Howard Phillips tells court he hoped to ‘trap’ agents by offering information about the then defence secretary
A man accused of attempting to hand over the personal details of the then defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to Russian intelligence officers has told a court he was actually trying to “expose” the agents.
Howard Phillips, 65, was charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service after passing a USB stick containing details relating to Shapps including his home address and the location of his private plane to undercover officers, who prosecutors say he believed to be Russian spies. He previously pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Nearly 30 years after Andrew Wakefield’s discredited study linking the MMR vaccine and autism, we badly need an injection of rationality
It’s easy to say in hindsight, but also true, that even when the anti-vax movement was in its infancy in the late 90s before I had kids, let alone knew what you were supposed to vaccinate them against, I could smell absolute garbage. After all, Andrew Wakefield, a doctor until he was struck off in 2010, was not the first crank to dispute the safety and effectiveness of childhood vaccines. There was a movement against the diphtheria-tetanus-whooping cough vaccine in the 1970s in the UK, and a similar one in the US in the early 1980s. The discovery of vaccination in the first place was not without its critics, and enough people to form a league opposed the smallpox rollout in the early 1800s on the basis that it was unchristian to share tissue with an animal.
So Wakefield’s infamous Lancet study, in which he claimed a link between the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine and autism, going as far as to pin down the exact mechanism by which one led to the other, was new only in so far as it had all the branding of reputable research, when in fact it was maleficent woo-woo, a phenomenon as old as knowledge. It was noticeable, though, that it fell on parched ground – a lot of people were very keen for it to be true. That was partly simple news appetite: vaccines are inherently boring. Devised by humans co-operating with one another, motivated by nothing more complicated than a desire to help the species – and indiscriminately, no one baby more worthy of protection than any other – there is no animating conflict here, nothing hidden, no complexity. Is there anything more tedious than humanity at its finest? So wouldn’t it be at least piquant if it turned out to be a giant mistake?
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Pennsylvania man called for execution of other civil servants in video in which he displayed severed head
A Pennsylvania man has been ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison after being convicted of fatally shooting his federal government employee father, decapitating him and brandishing the severed head in an online video that called for the execution of other civil servants.
Justin Mohn, 33, was sentenced on Friday after a five-day trial by a judge that found him guilty of murder and terrorism charges, Pennsylvania state prosecutors said.
Viewers complain that board allows violence and misogyny in Indian films but not a smooch in a Hollywood release
As Indian cinemagoers watched the latest Superman film, many noticed something was amiss. On two occasions as the superhero leaned in for a kiss with Lois Lane, the film suddenly jumped forward, cutting to the aftermath of an embrace.
India’s censor board had deemed the kissing scenes, including a 33-second smooch, to be “overly sensual” for Indian audiences and demanded they be cut from the film before its cinematic release.
Two parents have been found guilty of the manslaughter of their newborn daughter, who died after they took her to live in a tent in freezing wintry conditions to evade social services.
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, who had already had their first four children taken into care, went on the run with their fifth – a baby girl named Victoria – shortly after her birth in December 2022.
Sergio Marchi likens Infantino to Roman emperor Nero
He says staging was reminiscent of ‘bread and circuses’
The president of Fifpro has described the Club World Cup as a “fiction” and compared Gianni Infantino to the Roman emperor Nero, as the dispute between the players’ union and Fifa continued to escalate.
Sergio Marchi joined the ranks of those critical of Infantino’s expanded tournament, saying a “lack of protection” for players had left the Club World Cup equivalent to “bread and circuses”. It is understood Fifpro was not invited to a meeting regarding player welfare held by Infantino in New York on the eve of the final, won 3-0 by Chelsea against Paris Saint-Germain.
Pair have bonded while dealing with grief and poignant goal celebrations were a reminder of their mutual support
There are rare occasions when a moment in a match can remind you that football is both the most meaningless thing in the world and the most meaningful. On Sunday night, in the compact and atmospheric Kybunpark, the proximity of the stands to the pitch giving a feel of the playing surface being held in a tight embrace, two poignant goal celebrations stuck out.
The first came from the sublime Ella Toone, who became the only player on record to score a goal, provide an assist and have a 100% pass completion rate in Euros history during her 45 minutes on the pitch. When she converted from close range after her initial effort was blocked, the 25-year-old kissed her hands and pointed to the sky, the emotion on her face shifting from sheer joy to stoic contemplation as she paid tribute to her father, Nick, who died in September.
Donald Trump’s threat to impose 30% tariffs on European goods would “practically prohibit” transatlantic trade, the EU’s lead negotiator with the US has said.
Arriving for talks with European ministers in Brussels, Maroš Šefčovič, the EU trade commissioner, said a tariff of 30% or more would have a huge impact, making it “almost impossible to continue” current transatlantic trade, which is worth €4.4bn (£3.8bn) a day.
Matt Stephens on TNT Sports spoke to Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) before today’s stage. He asked if he and his team would be the aggressors today, to which Pogačar replied:
Like I said we will see. We can decide after a few climbs. We can see if we’re riding strong or not … I think we are ready today.
I think the whole Tour are talking about today. It’s the national day of France, I think everyone wants to be in the break today.
Politics of carmaker’s owner has soured sentiments in Grünheide, south-west of Berlin, where the factory promised jobs and revitalisation
When Elon Musk advised Germans to vote for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in elections last year, Manu Hoyer – who lives in the small town where the billionaire had built Tesla’s European production hub – wrote to the state premier to complain.
“How can you do business with someone who supports rightwing extremism?” she asked Dietmar Woidke, the Social Democrat leader of the eastern state of Brandenburg, who had backed the setting up of the Tesla Giga factory in Grünheide.
Japan’s limited-edition Baby Body Burger packs in 1,876 calories and tips the scales at nearly 680g. Will it defeat our reporter?
Japan can legitimately claim to be home to some of the best food on the planet. But it usually has little appetite for supersizing it.
That changed on Friday with Burger King’s gargantuan but curiously named Baby Body Burger, tipping the scales at nearly 680g (1.5lb). As part of a collaboration with the Japan Sumo Association, whose July wrestling tournament has just started, the burger checks in at 1,876 calories. Sumo wrestlers would only need about four of these to get their average daily caloric needs; a mere mortal would need just one to one-and-a-half. And, at ¥2,590 (£13.05), it’s nearly twice the price of a one-patty Whopper with cheese.
A great speedy bowl meal that is wholesome, tasty and a success with all the family
These were an absolute hit with my children, albeit minus the cashews, and as any parent with toddlers who refuse to let their food touch other food will know, that’s a breakthrough. It’s well worth making the whole quantity here, because any leftovers are perfect for fried rice the next day – just make sure you cool the rice after making it, then refrigerate immediately and reheat until piping hot the next day.
The Democratic mayoral candidate has faced controversy over his calls for a rent freeze. But the plan has plenty of precedent
During the New York City mayoral primary campaign, Zohran Mamdani’s proposal for a citywide rent freeze became a contentious topic. The Democratic nominee says to achieve a cap on annual rent increases for the city’s 1m rent-stabilized apartments, he would appoint members to the city’s rent guidelines board who support it. Critics decry a rent freeze as a pie-in-the-sky, unrealistic proposal.
I served as a rent guidelines board member for nearly four years, appointed by then mayor Bill de Blasio in 2018. And it’s clear this controversy isn’t just about rent freezes – there’s a larger agenda to deregulate rent-stabilized housing, under which rent ceilings prevent landlords from raising the rent too high and tenants must be offered renewal leases (unless the landlord shows legal reason not to).
A man gets catapulted into the future to help him understand the future of his crush, but the sloppy chronology and gratuitous stylistic touches leave this film a little too infatuated with itself
With studio projects abandoning Los Angeles as a shooting location, it’s the low-budget crowd that are still holdouts, presumably out of necessity. Futra Days is another in the line of esoteric films about overheated Angeleno creative minds that the pandemic seemed to encourage; the likes of the hermeneutic sci-fi Something in the Dirt or family found-footage He’s Watching. But running time-travel rings around a dysfunctional relationship, Ryan David’s sophomore effort is just a bit too infatuated with itself.
Jaded record producer Sean (Brandon Sklenar, looking like Chris Evans and Glen Powell spliced) is wondering whether a new crush on thrift-shop worker and aspiring singer Nichole (Tania Raymonde) will go the distance. So he signs up to a “happiness heist”: being catapulted into the future by an experimental time-travel clinic run by Dr Felicia Walter (Rosanna Arquette) whose medical qualifications seem, well, questionable. After replacing his future self, who is in the process of walking out on an exasperated future Nichole, he decides to try to reboot their relationship.
Officers did not notice inmate’s disappearance for 24 hours, amid overcrowding across France’s prison system
A prisoner who escaped from a French jail hidden in a laundry bag has been rearrested, authorities have said, amid a continuing debate over prison security and overcrowding.
Elyazid A, 20, known as “the Joker” or “the Equaliser”, was detained early on Monday morning as he emerged from a cellar in a village about 15 miles (25km) from Lyon-Corbas, the prison from which he escaped on Friday.
Jane McCarthy, who has terminal cancer, withheld payments for three years in protest at Buckinghamshire council’s fossil fuel investments
A woman who withheld council tax payments for three years in protest at her local authority’s continued investment in fossil fuels fears losing her home.
Jane McCarthy, 74, said she decided on the protest after becoming increasingly fearful about the impact of climate breakdown on future generations, particularly when she learned about climate tipping points at a local meeting.
However, inquiry into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone says there were no other breaches, including impartiality
A BBC documentary about children in Gaza breached the corporation’s editorial guidelines for accuracy by failing to disclose its child narrator was the son of a Hamas official, an internal review has found.
However, the inquiry into the making of Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone found no other breaches of guidelines in its production, including impartiality. It found that no outside interests “inappropriately impacted on the programme”.
Early success left the Miami producer feeling risk-averse. He quit touring to discover his muggy, magical sound – and accidentally scored another hit with Erika de Casier
A few years ago, Nick León made a hit. Not a hit hit, like a Drake/Sabrina/Taylor hit, but a hit in certain circles. His single Xtasis, made with the Venezuelan producer DJ Babatr, was one of the defining club tracks of 2022. Named track of the year by Resident Advisor and a staple at parties throughout the summer and autumn, it launched León from his status as one of Miami’s most interesting underground DJs into the international club circuit.
“It was like, we’re hitting the ground running – we’re gonna be touring and DJing all the time, and there was this mission of spreading the music that so many people have been playing already, from Latin America and the US,” León recalls of this period, sweating through his tie-dye T-shirt in an east London cafe in June.
As the Irish author turns 70, we rate his best works of fiction – from his latest, Long Island, to his emotionally wrenching ‘masterpiece’
This dispatch from what we might call the extended Colm Tóibín universe is set near the same time and in the same place as his earlier novel Brooklyn (one character appears in both books). It’s the story of a widowed woman who struggles to cope with life after love. If it lacks the drama of some of Tóibín’s other novels, the style is impeccable as ever, with irresistibly clean prose that reports emotional turmoil masked by restraint. There is no ornate showing off. “People used to tease me for it, saying: ‘Could you write a longer sentence?’” Tóibín has said. “But there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Airport in Essex remains closed after Beechcraft B200 aircraft was seen in flames at about 4pm on Sunday
An investigation has been launched into Sunday’s plane crash at London Southend airport, but there is still no official confirmation of casualties.
The Beechcraft B200 aircraft crashed at about 4pm, soon after taking off from the airport in Essex. The plane was seen in flames with dark smoke billowing from it, according to witnesses and photos circulating on social media.
Finsbury Park, London An all-star lineup of supporting turns – including, astonishingly, Lauryn Hill – show up to bolster the beleaguered megastar, but this is a very scrappy affair
The announcement of Drake’s three-day headline set for Wireless’s 20th anniversary met with a mixed response. Having been eviscerated in a rap beef with Kendrick Lamar, he had seemingly lost all street credibility. Plus, three consecutive sets from one artist could be overkill. On the other hand, what better way could there be to mark the occasion? No artist is more emblematic of the interface between British and American music that is so central to Wireless (despite Drake being Canadian). And the triptych curation around his various artistic personae seemed like genius: the swoon-worthy Casanova, the menacing rapper, the Black diaspora-surfing chameleon (or “culture vulture”, if you’re a Drake-sceptic).
Friday at the festival has an R&B focus, revealing rising star Kwn and the delightfully bluesy Leon Thomas. Summer Walker is somewhat garbled and listless. And then, after collaborator PartyNextDoor bores us to death for 20 minutes, Drake arrives, throwing it back with the 2011 heartbreak classic Marvin’s Room. The surprise army of R&B all-stars he brings on is incredible: Mario, Bobby Valentino, Giveon, Bryson Tiller; Lauryn Hill’s appearance is astonishing, despite the glaring audio issues that occur in the transition from Nice for What into Ex-Factor. It is a clear statement of Drake’s standing among the greats, an assembling of allies.
Connexion
