Ibiza Rocks cancels events after deaths of two British men

A popular Ibiza hotel has cancelled all of its upcoming events after two British men died in separate incidents in the space of two weeks.

Gary Kelly, a 19-year-old ice hockey player from Scotland, died at Ibiza Rocks hotel on Monday. His death came just two weeks after another Scottish tourist, 26-year-old Evan Thomson, died after falling off a balcony on 7 July.

Rapper Dizzee Rascal and drum and bass band Rudimental were set to take the stage in the famous resort this week, but both performances have been cancelled.

The hotel said its advertised events would be cancelled due to the “seriousness of the situation and out of respect for those involved”.

It added in a statement: “We are deeply shocked and devastated by the recent incidents that have tragically occurred. Our priority is to support those affected and their loved ones during this incredibly difficult time, and to fully assist the authorities with their investigations.

“The safety and wellbeing of our guests has, and always will remain, our highest priority.”

Mr Kelly played for the Dundee Stars, which said it was “truly devastated” to hear of his passing.

“Everyone at the club including players, staff, management, and ownership are heartbroken to hear this tragic news,” it added.

“Gary was hugely talented and charismatic individual who had a great future ahead of him. His loss will impact many in the ice hockey community and beyond. He will be sadly missed.”

The Aberdeen Lynx Ice Hockey Team said it was “heartbroken” to hear of the death of “one of our brightest young stars”.

“Gary was more than just a talented hockey player — he was a young man full of heart, passion, and dedication. On the ice, he gave everything he had. Off the ice, he brought energy, kindness, and an infectious love of life that lifted everyone around him.

“He wore his heart on his sleeve, and that spirit left a lasting mark on our team, our club, and everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.

“Rest easy, Gary — you will always be one of our brightest stars.”

Other ice hockey teams including The Whitley Warriors, for whom Mr Kelly played briefly, and The Glasgow Clan, also paid tribute to Mr Kelly.

Earlier this month, Lel Kellighan, mother of Evan Thomson, confirmed his death on social media.

“I’m absolutely heartbroken to write and tell you all, earlier this week my son Evan was in a tragic accident whilst on holiday with his friends in Ibiza and sadly passed away,” she said.

“We are all absolutely broken. Please allow us some time.”

Man who stabbed wife to death as she pushed their baby in pram jailed

Habibur Masum, who stabbed his wife Kulsuma Akter to death as she pushed their baby in a pram in April last year, has been jailed for life at Bradford CrownCourt with a minimum term of 28 years.

Habibur Masum, 27, was found guilty of murdering Kulsuma Akter in a “ferocious” knife attack in broad daylight after tracking her to a women’s refuge in Bradford where she had been staying to escape him after he held a knife to her throat at their home in Greater Manchester.

He left his wife bleeding to death and calmly walked away, leaving their seven-month-old son behind.

The family of murder victim Kulsuma Akter have said in a statement “we will never forgive the monster who took Kulsuma from us,” after her killer was jailed for life. They added they have been left with a “painful void in our lives”.

The Crown Prosecution Service described the murder as “callous” and “shocking”.

Marie Walsh, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Habibur Masum is a violent and dangerous man who subjected his estranged wife to violence and domestic abuse causing her to flee their home to live in a safehouse in Bradford.”

“We hope the imprisonment of Masum has brought some comfort to the family and friends of Kulsuma,” she added.

Masum found Kulsuma Akter through her phone location and loitered in streets around the hostel before sending her messages threatening to kill her family members if she did not return to him. He then tried to lure her out by sending her fake messages from a local GP practice pretending their son had an appointment.

The court heard Ms Akter eventually felt safe enough to leave the refuge on April 6 last year after Masum updated his Facebook page falsely claiming to be in Spain.

As she was walking in the city centre with a friend, pushing her baby in a pram, Masum confronted her, the trial heard.

CCTV footage of the attack captured Ms Akter’s screams as Masum stabbed her at least 25 times.

Jurors heard he then calmly walked through Bradford city centre and was seen on CCTV grinning as he got on a bus, believing at that point he was getting away.

Masum travelled almost 200 miles south to Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and was arrested in the early hours of April 9 in a car park near Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he had gone to be treated for “lockjaw”.

The trial heard the relationship between Masum and Ms Akter was “an abusive relationship characterised by his jealousy, possessiveness and controlling behaviour”.

The couple met and married in Bangladesh, and came to the UK in 2022 after he obtained a student visa and enrolled on a Masters course to study marketing.

They moved into a house in Oldham together in September 2022.

On November 23 2023, he became jealous over a “completely innocuous” message Ms Akter received from a male colleague and held a knife to her throat.

He was arrested and Ms Akter decided to leave him, being moved to the Bradford refuge by Oldham social services in January 2024.

Kulsuma Akter’s family said in a statement: “Kulsuma was a much-loved daughter, sister, aunt and mother. Her loss has left a gaping hole in the lives of all her family and friends.

“We have been left with a profound sense of emptiness and a deep and painful void in our lives. She was a loving, caring and kind soul with a generous nature, and touched the lives of everyone she came into contact with. As a family we miss her beautiful smile which would light up any room she entered. We will miss her humour, her kindness and her love.

“We will never forgive the monster who took Kulsuma from us and we do not wish to utter his name. It does not deserve to be mentioned. The monster who savagely took Kulsuma from not only us, but also from her baby son.

“He will never know her beauty and her kindness. He will never know his mother, other than the memories we as a family will share with him as he grows. He is the only light in all this darkness and Kulsuma radiates throughout him.

“Although we are grateful for the judicial process that found him guilty of this crime and for the sentence he has received today, no amount of time in prison will change the life sentence he has inflicted upon us all.

“No family should have to endure the pain and heartache we have had to endure since he took Kulsuma’s life so horrifically. We can only try and keep her memory alive by continuing to love her and to remember her name.”

Mike Lynch’s estate ordered to pay HP £700m in court ruling

Hewlett Packard (HP) is set to recoup more than £700 million ($944 million) from the estate of the late Mike Lynch and his former business partner, Sushovan Hussain, a London High Court judge ruled on Tuesday.

The sum relates to HP’s ill-fated acquisition of British software firm Autonomy.

The US technology giant had sought to recover losses from Dr Lynch, who died last year when his luxury yacht sank off Sicily, and Mr Hussain.

HP had accused the pair of orchestrating an elaborate fraud to inflate Autonomy’s value before its $11.1 billion purchase in 2011, a deal that subsequently unravelled.

Within a year of the acquisition, HP wrote down Autonomy’s value by $8.8 billion and launched a $5 billion lawsuit against Dr Lynch and Mr Hussain in London. A judge ruled in HP’s favour in 2022.

Dr Lynch, once lauded as Britain’s answer to Bill Gates, consistently maintained his innocence, instead blaming HP for its failure to integrate Autonomy into its operations.

He was acquitted of criminal charges related to the deal in the US and had intended to appeal the High Court’s 2022 ruling, a process that was on hold pending this week’s decision on damages.

Judge Robert Hildyard ruled HP sustained losses of over £646 million ($871.8 million) in relation to the difference between what HP paid for Autonomy and what HP would have paid “had Autonomy’s true financial position been correctly presented”.

Hilyard also said HP was entitled to another £51.7 million in relation to “personal claims for deceit and/or misrepresentation against Dr Lynch and Mr Hussain”, plus another $47.5 million in relation to losses suffered by group companies.

HP said at a hearing last year that it was seeking up to $4 billion. Hussain settled with HP earlier this year.

No households fined for breaking hosepipe bans during recent droughts

Major water companies in England have not issued a single fine to residents for breaking hosepipe bans over the last five years, The Independent can reveal.

Southern Water, Yorkshire Water, Thames Water and South West Water have confirmed they did not issue any fines, which can be as high as £1,000, despite having the legal power to do so for more than a decade.

All four companies have introduced hosepipe bans at different times since 2020, including the heatwaves of 2022 and 2023, which left millions under restrictions.

This year, Yorkshire Water, South East Water, and Southern Water have all imposed bans to curb non-essential use as England battles exceptionally dry weather.

Under current rules, householders who breach a ban can be fined up to £1,000 if prosecuted, and companies also have powers to issue £100 fixed penalty notices.

Despite high-profile campaigns urging households to save water, enforcement has relied entirely on public goodwill rather than financial penalties.

Campaigners have told The Independent that leaking pipes, poor planning and inaction by water companies pose a far greater threat to supplies than people watering their gardens.

James Wallace, CEO of campaign group River Action, said it was wrong to focus on “threatening customers with £1,000 fines for watering their gardens” when water companies themselves spill billions of litres every day and face few consequences.

“Voluntary measures and public awareness aren’t enough,” he warned, calling for “real enforcement, aimed at water companies, and bold structural reform” to tackle worsening drought risks.

“No new reservoirs have been built in over 30 years, despite clear climate warnings about worsening droughts,” Mr Wallace added.

Paul de Zylva, sustainability analyst at Friends of the Earth, said that hosepipe bans are a “sticking plaster solution to a problem that is only going to get worse”.

“Recent heatwaves only add to drought conditions, making it harder for everyone – not least hospitals, care homes, farmers and transport operators – to cope,” he added.

It comes as the government announced plans to scrap the regulator Ofwat in an overhaul of regulation for the troubled water sector.

The final report from the Independent Water Commission, led by Sir Jon Cunliffe, made 88 recommendations to the UK and Welsh governments aimed at turning around the industry, which has faced public fury over pollution, soaring bills, shareholder payouts and executive bonuses.

The number of serious pollution incidents caused by water firms across England also rose by 60 per cent in 2024 compared with the previous year, the Environment Agency said.

Three water firms were responsible for 81 per cent of these serious incidents – Thames Water with 33, Southern Water with 15, and Yorkshire Water with 13.

It attributed the rise in incidents last year to persistent underinvestment in new infrastructure, poor asset maintenance, and reduced resilience because of the impacts of climate change.

Southern Water said that during its 2022 hosepipe ban, most customers complied voluntarily. The company said it focused on explaining the reasons for the ban and encouraging people to comply, viewing enforcement as the “very last step”.

Yorkshire Water also confirmed no fines had been issued.

A spokesperson said: “Whilst we do have the power to enforce the restrictions and have a process to deal with those breaching it, we would prefer not to have to use this and would hope customers would work with us and respect the restrictions, recognising it’s been put in place to protect essential supplies. The response so far has been brilliant, and we’ve seen demand coming down.”

South West Water and Thames Water both confirmed they did not fine customers for breaching restrictions.

Nicci Russell, chief executive of water efficiency charity Waterwise, said: “At Waterwise we are clear that the UK is running out of water, and that this will affect every aspect of our lives.”

She added that even if water companies fixed all their leaks, “there would still be a big gap between the water we have and the water we need.”

Ms Russell said hosepipe bans remain a legitimate tool to manage demand but argued the most effective solution is for everyone to “waste less water, now,” alongside considering whether ministers should introduce stronger legal powers over time.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) officials said hosepipe bans typically reduce water use by around three to five per cent, helping supplies last longer and protecting the environment.

Defra encourages households to take steps to save water, such as fixing leaky toilets, installing water butts and reusing leftover water for plants.

Prince George is all smiles as he celebrates 12th birthday

Prince George has turned 12, with the Prince and Princess of Wales releasing a new photograph of their eldest child to mark the occasion.

The future king – one year away from being a teenager – is pictured outdoors, smiling and relaxed as he leans on a rustic wooden gate in Norfolk.

George is wearing a white checked shirt with rolled up sleeves and a dark green fleece gilet, and a blue and white friendship bracelet can be seen on his left wrist as he rests his folded arms on the gate.

It was taken earlier in the year by photographer Josh Shinner and posted on Kensington Palace’s social media.

The post was accompanied by the message: “Happy 12th Birthday to Prince George!” followed by a cake emoji.

The Prince and Princess of Wales frequently post photographs of their children for their followers, often taken by Kate herself, who is a keen amateur photographer.

Earlier this year, they released an image of Princess Charlotte, captured by Kate on an iPhone during a family trip to Cumbria, to mark Charlotte’s 10th birthday.

They also shared a portrait of Prince Louis for his seventh birthday, which was taken by Mr Shinner.

George, whose birthday falls during his summer break from school, has one year left at his prep school, Lambrook, before he moves on to his senior school, with either Eton or Marlborough College thought to be the frontrunners.

The future king joined his parents and sister, Princess Charlotte, at the Wimbledon men’s final earlier this month, where he used a fan to keep cool in the Royal Box in the blazing afternoon sun.

In June, George was seen nudging his boisterous younger brother Louis on the Buckingham Palace balcony to wave more calmly at the crowd following the Trooping the Colour ceremony.

Prince George Alexander Louis was born in the private Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London, at 4.24pm on July 22 2013, weighing 8lb 6oz.

He made his debut in front of the world’s media on the hospital steps one day later, wrapped in a white merino wool shawl, cradled in his mother’s arms.

When my friends were facing cancer, a community of people stepped up

When I was younger, I used to worry incessantly about my parents getting cancer. I’d lay awake at night, ruminating on what would happen to my brother and I if they did. Who would support us? Thankfully, both are still cancer-free, well into their seventies.

However, now that I’m a parent myself, I worry about my children. Many people believe that cancer only really happens to people in old age, but that’s just not true. One beloved friend’s daughter died of leukaemia in 2020, aged just five; an unthinkable horror that changed the lives of everyone who knew her and her family.

And with Macmillan Cancer Support reporting that almost 3.5 million people in the UK are living with cancer, I also worry about my friends – parents themselves, their lives touched by cancer. One friend sat me down in our favourite local café, our toddlers playing at our feet, to break the news that she was about to undergo a double mastectomy. We cried together.

Another friend, Sarah, a single parent to two teenage girls, was diagnosed with breast cancer the day before we heard that King Charles had cancer, and a month before the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, announced her own diagnosis in March last year. It seemed like cancer was everywhere.

As a result, Sarah put 2024 on hold – she missed her daughter’s last sports day and last concert at primary school and had to find a whole new way of co-ordinating family life.

“I’m lucky in some ways that my children are teenagers, so they are able to look after themselves to some degree – but I’m also a single parent, so there are some things that they can’t do, or struggle with, due to their age,” she tells me.

“I have even set up multiple alarms on our Alexa reminding them to put their packed lunches in their bags or leave for school, just in case I can’t get up.”

Sarah says she thought she knew quite a lot about cancer prior to her diagnosis, but now admits she “really didn’t”. She explains: “There are so many terms and procedures to understand – stages and grades, not to mention over 100 different chemotherapy drugs.”

Sarah tells me about the exhausting cumulative effect of chemotherapy, which she endured every three weeks during her cancer treatment: “After the very first lot, I slept for a few hours and felt much better pretty quickly. For my last rounds, I slept for 48 hours solid and even days later, I needed to have a nap in the middle of the day and was in bed by 8pm.”

Sarah’s now finished chemotherapy and, a year on from her diagnosis, is turning 50. She’s throwing a huge party to celebrate not only the birthday milestone, but getting over this “annus horriblis” – a year she couldn’t have gotten through without the people around her.

“People can do so much for us when we are unwell – and I am forever grateful,” she says. “I’ve been really overwhelmed by the support that my friends have given me; from ferrying around my children to and from after-school events and sleepovers when things get bad, to my 75-year-old neighbour mowing the lawn. One friend popped round with a huge pot of pasta sauce and I even had a gift box from a recruiter at work.”

What talking to my strong, resilient friends about their cancer journeys has made me realise most, is the power of community: for when we receive the worst news imaginable, what we need is people around us to see us through. A community of other women: friends, school mums, neighbours.

They had people willing to make them food, pick up their children, go shopping for them or to just sit with them and listen. They had support when they decided to raise money for cancer support charities, when they did fundraisers such as hosting a Macmillan Coffee Morning.

It takes a village to raise a child – and that village will be with you every step of the way when you need them most.

Find out how you can help raise vital funds by hosting a Macmillan Coffee Morning. Sign up now on the Macmillan website

Macmillan Cancer Support, registered charity in England and Wales (261017), Scotland (SC039907) and the Isle of Man (604). Also operating in Northern Ireland.

Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Turkey set for Wednesday, Zelensky says

Russia has said it is unlikely to agree to a peace deal despite fresh ceasefire negotiations with Ukraine this week.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia agreeing to a ceasefire was “hardly possible” and said there was no reason to expect a breakthrough.

The third round of talks are set to take place in Istanbul, Turkey, on Wednesday after previous summits n May and June failed to yield any results.

“We intend to pursue our interests, we intend to ensure our interests and fulfil the tasks that we set for ourselves from the very beginning,” Mr Peskov said.

Meanwhile, Russia is driving hard to break through at eastern and northeastern points on the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line. It is also firing upwards of 700 drones a night at Ukrainian cities.

On Tuesday, Russian troops killed three people, including a 10-year-old boy, in overnight drone and missile attacks.

The civilians were killed in Donetsk, including a child in Kramatorsk, after Russia launched 42 drones, including Iranian-made Shaheds, on Tuesday morning, according to officials.

At least 26 drones were shot down, and seven more were lost or suppressed by electronic warfare systems. Around 24 people were injured.

Trump ‘running scared’ over Epstein with Obama Russia ‘hoax’ claim

President Donald Trump has been accused by Democrats of “running scared” from the Jeffrey Epstein files, as House Republicans brought legislative business to a near-standstill ahead of the summer recess.

GOP leaders are now weighing whether to send the House home as early as Wednesday, after the Rules Committee recessed on Monday amid a heated bipartisan clash over the potential release of Epstein-related documents, according to Politico. Democrats threatened to force a vote on the issue, derailing planned floor action for the week.

Meanhwile, Trump has been accused of attempting to distract from the scandal by peddling a conspiracy theory that he had “irrefutable evidence” that former President Barack Obama “manuafactured” the Russia investigation into the president’s 2016 campaign.

Refuting the president’s claim of a “Democratic-led conspiracy theory,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters: “Why do we think President Joe Biden or President Barack Obama‘s names are being invoked? Because Donald Trump is running scared.”

Earlier Monday, the Trump administration also released more than 6,000 files on the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, which saw the daughter of the slain civil rights activist, Bernice King, tweet: “Now, do the Epstein files.”