey , held further evidence: two burn t-out cars barely identiiable as an Audi and a Seat; blackened gnomes atop a gatepost ; charred hedges whose leaves had crumbled to a ine ash ; and, everywhere, the smell of burn t, or still smouldering, wood.

A man led his elderly father out of a house that had been gutted by ire, telling him it was time to go and get a change of clothes. “We’re all doing so-so,” said the son, which seemed brave but unlikely.

“We’ve had ires here before, but nothing like this,” she said. “I knew what we were coming back to because lots of videos of the village have been going round. We’re all feeling really low … some people have lost their houses, like the guy next door.”

Towards the outskirts of El Morro, a couple in late middle age walked around what had been their garden. The house had survived bar some smoke staining, but the

▲ Mercedes Merino ’s house was spared but her garden was badly hit

Yesterday, almost a week

PHOTOGRAPH: SAM JONES/THE GUARD AN

1

Root causes Why has the damage been so bad this year?

These form from the heat from the ires and become a self-feeding irestorm , sparking further blazes.

The extreme severity of the blazes is the result of “ whiplash ” wetthen-dry weather this year, all supercharged by the climate crisis. Last winter and much of spring in western Europe was very wet, spurring heavy growth of trees, shrubs and other vegetation.

Many thousands of residents and

visitors have had to evacuate , often prompted by urgent alerts sent to their phones. Emergency shelters have been set up, including 78 by the Red Cross in Spain.

However, by May the i rst of a series of heatwaves had hit Europe. All heatwaves are made more intense and more likely by the global heating caused by fossil fuel burning. The one at the end of June was the most severe ever recorded in Europe and would not have happened without the heat from

The longer-term damage to homes and livelihoods is yet to be reckoned with but it will be large. The wildires around Bordeaux have already claimed some of the region’s famous vineyards, while the tourism and manufacturing industries around Valencia have been hard hit.

over a century of carbon pollution. The high temperatures meant the hot atmosphere evaporated water from rivers and lakes and sucked plants and soil dry, with the conditions made 80 times more likely by global heating . As a result of the drought conditions, vegetation became tinder and the risk of wildires soared, leading to a series of wildires scientists have

A further longer-term impact will be the damage to health . About 1.5 million people a year are estimated to have their lives shortened by wildire smoke.

Europe is the fastest-warming of all continents, due to an increase in heat dome conditions and the proximity of the Arctic, where relective ice is melting rapidly.

Simon Stiell , the UN climate chief, said: “The science on the cause is unequivocal: global heating, driven by humanity burning colossal amounts of coal, oil and gas, is making protracted heatwaves, severe loods and violent mega-storms more frequent, more intense and more costly . The awful costs of this climate crisis – both human and economic – are now reaching national emergency levels.

described as “irewaves”.

The situation has been worsened by the unprecedented development of huge “ire clouds”

– pyrocumulonimbus – in France.

▲ A man walks through a forest scorched by a wildire in Lanton, west of Bordeaux, in France. Left, ire crews and emergency vehicles battle a blaze near

“What needs to be done is equally clear: leave coal, oil and gas behind faster, scale up renewables, and protect people where the impacts are already hitting hardest .”

Muğla , Turkey,

that closed the Fethiye-Antalya highway. Right,

The EU has watered down green measures in the past year in the face of political opposition and corporate lobbying. Hadja Lahbib , European commissioner for crisis preparedness, told the Financial Times : “The commission can only be as ambitious as the member states want it to be. When member states drag their feet [on climate change] … there is a real danger and an incalculable price.”

a deer stands among the ash from blackened trees in France’s Gironde department

PHOTOGRAPHS: SARAH MEYSSONNIER/ REUTERS; YVES HERMAN/REUTERS; ANADOLU/GETTY

▲ Fireighters in south-west France battle blazes made more widespread by the e ects of huge ‘ire clouds’

Damian Carrington

Like the burn t-out cars, next door bore little resemblance to what it had once been. Rather than a house, it was a tangle of warped and burnt building materials, its roof collapsed into ripples of tile and its chimney absurdly horizontal.

the Guardia Civil to warn them that an evacuation order was imminent, had persuaded them to leave sooner rather than later.

Western Europe recorded its hottest ever June in 2026

Average surface air temperatures anomalies in June, relative to a 1990-2020 baseline

4C

Although the damage that greeted them when they returned home yesterday morning was minimal, the state of the mountains and the hamlet had shaken them.

June 2026

2003

+3.06C 2025

+2.75C

+2.85C

“The ireighters have been amazing,” said Merino. “But how do you stop ires like these when you live in mountains covered with pine trees? We must have a guardian angel who was watching over us and protecting our house.”

2

“What we saw when we got here

was just Dantesque,” said Herraiz, 68. “It’s such a beautiful place but … it had come to look like hell.”

The damage to the family home amounted to little more than a warped pipe and th e loss of a rainwater tank , which had probably helped protect the property as it melted and disgorged its contents over the terrace beneath.

0

Across the road, Javier Herraiz and his family, who had just returned to El Morro after leeing south-west to Cáceres , were sitting down to a tortilla and counting their blessings.

−2

“We’ve been so lucky,” said Herraiz. “Some people have lost their houses and some of them still have mortgages to pay.”

The smoke that rose over the mountains towards the end of last week, combined with a visit from

▲ After being evacuated last week, residents are assessing the damage

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025

Source: Copernicus ERA5/ECMWF

PHOTOGRAPH: MIGUEL RIOPA/A P/GETTY

National 19

Prince Harry facing huge legal bill in failed privacy case

They alleged misconduct including “serious wrongdoing amounting in many cases to criminal conduct” against 77 journalists, editors and executives, although only 23 were involved in the claims.

Caroline Davies

The Duke of Sussex and his co-claimants could be millions of

pounds out of pocket after losing their privacy case against the publishers of the Daily Mail , the high court in London heard.

White said the legal action was part of a “campaign” to demonstrate ANL had “misled the Leveson inquiry”, using high -proile individuals to persuade the government to implement the second part of the inquiry .

The seven claimants, who include Prince Harry, Doreen Lawrence and Elton John , sued Associated Newspapers Limited over allegations of unlawful information gathering, with their claims dismissed by Mr Justice Nicklin on 7 July . Now, their insurance may not cover the costs incurred by ANL defending the case.

The proceedings were seen as the

irst wave before a “banquet of litigation”, in a strategy to swamp ANL with other potential claims, he said.

Even if all allegations were not proven, any inding against ANL would be a “catastrophe” for the Daily Mail publisher, White added.

In a two-day hearing beginning

Oscar winning Irish singer dies aged 56 in motorcycle crash

yesterday to determine how costs should be paid, the court heard there was a shortfall between the claimants’ £16.2m insurance cover and ANL’s reported costs of £34.5m .

White said he was sad to say that Lawrence, the mother of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, was recruited to the case by Harry as a “national treasure” to garner public sympathy . He pointed to the statement, issued by Harry and Lawrence after the trial, which called the ruling

▲ Glen Hansard performing in 2024. Those paying tribute to him included the Irish president and the musician Ed Sheeran

PHOTOGRAPH: EARL GIBSON III/SHUTTERSTOC

Lawyers for ANL say the claimants should pay its costs on an indemnity basis, under which the losing party covers the other side’s costs without the need to show those costs are proportionate. ANL are asking for an interim payment of £9,950,624.37 . The claimants have ofered £8m .

Irglová co-wrote the song and shared the Oscar with Hansard. In 2011 Once was adapted into a stage musical .

President Catherine Connolly led tributes to Hansard as “one of Ireland’s great singer-songwriters” .

Ben Beaumont-Thomas

an “ obvious whitewash”.

Nicholas Bacon KC , for the claimants, said in written submissions that the judge should not award ANL their costs on an indemnity basis . He added that the costs “exceed its approved budget” and relected “an astonishingly high legal spend” , overriding the principle of proportionality that seeks to ensure parties are on an equal footing.

Hansard was also the frontman of

Bruce Springsteen said on Instagram that he was “heartbroken” . “We met in Ireland many years ago and he was always nothing but a great musician, a good friend and a generous and gracious man,” he wrote. “Always positive, smiling and ready to sing. God bless him and his loved ones.”

Glen Hansard, the Irish folk-rock musician and actor who fronted the band The Frames and had Oscar-winning success with the 2007 ilm Once , has died aged 56 .

The Frames, who released six studio albums, including the 2004 Irish chart-topper Burn the Maps .

Antony White KC , for ANL, argu ed that the claimants’ conduct justiied costs on an indemnity basis, and said the allegations were “of the broadest scope and utmost seriousness”.

Hansard’s representatives said his family was “deeply shocked and heartbroken by this tragic loss and respectfully requests privacy .”

He died in a motorcycle crash in Lucan on the outskirts of Dublin , early yesterday . Without naming him,

Ed Sheeran said on Instagram : “Heartbroken to hear the news about Glen. He was such an incredible human, an incredible force. I am grateful for the times we shared together, sending so much love to his family.”

police said he was treated at the scene but died a short time later.

‘A great musician, a good friend and a gracious man’

Bacon said that the group had “conducted themselves honestly and in good faith”. Referring to the post-trial statement by Harry and Lawrence, he said: “The costs to be ordered at this hearing concern the action itself, not the reaction to it.”

The Duke of Sussex and his co-claimants had called the dismissal of their case an ‘obvious whitewash’

Hansard won the Oscar for best original song for Falling Slowly , the centrepiece of Once, which starred Hansard opposite another real-life musician, Markéta Irglová , playing struggling musicians in Dublin who embark on a tentative romance;

Hansard is survived by his wife, the Finnish poet Maire Saaritsa, and their three-year-old son, Christy .

Bruce Springsteen

The hearing continues.

National Base justice

20

Ministers to ask why police cede serious cases to US military courts

into his alleged attacks on women in England.

Sufolk police had handed the Loubeau case over to military prosecutors just 11 days after two British women contacted the force to say he and another US airman had drugged and raped them after a meeting in a nightclub.

In response to the Guardian’s reporting on such cases, Gavin Stephens, the chair of the NPCC , has written to all chief constables in England and Wales to ensure forces understand their legal obligations in cases involving visiting US forces.

Harry Davies Rob Evans Emine Sinmaz Louisa Loveluck

S ources familiar with discussions in government said ministers were alarmed to learn that UK police forces may not be seeking advice from the CPS before handing over investigations to the US military.

Government ministers and police chiefs are reviewing the process through which US military personnel accused of committing serious crimes on UK soil are avoiding the British justice system.

Under legislation dating back to the 1950s, visiting US armed forces in the UK can prosecute their own personnel if the ofences were committed while they were on duty or against another member of the military, its property, or a dependant such as a spouse or child.

The ef ort is examining why UK police forces, which have primary responsibility for investigating such cases, have been ceding jurisdiction to US military investigators.

In all other cases, the British police have the irst option on whether to launch an investigation into US military personnel. The cases uncovered by the Guardian suggest the US has pushed to take control of investigations over which it does not have primary jurisdiction. British police appear to be meeting these requests.

Such decisions pave the way for

alleged perpetrators to be tried in a US military court martial process, an alternative system in which victims

▲ Jacob Wulfson, centre , was convicted of strangling but acquitted of sexual assault in a court martial at his Sufolk air base PHOTOGRAPH: US AIR FORCES CENTRAL

often do not have the same protections they would get in a British court.

The government and police reviews were launched after the Guardian uncovered a series of cases in which British police forces allowed the American military to take over investigations into allegations of serious sexual ofences.

The spokesperson said officials were working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) “to look at the guidance in place to ensure that cases are correctly referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for advice”.

days of receiving a report of a crime on UK soil.

Two forces – Sufolk and Cambridgeshire – are conducting reviews of how they handle investigations involving US military personnel.

Hannes Marschalek allegedly exposed himself to a 16-year-old girl and four young women in Littleport, Cambridgeshire. He admitted a charge of indecent conduct after negotiating a plea bargain at a court martial . The conviction was later quashed on technical grounds.

In a statement, Cambridge shire police said: “We are conducting a policy review being led by our investigation standards department.” The force added that the review was looking at cases from 2018 on, and it did not yet know how many there were.

When the irst case was revealed in June, Downing Street said it was “very concerning” that UK authorities were not involved in the prosecution of an American ighter pilot accused of raping and strangling a British woman,

Ministers have promised to press the US government for a full account of what happened in the Wulfson case. In a statement, the Foreign Oice said it had “been engaging with the US on this matter”.

Tyrion Davis allegedly raped two British wom en in Suf olk. He was convicted of one count of sexual assault when he was court martialled but acquitted of 10 further counts of sexual assault and abusive sexual contact.

Sufolk police said: “We are in the process of reviewing the decisionmaking surrounding the transfer of primacy to the US air force and around case transfer practices more generally.”

Sarah Steele , in his apartment after they met on a dating app.

The Guardian has unearthed several other cases involving US air force personnel who avoided UK courts despite their alleged crimes occurring while of duty. In each, local police handed the investigation over to military prosecutors, sometimes within

After Cambridgeshire police allowed US military police to take control of the case, the pilot, Capt Jacob Wulfson , was prosecuted in a court martial on a US airbase in Suffolk. The jury, an all-male panel of air force oicers, convicted Wulfson of strangling an intimate partner but

James Loubeau , who was accused of a string of rapes and sexual assaults in East Anglia , drugging some women and breaking into the homes of others, also avoided the British courts.

More than 12,000 US military personnel are stationed in the UK, operating from at least 15 bases and facilities. The largest concentration of personnel is at two US military installations in Suf olk, RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall . Large numbers of US forces live in the surrounding areas, including in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.

‘Language has weight’ Opaque justice system deepening trauma for survivors

Sarah Sackman, justice minister, said: ‘Our thoughts are with the victims whose experiences have come to light’

He was acquitted at a court martial where he was tried over allegations from just one of the six women who accused him of attacking them. He was later convicted in a court in Miami over another woman’s allegations, after an FBI investigation

acquitted him of sexual assault .

Victims of sexual attacks by US military personnel that would meet a common deinition of rape in the UK are inding their attackers are instead being prosecuted for lesser ofences .

Concern about US service personnel avoiding the British justice system has been raised by MPs from across

Under the set of laws that govern US forces, known as the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), rape carries a narrower deinition than in

political parties. Nick Timothy, the Conservative justice spokes person, said Wulfson “should have been fully investigated by the English police and prosecuted in our courts”.

British courts, meaning many cases are charged instead as sexual assault.

Wulfson was given a six-month sentence which he is serving at the US base RAF Lakenheath.

Jess Brown-Fuller , the Liberal Democrats’ justice spokesperson, said: “The British public expect crimes committed in England to be prosecuted in the English courts under English law. That expectation should not change simply because the accused is a member of the foreign military.”

In recent weeks, Home Oice and justice ministers met Steele to discuss her case and whether changes should be made to how UK police and prosecutors handle cases involving US military personnel.

A government spokesperson said Steele had “shown incredible bravery in coming forward” and ministers had “committed to identifying and learning any lessons from this case to ensure that victims are supported and treated with the seriousness, dignity and compassion they deserve”.

Responding to a question in parliament about the matter earlier this month, the justice minister, Sarah Sackman, said: “Our thoughts are with the victim, and with the other victims whose experiences have subsequently come to light.”

▲ Sarah Steele has been meeting ministers to discuss her experience of the US military justice system as a victim PHOTOGRAPH: ANTONIO OLMOS/THE GUAR IAN

2

◀ The 12,000 US military personnel stationed in Britain are likely to have their crimes judged by courts martial not UK justice. Victims of rape face US military trials that set very diferent de nitions and proofs which they say denies them justice

relects their lived experience can be integral to how a victim is able to process their experience.

Katrin Hohl , a professor of

criminology and criminal justice at the University of London , said: “The way other people respond to what happened to you, the way other people label it and frame it and see it has profound consequences for your ability to move forward. If the criminal justice system treats you in a way that denies you validation, it doesn’t just not help you recover, it actually adds further trauma.”

An earlier version of the UCMJ’s

article 120 dei ned crimes of sexual violence more loosely, but a new deinition adopted in 2007, and reined several times since then, instituted the narrower deinition of rape .

ILLUSTRATION: GUARDIAN DESIGN/ GETTY I AGES

Critics of article 120 say it fails victims because it was not developed in consultation with victims’ rights groups and individuals specialising in the ield of sexual assault.

‘The US air force picks the charges and then they pick the jury members, which is completely unfair’

“I think the intention came from a good place,” said Don Christensen , who served as chief prosecutor for the US air force between 2010 and 2014. “They modelled some of these changes on some state laws, but they didn’t really, to my understanding, talk to many of us who were prosecuting cases to ask us what the problems were.”

Rachel VanLandingham

Ex-US air force judge advocate

Rachel VanLandingham, a law professor and former US air force judge advocate involved in eforts to reform military law, said the broader problem with prosecuting sexual of en ces under the UCMJ was a structural one.

him to be conined to a corrections facility for six months.

“It’s concerning if the occupation of the accused pulls a survivor into a justice system that she doesn’t know very much about, or understand, and isn’t one that she feels she has got a voice in,” said

a common deinition of rape are also inding that their attackers are instead being prosecuted for lesser ofences, which carry more lenient sentences.

Louisa Loveluck Harry Davies

Steele said: “Words have power. Legal terminology isn’t just a technical exercise, it shapes how victims are understood . I respect that the law uses precise deinitions, but the language carried a profound emotional weight for me.”

merican service personnel accused of rape on British soil are being charged with lesser ofences by their military

A

Under the set of laws that govern US forces, known as the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), the crime of rape carries a narrower deinition to that of British courts, meaning many cases are charged instead as sexual assault.

“They pick the charges and then they get to pick the jury members, which is completely structurally unfair, but the system was never designed to be fair. It was designed to be a commander’s tool for strict discipline,” she said.

Kelly Johnson, a senior criminology lecturer at the University of Glasgow who research es policing responses to sexual violence. “A process might say it’s complying with its own formal rules, and still be experienced by survivors as alienating, degrading, and fundamentally unfair.”

She recalled “having to explain what the legal label meant and what it didn’t mean. Having to repeatedly explain that distinction has been exhausting and, frankly, retraumatising.”

courts, a discrepancy that experts

say is deepening the traumatic impact on survivors long after

British law dei nes rape as when someone puts their penis in another person’s vagina, anus or mouth without their consent and carries a maximum life sentence. Whether or not a victim was intoxicated is not relevant; the law centres on whether the alleged victim consented to the sexual act.

For victims, the consequences of having their experiences funnelled through such an opaque and militarised process can be devastating. Johnson said: “When victims don’t feel like they’re taken seriously, they’re not treated with respect and dignity, they’re not heard, that causes re traumati sation or what’s known as a secondary victimisation .

verdicts are passed.

There are more than 12,000 personnel stationed in US military bases across the UK, most of them in England. Although UK law enforcement has primary jurisdiction over crimes that occur when personnel are of duty, local police often choose to cede authority to the American military .

In the case of Capt Jacob Wulfson , an American ighter pilot, prosecutors accused him of drugging and strangling Sarah Steele , a British academic, during a date in his apartment in December 2023, before penetrating her vagina with his penis without her consent.

In another case, Tyrion Davis , an American airman, was tried in a court martial in June 2022 after two British women, including his wife,

accused him of rape . The oicial charge sheet said that he was convicted on one charge of sexual assault – described as penetrating the victim’s vagina with his penis without consent – but acquitted of

In contrast, under article 120 of the UCMJ, a rape charge requires the prosecution to prove that the defendant, without consent, used force or administered an intoxicant. In cases where the victim was drinking alcohol voluntarily, or is not proven to have been overwhelmed by force, the case is charged as sexual assault, with a maximum penalty of 20 years.

The charge for the nonconsensual penetration was sexual assault and “aggravated sexual contact” – a crime that does not even appear in UK statutes.

When that happens, British victims are thrust into an unfamiliar world, where their alleged attackers are tried at courts martial , often by a panel of American military personnel stationed at the same base.

Some victims say this is more profoundly damaging and harmful than the initial experience.”

10 further counts of sexual assault and abusive sexual contact, and two counts of assault.

Rape Crisis ofers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland , or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland

An all-male panel of airmen found Wulfson not guilty of the sexual assault charge, but guilty of strangulation. They sentenced

Experts working with survivors of sexual violence say a perception that the crime on the charge sheet

Victims of sexual attacks by military personnel that would meet

Eyewitness

22

Portrait of a city Spanning the US from coast to coast and the 20th and 21st centuries, the Dulwich Picture Gallery in south London presents an exploration in images of 100 years of American urban life. With works by greats such as Alfred Stieglitz , Helen Levitt , Dorothea Lange , Lewis Hine , Berenice Abbott , Diane Arbus , Garry Winogrand , and Bruce Davidson , the exhibition, open until 4 October , traces the twin constructions of the modern urban environment and the language of photography. From the Great Depression to the New Deal and beyond, urban optimism shifts to something more sinister.

▲ Riding the Ball High Up on Empire State, c1930, Lewis Hine ’s heroic portrait of the high-steel ironworker

Victor ‘Frenchy’ Gosselin . Right: Divers, East River, 1948, by

Arthur Leipzig . Left: Harlem, 1960 , by Saul Leiter , whose colour images capturing the personal amid the frenetic are now considered among the most accomplished photographs of New York City

PHOTOGRAPH: HOWARD GREENBERG GALLERY, NEW YOR

23

◀ New York, 1972, by the largely selftaught New Yorker Helen Levitt . Right: Nomads of America (Oakies on Their Way West), 1936,

John Gutmann ’s Bauhausframed migrants. Far right: Louis Faurer ’s Looking at the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center, 1949

PHOTOGRAPHS: FILM DOCUMENT LLC, COURTESY ZANDER GALERIE, COLOGNE PARIS; CENTER FOR CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY, ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS; HOWARD GREENBERG GALLERY

Walker Evans, 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue, 1929 . Below: Mary Ellen Mark ’s image of homelessness,

The Damm Family in Their Car, Los Angeles, 1987

PHOTOGRAPHS: THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART; THE MARY ELLEN MAR FOUNDATION

National 25

Poor health means new film is likely to be my last, says Mike Leigh, 83

‘It’s not a commodity’ Calls to stop ancient woodland being cut down for quarry

Damien Gayle

Benjamin Lee

Environment correspondent

t was at the conluence of seven forest paths that

The i lm-maker Mike Leigh has said his next ilm is likely to be his last.

I

Allison Sweetman came to a stop. Trees rose on all sides, save for a recently coppiced section to the north -east.

T he Oscar-nominated writerdirector was speaking at a n event in London to promote his next ilm, Tender Loving Care, which is due to have its premiere this autumn .

The noon heat had silenced most birds, but the quiet was peaceful . “This is what they call Seven Wents,” she said. For centuries, the people of Kent had travelled this way, from East Malling to Barming , from Ditton to Teston , for church,

The 83-year-old, whose films include Naked, Secrets & Lies, Mr Turner and Another Year, said another i lm would be “very diicult” and was “not going to be possible” as a result of his health, according to the industry website, Indiewire.

commerce and friends. “It’s on maps going back 400 years.”

Leigh has previously spoken about being diagnosed with myositis , a disease that afects the immune system and causes chronic muscle inlammation. When asked if Tender Loving Care would be his last ilm, he responded: “Absolutely. I think very likely, yes. I mean, I know the girls don’t like to hear me say that, but I think that is the case.”

That may be about to end. Seven Wents is part of Oaken Wood, 40 hectares of which is all but condemned to be razed. Developers want the stone beneath. Kent

county council, led by Reform UK, this month voted to include it in its mineral sites plan . That makes it a potential site of expansion for the quarry next door.

The i lm is a comedy drama starring Leigh’s long time collaborator and partner Marion Bailey , and Kate O’Flynn , the breakout star of Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay . Also involved are some of his frequent collaborators

The council said its decision

did not yet amount to planning permission – the plan needs government approval before that can happen. However, it does mean that it has identiied the ground beneath the forest as an essential source of stone for building and restoration projects.

▲ Hermitage Quarry is adjacent to Oaken Wood in Kent. Left, Rachel Rodwell, Allison Sweetman, Julie Read and Brontie Ansell

such as the producer Georgina Lowe, production designer Jane Brodie and casting director Nina Gold .

PHOTOGRAPH: DAN KITWOOD/GETTY; GRAEME ROBERTSON/THE G ARDIAN

The plot of Tender Loving Care

Now, campaigners are on the march. Continuously wooded since at least 1600, Oaken Wood is a plantation on ancient woodland site ( paws), which means it is the site of an ancient forest that has been replanted. For centuries it has been worked as a sweet chestnut coppice, with whole sections felled in rotation, allowing the stumps to regrow.

‘T here you go, it’s been replaced,’” Ansell said. Rodwell added: “It’s just treated like garden topsoil. And they forget the interconnectivity. It’s not [just] the soil, it’s a living system.”

is yet to be revealed, but it has been described as “an insightful exploration of the contemporary world ”. It will premiere at festivals this autumn, potentially with a world premiere at the Telluride ilm festival in Colorado at the end of August.

Last year, more than 25,000 voiced their concerns in a consultation on the plan. The Woodland Trust and Kent Wildlife Trust are opposed. Maidstone borough council, on which Sweetman and Rodwell sit, are to pass a rights of nature motion soon.

“I was lucky in making this last ilm,” Leigh said. “People were very helpful . You’ll see when I get up that my friends all helped me to stand up. So I probably can’t do much more. ”

The sun shone almost directly overhead, but the air was cool beneath the forest canopy. Sweetman, who knows the wood intimately and is a Green party councillor for the local area, led the way through green corridors lanked by almost impenetrable stands of plantation forest to another recently coppiced site.

His last i lm, Hard Truths , starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste , was a critical hit two years ago. In his fourstar review for the Guardian , Peter Bradshaw called it “a deeply sober, sombre, compassionate drama” .

including dormice, nightjars and owls. Alongside the sweet chestnut coppices stand veteran trees, including old oaks. Bluebells and other wildlowers bloom here. The soil itself, bound by a mycorrhizal network that has built up over aeons, is a seed bank and a carbon sink, says Kent Wildlife Trust .

“It’s protected in exactly the same way, legally, because it’s not just about the fact that there’s newish growth of trees,” she said.

On from Seven Wents, the

group walked north, towards the site of the existing quarry, which swallowed up 32 hectares of the wood just over a decade ago . With every step, the sounds of machinery grew louder.

“You’ve got all the soils, you’ve got the fungi, you’ve got all of the wildlife.” But, she added: “It is still irreplaceable. You couldn’t just create this somewhere else.”

With her were Rachel Rodwell , also a Green councillor; Julie Read , a campaigner; and Brontie Ansell , the managing director of

Soon the air was thick with the smell of exhaust fumes and the pneumatic hammers against stone. White powder, apparently rock dust, lay in a ilm across the forest foliage. A dead shrew lay on the loor. “You can breathe it, you can smell it, you can feel it in your lungs,” Rodwell said.

But that is precisely the plan, should development go ahead. Gallagher Group, which runs the Hermitage quarry, said the soil beneath the wood would be “translocated and retained” – dug up and moved elsewhere. The “non-native” chestnut trees , which have been in the UK since the time of the Roman empire , would be

It is what is beneath the soil that developers want . Kentish ragstone has been quarried since at least the time of the Romans and was the building block of Roman London. Kent county council says it is crucial for the conservation of ancient buildings, including the

Lawyers for Nature, who has been supporting their campaign to save the woods.

“It takes about seven years before they’re ready to be coppiced again,” Sweetman said. “And in the time they grow they’re actually absorbing more carbon from the atmosphere than a fully grown tree … Likewise their roots continue to grow, and that absorbs the surface water from rain.”

“ We’re treating nature as a commodity or a resource and we’re forgetting we’re part of the same system. And it’s this sense of entitlement that we can just strip it away and plunder it ,” added Rodwell.

Tower of London and Canterbury cathedral . Their opponents say it is wrong to place the conservation of the built environment over the conservation of nature. The council declined to comment .

removed and they would “put back more than double the tree planting in restored, native woodland”.

Campaigners are sceptical. “Essentially they lift a lot of the topsoil … and then they chuck the topsoil down somewhere and go:

There is little to distinguish Oaken Wood from any other ancient woodland site, said Ansell.

The wood is also a critical ecological site, supporting wildlife

“ It’s replicated across the country, across the globe.”

▲ The writer-director is promoting his latest i lm, Tender Loving Care

• The Guardian Thursday 30 July 2026 2

◀ Mourners in Baghdad carry the bodies of PMF ighters killed in yesterday’s US Saudi airstrikes

PHOTOGRAPH: MURTADHA RIDHA/AFP

context of the conlict as an opportunity to weaken Iran.

US-Saudi strikes in Iraq push the region into ‘uncharted territory’, say analysts

She said that on the Saudi side

there was a similar desire to appear unpredictable. “No one wants to stay in the status quo ,” she added.

“I think from the point of view of the Saudis there is a feeling that the Iranians are doing what they are doing because they feel that the Gulf Arab states won’t move up the escalatory ladder,” said H A Hellyer , a senior associate fellow in Middle East studies at the Royal United Services Institute thinktank.

be “hitting [Iran] hard ” even as he claimed the strikes in Iraq were coordinated with the government despite Baghdad’s condemnation.

Iraq’s Harakat al -Nujaba , an Iran-backed militia, added that Washington’s and Riyadh’s interests and security would face consequences, as mourners shouted Shi a sectarian slogans and “Death to America!”

facilities of the US and its allies, including in Saudi Arabia, despite the brief US pause.

Peter Beaumont

Senior international correspondent

The sense of growing chaos in the Middle East was summed up by

US-Saudi strikes on an Iranianbacked militia in Iraq ha d pushed the region into “uncharted territory”, analysts said yesterday.

The Iraqi presidency called the

“The Saudis want to make it clear that assessment is wrong and that if Tehran thinks the Gulf states are easy prey, they are wrong.”

strikes on the PMF, known in Arabic as Hashd al-Shaabi – an armed

Sanam Vakil , the director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at the Chatham House thinktank.

• as they carried the bodies of slain ighters from a hospital in Mosul in northern Iraq.

Iraq, which has been heavily

afected by the closure of the strait of Hormuz , through which most of its oil is exported , has struggled to prevent the war between the US and Iran spilling over its borders.

While Saudi Arabia has reportedly been involved in a handful of secretive strikes on Iran as part of the war, Riyadh’s overt involvement marks a

turning point in the conlict. It comes barely a week after Yemen’s Iran backed Houthi rebels announced a blockade of Saudi ports and cargoes

• at the entrance to the Red Sea. The latest flare up in ighting

alliance that includes powerful proIran factions – as “a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty, targeting its

Amid stark warnings of a widening and increasingly unpredictable

“Everyone is trying make sense of something that is increasingly senseless,” she said. “One view is that the

Hellyer said the problem was that while the Saudis may have rationalised the attack on the PMF as a precisely calculated act, it may be impossible to anticipate the response.

conlict, Riyadh’s decision to join the US in striking sites associated with Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), killing at least 20 ighters, has added another complicating dimension to the war.

oicial institutions”.

The PMF is a network of Shiamajority militant factions that was established in 2014 to ight Islamic State . Their eforts were overseen by the Iranian Gen Qassem Suleimani , a former head of the Quds force, the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

informal [US] pause in direct strikes on Iran saw a shift from Tehran to its proxies to maintain pressure [on Washington]. But there is no longer any plausible deniability because everyone knows how the relationships are intertwined. ”

“Because we don’t know that, we are in uncharted territory not just because of the context of the war this year, but the wider issues in the region,” he said. “And it is risky because Tehran sees itself as having been targeted by the US and Israel in a war of existential survival.”

Yesterday’s US-Saudi strikes

came after a brief lull in US attacks on targets in Iran . Iran, meanwhile, launched missiles at US military installations in Jordan yesterday in its irst attack in the region since the pause in i ghting with the US began.

Vakil said the unpredictability of Tehran’s tactics appear ed to be a deliberate attempt to pressure Trump “either into confrontation or concession ” with the aim of maintaining “a stranglehold on the strait of Hormuz ”.

Suleimani was killed by a US missile strike in Baghdad during Trump’s irst term.

Iraq ’s prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi , who recently met Trump, called of a

Hellyer added: “They see everything through a prism that they have to reset the of the game in the region dramatically even if they are wrong and over playing their hand. ”

After the tit -for -tat strikes, the pause in ighting appeared to be at an end, with the US president, Donald Trump, saying the US would

meeting with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman , in Jeddah today in response to the airstrikes.

follows days in which Tehran and its proxies ha d targeted bases and

Vakil also said countries in the region were interpreting the chaotic

Thursday 30 July 2026 The Guardian • After Lenin 27 Ukraine plans statue for anti Russia hero Page 31

Japan earthquake Stories of survival and loss emerge

Page 29

Fauci declines to testify at Senate hearing on Covid, citing fifth amendment

questioning. “This is about contempt – contempt for this body, and contempt for the American people.”

Democrats, meanwhile, defended

Fauci’s use of the amendment. In a statement read aloud by the Democratic s enator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Fauci’s attorneys argued that Paul was “ single-mindedly ixated on seeing Dr Fauci prosecuted for imaginary crimes ” .

Intelligence]?” Fauci responded: “On the advice of coun sel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the ifth amendment of the constitution.”

Jessica Glenza

Before the hearing, Republicans characteri sed their work as investigating “the origins of Covid-19 and risky taxpayer-funded life science research ” . Scientists have described the investigation as “viliication and harassment” of Fauci, who led N iaid for 38 years before retiring in 2022 .

Dr Anthony Fauci, who served as a key advis er to Donald Trump and Joe Biden during the Covid-19 pandemic, has refused to answer questions at a high-proile congressional hearing, accusing a Republican senator of having an “unhinged obsession” with him.

Paul pressed on: “Dr Fauci, would you at least like to answer this one question for us today, and let us know whether or not you have changed your mind on whether or not the beneits of gain -of -function [research] outweigh the risks?”

The Republican senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio demanded that Fauci apologise for a military policy that required service members to take the Covid-19 vaccine, to Americans who lost businesses during the pandemic, and to a single Ohio mother who was

▲ The hulls of the stranded ships are becoming encrusted with invasive species that could be carried around the world PHOTOGRAPH: SHADY ALASSAR/ANADOLU/GETTY

Fauci, the veteran former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid), invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination when appearing before a Senate committee yesterday.

Fauci replied: “On the advice of counsel , I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the i fth amendment of the constitution.” A visibly frustrated Paul

Ships stranded in Gulf pose global threat to biodiversity, warn scientists

leave the Gulf carrying barnacles, algae, mussels and other organisms, they could introduce invasive species that outcompete native wildlife, spread disease and permanently alter marine ecosystems.

arrested for not wearing a mask during an outdoor football game .

scolded Fauci : “The chairman has denied your assertion of privilege,” he said . He later added : “There will be repercussions to your refusal to testify today.”

Ron Johnson , a Republican senator for Wisconsin , called the Covid-19 vaccine, credited by scientists with saving millions of lives , an “experimental gene therapy ” .

Tamburri said: “When you move organisms around, they can reduce biodiversity in the regions they invade, cause local extinction of organisms that they displace .”

He said the Republican senator Rand Paul of Kentucky , who called the hearing, had led a years-long investigation of him and the origins of the pandemic aimed at “embarrassing and intimidating ” him, and

When an attorney for Fauci tried to join him at the table, Paul demanded the attorney move. “This is the way Anthony Fauci wants to be remembered – for a lawyer not recogni sing the rules … security please remove him from the room,” Paul said. The attorney left voluntarily , alongside a security guard.

Paul has long supported the “lab leak” theory – that the pandemic began as a release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology . Many virologists contend that that is improbable.

Invasive species could also devastate isheries, clog cooling systems of power plants and cost billions of dollars a year to manage, he added.

putting him “behind bars”.

“Therefore, although it pains me to do so, because of the respect I have for the legislative branch of government and my decades-long record of cooperating with Congress, under the advice of my attorneys I will invoke my right under the ifth amendment of the constitution to refrain from answering your questions,” Fauci said in his opening statement.

Matthew Pearce

The Gulf is already a hotspot for marine invasions, with previous

A 2024 survey of virologists from the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute found that most believed the pandemic began as a so-called spillover event – a virus jumping from an infected animal to a human.

The closure of the strait of Hormuz has created conditions for an extreme global biodiversity threat, with

studies identifying dozens of nonnative species introduced largely by commercial shipping. Researchers said the region’s extreme heat and salinity may make the organisms especially resilient.

At least part of Paul’s frustration

probably stemmed from Fauci’s receipt of a presidential pardon from Biden.

scientists warning that thousands of stranded ships could spread invasive marine species across the world’s oceans once they begin sailing again.

The hearing comes just days after Paul released what he describe d as Fauci’s “diary ”, a document of more than 1,100 pages characteri sed as revealing Fauci’s inner conflicts about the lab leak theory. Scientists have said this is a normal part of scientiic debate.

There is debate among experts about how far the ifth amendment extends. Some argue that once a person accepts a presidential pardon, they cannot invoke the ifth amendment. Without that right, Congress could hold a witness in contempt, which can lead to ines or – in the extreme – jail time. Others have argued that the right extends as long as there is a valid threat of prosecution, particularly by states.

“They’re pretty hardy,” Tamburri said. “They’re used to extreme environments, high temperatures and high salinities. Those hardy organisms that can often withstand those extreme environments make really good invaders.” He added that

Fauci, 85, served under seven US presidents and through numerous health crises, including the HIV crisis, Ebola outbreaks and the irst coronavirus outbreak, called Sars-CoV-1 .

More than 1,500 commercial vessels have been stuck in the Gulf since the strategic waterway closed on 28 February after the outbreak of the US- Israel war on Iran .

After opening statements the hearing soon became a back -and -forth between Paul and Fauci. Paul grew visibly agitated as Fauci refused to answer , threatened the scientists with “repercussions ” and then

An international team of marine biologists said that because the stranded ships were not moving, their hulls were becoming encrusted with marine life – from microbes and algae to barnacles and other invertebrates – that could hitchhike to ports around the world when trade resume d.

The diary also contain s entries about Trump , whom Fauci advised closely during the early days of the pandemic. He describe s the president as “rambling”, “crazy”, “desperate”, “bumbling”, “incompetent”, “an idiot”, “a true embarrassment”, “totally nuts” and “truly an obnoxious adolescent ” .

regions with similarly warm, salty conditions such as India and Singapore were most under threat and that authorities should be on alert.

The study said individual ships may have already released millions of larvae into Gulf waters . As shipping resumes, organisms in ballast water, as well as parasites and pathogens in “biofouling communities” that colonise ships’ hulls, could spread rapidly through the global shipping network.

ejected one of Fauci’s attorneys from the hearing room.

“You don’t have any rights under the fifth amendment,” said the Republican s enator Josh Hawley of Missouri, in a line of accusatory

“Did the [National Institutes of Health] ever fund gain -of -function [research] on monkeypox?” Paul asked, in reference to research that scientists do with viruses to manipulate them and make them more efective .

The study’s lead author, Prof Mario Tamburri of the University of Mary land Center for Environmental Science , said: “If you had to design the worst-case scenario, I don’t know if you could have done it diferently. It is a perfect storm.”

Tamburri urged governments and shipping companies to inspect and clean ships before they le ft the Gulf, wherever possible, while ports expecting arrivals should increase monitoring for invasive species and establish rapid-response plans.

“On the advice of coun sel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the ifth amendment of the constitution,”

The research describes the situation as a potential marine “bioinvasion super-spreader event”, arguing that no previous shipping disruption has involved so many vessels remaining idle for so long.

Fauci said.

After another description of research that Paul found unacceptable, he asked: “Dr Fauci, did the NIH ever conduct research for or in coordination with any element of the intelligence community, CIA, [Oice of the Director of National

Drawing a comparison with public health, Tamburri said the response should mirror eforts to contain infectious diseases.

According to the study, ships normally remain at anchor in a harbour for only one to three days , limiting

“Early detection is really important – prevention before you move around is really important,” he said.

the growth of organisms on their submerged surfaces. But many vessels trapped in the Gulf have been

“In a lot of ways, it is like tracking lu or Covid. You want to be prepared for it, detect it early. If you ind something, manage it right away.”

Dr Anthony Fauci, who advised Trump and Biden during the Covid pandemic, at the hearing yesterday

stationary for months, allowing dense marine communities to establish themselves. If thousands of vessels

PHOTOGRAPH: ANNA MONEYMA ER/GETTY

A NEW YOUTUBE SERIES

WITH JIMI FAMUREWA

Eat your way around the UK’s tastiest food trends

Renegade ramen shops in Essex and spice bag specialists in Belfast. Hype magnet hybrid bakeries in London and American style sandwich delis in Yorkshire. Follow food journalist and broadcaster Jimi Famurewa as he meets the people and plates shaping the way we eat in a new series. Watch it on You ube or at the Guardian.

New episodes every Monday and Thursday

World 2

Stories of survival and loss emerge from Japanese earthquake as thousands flee

◀ The 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Kumamoto province has damaged and destroyed roads and walkways, above; shrines and temples, below; and

homes, far left and bottom. All remain at risk from further seismic activity, according to authorities

PHOTOGRAPHS: KYODO/REUTERS; YUICHI YAMAZAKI/ A P/GETTY IMAGES

members crawled in and pulled him out. He was bleeding from the head . I’m so glad he survived.”

Gavin Blair Tokyo Rachel Hall

Hikawa has many older houses, with those not destroyed by the quake now at signiicant risk from aftershocks. Many residents spent Tuesday night in their cars outside

At least 13 people were killed when a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Japan on Tuesday, injuring hundreds and knocking out power and water to tens of thousands.

the town hall, where staf distributed food and drinks.

“There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time,” the prime minister,

Among them were Iwaoka Shigemi, 79, and his wife, Michiyo, 77, according to the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. With temperatures expected to reach 35C yesterday, the pair said they were worried about the risk of heatstroke.

Sanae Takaichi , said yesterday. “We will go all out to ind and rescue as many people as we can.”

The quake registered a maximum

• 7 on the Japanese shindo intensity scale when it struck Kumamoto prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu on Tuesday afternoon.

Suemi Nagata, 79, told a local newspaper she was unable to escape Hikawa by car because her garage had been destroyed, but had made it to the town hall with her husband and older sister. “The lateral shaking was worse than the Kumamoto earthquake 10 years ago, and it was terrifying,” she said. “Just to have survived with my life is something to be grateful for.”

Minoru Kihara, the government’s chief cabinet secretary, said more than 9,000 people were in evacuation centres across the country early

yesterday morning. The Japan Meteorological Agency

warned that areas with the biggest tremors would remain at risk of further strong quakes and landslides for about a week because the shallow earthquake was triggering seismic activity in the area.

In April, Kumamoto prefecture commemorated 10 years since a 7 magnitude earthquake killed more than 275 people and caused widespread devastation.

By yesterday morning, the agency had recorded more than 60 aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from 1 to 4. A tsunami warning was issued immediately after the quake, but was lifted within two hours.

In that case, a 6.2-magnitude foreshock was followed two days later by the deadly main quake – something that will be on the mind of tens of thousands across the prefecture in the days ahead.

Tomohide Nagata, a volunteer firefighter , told the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun newspaper about his experience responding to the emergency in the rural town of

In Kashima, 15 miles north of Hikawa , the Kumamoto Aeon shopping mall was severely damaged by what is understood to have been a gas explosion triggered by the earthquake. After evacuating alongside customers due to the quake, some employees went back into the building and were caught in the blast.

Hikawa , one of the area’s hardest hit, close to the epicentre of the quake .

“There was a voice coming from

a collapsed house, and I could see a hand,” he said. “ One of our senior

A 16-year-old girl who got out with other shoppers moments before the explosion told the Asahi Shimbun

In between Hikawa and Kashima, the city of Uki also experienced shaking ranked at the maximum 7 on the

newspaper she “felt completely safe once she was outside”, only to be left struggling to breathe amid dust and smoke from the explosion.

shindo scale. Here, residents told of lucky escapes and unsuccessful rescue attempts.

One woman in her 40s managed to get to an evacuation shelter with three generations of her family after putting herself between falling furniture and her children.

A 74-year-old man who often shopped at the mall told the Nikkei newspaper he had just learned that an acquaintance who worked there was hurt. “I could have been caught up in it myself,” he said.

Speaking to the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun from Toyono elementary school – which was being used as an evacuation shelter after the ceiling of the local disaster facility

Up to 30 employees were initially reported trapped inside and four

remain missing.

fell in – she said: “I was pinned under a chest of drawers at home. I protected my children and then hurried to evacuate.”

Others told of failed eforts to free an elderly man from a destroyed house in the city’s Asakawa district. On Tuesday evening, as neighbours and relatives attempted to check in on each other, they found one house

entirely lattened . Volunteer ireighters attempted a rescue, but were thwarted by the conditions .

“The man was a childhood friend of mine,” the visibly shaken 70-yearold head of the local district told the Kumamoto newspaper . “We tried to pull him out, but the aftershocks came one after another, so we had no choice but to give up.”

As in Hikawa, many Uki residents slept in their cars, and local government workers handed out water and food. Unable to use the damaged disaster facility, the city set up a makeshift response headquarters in a car park.

In Yatsushiro , 7 miles south of Hikawa, one 63-year-old said his life

had been saved by his schedule . “It was a day of and I wasn’t at work, so I escaped with my life,” said the selfemployed man, whose single-storey wooden workplace collapsed.

“ I have no idea what I’ll do starting tomorrow,” he added.

• The Guardian Thursday 30 July 2026

30 World

“It was quite common in Italy and France. The only thing I can say is that San Marco’s pharmacy had its own recipe.”

Was Florentine friars’ recipe the precursor to Coca Cola?

Kola Coca , an alcoholic syrup made in 1885 by distillers in Valencia, Spain, has also been held up as a potential inspiration for Coca-Cola.

Other documents found by Russo showed that the Florence friars’ concoction, the price for which ranged between 2 and 6 Italian lira – less tha n a cent in today’s euro currency – was wildly popular among customers.

A recipe for a medicinal potion similar to Coca-Cola was found in the archives of the San Marco convent in Florence

Angela Giufrida

▲ The i reball caught on camera in the North Island on Tuesday night

Rome

Two suspected meteors spark excitement in New Zealand

An Italian friar has unearthed a document from the pharmacy archives of an ancient convent in Florence

“Because it had fantastic properties that fought against fatigue, and the fatigue that came with ageing,” said Russo.

describing a medicinal potion made from Bolivian coca leaves and kola nuts, prompting suggestions it could have been a precursor to the famous US soft drink Coca-Cola.

“Up until Bolivian coca leaves were banned – because by that point it was understood that cocaine was a problem more than a cure – I would say that it was one of our best sellers.”

PHOTOGRAPH: UNIVERSAL I AGES GROUP/GETTY

Father Manuel Russo, the rector of the San Marco convent , said he stumbled across the yellowed document, a sort-of promotional lyer, while sorting through the archives.

The San Marco convent was founded in 1436 in Florence, with the pharmacy opening in 1460 to serve the neighbourhood’s poor community.

Eva Corlett

The lyer details the recipe for an elixir vinoso ricostituente, or restorative wine elixir, made with 10g of Bolivian coca leaves and 30g of kola nuts blended with wine, which the friars who concocted it promoted as a tonic to be used to recuperate the body and mind from fatigue caused by illness and ageing.

Wellington

using wine and so he combined the ingredients with carbonated water. Pemberton’s tonic eventually became Coca-Cola.

Russo said the pharmacy, which he describe d as “one of the most beautiful things we have at the convent”, still operate d though in 1995 its location was transferred to a diferent part of the Tuscan city.

Two large suspected meteors have lashed and boomed across New Zealand’s skies in recent days , delighting those who glimpsed them and sending some animals into a frenzy.

After learning of Russo’s discovery, some local news outlets pondered

whether the soft drink’s origins were

A i reball was seen over parts of the

in Florence and not the US city of Atlanta, Georgia.

However, the original premises are in tact, including the remains of a crocodile brought from the River Nile that has been hanging from the ceiling since the 1600s.

North Island just after 10.20pm on Tuesday night after a separate ireball streaked across the South Island’s skies on Sunday evening .

The document was not dated, but it is believed to have been produced

However, with no evidence demonstrating a link between the friars’ creation and the Coca-Cola recipe,

in the mid- 19th century, when the friars plied a brisk trade in Bolivian coca leaves. They were imported to Italy by missionaries long before they were globally banned in 1961 for containing the natural alkaloid used to make cocaine.

Footage captured on dashcams, security cameras and specialist meteor cameras showed North Island’s skies lighting up with a large lash, with dozens of people taking to social media to describe the “huge boom” that accompanied it.

Chemists in 19th-century Europe often hung crocodiles and other

Russo, who also found a couple of empty bottles that contained the potion, is erring on the side of caution.

reptiles from the ceilings of their shops as a way of indicating to customers that they had access to rare, exotic ingredients.

“I don’t want to attract a lawsuit from Coca-Cola or something like that,” he joked. “Mr Pemberton invented his own recipe, and without alcohol . Plus at that time other people were producing this kind of medicine with coca leaves.

30g

The recipe was similar to the one used by the American pharmacist ,

Russo also found labels for pure oxygen, cognac and rectiied petroleum spirit.

“Absolutely insane. I thought it was a plane on ire,” one wrote. Another said: “It was huge, the ball was orange with a purple tail. We saw black soot coming of it .” Another witness said their “cows went nuts”.

John Pemberton , who in 1886 created a sweet syrup by mixing coca leaf extract and kola nuts.

Amount of kola nut, mixed with 10g of Bolivian coca leaves and wine, in the friars’ recipe, above

“The inventory in the pharmacy’s archives is incredible,” he said.

Local laws prevented him from

Steve Wyn-Harris , director of Fireballs Aotearoa , an organisation of geologists, astronomers and citi-

zen scientists who track meteors and meteorites , was in his spa in Hawke’s Bay when the sky lit up. “I saw a big lash in the sky and thought, ‘No, that can’t be a ireball – this would be too good to be true’,” he said.

On the steppes Traditional yurt culture in Kyrgyzstan, where nomadic life still thrives in the highlands. Felt yurts, portable tents, are central to seasonal migration for livestockbreeding families.

He initially thought it was lightning, until his phone started pinging with eyewitness reports.

“More importantly, what’s exciting about this is people heard the sound, the sonic boom,” he said, which means the meteor reached relatively close to the ground.

On Sunday , a similar streak of light was reported on the South Island.

Fireballs Aotearoa is encouraging residents to look out for debris – meteorites – from Tuesday . “Look out for a black stone that wouldn’t ordinarily be there,” Wyn-Harris said.

Just 10 conirmed meteorites have been found in New Zealand in the past 150 years . Retrieving one can be di i cult: New Zealand has a small population unlikely to spot meteors ,

dense terrain that can hinder the hunt for debris and a lack of infrastructure to help triangulate a landing.

Now, though, Fireballs Aotearoa has 200 cameras around the country, and an increase in security cameras

could help eforts . “We’ve got some of the best coverage in the world, which is why we’re seeing these things now ,” Wyn-Harris said.

PHOTOGRAPH: AYTEN ALTINTAS/ ANADOLU/GETTY

World 3

▼ A father and his son visit the new bust of Ivan Mazepa at the Perchersk Lavra monastery in Kyiv last week

PHOTOGRAPH: ALESSIO MAMO/THE GUARDIAN

Bulgakov museum remains open inside his former residence .

Goodbye, Lenin Ukraine elevates anti Russian hero with statue plan

Liudmyla Habianuri , who runs the museum, acknowledged that Bulgakov wrote negatively about Ukrainian nationalist forces in his novel The White Guard, and said she was not opposed to the

statue’s removal . But, she added: “Bulgakov was a witness to his times. And a satirist. He didn’t like anybody. That included communists and priests.”

She said Russia’s current war ha d prompted Ukrainians to ask themselves who they are. “It’s a very painful question . If I speak Russian and watch Russian ilms and the Russians are killing me, then I must give all that up. Then I’m Ukrainian,” she said. “And if I’m Ukrainian, I must become Ukrainian as quickly as possible.”

Luke Harding

Kyiv

This has led to people joining the struggle for identity in various ways, including on social media

he plinth at the end of Taras Shevchenko

T

and by attacking monuments, with Bulgakov a frequent target of such struggles, Habianuri reasoned.

Boulevard in Kyiv has been eerily empty since 2013 – though someone has stuck

“Right now there is a table with only two columns: plus or minus. As a Russian who didn’t write from the perspective of Ukraine’s defenders, Bulgakov can’t get a plus sign,” she said.

a Ukrainian trident where Lenin once stood. Erected when the country was under communist rule, the statue was toppled and smashed during Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution , which ousted the proRussian government .

Habianuri warned that a process of “simplii cation” was under way, but admitted she was delighted when the Lenin statue was pulled down, saying: “The man was an enemy of humanity itself.” She said

In June, Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed putting a new igure on

the plinth: Ivan Mazepa , a Cossack military and political leader, who broke with Moscow and fought for Ukraine’s independence at the start of the 18th century. “I am certain that where Lenin fell, Mazepa will stand i rm,” Zelenskyy said while standing next to a bust of Mazepa

Mazepa was a “unique person” who had inspired a notable poem by Lord Byron , but questioned whether Lenin’s former plinth was a itting spot for him.

“I understand it’s a quick jab at Russia , but it’s not the right place for a hero,” she said. “The Germans hanged people there during the second world war.”

in the Perchersk Lavra , an ancient monastery hit by Russian missiles.

The proposed monument to

Mazepa where Lenin once stood has triggered a lively debate on cultural commemoration and what it says about changing national identity. After winning independence from Russia in 1991, Ukraine removed large numbers of Soviet-era statues and renamed streets, as part of a process of “decommunisation”.

While Lenin’s monument was smashed with sledgehammers, the Bulgakov statue was carefully packed up and returned to the family of its late sculptor, Mykola Rapay . His daughter Katyrena declined the Guardian’s request to photograph the work at its new location , saying she had given oicial guarantees it would stay “out of public space”.

▲ The column once occupied by a statue of Lenin on Taras Shevchenko Boulevard, and

another toppled Lenin, left

PHOTOGRAPHS: ALESSIO MAMO/THE GUARDIAN; PRYLEPA OLEKSANDR/A P/ GETTY IMAGES

Alim Aliev , a Ukrainian writer and human rights campaigner, said : “We are reclaiming our own voices and names .” He cited the example of Vasyl Stus , the 20th century poet and dissident who led Ukraine’s national revival and died in a Soviet prison camp in 1985. From September, Stus’s portrait will appear on a new Ukrainian banknote .

The country went further with this process after Russia annexed Crimea and i ghting began in the Donbas in 2014, and it moved even faster after Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale “special military operation” against all of Ukraine in 2022.

“These are not my whims. The

sculpture is not my property. I am the guarantor of its preservation,” she explained.

At the Perchersk Lavra, tourists walked past the Mazepa bust,

newly installed by a fountain and a pleasant shady garden. It is part of a complex that includes the 11th- century Dormition Cathedral, used for the burial of prominent igures in medieval times.

Nataliia Kryvda , a professor of cultural history at Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv , said Ukraine was still in a period of decolonisation. “The USSR absorbed national cultures. It tried to make a single nation of Soviet citizens,” she said. “Russia today looks at Ukraine and says we are one people. It isn’t true. We have our own mindset, historical destiny, beliefs and dreams. Our identity is a dynamic process.”

Aliev said Ukraine was now speaking about its past “without mediators” and it was appropriate that statues of another poet, the Russian Alexander Pushkin, had been taken down. “He had a totally imperial view of Crimea ,” he said.

until the moment he dramatically changed his life and history .”

‘I understand it’s a jab at the Russians, but [Lenin’s plinth] is not the right place for a hero. The Germans hanged people there’

Mazepa, a patron of the arts, donated money to pay for the cathedral’s baroque renovation. In June, a Russian drone crashed into its roof, causing a ire, and blackening external pictures of saints. Other icons and religious artefacts were rescued.

As the head of Cossack Ukraine, Mazepa was loyal to the Russian tsar, Peter the Great, for most of his rule. But when Peter refused to protect Ukrainian territory from invading Swedes in 1708, Mazepa

Of the proposed Mazepa statue, Aliev added: “I don’t think it’s a controversial idea.”

Last month, work ers in Kyiv took away a monument to another Russian literary giant . A statue of Mikhail Bulgakov – who was born in Kyiv to a Russian family when it was part of the Russian empire – had stood outside his former home since 2007. Plaques dedicated to the writer had already been taken down elsewhere in the city, but a

allied with the invaders. “Mazepa was the architect of European Ukraine,” Kryvda said.

Saying she was in favour of a Mazepa monument, Kryvda added: “Why not? He’s our leader. Each culture needs to mark its space with memorials. They objectify memory .” She described Mazepa as “contradictory ” and not an “ideal hero ” , who “really was a friend and political partner of Russia, right up

One Ukrainian visitor, Olena Polishchuk, said she had come

In his speech at the Perchersk Lavra, Zelenskyy said Russia had smeared Mazepa for centuries, depicting him as a traitor. The goal, he said, was to make Ukrainians “view their own history through the eyes of others.”

from the UK, where she has lived since Putin’s invasion. What did she think of Mazepa? “He’s a famous man. I’m glad he’s being commemorated. He’s an important party of our history,” she said.

Liudmyla Habianuri Museum curator

ri

Thursday 30 July 2026The Guardian •

33

FTSE 100 All share Dow Indl Nikkei 225 £/€ £/$

+37.39 +17.47 -792.17 -930.73 1.1676

1.3289

10908.41 5856.59 51955.15 61434.19 +0.0002 0.0003

SOURCE: ICE www.ice.com/data

FTSE 100 hits record high as sell-o in AI stocks rattles other markets

Datacentre projects may face fees for access to power grid

to the grid, yet are vital to meet the country’s electricity demand.

The National Energy System Operator (Neso), which runs the grid,

cleared hundreds of dubious “zombie” projects from the queue to make way for clean electricity schemes with the best chance of achieving the government’s energy targets.

Tackling the datacentre queue will be more complicated, however, because there is little consensus within government about how much data capacity the UK will need ,

equivalent to between 2.5% and 7.5% of the average cost of a project

Dan Milmo

to secure a date for grid connection. This would be returned once the datacentre was switched on, or forfeited if the project stalled.

Joanna Partridge

Datacentre projects in Britain will be forced to pay hundreds of millions of pounds to plug into the power grid under proposals to tackle a growing

despite the drive to create AI growth zones across the country .

This means datacentre providers, which include companies such as Amazon and Microsoft, could be required to put down pledges of £350m to reserve 500MW of grid capacity for their new facilities.

The energy system operator’s most conservative forecasts for Great Britain’s data centre capacity by the end of the decade stand at 3.7GW, and their top-end estimates are 6.7GW. The government’s “compute roadmap” calls for “at least 6 GW of AI -capable data centre capacity by 2030”.

London’s FTSE 100 stock index has

electricity connection logjam .

touched a fresh high, driven by strong corporate results as investors moved money away from tech and semiconductor stocks amid the global tech stock sell-of .

Ofgem, the sector watchdog, said it was taking action to discourage “speculative” data centre projects from causing unnecessary delays to the grid connection queue, which

▲A datacentre owned by Google in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire

Developers would also be required to hit “hard milestones” in advance of their connection date or be removed from the queue to ensure the country’s limited grid capacity went to “projects most likely to be built, not projects preserving options ”.

avoid the wait for a grid connection, but most developers would prefer to draw power from the grid too.

The UK’s blue chip index rose as high as 10,951 points yesterday morning before falling back slightly , its best level since 27 February, the day before the US and Israel began attacks on Iran and sparked stock market volatility.

includes hospitals, schools and housing developments.

Michael Shanks , the energy minister, said: “Britain needs a grid connections system that works for the 21st century and allows businesses to invest and grow, creating jobs across the country.

There are 315 datacentres queueing to connect, representing 73GW of demand, according to Ofgem. This has increased by almost 50% in the last year to almost 30GW above the entire country’s peak energy demand of 45GW.

The rising number of datacentres seeking a grid connection has followed the UK government’s stated aim to “lead in the age of AI”, and has coincided with a wider increase in demand for electricity to cut the use of fossil fuels.

Datacentres are the central nervous systems of AI tools such as chatbots, but they have increasingly sizeable energy needs as their usage and capability grows. Some projects are exploring private, on-site power generation as a temporary solution to

“That’s why this government reformed the connections process and why Ofgem’s actions will help ensure that viable, connection-ready projects can get going and not be held up by speculative applications.”

On a day of fresh losses in the US for the tech-heavy Nasdaq index, the FTSE 100 closed up 0.3% at 10,908, marginally below its record closing value of 10,910 in February.

The energy regulator for Great Britain said it planned to introduce a new “data centre commitment fee”

There is a backlog of power generation and storage schemes, which face years of delays to secure connection

The FTSE 100 is heavily weighted towards the inance and energy sectors, meaning it has been largely shielded from the sell-of in tech stocks that has rattled other global markets, particularly in Asia and New York. The Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered and the miner Rio Tinto

Sparkling times for Kent winemaker as sales increase by 19%

announced a rise in shareholder payouts yesterday.

The FTSE 100’s climb came as shares in companies linked to AI plunged for the second day in a row over concerns about spending on the technology, sending stock markets in South Korea and Japan tumbling.

▶ Chapel Down said it was meeting demand by bringing more land into production

Sarah Butler

Hot weather and US expansion helped the English sparkling wine-

Meanwhile, the oil price continued to rise after the US military said it had knocked down an Iranian missile barrage and worked with Saudi Arabia’s forces to strike sites in Iraq that Tehran-backed militias had recently used to launch attacks. Brent crude

maker Chapel Down increase sales by 19% in the i rst half of this year, but production at its vineyards is expected to be down on last year.

PHOTOGRAPH: CHRIS RATCLIFFE/ BLOOMBERG/GETT

The Kent-based irm said its vines had beneited from the long spell of hot weather but it was not expecting a repeat of last year’s bumper crop, which was 15% ahead of the

rose above $90 a barrel by late afternoon in London, up more than 7%.

Seoul’s Kospi index is dominated by semiconductor manufacturers, and disappointing results from the chipmaker SK Hynix left it down by as much as 12.6% at one point . The index closed down 6% after falling almost 11% the previous day, reaching its lowest level since early April and marking an almost 40% fall from the peak reached just over a month ago.

ive-year average – as the plants had been afected by a late frost in May. This year’s crop is expected to be in line with the ive-year average.

“Last year was a really exceptional year,” said James Pennefather, the chief executive of Chapel Down.

Wine from the grapes harvested last year will be ready to drink in about three years’ time and Chapel Down said it was meeting increased demand as it was gradually bringing more of its 1,000 acres (400 hectares) of vineyard into production after a spate of planting in recent years.

15%

Trading was halted for 20 minutes for the second consecutive session after an 8% plunge triggered a market- wide circuit breaker.

Amount by which last year’s Chapel Down harvest was above the ve-year average – it will be ready to drink in about three years

Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.5% down yesterday, a two-month low.

Chapel Down said sales hit £9.4m in the six months to 30 June as younger drinkers increasingly turned to sparkling wine to celebrate events such as birthdays and anniversaries

SK Hynix, which produces the chips essential to the expansion of AI datacentres, reported record proits for the second quarter but undershot investors’ expectations . Shares in its fellow chipmaker Samsung Electronics closed 5% lower.

• as well as more formal occasions such

• as weddings.

• 3 Business

Electric car sales rules ‘delaying UK investment’

Rogue OpenAI agent that attacked US startup hit four more companies

Hugging Face might host the solutions to the test. Hugging Face said it had recovered 17,600 “attacker actions” carried out by the agent.

“We believe the entire intrusion was, from the agent’s point of view, an attempt to cheat the evaluation: reach our production systems and steal the test solutions rather than solve the challenge on its own,” Hugging Face said.

environment – and hacked another sandbox “hosted on a third-party provider’s infrastructure” before turning it into a launchpad for the broader hack.

Dan Milmo

Jasper Jolly

Global technology editor

The startup said the agent had reached its internal infrastructure, but had only accessed content related to the cybersecurity test. The attack

OpenAI has revealed that a cyberattack carried out by a rogue AI agent had more than one victim.

Carmakers are delaying inal decisions to invest in UK factories until electric car sales rules are relaxed, according to the head of the British car industry’s lobby group.

Akshat Bubna, Modal’s chief technology oicer, told Reuters the afected customer had “published an unauthenticated endpoint that allowed anyone on the internet to use their sandboxes for code execution”

The ChatGPT developer said the agent – an autonomous tool able to carry out sequences of commands without human help – had located and used logins to access four other unnamed “publicly available services” in addition to the US startup Hugging Face.

• took place over ive days, Hugging Face said, and the volume of actions carried out were “far beyond what an operator could sustain by hand”.

Describing the agent’s ofensive threat as real , Hugging Face said the

• tool had harnessed a number of IT vulnerabilities, escaped its testing environment, reached the public internet and mounted a “coherent campaign” against the startup’s infrastructure for several days.

Mike Hawes, the chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) , said manufacturers with existing UK operations were considering building new

▲ The AI agent reportedly exploited code that was written by a customer

– the digital equivalent of leaving a door open .

OpenAI said last week that the attack had been created by its GPT-5.6 Sol model and an unnamed model. It said in its update on Tuesday that the unnamed model ha d been “deactivated, encrypted, and restricted from research access ”.

AI startups access the chips they need to run AI tools , said the agent exploited vulnerable code written by a customer that was hosted on Modal’s platform.

models, but had held back so far. The British car industry has put

It said the activity was not at the severity of what occurred at Hugging Face , a company that hosts a database of AI models . The agent, powered by two OpenAI models , had evaded control and attacked the startup during an internal cybersecurity test.

pressure on the government to weaken the zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate , which forces manufacturers to sell an increasing share of electric cars each year up to 2030.

According to a timeline of the incident published by Hugging Face this week, the rogue agent broke out

It said a human attacker could have found and exploited the same aws , but the diference was the sheer scale of the agent’s attempts to ind a way through.

In the new Hugging Face timeline, the startup said an agent powered by two OpenA I models had made thousands of small, automated decisions executed at machine speed to carry out the attack.

Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary , has indicated the government is likely to water down the mandate further.

“The [OpenAI] models identiied and used publicly exposed credentials at the account-level on other publicly-available services. This includes four accounts on four services as part of the Hugging Face incident,” OpenAI said.

of its sandbox – or an isolated testing

17,600

“Agents bring a step increase in the number of paths an attacker can test, the speed at which failed paths can be replaced, and the volume of evidence defenders must interpret,” Hugging Face said.

Manufacturers are “waiting for the mandate, certainly,” said Hawes . “There’s investment decisions on next model, next generation, which

It said the hack appeared to be driven by an attempt to “cheat” an internal cybersecurity test at OpenAI, with the agent inferring that

Number of ‘attacker actions’ carried out by the agent against the US startup Hu ing Face

Modal Labs , a company that helps

… need an easing of the mandate.”

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Thursday 30 July 2026 The Guardian •••

Business 35

BMW to cut 8,000 jobs amid pressure from Chinese rivals

BMW’s cuts come after Milan Nedeljković , who was previously head of production, took over as chief executive in May .

Jasper Jolly

BMW is planning to cut as many as

A spokesperson for BMW said the group was “ proactively shaping the profound changes taking place in its operating environment” including “the technological transformation of the automotive industry, geopolitical uncertainties, changing market conditions and developments in China ”.

8,000 jobs in Germany, according to reports, in the latest sign of Europe’s largest carmakers reducing costs

under pressure from Chinese rivals .

The Munich- based company has started a voluntary redundancy programme agreed with employee representatives, a BMW spokesperson said yesterday.

Volkswagen, Germany’s largest carmaker by volume, conirmed on Friday that it w ould cut as many as 100,000 jobs from its total workforce of 650,000 . The plans include closing four factories and halving the number of models produced.

Greggs sales soar as chain adapts menu to heatwaves

The company and its works council had agreed a severance programme targeting the administration and development divisions , the spokesperson said. Production operations are excluded. BMW’s total workforce

She said the company had been able to hedge 90% of its energy costs for this year and half of those for next year, protecting it from the recent surge in the oil price, while the cost of key commodities such as cocoa and cofee had stepped back after a period of high inlation.

▲ Greg s says its new chicken roll is a big success; left, it has also widen ed its iced drinks range, which includes a matcha latte

Porsche, the sports car brand part-owned by Volkswagen, is also

is about 160,000 .

Germany’s carmakers have come under intense pressure in recent years

undergoing a severe restructuring . Another 5,000 job cuts were agreed this week, taking total planned redundancies to 9,000 – a ifth of its work force – by 2035. The Stuttgartbased company reported a €1.4bn (£1.2bn) proit before tax yesterday, up from €1.1bn a year earlier.

The chain’s pre-tax proit rose by

PHOTOGRAPH: MIKE KEMP/ INPICTURES/GETTY

with the rise of Chinese competitors that have quickly come to dominate in the electric vehicle market . Chinese manufacturers have launched a ierce price war in their home market, which had previously been a lucrative source of export earnings for European brands, including BMW.

almost 20% from a year earlier to £76m for the irst half of the year, which it said was because of cost control as well as growth in its “bake at home” range of frozen treats, which

April was hailed as a “standout success”, while Greggs said a relaunched salad range with more protein, including a chicken caesar salad and prawn layered pasta salad , ofered healthier lunchtime options.

Joanna Partridge Sarah Butler

it expanded in Iceland supermarkets and launched in Tesco this year.

Porsche’s sales in China slumped by 30% to 14,500 in the irst half of 2026 , faster than the 17% decline across the group as a whole. Donald Trump’s withdrawal of subsidies for electric cars such as Porsche’s Taycan also hit North American sales.

Iced matcha lattes and a bigger range of salads and chicken rolls helped

The results mark a turnaround compared with last summer when its sales and proits were hit as customers shunned pastries such as steak bakes and vegan sausage rolls during periods of hot weather.

Europe’s carmakers have also had to ind cash for their own transition from petrol to electric, and cope with the impact of US tarif s . Several manufacturers – including Volkswagen,

Greggs boost sales during the string of summer heatwaves and showed

Currie said Greggs had adapted to the warmer UK weather by introducing iced drinks last year and a “more compelling” selection of salads this year. “We have become more resilient as we have seen hot weather become more of a normality ,” she said.

it was adapting to the UK’s increasingly hot summers , the bakery chain said yesterday.

Stellantis and Ford – have turned to partnerships with Chinese rivals to help them build and sell in Europe.

Aston Martin has also struggled in China and the US. The Warwickshire-based company’s losses grew in the irst half of the year despite it saying its turnaround eforts had improved sales.

That prompted analysts and consumers to ask whether the UK had hit “peak Greggs ” . Currie insisted otherwise last summer, saying the company had previously bounced back from other downturns.

Total sales at Britain’s biggest fast food business rose to £1.1bn for the irst six months of 2026 – 7.2% higher than the same period a year earlier.

Greggs has also been able to appeal to new and younger customers by offering new drinks, including lemonades and iced matcha, the antioxidant-rich green tea that has become popular with

The rise in sales was largely down to extra stores as the chain opened 34 new sites on a net basis, taking its total UK outlets to 2,773 by the end of June. The Newcastle-headquartered

Yesterday the carmaker reported a loss before tax of £89m in the second quarter of 2026 , up from £61m in the same period a year earlier . That left the loss for the irst six months at £154m .

That revival appears to be well under way, with Greggs saying the introduction of new products on its menus had helped attract healthconscious customers, even during the

gen Z consumers .

company said th e new shops had been performing well , which it attributed to its “disciplined focus on high-quality locations”.

Currie said the latest results showed the company “continued to outperform the market” and it still had room for more outlets, particularly by motorways and in travel hubs, industrial sites and retail parks .

heatwaves. A chicken roll launched in

The FTSE 250 company’s share price rose by 3.5%, however, after it said its performance had “materially improved” during the half year with revenues up 38% to £629m.

‘We’ve become more resilient as we have seen hot weather become a normality’

Sales at the company’s existing stores rose by 2.1% between January and June, helped by a wave of price rises on key items at the start of 2026.

▲ BMW’s headquarters in Munich

She said: “We remain focused on opening shops in more catchments and introducing convenient ways for customers to pick up Greggs favourites, while broadening and innovating our menu in line with changing tastes and trends.”

Aston Martin has endured years of turmoil since it listed on the London stock market in 2018. It made a ifth of its workers redundant in February .

160,000

Roisin Currie , its chief executive , said Greggs did not expect to put up prices further this year as its prediction for cost inlation had taken a step back to 2% from 3%.

BMW’s total workforce, which will be decreased in Germany through voluntary redundancy

Roisin Currie Chief executive, Gregs

Additional reporting PA Media

Fed holds interest rates steady despite Trump calls for a cut

of a percentage point. At the Fed’s

Warsh has signalled he is ushering in a new era at the central bank, one that emphasi ses a reservedness

February, has pushed energy prices higher for US households and businesses, a pressure Warsh has openly acknowledged and vowed to quash.

June meeting – its irst under the new chair, Kevin Warsh – half of the central bank’s 18 members predicted at least one rate rise by the end of the year. Interest rates currently sit at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%.

on forward guidance.

At his i rst meeting in June, he announced ive new task forces –

“The members of our committee have no tolerance for persistently elevated inlation, and we share a resolute commitment to ensure price stability,” he said at a congressional hearing earlier this month.

comprising economics professors, business leaders and former central bank governors – that are meant to rethink how the Fed approaches its communications, data, balance sheet policy and inl ation framework, and the impact of artiicial intelligence on its policy judg ments.

earlier this month eased expectations

Gaya Gupta

of an imminent rate rise. But the tenuous peace deal between the US and Iran have made energy prices creep up again , strengthening the case for an increase.

“Inlation remains elevated relative to the Committee’s 2 percent goal, in part relecting supply shocks that have driven price increases in certain sectors, including energy,” the open market committee said in its statement, which once again is noticeably shorter after Warsh’s calls for more streamlined communication.

The US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady yesterday, leaving them unchanged for the ifth time since December despite Donald Trump’s renewed calls for a cut.

The Fed’s main way to combat higher prices is to increase interest rates . But on Monday Trump repeated his call for interest rates to be lower, saying the US “should have the lowest rates in the world ”.

The Fed’s f ederal o pen m arket c ommittee voted 9-3 to maintain rates, with three dissenting members

The US Israel war with Iran, which has endured since the end of

Cooler inl ation data published

wanting to raise them by a quarter

36

Weather Thursday 30 July 2026

UK and IrelandNoon today Forecast Around the UK

London

14

Low High

• 9
• 10

20

Lows and highs Precipitation Air pollution

Sunny Mist Fog

Tomorrow

14 28

15%

Low

Sunny intervals

Hazy

Manchester

Mostly cloudy

Shetland

9 20

5%

Low

9

Inverness

Edinburgh

1012

Overcast/dull

14 16

7

8 18

60%

Low

Slight

Sunny showers

Belfast

Edinburgh

Low High

20

19

1016

Sunny and heavy showers

10 17

85%

Low

Glasgow

Saturday

Birmingham

Newcastle

ca

Light sh

owers

16

10 24

5%

Low

Belfast

Slight

Rain Sleet Light snow

Brighton

19

York

14 23

5%

Low

Snow showers

Dublin

Liverpool

rpoo

ol

22

20

Bristol

Carbon count

Ice

Nottingham

Nott

m

Heavy snow

Norwich

35C 30 25 20 15 10

23

12 22

10%

Low

Birmingham

ming

Cardi

Thundery rain

Daily atmospheric CO2 readings from Mauna Loa, Hawaii (ppm):

20

2

28

11 22

10%

Low

Thundery showers

LondonL

Cardiff

Ca

Latest

Newcastle

27

• 28 Jul 2026 429.01 Weekly average 19 Jul 2026 428.72
• 29 Jul 2025 427.58 29 Jul 2016 403.35 Pre-industrial base 280 Safe level 350

X

5 0

1020

Dover

22

Temperature, ºC

8 20

55%

Low

• -5
• -10
• -15
• -20

Plymouth

Penzance

22

14

Slight

Windy

Wind speed, mph

14 21

25%

Low

The Channel Islands

Source: NOAA ESRL

Atlantic front Weatherwatch Around the world

Have you ever wondered how far a raindrop has travelled before it

Algiers 33 Ams’dam 26 Athens 33 Auckland 16 B Aires 16 Bangkok 32 Barcelona 31 Basra 48 Beijing 33 Berlin 37 Bermuda 30 Brussels 27 Budapest 36 C’hagen 26 Cairo 38 Cape Town 21 Chicago 31 Corfu 35 Dakar 31 Dhaka 28 Dublin 20 Florence 38 Gibraltar 27 H Kong 29 Harare 23 Helsinki 23 Istanbul 28 Jo’burg 19

Lisbon 28 Madrid 39 Malaga 30 Melb’rne 12 Mexico C 25 Miami 35 Milan 39 Mombasa 29 Moscow 21 Mumbai 29 N Orleans 35 Nairobi 23 New Delhi 34 New York 23 Oslo 23 Paris 32 Perth 21 Prague 36 Reykjavik 16 Rio de J 25 Rome 35 Shanghai 36 Singapore 31 Stockh’m 26 Strasb’g 37 Sydney 16 Tel Aviv 33 Tenerife 27 Tokyo 33 Toronto 27 Vancouv’r 22 Vienna 37 Warsaw 32 Wash’ton 30 Well’ton 14 Zurich 37

falls? It may have come thousands of miles from the ocean, sea or lake it evaporated from – and now

research shows raindrops travel even f arther than they used to.

Cold front

Warmer air can hold more water vapour, and that is changing not

only how much rain we receive but also where it falls. Travis Aerenson,

Warm front

of the University of Wyoming , and his colleagues modelled atmospheric moisture movements in the US over more than three decades , show ing that in the

Occluded front

Trough

south-western and southern plains, moisture in the atmosphere travels 30 to 50 miles f arther than 35 years ago, staying aloft for an extra two to four hours before falling as rain.

Sun & Moon

High tides Lighting up

© Crown Copyright and/or database rights. Reproduced by permission of the Keeper of Public Records and the UK Hydrographic Office

Their i ndings, published in

Aberdeen 0135 4.1m 1409 3.9m Avonmouth 0738 11.9m 1957 12.3m Barrow -- -- 1200 8.4m Belfast 1143 3.1m 2349 3.4m Cobh 0552 3.8m 1810 3.9m Cromer 0648 4.8m 1927 4.6m Dover 1137 6.3m 2352 6.2m Dublin -- -- 1208 3.7m Galway 0545 4.6m 1753 4.9m Greenock 0043 3.4m 1256 3.0m Harwich 0008 3.7m 1219 3.8m Holyhead 1054 5.1m 2302 5.5m Hull 0633 7.1m 1908 6.8m Leith 0255 5.2m 1522 5.2m Liverpool 1141 8.6m 2351 9.1m

London Bridge 0217 6.7m 1434 6.7m Lossiemouth 0007 3.9m 1243 3.7m Milford Haven 0640 6.4m 1856 6.7m Newquay 0530 6.3m 1746 6.6m North Shields 0342 4.8m 1614 4.7m Oban 0619 3.6m 1837 3.9m Penzance 0505 5.0m 1721 5.3m Plymouth 0612 4.9m 1824 5.2m Portsmouth -- -- 1211 4.5m Southport 1116 8.3m 2326 8.8m Stornoway 0726 4.2m 1930 4.7m Portland 0720 1.8m 1935 2.0m Whitby 0416 5.3m 1646 5.2m Wick -- -- 1201 3.1m Workington -- -- 1204 7.6m

Belfast 2130 to 0534 Birm’ham 2102 to 0525 Brighton 2049 to 0525 Bristol 2102 to 0534 Carlisle 2118 to 0519 Cork 2127 to 0555 Dublin 2124 to 0539 Glasgow 2129 to 0521 Harlech 2113 to 0533 Inverness 2136 to 0510 London 2051 to 0522 M’chester 2108 to 0524 Newcastle 2114 to 0514 Norwich 2051 to 0512 Penzance 2108 to 0550

Geophysical Research Letters , also show that more evaporation is occurring from ocean surfaces and less from land surfaces. Th is a ects where and when precipitation occurs, with implications for land use . The researchers also note that the trend for moisture to travel f arther will result in the water security of more countries and states falling increasingly outside

Sun rises 0521 Sun sets 2051 Moon rises 2122 Moon sets 0558 Last Quarter 6 Aug

• K Lumpur 31 K’mandu 27 Kabul 34 Kingston 33 Kolkata 30
• L Angeles 30 Lagos 28 Lima 25

their borders, requiring greater collaboration between neighbour s.

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather ©2026

Kate Ravilious

Thursday 30 July 2026The Guardian •

Racing

Golf

37

Bow Echo again betters Gstaad at Goodwood

Hull shooting for Open glory after multiple misses

• Page 39

Page 40

Luke Littler and Tadej Pogacar looked unstoppable as they won the World Matchplay and the Tour de France

calendar and Littler has won six out of six this year, the past eight in a row, nine of the past 11. His order of merit tally of £3.1m is more than treble that of Luke Humphries in second place. A run of 36 wins in his past 37 matches in ranking tournaments stands comparison with the great Phil Taylor, who was throwing against lesser ields in a less professional era.

M

ore than 800 miles away, on the slopes of Le Lioran , a similar phenomenon was unfolding. Yes, on an important level, I realise Littler and Tadej Pogacar are very diferent athletes . But having watched a good deal of both , I’ve been struck above all

REUTERS; A

by the similarities, the common sensations, the curious paradox that arises when you see someone so good at what they do that people accuse them of ruining it for everyone else.

b

“It’s like watching two dif erent sports,” the TNT Sports commentator gushed as Pogacar surged past Richard Carapaz on stage 10 on the way to stretching his lead over Jonas Vingegaard to an almost impregnable three minutes. This was the stage when the Bastille Day crowds began to boo Pogacar for the stranglehold he has begun to exert on the sport. “Haters gonna hate,” Pogacar said , and other riders would also spring to his defence. At the heart of all this lay a question: to what extent do we want to see dominant athletes dominate?

For Pogacar, these are questions loaded by road cycling’s toxic history. No matter how many doping tests he passes, no matter how much transparency he ofers, there is a constituency of cycling fans for whom dominance will always equal suspicion. And – important – a suspicion that can never truly be refuted. You don’t trust the anti-doping protocols and you don’t truly believe the Tour can be won clean. Why are you even watching this sport in the irst place?

For Littler, by contrast, the fascination lies in the very absence of exegesis , the sheer inadequacy of the darting vocabulary to contextualise what it is he does. The Littler supremacy consists of a vibe, an implication, a terror, the sense he can win a game however he wants. He can destroy you in minutes or hours; from the front or coming from behind, with

a smile or a snarl. The result may never be in contention, but virtually everything else is.

T

Luke Littler has won six out of six major titles this year

reble-20. “Ohh, he couldn’t.” Treble-19. “Oh, you spiteful young man.” Bull. “You spiteful person! That is ridiculous! ” As ever, Wayne Mardle – commentating on the World Matchplay inal for Sky Sports on Sunday night – put it most succinctly of all.

Double tops Littler and Pogacar in a class of their own, but nothing lasts for ever

As with Pogacar, Littler’s dominance has drawn as much negative as positive comment in recent months . Part of the moral panic is that they are still young – Pogacar 27 , Littler 19 , both capable of demoralising an entire generation of challengers.

The great individual champions require a vindictive streak. The ability not just to harness their own strength, but to tessellate it with their opponent’s moment of greatest vulnerability. To sense weakness, recognise doubt and pounce mercilessly upon it. To nurture and desire the very same qualities we try to extinguish and discourage in our children. To ind a 167 checkout, when your opponent is sitting on double-10, in a major inal.

Even the very greatest dominate only leetingly. Eddy Merckx, perhaps Pogacar’s only remaining rival as the greatest cyclist of all time, won pretty much everything he won in an eight-year stretch from 1967 to 1975. Roger Federer’s imperial phase lasted for six years; Usain Bolt’s and Stei Graf’s roughly eight.

The weekend before last, I went to the London Stadium to watch another seemingly invincible athlete do their thing. Mondo Duplantis had broken the men’s pole vault world record 13 times in four years and would inevitably break it again. Except, he didn’t. He got injured and had to make do with second place with a still-unfathomable height of 5.95m.

To be fair to Luke Littler, he would probably have

won whatever he did, however he threw his darts, whether he did it kindly or not. Such is the gulf he

enjoys over what we so euphemistically describe as “his competition”. Gerwyn Price went into Sunday’s inal playing perhaps the best darts of his life; arguably better than when he won the world championship in 2021. Of all the contenders to Littler’s crown, Price seems to have thought hardest about how to get into the teenager’s headspace, how not to be cowed, how to use the crowd and his own overwhelming self-belief to make himself the problem. Littler destroyed him 18-9 in just over an hour.

Far from feeling short-changed, I left feeling strangely melancholy, reminded that what felt inexorable at the time was not a new normal, but a brief anomaly. Perhaps we underestimate the ephemeral ity of true dominance, the extent to which it is not a permanent state of afairs, but a temporary aligning of the planets, the elusiveness of pure perfection.

Jonathan Liew

This was Littler’s second consecutive World Matchplay crown, to go with a second consecutive world championship and a second consecutive UK Open . There are 11 major competitions in the

Pogacar, Littler, Duplantis, Jannik Sinner, Barcelona Women, Australia Women: hate them if you must. But

know too that it could all be gone tomorrow.

••• The Guardian Thursday 30 July 2026

38 Sport Commonwealth Games

Australia ’s Hoare clarifies he did not witness murder in Glasgow

Runner confirms he was on a training run six miles away from the scene of the crime

Sean Ingle

Scotstoun Stadium

It is not every day a reigning Commonwealth Games champion is asked whether he witnessed a murder in Glasgow. Then again, it has been quite a few days for the Australian 1500m

runner Olli Hoare. After competing yesterday in the heats of the men’s

mile – when he i nished with bloodied knees after being tripped – the 29-year-old was asked about reports that he had come across a murder scene while out training with his teammate Ky Robinson.

“No, no, I didn’t see a murder,” Hoare said. “The murder that was reported was six miles away and also

• at a diferent time.” Hoare and Robinson were heckled

• as they ran, though, with at least one of those shouting at the pair holding a knife and, as a result, the Australia team have been told not to wear their kit in the city.

It was thought initially the pair had witnessed the aftermath of the murder of Paul McMinigal , in the east end of the city, on Friday. “I don’t know how that came about because Ky and I were running in the afternoon,” Hoare said. “We’re running on the river. Somehow these Chinese whisper s have come in.”

Hoare’s good friend Jake Wightman, the Scotland 1500m runner who is staying in the same hotel as the Australians, said : “I am sure I

am allowed to say it, he saw someone with a knife . That was it. And now they were saying he was in a murder scene. They’re two stories put together. But we’re joking that he ran out on the track with a stabproof vest.

“Glasgow is like any city . There’s good and bad parts and you see some things you don’t necessarily want to see. Unfortunately, he ran into the middle of that and I hope it didn’t afect him.

“We were having a laugh about it, just because of all the weeks you want Glasgow to look as best, on his irst run that happens.”

Hoare was determined to move on . “We came across a police dispute,”

Glasgow kiss

Idi Amin’s grandson disqualified for butt

The Commonwealth Games debut of Idi Amin’s grandson ended in ignominy as the boxer was disqualiied in the third round for butting his English opponent, Damar Thomas , and then launched a verbal assault on the referee. Aziz Abdul, a 25-year-old from Uganda, also refused to speak to a journalist afterwards because of what he had written about the tyrannical dictator.

Abdul planted the butt on Thomas when he was 20-16 down on the scorecards. Afterwards he complained that the decision was unfair. “There were a lot of fouls,” he said. “Holding, elbowing, a lot of bullshit.” Sean Ingle

he said. “ There were people walking around saying things . But I was never threatened.

“There was nothing heinous about what was happening. We were just running through, and there were some characters, and that was it.”

Asked whether they were carrying knives or not, Hoare said: “They looked like they were carrying something, but they weren’t threatening us. There was police there. They were breaking up a dispute when K y and I ran past and we didn’t even think to report it.

“ When we came back, all of a sudden I had Jake Wightman and all the boys coming up saying ‘you’re in the papers’, and I was like: ‘For what? Did I ofend somebody wearing an Aussie beer T-shirt?’”

As for what had been shouted at him, Hoare said: “I don’t think it’s an appropriate thing to repeat so I won’t . But it doesn’t just happen here; it happens everywhere.

“The next day, I didn’t wear the team uniform because I didn’t want to bring attention to myself and I think particularly for the women running around, they’re in a much more diferent position than I am .

“A t that point I thought: ‘Well, it’s better to save the kit because I don’t have a laundry machine.’ I can’t wash everything, and I want to make sure everything looks nice, so you don’t have sweat stains in the race. That was the main thing.”

At least Hoare’s day improved as he was reinstated by appeal into the inal on Saturday. However, he has a major task on his hands against Josh Kerr, the young Australian superstar Cam Myers , and Wightman, the

▲ Middle-distance runner Olli Hoare trips during a heat of the men’s mile

world 1500m silver medallist, who all looked strong in their heats.

Kerr was in an especially conident mood after winning his heat in 3 min 58.57sec. “It’s going to be a war out there,” he said. “It’s the home crowd,

MARTIN RICKETT/ A

Ramsay Peaty takes silver on Australia’s day

Ngake’s real life movie script ends with medal for England

But having won a European medal

Ngake’s hair was dyed red, the

this year, Ngake showed her strength as she led the women’s 87kg competition after the irst event, the snatch, with a powerful lift of 108kg.

colour of her home country. Afterwards she said that it had been the idea of Emily Campbell, Team GB’s double Olympic medallist, who

That put her 3kg clear of Australia’s Eileen Cikamatana. However, in the clean and jerk, Cikamatana was able to thrust a barbell 140kg over her head as if it was a rag doll to score a combined lift of 245kg – a Games record – to take gold by 6kg.

competes today . Ngake also explained it was only

“When I left the Olympics in 2012 I got on a bus,” she said. “After the last stop, they told me: ‘ This is closed,’ so I can’t go anywhere. So I decided I will sleep outside at the bus stop. I slept rough for about a month. Nobody looked after me.

after 2017 that she was legally able to work. She was an oice cleaner in Leeds for nine years, earning about £2,000 a year. However, she has recently moved to Nottingham to train as a full-time athlete and hopes to make the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

Sean Ingle

SEC Armadillo

Yara El-Shaboury

First Madias Ngake lifted the weight Tollcross Swimming Centre

of an upright piano to her shoulders. Then, with another staggering act of power and deiance, she sent a 128kg barbell high above her head.

But Ngake was not too disappointed afterwards. Asked if her life was like a movie, she replied: “Yes. And I never believed I would ever be here. ”

After six days of Australian dominance in the pool, the swimming programme at Glasgow 2026 came to a close in familiar fashion as the green and gold claimed one inal victory after finishing with an extraordinary 37 gold, 16 silver and 23 bronze medals in the water. The closing race also produced a slice of Commonwealth Games history as South Africa’s bronze in the men’s 4 x100m medley relay earned Chad le Clos a record-breaking 21st Commonwealth Games medal, making him the most decorated athlete in the

“I had to leave because someone on the team knew about my situation, that I am a lesbian .”

Amazingly, if she were to win an Olympic medal, it would be her second . That is because in 2019, she was awarded a bronze medal from London 2012 after three weightlifters who i nished above her at the Games were disqualii ed for doping ofences.

And, just like that, the 34-yearold Team England weightlifter had won a silver medal and written one of the most remarkable stories of these Games.

Madias Ngake with her red hair, denoting Cameroon, where she was born, and her silver medal

Fourteen years ago, Ngake led the London 2012 Olympic village after inishing sixth in her competition and ended up sleeping rough for a month.

However, as the medal was sent to Cameroon, Ngake has never seen it as she has not been back to her home country.

The reason? She was competing for Cameroon, where homosexuality is illegal, and someone in the team had found out that she was a lesbian. Thus began a journey that led to Ngake g iving up elite sport for more than a decade, deciding to come back in 2023, and then transferring allegiances to Britain a year later.

“I would like to have it, yes,” she

said. “But I don’t think it’s going to be possible because the medal is in Cameroon and there is a situation and I don’t want to do politics.”

competition’s history.

Adam Ramsay-Peaty, meanwhile, bowed out of the Games with a silver medal after England inished runners-up to Australia in the inal swimming event. Australia surged

But Ngake knows how to do medals. And her adopted country

were certainly delighted last night.

Thursday 30 July 2026The Guardian •••

39

Racing

Billy ‘The Kid’ takes a bow after Echo gets out of trouble

Greg Wood

Goodwood

Billy Loughnane threw his goggles towards an ecstatic crowd packed around the winner’s enclosure as he returned after a thrilling, unforgettable success on Bow Echo in the Sussex Stakes yesterday . He missed, but it was the only mistake he made all day.

ended up a long way back, but he has got a proper engine.”

▲ Bow Echo, in yellow colours, on his way to a Sussex Stakes victory

After a slightly scrambled shorthead defeat of Gstaad at Ascot last month, this half-length success, in Bow Echo’s irst race in all-aged company, cemented his status as the best miler in Europe, with the strong possibility of further improvement to come.

ANDREW MATTHEWS/ A

incomparable Frankel to complete the milers’ triple crown of wins in the 2,000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes and Sussex Stakes. His jockey, meanwhile, is swiftly becoming the public face of Flat racing – an heir to Lester and Frankie whose irst name is enough, and a showman who enjoys the winning moments every bit as much as his backers.

Technically at least, Billy “the Kid” is still a fair nickname for Bow Echo’s 20-year-old jockey. This, though, was a coming-of-age moment for

horse and rider that should see the pair of them graduate to the turf’s

“He has been in a couple of scraps recently and he’s shown ight today,” Boughey said. “ I know it sounds mad, as he is unbeaten, but he is improving. He is learning to race and learning to get in a scrap.”

established elite.

Loughnane was brilliant on Bow Echo: cool, coni dent, patient and then decisive as he extracted the three-year-old from a scrum of horses at the two-furlong pole and launched him down the middle of the track. Ryan Moore and Gstaad, the

“We have watched millions of these races back,” Loughnane said of himself and George Boughey, Bow Echo’s trainer, “and we always felt that the closer would almost certainly get up.

Bow Echo may head to France for his next start, in either the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville or the Prix du Moulin at Longchamp, while his long-term target is the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland in Kentucky on 31 October.

runner-up behind Bow Echo in the 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes, grabbed a useful lead while his old rival was stuck in traic, but Loughnane had total conidence in Bow Echo’s i nishing speed and they chased him down, amid a huge roar from the stands, with a few strides to spare.

“We knew there would be plenty of pace. Once I found Ryan’s tail, I was happy enough, but then Christophe [Soumillon, on Puerto Rico] appeared on my outside, so I knew I was going to have a bit of a challenge getting him out. Once he did, he really motored home.

For Loughnane, it could be another career high, and on a global stage, at just 20 years of age. “He is a real showboy, is he not?,” Boughey said. “He loves it. I was pretty nervous today going into the paddock, and he was just chilled out. ”

Bow Echo is now unbeaten in six starts and the i rst horse since the

“Today was a tough race for him. There were plenty of runners and we

it’s our track, it’s our crowd. The rest of the guys want to take what’s ours. They will have to come with something on Saturday night because they are not going to get it easy.”

Hyperion 222 spikes used to break the

mile world record , which are super fast but contain no heel . “It deinitely felt a little bit overkill – like driving a Formula One car along the street for a cup of cof ee,” he said.

WOMEN’S 200m BREASTSTROKE: 1A Evans (Sco) 2:23.79; 2 K Corbett (SA) 2:24.46; 3 E McCartney (Eng) 2:24.73.

The Kia Oval MI London 151-4. London Spirit 151-5. Match tied.

Results

MEN’S 200m FREESTYLE: 1 K Taylor (Aus) 1:45.22;

THE HUNDRED MEN Sophia Gardens Welsh Fire 122-7. Trent Rockets 126-1 (BM Duckett 52 no). Trent Rockets beat Welsh Fire by nine wickets.

• 2 J Guy (Eng) 1:45.72; 3 M Richards (Wal) 1:45.72. WOMEN’S 50m FREESTYLE: 1 M Harris (Aus) 25.23;

• 2 A Perkins (Aus) 24.53; 3 S Jack (Aus) 24.57.

MEN’S 50m BUTTERFLY: 1 K Chalmers (Aus) & B Armbruster (Aus) 22.73; 3 C McEvoy (Aus) 22.92.

WOMEN’S 200m BUTTERFLY: 1B Castelluzzo (Aus) 2:06.56; 2 K MacInnes (Sco) 2:06.76; 3 L Dekkers (Aus) 2:06.91.

MEN’S 1500m FREESTYLE FASTEST HEAT:

• 1 S Short (Aus) 14:42.11; 2 D Wiffen (NI) 14:44.70;

3 B Goedemans (Aus) 14:49.50. WOMEN’S 4 x 100m MEDLEY RELAY: 1 Australia 3:54.25;

• 2 Scotland 3:57.02; 3 South Africa 3:58.58.

Kerr wore his custom-made Brooks

Kia Oval MI London 164-5 (WG Jacks 65). London Spirit 165-3 (LG Pretorius 64). London Spirit beat MI London by seven wickets.

Football

through to secure gold in a Game s record of 3min 28.71sec, while England’s quartet of Oliver Morgan , Ramsay-Peaty, Edward Mildred and

rounded of their memorable night with a silver medal in the women’s 4 x100m medley relay after coming out in kilts as Australia stormed to gold in another record time.

METRO BANK ONE DAY CUP MEN Gosforth Glamorgan 326-6 (EJ Byrom 76, Zain-ul-Hassan 65). Durham 328-7 (WMH Rhodes 148 no, KL Aldridge 78). Durham beat Glamorgan by three wickets. York Worcestershire 230 (HJ Cullen 70, DH Lategan 67, MJ Waite 53). Yorkshire 231-4 (W Luxton 126). Yorkshire beat Worcestershire by six wickets.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Second qualifying round: Second legGornik 1 Fenerbahce 1 (agg 1-2); Hapoel Be’er Sheva 2 Víkingur 0 (agg 3-2); Kairat

• 1 Omonia 0 (aet; agg 1-1; Kairat 6-5 pens); Kauno 1 KÍ 0 (agg 1-0); Lech Poznan 1 AGF 4 (aet; agg 5-5; AGF 4-3 pens); Red Star 5 Larne 0 (agg 9-0); Slovan Bratislava 1 Iberia 1999 1 (agg 3-1); Uni Craiova 2 Levski Sofia 2 (agg 2-3) CONFERENCE LEAGUE Second qualifying round: Second leg Copenhagen 2 Polissya 1 (agg 5-4); Dukagjini 1 Lugano 5 (agg 1-6); Rapid Vienna 6 FC Santa Coloma 2 (agg 9-3) Commonwealth Games

3X3 BASKETBALL Men’s gold medal match: England 19 Australia 17 Men’s bronze medal match: Scotland 18 New Zealand 16 Women’s gold medal match: Australia 21 Uganda 11 Women’s bronze medal match:New Zealand 18 Jamaica 13 3X3 WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL

Men’s gold medal match: Australia 19 England 13 Men’s bronze medal match: Canada 19 Scotland 9

Women’s gold medal match: England 18 Scotland 10 Women’s bronze medal match: Australia 19 Canada 17

ATHLETICS MEN’S LONG JUMP: 1 T Gayle (Jam) 8.15;

• 2 Sreeshankar (Ind) 8.09; 3 S MacKenzie (Sco) 8.08.

Jacob Mills claimed silver in 3 :30.68 . Morgan gave England a strong start with a 53.20 opening leg before

“It’s absolutely amazing,” said Katie Shanahan. “ T here’s no better way to inish of a home meet than by getting that silver medal. It’s just been such an amazing meet .”

MEN’S 4 x 100m MEDLEY RELAY: 1 Australia 3:28.71; 2 England 3:30.68; 3 South Africa 3:31.13.

Edgbaston Warwickshire 341-4 (EG Barnard 140, VL Jani 66 no, ZUA Malik 58). Surrey 296 (DP Sibley 74, JW Blake 71; OJ Hannon-Dalby 5-60). Warwickshire beat Surrey by 45 runs.

PARA SWIMMING WOMEN’S 100m FREESTYLE S9 : 1 L Patterson (Aus) 1:02.99;2E Beecroft (Aus) 1:03.56;3T Shaw (Sco) 1:04.71.

Ramsay-Peaty kept them in second with a 58.74 split. Mildred slipped briefly to third on the third leg despite clocking 51.04 , before Jacob Mills produced a 47.70 anchor to haul England back into second.

Arundel Essex 316-8 (NRM Thain 102, T Westley 81, MJJ Critchley 64). Sussex 320-5 (C Tear 73, JA Leaning 59, JJ Carson 53). Sussex beat Essex by five wickets.

MEN’S 50m FREESTYLE S7: 1 C Sadie (SA) 28.06; 2 Toh W-S (Sin) 29.36; 3 B Dee (Eng) 31.33.

“It’s something we save for the last night,” said Evelyn Davis on walking out with kilts on. “Katie’s falling of in the walkout actually calmed my nerves a bit before the crowd got going again, so it was good fun.”

WEIGHTLIFTING WOMEN’S 77KG: 1 S Stowers (Sam) 237; 2 I Brown (Eng) 229; 3 L Hughes (Wal) 224. MEN’S 94KG: 1 MSB Nor-Ghazali (Mal) 347; 2 A Bellemarre (Can) 346; 3 OR Saxton (Aus) 336. WOMEN’S 86KG: 1 EFM Cikamatana (Aus) 248; 2 M Ngake (Eng) 239; 3 R Beaudoin (Can) 230.

Tennis

ATP WTA MUBADALA CITI DC OPEN (Washington D.C.) Men: Singles: Last 16: L Musetti (It) bt A Vukic (Aus) 6-3 5-7 6-3

“To come in with the boys and get a silver medal, I can’t complain whatsoever,” said Morgan. “ Some of us have had tough weeks but it shows the resilience we’ve had in the team. ”

Women: Singles: Last 16: L Samsonova (Rus) bt Wang X

(Chn) 6-2 6-2; A Eala (Phi) bt L Fernandez (Can) 6-2 7-6 (1)

Shanahan, Angharad Evans and Keanna MacInnes battled for the lead throughout before Davis produced a composed anchor leg to hold of South Africa and Canada to secure second place.

Fixtures

Cricket

Football (6pm unless stated) Europa League Second qualifying round: Second leg Anderlecht v Hammarby (7.30pm) (agg 1-1); Benfica v St Gallen (8pm) (agg 1-2); CSKA Sofia v Qarabag (7pm) (agg 0-0); Ferencvaros v Twente (7.30pm) (agg 2-1); Hradec Kralove v Tromsø (agg 1-0); Maccabi Tel Aviv v Sheriff (5pm) (agg 5-0); Midtjylland v Besiktas (agg 0-1); Pafos v Hajduk Split (agg 0-2); PAOK v Dynamo Kyiv (6.45pm) (agg 3-2) Conference League Second qualifying round: Second leg (selected) Coleraine v HJK (7.45pm) (agg 0-5); HB v Motherwell (agg 0-2); Hibernian v Malisheva (8pm) (agg 0-2); The New Saints v Flora (6.30pm) (agg 0-1) Rugby league Betfred Super League Huddersfield v Hull FC (8pm) Cricket The Hundred Women Southern Brave v Birmingham Phoenix, Utilita Bowl (3pm) The Hundred Men Southern Brave v Birmingham Phoenix, Utilita Bowl (6.30pm) Metro Bank One Day Cup Men Group A Lancashire v Nottinghamshire, Preston

THE HUNDRED WOMEN

In the penultimate race, Scotland

Sophia Gardens Welsh Fire 129-3. Trent Rockets 132-2 (BL Mooney 57). Trent Rockets beat Welsh Fire by eight wickets.

WOMEN’S SHOT PUT: 1 S Mitton (Can) 19.88; 2 J Oji (Ngr) 17.87; 3 L Cameron (Jam) 17.87.

Greg Wood’s racing tips

Earlier Evans had delighted the home support by winning a second breaststroke gold of the Games. The 23-year-old followed up her 100m breaststroke triumph by winning the women’s 200m breaststroke .

WOMEN’S 3,000M STEEPLECHASE: 1 F Cherotich (Ken) 9:01.76; 2 E Thorner (Eng) 9:05.45; 3 P Chemutai (Uga) 9:09.96.

PARA ATHLETICS WOMEN’S DISCUS F42-44/F61-64: 1 G Nwachukwu (Ngr) 39.66; 2 F Oduwaiye (Wal) 38.52; 3 B Cronin (Wal) 36.00. WOMEN’S 1500m T54 FINAL: 1 M Woods (Sco) 3:33.39; 2 E Kottas (Eng) 4:22.07; 3 M Dingley (Aus) 4:42.25. MEN’S DISCUS F42-44/F61-64: 1 A Davies (Wal) 48.38; 2 P Halgahawela (Sri) 46.84; 3 A Stewart (Tri) 56.82. MEN’S 100M T47: 1 DM Gavit (Ind) 10.71; 2 MB Morssinganakath (Ind) 10.83; 3 K Santos (Eng) 10.85. SWIMMING MEN’S 100m BACKSTROKE: 1 P Coetze (SA) 51.77; 2 O Morgan (Eng) 52.66; 3 R van Renen (SA) 53.31.

Goodwood 1.50 Ciarra Abu 2.25 Flann Sunna

• 3.00 Sahara King 3.35 Friendly Soul (nb) 4.10 Pilu (nap)

• 4.45 The Ginger Kid 5.20 Clarity 5.55 Exclusive Code Nottingham 2.00 Roots In Touche 2.35 Relevant Range

• 3.10 Bee Farmer 3.45 Marquessofanglesey 4.20 Sixty Plus

• 4.55 Muddy Nora 5.25 Poet’s Dawn Wolverhampton 4.35 My Mate Mackley 5.10 Between Me And U 5.47 Chimes O f Thunder 6.22 Supreme Star 6.57 Jungle Drums 7.32 Goldfinder 8.07 Emery Down 8.42 Reputation Epsom 5.30 Magical Merlin 6.05 Out Of This World 6.40 Imperial Cult 7.15 Trio 7.50 Credit Forgedd It 8.25 Twirler

South Africa’s Pieter Coetze retained his men’s 100m backstroke crown in emphatic fashion. He clocked a Commonwealth Games record of 51.77 to collect his third gold medal in Glasgow .

Angharad Evans helps Scotland to a medal in the medley relay

Cricket

Fleming on verge of England Test coach job

Simon Burnton

Stephen Fleming is expected to be named as England’s Test coach, after impressing the England and Wales Cricket Board in interviews . The

• 5 3-year-old would work alongside his predecessor, compatriot, former teammate and friend Brendon McCullum, who remains in charge of the white-ball teams.

Fleming stood down as head coach of the Indian Premier League franchise Chennai Super Kings – as well as their subsidiaries Joburg Super Kings in South Africa’s SA20 and Texas Super Kings in America’s Major League Cricket – this month. That announcement was made after CSK inished eighth out of 10 teams in this year’s IPL, following on from a last-place inish in 2025, but also less than 24 hours after McCullum was sacked by the ECB as Test coach.

It is expected Fleming will be in place for the tour of South Africa

starting in December, but the three Test series against Pakistan that

begins at Headingley on 19 August may still be overseen by an interim,

probably Marcus Trescothick.

Fleming has extensive experience of English cricket, not just from

▲ Brendon McCullum played under Stephen Fleming for New Zealand

playing 10 Tests and 17 ODIs in this country between 1994 and 2004, but also from spells at Middlesex, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. He also coached Southern Brave in the Hundred for two years, leaving in 2024.

He was approached by England in 2009, shortly after he retired as a player, only to turn them down. “I was lattered to be ofered,” he said. “It came down to the fact it wasn’t my time. If I get another couple of years [as a coach] I can see if it is what I want to do and if I would be any good at it.”

England ended up turning to Andy Flower, who, having been the early frontrunner to replace McCullum, has now returned the favour by

rejecting the job and opening the door for Fleming’s appointment.

Fleming’s relationship with

McCullum gave him an advantage over his rivals for the England job, the

Australian Tom Moody, the former England batter and Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott and Richard Dawson,

the head coach at Glamorgan.

Beyond their friendship, the pair have been business associates at two companies, the software

company CricHQ and the export business Quality New Zealand.

Daniel Vettori, another former New Zealand captain coaching in England, at Sunrisers Leeds, described the pair as “very good friends” with “a lot of similar traits”.

McCullum made 126 of his 432 international appearances under Fleming’s captaincy before taking over from him and has described him as a major inluence.

competes in that domain and a sister who is also on the LPGA Tour has helped with her mindset. So, too, has a frustrating 2025.

GolfAIG Women’s Open

Formula One

Korda brings the Open stardust but backs home favourite Hull

Domenicali hits back: ‘Fans are loving new rules’

“My family always make sure

my batteries are recharged,” she said. “It’s a funny conversation; my dad and my mum are always telling me to take more days of. I’m like : ‘No, no, I don’t want to. I want to grind on my craft.’

World No 1 is being guided by her parents and sister – ‘they’ve seen every side of me and know me the best’

Giles Richards

“There gets a point in the season where I’m really tired. It’s not just golf. It’s not just like the travel. It’s kind of a combination of everything people don’t really see behind the scenes.

Stefano Domenicali has issued a stout rebuttal to critics of Formula One’s

Ewan Muray

new regulations , claiming most fans are enjoying the sport more than ever .

“ My parents are people I go to all the time for advice. My sister, too. She has been at a lot of majors this year. Those are my people. I’m so comfortable and vulnerable with them. They’ve seen every side of me and know me the best.

Royal Lytham & St Annes

The Formula One chief executive also coni rmed that this season ’s inale would be staged in Europe if the last two grands prix, in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, are called of due to the Middle East war .

elly Korda is the likeliest winner of the Women’s Open, but there is no question who would be the most

• N

“I decided I need to stop getting so frustrated with everything. I hit a great shot, it goes in a divot and I would get frustrated. What is going on? Why am I getting these bounces? It’s draining having that attitude. I just told myself: ‘I’m not going to have this attitude.’”

Lando Norris, the defending world champion, hit out at F1 in Hungary last week for putting proit before the sport to attract engine manufacturers

popular. Charley Hull’s brushes with major glory – she has ive runner-up i nishes – have only intensiied a widespread desire for the 30-year-old to break through the tape. Royal Lytham & St Annes provides the latest opportunity for

with the new regulations . The focus on electrical energy management has been roundly disliked by drivers .

Domenicali, however, argued F1’s

the lamboyant Englishwoman .

fanbase did not share the objections. “There is a lot of action on the track, people are loving it. They are focused on what is happening on the track,” he said. “They don’t understand our technology, ‘clipping’ or whatever it is, because it’s too technical .

Korda arrived in Lancashire with half her four major triumphs having come in 2026. Perhaps the Floridian can aford to be generous and she has endorsed Hull’s prospects . “She’s such a great personality,” Korda said . “I t would be great for her to do it on home soil, too. She’s an amazing player . I enjoy playing with her . It would be great for the game .”

ytham stardust also includes Lydia Ko, who beat Korda to the Women’s Open title in 2024. Ko has taken inspiration from her

L

“For the vast majority of the people, trust me, they just want to see what is happening on the track. They’re not interested in the angle of throttle or the percentage of brake pressure in how you can take and overtake a driver.”

fellow New Zealander Ryan Fox after his Open glory at nearby Royal Birkdale. Fox became the fourth player from New Zealand to win a major title , reduc ing Ko to tears as she watched from the west coast of the US.

Hull does not seem the type to be dispirited by close shaves.

A year ago she was pipped by Miyu Yamashita . Hull inished a shot adrift of Korda, the champion, in the US Women’s Open last month. “That’s sometimes how she goes,” Korda said. “It’s about putting yourself in that position. You can’t control what others are doing, but she’s doing something right to always be there and be relevant, to be in the hunt.

According to F1’s figures, attendances have risen and there has been a growth in global TV audiences,

“He’s very humble and I would say he’s your typical Kiwi guy that happens to be a freak athlete,” Ko said. “I went to work out and everywhere I went I was like: ‘Please turn on the Open.’ It ended up not working on the TV so I had my trainer turn it on my cellphone. I can’t remember my workout at all because my whole focus was there.

although the broadcast numbers were not given. Most striking was the continued change in the demographics . F1 says 42% of its audience is now female, with women making up three-quarters of new fans, while 43% of the total fanbase is under 35 .

▲ England’s Charlie Hull has inished second in ive majors

major victory. A scorched links will render this a wonderful test. Korda estimates she will employ her driver ive times per round at most, instead adding a four-iron to her armoury.

WARREN LITTLE/GETTY IMAGE

This is also something of a trial run, with the men’s Open

The 61-year-old said F1 would make a decision by mid -September

“It’s like Sam Burns. He’s been in the hunt a lot during major championships, hasn’t got it done. Eventually he will. You can’t get discouraged, it has to be encouraging.”

“I took an Uber ride back home. As soon as I got home he was on the 18th and when I saw that drive I was so relieved, but so excited, super pumped.

due to make a long-awaited return in 2028.

on whether the races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi would go ahead . “If the situation will not be cleared the way that we believe it should be, we will take the decision,” he added. “If this will not be possible, the end of the season will be in Europe, because we cannot go in other places.” Imola in Italy is believed to be the favoured venue.

Korda is more comfortable than ever at being the name on everyone’s lips. Early in her career, the world No 1 struggled with fame and attention. Having parents who were professional tennis players, a brother who still

“I screamed when his winning putt went in. I closed the door and I screamed. My husband ran out and was like : ‘What’s happening?’ Ten seconds later, I was crying.”

History is in Hull’s favour. The last time the Women’s Open visited here, in 2018, England’s Georgia Hall claimed her maiden

▲ Nelly Korda endured a frustrating 2025 but has dominated this year

Sport Football

41

City leading opposition to £1.5bn EFL funding plan

have known. They didn’t act like unapproachable superstars. If I left a message on their home answerphone they would call straight back. It was so diferent to the majority of football personalities I tried to interview in later years for the BBC.

meeting in June, which were defeated by 19 votes to one.

England’s heroes of 1966 were fun, humble and so unlike today’s stars

City and other big clubs are understood to be unhappy with the proposal to fund the inancial redistribution package by increasing the levy on transfer fees from 4% to 6%, which would leave the bigger spending clubs with a large bill. The Premier League will only ballot clubs today if

Some of the events I worked at with the 1966 team were for amateur football clubs. We would be part of the entertainment alongside a tribute act, or a local comedian. The evening would sometimes start with a game of bingo. One dinner was very diferent. I was asked by the Institute of Directors to host a show and book as many of the England team as possible for a corporate lunch in London. I waited in the green room and they started illing in. It was like being in a dream and I imagined I was in the Wembley dressing room . In they trooped: George Cohen, Ray Wilson, Nobby Stiles, Hurst, Roger Hunt, Alan Ball, Martin Peters, Bobby and Jack Charlton, and for good measure BBC TV’s Kenneth Wolstenholme, who delivered the greatest commentary line in the history of sports broadcasting.

it is conident of getting the 14 votes required for the proposal to pass, with sources describing executives as cautiously optimistic despite facing some opposition.

Matt Hughes

At an average of £150m a year, the Premier League’s proposed contribution has not altered signiicantly since a similar ofer of £750m over ive years was put forward in September 2023, although it has doubled the length of the deal.

Manchester City are leading the opposition to the Premier League’s plans to ofer £1.5bn to the English Football League in a landmark inancial settlement which will be discussed at a meeting of the 20 clubs today .

After lifting the trophy 60 years ago today, the players were una ected by fame during a much simpler era

The Premier League wants to put

If approved by the clubs and accepted by the EFL an initial payment of £100m would be made this season, with larger contributions to be made in subsequent years until the 2035-36 season.

its proposed ofer, which would be spread over 10 years, to a vote in the hope of getting the matter resolved before the start of the season, but City are understood to have come up with a counterproposal amid concerns about how the package will be funded.

Garry Richardson

ith each passing World Cup I am reminded of the times I spent in the company of those wonderful

W

It is unclear whether the EFL would accept the Premier League’s irst ofer however, with its chair, Rick Parry, believed to be holding out for a bigger deal.

A number of City’s misgivings are shared by other members of the so-called big six, who will be asked to pay more than other Premier League clubs towards the New Deal for Football, but it is unclear how many of them are prepared to back their rivals.

Stiles was a great raconteur . One of his favourite anecdotes was based around the game England played against Argentina in the quarter-inal. Before the match, Nobby, the hard man of the team , was taken to one side by Ramsey.

“ Boys of 66”. What a privilege it was getting to know them in a much simpler era when, unlike today’s mollycoddled stars, household names remained unafected by money and fame.

If approved the EFL would allocate 80% of the New Deal to the Championship clubs, 12% to League One and 8% to League Two.

▲ Hat-trick hero Geo Hurst became a natural performer o the pitch

City and the Premier League declined to comment.

They said their goodbyes and Hurst turned to Ramsey and said : “ See you next time Alf .”

Where were you on 30 July 1966, the day England won the World Cup? I was at my nan and grandad’s house. They had a minute television which seemed no bigger than a matchbox. Intermittently the picture, which was in black and white, would roll around the screen. It was infuriating. My grandad talked about needing to get the “horizontal hold ixed” (unless you are of a certain age you will need to Google that). I was nine years old.

City remain short of allies within the top light as they wait for the much-anticipated judg ment of an independent tribunal after being charged with 115 breaches of

“Nobby, Argentina’s best player is Antonio Rat tín, I want you to mark Rat tín,” said Ramsey. After a perfectly timed pause Nobby delivered the punchline: “Alf, do you want me to mark him for the match or for his entire life?”

“Perhaps, Geof, perhaps,”

replied Ramsey. Geof said it was a comment that really made him think that, despite scoring a hattrick, his place wasn’t guaranteed.

inancial fair play rules, despite settling a long-running legal dispute with the Premier League over its

Ramsey’s starting salary as England manager was £4,500 a year rising to a maximum of £5,000. He also asked the Football Association to help him buy a house.

It was a story that brought the house down.

associated party transaction rules last year.

The Guardian has learned that City irritated several clubs by submitting a series of late amendments to proposed rule changes before the Premier League’s annual general

Manchester City are concerned with how the package will be inanced

n 1982 I was asked by Ian Thomas, my editor at BBC Radio Sport, to meet Ramsey at Liverpool Street station . Ramsey had been booked by the BBC to give his reaction

I

In the 1980s, and for many years afterwards, there was a huge circuit of sporting dinners. They were often in the north of England and held at working men’s clubs. Many of the 1966 England team were regular performers. Unlike today’s Premier League stars, who earn hundreds of thousands of pounds a month the “Boys of 66” supplemented their income by performing on the circuit, which is where I got to know them.

Thirty years (of hurt) on from that inal, there was a knock at my front door. It was a surreal experience to see Geof Hurst standing on my doorstep and even more bizarre as he went to one end of my front room and stood behind the settee. I went to the other end and sat on a chair. Geof, England’s World Cup hat- trick hero, had come to my house to rehearse his after dinner speech. The settee acted as a makeshift top table. I was the only member of his audience.

Liverpool prepare Barcola bid but PSG want British record fee

to the draw for the 1982 World Cup inals. He immediately reminded me of Captain Mainwaring from Dad’s Army. He spoke with a posh voice and came across as a very serious man. I was just 24 years old, and I couldn’t believe my luck.

wants to move to the Premier League, Liverpool are expected to bid for the France international in the coming days. Whether they are prepared to meet PSG’s valuation remains to be seen, but the club will attempt to make Barcola their statement signing of the summer.

Andy Hunter

These were very diferent times. I still ind it incredible that, on the morning of the 1966 inal, Peters told me that, “time seemed to be dragging” so some of the players went shopping on Hendon’s high

Sometimes they would do their own routines, on other occasions I would interview them and tee them up for their anecdotes. On stage one night I said to Jack Charlton: “Jack, how’s your brother Bobby?” Bobby could sometimes be very serious and he didn’t smile very often. “Not great” replied Jack. “Oh, why’s that?” I enquired. “Well, he’s now been banned from his local pub, the landlord said he didn’t want him there during the happy hour.”

New York

Liverpool are preparing an opening ofer for Bradley Barcola after talks with the Paris Saint-Germain forward’s representatives.

His performance began. “I was

• at Paddington station one day and a chap came running up to me and said, ‘Geof, Geof, I’ve been waiting 20 years to meet you, I know exactly where I was that day in 1966 when you scored your hat-trick .’ ‘Where was that? ’ asked Geof. ‘Pentonville prison, ’ replied the man. ‘We were so happy we smashed the cell up.’”

street. And after England’s win at Wembley the FA arranged an evening banquet for the players but, astonishingly, their wives were not invited. The players were very angry and when the dinner inished

Barcola is a leading target for Liverpool as they look to add a proven winger to Andoni Iraola’s squad

Liverpool have signed the versatile forward Víctor Muñoz from Osasuna this summer and inalised Jérémy Jacquet’s transfer from Rennes for an initial £55m, but are looking to strengthen further in attack and defence, with Iraola concerned about his defensive options in particular.

before the new season. Yan Diomande had been wanted but is likely to join Real Madrid after PSG pulled out of a deal for the RB Leipzig winger.

Hurst told me that he and several of the other players and their wives headed to Danny La Rue’s cabaret club.

Those England players were involved in English sport’s greatest day but you would never

PSG have placed a value in the region of £145m on Barcola, which would represent a British record sum. He has two years left on his contract with the European champions but is believed to have turned down the ofer of an extension, having fall en down the pecking order in Luis Enrique’s gifted team.

I had written some of Geof’s script and I helped him with his presentation, but he quickly became a natural performer.

How times have changed and how lucky was I knowing the 1966 team? They were humble and really fun to be with and I still ind it incredible that I spent so many great times with them.

It was a surreal experience to see GeoffHurst standing on my doorstep

Another of Geof’s stories provides a fascinating insight into how the manager , Alf Ramsey, made sure his players never became complacent. In one England match Hurst played in, after the World Cup inal, the players returned to the team hotel.

Liverpool have been exploring whether the 23-year-old is open to leaving PSG for Anield. Having received encouragement that he

Garry Richardson presents a special 1966 World Cup anniversary programme on Boom Radio tonight at 8pm

▲ PSG have placed a value in the region of £145m on Bradley Barcola

Football

Comment Nick Ames

Uefa has to show backbone: concrete action can make Fifa’s World Cup plans untenable

edition in Brazil next year, is complicated by a section of Fifa’s

statutes that says its members are obliged to take part in its competitions. The only way to avoid inancially prohibitive sanctions may be to threaten the most radical step of all: a withdrawal from Fifa and the creation of a new governance model for football.

s the World Cup neared its conclusion, one leading igure in European football pondered how

through the inancial clout of its institutions, would be a major blow to Fifa. It would only take concrete action from a few of Europe’s major nations, with their governments in lockstep, to render any plan to sell of football’s crown jewels untenable.

A

Uefa’s position may be made trickier by its close relationship to the thus far taciturn European Football Clubs (EFC), which would like to set up a joint venture with Fifa to run the Club World Cup. EFC and Uefa already run a joint venture, UC3 , that operates the commercial aspect of Uefa competitions, but one of the key dif erences from Fifa’s proposal is that it does not involve private capital.

Gianni Infantino might attempt to rinse away the damaging stain of the Folarin Balogun scandal . It all came down to money. “He will just announce more funds for everyone,” was the gist, although the tournament passed without any explanation of how Fifa would carve up its record $15bn (£11.2bn) haul.

This is a moment to remember that, as the Guardian revealed in mid-July , more than 200 of Fifa’s 211 members have already submitted letters in support of his candidacy for re-election early next year . Most of those resisting signiicant pressure to ofer backing are from Europe, with Germany the highest-proile holdout. But England’s FA, which is hoping to rubber-stamp its hosting of the 2035 Women’s World Cup, was

omehow, everyone must be corralled together if Infantino is to be tackled. Another way would be to remove some wind from

S

That was the tip of the iceberg. Infantino’s plan to sell chunks of the World Cup to private investors , announced on Tuesday , nine days after the inal, has sent shock waves around the sport and left senior personnel scrambling. There is little time for a coordinated response given Fifa, at the height of what passes for football’s holiday period, has given FAs until 19 September to decide whether to accept the initial $20m payment that would efectively count as endorsement of the new scheme.

Infantino’s sails by putting up a serious electoral opponent. After the Balogun afair, conversations with igures at all levels of the sport speculated whether Uefa

There is no time to play the long game when Infantino plans to carve up football’s future

might endorse its own candidate to run for the Fifa presidency in March. Consensus suggested it would be too soon; that this will be a period of positioning for 2031 when, according to Fifa’s current rules, Infantino must stand aside.

Infantino’s thirst for expansion was clear right from the start

The reaction must come quickly. Perhaps, when Uefa assesses its next move, it will look back to 2021 and remember the credit it happily banked in

But there is no time to play a long game when Infantino plans to carve up football’s future among private interests in rapid order. Nor is there the opportunity to wait for any European Commission response to the complaint by Fif Pro, the global players’ union, and the European Leagues organisation about Fifa’s grip on the international match calendar, which was lodged in October

quick to ofer its endorsement well before this summer.

Then there are cases such as Finland, whose FA president, Ari Lahti , said in June that his country aimed “not to be an eyesore” by refusing to back Infantino. It is a common stance, even among federations who are vocal in private about their disgust for Fifa’s trampling over norms and proximity to the Donald Trump administration . Countries of all sizes have a duty to put the beauty contest on hold.

blocking the proposed European Super League . Fifa’s plan, which could allow private investors a say in how and when its tournaments are run, is potentially more seismic and global in scale. If football’s future has been on a ticking clock under Infantino, the time is one minute to midnight. Uefa’s speed in responding to the plan was of a piece with its renewed appetite, honed over a number of run-ins over the past 15 months, to stick the boot into Fifa. “This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” it said, although anyone feeling

2024. A favourable outcome could place obstacles in front of any plans by Fifa, or its friends in private investment, to expand its tournaments, but no resolution appears in sight.

there were also mutterings about him spending too much time on private jets.

Fifa’s plans to sell a share of the World Cup’s commercial rights are latest in a long line of presidential power moves

Any talk of boycotting future World Cups, which would surely have to include the women’s

Back then, Infantino was described as being a typical Swiss bureaucrat, but no one would make that comparison now. Leaders within football instead prefer

Uefa and Europe must take a lead and reject the status quo. Doing so might reveal friends in unexpected places. There are certainly countries in Asia, among other confederations, that would be open to clear suggestions of a better path. The fear is that a rush of nebulous statements such as that by the Danish FA, which responded to Infantino’s plan by emphasising the need to “gain a complete understanding of the proposal and the process behind it” will result in nothing bar the standard procrastination and tacit acceptance.

Paul MacInnes

• a sense of deja vu needed only to scroll back three weeks. On 6 July, another Uefa statement said the shelving of Balogun’s suspension “crossed a red line”. These are strong, accurate words, but they can be wielded only so many times.

comments such as “he thinks he’s running a nation state”. This feels particularly pertinent in the week Fifa announced without consultation plans to sell a share of the World Cup’s commercial rights to outside investors . But Infantino’s desire to grow both professional football and the revenues it creates has always been central to his pitch. The longer his time as president has gone on, the more wedded to this vision he has been.

n hindsight, it was all in the open from the very of. When Gianni Infantino was irst elected as president of Fifa in 2016 it was something of a shock victory and prompted

I

Infantino can rush his proposals through by counting on votes from the overwhelming number of FAs, primarily based outside Europe, who pledge fealty to his administration. But a show of backbone from football’s most powerful continent, a sporting behemoth that has eaten up any competition on the pitch and

Uefa, led by Aleksander Ceferin, responded quickly to Fifa’s proposal

hope for progress after the dark days of Sepp Blatter. Infantino had promised to restore “the image of Fifa”, but also anticipated that “everyone in the world will applaud us”. He promised accountability and transparency, but the core message to his electorate was to expect a “very signiicant increase” in funding. Just as a side note,

Bravery and sturdy spines are required now, more than ever, if football is to survive in anything resembling its present form.

Infantino irst proposed expanding the size of the World Cup for the irst time in 2016 and also raised the possibility of an enhanced version of the Club World

43

‘Every decision must be guided by good governance’

lack of due process. We share the

◀ Gianni Infantino’s close relationship with Donald Trump may end up extracting a heavy price

disappointment of many within our region and the game that this level of detail has been designed and shared publicly before any discussion with the relevant governance bodies and stakeholders has taken place. ”

The AFC issued a similar statement of disapproval, which signiicantly is understood to have the backing of the Saudi Arabian football federation, a close ally of Infantino and the host of the 2034 World Cup.

IAN MACNICOL/ GETTY IMAGES

Continuedfrom back page

endorsement and therefore remove the need for a vote.

“Today we have learned of Fifa’s deadline to associations to support their proposals or have the one-of payout ofer withdrawn,” Uefa said. “This says everything you need to know about this plan. But having held discussions with many stakeholders across the game, Uefa knows there is signiicant and growing opposition to Fifa’s scheme. Fifa cannot continue to use our sport to enrich themselves and their friends. We can grow the game correctly. It’s time to prioritise associations, clubs, leagues, players and fans.”

“The AFC was not consulted on the proposal and is disappointed that a matter of such signiicance entered the public domain before the AFC family had been aforded the opportunity to examine and discuss it through the appropriate and established governance channels,” it said.

“While the AFC recognises the importance of exploring innovative approaches that can strengthen the future of global football, initiatives of this scale and consequence must be founded upon the principles of good governance, transparency and meaningful consultation. ”

Uefa’s second statement of condemnation followed a similarly strong intervention from Concacaf, which is particularly signiicant given the confederation has just hosted the most lucrative World Cup and covers the region that has brought the proposed new investment from the New York-based Thrive Eternal.

Elite clubs also expressed their unhappiness, with the European Football Clubs organisation pointing out that Fifa had not consulted it despite the two bodies having signed a memorandum of understanding.

The Concacaf president, Victor Montagliani , was instrumental in

“As an institution that represents over 850 football clubs – whose member clubs, their players and communities are fundamental participants in football worldwide, not least in Fifa’s competitions – it would be wholly appropriate for EFC to be fully consulted on a proposal of such magnitude,” it said.

the success of the US, Mexican and Canadian bid for the tournament, but along with the seven other Fifa vice-presidents and Fifa council members he was kept in the dark over the plans.

“Concacaf was only made aware of this matter through media reports and, subsequently, via a media release,” Concacaf said. “We are deeply concerned by the

“EFC learned about this proposal in the same way as most global football stakeholders – without warning and through the media.”

Three Argentina players and one coach charged

Cup. In 2018, he added the idea of a global Nations League and looked to create a new corporate vehicle to deliver it, funded by outside investment, but the plan was ultimately abandoned under pressure. It was also conirmed in 201 7 that the World Cup would expand to 48 teams for the 2026 tournament . In 2021 it was reported that the 12 Super League clubs had expected Fifa to endorse them in their breakaway , before it was ultimately abandoned under pressure . At the end of that year, Infantino announced plans to make the World Cup biennial .

is eating Infantino? What is it that drives his constant appetite for expansion? The most commonly made argument is patronage; that the money raised from expanded competition – and redistributed to member associations – ensures a supportive electorate when it comes time to renew your mandate (Infantino has, of course, changed the rules on how long a Fifa president can serve since coming to power). But Infantino has already

in thrall to status and power. The Swiss-Italian kid growing up working -class in aluent Switzerland, being bullied for his ginger hair, is now at the top table. As an adult he has consistently shown an appetite for the high life and for associating with celebrit ies (alongside the private jets, he drafted in a dozen former professionals, nowadays known as

faces three counts of assault under the Fifa disciplinary code, while the defender Nahuel Molina faces two counts of assault (one completed and one attempted) and one count of unsporting behaviour.

The assistant coach, Roberto Ayala , faces one count of assault, and

Continuedfrom back page

Thiago Almada , an unused substitute in the i nal, one count of unsporting behaviour. Spain’s Gavi also faces an unsporting behaviour charge.

Andrew Giuliani, the head of the White House Fifa taskforce, defended Argentina’s players , saying the US believed in free speech.

Fifa Legends, to endorse his 2016 candidacy). Since becoming Fifa president his focus has shifted to consorting with world leaders, while mimicking their behaviours. His relations with Vladimir Putin, the emir of Qatar, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and, ultimately, the US president, Donald Trump, have shown Infantino in a new context, a far grander one.

“In accordance with the Fifa

in efect trebled Fifa’s revenues since becoming president – is that not enough to earn support? And even with a new rulebook, Infantino’s all-but -conirmed third full term will be his last.

The incident was not the irst time an Argentina team had expressed such sentiments . In 2014, Fifa ined Argentina £20,000 for a far larger banner held up by players before a friendly with Slovenia in La Plata.

disciplinary code, the respondents have now been provided with the opportunity to present their position, following which a decision will be issued by the Fifa disciplinary

It goes on from there, with an even faster pace of activity and proposed innovation detectable after football emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic with substantial inancial losses (which Fifa sought to plug in part with funds from its Forward Programme). There was the launch of the 32-team Club World Cup and immediate discussion of its expansion, the sudden and uncontested awarding of the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia , the spread of the 2030 World Cup to take place in three continents and six host countries, and the possibility that tournament

committee in due course,” said Fifa .

The speciic nature of his latest plan has generated another possible explanation : that Infantino is expanding Fifa’s reach in order to create a sinecure on his departure. Reports in the Times suggested that Infantino could become CEO of the new venture once he leaves the presidency, and would receive remuneration more beitting of a corporate leader than the boss of an NGO. Fifa has denied that any such discussions have taken place but, even if a new lucrative role does come to pass, again it doesn’t seem quite enough to explain all the shenanigans that have gone before.

Fifa’s full World Cup charge sheet against the Argentinian Football Association also includes

His new status has given Infantino more power, or at least the perception of it, and he has been able to force through any number of changes without efective pushback from inside

“discriminatory chants and gestures, late kick-ofs, failure to comply with match and security protocols, the display of inappropriate messages by the team and spectators and the throwing of objects by spectators in relation to several matches”.

Fifa or the game more broadly. But political alliances are often unstable and commonly transactional. The risk is that they can extract a heavy price and one senior football i gure described the new commercial plan as being not Infantino’s ambition at all. “Gianni has got in way over his head with Trump,” they said. “He [Trump] is now extracting his share of the World Cup rewards.”

Several players are also under

investigation in relation to the chaotic scenes that followed Argentina’s 1-0 extra-time defeat by

Spain in the inal. As Spain attempted to celebrate, altercations broke out across the pitch at New York New Jersey Stadium.

could again be expanded , to take in 64 national teams. Mandatory hydration breaks were an idea taken up at the end of last year.

A third, more prosaic argument, but one increasingly hard to dismiss, is that Infantino is simply

The Argentina midielder Leandro Paredes , who was seen wrestling Spain’s Eric García to the ground,

A question regularly asked by football’s decision -makers is: what

▲ Argentina’s players displayed a Falklands banner after the semi- nal

•••

New dawn England ready to name Fleming as Test coach

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Silver lining Ramsay-Peaty helps medley relay team to second spot

The Guardian Thursday 30 July 2026

name as

h

Page 40 Commonwealth Games Page 38

Europe weighs up boycott Uefa calls emergency meeting as opposition to Fifa sell-o grows

that creating a new commercial entity – Fifa Forward Enterprise [FFE] – and selling a 20% stake to investors would necessitate a change of Fifa statutes, which requires a 75% majority that would be much harder to obtain.

Last night, Infantino released a video to address the backlash. “FFE is actually a proposal, an ofer,” he said. “It’s part of a democratic process – a consultation process – and, above all, it is an opportunity but not an obligation . It is a golden opportunity to turbocharge the development of the game globally.”

been mentioned in preliminary

leads there should be suicient votes to block the proposal.

Earlier, Uefa redoubled its attack on Fifa by accusing the world governing body of “using our sport to enrich themselves and their friends” after it emerged that

Matt Hughes Nick Ames

discussions, although there would be a reluctance in some quarters to make the women’s game sufer as a consequence of a protest against Fifa proposals that primarily revolve around monetising the men’s World Cup and Club World Cup.

Those three confederations make up 143 of the 211 Fifa members, but unanimity is not guaranteed, as was made clear when Czechia ’s football association became the first in Europe to back the plan.

Uefa has called an emergency meeting of its 55 members for this

Infantino had presented members with a deadline of 19 September to decide whether to apply for an initial payment of $20m (£15m) from the proposed sell-of.

afternoon to discuss a co ordinated response to Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell of stakes in the World Cup to private investors . A European boycott of Fifa tournaments is among the options under consideration.

Uefa’s initial condemnation of Fifa’s plan to “sell the soul” of football has received strong backing from Concacaf – the North, Central American and Caribbean confederation – and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) . If their members follow their

Having received more than 200

letters of endorsement backing his re-election next year, Infantino is conident he has enough votes – although it is unclear whether the proposal requires a simple majority to be passed. Several sources have said

A further $20m for each association would also be made available at a later date, although it is unclear whether accepting the money would equate to a formal

Gianni Infantino’s plan has drawn strong condemnation

As the next major event in the Fifa calendar, a boycott of next year’s Women’s World Cup has

4 

Argentina charged over banner and final chaos

John Ashdown

Fifa has opened disciplinary proceedings against Argentina over the Falkland Islands banner

displayed after their World Cup semi-final win against England in Atlanta.

As Argentina celebrated reaching

the final with their dramatic 2-1 victory , several players held a sign proclaiming “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” – the Malvinas are

Argentinian – in reference to the

British overseas territory in the south Atlantic.

The dispute over the islands, which have been ruled by Britain since 1833, is long running and led to a 74-day con ict in 1982, during which more than 900 people – 649 Argentinians and 255 Britons – lost their lives.

The Boys of 1966 60 years ago today and a world away

Fifa’s disciplinary code prohibits “using a sports event for demonstrations of a non-sporting

nature” and the banner prompted political debate on both sides of the

Atlantic. A spokesperson for the then UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, said: “ The World Cup might not be ours , but the Falkland Islands definitely are .”

Garry Richardson recalls England’s glory

Page 41

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ALLSPORT HULTON GETTY/ALLSPORT

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G2

Forty-five climate policies ditched while the world burns Bill McGuire, page 3 If my kids do opt for the hard-hat life, is that OK?Emma Brockes, page 4 Mike Salisbury, TV producer known for the Life wildlife seriesObituaries, page 6

Daily pullout life & arts section Inside

The Guardian

Thursday 30 July 2026

Opinion and ideas

This battle for social care will define us. And it must be won

eople pleaser!” That’s the insult Andy Burnham’s enemies sneer at him. And yes, he will need all his mightiest people-pleasing talents to win over voters to contribute to a new national care service. Choosing this forever failed policy ( 22 major reviews

it was . Many get a nasty shock when they need it for their family and i nd they must pay if they have savings above £23,250 . Only 4% listed social care as a top priority for the country; its political salience is low because at any one time, few people are using it – and they put it out their minds afterwards. In England, this unseen service uses up a phenomenal 78% of local council funds : no wonder people think they get bad value for their council tax, as visible services keep shrinking to pay for it. Everything about it is broken.

‘ P

ILLUSTRATION: BILL BRAGG

over three decades) as his irst great challenge is a remarkable act of bravery. No mere people pleaser would dare try it.

It will use up vast amounts of political capital to get a national care service of the ground . This is no grasp at low-hanging fruit, no search for a quick win. It’s a cause of deep conviction. In his speech from a north London care home, the prime minister told of his father with dementia, and of the struggle for families to get any help, the poor quality of much of it, the astronomical costs for some and the proiteering of private equity irms buying up care homes. That will have resonated with many, but his challenge now is to win the attention , hearts and minds of those who know nothing of social care.

People need to wake up to what confronts us. They need to know that the roulette wheel of fate decides which families are stricken by dementia: one in three people alive today will get this most dreaded of diseases . Some may live for years in a nursing home:

one in seven will pay over £100,000 and some will have to sell the family home.

Polly Toynbee

But still, this nation of gamblers shrugs. People bet that it will never happen to them ; that when their time comes, they will just drop dead. Burnham rightly described the UK’s social care system as equally unfair as the US health system: it bankrupts some . Would people rather pay a dei ned amount or risk losing everything? It’s an insurance ofer to protect against catastrophic loss.

A survey last year found 33% of people in England

believed care was generally free at the point of need, like the NHS, and another 18% didn’t know whether

2 Continued from front This battle for social care will define us. And it must be won Polly Toynbee	Founded 18 1Independently owned by the Scott Trust№ 55,972 ‘Comment is free… but facts are sacred’CP Scott
Research by the Health Foundation has found public support for funding reform, but – here’s the catch – only “ once people understand the current system ”. As Louise Casey embarks on her Big Conversation on care, educating people about the system will be her primary task . This is about better care, too . For-proit care is lower quality than voluntary, non-proit or local authority -run care services, the Blavatni k School of Government has found. This chaotic system includes 16,500 care homes : 85% for proit, many small family run businesses and some private equity big chains that will not be part of the new care service. Why do we endure this barely regulated, barely inspected patchwork of confusion? This was another disastrous Margaret Thatcher privatisation, of the kind Burnham intents to repair. After a 1988 report by the supermarket executive Roy Griiths , Thatcher efectively ordered councils to close their own homes and services, outsourcing them to the private sector, and closed NHS geriatric care wards. Crafting a new national care service out of all this would be the hardest of all in-sourcing tasks. This week, the prime minister warned the NHS could collapse unless social care is repaired. Last month, about 13,600 beds were occupied by people who were there only for lack of social care elsewhere , and delayed discharges cost the NHS £2.7bn last year . Burnham talks of integrating NHS and social care, with a workforce eventually on the same pay and with the same career progression. W ill people agree to pay up ? There are signs they will: when Boris Johnson proposed a care levy , it was surprisingly popular. But it was abolished by Kwasi Kwarteng before it could be implemented. Which was just as well, because the plan added 1.25 percentage points to employee and employer national insurance. That meant workers, not pensioners, would pay. No extra tax would fall on dividends or other unearned income that doesn’t attract NI contributions. Whatever system emerges , one principle must be that not a penny more is paid by the young for the old. Pensioners in the UK are the least likely group to be in poverty (though, of course, some are). They generally have the most wealth and property, alongside inal salary and triple-locked pensions. They are the overwhelming benei ciaries of the NHS. It’s no cliche to say the young are the future, so they must come irst, in better early -years education, holiday childcare and schools with a wider technical, arts, drama, sports and design curriculum, while further education gets the funding and status it needs. The old must pay for the old, in one way or another. This is a mineield. The politics of social care are fraught beyond all the other great problems Burnham could have chosen at the start. But the tone of his speech suggests the new prime minister really m ay lift this as a national priority. The wreckers in the Tory and Reform parties m ay ind themselves wrong-footed and, yet again, out of tune with the public mood. When Burnham says we need “a diferent kind of politics: problem-solving, not point-scoring”, some old hands sigh and say: “Good luck with that!” But Burnham may strike a chord. A public grown hostile to politics may see through Kemi Badenoch ’s deliberately impossible conditions for consensus agreement, as she cynically and childishly demands no borrowing, no taxes and no taking from “those who have made provisions and saved up over the course of their lives”. They know someone must pay, and that includes those lucky enough to have “made provisions”. It has never been the right time to brave social care reform. But it m ay be now, with a leader driven by personal belief, in his early stages, when he still has substantial amounts of political capital. He has grasped the nettle: will society, politics and the media? If not now, when?	Andy Burnham is well qualiied to speak on the subject of what can go wrong with social care policy. As health secretary in 2010, he proposed reforms to be funded by a 10% inheritance levy. This was called a “ death tax ” by the opposition. It was never introduced. Where Mr Burnham failed, none have subsequently succeeded. David Cameron accepted the recommendations of the 2011 Dilnot commission , which proposed a cap on the amount any individual would pay for care, but the cost to the exchequer thwarted implementation. Theresa May suggested plugging the money gap with a revised means test and no individual cap. This was branded a “ dementia tax ” by opponents and never saw the light of day. Boris Johnson planned a “health and social care levy” alongside a means test. That fell foul of the Tories’ ideological allergy to tax rises. Labour’s 2024 election manifesto promised a “national care service”. Sir Keir Starmer then commissioned a review, led by Louise Casey, to explore reform options and report back in 2028, a timetable that made change before the next general election unlikely . Mr Burnham has retrieved the Casey review from the long grass. It will now report next year. The prime minister has also called for a “national conversation” with a view to inding cross-party consensus on social care in England. He has invited the leaders of the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives (but notably not Reform UK or the Greens) for talks. Dame Louise will oversee a wider consultation exercise, taking views from the public. Lessons can also be learned from Scotland and Wales, with their devolved care models. This process is intended, in the prime minister’s words, to enable “more problem solving, less point-scoring” in the politics of social care . The idea is laudable. In his speech yesterday , Mr Burnham was eloquent on the subject of what has to change in Westminster culture: the need to foster a climate where hard issues might be debated in good faith, without long-term national interests being sabotaged for short-term partisan advantage. The prime minister was also refreshingly generous in his praise for care workers, recognising the technical and emotional challenges they meet for inadequate reward . He is right to say that they deserve higher wages and to make explicit the debt that all of Britain owes to a section of the labour force that is substantially stafed by immigrants. Generosity of spirit is easier to dispense than money. Mr Burnham is new enough to Downing Street that he can af ord to set out broad principles without being pinned down to speciics. That privilege will not last long. He admits that a commitment to grapple with an issue that is notoriously destructive of political capital is a gamble. Cross-party consensus will remain elusive if any revenue-raising mechanism is liable to be denounced as an unconscionable tax raid. The Conservatives and Reform UK , for going the opportunity to appear broad-minded , have already indicated that this is their position. Mr Burnham has enough Labour MPs to enact change without opposition support. Reforms, and the contributions that pay for them within the iscal rules, will form the basis for a future consensus if enough voters are persuaded they are necessary and fair. There is a long road to travel before that campaign begins, but the prime minister’s irst steps are the right ones. Social care A national conversation about reform has to include honesty around tax rises
	Like a sporting Dr Pangloss, Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, would like to persuade football followers that they are living in the best of all possible worlds. Maddeningly for him, many disagree. On Monday, Mr Infantino published a 15-page Instagram rant in which he bemoaned the “hate and false rumours” in circulation during the recent men’s World Cup. White House interference over a crucial refereeing decision, prohibitive ticket prices , unnecessary but lucrative hydration breaks ; it was all, as his best friend in politics, Donald Trump, would say, “fake news”. But where the president of world football’s governing body sees haters, others see lovers of the game rightly concerned over where he is taking it. On Tuesday, Fifa conirmed that it hopes to sell stakes in the World Cup and other tournaments to private investors who may include Joshua Kushner, the brother of Mr Trump’s sonin-law Jared. The investors would buy into a new $20bn company , Fifa Forward Enterprise, which would sell all of Fifa’s commercial rights, including ticketing, and take charge of “operational delivery” of World Cups. Members of the extended Trump family do not generally contemplate business ventures out of a desire to spread “joy and happiness” in the world (which the egregious Mr Infantino presents as his mission ). If the plans go ahead – sweetened by ofers of a $30m windfall for national associations – investors’ desires to maximise revenues would undoubtedly accelerate the hyper-monetisation of the World Cup that is already taking place. Almost certainly there would be pressure for more frequent and bigger tournaments at both club and national level, distorting the international game’s calendar to the detriment of domestic leagues. Mr Infantino has already indicated that he would look favourably on such an expansion, despite objections from bodies such as Uefa, European football’s governing body. Innovations such as the widely loathed hydration breaks – which by breaking games up into four quarters, US-style, allowed extra advertising slots – would no doubt proliferate. The prospect revives fears generated by the failed European Super League proposals , which were furiously opposed by football supporters in 2021. During this summer’s World Cup in the US, Mr Kushner and others will have seen at irst-hand the vast commercial possibilities of an event that unites a global audience in an age of fragmented media. As the highest-level steward of the game, Fifa’s primary job is to protect football from forces that might be interested in exploiting its appeal by selling its soul; instead, under Mr Infantino, it appears happy to do their job for them. Angry opposition to the plans from Uefa and Concacaf (the equivalent body for North and Central America) suggests that the governance of the game may be at a crossroads. Mr Infantino’s tireless selfpromotion, and shameless eforts to curry favour with the Trump administration, have long grated. But placing the planet’s most-watched sporting competition at risk from predation by private capital is of a somewhat diferent order of magnitude. The visionary creator of the World Cup, Jules Rimet, hoped that it would help foster unity and solidarity between nations. Mr Infantino routinely pays lip service to such ideals, and did so again in his Instagram screed. In reality, though, he is dragging the world’s favourite sport further and further away from its roots, as he relentlessly follows the money wherever it leads. Gianni Infantino’s plans for a sell-offshould be seen as a red-card offence World Cup

Opinion

3

fuel corporations and others who choose not to do so. But we need our own lobbyists too – those qualiied and in positions to speak truth to power about the dire straits we are already in, who can add credence to the noisy debate. Cue the world’s climate scientists. At this critical moment, the science has a duty to out-shout and out-shine corporate weasel words and government irresponsibility. The problem is that even now, at a time when the rate of global heating has doubled, this is just not happening.

Sure, there are climate scientists out there telling it like it is, making a lot of noise and often putting their livelihoods and career prospects on the line, but they remain the exception rather than

the rule. Far too many individuals, for one reason or another, still keep silent, heads below the parapet, fears and frets internalised.

In 2021, I wrote an open letter to all climate scientists, reminding them that they had a duty to speak out, to come down o the fence and to force those who need to know to listen to the truth. Sadly, ive years on, little has changed. For far too many people, fears about funding, academic advancement, prestige, and the contempt or ridicule of colleagues, still trump speaking out.

ith the heat continuing to ratchet up, it is clear this cannot go on. If we want to have any possibility of drowning out the bogus claptrap of those determined to prevent serious climate action, then

W

climate scientists – all scientists for that matter – need to wake up now and make themselves heard.

Climate science is a vast tent that incorporates aspects of geology, chemistry, physics, oceanography, meteorology, economics, social science and many other ields, so that one source putting the number of climate scientists at 18,000 worldwide is almost certainly an underestimate. When it comes to scientists of every ilk, the global igure comes out at not far short of 10 million . Just imagine how much racket the scientii c community could make if it spoke with the same voice – demanding the reinstatement of climate-friendly policies, arguing for more rapid emissions cuts, and at the same time overwhelming the peridious calls for inertia from those lobbying for business as usual.

Forty five more climate policies ditched while the world burns

uch is the astonishing scale of the wildires burning at the gates of Bordeaux and Madrid , that if they had

A wild re near the town of Mirabelet-Blacons in southeastern France on 28 July (above); evacuees from Spanish wild res shelter in a Madrid sports centre

S

happened 20, or – even 10 – years ago, they might well have shocked the world into taking action on the climate crisis. But like the proverbial frog in a pot of slowly heating water, we have become

inured; not only to the ever more devastating impacts of climate breakdown, but also, increasingly, to the actions needed to bring global heating to heel.

Even as more than 35,000 wildires rage across the surface of our world, and as we continue to rewind our planet’s climate so it resembles hotter episodes from its distant past , governments and trading blocs are very deliberately turning away from climate action.

This may well be our last chance to turn things around; to help politicians grow the backbone they need to stand up to vested interests . At this crucial time every scientist needs to examine their conscience, take on board the reality that there will be no research grants on a dead planet – and act accordingly.

PHOTOGRAPHS: MOHAMAD SALAHELDIN/ ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES; JUAN CARLOS LUCAS/ ZUMA PRESSWIRE/ SHUTTERSTOCK

The latest evidence that we are not only doing too little but actually doing less as time goes by is provided by the climate action media platform , We Don’t Have Time . It reported last week that the 12 months to July this year saw the reversal across the world of 45 climate policies. The retreat on climate action is global, but Europe – previously seen as a leader in emissions reductions – is in the vanguard, weakening measures across the board, including in the areas of carbon pricing, methane emissions and the phasing out of petrol and diesel vehicles.

Bill McGuire

Bill McGuire is professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at UCL, and the author of Hothouse Earth: an Inhabitant’s Guide

This isn’t yet an apocalyptic reversal of the majority of climate commitments, as the continuity of countless other climate policies testii es. We are, however, at an especially critical period: if we don’t want backsliding on climate action to continue, we have to act now.

We Don’t Have Time lays the blame squarely at the foot of lobbying by the fossil fuel sector and other industries antagonistic to climate action, making the point that as long as the usual suspects continue to make the most noise in the meetings where decisions are made, they will get what they want. What we have to do, then, is to make even more noise – on the streets, via the ballot box and in the media – putting pressure on politicians and governments so that they don’t cave in to vested business interests .

The Guardian’s climate forum 2026 On 20 October, join Damian Carrington and our panel for a solutionsfocused evening. Book tickets at theguardian. com

We must force those in power to join the dots between the ires raging across Europe and the El Niño building in the Paciic , and the activities of the fossil

4 Opinion

BEN JENNING

If my kids opt for the hard hat life, is that OK?

So it is that, while “low-value” degrees have been the target of derision ever since media studies became a thing in the 90s , when you dig down into why people want their kids to go to university, it is as much to do with social benei ts as academic attainment . When will they meet the friends who will stay with them and godparent their children if not while sitting around watching mid-morning telly for three years as they slowly matur e into adults? Are those friendships worth 10 grand a year? How, exactly, do you put a value on the non-academic stuf ? I always think of a thing Don DeLillo said once about honouring a need to “drink cofee and look at the world” for a space of years, something that in the current economic climate sounds like a preposterous indulgence. And yet, for lots of 18-year-olds, it remains a valuable exercise.

of all young people is perfectly timed and sensibly presented and shouldn’t sound as radical as it does. It is, of course, a correction to existing norms that university-for-all is a proper national goal and the only personal determinant of ambition and success. By contrast, Burnham said on Tuesday, this country should “value the hard hat every bit as much as the graduation cap” as he spoke about tailoring technical and vocational training to meet local job needs and tackle youth unemployment.

Evidence suggests that a culture shift is already under way and that Burnham is simply validating an existing trend. I’m in the US at the moment, where the cost-reward ratio of going to college is so out of whack that student numbers have been dropping for years . Smart people on podcasts direct young people towards their in-state universities, which charge a fraction of the cost of the prestigious private ones (not the Ivy Leagues, so much, which can aford to subsidise any family making less than $400,000 a year, but the smaller, boutique liberal arts colleges that charge as much as $80,000 in annual tuition ).

Emma Brockes

But not all of them. Surely the main takeaway from Burnham’s speech is a reminder that there is more than one way of doing things. You can go to college, or not go to college, or go at 35 not 18, and all those things should be regarded as equal. Meanwhile, the whole conversation around college is just part of a larger one about changing work patterns in which, on the evidence so far, gen Z are proving reluctant to

ately I’ve been having a conversation with friends that a few years ago would’ve been unthinkable. Partly, this is because of how sheltered we all tend to be when trying to imagine our kids’ lives running on diferent tracks to our own. But it’s also about the world changing. A brilliant young

L

In the UK, too, for the last two years, university numbers have dipped slightly . This is partly a result of changing demographics – smaller families mean a smaller supply of school-leaving 18-year-olds – and partly to do with the cost .

repeat the experience of their parents’ generation by taking up o i ce jobs – with pushback from gen X, who feel they came of age in o i ce structures that taught them all sorts of useful things, such as how to work alongside people they found basically unbearable.

The question is what this is doing to perceptions about the usefulness or otherwise of going to college, which, as we know, isn’t just about earning potential.

We all bring biases to the question of how to live life. I went to university and want my kids to do the same. My mum would’ve loved to have gone to university but had to leave school at 16 and I’m sure that’s in the mix, too. But when the question of college education came up in our house, I tried hard to take myself of generational autopilot, stop being so hidebound by precedent, and properly consider the alternative.

person I know left school, took up an internship, turned it into a job and now she’s in her early 20s with no debt and a great position at a big fashion house. “Maybe I won’t go to university, either,” said one of my kids, eyeing me for a reaction, while I nodded thoughtfully and tried to ride out the panic.

In both the US and the UK , being a graduate still delivers average median earnings that are higher than the earnings of non-graduates. But while middle-class people make jokes about how their plumbers probably earn more than they do, the fact remains that it is the other stuf – the cultural and social capital of going to college – that underscores this particular bias.

Andy Burnham’s announcement this week that university shouldn’t be the single, aspirational goal

Letters guardian.letters theguardian.com

Earlier this year, Paul McCartney released an album called The Boys of Dungeon Lane . Among the unashamed nostalgia is a wistful track, Days We Left Behind , which evokes memories of his visits to the Mersey shore with George Harrison and friends. Young Paul was, it turns out, a keen birdwatcher. Perhaps inevitably, the album has brought crowds of tourists to photograph the sign. The Speke end of the lane where they mostly gather is uninspiring, bounded by remnants of a demolished pub, a solar farm and an electricity sub station. The southern end of Dungeon Lane is where Paul would have gone with his binoculars. This section leads down to Dungeon Bay and Oglet Shore , important sites for birds and wildlife, then as now. The coast may be more eroded, but Paul would still recognise it. The middle of the lane was cut of a few years ago by Liverpool John Lennon airport, but more curious visitors can still reach the shore via a slight detour. Here is coastal beauty. July is the quiet month for birds, but goldi nches, linnets and common whitethroats call mutedly. Dense bramble guards the lane, with fecund banks of early ripeness born of this summer’s heat dome. Red soldier beetles explore wild carrot blooms, while ragwort and buddleia host cinnabar moth caterpillars and many butterlies. Other features point to a history before the Beatles. The second world war stone pyramids were tank traps to repel any invading enemy. A sandstone wall, adjacent to the shore, is the only evidence of a once thriving salt industry. A salt reinery was built here in the late 17th century, and the wall may be the remains of a sandstone quay. Closer inspection shows old gra ti names and initials. Two girls are sitting on the wall gazing across the Mersey (perhaps young Paul once did the same, watching for waders). We chat briely; they speak of its beauty, vowing to return. Walking back, a young man approaches . He relects on when he cycled down Dungeon Lane as a child. The McCartney tourists, he says, are visiting the “wrong” part of the lane. “ They should come down here instead .” Jennifer Jones The feelgood factor of Burnham’s bus fare cap Established 1906 Country diary Dungeon Lane, Liverpool How did London get here (Tenants fall ill in heat after air conditioning ‘switched of’, 28 July) ? Your report says homeless families, including young children, were placed in a glass tower during a heatwave and told they could not use the building’s air conditioning because it had “ not been ofered as an amenity ”. If that doesn’t make every Londoner stop in disbelief, we’ve become dangerously desensitised. This is no longer a housing crisis , it is a crisis of basic human dignity. London proudly markets itself as one of the world’s greatest cities: a global i nancial capital overlowing Shameful treatment of families in heatwave • Jonathan Freedland is admiring of leaders who make the big statement that dei nes their term. Those he mentions are a mixed bag. Nye Bevan was right with the NHS, as was Harold Wilson with the Open University, but was Margaret Thatcher with right to buy? All that happened was house price inlation, unfair property windfalls and many of those properties ending up in the avaricious hands of private landlords. As for Gordon Brown’s Bank of England independence, all that happened was that monetary policy and i scal policy got separated into ghettoes with no efect on boom or bust. In the 10 years from 1997 to 2007, high Bank rates had no efect in damping down the party, while in the decade from 2010 to Covid, the Bank rate at 0.5% or lower had absolutely no ef ect in getting the economy anywhere near to normal levels of growth. Might it be a better idea if politicians had a longer think about their headline policies? Headlines one day, i sh and chip wrappers the next. David Redshaw Saltdean, East Sussex Jonathan Freedland recounts how when he was 14 years old, Greater London council, led by Ken Livingstone, reduced child fares on the buses to 5p in a scheme called Fares Fair (Scof at his bus fares if you like – the PM knows what he’s doing, 25 July) . In 1950s Liverpool, the corporation had a scheme for schoolchildren in the holidays whereby they could buy a “penny return” to anywhere on the tram network. You could, for example, travel from the Pier Head by the Mersey on the number 10 tram to Prescot, almost 10 miles inland, and back again. Or you could use your ticket to transfer from your irst destination to a dif erent one rather than using it as a return. Sadly the last tram ran in 1957. I remember on one occasion being on the tram when a rather tall boy asked for a penny return. The conductor obviously suspected that he was over the age limit. He gave him his ticket, but asked him: “Why didn’t you bring the missis?” And by the way, this was of course the old penny, of which there were 240 to the pound sterling. Joe Cocker Leominster, Herefordshire • Andy Burnham’s bus fare cap rang a bell for me: the South Yorkshire equivalent was reduc ed fares to 10p for adults and 2p for children in the early 1980s. Little things have long shadows : in She eld, almost half a century later, it is still mentioned every time we bemoan the parlous, life-limiting, economy-harming state of the privatised buses. Small changes to conserve small change could amount to a radical shift of gear. Hold tight, please. Robin Hughes She eld • In the late 1940s and 50s, a return bus ticket from Thorne to Doncaster in South Yorkshire, 10 miles each way, was one shilling and 10 old pence. My dad always said we had the cheapest fares in England. This made us feel travel was afordable and encouraged us to go places. We also went to Doncaster, our nearest big town, more frequently, for shopping trips. Cheap public transport spreads the feelgood factor. Expensive transport equals stress and distrust of the provider. So well done, Andy Burnham. Jennifer Kennerley Norwich • Dear Andy Burnham, please provide Shropshire with a comprehensive bus service so that residents can beneit from the £2 cap on bus fares. Roz Conway Shrewsbury, Shropshire with luxury developments, billionpound property portfolios and record-breaking real estate values. Yet, in the shadow of that wealth, children are being expected to endure dangerously hot lats where the very system designed to make the building habitable is efectively treated as a luxury. When a city reaches the point where vulnerable families are housed in buildings that become ovens, while the solution exists but is deemed of limits, something has gone profoundly wrong. This isn’t an administrative oversight. It is the triumph of We do not publish letters where only an email address is supplied; please include a full postal address, a reference to the article and a daytime phone number. We may edit letters. Submission and publication of letters is subject to our terms and conditions: see theguardian.com/letters-terms I read Polly Hudson’s article (Have I been wrong about WhatsApp all this time?, 27 July) with interest, but I think blue ticks fell out of fashion for a simpler reason – they turned WhatsApp into a full-time job. In an era when so many of us are trying to reclaim a little time and attention from our screens, switching of “read” receipts gave people a small but meaningful sense of control. Being permanently contactable is exhausting. Reading a message and replying to it are two diferent things, but blue ticks erased the gap Reclaiming your peace on WhatsApp bureaucracy over common sense and, ultimately, over compassion. Politicians have spent years telling us London is thriving. Thriving for whom? It certainly isn’t thriving for the record number of families trapped in temporary accommodation or the children growing up without a stable home. History teaches us that great cities are judged not by the height of their skyscrapers, but by how they treat those with the least power. On that measure, London should be deeply ashamed. A city where air conditioning exists but compassion is switched of is no longer a worldclass city. It is simply a dystopia. Fernando Quintana Marrero London between them. The moment they turned blue, an invisible countdown began. Switching them of was about reclaiming the radical idea that I can read your message now and come back to it later, because at the precise moment you texted I was probably trying to remember why I’d walked into the kitchen. Tallis Morris Bristol • Polly Hudson’s article describ es how ramping up your privacy settings can involve switching of the blue ticks option on WhatsApp. I switched them of years ago for privacy reasons. It was too tempting to check if people had read your messages. If they had, how long did it take them to reply? Worse still, messages not read meant you were deinitely not in the cool club, which was depressing. Having blue ticks disabled on your WhatsApp means you can ping your messages out into the ether and, unless you get a reply, you have no idea who bothered to read them. Much better for your mental health and it saves a lot of time and energy. Kim Ware Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire	Corrections and clarifications
	• It was Matthew Ward who swam backstroke in Scotland’s Commonwealth bronze medalwinning mixed 4x100m medley relay team, not “Katie Ward” as we misnamed him. And Angharad Evans, not “Kara Hanlon Evans”, swam the breaststroke leg ( Jersey boy Nowacki comes of age with swim triumph , 29 July, p42, late editions). Kara Hanlon is a Scottish swimmer who competed in the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Editorial complaints and corrections can be sent to guardian.readers@theguardian.com or The readers’ editor, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. You can also leave a voicemail on 020 3353 4736 Sad to hear of Bill Oddie’s death (Report, 28 July) . He irst grabbed my attention in I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again, a 1960s radio show with ine comedic talent : John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, David Hatch , Jo Kendall. Bill’s songs were always witty . I remember going to a recording of the show and watching him grapple with the line “He battled with the rollocks” . To a 14-year-old that was hysterical. As a lifelong depressive, when I heard about Bill’s own battle, I felt sympathy for him and comfort for myself. Chris House Hertford • Regarding the best ice-creams, Lucy Knight awards 5/10 for lavour to the Marmite on toast creation (G2, 28 July) . Surely in the case of Marmite, the only appropriate ratings are 10 or zero? Adrian Brodkin London • Regarding Dr Terry Scragg’s letter on obituaries (28 July) , one of the most consistent words used to describe the deceased is “generous”. I long to read “stingy git” – or do they never die? Siobhán Ní Chuanaigh Dublin, Ireland • Re the preponderance of deaths after a “short illness” , the great American clown Pali used to conclude shows by profering a collection box to the audience, suggesting they contribute to research into the most dangerous of ailments – “natural causes”. Antony Bellekom Collingham, Nottinghamshire • On the mystery of the vanished beef joint, the dog and the missing plate (Letters, 29 July) , did Jeanette Hamilton check the dishwasher? Paul Wright King’s Lynn, Norfolk How Bill Oddie was a comfort to me

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6 Obituaries

When this ended, Mike was told that if he wanted to work in TV he needed to come up with programme ideas. So during breaks while driving lorries, he telephoned scientists around the world, posing as a BBC employee. His persistence inally paid of when he was rewarded with a contract.

He also worked in light entertainment, booking guests – including Muhammad Ali , John Lennon and Yoko Ono – for the initial series in 1971 of Michael Parkinson ’s chatshow, before successfully applying to the Bristolbased Natural History Unit, as studio director on the children’s programme Animal Magic .

On his very i rst episode, he sufered the perils of live TV when a hornbill – which during rehearsal had been perfectly cooperative – decided to ly up into the studio lights just as the opening titles were running. His big break came as an assistant producer on what was to become Attenborough’s landmark series, Life o n Earth , ilmed over three years and broadcast in 1979.

While i lming polar bears for Kingdom of the Ice Bear, he and the cameraman Hugh Miles persuaded the Norwegian army to donate anti-personnel explosives, to scare the animals of if they ventured too close. However, one morning they awoke to discover that, during the night, a female polar bear had broken into their storage igloo and eaten all the explosives – apparently without sufering any ill-ef ects. The shoot was a great success, with footage of three young cubs emerging from their underground den.

Mike Salisbury Wildlife television producer who worked on the Life series with David Attenborough

One of Mike’s greatest achievements was The Private Life of Plants. For this, in the days before video, the team pushed ilm technology to its limits with trailblazing time-lapse sequences. Yet the series went ahead at all only thanks to the Hollywood star Jane Fonda.

During a tense meeting with the broadcasting mogul Ted Turner , Fonda’s then husband, it transpired that the co-production money required by the BBC was far too high for the Americans. As Mike recalled, Jane suddenly intervened: “Oh Ted, I love l owers, I think you’ve got to do it.” Ted smiled and responded, “O K, you’ve got your $4 m, now get on with it.”

achievement. Only when his own name was announced did he realise that Sir David had been talking about him .

n a ilm-making career of more than four decades, Mike Salisbury, who has died aged 84 after a brief illness, was series producer of some of the BBC Natural History Unit’s most groundbreaking

an early age, his mother teaching him the names of birds, plants and insects that they saw while walking their dog.

Salisbury on location in Tanzania for Life on Earth in the 1970s, main image, and with David Attenborough in discussion about a hummingbird hawk moth sequence for Life in the Undergrowth, 2005

I

In the days before video, the team pushed film technology to its limits with trailblazing time lapse sequences

This award, followed in 2007

After leaving St George’s school with A-levels in English, zoology and botany , Mike decided not to go to university. Instead, he became a volunteer with VSO , travelling by steamship to Swaziland (now Eswatini), where he taught Nelson Mandela’s children and also worked as a mechanic. Africa’s exotic wildlife provided scope for stills photography. On returning home, he joined his father’s business. But Mike aspired to a more exciting life.

by his appointment as OBE , recognised Mike’s reputation for innovation and creativity.

He did not follow the traditional route to becoming a wildlife ilm-maker. H e spent his 20s volunteering overseas, and then did a range of odd jobs, while directing and acting in plays for a local amateur dramatics society. Even when he i nally became a TV researcher, he initially worked in science and light entertainment before arriving at the BBC Natural History Unit in the early 1970s.

and popular programmes. These included Kingdom of the Ice Bear

Having inspired so many of his colleagues with his enthusiasm, kindness and generosity, Mike left the BBC in 2006.

(1985) , The Private Life of Plants

(1995), The Life of Birds (1998),

The Life of Mammals (2002) and Life in the Undergrowth (2005) – the “Life ” series all authored and presented by his childhood hero, Sir David Attenborough. During the 1990s, Mike was series editor of The Natural World, steering this long-running series towards hardhitting conservation issues.

In 1969, he married Vyv Foot, who became professor of applied microbiology at the University of the West of England. She survives him, along with their children, Ben, Clare and Elly, grandchildren, Molly, Tom, Bella, Vic, Cormac and Peggy, and his siblings, Angela and Pete.

BBC; TOM CLARKE/ NATURE PICTURE LIBRAR

Initially, he pestered Peter Goodchild , the editor of the BBC’s science lagship, Horizon, for work experience. Time and again he was rebufed, and told that there were no vacancies. Finally, he engineered a face-to-face meeting with Goodchild, and was ofered a couple of weeks as a holiday stand-in researcher.

Born in Derry, Northern Ireland,

A self-efacing man, Mike listened with keen interest at the Wildscreen Panda awards in 2006 as Attenborough listed the

Mike was the youngest of three children of Molly (n ee Heywood) and Freddy Salisbury, who ran a

Stephen Moss

lawnmower business . Brought up in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, Mike developed a passion for wildlife at

John Michael Salisbury , television producer, born 29 March 1942; died 13 May 2026

accomplishments of the winner of the award for outstanding

obituaries theguardian.com

Muhammad in the earliest days of Islam and carried the movement to Andalucía, in southern Spain. His mother, Sheikha Aisha bint Hamad Al Attiyah, died shortly after his birth. Growing up within this powerful tribal lineage, his early life was shaped by traditional custom alongside a rapidly modernising world.

In his personal life, Hamad balanced tribal alliances and personal compatibility across his three spouses, by whom he had 24 children. His second wife, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser al-Misned , emerged as his primary strategic partner, collaborating deeply on national education and social reforms. Hamad carefully managed the upbringing of his large family, deliberately fostering a competitive yet disciplined environment to select the most capable successor to maintain the country’s stability.

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Down-to-earth emir of Qatar and founder of the Al Jazeera media network

As a youth, Hamad experienced formative encounters that would inluence his future philosophy of governance. He had his irst exposure to democracy as a boy during a trip to London. The concept seemed so ridiculous to him that he had to be led from the House of Commons balcony in hysterical laughter after witnessing his irst parliamentary debate.

In a highly unusual move for a Gulf ruler, Hamad chose to step down voluntarily from the throne in 2013, passing the mantle to the next generation. He retired to a life of quiet diplomacy, historical research and cultural advocacy, split between Doha and his

Hamad governed Qatar like the managing director of a global corporation

n June 1995 the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, was holidaying at a luxury lakefront resort in Geneva, Switzerland . His son, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, having efectively

Crucially, he established Qatar as a global media hub in 1996 by founding Al Jazeera , initially an Arabic news satellite

I

In a highly unusual move for a Gulf ruler, he chose to step down voluntarily from the throne in 2013

Back home, his early formal education was dominated by

TV station, later expanding its reach in English and Spanish. In 1998 he abolish ed the ministry of

émigré Egyptian teachers, under whose inl uence he became a virulent Nasserist. This anticolonial fervour culminated around 1967, when he participated in political protests, throwing stones at the British embassy and denting its metal shutters.

properties in Europe.

He was succeeded as emir by his son Sheikh Tamim, who continued to guide the nation along the strategic path forged by his father’s singular vision. Their most spectacular deployment

information , thereby ending oicial state censorship.

DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP/ GETTY IMAGE

run the daily af airs of the country for more than a decade during Khalifa’s prolonged absences abroad, resolved to depose him. In a swift and bloodless operation,

His death marks the conclusion of a transformative era for the small Gulf peninsula, which he single-handedly dragged from regional obscurity into the centre of global geopolitics. While maintaining defence and security links with the US, he maintained a deep-seated commitment to the Palestinian cause, an outlook inherited from his father. He gave the leaders of Hamas a base in Doha, an engagement aimed at pulling the militant group away from the Iranian and Syrian “ axis of resistance” and getting them to face reality and negotiate.

He later realised that these radical pan-Arab movements had misled his generation, an epiphany that sparked his lifelong commitment to replacing foreign educational inluences with indigenous, world-class Qatari institutions through the later creation of the

of soft power came with the announcement in 2010 that Qatar would be hosting the 2022 men’s football World Cup .

the 43-year-old crown prince proclaimed himself the new emir, a move that would permanently alter the trajectory of his nation and reshape the modern Middle East.

The “father emir” is survived by his three wives, 11 sons and 13 daughters. Hugh Miles

Following his audacious takeover, Hamad , who has died aged 74, became a completely diferent kind of leader from his regional contemporaries. Eschewing the ritualistic, baroque inery and aloofness traditional to Gulf monarchs, he governed Qatar more like the managing director of a global corporation.

Qatar Foundation , promoting education, scientiic research and community development.

Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, emir of Qatar, born 1 January 1952; died 12 July 2026

To prepare for his state duties, he attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK, graduating in 1971. On his return , he held several military posts, and in 1977 was appointed

During the Arab spring of 2011, Sheikh Hamad rode the whirlwind, proactively championing his policy of “Arabs sorting out Arab problems”, backing revolutionary movements in Libya and Syria, amplifying popular revolts through Al Jazeera, and positioning Qatar to shape political Islam across the region, all while selectively contributing troops to Bahrain to preserve Sunni supremacy.

Birthdays

He was famously down-to-earth, frequently driving his own vehicle around the streets of Doha and dining in local restaurants with minimal security. A “big picture” thinker, he focused on long-term strategy while delegating the minutiae of daily governance to trusted technocrats. This singular determination was widely recognised by foreign observers; a leaked July 2008 US embassy cable published by WikiLeaks quote d a source who said that: “The Amir seems to be the only one in the Government who has a vision for this country. The details of that vision, however, are not entirely clear to anyone, except perhaps the Amir himself and his closest associates.”

Sir James Anderson, cricketer, 44; Paul Anka, composer and singer, 85; Jennifer Barnes, opera singer and musicologist, 66; Prof Stephen Blackmore, botanist, 74; Sir Peter Bottomley, former Conservative MP, 82; Kate Bush, singer and songwriter, 68; Alun Cairns, former Conservative

minister of defence.

Over the next two decades, as his father spent increasing amounts of time on the French Riviera,

Hamad assumed the day-to-day administration of the state. He became immensely popular among his peers and successfully buried centuries-old rivalries between competing branches of the Al Thani family, establishing a uniied political front that paved the way for his eventual accession.

Born in the capital city of Doha,

Hamad was a member of the Al Thani ruling family, members of the Bani Tamim, an ancient Arabian tribe that supported the prophet

MP and secretary of state for Wales, 56; Hannah Cockroft,

Paralympic gold medalist, 34; Kenton Cool, mountaineer, 53; Laurence Fishburne, actor, 65; Kerry Fox, actor, 60; Soie Gråbøl, actor, 58; W g C m d r Andy Green, world land speed record-holder, 64; Lady (Harriet) Harman, KC, former Labour MP , 76; Lisa Kudrow, actor, 63; Patrick Modiano, novelist, 81; Stephen Moss, journalist and author, 69; Sir Christopher Nolan, ilm director, 56; Tom Pidcock, cyclist, Olympic gold medalist, 27; Jean Reno, actor, 78; Jason Robinson, rugby player, 52; Justin Rose, golfer, 46; Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor and former governor of California, 79; Hilary Swank, actor, 52; Daley Thompson, athlete, 68; Frances de la Tour, actor, 82; Christopher Warren-Green, violinist and conductor, 71.

His achievements as emir were monumental. Hamad successfully bypassed the “oil curse” that plagued his neighbours by aggressively developing Qatar’s massive ofshore natural gas reserves, transforming the state into an economic juggernaut with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. His domestic legacy include d delivering Qatar’s irst implemented written constitution, introducing democratic municipal elections, and elevating the status of women in public life.

Puzzles

8

Yesterday’s solutions

Killer sudoku Codeword Easy

Each letter of the alphabet makes at least one appearance in the grid, and is represented by the same number wherever it appears. The letters

The normal rules of sudoku apply: ill each row, column and 3x3 box with all the numbers from 1 to 9. In addition, the digits in each inner shape (marked by dots) must add up to the number in the top corner of that box. No digit can be repeated within an inner shape.

Killer sudoku decoded should help you to identify other letters and words in the grid. Easy

Medium

Medium

Codeword

Guardian cryptic crossword No 30,072 set by Enigmatist

Cryptic crossword

Solution No. 30,071

1		2		3		4		5		6		7
8						9
														10
11								12
13		14				15				16
17						18		19		20
21				22				23				24
	25									26
	27

				L				P		A
N	E	W	B	I	E		D	O	C	U	S	O	A	P
E		A		B				I		T		P		A
W	E	I	R	D	O		I	N	F	O	T	E	C	H
S		T		E				S		C		D		S
P	O	R	T	M	A	N	T	E	A	U
E		E				A		T		E		W		T
A	S	S	E	G	A	I		T	U	S	S	O	R	E
K		S		A		L		I				R		L
				L	A	B	R	A	D	O	O	D	L	E
S		C		U		I				A		F		P
T	E	A	MM		A	T	E		O	R	W	E	L	L
Y		S		P		I				I		S		A
E	L	E	P	H	A	N	T		K	N	O	T	T	Y
				S		G				G

Down

Across

• 1 Charles and his mum in dust-up about constant sleazy activity (4,8)
• 2 Water nymph transformed by Diana (5)
• 3 Mostly where soldiers are trained to place their trust (2,7)
• 4 Harsh and unscrupulous activity, seizing racy tapes (7)
• 5 Awfully sick after leaving new soup kitchen, getting better (2,3,2)
• 6 Start rolling the cameras here (5)
• 7 Notices surrounding hip-hop doctor’s name on envelope (9)

1 Accompanied by star, left behind with knowledge of Glasgow sports venue (10,4)

• 8 Regretful of £1000 deposited after bankruptcy (5)

• 9 Discarded top class team (3-5)

• 11 Solo turn by crossword guru touring centre of 1ac? (7)

• 12 Maximum and minimum values taken out of context, remarkably

(7)

• 13 Change location of union meeting in telephone call? (5)

15 Under a great burden, Ms Viner

perhaps, with work (9) 17 An essential for burner of

10 Sorcerer welcomes assistance getting diplomat initial crossing? (6,6)

midnight oil hit spot (9)

• 20 Guiltless about Jack Sprat’s diet, it’s implied (5)
• 21 Arctic resident worked in retirement with supercomputer

14 Actor suggesting a spot of 1dn?

(3,6)

16 Sort of alpine act a daring climb?

(2,7)

(7)

Looking for more?

• 18 It’s a bit gluey getting up on a cycle (7)
• 19 Old drunkard beats wino up (7) 22 Spurs are improving, reportedly

23 Cheese production initially stops

its run (7)

Download the Guardian app for more puzzles, including our new Premier League game, On the Ball, and our movie quiz, Film Reveal. Plus clues and answers to all our interactive crosswords and sudoku. Available in the Apple App Store and Google Play.

• 25 Dodge section that is recording

(8)

• 26 Forest dweller there – fearfully symmetrical, according to recital

(5)

• 27 Planet’s reporter takes chorus on leave, on the way to the Proms? (10,4)

(still in need of work) (5) 24 Friend is one shot (5)

Want more? Get access to more than 4,000 puzzles at theguardian. com/crossword. To buy puzzle books, visit guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846.

Thursday 30 July 2026

Adrian Chiles The saddest words I’ve ever heard

• page 3

Buzz of!

What’s behind this summer’s plagues of flies?

Michael Thomas

Why I took 2 years to write my second book

• page 4

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Adrian Chiles

Drinkflation

I’ve never cried during a live broadcast – until now

Age: The current round started in 2023. Appearance: To the naked eye, no appreciable change. But drinks are getting bigger? Drinks are staying the same size. Then the price of these same-sized drinks is getting higher? Prices are also staying the same. So what is happening? The drinks are getting less alcoholic. Which drinks? Specii cally, beer. Even more speciically, Carling Original , which is being reduced in strength from 4.0% alcohol by volume (ABV) to 3.4% . I hadn’t noticed. You won’t have done, because the change doesn’t come into efect until October. A lso because I don’t drink Carling. Or indeed beer. Good for you. Anyway, if they’re actually reducing the alcohol, why is it called drinklation? It’s a coinage based on

I

n more than 30 years of live broadcasting, I’ve only once sobbed on air. This was the other week, during a radio interview with a professor

toilet paper. Never any soap. None of us owned a toothbrush.” Miss Hall took her to the toilets, locked the door and taught her how to wash. And she gave her clean pants that had the days of the week stamped on them. Words fail me.

live on the International Space Station than what it’s like to live in a tower block in the wrong part of Coventry, existing – just existing – as a member of the underclass. Underclass is a ghastly word, I know, which is possibly one reason we don’t like using it. More likely it’s just another excuse to look away and pretend that world doesn’t exist. There’s a good chance you haven’t even read this far.

of psychology called Katriona O’Sullivan . That’s what she is now, a professor at Maynooth University in County Kildare . Before that, she was at Trinity College Dublin ,

In a fairy story, this would have been the moment that things started to get better. Well, they did, but mainly they didn’t. Years of disarray lay ahead, horriic stuf I can’t bear to relate here. And even stuf, she told me, that she couldn’t bring herself to write. What that concerns I dread to think.

where she also got her PhD. Before that, she was to be found on the

O’Sullivan’s story, in a turn of events that is nothing less than thrilling, has a happy ending. She landed in Dublin before the 2008 crash, when the Celtic tiger was still alive and kicking. There was money about – money to help people in her world. Help with childcare, treatment for addiction, counselling, access courses to higher education for those whose trajectories were never going to ly them close to any such thing. It all worked out wonderfully in the end. And it’s joyous to join her on that ride.

access programme through which she got into Trinity. Before that she was living a life of chaos in Dublin, a single mother with next to nothing.

shrinklation : the practice of reducing food p ortion sizes – putting fewer crisps in the bag, say – while keeping prices the same. Sneaky. Are any other beer brands considering doing something similar? Lots already have: Foster’s has gone from 4.0% to 3.4% ABV over the last three years ; Sol went from 4.2% to 3.4% in 2025. Carlsberg , Grolsch , John Smith’s , Coors and Amstel have also reduced their alcohol levels. Is this because drinkers prefer weaker beer? Or is it a bid to curb the nation’s alcohol consumption on the sly? Neither . It’s a bid to save money and maximise proits. How much money can you save by reducing the level of alcohol by a few measly percentage points? A lot. But it’s not the alcohol that costs money , it’s the tax . I have no idea what you’re talking about. The move could have something to do with the changes to alcohol duty i n 2023 , under which packaged beer between 3.5% and 8.4% ABV attracts a levy of £ 22.58

She tells an uplifting, if brutal, story so well. It helps that I love her voice, which is a mashup of my two favourite accents: my, erm , own accent, West Midlands, and Dublin. Listening to her, it struck me how much we know about the lives of all manner of ordinary and extraordinary people. Celebrities aford us blow-by-blow accounts of their every move. Athletes, actors, musicians, politicians; you name it. Some of their accounts are better than others, some more honest than others. But we have that insight. Important work is also done by ilm-makers, endeavouring to show what life looks like in farlung corners of planet Earth.

She was in Dublin escaping an even more chaotic life in

Birmingham , which had followed a childhood in Coventry , growing up in harrowing, grinding, distressing, miserable, terrifying poverty. No single adjective feels adequate here, so I’ve thrown in as many as I can think of.

She’s better with words than me, as you’ll ind if you read her memoir, which is called Poor . I’m buying so many copies of her book to give to people that she may soon have to write one called Rich. I’m on a mission to get everyone in the country to read it.

Then the epilogue, her afterword, is a thump to the solar plexus. It amounts to a stern bollocking from her to you if you happen to be drawing the wrong conclusions from this story. It’s ine to love the rags-to-riches ride – who doesn’t? – but if you’re taking it as proof that, if you just try hard enough, you can do it, you can be

COVER PHOTOGRAPH: COOKELMA/GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO. THIS PAGE: JOHNNY SAVAGE/THE GUARDIAN

This is all to the good, but it’s bizarre that we know more about what it’s like to be Taylor Swift, or Cristiano Ronaldo, or what it’s like to live in Bangladesh or the Amazon basin, than we know about what life is like for millions of people in this country with childhoods like Katriona’s.

O’Sullivan and her siblings were

parented , if that’s the right word (it isn’t), by two heroin users. She went hungry, for food and for love. Her irst real taste of either came at primary school. It was there she came across M s Arkinson and Miss Hall . If Coventry can manage a statue of Lady Godiva atop a horse, I suggest it should also ind a spot for one of M s Arkinson and Miss Hall .

anything you want to be, then that, she says in so many words, is balls.

Most people who start out in the world she knew never make it out. She insists she did so only because political decisions were made in a time of relative plenty to fund the kind of social services that were there to help her. Many of those services, in Ireland and the UK, have since been cut.

▼ ‘She tells an uplifting but brutal story’ ... Katriona O’Sullivan

per litre of pure alcohol. I don’t know what that amounts to. For a 4.0% beer it’s about 41p a pint. Whereas a 3.4% beer is subject to a duty of just £9.96 per litre of pure alcohol, or about 19p a pint. That’s quite a diference, but what if people don’t like Carling’s new weak beer? The company claims the 3.4% version actually ranked “higher for overall taste” in consumer tests. It also laid the groundwork for the reduction by introducing a stronger and more expensive Black Label version in February , at 4.7% , creating a “value-premium price ladder” within the brand . Do say: “Alcohol duty must strike a di i cult balance between raising revenue and improving health. ” Don’t say: “3.4% ? My urine is stronger than that.”

Most of us probably have a clearer idea of what it’s like to

M s Arkinson, a teacher, was Irish and knew O’Sullivan’s heritage. “An Irish girl in my class – what a treat.” To have an adult pleased to have her in the room was a new sensation for O’Sullivan. “I loved M s Arkinson and I knew she loved me,” she writes. “Her eyes said so. The way she helped me said so.” Miss Hall was the teacher’s assistant who, like M s Arkinson, like every kid in the school, was aware that poor Katriona smelled. “Pissy pants”, some of her classmates called her. As children often do when they are in crisis, she wet the bed, every night. And she didn’t know how to wash. “There were no towels in our bathroom, barely any

As for the bit that had me choking up on live radio, it was talking about three words that jumped out of a sentence in her book describing her love, her need, for school dinners. It’s not her reference to the food that got me – it’s how, almost as an aside, she refers to her classmates: “Other kids, the loved ones, they sometimes complained, but I didn’t give a shit what was served. I’d have eaten anything.”

The loved ones. What it must be like to think that everyone but you

is loved.

‘There’s been a lot of loss’

Michael Thomas’s first book made him famous – then he spent 20 years failing to write the follow-up. He explains what got in the way

it to my editor; I had a meeting with the publisher. They said : ‘Great, go of and do your thing.’ I was glib about it, like : ‘Yeah, I’ll knock this out in six months to a year. I can write about mental illness’

– not mine.” He pauses to laugh at the irony. “My father’s, and my brother’s. And then I had a break, a really crippling break.”

Promoting his book, travelling, doing talks ; trying to write, teach, read, parent ; procrastinating, not sleeping well, drinking too much cofee, he became what he now characterises as “short-cycling manic depressive” . “I would have an ‘illumination’ for two hours, then I wouldn’t have time to record it and I’d tumble into a depressive state. And I could have multiple states within a few days, and so the brilliant idea would become mundane or esoteric or fragmented, almost as though I was getting a narrative from a stranger.”

Steve Rose

I

t should be some kind of happy ending when, after years of poverty and graft, an aspiring writer publishes their debut novel and it is greeted with

in the US have been glowing: “Thomas has rendered beautifully an excruciating existence from which it is impossible to turn away,” wrote Thomas Chatterton Williams in the New York Times .

acclaim and awards – but that’s not how it happened for Michael Thomas . His 2006 novel Man Gone Down seemed to augur the arrival of a powerful new literary voice, the beginning of a brilliant career. He featured on the cover of the

Thomas did not “enjoy” literary success i rst time round. In fact, it contributed to his breakdown. Receiving the Dublin literary award did not make him think, “I am a great author,” he tells me via video call. His reaction was more relief that he could pay of some of his debts . Nor did he revel in the attention: “When I started getting critical acclaim and showing up on the cover of things, I couldn’t feel it. And I kept trying to tell people that I couldn’t feel it, and they thought it was being smug or humble. I was really in a year-long descent.”

Events came to a head when he was alone in Kansas City on his book tour, “seeing dragons and demons and all kinds of things”. Waiting to board a light home, he had a breakdown at the airport. “I knew I was insane,” he writes. When his wife takes him to a psychiatric hospital back in New York, he tells the doctor: “It’s a curious thing, the phrase ‘out of your mind’ … My trouble now is

New York Times Book Review , he won the €100,000 Dublin literary

award – one of the most generous

prizes in the book world – and he was promoted to assistant professor at Hunter College, New York , where he taught creative writing. But a follow-up would not arrive until now, 20 years later. Thomas’s new memoir, The Broken King, goes some way to explaining what happened in between. It also conirms his formidable talent.

He’s sitting in his oice at Hunter College. Behind him are books, artefacts, an acoustic guitar and a commanding view over Manhattan. “It’s in a state of construction. I’m making a loating birch wall over here,” he apologises, pointing ofcamera. He speaks gently, with a musical lilt, and looks much younger than his 58 years – partly because he’s as athletic as he is artistic. He enjoys exercise and physical labour, such as house-building , as much as he does teaching and writing. He sees nothing contradictory about “thinking of the poetry I want to write while doing an intense set of deadlifts”.

‘I don’t want the things that happened to me to happen to my kids’

It is an extraordinary read – deeply personal and intimate, but also expansive and free-ranging, taking in everything from TS Eliot (the title comes from Eliot’s poem Little Gidding ) to James Baldwin, Brazilian football and the Rolling

Stones. Thomas’s story runs through what he describes as a “perfect storm of conditions”: poverty, parental abandonment, racism, alcoholism, sexual violence, self-sabotage and mental illness. It would be tempting to classify it as some kind of misery memoir, but it is neither bleak nor generic – Thomas is simply too good a writer for that. Reviews

In late 2007, less than a year after Man Gone Down was published : “I had a proposal, six pages, and it was neat and clean and tidy. I gave

(who abandoned the family when Thomas was eight, struggled with depression, drank heavily, and at times lived in his car); his older brother (who steals from his family and others, and is in and out of prison); and his two oldest sons (he also has a daughter), whom he worries are destined to extend the lineage of troubled men.

is comfortable talking about it right now, he says, but when he has told friends about it, he has often regretted it. “It didn’t bring any clarity to me and it hurt them,” he explains. “Like it was giving them too much to deal with. And watching people over the years or just over the weeks, wondering how to be with me and be with that information , they had to treat me diferently.” These things can become a lens through which to judge others’ actions and behaviours, he suggests. You could say the same of race, or neurodivergence, or gender, or any number of factors.

‘I’m acutely aware of my strangeness, but not apologetic about it’

There’s a moment half way through the book when the penny almost drops: an occupational therapist diagnoses his second son, Miles, with a “non-speciic cognitive disorder” and suggests: “Like father, like son.” That took him by “complete surprise”, Thomas says, but he did not act on it until much later. Until that point he had attributed his di culties in life to

I was feeling apprehensive about interviewing Thomas, I tell him, given how honestly he has written about his life. He felt the same, he admits, having not been in the public eye for decades, though he has been relaxed and talkative throughout our 90-minute conversation, which digresses at times into chat about sports teams or our favourite Beatles albums. Is there a worry, though, given how his last experience of literary success contributed to his breakdown, that the same thing could happen this time around?

republic or the individual believed I deserved”.

▲ With his Impac Dublin literary award in 2009

Thomas’s marriage to a relatively wealthy white woman complicates matters further, in terms of itting in with his white in-laws and raising mixed-race children. “Just as my mother didn’t want her experience to be mine, I don’t want the things that happened to me to happen to my kids ,” he says. “I’m not worried about them ‘losing their Blackness’, though. They get to deine who they are.” All of Black culture is theirs, he says, as is every other culture – as they were his, as

“race, class, artistic temperament, and just so many other things. Models from books and ilms and music, and just this kind of alienation and estrangement … but no, not neurodivergence.” As a child he was diagnosed with dyslexia, ADHD and other conditions, but it wasn’t until adulthood that it was dei ned as level 1 autism. As such, The Broken King is, among other things, a chronicle of neurodivergence . “I hope this doesn’t seem insensitive: the book is autistic,” Thomas says. “It’s really just a study of someone with level 1 autism trying to tell a story .”

they should be everyone’s.

He seems less worried about it. A lot has happened in the intervening two decades. He got

There is another challenging, complicating element to Thomas’s story: early on in the book he discloses that he was raped when he was seven years old. He doesn’t go into detail – except to say it happened when he was at a day camp in Boston. He didn’t tell anyone at the time; in fact, he strove to hide the incident from his parents, even burning his clothes afterwards. “I knew my pain would kill them,” he writes. He is open about how the experience warped his life. “Growing into a young man I was distant, wayward, wild, drunk. I could be cruel. I’d lie to everyone I knew.” He struggled with self-harm, alcoholism, depression, physical and emotional intimacy – “I lived in a perpetual post-trauma.” He told his future wife in his 20s after he was re-traumatised reading a passage about rape in a Baldwin novel. As soon as he inished reading it he went into a fever, was trapped in his apartment for days hallucinating, and was eventually hospitalised with pneumonia. He had only just recovered when a dinner party conversation about sex caused him to shut down and not speak for three days.

divorced in 2014, which inevitably afected his children. His mother died from Covid in 2020 (his next book will be about her life, he says). His eldest son, Alex, is now 30, and a social worker. His second son, Miles, is 27 and handling his own neurodivergence very diferently from how Thomas did. “He doesn’t have as much invested in controlling the conventional world. He’s not angry.” Thomas also has an eight-year-old son with a new partner. He has no idea how he has been as a father, he says: “Sometimes I think I intensiied some of the suf ering … sometimes I feel like I gave them a lot …

Thomas’s story raises questions about the relationship between neurodivergence and artistic talent, nature and nurture. How to square his diagnosis with other traumatic elements of his upbringing : the poverty, the alcoholism, the abandonment? Racism also plays a part. His great-grandfather was born enslaved, in Virginia, he tells me. He remembers his greatgrandmother when he was a child . He shows me a photograph of his mother in Virginia, in 1951. She is looking at a burn t cross that was put up outside her high school. She migrated north to Boston, where she met his father, but largely raised him and his two older siblings singlehandedly. “We grew up in public housing with a single mom believing education was the great equaliser, and she busted her ass.”

sometimes I just think I became my father with privilege and safety nets. Without growing up privilege-adjacent, and then having literary and academic success and a tenured position, and people saving my bacon over the years, I could be living in my car right now.”

As a kid Thomas struggled to it in, socially as well as racially (he also has Irish and Native American ancestry). “I could read at an early age and could do my brother’s homework, but I couldn’t tie my shoes.” He connected with Black role models – Malcolm X , Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael , Frederick Douglass – but he also loved the Beatles and Bob Dylan and Greek mythology. “I was called an Oreo [Black on the outside, white on the inside ], or a ‘honky nigger’ or ‘not really Black’.”

In general, it feels as if he has found some stability. “I’m trying to igure it out through Bowie right now,” he says, jokingly, quoting lines from Changes : “‘I turned myself to face me, but I never caught a glimpse …’ I’m becoming acutely aware of my strangeness, but not self-conscious about it, or apologetic or aggressive.”

▲ Today, Thomas has found stability: ‘I don’t have the anger I used to have. I don’t have the fear’

that I’m in a way, in part, deep in it. More than I’ve ever been. It’s not a good environment, doctor.”

PHOTOGRAPHS: KACEY JEFFERS/THE GUARDIAN; PA IMAGES/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

As with the rest of the book, Thomas catalogues these events in

In this context, I hesitate to even bring the incident up. Thomas

near photographic detail, but the narrative also pans out across his memories and anxieties, and his vast cultural hinterland. He almost apologises for The Broken King’s expansiveness: “Part of it was realising how personal it was going to be, and trying to make it more intricate to really distance myself from the work.”

◀ Thomas strugled to t in as a kid

Is that liberating? “It calms some of the noise,” he replies. “This might sound cheesy : I don’t know if I’m OK with myself, but I think I’m starting to accept myself. I’m also about to turn 59, so I don’t have that younger man’s piss and vinegar. I think I’m a little more relective and less impulsive. I don’t have the anger I used to have. I don’t have the fear I used to have – at least in this moment . I know it can come again. I feel incredibly lucid. There’s been a lot of loss in the last decade, so … today I feel OK.” The Broken King by Michael Thomas is published by Summit (£16.99)

At the same time, Thomas writes, “white people were dangerous because they were extreme. They tried to either aid or block my passage into their segregated world. Benevolent whites didn’t think I was Black. Whatever native intelligence I possessed had nothing to do with my race. Blackness was something they were helping me overcome.” Meanwhile, he was “subject to most of the chronic and systemic, acute and arbitrary violence the

Man Gone Down was a loosely ictionalised account of Thomas’s life when he was in his 30s, desperately trying to keep his head above water, inancially and psychically, and hold on to his marriage and his three young children. The Broken King expands on that narrative considerably, particularly Thomas’s male relationships: with his father

zapped throughout the night”, Davies says.

‘It makes you feel like you’ve got a really dirty house’

The family have considered moving out of the area because of the l ies, and say some of their former neighbours already have. But Davies is reluctant to give up on the house that is her “pride and joy”, she says. “It is a wonderful place to live. West Heath is so pretty, and everyone’s so lovely.”

Not to mention, “ You would have to sell it in the winter,” Andrew points out, as prospective buyers would surely be put of by lies swarming around during a viewing. Instead, Davies is attempting to put pressure on the council and the

Environment Agency to investigate by setting up a petition , which now has more than 1,000 signatures,

asking local authorities “to take this matter seriously and to prioritise our community’s wellbeing”.

The petition has attracted a number of comments from other local people, including one who lives a 20-minute walk away from Andrew and Davies. “I’m shooing 40-plus lies out of my kitchen regularly throughout the day,” the commenter says. “It’s a constant battle.” Andrew says he has spoken to many neighbours who are struggling with the problem: one

orders takeaways every day in the summer to avoid having to cook, while another has draped their newborn baby’s cot in a mosquito net. “They’ve all had enough,” Andrew and Davies’ neighbour Bryan Stahl says, when we walk over the road to his house, which the street’s residents generally consider to be the worst afected by the infestation.

If just one fly buzzing around your head is annoying, imagine what it’s like to be surrounded by clouds of them, week after week. We visit one of Britain’s most insect-plagued neighbourhoods

Though it’s hard to believe as we swat l ies away while we chat, today is a relatively mild day for lies, Stahl tells me, because it is breezier than it has been in recent weeks. At the height of the UK’s

Lucy Knight

F

rancesca Davies’ living room is absolutely teeming with lies. You can’t enter the contact centre worker’s home

recent heatwave, the 54-year-old and his partner stayed inside, or in garden chairs under a gazebo walled with l y nets. Davies and Andrew have a similar structure for their garden, which they set up when their daughters want to use their paddling pool. Stahl, a higher level teaching assistant in a school, has spent about £500 on the gazebo and numerous ly screens, he thinks – and is considering forking out thousands more for permanent ly shutters. “It makes you feel like you’ve got a really dirty house,” he says.

a healthy planet,” says Andrew Whitehouse , head of operations at the invertebrate conservation charity Buglife . In fact, he adds, there are some plants that are only pollinated by lies – including the cacao tree . “So if you didn’t have lies, you wouldn’t have chocolate.”

without a cluster of insects rising from the sofa or the l oor to buzz around your face. Davies and her family live in West Heath, a suburb of the Cheshire town Congleton . Davies’ husband, Alex Andrew, a 29-year-old maintenance engineer , grew up in the market town and he used to think of West Heath as a desirable area, with its wellmaintained houses and access to green space. When he and Davies were able to buy a new-build here in 2019 via a shared ownership scheme, they felt incredibly lucky. That is, until they moved in, and realised that every summer swarms of lies descend on their neighbourhood, an issue that is “ getting worse”, Davies says.

And though we might ind it gross that l ies are so attracted to faeces or rotting matter, it is actually a good thing that they are. “Fly larvae or maggots will eat lots of dead organic material,” Whitehouse says. “In doing that, they’re recycling nutrients back into the soil, they’re getting rid

Even though you would be hardpressed to ind anyone right now as anti-ly as the residents of West Heath, it’s not as if lies are popular with many people. Whether it’s Jef Goldblum ’s gruesome transformation into a ly in David Cronenberg ’s 1986 horror ilm The Fly , or God sending swarms of lies as one of the 10 plagues inlicted

‘We’ve got used to the sound of flies being zapped through the night’

▲ A greenbottle, one of the 7,000 species of ly living in the UK

At the moment, the 27-yearold swats l ies out of her young daughters’ bedroom every night before she puts them to bed, and keeps doors and windows closed or covered with ly nets as much as possible. She and Andrew have even bought an industrial ly killer (like the ones often found in ish and chip shops) for their kitchen, as it is impossible to start cooking without attracting even more insects . The pair have become used to the sound of lies “getting

on the Egyptians to persuade the Pharaoh to set the Israelites free in

the Old Testament , the messaging is clear: lies are disgusting.

But could they be due a rebrand? After all, bees can be just as buzzy and annoying, and even sting us, but that doesn’t seem to have damaged their “cute” reputation, their likeness printed on T-shirts or tablecloths. Like bees, lies are pollinators and “essential to

◀ Congleton in Cheshire, one of the worsta ected towns

◀ Francesca Davies with a l y trap in her garden

A l y caught in an outdoor trap

‘If all the insects die, we are on a downward spiral very quickly’

McAlister is not saying that we should all be living like Davies and Andrew. She is well aware that lies en masse can be a problem

– but killing them, particularly in “a horrible and inhumane way” such as via l y tape, isn’t always the answer. Paradoxically, creating ly-friendly environments such as ponds in gardens, or even “a bucket on the veranda”, invites all kinds of wildlife, she says, including ly predators like birds and frogs, so lies actually get eaten and end up bothering humans less.

“There is an argument” for pest control when it comes to ly infestations, she says, but the most important thing to do is to “ind out why that’s happened. Because the lies are an indicator that maybe something else is going on.” When ly infestations are reported, as they are every summer (currently, residents in Sileby, Leicestershire and Llanelli, Carmarthenshire are su ering along with those in West Heath), usually a link can be found “to some sort of waste event or some sort of environmental perturbation”, the curator says. Davies and her neighbours think their ly problem is connected to a local recycling plant run by the company

“I try to get people to think of them as like, ‘It’s amazing, you’ve got these wild animals roaming around in front of your face .’” McAlister encourages people to learn about lies’ “fascinating” metamorphosis from larvae to adult ly, or the fact that they can land upside down, or that their eyes consist of thousands of facets that act like individual cameras. Every second, “they are processing thousands upon thousands of images”, she says. It is all the more important to think positively about lies given that insects as a whole, including lies, are largely in decline. Although some migrant species are bucking the trend, the UK’s local species that rely on speciic host plants or locations are “su ering badly” as the country becomes less accommodating to wildlife, McAlister says. “We need our politicians to really work at encompassing all of their decisions with an ecological framework,” she believes. And that’s in order to protect our own future, not just the future of lies: “If we die, insects won’t care,” McAlister says. “But if insects die, we are pretty much on a very downward spiral very quickly” – because of our reliance on their pollination services.

Tandom . In a statement sent to the Guardian, Tandom says it has “implemented a range of additional precautionary measures”, and is “working constructively with the Environment Agency, Cheshire East council and our independent pest control specialists”, but emphasised: “There is currently no evidence that lies are breeding on our site.” A spokesperson for the Environment Agency conirmed that it is in touch with Tandom, and says it has instructed the company “to take immediate steps to tackle the issue”, adding that it “will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action if required”.

of those things like dead bodies and dung. That prevents the spread of disease as well. So it’s incredibly important.”

she says. But while bee larvae don’t do anything except consume food until they have grown into their adult form, lies are “kicked out at birth”, and as larvae “they’re out there already helping clean up our environment”. And for anyone stuck on the idea that lies aren’t as cute as bees, she urges them to “go and look up a bee-ly ”, which she says is “arguably one of the cutest species in the UK”.

way as if you handle money or if you go into a pub or if you shake hands with people”. As for lies “vomiting” on food, another complaint you often hear from lyhaters, it is not “vomiting” in the same way we think about humans throwing up, she says. “They’re not bringing up gut contents”, but releasing digestive enzymes on to food to break it down, “because they do not have biting mouth parts

In addition, “loads of other animals eat lies”, Whitehouse says. “Spiders spring to mind, but lots of vertebrates as well. So birds and bats and amphibians and reptiles and ish all feed on either adult lies or their larvae. And they’re a really important food source for lots of these animals.”

Sure, a ly that has been “walking from faeces to food or decomposing food to another food” could be transporting pathogens, McAlister admits – but in “much the same

– they basically have a straw or a sponge with which they can suck up these ingredients”.

There are more than 7,000 species of ly found in the UK , including bluebottles , greenbottles ,

Instead of dwelling on lies’ negative associations, she says,

PHOTOGRAPHS: CHRISTOPHER THOMOND/THE GUARDIAN; GETTY IMAGES

hoverlies , mosquitoes , fruit lies and crane lies ( daddy longlegs) . Houselies (your classic chunky black ly; probably what comes to mind when most of us think of a ly) are generally considered the UK’s most common, although it is diicult to say for sure, because “weirdly, not enough people study lies ” , says Erica McAlister , a ly expert and Natural History Museum curator .

Rather than automatically blaming l ies when they bother us, we should look for potential human involvement, McAlister thinks. While we often think of house lies as dirty because they feed on faeces and are found in dirty areas, they actually “have to be the absolute opposite – they have to be exceptionally clean because they are sometimes in a bad environment”, she says. “But it’s our environment; we’re the ones who’ve made this environment. So, you know, we’re throwing stones at an indicator that something has maybe gone wrong.”

◀ Alex Andrew, who has swathed his daughters’ garden paddling pool in ly nets

Houselies are important pollinators all over the world – in fact, McAlister says, a cousin of the common housely is the dominant pollinator in the Arctic . “People are stuck on bees being the most important pollinators – and they are good, I’m not going to deny that,”

Bryan and Debbie Stahl behind their protective screen

Perhaps it’s humans, then, not lies, who are the true pests.

Arts

8

‘I got letters saying I have poured CocaCola into a vat of fi ne malt whisky’

clear in rehearsal that the whole evening is one cycle of grief.”

Early on, Andrews (Australianborn, Iceland-resident and identifying as “Ice-Stralian”) had the idea that Cate Blanchett and

Nina Hoss would alternate the roles of Electra and Clytemnestra in Electra, and Elisabeth and Alma in Persona; whoever plays Electra in the irst half reappears as Elisabeth, and Clytemnestra reappears as Alma. The original plan was for Blanchett and Hoss to toss a coin on stage at the start of the evening but Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, in which a coin lands heads 92 times in succession , made this strategy risky. “Also,” says Andrews, “I said to Cate and Nina , ‘To play your best game do you need to wake up in the morning and study your Electra or Persona text?’ And they said maybe. In the end, they will have a schedule and swap night by night but the audience won’t know who’s playing who until the i rst one walks in.” And if I say to the box o ce that I’ve seen one combination and want to see the other, they won’t tell me when? Andrews pauses. “No.”

▲ ‘Bergman is a north star for me’ … Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann in the original Persona

Murder, vengeance and breakdown

Although he is known for staging radical new versions of classics – including Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard at the Donmar Warehouse in 2024 , and Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire on a rotating set at the Young Vic in 2014

– Electra/Persona is a bold project. Another writer-director, Alan Ayckbourn, once said that, while directing, he found himself cursing what the writer had given him to do. Did Andrews understand what it would be like efectively having to rehearse two plays twice each to prepare the various permutations?

In a bold new role-swapping production starring Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss, the National Theatre is fusing Sophocles and Ingmar Bergman. So what can two stories written 23 centuries apart tell us about our moral crisis?

“Yeah. Long rehearsal days,” he sighs with a laugh. “Yesterday, unusually, we stayed in Electra all day but I still did an hour on Persona at the end. It’s important to do both every day. Although they require very diferent energies. It’s not a double-bill; it’s one hinged work. There are perforations from Bergman in the i rst half and from Sophocles in the second half.”

In Electra/Persona , director

Mark Lawson

Benedict Andrews has paired the stories before and after the interval, linked by a stunning coup de theatre at the end of the irst half. “Persona is a pinnacle of modernist cinema and Bergman is a north star for me,” says Andrews. “I’ve long been fascinated by the impossibility – in a good way – of staging Persona, because it is so much about the camera and the silence and the closeup: the face as a terrain. And I was always fascinated by why Bergman chose to have Elisabeth break down while playing Electra, so I wanted to put them together. I think it’s become

I

n around 420 BC, Sophocles staged Electra, in which the title character avenges the murder of her father by her mother, Clytemnestra. In 1966 ,

By this stage , Andrews considers himself only a director: “We have this joke about there having been a writer. We call him Dominic. He was chained to a table for two weeks to do rewrites but now we’ve put him on a trawler back to Iceland.”

Swedish ilm director Ingmar Bergman premiered Persona , in which a psychiatric nurse, Alma, is caring for Elisabeth, an actor who has sufered a breakdown while playing Electra. These two dramas, written 23 centuries apart, are now sharing the stage in an alluring new National Theatre production.

I recently saw a hit show in which the understudy was on

◀ ‘They are astonishing actresses’ … Blanchett, left, and Hoss

– they did an impersonation of the absent performer, which is standard in the circumstances. But will Blanchett and Hoss have a

MY BEST SHOT

9

Attilio Fiumarella

diferent interaction? “Absolutely. They are two actresses who are equally astonishing but play their instruments diferently. Cate and Nina are good mates and had done

From the meeting room at the National Theatre where we talk, it’s a short walk to Christopher Nolan’s lm The Odyssey at the BFI Southbank or to Simon Stone’s

‘I was thinking about the Terracotta Army when I took this shot of 11 Birmingham swimmers in their local pool, which faced closure. They stood for an hour waiting for the sun to come out’

The Oresteia at The Bridge . If the descendants of the Ancient Greek writers were on royalties, they would all have private jets. “Yes! I think they’re coming back at the moment because, in these times of big political and moral crisis, we need them. The reason we are digging in this Greek rubble and soil is that these plays were made in an imperial warring empire, that was

the lm Tár , in which Nina plays Cate’s wife. So I thought it would be great to do something with them. They don’t look the same but there’s an echo between them: they could be sisters. In rehearsal, you see them thinking , ‘Oh, they did that in that bit? Do I take that or do my own interpretation?’ We’re searching for something in which they each play the logic of the scene, but it may come out in diferent ways.”

THE CV

rst triumphant and then later broke apart. And we are watching that with American imperialism now.

When I tell him that his Donmar Warehouse Cherry Orchard was completely diferent the two times

“We grew up with the idea that the US – our Rome, our Athens

• I saw it, he nods enthusiastically, even though some directors would greet this with a public inquiry. “Good!” he says. “I saw the [romantic rejection] scene between

– was a military might but also a cultural might. And it’s breaking apart. So we go back to a culture that lived through wars but also gave us philosophy and theatre and gave Freud the Oedipus myth for unpacking a family. And these plays should also make us question notions of law and justice .”

Lopakhin and Varya dozens of times in rehearsal and then performance – and it was diferent each time. And I encourage that because, in the end, you want the truth of that moment played each night. As a director, you have set up a perpetuum mobile that the actors can continue to develop.”

Born: Naples, 1978 High point: Seeing long-term projects ind their audience over time, from winning Portrait of Humanity 2020 to being commissioned by institutions whose work and values I respect Top tip: Be persistent, and care deeply about the people you photograph. As photographers, we have a responsibility to help their stories reach a wider audience

There is an increasingly strong Australian directorial presence in London . As well as Stone, whose

Oresteia follows his Phaedra and The Lady From The Sea , Kip Williams has frequently worked in the city: recently on The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dracula, and

Andrews is having an Ancient Greek period, his previous show being a version in Iceland of Aeschylus’s The Oresteia, which shares characters with Electra including Clytemnestra, Orestes and Electra herself. So is there a big overlap between his back-to-back Greek tragedies? “Huge. I moved bits across between the two shows. I spent the bulk of last year doing my text for The Oresteia. Then there was a gap before rehearsals began – for it to be translated into Icelandic – in which I wrote Electra/Persona. Which I hadn’t expected to be on so quickly. I hadn’t expected to be living with this crazy fucking family for so long!”

The Maids . Does Andrews have a WhatsApp group or reunion barbecues with his fellow expats? “Not really. But Kip was my assistant director. Simon acted in a production of mine, rotating in a glass box in Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf? We all know each other and have collaborators that we share.”

Andrews, Stone and Williams all disrupt classic texts – is that an Australian thing? A sort of textual anti colonialism or republicanism? “When I did my rst Three Sisters in Sydney, the [Chekhov] tradition was still lace and linen. I got letters saying you’ve taken Coca-Cola and poured it into a vat of ne malt whisky. Barrie Kosky was doing something similar and we possibly were a battering ram against the conservatism of Australian state theatre then. But I’d worke d a lot in Germany, where radical rethinking is what the director does, so it never made sense to me to be ‘faithful’ to classics. What does that even mean? I don’t think of it as disrupting classics. I’m trying to access the mythic power in the piece; X-ray the inner meaning.” Electra/Persona is at the National Theatre, London , from 19 August to 10 October

Both shows are chamber pieces – ve actors in Reykjavik, four in London – so apart from the role-swapping in Electra/ Persona, there is also role-play, in which the back stories of ofstage characters are acted out: “It’s sometimes something like a

I took this image in Birmingham on 20 July 2014 – part of my irst professional photography project. I had moved to the city in 2013 and I would pass this building every day on the bus on my way to the city centre. I remember looking at the facades and being impressed and intrigued by the three diferent entrances – what were once the i rst class, second class and women’s entrances.

Fortunately, many people helped make it possible. Ian Edwards from St Paul’s Community Trust coordinated everyone with a megaphone, while he and a team of volunteers helped people down into the empty pool using a temporary staircase they had built.

Then I had a problem with the light. I knew that at 11am, it came in from the right to the left through the windows, giving me exactly the angle I wanted, but on the day it was overcast. After waiting for about an hour, people were starting to get nervous, but in the last ive minutes, the sun inally appeared and I got the shot.

One day I decided to get of the bus and ind out what the building was. The door was open, and a nice lady welcomed me in and started to explain its history . It is the Moseley Road Baths, an Edwardianera community building. In 2014 the second pool was still operating but the gala pool, where I took this image, was already empty. The building was in need of restoration and, without funding, the council planned to shut it down for good. The woman I met there told me lots of stories about the place – people who had come to learn to swim , how it had served as a casualty station during the second world war, and how it had even been used as a dance hall. It was a very charming place with an incredible history: as soon as I saw the gala pool, I knew I had to ill the majestic empty space.

Gestalt therapy game where you play your oppressor. And ‘persona’ is the word for masks, for the roles we play. The king and the judge put on those robes and play those roles. How does theatre critique all these power relationships? But, in another way, how does theatre allow us to interrogate all those roles we play in our own lives, our psyche and our dream lives?”

In my work, I always reference architecture – that’s my background. In this image I was thinking of the Terracotta Army . What amazed me about the

PHOTOGRAPHS: ANTONIO OLMOS/THE GUARDIAN; TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/GETTY IMAGES;

photograph was how it became an expression of solidarity and togetherness. In 2020 it won the Portrait of Humanity prize , and now it is getting new attention

© ATTILIO FIUMARELLA. COURTESY OF THE ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

– I think because it relects something about the time we’re living in. We need to get together, to show up and to take back power. I see this photograph as an act of resistance – these swimmers had never met me but they showed up to defend a place they cared deeply about.

‘We are watching American imperialism fall apart’ … Andrews

A few months later, I managed to get a local community bursary to make a portrait project about the pool community, and the relationship between them and the building . And in July 2014, I organised this shot

Recently, Moseley Road Baths secured the inal funding needed to complete its restoration . The building is temporarily closed while the restoration works are completed, but it will soon reopen with renewed purpose and new public spaces. My contribution was only a very small part of that story, but I like to think it helped in some way. Looking back, I think it was a very generous thing for all those

– the last picture of the project. The Friends of Moseley Road Baths helped recruit swimmers, and I also handed out l yers in the neighbourhood to encourage people to take part. What’s fantastic about the image is that it relects how diverse the community there is, and how many diferent generations swim there.

people to do. They stood together in their swimsuits, following the directions of a crazy Italian guy. To me, this photograph simply says: “We are here, together, standing up for something we believe in. ”

It still makes me smile that I decided to use a large format camera for the irst time on a project like this. Looking back, it seems slightly crazy. It was an intense experience. We had 118 people in the pool, and everything depended on getting a single sheet of ilm right. There was a lot that could have gone wrong.

Interview by Charlotte Jansen.Attilio Fiumarella is in the Royal Photographic Society’s 167th annual international exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, London , from 7 August to 11 September

WHAT TO WATCH

TV and radio

10

Don’t Date Brandon

REVIEW BY STUART HERITAGE

10pm, Channel 4

Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret

Amber Rasmussen thought Brandon Johnson was “the full package” when they met on Tinder. They quickly got engaged but there was one problem: his “crazy ex”

Athena Klingerman was apparently making wild demands. As this threepart true-crime series shows, it was – shocker! – Brandon causing all sorts of trouble. The women later teamed up to make a podcast exposing his lies.

◀ Historical accusations … Jared Leto

movie. He toured with his band. For a while it seemed that the world had blinked and moved on.

These disturbing tales of abuse must finally have consequences

Hollie Richardson

However, Hollywood’s Dark Secret will be harder to ignore. Released on YouTube as well as the BBC to ensure maximum impact, it is a disturbing look at what

is alleged to be a skin-crawling pattern of behaviour. Jessica Sartenaer and her team have put together a case with the unmistakable smell of shoe leather. Clearly, it often takes a long time for allegations like this to see

Renovation Rescue 8pm, Channel 4	discoveries about her Italian family heritage. The second world war is her starting point. Walter’s mother played a crucial secret part in the D-day landings, which compels Walter to remember her in a brand new light. HR
Having previously been part of the Stacey Solomon Cinematic Universe, the home-i x show is now presented by Vogue Williams ( who was on I’m a Celebrity, but has degrees in construction management and quantity surveying) and Luke Mabbott (who was on Love Island, but is a trained heating engineer) . First, they’re in Northamptonshire. Jack Seale
	The Five-Star Weekend 9pm, Sky Atlantic
	A double bill of the starry summer drama, with grieving chef Hollis (Jennifer Garner) taking the girls for dinner, followed by a local dive bar. The secrets in the group have started spilling, but is mysterious Gigi (Gemma Chan) going to reveal all about the a air? Or will Brooke (D’Arcy Carden) do it for her? HR
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Head-spinning terror in The Exorcist! Mohawkmenacing Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver! A irst space voyage with Star Wars! The 70s was an epic decade for cinema and Celia Imrie has a great time getting stuck into the moments that made it. She also remembers a particularly memorable awards speech from Jack Nicholson. HR
	The Hunting Party 9pm , U&Alibi
	A disturbing drama that will have you checking under the bed. It’s been two months since serial killers escaped a secret prison – and former FBI proiler Bex (Melissa Roxburgh) is on the verge of exposing the cover-up. Meanwhile, “boogeyman” killer Ron Simms ( Will & Grace’s Eric McCormack ) is looking for victims. HR
Who Do You Think You Are? 9pm, BBC One
Actor Harriet Walter didn’t know much about her mother’s history – but she makes extraordinary

the light because of a culture of silence . People are often scared to go public for fear of shame or reprisal, and it is in the inancial interests of many to keep the Jared Leto machine running as long as possible.

That Sartenaer was able to i nd four women, and allay their concerns enough to let them show their faces onscreen, speaks volumes. We should let their testimonies speak for themselves (this is a documentary that deserves to be seen, rather than read about), but their bravery should be commended.

★★★★★

BBC iPlayer

J

ared Leto has long been a person with something of a reputational issue. The public-facing side of this was bad enough – while playing the Joker in 2016’s Suicide Squad , he reportedly sent rats, dead pigs and used condoms to his cast mates – but

Although the allegations are historical – these women are now all in their 20s, 30s and 40s – it is diicult to watch them recount what they experienced while

underage. Some of their stories are straight from the Hollywood predator playbook, with them being procured by Leto’s team and led to dingy hotel rooms. Others are more baling, like the woman who received sexually explicit calls from Leto as a 16-year-old, only to then receive further calls of a similar nature from a man she believes was Leto in character as somebody else.

for years there have been upsetting rumours about what he does in private. After a lengthy investigation, the BBC documentary Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret has inally brought some of them to light.

This is, as you might imagine, not a fun thing to watch. The ilm documents allegations of what are said to be decades of systematic criminal misconduct against teenage girls. The women interviewed here allege sexual assault, threatened sexual assault, sexualised grooming and statutory rape. They are backed up by anonymous male former co-workers who claim to have witnessed the machinery that Leto set up to procure underage girls from concerts.

Cumulatively, when these stories have been added to archive footage of concerts where Leto has his arms draped around young girls, and talkshow appearances where he brags about sleeping with fans, and one particularly unnerving clip where he quotes the old Dazed and Confused line about high school girls – “I keep getting older but they stay the same age” – the efect is completely disturbing.

What’s On Scan the QR code below to sign up for the What’s On newsletter, our free TV email with the best reviews and news direct to your inbox every Monday

So far, Leto has been bulletproof against allegations like these, but you can’t help feeling that this ilm will land a blow. Of course, it should be noted that the timing of the documentary might help. Leto is no longer the box o i ce draw he once was. Last year’s

What is particularly galling about Hollywood’s Dark Secret is that this is not the irst time someone has tried to investigate these claims. As far back as 2005 , the New York Post was running gossip columns that claimed Leto was “ aggressively pursuing ” what were described as “ underage objects of desire ” at a New York hotel. By 2018, actor Dylan Sprouse and director James Gunn were trading jokes about Leto’s interest in teenage girls online. Last year, Air Mail’s Elena Clavarino spoke to nine women who variously claimed that Leto pursued them, engaged in sexually explicit telephone conversations with them, exposed himself to them and masturbated in front of them – all while they were underage.

Tron: Ares reportedly lost somewhere in the region of $130m , and his latest i lm – Masters of the Universe – is among the biggest ops of the year so far. It isn’t the best re ection of Hollywood that it will only choose to round on alleged sexual predators once the bottom line has been weakened, but better late than never.

Leto declined to comment to Sartenaer and her team , unlike the robust denial he gave Air Mail’s investigation . Is it a sign that the oodgates will inally open?

In the UK, Rape Crisis ofers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland , or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland

When that report was published, Leto’s representatives issued a denial . It seemed that everything continued as normal. He promoted his

11

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6.0am Mornings With Ridge and Frost 8.0 Stargate SG-1 9.0 NCIS: Los Angeles 10.0 Will & Grace 10.30 Will & Grace 11.0 The Simpsons 11.30

The Simpsons 12.0 Big Cat Country 1.0 Hawaii Five-0 2.0 Hawaii Five-0

• 3.0 S.W.A.T 4.0 S.W.A.T 5.0 The Simpsons 5.30

• Simpsons 7.30 The

• Simpsons 8.0 Rob & Romesh vs UFC 9.0 The Dyers’ Caravan Park 10.0 Katie Price: Nothing to Hide 11.10 Never Mind the Buzzcocks 12.10 Animal Control 12.40 Animal Control 1.10 Grimm 2.0 Grimsburg 2.30 Grimsburg 3.0 Hawaii Five-0 4.0 S.W.A.T 5.0 S.W.A.T Sky Arts

• (4/5) 4.0 Great Lives

• 4.30 The British Reggae Revolution 5.0 Raf les

(4/6) 5.30 Charles Paris: A Deadly Habit

• (3/4) 6.0 Capital Gains

• (2/4) 6.30 The Burkiss Way (1/15) 7.0 Believe It! (3/4) 7.30 Sounds Like London (4/5) 7.45 Small Island (4/15) 8.0 We’ve Been Here Before (3/4) 8.30 The Change (4/6) 9.0 The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (3/4) 9.45 The Phoenix and the Carpet

(4/5) 10.0 POV (6/6)

• 10.30 1966 and All That (3/4) 10.55 The Comedy Club Interview

• 11.0 The Casebook of Max and Ivan (2/4)

• 11.30 Small Scenes (4/4) 12.0 Great Lives

• 12.30 The British Reggae Revolution 1.0 Raf les (4/6) 1.30 Charles Paris: A Deadly Habit (3/4) 2.0 Capital Gains (2/4) 2.30 The Burkiss Way (1/15) 3.0 Believe It!

• (3/4) 3.30 Sounds Like London (4/5) 3.45 Small Island (4/15) 4.0 We’ve Been Here Before (3/4)

• 4.30 The Change (4/6)

• 5.0 The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (3/4)

• 5.45 The Phoenix and the Carpet (4/5)

• Nightmares USA 9.0 Ramsay’s Kitchen

• Nightmares USA 10.0 America’s Funniest Home Videos 11.0 Below Deck Down Under 12.0 The Simpsons 2.0 Brooklyn

Sky Atlantic

6.0am Richard E Grant’s Hotel Secrets 8.0 Billions

• Nine-Nine 2.30 Brooklyn

• Nine-Nine 3.0 Modern Family 5.0 The Simpsons 5.30 The Simpsons 6.0

• The Simpsons 6.30

• The Simpsons 7.0 The

• Simpsons 7.30 The

• Simpsons 8.0 Below Deck Down Under 9.0 Cruising Paradise: Above and Below Deck

• 10.0 Gogglebox 11.0 Gogglebox 12.05 First Dates 1.05 Cruising Paradise: Above and Below Deck 2.05 Below Deck Down Under 2.55 Abbott Elementary 3.20 The Goldbergs 3.45 The Goldbergs 4.10 Brooklyn

Nine-Nine 4.30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine 4.55 Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA

Film4

• 11.0am Drums Along the Mohawk

• 9.05 Billions 10.05 The White Lotus 11.25 Task 12.35 Homicide: Life on the Street 1.30 Homicide: Life on the Street 2.25 Billions 3.30 Billions 4.30 Task 5.40 Task 6.45 The Gilded Age 7.55 True Detective: Night Country 9.0 The Five-Star Weekend 9.55 The Five-Star Weekend

• 10.40 All Her Fault

• 11.45 Task 1.0 Task 2.05 Task 3.10 Billions

• 6.0am Teleshopping

• 7.30 Top Gear 8.20 Border Force: America’s

• 6.0am Cirque Du Soleil: Volta 8.10 The Joy of Painting 8.40 The Joy of Painting 9.10 Tales of the Unexpected 9.35 Tales of the Unexpected 10.0 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 10.30 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 11.0 Discovering: Shirley MacLaine 12.0 The Movies 1.0 Tales of the Unexpected 1.30 Tales of the Unexpected 2.0 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour 3.0 The Seventies 4.0 Discovering: Charles Bronson 5.0 Portrait Artist of the Year 2021 6.0 Tales of the Unexpected 6.30 Tales of the Unexpected

• 7.0 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 7.30 Alfred Hitchcock Presents

• 8.0 Discovering: Gary Oldman 9.0 The Life and

• Gatekeepers 9.20 Border Force: America’s

• Gatekeepers 10.20 Rick Stein’s Long Weekends

• 11.20 Yukon Gold 12.20 Top Gear 1.20 Top Gear 2.20 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing 3.0 Martin Clunes: Islands of America 4.0 Rick Stein’s Long Weekends 5.0 Rick Stein’s Spanish Christmas 6.0 The Hairy Bikers: Mums Know Best 7.0 Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing 7.40 Would

• 5.0 In Tune 7.0 BBC Proms 2026. Delyana Lazarova conducts the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and violinist Alena Baeva in Dobrinka Tabakova’s Orpheus’ Comet, Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D and Proko iev’s Symphony No 5 in B lat. 10.0 Night Tracks 11.30 ’Round Midnight 12.30 Through the Night

Radio 4

• 6.0am Today 9.0 Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics. The classicist is joined by Islam Issa and Adam Rutherford to reveal the scienti ic inventions made in Alexandria. (1/7) 9.30 Art That Conquered the World. James Fox examines Vermeer’s Girl

• 2.0 The Archers (R) 2.15 Yeartides. Drama, by Ben Lewis. Claire and David are visiting his family farm to celebrate his mum’s 75th birthday, but the impact of seeds sown decades before is about to be felt. (1/2)

• 3.0 This Natural Life. Nature writer Patrick Barkham takes Martha Kearney on a butter lyspotting trip in Foxley Wood, Norfolk. (4/6)

• 3.27 Radio 4 Appeal: The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust (R) 3.30 Feedback

• 4.0 The Brie ing Room

• 4.30 Inside Science 5.0 PM 5.57 Weather 6.0 News 6.30 Icklewick FM (R) 7.0 The Archers 7.15 Front Row 8.0 At Your Own Peril (R) 8.15 The Media Show (R) 9.0

• (1/15) 8.0 Believe It!

• (3/4) 8.30 Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital

• (4/5) 8.45 Small Island (4/15) 9.0 POV (6/6)

• 9.30 The Time of My Life (4/5) 9.45 Daily Service 10.0 Great Lives

• 10.30 The British Reggae Revolution 11.0 Raf les (4/6) 11.30 Charles Paris: A Deadly Habit (3/4) 12.0 Capital Gains

• (2/4) 12.30 The Burkiss Way (1/15) 1.0 Believe It! (3/4) 1.30 Sounds Like London (4/5) 1.45 Small Island (4/15) 2.0 We’ve Been Here Before (3/4) 2.30 The

• 4.10 Urban Secrets

• 5.05 Urban Secrets

• I Lie to You? 8.20 Would
• I Lie to You? 9.0 QI XL
• 10.0 Have I Got a Bit More News for You 11.0 Taskmaster 12.0 Mock the Week 12.40 Would I Lie to You? 1.20 Would I Lie to You? 2.0 QI XL 3.0 Taskmaster 4.0 Teleshopping

(1939) 1.10 Siege at Red River (1954) 2.55

Jingle All the Way

▲ The Blackening, BBC Two

(1996) 4.40 Robot Dreams (2023) 6.45

The Guardian G2 Thursday 30 July 2026

TODAY’S TRIVIA CORNER ANSWERREVOLUTIONARY ROAD

Puzzles

• 12

Yesterday’s solutions

Quick crosswordno 17,545

1	2		3		4		5			6		7
									8
9
									10
11		12		13				14
15							16
17					18		19
				20
21									22		23
				24
25
				26

Across 1 Quickly recite (something) (6,3)

Down

• 2 Extremely dry (4)
• 3 Alternative to the country (4)
• 4 Secretly married (6)
• 5 Charity race (3,3)
• 6 Harmonious start (9)
• 7 How long food can be stored for (5,4)

Wordsearch

• 8 Money (slang) (4)
• 9 Perspective (9)
• 10 Tent, tower or jar? (4) 13 Watery liquid, esp when separated

from coagulating blood (5)

• 15 Sharp and perceptive (6)
• 16 Standard (6)

• 17 Natural (6)

• 11 One should help (9)

• 12 Testing period (9)
• 13 Twisting shape (5)

• 14 What a story teaches us (5)

• 19 Be successful (3,3)

• 20 Government, anaesthetic or radio?

(5)

• 21 Carry (eg a gun) (4)

• 18 Head (slang) (6)

• 19 Early release from prison (6)

• 24 One’s foolish – or amusing (anag)

(9)

• 25 Place to retreat to (4)

• 26 The bottom of something (9)

• 22 1975 ilm directed by Steven Spielberg (4)

• 23 It’s used to make cheese (4)

Solution no 17,544

E	A	S	Y	L	I	S	T	E	N	I	N	G
A		I		A		E		N		R		R
T	U	G		V	I	C	E	V	E	R	S	A
U		N		E		O		Y		E		N
P	L	A	N	N	I	N	G		O	P	E	D
		T		D		D		P		R		E
S	A	U	C	E	R		B	R	E	E	Z	E
E		R		R		B		I		S
D	U	E	T		H	Y	P	N	O	S	I	S
A		T		S		L		C		I		I
T	O	U	C	H	L	I	N	E		B	U	N
E		N		O		N		S		L		U
S	L	E	E	P	L	E	S	S	N	E	S	S

Sudoku no 7,398 To buy puzzle books, visit guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846.

Sudokuno 7,399

Suguru Wordsearch

Can you ind 15 football terms in the grid? Words can run forwards, backwards, vertically or diagonally, but always in a straight, unbroken line.

Hard. Fill the grid so that each row, column and 3x3 box contains the numbers 1-9. Printable version at theguardian.com/sudoku

Fill the grid so that each square in an outlined block contains a digit. A block of two squares contains the digits 1 and 2, a block of three squares contains the digits 1, 2 and 3, and so on. No same digit appears in neighbouring squares, not even diagonally.

Word wheel OUTRIGGER

Suguru

Word wheel

Trivia corner

Find as many words as possible using the letters in the wheel. Each must use the central letter and at least three others. Letters may be used only once. You may not use plurals, foreign words or proper nouns. There is at least one nine-letter word to be found. Target: 19. Good: 24. Very good: 29. Excellent: 34

For which of these lms did Kate Winslet not receive an Oscar nomination?

• a. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• b. Little Children
• c. Steve Jobs
• d. Revolutionary Road Answer top right

Looking for more? Download the Guardian appfor more puzzles, including our new Premier League game, On the Ball, and our movie quiz, Film Reveal. Plus clues and answers to all our interactive crosswords and sudoku. Available in the Apple App Store and Google Play.