‘Calculated’ predator who raped students jailed as police fear hundreds more victims

A serial rapist suspected of being one of the UK’s worst sex offenders has been jailed for life with a minimum of 14 years, after spiking and recording his victims as he abused them.

Chao Xu, 33, had placed hidden cameras inside household objects such as an air freshener and a packet of sanitary pads to spy on women visiting his home address in Greenwich, and had also filmed women at his workplace and participated in “upskirting” at London Bridge underground station.

The Metropolitan Police believe that the Chinese national may have “hundreds more” victims, and have urged women who may have had contact with Xu to come forward.

Prosecutor Catherine Farrelly KC told the court: “The evidence gathered by the police shows the defendant to be a bold and persistent sexual predator whose offending has steadily become more and more serious. The evidence revealed he was so emboldened he was willing to strike anywhere. At his own home address, at his place of work and in train stations and also willing to strike in respect of anyone.”

She added: “Some of his offending even occurred when there were other arounds. It appears that there was no woman safe around him.”

His Honour Judge Christopher Grout said Xu was an “incredibly dangerous man” who “took great enjoyment” from his offending.

The judge told Xu: “Your behaviour was calculated and planned, evidenced by the covert recording systems you had set up in your flats and the fact you had incapacitated a number of your victims by drugging them.

“You betrayed the trust of a number of women who you befriended in the most appalling ways imaginable.”

Judge Grout added that any possible deportation to China was a “matter for the Home Office”.

His crimes have strong similarities to that of Zhenhao Zou, a Chinese PhD student who drugged many of his victims and raped 10 women, and who was jailed in June to a life sentence with a minimum of 24 years.

However, police have said that they have “no reason to believe at all” that their crimes are connected, or that the offenders knew one another.

Xu was arrested on 1 June this year after a victim contacted the police from his address to report that she suspected she had been spiked during a networking event which had taken place at his flat on Glaisher Street.

As a director of a recruitment company, Xu had targeted young Chinese students from university and would regularly host events, which were used as a guise to carry out his “calculated” crimes.

Upon being confronted by the woman, who recalled being sexually assaulted and filmed, Xu informed her he would only show his phone “to the police”.

Officers were at the address within minutes, with a forensic digital download recovering “deeply disturbing material” of himself raping and sexually abusing women who appeared unconscious or heavily intoxicated.

He was charged on 3 June and pleaded guilty to 24 sexual offences against at least 12 victims over the course of three years at a plea and trial preparation hearing at Woolwich Crown Court in August.

Detectives have been able to identify three of his victims, while four others who were subjected to serious sexual assaults remain unidentified. All are believed to be of Chinese heritage.

In impact statements read aloud to the court, his victims described suffering with nightmares and anxiety, and said that they had struggled with their workplace or with their studies. His initial victim said: “How can one man have put me in this predicament? I feel miserable most of the time now and feel hopeless. I was not like this before he assaulted me. He has changed me. I feel I can never go back to who I was.”

Xu, who came to the UK in 2016 to study International Law at Greenwich University, would regularly give his guests a drink that was named ‘The Spring of Life’, which contained different alcoholic substances and Chinese herbal medicines.

Police believe that he would then add stupefying drugs to the drink of his intended victim, before offering a place to stay after they became unwell and sexually assaulting them.

The initial victim who contacted the police described being “in and out of consciousness” and being “powerless” to prevent the assault. Videos taken on Xu’s phone showed that she had been repeatedly sexually assaulted over a period of more than four hours, and she told police she felt “out of control of her body”.

Forensic analysis found that the victim had been administered GHB, a commonly-known ‘rape date drug’, and Scopolamine, a prescribed drug that can cause amnesia and severe tiredness.

In her impact statement, she said: “I haven’t been able to share any of this experience with my family and fear who I can share it with in the future. I know very often the victim of sexual assault is questioned and blamed rather than the perpetrator in my home country. I question if I am to blame for this and if I could have done anything to prevent it. How do I deal with this?.”

A search warrant at his flat found “multiple covert hidden cameras throughout the property, a range of suspicious liquid substances and numerous digital storage devices”.

This led to the discovery of further crimes against women, which included hundreds of images taken on the London Underground of Xu ‘upskirting’ unsuspecting women, the practice of taking an image under clothing without a person’s consent.

While little is known about Xu’s background in China, police said that he was “relatively wealthy” and was described as “very generous” by those who knew him. He had a girlfriend at the time of offending, who has co-operated with the police, and Xu had no previous convictions and was not known to the police.

The lead investigator, Det Ch Insp Lewis Sanderson, said: “This case has revealed a deeply disturbing pattern of behaviour that spans several years. Xu operated in environments that were meant to be safe.

“University circles, professional networks and public spaces. He used trust, familiarity and social gatherings to pursue his actions and target vulnerable individuals. We know from the evidence recovered that many women were filmed without their knowledge and consent.”

Suzanne Crane, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Chao Xu deliberately drugged women to render them unconscious and vulnerable, enabling him to rape and sexually assault them without their knowledge.

“Xu is a serious danger to women and the scale of his offending is such that without the brave testimony of victims, who came forward after realising what had happened to them, he may well have continued undetected.”

Police said anyone wishing to make a report relating to Xu can contact them via email on operation.kafka@met.police.uk or by phoning 02071753802.

People can also make a report to police by calling 101 from within the UK, quoting reference 01/7563135/25.

Telegraph sale collapses as RedBird pulls out of £500m deal

US investment group RedBird Capital has abandoned its proposed £500m takeover of The Telegraph, throwing the future of the newspaper into question.

It is the latest twist in a tumultuous two-year takeover process for the 170-year-old newspaper business.

A spokesperson for RedBird Capital Partners said on Friday: “RedBird has today withdrawn its bid for the Telegraph Media Group. We remain fully confident that The Telegraph and its world-class team have a bright future ahead of them and will work hard to secure a solution which is in the best interests of employees and readers.”

The announcement comes as RedBird and its partner IMI lined up to face investigations of their plans for the paper by regulators, The Telegraph reported.

According to the newspaper, Chris Evans, the editor of The Telegraph, told staff it was “no secret” that all senior editors and many writers had concerns about the bid.

Mr Evans said: “On the other hand, it’s also obvious that this process has gone on far, far too long. The Telegraph deserves owners who care about journalism and who will invest. We will do our best to ensure this process ends as soon as possible – with a buyer who shares our passion and our ambition for The Telegraph.”

A source close to RedBird said: “This got pulled because there was simply too much time and opposition to a deal which would have helped British media. Time to move on and find another buyer. The support for investors wanting to invest in the UK has been deeply disappointing. We move on.”

A spokesperson for Telegraph Media Group Holdings told The Independent: “Our immediate priority is to minimise disruption to the business and work with all stakeholders, including DCMS, towards a solution.”

According to the paper, Telegraph Media Group chief executive Anna Jones said: “I will now work with the board of independent directors on next steps and what this means for the future ownership of the business.

“This process has been challenging and unpredictable but your hard work and continued patience is a credit to you all.”

The deal, announced in May, was initially blocked by the government due to new regulations that prevent foreign state ownership of the press.

The collapse of the sale follows a two-year takeover saga, in which RedBird IMI previously attempted to purchase the group in 2023.

The Abu Dhabi-backed fund had reached an agreement with the Barclay family to purchase the group, including The Spectator, by paying off the debts. But in March 2024, the government said it would bring forward legislation that would block the deal.

Jaguar Land Rover cyber attack cost company nearly £200m

A cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) cost it nearly £200m, the company has announced.

The UK’s largest car manufacturer said it has “made strong progress” in recovering its operations at pace since the attack.

JLR stopped production across its UK factories for five weeks from 1 September after being targeted by hackers a day earlier.

All of the group’s manufacturing sites – including factories in Solihull, West Midlands, and Halewood, Merseyside – restarted operations last month.

JLR has revealed it swung to an underlying loss of £485m over the second quarter of the year as earnings were knocked following a severe cyber attack.

The British luxury carmaker had made a profit before tax and exceptional items of nearly £400m over the same period in 2024.

It also reported a £134m loss for the six months to the end of September, from a £1.1bn profit the prior year.

JLR’s chief executive Adrian Mardell said the company’s financial performance was “impacted by significant challenges, including a cyber incident that stopped our vehicle production in September and the impact of US tariffs”.

The manufacturer revealed costs of £196m relating to the cyber attack.

The cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover is thought to have been the UK’s most economically damaging hack and is estimated to have cost the country £1.9bn.

Research from the Cyber Monitoring Centre indicates that around 5,000 businesses nationwide have been hit by the fallout.

Its experts analysed the incident’s broad impact across the economy and supply chain to arrive at the figure.

Jaguar Land Rover halted production at its UK factories for five weeks from 1 September after being targeted the previous day.

This disruption led to warnings from suppliers that many faced collapse without rapid trading resumption or financial aid.

We don’t want to be here, say striking doctors as NHS sounds alarm over early flu spike

Resident doctors have turned out in thousands across England as they begin their five-day strike after a pay dispute with the government.

The strike comes as NHS bosses warn that this winter could be the toughest ever for staff over fears a flu outbreak will wreak havoc on the health service.

The Independent spoke to Arthur Joustra, a 27-year-old paediatrics trainee from Nottinghamshire, who said he has been driven to the picket line by an urgent need for more staff and a restoration of pay.

He said: “No doctor wants to be on strike. I think it always makes me quite anxious when the strikes come up, because the last thing I want to do is not go to work. I love my job, I love helping patients, it’s the reason I’ve dedicated my life to the profession.”

Multiple NHS Trusts are reporting that around half of residents are on strike, which is similar to or slightly less than the last strikes, The Independent understands.

Health secretary Wes Streeting accused striking doctors of holding patients to “ransom” on Friday. Mr Joustra said it was inevitable there would be delays and cancelled appointments.

“The immediate harm that is caused by strikes is to try and prevent that future harm that is only going to get worse as waiting lists get longer,” he added.

“It’s not out of malice, it’s not out of greed, it’s for a better outcome for our patients and, ultimately, a better NHS.”

Most people Mr Joustra knew in medical school are now out of work or have moved abroad for better conditions. He said. “It’s a crisis that I don’t think anyone really anticipated. When I applied to med school in 2015, the idea of not having a job was unfathomable as a doctor.”

Last week, the British Medical Association (BMA) rejected an offer from the government that included provisions for additional speciality training places and the covering of mandatory exam and membership fees.

“It’s very difficult to negotiate two problems when one of them has been taken off the table entirely,” Mr Joustra said.

“With staff shortages, with a more stretched NHS, longer waiting times, an ageing population, and more burden of disease, the job is only getting harder, yet the pay is not reflecting that.

“Anyone can put two and two together, that if we constantly see this erosion of the workforce, erosion of fair pay, it’s only going to go in one direction, which is not going to be a positive one.”

The BMA has argued that doctors need a 26 per cent pay uplift to restore their earnings, once inflation is taken into account.

The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers said the continued action was piling pressure on already stretched budgets, with the last strike in July estimated to have cost the health service £300m.

Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS England national medical director, said: “It is frustrating and disappointing that we are facing another round of industrial action at a challenging time for the NHS, with flu cases rising earlier than usual and more staff likely to be absent due to illness.”

The health secretary blasted doctors on strike on Friday morning, telling LBC radio the action was “completely unnecessary”. He said: “On pay, on speciality training places, on improvements to conditions, I have been working to address every single one of those issues.

“These are not the conditions in which people go out on strike. Strike should be a last resort.”

Earlier in the week, Mr Streeting accused the BMA of behaving like a cartel, causing “untold misery and disruption” to patients.

Speaking to The Independent, BMA council chair Tom Dolphin said the comments were “not fair at all”.

He said: “When we talk about a cartel, we should be looking at the kind of working conditions that the hospitals are making doctors sit through, that’s what we should be focusing on.”

Mr Dolphin has bemoaned a “job crisis” for resident doctors, saying that thousands of trainees will not be able to continue without more training places becoming available.

Despite pay rises in recent years, he said resident doctors were still significantly down compared to 2008. Health secretary Wes Streeting has so far refused to move on the issue of pay, claiming resident doctors have received a pay increase of almost 30 per cent over three years.

Mr Dolphin said: “We’ve had many years of below inflation pay rises or pay cuts impact in real terms over the years, we’re still a fifth down on our pay compared to 2008.”

While he is certain there will be an agreement, he said last week’s offer didn’t come close enough to solving the problem.

“The problem is the secretary of state made it clear he didn’t feel he could move any further, and we didn’t feel that the offer came close enough to solving the problem.”

North Korea mass-producing attack drones to aid Moscow’s invasion, says Kyiv

Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence has revealed in an interview with Reuters that North Korea has launched a mass production of small, short-range First Person View (FPV) as well as larger medium-range battlefield attack drones.

Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday condemned a “wicked” Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv that left five people dead in the Ukrainian capital.

A pregnant woman was among at least 34 people injured as Russia struck Ukraine with at least 430 drones and 18 missiles overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.

The Ukrainian president said the attack was “deliberately calculated” to cause “maximum harm to people and civilian infrastructure”. Strikes also hit Kharkiv and Odesa regions, he said.

The attack on the capital was ongoing, officials said, urging residents to remain in shelter until an air raid alert could be lifted. City authorities also warned of power and water outages.

The attack came as European Union officials warned this week that Ukraine must continue to crack down on corruption following a major graft scandal that has put top nuclear energy officials under scrutiny.

Food photography tips: how to make food look as good as it tastes

Ever since the rise of social media, sharing food online has become a global obsession. From Instagram reels to TikTok trends, food content dominates our feeds and for good reason. Food is a universal love language. There’s something irresistible about the smell of freshly baked bread or the comfort of a steaming bowl of delicious pasta.

But as any food lover knows, capturing a photo that truly does your meal justice is easier said than done. Yet, it’s a powerful skill to have, as the perfect food shot can turn a humble dinner into viral content and, in some cases, transform small cafés, bartenders, and home bakers into internet stars.

At the heart of this movement sits the smartphone camera. And as someone who’s been immersed in food photography for over a decade and adores a smartphone for its ease of use and authentic way of capturing food moments, I was eager to see what Samsung’s new lightweight Galaxy S25 FE device could bring to the dinner table as it were.

When it comes to shooting food, I look for four essential things in a phone camera:

The Galaxy S25 FE ticks all four boxes and then some, and truly feels as though it was designed with the modern day foodie/food creator in mind. It even introduces ground-breaking AI features that promise to make editing and shooting more intuitive than ever, for a true end-to-end all encompassing device that elevates your food images effortlessly.

When it comes to food photography, the right lens can transform an ordinary plate into a visual feast – and the Galaxy S25 FE delivers a versatile mix that makes shooting creative, effortless, and fun.

The phone features four lenses in total, each one offering something unique for the way you tell your food story. Up front is a 12 MP selfie lens – solid, though not one you’ll often reach for when photographing your meals (unless you’re keen to share a reaction pic after). The real excitement is at the back, where three impressive lenses open up endless visual possibilities.

The 12 MP ultra-wide lens truly shines in tight spaces – whether you’re in a bustling café or a cosy, low-lit bar – capturing the full atmosphere with ease. It’s also perfect for those beautiful ‘table spread’ shots that continue to be popular on social media: think a tapas feast, a Christmas dinner, or a brunch spread where you want every dish in frame, without needing to balance on a chair!

For most food photography though, the star of the show is the 50 MP wide lens. It’s the one that produces those crisp, vibrant images with lifelike colours that leap off the screen. I always suggest shooting dishes that are abundant in natural hues such as bright salads, deeply coloured curries, or gorgeous fruit platters – and wherever possible, using natural light – because on social media colourful food always wins! I’ll often book a restaurant table near a window or shoot at my home studio beside one: it’s the easiest way to make textures sing and let the Galaxy S25 FE’s sensor show what it can really do.

Then there’s the 8 MP telephoto zoom lens, your best friend for capturing all the delicious food trends making the rounds right now such as the creamy frosting on a cinnamon roll or the sparkle of sea salt on a perfectly fried egg with feta and chilli sauce. It’s also great for those close-up shots that add a touch of drama and intimacy to your food feed – the ones that make people stop scrolling and think, ‘Dang, I need that right now.’

Together, these lenses help you capture not just what your food looks like, but how it feels to eat it.

As mentioned above, natural light is always a food photographer’s best friend, but when you’re enjoying a cosy evening meal, it’s not always an option. Most phone cameras struggle in those dimly lit restaurants or candlelit bars, often leaving food looking flat and colours washed out. That’s why I was especially curious to see how the Galaxy S25 FE would perform once the sun went down considering it has Enhanced Nightography and an AI-powered ProVisual Engine – an image processing engine that analyses each shot to automatically improve its visual. So, I put it to the test and am pleased to report, it delivered.

Even under low, warm lighting, the Galaxy S25 FE captures crisp textures and allows your food to look as good as it tastes, whilst infusing it with that evening ambience. For best results, I would recommend using the ultra wide lens in evening settings to capture the restaurant’s atmosphere and the wide lens for your food shots as it will result in the sharpest low light shots.

The Galaxy S25 FE also introduces some clever AI-powered tools that make creating food content even easier. One standout is Audio Eraser*, perfect for those who prefer filming in lively, bustling restaurants. It intelligently removes unwanted background noise, allowing the subtle sounds of your dish like the gentle bubble of hot soup or the satisfying crunch of a bite to take centre stage instead.

There’s also Photo Assist**, which includes Generative Edit and Sketch to Image***. The former lets you effortlessly move or remove distractions from your frame, while the latter allows you to write or draw directly onto your image – not something I’d necessarily do because food is just so naturally beautiful in its own right, but which could be ideal if you’re keen to add a more personal or artistic touch to your social media food posts to ensure you stand out from the crowd.

The Galaxy SE25 FE isn’t just another smartphone, instead it’s a powerful tool for food lovers and food content creators alike. Whether you’re an aspiring influencer keen to share your latest cookie haul, a café owner hoping to make your matcha lattes go viral or simply a home cook who loves sharing their latest creations, this phone can absolutely help you along your delicious journey. Cheers to that!

Kimberly Espinel is an award-winning food photographer, blogger, stylist, podcaster, teacher and author – find out more at her website or on Instagram.

To find out more about the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE visit Samsung

*Samsung account login required. Six types of sound can be detected; voices, music, wind, nature, crowd and noise. Results may vary depending on audio source & condition of the video.

**Samsung account login is required. Requires network connection.

***Samsung account login and network connection may be required for certain AI features.

How Germany is leaving Britain’s flag-loving patriots behind as it prepares for war with Russia

Operation Raise the Colours has swelled the nation with pride as motorists flash under bridges and pedestrians doff their flat caps to England’s red cross and the union flag. By jingo it’s been fun. For those who see the world through Commando Comics and the redcoat glory of Michael Caine’s heroics in Zulu.

Strange then, that the nostalgists of Britain’s right wing are not queuing outside recruitment centres clamouring to join a real army as their country is already in a hybrid war that could turn outright within months.

Germany’s on the march, though.

If that phrase sends a jolt through anyone, that’s because they’re looking in the wrong direction. Britain, and the rest of Europe, is facing the greatest threat to its democratic way of life and to the landmass that sustains it since 1945.

But in Britain, the loudest “patriots” campaign against immigrants who are here because they want to share in the glories of Britannia, but are silent on defending Britain against Russia, which wants to smash the place to bits.

The UK is being left behind as its allies in Europe are fast waking up to the fact that history is being thrust upon them by what Vladimir Putin is doing in Ukraine and what he’s telegraphed he wants to do to the rest of Eastern Europe.

Even Germany, once constitutionally banned from having an effective army after the Nazi era, is planning to swell its ranks.

This week, Berlin announced that all 18-year-old men will go through a compulsory medical screening for the military as part of plans to expand the Bundeswehr from 182,000 today to 260,000 by 2035. Germany wants to increase the reserve forces from 60,000 to 200,000.

It is hoped that the expansion will be voluntary, but laws remain on the statute to bring back national service, which ended in 2011.

It has plans to become one of the biggest defence forces in Europe and Nato. In four years, Germany’s defence spending is expected to surge to €153bn (£135bn) a year, 3.5 per cent of GDP. The UK’s is likely to be about £75bn and France’s around €80bn.

Berlin’s massive expansion into weapons production includes a policy to spend only about 10 per cent of its funds on American weapons in order to keep the jobs and benefits of government spending inside Germany and Europe.

Germany will eclipse France and the UK in terms of size and influence inside European defence systems and Nato. So will Poland, which is already spending 4.7 per cent of GDP on defence, well ahead of the commitment by other Nato nations to reach 3.5 per cent.

Warsaw has also introduced military training for every adult male in the country.

“We will try to have a ready model by the end of this year so that every adult male in Poland is trained in the event of war,” Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk said in May last year. “So that this reserve [force] is truly matched to and sufficient to meet potential threats.”

Britain’s military recruitment targets are aimed at increasing the full-time trained strength of the army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force. But the response has been woeful. The army is 3 per cent below its target of around 10,000 new recruits in order to raise the full-time force to 76,000.

The RN is worse off, missing its targets by 8 per cent and the RAF is the worst performing at 13 per cent below target numbers.

The UK will spend an extra £2.2bn on defence in 2025-26 alone, bringing the total to more than £62.2bn, with the increased spending focused on modernising military capabilities, including new weapon systems, drones, AI-powered tech, and “directed energy weapons” – lasers.

There’s a huge effort to spend more on some 7,000 new weapons systems and submarines, including nuclear-powered boats.

Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron have led Europe in building support for Ukraine in its defence against Russia, as American support was cut off entirely by Donald Trump.

But unlike Germany, Poland, the Baltic states, and Croatia (which has reintroduced compulsory national service for men), Britain has yet to make the case to the British that their patriotism should be expressed in uniform rather than on bridges and lamp posts.

Armed police shoot man seen ‘brandishing knife’ at Paris train station

Police shot a knife-wielding man at Montparnasse station in Paris, after he had threatened his wife and children before boarding a train.

The major train station in Paris was evacuated as officers confronted the man on Friday afternoon, after he had made the threats before taking a train destined for Montparnasse.

The prosecutor’s office said an officer used his “weapon” on the man at Montparnasse station, who then inflicted knife wounds on himself. A witness told Reuters they heard several shots.

Police were waiting for the man – reported in French media to be a 44-year-old originally from Wallis and Futuna – upon his arrival. When officers confronted the man, he threatened to take his own life and was then shot in the legs, the source said.

A high-ranking police source has reportedly indicated that terrorism has been ruled out as a motivation at this stage, BFMTV reported.

The man was travelling on board a OUIGO train connecting Rennes to Paris, arriving at Montparnasse station at 3:02pm local time (2:02pm GMT), Le Parisien reported.

A witness told BFMTV he heard a loud bang before panic broke out around him.

“It took me two or three seconds to realise what was happening. People started saying, ‘We have to get out of here, we have to leave quickly,’ so that got my heart racing and I got up and ran,” the witness told the news network.

The police intervention caused a crowd surge through the concourse, a Reuters photographer at the station said when the incident occurred.

Authorities evacuated the station, which serves suburban commuter routes and high-speed trains headed to the country’s west and southwest.

“It appears from the initial information we have received that a man known for domestic violence had brandished a knife, and that a police officer used his weapon to stop him,” the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

“The man then allegedly stabbed himself.”