Convicted paedophile and rapist Christian Brückner, the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, could be released from prison next year after he was acquitted of separate rape charges by a controversial German judge.

Brückner, 47, is believed by German investigators to have killed three-year-old McCann after abducting her from her parent’s holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007.

He has never been charged in relation to McCann’s disappearance.

Instead, he was on trial at Brunswick regional court for various non-related offences that took place in Portugal between December 2000 and June 2017. These include charges of rape and masturbating in front of children.

On Tuesday, Uta Inse Engemann, the presiding judge, said evidence against Brückner was “insufficient” and acquitted him of all charges.

Ms Engemann said she takes her responsibility to “serve the truth” seriously, but added: “We cannot wrap people in cotton wool.”

“This oath means that we don’t have to cater to the views of the media and the defence and the prosecution or the table of regulars-in-a-pub,” she said after delivering her verdict. 

“We have to balance all the evidence presented to us.”

Starting her two-and-a-half hour verdict, Ms Engemann said the testimonies of two former petty criminals were “almost worthless” in relation to the alleged rapes of an elderly woman and a 14-year-old girl.

Manfred Seyfurth and Helge Büsching claimed to have seen videos of Brückner committing rape after breaking into his house in Portugal while he was in prison for stealing diesel.

But Ms Engemann said their testimonies contained inconsistencies on the age of the victims, their nationalities, the language they spoke, the position they were raped in and whether Brückner was involved.

Moving on to the rape of Hazel Behan, Ms Engemann said she believed something “dreadful” had happened to the Irish national, but argued it was not plausible to identify Brückner as her rapist simply by saying he had “piercing blue eyes”.

The judge went as far as to question whether Brückner even had such eyes, having requested to look into them directly herself.

The judge then argued it was not plausible to conclude that Brückner could be found guilty of raping Ms Behan because he had been convicted of Diana Menkes’s rape in 2005.

The prosecution had argued there was a clear link between the rapes because Brückner allegedly liked to tie people up, inflict pain on them for his own excitement, humiliate and subjugate them, and that the rape was only secondary to him – which it argued happened in both cases.

But the judge pointed out the difference in locations in the cases of Ms Menkes and Ms Behan, the level of security at each location, the age of the victims, and the way in which they were raped.

The trial was a fiercely contested battleground. The courtroom saw angry verbal skirmishes over 35 days of proceedings between prosecutors and the defence, led by Friedrich Fülscher, along with shouted interruptions by Ms Engemann.

Last week, Ute Lindemann, the chief public prosecutor, demanded a total of 15 years in prison for Brückner, and for him to be placed under preventive detention, whereby prisoners deemed to pose a danger to society are not released even if they have served their sentence.

Mr Fülscher, Brückner’s defence attorney, tried to dismantle the prosecution’s case in his terse closing plea on Monday and showed solidarity with the judge, whom the prosecution accused of bias in favour of Brückner.

He said: “Last week, you attacked the professional judge, my colleagues and myself, polemically and personally for long bouts.

“You made it clear from the outset that your closing statement was addressed to the public and not to the chamber.”

“You were particularly concerned with maximising damage to professional judges. Almost without exception, your criticism was unjustified and of a rarely low level. My colleagues and I will not stoop to this level today, rather devote ourselves to the actual purpose of these proceedings.”

Ms Engemann, who was born in the federal state of Lower Saxony during the 1960s, studied law at the University of Göttingen before starting her first judicial role at Brunswick regional court in 1993.

Her career took a controversial turn between 2005 and 2010 because of her association with Vaternotruf, a fathers’ rights organisation based in Berlin.

Vaternotruf was known for its outspoken advocacy of fathers involved in custodial disputes, often criticising what it perceived as systemic biases against men within family courts.

Ms Engemann drew fierce criticism from feminist organisations and legal professionals, who raised profound concerns about potential conflicts of interest.

She then officially distanced herself from the Vaternotruf organisation, but the issue has continued to raise questions about her neutrality.

By 2015, her career focus shifted to criminal cases, and she presided over a violent crime trial in Brunswick in 2017.

Brückner’s case went to trial early this year, with Ms Engemann triggering controversy by ruling in July that the evidence against him was so “insufficient” that the arrest warrant would be lifted.

It provoked particular concern that she made this announcement before the prosecution had finished giving its evidence.

As a result, the prosecution moved to have Ms Engemann removed on the basis that she allegedly was biased.

A prosecution motion for prejudice was filed at the 28th hearing and claimed that by making the previous announcement, she had hinted at a preconceived intent to acquit Brückner.

The prosecution now has the ability to appeal Ms Engemann’s verdict by taking it to Germany’s supreme court, the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.

If this court rules in their favour, there will be a retrial using a different judge. Ms Lindemann already stated her intention to “take it to Karlsruhe”.

Meanwhile, Brückner still needs to serve the end of the sentence he was handed in 2019 for the brutal rape of Diana Menkes, a US national, in Portugal in 2005. He is set to be freed next year.

In court on Monday, Mr Fülscher said: “We are sitting here today to decide on the freedom and the fate of a human being. Mr Brückner is accused of committing five serious offences, but the court of the main trial tells a completely different story than the public prosecution office has presented here.”

Alluding to Nazi Germany, he continued: “Our constitutional state is first and foremost that the respective offence and not the offender is at the centre of the proceedings.

“We no longer lock people up here because they have character deficits. That time is long gone in our history, thank God.”

A report provided by Dr Christian Riedeman, the forensic psychiatrist, painted a grim picture of Brückner.

Dr Riedemann testified that Brückner falls into the “highest category of danger”, describing him as a serious threat to society.

She also revealed that he wrote disturbing stories with graphic descriptions and drawings detailing the rape of women and children.

This revelation further fuelled the prosecution’s narrative of Brückner as a dangerous and calculating individual.

Yet despite the damning psychological profile, the defence argued that his modus operandi was different because of how he interacted with the victims and the language used during the attacks.

The defence maintained doubt on whether he is the perpetrator in all the cases being brought before the court.

But throughout the trial, Brückner sat impassively – appearing gaunt and detached – and did not make any official statement before the court.

A paedophile head teacher may have abused pupils for up to 40 years longer than previously thought.

Neil Foden was jailed for 17 years for sexually abusing four children in north Wales between 2019 and 2023.

However, allegations dating back to 1979 have now been revealed, involving up to 20 potential victims.

During Foden’s trial, it was found that concerns about his closeness to certain teenage school girls had been raised in 2019.

The concerns were passed to the local authority, Cyngor Gwynedd, but no formal investigation was launched because no specific allegations had been made.

A BBC Wales investigation team has spoken with two pupils, Nia and Jo (not their real names), who have made historic allegations against Foden.

Nia, who was one of the first pupils taught by Foden at Ysgol Dyffryn Ogwen in 1979, said that he would target her when they were both alone in his classroom.

She told the BBC: “He’d come to the desk, stand behind me… usually his right arm would be rubbing up against my breast, and I felt I couldn’t move.

“As a 13-year-old, I didn’t realise exactly what was going on. I was petrified of him, I was vulnerable at that age and naïve, and he knew it.”

Nia didn’t report Foden at the time because she didn’t think that anyone would believe her. She spoke to police after his arrest in 2023.

She added: “This abuse has been going on for decades… you don’t suddenly wake up in 2019 and decide to become a paedophile.”

Jo, the other former pupil who spoke to the BBC, said that Foden had continued to message her until the day he was arrested.

She said that she was groomed by her head teacher for five years, starting when she would meet him on a daily basis in his office while a pupil at Ysgol Friars.

Jo was made aware of the extent of Foden’s abuse after his arrest at his school in September 2023.

She told the broadcaster: “The police came to me… they said that there were over 20 other people who were in similar situations as myself.”

Cyngor Gwynedd said that an independent review would “identify what lessons are to be learned” to prevent similar cases in the future.

However, neither Nia nor Jo have been contacted by anyone involved. A child practice review board told the BBC that it is “fully aware there may be many other victims or survivors” and that it would like to hear from them.

Katherine Yates, a solicitor representing a dozen alleged victims, is taking legal action against Cyngor Gwynedd on their behalf.

Ms Yates said: “There is a mixture of serious sexual abuse, physical abuse and emotional abuse. The first client is now in her 50s, my youngest is 14… the council are vicariously liable for the actions of their employees.

“His actions have impacted on so many lives, that of children, their families, staff… I think he could and should have been stopped a lot sooner.”

In 2020, Foden was reprimanded by the teaching regulator and kicked out of his union after concerns about his behaviour were raised.

But despite this, in 2021 he was given more responsibility as a “strategic super head”, overseeing two different schools in north Wales.

Cyngor Gwynedd was contacted for comment.

An unsolved murder investigation into the killing of a gold dealer has been reopened 35 years after he was shot in a bath.

Detectives announced they were relaunching the case of Richard “Ricky” Haywood, who was executed in 1989 at point blank range.

Nobody has ever faced justice for the murder of the 36-year-old – despite police interviewing 11,000 people at the time.

Haywood was said to have had links to the criminal underworld and was killed in a “professional” gangland-style hit.

He took out a £1 million life insurance policy weeks before his death and despite him being obsessed with private security, surveillance cameras were not recording on the night he was murdered at his flat in Southampton, Hants.

The cold case featured on the BBC’s Crimewatch in 1990 and in recent years internet sleuths on Reddit have pondered over the murder.

On Tuesday, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary announced that it is re-launching its investigation because detectives believe that improved technology can help them finally solve the case.

Crimestoppers is also offering £20,000 to anyone with information that can help lead to an arrest and conviction.

Officers in Hampshire police’s major crime team have been looking into the details of the case and conducting a review of all evidence available to them.

They said that advancements in forensic science in the past 35 years will allow them to pursue this as one of the main lines of inquiry.

Det Insp Elizabeth Brunt, who is leading the investigation, said: “As we review the evidence available to us, I would like to appeal to anyone out there that may hold information about what happened to come forward and speak to us.

“I believe someone knows why Ricky was killed and who was responsible. Whatever your allegiances, you would be doing the right thing by telling us what you know.

“I would urge those people to think about Ricky’s family who have waited more than 35 years to find out why someone killed him.

“While Ricky’s mother died brokenhearted, the rest of his family are desperate to know the truth.”

At his 1993 inquest, it was heard Haywood was shot five times in his flat, which was above his jewellery shop, Ambiance, on the evening of Oct 16 1989.

An inspector at the time said that there was “no doubt” he had been murdered, with all evidence pointing towards it being a “professional killing”.

Haywood was described after his murder in 1989 as a ”‘wheeler-dealer” who had many contacts in the criminal world.

On the 1990 episode of Crimewatch, it was said that Haywood was shot with an old, worn .22 revolver.

He had apparently been negotiating a deal for a three-acre farm property near Southampton, but was facing debts.

At the time, Supt Ray Piper said that Haywood “mixed with some rather shady characters” and had bought stolen property.

Two men were said to have fled from the area suspiciously.

Detectives went to the United States to speak to a prisoner in an American jail as part of the investigation, but although four people were arrested, nobody has ever been charged.

Haywood’s mother, Phyllis, went into hiding over fears that her son’s killers may also pursue her, in search of his money.

She offered thousands of pounds as a reward for information, but died without knowing who killed her son.

Beth Simpson, the regional manager at the charity Crimestoppers, said: “Ricky’s heartbroken family still don’t have answers or justice.

“Our charity is offering a reward of up to £20,000 for information given exclusively to us that leads to the arrest, charge and conviction of anybody responsible for his murder.

“If you have information, however small, please speak up and tell Crimestoppers 100 per cent anonymously.

“If you prefer not to talk to the police, you can tell us what you know, and we’ll pass it on for you, it is not too late. We are independent of the police and won’t ask for any personal details, there’ll be no police contact or witness statements, and you won’t have to go to court. Nobody will know you contacted us.”

In a statement issued via the police, Haywood’s sister said: “We cannot express enough the huge impact Ricky’s death has had on us.

“The pain never goes away. My mum never had peace and it slowly ate away at her, she went to her grave never knowing who committed this awful crime.

“I, as Ricky’s sister, have to live with the pain of his murder and knowing how my mum suffered too.

“We pray this new appeal will urge someone to come forward and hopefully after all these years find justice and closure.”

Police urged anyone with any information to contact them on 101 quoting Operation Tango/44080416574 or visit their public portal to submit information online.

People can also contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via crimestoppers-uk.org.

As the Conservatives prepare to whittle their field of leadership contenders down to two, they have an awkward and atypical problem: everyone would rather someone else won.

Robert Jenrick received the most votes from MPs in both ballots and enjoys the highest tally of endorsements from his colleagues.

Kemi Badenoch, however, has maintained a consistent polling lead among the party membership throughout the summer.

This has happened before. 

But the wider public? They lean towards James Cleverly, with The Telegraph’s odds tracker showing that the bookies like his chances more by the day.

The imbalance says a lot about a race which is effectively running in the background. 

With at least five years of Labour government ahead, two-thirds of British adults do not care who wins – an about-face from two years ago when the same proportion was closely following the contest to succeed Boris Johnson.

MPs vs membership

Mr Jenrick is the apparent parliamentary party darling.

With a lead of six MPs over Mrs Badenoch in the first round, and five in the second, the former immigration minister is almost certain to be one of the final two by Wednesday evening.

This is no guarantee of a win. Rishi Sunak was in the same position throughout July 2022 before losing to Liz Truss – the favourite among Tory members, at the time numbering 172,000.

In 2024, Mrs Badenoch is the frontrunner with the grassroots. According to polling conducted by the centre-Right blog Conservative Home, 26 per cent of the membership backed her immediately after Mr Sunak resigned – more than double the share of her closest rival. She remained seven points ahead on 32 per cent in early October.

But things are shifting further down the order. The latest survey by Conservative Home found Mr Cleverly had leapfrogged Mr Jenrick to second place for the first time, clocking 25 to 19 per cent respectively.

The former home secretary jumped 12 points either side of the Conservative Party Conference, his strong speech dazzling the Birmingham crowd.

Quite a resurgence for the man polling lowest of the remaining four candidates back in July.

Membership vs public

What is most unusual about the present situation – just under a month from Nov 2, when the winner will be announced – is that Mr Cleverly would appear to be the British public’s first choice, according to YouGov.

He neither leads among MPs nor party members – something that hasn’t happened in over 20 years.

In 2019, Boris Johnson carried Conservative MPs, members and the nation with him.

In 2016, Theresa May did the same (albeit less convincingly), after her eventual successor ruled himself out. All the way back in 2005, a young David Cameron eventually prevailed in all arenas.

Mr Cleverly also appears to be the candidate the highest share of respondents believed would make a better prime minister than Sir Keir Starmer, according to Ipsos.

But that same poll revealed almost two-thirds (64 per cent) did not care who eventually prevailed – either a sign of disengagement from the whole convoluted process, or a testament to just how far the Tories have fallen.

Far from growing in response to Labour’s stumbles over the three months since the election, their share has barely budged from the historic 24.4 per cent low on July 4, follow-up voting intention polls show.

The 121 Tory MPs will knock out half the remaining candidates over the next two days before the choice is opened up to the membership until the end of the month. Whoever wins is likely to disappoint at least one political power base.

Boris Johnson has said he refurbished the Downing Street flat because it looked like a “crack den”.

The former prime minister oversaw a luxury makeover of the Number 11 apartment while he was in office, in part funded by a donation from Lord Brownlow of Shurlock Row.

Asked about the controversial renovations, Mr Johnson told LBC: “The whole thing looked like a bit of a crack den, to be totally honest with you, and it needed to be refurbished.”

He entered Downing Street after taking over from Theresa May, who lived in Number 11 with her husband Philip.

Lulu Lytle, a luxury interior designer, was brought in to Downing Street to refurbish the apartment at considerable expense after Mr Johnson’s wife Carrie reportedly objected to “John Lewis nightmare” furniture left behind by the former occupants.

The incident became known as “wallpapergate” in reference to gold wallpaper reportedly used in the renovation.

But Mr Johnson denied the claims the wallpaper was gold, telling LBC: “It wasn’t gold wallpaper. Total rubbish.” Pressed on whether he liked the choice of wallpaper, he replied: “I’m not a great expert on wallpaper.”

Accounts showed that £52,000 of works were funded initially by the Cabinet Office, which invoiced the Conservative Party, which was in turn refunded by the Tory donor Lord Brownlow.

The donation was found to be improperly declared by the Conservative Party after an investigation by the Electoral Commission, and the party was fined £17,800.

Mr Johnson later said he covered all the costs at his own expense, and repeated on LBC on Tuesday: “I paid for it.”

The former prime minister, whose book Unleashed will shortly go on sale, also weighed in on the freebies row surrounding Sir Keir Starmer.

The Prime Minister has come under fire for accepting £32,000 from the Labour donor Lord Alli towards clothing and glasses, as well as thousands of pounds towards clothing for his wife Victoria.

Lord Alli also lent the Prime Minister his £18 million Covent Garden penthouse. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the Labour peer.

Mr Johnson told LBC of the row: “It’s unbelievable. I mean, the guy, he’s a silk, right? I mean, he must be worth a bob or two. Why has he got some guy paying for his spectacles?”

“But if you then give the guy a pass to Number 10, that looks corrupt. And so I just don’t get it. I don’t know why he’s still wearing those spectacles. Well apart from the fact he can’t see. He can’t see what a mess he’s making of things”.

Joe Biden pushed the UK into giving up the Chagos Islands over concerns the US would lose control of an important air base, The Telegraph understands.

Days after the general election in July, senior officials from the White House’s National Security Council and State Department told the incoming Labour government that refusing to sign away the islands would jeopardise the “special relationship” with Washington.

Sir Keir Starmer was criticised last week for his decision to give up the archipelago of more than 1,000 tiny islands, a UK overseas territory since 1965 known officially as the British Indian Ocean Territory.

It was suggested the deal could give China access to the Diego Garcia air base, which is on the largest island in the chain.

Under the deal, Mauritius will take control of the islands, but Britain and the US will rent the base for 99 years.

Strategically important air base

The Telegraph understands that American officials pushed the UK toward the deal, fearing that if it was not signed, Mauritius would successfully apply for a binding ruling at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to take control of the islands, effectively shuttering the air base.

The base is considered strategically important because it puts some bomber aircraft within range of the Middle East. Diego Garcia was previously used by the US to conduct bombing runs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

US officials told the Foreign Office that a quick deal should be signed before the American and Mauritian elections next month, agreeing to give up UK territory in exchange for the base.

The officials argued that handing over the islands would safeguard Britain’s special relationship with the US, and that a binding court ruling would make it more difficult to fly aircraft to the base, conduct repairs, and cooperate with UN agencies.

‘Deal makes UK look pathetic’

Since announcing the deal on Thursday, the Government has faced criticism from MPs, who argue that Britain should not have agreed to give up territory and to rent a military base it already controls.

Boris Johnson said the “terrible” deal made the UK look “pathetic”.

Some also argued that the base would come under threat from Chinese spyware, because Mauritius and China are economically aligned.

The Telegraph understands that the full terms of the deal, which has not been made public, contain protections against Chinese influence in the islands without the agreement of Britain and the US.

On Monday, Robert Jenrick said David Lammy had signed the deal so that he could “feel good about himself at his next north London dinner party”.

In a debate discussing the decision in Parliament, the Tory leadership contender said: “We’ve just handed sovereign British territory to a small island nation which is an ally of China – and we’re paying for the privilege.

“All so that the foreign secretary can feel good about himself at his next North London dinner party.”

‘Unsustainable’ legal position

However, the Foreign Secretary told MPs on Monday that the dispute between Britain and Mauritius was “clearly not sustainable” and that Labour faced a choice between “abandoning the base altogether or breaking international law”.

Friends of the British Overseas Territories, a charity dedicated to British-owned islands abroad, called Mr Lammy’s statement “shameful”.

“Proceeding with the transfer of [the island] goes against our national interests and must be stopped at once,” it said.

The ICJ had already issued a non-binding ruling that the islands belong to Mauritius, and a further ruling that forced the handover of the base was likely, he said, because of the “regrettable” removal of indigenous islanders by the UK in the 1960s.

Downing Street insisted the deal to give up sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) was due to the “unsustainable” legal position and had no impact on other disputed territories including the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman would not be drawn on the cost to the UK taxpayer of the deal which will see Mauritius being given sovereignty over the islands, with a 99-year agreement to secure the strategically important UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.

The spokesman said: “The Government inherited a situation where the long-term secure operation of the military base at Diego Garcia was under threat with contested sovereignty and legal challenges, including through various international courts and tribunals.

“You will be aware that the previous government initiated sovereignty negotiations in 2022 and conducted a number of rounds of negotiations. This Government picked up those negotiations and has reached an agreement, which means that for the first time in over 50 years, the base will be undisputed, legally secure, with full Mauritian backing.”

Asked why the Islands should not be seen as a precedent for other sovereignty disputes such as the Falklands and Gibraltar, the spokesman said: “It’s a unique situation based on its unique history and circumstances, and has no bearing on other overseas territories.”

The spokesman added: “British sovereignty of the Falkland Islands or Gibraltar is not up for negotiation.”

September was the deadliest month for Russia’s army since the start of the war in Ukraine, British military intelligence said on Monday.

The average casualty rate for the Russian army rose to 1,271 soldiers killed or badly injured per day.

Previously, the highest daily casualty rate for Russian soldiers had been in May, with an average of 1,262 soldiers killed or injured.

“The increase in the casualty rate since May 2024 is almost certainly due to the extension of the combat zone to include both Kharkiv and Kursk military operations, and increased intensity along the frontline,” the Ministry of Defence said.

Russia launched a surprise invasion of the Kharkiv region from its Belgorod region in May, while its forces suffered high casualties attempting to repel Ukraine’s ongoing incursion into the Kursk region.

September was also the fifth consecutive month that Russian casualties averaged more than 1,000 soldiers per day.

Analysts said that the high casualty rate was linked to Russian mass infantry tactics, often involving “meat wave” assaults where large numbers of troops are sent to storm Ukrainian defensive positions.

“I expect Russia to continue to grind forward, probing for weakness. Very grim. We can’t expect a Russia pause over the winter,” said John Foreman, Britain’s former defence attache in Moscow.

The MoD said that Russia had now lost nearly 650,000 soldiers since its invasion in February 2022. Its casualties averaged between 172 and 559 per day in 2022, then peaked at 967 in 2023.

“Russian forces will highly likely continue to attempt to stretch Ukrainian forces by utilising mass to overwhelm defensive positions,” it said.

Over the past 14 months, Russia has been making steady gains in eastern Ukraine, but at a high cost.

Last week, Russia captured the shattered town of Vuhledar from Ukraine after a lengthy battle including two failed past attempts.

The town, once considered a “fortress”, had never before been captured and it marked the most significant battlefield victory since Kremlin troops took control of Avdiivka in February.

Analysts warned that Russian forces will now be able to use the town as a launchpad to capture other Ukrainian strongholds to the west.

In the Kharkiv region, a pro-Ukrainian Russian activist-turned-soldier was killed fighting for Kyiv’s forces on Saturday.

Ildar Dadin was well-known in anti-Kremlin circles for being the first person sent to prison under tightened 2014 laws against anti-government protests in Russia. He had been fighting for a volunteer battalion since 2023.

Vladimir Putin will hold an urgent meeting with the Iranian president on Friday over the crisis in the Middle East.

Putin will fly to Turkmenistan for a previously unscheduled appearance at an obscure summit of regional leaders, the Kremlin said.

Aides said he would meet Masoud Pezeshkian to discuss the conflict that has drawn Israel and Iran to the brink of war.

“This meeting is of great importance both for discussing bilateral issues and for discussing the sharply aggravated situation in the Middle East,” said Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin aide.

Iran and Russia have become close allies since the Kremlin invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Iran has been supplying Russia with missiles and drones since 2022 in return for technical know-how, money and other weapons.

This is the first meeting between the two leaders since Iran fired nearly 200 missiles at Israel last week in response to Israel’s assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader.

Putin and Mr Pezeshkian are also due to meet on the sidelines of the annual summit for the Brics economic group in Kazan, Russia, on Oct 22-24.

Mikhail Mishustin, Russia’s prime minister, visited Iran last week for talks with Mr Pezeshkian and Mohammad Reza Aref, the first vice-president.

Analysts said that the Interconnection of Times and Civilizations: the Basis of Peace and Development Forum was an obscure meeting spot for Putin and Mr Pezeshkian.

“The meeting seems to have been organised at the last minute,” said Nicole Grajewski, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Iran may want to secure Russian support as it awaits Israeli retaliation for its ballistic missile strikes on Oct 1. It is a strange place to hold a bilateral meeting, and not necessarily a normal forum for the two countries to meet.”

Leaders of Central Asian countries are meeting to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the birth of Magtymguly Pyragy, the 18th-century poet and philosopher.

Considered one of the fathers of Turkmen language literature, his writings were infused with Sufism, a mystical form of Islam, and embryonic feelings for Turkmen nationalism.

Neither are topics that Putin has previously shown an interest in.

Former Soviet Turkmenistan is officially a neutral state that lies on the edge of Central Asia, bordering Iran. Gas production, mainly sold to China, props up its economy. This year it has made moves to sell gas to Europe, via Azerbaijan.

Boris Johnson has said Sue Gray clung on to her job for so long because she “knows where the bodies are buried”.

But the ex-prime minister said Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff was “always a goner” after a member of her family took donations from Lord Alli.

He told LBC that he always knew Ms Gray would have to resign eventually, because her son had taken money from the peer to help run his campaign for Parliament.

Liam Conlan, Ms Gray’s son, is now Labour MP for Beckenham and Penge after receiving a £10,000 donation from Lord Alli towards his campaign.

While she was a civil servant, Ms Gray wrote the damning report into Downing Street lockdown parties, prompting the downfall of Mr Johnson.

It was announced on Sunday that Ms Gray had been removed as chief of staff and replaced with her rival, Morgan McSweeney.

‘Propriety and ethics stuff’

Mr Johnson said: “The interesting thing about Sue is that she spent a long time in the heart of Whitehall, kind of clearing up all the sort-of propriety and ethics stuff.

“So I think she knows where the bodies are buried, and so I think she’s been able to parlay that very useful knowledge into the position she had held until just now.”

He added: “I thought that it was Chronicle of a Death Foretold, really, because I think that this … she was always a goner.

“I don’t want to be seen to be dancing on anybody’s grave – but as soon as it became clear that her son had received money for his campaign – he’s a Labour MP now – from a guy called Waheed Alli, who then got a pass to enter Number 10.”

He added: “And I thought, even if she didn’t know about the suits, even if she didn’t know about the designer spectacles and whatever it was, that was going to be a tough one for her. So I thought this was always going to happen”.

Mr Johnson also claimed she “cut up rough” when she did not get a promotion in the civil service.

“She thought she was going to be, whatever it was, permanent secretary in the Northern Ireland Office, and when she was disappointed in that, she cut up rough,” he claimed.

Mr Johnson is publicising his memoirs, Unleashed.

Joe Biden pushed the UK into giving up the Chagos Islands over concerns the US would lose control of an important air base, The Telegraph understands.

Days after the general election in July, senior officials from the White House’s National Security Council and State Department told the incoming Labour government that refusing to sign away the islands would jeopardise the “special relationship” with Washington.

Sir Keir Starmer was criticised last week for his decision to give up the archipelago of more than 1,000 tiny islands, a UK overseas territory since 1965 known officially as the British Indian Ocean Territory.

It was suggested the deal could give China access to the Diego Garcia air base, which is on the largest island in the chain.

Under the deal, Mauritius will take control of the islands, but Britain and the US will rent the base for 99 years.

Strategically important air base

The Telegraph understands that American officials pushed the UK toward the deal, fearing that if it was not signed, Mauritius would successfully apply for a binding ruling at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to take control of the islands, effectively shuttering the air base.

The base is considered strategically important because it puts some bomber aircraft within range of the Middle East. Diego Garcia was previously used by the US to conduct bombing runs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

US officials told the Foreign Office that a quick deal should be signed before the American and Mauritian elections next month, agreeing to give up UK territory in exchange for the base.

The officials argued that handing over the islands would safeguard Britain’s special relationship with the US, and that a binding court ruling would make it more difficult to fly aircraft to the base, conduct repairs, and cooperate with UN agencies.

‘Deal makes UK look pathetic’

Since announcing the deal on Thursday, the Government has faced criticism from MPs, who argue that Britain should not have agreed to give up territory and to rent a military base it already controls.

Boris Johnson said the “terrible” deal made the UK look “pathetic”.

Some also argued that the base would come under threat from Chinese spyware, because Mauritius and China are economically aligned.

The Telegraph understands that the full terms of the deal, which has not been made public, contain protections against Chinese influence in the islands without the agreement of Britain and the US.

On Monday, Robert Jenrick said David Lammy had signed the deal so that he could “feel good about himself at his next north London dinner party”.

In a debate discussing the decision in Parliament, the Tory leadership contender said: “We’ve just handed sovereign British territory to a small island nation which is an ally of China – and we’re paying for the privilege.

“All so that the foreign secretary can feel good about himself at his next North London dinner party.”

‘Unsustainable’ legal position

However, the Foreign Secretary told MPs on Monday that the dispute between Britain and Mauritius was “clearly not sustainable” and that Labour faced a choice between “abandoning the base altogether or breaking international law”.

Friends of the British Overseas Territories, a charity dedicated to British-owned islands abroad, called Mr Lammy’s statement “shameful”.

“Proceeding with the transfer of [the island] goes against our national interests and must be stopped at once,” it said.

The ICJ had already issued a non-binding ruling that the islands belong to Mauritius, and a further ruling that forced the handover of the base was likely, he said, because of the “regrettable” removal of indigenous islanders by the UK in the 1960s.

Downing Street insisted the deal to give up sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) was due to the “unsustainable” legal position and had no impact on other disputed territories including the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman would not be drawn on the cost to the UK taxpayer of the deal which will see Mauritius being given sovereignty over the islands, with a 99-year agreement to secure the strategically important UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.

The spokesman said: “The Government inherited a situation where the long-term secure operation of the military base at Diego Garcia was under threat with contested sovereignty and legal challenges, including through various international courts and tribunals.

“You will be aware that the previous government initiated sovereignty negotiations in 2022 and conducted a number of rounds of negotiations. This Government picked up those negotiations and has reached an agreement, which means that for the first time in over 50 years, the base will be undisputed, legally secure, with full Mauritian backing.”

Asked why the Islands should not be seen as a precedent for other sovereignty disputes such as the Falklands and Gibraltar, the spokesman said: “It’s a unique situation based on its unique history and circumstances, and has no bearing on other overseas territories.”

The spokesman added: “British sovereignty of the Falkland Islands or Gibraltar is not up for negotiation.”

Britain has never been fatter – with the average man weighing 14st by middle age, according to new data.

The NHS statistics show that we weigh around a stone more than we did 30 years ago – while waistlines keep expanding.

Middle-aged women now weigh an average of 12st, the figures show, with waists of around 36in.

Men of the same age tip the scales at 14st, with a waistband of around 40in.

Health officials said the figures, which reflect the average weights for those aged between 45 and 64, were “worrying” – saying obesity is now one of the greatest challenges facing the country.

It comes as new research suggests that adult obesity may now have peaked in the US. Rates have fallen by around two percentage points since 2020, to 40 per cent.

In England the figure is 26 per cent. Experts said increased employment of weight-loss drugs, which one in eight American adults have used, could be behind the recent US dip.

The NHS is now gearing up for the mass rollout of weight-loss jabs for the first time. The proposals will see up to 1.6 million people offered injections of tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro, with some prescriptions issued via “remote clinics” following online consultations.

The jabs will be targeted at the heaviest patients with the most health problems, starting with those with a BMI over 40 and multiple chronic illnesses.

But the national research results reveal a far wider problem – with two in three people losing in the battle of the bulge.

‘Diabetes, heart attack and stroke’

Dr Clare Hambling, NHS national clinical director for diabetes and obesity, said: “These worrying figures highlight that obesity is now one of the greatest public health issues we face in this country.

“It has a major impact on our health, increasing the risk of many diseases including diabetes, heart attack and stroke, and action is urgently needed across society to turn the tide on the rising rates seen in recent decades and stop so many lives being cut short.”

She said the NHS was “here to help” those trying to lose weight, rolling out 12-week courses which offer behavioural coaching and lifestyle advice for obese patients with health conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

“Maintaining a healthy weight can be difficult, but the NHS is here to help those at greatest risk through our effective digital weight management programme and providing access to new weight loss treatments, while supporting wider efforts to tackle the issues contributing to obesity to help save lives and reduce its cost to families, the health service and the economy,” Dr Hambling said.

The figures for England show that in 1993, when data collection began, the country was already battling a major weight problem.

In total, 44 per cent of men were overweight, while 13 per cent were obese.

Now 39 per cent are overweight – while 28 per cent are obese.

For women, 32 per cent were overweight and 16 per cent obese.

Now, the figures are 31 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.

The statistics from the Health Survey for England 2022 shows that the peak age for excess weight is 55 to 64, when 80 per cent of men and 69 per cent of women are overweight or obese.

Average heights come in at 5ft 9in for men, and 5ft 4in for women.

Across all ages, the average woman now has a waistline of 34.9in – around two and half inches more than in 1993. For men it is 38.3in, almost two inches more than it was 30 years ago.

The rest of the UK collects data in different ways, but the figures show similar trends.

Tam Fry from the National Obesity Forum said the statistics “highlight the abysmal failure of every administration since 1993 to tackle obesity.”

Katherine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, a coalition of charities and medical royal colleges, which is calling for extra taxes on unhealthy foods said: “We all want to grow old healthily, and maintaining a healthy weight is an important factor in living out our years in good health.

“However, it is not always easy to access a healthy, nutritious diet, especially if you are juggling responsibilities such as being a parent, carer, worker and managing a household, as many people in middle age are.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “This country has failed to tackle the obesity crisis, harming people’s health and costing the NHS billions of pounds.

“This government is urgently tackling the obesity crisis head on – shifting our focus from treatment to prevention – to ease the strain on our NHS and helping people to live well for longer.”

A rare scientific phenomenon known as “Steve” appeared in UK skies last night.

The relatively new scientific discovery – which stands for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement – was spotted in Scotland and north-east England.

Little is known about the formation, but it only appears during auroras, which were also seen across England on Monday night.  It appears as a ribbon and lasts for 20 minutes to an hour before disappearing.

It comes as stargazers will be able to catch a glimpse of a meteor shower this week as the Earth travels through a cloud of comet debris.

The meteor shower, also known as the Giacobinids, will last until Thursday but will peak on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

What time will the Draconid meteor shower be visible tonight?

While most other meteor showers are best seen in the early hours, the Draconids are best caught in the evening after nightfall.

Dr Minjae Kim, a research fellow from the Department of Physics at the University of Warwick, said: “The shower’s radiant point is highest in the evening sky, making it a rare meteor shower best viewed after sunset rather than in the early morning hours.”

The Draconid meteor shower takes place every year and comes from the debris of comet 21 P/ Giacobini-Zinner, which orbits around the Sun for six and a half years.

The name Giacobinids comes from Michel Giacobini, who discovered the comet 21 P/Giacobini-Zinner from which the meteors come.

The streaks seen in the night sky during the meteor shower can be caused by particles as small as a grain of sand.

“During ideal conditions, observers may witness up to 10 meteors per hour,” said Dr Kim.

Where is best to watch the Draconid meteor shower?

Finding a location with an unobstructed horizon and very little light pollution is recommended for seeing the meteor shower.

“The waxing crescent to first quarter moon phase will provide relatively dark skies, enhancing visibility,” said Dr Kim.

“Seek out any areas with minimal light pollution, such as rural settings or parks away from city lights. Also, find a spot with an unobstructed view of the sky and a clear horizon. Allow your eyes about 20-30 minutes to adjust to the darkness for optimal night vision, which is always helpful.

“You could bring a reclining chair or blanket to comfortably observe the sky. Remember, patience is key when stargazing. Settle in, relax, and let the wonders of the night sky unfold before you.”

Gillian Anderson was “a million miles off” when she played Emily Maitlis in the Netflix film Scoop, Jon Sopel has said.

Anderson depicted the former BBC Newsnight presenter in the film released in April about the Duke of York’s infamous “car-crash” interview.

Netflix’s film, which was based on former Newsnight producer Sam McAlister’s book about the run-up to the 2019 interview, did not involve Maitlis’s input. However, she was an executive producer on Amazon Prime’s series about the same subject, A Very Royal Scandal.

Sopel, who co-hosts The News Agents podcast with Maitlis and Lewis Goodall, told Radio Times: “Gillian Anderson’s portrayal in Scoop was a million miles away from Emily Maitlis.

“Emily is not grand, she is not haughty, she is not aloof, she is not condescending.”

The BBC’s former North America editor added that Maitlis “brings in wine gums” to the office.

When asked previously on her podcast about the casting of Ruth Wilson for Amazon’s three-part series, Maitlis joked: “I normally see her sort of clutching her wrists and pulling at her jumpers with her hair coming out in clumps and a very glassy dazed look as she hits the bottle. Yeah, no, I think that could work.”

Sopel and Maitlis co-ordinated an exit from the BBC at the same time – Maitlis after 20 years at the corporation and Sopel after nearly 40 – for commercial radio.

Speaking about their departure, Sopel said: “Emily and I co-ordinated; we both rang our bosses at the same time to say we were handing in our resignation.”

Discussing the industry’s reaction, he added: “I think there was a ‘Holy s–t!’ moment that went through the newsroom. It was a huge media moment and then, two days later, Putin invaded Ukraine and we’re not a story [any more].”

Their political podcast surpassed the 100 million downloads mark over the summer, which Sopel described as an “utterly humbling” moment and revealed how a former BBC executive messaged him to say the group were “redefining what public service broadcasting is”.

He also told Radio Times there is “a great deal of liberation” after having left the corporation in 2022, adding that the BBC’s “restraints” were “self-imposed” because of fear.

He also said that hosting the podcast had allowed them to reach much younger audiences than when they were working for the broadcaster.

“Conventional news programmes are engaging people who are over 60 years old,” he said, adding: “They are not engaging young people.

“What Emily and I found was that if you do in-depth stuff in a fun and engaging way then people are interested.”

The presenter, who recently published a book about post-Brexit Britain called Strangeland, also claimed the BBC’s coverage of Brexit was “cowardice dressed up as impartiality”.

“If you know something is a lie and you can demonstrate it is a lie, then you should call it out,” he said.

Visitors to Richmond Park have been warned not to approach deer after a man was pictured holding a young child within metres of a stag.

Tim Constable, a photographer, saw the incident while taking pictures in the London park and said that he feared the stag might attack the man and toddler.

“I saw the parent close to the deer. He was not only risking his safety but his child’s, too,” he said.

“When the antlers went down, I think they realised the stag meant business. They were slow to back away, though.

“It seemed a very strange thing to do putting your kid in the way of some massive antlers.”

He added: “We thought that the stag would attack.”

More than 630 red and fallow deer live in Richmond Park, which is a National Nature Reserve.

During the rutting season, between late September and early November, stags become more aggressive as they compete for mates.

Conservation groups have warned that attacks on visitors by deer have increased in recent years as people take more risks for a photograph opportunity.

‘Extremely unsafe situation’

Peter Lawrence, the assistant park manager at Richmond Park, warned visitors to stay at least 50 metres away from deer during rutting season.

“We were deeply concerned to see an image, taken over the weekend, of two visitors, including a child, standing dangerously close to a rutting deer in Richmond Park,” he said. “This is an extremely unsafe situation.

“We remind all visitors to Richmond Park and Bushy Park to exercise extreme caution during the rutting season, which runs from late September to early November.

“During this period, male deer may exhibit heightened aggression as they compete for mates, making their behaviour unpredictable and potentially dangerous.

“For safety, visitors should keep a distance of at least 50 metres from the deer, and up to 100 metres if they are moving.”

Regular occurrence

Mr Constable said that he did not see the man approach the stag, but he did not believe it would have “approached him because they tend to keep to themselves”.

He said that the man and child appeared to be no more than 2ft away from the stag.

“I think he realised that the deer didn’t want to play, and he backed off,” Mr Constable said.

The photographer added that seeing visitors too close to the deer was becoming a regular occurrence in the park.

In 2020, police warned visitors to keep well back from deer after a woman was pictured being pushed from behind. The same year, a man was photographed being chased by a stag after apparently attempting to feed it.

In 2017, Yuan Li, a high-profile hatmaker, required treatment in hospital after being gored by a stag.

Blue boulders have been seen on the surface of Mars in a vast crater believed to have been created by an asteroid.

Volcanic basalt stones with an azure tinge were photographed by the car-sized Perseverance rover as it explored the Jezero crater.

The 28-mile wide site is thought to have been formed after an asteroid impact 3.7 billion years ago and it has been explored for more than three years by Nasa’s Perseverance project.

The blue rock site, described as a “grab bag of geologic gifts”, has been dubbed “Mount Washburn” after a mountain in Yellowstone Park and amid the stones is another oddity, a white speckled rock.

“This was like the textbook definition of chasing the bright, shiny thing,” said Dr Stack Morgan, of Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The rock, which is 18in wide and 14in high, was named Atoko Point by scientists.

It is a rock unlike anything else Perseverance has encountered in more than 1,162 Martian days.

It remains a mystery as to how the white rock in a blue boulder field was at the site but scientists speculate its mineral composition could have been created in an underground magma lake or it could have been moved to its current spot by flowing water billions of years ago.

“The diversity of textures and compositions at Mount Washburn was an exciting discovery for the team, as these rocks represent a grab bag of geologic gifts brought down from the crater rim and potentially beyond,” said Brad Garczynski, of Western Washington University in Bellingham, the co-leader of the current science campaign.

“But among all these different rocks, [Atoko Point] was one that really caught our attention.”

Perseverance went on to explore another region of the Red Planet called Neretva Vallis which is an ancient river valley and found another rock, called Cheyava Falls, which is shaped like an arrowhead.

This stone has been collected by Perseverance, the 22nd rock sample taken, because its veins could reveal now extinct ancient life on the planet.

The rock exhibits chemical signatures and structures that could have been formed by life billions of years ago when the area contained running water, Nasa says.

“This trip through the Neretva Vallis riverbed paid off as we found something we’ve never seen before, which will give our scientists so much to study,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator at the Science Mission Directorate at Nasa headquarters in Washington.

Ken Farley, Perseverance project scientist of Caltech in Pasadena, called the rock “the most puzzling, complex, and potentially important rock yet investigated by Perseverance”.

“On the one hand, we have our first compelling detection of organic material, distinctive colourful spots indicative of chemical reactions that microbial life could use as an energy source, and clear evidence that water – necessary for life – once passed through the rock.

“On the other hand, we have been unable to determine exactly how the rock formed and to what extent nearby rocks may have heated Cheyava Falls and contributed to these features.

Tory activists have expressed their dismay at the quality of candidates in the leadership race, leaked messages have revealed.

Members of the Conservative Democratic Organisation were critical of every candidate, describing James Cleverly as a “clown” and “not the sharpest knife in the box”.

They said Kemi Badenoch was a “Boris backstabber” who was too close to Michael Gove, while Robert Jenrick “does nothing for me” because they do not trust his “shift from the centre”.

Tom Tugendhat was described by one as “too much of a moderate and a Remainer”.

One frustrated member was unhappy with all of the candidates, saying: “I’m still ‘none of the above’.”

The CDO is a group of Boris Johnson-supporting Tory activists and is believed to have been set up by Lord Cruddas, a long-time donor.

Mr Tugendhat was eliminated from the race on Tuesday and on Wednesday, Tory MPs will whittle down the candidates to the final two.

These will then go forward to the Tory membership who will vote on their favourite over the coming weeks. The winner will be announced on Nov 2.

Unimpressed with all candidates

The leaked WhatsApps show that many CDO members are unimpressed with all the candidates.

Another was not convinced by the attempts of Mr Jenrick – seen by many as a front-runner in the race – to redefine his record as immigration minister, and said he would water down the party’s message in a bid to unify the parties’ Right and Left wings.

Other members said, “I don’t trust Jenrick shift from the centre”.

Mr Cleverly had “failed in the Home Office” and was a “bad choice” who was not a good constituency MP.

Another said he would try too hard to unite the party: “Such compromise will only leave us at the next general election where we are currently – ie a decimated opposition party.”

Influenced by Michael Gove

Discussing Ms Badenoch, members accused her of being too close to Mr Gove, blamed by many for bringing down Mr Johnson.

“More information is coming out about Kemi being influenced by Michael Gove, which is a definite no-no for me,” one said. 

Others said: “Badenoch is a one nation and one of the Boris backstabbers.”

“She’s being thrust down members’ throats. I now detest seeing and hearing her.”

On Mr Tugendhat, one said: “Too much of a moderate and a Remainer. He would be trying to bring everyone together and we’d end up halfway between where we were before the general election and the centre, when we need to be very much right of centre, where the true Conservative values are. He made one good speech, and that was it.”

Former leadership contender Priti Patel also faced criticism when she was in the race.

A British explorer came face to face with a jaguar as he became the first person to travel the length of an uncharted South American river.

Ash Dykes, 33, journeyed 372 miles from the source of Suriname’s Coppename River to its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean.

Over 37 days, he and three others kayaked sections of the river and travelled the dense jungle on foot. They saw no other humans for 34 days and suffered from sleep deprivation, infections and malnutrition.

Mr Dykes – who has also mounted expeditions in China, Mongolia and Madagascar – said: “To get to the finish line was very emotional for us all.

“Those last three days were some of the hardest. In three nights, we had under five hours of sleep. So we were extremely sleep-deprived and started to hallucinate.

“It was very hard, very difficult, very hot. We were suffering with heat exhaustion. We were dehydrated. I don’t think words will ever be able to express just how tough it was. To get over that finish line was just monumental, just unreal.”

Mr Dykes, originally from St Asaph, in Wales, was taken into the centre of Suriname, which is 93 per cent forested, by helicopter on Aug 29.

He and his team spent the first six days travelling upstream on the river in kayaks with 110lbs of supplies each, while enduring 300 tick bites and encountering vicious army ants.

Mr Dykes said the team had to survive on around 800 to 1,000 calories a day while burning through up to 6,000, leaving them badly malnourished. 

They supplemented their limited number of ration packs by catching piranha, stingray and wolf-fish in the river to cook and eat but still lost around one and a half stone each.

Two team members – Jacob Hudson and Dick Lock – fainted during the journey, Mr Hudson just three miles before the finish.

One, Matt Wallace, was stung by a venomous scorpion that had crawled into his glove, and developed an infection that led to him hallucinating.

Mr Dykes said: “I developed a really nasty infection on the lower part of my shin. Luckily that recovered and I went on antibiotics, but I had to squeeze out a lot of pus.”

Just a few days before the end, when the temperature reached above 37C, one of their inflatable kayaks burst.

Mr Dykes, a global ambassador for the charity Free the Wild, said the team came face to face with a jaguar during the expedition.

He explained: “Out here, because there’s no human activity, the wildlife are all really curious. So the wildlife don’t necessarily run away or hide. They watch on to see if you’re a threat or not – or to see if you are prey.

“A jaguar came to the river bank and stood there staring for at least two minutes, which was unreal.”

They also came across a goliath tarantula, the world’s largest spider, along with snakes and caimans.

Mr Dykes said he hoped that the journey would set records. Guinness World Records said in a social media post that it was examining the accomplishment.

The group also scaled two mountains – Julianatop, Suriname’s highest peak, and Table Mountain – and climbed the former in the quickest ever time as a team.

Last Thursday, Vanessa Calou got a phone call from a number in Mauritius. “They said, ‘I think Mauritius got Chagos’, and I could not believe it,” she says. 

Neither could the Foreign Office’s news desk when she called them immediately afterwards. “They didn’t know about it and asked me where I’d found out about it. They said they couldn’t believe they weren’t aware of it.” 

Calou, 44, and her brother Misley Mandarin, 46, opened up the Government’s online announcements page and refreshed it until an update came through. Then it was confirmed: Prime Minister Keir Starmer had struck a deal after years of negotiations. The British islands they call “home” would be handed over to a foreign country.

Mandarin and Calou are amongst the three thousand Chagossians who currently reside in the UK. This new handover treaty has “failed” them and their wider community, Calou says, and threatens to end their lifelong dream of permanently returning to their “ancestral home”. Despite plans for a fund for displaced Chagossians as part of the deal, there has been no promise from Mauritius that Chagossians living in Britain will have the right to return there, meaning a life in the Chagos Islands looks less achievable than ever. It is an insult that, for some, has been “worse than the original expulsion”. 

The siblings’ father was among those forced to leave. British colonial authorities “exiled” him from the island of Peros Banhos, where he was born, more than 50 years ago.

“Our dad was dumped on the docks of Mauritius with nothing,” Mandarin says. It was a fate he shared with at least 1,500 others, marooned on the African island state some 1,300 miles west of his birthplace. Between 1967 and 1973, every single Chagossian was deported to either Mauritius or the Seychelles, to make way for a US naval base on Diego Garcia, the Chagos’s largest island. Britain had some of its debts wiped by the American government in return. 

Mandarin describes the pair’s childhood in Mauritius, where they were born, as “horrendous”. “We were treated as second-class citizens and we were marginalised,” he says. While Chagossians are of mixed Indian and African descent, “70 per cent of the population of Mauritius is of Indian descent, and there is a very big issue about caste and race, so we were always discriminated against”. 

Calou and Mandarin now live in London with their father. The siblings came to Britain in 2002, when the Government granted citizenship to Chagossians born abroad between 1969 and 1983. Their father joined them in 2007. Many other Chagossians remain in Mauritius only “because they don’t have the money to fly to London,” Mandarin says. To this day, “90 per cent of the Chagossians who still live in Mauritius live in abject poverty”. 

The siblings co-run the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Citizens platform, which Calou says represents five thousand Chagossians in Britain and Mauritius. Life in Britain has been good for them, they say, and for many others. “My daughter is at university here,” says Mandarin. “We wouldn’t have had that opportunity in Mauritius. We’re thriving and very happy.” 

But Thursday’s news has upended their lives. Calou was still in shock when she spoke to The Telegraph on Sunday, her brother irate. Both say that most of the Chagossians living in Britain – predominantly in Crawley, near Gatwick Airport, where Calou now works for British Airways – share their feelings. 

“It was hugely distressing and people are very angry,” Mandarin says. “Some people have said that they don’t want to live in a world with this injustice. Those of us who are still in Mauritius are very angry too and say that they want nothing to do with the Mauritian government.” 

The relationship between the Chagos Islands and Mauritius has long been fraught. Despite their geographical distance from one another, both were governed as part of the same colony by the French, and then the British when they were handed over in an 1814 treaty. 

When Mauritius gained independence from the British Empire in 1968, Britain held on to the Chagos Islands, which it had renamed the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). Since then Mauritius has claimed the Chagos Islands as its own territory, making a formal challenge to Britain’s sovereignty over them in 2022. 

Even before then, Mauritius had outlawed BIOT postage stamps, overwritten Chagossians’ passports to mark their birthplaces as “Mauritius” and brought in a law “that any Chagossian who says the islands are British could be put in jail for ten years, or pay a hefty fine,” Mandarin points out. 

Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s claim in a House of Commons statement yesterday that the deal “secures a right to settlement for [Chagossians] to the outer islands” has brought him and his sister little hope. 

“I was targeted all my life in Mauritius,” says Calou. “Border police detain Chagossians and take their passports, or provoke them so that they can put them in prison. Those same policemen will be on our islands and will treat Chagossians the same if we go there. Our first priority has been to have the right of return to Chagos, and to have self-determination, but we want to go there as British, or BIOT, citizens.” 

It has been especially painful then that this handover deal was struck in secret, without consultation of the BIOT Citizens forum or even Peter Lamb, the Labour MP for Crawley, who reportedly was informed of the decision only shortly before the public announcement was made. 

Lammy claimed that he had “sought to keep the Chagossians informed along the way” throughout the sovereignty negotiations. But at a meeting with Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty just three days before the deal was announced, a number of Chagossian representative groups were told that the negotiations could not be discussed, another group called Chagossian Voices has claimed.  

The pact will “address wrongs of the past and demonstrate the commitment of both parties to support the welfare of Chagossians”, a joint statement from Starmer and Pravind Jugnauth, the Mauritian prime minister, on Thursday read. It adds insult to the siblings’ injury.

“The idea that this is a progressive deal is a hoax,” says Mandarin. “It will give us no right of return.” The Mauritian government has not confirmed that it will allow people to live on the Chagos Islands, and previous international rulings have talked about repopulation in terms of “Mauritian nationals, including those of Chagossian origin”. 

“Mauritius has already said that the outer islands will be difficult to repopulate,” says Mandarin, “so we get the sense that our islands will become cash cows for the Mauritian economy.” 

Of particular concern to him is the country’s treatment of Agaléga, its small island dependency six hundred miles north of Mauritius proper, where India has been building a strategic naval outpost since March 2015. 

“Those people [on Agaléga] are suffering as well,” Mandarin says. “I’m seeing this happen in front of my eyes to another island, and I look at Chagos, which we can’t get to currently, and I see 59 other islands that Mauritius could sell to India.” 

The deal struck between Britain and Mauritius will, however, secure the future of Diego Garcia, the tropical atoll used as a joint US-UK base. The site is home to around 2,500 mainly American personnel, and is a key component of both countries’ strategic outlook in the Indo-Pacific region. 

Lammy said the handover agreement had secured Diego Garcia’s “long-term future”, with a 99-year lease agreement in place with Mauritius. 

The siblings are aware that they don’t speak for all the Chagossians in Britain or Mauritius, though Mandarin believes that “90 per cent” share their views. The Chagos Refugees Group, which has claimed to represent more than nine thousand Chagossians around the world, wrote to Parliament in January to ask that it follow a 2019 ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), that Britain should end “its administration of the Chagos Islands as rapidly as possible”.

A lack of total agreement on who should administer the islands is why “we want to have self determination, and maybe when we’re in Chagos we can go to a referendum,” Calou says. For all, she adds, “right of return is the main priority”. 

Her brother agrees that a referendum would be right. “It’s not fair for them to say that we can come here and be British, and yet they give away our islands to Mauritius. So Keir Starmer has to do a referendum.” 

As Parliament returns from recess, the siblings’ private tragedy is playing out as an almighty political row. The Prime Minister will be forced to hold a vote on the treaty, with many MPs worried about the risk posed to international security by the move. Mauritius is a close ally of China, Mandarin points out, and the trading away of his home islands “could create a very unstable political situation in the Indian Ocean”. 

For now, “we want to know the timetable of when the vote is going to take place,” he says. “We will be coming out in front of Parliament and demonstrating, to show that what the Government is doing is wrong, and that we want to stay British.” 

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) was contacted for comment by The Telegraph, including about Vanessa Calou’s phone call with the department and meetings held by minister Stephen Doughty. 

Support from fellow Tory MPs is what matters in the first three rounds of the Conservative leadership race, with all six candidates having tried to win over their colleagues.

Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick, Dame Priti Patel, Tom Tugendhat and Mel Stride threw their hats into the ring and have all had MPs declare their support over the course of their campaigns.

The final two hopefuls are put to a vote of the Tory membership, but to get there they must impress the parliamentary party and undergo a series of three votes by MPs.

There are 121 Tory MPs in Parliament, all of whom will be wooed by the remaining candidates over the coming weeks as they try to get the largest number to back them.

Dame Priti was the first candidate to be eliminated from the race, receiving just 14 votes. Mr Stride was eliminated on Sept 10, receiving just 16 votes, 17 behind the frontrunner Mr Jenrick. On 8 Oct, Mr Tugendhat joined Dame Priti and Mr Stride after receiving just 20 votes. 

Mr Jenrick was the frontrunner in the first two votes, but came second to James Cleverly in the third round.

The final four candidates had taken part in a “beauty parade” at the Conservative Party Conference before the contest entered its third round of voting on 8 Oct.

MP support, however, is not a guarantee of success. Rishi Sunak beat Liz Truss at every round of voting by MPs in the summer 2022 leadership election, but she was more popular among members.

Here, The Telegraph tracks who is backing whom in this leadership race:

Gagan Mohindra [campaign chief whip]

Peter Fortune

Simon Hoare

Charlie Dewhirst

Shivani Raja

Sir Ashley Fox

Sir Alec Shelbrooke

Greg Smith

Blake Stephenson

Mel Stride

Paul Holmes

Alex Burghart [campaign co-chief whip]

Julia Lopez [campaign co-chief whip]

Andrew Griffith

Jesse Norman

Andrew Bowie

Claire Coutinho

Alan Mak

Laura Trott

Nigel Huddleston

Dr Ben Spencer

Gareth Bacon

Ben Obese-Jecty

Chris Philp

James Cartlidge

Kevin Hollinrake 

Andrew Snowden

David Davis

Helen Grant

Danny Kruger [campaign co-chief whip]

John Lamont [campaign co-chief whip]

Esther McVey

Sir John Hayes

Jack Rankin

Peter Bedford

Matt Vickers

John Cooper

Dr Caroline Johnson

Sir Edward Leigh

Mark Pritchard

Gareth Davies

Christopher Cope

Mark Francois

Neil O’Brien

Peter Bedford

Ed Argar

Andrew Rosindell

Lewis Cocking

Katie Lam

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh have commemorated Second World War submariners who sunk off the coast of Malta, where the young Prince Philip served.

The Duke and Duchess sailed through Valletta harbour before throwing a wreath and posy into the sea to commemorate British and Maltese lives lost during the war.

On the second day of their trip to the island nation, Prince Edward and Sophie boarded a military ship, where they were treated to dramatic views of the capital’s yellow limestone buildings.

Accompanied by the armed forces of Malta, the Duke threw a wreath and the Duchess a posy of flowers into the water before a gun salute sounded from one of the city’s high points.

Earlier in the morning they had opened a new monument to submariners who lost their lives in the Second World War, the Submariners’ Walkway.

The Duke unveiled a plaque and then untied a ribbon to open the walkway, prompting applause from a group gathered nearby which included descendants of the submariners who fought in the conflict.

Speaking to them, Prince Edward said: “It’s great to have that recognition now of the service.”

Three British submarines were especially commemorated – HMS Olympus, HMS Urge and HMS Upholder – the first two of which sank off the coast of Malta in 1942.

The Duke and Duchess then visited the National War Museum, where they viewed a plaque marking the site where the late Queen Elizabeth II – then known as Princess Elizabeth or the Duchess of Edinburgh – “took the salute of the Mediterranean fleet before entering the harbour” in 1950.

The late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was with the fleet as first lieutenant in HMS Chequers, according to the plaque.

Sophie touched the words “Duchess of Edinburgh” on the stone, and said it was “very special” to see.

After the boat journey, the duke and duchess walked to the Maritime Museum, saying hello to members of the public as they strolled past – many taking their phones out to snap photos and videos of the royal pair.

Once at the museum, Edward and Sophie spent a few moments on a balcony overlooking the harbour before entering a reception attended by armed forces personnel and members of the Maltese-UK Veterans’ Association.

The duke will later open a new headquarters for the Duke of Edinburgh International Award in Malta.

Britain has placed sanctions on Russia’s chemical warfare unit and its commander for dropping toxic First World War choking gas over battlefields in Ukraine.

David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, said Russia was “riding roughshod” over international laws by deploying banned toxic agents.

“Russia’s cruel and inhumane tactics on the battlefield are abhorrent, and I will use the full arsenal of powers at my disposal to combat Russia’s malign activity,” he said.

In May, the US accused Russia of dropping chloropicrin on Ukrainian soldiers “to dislodge them from fortified positions”.

Chloropicrin, an oily substance that was widely used on trenches during the First World War, causes irritation to the eyes and skin and can induce vomiting and diarrhoea.

The chemical agent is banned under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, which Russia has signed. The US has also accused Russia of dropping crowd-control tear gas on Ukrainian soldiers.

In its statement on Tuesday, the Foreign Office said Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s radiological chemical and biological defence unit since 2017, was “a significant Kremlin mouthpiece”, used to spread lies around chemical weapons to “mask Russia’s shameful and dangerous behaviour”.

Lt Gen Kirillov appears regularly on Russian TV, accusing Ukraine of using chemical weapons. In a Russian ministry of defence briefing on Monday, he said Ukraine was dropping chloropicrin on Russian soldiers, and a laboratory producing “toxic substances” had been found near the captured Ukrainian town of Avdiivka.

John Foreman, a former British defence attache in Moscow, said that Lt Gen Kirillov was a serial liar who claimed that Covid was created by the US to undermine Russia.

“I regarded him, in a packed field, as one of the most ludicrous members of the Russian general staff whose every utterance over the last three years has been false,” he said. “He’s a rather hapless cartoonish character, wheeled out periodically to spread lies.”

In July 2021, Vladimir Putin awarded Lt Gen Kirillov the Hero of Russia labour medal for “exceptional work serving the Fatherland”.

As well as designing the Kremlin’s chemical warfare strategies and pushing its pro-war propaganda, the 54-year-old has overseen the development of Russia’s TOS-2 heavy flamethrower system.

The system is a truck armed with thermobaric rockets that are designed to destroy enemy fortified positions, with a range of about 12 miles. TOS-2 trucks have reportedly been deployed to Ukraine.

Russia’s radiological chemical and biological defence unit is the Kremlin’s weapons of mass destruction defence specialists, maintaining its chemical and biological weapons arsenal.

Other countries have already sanctioned the unit, which was formed in 1992 and operates under the command of Russia’s ministry of defence. The unit’s motto is: “After us, there is nobody.”