Several injured after tram derails and crashes into pizzeria in Gothenburg

A tram derailed in southwestern Sweden on Thursday night and crashed into a pizzeria, injuring several people, according to local police.

Preliminary reports suggested that at least seven people were injured and taken to a local hospital.

The incident occurred at the intersection of Kungsportsavenyn and Vasagatan in Gothenburg on the country’s west coast.

Police, ambulance crews, rescue teams, and Gothenburg Tramways were actively responding to the scene of the accident, local media reported.

A wide section of the area was cordoned off in the wake of the accident and tram traffic on the affected route suspended.

“The speed was so high that the tram not only derailed, it continued to drive straight ahead on the asphalt, up a good bit on the sidewalk on the opposite side to then force its way into a pizzeria,” Morten Gunneng, a police officer on duty, was quoted as saying by Sweden Herald.

Mr Gunneg said the tram driver was among the injured.

Parosh Hama Ali, who lives near the accident site, told TT news agency: “It sounded like someone was closing a garage door, but in an incredibly loud way. Then I heard screams and then I realised it was serious.”

He rushed out of his apartment and saw that a crowd had gathered at the scene. “They tried to help those who were trapped inside the tram and struggled to get one of the doors open. They finally succeeded, before the rescue service arrived,” he was quoted as saying.

“It’s a tram that has come driving from Vasaplatsen in the direction of Avenyn. On the way, the speed has increased so that it has not been able to turn onto Avenyn, but continues straight ahead and into a detached building, which is a pizzeria”, police spokesperson, Christian Brattgard, said on Friday morning, according to the daily Goteborgs Posten.

Authorities have started investigating whether serious carelessness caused the accident and injuries.

Russia ‘on verge of recession’, Putin minister says

One person has died and 14 people left wounded after a Russian drone attack hit several high-rise apartment blocks in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa.

Footage showed emergency services battling fires at one apartment block as they rushed to rescue civilians. They reported at least 10 drone strikes overnight.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired a total of 86 drones at Ukraine in its latest aerial attack, 70 of which were either shot down or lost.

Ukrainian politicians urged Kyiv’s western supporters to put more pressure on Russia to agree to a ceasefire in light of the latest attacks.

“With no meaningful consequences, Russia feels free to escalate. Every delay, every diluted sanction, every excuse for inaction is taken in Moscow as permission,” economics minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on X, sharing footage of the attack in Odesa.

Moscow’s defence ministry, meanwhile, claimed that Ukraine fired 61 drones at targets across Russia.

Student who drugged and raped 10 women jailed for life

A PhD student suspected of being one of the UK’s worst sex offenders has been jailed for life after drugging and raping 10 women in London and China.

Zhenhao Zou, 28, had filmed his harrowing attacks on his unconscious victims. Only two of the women have been identified and the other eight have yet to be traced.

The Chinese national, who had been studying at University College London, had kept a trophy box of women’s belongings, which included a red lipstick, earrings and different hair bobbles and clip-on hair extensions.

His victims have told of being “haunted” by his attacks on them, with one saying she had “lost faith in human beings”, and another adding that she had been left with severe physical and psychological distress.

Since his conviction , 24 women have contacted the Metropolitan Police to say they think they may have been attacked by him.

After a month-long trial, Zou, who was most recently living in Elephant and Castle, southeast London, was found guilty of raping three women in London and another seven in China between September 2019 and May 2023.

He was convicted of 11 counts of rape, with two of the offences relating to one victim. During his trial, jurors in the case were forced to watch the disturbing footage, which left some in tears.

Zou was also convicted of three counts of voyeurism, 10 of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one of false imprisonment and three of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence.

He will serve a life sentence with a minimum term of 24 years behind bars, after being branded a “sexual predator” by Judge Rosina Cottage.

She said that Zou “planned and executed a campaign of rape”, treating the women “callously” and as “sex toys” for his own pleasure, which had “devastating and long-term effects”.

Jurors heard that Zou comes from a wealthy family, and could afford thousands of pounds a month in rent to live in an expensive building as an international student. His flat was full of designer clothes, and he wore a Rolex and had undergone cosmetic procedures including a hair transplant and facial surgery.

In a victim impact statement, one of the women he attacked said she felt “fear” towards Zou, saying his family is “very powerful” in China.

While he appeared to those who met him as a “smart and charming young man”, prosecutors said he is in fact “a persistent sexual predator, a voyeur and a rapist”.

Using WeChat and dating apps, and also using the name Pakho online, Zou would befriend fellow Chinese students before inviting them for drinks at his flat, where he would drug and rape them.

The student first moved to Belfast in 2017 to study mechanical engineering at Queen’s University before heading to London in 2019 to do a master’s degree and then a PhD at UCL. Eight of his rapes took place at an unknown location in China.

His crimes began to be uncovered in November 2023, when a woman went to police to allege that she had been attacked by Zou.

There was not enough evidence to bring a criminal charge over her claim, but when Zou’s phone was seized officers found disturbing videos of him raping unconscious women, as well as pipettes and sedatives in his flat.

One of the two victims who has been identified by police told the jury she was raped after Zou pushed her to drink excessive amounts of alcohol and would not let her leave his flat in Elephant and Castle in May 2023.

The second, who is now living in China, said she was also raped by Zou, in his student flat near Russell Square in October 2021, when she was unconscious.

Police found hundreds of hours of disturbing videos and photos that he kept, around half of which are thought to have been filmed in the UK and half in China.

The case has chilling parallels with that of Reynhard Sinaga, 41, who was jailed for life in January 2020 at Manchester Crown Court after being found guilty of 159 counts of sexual offences against 48 different men.

He also befriended his victims and invited them back to his flat, before drugging and sexually assaulting them.

One of his victims said: “I experienced for the first time a loss of consciousness. I opened my eyes for a few seconds during the sexual assault in his room, he was thrusting violently against my body.

“I was completely powerless and could only use all my strength to tell him I was menstruating and demand he stop his actions.

“Although I lost consciousness just moments later, his face in that moment will clearly stay in my mind forever. As a result, I now experience severe physical and psychological distress.”

The woman also told of feeling “waves of nausea and disgust” after she was attacked.

She added: “I know words will never fully convey the depth of this wound. But one thing is certain, what happened that night is etched into my soul forever. His face, his expression – they will never leave me. I will never forgive him.”

UK detectives have said the Chinese authorities were “responsive and helpful” over the investigation into Zou, although no properties where he lived in China have been searched even though many of his crimes took place on Chinese soil.

After Zou’s trial, they began discussions with China about whether social media appeals to potential victims could be made on WeChat and Little Red Book, which are more commonly used in the country.

Zou was convicted of rapes that he committed in China in a UK court because foreign nationals living in Britain can be convicted of crimes committed abroad if the act is an offence in both countries.

Commander Kevin Southworth, of the Metropolitan Police said: “I hope the fact Zou can no longer harm others serves as a small amount of comfort to the women who have suffered immeasurably.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to stress that our investigation remains open and we continue to appeal to anyone who may think they have been a victim of Zou.

“Please come forward and speak with our team – we will treat you with empathy, kindness and respect.”

Saira Pike, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said that Zou is a “serial rapist and a danger to women”.

She added: “I’d like to take this opportunity to once again express my heartfelt thanks to the courageous women who came forward to report Zou’s horrific crimes.

“They have been incredibly strong and brave – there is no doubt that their evidence helped us to secure his conviction, and the life sentence handed to him today.”

England have one last chance to save Bazball’s legacy

The finale. Or, at least, pre-finale, is here.

Ever since England retired off James Anderson last year with two eyes on England’s tour of Australia 18 months down the line, all roads have led to the Ashes. Even India at home, despite what the ECB says.

It is a nonsense of England’s own creation. A state of constant warm-ups, that somehow continues even when the superpower of the world game is in town.

That’s not to say that the next five Tests won’t be blockbusters in their own right. Sellout crowds are expected across the summer with India boasting a new-look side, led by the latest cricketing superstar elect: Shubman Gill. It will be his first outing as captain, too.

These 10 Tests will define the era of Bazball. A loss against India could be salvaged with a win against Australia, but who goes away to the Ashes and wins after losing their previous series? Similarly, a win against India, but a defeat to Australia would leave a taste of mundanity in the mouth.

India haven’t beaten England on these shores since 2007, and England haven’t won in Australia since 2011. Combine those two potential results and Bazball, for all its quirks and eccentricities, will have taken us the long way round, all to end up back at the status quo.

Two wins or two losses, though? Well, that’s era-defining. Will this social experiment of sport leave with the legacy of something that was fun but failed? Or a genuine route to sporting success?

This is the third iteration of Bazball. A term the England team dislike, but one that is necessary. Everything needs a name. That’s why we have words. And what England have done has undisputedly been different. Run-scoring records have fallen at every checkpoint; all five of the fastest scores of 500-plus in Test cricket have come under this McCullum team. They have given Test caps to children based, in the case of Rehan Ahmed, on his talent. To Shoaib Bashir, on the basis of a social media clip. And to Josh Hull, on the basis of his height.

They have discarded convention at every turn, even promoting the 21-year-old Jacob Bethell to No 3 for the series against New Zealand, despite the left-hander having never made a professional century. To begin the series, Ollie Pope will play instead of Bethell at Headingley.

But entering the fourth summer of McCullum’s reign, there is a sterner look in the eye of this England team. For the first two years, the mantra was all about removing the fear of failure and unlocking the potential of a talented but stagnant England team. “Be where your feet are,” was the message at all times. Never get ahead of yourself.

Then, last year, the moving on of Anderson changed that. Now, England were looking ahead, with Stuart Broad, and their combined 1,308 Test wickets, soon following his long-time partner. They were planning. Aware that legacies were going to be made in the blockbuster series of 2025, not the more understated tours and opponents that awaited in 2024.

The problem for England was that along the way they stopped winning. The summer of 2024 was dominant but ended with a complacent defeat to Sri Lanka at The Oval. Then there were the reckless batting displays in Pakistan and the distracted defeat to end what had otherwise been a successful tour of New Zealand. The further descent of the white-ball team, who had a disastrous Champions Trophy, then bled into the overall feeling towards the England team that there was too much chit-chat, too much golf, and not enough winning.

England have rebuked the notion they don’t train hard enough, or don’t care enough about results. And in particular with Ben Stokes’s Test team, the idea that they do not train at 100 per cent or care about results is wide of the mark. But England nevertheless had to accept that a wedge had been driven between the fans and the team. Rightly or wrongly, perception is reality.

And so here we are. Bazball 3.0. The team that aims to win hearts and minds as well as matches. The “media-savvy”, “humble”, England who still score at five runs per over and play reverse ramps when necessary. As fans, we really do want it all.

Their first opponents are a new-age India. In the space of six months, all of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin have retired meaning debuts await around every corner and Shubman Gill has been anointed as the new King of Indian cricket. The 25-year-old has long been earmarked as a future Test captain and if he does – as is expected – slot in at No 4, he takes on one of the toughest jobs in world cricket. Since 1990, only two men have ever successfully held down the position. Their names are Sachin Tendulkar and the great emperor of Test cricket himself: Kohli. In short, good luck Shubman.

This is not an all-time India team, but one at the start of their next development into being world beaters. The 23-year-old Sai Sudharsan will make his debut and bat at No 3, while a debut may also be given to left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh. Neither of these players are household names now. But give them a few years and a scan back at the scorecards of this summer will tell a different story.

India have prepared well. India A played two four-day matches against England Lions that featured a number of first-team players for the tourists before they played a four-day intra-squad match. They mean business and only a fool would write them off.

The hopes of India rest largely on Jasprit Bumrah. A bowler where the debate around them is in regards to whether they are the best of all time, not just of their generation. Since the start of 2024 he has averaged 15 with the ball in Test cricket and his displays in Australia over the winter have largely been heralded as some of the finest fast-bowling performances of all time.

Problems with his back may limit him to three, or perhaps four, matches and there is not a player in the world whose presence or absence will carry such an impact on the likelihood of the result. Currently at the peak of his powers, it is a summer to make sure you buy a ticket to watch him bowl and be able to say forever more that “you were there”.

Bumrah’s presence, along with a new-age India, combined with Bazball entering its defining year, means that “warm-up” or otherwise, seven weeks and five Test matches of enthralling cricket await.

I was a scary Loaded mag editor before becoming a trans woman

There was a moment around eight years ago that I’ll always remember. To most people, it wouldn’t have seemed like anything special. Perhaps it would even have gone unnoticed, or at least quickly forgotten. I’d been walking around Soho at the time, wearing some 5in, red block heels – these were serious heels (and I’m already 6ft1). I felt confident, womanly – finally, I felt like me. And I noticed a little boy spin around and, almost frozen in wonder, stare intently at me.

I had become used to staring since I transitioned eight years ago. Especially when I visit London, where I grew up, I tend to turn heads. Sometimes it’s people like the man in the street who didn’t want me to walk his way who notice me, or the mother at Oxford Circus who told her two kids to “get away from that freak” one afternoon. But then there are the stares like that one from a child in Soho. I recognised his curiosity – certainly I had felt it myself many years ago. “You might just have changed that boy’s life,” a friend with me at the time turned to me to say.

It had been a long journey to that point, so much of it inhabited with contradictions. Long before I was Kristen, I had been the production editor at 1990s lads mag, Loaded, where I was known as the “enforcer” – the tough one who kept the chaos on schedule. I was there to keep the pages running, keep everything going to get the magazine out while everything (and everyone) was unravelling. Including me.

I hadn’t always dreamt of being in magazines, but I did love writing and knew I wanted to be involved in some sort of publishing. I left university in 1989, having spent years living for the Hacienda in Manchester.

That was the start of it: the energy, the club culture, the music. My first job ended up being at The Big Issue, which was incredible, but also where my turbulence eventually got me kicked out – one afternoon, I turned up to interview Terry Christian so drunk from a lunch with the vendors that Christian called security because I was “scaring” him. Which wasn’t easy considering he was known as a very tough interviewer for The Word, a cult 1990s Channel 4 show, at the time. Still – fair enough.

Shortly afterwards, I got a call to say that a new magazine – Loaded – was about to launch. By then, I was deep in addiction, “across multiple platforms”, as I like to say. But James Brown, the editor, was so smart, so fast, so funny, so compelling that I knew this was the shot.

The staff were scared of me too – but I reckon one of the reasons why I was a reasonably efficient (or terrifying, depending on who you ask) production editor was because I was so suppressed. I did two weeks of hyper-focused work to get the magazine out every month – followed by two weeks of self-sabotage; partying, spiralling, blowing myself up completely. I don’t know how I managed to keep it going for 18 months.

Not only was it pure chaos – it felt like more or less everyone working there was having some sort of mental health or serious drug and alcohol issues – but I was also working in this hypermasculine environment, in the midst of this incredible dysphoric suppression.

People always remember Loaded for the testosterone, the bravado, the headlines and half-naked women. But I remember the women who wrote for us – Fiona Russell Powell, Miranda Sawyer, Jenny Éclair, Mary Anne Hobbs. They were whip-smart, witty, and subversive in the most brilliant ways. I didn’t know it then, but something in me was drawn to them. I didn’t yet have the language for why.

When I look back at those days – me, shouting at designers, running production, keeping the whole volatile machine on track – I realise I was holding something so tight inside, trying not to let it slip through the cracks. There’s a thing that happens when you transition. A friend of mine once described it as suddenly seeing your life in reverse – every moment lit up with new meaning, like stepping stones across a pond.

Really, it had always been there, even way back when I was 13, trying on my mum’s clothes. In later years, I would wear my ex-girlfriend’s leather trousers and boots and walk down Queensway in Nottingham at 2am, high and hoping to be seen – or, ultimately, to find a hot guy to sleep with. It was dangerous, desperate even. I felt alive, though.

In the 1990s, London still belonged to the outsiders. My friends and I lived in squats on the King’s Road. I remember dancing all night at a bar on Regent Street, where Prince once turned up and was told, “No VIP section here – this is a club.” It was where Pulp shot “Disco 2000”, a brilliant little place with multicoloured light-up tiles on the dancefloor. Back then, identity was something explored in motion, not worn as a hashtag. At places like Heaven or Subterania, queerness was ambient, fluid – it wasn’t the most interesting thing about someone, it was just there.

Contrast that with now, when everything’s got a filter and a definition, and the grassroots spots grown from alternative culture feel curated; it’s lost its spark, at least from where I’m standing. You can spend 15 minutes online and find out what’s trending at Colour Factory or the rave happening in Hackney Wick, what people are wearing (or not wearing). But it’s not spontaneous. It’s not born from a shared, lived risk.

I worry what it must be like now to be 14. I was wandering into Café de Paris in upturned cycling hats and rolled-up 501s, finding myself, not through algorithms, but by accident – by misfit energy, by music, by standing too close to a speaker at the wrong party.

That’s how it happened for us. But then, there’s another side to it – we didn’t have so many allies either, and certainly they weren’t so instantly accessible. Now, you can find someone like you whenever you need them, and that can be a powerful tool, too.

I didn’t find my people until much later in life. When I left Loaded in 1996, I was falling apart. I resigned with one line: “Right then, I’m off.” And I was. I imploded. I got a job at Total Sport, and didn’t turn up for seven weeks. Came back like nothing had happened. I was barely holding it together, teetering between addiction and unspoken dysphoria. By the time I was 30, I was really very unwell.

I went to a 12-step AA meeting, not long after that, and it was the first time I felt some real stability. I left publishing and started working as an international aid worker and photojournalist in central Asia before ending up in Australia. It was there, in Newtown in the Inner West, that I began to be surrounded by queer artists and subversives on a daily basis – and, for the first time in my life, things began to surface. I was no longer suppressing myself.

I felt at home but, even then, I didn’t know why. I’d had a very bumpy ride to get there. Imagine being on a plane with no seatbelt having escaped a war zone – I’d got out of Loaded, I’d been thrown up and down, and then had landed, somehow in queer paradise. I began to reflect and see that all that masculine bravado had been armour I’d put around myself to try and feel safe. Turns out, it was powerfully claustrophobic.

When I look, I hardly recognise who I was. I’ve lived as Kristen since 2017, after a course of intense trauma therapy during which a therapist asked me if anyone had ever suggested I’m trans. As soon as I heard that five-letter word, I knew that was it. From that moment, everything started to fall away. I was working as a political adviser in addiction at the time and I walked into work the very next day, told my boss, and started dressing like myself: dresses, heels, the lot. There were inconveniences in terms of my workplace, my friends getting used to it – but I knew this was the truth.

Within three weeks, I was under a primary gender care specialist and since then I’ve been on HRT and had top surgery. And now I dress for joy. When my mum says, “You can’t go out like that,” I just smile and say, “You’re not in the Northern Rivers anymore.”

I don’t regret Loaded. I don’t regret any of it. But now I can see it all for what it was – a holding pattern. A staging area. A place to hide before I knew how to be seen. I look back on all the years of clubbing in mad outfits, the horrendous “artistic” choices, and I know they were all necessary for me to find not only my style but my soul. All of those dark years, I felt I had no choice, but now I have freedom.

I’ve gone back to my love of writing, too – my play, Cruel Britannia: After Frankenstein, reimagines Mary Shelley’s novel through a lens of being transgender. It’s set in Thatcher’s Britain, in 1983, amid the tension between football hooliganism and club kids. It’s been a cathartic experience, and I hope it’s not just for me but for those who need it.

Perhaps like that little boy on Poland Street – I wonder if he remembers me. I hope he does. I hope one day that any little boys wondering if it’s OK to be different – to be themselves and be proud – can walk tall in red block heels, not giving a damn who stares.

As told to Zoë Beaty

Kristen’s play, Cruel Britannia: After Frankenstein, runs from 18-30 June at The Glitch, Waterloo. Tickets available now

What’s the secret to a truly stress-free holiday?

High-end cruising has entered a new era. Today’s luxury travellers aren’t looking for big flashy experiences. They want slow-paced, intimate travel and authentic cultural immersion. More than anything else, they’re looking for ease: that feeling of being genuinely cared for, safe in the knowledge that they’re experiencing the best of the best.

That means excellent quality food and drink, of course – it’s got to be restaurant standard and cater to all tastes – but also onboard enrichment experiences of the highest calibre. The great beauty of cruising has always been that not a second is wasted. Savvy travellers get to explore a rich and rewarding variety of exotic, off-the-beaten track locations, but instead of spending half their holiday stuck in motorway traffic, they’re honing their swing in the golf net, or sipping on a cocktail on the upper deck as they travel from destination to destination.

When they’re onshore they want genuinely immersive experiences that get them under the hood of a destination: think cellar tours of local vineyards or speedboat cruises to hidden beaches. Done right, a high-end all-inclusive cruise is the ideal form of slow travel, offering a perfect balance of adventure and indulgence, proper pampering and a thrilling sense of discovery.

The world’s most luxurious fleet

First among equals when it comes to the new era of luxury cruising is Regent Seven Seas Cruises, which offers more than 170 different itineraries visiting over 550 ports of call worldwide. Each of the six ships in their fleet is opulently appointed with beautifully designed communal areas and a huge array of amenities, but none of them has a capacity of more than 746 guests, ensuring space and freedom for all aboard.

The all-suite accommodation means that the private spaces are similarly roomy, each having a private balcony and marble bathroom. And service is always impeccable with a crew-to-guest ratio that’s nearly one-to-one, meaning that the team can always go that mile extra for all travellers.

Across the ships, the food is uniformly excellent. As well as Regent’s signature Compass Rose restaurant, with its daily changing menu of bistro classics like lobster bisque and New Zealand lamb chops, the different ships also feature a range of speciality dining venues. These include Prime 7, a New York-style steakhouse, Pacific Rim with its pan-Asian menu (be sure to try the miso black cod), and fine-dining destination, Chartreuse, where the chefs turn out sophisticated plates of upscale French cooking like Beef Tenderloin Rossini and Seared Foie Gras.

With a number of long cruises on their roster, Regent has made sure that each of its ships is akin to an ultra-luxury, boutique floating hotel with an incredible variety of things to do during the day and top-level entertainment at night. There are courts for paddle tennis and bocce, and the onboard spa offers a range of exclusive bespoke treatments. The ships host talks by experts in their field and cooking lessons are also available on some of the ships at the culinary arts kitchens where visiting chefs guide guests in how to make wow-factor dishes that relate to the ports of call. In the evening, the Constellation Theatre hosts lavishly staged productions from a team of Broadway choreographers and artists.

Destinations that match the onboard luxury

Of course, none of this onboard luxury would mean much if the destinations weren’t up to scratch, but Regent’s superbly curated itineraries are up there with the very best. Its week-long trips include culture-packed European tours like Glories of Iberia which sails from Barcelona to Lisbon, and thrilling frontier explorations such as the Great Alaskan Adventure from Whittier to Vancouver.

Longer trips include four-week Legendary Journeys from Athens to Montreal, and fully immersive explorations of the Arctic. Long or short, these itineraries are all underpinned by a commitment to taking guests right to the heart of a destination with the kind of bespoke onshore activities and expert-led insights that mean on a Regent Seven Seas Cruises voyage, adventure is guaranteed.

Visit Regent Seven Seas Cruises now to uncover the true meaning of luxury and start booking your ultimate stress-free getaway

Berkeley Group announces new executive chair to lead 10-year strategy

British homebuilder Berkeley Group Holdings has reported end-of-year pre-tax profits of £528m and announced that their new executive chairman will be Rob Perrins, the veteran CEO known in the industry as “Rob the Builder”, who succeeds Michael Dobson to become executive chairman.

As Dobson steps down in September, Perrins, who has caught the attention of deputy prime minister Angela Rayner in her mission to build 1.5m houses, will steer the company through a new strategic phase.

A statement from Berkeley thanked the outgoing chair, as Perrins prepares to accelerate investment through a new “company 10-year strategy”.

Reporting their end-of-year financials on Friday, the group highlighted more than 4,000 homes being delivered – 92 per cent of which were on brownfield land typically previously used for industrial or commercial purposes.

The group reported a total of £251.8m paid out in dividends to shareholders, who also benefited from a further £129.7m in share buybacks, at an average price of £39.05 each.

CEO Perrins praised the group’s performance amid a challenging environment.

“Berkeley has delivered £528.9m of pre-tax profit for the year, with net cash at £337.3m, in spite of ongoing geopolitical and macroeconomic volatility. With over 75 per cent of sales secured for the coming year, we are well-placed to achieve our FY26 pre-tax profit guidance of £450m.

“This represents an excellent operational performance with highly disciplined execution and close control of costs. We have added long-term value to the business, both in our land holdings and through our Build to Rent platform.”

Alongside last year’s financial performance, the group revealed a new 10-year strategy which will incorporate a £7bn free cash flow to deploy across the next decade, including a minimum of £2bn to return to investors.

Mr Perrins added that the group is focused on helping clearing regulatory hurdles when it comes to the government’s plan for 1.5m affordable houses to be built before the end of parliament.

“Berkeley is fully committed to the government’s housing-led growth agenda, and we are submitting planning applications on all our sites to accelerate delivery,” he said. “We welcome the government’s efforts to unblock housing supply and advocate focused action to accelerate completion of Section 106 agreements, increase funding for the Affordable Housing sector and ensure Planning Authorities have the resources and pro-active mindset to facilitate housing delivery.

“We were therefore delighted to see the increase in Affordable Housing funding and the 10-year social housing rent settlement announced in last week’s Spending Review, which represents positive progress towards achieving their housing ambitions.”

Mr Perrins has been Berkeley’s CEO since 2009. With his promotion, current CFO Richard Stearn will, in turn, become CEO.

“Appointing Rob as executive chair will provide assurance to key stakeholders, including our people and the leaders in National and Local Government, of the continuity in leadership needed at this time,” read a company statement. “It resolves succession in a way that retains the Berkeley culture and values, the importance of which is recognised by shareholders and other stakeholders alike.”

Major shareholders will be consulted on the proposed appointment.

The company positions itself as the UK’s only large homebuilder with a business model prioritising brownfield development.

Berkeley Group Holdings was trading at £41.50 at Thursday’s market close, having risen just over 6 per cent year to date.

16 billion passwords from Apple, Facebook, Google and more leaked

Sixteen billion passwords to Apple, Facebook, Google, and other social media accounts, as well as government services, were leaked in what researchers are calling the largest data breach ever, according to reports.

The leak exposed 16 billion login credentials and passwords, prompting both Google to tell billions of users to change their passwords and the FBI to warn Americans against opening suspicious links in SMS messages, according to a report published Thursday in Forbes.

Researchers at Cybernews, who have been investigating the leak, found “30 exposed datasets containing from tens of millions to over 3.5 billion records each.”

All but one of these datasets have not been previously reported as being exposed, so the data impacted is all considered new.

“This is not just a leak – it’s a blueprint for mass exploitation,” the researchers said. And they are right. These credentials are ground zero for phishing attacks and account takeover. “These aren’t just old breaches being recycled,” they warned, “this is fresh, weaponizable intelligence at scale.”

Most of that intelligence was in the format of a URL, followed by logins and passwords. That information then allowed access to “pretty much any online service imaginable, from Apple, Facebook, and Google, to GitHub, Telegram, and various government services.”

While worrisome, the researchers found that the datasets were exposed very briefly – with enough time for them to be discovered, but not long enough for researchers to figure out who was controlling the data.

Researchers have determined the leak is the work of multiple infostealers, but it’s impossible to tell how many people or accounts were exposed, according to Cybernews.

The experts urge people to invest in password management solutions, not share their passwords and to stay alert in the event their passwords are compromised.