Commuters were warned of transport delays on Monday afternoon after heavy rain and flooding hit southern and central England.

Parts of the UK were struck by flash floods after some areas experienced more than a month’s worth of rainfall in 24 hours.

The A421 in Bedfordshire was closed in both directions between the A6 & M1 J13 because of flooding, National Highways said. Rain also affected the M4 and M5.

Heavy rain flooded the railway between Swindon and Chippenham, blocking the line south, and delays affected travel between Stratford and Richmond.

The amber weather warning lasts until 9pm on Monday, with Tuesday expected to be drier.

Schools across Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire, Warwickshire and Hertfordshire were forced to shut on Monday morning.

At least 45 properties were flooded across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Kent and the Home Counties, the Environment Agency said, despite many erecting flood barriers as the water approached on Sunday.

Tim Maher and Carol Findon, from Grendon, Northamptonshire, saw their two-storey home partially submerged overnight with more than a foot of water.

Mr Maher told the PA news agency: “We’ve had an awful lot of rain in recent days and some forecasters were warning we could see a month’s worth of rain in 24 hours.

“I have an app on my phone which tracks river levels and at around 8.45pm it rocketed up.

“I decided to drive down to the bridge and saw the water breaking the banks and coming down the road towards me.

“I quickly turned around, drove home and put up a flood barrier we’ve got up against the door. It kept out a lot of the water but we’ve had about an inch overnight.

“We’ve had some damage to the carpets, settees and other furniture. The most difficult bit will be drying out the structure.

“We haven’t had much sleep and at least eight houses on our road have been impacted. It would be nice to get a permanent solution to this problem.”

Kirsty Brewer, a hairdresser in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, said it was the fourth time the business she worked in had flooded in the last six or seven years.

The 31 year-old said floodwater had reached knee height on High Street South on Sunday.

She said flooding was almost a “once-a-year thing”, which had forced the business to adapt by moving electrical items higher.

“It started yesterday afternoon when the whole of Dunstable was flooded. It was up to your knee deep, the road comes down so we’re sitting in a bit of a well,” she said.

“We don’t open on Sundays or Mondays, so it’s not affected business in that way, it’s just a big clean-up. It was full of mud when we got here at 9am.”

The RAC called on drivers to take “extreme care” and avoid driving through water deeper than 10cm.

The Met Office warned people not to drive, swim or walk through floodwater. It said anyone living in a flood risk zone should consider parking their car in a safer area, storing their valuables high up and charging mobile phones.

Forecasters said there may be more warnings in the week ahead.

In Luton, flooding on Sunday delayed some journeys to the airport and footage showed debris flying in a suspected mini tornado.

A football match between Newcastle and AFC Wimbledon was postponed as a result of “extensive overnight flooding” that left an apparent sinkhole in the pitch.

Power cuts hit several areas of Nottingham overnight into Monday, but service had been restored by the morning.

Steve Willington, the Met Office’s chief meteorologist, said: “Following wet weather in recent days, rain, heavy at times, is influencing today’s weather for much of England and parts of Wales.

“The higher totals are likely within the amber warning area, where some will see 60-80mm of rain through the day while a few places could see in excess of 120mm.”

Police said road closures were in place across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire on Monday after “substantial flooding” overnight.

Bedfordshire Police said it had closed part of Dunstable High Street, with footage on social media showing cars driving in deep water. Central Bedfordshire council said flooding had hit Flitwick, Cranfield and Marston Moretaine.

The average September rainfall across the UK is around 100mm (4 inches).

The rain came after a final burst of summer at the end of the last week as high pressure brought warmer than average temperatures.

The autumn equinox on Sunday marked the end of summer and the start of autumn.

Swans have been filmed swimming through an apparent sewage spill from a water company outlet on the River Avon.

Paul Powlesland, an environmental campaigner, took footage of a flock of swans and ducks swimming and feeding as brown water poured into the river in Bath, Somerset, from an outlet.

Wessex Water confirmed that the spill appeared to be from a storm overflow, and said any sewage was likely to be heavily diluted. But Mr Powlesland said the outflow appeared to have toilet paper in it and smelled like raw sewage.

“It’s hard to imagine a more shameful indictment of our sewage crisis than what I witnessed on the River Avon this afternoon,” he said.

“A flock of swans and ducks feeding and cavorting in a plume of raw sewage, just a few hundred metres from the centre of the genteel City of Bath. This huge sewage spill entered the river after a short 10-minute rainstorm of average intensity.”

Record high sewage spills

Water companies are permitted to spill sewage into England’s waterways, but only during exceptional circumstances such as heavy rain.

Last year raw sewage spills into rivers and seas hit a record high, to more than four million hours. Campaigners say the regularity of spills suggests water companies are in frequent breach of their legal permits, and have called for regulators to clamp down.

Last year Wessex Water had 125 pollution incidents recorded by the Environment Agency, but still achieved an “industry leading” four-star rating from the regulator.

Responding to Mr Powlesland, the company said it planned to upgrade the outflow responsible for the spill by 2035. It added that discharges from the overflow will “largely be rainwater and run-off from the road – any sewage would be heavily diluted”.

“We agree overflows are outdated though and are investing £3 million every month to reduce them, with plans to increase this investment between 2025-30,” it said.

A senior banker whose Jack Russell Terrier broke its leg on a therapy course for anxious dogs has been awarded a £10,000 payout.

The dog, named Sirius, broke one of its hind legs in October 2023 while on a £2,500 course of pet therapy which its owners hoped would ease its “anxiety and reactivity”.

Its owner, Yigit Onkan Sazak, a vice-president at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, claimed Sirius had fallen out of a van while in the care of Four Paws Walking and Training, near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk.

Paul Ives, founder of the dog training business, claimed the dog was “exhibiting severe aggression and anxiety” and had tried to bite a trainer, causing it to “fall awkwardly and sustain an injury”.

Mr Sazak and Belma Sazak, his wife, have now been awarded £10,583 after they sued the company to recoup the vet bills of £7,200 and the course fee.

Mrs Sazak claimed that the dog had to be given “depression medication” because it was unable to run while recovering from the injury.

The Four Paws website says the company specialises in “bespoke dog training” and takes pride in tackling “socialisation struggles, toilet training, aggression and anxious episodes”.

Among the packages it offers are a two-week “customised board and train” programme, comprising “intensive training sessions” and an “immersive experience”.

Serious fracture

District Judge Edwin Omoregie told Central London County Court last week: “What Mr Sazak said in his claim form is that he sent his dog for some form of training with the defendants and that while the dog was in training he sustained injuries which included a spiral fracture.

“The fracture was quite serious and that necessitated Mr Sazak to have his dog treated for the injuries.

“As a result of those injuries, he sued the defendants… first for the cost of the vet’s bill to treat Sirius, and also for the training fees for the dog.”

In an online customer review of Four Paws, Mrs Sazak labelled their experience a “complete nightmare”, claiming Sirius broke its leg after Four Paws “took him in for training”.

“This entire ordeal has inflicted significant emotional stress and financial hardship on us,” she wrote. “At this point, we are striving to get our lives back on track and offer the best possible support to Sirius.

“This experience has been a complete nightmare.”

‘Heightened anxiety’

In another post, Mrs Sazak told of Sirius having to have a metal plate and nine screws inserted in its leg and said the dog would need “intensive post-surgery care” while “confined to immobility”.

“It breaks my heart to see him wrestle with heightened anxiety and even needing depression medication to cope with his nightmarish new environment,” she wrote.

In an online response to the review, Four Paws said it had informed Sirius’s owners promptly after the pet’s “unfortunate accident” and took it to a vet.

“I would like to point out that we have offered to cover the medical costs for the operation, X-rays, medication and follow up appointments, and are waiting on the results of the eight-week checkup to get a final account and then payment will be made,” the company’s response continued.

Four Paws did not attend the hearing. Judge Omoregie entered judgment for £10,583 for Mr Sazak.

But he noted that the company could still have the option of returning to court and apply to “set aside” his order, since no representative was in court to present their side of the dispute.

“This is maybe not the end of the matter,” he said.

Mr Ives told The Telegraph that he did not attend the court hearing because his mother had recently died, and said he had applied to have the court order set aside.

He said: “At the start of the program, a WhatsApp group was created for communication, and both Belma and her husband expressed their satisfaction with Sirius’s progress.

“However, on the day of the unfortunate incident, Sirius attempted to bite the trainer, causing the dog to fall awkwardly and sustain an injury. Sirius was immediately taken to the veterinarian, and the owners were kept informed throughout the process.”

He added: “As a company, we always prioritize the well-being of both the dogs and their owners, and we continue to stand by that commitment. Accidents happen, and we deeply regret what occurred. 

“We sincerely apologize to Sirius, Belma, and her husband.”

A teenager who was stabbed to death in south-east London, said: “I’m 15, don’t let me die” as he lay bleeding, a witness said.

The Metropolitan Police was called to reports of a disturbance on Eglinton Road, Woolwich, at around 6.30pm on Sunday.

The boy was found at the scene with a stab injury and died shortly afterwards. The next of kin has been informed.

The witness, a 43-year-old woman who has lived in the area for 14 years and did not wish to be named, said she tried to save the teenager as he lay bleeding in the road outside her flat.

Speaking by the police cordon, she said: “I was upstairs in my bedroom, I had my nightshirt on. I heard screaming from across the road, saying: ‘Someone’s been stabbed, someone’s been stabbed.’

“So I grabbed a sheet – I had no shoes or socks on or anything – and I just literally ran to where just near where the tent is, and there was someone laying face down on the floor.

“I turned him over, he had a gash in his head, and I thought ‘that’s not bleeding enough’. His leg moved and there was a massive pool of blood, so I just stemmed the flow of blood until the paramedics and that got here.

“I asked if I could go and shower because I was covered in his blood, and they [the police] said yes, so I went in and showered.

“I came back out and they called me over because I was the last one with him – he was going to me: ‘I’m 15, I’m 15, don’t let me die’ and I said to him: ‘You’re not going to die, mate.’”

The woman who tried to save the teenager said he was “the most polite boy” when she had encountered him in the neighbourhood.

She said: “The other day he was sitting on the wall over there, and he’s the most polite boy – he hasn’t got attitude. They were all dancing in the street the other day to a TikTok song.”

Asked whether she knew the victim well, she said: “No, I didn’t – but I always said hello and that, and he was always polite or moved out of the way when you were walking.”

No arrests have been made, and a crime scene is in place.

Rachel Reeves’s speech at the Labour conference was disrupted by heckling from Pro-Palestinian activists.

A young man was dragged out of the main conference hall in Liverpool after standing up and shouting: “We are still selling arms to Israel – I thought there was supposed to be change, Rachel.”

A security guard scrambled to haul the man out of the building as he shouted: “Rachel Reeves, the economy is in a mess and we’re still putting the burden on working people.”

Another man could be heard chanting: “Stop arming Israel. Stop backing oil.”

The protests were drowned out by boos and chants of “out” from the audience, and the Chancellor responded: “This is a changed Labour Party and a Labour Party that represents working people, not a party of protest.”

Climate Resistance, a campaign group, claimed responsibility for the protest.

Sam Simons, a spokesman, said: “Labour promised us change – instead, we’re getting more of the same. The same pandering to the fossil fuel industry, the same arms licences that are fuelling a genocide in Gaza, and the same austerity that sees the poorest hit hardest.

“It’s time for Labour to start putting the needs of people before the interests of profit. That means immediately stopping arms licences to Israel, blocking new oil and gas and standing up for the communities already being devastated by the climate crisis.”

It comes weeks after David Lammy announced that some arms licences to Israel would be suspended following a review that found a “clear risk” that UK arms may be used to violate international law.

Around 30 out of 350 licences were suspended in a move the Foreign Secretary described as “not a blanket ban” and “not an arms embargo”. 

But pro-Palestinian Labour MPs, unions and campaign groups have demanded that the Government go further by suspending all arms licences to Israel amid its war in Gaza.

Ms Reeves’s speech, her first since becoming Chancellor, sought to assure delegates that there would be “no return to austerity”.

She told the conference: “Because I know how much damage has been done in those 14 years, let me say one thing straight up – there will be no return to austerity. Conservative austerity was a destructive choice for our public services, and for investment and growth too.

“Yes, we must deal with the Tory legacy, and that means tough decisions, but I won’t let that dim our ambition for Britain. So it will be a Budget with real ambition, a Budget to fix the foundations, a Budget to deliver the change that we promised – a Budget to rebuild Britain.”

Ms Reeves’s response to the heckling echoed that of Sir Keir Starmer after his speech last year was interrupted by a protester who leapt on the stage and threw glitter over him.

The then-leader of the opposition responded: “Protest or power – that’s why we’ve changed.”

Follow the latest updates from the Labour conference in our liveblog.

A teenager who was stabbed to death with a zombie-style knife in south-east London said: “I’m 15, don’t let me die” as he lay bleeding on the street, a witness has said.

Scotland Yard has launched a murder investigation after the boy, who has not been named, was found with a stab injury in Eglinton Road, Woolwich, on Sunday evening.

He died shortly after officers arrived at the scene, and his next of kin have been informed, the Metropolitan Police said.

Detective Chief Superintendent Trevor Lawry said the stabbing was a “stark and sobering” reminder of the dangers of zombie-style knives.

His comments came ahead of a government ban, which comes into force on Tuesday, making it illegal to possess, sell or manufacture or transport zombie-style knives and machetes.

The weapons – usually over eight inches long with serrated blades and garish names and designs – have been linked to a surge in knife crime.

Tasha Collins, a 43-year-old mother of three who works at a nearby school, said she had tried to save the teenager as he lay bleeding near her flat.

Speaking by the police cordon, she said: “I was upstairs in my bedroom, I had my nightshirt on. I heard screaming from across the road, saying: ‘Someone’s been stabbed, someone’s been stabbed.’

“So I grabbed a sheet – I had no shoes or socks on or anything – and I just literally ran to where just near where the tent is, and there was someone laying face down on the floor.

“I turned him over, he had a gash in his head, and I thought ‘that’s not bleeding enough’. His leg moved and there was a massive pool of blood, so I just stemmed the flow of blood until the paramedics and that got here.

“I asked if I could go and shower because I was covered in his blood, and they [the police] said yes, so I went in and showered.

“I came back out and they called me over because I was the last one with him – he was going to me: ‘I’m 15, I’m 15, don’t let me die’ and I said to him: ‘You’re not going to die, mate.’

“I could see the blood coming out of his leg, and I knew it was his artery straight away. I put my sheet around it, put every ounce of pressure on him until the paramedics came.”

Ms Collins said the teenager had also suffered a gash on his head. She added that she had been praised by paramedics for her efforts and had known what to do through watching television shows about the NHS.

She said the victim was a young black teenager who was regularly seen in the local area with two other friends, one of whom was also at the scene in the aftermath of the attack. 

Ms Collins said: “The other day he was sitting on the wall over there, and he’s the most polite boy – he hasn’t got attitude. They were all dancing in the street the other day to a TikTok song.”

Asked whether she knew the victim well, she said: “No, I didn’t – but I always said hello and that, and he was always polite or moved out of the way when you were walking.”

Armed police raided a property in Eglinton Road shortly after the attack. On Monday afternoon, half a dozen police officers wearing gloves and facemasks were still combing the scene for evidence. Floral tributes were left by neighbours near where the attack took place.

No arrests have been made, and a crime scene is in place.

DCS Lawry, speaking at a press conference at Plumstead police station, said: “Once again, we have had to tell a child’s family that their loved one has been killed in an act of violence using a knife. Our thoughts are with them as they struggle to comprehend what has happened.

“The fact that a 15-year-old teenager, who had his whole life ahead of him, has been taken from his family in this way is a stark and sobering reminder of the danger of zombie-style knives. We are committed to doing everything in our power to taking these weapons off our streets.

“We know that this murder will also send shockwaves throughout the community and I understand the genuine concern this will create. We share those concerns.”

Knife crime hit record highs in eight police forces in the year to this March. These included the Metropolitan Police area, where knife crime was up from the previous record of 14,680 in 2020 to 14,961 in the year to March. West Midlands also saw a high of 5,266, up from 5,192 the previous year.

It comes as police data revealed that the level of zombie knife crime has doubled over the past five years. 

The number of crimes recorded mentioning machetes, swords or zombie knives increased from 7,159 in 2019 to 14,195 in 2023, according to Freedom of Information requests. The disclosure came in a survey of police forces by the BBC.

A spokesman for Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, said that “this heart-breaking violence has no place in our streets” and promised increased police patrols in the local area.

A baby king penguin resembling a huge ball of brown fluff and which eats 25 fish a day is not overweight, according to its keepers.

Pesto is only nine months old but weighs a hefty 22kg (49lbs), while its doting parents, Tango and Hudson, are just 11kg (24lbs) each.

The chubby chick is a star attraction at Sea Life Aquarium in Melbourne and has become an unlikely social media phenomenon, thanks to its voracious appetite.

But Pesto’s bulk has been attributed to good genes – its father is the biggest penguin in the aquarium – and staff are not concerned by the bird’s girth.

“He’s just a big baby. He’s eating quite a bit but he’s not at all considered to be an unhealthy weight,” said Jacinta Early, the aquarium’s education supervisor.

Videos of Pesto have been viewed by nearly two billion people worldwide through social media channels.

Capable of eating its own body weight in fish each week, Pesto is the heaviest penguin chick the aquarium has ever had. It enjoys a varied diet of rainbow trout, salmon and sand whiting.

Experts say the bird is not obese and will start to slim down as it becomes an adult. Its weight is likely to drop to around 15kg (33lbs) and its fluffy brown feathers will be replaced with sleek black and white plumage.

“He’s going to start losing that really adorable baby fluff. It might take him one to two months to really get rid of it,” added Ms Early. “Then he’ll be nice and sleek and streamlined.”

Born in January, Pesto was the only king penguin chick to hatch at the aquarium this year and the first since 2022. Since becoming a celebrity, it has boosted the number of visitors to the aquarium.

‘He’s gorgeous’

“I’ve seen heaps of videos, and there’s like 100,000 likes on them,” said Shaina Pyke, who came to see the chick after watching a clip on TikTok. “It’s very viral.”

Her friend Amanda Robar told the Melbourne Age newspaper: “The sheer size of this baby penguin blew me away, it exceeded my expectations. He’s gorgeous.”

Olivia Wilson, a spokeswoman for Sea Life, said: “Guests are arriving at admissions and double-checking Pesto is definitely on site. 

“We have had messages on social media from people who are booking flights to Melbourne and want to know that Pesto will be here. People seem to relate to this chunky guy.”

King penguins are the second-largest species, after emperor penguins, and breed on islands in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic, including South Georgia and the Falkland Islands.

They are preyed on by leopard seals and killer whales. At one time harvested by humans for their eggs, feathers and oil, the population of king penguins is now increasing.

A suspected drug mule was arrested on arrival at South Africa’s busiest airport after X-rays showed she had swallowed scores of packages of suspected cocaine.

The unnamed Namibian woman, 30, is the tenth suspected drug mule to be seized at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg in the past two months.

Police said they had recovered more than 60 of the bullet-shaped pellets from her so far.

Officers arrested the woman after being tipped off that a person with drugs was on the flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Brig Athlenda Mathe, national police spokesman, said: “The team immediately intercepted the drug mule as she was making her way through immigration.

“She was immediately arrested, taken to a local hospital where a medical X-ray confirmed and detected foreign objects in her stomach.

“She has already released more than 60 bullets of suspected cocaine thus far. She is currently under police guard and custody.”

Police said it was too early to speculate about the street value of the drugs haul.

More than R13 million (£560,000) worth of drugs have been seized at the airport in the past two months.

Last week, police arrested a man with 450 grams (1lb) of cocaine hidden inside headphones. The man had travelled from Sao Paulo and was due to catch a connecting flight to Nigeria.

A cleaner who allegedly handed him the headphones at the airport fled the scene and was on the run, police said at the time.

It was the stone-cold stare that become one of the viral moments of the Paris Olympics.

With her baseball cap on backwards over her slick ponytail and eyes focused through futuristic glasses, the South Korean sharpshooter Kim Ye-ji drew her gun and shot her way to a silver medal.

But now Ms Kim’s steely performance has won her a new role – as an assassin.

The 32-year-old will take her first acting job alongside the Indian star Anushka Sen in Crush, a spin-off, short-form series of the film Asia, reported Korea’s main news agency Yonhap.

The film explores stories of individuals tackling racial hatred and discrimination. It features a cast of American and Asian actors and is directed by Lee Jung-sub, who is also the chief executive of the Seoul-based entertainment company Asia Lab.

The company said the Olympic silver medallist was “both nervous and thrilled” to take up the role as a “captivating assassin”.

Helped along the way by the X owner Elon Musk, Ms Kim was propelled to worldwide fame for her performance in the 10m air pistol competition.

“Her aura is insane!” exclaimed one admirer within the rush of comparisons with James Bond and Satoru Gojo, a sorcerer in the popular manga series Jujutsu Kaisen.

Mr Musk could not contain his excitement. “She should be cast in an action movie. No acting required!” he declared.

‘I don’t feel any pressure’

After her medal win in July, Ms Kim’s popularity was boosted by another viral video of her appearance at the International Shooting Sport Federation’s Shooting World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, in May.

The footage of her now signature steely demeanour gained more than 20 million views.

Ms Kim broke the world record in the women’s 25m pistol event in Baku and later told reporters there was “nothing to improve” before the Paris Olympics, said Yonhap.

“I don’t feel any pressure at all,” she told reporters. “My confidence comes from a reason. It’s confidence based on a foundation.”

Since the Olympic Games, Ms Kim has signed up with a Korean talent agency to capitalise on her newfound stardom.

Modelling gig

In one of her first gigs outside the sports arena, she landed a photoshoot with the Korean fashion magazine W for Louis Vuitton.

The pictures tapped into her sharpshooter persona and featured props including shooting glasses and air pistols.

Ms Kim told W she wanted to use her newfound fame to raise the profile of shooting as a sport.

She also signalled this plan in a press conference on the margins of a national shooting competition in Naju, 174 miles south of Seoul.

“I’ve received offers for commercials and appearances in TV shows. I understand a US company also reached out. As long as they don’t affect my competition and training schedule, I’ll do them,” she said.

“I felt that there was only so much I could do to promote this sport just by going to competitions and setting records,” Ms Kim added.

“Even with my Olympic medal, my name will be forgotten soon. But if I do appearances, then I think people will remember me and they will be reminded of the sport of shooting.”

‘Life of the party’

Previously, she told the Indian Express that she wanted to use her profession to be a role model for her daughter. “I felt a strong sense of responsibility to work hard so that my daughter would be proud of me when she grows up,” she said.

She also revealed that beyond the necessary composure and her icy persona at the shooting range that “among my friends, I’m known as the life of the party”.

Ms Kim is not the first Olympian to make the leap into film stardom.

Johnny Weissmuller, a champion swimmer in the 1920s, later became famous for his starring role in the 1930s Tarzan movies.

Closer to home, the British fencer Bob Anderson competed in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki before his six-decade career as a fight choreographer and sword master in several Hollywood blockbusters, including Die Another Day and The Guns of Navarone.

Even before Tuesday’s exploding pager attack on Hezbollah, war seemed to be looming on the Israel-Lebanon border.

Benjamin Netanyahu began the week promising to return 60,000 evacuees to the north of the country.

After the pager blasts Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, announced a “new phase” of the conflict.

Maj Gen Ori Gordin, head of Israel’s northern command, said he and his troops are “determined to change the security reality as soon as possible”.

So will there be a wider war? And what, if anything, could it achieve?

Days before the pager attacks, Israeli’s security cabinet updated its official war goals to include the return of around 60,000 residents to parts of northern Israel they were evacuated from following Hezbollah’s attacks in the aftermath of Oct 7.

Hezbollah has linked its rocket attacks to a ceasefire in Gaza. So in theory, there is a diplomatic solution: stop the war in Gaza, and the problem will go away.

That is clearly the solution that Israel’s key allies, including the United States and Britain, prefer. They have publicly and privately urged restraint and warned against derailing peace talks.

But rhetoric from Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant, the pager attacks, escalating air strikes, the redeployment of troops from Gaza to the north – and The Telegraph’s conversations with serving and retired IDF officers – suggest an Israeli action in Lebanon is a question of when, not if.

Three options

There are three options for Israeli planners to consider: air strikes; a massive, Gaza-style invasion; and a “limited” incursion to set up a “buffer zone”.

The first is, of course, the safest. Mr Gallant, the defence minister – no dove, even by Israeli standards – is said to have argued for this option.

It does not commit troops on the ground, avoids the risk of a quagmire, and would not require committing ground forces while the main effort in Gaza (and, increasingly, the West Bank) is still under way.

Compared to Israel’s first invasion of Lebanon in 1982, or even its last in 2006, aerial targeting technology has made a quantum leap.

On Friday morning, Israel said its strikes had destroyed 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers. But, as the 11-month war in Gaza shows, even modern, relentless air strikes cannot win a war alone.

In the end it is the infantry who must engage the surviving enemy to take and hold ground.

“There is no scenario where we can bring citizens back to the towns along the border, if Hezbollah is on the border,” said Brig Gen Amir Avivi, former IDF deputy commander of the Gaza Division and founder of Israel Defense and Security Forum.

“This means that if Hezbollah doesn’t willingly withdraw, according to UN Security Council resolution 1701, Israel is left with no choice but to do a ground incursion.”

Opposing forces 

But any ground invasion is fraught with risk and overshadowed by the memory of previous bloody, and ultimately unsuccessful, adventures north of the border.

In the semi-desert landscape of Gaza, Hamas has had to tunnel into earth and sand.

Hezbollah’s tunnels are dug into the solid rock of imposing mountain valleys, said Maj Moshiko Giat, an IDF special forces soldier who fought in Israel’s last incursion into Lebanon in 2006.

“So the infrastructure in Lebanon is pretty solid and very, very hard to break into. And that was one of our dilemmas, how we’re going to basically attack all this infrastructure that was built from 1982 to 2006,” he said.

Hezbollah, he added, is a country mile ahead of Hamas in both numbers and military prowess.

Independent observers believe Hezbollah can field between 20,000 and 40,000 fighters.

It is believed to have amassed an arsenal of up to 150,000 rockets and missiles, many of them advanced Iranian designs able to fire deep into Israel.

And it will have massively expanded the minefield, ambush sites and tunnel systems that caused Maj Giat and his troops so much bother 18 years ago.

“They act like an army and we would treat them like an army,” he said.

“They have undergone training, including in Iran, and they have a lot of combat experience, more than they had in 2006, because they fought in the civil war in Syria on the side of the Assad regime.

“We are not going to meet a militia, we’re going to meet a proper force.”

Opposing this force is the IDF’s 98th Division, an elite paratroopers and commando outfit, and the 179th and 769th armoured brigades, which have already been deployed to the border and are waiting for orders.

Mr Netanyahu must now decide what those orders will be. There are two options.

Invasion

A full-scale, Gaza-style invasion, fighting house-to-house and tunnel-to-tunnel in pursuit of the total destruction of Hezbollah and its (supposedly) enormous arsenal of rockets, holds an emotional appeal to Israelis who would like to secure the northern border once and for all.

But the IDF has still not destroyed the much less formidable foe of Hamas after 11 months of war in the much smaller territory of Gaza.

Trying to do the same to Hezbollah would mean repeating the bloody 1982 march on Beirut. Military casualties would be high, civilian ones probably much higher, and the patience of key allies like the United States tested to breaking point.

And if progress in Gaza is anything to go by, fighting building-to-building for years, and suffering heavy casualties.

The war that began on Oct 7 last year is already the longest in Israeli history. How much longer the economy, and public and international sentiment, can take is now a serious consideration.

Buffer zone

So that leaves the so-called third option. A more “limited” incursion to establish a buffer zone.

Even that would be a major operation.

It would take “several divisions”, or around 30,000 troops, to clear southern Lebanon, said Assaf Orion, a retired brigadier general and former head of the strategy division for the IDF general staff.

That would drop to one or two divisions – between 10,000 and 20,000 troops – to occupy and hold afterwards, he said.

It is not exactly clear how deep that zone would be.

Maj Giat said he understood the objective of any ground offensive would be to clear and hold a buffer-zone 6 to 12 miles deep.

Brig Gen Avivi said the goal would be to “destroy them in South Lebanon and push them north of the Litani river”.

That is only a rough guide: The Litani is 18 miles from the border at its mouth but further inland comes within little more than a mile of the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan heights.

Brig Gen Avivi insisted such an operation would be more than manageable. “Lebanon is not as densely populated as Gaza, and the towns and villages in southern Lebanon are pretty empty. This is not going to be as complicated as what we saw in Gaza.

“I think it can take a few weeks because it’s going to be very, very intensive. And also there will be huge pressure inside Lebanon on Hezbollah to stop, because, obviously, Lebanon is going to pay a heavy price here.

“I would assume that the war is not going to be long.”

Memories of wars past

But the ghosts of the 1982 and 2006 wars loom over any talk of fighting in Lebanon.

The first, also directed at creating a buffer zone, reached Beirut but ended in public disillusionment over high casualties.

It also catalysed the birth of Hezbollah.

The 2006 war, triggered by the Hezbollah abduction of three Israeli soldiers on the border, lasted 34 days and claimed the lives of 121 Israeli soldiers, an estimated 250 Hezbollah fighters, and around 1,200 civilians.

After it was over, a public inquiry concluded that Hezbollah had successfully resisted a superior force; that the war had been entered into without any clear strategy; and that the ground offensive came late, was not completed, and did not achieve its goals.

Another way?

Maj Giat says he’s not worried about repeating the same mistakes this time.

Lessons have been learned, the soldiers have been training hard for the operation, and there will be a greater emphasis on speed, aggression, and precisely identifying and then pursuing targets than in 2006.

“We know what we are doing,” he said.

The infantry battle is one thing though.

It is not clear how, if at all, Hezbollah’s anticipated massive rocket barrage would be dealt with. Another salvo of missiles and drones could be expected from the group’s allies in Syria and Iran.

And there is a strange dichotomy in Israeli rhetoric, and possibly thought. On the one hand, brash confidence in the IDF’s superiority on the battlefield. On the other, a recognition that this is a much more serious and difficult problem than such bravado would suggest.

The bottom line is that from the Israeli point of view, none of the options of invasion are good ones.

And Mr Netanyahu, for all his rhetoric, is considered by observers to be a cautious and even indecisive politician.

That’s led some to conclude that war is not inevitable.

Amos Yadlin, former Israeli military intelligence chief, told The Telegraph: “I am not sure either side wants a full-scale war and there are other ways for Israel to damage Hezbollah. We’ve seen that so far.”

There are those who argue the bloodshed of recent days – the device attacks, air strikes on the border and in Beirut – are meant to achieve something else.

Could the prospect of a full-scale war force Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah chief, to tell his fighters to cool down the rocket attacks?

Could he and his patrons in Iran could even lean on Hamas to sign a ceasefire in Gaza on Israeli terms?

If that is the Israeli strategy, it is a high-risk one.

And it is not – yet – bearing fruit.

Labour wants to govern until at least 2049, a Cabinet minister has said.

Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said he wanted Labour to become the “natural party of government” and win as many as five elections in a row. 

Assuming Labour used the full five-year terms, that would see it in power for 25 years. That would surpass the 18 for which the Conservatives ruled under Margaret Thatcher and John Major – the longest period of government in modern times.

Speaking at the Labour conference, Mr Jones said he wanted Sir Keir Starmer to deliver “generational change for Britain” as Clement Attlee and Tony Blair had done.

‘Prove that we are the change-makers’

“But, conference, we should want more than that, more than a once in a generation chance to serve,” he said. “I want our Labour Party to become the natural party of government. A title the Conservative Party claimed for years – but we can take it from them.

“We have the chance to prove that we are the change-makers, that our changed Labour Party can be trusted to govern, not just for one or two terms but three, four and five. That together, as a united Labour Party, we can deliver for Britain.”

Mr Jones’ ambition exceeds that of Boris Johnson, who said he wanted to rule for a decade – but had to settle for only three years.

Lady Thatcher said she wanted to go “on and on”, but had to step down after 11 years. Her successor Sir John won the next election, ensuring the Conservatives had ruled for 18 years.

Labour’s longest term in office is the 13 years between Sir Tony’s 1997 victory and Gordon Brown’s defeat in 2010.

The Princess of Wales has been seen in public for the first time since announcing that she has finished her chemotherapy.

She attended the Sunday service at Crathie Kirk in Balmoral with her husband the Prince of Wales, the King and the Queen.

This week, Catherine returned to work for the first time since starting her cancer treatment with a meeting about her early childhood project.

She appeared in the Court Circular, the official record of the Royal family’s activities, for a meeting at Windsor Castle as she begins easing back into “a handful” of engagements over the coming months.

The entry, published in The Telegraph, reads: “The Princess of Wales, Joint Patron, The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, this afternoon held an Early Years Meeting at Windsor Castle.”

She is understood to have been joined by members of her team at the Centre for Early Childhood, as well as Kensington Palace staff.

It is the first meeting noted in the Court Circular this year since the Princess withdrew from public life, first for major abdominal surgery and then for chemotherapy.

Earlier this month, she released a video explaining that she had finished her course of preventative treatment and saying she looked forward to returning to work in a limited capacity.

“Doing what I can to stay cancer-free is now my focus,” she said. “Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long, and I must continue to take each day as it comes.

“I am, however, looking forward to being back at work and undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months, when I can.”

The Princess is expected to attend a Remembrance Sunday service in support of the Royal family, veterans and their families. She is also set to host her annual carol concert at Westminster Abbey in December. No other engagements have been confirmed.

A man whose image went viral when he was hit in the head and groin by bricks during the summer riots was arrested after being recognised by police at A&E, The Telegraph can reveal.

The man was injured during the disorder in Southport that followed the fatal knife attack on three girls attending a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in the Merseyside town on July 29.

A video uploaded to social media showed a man wearing a grey tracksuit approaching a line of riot police who were being pelted with missiles.

As he got close to the line of officers a brick hurled from the crowd hit him on the back of the head, causing him to stumble away. Holding his head, he began to walk back towards the crowd before a second brick hit him in the groin area. 

The man, clearly in pain, was helped away to safety with blood coming from a head wound.

It is understood he later attended an A&E unit where he was spotted by police officers who were being treated for injuries sustained in the riots.

A source told The Telegraph: “The officers who were at the A&E had seen the footage, which had already gone viral, and immediately recognised the man who was waiting to be treated. It definitely was not his lucky day because, after he was seen by doctors, he was then arrested on suspicion of being involved in the disorder.”

A spokesman for Merseyside Police said: “I can confirm that the male was arrested and is currently on bail.”

The investigation into the rioting that followed the Southport attack is continuing. More than 1,500 people have been arrested and a total of 960 charges have been brought for a range of offences.

Ministers are set to impose heat pump targets next year in a move that will lead to a “boiler tax” on households, industry sources have said.

Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, is expected to introduce the policy from April, despite warnings that it will drive up the cost of a new boiler.

Under the plans, boiler makers would be hit with hefty fines if they fail to achieve targets on the number of heat pumps they have to sell every year. Manufacturers have warned that it would force them to add up to £180 to the price of a boiler, although campaigners have accused them of profiteering.

Officials have privately told the industry that the scheme will definitely be introduced next year, sources have told The Telegraph. A Government source insisted that no final decision has been taken.

The Clean Heat Market Mechanism (CHMM) would set a number of heat pumps they must sell as a percentage of their overall boiler sales. It was initially drawn up by the Tories and had been set to come into force earlier this year before being shelved following a backlash.

Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, delayed the introduction until at least next April and privately indicated that she wanted to kill off the policy.

She said: “I scrapped this policy last year because I strongly felt we should think again. It’s a classic example of policy designed for the green lobby and vested interest groups rather than for the consumer.

“It will raise the costs of getting a boiler for ordinary families, perhaps by hundreds of pounds, when many of them can’t afford to get a heat pump.

“If Labour press ahead with this on top of cutting the Winter Fuel Payment, it will make an even greater mockery of their promises of bill savings for consumers.”

Mr Miliband is now set to revive it, with industry sources saying officials in his department have told them that the targets will be brought in next year. Manufacturers and suppliers have been alerted that legislation to introduce the scheme will be tabled in November, suggesting an April start date.

An industry source said: “Ministers and officials have been engaged with the boiler manufacturers with a view to bringing the CHMM in in 2025. What hasn’t yet been finalised are the details around the size of the fine. There’s a conversation to be had about whether it’s set at the appropriate level.”

Under the Tory plans inherited by Mr Miliband, manufacturers would have to make sure that at least six per cent of their overall sales were made up of heat pumps. They would be fined £3,000 for every missed sale, with companies warning they would have to pass the cost of multi-million pound penalties on to customers.

Industry insiders have said the demand for heat pumps, which are much more expensive than boilers, is not sufficient to meet the targets.

A second source said that “as far as we know the CHMM is still scheduled to start in 2025”, but added that there had been little engagement from officials. The source said manufacturers were still hopeful that ministers were “having second thoughts or making amends to the punitive measures that the policy will impose”.

Around 1.5 million new boilers are installed every year, with most being put in over the winter when the appliances are being used the most.

It is estimated that a quarter of those – some 375,000 a year – are in pensioner households, most of which have just lost the £200 winter fuel allowance.

Boiler makers temporarily put up their prices by £120 last January when they believed that a four per cent target for heat pump sales was about to be imposed. They reversed the price rise and issued refunds when the policy was delayed.

Industry sources said that, if Mr Miliband were to press ahead with the planned six per cent target this year, that would suggest a £180 rise will be needed this January.

Some green groups have accused boiler manufacturers of scaremongering about the policy and using it as an excuse for “price gouging”.

Jess Ralston, the head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said: “The boiler tax was a self-imposed price increase brought in by boiler manufacturers to lobby against heat pump policy so they can keep selling gas boilers for longer.

“Unless the UK starts to transition away from gas boilers, we will have to import more gas from abroad as the North Sea output continues its inevitable decline, so this is a matter of energy security.”

Andy Manning, the head of energy systems transformation at Citizens Advice, added: “Boiler manufacturers must not raise their prices again in response to a scheme that would help homes across the country move to clean energy. Instead, they should focus on meeting the requirements of the scheme.

“If reintroduced, the Government must not water down the Clean Heat Market Mechanism in response to similar action from manufacturers. Doing so would reward behaviour that left many people out of pocket, and expose us all to volatile gas prices for longer.”

Fewer than 37,000 certified heat pump installations were recorded last year, significantly short of the 90,000 that would be required to meet a six per cent target.

Mr Miliband pledged whilst in opposition that he would “support the Clean Heat Market Mechanism” if Labour won the election. Speaking in March, he said: “On the Clean Heat Market Mechanism, we’re going to have to deal with what we inherit from the government.”

A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: “The energy shocks of recent years have shown the urgent need to upgrade British homes and secure our energy independence.

“Our Warm Homes Plan will set out a range of measures to support low carbon heating, including heat pumps. Our ambitious plans will protect bill-payers, reduce fuel poverty and get the UK back on track to meet our climate goals.”

Abba’s Björn Ulvaeus got married for a third time on Saturday, with the ceremony officiated by the former Great British Bake Off presenter Sandi Toksvig.

The Dancing Queen singer, 79, tied the knot with his Danish girlfriend Christina Sas, 51, in Copenhagen in a small ceremony in front of family and friends.

Ulvaeus was pictured smiling in a sleek grey suit and T-shirt as he held on tightly to his bride, who wore a khaki-coloured dress.

Toksvig was dressed in a clerical-style, gold-embroidered red cloak as she spoke into a headset microphone in front of the bride and groom.

The designer Søren Le Schmidt, who is known for dressing Danish royalty, provided clothing for the wedding.

The Danish-British presenter has been friends with Ulvaeus since they collaborated on the theatrical show Mamma Mia! The Party in 2018.

Toksvig’s role in the wedding, along with those of the Danish singers Anne Linnet and Kaya Brüel, made the evening “extra special”, read a post on the Abba star’s social media.

The newlyweds met in Nuremberg, Germany in 2021, during the release of Abba’s final album Voyage, when Ms Sas was working for the band’s record label, Universal Music Group.

They announced that they were a couple in June 2022 at the premiere of Ulvaeus’s musical Pippi at the Circus.

“We have dated for a while and I felt like I wanted to take her to this event. So this is the first time we go out together,” the singer said at the time.

Four months previously, Ulvaeus announced he had split from his second wife of 41 years, Lena Kallersjo. The couple share two daughters, Emma, 42, and Anna, 38, and agreed to split their £100 million in assets equally.

From 1971 to 1979, Ulvaeus was married to his bandmate and first wife Agnetha Faltskog. They had two children, Linda, 51, and Peter, 46.

A police officer used his personal mobile phone to take photos of a corpse from bodycam footage of a crime scene, a court heard.

William Heggs, 23, is accused of accessing footage of William Harty, who was killed by his brother-in-law, and taking pictures of the video on his personal mobile phone while he worked as a special constable for Leicestershire Police.

Mr Harty was killed outside his home in October 2021. His killer, Martin Casey, admitted manslaughter and was jailed for three years and four months in May 2022.

Heggs appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Monday charged with 13 offences following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which began in November 2021.

He pleaded not guilty to one charge of misconduct in a public office, nine offences of unauthorised computer access, and three charges of knowingly or recklessly obtaining or disclosing personal data, all allegedly between December 2020 and December 2021.

Trial date set

The court heard that Heggs accessed emails with details about car crashes, took videos and photographs of body-worn camera footage, and took photographs of police computer screens showing police intelligence and personal data.

The second charge on his indictment alleges that, between Oct 24 2021 and Nov 14 2021, Heggs took photographs of video footage showing Mr Harty, who had been killed in a fight.

Mr Harty, 28, was taken from Bedale Drive in Leicester to a hospital on Oct 25 2021 with head injuries, where he died the following morning.

Judge Timothy Spencer KC told Heggs, who stood in the dock wearing a dark suit, that he would stand trial on March 17 next year. He added: “You are free to go now.”

He was granted bail until the trial on the condition that he continues to live at his current address.

Commuters were warned of transport delays on Monday afternoon after heavy rain and flooding hit southern and central England.

Parts of the UK were struck by flash floods after some areas experienced more than a month’s worth of rainfall in 24 hours.

The A421 in Bedfordshire was closed in both directions between the A6 & M1 J13 because of flooding, National Highways said. Rain also affected the M4 and M5.

Heavy rain flooded the railway between Swindon and Chippenham, blocking the line south, and delays affected travel between Stratford and Richmond.

The amber weather warning lasts until 9pm on Monday, with Tuesday expected to be drier.

Schools across Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire, Warwickshire and Hertfordshire were forced to shut on Monday morning.

At least 45 properties were flooded across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Kent and the Home Counties, the Environment Agency said, despite many erecting flood barriers as the water approached on Sunday.

Tim Maher and Carol Findon, from Grendon, Northamptonshire, saw their two-storey home partially submerged overnight with more than a foot of water.

Mr Maher told the PA news agency: “We’ve had an awful lot of rain in recent days and some forecasters were warning we could see a month’s worth of rain in 24 hours.

“I have an app on my phone which tracks river levels and at around 8.45pm it rocketed up.

“I decided to drive down to the bridge and saw the water breaking the banks and coming down the road towards me.

“I quickly turned around, drove home and put up a flood barrier we’ve got up against the door. It kept out a lot of the water but we’ve had about an inch overnight.

“We’ve had some damage to the carpets, settees and other furniture. The most difficult bit will be drying out the structure.

“We haven’t had much sleep and at least eight houses on our road have been impacted. It would be nice to get a permanent solution to this problem.”

Kirsty Brewer, a hairdresser in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, said it was the fourth time the business she worked in had flooded in the last six or seven years.

The 31 year-old said floodwater had reached knee height on High Street South on Sunday.

She said flooding was almost a “once-a-year thing”, which had forced the business to adapt by moving electrical items higher.

“It started yesterday afternoon when the whole of Dunstable was flooded. It was up to your knee deep, the road comes down so we’re sitting in a bit of a well,” she said.

“We don’t open on Sundays or Mondays, so it’s not affected business in that way, it’s just a big clean-up. It was full of mud when we got here at 9am.”

The RAC called on drivers to take “extreme care” and avoid driving through water deeper than 10cm.

The Met Office warned people not to drive, swim or walk through floodwater. It said anyone living in a flood risk zone should consider parking their car in a safer area, storing their valuables high up and charging mobile phones.

Forecasters said there may be more warnings in the week ahead.

In Luton, flooding on Sunday delayed some journeys to the airport and footage showed debris flying in a suspected mini tornado.

A football match between Newcastle and AFC Wimbledon was postponed as a result of “extensive overnight flooding” that left an apparent sinkhole in the pitch.

Power cuts hit several areas of Nottingham overnight into Monday, but service had been restored by the morning.

Steve Willington, the Met Office’s chief meteorologist, said: “Following wet weather in recent days, rain, heavy at times, is influencing today’s weather for much of England and parts of Wales.

“The higher totals are likely within the amber warning area, where some will see 60-80mm of rain through the day while a few places could see in excess of 120mm.”

Police said road closures were in place across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire on Monday after “substantial flooding” overnight.

Bedfordshire Police said it had closed part of Dunstable High Street, with footage on social media showing cars driving in deep water. Central Bedfordshire council said flooding had hit Flitwick, Cranfield and Marston Moretaine.

The average September rainfall across the UK is around 100mm (4 inches).

The rain came after a final burst of summer at the end of the last week as high pressure brought warmer than average temperatures.

The autumn equinox on Sunday marked the end of summer and the start of autumn.

A vigilante gardener has planted flowers in potholes to “shame” his local council into repairing them.

Harry Haggett-Smith has filled in approximately 40 road defects near his home in Horsham, West Sussex, since starting his guerrilla gardening campaign two months ago.

The handyman, 22, said West Sussex county council fixes “almost all” of the potholes as soon as he turns them into unauthorised flowerbeds.

“I am shaming them, and I’ve got no shame in shaming them, because they should be doing something about it,” the landscaper and bricklayer told The Telegraph.

“I’m not doing anything illegal, I’m putting flowers in the road. There’s no law that says I can’t do that so if they tell me to stop I’ll plant some more, maybe outside their building.”

Mr Haggett-Smith, who has spent £300 on plants and soil since starting his campaign in July, said he has a near “100 per cent success rate” at forcing the council to make repairs.

“They get filled in by the council quite quickly as well, which is really the most important thing in all of this: the council getting off their arse and actually doing something about it, which, at first, I thought was a coincidence,” he said.

“But, almost all the potholes I’ve filled have now been tarmacked by the council. I’ve almost got a hundred per cent success rate. A few of them haven’t yet, but it can’t be a coincidence.”

Mr Haggett-Smith decided to start his campaign because of his anger with the state of local roads.

“I was just sick of the road standards where I live, and I wanted to do something about it that wasn’t illegal and wouldn’t cause any criminal damage,” he said.

He added: “There was one pothole that I was really bothered about and then I thought: ‘Oh, I might do another one,’ and then after a few videos all the attention came.”

Millions of views

Mr Haggett-Smith’s TikTok account documenting his campaign has earned over 200,000 likes and millions of views.

But he is not upset that most of his floral installations are destroyed by passing traffic soon after they are planted.

“I don’t try and make the flowers look like they’re going to last because I know full well that after ten minutes of filming a video, someone’s running that over,” he said.

Pothole-related road incidents are a growing problem in the UK. The RAC attended over 30,000 breakdowns due to potholes in 2023, up by a third from the previous year.

Mark Morrell, a veteran anti-pothole campaigner who styles himself as Mr Pothole, estimates using data from a new AI dashboard app that Britain’s roads are riddled with 11.5 million potholes, five times higher than previous estimates.

West Sussex County Council was approached for comment.

A young mother who took her baby to a riot at a hotel used by asylum seekers has been spared jail, as a judge asked her: “What on earth were you thinking?”

Nevey Smith, 21, brought her 20-month-old son in a pram to the disorder outside the Holiday Inn in Newton Heath, Manchester, and threw water at police officers trying to contain the violence.

A large mob descended on the hotel and hurled bottles, bricks and eggs at the building as riots broke out across the country in the wake of the Southport killings on July 29.

Daniel Calder, Smith’s lawyer, told the court that she did not know what an asylum seeker was.

Sentencing the young mother at Manchester Crown Court on Monday, Judge Patrick Field KC told her: “You chose to join notwithstanding that you had your 20-month-old child in a pushchair.

“What on earth were you thinking? I doubt you had his safety in mind.”

The judge also told Smith, of Oldham, that she had a “lot to learn” and “quite a lot of growing up to do”, labelling her “misguided, naive and immature”.

He added that her role was “minimal and peripheral” as she had not been involved in throwing bricks or encouraging others to do so.

Mr Calder told the court that Smith had not set out to attend the protest on the day, and had been passing the riot when she “foolishly” got involved. He added that Smith had not expressed discriminatory views.

Smith was handed a community order and made to attend reviews at a women’s problem-solving court and carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.

Her mother, Vanessa Smith, 42, was also at the protest and admitted violent disorder. She will be sentenced on Thursday.

The wife of Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has appeared on the catwalk at Milan Fashion Week a year after being released from prison.

Emma Coronel Aispuro, 35, a former model who married El Chapo when she was a teenager, appeared in a regal wedding dress as part of what the designer called her “rebirth”.

Ms Coronel was sentenced to three years in prison in 2021 after pleading guilty to charges related to helping her husband’s Sinaloa cartel, including participating in his escape from custody in 2015.

Prosecutors determined she “worked closely with the command and control structure” of the cartel.

Under her plea deal, she agreed to hand over about $1.5 million in illicit funds from the cartel. Her sentence was later reduced and she was released from jail in September last year.

El Chapo, 67, whose criminal empire was known for its brutality and murderous rampages, continues to serve a life sentence – without the possibility of parole – in a supermax prison in Colorado.

Ms Coronel’s father, Inés Coronel, was also a senior member of the Sinaloa cartel and is serving a 10-year sentence in Mexico for drug smuggling.

However, on Sunday, Ms Coronel, who has both Mexican and US citizenship, dispatched of her “past marked with controversy” in a bid to “rewrite her future”, according to LA-based designer April Black Diamond, who made the cartel wife the star of her spring/summer 2024 collection.

Her surprise return to the modelling world took place in Palazzo Serbelloni, a neoclassical palace in Milan, where Napoleon once lived.

Ms Coronel wore a tiara and a heavily white gown adorned with jewels.

“As a designer, I believe everyone deserves a second chance, and fashion is the perfect platform to highlight transformation, strength, and resilience,” Ms Diamond, wrote on Instagram last week.

The designer, who dresses the Hollywood elite and specialties in lavish party dresses, added that her work celebrates “resilience, rebirth, and the beauty of transformation on this global stage”.

Mariel Colón Miró, a model and lawyer who was part of El Chapo’s defence team in the US, also joined Ms Coronel on the catwalk at Sunday’s event.

‘Right to fulfil our dreams’

“We all have the right to fulfil our dreams and to be reborn like the bird and start over,” she wrote on social media.

Ms Coronel became a beauty queen at age 17, winning her first pageant in Canelas, Mexico, in 2007. She met her future husband the same year.

In an interview, she told the LA Times: “He flirtatiously smiled at me. After a while a person told me, ‘The man asks if you want to dance with him’. And I said, ‘OK’.”

After a whirlwind romance, she became El Chapo’s third wife at the age of 18, while he was 50.

They share two twin daughters, Emaly and Maria Joaquina, born in 2011, who are believed to be the youngest of 19 children the cartel boss has fathered.

The wife of Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has appeared on the catwalk at Milan Fashion Week a year after being released from prison.

Emma Coronel Aispuro, 35, a former model who married El Chapo when she was a teenager, appeared in a regal wedding dress as part of what the designer called her “rebirth”.

Ms Coronel was sentenced to three years in prison in 2021 after pleading guilty to charges related to helping her husband’s Sinaloa cartel, including participating in his escape from custody in 2015.

Prosecutors determined she “worked closely with the command and control structure” of the cartel.

Under her plea deal, she agreed to hand over about $1.5 million in illicit funds from the cartel. Her sentence was later reduced and she was released from jail in September last year.

El Chapo, 67, whose criminal empire was known for its brutality and murderous rampages, continues to serve a life sentence – without the possibility of parole – in a supermax prison in Colorado.

Ms Coronel’s father, Inés Coronel, was also a senior member of the Sinaloa cartel and is serving a 10-year sentence in Mexico for drug smuggling.

However, on Sunday, Ms Coronel, who has both Mexican and US citizenship, dispatched of her “past marked with controversy” in a bid to “rewrite her future”, according to LA-based designer April Black Diamond, who made the cartel wife the star of her spring/summer 2024 collection.

Her surprise return to the modelling world took place in Palazzo Serbelloni, a neoclassical palace in Milan, where Napoleon once lived.

Ms Coronel wore a tiara and a heavily white gown adorned with jewels.

“As a designer, I believe everyone deserves a second chance, and fashion is the perfect platform to highlight transformation, strength, and resilience,” Ms Diamond, wrote on Instagram last week.

The designer, who dresses the Hollywood elite and specialties in lavish party dresses, added that her work celebrates “resilience, rebirth, and the beauty of transformation on this global stage”.

Mariel Colón Miró, a model and lawyer who was part of El Chapo’s defence team in the US, also joined Ms Coronel on the catwalk at Sunday’s event.

‘Right to fulfil our dreams’

“We all have the right to fulfil our dreams and to be reborn like the bird and start over,” she wrote on social media.

Ms Coronel became a beauty queen at age 17, winning her first pageant in Canelas, Mexico, in 2007. She met her future husband the same year.

In an interview, she told the LA Times: “He flirtatiously smiled at me. After a while a person told me, ‘The man asks if you want to dance with him’. And I said, ‘OK’.”

After a whirlwind romance, she became El Chapo’s third wife at the age of 18, while he was 50.

They share two twin daughters, Emaly and Maria Joaquina, born in 2011, who are believed to be the youngest of 19 children the cartel boss has fathered.