Unexploded bomb causes severe delays at major train station

An unexploded wartime bomb has been found near a major transport hub, causing an evacuation of passengers and severe delays.

Train services across Birmingham were disrupted on Tuesday morning after the device – believed to be an old mortar – was discovered near a railway line.

It was found at Duddeston Mill Trading Estate, on Duddeston Mill Road, Washwood Heath, at around 9.45am, triggering an immediate emergency response.

Lines between Birmingham New Street and Duddeston were closed as bomb disposal teams moved in, forcing major delays and cancellations on routes to Tamworth, Derby and Sheffield.

National Rail warned disruption could continue into the afternoon.

A 100‑metre exclusion zone was set up around the site while specialists assessed the device.

Network Rail said it was working with the police, adding that services would remain disrupted while the incident is made safe.

A spokesperson said: “We are currently supporting West Midlands Police as they deal with an incident in Duddeston.

“As a result, some train services are currently disrupted. We will keep you updated with information as we receive it.”

Later on Tuesday, West Midlands Police told The Independent that the device had been removed and services would reopen.

A spokesperson for West Midlands Police said: “The EOD bomb disposal team attended and made the mortar safe. The exclusion zone has been lifted and nearby railway line reopened.”

In an update, National Rail said: “All lines have now reopened following an earlier wartime bomb near the railway at Birmingham New Street.”

“Trains running to/from and through this station may continue to be cancelled, delayed by up to 50 minutes, revised or diverted.”

They added: “Disruption is now expected until 15:00.”

Thousands of unexploded Second World War bombs are found around the UK every year. Around 8,000 a year are dealt with by the private sector, while the military assists in larger operations.

Construction, dredging, and offshore projects frequently uncover unexploded ordnance, with those on land often found buried deep beneath the surface. At sea, the vast quantities of unexploded devices from both the First and Second World Wars are a significant hazard for offshore activities, including wind farms.

In 2024, a 500kg unexploded Nazi bomb was found by a man working on an extension in Plymouth. Hundreds of homes were evacuated in one of the country’s largest evacuations since the Second World War, and a military convoy was brought in to transport it through the streets. It was detonated at sea.

Trump says ‘nobody can take us’ after US military’s stealth capture of Maduro

President Donald Trump has praised the unrivaled strength of the U.S. military following the seizure of Venezuelan autocrat Nicolas Maduro, stating “nobody can take us.”

At the House Republican retreat Tuesday, Trump described the January 3 Delta Force stealth operation that resulted in Maduro’s capture as “brilliant.”

“We have the best weapons in the world,” the president said.

He went on to characterize Maduro — who will stand trial on narcoterrorism charges in New York — as “a violent guy” who “killed millions of people.”

Trump also warned Monday that the U.S. could launch a second attack on Venezuela if newly sworn-in President Delcy Rodríguez fails to cooperate with American officials.

“We’re prepared to do it,” Trump told NBC News.

The president told the network that the U.S. will remain involved in Venezuela for “a period of time” and ruled out snap elections in the next 30 days. “We have to fix the country first,” Trump said, adding the “U.S. is not at war with Venezuela.”

Maduro pleaded not guilty to drug charges Monday claiming he was “kidnapped” and that he is a “prisoner of war.”

Police banned Maccabi Tel Aviv fans over fears they ‘would be harmed’

West Midlands Police have been accused of “appeasement” after they admitted that they banned Israeli football fans from Birmingham because they feared sections of the community would attack them.

In an excruciating appearance before the Commons home affairs committee, the most senior figures in the force attempted to justify the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a match against Aston Villa on 6 November last year, sparking political uproar, with Sir Keir Starmer “angered by the decision”.

Assistant Chief Constable Mike O’Hara insisted that the move was “based on safety” and “there was no conspiracy”.

The admission comes as new documents revealed that there were concerns that community groups in Birmingham may arm themselves.

The fixture had been classified as high risk by West Midlands Police based on “current intelligence and previous incidents”, with the force pointing to violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam. But the Netherlands Police disputed information in a West Midlands Police report, which detailed justifications for the ban.

Giving evidence to MPs on Tuesday, Assistant Chief Constable O’Hara denied that West Midlands Police had only focused on intelligence from Dutch police, and pointed to “a huge degree of consternation” from the community around the arrival of Maccabi fans.

He admitted: “There was a lot of intelligence that people would actively seek out Maccabi fans and seek violence towards them.

“There was a range of options available. The challenge, particularly, was that the Maccabi fans would target the community. This was all forming part of the heat of the situation.”

Tory MP and former Home Office special adviser Nick Timothy hit out at the police, claiming: “The mob said Israeli fans aren’t welcome… and the police chose appeasement, and we all know where that ends.”

He accused senior officers of “lying” repeatedly in an attempt to explain their actions and failing to take on “extreme elements in the communities they are supposed to police”.

The new documents, which detail the minutes from safety advisory group meetings on the reasons behind the ban, show that the assessment made by the police was changed late to downgrade the risk to Maccabi fans to medium and upgrade the risk to people in the local community to high.

Mr Timothy told Times Radio: “What I can say with confidence is what we know from the documented evidence, and that is certainly that the police fitted the evidence to suit the predetermined decisions that they and the safety advisory group had already reached.”

The police officers received a hostile reception from MPs on the committee who struggled to understand why the Maccabi fans had been banned and why notes were not kept of crucial meetings.

Dame Karen Bradley, the Tory chair of the committee, said: “It feels to us like you felt you needed to justify banning these fans and that scraping was done to find a reason.”

In further embarrassment, the senior police officers admitted that the decision to ban Israeli fans from a football match against Aston Villa was based on fake information found in a Google search of information from a match with West Ham in 2023.

However, they also conceded that they had not made notes of their conversations with Dutch police about further information behind the ban and had “made assumptions” about the number of officers needed to police the event.

Challenged about the quality of intelligence he had given the committee previously on information regarding Maccabi’s match with Ajax in 2024, West Midlands Chief Constable Craig Guildford said: “I do stand by what was said. It was said on the basis of the information given to us.”

He said: “The information and intelligence we received and documented was all gone through. The mistake that was made in terms of West Ham was one individual doing one Google search because he couldn’t find the reference.”

Cheshire Chief Constable Mark Roberts, head of the UK football policing unit, explained: “We normally plan for away fans and their risk fans to seek disorder with rival fans. The difference here was there was a threat that some Maccabi fans might seek confrontation with the local community.

“Clearly, there was chatter on social media where there was evidence that some of the Maccabi fans, or [people who were] purporting to be, were gloating about what had gone on and that was being responded to. That was a distinguishing dynamic. This was a unique set of circumstances.”

At the time, Sir Keir condemned the ban as “the wrong decision” and home secretary Shabana Mahmood has since ordered the policing watchdog to examine how forces in England and Wales provide risk assessments to safety advisory groups, which inform on measures around high-profile events.

US and UK aircraft track Venezuelan oil tanker bearing Russian flag

Nato forces are tracking a shadow oil tanker which is evading a US blockade on Venezuela, as it sails 250 miles off the coast of Ireland.

The US, UK, France, and Ireland have all flown surveillance aircraft to monitor the Bella 1 tanker, after it fled from the Caribbean Sea last month to escape US capture.

The vessel has changed its name to the Marinera and painted a Russian flag on its side, in what appears to be an attempt to claim protection from Moscow.

Two US P-8 surveillance aircraft flying from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, a British Eurofighter Typhoon from RAF Lossiemouth, an Irish Air Corps plane and a French Navy maritime patrol aircraft have flown in the direction of the tanker in recent days, The Times reported.

Speculation is growing that US forces may attempt to board the tanker, in a move which would mirror last month’s publicised operation to seize the Skipper, an oil tanker which left a port in Venezuela last month.

The vessel is part of the so-called Venezuelan shadow fleet, which is carrying oil in breach of US and international sanctions. Washington last month announced a blockade of the fleet, shortly before US forces entered Venezuela to seize its now-deposed president, Nicolas Maduro, who is in New York facing drug charges.

The ship’s intended destination is unclear. Two officials have told CBS News that US forces would rather seize the vessel than sink it.

Intelligence sources told the broadcaster that Venezuela had considered placing military personnel on oil tankers disguised as civilians to assist the vessels in evading US blockades.

Citing two US officials, the broadcaster said US forces plan to intercept the tanker after a failed attempt by the Coast Guard to board it last month.

Two US planes that flew over the tanker passed through Irish airspace while doing so, even though the Irish government forbids military aircraft from using its airspace during military operations, The Irish Times reported.

The ship is currently listed in the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping as being ported out of Sochi, on Russia’s Black Sea. According to The New York Times, the Russian government has officially requested that the US stop all attempts to seize the ship.

Kpler, a trading intelligence website which collates detailed information on oil shipments, reported that it had transported more than 6 million barrels of Iranian oil last year, much of which was passed on to unknown vessels at sea, in attempts to conceal the final destination of the oil.

The US officials with knowledge of the plan told CBS that the seizure could come as early as this week, but also stated that the operation could end up being shelved, as is the case with some defence department plans.

Mr Trump’s “total and complete” blockade of the already-sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers last month was part of a militarised pressure campaign, which resulted in the capture of Mr Maduro in the early hours of Saturday.

“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”

But The New York Times reported on Monday that at least 16 oil tankers have disguised their geographical locations or turned off their transmission beacons in attempts to evade the naval blockade.

Labour drops behind Tories for first time since election ahead of crunch May vote

Labour has fallen behind the Conservatives in the polls for the first time since the general election, despite a new year relaunch for the party ahead of make-or-break elections in May.

Labour is on 17 per cent, only two points ahead of the Greens and behind the Tories, on 19 per cent, and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, on 26 per cent, according to a YouGov poll for The Times.

The party is also just one point ahead of the Liberal Democrats, on 16 per cent, with the Greens on 15 per cent, the survey conducted on Sunday and Monday shows.

The timing is a blow to Sir Keir Starmer, who used a long interview on Sunday morning television to try to woo voters with a new campaign against the high cost of living.

In a sign of the difficulties his embattled government faces, however, he also warned rivals inside Labour not to move against him, saying that would “gift” Mr Farage the next general election, as speculation over the PM’s future mounts.

Labour faces potentially disastrous results in the local, Scottish and Welsh elections in May.

At the end of October, leading polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice warned Labour is “in severe trouble in Wales” after the by-election loss of the traditionally Labour seat of Caerphilly. There have been similar warnings over the elections to Holyrood and councils across England.

The polling will also make it harder for Sir Keir to win over his increasingly disgruntled MPs, who have forced a series of difficult U-turns on the government, most recently over the farmer inheritance tax before Christmas.

The poll was better news for the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, signalling the first time her party has overtaken Labour since their devastating landslide election defeat in 2024.

Sir Keir has called for cabinet discipline at the meeting of his top team and told senior ministers that their challenge for 2026 is to show “hard work, focus and determination” will help squeezed households.

As Donald Trump’s US continues to threaten Greenland, Sir Keir said: “Yes, there’s a world of uncertainty and upheaval, but tackling the cost of living remains and must remain our focus.”

He added: “At the next general election we will be judged on whether we’ve delivered on things that really matter – do people feel better off, are public services improving, for which they will look to the NHS, and do people feel more safe and secure in their own community.”

“They are the issues we will be judged on at the next general election, that is our focus.

“That will require hard work, focus and determination from all of us.

“Together, as a team, we will rise to that challenge and deliver for the whole country.”

Inside the living traditions of the Pyrenees of Catalonia

The Catalan Pyrenees is rightly celebrated as one of Europe’s great year-round adventure playgrounds. The region is packed with the kind of sensational ski resorts that make it one of the continent’s great winter destinations, and when the snow melts it transforms into a green, lake-dotted hikers’ idyll. What’s less well-known is that beyond the famous trails and peaks, the hills of Catalonia contain towns and villages alive with tradition, where the people enthusiastically maintain vibrant cultural practices some of which stretch for hundreds of years.

Take, for example, the Patum of Berga, a tradition that’s been celebrated annually during the feast of Corpus Christi for more than six centuries. Originally staged to teach people about the Holy Scriptures, the Patum has evolved over time into an intense and riotous carnival, which always lives up to its former name: Bullícia del Santíssim Sagrament (frenzy of the Blessed Sacrament). These days, locals crowd the streets to watch processions and performances featuring drummers and Guites (figures with a dragon’s head, giraffe’s neck, mule’s body, and horse’s tail), angels and mace-wielding demons, giants dancing to traditional Catalan melodies, and simulated battles in which the heroes always triumph. Because of the annual differences in the Easter cycle, it doesn’t have a fixed date but always takes place between the end of May and the end of June (in 2026, the main festival runs June 3rd-7th).

Similarly raucous is the fiery summer Fallas festival in the high Pyrenees, which celebrates the summer solstice. The festivities take places in 17 villages, each of which has a slightly different tradition but all of which involve young people lighting two-metre-long flaming torches on high points in the mountains. They then walk towards their villages, dancing and drawing patterns with the lighted torches, guided by a local leader, until they reach a bonfire in the central square, which they light with the torch and traditional dances are performed.

Fire is a consistent theme across many of the longstanding traditions of the Catalan Pyrenees. Over in the village of Les in the Val d’Aran, Falles are quite different. The Crema de Eth Haro, which takes place on the eve of Saint John’s Day at the end of June, involves the burning of a tall fir tree trunk that was planted the year before. While the trunk burns, young people spin balls of fire called halhes (made of cherry bark and wire), the sparks of which are thought to bring the fire to every corner of the village.

The region is also home to some rich culinary traditions with long histories. Take, for example, the Carnaval de Solsona, a quirky, nine-day celebration where giant puppets parade through the streets, pranks unfold in the squares, and the whole town gathers for communal meals. Alongside the playful chaos, locals come together to share hearty winter dishes and regional specialities made from Solsonès produce, from rich stews to pork-based favourites. It’s a festival that blends satire, pageantry and food, bringing generations together around long tables in the main square to celebrate community, seasonality and the enduring flavours of the region.

For those looking for a rich sense of lived history, the Pyrenees of Catalonia are not just about festivals and food, the buildings are magnificent too. For an astonishing insight into life in the 12th and 13th Centuries, head to the beautifully preserved Romanesque churches in the Vall de Boí, near the border with Aragon. In all of Europe, Catalonia has perhaps the greatest collection of Romanesque murals; some of them in the National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona, others in situ in these nine stunning churches. Don’t miss Sant Climent de Taüll, which was consecrated back in 1123; its atmospheric interior and beautiful tower are a portal to distant time through video mapping.

Plan your sustainable trip to the Pyrenees of Catalonia at visitpirineus.com/en

‘One in, one out’ migrants say scheme has caused them severe harm

Migrants detained under Sir Keir Starmer’s flagship “one in, one out” returns scheme with France have said that they have been left without support, prompting a “severe mental health crisis” at the UK’s largest removal centre.

Detainees at Harmondsworth immigration removal centre, near Heathrow airport, have written a letter calling on UN bodies, inspectors and human rights organisations to investigate their detainment, which they say “feels punitive, humiliating, and designed to break us psychologically”.

Around 80 asylum seekers at the site have backed the document, which claims that they have been treated unjustly by the Home Office since their arrival in the UK. The migrants, from Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran and other countries, said that “people are breaking down” and are in mental distress, “isolated or punished instead of receiving care”.

The letter, which was first reported by The Guardian, explains that the men have been detained at Harmondsworth immigration centre alongside people with criminal convictions. It continues: “We are not criminals. Our only action was seeking asylum”.

The letter claims that all of the detainees have received refusal decisions on their asylum claims, and they have no access to lawyers.

As of December 2025, 193 people had been returned to France under the one in, one out scheme. The arrangement sees people who have arrived in the UK on small boats returned to Paris in exchange for different asylum seekers from France.

Some 195 people have been brought to the UK from France legally under the scheme, according to government data.

The scheme has come under criticism after migrants who were deported to France under the deal returned to the UK via small boat.

According to the detainees, asylum seekers who arrived in the UK via a Channel crossing were interviewed when they were “vulnerable and unwell” and when people were “exhausted, frightened and traumatised”.

They also say that their mobile phones were taken and they were given basic phones as replacements, which made contact with family members difficult, if not impossible.

The report says: “We are cut off from social media, news, and the outside world. Families do not know where we are or how we are treated. Letters are delayed. Visits are denied. This isolation is destroying us emotionally.”

Speaking about the migrant’s health concerns, the letter says: “Those in mental distress are isolated or punished instead of receiving care. Fear and despair are constant. We wake up every day asking: ‘What is our crime?’”

A total of 41,472 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats in 2025, a 13 per cent rise on 2024. However, this was not as high as the 2022 peak when nearly 46,000 people made the perilous journey.

The Harmondsworth protest comes after the government announced that new powers will enable immigration officers to seize mobile phones and sim cards from migrants.

Officers will begin taking devices from people at Manston processing centre in Kent, to download data they believe will help them gather intelligence on people smugglers.

Officers will need to be acting on specific intelligence when they decide to confiscate a mobile phone, the Home Office has said.

The new powers for law enforcement agencies are designed to speed up investigations and come after Labour’s new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act became law in December.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We do not recognise the claims relating to conditions at Harmondsworth. We regard the welfare of people detained in our care as being of utmost importance.

“Protecting the UK border is our top priority. Our landmark one in, one out scheme means we can now send those who arrive on small boats straight back to France – striking at the heart of the criminal gangs’ business model.”

‘I feel violated and dehumanised after X’s Grok AI stripped me naked’

Women say they have been left feeling “violated and humiliated” after “dehumanising” images of them have been created by users of Grok AI without their consent.

The pictures, created by X’s in-built artificial intelligence, has seen users clothes entirely digitally removed, or partially, such as being put in a bikini; with their body parts digitally altered, including their breasts being enlarged; and placed in sexualised contexts by Grok.

Evie, 22, who did not wish to share her surname, said she has been bombarded with more than 100 sexualised images of herself in less than a week, including one that digitally stripped her naked.

“I just feel like I’ve been violated,” she told The Independent. “I’m just so shocked there are people out there who can do this – and that there are so many people who will defend it and come up with excuses for this when it’s blatantly a huge violation.”

Among the digitally altered pictures of herself that Dr Daisy Dixon, 36, said she has been confronted with is an especially “frightening” one in which the Grok user “increased my breast size by like 1,000 per cent”.

Dr Dixon, a lecturer, said: “To even just be put in a bikini and having my image manipulated like that feels like an attack on your sense of self, there’s a kind of violence to it. You don’t have ownership over your body – it’s objectifying.” She highlighted the additional “power move” being deployed, which is that Grok users are not only digitally altering images but then posting them back to their victim.

Technology secretary Liz Kendall has now demanded that Elon Musk’s xAI urgently deal with its chatbot being used to create the “absolutely appalling” sexualised deepfake images. Her calls come after media watchdog Ofcom said on Monday that it had made “urgent contact” with the technology company after serious concerns were raised over Grok producing undressed images of people and sexualised images of children.

Musk has been accused of mocking the issue, which appears to be seen in his reposting of an image of a toaster with a digitally added bikini that is captioned “Grok can put a bikini on everything”, to which the X owner replied, “Not sure why, but I couldn’t stop laughing about this one,” alongside laughing emojis.

A day later, on Saturday, Musk said: “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.” X reposted this and added: “We take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.”

The company referred The Independent to this post in response to our request for comment.

In responses from X seen by The Independent, women have been told “there were no violations of the X rules in the content you reported” after they complained about degrading images of themselves that have been created by the company’s AI. Some of this content has since been removed for unclear reasons.

As of Tuesday morning, Jessaline Caine, 25, reported that Grok was still obliging requests that digitally alter a photo of her fully dressed as a three-year-old girl to put her in a string bikini, which also appeared to give her breasts. “It just disgusted me so much… This is capable of being used as a tool of destruction,” said the 25-year-old, who is a child sexual abuse survivor. “My heart really reaches out to those poor girls and boys who are in the situation I was in, and how a new layer of evil has been added to their lives.”

Ms Caine, who works in planning, said she has also faced countless versions of her social media profile picture that have been digitally altered by Grok users to put her in a string bikini. “It’s so dehumanising,” she said. “Women are being objectified and sexualised… You’re being humiliated online.” Speaking of the UK’s Online Safety Act, which pledges to provide protections for women and girls online, she said: “I don’t feel protected, I feel embarrassed.”

When asked if she feels at all protected by technology companies or the authorities, Evie, who is a photographer, replied, “Not at all,” as she accused firms of “prioritising themselves over the safety of women and users”. Dr Dixon called this yet “another issue of misogyny” as she joined calls for immediate action to be taken to tackle it.

Women’s rights campaigners, including Refuge, Women’s Aid and Womankind Worldwide, have said they are “deeply concerned” by the reports, warning that the “disturbing” rise in AI intimate image abuse, facilitated by platforms such as Grok, has “dangerous” consequences for women and girls, including to their safety and mental health. They are consequently calling for technology companies to implement effective safeguards and prevent perpetrators from causing harm – and for the government to hold them to account.

Emma Pickering, head of technology-facilitated abuse and economic empowerment at charity Refuge, said: “As technology evolves, women and girls’ safety depends on tighter regulation around image-based abuse, whether real or deepfake, as well as specialist training for prosecutors and police. Women have the right to use technology without fear of abuse, and when that right is violated, survivors must be able to access swift justice and robust protections.”

Under the Online Safety Act, social media firms must prevent and remove child sexual abuse material when they become aware of it. However, the law surrounding deepfakes of adults is more complicated. Legislation to criminalise the sharing of non-consensual deepfake images has progressed through parliament but not yet come into effect, according to Refuge.

Meanwhile, the charity says the sharing of real intimate images without consent is already illegal, but in practice this law is not being effectively enforced.

A government spokesperson said: “Sexually explicit deepfakes created without consent are degrading and harmful. We refuse to tolerate the Violence Against Women and Girls that stains our society. That is why we have legislated to ban their non-consensual creation, ensuring that offenders face the appropriate punishments for this atrocious harm.

“We have also made intimate image abuse and cyberflashing priority offences under the Online Safety Act, including where images are AI-generated. This means platforms must prevent this content from appearing online in the first place and swiftly remove it if it does.”

An Ofcom spokesperson said: “We have made urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK. Based on their response, we will undertake a swift assessment to determine whether there are potential compliance issues that warrant investigation.”