A teenager who appeared on Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams has died in a car crash.

Umar Mahmood, 18, was seriously injured when the Audi A3 Sport he was driving left the road and collided with trees in Preston, Lancashire, on Tuesday. He died in hospital.

Adam Bodi, 16, a backseat passenger, was also killed, while a 17-year-old who was also in the car remains in hospital, police said.

Former England cricket star Flintoff had coached Umar in his BBC One television series.

Paying tribute to the teenager, the head of Penwortham Priory Academy, his former school, described him as “bright, studious and well-loved”.

Matt Eastham, the school’s principal, said: “We are again saddened as a school to hear the news that Umar, who was in the same accident as Adam, and who left Priory two years ago, has also passed away.

“Umar was a bright, studious and well-loved member of our school community. He had a passion for geography as well as his cricket, playing for Priory’s school team and appearing in the BBC One documentary Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams. 

“It was a privilege for us here at Priory to know Umar. He was a young man who was always considerate to those around him and who showed ambition and kindness in all that he did.

“We give our sincere condolences to all of Umar’s family and friends on behalf of the school at what will be a very difficult time. They too are in our thoughts and prayers today.”

In a tribute to Adam, Mr Eastham said: “Adam was an amazing pupil, of whom we have nothing but fantastic memories.

“He was popular, bright, confident and had a fantastic sense of humour alongside being a first-class footballer, who had been part of our football team here at Priory for five years. We know that the rest of his year group will be equally upset at losing one of their own.

“Adam was a fantastic young man, and he, his family and friends are very much in our thoughts and prayers.”

Sgt Paul McCurrie, of Lancashire Constabulary, said: ‘This was a collision with tragic circumstances. Two young people have died, and I wish to extend my sympathy to their families, loved ones and friends. 

“We are investigating how the collision happened, and we continue to ask for anyone who witnessed it to contact us.

“Also, if anyone was driving in the Chain Caul Lane area around the time of the collision and has dash-cam footage, or they have CCTV footage from the area, please get in touch.”

Russian accusations that six British diplomats engaged in “spying and sabotage” in Moscow are “completely baseless”, the Foreign Office has said.

The Russian FSB security service said on Friday it had expelled the group after it obtained documents showing that a Foreign Office department was overseeing the “escalation of the political and military situation”, including plans for the strategic defeat of Moscow’s forces in Ukraine.

Responding to the Kremlin move, the Foreign Office said: “The accusations made today by the FSB against our staff are completely baseless.

“The Russian authorities revoked the diplomatic accreditation of six UK diplomats in Russia last month, following action taken by the UK government in response to Russian state-directed activity across Europe and in the UK.”

It added: “We are unapologetic about protecting our national interests.”

The Foreign Office statement was released after Russian state media named the six British diplomats as Jessica Davenport, Grace Elvin, Callum Duff, Catherine McDonnell, Thomas Stevenette and Blake Pattel.

Ms Davenport was previously a second secretary and assistant to Nigel Casey, the Russian ambassador. Mr Duff, Mr Pattel and Mr Stevenette are also second secretaries, according to the Russian foreign ministry website. It said Ms McDonnell is a first secretary.

The diplomats were expelled after Russian counter-intelligence officers became “tired” of chasing them around Moscow as they engaged in “classic British espionage”, an FSB employee told state-controlled news channel Rossiya-24.

Tactics reportedly included making rapid changes of public transport and “sitting for several hours on benches in the freezing cold” as they waited to meet members from banned groups.

Their spouses were allegedly deployed as spies, while young children were used to “cover up” their spying activity, the officer added. “Basically, one cannot speak of any diplomatic etiquette,” the FSB officer told the news channel.

The move comes after Vladimir Putin warned Britain and the United States they would be “at war” with Russia if they gave Ukraine permission to use Western long-range missiles to strike targets across the border.

“Thus, the facts revealed give grounds to consider the activities of British diplomats sent to Moscow by the directorate as threatening the security of the Russian Federation,” the FSB said in a statement.

“In this connection, on the basis of documents provided by the Federal Security Service of Russia and as a response to the numerous unfriendly steps taken by London, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, in cooperation with the agencies concerned, has terminated the accreditation of six members of the political department of the British Embassy in Moscow in whose actions signs of spying and sabotage were found,” it said.

Pro-Kremlin propagandists published details on Friday of what they claimed was a UK Foreign Office department used to “wage a hybrid war with Russia”.

Rybar, an influential Russian war blogger, named senior figures like Sir Tim Barrow, the national security adviser, and Sir Philip Barton, the Foreign Office’s most senior civil servant, as being part of the so-called Information Threats and Influence Directorate.

Its channel on the Telegram messaging app said they were involved in the dissemination of pro-Western information throughout Russia, where the media is mostly controlled by Putin’s Kremlin.

The six diplomats expelled from Moscow were named by Russian state television, which also broadcast their photographs.

‘The English did not take our hints… so we decided to expel them’

“The English did not take our hints about the need to stop this practice (of carrying out intelligence activities inside Russia), so we decided to expel these six to begin with,” an FSB employee told the Rossiya-24 state TV channel.

The FSB threatened to expel other British diplomats if they were found to be involved in the alleged activities.

Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesman, told the Tass news agency that the British embassy in Moscow had gone beyond diplomatic convention.

Britain has previously expelled Russian diplomats it has accused of being involved in spying and espionage.

Maxim Elovik, its former defence attache in the country, was thrown out as part of sanctions introduced by James Cleverly, the former Home Secretary, to crack down on “malign” Russian activity in Britain and Europe.

Jay Blades, the BBC presenter, has been charged with engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour towards his wife.

Blades, 54, appeared at Kidderminster magistrates’ court on Friday after being charged by West Mercia Police with one count of engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship.

According to court documents, the charge relates to his wife Lisa Zbozen, a fitness instructor, who announced on her Instagram page in May that their relationship was over.

The couple married in the grounds of a beachfront villa in Barbados on Nov 22 2022.

Blades, who fronts primetime show The Repair Shop, will appear at Worcester crown court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on Oct 11.

West Mercia Police said: “Fifty-four-year-old Jason Blades, of Claverley in Wolverhampton, has been charged with controlling and coercive behaviour.

“He appeared at Kidderminster magistrates’ court this morning and has been bailed to appear at Worcester crown court on Friday Oct 11.”

Furniture restorer Blades, who was made an MBE for services to craft in 2022, found fame on The Repair Shop, the restoration programme he has presented since 2017. It sees members of the public take worn-out family heirlooms to be restored by a team of experts.

Last May, he won a daytime Bafta TV award along with other members of The Repair Shop for a special featuring the King. In it, Blades and the restorers visited Charles at Dumfries House in Scotland for The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit.

The programme also won the daytime prize at the National Television Awards.

Blades also presented the BBC’s Money For Nothing until 2020, appeared on Celebrity Masterchef, Celebrity Bake Off and Comic Relief, and delved into the history of the West Midlands and the East End for two Channel 5 documentaries.

Last March, he became Buckinghamshire New University’s first chancellor, having studied for a degree in criminology and philosophy from 2001.

The most powerful typhoon to hit Vietnam in decades has killed at least 233 people and injured hundreds more after ripping through the country’s mountainous north, burying entire villages.

The south-east Asian nation has been lashed with torrential rains and blistering winds since Typhoon Yagi made landfall on Saturday, triggering lethal landslides and flash floods and forcing 130,000 people from their homes.

While Hanoi was swamped after the Red River reached its highest level in 20 years, the worst hit province has been Lao Cai, which is roughly 160 miles north-west of the capital city close to the border with China.

An entire village in Lao Cai was buried in a landslide and 48 bodies have already been recovered, but 39 people remain missing, according to the state-run VNExpress newspaper.

“Their families are in agony,” Pham Minh Chinh, the prime minister, said after visiting the scene at Lang Nu on Thursday.

Rescue efforts have been hampered by severe damage to the roads, but coffins have been stacked near the disaster site in preparation for the worst.

“It’s a disaster,” Tran Thi Ngan, a Lang Nu villager, told VTV News, as she mourned her lost family members at a makeshift altar. “That’s the fate we have to accept.”

Typhoon Yagi’s colossal deluge has also destroyed more than 250,000 hectares of crops and damaged factories in provinces like Haiphong, which is home to plants that supply Apple and other electronics manufacturers.

Although heavy storms hit southeast Asia annually, a study published in July found that climate change is making typhoons more intense, causing the weather phenomenon to form closer to the coast and linger for longer over land.

The latest typhoon also hit Vietnam’s neighbours, with the Myanmar fire service announcing that at least 36 people have so far been killed and 50,000 forced from their homes.

According to the AFP news agency, hundreds of villagers around the conflict-ridden country’s capital, Naypyidaw, had to wade through chin-high waters to flee severe floods in the area. Further north in Mandalay, one group of villagers rode elephants to escape rising waters.

Meanwhile, in Thailand, the coach of the Wild Boars football team – which captured international attention after they became trapped in a cave for three weeks by flash floods in 2018 – was among those caught out by Typhoon Yagi.

Ekkapol Chantawong and his family were left with no option but to escape to their roof after a flash flood hit his village on Tuesday.

“I was scared but I told myself I have to be calm. Wait and assess the situation,” he told AFP. “We can’t say what will be, but I hope I don’t have to go up on the roof again tonight.”

German police have arrested a Syrian man in Bavaria on suspicion of planning a machete attack on soldiers.

Prosecutors in Bavaria said the 27-year-old Syrian had bought two machetes as part of plans to attack Bundeswehr soldiers on their lunch break in the town of Hof.

German news site T-Online said the suspect had a radical Islamist background, and that the goal of his attack was to “unsettle and cause a stir”. He was arrested on Thursday.

The arrest came as Germany’s government seeks to toughen its stance on irregular migration and border security, after a Syrian refugee killed three people at a music festival in Solingen, in the west of the country, in August.

It also follows an incident in Bavaria last week in which an Austrian man was shot dead outside the Israeli embassy in Munich, having turned up with a long-barrelled gun.

The suspect, said to be an Islamic State supporter, exchanged fire with five German officers before he was killed.

The Israeli consulate had been closed at the time for a ceremony commemorating the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre by Black September, a Palestinian armed group.

Nancy Faeser, the German interior minister, announced that from Monday there will be additional passport checks at all of the country’s land borders to increase security. 

Germany already conducts such checks at its eastern borders to tackle mass migration and organised crime.

“The federal police can now apply the complete package of stationary and mobile border policing measures along the entire German border… These efforts are only possible because we have increased funding and added a thousand officers each year, and we will continue to do so,” Ms Faeser said in a statement.

“Coordinating with our neighbouring countries remains our high priority, as does minimising the impacts on commuters and on daily life in the border regions as far as possible,” she added.

Large swathes of people in the Gaza Strip with “life-changing injuries” will require ongoing rehabilitation services for years to come, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

As fighting continues inside the besieged enclave, a new report has estimated that at least one quarter of those injured – some 22,500 people – will require ongoing trauma rehabilitation and suffer with permanent disability.

The projection, estimated using injury data from emergency medical teams in Gaza, found that those with severe limb injuries, up to 17,500, are the main driver of rehabilitation needs, with spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury and major burn injuries also significant contributors.

“The huge surge in rehabilitation needs occurs in parallel with the ongoing decimation of the health system,” said Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory.

“Patients can’t get the care they need. Acute rehabilitation services are severely disrupted and specialised care for complex injuries is not available, placing patients’ lives at risk.”

The report found that at least 4,050 limb amputations have occurred. In January, UNICEF estimated that around 1,000 children in Gaza had lost one or both their legs – equivalent to 10 children losing legs every day.

Only 17 of 36 hospitals remain partially functional in Gaza, while primary health care services are frequently suspended or rendered inaccessible.

Gaza’s only limb reconstruction and rehabilitation centre – located in Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, central Gaza and supported by WHO – became non-functional in December 2023.

The current crisis in Gaza is unique because the medical system has all but collapsed, with most hospitals damaged or completely destroyed by the unrelenting Israeli attacks and evacuation orders forcing the displacement of health workers.

The report added that many of those injured are suffering with more than one injury.

Federico Dessi, the Regional Director for the Middle East for Humanity & Inclusion (HI), also known as Handicap International, told The Telegraph that many surgeons don’t have time to treat multiple fracture wounds.

“Some fractures are left untreated, which then means that they can’t heal if the bone is not connected, it cannot fix itself,” he said.

On a recent visit to Gaza, Mr Dessi met a man who, injured around three months before, was left in debilitating pain and permanently disabled when doctors only had time to treat one of his two leg fractures.

“Three months later, he was still sitting, laying on his bed in a little shack … once a month he would go back to the hospital and ask if they had time to put him on the list,” he said. “I was in Rafah and the hospital then closed down.”

The WHO report states that in-patient rehabilitation and prosthetic services are no longer available in Gaza. It added that the demand for assistive products, such as wheelchairs and crutches, far exceeded the available equipment.

Mr Dessi said that even those people suffering with injuries or disabilities able to access such equipment are still severely limited.

“They spend 99 per cent of their time stuck in the room or the tent where they live. Even if they can move around, with crutches or a wheelchair, they move around maybe 50 metres here and there,” he said.

“Most of the streets are damaged, most of the camps are on the sandy beach, so you cannot really move with a wheelchair, you can’t really go anywhere…they’re stuck.”

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Donald Trump has ruled out debating Kamala Harris for a second time before the US presidential election.

The former president said he would not appear on stage with Ms Harris again, arguing that she should spend the coming months focusing on illegal migration and inflation instead.

Trump and Ms Harris debated for the first time in Philadelphia on Tuesday, when she was widely considered to have won.

Her campaign immediately called for a second debate to be held before polling day, but Trump suggested afterwards that he would not be willing to participate again.

Writing on Truth Social on Thursday, he confirmed the decision and compared Ms Harris to a boxer calling for a rematch after losing a fight.

“When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH,’” he wrote. “Polls clearly show that I won the Debate against Comrade Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ Radical Left Candidate, on Tuesday night, and she immediately called for a Second Debate.

“She was a no-show at the Fox Debate, and refused to do NBC & CBS. KAMALA SHOULD FOCUS ON WHAT SHE SHOULD HAVE DONE DURING THE LAST ALMOST FOUR YEAR PERIOD. THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!”

Speaking at a rally in North Carolina on Thursday, Ms Harris told supporters: “Two nights ago, Donald Trump and I had our first debate. And I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate, because this election and what is at stake could not be more important.”

Trump’s decision comes after he said he would debate Joe Biden as many times as possible before their head-to-head in June, when Mr Biden’s disastrous performance ultimately led to his resignation from the presidential race.

Some Republicans called for Trump to debate Ms Harris again after his attack lines were derailed by his lengthy asides on migration. 

After Ms Harris claimed that supporters at his rallies were “bored”, Trump falsely claimed that migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating the pets of local residents.

Polls taken after the debate showed most American voters believe that Ms Harris won.

Dennis Lennox, a veteran Republican strategist, welcomed the decision and told The Telegraph that a second debate could have worsened Trump’s polling numbers with swing state voters.

“There was too much risk. Another debate would only serve to help Ms Harris,” he said. “With early voting starting, Trump and the former president’s allies need to focus on turning out the vote and winning Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

“Those are the only states that matter at this point in the campaign. This election will be won or lost by early October.”

The Duke of Sussex has said his mission is to do good in the world, as he prepares to turn 40 this week.

He added that although he was anxious about turning 30, he is looking forward to his 40th birthday.

The Duke told The BBC: “I was anxious about 30, I’m excited about 40.”

In a statement to the broadcaster, the prince added: “Whatever the age, my mission is to continue showing up and doing good in the world.”

He will celebrate this birthday on Sunday with his family in California.

It is understood he will then go on a holiday with a group of close friends.

Fatherhood is ‘one of life’s great joys’

The Duke also spoke about the importance of his children, Archie, five, and Lilibet, three, ahead of the milestone.

He said: “Becoming a father of two incredibly kind and funny kids has given me a fresh perspective on life, as well as sharpening my focus in all my work,” he said in the statement.

“Being a dad is one of life’s greatest joys and has only made me more driven and more committed to making this world a better place.”

The past decade has been turbulent for the Duke with his familial relationships fraying as he stepped back from royal duties and moved to the US.

The Duke has made no secret of his wish to reunite with the King, despite conflicting narratives emerging from the two camps about efforts to make contact and who is rebuffing who.

In 2014, when he turned 30 and returned from his second tour with the British Army in Afghanistan, he founded the Invictus Games, a sporting competition for wounded Armed Forces veterans.

The Duke is now said to be heavily focused on the next iteration of the Games, which takes place in Vancouver and Whistler in February next year, as well as various US-based projects that have not yet been announced.

Video footage has shown the moment a man smashes his way into a gallery before escaping seconds later with one of Banksy’s most famous works of art.

The piece, called Girl With Balloon, depicts a young girl reaching out towards a red, heart-shaped balloon and is worth £270,000 according to court documents.

A shredded version of the painting was sold for $25 million (£19 million) in October 2021. However, an unsigned screenprint is said to be worth £90,000, according to MyArtBroker.

Larry Fraser, 47, from Beckton, east London, and James Love, 53, from North Stifford, Essex, have been charged with burglary after the piece was taken from the Grove Gallery at around 11pm on Sept 8.

CCTV shows a hooded person smashing through a glass door before entering the building and taking the picture from the wall.

The charges follow an investigation by detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Flying Squad after the burglary took place at the gallery in New Cavendish Street, Westminster.

The artwork has since been recovered and will be returned to the gallery, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

Fraser and Love were charged with non-residential burglary on Tuesday in relation to the incident and remanded in custody.

They appeared at Wimbledon magistrates’ court the following day where they were granted bail and are due to appear at Kingston Crown Court on Oct 9.

Banksy’s work, known for its social commentary artworks and subversive style, has had many of his pieces stolen previously.

Last month a new piece by the artist was taken within an hour of being revealed.

The stencil of a howling wolf on a satellite dish in Rye Lane, Peckham, was taken by masked me shortly after Banksy confirmed the artwork was his own on his official Instagram.

In December, another Banksy piece in Peckham was stolen shortly after being unveiled.

The installation – three aircraft resembling military drones on a stop sign – was removed by a man with bolt cutters.

Lindor Mehmetaj, senior art consultant at the gallery, said he arrived on Monday morning to find the door had been smashed and the painting nearest the entrance missing.

The robbery took place on Sunday, the day after a two-and-a-half-week exhibition Breakout: Banksy’s London Rebellion had ended.

‘It was absolute chaos’

“On Monday morning I was coming to the gallery for a normal day in the office as usual, following a business trip when I realised the front door had been completely smashed,” Mr Mehmetaj told The Telegraph.

“We had been robbed. We had a £1.5 million collection of Banksy’s masterpieces – limited-edition signed prints, originals. You know, it was a fantastic show that we had in the last two, three weeks and it was absolute chaos to see that we have been robbed.

“I was petrified to see a lot of glass everywhere, a lot of people staring, other artwork still in the gallery, just unfortunately, a gallery that had been subjected to some crime.

“As soon as you come into the gallery you have the Girl With Balloon, one of Banksy’s most iconic pieces, the original sold for £18 million was shredded at Sotheby’s.

“We had a limited-edition signed print that holds a value of up to £300,000.”

The most valuable artwork was a £500,000 test spray of Banksy’s Rat With Sunglasses.

Officers were not called until 10 hours after the robbery when Mr Mehmetaj made the “horrifying” discovery.

He said: “Nobody had reported it to the police.

“It was nine o’clock in the morning. Whether it was targeted or not I don’t know but obviously the reputation we have as the gallery to showcase masterpieces is fantastic. Unfortunately it can be a double-edged sword.”

The print is currently on an easel at the gallery covered in its police evidence bag and will be placed under “24/7 security” and sent back to a storage facility.

Mr Mehmetaj said he “believed an alarm did go off” but the gallery would now be getting shutters.

New York is to consider paying reparations to the descendants of slaves, under plans approved by the city council.

The proposals still need to be signed into law by Democratic Mayor Eric Adams.

However, they would create a truth and reconciliation process to establish historical facts about slavery in the state and direct the city’s Commission on Racial Equity to suggest remedies to the legacy of slavery, including reparations.  

New York fully abolished slavery in 1827. But businesses, including the predecessors of some modern banks, are believed to have benefited financially from the slave trade as late as 1866.

One of the proposals would also require the city to install a sign on Wall Street in Manhattan to mark the site of New York’s first slave market.

“The reparations movement is often misunderstood as merely a call for compensation,” said Farah Louis, a Democratic council member who sponsored one of the bills.

She told the city council that systemic forms of oppression still affected people, including through the underfunding of services in predominantly black neighbourhoods.

“Does that mean we are going to hand everyone a check? No,” Ms Louis said, according to The New York Times. “But starting the conversation is the most important part.”

However, Joseph Borelli, the council’s Republican minority leader, who represents Staten Island, criticised the plans.

“I bear no responsibility for slavery,” Mr Borelli said in an interview. “Unless someone could explain to me why I should bear some individual and societal guilt through my taxes, I’m going to be opposed.”

The Commission on Racial Equity would work with an existing state commission that is already considering the possibility of reparations for slavery. A report from the state commission is expected in early 2025, and the city commission is expected to make recommendations in 2027.

The city’s commission was created out of a 2021 racial justice initiative during then-Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration. Although it was initially expected to consider reparations, instead it led to the creation of the commission, tracking data on the cost of living and adding a commitment to remedy “past and continuing harms” to the city charter’s preamble.

“Your call and your ancestor’s call for reparations had not gone unheard,” Linda Tigani, executive director of the commission, said at a news conference before the council vote.

It is estimated that the studies will cost $2.5 million (£1.9 million).

New York is the latest city to consider reparations. Tulsa, Oklahoma, the home of a notorious massacre of black residents in 1921, announced a similar commission last month.

Evanston, Illinois, became the first city to offer reparations to black residents and their descendants in 2021, including distributing some payments of $25,000 in 2023, according to PBS. The eligibility was based on harm suffered as a result of the city’s discriminatory housing policies or practices.

San Francisco approved reparations in February, but the mayor later cut the funds, saying that reparations should instead be carried out by the federal government. 

California budgeted $12 million for a reparations program that included helping black residents research their ancestry, but it was defeated in the state’s legislature earlier this month.

Allison Hedges Maser, a spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Adams, told The New York Times that he supported the legislation and called it a step toward “addressing systemic inequities” and reconciliation.

“New York City has a moral obligation to confront its historical role in the institution of slavery, including harms and long-lasting consequences,” Ms. Maser said in a statement.

North Korea has for the first time revealed images of the facility that produces fuel for its nuclear bombs.

The regime on Friday offered a rare glimpse into a clandestine factory that makes weapons-grade uranium just days after Kim Jong-un vowed to “exponentially” increase the size of the country’s nuclear arsenal.

The authoritarian leader was pictured for the first time ever inspecting such a site. 

Official photos showed him walking between rows of tall, grey centrifuges while conversing with senior officials.

“He went round the control room of the uranium enrichment base to learn about the overall operation of the production lines,” reported state newswire KCNA, adding that he was greatly satisfied about the dynamic production of nuclear materials.

The exact location of the facility was not disclosed but it may be an expansion of a site at the country’s main Yongbyon nuclear complex, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang. 

South Korean and US intelligence agencies believe there are also facilities at the Kangson nuclear complex.

In 2010, North Korea revealed its uranium-enrichment capabilities to Stanford University scholars visiting Yongbyon from the United States, telling them that 2,000 centrifuges were installed and in operation there. 

Satellite images have since indicated an expansion of the plant.

The latest public announcement confirming the production of highly enriched uranium, which is used to make nuclear weapons, was likely meant as another power play by Kim, who has repeatedly tested ballistic missiles and accelerated his weapons of mass destruction programme.

Kim also visited a military training facility on Thursday, according to KCNA.

On the same day, North Korea test-fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

However, experts say the new information on centrifuges could also offer up valuable estimates about the amount of nuclear ingredients that North Korea has produced.

KCNA said Kim emphasised the need for more and a new type of centrifuges to meet his demand for a greater number of nuclear weapons for “self defence.”

In a speech on Monday, he justified the move by claiming that North Korea faces a “grave threat” from what it perceives as a US-nuclear bloc in the region.

The new type of centrifuge seen in the photographs shows North Korea is advancing its fuel cycle capabilities, said Ankit Panda of the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Kim also appears to suggest that North Korean tactical nuclear weapons designs may primarily rely on uranium for their cores,” he said.

This is notable because North Korea is more able to scale up its highly enriched uranium stockpiles, Mr Panda said, compared to the more complicated process for plutonium.

The reclusive regime also revealed photos of a new 12-axle transporter erector launcher (TEL), which has stoked fears that it could be used to launch a new intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the mainland United States.

Kim also oversaw the test launch of a new 600mm multiple launch rocket system on Thursday.

On Friday he urged workers to produce more materials for tactical nuclear weapons, saying the country’s nuclear arsenal is vital for confronting threats from the US and its allies.

The weapons are needed for “self-defence and the capability for a pre-emptive attack,” he said.

The North Korean leader said “anti-DPRK nuclear threats” from the “US imperialists-led vassal forces” have crossed the red line, according to the KCNA.

North Korea has previously shown photos of what it says were nuclear warheads. It has conducted six underground nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017.

Estimates of the number of North Korean nuclear weapons varies widely. In July a report by the Federation of American Scientists concluded that the country may have produced enough fissile material to build up to 90 nuclear warheads, but that it has likely assembled closer to 50.

Kim also oversaw the test launch of a new 600mm multiple launch rocket system on Thursday.

In a statement carried by KCNA, North Korea’s foreign ministry institute spokesperson criticised a recent defence ministerial meeting between member states of the US-led United Nations Command in Seoul, calling it a “war organisation”.

Germany joined the command last month, becoming the 18th nation in a group that helps police the heavily fortified border with North Korea and has committed to defend the South in the event of a war.

For centuries, sculptors have been in a rarefied position of privilege, able to define what any great person of an age looks like without fear of contradiction. But now, it seems almost a natural reflex that every time another sculpture of a public figure is unveiled, observers let out an enormous collective groan, dismayed at the abject failure to capture, in any way, the essence of the subject.

Correspondingly, there are few places for an artist to hide when they have a commission to depict Queen Elizabeth II. There cannot be many people in history so universally well known, and the focus of so many pieces of art. While our late monarch was well practised at reacting with regal detachment at yet another impression of her visage, the public is less restrained – if a sculpture bears little resemblance to her, everyone will instantly comment.

It was of little surprise, then, that when the latest sculpture of the Queen and Prince Philip by Anthony “Anto” Brennan was unveiled in Antrim Castle Gardens this week, it prompted a somewhat mixed reception. Here are some more members of the rogues’ gallery of questionable Queen Elizabeth II sculptures…. 

In 2015, Chinese artist Chen Dapeng unveiled a porcelain bust of the Queen, after spending months taking inspiration from videos, photographs and even a biscuit tin. He billed it as a “gesture of reconciliation” between China and Britain and depicted the Queen “bursting out as a flower from a bud”. Despite these lofty ambitions, it was widely ridiculed as looking less like the Queen and more like Tom Hanks after a series of big lunches.

Perhaps the most unusual depictions of themselves that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh may have actually personally seen were a pair of giant terracotta heads that became unlikely tourist attractions outside a home on the outskirts of Windsor. Ben Bennett discovered them in a house clearance in Chelsea several years ago and they were amplified with plastic grass hair and had pride of place on the front lawn of his house in Oakley Green.

In April this year, the first permanent memorial of the Queen was unveiled in Rutland by the sculptor Hywel Pratley. As he worked on the statue, which featured her “at the height of her power” and with three of her favourite corgis scuttling around the base of the plinth, he spoke about how honoured he was to get such a prestigious commission. However, it got a somewhat mixed response, with Ben Lawrence, the Telegraph’s Daily Arts Editor, dubbing it a “horror: unsightly, stupid and a little scary”. He said it turned the Queen into a “ghastly chimaera, sporting a girlish dress that makes her look like a stumpy Titania, or a cast-off from Frozen, with the faintest hint of wee Jimmy Krankie”.

King Charles himself unveiled the first statue of the Queen after her death at York Minster in November 2022. Originally commissioned to mark her Platinum Jubilee, it was designed and carved by cathedral stonemason Richard Bossons. The King said he was “enormously touched” to be asked to unveil it. It was not universally loved, however. The York Press asked readers to write in with their opinions, and while many were impressed, others were not. “It’s horrible and looks more like fat Queen Victoria than our pretty Queen”, said one. Another; “I think the stonemasons should have gone to Specsavers”.

Taking pride of place outside the Ontario legislature in Toronto, this statue of Queen Elizabeth II was described by state premier Doug Ford as “beautiful” and an “enduring symbol of our traditions, values, and democracy” when it was unveiled in 2023.

Constructed out of 3,500 pounds of bronze, it depicted the Queen in 1977 on the throne in the Canadian Senate where she gave a speech on Canadian unity. But while its scale is impressive, many were not so impressed with the rendition of her face. “It looks absolutely NOTHING like QEII!! Everything is beautiful apart from the face! That’s really ugly,” said one local, whilst another said it was “horrid” and “too masculine”.

The late Queen may have a tower, a bridge, a Tube line and even a Croydon park among the many things named in her honour in London, but until recently there were no statues in the capital. That changed in 2020 when, gearing up for its 150th anniversary the following year, the Royal Albert Hall commissioned young sculptor Poppy Field to create statues of Elizabeth and Philip. Despite being two-metres tall, the bronze figures are somewhat understated and are sited in formerly unused niches on the South Porch of the building. Unveiled on November 11 2023 by an emotional King Charles, they have perhaps bucked the trend of recent celebrity statues, and been well received.

It is not the first time that Belfast artist Anthony “Anto” Brennan, who is behind the latest sculpture to have caused such a furore, has depicted the Queen. He has also created a satirical chess set inspired by the Good Friday Agreement, which shows the late Monarch with an overstuffed mouth of glistening white teeth. Of his latest, unveiled this week, Antrim and Newtownabbey councillor Vera McWilliam said: “We have to be honest, it does not resemble the queen in any shape or form.”

Police have released video footage of an American woman being arrested for eating a cat – 170 miles away from Springfield, Ohio where Donald Trump claimed Haitian immigrants were devouring pets.

The arrest took place in Canton on August 16 after police received several calls from the public.

According to a police report Allexis Ferrell, 27, smashed the cat’s head with her foot and then started eating it.

Police said they saw fur on the woman’s lips and blood on her feet.

She has been charged with animal cruelty, disorderly conduct and breaking laws regarding a “companion animal.”

Ferrell was born in Ohio and graduated from Canton McKinley High School in 2015.

She is due to appear in court again on October 15.

Details emerged against a backdrop of claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were kidnapping and eating pets.

The rumours, which had been flying around social media, have seen residents keep their pets indoors, rather than run the risk of losing them.

Trump repeated the claims during his debate on Tuesday with Kamala Harris.

Town officials have said that there was no evidence this has taken place.

“In response to recent rumours alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community, “ they said in a statement.

“Additionally, there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes.

Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic.”

The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards are this Sunday (September 15), coming live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The headlines have been grabbed by Japanese epic Shogun (25 nominations across the Primetime and Primetime Creative awards) and stressful restaurant drama The Bear (23 nominations – the most ever for a comedy in a single year, despite the show not being a comedy). This makes it a very jolly year for Disney-owned production giants FX. 

There’s plenty of British interest, from Slow Horses and Ripley to The Crown and Baby Reindeer – which makes it a shame that we can’t watch it in this country. In the US, it will be shown live on ABC from 8pm EDT. Schitt’s Creek father-and-son duo Eugene and Dan Levy will host, but don’t expect a slew of risque jokes – they have promised a “kinder, gentler approach”.

Outstanding Comedy Series

• Abbott Elementary (ABC)
• The Bear (FX) 
• Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO) 
• Hacks (Max)
• Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
• Palm Royale (Apple TV+)
• Reservation Dogs (FX) 
• What We Do in the Shadows (FX)

Who should win: Curb Your Enthusiasm

Fifty-five Emmy nominations; two wins (one for directing, the other for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series). No one is going to pretend that the 12th and final series was its finest, but awards ceremonies shouldn’t be afraid of being sentimental and it would be a fitting send-off for Larry David, one of the true greats of modern television. And just imagine his speech.

Who will win: The Bear

Altogether now: “It’s not a comedy!” No, it isn’t, but it won last year and it will win this year, for a second series that often outstripped its outstanding first. Anyone doubting the show’s brilliance – and it does suffer from a tendency to gaze at its very beautiful navel – should be guided towards episode six, Fishes, a feature-length flashback episode set over a chaotic Christmas Eve dinner. It is stunning storytelling.

Outstanding Drama Series

• The Crown (Netflix)
• Fallout (Prime Video)
• The Gilded Age (HBO)
• The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Prime Video)
• Shōgun (FX) 
• Slow Horses (Apple TV+) 
• 3 Body Problem (Netflix)

Who should win: Slow Horses

What a curious list. The Gilded Age? 3 Body Problem? That series of The Crown? Good grief. Never mind, there are some worthy names here, and I am going to fly the flag for Blighty and blow His Majesty’s trumpet for Slow Horses. How quickly it has become everyone’s favourite show, how comfortably we have accepted Gary Oldman as the ornery Jackson Lamb (can you even remember him as George Smiley?). The show pumps out series of such high quality at such a pace that we could take it for granted. We shouldn’t.

Who will win: Shogun

But who could argue with this? Shogun will walk away with a clutch of awards on Sunday night, including this big one. Disney shipwrecked us in 17th-century Japan with Cosmo Jarvis’s English sailor, but, like him, we were soon very happy to be lost in the feudal tussles and sweeping backdrops. Many a TV epic has fallen at the first hurdle; this one could run and run.

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

• Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
• Fargo (FX) 
• Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+)
• Ripley (Netflix) 
• True Detective: Night Country (HBO)

Who should win: Ripley

Here’s what TV can do that film can’t. Anthony Minghella’s 1999 film adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s first Tom Ripley novel was a ripsnorting, sun-dappled breeze, zipping us through the gory story in a couple of hours. Steven Zaillian turned off the colour and turned down the pace, laconically wafting us through eight leisurely but enthralling episodes. Watching Andrew Scott’s seedy conman gradually edge his way to murder was as gripping as it was nauseating.

Who will win: Ripley

The Emmys has a soft spot for populist dramas and maudlin sitcoms, but it tends to view the Limited and Anthology awards as the preserve of high art. Previous recent winners include the superlative Beef, The White Lotus, Watchmen and Chernobyl. As such, I back them to reward Ripley. Could the voters be seduced by a superb fifth series of Fargo, a return-to-form True Detective or that British curio Baby Reindeer? Of course. If Lessons in Chemistry wins, we take to the streets.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Matt Berry – What We Do in the Shadows as Leslie “Laszlo” Cravensworth (FX)

Larry David – Curb Your Enthusiasm as Larry David (HBO)

Steve Martin – Only Murders in the Building as Charles-Haden Savage (Hulu) 

Martin Short – Only Murders in the Building as Oliver Putnam (Hulu)

Jeremy Allen White – The Bear as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (FX)

D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai – Reservation Dogs as Bear Smallhill (FX)

Who should win: Steve Martin

Ah come on, give him an Emmy. Yes he technically has one – for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1972 – but Martin’s return to form with the effortlessly entertaining Only Murders deserves recognition. With apologies to co-star and co-creator Martin Short, but Martin nudges ahead by virtue of that patter song. “Which of the Pickwick triplets did it…”

Who will win: Jeremy Allen White

Let’s not kid ourselves.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

• Quinta Brunson – Abbott Elementary as Janine Teagues (ABC) 
• Ayo Edebiri – The Bear as Sydney Adamu (FX) 
• Selena Gomez – Only Murders in the Building as Mabel Mora (Hulu)
• Maya Rudolph – Loot as Molly Novak (Apple TV+)
• Jean Smart – Hacks as Deborah Vance (Max)
• Kristen Wiig – Palm Royale as Maxine Simmons (Apple TV+)

Who should win: Ayo Edebiri

Not entirely sure what’s changed since series one (for which she won Outstanding Supporting Actress at last year’s ceremony), but Edebiri deserves enormous credit for pulling attention onto a compelling female character in the salty, testosterone-heavy world of The Bear. It’s such a complete performance you struggle to imagine her in anything else.

Who will win: Quinta Brunson

The Emmys loves a comedy legacy, especially for female actors (remember Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s six on the bounce for Veep?) and this award will come down to Jean Smart for Hacks (winner 2021, 2022) and Brunson for Abbott Elementary (winner 2023). My money is on the latter.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

• Idris Elba – Hijack as Sam Nelson (Apple TV+)
• Donald Glover – Mr. & Mrs. Smith as John Smith / Michael (Prime Video)
• Walton Goggins – Fallout as The Ghoul / Cooper Howard (Prime Video)
• Gary Oldman – Slow Horses as Jackson Lamb (Apple TV+) 
• Hiroyuki Sanada – Shōgun as Lord Yoshii Toranaga (FX) 
• Dominic West – The Crown as Charles, Prince of Wales (Netflix)

Who should win: Gary Oldman

Once again I am going to fly the Union flag ahead of the Rising Sun, though with little hope. Oldman, perhaps, will lose out because he’s so good – as Lamb he barely looks like he’s acting. More than any other character of recent years, you know exactly what he smells like. A pungent performance in every sense.

Who will win: Hiroyuki Sanada

And once again, who could argue with this? A look down the previous years suggests this category can throw up some oddities (Rami Malek for Mr Robot, anyone?), so don’t entirely rule out a noseless Walton Goggins or a hunky Idris Elba adding a bit of unexpected sparkle to their mantelpieces. But Sanada is mesmerising as Toranaga, the beating moral heart of Shogun.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

• Jennifer Aniston – The Morning Show as Alex Levy (Apple TV+)
• Carrie Coon – The Gilded Age as Bertha Russell (HBO)
• Maya Erskine – Mr. & Mrs. Smith as Jane Smith / Alana (Prime Video) 
• Anna Sawai – Shōgun as Toda Mariko (FX) 
• Imelda Staunton – The Crown as Queen Elizabeth II (Netflix)
• Reese Witherspoon – The Morning Show as Bradley Jackson (Apple TV+)

Who should win: Anna Sawai

A tipping point performance for an actress who has been on the verge of the bigtime for a few years – Giri/Haji, Pachinko, er… The Fast and the Furious 9. She managed to imbue her Mariko with such depth and such an internal life that poor Cosmo Jarvis looked occasionally wooden opposite her.

Who will win: Maya Erskine

A hunch. Erskine is well-known in America for her comedy roles – especially the critically acclaimed Pen15 – and I suspect the Emmy voters will have been wowed by her transformation into a serious actress (with a nice side order of action hero too). To stop Mr & Mrs Smith becoming the Donald Glover show is quite some achievement.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

• Matt Bomer – Fellow Travelers as Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller (Showtime)
• Richard Gadd – Baby Reindeer as Donny Dunn (Netflix)
• Jon Hamm – Fargo as Sheriff Roy Tillman (FX)
• Tom Hollander – Feud: Capote vs. The Swans as Truman Capote (FX) 
• Andrew Scott – Ripley as Tom Ripley (Netflix)

Who should win: Tom Hollander

Of the three Brits up for this award, I’d give Hollander the nod. Gadd is compelling, but his performance never really managed to escape its stage origins. Scott, as I have said above, is superb as Tom Ripley, and would be a worthy winner. But Hollander became the latest in recent years – following Toby Jones and Philip Seymour Hoffmann – to so wholly inhabit Truman Capote. One of those performances that leaves you talking in their cadence for days afterwards.

Who will win: Jon Hamm

I suspect the Brits won’t win this one, and it will be between Hamm and Bomer. Series five of Fargo was such a brilliant return to form that the actors involved have been swept along with it. Hamm, as Sheriff Roy Tillman, reminded us of his magnetism – and his gift for comedy – as a character of delightfully vile proportions.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

• Jodie Foster – True Detective: Night Country as Detective Elizabeth Danvers (HBO) 
• Brie Larson – Lessons in Chemistry as Elizabeth Zott (Apple TV+)
• Juno Temple – Fargo as Dorothy “Dot” Lyon (FX)
• Sofía Vergara – Griselda as Griselda Blanco (Netflix)
• Naomi Watts – Feud: Capote vs. The Swans as Babe Paley (FX) 

Who should win: Naomi Watts

Tom Hollander’s mewling impersonation of Capote could only ever work if anchored by excellent work around him. The “swans” were quite the ensemble – Diane Lane, Chloe Sevigny, Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald, Calista Flockhart – but the best of them was Watts as the bruised and confused Babe Paley.

Who will win: Jodie Foster

The Emmys isn’t shy about rewarding A-listers for stepping onto the small screen and I imagine the board quite like the idea of Foster clutching that golden winged woman holding an atom (arts meets science, since you ask). Again, another performer who could benefit from starring in a show that relocated its puff.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

• Lionel Boyce – The Bear as Marcus Brooks (FX) 
• Paul W. Downs – Hacks as Jimmy LuSaque, Jr. (Max)
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach – The Bear as Richard “Richie” Jerimovich (FX)
• Paul Rudd – Only Murders in the Building as Ben Glenroy (Hulu) 
• Tyler James Williams – Abbott Elementary as Gregory Eddie (ABC)
• Bowen Yang – Saturday Night Live as various characters (NBC)

Who should win: Paul Rudd

The Emmys is also partial to a heavyweight guest star and while there’s no shortage of those in Only Murders, Rudd’s was particularly enjoyable (in a relatively ropey third season). His vain, preening luvvie had all the hallmarks of an actor devouring the comedic role he’d been waiting for for years.

Who will win: Ebon Moss-Bachrach

Let’s not kid ourselves.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

• Carol Burnett – Palm Royale as Norma Dellacorte (Apple TV+)
• Liza Colón-Zayas – The Bear as Tina Marrero (FX)
• Hannah Einbinder – Hacks as Ava Daniels (Max) 
• Janelle James – Abbott Elementary as Ava Coleman (ABC)
• Sheryl Lee Ralph – Abbott Elementary as Barbara Howard (ABC) 
• Meryl Streep – Only Murders in the Building as Loretta Durkin (Hulu)

Who should win: Sheryl Lee Ralph

Abbott Elementary’s matriarch also suffers from the Slow Horses syndrome – Ralph’s performance is such an oven-ready sitcom classic that we can so easily forget the skill that goes into it. The Emmys didn’t, of course, giving her this award in 2022, making her the first black woman to win it in 37 years (and only the second black woman to win it at all, at the time). Her speech was barnstorming – let’s have another.

Who will win: Carol Burnett

The woman wins awards the same way a toddler picks up dirt. She has seven Golden Globes; a win here would take her to the same number of Emmys. America likes to applaud its greats. Palm Royale, though? Forgettable show.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

• Tadanobu Asano – Shōgun as Kashigi Yabushige (FX)
• Billy Crudup – The Morning Show as Cory Ellison (Apple TV+)
• Mark Duplass – The Morning Show as Charles “Chip” Black (Apple TV+)
• Jon Hamm – The Morning Show as Paul Marks (Apple TV+)
• Takehiro Hira – Shōgun as Ishido Kazunari (FX)
• Jack Lowden – Slow Horses as River Cartwright (Apple TV+)
• Jonathan Pryce – The Crown as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Netflix)

Who should win: Takehiro Hira

The Morning Show? Really? The Emmys’ enduring fascination with that show will always baffle me – even people who love it admit it’s watchable trash. No disrespect to Crudup, Duplass and Hamm, three very fine actors, but I hope they don’t win. Shogun is the one that deserves a slew, including for the wonderful Hira.

Who will win: Jonathan Pryce

I suspect (fear) The Crown will not go home empty-handed, despite its empty-headed final series. Pryce was a rare beacon of class in those final episodes, and the Welshman wrung true pathos out of the Duke of Edinburgh.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

• Christine Baranski – The Gilded Age as Agnes van Rhijn (HBO)
• Nicole Beharie – The Morning Show as Christina Hunter (Apple TV+)
• Elizabeth Debicki – The Crown as Princess Diana (Netflix)
• Greta Lee – The Morning Show as Stella Bak (Apple TV+)
• Lesley Manville – The Crown as Princess Margaret (Netflix)
• Karen Pittman – The Morning Show as Mia Jordan (Apple TV+)
• Holland Taylor – The Morning Show as Cybil Richards (Apple TV+)

Who should win: Lesley Manville

The Morning Show? Really? Never mind… It’s no secret that I am no great admirer of The Crown’s final years, but Manville’s Princess Margaret was a rare bright spot. Her demise was tragic and moving, thanks in no small part to Manville’s excellence. If The Crown must be rewarded, let’s give it to the truly deserving.

Who will win: Elizabeth Debicki

Instead, however, I imagine the award will go to Debicki’s excellent but surface-level impersonation of Diana Frances Spencer.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

• Jonathan Bailey – Fellow Travelers as Tim Laughlin (Showtime)
• Robert Downey Jr. – The Sympathizer as Claude / Professor Robert Hammer / Ned Godwin / Niko Damianos / The Priest (HBO) 
• Tom Goodman-Hill – Baby Reindeer as Darrien O’Connor (Netflix)
• John Hawkes – True Detective: Night Country as Hank Prior (HBO) 
• Lamorne Morris – Fargo as State Trooper Whitley “Witt” Farr (FX)
• Lewis Pullman – Lessons in Chemistry as Calvin Evans (Apple TV+)
• Treat Williams – Feud: Capote vs. The Swans as Bill Paley (FX) (posthumous)

Who should win: Robert Downey Jr

There is no little irony in the fact that in a drama about Western perceptions of Vietnam, starring a superlative Vietnamese cast, the only Emmy nomination goes to the Western actor who played all the Western roles. Still, Downey Jr was a hoot as a grizzled CIA veteran, a grubby Orientalist, a cheesy congressman and, especially, a hotheaded movie director.

Who will win: Robert Downey Jr

No one would be upset if the late Treat Williams got the nod, while John Hawkes is a class act in everything he does. Bur Mr Iron Man will take this one.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

• Dakota Fanning – Ripley as Marge Sherwood (Netflix)
• Lily Gladstone – Under the Bridge as Cam Bentland (Hulu)
• Jessica Gunning – Baby Reindeer as Martha Scott (Netflix) 
• Aja Naomi King – Lessons in Chemistry as Harriet Sloane (Apple TV+)
• Diane Lane – Feud: Capote vs. The Swans as Nancy “Slim” Keith (FX)
• Nava Mau – Baby Reindeer as Teri (Netflix)
• Kali Reis – True Detective: Night Country as Detective Evangeline Navarro (HBO) 

Who should win: Jessica Gunning

Questions over moral grey areas aside, Baby Reindeer gave us some memorable performances. None more so than Gunning, as stalker Martha. It was Annie Wilkes meets Susan Boyle, and it haunts me still.

Who will win: Kali Reis

The former middleweight and light welterweight world boxing champion has transitioned to acting with aplomb, and her performance as the battle-scarred Inupiat cop gave notice of her charisma and talent. 

Plans for a £600,000 male rape centre in Madrid have been dismissed by Spain’s equality minister as a “frivolous” waste of money.

Ana Redondo described the proposal by Isabel Diaz Ayuso, Madrid’s conservative president, as “Trumpian” and a move that would pit victims against one another.

Ms Diaz Ayuso announced the centre on Thursday, saying Madrid already had rape crisis centres for women but none for men.

As Spain’s first specialised centre for male victims of sexual violence, the centre would tell men “we are also here for them”.

“The Madrid public health system treats approximately 100 men who are victims of rape every year,” the regional premier said.

“It is a trend that is on the rise and the numbers would increase yet further if it were not for the fact that many do not talk about [being abused] or do not report it for fear of being stigmatised,” she added.

The Madrid administration estimates the 24-hour crisis centre, which will be staffed by a team of psychologists, social workers and legal experts, will cost €700,000.

“Unfortunately, a considerable number of male minors who are victims of sexual violence in childhood are being detected, as well as adult men who suffer abuse, for example, in the context of practices such as ‘chemsex’, and do not dare to report it,” Ms Diaz Ayuso said.

The Madrid government reported that its care services have attended to 250 boys who have been the victims of sexual abuse so far this year.

However, Ms Redondo said the proposed centre would only serve to “divide society”.

She accused Ms Diaz Ayuso of getting her priorities wrong, saying that organisations for child victims of sexual abuse already existed but were underfunded by Madrid’s regional government.

According to interior ministry data from 2023, women made up 87 per cent of the victims of sexual assaults and abuse, a figure that rises to 90 per cent in the case of rape. Meanwhile, 91 per cent of the reported victims of sexual harassment were women.

Madrid currently has two rape crisis centres and two facilities to assist with the recovery of victims of sexual violence, all specifically for women.

Madrid’s proposal for the male rape centre comes as Ms Diaz Ayuso emerges as a rising star of the conservative People’s Party as a result of her liberal stance on social and economic issues. A self-proclaimed champion of freedom, she is widely seen as a potential future prime minister of Spain and frequently leads the charge against Spain’s socialist-led national government.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, her administration loosened restrictions in open defiance of the government of Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister. She has also used local powers to reduce wealth taxes to a minimum and refused to implement a national law on rent controls.

Ms Diaz Ayuso has also attacked the Spanish government’s ultra-liberal transgender laws, which allow citizens to change gender on their official ID cards on request with no need to prove psychological or lifestyle incompatibilities with their designated sex.

Madrid passed a counter-reform, which, while it cannot repeal the core principles of the national law, means that access to gender-sensitive facilities such as toilets is not guaranteed by an individual’s stated sex. Guarantees of LGBT-related content in schools were also watered down.

Ms Diaz Ayuso’s Madrid government warned earlier this year of several cases in which it said alleged sexual offenders were attempting to gain access to women’s rape shelters after changing their gender to female.

Meanwhile, Candelaria Testa, the deputy president of Spain’s committee against gender violence, urged politicians to refrain from “seeking headlines” and wait and see how the centre would operate in practice.

Plans for a £600,000 male rape centre in Madrid have been dismissed by Spain’s equality minister as a “frivolous” waste of money.

Ana Redondo described the proposal by Isabel Diaz Ayuso, Madrid’s conservative president, as “Trumpian” and a move that would pit victims against one another.

Ms Diaz Ayuso announced the centre on Thursday, saying Madrid already had rape crisis centres for women but none for men.

As Spain’s first specialised centre for male victims of sexual violence, the centre would tell men “we are also here for them”.

“The Madrid public health system treats approximately 100 men who are victims of rape every year,” the regional premier said.

“It is a trend that is on the rise and the numbers would increase yet further if it were not for the fact that many do not talk about [being abused] or do not report it for fear of being stigmatised,” she added.

The Madrid administration estimates the 24-hour crisis centre, which will be staffed by a team of psychologists, social workers and legal experts, will cost €700,000.

“Unfortunately, a considerable number of male minors who are victims of sexual violence in childhood are being detected, as well as adult men who suffer abuse, for example, in the context of practices such as ‘chemsex’, and do not dare to report it,” Ms Diaz Ayuso said.

The Madrid government reported that its care services have attended to 250 boys who have been the victims of sexual abuse so far this year.

However, Ms Redondo said the proposed centre would only serve to “divide society”.

She accused Ms Diaz Ayuso of getting her priorities wrong, saying that organisations for child victims of sexual abuse already existed but were underfunded by Madrid’s regional government.

According to interior ministry data from 2023, women made up 87 per cent of the victims of sexual assaults and abuse, a figure that rises to 90 per cent in the case of rape. Meanwhile, 91 per cent of the reported victims of sexual harassment were women.

Madrid currently has two rape crisis centres and two facilities to assist with the recovery of victims of sexual violence, all specifically for women.

Madrid’s proposal for the male rape centre comes as Ms Diaz Ayuso emerges as a rising star of the conservative People’s Party as a result of her liberal stance on social and economic issues. A self-proclaimed champion of freedom, she is widely seen as a potential future prime minister of Spain and frequently leads the charge against Spain’s socialist-led national government.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, her administration loosened restrictions in open defiance of the government of Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister. She has also used local powers to reduce wealth taxes to a minimum and refused to implement a national law on rent controls.

Ms Diaz Ayuso has also attacked the Spanish government’s ultra-liberal transgender laws, which allow citizens to change gender on their official ID cards on request with no need to prove psychological or lifestyle incompatibilities with their designated sex.

Madrid passed a counter-reform, which, while it cannot repeal the core principles of the national law, means that access to gender-sensitive facilities such as toilets is not guaranteed by an individual’s stated sex. Guarantees of LGBT-related content in schools were also watered down.

Ms Diaz Ayuso’s Madrid government warned earlier this year of several cases in which it said alleged sexual offenders were attempting to gain access to women’s rape shelters after changing their gender to female.

Meanwhile, Candelaria Testa, the deputy president of Spain’s committee against gender violence, urged politicians to refrain from “seeking headlines” and wait and see how the centre would operate in practice.