All flights grounded at Brussels Airport after ‘drone sighting’

Brussels Airport has been closed and all flights grounded after the reported sighting of a drone, Belgian air traffic control has said.

“There are no flights currently landing or taking off,” a spokeswoman said, adding she could not estimate how long the airport would remain closed.

Belgium’s busiest airport briefly reopened on Tuesday evening after two hours of disruption, but was closed again after more drone sightings. It was unclear when flights would resume.

The smaller Liege Airport also said it was currently closed after drones had been seen.

Defence Minister Theo Francken told public broadcaster RTBF that the incident appeared to be carried out by professionals intent on destabilising the country.

Bernard Quintin, the minister of the interior, asked prime minister Bart De Wever to convene the National Security Council in response to the sighting.

“We will not allow our airports to be disrupted by uncontrolled drone flights. This calls for a coordinated, national response,” he said.

Kurt Verwilligen, a spokesperson for the Belgian air traffic control service, said that shortly before 7pm GMT a drone had been seen near Brussels Airport, and the airport had therefore been closed as a security precaution.

Flight data on the Brussels Airport website shows a number of delayed and cancelled flights, with FlightRadar24 reporting some have been diverted.

Located 12 kilometres northeast of Brussels, the airport is a major hub for international travel, serving locations including the UK, Dubai, and Turkey.

A message on the airport’s website reads: “There are currently no departing or arriving flights at Brussels Airport due to drone sightings around the airport. We will provide updates as soon as we have more information.”

The last flight that appears to have departed is the 19:30 to Prague, with the last arrival into the airport at 19:50 from the Spanish island of Tenerife.

It follows similar closures in the Polish airport Lublin in September this year after multiple Russian drones reportedly crossed into Polish territory, leading to NATO fighter jets being scrambled to intercept them.

Following the incident, the Polish military’s operational command posted on X that ground-based air defence systems were on high alert, stressing that “these actions are preventive in nature” to secure Poland’s airspace and protect its citizens.

In September, Copenhagen Airport and Oslo Airport had to be closed briefly as a result of drone sightings, while drones were also seen over a Belgian military air base last weekend.

The nature of any drone incursion and how many drones may have been involved is not yet clear.

Virginia Giuffre says she was ‘a toy to be passed around’ in previously unseen interview

Virginia Giuffre told the BBC in previously unseen footage that she “was a toy” in her relationships with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, as she reflected on her introduction to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

“I was a toy. I was there to be passed around,” she said. “But I was still a human being with feelings and emotion and sadness. And to know that this man had daughters, that he was still capable of abusing me. It’s… it just doesn’t make sense.”

In the interview, which featured on BBC Panorama on Tuesday night, the late Ms Giuffre told the story of how she met Andrew in London in 2001 when she was 17 years old.

Ms Giuffre has claimed that Andrew had sex with her three times. She told the BBC: “He knows what happened, I know what happened. And there’s only one of us telling the truth.”

Andrew was formally stripped of his remaining royal titles on Thursday. A statement from Buckingham Palace said Andrew continued to deny all allegations against him.

Plane crash near US airport causes injuries and fire

A UPS plane crashed near Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday evening, causing injuries and sending a plume of fire and black smoke into the sky.

Officials from multiple agencies are responding to the crash, the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department wrote on X.

Police described the site of the crash near Fern Valley and Grade Lane as an “active scene with fire and debris,” with multiple injuries reported.

A UPS MD-11 aircraft crashed around 5:15pm local time after the plane departed the airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Honolulu-bound plane had three crew members onboard, according to UPS.

“At this time, we have not confirmed any injuries/casualties,” the company wrote in a statement.

The Louisville airport is a major hub for the company.

Aerial video of the crash site shared by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation shows a raging fire and an industrial-looking building with damage to its roof.

The cargo plane was carrying 280,000 gallons of fuel at the time of the crash, a spokesperson for Mayor Craig Greenberg told The New York Times.

The jet reached an altitude of about 175 feet then began to fall sharply, according to flight data tracker Flightradar24.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.

The airfield has temporarily been closed as the situation develops, according to officials there.

The public is urged to stay away from the site of the crash, and a shelter-in-place order has been issued for locations including the 5-mile radius around the airport. Minors Lane Elementary students, whose school is within the radius, were forced to evacuate.

“The situation is serious,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear wrote on X. “Please pray for the families affected. I’m headed to Louisville now.”

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy called the crash “heartbreaking.”

“Please join me in prayer for the Louisville community and flight crew impacted by this horrific crash,” he wrote on X.

The crash comes at a time of intense strain on the U.S. air transit system during the ongoing government shutdown.

Air traffic controllers have been forced to work without pay, and staffing shortages have caused delays at airports around the country.

Grooming gang investigations dropped by police due to ‘human error’

Police investigations into alleged grooming gangs were dropped because of potential human error, the early stages of a national review into cases has suggested.

Under Operation Beaconport, thousands of alleged child abuse cases that did not result in a suspect being charged are set to be reviewed, with some likely to be reopened and proceeded to the courts.

So far, the National Crime Agency-led review has received 1,273 referrals of cases from 23 police forces, including 236 involving allegations of rape.

Speaking to journalists at a briefing on Tuesday, NCA deputy director of investigations, Nigel Leary, said: “Initial reviews have identified that in some cases where there has been a decision to take no further action (NFA), there were available lines of inquiry that could have been pursued. We’ve seen in those cases what appears to be potentially human error.

“We’ve seen in some cases that those investigations haven’t followed what we would characterise as proper investigative practice, actually that would have contributed to the NFA decision.

“That includes, for example, lines of inquiry being identified but not being followed, victim accounts not being taken in a way that we would recognise as best practice, and suspects not being pursued or interviewed in the ways that we would anticipate.”

Asked if there had been evidence of misconduct or criminal activity in why cases did not progress, Mr Leary said it was too early to say, but added: “We are alive to it and in the event we identify it, we will adopt our standard protocol which will be liaison with the professional standards department within the force in relation to any officer who is still serving in question. It will be then for them to determine an appropriate course of action…. that might be a referral to the IOPC [Independent Office of Police Conduct].”

Operation Beaconport is to review cases from between January 1 2010 and March 31 2025. Each one must involve two or more suspects, more than one victim, contact offences and have the suspects still alive.

Every file passed on by a police force will be assessed, and potentially passed back to reopen the investigation under the eyes of dedicated officers at the Home Office-funded project. Complex cases may be investigated by the NCA.

The cost of the scheme, run in partnership with the Child Sexual Exploitation taskforce and the Tackling Organised Exploitation (TOEX) programme, is not yet known.

Mr Leary called the operation the “most comprehensive investigation of its type in UK history”, but made clear that not all files will result in the reopening of cases. Reopened cases destined for criminal justice could take years to reach the courts, he added.

He said: “There’s going to be many challenges which mean that investigations into non-recent sexual offenses are going to take time. They are complex by nature. Offence locations may no longer exist, witnesses may no longer be in the area… and there will often be no forensic evidence available.”

Asked if suspects could attempt to flee the country due to the possibility of a case reopening, Jav Oomer, director of Operation Beaconport, said there were “extradition options” that could be used, with the operation working with Europol and Interpol.

He said: “The first and foremost is this mission to ensure that victim survivors of group-based child sexual exploitation receive tailored justice. And that’s justice will have different meanings for each victim or survivor. And for some it will mean the reopening of an investigation and a criminal conviction of offenders.

“For others, it might just mean that they’re being heard and believed when they haven’t been before. And it will mean victims and survivors receiving acknowledgement and potentially where there’s opportunity or there is any wrongdoing that’s been identified for an apology.”

The operation’s findings will also be used to “identify learning” for police forces and will be shared with the long-awaited public inquiry into grooming gangs, which is now due to start next year after the loss of two candidates to chair the probe.

Three years ago, The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, set up after the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal, described child sexual abuse as an “epidemic” in England and Wales.

Earlier this month, an inspection by the police watchdog His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services found progress had been made by forces in tackling grooming gangs, but said issues over data accuracy and co-ordination nationally risked weakening the policing response.

Speaking at the briefing on Operation Beaconport, Richard Fewkes, from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said: “There is much more work to be done… what Beaconport will do is significantly accelerate this work, improve further what police forces do in their approach to group-based child sexual exploitation, and it will ensure that there is a sustainable model of response and investigation that is developed and endures beyond Beaconport itself.”

Liverpool banish recent woes with restorative victory over Real Madrid

Arne Slot could be forgiven for thinking this is an annual event in autumn on Merseyside. For the second consecutive year, Real Madrid were beaten on a heady night during an electric Anfield atmosphere. Just like last year, Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring, the World Cup winner serving as the scourge of the European Cup’s most storied club.

The difference – and perhaps the reason why this felt a still greater feat – is that Liverpool had stumbled into a potentially defining week. “We had a very bad run of form in terms of results,” said Slot. “No excuse in the world can make up for us losing so many games.” But after six defeats in seven games, they have overcome Aston Villa, winners of one European Cup, and Real, winners of a mere 15. From the worst run of Slot’s managerial career, Liverpool delivered their best performance of the season. This was restorative. This was remarkable.

“It was impressive because we played against an incredible side, that is in an unbelievable run of form,” said Slot. Real arrived with 13 wins in 14 games this season and a 100 per cent record in the Champions League. They departed defeated, perhaps demoralised. They had scored in every game this season until they encountered Liverpool, who had spent much of the campaign looking fragile at the back. And yet, apart from a Jude Bellingham shot that Giorgi Mamardashvili repelled, Liverpool’s backup goalkeeper could simply watch a display that suggested Liverpool are back. “The whole team defended really well,” said Slot. After two clean sheets all season, they have two in consecutive games. Suddenly, they have savoured the sense of being hard to beat.

Anfield’s record European attendance brought the noise. Slot’s unrelenting players provided the energy on the pitch. Liverpool were powered by the midfield and it was fitting they made the difference. Real were bruised by Liverpool’s physicality, unable to cope by legal methods. “We gave away far too many free kicks,” said Xabi Alonso. One proved particularly costly.

For the second successive season, it was Mac Allister who broke the deadlock. Scoring against Real is a happy habit and the Argentinian headed in Dominik Szoboszlai’s free kick. “We can say we beat them because of a set-piece,” said Slot. It was a goal that could also be attributed to weight of pressure as much as anything else but it involved all three of the midfield, with Ryan Gravenberch winning the free kick when fouled by Bellingham. Rewind to 2023 and, when Liverpool had initially hoped to sign the Englishman and he chose Real, they instead pivoted to bring in Mac Allister, Szoboszlai and Gravenberch. This was not a night when Liverpool needed to rue the one who got away; or the two, given that Aurelien Tchouameni is another former Liverpool target in the Real midfield.

But the last two games are signs that Mac Allister has finally regained his sharpness. At a stroke, Liverpool looked more formidable. And yet, if the Argentinian was upstaged, it was because the ubiquitous Szoboszlai was magnificent. He ended with an assist on a night when he almost scored a goal and it seemed he had won a penalty. One way or another, he would not be denied.

Yet, for an hour, Liverpool were frustrated. This, it seemed, was the 2022 final all over again, Liverpool facing an old nemesis. It was not, as billed, Liverpool against Trent Alexander-Arnold but Liverpool against Thibaut Courtois, not their former player but their familiar enemy. “Thibaut was fantastic,” said Xabi Alonso.

Courtois made nine saves in Paris in 2022. There were a host more in a rematch, four of them from Szoboszlai. The Belgian made a brilliant block from the Hungarian when he was released by Florian Wirtz as Liverpool launched a lightning-quick break.

There were two saves from corners in a minute, with first Virgil van Dijk and then Hugo Ekitike denied in triumphs of Courtois’s reflexes. He also thwarted Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo, the other scorer last year.

If Courtois gave Real a reprieve, so did the officials. Liverpool briefly thought they had a penalty when Szoboszlai’s drive hit Tchouameni’s hands and referee Istvan Kovacs was sent to the monitor. He instead overturned his initial decision of a free kick, ruling the Frenchman’s hands were in a natural position. Anfield was not impressed, though the decision was probably correct. Slot’s players produced the right response. “We performed our gameplan perfectly,” said Van Dijk.

Real did not. Alonso, part of a Liverpool team who beat Real 4-0 here 16 years ago, experienced another wonderful Anfield European night, though he had rather less to enjoy in this rematch. He ended up booked for his late protests, though at least a 2005 Champions League winner was spared the treatment afforded to Alexander-Arnold.

It made for a thoroughly miserable return for the Liverpudlian. Hours before kick-off, his mural was defaced. He was booed in the warm-up, his every touch jeered when he came on for the last 10 minutes. “It could be expected,” added Alonso. “He is professional and mature so he was ready for that.”

Mostly, however, the Kop celebrated the right-back who has replaced Alexander-Arnold in their affections by chanting for Conor Bradley. “To be up against Vinicius [Junior] so many times one-v-one is not for everyone,” said Slot. But the Northern Irishman relished the challenge. Anfield echoed to the sound of the Northern Irishman’s name when, in a role reversal, Vinicius was booked for fouling Bradley, tugging back the marauding right-back. “Conor was outstanding,” said Slot. For the second successive season, he played superbly against Real. For the second successive season, so did Liverpool.

Enriching escapes: find your perfect luxury break

UK ‘sliding into avoidable crisis’ on workplace sickness, review warns

The UK is “sliding into an avoidable crisis” on work, the author of a major review has warned, with one in five adults now out of the labour force.

Overall, 2.8 million working age people are now economically inactive due to health conditions, according to the Keep Britain Working review released on Wednesday.

Among 16-34 year-olds, the number of people out of work due to long-term sickness and with a mental health condition increased by 76 per cent between 2019 and 2024.

Ex-John Lewis boss Sir Charlie Mayfield was commissioned by the government to lead the report that would look at how officials and businesses could work together to get people who are disabled or long-term sick into jobs.

His report found that poor workplace health costs UK employers around £85 billion a year.

It also warned that Britons being unable to work due to ill health is costing the country around 7% of GDP (gross domestic product).

Sir Charlie said there is “broad recognition that Britain is facing a quiet but urgent crisis”, with ill health now one of the biggest drivers of economic inactivity in the UK.

His review told of a culture of fear among workers around ill health, a lack of an effective or consistent support system for employers and employees in managing health, and structural challenges for disabled people.

Among the figures detailed in the document, Sir Charlie said that 800,000 more people are out of work than were in 2019 due to health problems, with projections that this could climb by a further 600,000 by 2030.

He said that “young adults are being hit hard” and added: the growth in 16-34 year-olds with a mental health condition who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness is particularly concerning, having risen by 190,000 (76%) between 2019 and 2024”.

Publishing the document, the ex-retail boss said: “Britain is sliding into an avoidable crisis. Ill-health has become one of the biggest brakes on growth and opportunity. But this is not inevitable.

“Employers are uniquely placed to make a difference, preventing health issues where possible, supporting people when they arise, and helping them return to work. If we keep Britain working, everyone wins – people, employers, and the state.”

He has proposed a new approach where responsibility for health at work is shared between employers, employees and health services rather than being left to the worker and the NHS.

While Sir Charlie said employers must do more to help their employees, he warned that workers must play their part.

He wrote: “Work can be demanding. Setbacks are part of life. Health and work are not always easy partners, but they are mutually reinforcing.”

The so-called review was officially launched in January and was tasked with examining “spiralling levels of inactivity”, as ministers are looking at how to get people back into work.

Among its recommendations, the review called for the adoption of a workplace health provision, which it described as a non-clinical case management service supporting employees and line managers across a so-called healthy working lifecycle.

It said this approach, offering support and advice and early intervention, could be integrated with the NHS App and reduce or replace the need for the current fit note.

The Government said more than 60 employers – including the British Beer and Pub Association, Burger King, John Lewis and Google UK – have expressed interest in becoming so-called vanguard employers to pioneer the overall new approach.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said Sir Charlie’s message is “crystal clear: keeping people healthy and in work is the right thing to do and is essential for economic growth”.

He added: “Business is our partner in building a productive workforce – because when businesses retain talent and reduce workplace ill health, everyone wins.

“That’s why we’re acting now to launch employer-led vanguards as part of the plan for change, driving economic growth and opportunity across the country.”

Pregnant teenager Bella Culley arrives in UK after Georgia jail ordeal

British teenager Bella Culley has arrived back in the UK after being freed from jail in Georgia, where she was held on drug smuggling charges for nearly half a year.

The 19-year-old, from Billingham in Teesside,was filmed walking through Luton airport by the BBC arm-in-arm with her mother after her flight touched down at around 7pm on Tuesday.

Her lawyer said on Monday that prosecutors had made changes to her plea deal and decided to free her on account of her age and pregnancy.

Her family had recently paid £137,000 to reduce her sentence to two years, with Ms Culley initially facing up to 20 years in jail in Georgia.

Ms Culley was arrested in May after she was accused of smuggling 12kg of marijuana and 2kg of hashish into the country in her hold luggage.

She initially pleaded not guilty to possession and trafficking illegal drugs at a hearing in July, and said she had been tortured into transporting them by a gang.

Ms Culley told the Tbilisi court: “I did not want to do this. I was forced to do this through torture. I just wanted to travel. I am a good person. I am a student at university. I am a clean person. I don’t do drugs.”

Her lawyer told the court at a pre-trial hearing that she had been threatened with a hot iron to travel with the suitcase filled with drugs. The teenager stood in front of the judge in the courtroom and showed her scarred right wrist.

She was found guilty on Monday and sentenced to five months and 25 days in prison, the amount of time she had already spent in custody.

Case prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalughelashvili told the Associated Press that Georgian prosecutors had considered a two-year sentence, but ultimately “decided to consider” time already served.

“We are very grateful that they took Bella’s situation and financial condition into consideration,” Culley’s lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, told reporters.

Ms Culley and her mother cried as the verdict was read out. The teenager had been told shortly before the session.

She was transferred to a mother and baby unit over the weekend before she was freed.

During her time in prison, she had said she had been forced to boil pasta in a kettle to eat and dig a hole in the ground to use the toilet.

Ms Culley is 35 weeks pregnant and is understood to have become pregnant while travelling Southeast Asia.

She had been reported missing in Thailand and was arrested shortly after in Georgia.