Four charged after damage caused to aircraft at RAF Brize Norton

Four people have been charged by counter terrorism police following an incident at RAF Brize Norton in which two Voyager aircraft were damaged.

Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, Jony Cink, 24, both of no fixed abode, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 35, and Lewie Chiaramello, 22, both of London are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

They have all been remanded in custody.

It comes after the action, which was claimed by the group Palestine Action, caused £7 million worth of damage to the aircraft on June 20.

Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) said the four had been charged with conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom, and conspiracy to commit criminal damage.

CTPSE said a 41-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender had been released on bail until September 19.

A 23-year-old man was released without charge.

MPs on Wednesday backed the Government’s move to ban the direct action group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.

Legislation passed in the Commons as MPs voted 385 to 26, majority 359 in favour of proscribing the group under the Terrorism Act 2000.

The motion is expected to be debated and voted on by the House of Lords on Thursday before it becomes law.

Such Brave Girls is bleakly funny, realistic and truly brave TV

“Remember the family crest,” Louise Brealey’s Deb hisses at her eldest daughter Josie (Kat Sadler) in the opening episode of Such Brave Girls’ new season. “Ignore, repress, forget!”

As far as familial mantras go, it’s arguably not the healthiest or the most uplifting message to pass on to your two grown-up daughters. And over the course of the second season of the Bafta-winning BBC comedy, created by Sadler and co-starring her real-life sister Lizzie Davidson, it will prompt all three women in this dysfunctional family to make some frankly woeful decisions.

That’s bad news for Sadler’s characters, but very good news for us viewers, because much of the show’s appeal lies in watching this mother-daughter trio plumb the lowest emotional depths, while giving voice to the sort of dark thoughts you might file away to stew over at 3am, rather than actually saying out loud. Mental illness, sexual repression, parental estrangement: nothing is off limits here, and it’s all attacked with an almost feral comic energy.

This time around, Deb is bustling around like Mrs Bennet on SSRIs, obsessed with the idea of marrying off her eldest daughter so that Josie can achieve her mother’s dream of becoming a “kept woman”. The only catch? Josie is more interested in women than in the overbearing attentions of her “boyfriend” Seb, a steady charisma vacuum who keeps insisting on playing “Everybody in Love” by JLS whenever they sleep together (which would surely be a passion killer even if Seb wasn’t barking up the wrong tree).

Their dynamic sometimes gets a little repetitive – would an adult man really be so deluded in his affections? But this sense of stasis and inertia also feels true to Josie’s character, and her total inability to confront some aspects of her life while being gruellingly honest about others.

Deb’s deranged mission is, as ever, part of her bigger game plan to lock down the affections of her avoidant, mildly unsettling partner Dev (Paul Bazely) – and acquire the keys to his massive house. “It’s extremely important for him to see us as the sort of women men marry into, instead of avoiding in Morrisons,” she whispers to her daughters.

The strange juxtaposition of her marriage plot with the rollercoaster of all three women’s mental (in)stability sometimes has an almost surreal quality, which is aided and abetted by the fact that Davidson’s Billie spends a lot of time flouncing around in a Cinderella gown (her job involves playing a “princess” at a local kids’ party venue, having been promoted from dressing up as a green-faced witch last time around).

Billie, the bolshiest, most confident of the three, with a knack for spitting out devastatingly cutting one-liners (it’s a youngest child thing, I reckon) is embarking on an affair with Graham (Daniel Ryan). This underwhelming, middle aged (or, in Billie’s parlance, “really f**king old”) man can only meet her in the mornings, otherwise he’s too tired for sex; he also happens to be terrified of his neurologist wife.

Davidson’s character seems more in thrall to the idea of being the “other woman” than she is to the reality of Graham and their Travelodge trysts. “There’s nothing wrong with having an affair, right?” she asks her sister in a brief moment of vulnerability. “I honestly think it might be the most feminist thing you can do,” Josie replies, deadpan.

Watching these two buoy each other up to make terrible life choices is an unhinged delight. Over the past decade or so, TV viewers have been bombarded by various iterations of the so-called “messy” woman, who has a slightly unsettled love life, likes a wine and is drastically underpaid, but somehow also looks like she shops entirely at Cos, Arket and all the other more upmarket H&M spin-off shops.

But Josie, Billie and Deb feel actually, properly messy, rather than adhering to a TV exec’s more palatable version. Such Brave Girls is not a show where it’s “OK not to be OK”. Instead, the characters’ mental health struggles are shown unvarnished, and often greeted with a total lack of empathy by others. It’s bleakly funny, refreshingly realistic and never tries to reduce mental illness into a fridge magnet-style slogan – brave indeed.

Prayers, cheers and baby oil: What happened in the room as Diddy’s verdict was read

Sean “Diddy” Combs entered the courtroom in a canary yellow sweater with his head down. He smiled at his family. Just moments earlier, he and his attorneys had all gathered behind closed doors. The mood was tense as it was clear the mogul’s fate would soon be clear.

At 10.12 a.m. on Wednesday, Judge Arun Subramanian announced he had received a note from the jury: “We’ve reached a verdict on all counts.”

The courtroom pews were fully packed. Subramanian calmly told the energized room to “maintain order.” The jury entered three minutes later to announce the verdict everyone in the courthouse, and many others far beyond, had been waiting to hear.

Outside of the courthouse, a lone reporter yelled out, “Verdict!”

Suddenly, a rush of people entered the barricades where journalists were set up broadcast cameras. Combs’ fans, the devoted trial live-streamers, reporters, and tourists who were passing by, then smushed into the area, holding their collective breath while waiting for the decision.

For the first time all morning, the sidewalk in front of the federal courthouse was quiet. With phones held above their heads, the crowd of people leaned in as one man read aloud the verdict.

The jury found Combs guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, relieving him of the three more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.

Inside, as each of the 12 jurors confirmed to the court this was the “true and correct verdict,” Diddy nodded in their direction. He held the hand of Teny Geragos, one of his defense attorneys, as the verdict was read.

The rapper’s fists moved up and down victoriously before he turned to the jury box and repeatedly pressed his hands together in prayer. His defense attorneys appeared equally thrilled; they sat next to him beaming — a dramatic shift in emotion after a trial that highlighted so many dark moments in the mogul’s life.

Combs then turned around in his chair and nodded at his family, sitting in the second row. He stood up, tilted his head to the sky, put his hands on his face, and wiped it in relief.

Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lead attorney, argued his client should be released from the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he’s been held since September. “Mr. Combs has been given his life by this jury,” he said. He won’t “run afoul” the opportunities this court has granted him, Agnifilo said.

“Mr. Combs doesn’t want to go back to the MDC?” the judge asked. Diddy shook his head vigorously before flashing prayer hands to the judge.

As the court adjourned for attorneys to discuss his bail application, the mogul turned to his family, fell to his hands and knees, leaned against a chair and prayed. Diddy’s final trial appearance ended like he ended one of his shows; the courtroom burst into whoops and cheers and applause.

It took a moment for the crowd outside to understand what the verdict meant.

Since the beginning of the trial, many of Combs’ fans were confident he would be acquitted on all charges, believing the accusations against him were targeted because of his race or wealth.

“I want him to be acquitted because (Cassie) took the money,” one Combs fan said before the verdict was announced.

But still, hearing “not guilty” for most of the charges appeared to stun many.

A wave of low murmurs came over the crowd as they tried to recall what each count meant.

“He beat the f***ing RICO!” One man yelled while running around the corner to deliver the good news.

“He beat the RICO!” He repeated.

The the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, was originally written to combat organized crime and has been used in recent cases against R. Kelly, Young Thug, street gang members and President Donald Trump.

The Paul Revere-esque announcement appeared to liven the crowd.

A group of live-streamers, chronically online people who have spent weeks walking their phones around the courthouse while dramatically recounting the scene, cheered and hollered for the music mogul.

They high-fived, doling out congratulations for Combs, and each another, for successfully covering the high-profile case.

Only one man interrupted the Paul Revere figure, reminding him that Combs could still go to prison for being found guilty on the two counts of transportation for prostitution.

Combs is still facing up to 20 years in prison since the maximum sentence for each of the transportation counts is 10 years.

But that still didn’t quell the crowd. In fact, a new sense of excitement erupted when people realized Combs may not only walk free on Wednesday, but that he could walk free in front of their eyes.

Throughout the afternoon the sidewalk in front of the courthouse became rowdier. One woman wearing a bright blue wig while dressed in a bra and underwear sprinkled baby oil on the crowd – a reference to the infamous “freak offs.” Another man held up a speaker, playing one of Combs’ songs.

Inside the courthouse, any glimmer of hope the mogul would walk free on Wednesday faded when the judge almost immediately denied bail at a conference just after 5 p.m.

Subramanian said the defendant was unable to meet his burden to show the lack of danger to any person or his community. The rapper slouched in his chair as the judge pointed out that his attorneys had said repeatedly throughout the trial that they “own” domestic violence.

Agnifilo said he respected the judge’s decision but argued that Diddy was a “man in the process of working on himself. He’s been a model prisoner.” The defense attorney noted that his client attended batterers program meetings before his arrest last September. He also argued this case falls under the “exceptional circumstances” for his release under the Mann Act, an anti-sex trafficking law with a controversial, century-old history.

Prosecutor Maurene Comey blasted back that the only thing exceptional about Diddy was “his wealth, his violence, and his brazenness.” She said he’s shown “no remorse” to victims.

At one point, the rapper waved his hand, signaling he wanted to speak in court. But he never did. His lawyers continued to speak on his behalf before he and his court-mandated yellow sweater shuffled out of the courtroom.

Helicopters circled overhead outside the courthouse as fans and reporters packed near the front to get a glimpse of his family.

Diddy’s mother and his six children walked out of the courthouse following the verdict. But there was no sight of the man at the center of the trial after the judge declined to release Combs as he awaits sentencing.

There will be a hearing next week to address the scheduling of Combs’ sentencing.

I’ve walked 10,000 steps a day for three years – here’s why

Movement is good for you, and walking is one of the most accessible forms of movement there is. You don’t need a gym membership, shiny new running shoes or any other expensive equipment to do it – just leave the house and put one foot in front of the other.

The return on investment for doing so is vast. Sure, there are surface-level impacts such as increased calorie burn to aid weight management. But you’re also likely to experience a boost in your mood and improved heart health, among other perks.

As a fitness writer and an active person, it’s this second group of benefits that persuaded me to start walking 10,000 steps a day – a habit I enjoyed so much I’ve stuck with it for the last three years.

But why 10,000? This common fitness goal is arbitrary, scientifically, and stems from the marketing campaign for a 1960s Japanese pedometer called the manpo-kei (which roughly translates as “10,000-step metre”). Its main selling point is that it’s a nice round number, with a 2023 University of Granada study claiming 8,000 is “the optimal number of steps at which most people obtain the greatest benefits”.

In spite of this, I’ve found the five-figure step target works for me. Here’s why.

Why does anyone form a habit? Usually because it serves a purpose, or because you enjoy it. For me, walking ticks both boxes, which is the main reason why I try to do rather a lot of it.

When I’m working from home, a quick lunchtime loop of the park never fails to send my mood skyward, while a post-work walk with my dog remains my favourite way to unwind. As someone who grew up in the countryside, there are bonus feel-good points on offer if the walk is somewhere green.

Research seems to support this. A 2020 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health concluded that regular walkers “had better emotional health than those who did not exercise regularly”.

“The average number of walks per week was significantly and positively associated with emotional health,” it adds. “However, the average walk duration had no significant impact on the emotional health of respondents.”

This goes some way to showing that you don’t need to take 10,000 steps to enjoy walking’s myriad perks – simply getting outside is likely to do you a whole lot of good. But I’ve found this number is a good fit for my lifestyle.

It reminds me to take regular breaks from my desk during the work day, and encourages me to spend enough time outside to keep my happiness levels at a premium. On the flip side, if I’m feeling a bit sluggish in the afternoon, a glance at my smartwatch inevitably tells me I’m falling short of this goal.

Read more: What is interval training, and how could walking intervals boost your health and fitness?

Only a small portion of my daily steps usually come from long, formal walks. Instead, I tally them up gradually throughout the day via a few simple behaviour changes – trading escalators for stairs, for example, or using a bus stop slightly further from the house rather than waiting for the next bus to arrive.

Another tip I picked up from a chat with sports scientist and WalkActive founder Joanna Hall is to identify a place I often find myself, then plan a five, 10 and 15-minute out-and-back route I can do from that spot. That way, whenever I’m at a loss during my lunch break or stuck waiting somewhere, I can squeeze in a quick walk and feel all the better for it.

A little can do a lot too. A 2023 study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that “walking at least 3,867 steps a day started to reduce the risk of dying from any cause, and 2,337 steps a day reduced the risk of dying from diseases of the heart and blood vessels”.

The research later adds: “An increase of 1,000 steps a day was associated with a 15 per cent reduction in the risk of dying from any cause, and an increase of 500 steps a day was associated with a seven per cent reduction in dying from cardiovascular disease”.

In other words, movement shouldn’t be seen as pointless just because you’re not hitting the 21st century gold standards of 10,000 steps a day or an hour-long gym session. Small amounts of activity accumulated consistently over time (an approach sometimes called exercise snacking) can make a big difference.

Read more: The 80:20 training routine that can help you live longer according to a specialist trainer

I watched a fitness influencer get ready for a run on Instagram the other day and, between the energy gels, sunglasses, specialist vest and other running paraphernalia, it looked like a military operation. And I’m all for that – if you’re passionate about something, why not throw the kitchen sink at it?

But for busy individuals seeking a time-savvy way to add movement into their day, walking could be a more accessible solution: simply lace up your shoes and leave the house.

Unlike the gym, there’s no commute to factor in, nor are there any membership fees to worry about, but you’re still getting your fitness fix. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends adults aged 19-64 do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week, so one brisk 20-minute walk per day leaves you just 10 minutes shy of this target. The pay-off is impressive too.

“People who exercise regularly have a lower risk of developing many long-term conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and some cancers,” the NHS reports. “Research shows that physical activity can also boost self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy, as well as reducing your risk of stress, clinical depression, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.”

All the more reason to lace up those trainers.

Read more: Rage and autoimmune disease: is there a link between suppressed anger and the women’s health crisis?

How many times have you heard someone say they “have” to go for a run or commit to a HIIT session? People feel they need to sweat and suffer for a workout to count, but exercise is hardly going to become a habit if you hate every second of it. Instead, I believe the workout you consistently do is always going to be more effective than the one you consistently don’t.

Walking has something to offer pretty much everyone because it’s more approachable than other types of exercise, and there are so many different ways to make it enjoyable. You could meet friends for a social stroll, explore somewhere new on foot or pair your walk with a podcast to keep things interesting.

My favourite approach is to use Google or Instagram to find a new, interesting spot near where I live, then go and have a mosey around. I’ve uncovered plenty of hidden gems this way, and I’m always surprised by the amount of ground I’ve covered when I take a peek at my Apple Watch afterwards.

Read more: I just ran my first Hyrox race – here are six things I wish I’d known

The physical benefits of walking are well-documented, particularly for those newer to exercise. Walking puts the large muscles in your legs to work, and these muscles need oxygen to help fuel their efforts, so your heart rate rises to meet the increased demand. Regularly raising your heart rate through cardio exercise can improve your heart health, burn calories and boost your cardiovascular fitness (your body’s ability to take in and use oxygen).

The real-world benefits are plain to see. Whether you’re running around with your children or chasing down a bus, improved cardiovascular fitness will make these activities feel significantly easier. If you sit at a desk all day, taking regular movement breaks can keep you fend off related impacts such as tight hips and lower back pain, while increased activity levels also reduce your risk of heart disease and many other chronic conditions.

Walking can be a handy weight loss tool too, if that’s your goal. A calorie deficit (burning more calories than you consume) is the common denominator behind weight loss, and walking increases energy expenditure. Paired with an appropriate diet, this can be used to create a sustainable calorie deficit and help you lose weight.

Experienced exercisers may need more intense activities to spark an increase in cardiovascular fitness, as they will already have a good base level. Research also points towards a “brisk walk”, rather than an amble, being needed to see some fitness benefits.

A 2018 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found a cadence of 100 or more steps per minute was linked to “absolutely defined moderate-intensity”, tying into the WHO weekly physical activity guidelines of “at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity” per week.

Read more: Fitness has a class problem – here’s what we can do about it

“Doing some physical activity is better than doing none,” is the official line from the World Health Organisation. If walking allows you to introduce some exercise into your week where you wouldn’t otherwise have had any, or you’re able to ramp up your existing activity levels, chances are it’s going to do you a lot of good.

But that doesn’t mean you need to walk 10,000 steps a day. Instead, try finding an achievable goal that’s slightly higher than your current step count, stick with it and then experiment with increasing this figure if it feels good.

For all my waxing lyrical about walking’s many plus points, I’d also recommend adding more variety into your exercise plans if you have time – variety is, reputedly, the spice of life after all.

Strength training in particular offers impressive bang for your buck, doing exactly what it says on the tin by strengthening your bones, muscles and joints. It also improves your mobility, helping you handle everyday tasks with ease and lowering your risk of injury.

Lifting weights is something I love to do, along with any number of other activities from gymnastics to football to padel – as a fitness writer, inhaling exercise in all its forms comes with the territory. Yet, I always come back to walking. For me, the mental health benefits are hard to beat, and I find it’s a great way to slow down and gather my thoughts. My three-year-old pup Archie might have something to say if I suddenly stopped, too.

Read more: I drank kefir for a month and it made me feel like a superhuman – what’s the secret behind this gut-friendly drink?

While I’ve found that walking 10,000 steps per day works for me, I always advise against cookie cutter fitness prescriptions. Everyone is different, and goals should be individualised.

For example, a desk-worker who struggles to squeeze in any exercise is going to have very different expectations to a run club stalwart with an active job.

“One thing we need to be conscious of is setting realistic targets,” says Dr Elroy Aguiar, an assistant professor of exercise science at the University of Alabama. “If someone is doing 4,000 or 5,000 steps per day, and you tell them to do 10,000, that’s doubling their amount of daily activity, which can be problematic or even demotivating.”

He says the best place to start is to take a look at your phone or fitness tracker and see how many steps you currently average per day. From here, set a goal of walking 10-20 per cent more than your average daily step count each day.

“Generally speaking, if you improve your baseline steps by about 2,000 per day, that’s a sufficient amount of extra activity to improve health markers like blood pressure and body composition,” he adds.

When maintaining this new target feels manageable, try setting a fresh goal of 10-20 per cent more than your updated average, then slowly build this up over time to reach the health-promoting total of 8,000 (or more).

Read more: I walked 10,000 steps with a weighted backpack every day for a week – here are five reasons I’m not stopping

Inside Trump’s Gaza truce deal between Israel and Hamas

Senior officials briefed on truce talks for Gaza said they were “cautiously optimistic” that a new initiative announced by Donald Trump could pave the way to a long-term ceasefire deal, and the end of the devastating 21-month war.

Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed to the “necessary conditions to finalise” a 60-day truce to allow negotiations “to end the war” and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsened.

The US president has been piling pressure on both sides to broker a ceasefire and hostage release agreement, promising that a deal could come together as soon as next week.

One of the main sticking points has been whether the agreement would lay the groundwork for ending the ruinous war permanently. Israel has said it won’t accept a deal until Hamas is defeated, while Hamas has said it would never agree to temporary truce terms.

Despite this, senior officials briefed on the talks between Netanyahu’s senior aide Ron Dermer and Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, described a mood of “cautious optimism”. That is because among points approved by the Israeli side was that a ceasefire deal would contain US and mediator guarantees that discussions to end the war completely would take place.

The Independent understands the current 60-day structure on the table would lead to the release of 10 living captives and 15 bodies of those killed in Gaza. In exchange, there would be a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of Gaza, more aid would be allowed in, and talks would begin for a permanent ceasefire.

Progress has already begun. A Hamas delegation is expected to meet Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the proposal.

One official, who requested anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media, told The Independent this round of talks felt “different”, particularly after Israel’s unprecedented bombing campaign in Iran crippled Iran’s military leadership and caused “extensive” damage to Iranian nuclear infrastructure. Iran is one of Hamas’s closest allies.

“There is great American pressure on Israel to reach a deal,” the official told The Independent. “There is more flexibility from the Israeli side – I can say there is cautious optimism.”

“There is a different kind of atmosphere altogether after Iran. Netanyahu is in a mindset to go for a deal,” the official added, saying that off the back of the Gaza deal Netanyahu expects more Middle Eastern states would join the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in signing the Abraham Accords, a diplomatic and trade deal normalising relations with Israel.

Another official briefed on negotiations in Qatar called the talks in Washington “very fruitful” and said the US guarantees on a longer-term solution to the conflict – even beyond a permanent ceasefire – may assuage Hamas’s fears.

Throughout the nearly 21-month-long war, ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly faltered over whether the war should end as part of any deal. Hamas has said it is willing to free the remaining 50 hostages, less than half of whom are believed to be alive, in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war. Israel says it will only agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and exiles itself, something the group refuses to do.

An Israeli official, again not authorised to speak to the media, said Israel agreed to a “framework that is the basis to start proximity talks”. Proximity talks mean negotiations where Hamas and Israeli officials are in the same location but not in the same room, with mediators bouncing between the parties to hammer out the details.

Mediators involved in the previous ceasefire agreement in January described how, in the final stages of talks in Doha, the Qatari prime minister himself shuttled in a lift between different floors of the same building, conveying the final frantic messages between rival factions.

As well as the hostage release, Israel would also agree to withdraw from certain areas of Gaza during that time and for a surge in humanitarian aid. The Independent understands this will not include the strategic Philadelphi Corridor, a ribbon of land around nine miles long that runs along the border between Gaza and Egypt.

“In this framework, there are US and mediator assurances to Hamas – guarantees for the next phases to discuss ending the war,” the Israeli official said. Netanyahu is expected to meet his cabinet to discuss the upcoming visit to the US on Saturday, before flying to Washington DC on Sunday. He is likely to meet Trump on Monday.

Hamas has yet to publicly respond to Trump’s ceasefire proposal. However, a senior Hamas official told The Independent that the group believed “so far the formula is not satisfactory”.

A key problem is the two-month time limit on the deal and what happens after it expires, the official explained, asking to remain anonymous.

“There are three pending issues: aid, the withdrawal of the Israeli army, and the continuation of negotiations after the 60 days,” he told The Independent. “The most important thing is to guarantee an end to the hostilities and the prevention of the continuation of fighting after the 60 days. This is what Israel rejects.”

In Gaza, civilians suffering famine-like conditions and daily, relentless bombardment tentatively welcomed the news. However, some said they did not trust the US president after many conflicting promises, and after he has continued to arm Israel and even join Israel in its bombing campaign in Iran.

“I see Trump as part of the conflict, not a mediator to stop the war or solve our problems. How can he be a guarantor of an agreement when they are participants in it? ” said Khaled Hajjaj, 36, displaced from the destroyed east of Gaza and now living in a makeshift camp along the coast. “We in Gaza are living the harsh, devastating reality. We don’t just watch events – we have lived them for two years. There have been a lot of negotiations that have taken place – dozens of times – without success. I see this time as just another attempt, and so I am pessimistic.”

Muhannad, 32, also displaced from the north, said that previous statements from Trump “have made us distrust him”.

“Two months ago, Trump promised that there would be good news for Gaza within days. The exact opposite has happened: more massacres, hunger, a blockade and the ongoing escalation,” he added.

Samira Abdel-Aziz, 48, also displaced from the north, said he hoped it was “not just idle statements”.

“I have hope for that after the announcement of the participation of the Egyptian and Qatari sides. I trust the Egyptian side regarding the Palestinian issue and the extent of its concern for Palestinian interests.”

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.

Israel’s unprecedented bombardment of the tiny strip has killed more than 56,000 people according to Gaza’s health ministry and a blockade on aid has pushed the entire 2.3 million population to the edge of famine.

More than 90 per cent of the population has been displaced, often multiple times.

How to host a Macmillan Coffee Morning like you’ve never seen before

What comes to mind when you think of a fundraising coffee morning? Soggy digestives, weak tea and sitting in a school hall having forced fun? Think again.

Macmillan Cancer Support are celebrating 35 years of the iconic Coffee Morning fundraiser, and we’re here to help you give your next Coffee Morning a glow-up. Behind the fun, Coffee Mornings help raise vital funds for people facing one of the toughest challenges of their lives.

Almost one in two people in the UK will get cancer in their lifetime, and no two experiences are the same. Where you live, who you are, or whether you have another health condition can all affect the care you receive – and that’s not fair. Macmillan is working to change that, doing whatever it takes to make sure everyone gets the best possible care, whoever and wherever they are.

So while tasty treats and fundraising fun of course get to stay, we’re leveling up the atmosphere with fresh ideas to keep everyone entertained.

Want to be a Coffee Morning Host?

Best of all, these new ways of raising vital funds don’t have to be expensive. In fact, they might even save you a bit of time, wardrobe space and money. Here’s how to host a Macmillan Coffee Morning like you’ve never seen before…

Organise a ‘style swap shop’

Clear out your wardrobe, raise money and bring your community together all at the same time by organising a ‘style swap shop’ – with all your finest, unworn or unwanted clothes and accessories.

Pack up the majestic hats you bought for a wedding but only wore once, the satin gloves that make you feel like Audrey Hepburn but don’t go with anything you own, or maybe that lace vintage dress your aunty wore to Glastonbury in the 70s, which now lives in an unexplored drawer in your bedroom.

Fill up a bag with your best cast-offs and get your friends, family and neighbours to do the same. Everyone pays £5 entry to the ‘style swap shop’ and then you all get to browse through each other’s preloved treasures – grabbing what takes your fancy.

One person’s hand-me-down is another person’s new look – so elbows at the ready! Want to raise extra cash? Add a £1-£2 price tag on each item that’s been donated.

Strut your stuff at a cake walk

We know that staying healthy and being physically active can reduce the risk of cancer, so why not combine the classic Coffee Morning with a walk around the block? Creative costumes, silly hats and streamers at the ready as we leave behind the school hall and instead take our cakes and cookies for a little jaunt to stretch our legs.

Up the fun, and the stakes, by upgrading from a cake walk to a cake race – the bigger and messier the dessert, the better!  And get the kids involved in the baking and racing too.

Or if you want to keep it indoors, turn your catwalk into a cake walk and give your best strut with your favourite pudding in hand. It’s giving egg and spoon race, jelly wobbling on a plate and doubling over with laughter as you sashay along clutching a platter filled with your finest roulade.

Dance away the morning at a sober rave

Why sit or stand when you can dance? Sober raves are all the rage – and ideal for a morning of fun with friends, family and neighbours. There’s no hangover, no late night and the kids can join in too – so, no need for a babysitter.

Grab your glow sticks for a Coffee Morning like no other, and you can still eat cake and have a brew or a cold drink. It’s a club night where nobody has to worry about the morning-after-the-night-before! You can host it in any hall, all you need is music and a disco ball.

You might feel silly at first, but soon you’ll be grinning with joy as dancing is proven to release endorphins (natural painkillers and mood boosters) as well as reducing stress and keeping you fit. Now, who does a good Big fish, little fish, cardboard box?

Run an Is it cake? competition

If you haven’t seen the Netflix hit Is it cake? – an American game show-style cooking competition, you’re missing a treat. Contestants compete to both identify and recreate their best version of everyday items – in cake form.

That could be fire hoses made from vanilla sponge and icing, kitchen utensils that cut open to reveal red velvet cake, replica designer handbags that are actually edible, and even other food items such as burgers, which are of course, cake.

Up the baking ante by running your own cake lookalike competition inspired by the show. The best thing about it is that even if your cake looks like a pair of stinky old sports shoes, it’ll still taste great!

Whether you’re swapping styles, raving sober or sculpting a sponge handbag, every slice of fun helps Macmillan Cancer Support do whatever it takes to help everyone living with cancer.

Signing up to host your own Macmillan Coffee Morning this year couldn’t be easier! Find out more today on the Macmillan website

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

Has Badenoch shown the killer instinct to save her as Tory leader?

Ever since Kemi Badenoch became Tory leader, her many Conservative critics have claimed she has failed to make any impact. Any number of backbenchers have been only too willing, albeit usually under the cowardly cover of anonymity, to claim she is going nowhere.

Principal among their complaints is that she never seems to get the better of her weekly parliamentary jousts with Keir Starmer. Time and again, she asks the wrong question, chooses the wrong topic, and lacks the wit to seize on any missteps by the Prime Minister, they moan. Why can’t she give Starmer and co both barrels – just like showman Nigel Farage does on a regular basis?

It is not a criticism likely to be made of her again anytime soon. Not after her comprehensive filleting of Starmer over his defeat by Labour welfare rebels.

Initially, Starmer fended off Badenoch’s barbs at him. It looked as though she would be repulsed yet again. You could imagine her Tory detractors already licking their lips, muttering, “She can’t even score an open goal.” But Badenoch wasn’t finished. Starmer was merely the hors d’oeuvres. She took her knife to the person sitting behind Starmer, Rachel Reeves, asking him to guarantee she was safe in her job.

Starmer the lawyer should have seen it coming a mile off. It’s the oldest trick in the political book: he could have answered with a categorical yes. But he didn’t. In political terms, he left Reeves drifting in the wind. The chancellor’s emotional and distraught response signalled that Badenoch had scored a direct hit.

A rare moment in such parliamentary exchanges, which, for the most part, have nothing to do with democracy or debate and are all about posturing, platitudes and pantomime politics. Knockout blows are about as common as someone scoring in the Eton Wall Game – about one per decade. Badenoch didn’t just score, she smashed the ball through the back of the net.

The most important consequence of today’s events is how, indeed whether, Reeves can survive such a harrowing and humbling public ordeal. And whether Starmer can re-establish his and his administration’s personal and political authority. That is all in the balance. But there can be no doubt that eight months after becoming opposition leader, Badenoch has arrived on the big stage.

Her stock reply to complaints that she has not made her mark as a leader has been that it took heroine Margaret Thatcher years to do so. Thatcher became a formidable parliamentary performer, but it took her a long time. In her early years as opposition leader, she was frequently outwitted by Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Thatcher’s Tory critics said it showed she wasn’t up to it. Just like Badenoch’s Conservative critics. They won’t be making the same criticism again anytime soon.

In blasting open the fault line between Starmer and Reeves with a lethal precision, a skill most thought was not in her armoury, Badenoch has at long last given demoralised Conservatives reasons to be cheerful.

The Diddy trial verdict was difficult to watch

Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was found not guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering charges by a jury Wednesday after a blockbuster eight-week trial — and found guilty of two more minor charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.

It’s a verdict that will disappoint many. But in some ways, the reckoning has already happened. It began last year, quietly but unmistakably, when singer Casandra Ventura (known professionally as Cassie) filed a civil lawsuit under New York’s Adult Survivors Act.

In it, Ventura detailed years of alleged abuse, coercion and surveillance by the former partner who launched her career and then, she claims, nearly destroyed her life.

She filed the suit days before the Act’s one-year expiry window, and the lawsuit was settled behind closed doors within 24 hours. It was a resolution that looked like closure on paper, complete with a statement from Combs that said he wished Ventura “the best.”

But it opened the door to something far messier.

A string of lawsuits followed, with allegations ranging from rape to drugging to sex trafficking to forced labor to arson. Authorities launched a federal investigation. Then came the trial testimony from assistants, the security staff, ex-girlfriends, and claims that ranged from the grotesque to the extreme.

Like with Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein and R. Kelly, the Combs trial became a cultural mirror, reflecting what we still struggle to name and hold accountable: the way fame, money, and masculinity intertwine to obscure systemic abuse.

In the years since #MeToo exploded, the legal system has been inconsistent in its response. Weinstein and Kelly went to prison — then Weinstein’s New York conviction was thrown out, and his retrial resulted in him being guilty of just one criminal sexual act.

Author Neil Gaiman reached an non-disclosure agreement settlement with a woman who accused him of sexual assault while she lived at his home in Woodstock, New York (he strongly denies any non-consensual activity), and then sued her for half a million dollars for violating that NDA by talking publicly about the allegations.

Monica Lewinsky was semi-rehabilitated and re-entered public life, having been the butt of cruel jokes for decades. Comedian Louis C.K. was accused by five women of sexual misconduct, and then he publicly admitted that the allegations were true before releasing a weird film about an older man who’s interested in underage girls. He’s since toured multiple times and won a Grammy.

And now Diddy has been cleared of sex trafficking and racketeering, but still faces up to 10 years in prison for each of the two acts of prostitution the jury convicted him on.

In other words, it’s not clear whether the movement “worked.” The huge backlash against gender equality in recent years resulted in an emboldened alt-right and an explosion in tradwife content on social media (step right up, Ballerina Farm, Nara Smith and the pronatalists.) Powerful men fall and rise again; civil suits get settled quietly; survivors are discredited or simply disappear from public memory.

The Diddy case felt a little different — not because it’s uniquely horrifying, but because of the eerie normalcy of what it revealed:

The assistant, “Mia”, who posed jokey memes on social media about her “mentor” and accused him of raping her for fun (Diddy was never charged with assaulting Mia).

The partner surveilled, referred to as “slut” and “ho,” and allegedly beaten.

Ventura’s mother, who says she was blackmailed by Combs for $20,000, but the jury found him not guilty of racketeering.

The testimony given by an eight-months-pregnant woman who gave birth as the trial was ongoing.

The entourage who witnessed it all; the stylist who allegedly saw some of the violence and became a confidante.

Combs’ most recent girlfriend, testifying under the pseudonym “Jane,” broke down in tears as she described so-called “hotel nights” — one of which lasted three and a half days — where she said she’d been coerced into repeated sexual acts while under the influence of ecstasy, although a jury found Diddy not guilty based on the evidence. Jane described being trapped financially, admitting while on the stand that Combs still pays her rent. Once again, we heard about how much was an open secret.

One of the most striking moments didn’t come from inside the courtroom, but from the quiet, calm statement issued by Ventura’s husband, Alex Fine, addressing a question that he says he’s been asked repeatedly since the trial began: how he feels about his wife testifying.

“I have felt tremendous pride and overwhelming love for Cass. I have felt profound anger that she has been subjected to sitting in front of a person who tried to break her,” he said.

In a culture that so often frames women’s suffering through voyeurism or judgment, it was refreshing to see a man refusing to center himself. I’m not a hero, nor am I a victim myself, he told the world: I’m just a supportive witness.

Courts are designed to measure evidence against specific charges, but cultures endure. We’ve now heard too many variations of this same story to believe it’s exceptional. A powerful man. A much younger woman. A dynamic of control masquerading as mentorship, love, or opportunity, or perhaps all three.

The Diddy case was a test of the afterlife of #MeToo. Now, it’s not just about believing women; it’s about what happens after we say we do.

In a world where controversy is currency — where Kanye West (who tried to get into the courtroom during the trial after tweeting “Support Puff,” but wasn’t allowed in) released a song last week with Combs’ son called “Diddy Free,” hot on the heels of “Heil Hitler” — it’s hard to feel positive about that afterlife.

And it will have undoubtedly been hard for the women who testified during this trial to watch Combs celebrate in the immediate aftermath of the verdict, before his supporters in the gallery began to clap and cheer, and his lawyers slapped each other on the back.

The “dream team” that Combs’ family was chanting about in the courtroom today convinced the jury on a number of counts. But this trial has deservedly cast a reputational shadow.

At the very least, women have shown that they are still willing to speak up about their abuse at the hands of powerful men. We can only hope that gives those with the worst impulses pause.