The Guardian - 31.07.2026
2026-07-31 Boosty PDF 中文极简摘要
The Guardian - 31.07.2026.pdf
- Boosty 帖子：Newspapers - 31.07.2026
- 政治 / 工党指责英国改革党涉及捐款丑闻：工党主席布里奇特·菲利普森呼吁选举委员会调查英国改革党，指称该党接收了来自一名诈骗犯之母的巨额捐款。据悉捐赠者菲奥娜·科特雷尔在捐款前收到儿子转移的超过200万美元，警方正调查该党是否掩盖不可接受的捐赠。
- 体育 / 欧足联威胁抵制国际足联世界杯出售方案：欧足联反对国际足联将世界杯赛事向私人所有权开放的方案，威胁除非完全撤回且提供不再次私有化的保证，否则所有成员队将抵制国际足联比赛。此举使因凡蒂诺在推进方案及争取明年3月连任方面面临巨大压力。
- 社会/名人 / 克鲁尼夫妇因野火撤离法国住所：乔治和阿迈尔·克鲁尼在野火逼近时被迫离开其位于法国布里尼奥勒的Canadel庄园。克鲁尼向市长承诺将全力支持社区重建工作。
- 国际新闻 / 沙特准备对也门胡塞武装发起攻势：沙特阿拉伯计划通过海路及陆路对胡塞武装发起军事行动，以打破红海南部石油出口封锁。目前沙特已组织包括土耳其、埃及在内的14国建立海上防御联盟，并请求美英法德意等国加入。
- 法律/人权 / “巴勒斯坦行动”组织禁令可上诉至英国最高法院：英国最高法院允许胡达·阿莫里挑战针对“巴勒斯坦行动”组织的恐怖组织禁令，案件将于今年第四季度审理。此决定导致超过3,500名涉嫌支持该组织的被捕人员案件暂时搁置。
- 国际新闻 / 数千名移民涌入西班牙北非飞地休达：数千名主要为年轻男性的移民从摩洛哥游泳或涉水进入西班牙休达，导致当地领导人呼吁政府宣布国家紧急状态。国民警卫队确认移民正大规模通过海上进入。
- 文化/艺术 / 科特迪瓦艺术家迁至大巴萨姆寻求灵感与低成本：由于阿比让生活成本上升和租金上涨，包括视觉艺术家Nuits Balnéaires在内的许多艺术家迁至海滨城市大巴萨姆。艺术家表示海洋能量为其作品提供动力，且此处更易维持工作室空间。
- 体育 / 高尔夫球手查理·赫尔因恶作剧引发争议：查理·赫尔在赛前利用假刮刮乐戏弄球童使其误认为赢得10万英镑，引发公众关于行为残酷的批评。赫尔对此回应称应当心态轻松，并表示自己不避讳再次进行类似行为。
- 体育/赛果 / 足球第二资格赛次回合赛果汇总：记录了多场资格赛比分，包括Millenium以4-3总比分获胜，Brugal与Zeleninck战平，以及Brann以5-3总比分击败Cluj等比赛结果。
- 体育/足球 / 纽卡斯尔主教练埃迪·豪尔面临压力：尽管此前获得联赛杯冠军，但纽卡斯尔因阵容臃肿及伊萨克被出售导致不安，且在冠军联赛中以3-8惨败给巴塞罗那。首席执行官大卫·霍金森对主教练豪尔的态度从极力赞赏转变为对未来不表态。
The Guardian - 31.07.2026.pdf
这位跨界 冲浪的 英国之星 深受 流行乐A-list人士喜爱
蕾切尔·奇努里里 (Rachel Chinouriri)
电影与音乐
汉娜·艾因宾德 (Hannah Einbinder)：从《Hacks》到戛纳热映的酷儿砍杀电影
卫报
星期五 2026年7月31日 £3.50 订阅者 £2.40 起
工党指责英国改革党“深陷丑闻”，要求展开调查
杰西卡·埃尔戈特 (Jessica Elgot)
政治副主编
工党指责英国改革党“深陷丑闻”，并呼吁选举委员会紧急调查一名被定罪的诈骗犯之母向该党提供的巨额捐款。
在《卫报》披露乔治·科特雷尔 (George Cottrell) 在其母亲于 2024 年向该党捐款前的几天内，曾向她转移超过 $2m (£1.48m) 之后，工党新任主席布里奇特·菲利普森 (Bridget Phillipson) 呼吁委员会审查是否违反了相关规定。
该委员会此前已将此事移交给伦敦大都会警察局，警方正在调查英国改革党是否可能在掩盖或伪装来自“不可接受”捐赠者的捐款。
《卫报》随后报道称，据金融业人士透露，科特雷尔的母亲菲奥娜·科特雷尔 (Fiona Cottrell) 收到多笔总额超过 $2m 的款项，她将其归功于她的儿子。她的儿子是奈杰尔·法拉奇 (Nigel Farage) 的亲密盟友及顾问。
据消息人士称，这些资金随后要么直接转给英国改革党，要么通过英国助力商业（筹款机构）——该政党的筹款工具——进行转账。
菲利普森在信中表示，《卫报》的新披露“可能与向英国改革党提供的政治捐款的真实来源是否被正确识别，以及是否遵守了管理可接受捐赠者的法定要求这两个问题相关”。
“英国改革党认为规则不适用于他们……他们需要以应有的严肃态度对待这些指控。”
工党发言人
一名工党发言人表示，现在是英国改革党认真应对这些指控的时候了。该党表示：“如果关于乔治·科特雷尔的最新指控属实，英国改革党可能接受了来自一名被定罪诈骗犯的资金，而此人才是捐款的最终来源。这意味着，尽管他已经……”
萨福克郡山火在核电站附近蔓延
昨日，萨福克郡沿海地区发生山火，过火面积超过 150 公顷，距离赛兹韦尔B核电站仅几英里。数百人被紧急疏散，现场已宣布为重大事件。
与此同时，在欧盟地区炎热、干燥且多风的天气影响下，法国、西班牙以及地中海沿岸的其他几个国家火势依然猛烈。新闻页 8-11 →
市长将凭借新权力下放打破财政部的“死 grip”
Josh Halliday
英格兰北部编辑
英格兰各地区市长将能够通过贷款投资于重大项目，从而摆脱“财政部的死 grip”。这是一项旨在将权力从白厅移出的“变革性”计划。
市长们将首次能够在 2028 年起保留其所在地区产生的部分所得税，以及到 2027 年 4 月前总计数千万英镑的商业税率资金。
这些资金将取代现有的拨款，而非额外的资金，但当地领导人表示，由于不再依赖财政部专款专用的施舍，这将“改变”他们的资金状况。
▼ 安迪·伯纳姆承诺通过一系列新的权力下放措施，将权力从白厅移出
摄影：CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/REUTERS
南约克郡的工党市长奥利弗·科帕德（Oliver Coppard）表示：“这非常重要，因为它让我们摆脱了财政部的死 grip，并赋予了我们长期的确定性”。
安迪·伯纳姆将在今天宣布这些措施，他将其称为“一代以来从威斯敏斯特最大规模的权力转移”。
他表示：“根据我们的计划，社区内筹集的更多税款将留在该社区。很快，每位当地领导人都将拥有改善公共交通、建造房屋和创造就业机会的权力和资源。”
“我知道被威斯敏斯特的政治家忽视是什么感觉。我不会重复那个错误。”
根据一项新的“地方优先”原则，伯纳姆将指示部长们证明为什么某些权力应该留在白厅而不是下放。
除了本周早些时候政府宣布的对青少年技术教育的更大控制权外，一些人还呼吁市长通过卫生和教育专员来监管学校、全科医生（GPs）和托儿服务提供者。
No 10 表示，随着决策中心移出伦敦（这些官员中每五人之一来这里办公），英国 $20,000 名公务员队伍将变得“规模更小且更具战略性”。
英格兰的直选市长目前控制着覆盖四分之三人口的地区。
‘我知道被威斯敏斯特忽视是什么感觉’
安迪·伯纳姆 市长
他们将能够随意使用商业税率和所得税产生的收入，包括为关键产业提供税收优惠或为居民提供退税。
然而，专家表示，最显著的影响之一是，这将允许合并当局以其预计收入为抵押，申请 30 年期的贷款，用于资助此前需要财政部批准的重大项目。
市长们表示，由于他们无法基于白厅的一年期资金结算协议申请私人贷款，目前无法为住房和交通方面的重大计划提供资金。
北方强力伙伴关系（Northern Powerhouse Partnership）首席执行官亨利·穆里森（Henri Murison）表示，这一变化“彻底改变”了合并当局能够做的事情。
目前尚不清楚合并当局将保留多少比例的所得税或商业税率，官员们仍在核算数字。财政大臣约翰·希利（John Healey）预计将在秋季预算中公布细节。
蒂赛谷的保守党市长本·霍钦（Ben Houchen）暗示，他将利用所得税向居民发放退税。
然而，据了解，这在技术上极其困难，因为市长不知道个人缴纳了多少税款。此外，所得税收入并非市长的额外资金——它是在取代政府拨款——因此更有可能被用于长期项目，而非向居民发放补贴。
部长们正在考虑确保经济生产力较低的地区不会被抛在脑后。
这可能包括像曼彻斯特和伦敦这样的经济强市分享一部分它们产生的收入。
包括进步政策研究中心（北部分支）在内的智库曾警告称，匆忙推进财政分权存在创造“两级英格兰”的风险，可能会让全国约四分之一没有市长管辖区的人口被抛在后面。
政府计划鼓励这些地区——涵盖多塞特郡、萨默塞特郡、牛津郡、格洛斯特郡、威尔特郡以及肯特郡部分地区数百万人口——成立市长管辖区，以便从更大程度的自治中获益。
伯纳姆披露其对北海油气钻探的处理方式
彼得·沃克 (Peter Walker)
高级政治记者
安迪·伯纳姆 (Andy Burnham) 表示，他将对北海的油气钻探采取“务实”的方法，并称政府不能忽视那里潜藏的能源资源。
首相的这些评论是在回应一个关于他在入主唐宁街 10 号第一天与唐纳德·特朗普 (Donald Trump) 通话的问题。特朗普曾表示，伯纳姆告诉他将“开放”北海石油，尽管这一点在英国方面的通话摘要中并未提及。
在一次前往坎布里亚郡 (Cumbria) 的国防相关访问中，当被记者问及他对美国总统说了什么时，伯纳姆回答道：“我在上周一（即一周前）的通话中表示，在处理北海问题时，我会采取务实的方法，这也是我今后的打算。那里有资源。当人们陷入困境时，我们不能忽视这一点。因此，我向总统表达了这一点。”
目前尚不清楚这种方法是否涉及允许在现有许可证上进行更多钻探，还是发放新许可证。工党 2024 年的选举宣言排除了后一种行动，而伯纳姆表示他将遵守该文件中的承诺。
任何试图延展该宣言承诺的举动，都可能会激怒包括前能源大臣、现任外交大臣埃德·米利班德 (Ed Miliband) 在内的多名工党议员。
考虑到伯纳姆暗示将采取更宽松方法的当天，消防员正在萨福克郡 (Suffolk) 奋战一场严重的荒野火灾，且就在前一天，英格兰的一半地区被正式宣布处于干旱状态，这种情况尤为严重。
英格兰和威尔士绿党党魁扎克·波兰斯基 (Zack Polanski) 对伯纳姆的言论表示谴责，称在干旱和山火期间发表此类言论尤其令人担忧。波兰斯基表示：“允许在北海进行新的油气钻探将恶化气候崩溃。”
“对于伯纳姆来说，现在做正确的事并承诺将危险的化石燃料留在地下还不算太晚。”
关于如何处理阿伯丁 (Aberdeen) 东部的杰克多 (Jackdaw) 气田以及设得兰群岛 (Shetland) 西部的罗斯班克 (Rosebank) 油气田，官方磋商仍在进行中。活动人士警告称，批准这些项目将违反宣言承诺。
有猜测认为，如果某些新项目是所谓的“连接井”（tiebacks），即新油田通过管道与已获批的设施相连，那么它们可能会被允许。
米利班德曾将罗斯班克描述为“气候破坏行为”。接替他担任能源大臣的米娅塔·法姆布勒 (Miatta Fahmbulleh) 表达过类似的观点，但她也表示，她会对钻探的想法采取务实态度。
周三在谈到与伯纳姆的对话时，特朗普表示：“嗯，他确实说了一件非常棒的事情。他说他将开放北海石油。如果他这样做，你们将成为一个富有的国家。”
2026年7月31日 星期五 卫报
3
2026年水星音乐奖提名者 下方，从左上角起顺时针方向：奥莉维亚·迪恩 (Olivia Dean) 《The Art of Loving》； Suede 乐队 《Antidepressants》； Kojey Radical 《Don't Look Down》； Raye 《This Music May Contain Hope》； Nia Archives 《Emotional Junglist》； Baby Knats 《A Great Day in Newcastle》。 底部：Dave 《The Boy Who Played the Harp》； Jade 《That's Showbiz Baby》；保罗·麦卡特尼 (Paul McCartney) 《The Boys of Dungeon Lane》；多夫·埃利斯 (Dove Ellis) 《Blizzard》；War Child Records 《Help(2)》； Florence + the Machine 《Everybody Scream》
Ben Beaumont-Thomas
回顾自 1992 年起的历史，水星音乐奖（Mercury prize）曾表彰过一系列令人瞩目的榜单顶尖 A 级艺人，但直到今年的奖项，保罗·麦卡特尼（Paul McCartney）才获得了他的首次提名。
麦卡特尼凭借专辑《The Boys of Dungeon Lane》获得提名，该专辑对他利物浦的童年以及与披头士乐队队友之间萌芽的友谊进行了动人心弦的回顾。
在专辑发行之际，麦卡特尼在接受卫报采访时表示，他在创作时感受到了约翰·列侬（John Lennon）的存在。“我的合作者可能是本世纪最出色的作家之一，所以，是的，你会想念他。但当我写（关于某个特定地点）时，我大概知道他也会熟悉那里。我可以预估他的反应：‘这很好，把它加进去。’”
麦卡特尼可能在所有入围者中拥有最显赫的资历，该奖项旨在表彰英国或爱尔兰艺术家年度最佳专辑。但他面对的是近年来英国最轰动的成功故事之一：奥利维亚·迪恩（Olivia Dean），她的专辑《The Art of Loving》在全英音乐奖上横扫所有奖项，并可能在明年的格莱美奖上重演。该专辑自发行以来的 43 周中，除了 1 周外，其余时间均处于英国排行榜前 5 名，其中 8 周位居第 1 名。
她的英国流行乐同行 Raye 同样在列，凭借雄心勃勃、具有交响乐规模的《This Music May Contain Hope》入围，这是她在首张专辑《My 21st Century Blues》之后连续第二部获得提名的专辑。
另一位重量级人物是说唱歌手 Dave，他凭借包含全球大热单曲《Raindance》的《The Boy Who Played the Harp》获得提名。该专辑在卫报中获得了 5 星评价，Dave 被描述为“一名极其聪明且犀利的词曲作者”。Dave 在 2019 年凭借首张专辑《Psychodrama》赢得了水星音乐奖，但其续作《We're All in This Together》未能进入短名单。
Florence + the Machine 凭借第六张专辑《Everybody Scream》获得了她的第四次水星奖提名，该专辑同样受到卫报赞赏，被描述为“在音乐和情感上都十分圆润”。如果她这次失利，那么在未获奖的情况下，被提名次数比她还多的将只有 Radiohead。
在水星奖的提名名单中，还有一张罕见的合集专辑，其中汇集了众多大名：《Help(2)》，这是一张为 War Child 筹款而录制的慈善专辑。
该专辑收录了包括前水星奖得主 Arctic Monkeys、Pulp、Sampa、English Teacher、Ezra Collective、Young Fathers 以及曾凭借 Portishead 获奖的 Beth Gibbons 在内的艺术家的最新录音，此外还有许多其他英国和美国的顶尖人才。它是 1995 年《The Help Album》的续作，后者是水星奖历史上唯一一张获得提名的合集专辑。
上述所有专辑均在英国达到第 1 名，而另一张则达到了第 3 名：Jade 的《That's Showbiz Baby!》，她在离开 Little Mix 后的职业生涯继续赢得赞誉。
带有哥特色彩的英伦摇滚乐队 Suede 凭借另一部商业成功之作《Antidepressants》获得提名，该专辑最高排名第 2；该乐队凭借 1993 年的同名首作赢得了水星奖，但自 1997 年的《Coming Up》以来再未获得提名。
名单中也为知名度较低的艺术家留有空间，包括一张可被视为黑马的专辑：爱尔兰创作歌手 Dove Ellis 的《Blizzard》，该专辑在 2025 年的音乐媒体中获得了一些最狂热的评论。他也出现在了《Help(2)》中。
爵士乐组合 Knats 凭借《A Great Day in Newcastle》获得提名，该作品汇集了庞大的音乐家阵容（包括口述表演艺术家），共同营造出一种宏大且由律动驱动的听觉体验。作为目前奖项颁奖地纽卡斯尔的当地人，他们希望能够重复去年的情景——当时当地男孩 Sam Fender 摘得了桂冠。
英国说唱歌手 Kojey Radical 以其充满理智、具有社会意识且兼顾商业考虑的曲目著称，获得了他的第二次水星奖提名；而将 Jungle 节奏与独立摇滚及 R&B 结合的制作人兼 DJ Nia Archives 同样获得了她的第二次提名，作品为仅在上周、即资格审核期最后一天发行的《Emotional Junglist》。
这使得该名单呈现出多样化，在 12 张专辑中，有 8 张由有色人种艺术家创作。当然，这里也出现了一些遗珠，最值得注意的是莉莉·艾伦（Lily Allen）的《West End Girl》，该作品在 2025 年的文化讨论中占据了极大的分量。
该奖项将于 10 月 22 日在纽卡斯尔的 Utilita Arena 颁发，获胜者将由 11 位来自音乐产业各领域的专家评审团决定。
照片：AARON PARSONS PHOTOGRAPHY, JIM O'CONNLETTY IMAGES, ERIKA GOLDENING/WIREDINGS
卫报 周五 2026 年 7 月 31 日
4
新闻
工党称英国改革党“深陷丑闻”，要求就捐款展开调查
接第 1 页
从未证明过他在当时被法律允许向政党进行捐款。随着时间的推移，一个事实变得愈发清晰：英国改革党认为规则不适用于他们。他们需要清醒过来，开始以应有的严肃态度对待这些指控，并公开究竟是谁在为该党提供资金。”
该党发言人表示，英国改革党“深陷丑闻和可疑资金之中”。
在昨天的新闻发布会上，英国改革党的经济发言人罗伯特·詹里克（Robert Jenrick）回避了关于捐款的具体问题。
在与记者的激烈交锋中， he 表示这个故事“已经持续很长时间了”，但他并未对指控的实质内容做出回应。
他告诉BBC：“我们完全有信心，在捐款进行时，英国改革党遵守了所有选举规则。当然，我们将配合任何调查。就我所知，警方甚至还没有联系我们，所以我认为我们没有什么可补充的。”
詹里克暗示记者应该去质询乔治·科特雷尔（George Cottrell），并表示他们应该回到新闻发布会预定的主题——社会护理上。他告诉ITV：“英国改革党确定所有选举规则都得到了遵守。如果您有关于科特雷尔先生的问题，我认为您必须直接向他询问。”
伦敦大都会警察局的调查正在审查向英国改革党的捐款，其中包括来自“英国助力商业”（Britain Means Business）的款项，该筹款机构的董事是该党副党魁理查德·泰斯（Richard Tice）。在 2024 年大选前夕，该公司向英国改革党提供了两笔 £250,000 的捐款。这些情况最早由卫报揭露。
在美国被判欺诈罪的科特雷尔目前居住在黑山，但经常与法拉奇一同出现。他此前被描述为法拉奇的幕僚长，但英国改革党坚称他仅是一名志愿者。
在被问及转账问题时，科特雷尔的律师表示其客户不作进一步评论。
在之前的法律往来信件中，科特雷尔并未否认向其母亲（据了解其经济状况相对简陋）提供巨额资金。相反，他通过律师表示，“他的母亲所做的任何政治捐款完全是她自己的决定，是她的私事”。
菲奥娜·科特雷尔（Fiona Cottrell）尚未回应卫报的多次联系尝试。
在周三被要求对该报道做出回应时，一名英国改革党发言人表示：“英国改革党为其对捐款的严格审查感到自豪，并始终确保严格遵守选举委员会关于捐款的指南，正如《Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000,》中所规定的那样，所有捐款均如此操作。”
法拉奇在辞去克拉克顿（Clacton）议员席位后，正在参加一场补选。所有其他主流政党都拒绝派出候选人与他竞争，尽管选票上有 34 人，其中包括像“垃圾桶伯爵”（Count Binface）这样的噱头候选人。
▲ 奈杰尔·法拉奇本月在诺福克郡的一次集会上。他的政党称其对捐款进行了仔细审查 摄影：JOE GIDDENS/PA
“诚实的鲍勃”变得真正地急躁且易怒。为什么人们不能问他想让他们问的问题？
当你失去了GB News的信任，当你变得过于疯狂、过于极端，且对你最大的拥趸而言过于公然撒谎时，你就知道你麻烦大了。你几乎能感觉到英国改革党总部开始陷入恐慌。
不再在民调中名列前茅。一位新首相在重新设定基调，公众越来越多地选择乐观而非抱怨。一个陷入财务丑闻的政党。一名在与垃圾桶对决中沦为笑柄的领导人。英国改革党从未想过会变成这样。他们原以为自己才是赢家。
由于奈杰尔·法拉奇（Nigel Farage）把自己关在自创的“证人保护计划”中，理查德·泰斯（Richard Tice）在参加一个“会计入门”课程，而齐亚·尤素福（Zia Yusuf）在参加一个没完没了的愤怒管理静修营，英国改革党（Reform UK）的对外接待职责便落到了罗伯特·詹里克（Robert Jenrick）身上。而这正是“诚实鲍勃”最喜欢的方式。
昨天上午，诚实鲍勃再次进行了一次自我毁灭式的演练。他在一个大厅里发表演讲，大厅里挤了大约……呃……八个人。房间里唯一一个真正想在那儿的人就是诚实鲍勃本人。有时，你不得不怀疑这是否全是他在玩的一场游戏。他今天想谈论的是安迪·伯纳姆（Andy Burnham）的“死亡税”，而这项税收目前除了作为众多待考虑选项中的一个模糊可能性外，甚至还不存在。但对于诚实鲍勃来说，就好像它已经实施了一样。
他称，英国皇家税务海关总署（HMRC）的稽查员已经徘徊在临终关怀医院周围，通过偷走结婚戒指、没收借记卡，并在清空患者房产和银行账户时大笑，以此恐吓垂死病人。
这是诚实鲍勃的愿望达成。没有什么比“苦难色情”更能让他兴奋的了。
诚实鲍勃单调地讲述了将近 20 分钟。一个接一个地提出似是而非的论点。击倒了一个又一个毫无意义的稻草人。
第一个问题来自 GB News，与其说是愤怒，不如说是悲哀。为什么诚实鲍勃要把自己搞得这么像个傻瓜？为什么不尝试加入跨党派对话，以寻找解决这一严重问题的方案？为什么要用一个甚至还不是政府政策的“死亡税”来采取恐吓战术？
诚实鲍勃第一次显得局促不安。他没料到 GB News 竟然会背弃他。他一直认为他们是站在委屈与分裂这一边的。
从那时起，情况就全面恶化了。很少有其他媒体组织愿意理会这种敷衍的作秀。他们更感兴趣的是追踪《卫报》（The Guardian）关于“精致乔治”在钱被送到“迟钝迪基”手中前一刻，向其母亲转移 £2 的报道。
这时，诚实鲍勃变得真正地急躁和易怒。为什么人们不能问他想被问到的问题？他应得的尊重在哪里？
关于资金转移，除了坚称一切都合法合规之外，他没什么可说的。当然是合规的。我们只能听他信誓旦旦地保证。不过是老父亲在纵容乔治而已。
如果这种情况继续下去，整个局面将彻底崩盘。
◀ 罗伯特·詹里克在一次讨论社会护理改革的新闻发布会上。他回避了关于政党捐款的问题。 摄影：TOLGA AKMER/EPA
2026年7月31日 星期五 卫报
奥德赛争论
作者称电影批评缺乏尊重
第 7 页
愚者将死？
全女性国际象棋队被要求增加一名男性成员
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国内新闻
司法部数据显示，被召回入狱人数多于获释人数
杰西卡·默里 (Jessica Murray)
社会事务记者
2026 年前三个月，被召回进入监狱的人数超过了获释人数，这是英格兰和威尔士有记录以来，“召回率”首次突破 100% 在英格兰和威尔士。
司法部数据显示，在 2026, 12,977 人获释出狱，而 13,193 人因违反假释条件而被召回，比去年增长了 31%。
这意味着每 100 人获释，就有 101 人被召回羁押，从而产生了超过 100% 的“召回率”。
这一比率在十年间迅速上升，十年前约为 30%。在 2016, 17,923 人获释，5,185 人被召回，这意味着每 100 名获释囚犯中约有 30 人被召回。英格兰和威尔士的监狱已接近饱和，政府近期暂停了提前释放约 6,000 名囚犯以缓解危机的计划。
监狱咨询与护理信托基金会（Prison Advice and Care Trust）首席执行官安迪·基恩-唐斯（Andy Keen-Downs）表示：“如果被送回监狱的人数与离开的人数一样多，那么监狱人口危机将无法解决。”
他警告称，如果情况不改变，监狱床位可能在圣诞节前耗尽。
他说：“每月有数百人被召回，并不是因为他们犯了新罪，而是因为他们违反了假释条件。在政府竭尽全力减轻监狱系统压力的时刻，这样做几乎毫无意义。”
截至 2026 年 3 月的一年期间，共有 51,419 名囚犯因违反假释条款而被召回入狱，比前 12 个月增长 28%，是自 2015. 年记录开始以来的最高人数。在所有召回案例中，22% 涉及进一步的犯罪指控，而绝大多数是由于违反假释条件。这些违规行为包括未能与缓刑服务机构保持联系，或未能居住在经批准的地址。
数据还显示，自 2024, 9 月政府为应对过度拥挤而采取紧急措施以来，已有 70,066 名囚犯提前获释。
司法部表示，人数增加的部分原因可能在于提前释放计划，在该计划下，更多囚犯在刑期结束前提前获得假释。
照片：JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES
Zippos 马戏团的表演者在东邓巴顿郡柯肯蒂洛赫（Kirkintilloch）的大顶棚内准备迎接盛大的生日庆典。该马戏团由马丁·“齐波”·伯顿（Martin "Zippo" Burton）于 1986, 年创立，首演地在伦敦北部的海伯里菲尔兹（Highbury Fields）。目前马戏团正通过一场持续到 10 月的特别巡演庆祝其 40 周年纪念。
英国资助的法国防暴警察对寻求庇护者使用催泪瓦斯
Rajeev Syal
内政编辑
一家慈善机构声称，由英国纳税人资助的法国防暴警察向寻求庇护者使用催泪瓦斯，试图阻止他们登上的一艘船，随后在该船上发现了三名女性的尸体。
《卫报》看到的视频和照片显示，昨天凌晨 4 点，在敦刻尔克附近的 Braek 海滩，催泪瓦斯罐被发射向一群人。早上 6 点，在同一片海滩附近的一艘船上发现了三名女性的尸体。
拍摄这些影像的慈善机构 Utopia 56 表示，工作人员看到法国防暴警察向试图登上发现尸体之同一艘船的人群发射瓦斯罐。
作为 Shabana Mahmood 在 5 月签署的一项 £660m 协议的一部分，
来自共和国安全公司 (CRS) 的 50 名“经过暴动和人群控制战术专门培训”的警员已在英国公共资金的资助下部署。
在另一项进展中，昨天在 Damnes 沿岸的一次独立事件中，一名男子因乘坐的橡皮艇陷入困境而死亡，成为第四名死者。这些事件发生在他今年以来最繁忙的小船跨境日之后数小时，当天有 752 人抵达英国。
该慈善机构表示，从凌晨 4 点起，防暴警察与寻求庇护者在通往 Braek 海滩的道路上发生了冲突。
Utopia 56 的协调员 Angèle Vettorello 表示：“在发现载有女性尸体的船只的一小时前，我们的团队就在海滩旁边。”
“CRS 的防暴警员在那里，试图阻止 80 人（包括家庭成员）尝试进入海滩，而这些人正试图进入船内。我们看到他们对人们使用催泪瓦斯，随后我们在那里发现了至少 35 个催泪瓦斯罐。”
“我们不知道被发现尸体的那些女性当时是否已经在船上，还是属于试图抵达海滩的人群之一。”
“我们可以看到，警察在海滩上的压力正使更多人处于危险之中。我们上周看到了这种情况，现在依然在看到，而且这种情况已经持续一段时间了。这太可怕了。”
CRS 面临着暴力和种族主义的指控。今年 2 月，该部队的九名警员被判定在 2018. 年“黄背心”反政府示威期间，殴打在催泪瓦斯掩护下寻求庇护的和平
752
昨天通过小船跨境抵达的人数——今年以来最繁忙的一天
抗议者。两年前，泄露的 WhatsApp 消息显示，CRS 警员曾交流一张载满移民的小船正在下沉的照片。
CRS 虽然由英国出资，但在法国保持“行动独立”，并被授权使用水炮、震爆弹和警棍。
难民委员会 (Refugee Council) 外部事务总监 Imran Hussain 表示：“难民是在极端环境下生活的普通人，那些冒着危险乘坐小船的人仅仅是因为走投无路。如果政府能够建立安全的通道，会有更少的难民冒风险跨境。”
由于偷渡者利用平静的海况，过去一周有 900 多人跨越英吉利海峡。今年共有 13,376 名移民跨境，低于去年同期的 24,389 人。
政府发言人表示：“我们对这些死亡消息深感悲痛。英吉利海峡的每一次死亡都是一场悲剧，它深刻提醒人们，利用弱势群体牟利的犯罪团伙所带来的危险。”
5
卫报 2026 年 7 月 31 日 星期五
6
新闻
欧洲国家就世界杯方案同意抵制国际足联赛事
接第 1 页
第一位批评国际足联方案的政治人物，他在周二晚上在 X 上写道，世界杯“从来不属于任何人可以出售”。
预计欧洲足球协会将于本周致函国际足联，正式通知其威胁：除非撤回计划中的世界杯出售方案，否则将抵制未来的赛事。
这意味着因凡蒂诺在推进其计划时将面临艰巨的挑战。各国此前被要求在 19 September 之前签约，但现在将面临巨大的压力，要求其大幅修订或完全撤回该方案。虽然大多数欧洲足协此前已提交支持信，赞成他在明年 3 月再次当选，但欧足联如此果断地划清界限，使其处境急剧恶化。
欧足联的声明确认了这一决定。声明称：“基于今天的讨论，只要这些方案仍然存在，所有欧足联国家队将不参加任何国际足联比赛，除非该方案被完全放弃，并给出具有约束力的保证，确保国际足联绝不会再次将其治理或赛事向私人所有权开放。”
昨天的会议由欧足联主席亚历山大·塞法林主持，执行委员会成员及欧足联在国际足联理事会的代表也向代表们发表了讲话。据了解，这些开场演讲奠定了基调，随后约有 20 位足协负责人发表讲话，消息人士将现场气氛描述为“团结一致”。
表达观点的人员中包括英足协主席黛比·休伊特，一名与会者表示，她就支持
▲ 吉安尼·因凡蒂诺和唐纳德·特朗普本月向西班牙队颁发世界杯奖杯 摄影：RICHARD SELLERS/ALLSTAR
“我们反对国际足联的计划——世界杯属于足球，且永远属于足球”
英足协发言人
抵制方案进行了“非常强硬”的阐述。英足协发言人在一份声明中对此表示支持，称：“我们与欧洲同行肩并肩，全力支持这一集体观点。我们反对国际足联的计划——国际足联世界杯属于足球，且永远属于足球。”
根据欧足联划定的路线，在高层级别上，拟议的抵制将从明年的女足世界杯开始，而首个被抵制的国际足联年龄组赛事可能是 U-20 女足世界杯。该赛事计划于 5 September 起在波兰举行， 24 个参赛队伍中有 6 支代表欧足联国家，其中包括英格兰队。
英格兰女足还将在 10 月与希腊队进行世界杯资格赛附加赛，如果国际足联拒绝让步，这将是对英足协决心的重大考验。
这一欧洲管理机构邀请其他足联效仿其做法。据了解，欧足联相信许多亚洲国家持有类似观点。
因凡蒂诺的传统强势地区在欧洲之外，如果其他地区的支持出现崩塌，可能会给这位国际足联主席带来严重后果。
欧足联表示：“全球各国家协会现在面临一个最后通牒：要么接受足球最顶级赛事被不可逆地吞噬，要么承担后果。这不是一个‘民主决定’，而是通过恐吓进行治理——这种胁迫行为不配由一个受托管理全球足球运动的机构来执行。”
欧洲足球内部人士认为，欧足联的决定增加了在明年国际足联选举中出现一位由欧洲支持的候选人与因凡蒂诺竞争的可能性，而此前预计他将毫无悬念地顺利当选。
欧足联还与北美足联（Concacaf）进行了讨论，后者虽然表达了对国际足联计划的反对，但尚未宣布支持抵制。
41 个北美足联成员国昨晚召开了自己的紧急会议，讨论如何应对此次危机。
据了解，许多欧洲国家足协已就此事与各自政府进行了讨论，其中许多政府在私下里支持抵制行动。
自由民主党的体育发言人安娜·萨宾（Anna Sabine）也支持此次抵制，并呼吁欧足联采取进一步行动，创建一个“建立在问责制和透明度基础上、将球迷放在首位的全新全球足球管理机构”。
2026年7月31日 星期五 卫报
国内版
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◀ 克里斯托弗·诺兰（Christopher Nolan）改编自荷马史诗的电影赢得了广泛赞誉，但艾米莉·威尔逊（Emily Wilson）认为其剧本“糟糕至极”
希腊警方调查苏格兰女性尸体在行李箱中被发现一案
PA Media
目前正在进行毒理学检测，以确定一名苏格兰女性在希腊行李箱中被发现死亡一案是否涉及谋杀。
38 岁的伊丽莎白-简·罗斯（Elisabeth-Jane Ross）的尸体于 7 月 18 日由一名无家可归者在雅典基普塞利（Kypseli）地区的一栋废弃建筑中发现。
据信，她在被发现前五到七天内死亡。
据当地媒体报道，罗斯于 6 月 29 日从爱丁堡前往希腊，最初住在雅典郊区凯拉齐尼（Keratsini）的朋友家中，随后在基普塞利与美国朋友会面。
有报道称，希腊警方认为她的手机在她死后仍被用来发送信息，显然是为了误导寻找她的人。
据悉，罗斯来自爱丁堡地区。希腊警方正试图确定她的死亡是否为“犯罪行为”的结果，一名警方发言人确认目前正在进行毒理学检测。
该发言人补充称，尸体或行李箱上没有能让他们识别出第三方的证据。
据当地报道，警方还试图追踪她死后几天内手机的所在地。
希腊警方的一位发言人表示：“目前尚未从尸体或行李箱中发现其他能让我们识别出另一人的证据。”
“我们正在等待毒理学检测结果，以确定死亡原因，并查明是否涉及谋杀。”
“调查仍在进行中。”
外交、联邦和发展事务部表示：“在这段困难的时间里，我们的心与伊丽莎白的家人在一起。我们正在提供领事支持，并与当地当局保持联系。”
苏格兰警方的一位发言人表示：“我们已知晓一名苏格兰女性在雅典死亡的消息，目前正与希腊当局沟通。”
“警员们正在为她位于苏格兰的家人提供支持。”
▲ 伊丽莎白-简·罗斯的尸体于 7 月 18 日在雅典被发现
欧茨指责翻译家对诺兰版《奥德赛》的批评过于“粗鲁”
凯瑟琳·肖尔德（Catherine Shoard）
围绕克里斯托弗·诺兰（Christopher Nolan）执导的商业大片版《奥德赛》（The Odyssey）的幕后剧集在昨夜升级。小说家乔伊斯·卡罗尔·欧茨（Joyce Carol Oates）试图保护这位电影制作人，使其免受古典学家艾米莉·威尔逊（Emily Wilson）的批评。
欧茨在X平台上发文，对威尔逊本周在《伦敦书评》（London Review of Books）上发表的文章的风格和措辞提出了异议。在这篇文章中，这位曾在 2017 年出版荷马史诗翻译版本的学者写道，诺兰的电影缺乏“心理、情感、政治和伦理深度”，且“没有任何令人信服的观点”。
欧茨表示：“这个人不仅没有以同事之间协作的方式就对荷马的解读产生分歧，反而使用了类似Maga追随者攻击政见不同者的那种粗鲁语言，而且此人本身也从诺兰的电影中获益匪浅。”
“人们会期望一个翻译者——在所有人之中，翻译者是对文本负责、服务于文本的人——能对那些同样秉持诚意（正如她自称的那样）行事的人表现出多一点的深思熟虑和尊重。”
欧茨的这些言论发生在她上周对该片含蓄批评之后，当时她将该片与 1997 年 Hallmark 频道的版本进行了对比，并认为后者更胜一筹。这位作家在推特上写道，由安德烈·康恰洛夫斯基（Andrei Konchalovsky）制作的电视电影在刻画卡尔刻（Circe）与奥德修斯（Odysseus）之间的性动态方面，有着“有趣得多的诠释”。
她还赞扬了该片对奥德修斯的塑造（“如此阳刚，如此充满人性”）、其冥界插曲（“令人迷醉”）以及相对开阔的叙事空间。
诺兰的电影受到了评论界的广泛赞赏，这或许部分解释了为什么威尔逊反对的激烈程度令许多人感到震惊。她写道：“我曾希望诺兰对这些荷马主题的亲近能推动他达到新的创作高度，并使他能够塑造出更令人信服的角色。”
“但《奥德赛》呈现出他惯有的宏大感
与肤浅感的结合……电影的愿景过于混乱，角色刻画不足，无法兑现其在宏大理念上承诺的一半——尽管它在呈现大爆炸和巨人们方面表现得非常出色。”
她补充道：“剧本极其糟糕。没有任何一个角色的言行具有令人信服的动机。没有性爱戏，而且食物看起来很糟糕。”
这位古典学家的评价曾被寄予厚望，因为她的翻译版本曾受到诺兰的赞赏。这位导演告诉《帝国》（Empire）杂志，在构建奥德修斯这个角色时，他将她版本中的开篇第一句——“告诉我一个复杂的人的故事”——作为了一个关键的参考点……
在过去一个月里，威尔逊以及其他人的翻译版本销量显著上升，书商 TG Jones 还报告称，《伊利亚特》（The Iliad）的搜索量增长了 1,560%。
然而，除了诺兰本人之外，任何作家都不会从这部电影中获得版税。
诺兰的前一部作品《奥本海默》（Oppenheimer）是一部关于原子弹之父的传记片，横扫了 2023 年奥斯卡金像奖，共斩获七项大奖。人们普遍预测他的这部续作也将重演此景。
卫报已联系威尔逊寻求置评。
贫困地区的儿童过马路伤亡人数高得多
Gwyn Topham 交通记者
官方分析表明，在英格兰最贫困的地区，儿童在过马路时死亡或受伤的人数几乎是最富裕地区的五倍。
交通部（Department for Transport）的数据显示，在过去的 10 年中，居住在最贫困 10% 邮政编码区域的人群与最富裕 10% 人群之间的道路伤亡差距正在扩大。
据报告，2025 年整个英国道路上死亡或受重伤的人数上升至 29,918 人，其中 2,432 人在 16 岁以下。该总数比 2022-24 年的平均水平高出 3%。死亡人数下降 4%，至 1,538 人。
交通部对英格兰最严重事故发生地的分析显示，来自贫困地区和富裕地区的伤亡比例存在显著差异，尤其是在年轻人中。
根据交通部关于英格兰贫困程度与道路伤亡的报告，在死亡或受伤的儿童行人中，有超过 20% 居住在最贫困的 10% 地区，而居住在最不贫困地区的仅占 4%。
活动人士表示，死亡人数从 2024 年的 325 人上升到去年的 372 人，这一 14% 的增长需要得到回应。
英国皇家事故预防学会（Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents）的 Rebecca Guy 表示：“如果政府认真对待减少道路死亡和严重受伤，那么解决不平等问题必须成为其方案的核心。”
“这意味着投资和预防工作必须针对风险最高社区。”
在去年英国道路记录的死亡案例中，超速是 52% 案件的影响因素。在各类事故的死者中，超过四分之三为男性。
从每英里行驶距离来看，高速公路在 2025 年在统计上是最安全的道路——尽管承担了 21% 的交通流量，但仅占死亡人数的 6%。
交通部表示：“我们的道路安全战略是十多年来制定的首个战略，该战略承认来自贫困地区的人们在道路上可能面临更高风险。这就是为什么该战略旨在为所有道路使用者减少死亡和严重受伤。”
卫报 2026 年 7 月 31 日 星期五
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新闻
气候危机
▼ 当重大事故警报发布时，莱斯顿（Leiston）附近的邓威奇希思（Dunwich Heath）野火中烟雾升腾 摄影：JOE GIDDENS/PA WIRE
萨福克郡核电站附近发生“末日级”山火，数百人被疏散
Pippa Neill Caroline Davies
昨天，萨福克郡海岸地区发生山火，过火面积超过 150 公顷，距离赛兹韦尔B核电站仅几英里，导致数百人被疏散，并宣布进入重大事故状态。
萨福克郡消防救援队首席消防官乔恩·莱西（Jon Lacey）表示，截至昨晚，火势仍未完全得到控制。
他说道：“风向的改变在意想不到的情况下提供了一些帮助，直升机也在协助压制火势。”
“至于是否真正得到了控制，我目前还不敢断言，但我们已经部署了资源来保护财产和生命。”
安迪·伯纳姆昨天承诺将支持消防员。在访问坎布里亚郡期间，他在接受PA Media记者采访时表示：“我们正在密切监测情况，并定期接收更新。这是一次非常严重的事故。”
根据气象局的数据，萨福克郡7月份的降雨量仅为其月平均水平的 2%。
此次山火发生在前一天英格兰一半地区（包括东安格利亚及其他六个地区）被正式宣布进入干旱状态之后。昨天，威尔士自然资源局宣布威尔士全境进入干旱状态，这将成为该地区自近 200 年前开始记录以来最干燥的7月。
随着气候危机加剧了“鞭梢式”的先湿后干天气，英国和欧洲正经历连续的热浪，这种天气先是促进植被生长，随后使其枯竭，从而为火灾提供了理想的燃料。本月迄今为止，消防员已在英格兰和威尔士应对了 393 起山火，使7月成为有记录以来最繁忙的月份，给整个消防救援服务的人员和资源带来了极大压力。
国家消防酋长委员会（NFCC）主席菲尔·加里根（Phil Garrigan）表示：“山火不再是孤立或季节性的事件。它们正成为我们的社区和应急服务部门面临的风险中一个反复出现特征。随着气候和环境条件的改变，我们必须确保我们的消防救援服务具备应对这一挑战的能力。”
在法国，波尔多周围的火灾仍在阴燃，而西班牙和现在的土耳其也在应对各自的火灾。
在萨福克郡，消防救援服务于周三下午 5.30 收到关于莱斯顿（Leiston）附近邓威奇希思（Dunwich Heath）发生火灾的报告，当晚部分当地住宅被疏散。在克利夫屋度假公园（Cliff House Holiday Park）拥有一栋度假小屋的罗布·塔克（Rob Tucker）表示：“我们在晚上10点被疏散”
“巨大的压力”
英格兰热相关死亡人数有望创历史新高
达米安·卡林顿 (Damian Carrington)
环境编辑
在英国健康安全局 (UKHSA) 表示 5 月和 6 月的热浪估计导致额外 2,877 人死亡后，英格兰今年夏季的热相关死亡人数有望创下历史最高记录。
此前记录设定在 2022 年，死亡人数为 2,985 人，而传统上最热的 8 月尚未到来。
卫生大臣伊薇特·库珀 (Yvette Cooper) 昨天表示：“对于所有因长期且剧烈的热浪而失去亲人之人，我深表关切。”
UKHSA 的分析估计，在 5 月 24 至 27 日的热浪期间有 753 例热相关死亡，而在 6 月 21 至 28 日期间又有 2,124 例。总数几乎是 2025 年整个夏季数字的两倍。
UKHSA 的估计基于记录在案的死亡人数。它计算了热浪期间的超额死亡率，并将其与一年中未经历热浪的类似时期的死亡率水平进行比较。这些数字与之前基于显示过去热度与死亡之间关联的数据得出的估计值相似。
化石燃料驱动的气候危机使得热浪变得更加剧烈且更易发生；上月底影响西欧的热浪是记录有以来最严重且影响最广泛的一次。2027 年的酷暑将因超级厄尔尼诺 (El Niño) 天气系统而加剧，且在碳排放削减之前，气温将继续上升。
“新数据凸显了极热天气给人们健康带来的重大危险，”UKHSA 首席环境公共卫生科学家罗斯·汤普森 (Ross Thompson) 博士说。“随着气候变得温暖，我们可以预见高温天气将变得更长、更频繁且更极端。”
“这就是为什么个人、社区和系统必须做好应对更高气温的准备，并确保最脆弱的人群得到保护，这一点至关重要。”
库珀表示，今年夏季的酷暑对“数千人的健康产生了日益严重的影响，同时也给我们的 NHS 带来了压力”。
她补充道：“我衷心感谢 NHS 的工作人员、护理人员和应急响应者，他们在这些异常繁忙且具有挑战性的月份里不懈工作，以保护和照顾受高温影响的人们。”
一些救护车服务机构报告称，在热浪期间接到了创纪录的呼叫数量。
在 6 月英格兰的热浪期间，诺福克郡的林伍德 (Lingwood) 记录到了该月的新高温 38°C，而 5 月在邱园 (Kew Gardens) 记录到的 31.5°C 则是该月的新记录。
加里法洛斯·康斯坦蒂努迪斯 (Dr Garyfallos Konstantinoudis) 博士，
2026 年 7 月 31. 星期五 卫报
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9
▲ 热浪和禁用水管令导致南伦敦图廷贝克公共绿地 (Tooting Bec Common) 的草地被晒焦，而巴恩斯 (Barnes) 圣保罗学校的田野依然翠绿 摄影：MARTIN GOHWIN/ 卫报
昨天。度假公园的一个工作人员走过来告诉我们，我们要被撤离了。”
昨天，附近的一个大篷车公园也被撤离，当地居民打开家门接收安置。
韦斯特莱顿 (Westleton) 教区委员会主席安德鲁·特纳 (Andrew Turner) 告诉卫报：“我的家里住了两个家庭。两个家庭和两只狗。现在村公所里有枕头之类的东西，但目标是让每个人都能住进房子里。委员会仍在登记愿意提供房间的人员名单。”
“我们是一个联系紧密的社区。看到社区这样团结在一起真是太棒了。我对此并不感到意外。”
然而，该地区野生动物受到的损害预计将非常严重，因为部分火灾发生在英国皇家鸟类保护协会（RSPB）的明斯米尔（Minsmere）自然保护区内。RSPB当地区域经理亚当·罗兰兹（Adam Rowlands）表示：“主火区所在的荒原栖息地是英国一些非常特殊且稀有物种的家园，例如夜鹰、夜莺和达特福德��Distrib warbler（Dartford warbler）。看到这些破坏简直令人心碎；与昨晚起火时相比，我看到一个 20英尺高的火球在树林中燃烧，夜鹰们正从火球中飞走。”
“昨夜我站在荒原上，景象如同世界末日一般，天空呈橙色，浓烟滚滚，在距离现场向北 20英里之处仍能看到并闻到烟味。”
消防员表示，认为距离几英里之遥的赛兹韦尔B（Sizewell B）核电站没有受到任何威胁。
一名法国电力公司（EDF）发言人表示，山火并未影响电站的运行。据了解，赛兹韦尔B（Sizewell B）已制定了应急计划，涵盖了包括现场起火在内的多种情景。
人们被敦促尽可能避开该区域，并保持门窗关闭。
爱丁堡大学火灾科学讲师扎卡里·坎贝尔-洛克里（Zakary Campbell-Lochrie）博士表示：“这次山火发生时，英格兰大部分地区（包括萨福克郡（Suffolk））已被正式宣布处于干旱状态。包括近几周英国大部分地区多次热浪在内的炎热干燥天气，导致植被严重干燥，随后极易被点燃，且一旦发生火灾，危险程度将大大增加。”
由化石燃料燃烧驱动的气候危机正使热浪变得更加剧烈且频发。英国卫生安全局（UK Health Security Agency）昨天表示，英格兰今夏与高温相关的死亡人数有望创下历史最高纪录。
31.
位于伦敦西区邱园（Kew）的记录温度，这里也是伦敦帝国学院气候变化橡树的所在地。
该研究的共同作者表示：“英国卫生安全局（UKHSA）的分析提供了明确且令人心碎的证实，证明这些热浪给英格兰和威尔士带来了显著的健康影响。”
“长时间的极端高温给人体带来了巨大的压力。请不要忘记，在这些数字背后，是那些过早离世的真实个体。”
“我们必须采取紧急行动来改造我们的房屋、护理场所和基础设施，同时加倍努力推动全球实现净零排放，以阻止气温进一步升高。”
当完整的死亡记录可用时，英国卫生安全局的估算值可能会有微小变动。
这里的草更绿 (The grass is greener)
避开软管禁令的场地引发当地人愤怒
Helena Horton
在经历了多次严酷的热浪，且部分地区一个多月没有降雨之后，整个英格兰南部似乎都变成了金褐色。
但在伦敦西南区巴恩斯（Barnes）的哈默史密斯桥（Hammersmith Bridge）附近，可以闻到明显的潮湿土壤气息。圣保罗学校（St Paul's school）的操场一片亮丽葱绿，该校每年的学费高达 £57,000。
在周围焦干的景象中，修剪整齐的草坪看起来就像海市蜃楼。这让感到愤怒的居民们感到震惊，因为他们处于软管禁令（hosepipe ban）之下，不得不任由自家的草坪枯死。
在英格兰，40% 的人口处于软管禁令之下，共有七家水务公司——Affinity Water、Anglian Water、Cambridge Water、Southern Water、South East Water、Thames Water 和 South West Water——均限制用水。但高尔夫球场、体育场和学校操场享有豁免权，这意味着在公共公园的植被枯死之时，依然存在着一些绿色区域。
禁令似乎来得太晚；全国范围内缺水意味着英格兰目前有一半地区处于干旱状态。尽管该国部分地区经历了有记录以来最潮湿的年初。
在伦敦西南区的其他地方，人们正竭力在学校假期期间让孩子们保持凉爽。在图廷贝克公共地（Tooting Bec Common），可以看到幼童们蜷缩在树荫下，那里已被阳光灼烧至草类枯死，只剩下光秃秃的坚硬土壤。
由于今年夏天到目前为止已有 24 次气温达到 30 摄氏度或以上，家长们无法为幼儿充填充气戏水池以帮他们降温。
然而，尽管该校已进入暑假，但由于一项允许学校出于“健康与安全”原因浇灌场地的漏洞，学校被允许保持其草坪常绿。
“他们应该遵守和我们一样的规则，”62 岁的史蒂夫·巴克（Steve Barker）说道，他正沿着泰晤士河散步，停下来擦了擦额头上的汗。“为什么在他们根本不用操场的时候还要浇水？现在又不是学期期间！那里的草地肯定比我的好看——我的不得不任其枯死，现在可能已经太迟无法挽救了。他们一定用了大量的水才能让那里保持如此翠绿。”
虽然圣保罗学校的葱郁绿色与当地社区花园中枯萎的绣球花形成鲜明对比，但这绝非个例：类似的紧张局势正在南部各地出现。在肯特郡（Kent）的桑威奇湾（Sandwich Bay）海岸，干涸的荒野中分布着几片亮绿色区域。这就是举办公开赛（Open Championship）的专属皇家圣乔治高尔夫俱乐部（Royal St George's Golf Club）。
该俱乐部仅接受其他会员推荐的入会申请。访客在一年中的某些时段可以前往，每天费用约为 £400。
该郡的 South East Water 客户处于软管禁令之下，肯特郡的公园也已变褐。
伦敦南部的达尔维奇学院（Dulwich college）——一所每年学费 £67,000 且将 奈杰尔·法拉奇 列为校友的学校——也一直在使用强力喷水器保持其数英亩体育场地的葱郁。学校方面表示，其正在“尽可能节约地用水”。
该校本月早些时候已放暑假，但仍继续对其体育场地进行充分浇水。然而，附近布罗克韦尔公园（Brockwell Park）的社区花园却无法得到妥善的浇灌。
这种模式加剧了要求改革水务系统的呼声，以消除这些
“私立学校的操场依然郁郁葱葱，而其他地方的公园都枯黄了”
Cat Hobbs
We Own It
不平等地带，并减少对这么多浇水禁令的需求。
工党议员、海斯廷斯和赖（Hastings and Rye）选区的海伦娜·多利莫尔（Helena Dollimore）表示：“高尔夫球场和私立学校运动场被豁免于浇水禁令，象征着我们的水务系统中所有错误的地方。私立学校可以在暑假期间使用数百升水来保持草地常绿，而孩子们却不能在充气泳池里玩水，这怎么能是对的？”
“这就是连续几届保守党政府将我们最宝贵的资源出售，从而建立一个利好股东的制度所带来的后果。”
活动团体 We Own It 的创始人兼主管 Cat Hobbs 表示，这种不平等令人“震惊”。她补充道：“私立学校的操场依然郁郁葱葱，而其他地方，花朵在枯萎，公园在变黄，孩子们无法在充气泳池里消暑。”
Hobbs 认为，“公共所有权对于妥善管理我们的水资源、减少泄漏以及停止这类不公正的豁免至关重要”。
在巴恩斯（Barnes），人们对私立学校郁郁葱葱的草坪的愤怒已达到了顶点。该学校正匆忙给邻居写信，解释用水的原因。
庄园经理丹妮尔·皮尔斯（Danielle Pierce）表示：“我们正在按照 Thames Water 发布的指南浇灌我们的运动场，而不是更广泛的场地。”
“这些水来自专门的立管，而不是自来水管的饮用水。”
雷丁大学自然灾害研究员汉娜·克洛克（Hannah Cloke）教授表示：“我希望绿地管理员和场地工作人员能遵循关于浇水时间的最佳建议，仅在必要区域浇水。在他人面临严重缺水时，向并不需要的运动场喷洒饮用水，这似乎非常疯狂。”
卫报 2026年7月31日 星期五
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新闻
气候危机
▼ 昨天，消防员在法国西南部索莫（Saumos）附近努力控制一场大火 摄影：MAEL DUBIEZ/EPA
欧盟记录性的“火灾天气”——高温、污染与强风引发毁灭性灾难
Ajit Niranjan
欧洲环境记者
数据显示，欧盟目前的“火灾天气”严重程度打破了该年度时段的历史记录，消防员正全力扑救地中海沿岸各地的山火。
欧洲森林火灾信息服务中心（Effis）的数据显示，在碳污染的加剧下，欧盟自今年年初以来出现的炎热、干燥且多风的天气，比过去二十年7月底的平均水平严重 43%。
官员表示，周二希腊有三名消防员在行动中丧生，而法国和西班牙的消防员在应对危及大城市的重大火灾方面取得了进展。
昨日公布的数据显示，今年到目前为止，欧盟境内已有 435,000 公顷（1.1m 英亩）的土地被焚毁，大约是近期历史平均水平的三倍。这一毁灭性局面是由 1,400 起火灾造成的，是平均水平的两倍多。
在法国，波尔多附近茂密松林的一场大火规模之大，甚至引发了一场可能导致更多火灾的雷暴。根据Effis的数据，法国目前共有 91,000 公顷土地被焚毁；在夏季还剩一个月的情况下，已打破该国全年的火灾纪录。
吉伦特省的地方当局表示，在经历了一个安静的夜晚后，火势仍处于控制之中，目前正继续在火场边缘和活跃热点地区开展工作。周三 38C 的高温和强风一度阻碍了灭火工作，预计随后的温度将“相当有利”。
周二已有 60,000 人获得返回许可，昨日又有 84,000 人被允许回家。
在西班牙，其历史上规模最大的山火正在马德里以西燃烧。Effis数据显示，西班牙全国共有 207,000 公顷土地被焚毁。这一数字几乎是该年度时段平均值的五倍，但尚未达到 2022 年火灾期间的破坏程度。
马德里地方当局表示，火势已被宣布为稳定状态，但有七个住宅区的居民仍无法回家。首相佩德罗·桑切斯昨日上午宣布结束阿维拉和马德里地区的国家紧急状态。不过，官员表示，葡萄牙边境附近的一场新火灾已导致 600 人被疏散。
本月，法国和西班牙的山火迫使 300,000 多人离开家园及旅游住宿地，这促使两国请求欧盟提供消防员、消防车以及投水飞机和直升机等支持。
欧盟委员会主席乌苏拉·冯德莱然感谢了消防员们的“勇气
克鲁尼夫妇被迫逃离普罗旺斯住所
乔治和阿迈尔·克鲁尼（George and Amal Clooney）在野火逼近的情况下被迫逃离他们在法国的住所，其经纪人昨日确认了这一消息。
克鲁尼夫妇于 2021 年在普罗旺斯瓦尔省布里尼奥勒（Brignoles）购买了这座名为 Domaine du Canadel 的山顶庄园，此后这里成为了他们的主要住所。
在这位演员写给布里尼奥勒市长的一封信中，他表示：“首先，我们希望您和本市的市民都平安；其次，阿迈尔和我决心确保我们完全成为这个社区的一员，并[将]为社区的重建贡献力量。我们热爱布里尼奥勒以及我们在那里的朋友们。” 作者：凯瑟琳·肖德（Catherine Shoard）
▼ 克鲁尼夫妇位于法国东南部布里尼奥勒的 Canadel 庄园，这对夫妇已承诺将帮助重建该社区 摄影：BEST IMAGE /BACKGRID
2026 年 7 月 31 日 星期五 卫报
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11
周三，随着罗马尼亚和希腊派遣的救援队伍延长停留时间，[相关方面表示了]“承诺”。
欧盟危机管理中心的官员在周三上午表示，随着意大利和希腊的火情恶化，预计未来几周将十分艰难。当天晚些时候，希腊消防部门宣布，两名在克里特岛扑救火灾的消防员以及另一名在大陆南部扑救火灾的消防员不幸殉职。
Effis 截至 29 July 的数据显示，希腊今年的火灾季节相对平静，火灾数量略低于往年，过火面积远低于平均水平。
与此同时，意大利和葡萄牙的火灾数量接近历史最高纪录，过火面积远高于平均水平。虽然这些国家目前尚未经历像法国和西班牙那样规模的破坏，但上周意大利一名消防员在西西里岛扑救猛烈大火时不幸殉职。
气候崩溃导致欧洲在今年夏天被烈火吞噬，一系列几乎接踵而至的热浪使植被干枯，提供了巨大的燃料供应，使得小规模火灾迅速演变为肆虐的炼狱。
桑切斯（Sánchez）周三在视察指挥部期间，再次呼吁建立一项“国家协议”以应对气候紧急情况。
他说：“这些火灾可能是也可能不是由人类造成的，但无论如何，在高温、低湿度以及这些大火在森林中引起的大气现象的影响下，火灾规模呈指数级增长。”
一项由国际科学家团队于昨日发表在《科学报告》（Scientific Reports）杂志上的研究发现，自 1980 年代以来，由于当局在预防和扑灭火灾方面的能力提高，南欧的火灾数量和过火面积一直在稳步下降。
研究发现，这一趋势在 2018 年开始逆转。
研究指出，自 1981 年起，葡萄牙、西班牙、法国、意大利和希腊大部分地区有利于引发强力野火的夏季天数增加了一倍多。
在法国和西班牙的部分地区，过去十年的夏季火灾天气指数比 1981-2010 年的平均值高出多达 50%。
科学家表示，这导致欧洲火灾转变为“次数较少但强度更高、规模更大的事件”，一旦火灾未能被初步扑灭，就能够“迅速演变为灾难”。
快速分析发现，如果世界上没有气候崩溃，西欧 6 月的热浪将“几乎不可能”发生，而土壤干燥程度（大规模火灾的一个主因）发生的可能性增加了五倍。据估计，热浪至少造成 10,000 人死亡，并导致谷物农户损失 €2 (€1,7) 的作物。
化石燃料污染引起的气温升高，恰逢南欧农村地区出现人口流失——随着人口老龄化和年轻人迁往城市，农场被废弃。由此导致的植被过度生长，给整个地中海地区的消防员和野火研究人员带来了困扰。
“极其可怕的发现”研究显示全球变暖使山火发生概率大幅增加
Damian Carrington 环境编辑
科学分析发现，导致西班牙和法国发生大规模山火的极端高温和干旱，在气候危机的影响下变得极易发生。
世界天气归因（World Weather Attribution, WWA）联盟的专家计算得出，在全球变暖的影响下，西班牙出现这种炎热、干燥且多风天气的概率至少增加了 20 倍，而在法国则增加了两倍。
这一发现再次将西欧这个酷热且致命的夏季，直接归咎于燃烧石油、天然气和煤炭所导致的全球变暖。
此前一项WWA研究显示，6月底那场估计造成 20,000 人死亡的强热浪，如果不是因为碳污染截留了额外热量，原本是不可能发生的。另一项研究发现，气候危机驱动的
欧盟境内山火过火面积 每周累计面积，单位：千公顷
欧盟境内每周火灾数量
来源：Effis
▲ 昨日，一场山火席卷马德里西南部的 Villa del Prado 之后留下的毁灭景象 摄影：MARU FERNANDEZAP
热量正随着极端干旱在整个大陆蔓延而“吸干土壤”。
酷热和干涸的土地导致了极高的“日严重程度评级”（daily severity ratings）。此次新分析中使用的 DSR 指标，衡量的是山火一旦被点燃后将达到何种严重程度。
对 2025 年山火的研究同样发现，气候危机增强了火势。
今年西欧的火灾因冬季和春季多雨而恶化，这促进了植被生长，随后植被干枯，为火灾提供了燃料——即所谓的“挥鞭效应”条件（whiplash conditions）。
全球变暖正使欧洲的冬季更湿，夏季更干且更热。
WWA研究团队成员、伦敦帝国学院的 Clair Barnes 博士表示：“我们反复看到，气候变化如何增加炎热、干燥、易燃的条件，而这些条件极其有利于山火的发生。”
“［西班牙和法国7月的火灾］的独特之处在于，现在仍处于季节早期——而且随着另一波热浪即将来袭，这些发现极其可怕。”
“我们所看到的正是［人为］变暖影响不断升级的明确信号。”
红十字会与红新月会气候中心的 Julie Arrighi 表示：“我们现在在西班牙和法国看到的情况，远超我们对以往事件的预期。”
山火释放出了巨大的有毒烟柱。法国国家工业环境与风险研究所的 Augustin Colette 表示：“烟雾导致颗粒物（污染）峰值水平比被认为是‘空气质量尚可’的标准高出 20 倍，距离火场高达 400公里［250 miles］的地方仍能感受到极差的空气质量。”
据估计，每年约有 1.5 million 人因山火烟雾而缩短寿命。
WWA分析评估了每个国家 DSR 最高的一周期间。科学家利用天气记录和既定的统计方法，估算在当今这个被加热的世界中，出现一周极高 DSR 的可能性，与在大规模燃烧化石燃料将全球气温提高 1.4C 之前的世界相比增加了多少。
英国和希腊也爆发了重大山火，希腊已有三名消防员丧生。
气候危机的沉默
法国政客聚焦短期问题
Angelique Chrisafis
本周，随着夏季第四波残酷热浪袭击，数十场山火在法国境内燃烧，有人在想，选民对气候紧急情况的第一手体验是否会在明年的总统大选前改变政治辩论。
绿党领导人马琳·通德利埃（Marine Tondelier）在被告知怀孕七个月应避免呼吸吉伦特省（Gironde）巨大山火附近充满烟雾的空气后，提前结束了法国之行。她表示，政治阶层仍然在“逃避现实”。她称，政府无视了她关于举行跨党派危机谈判以宣布今年夏天进入“气候国家紧急状态”的请求。在全法约 260,000 人因火灾被迫撤离后，她呼吁在法国建立一个新的“气候福利国家”以帮助受影响者。
然而，本周政客们关注的重点反而是关于预算、危机规划的争论，以及对国家为紧急服务和灭火设备（包括水上轰炸机）提供资金水平的批评。至于减少排放和应对气候变暖的社会结构性变革等更复杂的长期问题，则在很大程度上被搁置了。
总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙（Emmanuel Macron）表示，在法国仍处于与火灾的“全面战斗”之中时，现在不是分析教训的时候。
马克龙的总统任期将于明年春天结束，他重新使用了 2020 年新冠疫情期间的战争词汇。在吉伦特省的一场火灾烧毁了面积是巴黎四倍的区域时，马克龙飞抵波尔多（Bordeaux）的危机行动中心，称法国正面临“自第二次世界大战以来最艰难的局面”。他还表示这种情况“完全是不典型的”。与之相对，气候专家表示，在温度上升的背景下，森林火灾数量增加是可以预见的，且将变得日益普遍。
在总统大选之前，大多数政党直到今年冬天才会明确其完整的竞选宣言以及在气候危机上的立场，一些气候活动人士担心，到那时，火灾和热浪在媒体和人们心中的存在感可能会降低。
领导极右翼反移民政党国民联盟（RN）的玛丽娜·勒庞（Marine Le Pen）被认为在总统竞选的最终轮投票中很有机会获胜。在 2022, 年上一次总统大选的第二轮投票期间，勒庞曾表示：“我从未成为一名气候怀疑论者”。但次年，她称联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会是“危言耸听的”，且一些国民联盟的政客对人类活动在全球变暖中的作用提出了质疑。
国民联盟还反对欧盟绿色协议的运作，该协议旨在使欧盟在 2050. 年前实现碳中和。但自初夏热浪以来，勒庞党内的关键人物试图强调国民联盟并非气候危机否认者。本周，国民联盟更多地关注消防员的英雄主义以及国家对消防部门资金投入不足的指控，而非长期的环境行动。
7月早些时候，激进左翼候选人让-吕克·梅朗雄（Jean-Luc Mélenchon）建议将法国各地区重组为“生态区”，以确保水资源供应并应对气候危机。
里尔大学（University of Lille）政治学教授雷米·勒费弗尔（Rémi Lefebvre）在谈到火灾对总统竞选的影响时说：“生态问题在竞选期间可能会被更多地讨论，但我并不认为它会重构法国的政治生活。”他表示，前几年的严重山火并未迫使方向发生改变，法国政治已证明自己“过于短期主义”，无法深入探讨改变社会模式的问题。
勒费弗尔表示，勒庞没有采取否认气候变化的立场，“因为那已不再可能……我们已经过了那个阶段”。但他指出，更广泛的问题是对气候挑战的政治“不作为”。他表示，许多法国人觉得掌权者无力采取行动。
▲ 昨天，吉伦特省兰通的一场山火过后的景象。波尔多附近的温度有所下降，人们希望该地区的沿海松林火灾能就此结束 摄影：OLIVIER MORIN/APF/GETTY
12
National（国内新闻）
卫报 2026年7月31日 星期五
希思罗机场燃料箱爆炸导致一名工程师死亡，死因研讯披露详情
PA Media
一名维珍航空（Virgin Atlantic）工程师在飞机燃料箱内工作时发生爆炸，随后死于创伤性脑损伤，一项死因研讯披露了相关情况。
这名飞机技术员乔治·巴克斯顿（Georgie Buxton），23 岁，在 11 June 发生在希思罗机场的事故中受伤。他于 7 July 在医院去世。
高级验尸官莉迪亚·布朗（Lydia Brown）昨日在西伦敦验尸法庭开启并暂停了对其死亡的研讯，因为她正在等待查看是否会提起刑事指控。伦敦大都会警察局（Metropolitan police）已启动刑事调查，并与健康与安全执行局（Health and Safety Executive）协作。
巴克斯顿是 11 June 检查一架波音 787 900 燃料泄漏的两名技术员之一。航空警察局（Aviation Policing）的一名发言人告诉法庭：“两名技术员在进入燃料箱时均佩戴了呼吸装置，以防止残留燃料烟雾的侵害。”
该发言人表示，在巴克斯顿处于燃料箱内时，发生了“一次非燃烧性爆炸”。
他补充道：“乔治·巴克斯顿的头部和躯干承受了这次爆炸的冲击，导致他失去意识并遭受毁灭性损伤。”
他的同事当时在燃料箱的另一部分，未受伤，并设法将巴克斯顿从油箱中移出。
伦敦救护车服务中心、航空警察局警员以及直升机紧急医疗服务中心赶赴现场。
巴克斯顿被转运至医院并接受了多次手术，但最终“因伤势过重去世”。
应警方要求进行的法医尸检发现，巴克斯顿遭受了创伤性脑损伤。
法庭获悉，巴克斯顿是维珍航空驻希思罗机场的飞机技术员，此前曾在瑞安航空（Ryanair）担任相同职务。航空警察局发言人形容，刑事调查目前处于“非常早期阶段”，正在调查“非常严重且复杂的问题”。
布朗表示，她没有关于任何潜在指控的详细细节。
顶尖医生谴责 NHS 针对外国医生的计划终止
Denis Campbell
健康政策编辑
NHS（英国国家医疗服务体系）取消了一项长期运行的计划，该计划允许外国医生通过在英国医院实习来提升技能，并被视为英国全球“软实力”的典范。
资深医生对 NHS England 取消医疗培训计划（Medical Training Initiative, MTI）的决定提出了批评。根据该计划，每年有 400 到 500 名受过培训的外国医生来到英国工作。
该计划在 NHS 内部被称为“赚钱、学习并返回”（earn, learn and return），它使来自巴基斯坦、斯里兰卡和尼泊尔等低收入和中等收入国家的医学毕业生能够在健康服务体系中工作长达两年以提升技能，使他们在返回母国后成为更优秀的医生。
代表医生的英国皇家医学学院对这项计划意外且“突然”的终止感到震惊，他们表示该计划不仅帮助了医生，也帮助了 NHS 及其母国。
该计划自 2011 年设立以来，NHS England 仅花费了 £176,000，就为数千名外国医生提供了在英国工作的机会。
一些人担心，这将加剧 NHS 内部已经十分严重的医生短缺问题。NHS 严重依赖国际毕业生，后者占所有医生的五分之二。
所有医学学院的 umbrella group（伞形组织）——皇家医学学院协会（Academy of Medical Royal Colleges）的一位发言人表示：“虽然我们尊重 NHS England 的决定，但我们显然感到非常失望。”
“我们认为 MTI 一直是国际医疗合作的一个成功案例，既支持了 NHS 的劳动力，也支持了海外的医疗发展……我们认为它还为英国在世界舞台上的国际声誉做出了至关重要的”
500
每年通过 NHS 计划来到英国工作的受过培训的外国医生人数
“贡献，并且是英国软实力的一个绝佳例子。”
该协会负责管理该计划，为最长在英工作两年的医生提供担保，并协助安排临时签证。
已经通过 MTI 来到英国的医生将能够完成其实习，而那些在 3 月前申请下一轮名额的人仍将获得名额。随后该计划将被逐步关闭。
一份由 NHS England 撰写的未公开内部审查结论认为，MTI “未能实现其预期目的”，因为一些外国医生选择留在英国，这意味着其原籍国的医疗服务未能从中受益。
审查还发现了“薪资剥削”的证据，即外国医生在从事相同类型工作的情况下，薪资低于其英国同行。
然而，资深医生认为，NHS England 今年决定取消 MTI 是为了帮助政府解决与英格兰住院医生之间长期的纠纷，后者自 2023 年起一直因薪资和工作问题而举行罢工。
他们在私下里怀疑，此举是为了安抚英国医学会（British Medical Association），该协会当时在主张，在外科、急诊护理和其他专科培训计划的名额分配中，应优先考虑英国医学毕业生，因为此类岗位严重短缺。
一名 NHS England 发言人表示：“在一次独立审查发现该计划未能实现提高海外医疗质量的目的后，这项由纳税人资助的计划被关闭了。”
“虽然目前也在采取行动优先考虑英国培训医学毕业生的需求，但该计划的关闭与此无关。”
爱丁堡皇家外科学会会长 Clare McNaught 博士表示，在英国医学毕业生获得培训优先权的背景下终止 MTI 令人“担忧，[因为]国际医学毕业生占英国医疗劳动力的 40% 以上，NHS 严重依赖他们的专业知识来提供日常服务”。
爱丁堡皇家内科医学院院长马克·斯特拉坎（Mark Strachan）教授表示，他对医疗培训计划（MTI）被取消感到“失望”，他的学院曾很自豪地参与其中。他表示：“该计划为参与的国际医学毕业生带来了实实在在的益处——他们随后会将所学知识和新技能带回自己的国家——同时也使英国的医疗服务受益。”
2026年7月31日，星期五 卫报
国家
13
新边境规定导致在英生活80年的夫妇被困波兰
Lisa O'Carroll
资深记者
一对在第二次世界大战后作为儿童难民来到英国的波兰夫妇讲述了他们的恐怖经历。此前他们被告知，在脱欧后他们不再拥有返回英国的权利。
85 岁的玛丽亚·克鲁帕（Maria Krupa）和她的丈夫 92 岁的切斯拉夫（Czeslaw）在 5 月前往波兰探亲时，已在英国作为波兰公民生活了近 80 年。
然而，他们被拒绝登上瑞安航空（Ryanair）的返程航班，理由是他们既没有在英国居住权的证明，也没有现在进入英国的外国游客所需的电子旅行授权（ETA）。
“这是一个巨大的冲击，”玛丽亚·克鲁帕说。“我们非常、非常失望且有些难过，因为我的丈夫由于脊髓中风需要服用很多药物。”
克鲁帕夫妇在英国相识，随后结婚并定居在大曼彻斯特郡的伯里（Bury）。他们最初持有的是“外国人登记卡”，成年后多次旅行，从未有人要求他们出示移民身份证明。
切斯拉夫来自当时属于波兰的利沃夫，而玛丽亚在婴儿时期离开了她位于现白俄罗斯的家乡。他们分别于 1947 和 1948 年作为被派遣波兰军人的受抚养人抵达南安普顿，这些军人在 1940 年被撤离。
他们的父亲曾是波兰军队将领弗拉迪斯拉夫·安德斯（Władysław Anders）麾下的士兵，该军队曾在波斯、印度、中东和非洲与盟军共同作战，在击败德国的过程中发挥了关键作用。
“我们试图向瑞安航空解释，我们的父亲在战争中为波兰和英国而战，但他们拒绝让我们登机，因为他们说这样就得支付巨额罚款，”玛丽亚说。“我的丈夫非常难过，”她解释道，当时丈夫坐在代步车里。他进出汽车有困难，而且“只想回家”。
这对夫妇现在公开讲述此事，以帮助处于相同境地的人。“这是一个巨大的、巨大的冲击，因为我们从未听说过这件事，也从未想过在生活了近 80 年之后，竟然会有人告诉我们不能回家，”玛丽亚说。
帮助过克鲁帕夫妇的 Settled 机构首席执行官凯特·斯马特（Kate Smart）表示，她的团队见过了“数以千计”的类似案例。“这种情况非常普遍，几乎每天都在发生。”
欧盟定居计划（EU settlement scheme）于 2019 年启动，旨在为生活在英国的欧盟公民提供必要的证明文件，使他们能够像在脱欧前的自由流动规则下那样出入该国。
Settled 接触到的许多人都是年长者，拥有英国籍的子女和孙辈。“在他们的家庭圈子里，没有人像对待移民那样思考，所以他们不会谈论定居状态之类的事情，”斯马特说。
玛丽亚·克鲁帕说，她从未想过要申请英国护照。“我爱英格兰。我总是说，我很感谢英格兰，你知道，在战后接收了那么多人，成千上万的人。但我认为保持波兰身份很重要，”她说。
在 5 月下旬的一天深夜被强行要求离开
▲ 玛丽亚和切斯拉夫·克鲁帕在他们居住的伯里
◀ 切斯拉夫（最左）与他的兄弟和一名表亲 1944 年在非洲；左图为玛丽亚 1943 年在卡拉奇，当时她的父亲驻扎于此
“我们试图向瑞安航空解释，我们的父亲在战争中为波兰和英国而战”
玛丽亚·克鲁帕
机场后，他们次日持 ETA 返回，但不得不通过伪装成游客来欺骗系统，声称住在波兰的家中，因为在线表格不接受他们的英国地址。
“当我们到达英格兰时，我们很害怕，我们不得不小心说话，”她说。“我们很恐惧，因为他们开始询问问题，而我们认为我们不能再次撒谎，必须说实话。”
在寻求公民咨询服务（Citizens Advice）的帮助后，他们与 Settled 组织取得了联系。在该慈善机构提交了一份无时间限制的申请并于上周为克鲁帕（Krupas）一家获得定居身份后，斯玛特（Smart）称赞了内政部解决中心采取的迅速行动。她呼吁政府对此予以关注，并认为当出现此类问题时，“在机场就应当启动一套处理程序”。
内政部已收到评论请求。
男子因遗嘱纠纷焚毁家庭住宅，55 岁，被判入狱
PA Media
一名男子因误认为自己被排除在房产继承名单之外而纵火焚毁其童年住所，被判处四年监禁。
达伦·戴维斯（Darren Davies），55 岁，在 2024 年其父母相继去世仅数月后，纵火焚烧了位于兰开夏郡汉布尔顿（Hambleton, Lancashire）的一栋价值 £260,000 的四卧独立平房，他此前与兄弟克雷格（Craig）共同居住在该处。
普雷斯顿刑事法院（Preston crown court）审理称，邻居们在 3 月 27 日早晨被一声巨响惊扰，随后该房产被大火吞噬。
戴维斯从屋内出来时“奇迹般地未受伤害”，并告诉一名路人：“我的家人想要这栋房子。如果我得不到，谁也别想得到。”
检察官迈克尔·奥布赖恩（Michael O'Brien）表示，消防员在火势蔓延至其他房产之前将其控制。法院获悉，厨房、客厅和其中一间前卧室内都放置了气瓶。阁楼中发现了汽油，且有一支蜡烛被点燃。
戴维斯在早前的一次听证会上承认纵火且不顾是否危及生命，随后被判处四年零四个月监禁。在一份受害者个人陈述中，克雷格·戴维斯告诉法院，其父母制定的遗嘱将该平房的份额平均分给了他及其兄弟。他表示，去年他告诉被告自己想出售该房产并“各自分道扬镳”，但该计划“不会立即实施”。
他说道：“在 2025 年初，达伦产生了一个古怪的想法，认为我父亲在去世前最后几个月签署了一份秘密遗嘱，将房子全部留给了我。这完全是他凭空想象出来的。他不断指责我参与了针对他的阴谋。”
未出庭的克雷格·戴维斯表示：“事实上唯一剩下的是我父亲加建的部分。这大概会让他的脸上挂起一丝苦笑。我在房子里所有的东西都被焚毁了。达伦实际上抹去了 3 月 27 日之前定义我生活的全部。”
他向法院申请由其兄弟赔偿超过 £170,000 的款项，其中包括该平房的一半份额，以及因丢失大量 CD 收藏而索赔的 £20,000。
据称，被告有“长期”的心理健康问题，包括被诊断患有双相情感障碍、抑郁症、焦虑症和自闭症谱系障碍。一份
◀ 达伦·戴维斯纵火焚烧其童年住所（见上图），此前他错误地认为房子仅留给了他的兄弟
来自辩方的精神鉴定报告得出结论，他在纵火时精神状态不佳，当时正处于一次“自闭症危机”中。
在给法官的一封信中，达伦·戴维斯向他的兄弟和家人，以及被他“置于危险之中”的邻居和汉布尔顿村表示道歉。
辩护律师尼尔·罗南（Neil Ronan）表示：“由于没有任何人受伤——包括他本人，因为他当时的计划是结束自己的生命——我能提交这份陈述，真是令人宽慰且幸运的。十多年来，他一直是他病重父母的主要照顾者。遗憾的是，他变得越来越孤立，大部分时间都待在自己的房间里。”
帕里（Parry）法官告诉戴维斯，这是一个“令人悲伤且严重的案件”，但法官考虑到了他在最早机会就认罪，以及他的责任因“你的精神障碍而大幅减轻”。戴维斯最多需在羁押状态下执行其刑期的二分之一，其余时间在监管下释放。
卫报 2026 年 7 月 31 日，星期五
14
新闻 中东
沙特阿拉伯计划对也门胡塞武装发起攻势，以确保石油出口通道
Patrick Wintour William Christou
也门消息人士认为，沙特阿拉伯正准备通过海路，并可能通过也门中部的陆路，对胡塞武装发起军事攻势，旨在打破对其通过红海南部出口石油的封锁。
据观察，沙特军队已从也门东部撤出，这可能是为陆路攻势做铺垫。与此同时，利雅得正试图组织一个海军联盟，以保护红海及曼德海峡的航运免受胡塞武装的袭击。
沙特国防部昨日表示，包括土耳其、巴基斯坦、埃及、苏丹和吉布提在内的 14 个国家已发表联合声明，支持建立海上防御联盟。
受伊朗支持的胡塞武装控制着也门首都萨那及其大部分红海海岸线。该组织在 20 July 宣布，他们正在对沙特船只实施封锁，但否认计划对所有船只征收过路费。
该组织表示，一旦沙特阿拉伯解除对也门的封锁，它将取消此次封锁，从而将与沙特阿拉伯的争端定位为关于也门未来的问题，而非直接针对伊朗。沙特阿拉伯于 2015 年介入也门内战，支持该国获得联合国承认的政府对抗胡塞武装反政府武装。利雅得还请求美国及包括德国、法国、英国和意大利在内的一组欧洲国家加入红海联盟。
欧盟已经在红海执行名为“Aspides”的海军保护任务，目前尚不清楚胡塞武装是在实施全面的封锁，还是仅针对沙特阿拉伯。
胡塞武装部队在 25 July 表示，他们还袭击了沙特阿拉伯境内将东部省油田与红海出口枢纽相连的“敏感”石油运输点。如果在阿拉伯半岛另一侧的霍尔木兹海峡封锁之外，红海航线也被沙特航运关闭，那么该王国的石油出口将受到严重限制。
▲ 美国称该图片显示袭击伊朗后烟雾升起
在伊朗战争开始前，高达 80% 的沙特原油出口是通过霍尔木兹海峡运输的。因此，红海的重要性日益增加，目前超过一半的沙特石油通过陆路运输到港口城市延布（Yanbu）的装载终端。
与此同时，沙特周三在伊拉克的袭击导致至少 20 人死亡，这是在反击伊拉克民兵袭击其石油设施后采取的行动。美国总统唐纳德·特朗普表示，美沙联合袭击是在获得伊拉克政府同意的情况下进行的，但巴格达方面并未确认这一说法。
沙特国防部长哈立德·本·萨勒曼王子周三与特朗普和 JD Vance 举行紧急会议讨论下一步行动。沙特方面渴望表明他们将捍卫自己及其产业，但不愿升级与伊朗的战争，认为美国与伊朗之间的分歧仍可通过外交手段解决。
随着美国对伊朗实施袭击以及德黑兰对该地区美国盟友进行报复，美国与伊朗之间低强度的互报复战争再次升级。
美国在周三夜间发起的袭击（五天多以来的首次）发生在特朗普誓言在德黑兰针对驻有美军的约旦基地后将“沉重打击”伊朗的数小时之后。
美国中央司令部昨日表示，作为“大规模袭击波”的一部分，它打击了伊朗境内数十个伊斯兰革命卫队的 targets，包括军事指挥中心以及导弹和无人机设施。
该司令部表示：“此次袭击旨在进一步减轻伊朗及其代理人对美国军队、商业航运和邻近海湾国家的威胁。”
调解员坚持认为，尽管敌对行动再次升级，谈判仍在继续。巴基斯坦外交部发言人塔希尔·安德拉比（Tahir Andrabi）表示，他们正在“竭尽全力让各方回到”谈判桌前。
在其他地区，据英国海事安全公司 Ambrey 称，无人机袭击导致埃及达米埃塔（Damietta）港的两艘天然气船起火。埃及政府证实，一次无人机袭击引发了火灾，但目前尚不清楚谁应对这起针对一家美国所有权的浮式储存设施和一艘希腊所有权油轮的袭击负责。据报道，没有人员受伤，港口仍维持运作。
这是自伊朗战争开始以来埃及首次遭到袭击，预示着冲突可能会进一步扩大。胡塞武装反抗组织表示，他们对此不负责任。
消息人士称，也门内部的军队调动涉及集结力量，可能旨在攻击阿尔-拜达（al-Bayda），这是也门中南部的一个省，曾在 2020-21 年被胡塞武装占领。
胡塞武装与沙特阿拉伯之间的战斗在过去两周内爆发，胡塞武装对沙特阿美（Saudi Aramco）设施发起了袭击。在沙特空袭目标为胡塞武装控制的荷台达（Hodeidah）港地点以及第三艘沙特商业船只在红海遭到袭击后数小时，沙特境内发生了这些袭击。
一场危机 伊朗内部 被异见与 对持久战的 恐惧所撕裂
在与美国之间升级的五个月战争中，伊朗继续在一次又一次的内部危机中蹒跚——无论是关于公开处决、生活成本上涨，还是被指控的国家广播电台存在偏见。但随着战争范围的扩大，一个长期的外交僵局威胁日益增加，这种僵局是由相互不信任所造成的，双方都不相信对方会遵守任何协议。
特朗普政府的部分成员和伊朗反对派——包括前被废黜的沙阿之子礼萨·巴列维（Reza Pahlavi）——从未放弃过伊朗政府正处于崩溃边缘的信念。
与此同时，伊朗总统马苏德·佩泽什基安（Masoud Pezeshkian）不厌地警告称，导致 1 月份血腥抗议的条件依然存在。在最近的一次最高司法委员会会议上，他主张：“伊朗正处于一场全面战争之中。今天的战争不仅是导弹之战；敌人已经得出结论，认为它无法迫使伊朗民族投降。”
帕特里克·温图尔（Patrick Wintour） 外交编辑
自2026年7月7日以来美伊战争中的袭击事件
● 美国及其盟友的袭击 ● 伊朗、其盟友及代理人的袭击 ● 未知 perpetrators 的袭击
来源：Aclad，卫报研究。注：数据截至2026年7月30日。袭击包括报道的拦截情况
2026年7月31日 星期五 卫报
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通过军事袭击。如今最重要的战场是经济和人民的生计。如果经济压力导致社会不满情绪形成且这种不满情绪扩散，那么人民为支持该体制而创造的巨大社会资本将会丧失。”
毫无疑问，以绝望形式呈现的异见确实存在。德黑兰的人权活动人士 Golshan Fathi 最近在她的社交媒体页面上写道：“在自然灾害、管理失败和人为危机之间挣扎……每一天我们并非在生活，而是在练习忍耐。”
以政治抗议形式呈现的异见同样存在，无论是身处监狱中的人们，还是在伊斯法罕广场上抗议当前一波恐吓性公开处决的公民。许多批评者质疑，为什么对被告的惩罚是在公开绞刑架上进行，而他们的审判却在秘密法庭中举行。
本周，国民联盟党（Nation's Union party）政治局警告称，忽视针对处决浪潮的抗议可能会产生“毁灭性的后果”，并敦促学者和宗教学者介入以结束这种国家暴力。
曾是佩泽什基安（Pezeshkian）亲密改革派盟友的 Azar Mansouri 上周在伊朗改革阵线的年会上警告说，有一个规模较小但声音巨大的群体似乎决心将与美国的协商协议描绘成撤退或失败。她警告称，战争“不仅仅是军事力量和军队之间的对抗。它是对经济的破坏，是对社会资本的侵蚀，是绝望的蔓延，是精英的移居，是贫困的增加以及发展机会的丧失。最终，它威胁着国家的未来。”
同样，本月由 268 名政治活动人士签署的一份“我们不想要战争”声明称，他们认为绝大多数人口反对战争，且这应当通过全民投票来验证。另一封来自 1,000 名与前总统穆罕默德·哈塔米（Mohammad Khatami）相关的活动人士的信函警告称，“伊朗的当代经验是战争没有赢家。那些主张谈判的人不应被诽谤。”
这些行动的共同点是对外交官失去影响力的恐惧，以及担心伊朗被推向一场被描绘为“伊朗-阿拉伯战争”的永恒战争，而这场战争将有利于以色列。
然而，由于唐纳德·特朗普反复无常的行为，对与美国谈判这一原则的反对意见正由强硬派在街头集会以及最近的非官方广告牌上表达。尽管是一家保守派报纸，《伊斯兰共和国报》（Jomhouri-e Eslami）仍抱怨称，“一种沉溺于侵犯政治对手尊严的行为正与日俱增”。这在一定程度上是指由公共资金资助的国家广播公司 IRIB 对谈判者的批评，该机构长期被视为反对与西方对话者的阵地。
▲ 昨天在德黑兰的一套伊朗导弹系统旁出现的一幅反特朗普横幅 摄影：MAJID ASGARIPOUR/REUTERS
▼ 救援人员在一次针对格什姆岛（Qeshm）的袭击后搜寻遇难者；右上图为1月份的一次反政府抗议 摄影：IRIB/REUTERS; AP
许多人认为，IRIB（伊朗伊斯兰共和国广播公司）是强硬派的专属平台，而非多元社会的缩影。在9月任命新负责人之际，人们呼吁对该机构的问责机制进行全面改革。从某种程度上看，国家广播公司的政治倾向并不重要，因为调查显示全国只有不到 12% 的人收看。但政府面临的困难在于，这导致观众转而观看敌对的外国卫星频道。
关于国家广播公司的紧张局势正值前所未有经济压力时期。伊朗-中国商会负责人马吉德-礼萨·哈里里（Majid-Reza Hariri）本周警告称，在接下来的六个月里，实行食物配给制度可能会成为必要。劳工部副部长古拉姆胡赛因·穆罕默迪（Gholamhossein Mohammadi）表示，战争已导致超过一百万个工作岗位流失。
在某种程度上，通过食品价格上涨实现的“配给”已经开始，由于水果、鸡蛋和鸡肉的价格，伊朗人被迫改变饮食习惯。本月食品年度通胀率达到了 134%，这意味着平均家庭的每月食品预算在一年内增加了一倍多。整体通胀率为 84%。作为生活水平承受长期压力的进一步迹象，本周公布的数据显示，最低工资的实际价值已大幅下跌。
战争对经济的影响已蔓延到从互联网到旅游业的所有领域。位于霍尔木兹海峡、昨日遭到美国轰炸的基什岛（Kish Island）上所有 400 家酒店均已关闭。在 2025 和 2026 年的两场战争期间，多达 30,000 名伊朗人访问了医疗中心。
平民设施几乎被摧毁，布谢尔（Bushehr）机场已无法使用。然而，最大的一个重磅炸弹是在国家电视台被引爆的：国家审计部门——总监察局负责人扎比胡拉·库代安（Zabihullah Khodayian）揭露了所谓“信托基金”（高度机密的政府资助机构）内部外汇腐败的规模。
这些信托基金多年来根植于伊朗政治体系，其设立目的是将伊朗石油收入转移到美国制裁网络之外。显而易见，它们的运作方式不透明，并挪用公共资金。
库代安证实了这一点，他表示某信托基金被给予了 $200m (£149m)，不仅没有归还资金，且相关人员已离境。他表示，另有 229 人共欠国家 €23.5bn (£20.2bn)，而司法部门表示正在对近 50 人提起诉讼。
目前尚不清楚这些信托基金是以何种标准选定的，以及如何对其进行问责。但一个可能涉及伊朗精英阶层的大型丑闻被揭露的可能性正日益增加。如果真是这样，所有关于跨阶层社会凝聚力的谈论将显得非常空洞。
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2026年7月31日，星期五 卫报
国家版
17
英国唯一全女性象棋队晋级顶级联赛后被要求加入一名男性成员
下图中，金子富美（Fumi Kaneko）和卢卡斯·B·布兰德斯罗德（Lukas B Braendsrød）在演绎《雨后》（After The Rain），该曲目由皇家芭蕾舞团首席舞者玛丽亚内拉·努涅斯（Marianela Nuñez）选定。 摄影：TRISTRAM KENTON/ 卫报
Geraldine McKelvie
英国唯一一支全女性象棋队已晋级至该项运动的顶级联赛——但随即被告知，其阵容必须加入男性成员。
“她为赢而战”（She Plays to Win）的小狮子A队（Lionesses A Team）陷入了一项旨在提高女性参与度的规则困境。四国象棋联赛（Four Nations Chess League, 4NCL）要求其所有第一组（顶级组）球队的名单中必须至少包含一名每种性别的选手。
这意味着，“她为赢而战”队必须在八名顶尖女选手中剔除一人，以便为一名男性选手腾出位置。
队员们表示，这将破坏团队的凝聚力，并挫伤女性参与这项运动的积极性。
在象棋的所有层级中，女性的代表性都不足，顶尖排名选手中仅有约 11% 为女性。
在新冠疫情期间通过Zoom创立了“她为赢而战”队的洛林·德科斯塔（Lorin D'Costa）表示：“小狮子队是通过艰苦努力赢得晋级的，但现在他们的回报却是失去让他们变得特别的特质。”
“在年轻阶段下棋的女孩太少了，而这一点至关重要，因为象棋能教会人们在生活中独特且关键的战略技巧。学习这些技能可以帮助更多女孩在未来的战略性角色中脱颖而出，而这些角色在过去很长一段时间内一直由男性主导。”
“要创造一个让女孩和年轻女性感到自己属于象棋世界的环境和社区感，需要付出很多努力，就像我们在国家联赛中的球队那样。”
在参加4NCL第二组比赛期间，只要球队包含一名18 岁以下选手，就被允许仅派遣女性出赛。一些队员，比如 19 岁的艾丽莎·维亚斯（Alisha Vyas），是在参加过混编队（有时她是唯一的女性）之后才加入该队的。
“我知道我当时在那里只是为了填补女性配额，没有那种社区归属感，”维亚斯说。“成为‘她为赢而战’的一员感觉太棒了——我们每次都会一起吃团队晚餐，女孩们之间有着真正的情谊。”
18 岁的艾米莉·马顿（Emily Maton）补充道，该队是凭借“自身实力”晋级的，不应被强迫地加入一名男性选手。
“该组赛并不缺乏男性选手，”她说。“这支球队存在的全部意义就在于在几乎没有任何女性代表的情况下提供代表性，而他们之所以制定这项规则，正是因为女性选手不足。”
“人们对我这类选手的预期总是比对男性选手低得多。教练会说类似‘作为一个女孩，你已经很棒了’之类的话。”
“有人告诉我们不配进入这个组别，说我们水平不够。我们通过证明所有人都是错的才登顶——而现在这项规定破坏了这一切。”
来自4NCL的迈克·特鲁兰（Mike Truran）表示：“自 1994 年成立以来，顶级组一直是一项混编队赛事，每支球队都需要男女混合。”
“据我们所知，我们仍然是英国唯一一家通过要求混编队来鼓励女性参与象棋的联赛。”
“我们在 2025/2026 赛季期间对所有队长进行了关于是否应修改该规则的调查；队长们并没有表现出明显的修改意愿。如果队长的意见发生变化，我们仍然对修改规则持开放态度。目前没有证据表明现有规则会阻碍女性参与象棋。”
“事实上，我们认为通过要求顶级组所有球队必须至少有一名女性选手，我们是在积极鼓励女性参与象棋。”
“我们认为，将规则修改为完全不要求混合组队的规定——即不要求顶级分队的球队必须包含一名女性棋手——将会在客观上抑制女性参与国际象棋运动。”
舞蹈评论：完美的芭蕾舞者展现技术辉煌
Marienela: Timeless（玛丽内拉：永恒）
伦敦皇家歌剧院
★★★★☆
Lyndsey Winship
是否存在“过于完美”这种说法？玛丽内拉·努涅斯（Marianela Nuñez）无疑是当今最完美的芭蕾舞者之一。在 44 岁，她依然拥有卓越的技术和绝对的掌控力。她能流畅地完成一串极其艰难的挥鞭转（fouettés，如在今晚选自《海盗》的片段中那样），腿部在圆周中快速旋转，然后轻柔地停下，那是你见过的最平稳的制动。整个过程绝对流畅；它是美感、能力与摒弃自我之自信的结合。这或许是个不公平的要求，但我们有时是否也需要一点点粗粝感？
《Timeless》是努涅斯的首场个人秀。并非真正意义上的独舞，但她是绝对的主角，剧目由她挑选，且她将一切处理得“恰到好处”，向她 16 岁时加入的皇家芭蕾舞团以及
她能流畅地完成一串极其艰难的挥鞭转，腿部在圆周中快速旋转，然后轻柔地停下
其编舞师们致敬：弗雷德里克·阿什顿（Frederick Ashton）、肯尼思·麦克米伦（Kenneth MacMillan）、克里斯托弗·惠尔登（Christopher Wheeldon）和韦恩·麦格雷戈（Wayne McGregor）。
她还为舞团的其他舞者提供了绝佳的展示机会，让他们大放异彩。马修·鲍尔（Matthew Ball）和玛雅拉·马格里（Mayara Magri）演绎的《罗密欧与朱丽叶》阳台场景是全场亮点。高田茜（Akane Takada）和卡尔文·理查森（Calvin Richardson）在麦格雷戈作品《Infra》的双人舞中表现温柔，而金子富美（Fumi Kaneko）和卢卡斯·B·布兰德罗（Lukas B Braendsrød）则舞动了惠尔登那部宁静的《雨后》（After the Rain）。
对于个人部分，努涅斯首先选择了杰罗姆·罗宾斯（Jerome Robbins）由肖邦夜曲配乐的《在夜晚》（In the Night）。这是一部非常成熟的三对舞者作品。努涅斯与鲍尔共舞，所有的起跳、托举都极其流畅，舞曲中充盈着对两人关系的纠结与犹豫。这是一部华美之作。而阿什顿的《玛格丽特与阿曼德》（Marguerite and Armand）则截然相反，充满了戏剧冲突，尤其是努涅斯饰演的患有肺结核的交际花。
乔治·巴兰钦（George Balanchine）的《柴可夫斯基双人舞》由努涅斯与皇家芭蕾舞团新任首席帕特里西奥·雷夫（Patricio Revé）共同演绎，预示着未来充满希望的搭档关系。你或许能要求更多，但你无法挑剔她的表现。
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2026 年 7 月 31 日，星期五 卫报
国家版
19
室内过热
因空调争议， 家庭搬离玻璃幕墙公寓楼
Geneva Abdul
周三，随着今年的第四波热浪袭击英国，贝尼斯·博达（Benice Bodah）和她的三个青春期儿子在他们位于伦敦西南部的家中准备应对更高的酷暑。这套两居室公寓配备了内置空调，但自从该家庭被安置在科利尔斯伍德（Colliers Wood）的Britannia Point临时住宿点以来的近三年里，空调一直只能断断续续地运行。“这并不容易，但我们能怎么办呢？”48 岁的博达说道。
在《卫报》披露部分家庭被告知在热浪期间不能使用内置空调，因为该设备“未被提供为一项便利设施”后，目前已有几个议会同意停止将家庭安置在该玻璃幕墙公寓楼的应急住宿中。
这座 19 层的建筑由亿万富翁地产大亨阿西夫·阿齐兹（Asif Aziz）创立的Criterion Capital所有。临时租期可能从几周到几年不等，并由包括总部位于伦敦的Aura Assets Management在内的租赁机构分别管理。
将居民安置在该大楼内的旺兹沃思（Wandsworth）议会目前正制定“立即”计划，将其租客从该塔楼中迁出。
旺兹沃思议会的一位发言人表示：“一如既往，居民的福祉是我们的首要任务，我们正在快速行动，以确保有合适的替代住宿可用。”
萨顿（Sutton）议会表示，已停止在该处安置人员，并“与大楼内所有剩余的萨顿居民密切合作，确保他们能够搬到其他住宿点”。
克罗伊登（Croydon）议会表示，由于临时住宿需求极高，目前不会迁出人员，但已向Criterion表达了担忧，且议会工作人员一直在对大楼内的居民进行“福利检查”。
在默顿（Merton）协助居民的工党议员斯图尔特·内弗森（Stuart Neaverson）呼吁其他将人员安置在该建筑的议会采取同样行动。他说：“拥有该建筑和空调设备的Criterion Capital需要解释这种情况是如何发生的，以及为什么在气温达到 35C 时，一些居民仍然无法使用空调。”
Criterion的一位发言人表示：“作为业主，我们与承租人沟通，并鼓励他们与当地政府合作，在这些前所未有的情况下支持租客。”
Aura Assets Management已被请求就此发表评论。
自从《卫报》报道临时住宿家庭被禁止使用内置空调后，一些人收到信件称，如果空调可以使用，他们可以“随意使用”，但每月需支付 £35 到 £50 不等的费用。然而，部分租客的设备仍然无法运行，另一些人则表示这项额外费用难以负担。
到周三晚上，博达公寓里的空调运行了，但她说她别无选择只能保持关闭，因为她负担不起额外的费用。
几名由Aura管理租约的临时居民
▲ 贝尼斯·博达，以及（左）萨布丽娜·沃尔特斯（Sabrina Walters）和她一岁的女儿，他们住在伦敦西南部科利尔斯伍德的Britannia Point公寓楼内。 摄影：CHRISTIAN UNISALDI/ 卫报
► 工党议员斯图尔特·内弗森表示，Britannia Point的所有者需要解释为什么一些居民仍然没有空调使用
周三告诉《卫报》，针对空调设备无法运行的多次投诉一直未能解决，有些情况甚至持续了一年多。
一名与 81 岁母亲同住的租客马哈德·马林（Mahad Maalin）在去年夏天问题未得到解决后，已经放弃了空调设备。与博达一样，他表示在夏季剩余的一个月里，他不会支付运行空调的费用，而是使用两个风扇并拉上百叶窗。
另一位租客萨布丽娜·沃尔特斯（Sabrina Walters）对她孩子的健康表示担忧，因为她一岁大的女儿出现了体温过高的情况，而她 12 岁的孩子则出现了连续性鼻出血，这可能是由过热引起的。
“我并不在乎我自己，但涉及到孩子的健康时，尤其是那个年纪：她才一岁，她并不想陷入脱水状态，”沃尔特斯说。“她的皮肤黏糊糊的，所以你可以看出她的身体在努力散热。这真的让我非常愤怒。”
为了逃离公寓内的酷暑，这家人会选择去户外，他们说外面更凉快，或者在房间里使用多台风扇。他们位于三楼的公寓窗户无法完全打开。
直到沃尔特斯向当地国会议员反映此事后，在经历了两周的停电之后，她的空调设备才重新开启。
她表示，包括一名有两个孩子的母亲在内的其他居民告诉她，他们的空调设备依然损坏。“老实说，即使说我的空调开了，我都觉得心里不舒服，”这位 31 岁的女性说道。
在议会宣布已将租客从该塔楼迁出之前，沃尔特斯因为即将搬到其他地方而感到宽慰。“我不喜欢那种觉得自己必须通过争吵才能在某个地方生存的感觉，”她说。
今年早些时候，Criterion Capital 被指控在禁止“无过错驱逐”生效前的几周内试图大规模驱逐租客，该公司对此予以否认。
Aura 此前告诉《卫报》，空调目前已“完全恢复运行”；当被问及发送给一名居民的邮件（邮件称临时安置房的租客无法使用空调）时，该公司表示该邮件是由“大楼管理部门”根据“当时的信息和运行安排”发布的。
一名男子因2022年鲁什迪遇刺案被裁定恐怖主义罪名成立
Maya Yang
周三，一名男子在美国因2022年刺杀作家萨尔曼·鲁什迪（Salman Rushdie）而被联邦法院判定恐怖主义罪名成立。鲁什迪因其小说《撒旦诗篇》而面临长达数十年的死亡威胁。
纽约联邦法院的一个陪审团裁定哈迪·马塔尔（Hadi Matar）的所有指控均成立，包括参与跨国恐怖主义活动。马塔尔拒绝出庭作证。他的律师纳撒尼尔·巴隆（Nathaniel Barone）本周早些时候表示：“目前，辩方陈词完毕。”
28 岁的马塔尔此前已因袭击鲁什迪的谋杀未遂行为，正在执行 25 年的纽约州监狱刑期。
此次联邦法院的定罪可能导致终身监禁。
检察官指控马塔尔在袭击前分享了宣传视频，并与一名身在伊朗的联系人沟通，该联系人声称知道“在哪里可以找到鲁什迪”。他们还表示，马塔尔曾询问针对鲁什迪的法特瓦（fatwa，宗教法令）是否仍然有效。
鲁什迪当时正准备就作家的安全问题发表讲话，在震惊的观众面前被刺了 15 次。他受了重伤，并失去了右眼的视力。
根据联邦起诉书，马塔尔企图杀死鲁什迪的动机源于 2006 年真主党时任领导人哈桑·纳斯拉拉（Hassan Nasrallah）的一次演讲。在演讲中，纳斯拉拉支持一项数十年前的法特瓦——即要求因《撒旦诗篇》而杀死鲁什迪的宗教法令。在鲁什迪遇刺后，马塔尔承认自己仅阅读了该书的“几页”，而伊朗宗教领袖此前已谴责该书为亵渎神灵。
2024, 4 月，出生于印度并在青少年时期移居英国的鲁什迪写了一本关于这次袭击的回忆录，书名为《Knife》。
▲ 3月，萨尔曼·鲁什迪在新奥尔良图书节上发言
“在写完这本回忆录之后……就像我脑海中的一扇门打开了，那些故事回来了，”鲁什迪在 3 月的杜兰大学新奥尔良图书节上说道。“我一直非常担心，由于创伤以及所发生事情的震惊影响，我将无法再创作小说。”
他还表示，他厌倦了成为每个人心中“言论自由的芭比”，并补充道：“我不觉得自己是象征性的……我觉得我是真实的。我觉得我是一个努力完成作品的职业作家。”
延伸报道 美联社
20
National
卫报 Friday 31 July 2026
巴勒斯坦行动组织可将禁令上诉至最高法院
Haroon Siddique
法律事务记者
“巴勒斯坦行动”（Palestine Action）组织的联合创始人已获得许可，可在英国最高法院挑战针对该组织的禁令。
该直接行动组织在去年 7 月被列为恐怖组织，但其联合创始人胡达·阿莫里（Huda Ammori）在发起大规模公民不服从运动后，一直致力于推翻这一禁令。
今年 2 月，高等法院裁定该禁令是不相称且不合法的，但该决定在上个月被上诉法院推翻。
最高法院昨天表示，阿莫里可以就上诉法院的决定提起上诉，该案件将于今年第四季度审理。
这意味着，超过 3,500 名因涉嫌支持“巴勒斯坦行动”而被逮捕的人员，其命运仍处于不确定状态，因为在禁令的合法性得到最终解决之前，他们的案件将被暂停处理。
阿莫里对最高法院的决定表示欢迎。她表示：“对‘巴勒斯坦行动’的禁令已成为更广泛地打击对巴勒斯坦人民表达团结支持的手段。”
“在公开谴责以色列罪行如此紧迫的时刻，这种对该国言论自由和抗议权利的前所未有的攻击，已经产生了寒蝉效应。”
在上诉法院拒绝允许对其自身决定提起上诉后，她直接向最高法院申请审理此案。
上诉法院的审查涉及五名法官，这很不寻常，因为通常只有两到三名法官审理案件。
其中包括该国两名最
▲ 胡达·阿莫里赢得了在英国最高法院提起上诉的权利
资深法官：首席大法官苏·卡尔（Sue Carr）和大法官杰弗里·沃斯（Geoffrey Vos）。
最高法院表示，该禁令可能构成了对《欧洲人权公约》第 10 条和第 11 条的不相称干涉，这两条分别保护言论自由权和抗议权。
阿莫里承诺，如果英国法院维持该禁令，她将在欧洲人权法院挑战这一禁令。该禁令已遭到民权组织、联合国专家以及跨党派政治人物的广泛谴责。
在最高法院的决定公布之际，又有数十人因涉嫌支持、成为成员和/或鼓励他人加入“巴勒斯坦行动”而被逮捕。
在伦敦市中心威斯敏斯特治安法院外的一次示威活动中，抗议者轮流起立，宣布他们对“巴勒斯坦行动”的支持或其成员身份。
▲ 警察将聚集在威斯敏斯特治安法院外的“巴勒斯坦行动”抗议者带走
照片：JORDAN PETTITT/PA MEDIA
许多主要是老年人的抗议者在发言后躺在地上，被警员带走。被捕者中包括一名 87 岁的轮椅女性。
来自伍尔弗汉普顿的 79 岁老人迪克·斯克鲁普（Dick Scroop）是到场被捕的人员之一。他表示：“一场种族灭绝正在发生，英国政府通过外交努力和持续向以色列供应武器而深陷其中，而试图通过运用反恐法来压制合法抗议的行为简直不可接受。这是对言论自由的攻击。”
伦敦大都会警察局的一位发言人表示：“警员已逮捕 77 人。大多数逮捕原因是表达对禁令组织的支撑。四人因鼓励或协助刑事犯罪而被捕。”
监管机构审查一名女性在去世前与警方的接触情况
PA Media
苏格兰的警方监管机构表示，正在审查苏格兰警方在一名女性被杀前与其接触的情况。
据信，44 岁的维基·索洛蒙（Vikki Soloman）于 7 月 20 日被其前伴侣、46 岁的李·格里南（Lee Greenan）谋杀。格里南被逮捕后，于周日在爱丁堡 HMP 监狱的牢房内被发现死亡。
警方调查与审查专员（Pirc）昨天表示，正在调查索洛蒙死亡前发生的警方接触情况。
Pirc 调查负责人雷蒙德·布朗（Raymond Brown）表示：“对于 7 月 20 日在爱丁堡不幸去世的 44 岁维基·索洛蒙所影响的所有人，我们深表关切。我们正在调查在该日期之前进行的警方接触，并将适时向皇家检察署（Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service）报告我们的调查结果。”
急救人员在索洛蒙位于爱丁堡的家中发现她受重伤，并宣布她在现场死亡。
一份家庭声明称：“在维基·索洛蒙令人心碎地离世后，她的家人对于涌现的爱与支持的信息深感触动和震撼，这在这样一个毁灭性的时刻带来了巨大的慰藉。”
◀ 据信，维基·索洛蒙于 7 月 20 日被其前伴侣李·格里南谋杀
24个月通话计划（每月 £27）和 36个月设备计划（每月 £29.50）
优惠 £414 节省额：24个月无限价值（最大速度 100 Mbps）通话计划，每月 £27 起。通过 36 个月内每月节省 £9（含使用定期付款方式的 £5 折扣）实现通话费节省 £324。此外，与 12/09/25 至 22/07/26 期间销售（于 19/06/26 结束）的此前定价相比，设备成本节省 £90。36个月设备计划（信用协议）每月 £29.50 用于支付设备费用。由 Hutchison 30 UK Limited 提供信用（代表 Three（受金融行为监管局授权并监管）），年利率 0%，视信用状况而定，需经过信用检查，仅限 15 岁以上人士。逾期付款可能会影响信用评级及未来获得信贷的能力。注册地址：450 Longwater Avenue, Reading RG2 8GF。
2026 年 7 月 31 日 星期五 卫报
国内版
21
英国全境多处住宅及企业遭搜查，严厉打击汽车金融骚扰短信
Rupert Jones
在官员执行搜查令以打击那些利用汽车金融误导销售丑闻向民众发送垃圾短信的索赔公司后，笔记本电脑、手机和文件已被没收。
周三，信息专员办公室（ICO）对位于伦敦、利物浦、博尔顿、伯恩利和斯旺西的五家相关公司的住宅和办公场所执行了搜查令。
自2025年9月以来，公众提交了超过1200万起关于骚扰营销短信的投诉，原因是索赔管理公司（CMC）和其他公司试图在面向被误导销售汽车贷款的驾驶者的数十亿英镑赔偿金中分一杯羹。
今年3月，金融行为监管局（FCA）宣布了一项针对该丑闻数百万受害者的 75亿英镑（£7.5bn）全行业赔偿计划。然而，由于法律挑战，监管机构随后被迫部分暂停了该计划。
FCA原预计今年将向受丑闻影响的人员平均支付 829英镑（£829）。在该丑闻中，由于2007年至2024.年期间贷款机构与汽车经销商之间的佣金支付，驾驶者在贷款中被过度收费。但法院命令监管机构在今年12月或明年2月的听证会之前，暂停该计划的部分内容。
ICO调查负责人Andy Curry表示：“人们已经厌倦了被关于汽车金融索赔的无关电话、短信和电子邮件轰炸，我们正在采取行动。”他表示，此次搜查向索赔管理部门发出了“一个明确的信号：遵守法律，否则等着我们的通知”。
据了解，没收的物品包括笔记本电脑和手机等电子设备，以及大量文件。
与此次搜查相关的公司仍在接受调查，据信它们在2025年9月至次年5月期间共向公众发送了1.7亿条短信。
ICO目前正与FCA、广告标准局和律师监管局合作，以解决部分CMC、律师事务所和潜在客户开发公司在汽车金融索赔方面的不良行径。
此次搜查标志着对违规CMC及其他企业的打击升级。得益于FCA的工作，自2024.年1月以来，已有超过1,200个误导性广告被删除或修改。部分公司面临执行调查，而其他公司则不得不降低其“不合理”的费用，或允许消费者免费终止合同。
根据《隐私和电子通信条例》，ICO有权向法院申请搜查场所的令状以进行调查，并在此过程中没收证据。这可能包括手机、笔记本电脑和“SIM卡农场”（sim farms）：即存放数百或数千张手机SIM卡的设备集群。
FCA表示，人们无需使用CMC或律师事务所，因为可以使用其网站上的模板信函免费投诉。本周，FCA发起了一场全国性的广告活动，引导人们使用该信函。该活动将在电视、广播、印刷品、广告牌和社交媒体上运行至9月6日。
舞台评论：斗牛、西班牙大锅饭与弗拉明戈将莎翁闹剧变为一场庆典
《爱的劳动丢失》 (Love's Labour's Lost) 莎士比亚环球剧场，伦敦 ★★★★☆
Mark Lawson
《爱的劳动丢失》在制片人和学者中略受冷落，是因为这部16世纪的喜剧是莎士比亚戏剧创作早期的示例——皇家莎士比亚公司（RSC）的一份在线时间线将其列为 38 部主要归属作品中的第九部——而且其结局异常地缺乏结论：典型的第五幕“婚姻大循环”被突然推迟了一年。
这些问题意味着，即便对于纯粹主义者来说，他们对一种旨在寻求解决方案的导演构思地反感程度也比平时低。汤姆·利特勒（Tom Littler）在今年夏天于吉尔福德（Guildford）和里士满（Richmond）上演的露天剧作中，将这部看似不完整的作品与《多贵的喧闹》（Much Ado About Nothing，有些人认为这部剧其实是另一部丢失的莎翁作品《爱的劳动获胜》）配对，统一了角色和情节线。
除了同样在户外演出，印第安娜·劳恩-柯林斯（Indiana Lown-Collins）为莎士比亚环球剧场带来的复排版同样激进，但方向不同。在莎士比亚的原作中，西班牙的纳瓦拉王国——三名男子在那里签署了一项早期的“排毒计划”，为了冥想而放弃性生活和食物——迎来了一位法国公主及其随从的访问，她们威胁要破坏这些誓言。
在这个版本中，所有人都是西班牙人——在 26 年的夏天，这种转换得到了助力，因为观众席中挥动扇子的粉丝数量与马德里旅游旺季的街头咖啡馆一样多。在舞台上，“adieu”（再见）变成了“adios”，一些其他的英语词汇也被翻译了——一顿餐食被明确为“paella”（西班牙大锅饭）——而整个剧情则由一系列弗拉明戈舞蹈片段来穿插和烘托。
这里的追鹿活动变成了一场经过编舞的斗牛，由帕布罗·埃格亚（Pablo Egea）饰演斗牛场的猎物。舞蹈和动作编排——弗拉明戈中浪漫的渴望与内在的暴力
相当地反映了该剧的主题——经常成为全场焦点。节目单将卡门·伊加尔萨（Carmen Igarza）列为编舞，将瓦妮莎·格维拉（Vanessa Guevara）列为前西班牙时期动作顾问；无论这段双人合作如何运作，她们都值得在每场演出结束时鞠躬致谢。
不那么令人愉悦的是，大幅度的重写在高潮部分的“反浪漫”互动中加入了一个名为伊丽莎白一世女王的假面舞会形象，其中包含关于她的性生活和阴道的笑话。莎士比亚的剧作中充满了此类粗俗内容，而本剧将其具象化了：在那些试图禁欲的男人伪装成莫斯科人的一场戏中，他们穿着金色的阴囊护垫和收腰肩垫。
然而，如果莎士比亚当年像本剧这样冒犯他的赞助人，那么《爱的劳动丢失》就会成为他的最后一部剧作，而剩下的 29 部作品将不复存在。我担心学生和游客在离开环球剧场时，会是对莎士比亚时代那种冒犯君主的行为产生钦佩之情，而利特勒的双剧目演出威力如此之大，以至于现在单独演出《爱的劳动丢失》感觉更加不完整。但在这个构思之内，这部作品总体上是一次愉悦的体验。
在国际化的演员阵容中，拥有瑞士-英国-土耳其-意大利血统的菲利普·阿尔迪蒂（Philip Arditti）为其饰演的那个傲慢且不情愿禁欲的贝罗尼（Berowne）注入了文化中充满情欲的学者气息，并与贝亚·塞古拉（Bea Segura）灵动的罗莎琳（Rosaline）精彩交锋。另一位西班牙演员安德罗·克雷斯波（Andro Crespo）饰演了一个地道的唐·阿德里亚诺·德·阿尔马多（Don Adriano de Armado），同时在迈克尔·麦克马洪（Michael McMahon）和亚德里安·索拉（Adrián Solà）编曲的最终歌曲《当多彩雏菊与蓝色紫罗兰》中表现出色。除了负责动作和音乐的人员，选角导演贝基·帕里斯（Becky Paris）也应获得掌声。
◀ 印第安娜·劳恩-柯林斯的制作通过喜剧式的机智对话和高能量片段吸引了环球剧场的观众
演出至 9 月 13 日止
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目击者
卫报 周五 2026 年 7 月 31 日
2026 年 7 月 31 日 周五 卫报
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▼ 英联邦运动会，格拉斯哥 英格兰队在 Sir Chris Hoy 训练馆的男子 4000 米团体追逐赛中正向金牌迈进
照片：TOM JENKINS/THE GUARDIAN
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国家
卫报 2026年7月31日 星期五
太阳能安装量激增，更多家庭通过屋顶面板降低账单
吉莉安·安布罗斯 (Jillian Ambrose)
由于越来越多家庭转向安装屋顶面板以帮助降低能源账单，英国在今年上半年的新增太阳能安装量超过了 2011 年以来的任何一个半年期。
对政府官方数据的分析显示，英国在今年前六个月新增了 142,536 处太阳能安装，这将使该国有望突破去年的太阳能新增记录。
政府数据（包括大型地面太阳能电站和屋顶面板）显示，此次半年期的太阳能繁荣程度仅次于 2011 年下半年的纪录 167,316 处安装，当时康沃尔郡建设了首个大规模太阳能电站。
政府官方数据中记录的大部分新增太阳能安装位于家庭屋顶，
尽管这些小型系统仅占全国太阳能总容量的三分之一略低。
据能源公司称，由于化石燃料导致账单飙升，近年来越来越多家庭在屋顶安装太阳能面板，通过自行发电来降低能源账单。
政府数据还显示，更多家庭采用了补贴，将燃气锅炉更换为低碳替代方案。上个月锅炉升级计划的申请总数达到了 4,512 份，比去年 6 月增长了 21%。
在政府上周将补贴资金提高 20%，从 £7,500 增加到 £9,000 以帮助分担更换化石燃料加热设备的成本后，预计未来几个月对热泵的需求将进一步增加。
新任首相安迪·伯纳姆 (Andy Burnham) 还决定从 10 月起降低电费账单的增值税 (VAT)，这将降低运行热泵的成本。
▲ 利兹新住宅上的屋顶太阳能面板。目前全英国有超过 200 万处太阳能安装。摄影：CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY
142,536
根据官方数据，今年上半年英国的太阳能安装数量
151%
今年安装太阳能面板的 E.ON Next 能源客户数量的增幅
即将成为英国最大能源零售商的家庭供应商 E.ON Next 表示，2026 年上半年安装太阳能面板的家庭数量与去年同期相比激增了 151%。
“越来越多的家庭意识到，通过自行产生和存储能源可以节省多少费用，”E.ON Next 董事菲尔·吉尔伯特 (Phil Gilbert) 表示。他说道，部分 E.ON Next 客户在签署该供应商的太阳能及电池电价方案后，每年能源账单最高可节省 £600。
“人们希望参与到能源使用中，掌控自己的账单并减少对电网的依赖，而太阳能为他们提供了一种切实可行的方式，”吉尔伯特补充道。
英国最大的能源供应商 Octopus Energy 也注意到，在中东冲突导致油气价格飙升后的几周内，太阳能面板的销量急剧增加。该供应商表示，3 月份的销量比前一个月增长了 54% 以上。
全英国共有 200 多万处太阳能安装，而 2011 年 6 月在康沃尔郡特鲁罗附近一座废弃锡矿场建成首个大规模太阳能电站至今仅 15 年。
1.4MW 的 Wheal Jane 太阳能电站如今在更新的项目面前显得微不足道，其中包括肯特郡的 373MW Cleve Hill 项目（在去年夏天达到全功率运行后成为英国最大的在运行太阳能开发项目），以及林肯郡的 800MW Springwell 太阳能电站，预计将于 2029 年开始发电。
与此同时，根据本月早些时候通过的立法，到 8 月底，居住在公寓或租赁房产中的英国民众将能够加入欧洲数百万使用阳台太阳能面板来降低账单的行列。
卫报直播
未来始于我们：与戈登·布朗的对话
为什么基于规则的秩序的崩塌与公民生活的侵蚀同时发生？为什么全球数以百万计的人转向民粹主义民族主义政党以寻求解决方案？对此我们又能做些什么？
戈登·布朗将与卫报的休·缪尔（Hugh Muir）一起，揭示全球动荡与公民衰退之间错综复杂的联系。他还将分享一套切实可行且充满希望的路线图，旨在让我们重新团结并更新全球秩序，正如他在新书《未来始于我们》（The Future Starts With Us）中所探讨的那样。
在世界感觉日益动荡的时刻，这是你向布朗提问并了解我们如何共同克服当今全球挑战的机会。
9月10日，星期四
晚上7点-8.30pm
皇家地理学会（Royal Geographical Society）
伦敦 SW72AR
票已售罄
现场参与
在线参与
请在 theguardian.com/gordon-brown-event 预订门票或扫描二维码
2026年7月31日，星期五 卫报
国家版
25
舞台剧评论：莎拉·凯恩血腥酷刑剧的复排在今日引发更深共鸣
《净化》（Cleansed）
伦敦阿尔梅达剧院（Almeida theatre）
★★★★☆
Arifa Akbar
莎拉·凯恩（Sarah Kane）在世时，其剧作中露骨的暴力描写饱受指责。但评论家们请注意：如果你选择责备剧作家使用了过多的血腥场面和怪诞的人类残暴行径，那么你肯定也必须谴责古希腊戏剧、大剧院（Grand Guignol）以及莎士比亚。
或许是凯恩作品中那种“直面观众”（in-yer-face）的血腥特质令人反感。在这部 1998 年的剧作中，面对通过耸人听闻的残暴行径所呈现的恐怖，确实没有任何退缩。一名角色反思道：“死亡并不是他们能对你做的最糟糕的事”，而接下来的强奸、肢体切割和殴打则印证了这句话。
就《净化》而言，这部剧的复排有太多可能出错的地方，尤其是因为它以难以舞台化而著称——剧本指令要求老鼠叼走被截断的肢体，巨大的向日葵从地板上炸开。导演丽贝卡·弗雷克纳尔（Rebecca Frecknall）敢于挑战这部剧，是非常勇敢的。这次冒险得到了回报，不仅因为该剧在当今暴力世界中产生了可怕的共鸣，也因为她在创作上取得了令人赞叹的成就。
凯恩的第一部剧作《炸裂》（Blasted）是对 20 世纪 90 年代波黑冲突的回应，而这部第三部剧作则是关于战争的未完成三部曲的一部分。在弗雷克纳尔这部强有力、感人且极具肢体感的制作中，观看该剧会让你想起之前所有的战争（一名角色被割掉舌头以及肢体被截断的情节让人想起《提图斯·安德罗尼库斯》）以及之后的战争。剧中一个将 Kinks 乐队的歌曲 $\langle \text{Days} \rangle$ 播放进酷刑室的场景，虽然温柔，却带有关塔那摩“轻量级酷刑”的阴影。一次又一次地，你会想起阿布格莱布监狱的照片，那些照片记录了美国卫兵对囚犯的羞辱。以色列在加沙的残暴与暴力也在此回响。
故事设定在一所部分让人联想到集中营的大学里，廷克（Tinker，利奥·比尔 Leo Bill 饰）是这里唯一“可见”的酷刑执行者（其他暴力行为由不可见的残暴代理人实施）。他表面上并不起眼，或许体现了汉娜·阿伦特（Hannah Arendt）所说的“平庸之恶”。他的目标是那些被认为性行为异常的人，尤其是两名男同性恋者罗德（Rod，帕斯·萨克拉尔 Parth Thakerar 饰）和卡尔（Carl，卢克·辛克-怀特 Luke Cinque-White 饰），但他也恐吓兄妹格雷厄姆（Graham，杰克·里迪福德 Jack Riddiford 饰）和格蕾丝（Grace，珀尔·钱达 Pearl Chanda 饰），操纵一名窥视秀舞者（利齐·康诺利 Lizzy Connolly 饰）以及另一名名为罗宾（Robin，斯图尔特·汤普森 Stuart Thompson 饰）的囚犯。
演员们在演绎剧中许多困难的场景时，没有表现出任何尴尬或戏剧化的夸张。廷克的残暴依然是一个谜，尤其是他实施酷刑时的那种功能性。他的动力是权力、某种指导原则，还是纯粹的虐待狂心理？剧中从未给出解释。
尽管如此，传达的信息很明确：战争及其酷刑是毫无意义且残酷的，而对于那些身处其中的人来说，这一切显而易见。这里有一种奥威尔式的系统在暴政地统治那些在性别或性身份上被视为异常的人。玛德琳·格林（Madeleine Girling）的舞台设计具有一种阴暗的、制度化的感觉，像精神病房或监狱中隐藏的走廊。同样，它唤起了一种令人不寒而栗的整洁感。
与凯恩的其他作品一样，这部剧通过其极端性和对传统形式的瓦解，探讨了剧场与呈现的极限。
▼ 酷刑执行者廷克（利奥·比尔 饰）与一名女性（利齐·康诺利 饰）。上方为饰演罗宾的斯图尔特·汤普森
摄影：马克·布伦纳（MARC BRENNER）
通过各种技术手段揭露暴力的剧场构建，并不能让我们免于观察暴力的恐惧，而弗雷克纳尔在现实主义与更具诗意的风格之间巧妙地切换。当角色处于痛苦的极点时，他们的动作变成了一种表现主义的舞蹈。其中蕴含着抒情色彩，但这种抒情并未将暴力美化。重要的是，这看起来也绝非为了噱头而刻意为之。
性爱也是一种舞蹈：身体从未接触，但通过编舞暗示了亲密感与肢体力量。乔治·丹尼斯（George Dennis）的声音设计与安格斯·麦克雷（Angus MacRae）的作曲相结合，有力地融合了炽热的浪漫与低鸣的电击般恐惧。
对于这样一部篇幅精简的剧作来说，它确实让人感觉过于冗长，节奏有所放缓。其中的残酷之处令人在观看时感到心力交瘁——但在一个暴力图像在每日动态中实时播放的世界里，它通过这种剖析，重新唤醒了我们的感知。
展至 29 August
Winehouse之父被判向歌手友人赔偿£950,000
法新社（Agence France-Presse）
艾米·Winehouse（Amy Winehouse）的父亲被判向已故歌手的友人支付£950,000的费用。此前，他起诉这些友人拍卖该歌手的衣物及其他物品，但诉讼未能成功。
今年4月，米奇·Winehouse（Mitch Winehouse）在伦敦高等法院的一起诉讼中败诉。
此次诉讼针对其女儿的两名友人，她们出售了该歌手的大量财物。这位创作歌手于2011年因酒精中毒去世，享年27.岁。她的前造型师娜奥米·帕里（Naomi Parry）和友人卡特里奥娜·古雷（Catriona Gourlay）否认在拍卖这些物品时行为不端，并称这些物品是对方赠予或出借的。
这155件在2021年至2025,年期间于美国拍卖的物品包括手袋、耳环和化妆品，以及该歌手在2011.年最后一次巡演中穿着的一件连衣裙。审理过程中被告知，这些友人“利用”了其父亲的健忘，并从中获取了超过$1.4m (£1)的销售额。
法官认定，这些女性并未故意向米奇·Winehouse隐瞒任何物品，而后者“一直以来都知道”计划进行销售，且仅在销售完成后才向她们追讨钱财。
“原告选择提出一项本质上缺乏依据的诉求，并激进且不依不饶地将其推进到底，同时对被告做出严重且无事实根据的指控，这显著损害了她们的名誉、职业前景、财务安全和健康，”法官莎拉·克拉克（Sarah Clarke）在周三表示。
“他明知且故意对两名忠实陪伴艾米的年轻女性这样做……使得他的不合理行为显得尤为严重。”
在4月的裁决中，法官指出，艾米·Winehouse以“对他朋友以及那些几乎不认识的人有着非凡的慷慨”而闻名。
20
卫报 Friday 31 July 2026
世界
俄罗斯导弹在田野爆炸后
波兰紧急起飞 战斗机
Peter Beaumont
俄罗斯被指控违反波兰领空。昨日，一枚导弹在波兰东部的一片田野中爆炸，在一次导致邻国乌克兰 13 人死亡的大规模空袭期间，该事件触发了北约的防空机制。
波兰当局表示，在卢布林附近塔尔纳瓦-科洛尼亚村（Tarnawa-Kolonia）附近发生的爆炸造成了一个 10 米宽的弹坑。警方称，居民报告在凌晨 4 点左右听到一声爆炸，震动了家中的窗户。
北约欧洲盟军最高司令亚历克斯·格林克维奇（Gen Alexus Grynkewich）将军表示：“北约将继续采取一切必要措施来保卫北约领土。”
波兰总理唐纳德·图斯克（Donald Tusk）在距离乌克兰边境约 50 英里的爆炸现场地块发表讲话，称该导弹极有可能是俄罗斯的。他告诉记者：“通过对大多数痕迹的分析，回收的碎片指向一枚俄罗斯 KH-101 导弹。”
他表示，没有理由认为波兰是该导弹的目标，但称波兰军队已准备好在导弹威胁到人口密集区域时将其击落。
波兰武装部队表示，在乌克兰遭受袭击期间，波兰（北约成员国）紧急起飞战斗机以保护其领空。
乌克兰外交部长安德烈·西比哈（Andrii Sybiha）在 X 平台的一篇帖文中表示，一枚俄罗斯 Kh-101 巡航导弹进入了波兰。
俄罗斯驻华沙大使馆未立即回复请求置评的电子邮件。
欧盟理事会主席安东尼奥·科斯塔（António Costa）在 X 上表示：“昨晚，俄罗斯对乌克兰发动了大规模综合打击。在袭击过程中，波兰领空也遭到侵犯，这再次强调了俄罗斯的侵略是对整个欧洲安全的威胁。”
欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩（Ursula von der Leyen）表示，俄罗斯导弹在波兰引发的事件是又一次对欧盟领空的“不可接受的侵犯”。
在昨天的袭击中，乌克兰至少 13 人死亡（其中一人在基辅），袭击范围一直延伸至西部城市利沃夫。
该市军事行政部门负责人表示，在中心城市克里维里赫（Kryvyi Rih）——弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基的家乡——的一次导弹袭击造成至少 6 人死亡，其中包括两名分别 5 岁和 12 岁的女孩。泽连斯基在莫斯科发起这次大规模袭击前数小时就已向全国发出了警告。
国防委员会负责人亚历山大·维尔库尔（Oleksandr Vilkul）表示：“在克里维里赫郊区的一个村庄里，一枚从沃罗涅日发射的 Iskander-M 弹道导弹直接击中了一户大家庭居住的私人住宅，导致 5 岁和 12 岁的女孩以及 4 名成年人死亡。”他表示，另有 8 人受伤。
在第聂伯罗彼得罗夫斯克州和波尔塔瓦州，另有 6 人死亡，其中包括 2 名儿童。
基辅军事行政部门确认 1 人死亡，市长维塔利·克里琴科（Vitali Klitschko）报告称多个区发生了火灾。此前他发帖称：“敌人正使用弹道武器攻击首都。进一步袭击的威胁依然存在。请留在避难所内！”
官员表示，在利沃夫，救援人员正紧急清理瓦砾，以营救被困人员。此前俄罗斯导弹损坏了两栋公寓楼并造成 26 人受伤。
周三晚间，泽连斯基发帖称：“俄罗斯人在几天前就准备了一次大规模攻击，极有可能在今晚实施袭击……请乌克兰所有地区今天密切关注空袭警报并注意安全。”
泽连斯基还再次请求乌克兰的盟友向基辅提供其防空系统缺失的导弹。 “重要的是，我们的合作伙伴必须充分理解正在发生的事情，人们生命的保护直接取决于他们是否愿意提供防空导弹。”
俄罗斯国防部在就此次袭击发表评论时表示，在袭击过程中使用了陆基、海基和空基导弹以及攻击型无人机，并声称其目标是军事工业设施。
在其他地方，乌克兰军队指挥官罗伯特·布罗夫迪（Robert Brovdi）表示，乌克兰军方昨日在黑海和亚速海击中了四艘俄罗斯油轮。
布罗夫迪在Telegram应用程序上表示，过去三周内已有 205 艘油轮被击中。
2026年7月31日 星期五 卫报
失踪的总统？
喀麦隆对其长期缺席 展开推测
第 28 页
“幻想之机”
艺术家们涌向 科特迪瓦的海滨城市
第 31 页
27
▲ 昨天俄罗斯导弹袭击期间，基辅的一座地铁站内人们在避难，右图一名居民正在查看市场的损毁情况；左图波兰，最左侧，消防员和警察在塔纳瓦-科洛尼亚村附近一个被认为是由另一枚俄罗斯导弹造成的弹坑现场进行处置，波兰总理唐纳德·图斯克在现场向记者发表讲话 摄影：OLEKSI FILIPPOVAPI/GETTY IMAGES: ALINA SMUTKO/REUTERS
数千名移民从摩洛哥进入西班牙飞地
Sam Jones 马德里
西班牙北非飞地的一位领导人在数千名移民在短短几小时内从邻国摩洛哥游泳或涉水进入这个微小领土后，呼吁马德里政府宣布进入国家紧急状态。
昨天在休达的塔拉哈尔海滩拍摄的视频显示，人群绕过防波堤，在沙滩和道路上奔跑。大多数人似乎是年轻男性，但也有携带妇女和儿童的家庭。
一些人对着一名为美联社工作的自由摄影师大喊“西班牙万岁”（Viva Español），该摄影师当时正在拍摄现场。
一名国民警卫队（Guardia Civil）发言人表示，移民正“大规模地从海上进入”，但无法提供具体人数的估算。
西班牙国家广播电视台（TVE）报道称，有 2,000 至 3,000 人进入了休达，而国家新闻社（Efe）则表示，部分人员是通过攀爬高大的边界围栏进入该领土的。
休达总统胡安·赫苏斯·比瓦斯（Juan Jesús Vivas）要求部署额外的警察和士兵，以“保证边境不可侵犯”及公民的安全。
比瓦斯在周三警告称，移民接收中心已不堪重负，数百人睡在街头。
他表示，休达需要“更多资源、更多基础设施、更多监管，以及所有行政部门之间的有效协调”。
他补充说：“我们不寻求特权；我们寻求的是一个公正且负责任的解决方案。”
尽管中央政府宣布，西班牙内政部长费尔南多·格兰德-马拉斯卡（Fernando Grande-Marlaska）将于今日前往休达，但政府表示，不能因移民问题而宣布国家紧急状态。
政府补充称，只有在严重的气象事件（如当前的森林火灾）或面对火山或核威胁时，才能宣布此类紧急状态。
西班牙首相佩德罗·桑切斯（Pedro Sánchez）表示，他的政府将对休达的情况做出“立即响应”。这种情况让人想起 2021 年的边境危机，当时
▼ 昨天，在西班牙最高法院放宽边境规则的裁决后，移民从海上进入休达 摄影：REIDAN DRIVEPA
在短短两天内有超过 8,000 人抵达。
他在 X 平台的一篇帖子中表示：“我们正在动员所有必要资源，与摩洛哥及国际当局合作，并准备必要措施，以尽快恢复正常。”
本月，西班牙最高法院裁定，在试图前往休达或西班牙另一个北非领土梅利利亚时在海上被拦截的移民，不能根据飞地的特别边境拒绝制度被直接遣返。
国民警卫队发言人告诉路透社：“自最高法院裁决以来，人数一直是缓慢增加，但今天发生了爆发。”
保守派反对党人民党（Vivas 所属政党）党首阿尔贝托·努涅斯-费霍（Alberto Núñez Feijóo）表示，情况极其糟糕。他补充道：“政府不能视而不见，因为我们正面临一场国家安全危机。”
摩洛哥政府消息人士将此次涌入归咎于“犯罪组织”，并坚称该国与西班牙的合作依然是“典范”。
葡萄牙人呼吁部长因学校考试混乱事件辞职
Catarina Fernandes Martins 里斯本
由于学生和教师抗议其对今年全国学校考试的处理方式，葡萄牙教育部长面临的辞职压力日益增加。
费尔南多·亚历山大（Fernando Alexandre）被指未能为这场被批评者称为“前所未有且混乱”的学校考试季承担责任，此次事件影响了 14 到 18 岁的儿童，促使学生抗议者要求给他一个“不及格”的评价。
这次争议使葡萄牙教育部门陷入了数十年来最严重的危机，其核心在于亚历山大推动将考试评分过程全面数字化。
中右翼政府表示，为了使葡萄牙的公共行政现代化，并让 260,000 多名参加小学和中学考试的学生获得“更严谨且客观”的学校评估，这一转变是必要的。
但许多家长、教师和学生将这一变革评定为失败，有些人正考虑对国家采取法律行动。约 19,000 人签署了一项请愿书，要求取消今年的所有成绩。
从 6 月中旬考试季开始，学校就报告了试卷分配错误，甚至有退休教师和至少一名已故教师被要求评分。一些教育工作者被告知要评定其专业领域之外的科目。
在为考试评分时，多名教师报告称难以访问评分平台，出现续页缺失、学生答案不完整、扫描图像模糊以及学生答案从在线系统中消失的情况。
在 7 月中旬成绩延迟三天公布后，数千名学生抱怨其预测成绩与公布的考试成绩之间存在极大差异，部分学生甚至发现自己的成绩仍然缺失。
在申请查阅试卷副本后，多名学生报告发现页面缺失、出现未知的笔迹、因试卷调换导致答案错误，在某些情况下，试卷甚至丢失。一些有特殊教育需求的学生抱怨，在试卷数字化过程中，标识这些额外需求的标签被遗漏了。
一家教育监管机构随后表示，26,000 份考试受到了软件或分数线错误的影响，且有 18,000 多个成绩正在被修改。
这次混乱事件被证明在政治上具有破坏性，但总理路易斯·蒙特内格罗（Luis Montenegro）一直抵制解雇亚历山大的呼吁。
48
世界
卫报 星期五 2026 年 7 月 31 日
全球最高龄领导人失踪 53 天引发猜测
Giovanni Wanneh 布埃亚 Eromo Egbejule 阿克拉
全球最高龄国家元首创纪录地失踪 53 天，使其故乡喀麦隆再次出现关于他是否在世的猜测，尽管在法律上讨论他的健康状况属于非法行为。
6 月 7 日，93, 岁的保罗·比亚（Paul Biya）与妻子尚塔尔（Chantal）前往瑞士，官员称其为“简短的私人停留”。近两个月后，总统和第一夫人均未发表全国演讲，也未在公开场合露面。
比亚在担任七年总理后于 1982 年就任，近年来他离开喀麦隆的时间越来越长，大部分时间在日内瓦的洲际五星级酒店度过。
目前尚未公布总统此次出国行程的正式返回时间表，导致喀麦隆民众只能依赖政府官员接连发布的一系列相互矛盾的声明。
通讯部长雷内·埃马纽埃尔·萨迪（René Emmanuel Sadi）表示，比亚健康状况良好，并且“在目前居住的日内瓦办公”。他补充道：“声称并非如此的报道纯属幻想，且是旨在动摇舆论的恶意操纵。”
执政党高级官员兼高等教育部长雅克·法梅·恩东戈（Jacques Fame Ndongo）表示，比亚“无论身在何处，都在仔细审阅助手提交给他的文件”。
劳动部长格雷瓜尔·奥沃纳（Grégoire Owona）则给出了不同的解释，称总统正在休年假，并将其比作普通的喀麦隆公民。他表示：“保罗·比亚由喀麦隆人民选举产生并由人民支付薪酬，他是一名有权享有年假的劳动者。他的雇主有义务批准假期。他在离开前已通知雇主，返回后也将这样做。”
喀麦隆当局在 2024, 年 10 月的另一次失踪期间，禁止讨论比亚的健康状况。尽管如此，当地媒体在最近几周仍发布了
▲ 保罗与尚塔尔·比亚。有传言称总统已去世
关于他病危的说法，而社交媒体上再次出现关于比亚是一位“远程办公总统”的玩笑。
反对党喀麦隆复兴运动（Cameroon Renaissance Movement）副主席马马杜·莫塔（Mamadou Mota）表示，比亚最近的缺席造成了“严重的制度真空”。他说道：“在关键的社会经济挑战未得到解决的情况下，一个国家不能通过远程控制来治理。”
去年 11 月，比亚在一次充满广泛舞弊和选民压制指控的总统大选一个月后，宣誓就任其连续第八个任期。尽管宪法委员会驳回了反对党的选后申诉，但许多人拒绝承认选举结果，认为此次投票进一步侵蚀了公众对喀麦隆民主制度的信心。
比亚在宣誓就任最新任期后尚未任命政府。由于议会和市政选举预计将在 2027, 年初举行，许多人担心他长期的缺席可能会扰乱选举周期。
喀麦隆拥有中非最大的经济体，但失业率、高通胀和公共基础设施匮乏损害了其年轻人的前景，而年轻人约占其 30.6 million 预估人口的三分之二。
反对党爱国主义与人民繁荣运动（Movement for Patriotism and People's Prosperity）秘书长科特姆·桑比特（Kohtem Sambit）表示：“如果总统在休年假，他仍然应对喀麦隆人民负责，因为他的薪水是用纳税人的钱支付的。因此，他的行踪应当公开。”
今年 4 月，议会重新设立了副总统职位，但该职位尚未填补，这意味着如果总统失去能力，喀麦隆将没有指定的接班人。
据报道，随着比亚的儿子和继子在权力之争中角逐，内阁部长之间公开不和的现象已变得司空见惯。
四分之一的非洲青年认为削减援助可能有益
莎拉·约翰逊 (Sarah Johnson)
一项调查显示，四分之一的非洲青年认为美国削减援助可能会产生积极影响，他们表示，失去外援将迫使各国领导人面对并解决自身的挑战。
在加纳和尼日利亚，分别有 41% 和 40% 的 18 至 24 岁青年持乐观态度，利比里亚紧随其后 (37%)。根据这项对 16 个国家近 5,000 人进行访谈的“非洲青年调查”（African Youth Survey），另有十分之一 (11%) 的青年不确定其影响。
特朗普政府在去年年初宣布，将取消美国国际开发署 (USAID) 超过 90% 的对外合同以及全球范围内 600 亿美元 ($60bn) 的美国援助。美国的对外援助旨在为解决全球贫困、饥饿和不平等问题发挥关键作用。
包括英国、法国和德国在内的其他国家也在削减援助预算。英国在去年 2 月宣布，援助预算将从国民总收入的 0.5% 削减至 2027, 年的 0.3%，这是自记录开始以来，援助预算占国民收入百分比的最低水平。联合国的目标是 0.7%。
委托编写该报告的南非家庭基金会负责人伊沃·伊奇科维茨 (Ivor Ichikowitz) 表示：“（调查显示的）大局是，青年们担心政府过度受到外国势力影响。他们认为，非洲政府需要对自身的现状采取主导权并承担责任。”
USAID 的削减导致了包括产前诊所等关键服务的关闭以及药品短缺，而此时联合国机构正难以为其人道主义工作筹集资金，且气候危机加剧了粮食不安全问题。
调查显示，近一半的非洲青年 (46%) 认为 USAID 的关闭将对他们的国家产生破坏性影响，其中医疗服务和疾病预防被认为受影响最严重的领域。这种焦虑在莫桑比克最高 (76%)，其次是肯尼亚 (63%) 和卢旺达 (63%)，当地青年认为削减援助将对社会中最脆弱的群体产生不成比例的影响。
41%
表示对美国削减援助的影响持乐观态度的 18 至 24 岁加纳人的比例
46%
认为 USAID 的关闭将对其国家造成破坏的非洲青年比例
美国政府因AI非洲地图标注错误而遭到嘲讽
路透社
在本周于巴西举行的一次全球会议上，美国国务院在演示过程中使用了一张将非洲每个国家都标注错误的地图，引起了与会者的轰动，许多人截屏并将图片发布到了网上。
一段在里约热内卢举行的 Aids 2026 会议上的演示视频显示，这张错误的地图出现在一场关于新卫生协议的演示中。
分析发现，该地图图像包含一个人工智能水印，表明其是用 OpenAI 的工具制作的。
国务院表示，对造成的混乱承担“全部责任”，并称该地图是由一名团队成员在活动前匆忙修改幻灯片时制作的。OpenAI 未对置评请求做出回应。
地图上将部署有数百名美军的尼日利亚显示为位于撒哈拉沙漠的内陆国家。位于非洲东南部 Mozambique（莫桑比克）被移到了非洲之角，而西非的 Côte d'Ivoire（科特迪瓦）则被放在了大陆的另一侧。
该地图的截屏首次出现在艾滋病专家 Emily Bass 的 Substack 帖子中，
▲ 美国国务院演示时展示的标注错误非洲地图 摄影：路透社
“无论谁制作了这张幻灯片，他都不知道非洲国家的位置，并且根本不在意检查”
Matt Petit AI 与地缘政治专家
随后这些截图在 LinkedIn 上被广泛分享，其中一篇帖子获得了约 40,000 次浏览。
“无论谁制作并批准了这张幻灯片，他都不知道非洲国家的位置，并且根本不在意检查自己的工作，”大西洋理事会专注于 AI 和地缘政治的 Matt Petit 在帖子中写道。
国务院在声明中表示：“我们对给与会者（包括我们的非洲合作伙伴）造成的混乱和错误引导承担全部责任。”
会议上的发言人是美国最高卫生特使 Jeff Graham，他负责监督名为“总统艾滋病救援紧急计划”（President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief，简称 Pepfar）的倡议。他未回复置评请求。
该部门表示，尽管出现了地图问题，但会议上的讨论是“实质性且具有建设性的”，且该部门依然致力于取得切实成果以抗击艾滋病。
特朗普政府去年决定在审查期间暂停资金，这扰乱了全球的援助计划，但 Pepfar 的核心工作（如提供救命药物）已基本恢复。
美国正在缩减其他领域的支出，包括预防和监测。
2026年7月31日 星期五 卫报
世界 气候危机
“无论如何我们都会播种”
随着“超级厄尔尼诺”现象增强，印度农民面临深重的不确定性
Neelima Vallangi
卡斯图里·加曼戈（Kasturi Gamango）和普拉米拉·萨巴尔（Pramila Sabar）在向人们解释拉贾节（Raja festival）的一大吸引力时，忍不住咯咯地笑了起来。“我们三天不用干活，”她们说，“我们的丈夫负责做饭和打扫，而我们则享受自由时间。”
拉贾节是印度东部森林茂密的奥里萨邦一个充满活力的农业庆典，旨在庆祝丰产、女性特质以及印度教的大地女神巴苏马蒂（Basumati）。传统上，这一为期三天的活动在6月14 to 16日举行，以标志着雨季的开始和作物的播种时节。但今年，田地依然无人触碰，天空晴朗。季风直到本月底才到来。
全球专家已宣布，今年将出现“超级”厄尔尼诺（El Niño）现象——这是该天气周期的一种极端版本，并预计其在7月至9月期间将迅速增强。在印度，厄尔尼诺年份通常与季风微弱、降雨延迟且不均匀、干旱期以及极端气温相关，导致农业干旱、能源消耗增加，以及因水库枯竭而引发的用水短缺。
6月底的降雨量短缺了40%，即便本月降雨量超额，干旱的影响也未能减轻。尽管如此，拉克希普尔（Laxmipur）的农民们仍在6月的最后几天谨慎地在稻田中播种，希望能及时下雨以促进发芽。
45岁的曼加拉·萨巴尔（Mangala Sabar）记得2023-24年的厄尔尼诺时期，“那时每年尝试移栽两次都失败了，我们失去了全部作物”。
德里智库能源、环境与水资源委员会（Council on Energy, Environment and Water）的水资源管理专家尼廷·巴西（Nitin Bassi）表示，在厄尔尼诺期间，农业面临的主要问题是降雨量减少和土壤水分降低。“在我们国家，季风发生在盛夏之后，此时土壤干燥，”他说，“如果下雨时土壤不够饱和，就不会有地表径流流入水库、天然水池和池塘，也就没有足够的水来供应冬季作物。”
在鲁希库利亚河（Rushikulya River）畔的马利·贾甘纳特普尔（Mali Jagannathpur）村，农民们等待降雨增加后从附近水库释放渠道水，以便播种。但并非所有田地都能接触到渠道水。四年前丧偶的28岁K·苏库马里（K Sukumari）想耕种丈夫留下的地块，但由于缺水而无法种植水稻。
“五年前我和丈夫在田里干活时，我记得钻井里有水，而且降雨量也足够，”苏库马里说。她独自抚养两个孩子，其中一个需要特殊照顾。
她说，钻井已经干涸，且过去几年降雨经常延迟且不足。为了维持生计，她一年有半年在砖窑厂工作，在生长季节则在别人的田里干活。
政府间气候变化专门委员会（IPCC）的主要作者、印度人类居住研究所（Indian Institute for Human Settlements）研究员钱德妮·辛格（Chandni Singh）表示，干旱在奥里萨邦并非未知的风险。
“我们知道在任何农业系统中，人们都非常聪明，”辛格说，“但你不能指望一个农业家庭在原地无止境地适应。当然，农业家庭能做的另一件事就是分散风险。于是，人们开始迁徙。”
根据Gram Vikas（一家与奥里萨邦农业社区合作近五十年的发展组织）执行主任利比·约翰逊（Liby Johnson）的说法，家庭成员寄回家的汇款已成为许多村庄的重要收入来源。然而，他说，他们福祉的核心以及抵御气候危机的长期韧性在于水资源安全和天气的确定性。
Gram Vikas已在奥里萨邦的村庄中启动了一系列计划，包括超本地天气预报和详细的
“五年前，我记得钻孔井里还有水，甚至降雨量也足够。”
K Sukumari 农业工人
通过含水层测绘来了解地下水的可用性，并建设低成本的土壤和水资源保护设施以增强蓄水能力。
在东高止山脉（Eastern Ghats）山丘的俯瞰下，由 Gram Vikas 安装的 25 个自动气象站之一，就坐落在拉什米普尔（Laxmipur）村入口处 Mangala Sabar 的房顶上。外墙被变成了一块巨大的黑板，上面用当地的奥里亚语（Odia）写着每周的天气状况和七天降雨预报。他通过 WhatsApp 接收处理后的天气预报信息，并负责更新这块看板。
印度气象局去年还发起了一项倡议，旨在提前 30 天提供关于季风到来的准确预报。目前，定制的预报正通过短信和电话发送给包括奥里萨邦（Odisha）在内的 38 million 农民。
拉什米普尔村的日常生活；下方，Mangala Sabar 及其每周更新的天气看板；最下方，奥里萨邦主要河流之一的鲁希库利亚河（Rushikulya）的一条支流 摄影：NEELIMA VALLANGI
同样地，政府发布了多项与厄尔尼诺（El Niño）相关的咨询建议，建议农民延迟播种，选择生长期短或其他耗水较少的作物，并采用抗旱品种。
但这些信息的利用率仍然有限。“认为单凭数据就能影响农民决策的想法是有缺陷的。人们并不是那样做决定的，”Singh 表示，“核心信息来自他们的本地知识，比如观察土壤、蚂蚁、树木和云层。”
随着本月部分地区出现强降雨，整体季风缺口已缩小至 21%。但随着厄尔尼诺现象的增强，深层的不确定性依然存在。
奥里萨邦的农民们仍在坚持。“我们怎么知道雨量是否足够？无论如何我们都会播种，因为我们是农民，”Mangala Sabar 说，“看看会发生什么吧。”
10
世界
卫报 周五 31 2026年7月
志同道合的一群鸟：一群火烈鸟聚集在土耳其的杜登湖（Lake Dūden）。该湖是迁徙火烈鸟的关键栖息地，它们在春季水位上升时抵达。近年来，由于夏季水位下降，热浪威胁到了这一栖息地。
摄影：EFEKAN AKYUZ/ 路透社
默茨度假阅读选择教皇文本而非通俗小说
Deborah Cole 柏林
夏季通常被认为是阅读通俗小说和快节奏畅销书的时间——那些最终会沾上沙子和防晒霜的机场读物。但弗里德里希·默茨（Friedrich Merz）的度假阅读清单并非如此。
这位深陷困境的德国总理自 14 个月前就职以来，接连遭遇重重困难，今年在休息之余似乎在寻求精神指引。
据保守派大报《法兰克福汇报》（Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung）报道，这位基民盟（CDU）领导人在休假期间正阅读教皇利奥关于人工智能的通谕《Magnifica Humanitas》（壮丽的人类）。
该通谕在五月被《卫报》介绍为“其教皇任期内首篇关于保障人类生存的重要文本”，文中主张对技术进展实施“最严格”的伦理约束，并称人工智能是人类面临的最大威胁。
作为全球 1.4 billion 罗马天主教徒之一，默茨倾向于对其信仰问题保持低调，因此他的
▲ 德国领导人弗里德里希·默茨经历了艰难的几个月
海滩读物透露了大量信息。这位 70 岁的政治家在欧洲最大经济体经历了七年的停滞后，将人工智能描述为一项挑战和机遇，正如他要求简化欧盟规则，以防止官僚主义扼杀其潜力一样。
在四月的一次演讲中，他表示德国是全球人工智能应用（尤其是工业领域）的领先国家之一。默茨表示，在面对极右翼支持率激增的情况下，他寄希望于人工智能的力量来提高生产力和繁荣度。
尽管某些圈子对机器如何改变我们的生活方式感到“欣快”，但默茨表示，许多德国人担心人工智能具有消除
梵蒂冈
利奥将信仰置于美国之上
教皇利奥（Pope Leo）作为首位美国籍教皇，表达了对他家乡及其自由、机遇和欢迎移民等核心原则的“深切热爱”，但他也限定道，自己“只是恰好是美国人”。
利奥曾谴责唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）政府的移民政策，在接受NBC采访时，他讲述了自己的家族史，并描述了自己与美国的关系。他表示，他的祖父母是移民，而在母亲一方，“我们家中既有奴隶，也有奴隶主”。
当被问及身为美国人对他而言有多重要时，利奥说：“我更多地将自己视为一位恰好是美国人的教皇。这并非为了贬低身为美国人的意义。我对美国深怀热爱，但我明白我的使命具有一个非常重要的维度，那就是恰恰要担任一个普世教会的牧者，并拥有一个向全世界的人发声的机会。”
自去年5月当选教皇以来，70, 岁的利奥一直为移民发声，并称特朗普的移民政策“不人道”。
在他谴责美以在伊朗的战争后，与特朗普政府的关系进一步恶化。利奥尚未接受特朗普前往白宫的邀请。安杰拉·朱弗里达（Angela Giuffrida）
工作并颠覆生活。“然而，问题不在于我们是否想要人工智能，”他说，“人工智能已经到来，并已投入实际应用。现在由我们决定在这种转型中会发生什么。”
或许正合适，梅尔茨（Merz）选择在度假期间思考人生重大的道德问题，据报道，他的假期大部分将在德国度过。两周前，他最新的烦恼被引发，当时他领导的基民盟（CDU）议会党团中野心勃勃的负责人延斯·斯潘（Jens Spahn）宣布，他与丈夫迎来了一个在美国通过代孕出生的孩子。
鉴于基民盟坚决反对代孕（代孕在德国是违法的），这一举动显得极其虚伪，斯潘随即辞职。他的离职引发了德国自20世纪60年代初以来最大规模的内阁重组。
由梅尔茨主导的这次调整过程混乱不堪，一名被指定的部长在最后一刻退出，导致被其取代的在任官员被晾在原地，直到后者最终为了维护自己的“尊严”而辞职。
这场混乱的进程引发了足以媲美政治惊悚片的内斗，出现了针对梅尔茨的“宫廷政变”之说，以及关于他能否在职维持到圣诞节的猜测。在返回柏林后，梅尔茨将在9月面临三次州选举，极右翼的德国选择党（AfD）可能会在其中取得创纪录的结果。
随着混乱的印象深入人心，《法兰克福综合报》（Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung）忍不住指出，梅尔茨书单上的另一本书是一部名为《愚人船》（Ship of Fools）的小说。
野生动物机构称，杀虫剂可能是肯尼亚大象死亡的原因
卡洛斯·穆雷希 (Carlos Mureithi) 内罗比
肯尼亚野生动物服务局 (KWS) 表示，肯尼亚南部 15 头大象的死亡可能是由于这些动物摄入了番茄农场使用的杀虫剂所致。
该机构总干事埃鲁斯图斯·坎加 (Erustus Kanga) 告诉 Citizen TV，对从尸体中采集的样本进行分析后，发现了氰化物的痕迹。这种化学化合物在农业中被用作控制捕食者的毒药和害虫熏蒸剂，同时也一直被盗猎者使用。
死亡事件发生在安博塞利国家公园周边的基马纳 (Kimana) 保护区和库库 (Kuku) 团体牧场地区。该地区覆盖面积 150 平方英里，与其他邻近的保护区共同成为了 1,600 多个大象种群的家园。
基马纳镇是领先的番茄产区。食品权利计划“粮食之路倡议” (Route to Food Initiative) 的研究人员此前曾报告过在该作物上使用氰化物物质的情况。
KWS 兽医和捕获服务负责人艾萨克·莱科洛尔 (Isaac Lekolool) 告诉 Citizen TV，一个象群中一名成员的胃内容物包含“大量番茄”，这表明发生了农用化学品中毒。
坎加警告称，由于家畜也可能食用该地区的农场作物，其影响范围可能会扩大。
“我们那里有山羊，有牛。最终，如果这种氰化物确实存在于系统之中，我们将看到更大的影响。”
周二，KWS 宣布正在调查 6 月 24 日和 7 月 24 日发生在安博塞利的象群死亡事件。
在安博塞利国家公园周边地区开展工作的保护组织“大生命基金会” (Big Life Foundation) 首席执行官本森·莱扬 (Benson Leyian) 表示，大象的死亡令人担忧。
他说：“得益于数十年以社区为中心的保护工作，安博塞利的大象种群是非洲保护得最好的种群之一，这里的象牙盗猎现象几乎已被消除。除了在严重干旱期间的损失外，我们已经一段时间没看到像这样集群性的大象死亡事件了。”
▲ 死亡事件发生在安博塞利国家公园周边地区
2026 年 7 月 31 日，星期五 卫报
世界 科特迪瓦
“非常平静且抚慰人心”
科特迪瓦艺术家为曾遭圣战分子袭击的城市注入新生命
Eromo Egbejule 大巴萨姆 (Grand Bassam)
在科特迪瓦城市大巴萨姆（位于埃布里泻湖与大西洋之间）的 La Fourchette de Roze 酒店泳池边，一场生日派对正在进行。在二楼的走廊上，艺术家 Nuits Balnéaires 站在角落的一幅巨作旁，透过窗户望向大西洋。
“这很富有诗意……海洋那巨大的能量也为我的作品提供了动力，”这位科特迪瓦视觉艺术家说道。在反思自己的名字（意为“海岸之夜”）如何与这里的氛围相契合时，他补充道：“自然元素是我艺术实践的精髓和基础。”
许多居住在西非该国商业之都阿比让的家庭，经常在周日前往东部仅 30 英里之远的大巴萨姆放松身心，Nuits Balnéaires 也是其中之一，他自幼的到访使他与这座城市建立了深厚的联系。2019 年 7 月，他从阿比让的家中永久搬到了这里。
在过去的十年里，这条路线已成为许多人的选择。随着阿比让生活成本危机导致租金持续上涨，那里的居民，尤其是艺术家，开始重新审视在城市中的生活。
“对于许多艺术家来说，在城市中维持工作室空间变得越来越困难，”常驻阿比让的艺术收藏家 Ozong Agborsangaya-Fiteu 表示。“因此，他们正在大巴萨姆、宾格维尔 (Bingerville) 等地寻找更实惠的替代方案，甚至越来越多地前往更远的达布 (Dabou) 和雅克维尔 (Jacqueville)。大巴萨姆本身的价格也在上涨，促使一些艺术家搬到更远的地方。”
毫无疑问，这次阿比让大迁徙的最大受益者是大巴萨姆。这座国家的第一任首都，其殖民时期的建筑于 2012 年被列入联合国教科文组织世界遗产名录。凭借风景优美的海滩、更新鲜的食物、更便宜的集市、临近机场以及即使在废弃的殖民建筑中也能感受到的怀旧之情，这座城市比其更热闹且更混乱的“表亲”阿比让来说，是一个更轻松的选择。
对于出生于瓜德罗普的艺术家 Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux 来说，这使其成为“一个非常平静且舒缓的地方，有利于工作和寻找灵感”。五
▲ 大巴萨姆的 Ganamet 住宅，一座被废弃的殖民时代建筑，如今用于举办
由科特迪瓦艺术家 Jems Robert Koko Bi 创作的雕塑
“与永远喧闹的阿比让不同，巴萨姆给了你白日做梦的时间”
Aïcha Fall，科特迪瓦-法国摄影师
展览和地下派对。左图及下图，La Fourchette de Roze 酒店已成为创意人士的中心。底图，Nuits Balnéaires 在其工作室庭院中 照片：AÏCHA FALL/卫报
年前，他从巴黎搬到阿比让，两年前又搬到了大巴萨姆，目前在这里拥有工作室和公寓。
大巴萨姆曾是文化贸易和旅游中心，但随着阿比让变得更加国际化以及艺术机会的增加，它失去了一些吸引力。2016 年的一起导致 19 人死亡的圣战分子袭击事件也损害了这座城镇的声誉。
然而，其复兴的证据随处可见。去年，原殖民时期的海关和邮局大楼在经过修复工程后重新开放，成为 La Maison de l'Art——一家拥有雕塑花园和咖啡馆的当代艺术博物馆。在启动仪式上，文化部长 Françoise Remarck 表示，私营部门与公共部门合作保护当地历史并聚焦该国现代艺术，为这座古城带来了“新鲜的生命气息”。
“今天，我们所做的不仅仅是打开一扇通往艺术空间的大门，”她说道，“我们是在采取一种承认并欣赏非洲艺术天赋的行为。”
附近的其他机构也采取了同样的路线。La Fourchette de Roze 已成为一个创意枢纽：在 2023 年 1 月，它启动了一项驻留艺术家计划，吸引了来自全球各地的二十多位艺术家和音乐家，包括 Nuits Balnéaires。位于市外仅几分钟路程的 Mondoukou，拥有一个露天艺术工作室和画廊的创意空间 La Cocoteraie des Arts，同样提供艺术家驻留项目。
在整个格兰-巴萨姆（Grand Bassam），数十家新工作室正陆续在城市各处涌现。今年，科特迪瓦-法国摄影师 Aïcha Fall 将增加其中一个。Fall 表示：“我在法国乡村长大，一直向往平静的地方。”尽管她对度过早年时光的阿比让（Abidjan）有深厚的感情，但在 2023 年从巴黎返回后，她搬到了格兰-巴萨姆。“巴萨姆代表了这一切。它为你提供遐想的时间，不像阿比让，那里总是喧嚣不已。”
一些艺术界的热衷追随者预测，在未来几年，这座城市最终可能会取代阿比让成为艺术避风港，或者至少能与其匹敌。
并非业内所有人都如此乐观。科特迪瓦的大多数画廊和艺术机构仍留在阿比让，许多收藏家、赞助人及生态系统中的其他要素亦然。诸如“阿比让艺术周”之类的艺术节仍然能吸引整个大陆的人们，且尚未在其他地方被复制。
“这种地理上的转移并没有削弱艺术氛围，而是创造了一种不同的动态，”Agborsangaya-Fiteu 说道。“艺术家们受益于更经济且更具启发性的工作场所，同时又与城市保持足够近的距离。”
Nuits Balnéaires 在啜饮咖啡时表示赞同，随后说这有点像“鱼与熊掌兼得”。“在巴萨姆，你可以感到非常超脱，但与此同时，你与阿比让发生的事情并没有那么遥远。”
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卫报
2026 年 7 月 31 日 星期五 卫报
FTSE 100 11.14
10:00:27
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商业
来源：ICE www.ice.com/data
面对伊朗战争引发的通胀担忧，银行将利率维持在 3.75%
▼ 尽管维持不变，投资者预计借贷成本将在年底前升至 4% 照片：HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP
Richard Partington
高级经济记者
英格兰银行昨日将英国利率维持不变，并表示伊朗战争的进一步升级可能会在明年将通胀率推高至 4% 以上，从而增加家庭的生活成本压力。
在中东冲突波动的背景下，该行的货币政策委员会以六票对三票的结果决定将基准利率维持在 3.75%。
随着唐纳德·特朗普对伊朗重启攻击导致全球能源价格上涨，该行表示，在涉及长期战争且油价保持在每桶 $100 以上的“不利情景”下，英国通胀率到 2027 年年中可能会达到 4.5% 的峰值。
然而，在冲突中美国发动新一轮袭击的当天，英格兰银行行长安德鲁·贝利淡化了关于 Threadneedle Street（英格兰银行）正接近加息的暗示。
在决定公布后的新闻发布会上，他表示，由于英国经济的增长前景依然疲软，几乎没有迹象表明通胀压力正在根深蒂固。
“请不要在离开这个房间时认为英格兰银行正趋向于[利率]上调，因为坦率地说，我在我的话中，以及我认为我们任何人说的话中，都没有表达这个意思，”贝利说道。
官方数据显示，英国 6 月的通胀率降幅超过预期，至 2.6%，低于去年的 3.8% 峰值。在美以对伊朗战争爆发前，通胀率一直处于接近 2% 的下降轨道上。
该行表示，与战前相比，宽松的劳动力市场以及家庭和企业的更高借贷成本将随时间推移降低通胀。
维持利率不变的决定预计将为安迪·伯纳姆降低生活成本的努力提供助力。他在担任首相的第一周内宣布了一项全面的支持计划。
市场此前已将该行维持借贷成本不变的概率定价在 90% 以上。投资者预计借贷成本将在年底前升至 4%。
由于担心暴力冲突，国际原油基准布伦特原油上周曾短暂升至每桶 $100 以上，随后回落。
美联储令投资者惊恐
在美国联邦储备委员会投票决定维持基准利率不变后，美国政府的借贷成本达到了 2007 年以来的最高水平，这加剧了人们的担忧，即央行可能无法足够快地遏制由伊朗战争引发的通货膨胀上升。这一决定令投资者感到惊恐，他们担心美国经济吸收由与伊朗战争引发的通胀上升的能力。Lauren Almeida
整个中东地区的局势可能会破坏世界经济此前对伊朗战争表现出的韧性。原油价格在昨天交易于略低于 $90 的水平。英格兰银行表示，在其中心预测（涉及油价回落至每桶约 $71）的情况下，仍预计英国通胀将在今年晚些时候达到约 3.2% 的峰值。
咨询公司 Capital Economics 的首席英国经济学家 Paul Dales 表示：“这在很大程度上取决于能源价格的变化，以及这是否会导致第二轮通胀效应，从而将暂时的通胀上升转化为更持久的上升。”
分析
Phillip Inman
特朗普未能结束冲突是导致价格高于目标的驱动因素
英国面临高通胀的威胁，但这仅源于中东冲突，该冲突可能会使油价保持高位，时间将远超唐纳德·特朗普最初开始攻击伊朗时的预期。英国央行高层认为，正是这场战争决定了通胀前景是温和的，还是会重新回到上升轨道。
英格兰银行货币政策委员会（MPC）在昨天的决定中将利率维持在 3.75%，并明确表示，国内经济中几乎完全不存在潜在的通胀压力。物价稳定，如果没有这场战争，物价上涨幅度将符合央行 2% 的目标。
超市表现出了韧性并保持食品通胀处于低位，而服务公司——在疫情后长期以来一直是价格上涨的源头——已成功限制了今年的涨幅。
正如央行的季度回顾所述：“到目前为止，几乎没有第二轮效应的迹象。但目前还没有足够的证据来排除这一风险，MPC 将继续密切监测相关证据。”
私营部门的年度工资增长率较低，今年第二季度为 2.8%。预计第三季度将升至 3%，但这一增幅仍将工资增长维持在央行官员可以接受的水平。
至于公司是否利用价格上涨期（无论其本身是否受到影响）来获利，官方数据显示，在制造业、建筑业或服务业中并未出现这种情况。
MPC 的大多数成员更关注劳动力市场，以及过去三年失业率的上升和职位空缺的剧减。他们还看到，金融市场已通过提高抵押贷款和商业贷款利率做出反应，在央行本身未采取行动的情况下，就已收紧了对购房者和企业的压力。
如果说有什么需要的话，那些想要投资并雇佣更多员工的企业可以通过降低利率获得助力。只有特朗普未能解决中东危机的退出问题阻碍了这一进程。央行的预测者预计通胀将在明年春天达到 3.2% 的峰值，但表示如果战争持续，通胀可能会更高，达到 4.1%。
空客因违反军事装备规定在英国被罚款£6m
Rob Davies
这家欧洲航空航天公司在承认违反旨在防止军事装备等敏感物资落入错误之手的规定后，在英国被罚款£6.4m。
该公司处于欧洲国防工业的核心地位。在主动报告2022年11月之前发生的违规行为后，该公司表示已向英国税务当局——英国皇家税务海关总署（HM Revenue and Customs）支付了该和解金。
英国皇家税务海关总署（HMRC）表示，这些违规行为与空客在一段较长时间内未能记录受控技术的出口或转移有关。
英国的出口管制许可制度旨在防止军事装备以及可用于大规模杀伤性武器计划的战略物资被出售到海外，或出售给受制裁的个人和国家。
这笔£6.4m的款项是HMRC针对战略出口违规行为达成的最高额庭外和解金，比能源公司Petrofac的一家亚伯丁分公司上月因违反俄罗斯制裁规定而支付的£569,100高出10倍以上。
空客配合了HMRC的调查，但鉴于其在欧洲国防领域发挥的关键作用（参与的项目包括欧洲战斗机台风战斗机和A400M重型运输机），其未能遵守规定的情况值得关注。
HMRC欺诈调查服务部门副主任Edwige Hill表示：“我们利用一系列权力确保对军事物资实施有效的控制和执法，这有助于维护英国的国家安全。此次和解表明我们将毫不犹豫地采取行动。”
HMRC表示，违规行为包括未能按照其三项开放通用出口许可（Ogels）的条件，准确记录受控技术的转移情况。
在给投资者的声明中，该公司表示其英国分公司“全力配合调查并采取了适当的补救措施。此次和解结案并完全解决了该事项。”
制裁律师、W Legal律师事务所首席执行官Nigel Kushner表示，这笔罚款将引起合规方面的震动。“对于英国出口商来说，这是一个警钟。仅仅获得许可，或者满足于利用所有人都可以获得且预先批准的许可是不够的。”
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商业
卫报 2026 7 31 星期五
商业观点
Nils Pratley
随着各方面巨大的机遇，劳斯莱斯（Rolls-Royce）的前景正变得越来越好
劳斯莱斯的首席执行官图凡·埃尔金比尔吉奇（Tufan Erginbilgiç）在一年之前表示，这家发动机制造商有潜力成为伦敦证券交易所市值最高的公司，当时他似乎有些过于乐观了。
的确，每个人都知道这次令人瞩目的反转。在新冠疫情导致全球航空业停摆期间，劳斯莱斯曾是一场企业灾难，随后在埃尔金比尔吉奇的领导下，股价上涨了十倍。但要想象它有一天能挑战市值榜单的最顶端，仍然需要一定的想象力。
而且这依然需要努力。如今 £120bn 的估值使劳斯莱斯在富时指数（Footsie）中与矿业巨头力拓（Rio Tinto）不相上下，共同竞争第四名，但与壳牌（Shell, £185bn）、阿斯特拉捷尼卡（AstraZeneca, £198bn）和汇丰银行（HSBC, £274bn）之间仍有巨大差距，且这三家公司都没有止步不前的打算。
然而，随着每一次财报的公布，埃尔金比尔吉奇的长期牛市观点听起来就没那么离奇。昨天的半年报伴随着常规的财务预测上调。全年现金流将比此前预测的 £3.8bn-£4bn 增加 £200m；营业利润则增加了 £700m，达到 £4.7bn-£4.9bn。这些上调表明，埃尔金比尔吉奇致力于投资发动机可靠性，从而与航空公司进行“双赢”合同重新谈判的努力仍有空间。
不过，长期增长预测依赖于许多其他因素的顺利运行。自然地，国防领域看起来是一个稳妥的赌注。昨天首相出现在巴罗-英弗内斯（Barrow-in-Furness）的景象提醒人们，劳斯莱斯为英国潜艇制造核动力推进系统。
英国国防投资计划的其余部分对于劳斯莱斯来说也无疑是好消息。无人机推进系统等领域存在诸多可能性。
然而，突然之间最受关注的部门是电力系统。它曾被视为一家制造乏味的旧技术柴油系统（用于海船和军用坦克）的公司。但美国的 AI 数据中心也需要这些设备。由于难以接入投资不足的美国电网，他们还希望采用劳斯莱斯的燃气轮机作为主电源。劳斯莱斯半年的发电订单量增长了 55%。
同时，看起来 AI 还会给劳斯莱斯的小型模块化反应堆（SMRs）带来溢出红利。SMRs 的功率为 470MW，最初仅被设计为国家电网的低碳电源，但美国一些超大规模数据中心项目规模之大、耗电之多，以至于它们成为了潜在客户。
▲ 在新冠疫情导致航空业停摆期间，劳斯莱斯曾是一场企业灾难
该公司正处于“全球主要趋势”的中心：国防、AI 以及通过核能实现的能源转型。这使得劳斯莱斯在 AI 电力供应的多个阵营中占据一席之地：备用电源用柴油；主电源用燃气；以及 2030 年代投产后的 SMRs。
一个极大的可能性是劳斯莱斯计划重新进入窄体客机发动机市场。这是一个较为缓慢的过程，因为空中客车（Airbus）和波音（Boeing）尚未正式承诺推出新的单通道飞机型号。而且，考虑到现有竞争对手的压力，劳斯莱斯能否赢得供应商席位也并非板上钉钉。
但这个潜在市场极其巨大——是宽体客机市场的许多倍——这就是为什么劳斯莱斯向英国 Treasury 申请财务支持几乎肯定会获得批准。在国际航空航天业务中，补贴是常态，对于一位致力于重新工业化的首相来说，这一点肯定不会被忽视。
如果这一切能够协同发挥作用，那么是的，埃尔金比尔吉奇（Erginbilgiç）对罗尔斯（Rolls）潜力的预测并没有看起来那么疯狂。正如他所言，该公司正处于“全球重大趋势”的正中心：国防、人工智能以及通过核能实现的能源转型。在未来的某一天，某些事情会出问题，就像在罗尔斯公司过去大约二十年里经常发生的那样。但同样地，目前也无法在英国找到另一家在多个领域都拥有巨大机遇的大型公司。
30%
由于卡塔尔的一家工厂遭到伊朗无人机袭击，壳牌公司上一季度的天然气产量有所下降。
在伊朗实际上封锁了通过霍尔木兹海峡的石油和天然气流量后，4月底价格曾高达 $126。市场波动包括了有记录以来最剧烈的一些价格波动，交易员得以利用这一点来放大其利润。布伦特原油昨天的交易价格略低于每桶 $90。
绿色和平组织的安迪·舒尔金德（Andy Schulkind）表示，该环保组织已经“没词来描述”壳牌公司巨额利润的“令人厌恶之处”了。
他说道：“欧洲被末日般的山火吞噬，亚洲各地的社区在毁灭性洪水的影响下摇摇欲坠，而英国则在与干旱及更加危险的高温作斗争。这些并非异常现象，而是化石燃料时代的典型写照。壳牌拿走了利润，而我们其余的人则在支付那份灾难性的账单。”
舒尔金德呼吁政府对大型石油公司征收超额利润税，并将该收入用于“帮助家庭应对生活成本、增强我们应对极端天气的韧性，并极大地推动向清洁且可负担的能源转型”。
劳合银行将通过转向人工智能进一步削减20亿英镑成本
Kalyeena Makortoff 银行业记者
劳合银行集团（Lloyds Banking Group）昨天表示，作为一项四年计划的一部分，其首席执行官将利用新技术和人工智能（AI）来驱动增长，从而进一步削减 £2 的成本。
查理·纳恩（Charlie Nunn）表示，这家英国最大的商业银行计划于1月份启动该战略，其中涉及在 2030, 年前向业务投资 £13, 包括用于吸引新业务、提高效率以及增加股东分红的“先锋技术”。
该计划将包括为财富管理和职场养老金推出“人工智能驱动的咨询”，利用 AI 根据客户行为提供个性化优惠，并为客户关系经理提供支持和指导。
虽然纳恩赞扬了同事们引导客户使用“日益复杂的服务”，但他表示：“我们可以做得更好，甚至更简单，因为相对于我们的雄心，我们现在的表现还不够好。”
当被问及 £2 的计划削减将如何影响员工时，纳恩表示，他将考虑银行在过去五年中重点关注的相同业务领域，但未透露潜在的裁员细节。
至于劳合银行 550 家分行的未来，纳恩表示：“我们将根据客户及其在分行周围的客户数据来做出决定。”
该战略还指出了国际扩张，劳合银行目标是扩大其在美国和欧洲的企业及机构银行规模，这标志着该行在 2008 年金融危机顶峰时期获得救助后采取的紧缩政策发生了转变。
纳恩表示，他还在押注人工智能和区块链技术，旨在将抵押贷款审批的等待时间缩短至约三天，并补充说，银行还将增加奖励和贷款折扣以留住客户。
劳合银行表示，它将加大对汽车贷款部门的投入，该部门目前仍在等待解决长期存在的
[[IMG_XXXX]] 劳合银行集团首席执行官查理·纳恩未说明有多少员工将受到削减成本的影响
汽车金融佣金丑闻，具体措施是为想要购买、投保电动汽车以及设置充电桩的驾驶者创建一个应用程序。
投资交易平台 IG 的首席市场分析师克里斯·博尚普（Chris Beauchamp）表示：“向美国扩张以及增加企业银业务的推动是可以理解的，但劳合银行绝不是第一家走这条艰苦道路的英国机构。此举的成功远不能保证。”
“劳合银行在本土市场拥有实力，但向更大的全球参与者转型是一项重大的任务。”
劳合银行报告的第二季度利润好于预期，4月至6月期间增长至 £2.3, 比去年同期增长 14%。
这意味着管理层可以增加股东分红，宣布每股 1.58 便士的股息，并首次在半年报时宣布价值 £1 的股票回购。
受此消息影响，劳合银行股价昨日上涨 3.8% 至 115.58 便士。
随着各国增加军备开支，国防公司报告收益增长
Jasper Jolly
随着全球各国政府增加国防开支，罗尔斯-罗伊斯（Rolls-Royce）和 BAE 系统公司（BAE Systems）预计利润将有所提高。
两家公司在昨日均上调了收益指引，理由是各国政府承诺增加对国防系统的投资。
罗尔斯-罗伊斯生产用于战斗机和商业飞机的喷气发动机、用于船舶和潜艇的涡轮机以及小型核电站。该公司将其今年基础营业利润的预测从之前的 £4-£4.2 上调至 £4.7-£4.9。同时，该公司将其自由现金流预测从 £3.6-£3.8 上调至 £3.8-£4。
自 2022, 俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰以来，罗尔斯-罗伊斯受益于国防开支的激增，而其发电部门则经历了来自 AI 公司数据中心的更高需求。随着大流行后长途航班的恢复，其民用客机发动机业务的收入大幅飙升。
该公司告诉股东，它应该能从近期北约（Nato）峰会所做的承诺中获益，包括 Saab GlobalEye（一种空中预警系统）和 MQ-4C Triton（一种高空空中监视系统）。这两者均使用罗尔斯-罗伊斯的发动机。
2023, 接任罗尔斯-罗伊斯首席执行官的 Tufan Erginbilgic 表示，公司的“转型”继续产生成果。
“我们在今年上半年取得了显著的运营和战略进展，”Erginbilgic 说道。“在民用航空领域，我们继续提高售后市场的盈利能力，并且有效地消除了飞机停飞的情况，为我们的客户提供了显著的运营效益。在国防方面，我们继续确立在自主推进系统领域的领先地位，并在该期间实现了几个关键里程碑。”
罗尔斯-罗伊斯的股价在昨日上午上涨了 5.5%，使其成为富时 100 指数（FTSE 100）中涨幅最大的股票。
BAE 系统公司报告称，全球国防预算的持续增加意味着该公司已上调其利润预测。该公司目前预计收益将增长 10% 到 12%，略高于之前给出的 9% 到 11% 的估计值。
BAE 生产了英国很大比例的武器，从坦克、战斗机到弹药。它受益于美国的需求（美国甚至在与伊朗开战之前就增加了武器开支）以及英国的其他出口盟友，包括海湾地区的几个国家。
卫报 2026 年 7 月 31 日，星期五
10
天气
杰里米·惠特尔 (Jeremy Whittle)
洛桑
波琳·费兰-普雷沃在 2025 年环法女子自行车赛中的夺冠让法国人心潮澎湃，但对于明天在洛桑开赛的今年赛事，务实的选择是将夺冠热门指向戴米·沃勒林。
这位 29 岁的荷兰骑手是 FDJ United-Suez 队的队长，也是女子赛车领域首位年薪达 £100 万的运动员。她不仅拥有卓越的成绩——今年她完成了欧洲三大巡回赛的大满贯——而且个性直率。
沃勒林心直口快的形象为她赢得了全球粉丝。她会发布自己背着狗骑行的照片，并且毫无顾虑地探讨女性心理健康、运动员福祉以及饮食失调等问题。
沃勒林在 2023 年赢得了女子赛，但在 2024 年，在经过一场紧张刺激的阿尔卑斯山休斯峰（Alpe d'Huez）最后一赛段后，她以仅四秒之差输给了卡西亚·尼维亚多玛。去年再次获得第二名后，她遭受了其国内媒体的一种侮辱性暗示，称如果她减轻体重，或许能击败那位法国骑手。在今年的比赛开始前，她再次提及了这一事件。
“我知道这个问题迟早会来，”她在回忆最后一场新闻发布会时说道，“当时我想，‘好吧，我现在说话得非常小心’。我知道如果我说了什么，他们可能会断章取义地记录下来，或者‘听到’的意思与我的原意不符。”
“我对选择的措辞极其谨慎。但我对很多文章，或者某些为了博点击量而使用的副标题感到很不高兴。这也很困难，因为当然，我绝不想削弱波琳的成绩。”
比赛结束后几天，她在网上发布道：“年轻女孩们在看着我们。她们注意到我们说了什么——以及没说什么。我们展示了什么。什么被赞颂为成功的‘正途’。作为高水平运动员、团队以及一项运动，我们肩负着责任。”
现在回想起来，她承认在她的故乡荷兰，她有时被认为“用力过猛”。
“总有人对你所说的内容持否定态度，或者认为太过了，尤其是在自行车运动中，因为这在某种程度上是一项传统的运动，”她说，“我感性，有很多故事可以讲述。我想，我只是一个不同类型的人，拥有不同的个性。”
◀ 沃勒林探讨心理健康和饮食失调等问题 JULIEN DE ROALIAFF 经由 GETTY IMAGES
在调整赛程后，沃勒林以饱满的状态和充分的休息参加今年的环法赛。她没有参加瑞士自行车赛或国家锦标赛。
她的车队经理斯蒂芬·德尔库尔（Stephen Delcourt）接着讲述道：“去年在瑞士赛后她生病了，而且在国家赛中摔车了，”他说，“我们在蒂涅（Tignes）进行了为期三周的训练营，以清新的心态和健康的身体，她现在可以真正专注于主要目标。”
费兰-普雷沃在 2025 年的胜利是基于在阿尔卑斯山马德莱娜山口（Col de la Madeleine）的爆发性攀升。今年关键的山地赛段将在完赛前三天出现，届时环法女子赛将首次造访旺图山（Mont Ventoux）。那是沃勒林在青少年度假期间就很熟悉的一段攀登路段。
“我们当时全家人开面包车去那里露营，”她说，“那是我第一次见到真正的山，也是第一次骑车爬一座真正的山。我被深深地震撼了。我非常享受在上面的骑行。”
“虽然很艰苦，但我一直环顾四周，并在不断挑战极限。我超过了一些男性，看到他们如此吃力而我却能超越他们，我感到非常自豪。”
沃勒林表示，旺图山是她发现自己攀爬能力的地方。“在那里我真正意识到自己是一个相当不错的登山者，因为与我一起训练的所有其他女孩相比，我总是第一个到达顶峰。而随行的教练们——我也把他们全部甩在身后了。我能看出我的水平相当不错。”
“在心理层面，我能够忍受痛苦，也许比那座山上的大多数人都更能忍受。我意识到爬坡是我的强项，也符合我作为运动员的类型。旺图山给了我很多启发。”
对于一年后环法女子赛将前往英国的前景，她感到十分兴奋。“我关注一些英国足球队，他们太棒了。观看他们的比赛真的非常令人振奋。所以，能看到[环法赛来到英国]是很酷的事情。”
尽管女性体育发展迅速，但她表示自行车运动仍由男性主导。“我认为目前关注我们这项运动的可能依然大多是男性，但我感觉到情况在缓慢改变，尤其是随着女性体育的进一步发展。你会看到更多女性出现在我们的比赛中，更多儿童，以及更多前来观看和支持的家庭。所以对我来说，这是一个非常积极的变化。”
高尔夫 AIG 女子公开赛
稳健开局后，赫尔为 £100,000 刮刮乐恶作剧辩护
尤万·默里 (Ewan Murray)
皇家利瑟姆和圣安尼斯球场 (Royal Lytham & St Annes)
查理·赫尔 (Charley Hull) 对那些批评她在女子公开赛前夕进行恶作剧的人们，给出了一个坚定且毫不道歉的回应。
赫尔在赛前的媒体活动中透露，她在布莱克浦的一家玩笑店买了假刮刮乐，随后用其中一张戏弄她的球童亚当·伍德沃德 (Adam Woodward)，让他相信自己赢了 £100,000。赫尔拍下了伍德沃德最初欣喜若狂随后又陷入沮丧的反应。
虽然一些旁观者认为这个噱头很有趣，但赫尔对待伍德沃德的方式也招致了严厉的批评。许多人认为这过于残酷。这名球童在赫尔职业生涯的大部分时间里都为其工作。赫尔在体育界以无忧无虑、爱开玩笑的性格而闻名。
在这种情况下，赫尔并不在意分歧。“对于那些有抱怨的人，我想说，放轻松点，”赫尔在皇家利瑟姆和圣安尼斯球场以 69 杆（低于标准杆 2 杆）开启挑战后表示。“在比赛周，我手机里不装社交媒体。我会把它删除，回家后再重新添加。我不喜欢人们看到我然后标记我之类的。我喜欢专注于当下。但我觉得如果人们把这件事看得太严重，真的需要心态轻松点，因为这挺好笑的。”
赫尔补充说，她“100%”会再次参与类似的场景。“他事后觉得这很有趣，他不是那种拘谨的人，”她在谈到伍德沃德时说。“这就是个玩笑。如果人们不喜欢，那就得忍受，你明白我的意思吧？”
“我对亚当感到很愧疚，但归根结底，我必须得在这一周打好。到周末时，我会给他买 100 张刮刮乐。” 这真是个奇特的生意。
赫尔目前落后于早期的领先者阿塔雅·“吉诺”·蒂提库尔 (Atthaya "Jeeno" Thitikul) 5 杆。这名泰国球员在四大赛中表现出了惊人的稳定性——自 2021 年以来获得了 11 次前 10 名的成绩——但尚未夺冠。或许利瑟姆将成为关键——蒂提库尔 15 岁时，在 2018. 年女子公开赛于此举办时获得了顶级业余球员荣誉。蒂提库尔在最高舞台上的擦肩而过与赫尔的情况颇为相似。她的 64 杆是利瑟姆女子公开赛中的最低杆数。
柳海兰 (Ryu Hae-ran) 的野心不仅是击碎对手的希望，还要创造一段小小的历史。在蒂提库尔发力之前，柳海兰位居积分榜首。在今年的 PGA 冠军赛和依维安公开赛中获胜，意味着她处于一个令人惊叹的位置：寻求连续第三个大满贯冠军。此前仅有四位女高尔夫球手实现过这一壮举，但柳海兰的情况很独特。在涉及的这些大满贯赛事之外，她没有参加过任何其他赛事。
或许并不令人意外，当被问及是否考虑过“三连冠”时，这位韩国球员坚定地回答了“不”。在林克斯球场环境下打满 54 洞，意味着仍有很长一段路要走。尽管如此，她的 66 杆（低于标准杆 5 杆）——其中包括 6 个 birdies 以及前九洞 31 杆——显得意义重大。久保田志穗 (Shiho Kuwaki) 随后追平了柳海兰的首轮总成绩。
洛蒂·沃德 (Lottie Woad) 的 69 杆增强了主场夺冠的希望，此前在利瑟姆夺冠的英格兰选手乔治亚·霍尔 (Georgia Hall) 已是八年前的事。在转为职业选手一年多后，沃德悄然攀升至世界排名第五。她的这一轮表现很大程度上归功于避开了利瑟姆 174, 个极具惩罚性的沙坑。
沃德采取的是一种激进的方式。“我想我是我们组里开球木次数最多的人，”她说。“这是我的优势之一，所以我认为没有必要保守打法。”
▲ 查理·赫尔在女子公开赛第一轮打出 69 杆（低于标准杆 2 杆） PETER BYRNE/PA
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卫报 周五 2026 年 7 月 31 日
11
体育 板球
弗莱明将专注于在担任测试赛教练期间培养人才，鲁特受邀再次率领英格兰队
西蒙·伯斯顿 (Simon Burston)
史蒂芬·弗莱明 (Stephen Fleming) 已被确认成为英格兰男子测试赛球队的新任教练，而乔·鲁特 (Joe Root) 将回归，开启其第二次队长任期。
在三周后于海丁利 (Headingley) 开始的对阵巴基斯坦的三场系列赛中，马库斯·特雷斯科特克 (Marcus Trescothick) 将担任临时负责人；弗莱明预计将于“今年夏天晚些时候”抵达，并接管今年冬天前往南非的行程。
英格兰及威尔士板球委员会 (ECB) 将其描述为一次“涉及众多高质量候选人的严谨流程”，弗莱明最终成为了一致选择。负责招聘流程的男子板球执行董事罗伯·基 (Rob Key) 表示，英格兰队“非常幸运能有这样一位水平的人愿意接受挑战”，并补充道：“我相信他是引导一支充满潜力的球队的最佳人选，能将这些天赋转化为一支不仅能取得成功且能维持成功的世界级队伍。”
弗莱明签署了一份直到 2030 年 9 月为止的四年合同，接替了他的朋友兼前国家队队友布伦登·麦卡伦 (Brendon McCullum)。麦卡伦在本月早些时候被解雇，此前英格兰队在灰截杯 (Ashes) 中表现不佳，随后在主场对阵新西兰的系列赛中失利。
两人将共同工作，麦卡伦继续负责白球赛队伍。而任命鲁特为队长的决定，使得麦卡伦与哈里·布鲁克 (Harry Brook) 之间日益紧密的伙伴关系得以延续，后者目前担任英格兰队有限击球赛的队长。
弗莱明曾带领新西兰队参加了 80 场测试赛，数量超过该国任何其他球员，其中获胜 28 场，失利 27 场。鲁特此前已带领英格兰队参加了 65 场测试赛，为英格兰球员之最，获胜 27 场，失利 27 场。
这位 35 岁球员在 2022 年辞去了该职务，称“我深切意识到这对我造成了多么大的压力，以及在比赛之外对我产生的影响”，但他在对阵新西兰的三场测试赛中担任其中一场的队长后感到很愉快，现在已同意永久性地重新承担这一重任。
“再次被邀请担任测试赛队长是一项巨大的荣誉和特权，”鲁特说。“测试赛队长是一个困难但回报丰厚的岗位。在上个月与巴兹·麦卡伦合作并再次短暂体验该角色之后，我很兴奋能带领下一代球员前进。”
“能与史蒂芬一起完成这项工作
▲ 乔·鲁特在第一次担任队长期间共 65 次率队出场 也是一个巨大的动力。他长期以来证明了自己是一位出色的领导者，对比赛有着极深的研究，我期待与他合作，共同打造一个获胜的环境。”
ECB 将 53 岁的弗莱明描述为“世界板球界最受推崇的教练之一”，但他的经验主要集中在白球赛领域，包括在印度超级联赛 (IPL) 的金奈超级国王队及其附属机构的经历。
“这是世界板球界最享有盛誉的教练职位之一，我很荣幸被任命，”弗莱明说。“我期待与球员们合作，并巩固布伦登·麦卡伦和本·斯托克斯 (Ben Stokes) 所取得的成果。当然，雄心壮志永远是现在就获胜。但同样重要的是，要确保球队在中长期未来处于有利位置。球队内外有很多年轻人才，我们的目标是帮助他们发挥潜能，成为世界级板球运动员。”
“我尤其期待与担任队长的乔·鲁特合作。他仍有很大的发挥空间，我很兴奋能支持他，使他能够在与第一次任职不同的背景下，在这个角色中获得乐趣并茁壮成长。我也很期待与哈里·布鲁克合作。最优秀的球员永远不是成品，帮助哈里继续开发他非凡的天赋及其领导力将是这次旅程的重要组成部分。”
“他将为整个团队带来常识和冷静”
新任测试赛教练自球员时代起，就因能够沉着地洞察人心而享有盛名
西蒙·伯斯顿（Simon Burston）
在 2005 赛季还剩两场比赛时，由斯蒂芬·弗莱明（Stephen Fleming）担任队长的诺丁汉郡队（Nottinghamshire）在郡冠军赛（County Championship）中处于不稳定的领先地位，仍需对阵两支主要竞争对手。首先是肯特郡队（Kent）：首日结束时，诺丁汉郡队得分为 397 分 5 掉球，但第二天的雨水冲毁了大部分比赛，到第三天结束时，肯特郡队仅掉 5 球。平局看来不可避免，而受到谢恩·沃恩（Shane Warne）启发、在格拉摩根队（Glamorgan）势头正盛的汉普郡队（Hampshire）——诺丁汉郡队的最后对手——似乎正朝着胜利前进，冠军争夺战似乎发生了转折。但弗莱明另有打算。
“他在第四天早上召集了资深球员开会，说他有个想法，”他的诺丁汉郡队友达伦·比克内尔（Darren Bicknell）说。“如果肯特郡没能赢下这场比赛，他们就没戏了，他们将没有机会赢得冠军，所以他意识到自己在一定程度上掌控了局面。”弗莱明给了肯特郡在 70 轮中追 420 分的机会，这是一个极不乐观的目标——但也是他们能得到的最好机会。“在那场比赛中采取一次经过计算的豪赌，堪称神来之笔，”
比克内尔说。“一些资深球员有点焦虑，认为我们不需要承担任何风险，因为平局仍然是一个不错的结果。但大家还是追随了他。”
在最后一天，肯特郡如期宣布第一局结束；诺丁汉郡以每轮 7 分的速度推进，直到达到约定的总分后也宣布结束；随后，别无选择只能进攻的肯特郡队被击败，得分 205. 分。诺丁汉郡提前一场比赛赢得了冠军。
在前一年新西兰队对阵英格兰队时，英格兰队的临时队长——现已重新担任英格兰测试赛队临时主管的马库斯·特雷斯科西克（Marcus Trescothick）——曾承认他的对手被“视为世界上最好的”，而这里就是更多证明。在那个绝望的追分过程中，肯特郡第一个出局的人是谁？正是刚刚任命他为英格兰队教练的罗布·基（Rob Key）。
“他一直非常冷静，非常淡定，”比克内尔在评价弗莱明时说道。“他对比赛的把握非常精准，对人的洞察力也非常强，但总的来说，即使在最紧张的时刻他也依然冷静。每个人都信任他能掌控一切。我认为在情况不顺利的时刻，他会传递出一种信号，即一切依然没问题：只要我们做正确的事，保持耐心，保持冷静，结果自然会好起来。他就是一个非常出色的人，是你想要为其效力的那种领导者。我认为他会非常出色，他将为整个英格兰队的体系带来一种常识感和冷静感。”
弗莱明并非在所有
“他带来了极强的共情能力。他自带一种轻松的气场，但在计划方面依然非常注重细节”
紧张时刻都能保持冷静。关于他在板球运动中的狡黠，还有一个被广泛引用的例子：在 2004 年南非举行的六场单日国际赛（ODI）中的第五场，东道主需要获胜才能维持系列赛的竞争力，他们出场追逐一个受雨水影响而变得可以实现的目标：在 29 轮中拿到 178 分。当对方队长格雷姆·史密斯（Graeme Smith）走向击球区时，弗莱明 unleash 了连串的谩骂。
就在三天前，史密斯还形容弗莱明“在目前为止的每场比赛中都在对我改变比赛计划……我确定他只是想进入我的思维”。但当这个通常温和的男人对他倾泻辱骂时，这一切都被忘记了。史密斯以同样的方式回应，随后因分心而在 33 球中仅得分 15 分；新西兰队以两分之差获胜。“格雷姆很感性。那是我们认为可以利用的一个破绽，而他上钩了，”弗莱明后来说道。“这绝非个人恩怨。我是在一场比赛中将其个人化，以便获得优势。”
◀ 前队友称斯蒂芬·弗莱明是一位杰出的领导者 PRAKASH SINGIGETTY IMAGES
那些与弗莱明共事过的人将他描述为一个富有同情心的人，一个擅长洞察人心的专家——他可以用这些技巧来激励你，但也许也可以用来摧毁你。“简单来说，他是一位杰出的领导者，”诺丁汉郡球队的另一名成员大卫·艾林（David Alleyne）说道。“他非常擅长沟通，能够找到恰当的时间和空间，真正地赋予个体权力，并引导你以一种能帮助球队的方式思考自己的比赛。在这方面，我觉得他相当了不起。他非常冷静，非常有计划性。”
对弗莱明的赞誉并非完全一致，最值得注意的是，现任德里资本队（Delhi Capitals）和南方勇士队（Southern Brave）主教练的赫曼格·巴达尼（Hemang Badani）表示，他在印度超级联赛（IPL）的钦奈超级国王队（Chennai Super Kings）所取得的成功——在那里他进入了 10 场决赛并赢得了五个冠军——完全归功于他的队长MS·多尼（MS Dhoni）。“他在IPL之外的任何地方都没有赢过，”巴达尼在 2024 年表示，“如果有人说他是个伟大的教练，我并不认同。多尼才是赢家。”
曾在钦奈超级国王队和南方勇士队在弗莱明麾下效力的克里斯·乔丹（Chris Jordan）则持有不同意见。“他带来了很多同情心。他身上有一种非常放松的气场，但在计划和传达信息方面，他依然非常、非常细致。而且他非常擅长在球队内部创造角色清晰度，”乔丹说道。
乔丹是极少数既在弗莱明麾下效力，又与重新担任英格兰队长的乔·鲁特（Joe Root）并肩作战的人之一。“我绝对认为乔和弗莱明的组合将会非常出色，而且我认为弗莱明能将乔·鲁特的队长生涯提升到新的水平，”乔丹说。“他确实有一种激发球员潜能并让你真正相信自己的天赋。他就是一个顶尖的人。”
2026年7月31日 星期五 卫报
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▼ 艾米莉·坎贝尔（Emily Campbell）不愿透露是否可能参加 2028 年洛杉矶奥运会 TOM JENKINS/THE GUARDIAN
体育
英联邦运动会
坎贝尔以创纪录的表现 令全场沸腾
这场举重比赛中，她在女子+86公斤级中占据主导地位，随后透露她即将参加《名厨》（MasterChef）节目
Sean Ingle
SEC Armadillo 体育馆
昨天，当艾米莉·坎贝尔（Emily Campbell）最后一次踏上平台时，女子+86公斤级举重决赛现场的气氛就像一场复兴主义集会一样热烈。
每个人都在欢呼。现场充满了大声的呐喊和激励。两个小时前还不清楚“抓举”和“挺举”区别的人，瞬间变成了拥趸。这就是再次发挥作用的“坎贝尔效应”。但这位两枚奥运奖牌得主并没有就此停步。
“艾米莉并不满足于一枚金牌，”播报员说道，“她并不满足于一项英联邦运动会（CWG）纪录。她想要更多！”挺举的重量原定为160公斤。但负责加权的军队志愿者们还没来得及行动，播报员再次出声：“停表！请加载员将重量增加到163公斤。艾米莉想要一个英联邦纪录！”
随后，这位穿着印有三狮标志的英格兰队服、染红的头发中编入了六只狮子的 32 岁运动员，出击并实现了目标。一次强有力的发力与时机掌控将杠铃举至肩头，另一次则将其举过头顶。紧接着，SEC体育馆爆发出一片爱意与赞赏的海洋。
坎贝尔通过向崇拜她的粉丝们飞吻来回应。“我不能要求他们比这更大声了，”她说道，“我甚至都听不见自己在想什么。”
但在抓举115公斤、挺举163公斤，总成绩达到278公斤之后，她确实配得上这一切。令人难以置信的是，这比她最近的竞争对手高出了25公斤。
种族主义指控被驳回
英联邦体育组织（Commonwealth Sport）负责人驳回了伊迪·阿敏之孙关于腐败和种族主义的指控，此前该男子因顶撞英格兰选手达玛·托马斯而被取消资格。这位乌干达已故独裁者的孙子阿齐兹·阿卜杜尔对裁判的决定大发雷霆，声称自己因国籍而受到歧视。但同样来自乌干达的英联邦体育组织主席唐纳德·鲁卡雷博士驳回了这些指控。他表示：“就我们而言，这是一个公平的竞争环境。” 肖恩·英格尔（Sean Ingle）
当人们挥舞着圣乔治旗帜并兴奋地挥拳时，很难想象她的受欢迎程度还能进一步提升，但随后她告诉我们，她将在下个月参加《名人厨神》（Celebrity MasterChef）节目。
“那真的是一次非常有趣的经历，”她说，“对我来说，能以非‘举重运动员艾米莉’的身份做一些事情是非常美好的。食物一直是我极其热爱的东西。”
“《厨神》绝对比这次更让人紧张，绝对是这样。《厨神》非常艰苦，是一场非常激烈的竞争，但我非常享受其中。我的招牌菜是加勒比风味，我就告诉你这么多。”
之后唯一让我们停顿的时刻，是坎贝尔暗示她并不完全确定是否会在 2028 年的洛杉矶奥运会上追求奥运奖牌的三冠王。
“你想让我对你完全坦诚吗？”她说，“到处都疼。到处都疼。膝盖、肩膀、背部，到处都疼。我们举起的是沉重的重量，这很艰苦，所以你必须非常理智。”
“所以我还需要考虑一下。我们会和团队一起回去，制定策略。洛杉矶，我们希望能去，但我们必须考虑实际情况。如果可行，你们会在年底看到我开始参加资格赛。但目前，我们享受刚刚发生的一切。”
在她说话时，获得铜牌的加拿大 18 岁选手埃塔·梅·洛夫正在谈论英国最顶尖的举重选手在她刚开始训练时是如何激励她的。
这让坎贝尔露出了微笑，尽管这也让她感觉有点奇怪。“现在我已经到了一个年纪，竟然能和那些被我激励的人共处同一个舞台，这感觉很奇妙，”她说。“但当人们说——你是一个榜样——时，总是感觉非常不真实，因为你从未打算成为榜样。”
“你只是决定去做你热爱的事情，并优雅地完成它。但如果我能让某人去做他们热爱的事情，那么我就超额完成了我的工作。”
而这一次，无疑又是另一项完成得无懈可击的工作。
赛马
凯旋门之战在望，Diamond Necklace 敢于再次闪耀
格雷格·伍德（Greg Wood）
古德伍德
昨日，盛夏的阳光依然炽热地笼罩在古德伍德（Glorious Goodwood），但在 Diamond Necklace 在拿骚锦标赛（Nassau Stakes）中以轻而易举的胜利将不败纪录延长至六场后，人们的目光已经开始转向秋季在法国和美国举行的重点赛事。
在六月的尚蒂伊赛马场举行的戴安娜奖（法国雌马经典赛）中，Diamond Necklace 仅以 1 个鼻尖之差夺冠，但她此后的首次亮相则显得轻松得多。在最后 1/4 英里的冲刺阶段，赖恩·摩尔（Ryan Moore）骑乘她轻松超越了第二热门的 Friendly Soul，最终以 2.75 码的优势获胜。
周四的胜利是 Diamond Necklace 职业生涯的第四场一级赛冠军。如果她继续参加同性别组别的比赛，在 10 弗隆距离上，欧洲可能没有一匹小雌马或雌马能触及她的水准。
不过，博彩公司目前将她列为 10 月在隆尚赛马场举行的凯旋门大奖赛（Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe）的第三热门，赔率 10-1。虽然 Diamond Necklace 在 12 弗隆路程上的耐力尚未经过考验，但在欧洲这项顶尖中距离赛事过去 15 届中，雌马已赢得了九次冠军。
“Diamond Necklace 是一匹非常出色的小雌马，她应对自如，”她的练马师艾丹·奥布莱恩（Aidan O'Brien）说。“她现在有多种选择，无论是维持在 1.25 英里距离并参加法国 [在多维尔] 的雌马赛……”
“下一次出赛将告诉我们她之后将去哪里”
艾丹·奥布赖恩 (Aidan O'Brien) 练马师
▲ 瑞安·摩尔 (Ryan Moore) 引导 Diamond Necklace 赢得第四场一级赛冠军
在8月]，或者在9月的利奥波斯敦 (Leopardstown)，或者参加一场凯旋门大赛的资格赛。
“是有可能的 [凯旋门大赛]。我不知道我们会要求她跑多远，但下一次出赛将告诉我们她之后将去哪里。”
在凯旋门大赛的投注赔率中，排在 Diamond Necklace 之前的唯一名字是去年的冠军 Daryz，以及奥布赖恩最出色的三岁赛驹 Constitution River，后者今年已经赢得了法国德比和日蚀锦标赛。
“Constitution River 才是老大，”奥布赖恩说道。
“所有人都会听他的安排。他将拥有所有选择，目前他将前往约克 [参加下个月的国际锦标赛]。”
备受推崇的 Timeform 机构在几天前还猛烈抨击奥布赖恩的马房可能状态不佳，但这已经是该练马师在古德伍德盛夏赛 (Glorious Goodwood) 三场可用的一级赛中赢得的第二座冠军，并且在当天早些时候由 Man's Best Friend 轻松赢得二级赛里士满锦标赛 (Richmond Stakes) 之后，完成了双冠。
周四的这场比赛对于 Man's Best Friend 来说是一个异常迅速的级别提升，他在短短 8 天前才在一次新马赛中取得了职业生涯的首胜。
“他还是匹雏马，”奥布赖恩说。“我们认为今天把他带到这里对他有好处，无论输赢或平局。”
“所有选择都开放。他看起来像是一匹中公园锦标赛 (Middle Park) 类型的马，或者是一匹 Gincrack 类型的马。他可能会变成一匹 [七分之一个英里] 的杜波依斯锦标赛 (Dewhurst) 马，谁知道呢？”
赛果
英联邦运动会
田径
男子铅球专业组：1 £ Emehwerch (尼日利亚) 21.07; 2 T Walsh (新西兰) 21.03; 3 S Lincoln (英格兰) 20.99.
女子三级跳远：1 T Lafond (多米尼加) 14.50; 2 A Smith (牙买加) 14.04; 3 S Foreman (牙买加) 13.96.
女子 Shown：1 S Hulk (牙买加) 61.86; 2 J Tuvin (加拿大) 60.87; 3 Tavino (印度) 58.65.
女子 5000 米：1 R Davies (澳大利亚) 14.44: 53; 2 J Hull (澳大利亚) 14.45: 05; 3 M Keith (苏格兰) 14.49: 20.
女子 100 米栏：1 D Charlton (巴尔的克) 12.33; 2 M Simmonds (牙买加) 12.41; 3 Amos (尼日利亚) 12.60.
残疾人田径
女子 100 米 T4T：1 S Haase (加拿大) 12.23; 2 C Dunbar (加拿大) 12.31; 3 A Grimaldi (新西兰) 12.46. 男子 100 米 T12：1 Z Shaw (英格兰) 10.89; 2 M Makoto (英国) 11.04; 3 G Quarcon 11.06.
场地自行车
女子双人车 8 冲刺赛：1 E Foy & J Hodges (新西兰); 2 J Gallagher & J Morgan-More (澳大利亚); 3 E Jordan & S Mitchell (英格兰).
男子双人车 8 500 米计时赛：1 N Faction & A Pope (苏格兰) 1.00.162; 2 J Ball & M Rotherham (中地) 1.00.546; 3 K Perris & L Zaccaris (澳大利亚) 1.01.873.
女子 4000 米团体追逐赛：1 澳大利亚 4.10.658; 2 新西兰 4.12.775; 3 威尔士 4.12.875.
男子 4000 米团体追逐赛：1 英格兰 1.47.092; 2 澳大利亚 3.49.223; 3 新西兰 3.52.310.
女子团体冲刺赛：1 威尔士 46.760; 2 英格兰 46.903; 3 苏格兰 47.185.
男子团体冲刺赛：1 澳大利亚 42.455; 2 英格兰 43.032; 3 特立尼达和多巴哥 40.
残疾人场地自行车
女子 C4-C5 4000 米个人追逐赛：
1 T Neyland (澳大利亚) 4.48.614; 2 M Newberry (英格兰) 5.05.764; 3 N Murray (新西兰) 5.06.199.
举重/成绩
男子 110 公斤级：1 T Auntheep (斐济) 378; 2 C Tchatchie II (英格兰) 374; 3 R Lesignon (加拿大) 356.
女子 +90 公斤级：1 E Campbell (英格兰) 378; 2 SK Draman (中地) 353; 3 EM Love (加拿大) 250.
男子 +110 公斤级：1 D Lin (新西兰) 389;
2 L Singh (印度) 388; 3 A Griffiths (英格兰) 356.
足球
欧联杯
第二轮资格赛第二回合：安德莱赫特 3 哈马比 1 (总比分 4-2); 本菲卡 5 圣加伦 0 (总比分 6-2); 索菲亚 CSKA 0 Qaedlag 0 (ant; 总比分 9-3); CSKA 5 « en pers), Forenvaren 2 特温特 2 (总比分 4-3); 赫拉德茨-克拉洛韦 3 特隆姆sø 1 (总比分 4-1); SVT Arlen 1 谢里夫 0 (总比分 6-0); 中日德兰 0 Benirkus 2 (总比分 0-3); 帕福斯 4 Haplak 0 (总比分 4-2); PUKK 2 基辅迪纳摩 0 (总比分 5-2)
欧协联 (CONFERENCE LEAGUE)
第二资格赛：次回合
Millenium (3) 4 Middelaus (0) 1 Elslreg, Pandack 15 Bapraktan 84 Lowe 35, Boyle 57 (总比分 4-3)
HB Torshaven (0) 0 Motherwell (2) 3 Fadlinger 2 (点球) Charlton Gold 38, Williams 50
Apo 4 Vojvodina 1 (总比分 0-2); Atkins Club (Flaucabro 0 Vedral 2 (总比分 0-0); Arab 4 RCM 1 (总比分 7-1); Austria Vienna Bohrmann 1 (总比分 0-1); Ballium 3 Bohrmann 2 (ant; 总比分 4-4; Bohrmann 通过 5 « en pers 获胜), Bettar Jerusalem 2 AEK Lemina 3 (ant; 总比分 3-1; Bettar 通过 4 « en pers 获胜), Brugal 1 Zeleninck Pancren 1; Brann 3 (int) Cluj 1 (总比分 5-3); CFR Cluj 3 Kauhlan 0 (总比分 4-1); Coleratan 0 (UK 3 (总比分 0-0); Berry City 0 Rybka 1 (总比分 0-2); Dinamii Minsk 0 Beltrich 1 (总比分 4-3); Dinamii City 3 Alunmii 0 (总比分 4-1); GKS Katowice 3 Džina 1 (总比分 4-0); Gant 1 LNZ Cherkany 1 (总比分 0-0); Gyni ETO 1 Abert Bosan 1 (总比分 7-3); Ihwa 2 Stjarnan 1 (ant; 总比分 2-2; Ihwa 通过 5 « en pers 获胜), Infor Sofia 2 Istanbul Basarlathe 0 (总比分 3-1); Latican 2 Varazdin 0 (总比分 4-3); Kupari 1 KSS 1 (总比分 3-2); Levadia 1 IFK Göteborg 1 (总比分 3-4); Ludogorets 2 Hapset Tel Aviv 2 (总比分 1-4); Reza 2 Zirabra 1 (总比分 3-2); Nomine Kalja 2 Bredbourne 1 (总比分 4-4); Nordtyskland 6 GATE 0 (总比分 6-1); Panathinaikos 2 Paks 2 (总比分 4-3); Petricula 3 Borja Biroja Luka 3 (总比分 3-6); Pyunik 0 Debrecen 0 (总比分 0-1); Sthendja 1 Brown 1 (总比分 4-0); Son 4 BIRDS 0 (总比分 1-1); Zajedna 1 Hristad 2 (总比分 1-0); The New Saints 1 Flora Tallinn 0 (ant; 总比分 1-1; Flora 通过 4 « en pers 获胜), Vitek 1 Frennerup 1 (ant; 总比分 2-2; Vitek 通过 5 « en pers 获胜), URA Strassen 0 Partizan 1 (总比分 0-5); Valletta 0 Kokova Czechoslovak 4 (总比分 1-7); Vitek 0 GML 1004 0 (总比分 0-4); Vitek 1 IMT 1 (总比分 2-1); Zalgon 1 Dinamo 0 Rida 2 (总比分 7-5); Zira 1 Pabir 1 (总比分 1-2); Drejski 2 Valar 2 (总比分 2-3)
板球 (Cricket)
都会银行一日赛 (METRO BANK ONE DAY CRP) 男子组
Premium Lancashire 220 GM Shetty 5.3; Nottinghamshire 189 IX Vermyne 61, JW Blatherwick 4-30; 兰开夏队以 11 跑优势击败诺丁汉郡队。
百球赛 (THE HUNDRED) 男子组
White Bowl Southern Brave 128-8; Birmingham Phoenix 116-9; Southern Brave 获胜 12 跑。
百球赛 (THE HUNDRED) 女子组
White Bowl Southern Brave 140-3, Birmingham Phoenix 116-5 (DST Perrin 52); Southern Brave 获胜 24 跑。
橄榄球联盟 (Rugby league)
BETRED 超级联赛 (BETRED SUPER LEAGUE)
Huddersfield 22 Hutt 72-30
Greg Wood 的赛马建议
Goodwood 1.50 Annabel's Ghost 2.25 Talk Of New York 1.00 Guttamson (Insp) 3.35 Jim Jungle (Int) 4.10 Calvin 4.45 Dubai Champion 5.20 Into The Light 5.55 Silver Lake Watermelonprince 2.00 Radio 2.35 Huntington 3.10 Carnival Of Light 5.45 Highland Shah 4.30 Roc De Fer 4.55 American Style 5.25 Portin Jack
Worcester 3.10 Dallas 2.45 Royal Drive 3.20 Red Bray 3.55 Rarun's Boy George 4.30 Negroid Charters 5.05 Travis 5.40 Circle Size
Byon 5.35 Belle Of It 6.50 Havana Gift
6.43 Some Nightmare 7.20 Reddy Trick Girl
7.40 Camele's Rose 8.10 Blue Hate
Woodinburgh 5.45 Jedle Knight 6.15 Gerry's Darling
6.50 Aurora Valkyrie 7.25 Jet Bolt 7.50 Wolf Or It
8.25 Gallon Norman 8.55 Golden Havana
8.25 Golden Hovana Woodinfield 5.50 Louis The Fifth 6.25 Alcatria
7.00 Cycling Blown 7.25 Henry's Cadder
8.02 Sibling Rivalry 8.32 Drift's Away
高尔夫 (Golf)
女子公开赛 (Sytham St James, Lancashire)
领先 Web 轮 (除非另有说明，否则均为 eaves 158 & Vs)
M A Tishilazi (Tha) 46 Ryc H + (Kra) 5 Kawaki (Jpn) M T Soudier (Fr) 5 Yoko (US) 48 J Iwai (Jpn) 2 Marouaars (Tha) 48 Iwai, K G科技 (Jpn) 1 Wood, P Marlon (Sjo) 6 Tan (Sio) 0 Dappi (Ind) M Saigo (Jpn) 1 Coughlin (US) 4 Rahul (US) 50 Ahnanan, A Försterling (Jpn) Jm J-6 (Bdr) 1 Hapelin (US) A Fabul (Tha) 1 Wilson (US) C Porter (Aus) Jan S-6 (Hor) Yang Y+ (Hor) 75 Hite M (Tria) M Rhodes 1, GJord (Swo) A Lee (US) Kang M+ (Hor) R Choi (Aus) H Green (Aus) L Ko (NZ) L Huen (Sjo) N Konakainen (Fin) A Kelle
赛程
足球 (7 4' (除非另有说明，否则为点球决胜))
Millions Mill 苏格兰超级联赛
Bordes Old 6 Rangers (Spm)
20 Cycles Phoenix
Barry Town v Cambrian (Int), Briton Ferry v Ammarford;
2 Queen Bay v Torkden; Lancashire v Flint Town
板球 (除非另有说明，否则为 11 人制)
女子 120 男子 (海外)
Sir Lanka v Pakistan, Hambantota (5,30am)。
Wolves Bank 一日杯 男子
Group 6 Gloucestershire v Surrey, Bristol (Spm), Kent v
Somerset, Canterbury, Northamptonshire v Leicestershire,
Northampton. Group 9 Derbyshire v Glamorgan, Per950;
Essex v Hampshire, Chelmsford; Worcestershire v
Waltham, Worcester, Yorkshire v Durham, York.
The Household 男子
Manchester v Trent Rockets, Emirates Old Trafford (6,30pm)。
The Household 女子
Manchester v Trent Rockets, Emirates Old Trafford (3pm)。
橄榄球联盟 (除非另有说明，否则为 3pm)
Belfrief 超级联赛
Hall 49 v Bradford, Leeds v Toulouse, Leigh v Wigan
卫报 周五 2026年7月31日
40
体育 足球
▼ 吉安尼·因凡蒂诺 (左) 与唐纳德·特朗普合作在 美国举办 2026年世界杯 RICHARD SELLERS/APL/SPORTS PHOTO
Rob Draper 写道，约书亚·库什纳目前是推动将世界杯出售给投资者的核心人物，且该项目周围有着紧密的家族纽带。
不仅仅是足球迷和欧足联的高管们希望对吉安尼·因凡蒂诺将其将 20% 的世界杯权益出售给私营商业企业的计划出示“红牌”。这位国际足联主席还成为了华盛顿众议院司法委员会及民主党资深成员杰米·拉斯金 (Jamie Raskin) 的攻击目标。原因何在？在一些观察家看来，由约书亚·库什纳 (Joshua Kushner) 的投资基金支持的因凡蒂诺计划，处处可见特朗普总统贪婪的指印。
拉斯金告诉 Politico，国际足联正“直接与特朗普家族做生意”，随后他提到因凡蒂诺在 12 月授予总统的和平奖，以及国际足联在纽约特朗普大厦租用办公空间的情况。“显然，那个虚假的和平奖和与特朗普大厦的巨额租赁合同还不够——现在因凡蒂诺通过与贾里德·库什纳 (Jared Kushner) 的兄弟达成一项数十亿美元的交易，将世界杯的所有权份额出售给私人投资者，完成了‘回扣帽子戏法’。”
正如对待特朗普的许多事情一样，库什纳家族处于他所编织的任何复杂网络的中心。贾里德和约书亚的父亲查尔斯·库什纳 (Charles Kushner) 曾被判定犯有逃税、干扰证人、非法竞选捐款罪并被判处两年监禁，他目前是特朗普驻法国大使，尽管他不会说法语。他在 2020 年获得了特朗普的赦免。
贾里德与特朗普的女儿伊万卡 (Ivanka) 结婚，担任和平特使，并协助谈判了与伊朗的伊斯兰堡备忘录停火协议，而该协议现在似乎已经崩溃。他还是那个被指派去履行特朗普承诺的人——即在特朗普就任总统后的 24 小时内结束俄乌战争。
但这一切的核心，且再次将影响力留在家族内部的人，是贾里德的弟弟、 41 岁的约书亚，他建立了包括 Thrive 在内的各种私人投资基金。
一些批评者表示，如果因凡蒂诺继续掌控国际足联，即使是 20% 的股份也将具有控制权
国际足联招股书未披露投资者身份
◉ 续接后页
一项旨在“扩大并优化媒体权利货币化”的计划。摩根大通（JP Morgan）声称国际足联（Fifa）的“货币化不足”，但其对比数据显著地将其他体育联盟基于俱乐部或特许经营权收益的营收 figures 与国际足联进行比较，而非与类似的管理机构对比。
因此，国际足联申报的 $3.6bn 年收入与 NFL 的 $21.2bn、大联盟棒球（Major League Baseball）的 $13.1bn 以及 NBA 的 $12.5bn 相比，显得相形见绌。
该文件于周三晚上发送给所有 211 个会员协会，立即引起了强烈反应。
一名高级人士质疑，为什么国际足联在拥有约 $4bn 现金储备，且在当前四年周期内累计收入达 $15bn 的情况下，仍要采取此举。
Thrive Eternal 将成为 Fifa Forward Enterprise 的领投方，这是因凡蒂诺（Infantino）提议出售股份的商业分拆公司。
由于贾里德（Jared）在 2017 年进入特朗普首任政府任职时已剥离了他在 Thrive Capital（Thrive Eternal 的母公司）的股份，这次项目的家族纽带显得尤为紧密。拉斯金（Raskin）已暗示了这一点，并已传唤因凡蒂诺出席众议院司法委员会。他还要求国际足联提供与向特朗普提供的任何礼品及利益相关的的文件，以及国际足联在特朗普大厦办公空间的访客记录详情。
鉴于特朗普曾吹嘘他与因凡蒂诺的直接联系说服了国际足联，在对阵比利时的世界杯 16 强赛中撤销美国球员 Folarin Balogun 的红牌——尽管美国队以 4-1 输掉了比赛——对于因凡蒂诺来说，让特朗普通过婚姻关系延伸的家族领导这场“世纪大销售”（即移交世界杯的实质性控制权），其形象极其糟糕。一些批评者认为，如果因凡蒂诺在缺乏问责机制的情况下继续掌权，即使是 20% 的少数股权实际上也将成为控制性股权。不过，约书亚（Joshua）在惊人的交易能力方面，仅仅是在追随其兄长贾里德的脚步。
在特朗普第一任总统任期结束六个月后，且在特朗普首任期间参与过美国与沙特阿拉伯的谈判后，贾里德成功为其自己的投资工具 Affinity Fund Management 从沙特公共投资基金（PIF）获得了 £2bn 价值的资金。该基金由沙特事实上的统治者穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼（Mohammed bin Salman）王储担任主席。《纽约时报》报道称，PIF 的顾问对该交易提出了异议，理由是“Affinity Fund 管理层缺乏经验”，且沙特王国似乎承担了“绝大部分投资和风险”，但由王储担任主席的 PIF 董事会推翻了这些警告，批准了这笔资金。
巧合的是，沙特阿拉伯将在穆罕默德王子的推动下举办 2034 年世界杯。PIF 同样是纽卡斯尔联队（Newcastle United）和石油公司阿美（Aramco）的所有者，目前也是国际足联最新的世界杯赞助商，据报道交易价值每年约 $100m。
库什纳（Kushner）一直为与 PIF 的合作辩护，挑战批评者“指出我们做出的任何一项不符合美国利益的决定”。穆罕默德王子涉嫌参与 2018 年在伊斯坦布尔谋杀美国公民贾迈尔·卡舒吉（Jamal Khashoggi），联合国得出结论认为沙特阿拉伯国家对此负责，而由前总统乔·拜登（Joe Biden）公布的一份美国情报报告则认为，穆罕默德王子“批准了一项……抓捕或杀害”这名沙特异议人士的行动。沙特政府否认了这两份报告，称其“不准确”。
与拜登的过渡期相比，美沙关系在特朗普的两次任期内都要温暖得多。上周，美国同意了一项具有里程碑意义的协议，与沙特阿拉伯合作开发民用核能；而本周两国还协调了对伊拉克境内受伊朗支持的民兵组织的空袭。
然而，目前推动将世界杯出售给投资者的关键人物，是来自另一家无关投资基金的库什纳兄弟。
不过，据 Politico 报道，约书亚将接触主权财富基金，以“建立一个全球多样化的投资基础”。也许他的兄弟贾里德能提供一些联系电话，帮他启动这个计划？
成员已经就位。值得注意的是，招股说明书的其他地方几乎没有提到该投资者群体，也没有提及该群体的身份、预期回报或退出条款。
该文件还有一个重大遗漏，在整整 25 页的内容中，完全没有提到女子足球。
国际足联已收到置评请求。
2026年7月31日，星期五 卫报
51
英超联赛同意提议，将与英足总联赛（EFL）俱乐部额外分享 £1.5bn
Paul MacInnes
英超联赛已就一项重设英国足球前四个级别联赛财务分配的提议达成一致，该提议将导致在未来十年内，整个足球金字塔体系中额外分享 £1.5bn。
在与 EFL 讨论后，各俱乐部在昨天的会议上一致投票支持这项“足球新政”。该方案现在将提交给 EFL 董事会审议。
根据天空新闻（Sky News）最初公布的细节，英超联赛的这项提议期限为 10 年，将在目前每三年向俱乐部和社区发放 £1.6bn 的基础上，额外向 EFL 俱乐部分享 £1.5bn。部分资金将投入专项基金——一项用于救助处于即时危机中俱乐部的“救生艇”基金，以及一项专门用于基础设施建设的基金。
据报道，为了覆盖额外成本，英超俱乐部已同意将应用于所有顶级联赛交易的转会税从 4% 提高到 6%。本周有报道称，曼彻斯特城最初反对提高该税率。
英超联赛在的一份声明中表示，其俱乐部已“一致投票通过了一项关于与 EFL 建立新战略伙伴关系的资助提议”。声明称，英超现在“期待与 EFL 继续讨论以推进该提议”，并将继续“致力于寻找由足球主导的解决方案”。
因偏见而被禁赛 10 场
根据英足总（FA）强化的规则，被判定有歧视行为的球员将面临至少 10 场的禁赛。在过去的赛季中，对于严重违规行为——包括任何明确或暗示涉及种族、肤色、种族、国籍、宗教、性别、性别认同、性别重置、性取向或残疾的不当行为——建议禁赛 6 到 12 场。该规则同样适用于教练及其他官员。如果存在显著的加重情节，可处以 10 场以上的禁赛处罚。PA Media
EFL 尚未正式收到该提议，但承认与英超联赛进行了“建设性”讨论，并表示其董事会将“在与英超联赛进一步对话前，审查该提议的全部细节，包括其潜在收益、影响以及与我们 72 家俱乐部的长期利益是否一致”。
这是自五年前首次被要求向金字塔其余部分提供更多资金以来，英超俱乐部首次正式同意一项可提交给 EFL 的提议。新冠疫情揭示了许多 EFL 俱乐部财务状况的岌岌可危，2022 年，时任体育大臣 Nigel Huddleston 表示，英国公众对于未能达成改良协议已经“失去耐心”。
认为英超联赛的财富可以在整个足球运动中更有效地共享的观点，在一定程度上促成了独立足球监管机构（Independent Football Regulator）的创建，该机构于去年成立。监管机构并未直接参与谈判，但拥有“兜底”权力，可在无法达成协议时强制达成和解。
虽然人们谨慎乐观地认为现在终于可以达成协议，但不能保证 EFL 会接受英超联赛的报价。有消息人士称，EFL 认为该提议与 2023 年提出但最终未获英超俱乐部批准的一项提议非常相似。双方均表示，将继续致力于开展对话。
苏超联赛（Scottish Premiership）
麦金内斯加盟流浪者为“老字号德比”剧情增添新转折
尤万·默里写道，在带领哈茨队差几分钟就夺冠后，这位主教练对于上赛季与凯尔特人的恩怨仍有结之待解
只有生活在幻想世界里的人才会坚信，苏格兰足球能迅速从这个不快之夏中走出。国内新赛季的开启通常是令人兴奋的，但现在却让人不得不思考此前那些阴森的现实。
在经历了糟糕的世界杯表现后，苏格兰足协没有给出详细的解释或计划，这并不令人意外，但依然让人感到沮丧。
该国顶尖俱乐部对他们刻意忽略的大局暧昧不清，而这一切在世界杯上暴露无遗。问题在于，尽管有各种合理解释，但人们对于苏格兰在最高舞台上表现出的持久且正当的愤怒，在顶级联赛回归之际，正映射出更广泛的情绪。这有可能演变成一个麻烦且充满敌意的赛季。
凯尔特人的支持者依然对俱乐部的管理者感到愤怒，认为他们自满且脱离实际。而流浪者队迎来了一位新主教练德里克·麦金内斯，他在城市的另一端（凯尔特人阵营）极不受欢迎。任何人都不应低估哈茨队拥趸对于 2025-26 赛季收官方式所持有的持久愤恨。
其中最令人不齿的部分发生在 6 月 11 日，当时苏格兰职业足球联赛公布了一项纪律处分结果，针对的是那次导致凯尔特人与爱丁堡俱乐部（哈茨）争冠决赛被迫终止的球员入场事件。
在对汉密尔顿、因弗内斯和斯滕豪斯穆尔开出轻微警告的同时，凯尔特人仅被处以微小的罚款，且一项微不足道的减票处罚被暂缓执行。流浪者球迷向来无需鼓励便会抨击官方，而他们在麦金内斯因对裁判决定发表评论而被禁赛触边线之前，表现得相对克制。
流浪者队批评了一份关于 3 月苏格兰杯负于凯尔特人后引发混乱的独立报告中的部分内容。马瑟韦尔队则因反对苏格兰足协对其在社交媒体发布视频的罚款，正与律师沟通。
上周在科索沃的一场欧战资格赛首回合 2-0 惨败，理所当然地让希伯尼安队的狂热粉丝在网络上彻底暴走。此类结果在很久以前就不再令人震惊了。
某些俱乐部确实有理由感到乐观。凯尔特人以俱乐部纪录转会费签下卡斯帕·霍格，不仅展示了支持者希望经常看到的财力肌肉，也提供了休赛期最令人好奇的新援。但人们对于球员在博多/格林特（Bodø/Glimt）这样一个长期成功的环境之外能否保持表现能力持怀疑态度。
如果没有这些疑虑，且考虑到即使是许多冠军联赛（Championship）俱乐部也认为微不足道的转会费，霍格早就在很久前离开了。不过，这位 25 岁的球员拥有能够适应苏格兰足球的身体素质和直接的风格。
凯尔特人的挑战在于，如果出现不可抵挡的报价，如何在替换现有的主力球员（阿恩·恩格尔斯和阿里斯泰尔·约翰斯顿是典型代表）的同时，不至于让净利润在资产负债表上的重要性超过奖杯。球迷理所当然地欢迎霍格的加盟，但他们需要更多。
相比之下，流浪者在近年间挥霍了惊人的现金，却大多在旁观他人举杯。流浪者今天将在邓迪联队开启新赛季，而在麦金内斯身上，他们拥有了一位对俱乐部及文化认知更为深刻的主教练。
顶尖俱乐部对在世界杯上暴露的大局暧昧不清
近年来，比之前大多数人都要更有机会在对阵凯尔特人时占据优势。万雅·德拉戈耶维奇（Vanja Dragojevic）看起来是从贝尔格莱德游击队签下的一个聪明的中场球员。流浪者队需要进攻火花，但麦克因内斯（McInnes）的首要任务是建立一个更强大的核心，这并不令人惊讶。这个版本的流浪者队应该会有很大提升。然而，基于赛道和距离专业性的简单考量，凯尔特人仍然是夺冠热门。
到目前为止，任何与之心（Hearts）队相关的人都无法完全消化这样一种情况：他们距离 66 年来首次夺冠仅剩几分钟之遥，结果这个梦想却被夺走。麦克因内斯离职加盟流浪者队，沃特·弗兰肯（Wouter Vrancken）推行的完全全新的风格，以及不断提高的预期，都促使该队进入了一个动荡期。
之心队冲击荣耀的时机比任何人预想的都要早。在欧冠资格赛中被格拉茨风暴（Sturm Graz）大比分击败，表明了弗兰肯面前面临的工作量之大。不过，保持耐心将是明智之举。
马瑟韦尔（Motherwell）在延斯·贝尔特·阿斯考（Jens Berthel Askou）执教期间及之后的工作证明，那些在顶级联赛中并非“大鱼”的球队不必仅仅为了生存而苦苦支撑。足球表现出色，上座人数增加，并且给更广泛的市场留下了深刻印象。以数百万英镑的价格出售埃利亚·贾斯特（Elijah Just）和埃利奥特·瓦特（Elliot Watt），完全证明了这种跳出常规思考的俱乐部模式是正确的。
圣米伦（St Mirren）有明确的抱负，希望引入更多年轻球员和一种更具吸引力的足球风格。在尼尔·麦肯（Neil McCann）的带领下，基尔马罗克（Kilmarrock）在上赛季末展现了这一点。在斯蒂芬·罗宾逊（Stephen Robinson）的率领下，阿伯丁（Aberdeen）这一次肯定会成为一股更强大的力量。
苏格兰顶级联赛中仅剩一座人造草皮球场，这值得庆祝。
足球依然是苏格兰人的痴迷所在。但不可否认，它也是一个“病入膏肓的病人”。只有在能看到新鲜思路的情况下，新赛季的到来才具有吸引力。
足球简讯
切尔西
拉克鲁瓦完成转会，加盟斯坦福桥
马克斯·拉克鲁瓦（Maxence Lacroix）已从水晶宫加盟切尔西，成为该俱乐部今夏签下的第五名球员。这位在水晶宫期间赢得过足总杯和欧协联冠军的法国国脚，一直是蓝军在本转会窗口的主要防守目标。26岁的拉克鲁瓦已与哈维·阿隆索（Xabi Alonso）的球队签署了一份为期六年的合同。PA Media
切尔赛
斯通斯与国际米兰达成两年合同协议
国际米兰宣布，约翰·斯通斯（John Stones）已与该意甲俱乐部签署了一份为期两年的合同。这位英格兰中后卫在离开曼彻斯特城后成为自由身，引起了全欧洲俱乐部的关注。这位32岁的球员于6月结束了在曼城长达10年的效力生涯。他在2016年以£47.5m的价格从埃弗顿加盟曼城后，共为该俱乐部出场295次，并赢得了六次英超冠军、三次足总杯冠军和一次欧冠冠军。PA Media
国际米兰
阿森纳将对阵伯明翰开赛
WSL冠军曼彻斯特城在阵中加入了前阿森纳前锋贝丝·米德（Beth Mead）和切尔西后卫尼娅姆·查尔斯（Niamh Charles），他们将对阵伯明翰开启卫冕之旅。随着顶级联赛首次扩军至14支球队，这支来自中部的球队与查尔顿和水晶宫一同升级。Suzanne Wrack
卫报 周五 2026年7月31日
12
体育 足球
一个夏天如何导致豪尔失去掌控权
夺得联赛杯冠军以及参加冠军联赛 让 主教练处于有利地位，但 臃肿的阵容和伊萨克 被出售导致了不安， 路易丝·泰勒（Louise Taylor）报道
去年九月，刚被任命为纽卡斯尔首席执行官的大卫·霍金森（David Hopkinson）坐在圣詹姆斯公园球场（St James' Park）希勒酒吧（Shearer's Bar）的一张桌子凳子上，在啜饮无酒精拉格啤酒之余，将埃迪·豪尔（Eddie Howe）比作布鲁斯·斯普林斯汀（Bruce Springsteen）。在霍金森看来，纽卡斯尔的主教练就是“老板”和“天才”。他地构思了一个场景：斯普林斯汀在音乐会前要求提供M&M's巧克力豆，随后休息室里就被填满了这种糖果。他说，同样的原则也适用于“埃迪”，他将被提供“任何他想要的东西”。
六个月后，情况发生了变化。三月下旬，霍金森坐在圣詹姆斯公园球场董事会的一张厚重木桌旁，在啜饮咖啡之余，表示他对于“主教练的未来没有立场”。他能告诉在场的记者的是，最近主场负于桑德兰的比赛让人“受伤”。这件事产生了“共鸣”，且正被“严肃对待”。鉴于纽卡斯尔刚刚在冠军联赛中以总比分 8-3 输给巴塞罗那，并且正朝着英超联赛第12名的排名前进，豪尔承认在下个月与俱乐部沙特阿拉伯大股东举行峰会之前，他经历了“无数失眠之夜”。
这位 48 岁的主教练在仅一年前还策划了纽卡斯尔夺得联赛杯冠军，确保了球队自 1955 年以来获得的第一座国内奖杯，而这一次他赢得了这场特定的战斗。由于一次令人信服且典型的、条理清晰地阐述未来战术计划的演示，利雅得的访问者允许豪尔继续担任他自 2021 年 11 月起就担任的职位。然而，即便如此，他依然怀疑自己正在输掉一场早在霍金森上任之前就开始的战争。
这是一场关于权力与控制的、往往潜意识里的冲突，始于 2024 年夏天俱乐部前共同所有者阿曼达·斯塔夫利（Amanda Staveley）被罢免之时。豪尔在很大程度上是斯塔夫利任命的，且由于她当时负责俱乐部的日常运营，他被允许在球员买卖方面拥有相当大的发言权。
当接替丹·阿什沃思（Dan Ashworth）担任体育总监的保罗·米切尔（Paul Mitchell）建议修改转会政策和比赛风格时，豪尔表达了明显的不满。一年之内，米切尔离开了。那是 2025 年 6 月，由于三个月前赢得了联赛杯，主教练看起来从未如此稳固。然而，第二任体育总监的离职可以说预告了豪尔的倒台。
诚然，去年夏天亚历山大·伊萨克（Alexander Isak）强行以 £125m 转会利物浦并非他的错，但豪尔深度参与了纽卡斯尔签下总价 £240m 的、在很大程度上表现欠佳的天才球员，试图以此进行补救。如果说 £69m 的尼克·沃尔特马德（Nick Woltemade）和 £55m 的约安·威萨（Yoane Wissa）都不是伊萨克的合适替代者，那么雅各布·拉姆齐（Jacob Ramsey）和安东尼·埃兰加（Anthony Elanga）的表现也经常令人失望。只有中后卫马利克·蒂亚（Malick Thiaw）令人印象深刻。而且，情况并未……
赛季回顾
2021-22 “救火队员”
在接替史蒂夫·布鲁斯（Steve Bruce）后，豪尔在 1 月转会窗得到了强力支持，并率领纽卡斯尔获得第 11 名。凭借连续 6 场主场获胜，喜之鸟（Magpies）成为首支在前 14 场比赛未能获胜后仍避免降级的英超球队。
2022-23 回到欧洲
亚历山大·伊萨克以高价加盟，豪尔率领球队杀入联赛杯决赛，但最终负于曼联。不过他们反应迅速，获得了第四名，成功晋级冠军联赛。
2023-24 伤病打击
纽卡斯尔在冠军联赛小组赛中垫底，并深受伤病困扰。他们还失去了被禁赛的 £55m 签约球员桑德罗·托纳利（Sandro Tonali）。末期的冲刺让他们获得了第七名，但由于曼联在足总杯决赛中爆冷击败曼城，他们的欧洲赛场希望破灭了。
2024-25 联赛杯夺冠
在温布利球场，凭借丹·伯恩（Dan Burn）的激励，纽卡斯尔击败利物浦，结束了球队长久的冠军荒。随着伊萨克（Isak）在联赛中攻入 23 粒进球，他们确保了第五名的排名并获得欧冠资格。
2025-26 伊萨克的幽灵
关于将伊萨克出售给利物浦的整个夏季拉锯战，破坏了豪（Howe）执教第四个完整赛季的计划。在赛季中期，球迷们开始反对一心想离开的安东尼·戈登（Anthony Gordon）；而这场赛季几乎在 3 月一次 7-2 惨败给巴塞罗那后就宣告提前结束。在豪最后执教的五个月里，球队遭遇了 14 场失利。Tom Bassam
在利雅得被忽视的一点是，豪不愿出售球员的态度，在纽卡斯尔相对较低的商业收入使其难以维持在足球支出规则之内的情况下，加剧了所有者在财务上的问题。5 月，该俱乐部在上一赛季违反欧洲投资规则后，与欧足联（Uefa）签署了一项和解协议。该协议规定他们在接下来的三年内必须非常谨慎地平衡账目，这也解释了为什么他们最新的体育总监罗斯·威尔逊（Ross Wilson）在今年夏天分别将安东尼·戈登和桑德罗·托纳利（Sandro Tonali）出售给了巴塞罗那和托特纳姆热刺。豪不愿失去这对组合，并且在看到另一名关键球员布鲁诺·吉马良斯（Bruno Guimarães）离队加盟阿森纳的前景时感到沮丧。
10 月从诺丁汉森林队加盟的威尔逊，主导了一次显著的政策转向，即签约具有高转售潜力的年轻球员。霍普金森（Hopkinson）曾吹嘘纽卡斯尔的目标是到 2030 年成为“世界上最好的俱乐部之一”，但豪并非唯一一个察觉到这种高远预期与一项极易失败的大胆青年实验之间存在脱节的人。深知自己在 2020 年被解雇前在伯恩茅斯多留了一个赛季，豪似乎决定与其被推走，不如主动跳下，以便在友好氛围中离职。
在泰恩赛德（Tyneside）的五年里，他让一些球员有了脱胎换骨的进步——特别是若埃林顿（Joelinton）和雅各布·默菲（Jacob Murphy）——并在两次欧冠之行中编排出一种往往令人心潮澎湃的足球风格。在节奏极快、高强度压迫的最佳状态下，纽卡斯尔极具观赏性，但豪的球队在控球时经常表现糟糕，且擅长在领先时丢分。速度和运动能力似乎被置于视野和穿透力之上。就像他们那个工作狂经理一样，纽卡斯尔越来越像一支忘记了如何放松并阅读比赛细微差别的球队。
豪拥有足够的才华、足够的智能以及足够年轻的年纪，能够达到教练界的最高殿堂，但首先他需要休息，重新评估，并且或许需要回想，为什么他曾在塞斯克·法布雷加斯（Cesc Fàbregas）主导的“tiki-taka”阶段爱上了阿森纳的足球。他在纽卡斯尔任职期间的讽刺之处在于，一个痴迷于场外控制的经理，部分地因为球场上缺乏这种控制而崩溃。
当豪坐在他心爱的钢琴前，创作一些属于自己的新心情音乐时，这或许是他会反思的一个悖论。
为了补偿出售伊萨克的损失，豪参与签约了总价值 £240m 但表现欠佳的人才
纽卡斯尔与豪友谊分手
接后页
在4月的一次会议期间，这位主教练似乎已经说服了 PIF 给予他另一次机会。
据了解，他在6月休假归来后重申了对这份工作的承诺，但随后对这个动荡夏季发生的一系列事件感到心灰意冷。除了戈登和托纳利的离队，巴西中场布鲁诺·吉马良斯的未来也充满了不确定性，据说他即将以 £80m 的价格转会至阿森纳。
在周三晚上的布里斯托城队比赛中，豪承认自己已经“失去控制”转会事务，并且不知道吉马良斯是否会搭乘球队的航班前往西班牙东南部，以参加今天在拉曼加的训练营。
虽然据了解吉马良斯已告知纽卡斯尔他希望在今年夏天加盟阿森纳，但豪对于一项经 PIF 批准的新政策产生了越来越多的保留意见：该政策主张签入具有较高转售潜力的年轻球员，价格大致在 £20m-£40m 之间。由于纽卡斯尔在欧足联（Uefa）的结算协议下运作，威尔逊认为这是遵守足球支出规则的最佳方式。
体育总监招募了四名潜力巨大但缺乏经验、年龄在 20 岁或以下的球员：
周五 2026 年 7 月 31 日 卫报
8
13
◀ 5月的埃迪·豪，当时纽卡斯尔最终排名第12位 MIKE EGERTON/PA
雅文、巴祖马纳·图雷、阿拉吉·班巴和肖恩·斯特尔。豪担心今年早些时候人们的期望被拉得过高，当时其首席执行官大卫·霍普金森声称，他希望纽卡斯尔在 2030 年前能被人们在讨论“世界上最好的俱乐部”时提及。豪告诉朋友们，情况“不再感觉正确了”。
在 2021 年 11 月接替史蒂夫·布鲁斯担任主教练后，他带领纽卡斯尔两次进入卡拉宝杯决赛，并在去年赢得第二次决赛（对手是利物浦）后，为俱乐部赢得了 70 年来首个重要的国内奖杯。
由于其助手杰森·廷代尔预计也将离职，球队在前往拉曼加之行期间，可能会由一线队教练格雷姆·琼斯暂时接管。
雅伊斯莱在沙特成功的浪潮中奔向圣詹姆斯公园球场
这位崇尚进攻的德国人曾率领阿赫利队连续赢得亚冠冠军，并在那里执教过托尼和马赫雷兹
约翰·杜尔登 (John Duerden)
接手一家规模大、成绩不理想、且拥有渴望成功的忠实球迷群的港口城市俱乐部，对于马蒂亚斯·雅伊斯莱 (Matthias Jaisle) 来说应该并不困难。如果他接替埃迪·豪 (Eddie Howe) 留下的职位，这位 38 岁的德国人将作为英雄离开吉达，并作为亚洲足球历史上最成功的教练之一抵达英格兰东北部。
雅伊斯莱比豪年轻十岁，他已经取得了丰硕的成果，不仅在教练更迭速度极快的沙特职业联赛中生存下来，而且最终胜出。此外，阿赫利队与纽卡斯尔联共用同一个沙特公共投资基金 (PIF) 业主，这也起到了帮助作用。
纽卡斯尔的球迷可能对这位前中后卫知之甚少，他的球员生涯因伤早早结束，但三年前他抵达沙特阿拉伯时的情况也是如此。亚洲地区对奥地利联邦联赛的关注度不高，因此他在红牛萨尔茨堡赢得的两座冠军奖杯并没有带来太大影响；他与拉尔夫·朗尼克 (Ralf Rangnick) 的关系同样如此。
球迷们当时更关注阿赫利队在经历了一个赛季的次级联赛后重新回到顶级联赛，并期待大牌球员的涌入。这与圣詹姆斯公园球场的情况略有不同，因为像桑德罗·托纳利 (Sandro Tonali) 和安东尼·戈登 (Anthony Gordon) 这样的球星已经离队，其他球员似乎也即将跟随其后。
在吉达，里亚德·马赫雷兹 (Riyad Mahrez)、罗伯托·菲尔米诺 (Roberto Firmino)、爱德华·门迪 (Edouard Mendy)、弗兰克·凯西 (Franck Kessik) 等人在俱乐部被 PIF 收购的那个夏天加盟。对于一支在前一年还处于低谷的球队来说，这是一个巨大的转变。
尽管如此，阿赫利队对于雅伊斯莱来说可能是最完美的俱乐部。这里的球迷以热情著称，但自 1984. 年以来仅在国内联赛中获胜一次。在亚洲赛场上，他们曾两次在亚冠决赛中惨败。与同样隶属于 PIF 体系的希拉尔、纳斯尔和伊蒂哈德相比，吉达的“绿色之角”相对缺乏成功，因此在一段时间内，能够重新发起挑战就足够了。
对于当时 35 岁的他来说，处理这些名将似乎不是问题。他直截了当的风格——将外籍球星与本地球员一视同仁——赢得了积极的反响。凭借丰富的进攻天赋，雅伊斯莱试图尽可能在高位夺回球权，以便让马赫雷兹等球员有机会大显身手。与红海的炎热和潮湿相比，他所青睐的这种崇尚进攻、高强度的比赛风格，在北海之滨可能会进一步升级。
在他的第一个赛季，阿赫利队最终排名第三，领先于他们激烈的本地对手伊蒂哈德 11 分，并且至关重要的是，获得了亚冠精英联赛的参赛资格。第二个赛季则更为艰难，至少在一段时间内是这样。在艾兰·圣-马克西明 (Allan Saint-Maximin) 离队后，雅伊斯莱想要一名替代的边锋，但结果签下的是伊万·托尼 (Ivan Toney)，这位英格兰前锋起步缓慢。成绩有所下滑，但
▲ 鲜为人知的教练马蒂亚斯·雅伊斯莱赢得了阿赫利球迷的青睐 NOUSHAD THEKKAYIL/NURPHOTO/SHUTTERSTOCK
到 2025 年 1 月，当解雇的威胁笼罩时，情况正在好转。马克斯·阿莱格里 (Max Allegri) 已经准备好接手，他是那种球迷经常渴望的、自带光环的教练。但这一次情况不同——“绿色军队”的成员们支持雅伊斯莱，因为他总是抽出时间赞扬并与球迷交流。一群球迷出现在训练场，打出横幅告诉俱乐部管理层，应该走的人是他们自己。
这一举动奏效了。阿赫利队表示雅伊斯莱将继续留任并获得全力支持。随后，来自波尔图的边锋加莱诺 (Galeno) 加入，随着这位巴西人激发了托尼的最佳状态，阿赫利队的表现更上一层楼。在雅伊斯莱的第二个赛季，他们最终排名第五，但积分更高。不过，一切的核心都在于亚冠联赛。在半决赛中，他们击败了 19 次沙特冠军、4 次亚洲冠军的希拉尔队。随后，在 2025, 年 5 月，在吉达 60,000 名球迷的见证下，他们击败了日本的川崎前锋。
随后，国民队（Al-Ahli）再次创造历史，在去年五月第二次赢得亚洲冠军，成为继其吉达对手统一队（Al-Ittihad，在 2004 和 2005 年）之后，首支连续夺得冠军联赛冠军的球队。
他们在国内联赛中也发起了一次冠军冲击，直到最后几周才逐渐失去机会，期间托尼（Toney）攻入了 32 个进球。在 34 场比赛中，该球队共获得 81 分，比上一赛季多出 14 分；如果利雅得胜利（Al-Nassr）和利雅得新月（Al-Hilal）没有如此稳定，那么这本可能成为一次壮观的双冠王之举。
对于将于下月开始的新赛季，焦点原本全部集中在沙特职业联赛的冠军上；但现在这应该是其他人的顾虑了。
Jaisle 最近与利雅得新月传出联系，虽然这在吉达的球迷中可能不会受欢迎，但他前往纽卡斯尔（Newcastle）得到了大多数人的祝福。这位德国人一直很有可能返回欧洲，且他在离任时已经赢得了重大冠军。许多经验更丰富的教练在这一点上都失败了。纽卡斯尔将是一个不同且更艰巨的挑战。
他已不再处于顶尖行列，但能带领纽卡斯尔向英超前四靠近将是一个良好的开端。
发展方向导致经理失职
当埃迪·豪在 2021 年 11 月被纽卡斯尔任命时，该俱乐部在英超联赛中排名第 19 位，且在 11 场比赛后未获得任何胜利。到赛季结束时，他将球队引导至第 11 位，而他们在上赛季排名第 12 位。
在某些俱乐部，这段时间内的波动可能很小。例如，水晶宫在之前的 13 个赛季中，每年的英超排名都在第 10 到 15 位之间。但对于豪执教下的纽卡斯尔来说，这段旅程则更为波折。
在准备下一份工作的简历时，这位 48 岁的教练若能强调，在他担任纽卡斯尔主帅期间，只有四支球队在英超联赛中获得比他更多的积分，将是明智之举。在 179 场比赛的期间内，只有三家俱乐部的净胜球数更好，且这三家俱乐部均在过去三个赛季内赢得过冠军。
你永远不会唱这首歌？好吧，
确实如此。尽管这可能是评估一名经理任期的最公平方式，但足球的运作方式并非如此。
埃迪·豪执教期间，纽卡斯尔在英超联赛中排名第五 豪执教纽卡斯尔期间的英超联赛积分
| Manchester City | 699 |
|---|---|
| Arsenal | 1013 |
| Liverpool | 1613 |
| Aston Villa | 293 |
| Newcastle | 2195 |
| Manchester United | 2195 |
| Chelsea | 2765 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2601 |
| Brighton | 2301 |
| Brentford | 2411 |
| Crystal Palace | 2215 |
| West Ham United | 2015 |
| Everton | 2015 |
| Wolves | 1244 |
来源：Opta。注：仅显示全程参赛俱乐部
正是你在 8 月到 5 月之间交付的成绩决定了人们如何记住你。
豪执教期间（在联赛中）最明显的亮点是 2022-23. 赛季获得第四名。除了莱斯特城夺冠的奇迹外，自从 2004-05. 赛季的埃弗顿以来，没有其他非英格兰传统“六大”俱乐部的球队获得过前四名席位。纽卡斯尔上一次在积分榜上排名如此之高还要追溯到鲍比·罗布森爵士时代。
但他们在 2025-26 赛季的第 12 名，也比该俱乐部在迈克·阿什利 era. 的几个赛季表现更差。考虑到该俱乐部在沙特阿拉伯公共投资基金的预算，这一点始终难以辩护。
豪可以指出他在最后一个赛季中在一定程度上遭遇了不幸。伤病打击沉重，哈维·巴恩斯、亚伦·拉姆斯代尔和马利克·蒂亚夫是仅有的在全部 38 场英超比赛的比赛日名单中出现的球员。除了后者和桑德罗·托纳利，没有其他人获得超过 27 场联赛首发；该级别联赛中没有其他球队的达到这一随机基准的球员数如此之少。
此外，在球场的两端都出现了表现不佳的情况。纽卡斯尔的实际进球比预期进球数（xG）少 4.1 个，而防守端的失球比 xG 高出 3.7 个。如果联赛是由 Opta 的预期积分指标决定的，喜鹊军团将排名第九。
那将与平均水平相当。现有的薪资数据表明，纽卡斯尔在英超联赛中拥有第八高的薪金支出，而这正是他们在豪执教期间的平均最终排名。他带来了两次欧冠联赛征程，在圣詹姆斯公园球场创造了几个非常著名的夜晚，并拿到了数十年来的首个重大奖杯。Andrew Beasley
“我情绪激动” Vollering 谈论 体重压力 以及攀登 旺通山
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星期五
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国际足联的推销计划
更多赛事，
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国际足联（Fifa）旨在说服成员批准出售世界杯商业权益的推销方案中明确指出，其财务增长计划将通过举办更多赛事、提高票价以及债务融资来实现。
一份被《卫报》看到的标题为“国际足联前行企业成员材料”（Fifa Forward Enterprise Member Materials）的 25 页推销演示文稿，主张创建一家新公司来运行
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国际足联的商业运营，其中 20% 将出售给美国投资者约书亚·库什纳（Joshua Kushner），他是唐纳德·特朗普女婿贾里德·库什纳（Jared Kushner）的兄弟。
该招股说明书由摩根大通（JP Morgan）制作，这家美国银行五年前也曾支持那个失败的欧洲超级联赛脱离计划。
除了此前报道的国际足联向所有 211 个成员协会提供的 $20m (£15m) 签约费（最早可在 1 月份提供）外，该文件预计，到 2035-39 周期，“国际足联前行”（Fifa Forward）的四年期款项将增加到每位成员 $24m。
摩根大通在演示文稿中明确表示，这种增长将来自“不断增长的赛事组合”、“第三方资本来源和债务融资”，以及优先考虑“高收益”的合作伙伴关系和活动。
文中还提到，每年举办的全球赛事数量将增加一倍多，从 200 场增加到 450, 场，如果付诸实施，将给球员的工作量带来巨大压力。
更频繁地举办世界杯将是增加收入最明显的方式，吉安尼·因凡蒂诺（Gianni Infantino）在五年前曾提议将其改为两年一度的赛事。
该银行还提出了将世界杯等重大赛事的电视转播权出售给订阅频道或流媒体平台的可能性，通过提及
GARETH COPLEY/ECR/ GETTY IMAGES
随着豪威离开纽卡斯尔，
贾斯莱已准备接任
Louise Taylor
埃迪·豪威（Eddie Howe）在失去转会控制权后离开了纽卡斯尔，很可能会由执教沙特阿拉伯俱乐部国民球会（Al-Ahli）的德国教练马蒂亚斯·贾斯莱（Matthias Jaissle）接替。
尽管豪威在圣詹姆斯公园球场执教近五年后突然离职的时机出人意料，但他的地位此前已有一段时间不稳。据了解，他在两周多前就告知纽卡斯尔的沙特阿拉伯所有者希望离开，据说双方是“友好”分手。消息人士称，这位 48 岁的教练告诉董事会，在经历了一段具有变革意义的泰恩赛德任期后，他感到精疲力竭，希望暂时离开足球界。在任期间，纽卡斯尔在 2025 年赢得了联赛杯，并两次获得欧冠资格。
近几个月来，豪威在看到自己此前强大的权力基础和主导转会政策的能力显著削弱后，感到十分失望。就在今年夏天，其执教期间的第三任体育总监罗斯·威尔逊（Ross Wilson）主导了将安东尼·戈登（Anthony Gordon）和桑德罗·托纳利（Sandro Tonali）分别出售给巴塞罗那和托特纳姆热刺的交易。一年前，球队的核心前锋亚历山大·伊萨克（Alexander Isak）转会加盟利物浦。
不过，在周三晚上 4-1 负于布里斯托尔城的季前友谊赛后，豪威并未暗示即将发生的事情。他表示：“作为纽卡斯尔的主教练，每一天对我来说都是美好的一天。我绝对热爱这家足球俱乐部，这一点永远不会改变。俱乐部发生了很大变化，未来可能还会有更多变化。[但] 我认为总有理由保持乐观。我相信每个赛季都可能成就伟业。我认为今年也不会有任何不同。”
据称，昨天上午纽卡斯尔高层与贾斯莱的谈判已进入高级阶段。考虑到国民球会同样由沙特阿拉伯公共投资基金（PIF）所有，贾斯莱离开原俱乐部不大可能会产生问题。
这位 38 岁的教练曾作为后卫在霍芬洛夫（Hoffenheim）度过短暂的球员生涯，并自 2023. 年起执教国民球会。在此期间，他赢得了一座沙特超级杯和两座亚冠冠军联赛奖杯。在他首次担任主教练的重要角色——执教萨尔茨堡红牛（RB Salzburg）期间，他用两个赛季赢得了两次联赛冠军和一次奥地利杯冠军。
在纽卡斯尔上赛季在英超联赛中仅获得令人失望的第 12 名后，一些球迷呼吁解雇豪威，但这位前伯恩茅斯主教练……
并非非黑即白：埃迪·豪威如何在纽卡斯尔失去控制权 Louise Taylor 第 42 页 →
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Reform is 'up to its neck in sleaze',
says Labour as it calls for inquiry
Jessica Elgot
Deputy political editor
Labour has accused Reform UK of being "up to its neck in sleaze" as it called on the Electoral Commission to urgently investigate substantial donations made to the party by the mother of a convicted fraudster.
Bridget Phillipson, Labour's new chair, called on the commission to examine whether any rules had been broken, after revelations in the
Guardian that George Cottrell had transferred more than $2m (£1.48m) to his mother in the days before her donations to the party in 2024.
The commission has already made a referral to the Metropolitan police, who are looking into whether Reform may have been concealing or dis- guising donations derived from an "impermissible" donor.
The Guardian has since reported that Cottrell's mother, Fiona Cottrell, received several tranches of money adding up to more than $2m, which
she attributed to her son, accord- ing to financial industry sources. Her son is a close ally and adviser to Nigel Farage.
Transfers were then made either directly to Reform or via Britain Means Business, a fundraising vehi- cle for the political party, according to sources.
In her letter, Phillipson said the Guardian's new revelations "may be relevant to the question of whether the true source of political dona- tions made to Reform UK has been
'Reform don't think the rules apply to them ... They need to treat the allegations with the seriousness they deserve'
Labour spokesperson
correctly identified and whether the statutory requirements governing permissible donors have been com- plied with".
A Labour spokesperson said it was now time for Reform to seriously address the allegations. "If these lat- est claims about George Cottrell are true, Reform may have taken money from a convicted fraudster who was the ultimate source of the dona- tions," the party said. "That would mean Reform accepted his money even though he has
Wildfire in Suffolk burns near nuclear plant
Hundreds of people were evacuated and a major incident declared yesterday as a wildfire spread over more than 150 hectares on the coast of Suffolk, just a few miles from the Sizewell B nuclear power station.
Meanwhile, amid the hot, dry and windy weather in the EU, blazes continued to rage in France, Spain and a number of other countries across the Mediterranean. News Pages 8-11 →
Uefa backs
boycott of Fifa over World Cup
Nick Ames Matt Hughes
European countries have agreed to boycott all Fifa competitions if Gianni Infantino pushes forward with his proposals to sell chunks of the World Cup to US-based private investment.
In an extraordinary development yesterday, all 55 Uefa members resolved not to participate in future World Cups or other Fifa-run events, saying in a statement that they "unanimously and unequivocally reject" the proposals.
An emergency meeting that lasted just short of two hours ended with a united front despite earlier fears that smaller countries, attracted by the money on offer through Infantino's scheme, would be swayed in favour.
Last night the culture minister, Lisa Nandy, backed Uefa, saying: "This is a principled decision that we strongly support. Football belongs to the fans, not billionaire investors. Enough is enough. It's time to take a stand to protect our game."
The prime minister, Andy Burnham, was the
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News
Mayors to break Treasury's 'death grip' with new devolution powers
Josh Halliday
North of England editor
England's regional mayors will be able to break out of the "death grip of the Treasury" by borrowing to invest in major projects under "trans- formational" plans to shift power out of Whitehall.
For the first time, mayors will be able to keep a share of income tax generated in their area from 2028, as well as business rates totalling tens of millions of pounds by April 2027.
These will replace existing grants, rather than be additional money, but local leaders said it would "trans- form" their funding by no longer
▼ Andy Burnham has promised to move power out of Whitehall with a range of new devolved powers
PHOTOGRAPH: CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/REUTERS
relying on ringfenced Treasury hand- outs. Oliver Coppard, Labour mayor of South Yorkshire, said: "It's really important because it gets us out of the death grip of the Treasury and give us that long term certainty".
Andy Burnham will announce the measures today as part of what he called "the biggest transfer of power from Westminster in a generation".
He said: "Under our plans, more of the taxes raised in a community will stay in that community. Soon, every local leader will have the power and resources to improve public trans- port, build homes and create jobs.
"I know what it's like to be ignored by politicians in Westminster. I'm not going to make that same mistake."
Under a new "local first" princi- ple, Burnham will instruct ministers to justify why powers should remain in Whitehall rather than be devolved.
As well as greater control over
technical education for teenagers, announced by the government earlier this week, some have also called for mayors to oversee schools, GPs and childcare providers through health and education commissioners.
No 10 said Britain's civil service of $20,000 would become "smaller and more strategic" as decision-making moves out of London, where one in five of these officials are based.
England's directly-elected mayors, who currently control areas spanning three-quarters of the population,
'I know what it's like to be ignored by Westminster'
Andy Burnham Prime minister
would be able to use the revenue generated from business rates and income tax as they wish, includ- ing tax breaks for key industries or rebates to residents.
However, experts said one of the most significant consequences was that it would allow combined author- ities to take out 30-year loans against their projected income to fund major projects that previously needed Treasury approval.
Mayors said they were currently prevented from funding huge ini- tiatives on housing and transport because they cannot take out pri- vate loans on the basis of one-year funding settlements from Whitehall.
Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partner- ship, said the change "completely transforms" what combined author- ities would be able to do.
It is not yet clear what proportion of income tax or business rates would be retained by combined authorities, with officials still working on the numbers. John Healey, the chancel- lor, is expected to set out the detail in the autumn budget.
Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley, suggested he would use the income tax to hand out tax rebates to residents.
However, it is understood that this would be technically extremely diffi- cult, given mayors do not know how much individuals have paid in tax. Also, the income tax revenue is not additional money for mayors - it is replacing government grants - so is more likely to be spent on long-term projects than giveaways to residents.
Ministers are considering ways to ensure less-economically productive areas are not left behind.
This could include economic powerhouses like Manchester and London sharing a portion of the rev- enue they generate.
Think-tanks including IPPR North had warned that rushing ahead with fiscal devolution risked creating a "two-tier England", potentially leaving behind roughly quarter of the country's population that do not have a mayoral authority.
The government is planning to encourage these areas - spanning millions of people in Dorset, Som- erset, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, and parts of Kent - to form mayoral authorities in order to bene- fit from greater autonomy.
Burnham reveals his approach
to North Sea oil and gas drilling
Peter Walker
Senior political correspondent
Andy Burnham has said he will take a "pragmatic" approach to oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, saying the government could not ignore the potential energy resources it holds.
The prime minister's comments came in response to a question about his call with Donald Trump on his first day in No 10. Trump had said Burn- ham told him he would "open up" North Sea oil, although this was not mentioned in the UK call summary.
Questioned by reporters during a defence-related visit to Cumbria
about what he had said to the US pres- ident, Burnham replied: "I indicated in the phone call that we had, a week last Monday, that I would take a prag- matic approach when it comes to the North Sea, and that is my intention as we go forward. There is a resource there. When people are struggling, we can't ignore that. Hence, me indi- cating that to the president."
It remains unclear whether such an approach would involve allowing more drilling on existing licences or the issuing of new ones. Labour's 2024 election manifesto ruled out the latter action, and Burnham has said that he will stick to the promises made in the document.
Any move to even stretch the man- ifesto pledge would probably anger a number of Labour MPs, including Ed Miliband, the former energy sec- retary, who is now foreign secretary.
This is particularly the case given Burnham's hint toward a more relaxed approach came on the same day firefighters battled a major health- land fire in Suffolk and a day after half of England was declared to be offi- cially in drought.
Zack Polanski, the leader of the Green party in England and Wales, condemned Burnham's comments, saying it was particularly alarm- ing during a period of drought and wildfires. "Allowing new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea will worsen the climate breakdown," said Polanski.
"It's not too late for Burnham to do the right thing and commit to leaving dangerous fossil fuels in the ground."
Official consultations are still tak- ing place on what to do with the Jackdaw gasfield, east of Aberdeen, and the Rosebank oil and gasfield, west of Shetland. Campaigners have warned that approving these would break the manifesto pledge.
There is speculation that some new projects could be allowed if they are so-called tiebacks, where new fields are connected to already-approved facilities through pipelines.
Miliband once described Rosebank as "climate vandalism". Miatta Fahm- bulleh, who replaced him as energy secretary, has expressed similar views, but has also said she will be pragmatic about the idea of drilling.
Speaking on Wednesday about his conversation with Burnham, Trump said: "Well, he did say one very good thing. He said he's going to open up North Sea oil. If he does that, you're going to be a wealthy country."
Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
3
The 2026 Mercury prize nominees Below, clockwise from top left: Olivia Dean The Art of Loving; Suede Antidepressants; Kojey Radical Don't Look Down; Raye This Music May Contain Hope; Nia Archives Emotional Junglist; Baby Knats A Great Day in Newcastle. Bottom: Dave The Boy Who Played the Harp; Jade That's Showbiz Baby; Paul McCartney The Boys of Dungeon Lane; Dove Ellis Blizzard; War Child Records Help(2); Florence + the Machine Everybody Scream
Ben Beaumont-Thomas
In a history going back to 1992, the Mercury prize has honoured a formidable array of chart-topping A-listers, but it has taken until this year's awards for Paul McCartney to get his first nomination.
McCartney, who is nominated for the award for his album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, an affecting look back at his Liverpool childhood and his burgeoning friendships with his Beatles bandmates.
Speaking to the Guardian as the album was released, McCartney said he felt the presence of John Lennon when writing it. "My collaborator was probably one of the best writers of the century, so, yeah, you're going
to miss him. But when I write [about a specific place], I kind of know he would've known it. I can gauge his reaction: 'That's good, stick that in.'"
McCartney may have the greatest pedigree of anyone up for the prize, which honours the best album of the year by a British or Irish artist, but he is up against one of the most sensational British success stories of recent years: Olivia Dean, whose album The Art of Loving swept the board at the Brit awards and could do the same at next year's Grammys. It has spent all but one of its 43 weeks since release in the UK Top 5, eight of them at No 1.
Her British pop peer Raye is alongside her, for the ambitious, symphonic-scale This Music May Contain Hope, her second album in a row to be nominated after her debut, My 21st Century Blues.
Another big hitter is the rapper Dave, nominated for The Boy Who Played the Harp, containing the global smash Raindance. The album was awarded five stars in the Guardian, with Dave described as "a fantastically smart, sharp lyricist". Dave won the Mercury prize with his debut album Psychodrama in 2019, but didn't make the shortlist for its follow-up, We're All in This Together.
Florence + the Machine earns her fourth Mercury nomination, for her sixth album, Everybody Scream, which was also acclaimed by the Guardian and described as "rounded musically and emotionally". If she loses, only Radiohead would have been nominated more times without winning.
There is a panoply of other big names on a rare compilation album
to be nominated for the Mercury: Help(2), a charity album recorded to raise money for War Child.
It features new recordings by artists including the former Mercury winners Arctic Monkeys, Pulp, Sampa, English Teacher, Ezra Collective, Young Fathers and Beth Gibbons - who won with Portishead - plus a host of other top UK and US talent. It is the sequel to 1995's The Help Album, the only other compilation to be nominated in Mercury history.
All of the aforementioned albums reached No 1 in the UK, while another reached No 3: That's Showbiz Baby! by Jade, whose post-Little Mix career continues to win acclaim.
The goth-tinged Britpoppers Suede are nominated for another commercial success, Antidepressants, which reached No 2; the band
won the Mercury for their self-titled 1993 debut, but haven't been nominated since 1997's Coming Up.
There is space for less well-known artists, including an album that could be seen as the dark horse: Blizzard, by the Irish singer-songwriter Dove Ellis, which received some of 2025's most rapturous reviews across the music press. He also appears on Help(2).
The jazz outfit Knats are nominated for A Great Day in Newcastle, which features a huge cast of musicians, including spoken-word artists, combining for a grand, groove-driven listen. As natives of Newcastle where the award ceremony is now held, they'll be hoping for a repeat of last year when local boy Sam Fender was given the prize.
The UK rapper Kojey Radical, celebrated for his cerebral, socially conscious yet commercially minded tracks, earned his second Mercury nomination, while Nia Archives - a producer and DJ who combines junglist rhythms with indie rock and R&B - also earned her second nomination, for Emotional Junglist, released only last week, on the last day of the eligibility period.
It adds up to a diverse list where eight of the 12 albums feature artists of colour. There are of course some snubs, most notably Lily Allen's West End Girl, which was a huge part of 2025's cultural conversation.
The prize will be awarded at Newcastle's Utilita Arena on 22 October, and the winner will be decided by an 11-strong panel of experts from across the music industry.
PHOTOGRAPHS: AARON PARSONS PHOTOGRAPHY, JIM O'CONNLETTY IMAGES, ERIKA GOLDENING/WIREDINGS
The Guardian Friday 31 July 2026
4
News
Labour says Reform is 'up to its neck in sleaze' and demands donations inquiry
Continued from page 1
never shown he was legally allowed to donate to a political party at the time. With every passing day it's clearer that Reform think the rules don't apply to them. They need to wake up and start treating these allegations with the seriousness they deserve and come clean about who is really bankrolling the party."
The party spokesperson said Reform was "up to [its] neck in sleaze and dodgy money".
At a press conference yesterday, Reform's economics spokesperson, Robert Jenrick, ducked specific questions about the donations.
In testy exchanges with reporters, he said the story "has been going on for a long time", but he did not engage with the substance of the allegations.
He told the BBC: "We are entirely confident that Reform followed all electoral rules at the time when the donations were made. Of course, we'll participate with any inquiries. To the best of my knowledge, we haven't even been contacted by the police, so I don't think we have anything more to add to that."
Jenrick suggested that journalists should be questioning George Cottrell, and said they should return to the intended subject matter of the press conference, which was social care. "Reform is certain that all the electoral rules were followed," he told
ITV. "If you've got a question for Mr Cottrell then I think you have to direct that to him."
The Met's investigation is examining donations to Reform, including those from Britain Means Business, a fundraising vehicle whose director is the party's deputy leader, Richard Tice. The firm gave Reform two donations of £250,000 in the run-up to the 2024 general election. These were first revealed by the Guardian.
Cottrell, who was convicted of fraud in the US, now lives in Montenegro but is seen often alongside Farage. He has previously been described as Farage's chief of staff
but Reform has maintained that he is only a volunteer.
Asked about the transfers, lawyers for Cottrell said their client had no further comment.
In previous legal correspondence, Cottrell has not denied giving his mother - who is understood to be of relatively modest means - large sums. Instead, he said via lawyers that "any political donations his mother has made have been entirely her own decision, and are a matter for her".
Fiona Cottrell has not responded to several attempts by the Guardian to contact her.
Asked on Wednesday for a response to the story, a Reform spokesperson said: "Reform takes pride in its stringent vetting of donations and always ensures that the Electoral Commission guidelines on donations, as set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, are strictly followed, as has been the case with all donations."
Farage is fighting a byelection after resigning his seat of Clacton. All other mainstream parties have declined to stand a candidate against him, though there are 34 people on the ballot paper, including novelty candidates such as Count Binface.
▲ Nigel Farage at a rally in Norfolk this month. His party says it vets donations carefully PHOTOGRAPHY: JOE GIDDENS/PA
Honest Bob got genuinely snappy and tetchy. Why couldn't people ask him the questions he wanted them to?
When you've lost the trust of GB News, when you're too deranged, too extreme and too outright mendacious for your biggest fan, then you know you are in trouble. You can almost sense the panic
beginning to set in at Reform HQ.
No longer topping the opinion polls. A new prime minister resetting the dial, the public increasingly choosing optimism over grievance. A party mired in financial sleaze. A leader turning into a laughing stock in his head-to-head with a dustbin. It was never meant to be this way for Reform. They thought they were the winners.
With Nigel Farage locked away on a self-imposed witness protection programme, Richard Tice on an Accountancy for Dummies course and Zia Yusuf on a never-ending anger management retreat, the Reform front-of-house recess duties have been left to Robert Jenrick. Which is just the way Honest Bob likes it.
Yesterday morning brought Honest Bob's latest exercise in self-destruction. Giving a speech in a large hall, rammed with about ... er ... eight people. The only person in the room who actually wanted to be there was Honest Bob himself. Sometimes, you have to wonder if it's all a game on his part. What he wanted to talk about today was Andy Burnham's "death tax", which doesn't even exist yet other than as a vague possibility to be considered among other options. But for Honest Bob, it was as if it had already been implemented.
Already HMRC inspectors were hovering around
hospices, terrifying dying patients by stealing their wedding rings, confiscating their debit cards and laughing as they emptied their houses and their bank accounts.
This was Honest Bob's wish fulfilment. There's nothing that excites him more than misery porn.
Honest Bob droned on for the best part of 20 minutes. Making specious argument after specious argument. Knocking down countless straw men.
The first question came from GB News, more in sorrow than in anger. Why had Honest Bob made such a fool of himself? Why not actually try to join in the cross-party talks to find a solution to such a serious problem? Why the scare tactics of a death tax that isn't even government policy?
For the first time, Honest Bob looked rattled. It hadn't occurred to him that GB News might desert him. He had believed them to be on the side of grievance and division.
It was all downhill from there. Few other media organisations could be bothered to engage with the half-arsed grandstanding. They were more interested in following up the Guardian's story of Posh George transferring £2m to his mum moments before she sent money to Thicky Dicky.
Now Honest Bob got genuinely snappy and tetchy. Why couldn't people ask him the questions he wanted them to? Where was the respect he deserved?
He had nothing to say on the money transfer other than he was sure everything was above board. Of course it was. We had his word for it. Daddy had just been indulging George.
Much more of this and the wheels will come off entirely.
◀ Robert Jenrick at a press conference called to discuss social care reform. He ducked questions about party donations PHOTOGRAPHY: TOLGA AKMER/EPA
Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
Odyssey argument
Criticism of film lacks respect, says author
Page 7
Fool's mate?
All-female chess team ordered to add a man
Page 17
National
More people recalled to jail than are being released, MoJ figures show
Jessica Murray
Social affairs correspondent
More people were recalled to prison than were released during the first three months of 2026, the first time on record the "recall rate" has surpassed 100% in England and Wales.
Between January and March 2026, 12,977 people were released from prison while 13,193 people were returned for breaching their licence conditions, up 31% from last year, Ministry of Justice data showed.
This means that for every 100 people released, 101 people were recalled to custody, creating a "recall rate" of over 100%.
The rate has increased rapidly from about 30% a decade ago. Between January and March 2016, 17,923 people were released and 5,185 were recalled, meaning about 30 were recalled for every 100 prisoners released. Prisons in England and Wales are close to capacity, and the government has recently paused its plans to release about 6,000 prisoners early to ease the crisis.
Andy Keen-Downs, the chief executive of the Prison Advice and Care Trust, said: "The prison population crisis will not be solved if as many people are being sent back to prison as are leaving it."
He warned that if circumstances do not change, prison places may run out by Christmas.
"Hundreds of people are recalled every month not because they have committed new offences, but because they have fallen foul of licence conditions," he said. "This makes little sense at a time when the government is doing everything it can to reduce pressure on the prison system."
In total, 51,419 prisoners were recalled to jail in the year to March 2026 after breaching the terms of their licence, up 28% from the previous 12 months and the highest number since current records began in 2015. Of all recalls, 22% involved a further charge of offending, while the vast majority were for breaches of licence conditions. They include failing to keep in touch with probation services or failing to reside at an approved address.
The figures also showed 70,066 prisoners have been freed early since September 2024, when the government brought in emergency measures in response to overcrowding.
The MoJ said the increase was probably due in part to early release schemes, under which more prisoners have been released on licence earlier in their sentences.
PHOTOGRAPH: JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES
Poised for a big birthday celebration Zippos circus performers inside the big top at Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire. The circus was founded by Martin "Zippo" Burton in 1986, with its first performances at Highbury Fields in north London. It is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a special tour which runs until October.
UK-funded riot police in France used teargas on asylum seekers
Rajeev Syal
Home affairs editor
French riot police funded by UK taxpayers used teargas on asylum seekers in an attempt to stop them boarding a boat in which three women were later found dead, a charity has claimed.
Footage and photographs seen by the Guardian show CS gas canisters being fired towards groups of people on Plage du Braek near Dunkirk at 4am yesterday. At 6am, three women were found dead in a boat near the same beach.
According to the charity Utopia 56, which took the images, staff saw French riot police firing the canisters at people who were trying to board the same boat in which the bodies were discovered.
As part of a £660m agreement signed by Shabana Mahmood in May,
50 officers from Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité (CRS) "specially trained in the use of riot and crowd control tactics" have been deployed, funded by UK public money.
In a separate development, a fourth person - a man - also died yesterday when his dinghy got into difficulty in a separate incident off the coast of Damnes. The incidents happened hours after the busiest day for small boat crossings so far this year when 752 people arrived in the UK.
Clashes between riot police and asylum seekers took place on roads leading to Plage du Braek from 4am, the charity said.
Angèle Vettorello, a coordinator at Utopia 56, said: "An hour before the boat carrying the women's bodies was found, our team was right next to the beach.
"Riot officers from the CRS were there and were trying to stop 80 people, including families, from
trying to access the beach and those people were trying to get inside the boat. We saw them using teargas against people and later we found at least 35 teargas canisters there.
"We do not know if the women whose bodies were discovered were already in the boat or were part of the group trying to reach the beach.
"We can see police pressure on the beach is putting more people at risk. We saw it last week and we are seeing it now and we have seen it for some time. It is terrible."
The CRS has faced allegations of brutality and racism. In February, nine officers from the force were found guilty of beating peaceful
752
The number of people who arrived by a small boat crossing yesterday - the busiest day of the year so far
protesters who were sheltering from teargas during the gilets jaunes anti-government demonstrations in 2018. Two years ago, leaked WhatsApp messages showed CRS officers had exchanged an image of a sinking small boat laden with migrants.
The CRS, although paid for by the UK, maintains "operational independence" in France and is also authorised to use water cannon, stun grenades and batons.
Imran Hussain, director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, said: "Refugees are ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, and those who risk dangerous small boat journeys do so only out of desperation. Fewer refugees would risk crossings if the government created safe pathways."
More than 900 people have crossed the Channel in the past week as people smugglers took advantage of a calm sea. A total of 13,376 migrants have crossed this year, down from 24,389 at the same point last year.
A government spokesperson said: "We are deeply saddened to hear about these deaths. Every death in the Channel is a tragedy and a stark reminder of the dangers posed by criminal gangs exploiting vulnerable people for profit."
5
The Guardian Friday 31 July 2026
6
News
European countries agree to boycott Fifa contests over World Cup proposal
Continued from page 1
first politician to criticise Fifa's plan, writing on X on Tuesday evening that the World Cup "was never anyone's to sell".
European football associations are expected to write to Fifa this week with a formal notification of their threat to boycott future tournaments unless the planned World Cup sell-off is withdrawn.
It means Infantino faces an uphill battle to push his plan forward. Countries had been given until 19 September to sign up but there will now be significant pressure to drastically revise his scheme or withdraw it completely. While the majority of European FAs had submitted letters of support in favour of his re-election next March, such a decisive line in the sand from Uefa weakens his position dramatically.
Uefa's statement confirmed the decision. "As a result of today's discussion, no Uefa national teams will participate in any Fifa competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that Fifa will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership," it read.
The meeting yesterday was introduced by the Uefa president, Aleksander Ceferin, with executive committee members and Uefa's Fifa council representatives also addressing delegates. Those early speeches are understood to have set the tone, with around 20 further FA heads taking the floor and sources describing an atmosphere of "unity".
Among those to offer their view was Debbie Hewitt, the president of the FA, who one attender said gave a "very tough" exposition in favour
▲ Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump hand the World Cup trophy to the Spanish team this month PHOTOGRAPH: RICHARD SELLERS/ALLSTAR
'We oppose Fifa's plans - the World Cup belongs to football and always will'
FA spokesperson
of a boycott. That was backed up in a statement by an FA spokesperson that read: "We stand shoulder to shoulder with our European colleagues and fully support the collective view. We oppose Fifa's plans - the Fifa World Cup belongs to football and always will."
Along the lines spelt out by Uefa, at senior level the proposed boycott would begin with next year's Women's World Cup, while the first age-group Fifa tournament to be boycotted is likely to be the Under-20 Women's World Cup. It is due to take place in Poland from
5 September with six of the 24 competitors, including England, due to represent Uefa countries.
England's women's team also have a World Cup qualifying playoff tie against Greece in October, which would be a major test of the FA's resolve if Fifa refused to back down.
The European governing body invited other confederations to follow their lead. Uefa are understood to be confident that a number of Asian countries, in particular, are similarly minded.
Infantino's strongholds traditionally lie outside Europe and a collapse in support elsewhere could have severe consequences for the Fifa president.
"National associations around the world are now presented with an ultimatum: accept the irreversible capture of football's greatest competitions or bear the consequences," Uefa said. "This is not a 'democratic decision', but governance by intimidation - an act of coercion unworthy of an institution entrusted with the stewardship of the global game."
Sources within European football believe Uefa's decision increases the chances of a Europe-backed candidate running against Infantino in next year's Fifa election, which he had been expected to sail through without opposition.
Uefa has also held talks with the North American confederation Concacaf, who have expressed their opposition to Fifa's plans but have yet to announce their support for a boycott.
The 41 Concacaf nations arranged their own emergency meeting last night to discuss their response to the crisis.
A number of European national associations are understood to have held talks with their respective governments over the matter, many of whom have backed a boycott in private.
The Liberal Democrat sport spokeswoman, Anna Sabine, also backed the boycott and called for Uefa to go further and create "a new global footballing body built on accountability and transparency that puts fans first".
Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
National
7
◀ Christopher Nolan's film of Homer's epic poem has won widespread acclaim, but Emily Wilson said its writing was 'abysmal'
Greek police investigating case of Scottish woman found dead in suitcase
PA Media
Toxicology tests are being carried out to establish whether foul play was involved in the death of a Scottish woman whose body was found in a suitcase in Greece.
The body of Elisabeth-Jane Ross, 38, was discovered by a homeless man in a derelict building in the Kypseli area of Athens on 18 July.
She is believed to have died between five and seven days before she was found.
According to local media, Ross travelled to Greece from Edinburgh on 29 June, and initially stayed with friends in Keratsini, in the suburbs of Athens, before meeting American friends in Kypseli.
It has been reported that Greek police believe her phone was used to send messages after her death, in an apparent attempt to put people looking for her off the scent.
Ross is understood to be from the Edinburgh area. Greek police are trying to establish whether her death was the result of a 'criminal act', with a police spokesperson confirming toxicology tests were being carried out.
The spokesperson added there was no evidence on either the body or the suitcase that would enable them to identify a third party.
According to local reports, police were also trying to trace where her phone had been in the days after her death.
A spokesperson for Greek police said: 'No other evidence has emerged from the body or the suitcase that would allow us to identify another person.
'We are awaiting the result of toxicology tests to determine the cause of death, and ascertain whether foul play was involved.
'The investigation is ongoing.'
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: 'Our thoughts are with Elisabeth's family during this difficult time. We are providing consular support and are in contact with the local authorities.'
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: 'We are aware of the death of a Scottish woman in Athens and are liaising with authorities in Greece.
'Officers are providing support to her family in Scotland.'
▲ The body of Elisabeth-Jane Ross was found in Athens on 18 July
Oates calls out 'crude' criticism of Nolan's Odyssey by translator
Catherine Shoard
The off-screen drama surrounding Christopher Nolan's blockbuster version of The Odyssey stepped up a gear overnight, as the novelist Joyce Carol Oates sought to defend the filmmaker from criticism by the classicist Emily Wilson.
Writing on X, Oates took issue with the style as well as the rhetoric of Wilson's essay, published this week in the London Review of Books, in which the academic, who published a translation of Homer's epic poem in 2017, wrote that Nolan's film lacked 'psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth' and had 'nothing convincing to say'.
'Rather than disagreeing with interpretations of Homer in a collegial manner,' said Oates, 'this person, who has benefited enormously from
Nolan's film, speaks in the crude language of Maga folks attacking someone with ideas that differ from hers.
'One would expect a translator, of all people, beholden to a text, in service to a text, to be just a wee bit more thoughtful and respectful of others who are acting in good faith just as (she would claim) she is.'
Oates's comments come in the wake of her own implied criticism of the film last week, when she compared it with a 1997 Hallmark Channel version and found it wanting. The author tweeted that the TV movie made by Andrei Konchalovsky boasted a 'much more interesting interpretation' of the sexual dynamic between Circe and Odysseus.
She also praised its portrayal of Odysseus ('So manly, so fully human'), its hades interlude ('mesmerising') and its comparative expansiveness.
Nolan's film has been widely applauded by critics, perhaps partly explaining why the pitch of Wilson's objections shocked many. 'I had hoped that Nolan's affinity with these Homeric themes might push him to new creative heights, and enable him to conjure more believable characters,' she wrote.
'But The Odyssey features his usual combination of grandiosity
and superficiality ... the film's vision is too confused, its characters too underdeveloped, to deliver what it half-promises in terms of big ideas - although it is very good at conveying big bangs and big giants.'
She added: 'The writing is abysmal. None of the characters has a convincing motivation for their actions or words. There are no sex scenes, and the food looks horrible.'
The classicist's verdict was eagerly anticipated, as her translation had been praised by Nolan. The director told Empire magazine he had used the opening line of her version - 'Tell me about a complicated man' - as a key reference point when constructing the character of Odysseus...
Sales of Wilson's translation, and those by others, have risen significantly over the past month, with the bookseller TG Jones also reporting a 1,560% rise in searches for The Iliad.
However, no royalties from the film would have been paid to any writer other than Nolan himself.
Nolan's previous film, Oppenheimer, a biopic of the man behind the atomic bomb, swept the 2023 Oscars, winning seven awards. His follow-up is widely predicted to follow suit.
The Guardian contacted Wilson for comment.
Child road-crossing casualties much higher in deprived areas
Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent
The number of children killed or injured crossing roads is almost five times higher in England's most deprived areas than its wealthiest, official analysis suggests.
Department for Transport figures show a widening gap over the past 10 years in road casualties between
those living in the poorest 10% of postcodes and the most affluent 10%.
The number of people reported killed or seriously injured across Great Britain's roads rose to 29,918 in 2025, 2,432 of whom were under 16. The total was 3% above the 2022-24 average. Fatalities fell 4% to 1,538.
DfT analysis of where the most serious accidents in England occurred showed stark differences in the proportion of casualties from poorer and
wealthier areas, particularly among younger people.
More than 20% of child pedestrians killed or injured lived in the most deprived 10% of areas, compared with 4% living in the least deprived, according to the DfT report on deprivation and road casualties in England.
Campaigners said the 14% rise - from 325 deaths in 2024 to 372 last year - needed a response.
Rebecca Guy of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: 'If the government is serious about reducing road deaths and serious injuries, tackling inequality must be at the heart of its approach.
'That means targeting investment and prevention efforts toward the communities at greatest risk.'
Speeding was a factor in 52% of recorded deaths on Great Britain's roads last year. More than three-quarters of those killed across all types of accidents were male.
Motorways were statistically the safest roads per mile travelled in 2025 - accounting for only 6% of fatalities despite carrying 21% of traffic.
The DfT said: 'Our road safety strategy, the first in over a decade, recognises that people from deprived areas can face higher risks on the road. That's why it aims to reduce deaths and serious injuries for all road users.'
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Climate crisis
▼ Smoke rises from the wildfire at Dunwich Heath, near Leiston, as a major incident was declared PHOTOGRAPH: JOE GIDDENS/PA WIRE
Hundreds evacuated in Suffolk after 'apocalyptic' wildfire near nuclear plant
Pippa Neill Caroline Davies
Hundreds of people were evacuated and a major incident declared yesterday as a wildfire spread over more than 150 hectares on the coast of Suffolk, just a few miles from the nuclear power station Sizewell B.
The fire was still not completely under control as of last night, according to Jon Lacey, chief fire officer, Suffolk fire and rescue.
He said: "The wind change has helped a little bit, unexpectedly, and also the helicopter is helping to dampen the fire down.
"Whether it's actually under control, I wouldn't commit myself to that just yet, but we are surrounded by resources to protect the property and life."
Andy Burnham promised support to firefighters yesterday. Speaking to PA Media reporters during a visit to Cumbria, he said: "We've got the situation under close monitoring, and I'm receiving regular updates. It is a very serious incident."
According to the Met Office, Suffolk has received only 2% of its average monthly rainfall for July.
The wildfire came the day after half of England was declared to be officially in drought, including East Anglia and six other areas. Yesterday Natural Resources Wales declared a drought across Wales, which is on course for its driest July since records began nearly 200 years ago.
As the climate crisis supercharges "whiplash" wet-then-dry weather, UK and Europe are seeing back-to-back heatwaves that encourage vegetation but then dry
it out, producing ideal fuel for fires. So far this month, firefighters have responded to 393 wildfires across England and Wales, making July the busiest month on record and placing significant pressure on crews and
resources across the fire and rescue service.
Phil Garrigan, chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), said: "Wildfires are no longer isolated or seasonal events. They are becoming
◄ The fire was still not completely under control last night after the fire service was called on Wednesday PHOTOGRAPH: SUFFOLK FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE
a recurring feature of the risks facing our communities and emergency services. As climate and environmental conditions change, we must ensure our fire and rescue services are equipped to meet that challenge."
In France the fires around Bordeaux continue to smoulder, while Spain and now Turkey are dealing with fires of their own.
In Suffolk the fire and rescue services were called to reports of a fire at Dunwich Heath, near Leiston at 5.30pm on Wednesday and that night a number of local homes were evacuated. Rob Tucker, who owns a holiday cottage at Cliff House Holiday Park, said: "We were evacuated at 10pm
'Immense strain'
England on track for record number of heat-related deaths
Damian Carrington
Environment editor
England is on track to record its highest ever number of heat-related deaths this summer after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said an estimated extra 2,877 people had died in the May and June heatwaves.
The record was set in 2022 with
2,985 deaths, and August, traditionally the hottest month, is yet to arrive.
The health secretary, Yvette Cooper, said yesterday: "My thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones as a result of the long and intense heatwaves."
The UKHSA analysis estimated there were 753 heat-related deaths in the heatwave from 24 to 27 May, and a further 2,124 between 21 and 28
June. The total is almost double the figure for the whole summer in 2025.
The UKHSA estimate is based on recorded deaths. It calculates excess mortality during the heatwaves compared with mortality levels at similar times of the year that did not experience heatwaves. The figures are similar to an earlier estimate based on data showing the link between heat and deaths in the past.
Heatwaves are made more intense and more likely by the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis; the heatwave that affected western Europe at the end of last month was the most severe and widespread ever recorded. The heat in 2027 will be exacerbated by a super El Niño weather system and
temperatures will continue to rise until carbon emissions are cut.
"The new figures highlight the significant danger that very hot weather can pose to people's health," said Dr Ross Thompson, principal environmental public health scientist at UKHSA. "As the climate becomes warmer, we can expect periods of hot weather to become longer, more frequent and more extreme.
"That's why it's vital that individuals, communities and systems are prepared to deal with higher temperatures, and to ensure those most vulnerable are protected."
Cooper said this summer's heat was having "an increasingly serious impact on the health of thousands of
people, and on the pressures facing our NHS too".
She added: "My heartfelt thanks go to the NHS staff, care workers and emergency responders who have worked tirelessly through these exceptionally busy and challenging months to protect and care for people affected by the heat."
Some ambulance services reported a record number of calls during the heatwaves.
During the June heatwave in England a new high temperature for the month, of 38C, was recorded at Lingwood, Norfolk, while the 31.5C recorded at Kew Gardens in May was a new record for that month.
Dr Garyfallos Konstantinoudis,
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▲ The heatwave and a hosepipe ban leave the grass scorched at Tooting Bec Common, south London, while the fields at St Paul's School, in Barnes, are green PHOTOGRAPH: MARTIN GOHWIN/ THE GUARDIAN
yesterday. One of the guys at Holiday Park came along and said we were being evacuated."
Yesterday a nearby caravan park was also evacuated and local residents opened up their homes.
Andrew Turner, chair of Westleton parish council, told the Guardian: "I had two families in my house. Two families and two dogs. There are now pillows and stuff in the village hall but the objective is to get everyone into houses. The council is still taking names of people who are willing to put up rooms."
"We're a tight-knit community. It's great to see the community come together. I wouldn't expect anything less."
The damage to wildlife in the area, however, is expected to be considerable as part of the fire was on RSPB Minsmere nature reserve. Local RSPB area manager Adam Rowlands said: "The heathland habitat where the main fire is, is home to really special and rare species in the UK, birds such as nightjars, nightingales, Dartford warbler. It's absolutely devastating to see this damage compared to last night when the fire started, I saw a 20ft fireball burning through the trees, with nightjars flying away from the fireball.
"Last night I stood on the heath and it was apocalyptic, the sky was orange, the smoke was billowing, it could be seen and smelled 20 miles to the north of the sight."
Firefighters have said there is not thought to be any danger to the nuclear power station Sizewell B, which sits a few miles away.
An EDF spokesperson said the wildfire was not affecting operations at the power station. It is understood that Sizewell B has an emergency plan in place that covers a range of scenarios including a fire on site.
People have been urged to avoid the area where possible and keep windows and doors closed.
Dr Zakary Campbell-Lochrie, a lecturer in fire science at the University of Edinburgh, said: "This wildfire is occurring at the same time as drought conditions have officially been declared in large parts of England, including Suffolk. The hot, dry weather conditions, including the multiple heatwave events across much of the UK in recent weeks, lead to strong drying conditions for vegetation, which can subsequently be highly susceptible to ignition and can present a much greater danger when fires do occur."
The climate crisis, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, is making heatwaves more intense and more likely. Yesterday the UK Health Security Agency said that England was on track to record its highest ever number of heat-related deaths this summer.
31.5C
The record temperature for May seen at Kew, west London, which is home to the Climate Change Oak
of Imperial College London and co-author of the earlier study, said: "The UKHSA's analysis provides clear, tragic confirmation of the significant health impact these heatwaves had across England and Wales.
"Extended periods of extreme heat place immense strain on the human body. Let's not forget that behind these numbers are real people who died too soon.
"We must take urgent action to adapt our homes, care settings and infrastructure, while doubling down on global efforts to reach net zero and stop temperatures rising further."
There may be small changes to the UKHSA estimate when full death records are available.
The grass is greener
Venues that avoid the hosepipe ban anger locals
Helena Horton
After multiple punishing heatwaves, and no rain in parts for over a month, it seems the whole of the south of England is golden brown.
But close to Hammersmith Bridge in Barnes, south-west London, there is the unmistakable scent of damp soil. The playing fields of St Paul's school, where fees are up to £57,000 a year, are a bright, lush green.
The neatly trimmed grass looks like a mirage in the otherwise parched landscape. It has been a shock to appalled residents, who are under a hosepipe ban and have to let their own lawns die.
In England, 40% of the population is under a hosepipe ban, with seven water firms - Affinity Water, Anglian Water, Cambridge Water, Southern Water, South East Water, Thames Water and South West Water - all restricting use. But there are exemptions for golf courses, sports pitches and school playing fields, meaning there are pockets of green while vegetation in public parks dies.
It seems the bans came too late; the lack of water across the country means half of England is now in drought. This is despite the fact some parts of the country had the wettest start to the year on record.
Elsewhere in south-west London, families were desperately trying to keep their children cool during school holidays. Young children could be seen huddled under trees in the shade on Tooting Bec Common, which has been scorched by the sun to the extent that the grass has died, leaving bare, hard soil.
Parents with young children are unable to fill paddling pools to keep them cool, as temperatures have hit 30C or above on 24 separate occasions so far this summer.
But the school, despite being closed for the summer, is allowed to keep its lawns verdant due to a loophole that allows schools to water their pitches for "health and safety" reasons.
"They should be under the same rules as the rest of us," says 62-year-old Steve Barker, who was stopping to mop his brow while on a walk along the Thames. "Why are they watering the playing fields when they aren't even using them? It isn't
term-time! It definitely looks better than my grass - I've had to let it die, and it is probably too late to save it now. They must be using a lot of water to keep it all so green."
While the contrast between the lush green of St Paul's and the withering hydrangeas of the local community gardens is sharp, it is by no means unique: similar tensions are arising across the south. On the coast of Sandwich Bay in Kent, there are patches of bright green among the parched heathland. This is the exclusive Royal St George's Golf Club, which hosts the Open Championship.
The club allows membership only by recommendation by other members. Visitors can attend on some occasions throughout the year for about £400 a day.
South East Water customers in the county are under a hosepipe ban, and the parks in Kent have gone brown.
Dulwich college in south London, the £67,000-a-year school that counts Nigel Farage among its alumni, has also been keeping its acres of sports pitches lush, using powerful sprinklers. The school has said it is "using water as conservatively as possible".
It broke up for summer earlier this month, but continues to keep its sports pitches well watered. The community gardens in nearby Brockwell Park, however, cannot be properly watered.
That pattern has intensified demands for a change in the water system, to iron out these
'Private school fields stay lush and green while everywhere else parks go brown'
Cat Hobbs
We Own It
inequalities and stop the need for as many hosepipe bans.
Helena Dollimore, the Labour MP for Hastings and Rye, said: "Hosepipe ban exemptions for golf courses and private school sports pitches symbolise everything wrong with our water system. How can it be right that a private school can use hundreds of litres of water to keep the grass green in the middle of the summer holidays, but children cannot play in their paddling pools?
"These are the consequences of consecutive Conservative governments selling off our most precious resource to create a system that benefits shareholders."
Cat Hobbs, founder and director of the campaign group We Own It, said the inequality was "shocking". She added: "Private school playing fields are staying lush and green while everywhere else, flowers wilt, parks go brown and kids can't stay cool in the paddling pool."
Hobbs thinks that "public ownership is crucial to manage our water properly, cut leaks and stop unfair exemptions like this".
In Barnes, anger at the private school's lush green lawns has reached fever pitch. The school is hurriedly writing a letter to its neighbours to explain why the water is being used.
Danielle Pierce, the estates manager, said: "We are watering our sports pitches, not the wider grounds, in line with Thames Water's published guidance.
"This water comes from a dedicated standpipe and is not mains drinking water."
Prof Hannah Cloke, a natural hazards researcher at the University of Reading, said: "I would hope green keepers and grounds staff follow best advice about when to water, only watering areas that they need to. It does seem crazy to sprinkle drinking water over sports pitches that don't need it, when others are facing severe shortages."
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Climate crisis
▼ Firefighters working to contain a big blaze near Saumos in south-west France yesterday PHOTOGRAPH: MAEL DUBIEZ/EPA
Record 'fire weather' mix of heat, pollution and wind causes devastation in the EU
Ajit Niranjan
Europe environment correspondent
Fire weather in the EU has broken records for severity for this time of year, data shows, as firefighters race to extinguish blazes across the Mediterranean.
Inflamed by carbon pollution, the hot, dry and windy weather across the EU since the start of the year has been 43% more severe than the end-of-July average over the last two decades, data from the European Forest Fire Information Service (Effis) shows.
Three firefighters died in Greece on Tuesday, officials said, while firefighters in France and Spain made progress tackling major blazes burning dangerously close to large cities.
The figures, which were published yesterday, showed that so far this year 435,000 hectares (1.1m acres) have burned in the EU, roughly triple the recent historical average. The devastation is the result of 1,400 fires, more than double the average.
In France, where a blaze in the dense pine forests near Bordeaux grew so big it generated a thunderstorm that could ignite more fires, a total of 91,000 hectares have burned, according to the Effis, breaking the country's record for a full year of fires with one month of summer still to go.
Regional authorities in Gironde said the fire remained under control
after a quiet night, with continuing work around its edge and in active hotspots. Temperatures were forecast to be "fairly favourable" after 38C heat and strong winds hampered firefighting efforts on Wednesday.
A further 84,000 people were allowed to return home yesterday after 60,000 people were given the green light on Tuesday.
In Spain, where its largest wildfire on record was burning west of Madrid, a total of 207,000 hectares have burned across the country, according to the Effis. The figure is nearly five times the average for this time of year but shy of the devastation reached during the 2022 fires.
Regional authorities in Madrid said the fire had been declared stable but residents of seven housing estates were unable to return home. The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced the end of the national emergency in the regions of Ávila and Madrid yesterday morning. However, a new fire near the Portuguese border had prompted the evacuation of 600 people, officials said.
Wildfires in France and Spain have forced more than 300,000 people from their homes and tourist accommodation this month, prompting requests for EU support in the form of firefighters, fire engines, and water-dropping planes and helicopters.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, thanked firefighters for their "courage
Clooneys forced to flee Provence home
George and Amal Clooney have been forced to flee their French home as a wildfire burned nearby, his agent confirmed yesterday.
The Clooneys bought their hilltop estate, Domaine du Canadel, in Brignoles, in the Var, Provence, in 2021 and it has since become their primary residence.
In a letter to the mayor of Brignoles the actor said: "First, we hope you and the people of our city are safe and second, that Amal and I are determined to ensure we remain fully part of this community and [will] contribute to its rebuilding. We love Brignoles and the friends we have there." Catherine Shoard
▼ The Clooneys' Canadel estate in Brignoles, south-eastern France, where the couple have pledged to help rebuild the community PHOTOGRAPH: BEST IMAGE /BACKGRID
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and commitment" on Wednesday as crews sent by Romania and Greece extended their stays.
Difficult weeks ahead are expected as fires worsen in Italy and Greece, officials at the EU's crisis management centre had said on Wednesday morning. Later that day, the Greek fire department announced the deaths of two firefighters who were tackling a blaze on the island of Crete, and of another in the south of the mainland.
Greece has so far had a relatively calm fires season, Effis data up to 29 July shows, with slightly fewer fires than usual and a burned area well below the average.
Meanwhile, Italy and Portugal have seen near record-breaking numbers of fires, and burned areas well above average. The countries have so far been spared the scale of destruction experienced by France and Spain, but one firefighter died in Italy last week while tackling ferocious blazes in Sicily.
Climate breakdown is causing Europe to burn this summer, with a series of almost back-to-back heatwaves drying out vegetation and providing a vast fuel supply that has allowed small fires to grow into raging infernos.
Sánchez repeated calls to create a "national pact" to address the climate emergency during a visit to a command post on Wednesday.
"These fires may or may not be caused by humans, but in any case, they increase exponentially as a result of these high temperatures, low humidity, and also the atmospheric phenomena that these fires, these large fires, cause in our forests," he said.
A study by an international team of scientists published yesterday in the journal Scientific Reports found that since the 1980s, southern Europe had experienced a steady decline in the number of fires and the area burned as authorities became better at preventing fires and suppressing them.
The study found the trend began to reverse in 2018.
It found that summer days conducive to strong wildfires had more than doubled since 1981 across large parts of Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece.
In parts of France and Spain, the summer time fire weather index over the past decade was up to 50% higher than the 1981-2010 average.
The scientists said this had resulted in European fires shifting to "fewer but more intense and larger events", with fires that escaped initial attempts at suppression able to "quickly become catastrophic".
Rapid analyses have found western Europe's June heatwave would have been "virtually impossible" in a world without climate breakdown, while the level of soil dryness - a major factor in bigger blazes - was made five times more likely. The heatwaves are estimated to have killed at least 10,000 people and cost grain farmers €2bn (€1,7bn) in lost crops.
The increase in temperatures from fossil fuel pollution has come as rural regions in southern Europe have hollowed out, with farms being abandoned as populations age and young people move to cities. The resultant overgrowth in vegetation has troubled firefighters and wildfire researchers across the Mediterranean.
'Extremely scary findings' Global heating made blazes far more likely, study reveals
Damian Carrington Environment editor
The extreme heat and drought stoking the huge wildfires in Spain and France were made far more likely by the climate crisis, scientific analysis has found.
The hot, dry and windy weather was made at least 20 times more likely by global heating in Spain and twice as likely in France, experts from the World Weather Attribution consortium have calculated.
The finding is the latest to pin the blame for western Europe's sweltering and deadly summer firmly on the global heating caused by the burning of oil, gas and coal.
The intense heatwave at the end of June, which is estimated to have killed 20,000 people, could not have happened without the extra heat trapped by carbon pollution, a previous WWA study showed. Another found that the climate-crisis-driven
The area burned by wildfires in the EU Cumulative weekly area, thousands of hectares
Weekly number of fires across the EU
Source: Effis
▲ A scene of devastation yesterday after a wildfire roged through Villa del Prado, south-west of Madrid PHOTOGRAPH: MARU FERNANDEZAP
heat was "sucking soils dry" as extreme drought spread across the continent.
The searing heat and parched land led to very high "daily severity ratings". The DSR metric, used in the new analysis, measures how severe a wildfire will be if ignited.
Studies of the 2025 wildfires also found they were supercharged by the climate crisis.
This year's fires in western Europe have been made worse by a wet winter and spring, which boosted the growth of vegetation that then dried out and provided fuel for the fires - so-called whiplash conditions.
Global heating is making winters wetter and summers drier and hotter in Europe.
Dr Clair Barnes of Imperial College London, who is part of the WWA study team, said: "We've seen repeatedly how climate change increases hot, dry, flammable conditions that are extremely conducive to wildfires.
"What's unique about [the July fires in Spain and France] is that it's still early in the season - and with another heatwave looming, these findings are extremely scary.
"What we're seeing in is a clear sign of the escalating impacts of [humanousness] warming."
Julie Arrighi, of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, said: "What we are seeing now in Spain and France goes well beyond what we would expect from past events."
The wildfires have released huge plumes of toxic smoke. Augustin Colette, of the French National Institute for Industrial Environment and Risks, said: "The smoke increased particulate (pollution) peak levels up to 20 times above what is considered 'fair air quality', and extremely poor air quality was felt up to 400km [250 miles] away from the fires."
About 1.5 million people a year are estimated to have their lives shortened by wildfire smoke.
The WWA analysis assessed the seven-day period with the highest DSR for each country. The scientists used weather records and established statistical methods to estimate how much more likely a week of extremely high DSR was in today's heated world, compared with the world before mass burning of fossil fuel raised the global temperature by 1.4C.
Major wildfires have also broken out in Britain and Greece, where three firefighters lost their lives.
Silence on climate crisis
French politicians focus on the short-term issues
Angelique Chrisafis
As dozens of wildfires burned across France this week amid the summer's fourth brutal heatwave, some wondered whether voters' first-hand experience of the climate emergency would change the political debate before next year's presidential election.
The Green leader, Marine Tondelier - who cut short a tour of France after being advised that at seven months pregnant she should avoid breathing smoke-filled air near a huge wildfire in Gironde - said the political class still had its "head in the sand". She said the government had ignored her plea for cross-party crisis talks to declare "a national state of emergency on the climate" this summer. She called for a new "climate welfare state" in France to help those affected after fires led to about 260,000 people being evacuated across the country.
But politicians focused instead this week on arguments over budgets, crisis-planning and criticisms over the levels of state funding for emergency services and equipment to fight fires, including water-bombing planes. The more complex longer-term issues of cutting emissions and structural societal changes to address climate heating were largely left aside.
President Emmanuel Macron said it was not the time to analyse lessons learned while France was still in "full battle" against fires.
Macron, whose term as president ends next spring, returned to his war vocabulary of the 2020 Covid pandemic. As the Gironde fire burned an area four times the size of Paris, Macron flew to the crisis operations centre in Bordeaux, saying France was facing its "hardest situation since the second world war". He also said the situation was "totally atypical". Climate experts, in contrast, said growing numbers of forest fires amid rising temperatures had been predictable and would become increasingly common.
Before the presidential election, most parties will not clarify their full manifestos - and positions on the climate crisis - until this winter, and some climate campaigners worry that by then the fires and heatwaves may be less present in the media and in people's minds.
Marine Le Pen, who leads the far-right anti-immigration National Rally party (RN) is seen as having a good chance of reaching the final round vote in the presidential race. During the second round of the last presidential race in 2022, Le Pen said: "I have never been a climate sceptic". But the following year, she said the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was "alarmist", and some RN politicians have questioned the role of human activity in global heating.
The RN has also opposed the workings of the EU's green deal, designed to make the EU carbon neutral by 2050. But since the early summer heatwaves, key figures in Le Pen's party have sought to stress that the RN are not climate crisis deniers. This week, the RN focused more on the heroism of firefighters and alleged underfunding of fire services by the state than long-term environmental action.
Earlier in July the radical left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon proposed reorganising French regions into "eco-regions" to ensure water supply and deal with the climate crisis.
Rémi Lefebvre, a professor of political science at the University of Lille, said of the fires' impact on the presidential campaign: "Ecology will probably be talked about more during the election campaign, but I'm not convinced that it will reconfigure French political life." He said serious wildfires in previous years had not forced a change of direction and French politics had shown itself to be "too short-termist" to dig deep into changing models of society.
Lefebvre said Le Pen did not take a stance of denying climate change "because that is no longer possible ... we've passed that point". But he said the broader issue was political "inaction" on climate challenges. He said many French people felt those in charge were powerless to act.
▲ Aftermath of a wildfire in Lanton, Gironde, yesterday. Temperatures cooled near Bordeaux, raising hopes of an end to the area's coastal pine forest fire PHOTOGRAPH: OLIVIER MORIN/APF/GETTY
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Engineer died after Heathrow fuel tank explosion, inquest told
PA Media
A Virgin Atlantic engineer died of a traumatic brain injury after an explosion as he worked inside a plane fuel tank, an inquest heard.
The aircraft technician Georgie
Buxton, 23, was injured during the incident at Heathrow on 11 June. He died in hospital on 7 July.
Senior coroner Lydia Brown opened and suspended an inquest into his death at West London coroners court yesterday, as she is waiting to see if criminal charges are brought. A criminal investigation has been
launched by the Metropolitan police, who are working with the Health and Safety Executive.
Buxton was one of two technicians who were examining a fuel leak on a Boeing 787 900 on 11 June. A spokesperson for Aviation Policing told the court: "Both technicians wore breathing apparatus to protect them from any residual fuel fumes whilst inside the fuel tank."
The spokesperson said there was "a non-combustion explosion" while Buxton was inside the fuel tank.
He added: "Georgie Buxton took
the impact of that explosion to his head and torso, causing him to lose consciousness and suffer catastrophic injury."
His colleague, who was in another part of the fuel tank and avoided injury, managed to move Buxton from the tank.
The London Ambulance Service, plus Aviation Policing officers and Helicopter Emergency Medical Service attended the scene.
Buxton was transferred to hospital where he had several surgeries but "succumbed to his injuries".
A forensic post-mortem examination, carried out at the request of the police, found Buxton had suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Buxton was an aircraft technician for Virgin Atlantic based at Heathrow, having previously worked in the same role for Ryanair, the court heard. The Aviation Policing spokesperson described the criminal investigation as being at "a very early stage" and looking into "very serious and complex matters".
Brown said she had no details of any potential charges.
Top doctors decry end of NHS scheme for foreign medics
Denis Campbell
Health policy editor
The NHS has scrapped a longstanding scheme that let foreign doctors develop their skills through placements in UK hospitals and was seen as an example of British global "soft power".
Senior doctors have criticised NHS England's decision to axe the Medical Training Initiative, under which 400 to 500 foreign-trained doctors come to work in Britain each year.
Known in the NHS as "earn, learn and return", the MTI enabled medical graduates from low- and middle-income countries such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal to spend up to two years in the health service developing their skills, making them better doctors when they returned home.
Britain's medical royal colleges, which represent doctors, are aghast at the unexpected and "abrupt" axing of a programme they say helped not only the medics but also the NHS and their home countries.
It cost NHS England only £176,000 and has given thousands of foreign doctors a chance to work in Britain since it was set up in 2011.
Some fear it will exacerbate the already acute shortage of doctors across an NHS that relies heavily on international graduates, who comprise two-fifths of all its medics.
A spokesperson for the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, the umbrella group for all the medical colleges, said: "While we respect NHS England's decisions, we are obviously very disappointed.
"We believe the MTI has been a successful example of international medical collaboration, supporting both the NHS workforce and healthcare development overseas ... We think it's also made a vital
500
The number of foreign-trained doctors who came to work in Britain each year through the NHS scheme
contribution to the UK's international reputation on the world stage and represents a prime example of British soft power."
The academy administers the scheme, sponsors the doctors who come to Britain for up to two years and helps arrange their temporary visas.
Doctors already in Britain through the MTI will be able to finish their placements, while those who applied for the next round by March will still be given places. The scheme will then be wound up.
An unpublished internal review by NHS England concluded the MTI "wasn't meeting its intended purpose" because some foreign doctors were staying in Britain, meaning health services in their countries of origin were not benefiting.
The review also found evidence of "wage exploitation", with foreign doctors being paid less than their UK peers despite doing the same type of work.
However, senior doctors believe NHS England decided to axe the MTI this year to help the government resolve its long-running dispute with resident doctors in England, who have been striking over pay and jobs since 2023.
They privately suspect it was done to appease the British Medical Association, which at the time was arguing for UK medical graduates to be given priority in the allocation of places on training schemes in surgery, A&E care and other specialities, amid a severe shortage of such posts.
An NHS England spokesperson said: "This taxpayer-funded initiative was closed after an independent review found it was not meeting its purpose to improve the quality of healthcare overseas.
"While action is also being taken to prioritise the needs of UK-trained medical graduates, the closure of this scheme was unrelated."
Dr Clare McNaught, the president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, said the end of the MTI as UK medical graduates were being prioritised in medical training was "concerning [because] international medical graduates make up more than 40% of the UK's medical workforce and the NHS relies heavily on their expertise to deliver day-to-day services".
Prof Mark Strachan, the president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said he was "disappointed" at the axing of the MTI, which his college was proud to have been part of. He said: "It offered real benefits to the international medical graduates taking part - who would then take their learning and new skills back to their home countries - and to health services in the UK."
Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
National
13
New border rules left couple stuck in Poland after living in UK for 80 years
Lisa O'Carroll
Senior correspondent
A couple who came to the UK from Poland as child refugees after the second world war have told of their terrifying experience after being told they did not have post-Brexit rights to return to the UK.
Maria Krupa, 85, and her husband, Czeslaw, 92, had been living as Polish citizens in the UK for nearly 80 years when they travelled to Poland to meet family members in May.
However, they were not allowed to board their Ryanair flight home on the grounds that they neither had proof of the right to live in the UK nor the new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) now required for foreign tourists entering the UK.
"It was a big shock," said Maria Krupa. "We were very, very disappointed and a bit upset because my husband takes a lot of medicine because of a stroke to his spinal cord."
The Krupas, who met in the UK and later married and settled in Bury, Greater Manchester, were originally issued with "aliens' registration cards" and have travelled extensively as adults without anyone asking for their immigration status.
Czeslaw, who came from Lviv which was then part of Poland, and Maria, who left her home city in what is now Belarus as an infant, arrived in Southampton in 1947 and 1948 respectively as the dependants of displaced Polish service members who had been evacuated in 1940.
Their fathers had been part of Gen Władysław Anders' Polish army, which served with the allies in Persia,
India, the Middle East and Africa and played a key role in Germany's defeat.
"We tried to explain to Ryanair that our fathers fought for Poland and England in the war, but they refused to let us on the plane because they said they would have to pay a big fine," said Maria. "My husband was really upset," she said, explaining that he was in a mobility scooter. He has difficulty getting in and out of cars and "just wanted to get home".
The couple are now speaking out to help others in the same position. "It was a big, big shock because we never heard of this and we never thought for one minute that after nearly 80 years someone would tell us we couldn't go home," said Maria.
Kate Smart, chief executive of Settled, who helped the Krupas, said her team saw "thousands of cases" like theirs. "It is a really common occurrence, almost on a daily basis."
The EU settlement scheme was launched in 2019 to give EU citizens living in the UK the documentary evidence needed to travel in and out of the country as they did under the pre-Brexit free movement rules.
Many of those seen by Settled are elderly, with British children and grandchildren. "They have nobody in their family circle who thinks like immigrants so they don't talk about things like settled status," said Smart.
Maria Krupa said she had never thought to get a British passport. "I love England. I always say, I'm very grateful to England, you know, to have taken so many people, thousands after the war. But I just thought it was important that we stay Polish," she said.
After being forced to leave the
▲ Maria and Czeslaw Krupa in Bury, where they live
◀ Czeslaw (far left) with his brother and a cousin in Africa in 1944; left, Maria in Karachi, where her father was stationed, in 1943
'We tried to explain to Ryanair that our fathers fought for Poland and England, in the war'
Maria Krupa
airport late one night in May, they returned the next day with an ETA but had to cheat the system by posing as tourists claiming they lived at a Polish home as the online form would not accept their British address.
"When we arrived in England we were terrified, we had to be careful about what we said," she said. "We were terrified because they started asking questions and we thought we are not going to lie again and have to tell the truth."
After going to Citizens Advice they were connected with Settled. Smart commended the Home Office resolution centre for its swift action after the charity submitted a no-time-limit application that resulted in settled status for the Krupas last week. She appealed to the government to take note, arguing that "a process should have kicked in at the airport" when the issue such as this arose.
The Home Office has been approached for comment.
Man, 55, jailed for destroying family home in row over will
PA Media
A man who destroyed his childhood home in a fire in the mistaken belief that he had been cut out of his inheritance of the property has been jailed for four years.
Darren Davies, 55, set fire to the £260,000 four-bedroom detached bungalow where he lived with his brother, Craig, in Hambleton, Lancashire, following the death of their parents just months apart in 2024.
Neighbours were disturbed by a loud bang on the morning of 27 March and the property erupted into flames, Preston crown court heard.
Davies emerged from the house "miraculously uninjured" and told a passer-by: "My family want the house. If I can't have it, no one can."
Prosecutor Michael O'Brien said firefighters had brought the blaze under control before it could spread to other properties. The court was told gas cylinders had been placed in the kitchen, living room and one of the front bedrooms. Petrol was found in the loft and a candle had been lit.
Davies was jailed for four years and four months after he pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered. In a victim personal statement, Craig Davies told the court that his parents had made wills that gave
an equal share of the bungalow to himself and his brother. He said he told the defendant last year that he wanted to sell the property and "go our separate ways" but said it "would not happen straight away".
He said: "In early 2025, Darren developed the bizarre idea that there was a secret will signed by my dad in the last few months of his life leaving the house solely to myself. This was a notion entirely of his making. He continually accused me of being part of a plot against him."
Craig Davies, who was not in court, said: "The only thing that remained in fact was the extension that my dad had put in. That would have put a wry smile on his face. Everything I owned in the house was incinerated. Darren has effectively erased everything that defined my life before 27 March."
He applied to the court for compensation from his brother for a sum of more than £170,000, including the half-share of the bungalow
and £20,000 for the loss of his extensive CD collection.
The defendant was said to have a "long history" of mental health difficulties including diagnoses of bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety and autism spectrum disorder. A
◀ Darren Davies set fire to his childhood home, above, wrongly believing it had been left solely to his brother
psychiatric report from the defence concluded he was mentally unwell at the time of setting the fire when he was overcome by an "autism crisis".
In a letter to the judge Darren Davies apologised to his brother and family, to the neighbours he "put at risk" and the village of Hambleton.
Neil Ronan, defending, said: "It is merciful and lucky that I make this submission without anyone having been hurt - including him, as it was his plan to end his life. For over a decade he was the primary carer for his ailing parents. He did regrettably become more alienated and spent more time in his room."
Judge Parry told Davies it was "a sad and serious case", but he took into account his guilty plea at the earliest opportunity and that his responsibility was "substantially reduced by your mental disorder". Davies must serve a maximum of half his sentence in custody, with the remainder on licence.
The Guardian Friday 31 July 2026
14
News Middle East
Saudi Arabia plans offensive against Houthis in Yemen to allow passage for oil exports
Patrick Wintour William Christou
Saudi Arabia is preparing for a military offensive against the Houthis by sea and possibly by land in central Yemen, Yemeni sources believe, in a move to break the chokehold on its oil exports through the southern Red Sea.
Saudi forces have been seen withdrawing from the east of Yemen in what could be the groundwork for a land offensive. At the same time, Riyadh is trying to organise a naval coalition to protect shipping from Houthis attacks in the Red Sea and the Bah al-Mandab strait.
The Saudi defence ministry yesterday said 14 states including Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan and Djibouti had issued a joint statement supporting a maritime defence coalition.
The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, and much of its Red Sea coastline, announced on 20 July that they were implementing a blockade against Saudi ships, but have denied they are planning to impose tolls on all ships.
The group says it will lift the blockade once Saudi Arabia lifts its blockade on Yemen, positioning the dispute with Saudi Arabia over the future of Yemen and not directly about Iran. Saudi Arabia intervened in the Yemeni civil war in 2015 in support of the country's UN-recognised
government against the Houthis rebels. Riyadh has also asked the US and a group of European countries, including Germany, France, the UK and Italy, to join a Red Sea coalition.
The EU already has a naval protection mission, Aspides, operating in the Red Sea and it remains unclear if the Houthis are mounting a general blockade or one directed solely at Saudi Arabia.
Houthis forces said on 25 July they had also hit "sensitive" oil transport sites inside Saudi Arabia linking eastern province oilfields to a Red Sea export hub. If the Red Sea route is closed to Saudi shipping in addition to the strait of Hormuz blockade on the other side of the Arabian
▲ An image that the US says shows smoke rising after a strike on Iran
peninsula, the kingdom's oil export will be severely constrained.
Up to 80% of Saudi crude exports were shipped through the strait of Hormuz before the Iran war began. The Red Sea has therefore grown in importance, with over half of Saudi oil now transported overland to loading terminals at the port city of Yanbu.
Saudi strikes in Iraq on Wednesday, meanwhile, killed at least 20 when it hit back at the Iraqi militia for striking its oil facilities. The US president, Donald Trump, said the joint US-Saudi attacks had been mounted with the agreement of the Iraqi government, a claim that Baghdad did not confirm.
The Saudi defence minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, held an urgent meeting with Trump and JD Vance on Wednesday to discuss the next steps. The Saudis are keen to show they will defend themselves and their industry, but are not willing to escalate the war against Iran, arguing the disagreements between the US and Iran can still be settled by diplomacy.
The low-intensity, tit-for-tat war between the US and Iran reignited as the US carried out strikes on Iran and Tehran retaliated at US allies in the region.
The US's strikes overnight on Wednesday - the first in more than five days - came hours after Trump vowed to hit Iran "very hard" following Tehran's targeting of a base in Jordan that hosts American troops.
US Central Command yesterday said it had hit dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran as part of a "heavy wave of strikes", including military command centres and missile and drone facilities.
"The strikes aimed to further diminish threats posed by Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping and neighbouring Gulf countries," it said.
Mediators insisted talks were continuing despite the renewed hostilities, with the Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, saying they were doing their "utmost to bring all parties back" to the negotiating table.
Elsewhere, drone strikes led to fires on two natural gas vessels at the Egyptian port of Damietta, according to the British maritime security firm Ambrey. The Egyptian government confirmed a drone attack had ignited the blaze, but it was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strikes on a US-owned floating storage facility and a Greek-owned tanker. No injuries were reported and the port remained operational.
It was the first time Egypt has been attacked since the Iran war started and signalled a potential widening of the conflict. The Houthis rebels said they were not responsible.
The troop movements inside Yemen involve concentrating forces for what could be an attack on al-Bayda, a governorate in central southern Yemen captured by the Houthis in 2020-21, the sources said.
Fighting between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia has erupted in the past fortnight with the Houthis mounting attacks against Saudi Aramco facilities. The strikes inside Saudi Arabia came hours after Saudi airstrikes targeted Houthi-controlled sites in the port of Hodeidah and a third Saudi commercial vessel was attacked in the Red Sea.
A crisis within Iran riven by internal dissent and fears of a forever war
Iran, in the midst of an escalating five-month war with the US, continues to stumble from one internal crisis to another - whether it is over public executions, the rising cost of living or the alleged bias of the state broadcaster. But there is now a growing threat of a long diplomatic deadlock as the war broadens, forged by mutual distrust in which neither side believes the other will stick to any agreement.
Parts of the Trump administration and the Iranian opposition - including Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former deposed Shah - have never abandoned the belief that the Iranian government is on the brink of collapse.
Meanwhile, Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran's president, rarely tires of warning that the conditions that led to the bloody protests in January remain. At a recent meeting of the supreme judicial council, he argued: "Iran is engaged in a full-scale war. Today's war is not just a war of missiles; the enemy has come to the conclusion that it cannot force the Iranian nation to surrender
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Attacks in the US-Iran war since 7 July 2026
● Attacks by US and allies ● Attacks by Iran, allies and proxies ● Attack by unknown perpetrator
Source: Aclad, Guardian research. Note: data as of 30 July 2026. Attacks include reported interceptions
Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
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through military attacks. The most important battlefield today is the economy and livelihood of the people. If economic pressures cause social discontent to form and this discontent spreads, the enormous social capital that the people have created in support of the system will be lost."
Undoubtedly dissent, in the form of despair, exists. Golshan Fathi, a Tehran human rights activist, recently wrote on her social media page: "Caught between natural disasters, management failures and man-made crises ... every day we don't live, we just practice enduring."
Dissent in the form of political protest also exists, whether it is those inside jails or citizens in the squares of Isfahan protesting against the current wave of intimidatory public executions. Many critics ask why the punishment of the accused takes place on public gallows, yet their trials are held in secret courts.
This week, the political bureau of the Nation's Union party warned that ignoring protests over the wave of executions could have "devastating consequences", and urged academics and religious
scholars to intervene to end this state violence.
Azar Mansouri, once a close reformist ally of Pezeshkian, warned last week at the annual meeting of the Iranian reformist front about a small but vocal group that seemed determined to portray negotiated agreements with the US as retreats or defeat. War, she warned, "is not just a confrontation between military forces and armies. It is the destruction of the
▲ An anti-Trump banner next to an Iranian missile system in Tehran yesterday PHOTOGRAPH: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/REUTERS
▼ Rescuers search for victims after a strike on Qeshm; above right, an anti-government protest in January PHOTOGRAPHS: IRIB/REUTERS; AP
economy, the erosion of social capital, the spread of despair, the emigration of elites, the increase in poverty and the loss of opportunities for development. Ultimately, it threatens the future of the nation."
Similarly a "we do not want war" statement signed by 268 political activists this month said they believed the overwhelming majority of the population opposed the war, and this should be tested in a public vote. Another letter from 1,000 activists linked with the former president Mohammad Khatami warned "the contemporary experience of Iran is that war has no winners. Those who advocate negotiations should not be slandered."
What unites these initiatives is a fear that diplomats are losing, and Iran is being edged into a forever war that can be portrayed as an Iranian-Arab war, a war that would be to Israel's advantage.
Yet opposition to the principle of negotiation with America - fuelled by Donald Trump's erratic behaviour - is being voiced by hardliners, in street rallies and more recently on unofficial billboards. Despite being a conservative newspaper, Jomhouri-e Eslami complained that "an addiction to violating the dignity of one's political opponents is increasing every day". That is, in part, a reference to the criticism of negotiators from the publicly funded national broadcaster IRIB, long seen as a preserve of those opposed to talks with the west.
Many see IRIB as an exclusive platform for the hardliners rather than a mirror of a diverse society. There are calls for a complete overhaul of the organisation's accountability when a new head is appointed in September. At one level the politics of the national broadcaster should not matter, since surveys suggest less than 12% of the country watches it. The difficulty for the government is that this leaves audiences watching hostile foreign satellite channels instead.
Tension over the national broadcaster coincides with a period of unprecedented economic pressure. In the next six months food rationing could become necessary, Majid-Reza Hariri, the head of the Iran-China chamber of commerce, warned this week. Gholamhossein Mohammadi, the
deputy minister of labour, said more than a million jobs had been lost as a result of the war.
In a way, rationing - through food price inflation - has already started as Iranians are being forced to change their diets owing to the cost of fruit, eggs and chicken. Year-on-year food inflation reached 134% this month, meaning the average household's monthly food budget has more than doubled in a year. Overall inflation is at 84%. In a further sign of the long-term pressure on living standards, figures released this week showed the real value of the minimum wage had plummeted.
The toll of the war on the economy has spread everywhere from the internet to tourism. All 400 hotels on Kish Island in the strait of Hormuz - the site of US bombing yesterday - have shut. As many as 30,000 Iranians visited medical centres during the two wars in 2025 and 2026.
Civilian facilities have been almost destroyed and the Bushehr airport has become unusable. Yet one of the biggest bombshells was detonated on national television when Zabihullah Khodayian, the head of the General Inspection Organisation, a national audit office, revealed the scale of foreign-exchange corruption among so-called trusts, highly secretive government-sponsored bodies.
These trusts, embedded in the Iranian political system for years, are entities set up to transfer Iranian oil income outside the network of US sanctions. It is self-evident that they act in an untransparent way, and siphon off public money.
Khodayian confirmed as much, saying one trust was given $200m (£149m), had not returned the money, and had also left the country. He said a further 229 individuals owed the state a total of €23.5bn (£20.2bn), while the judiciary said cases were being opened against nearly 50 individuals.
It is still unclear on what basis these trusts were selected and how they are held accountable. But there is a growing chance that a major scandal is about to be revealed that could involve Iran's elite. If so, all the talk of social cohesion across the classes will start to look very hollow.
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Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
National
17
UK's only female chess team told to add a man as they reach top tier
Fumi Kaneko and Lukas B Braendsrød dance After The Rain, part of a repertoire chosen by the Royal Ballet principal dancer Marianela Nuñez, below PHOTOGRAPHS: TRISTRAM KENTON/ THE GUARDIAN
Geraldine McKelvie
Britain's only all female chess team has been promoted to the game's top tier - only to be told it will have to add men to its squad.
She Plays to Win Lionesses A Team have fallen foul of a rule designed to boost female participation in the sport. The Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) requires all of its first division teams to have at least one player of each sex on its roster.
This means She Plays to Win face dropping one of its eight top-level female players to make way for a man.
The players say this will destroy the team's camaraderie and discourage female participation in the game.
Women are underrepresented at all levels in chess, with only about 11% of top-rated players being female.
Lorin D'Costa, who founded She Plays to Win on Zoom during the Covid pandemic, said: "The Lionesses earned promotion the hard way, but now their reward is losing the thing that makes them special.
"Not enough girls are playing chess at a young age, and this matters because chess teaches unique strategic skills for life. Learning these skills can help more girls go on to thrive in the type of strategic roles that end up defining the world of tomorrow - roles that for too long have been dominated by men.
"It takes work to create an environment and sense of community where girls and young women feel that they belong in chess, like our teams in the national league."
While competing in 4NCL's second division, the team was allowed to field only women as long as it included one player under the age of 18. Some, like Alisha Vyas, 19, joined the team after playing in mixed squads, sometimes as the only woman.
"I knew I was only there to fulfil the quota as a woman, and there wasn't that sense of community," Vyas said. "Being part of She Plays to Win
The Lionesses A Team, who have qualified for the top division of the Four Nations Chess League, don't want to add a man PHOTOGRAPHS: SHE PLAYS TO WIN
is amazing - we have team dinners every time, and there's real camaraderie between the girls."
Emily Maton, 18, added that the team had been "promoted on [its] own merit" and shouldn't be compelled to include a male player.
"There's no shortage of male players in the division," she said. "The whole point of the team is to bring female representation when there isn't really any at all, and they introduced this rule because there weren't enough female players.
"The expectations for me were always a lot lower than they were for male players. I'd have coaches say things like, 'You're very good for a girl.'
"We've had people tell us we don't deserve to be in this division, that we're not good enough. We got to the top proving everyone wrong - and now this undermines that."
Mike Truran, from 4NCL, said: "Since its inception in 1994, the top division has always been a mixed-team competition, each team requiring a mix of males and females.
"We remain the only league in the UK that we are aware of that encourages female participation in chess by requiring mixed teams.
"We surveyed all the team captains during the 2025/2026 season about whether the rule should be changed; there was no significant appetite on the part of the captains to do so. We remain open to changing the rule should captains' opinions change. There is no evidence that the rule as it stands discourages female participation in chess.
"Indeed, we believe that by requiring all teams in the top division to have at least one female player we actively encourage female participation in chess.
"We believe that changing the rule to one that has no mixed-team requirement at all, such that teams in the top division have are not required to include a female player, would serve to actively discourage female participation in chess."
Dance review Perfect ballerina showcases technical brilliance
Marienela: Timeless
Royal Opera House, London
★★★★☆
Lyndsey Winship
Is there such a thing as being too perfect? Marianela Nuñez is certainly one of the most perfect ballerinas around. At 44, she still has superlative technique and absolute command. She can reel off a fiendish string of fouettés (as in tonight's extract from Le Corsaire), whipping her leg in circles, and then come to a gentle standstill, the smoothest brakes you ever saw. It is absolutely frictionless; it is beauty and capability and egoless
self-possession. And this may seem an unfair ask, but do we sometimes also need a little grit?
Timeless is Nuñez's first solo show. Not truly solo, but she's the star, it's her choice of repertoire, and she does everything "just right", paying tribute to the Royal Ballet, which she joined at 16, and
She can reel off a fiendish string of fouettés, whipping her leg in circles, and then come to a gentle standstill
its choreographers: Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan, Christopher Wheeldon, Wayne McGregor.
She also offers an amazing showcase of the company's dancers and lets them shine. Matthew Ball and Mayara Magri dancing the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet is a highlight. Akane Takada and Calvin Richardson are tender in a duet from McGregor's Infra, and Fumi Kaneko and Lukas B Braendsrød dance Wheeldon's serene After the Rain.
For herself, Nuñez chooses first Jerome Robbins's In the Night, set to Chopin's Nocturnes. It's a very grownup piece for three couples. Nuñez dances with Ball, all super-smooth take-offs into jumps and lifts and tortuous indecision about their relationship. It's a gorgeous piece. Ashton's Marguerite and Armand is the opposite, quite the melodrama, not least Nuñez's TB-stricken courtesan.
George Balanchine's Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux with the Royal's new principal Patricio Revé is a promising partnership for the future. You could ask for more, but you can't fault her.
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Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
National
19
Overheating homes
Families moved out of glass-fronted block after row over air-con
Geneva Abdul
As the fourth heatwave of the year hit the UK on Wednesday, Benice Bodah and her three teenage sons braced for more scorching temperatures inside their south-west London home. The two-bedroom flat is equipped with a built-in air-conditioning unit, but it has been working only intermittently in the almost three years since the family were placed in temporary accommodation at Britannia Point in Colliers Wood. "It has not been easy, but what can we do?" said Bodah, 48.
Several councils have now agreed to stop housing families in emergency accommodation in the glass-fronted block after the Guardian revealed they were told they could not use the built-in air conditioning during heatwaves as it had "not been offered as an amenity" for them.
The 19-storey building is owned by Criterion Capital, set up by the billionaire property magnate Asif Aziz. The temporary tenancies can last from weeks to years and are managed separately by letting agencies, including London-based Aura Assets Management.
Wandsworth council, which has placed residents in the block, is making "immediate" plans to remove their tenants from the tower.
A Wandsworth council spokesperson said: "As ever, the welfare of residents is our priority and we are working at pace to ensure suitable alternative accommodation is available."
Sutton council said it had stopped placing people there,
and was "working closely with all remaining Sutton residents in the building to ensure they are able to move to other accommodation".
Croydon council said it faced very high demand for temporary accommodation, and was not removing people, but had raised concerns with Criterion and that council staff had been carrying out "welfare checks" with those in the block.
Stuart Neaverson, a Labour councillor in Merton who has been assisting residents, has called on other councils that have placed people in the building to follow suit. "Criterion Capital, who own the building and the air-conditioning units, need to explain how this could ever happen and why some residents are still going without while temperatures hit 35C," he said.
A Criterion spokesperson said: "As the freeholder, we engage with our leaseholders and encourage them to work with local authorities to support tenants in these unprecedented circumstances."
Aura Assets Management was approached for comment.
Since the Guardian reported that temporary accommodation households were prohibited from using built-in air conditioning, some have been receiving letters saying they could "feel free to use" it if it was working, at a cost of between £35 and £50 each month. However, some tenants are still without working units and others have said the additional charge is unaffordable.
By Wednesday evening, the unit in Bodah's flat was working, but she said she has no choice but to keep it switched off because she cannot afford the extra cost.
Several temporary residents with tenancies managed by Aura
▲ Benice Bodah and, left, Sabrina Walters with her one-year-old daughter, who live in the Britannia Point block in Colliers Wood, south-west London. PHOTOGRAPHS: CHRISTIAN UNISALDI/ THE GUARDIAN
► Stuart Neaverson, a Labour councillor, says Britannia Point's owners need to explain why some residents are still going without air conditioning
told the Guardian on Wednesday that repeated complaints over inoperative air-conditioning units have been left unresolved, in some cases, for more than a year.
One tenant, Mahad Maalin, who is living with his 81-year-old mother, had given up on the air-conditioning unit after the issue was not resolved last summer. Like Bodah, he said he would not pay the cost of running it for the remaining month of summer, and instead has two fans and keeps the blinds drawn.
Another tenant, Sabrina Walters, raised concerns over her children's health as her one-year-old daughter was overheating and her 12-year-old suffered cluster nose bleeds, which can be caused by overheating.
"I'm not fussed about myself, but when it comes to my child's health, especially at that age: she's one year old, she didn't ask to be over-dehydrated," said Walters. "She's clammy, so you can tell it's her body fighting to keep cool. That really pissed me off."
The family escaped the heat of their flat by going outside, which they said was cooler, or would spend time in one room with multiple fans. The windows in their third-floor flat do not extend fully.
It was only after Walters raised the matter with her local MP that her air-conditioning unit was turned back on, after a two-week outage.
She said other residents, including a mother of two, had told her that their air-conditioning units remain broken. "I felt bad even saying mine is on to be honest," said the 31-year-old.
Before councils announced they had removed their tenants from the tower, Walters was relieved to soon be moving elsewhere. "I don't like having to feel like I have to argue to live somewhere," she said.
Earlier this year Criterion Capital was accused of trying to mass evict tenants in the weeks leading up to the banning of no-fault evictions, which it has denied.
Aura previously told the Guardian the air conditioning was now "fully operational" and when asked about the email sent to a resident saying tenants in temporary accommodation were not given access to air conditioning, said it was "issued by the building management" based on "information and operational arrangements in place at the time".
Man found guilty of terrorism over 2022 Rushdie stabbing
Maya Yang
A man was convicted in the US on Wednesday on federal terrorism charges over the 2022 stabbing of the author Salman Rushdie, who has faced a decades-old death threat over his novel The Satanic Verses.
A jury in a New York federal court found Hadi Matar guilty of all the charges against him, including
engaging in an act of transnational terrorism. Matar had declined to take the stand. His attorney Nathaniel Barone said earlier this week: "At this time, the defence rests."
Matar, 28, is already serving a 25-year New York state prison sentence for attempted murder over the attack on Rushdie.
The federal conviction carries a potential life sentence.
Prosecutors alleged Matar shared propaganda videos before the attack
and communicated with an Iran-based contact who claimed to know "where to find Rushdie". They also said Matar had asked whether the fatwa against Rushdie was still active.
Rushdie, who had been about to speak on writers' safety, was slashed 15 times in front of a stunned audience. He was gravely wounded and lost the sight in his right eye.
According to a federal indictment, Matar's motivation for trying to kill Rushdie stemmed from a 2006 speech by Hezbollah's then chief, Hassan Nasrallah. In the speech, Nasrallah had endorsed a decades-old fatwa - a religious edict - calling for Rushdie to be killed over The Satanic Verses. After Rushdie's stabbing,
Matar admitted to having read only "a couple pages" of the book, which Iranian religious leaders had denounced as blasphemous.
In April 2024, Rushdie, who was born in India and moved to Britain as
▲ Salman Rushdie speaking at the New Orleans book festival in March
a teenager, wrote a memoir about the attack, which he titled Knife.
"After I finished writing the memoir ... it's like a door in my head opened and the stories came back," Rushdie said at Tulane University's New Orleans book festival in March. "I'd been really worried that I wouldn't be able to write fiction any more ... because of trauma and the shocking impact of what happened."
He also said he was tired of being everyone's "free speech Barbie", adding: "I don't feel symbolic ... I feel actual. I feel like I'm a working writer trying to make his work."
Additional reporting Associated Press
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National
The Guardian Friday 31 July 2026
Palestine Action can take ban appeal to supreme court
Haroon Siddique
Legal affairs correspondent
The co-founder of Palestine Action has won permission to challenge the ban against the group at Britain's highest court.
The direct action group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in July last year but its co-founder, Huda Ammori, has been fighting to have the ban overturned following a mass civil disobedience campaign.
In February, the high court ruled that the ban was disproportionate and unlawful but its decision was overturned by the court of appeal last month.
The supreme court said yesterday that Ammori could appeal against the court of appeal's decision and that the case would be heard in the final quarter of this year.
It means the fate of more than 3,500 people who have been arrested for alleged support of Palestine Action remains in limbo as their cases are on hold until the legality of proscription has been definitively resolved.
Ammori welcomed the supreme court's decision. "The proscription of Palestine Action has become a vehicle for a far broader crackdown on expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people," she said.
"This unprecedented attack on
free speech and the right to protest in this country is already having a chilling effect at a time when speaking out about Israel's crimes could not be more urgent."
She put in an appeal directly to the supreme court to hear the case after the court of appeal refused permission to appeal against its own decision.
The court of appeal review involved five judges, which is unusual as it normally utilises two or three to hear cases.
It included the country's two most
▲ Huda Ammori won the right for an appeal at the UK's highest court
senior judges: the lady chief justice, Sue Carr, and the master of the rolls, Geoffrey Vos.
The supreme court said it was arguable that the ban represented a disproportionate interference with articles 10 and 11 of the European convention on human rights, which protect the rights of freedom of speech and protest respectively.
Ammori has pledged to challenge the ban, which has been widely condemned by civil liberties groups, as well as UN experts and politicians from across the divide, at the European court of human rights if it is upheld by the British courts.
As the supreme court's decision was published dozens more people were arrested for allegedly supporting, being a member of, and/or encouraging others to join, Palestine Action.
In a demonstration outside Westminster magistrates court in central London, protesters took turns to stand up and declare their support for or membership of Palestine Action.
▲ Police carry away Palestine Action protesters who gathered outside Westminster magistrates court
PHOTOGRAPH: JORDAN PETTITT/PA MEDIA
Many of the mainly elderly protesters lay down after speaking and were carried away by officers. Among those arrested was an 87-year-old woman in a wheelchair.
Dick Scroop, 79, from Wolverhampton, was one of those who was there to be arrested. He said: "There's a genocide in which the British government is deeply implicated by its diplomatic efforts and the continuing supply of weapons to Israel and the attempt to suppress legitimate protests by the wielding of anti-terrorism laws is simply unacceptable. It's an assault on free speech."
A Metropolitan police spokesperson said: "Officers have arrested 77 people. The majority of arrests have been for expressing support for a proscribed organisation. Four people have been arrested for encouraging or assisting a criminal offence."
Regulator looks at police contact with woman before her death
PA Media
Scotland's police regulator has said it is examining the contact Police Scotland had with a woman before she was killed.
Vikki Soloman, 44, is believed to have been murdered by her former partner, 46-year-old Lee Greenan, on 20 July. Greenan was arrested and was found dead in his cell at HMP Edinburgh on Sunday.
The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc) said yesterday that it is investigating police contact that took place prior to Solomon's death.
Raymond Brown, head of investigations at Pirc, said: "Our thoughts are with all of those who have been affected following the tragic death of 44-year-old Vikki Soloman in Edinburgh on 20 July. We are investigating the police contact that was made prior to this date and will report our findings to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in due course."
Soloman was found with serious injuries by emergency services at her home in Edinburgh and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A family statement said: "Following the heartbreaking loss of Vikki Soloman, her family is deeply moved and overwhelmed by the wave of love and supportive messages which brings great comfort at this devastating time."
◀ Vikki Soloman is believed to have been murdered by her former partner, Lee Greenan, on 20 July
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Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
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21
Homes and businesses raided across UK in crackdown on car finance nuisance texts
Rupert Jones
Laptops, mobile phones and documents have been seized after officials carried out search warrants in a crackdown on claims firms plaguing people with spam text messages about the car finance mis-selling scandal.
On Wednesday the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) executed warrants at homes and businesses linked to five companies in London, Liverpool, Bolton, Burnley and Swansea.
More than 12m complaints about nuisance marketing text messages
have been submitted by the public since September 2025 as claims management companies (CMCs) and other firms attempt to grab a share of the billions of pounds in compensation to be paid out to motorists who were mis-sold car loans.
In March the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced a £7.5bn industry-wide compensation scheme for the millions of victims of the scandal. However, the regulator was later forced to partly suspend the scheme because of legal challenges.
The FCA had expected it would start paying out £829 on average this year to those affected by the scandal, in which drivers were overcharged
for loans as a result of commission payments between lenders and car dealers between 2007 and 2024. But a court ordered the regulator to suspend parts of the scheme until a hearing in December or in February next year.
Andy Curry, the head of investigations at the ICO, said: "People are fed up with being bombarded by unwanted calls, texts and emails about car finance claims, and we're taking action." He said the raids sent "a clear message to the claims management sector: comply with the law or expect to hear from us".
It is understood that items seized included electronic devices such as
laptops and mobile phones, plus a large number of documents.
The companies linked to the searches are subject to continuing investigations and are believed to be responsible for sending a combined 170m texts to members of the public between September 2025 and May.
The ICO is working with the FCA, the Advertising Standards Authority and the Solicitors Regulation Authority to tackle poor practices relating to motor finance claims by some CMCs, law firms and lead generation companies.
The searches represent an escalation of the crackdown on rogue CMCs and other businesses. As a result of
the FCA's work, more than 1,200 misleading adverts have been removed or amended since January 2024. Some firms face enforcement investigations, while others have had to reduce their "unreasonable" fees or allow consumers to walk away from contracts free of charge.
The ICO has the power to apply to the courts for a warrant to search premises as part of investigations under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, where evidence may be seized. This can include mobile phones, laptops and sim farms: collections of devices that house hundreds or thousands of mobile phone sim cards.
The FCA has said there is no need to use a CMC or law firm because people can complain for free using a template letter on its website. This week it launched a nationwide advertising campaign to direct people to the letter. It will run across TV, radio, print, billboards and social media until 6 September.
Stage review Bullfighting, paella and flamenco make Shakespeare farce a fiesta
Love's Labour's Lost Shakespeare's Globe, London ★★★★☆
Mark Lawson
That Love's Labour's Lost is a little unloved by producers and scholars is due to this 16th-century comedy being an early example of Shakespeare's dramatic craft - an RSC online timeline lists it ninth in the 38 main attributed plays - and an unusually inconclusive ending: the typical act five marry-go-round is suddenly deferred for a year.
These problems mean even purists object less than usual to a solving directorial concept. Tom Littler, in allresco stagings playing this summer in Guildford and Richmond, pairs the seemingly incomplete piece with Much Ado About Nothing (which some believe to be an otherwise lost Shakespeare
piece called Love's Labour's Won), unifying characters and plot lines.
Apart from also being outdoors, Indiana Lown-Collins's revival for Shakespeare's Globe is an equally but differently radical revision. Shakespeare has the Spanish kingdom of Navarre - where three men have signed up to an early detox scheme, renouncing sex and food for meditation - visited by a princess of France and her retinue, who threaten their pledges.
In this version, everyone is Spanish - a translation helped, in the summer of 26, by there being as many fans flapping in the audience as in a high-season Madrid street cafe. On stage, adieu becomes adios with some other English words translated - a repast is specified to be paella - and the action punctuated and inflected by sequences of flamenco.
The hunting of a deer here becomes a choreographed bullfight, with Pablo Egea as the tauran prey. Dance and movement routines - the romantic longing and inherent violence of flamenco
reasonably reflecting the play's themes - regularly stop the show. The programme bills Carmen Igarza as choreographer and Vanessa Guevara as pre-hispanic movement consultant; however this duet worked, they deserve to take a bow at the end of each performance.
Less happily, substantial rewriting introduces the figure of Queen Elizabeth I to the masque staged amid the climactic anti-romantic interactions, including jokes about her sex
life and vagina. Shakespeare's play is filled with bawdy that this production stands up: in the scene in which the would-be abstinent men are disguised as Muscovites, they sport golden penile codpieces and nipped shoulder pads.
However, had Shakespeare pricked his patron in the way this production adds, Love's Labour's Lost would have been his final play, the other 29 denied us. I would be concerned about students and tourists leaving the Globe admiring
▲ Actors dial up the Spanish theme along with the flamboyantly dressed supporting cast, left
PHOTOGRAPHS: TRISTRAM KENTON/THE GUARDIAN
Shakespeare's Elizabethan lese-majesty, and such is the power of Littler's double bill that Love's Labour's Lost played alone now feels even more half-hearted. But this production is, within its concept, generally a joy.
Among the multinational cast, the Swiss-British-Turkish-Italian Philip Arditti inflects his cocky reluctant-abstinent Berowne with libidinous dons from culture, and spars nicely with Bea Segura's sparky Rosaline. Another Spanish actor, Andro Crespo, is an authentic Don Adriano de Armado, while also beautifully leading Michael McMahon and Adrián Solà's setting of the final song, "When daisies pied and violets blue." Alongside those responsible for movement and music, casting director Becky Paris should also win applause.
◀ Indiana Lown-Collins's production draws in the Globe audience through comedic repartee and high-energy sequences
Until 13 September
22
Eyewitness
The Guardian Friday 31 July 2026
Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
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▼ Commonwealth Games, Glasgow England on their way to winning gold in the men's 4000m team pursuit at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome
PHOTOGRAPH: TOM JENKINS/THE GUARDIAN
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National
The Guardian Friday 31 July 2026
Solar installations surge as more households cut bills with rooftop panels
Jillian Ambrose
Great Britain has recorded more new solar power installations in the first half of this year than in any six-month period since 2011, as more households turn to rooftop panels to help cut their energy bills.
An analysis of the government's official figures shows that Great Britain added 142,536 solar installations in the first six months of the year, putting the country on track to top last year's record solar additions.
The government data, which includes large, ground-mounted solar farms and rooftop panels, revealed the half-year solar boom was second only to the record 167,316 installations in the second half of 2011, when the first large-scale solar farm was built in Cornwall.
Most of the new solar installations recorded in the government's official figures were on household rooftops,
though these smaller systems make up slightly less than a third of the country's total solar power capacity.
More households have fitted solar panels to their rooftops in recent years to cut their energy bills by generating their own electricity as fossil fuels have caused bills to rocket, according to energy companies.
The government's data also showed more households had taken up grants to replace their gas boilers with low-carbon alternatives. The total number of applications for the boiler upgrade scheme reached 4,512 last month, up by 21% compared with June last year.
Heat pumps are expected to be in higher demand in the months ahead after the government raised its grant funding by 20% last week, from £7,500 to £9,000, to help cover the costs of replacing fossil fuel heating.
The new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has also cut VAT on electricity bills from October, which makes running a heat pump cheaper.
▲ Rooftop solar panels on new homes in Leeds. There are now more than 2m solar installations across Great Britain PHOTOGRAPH: CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY
142,536
Number of solar installations in Great Britain in the first half of the year, according to official figures
151%
Increase in the number of E.ON Next energy customers who have installed solar panels this year
The household supplier E.ON Next, which is poised to become the UK's biggest energy retailer, said it had recorded a 151% surge in the number of homes installing solar panels in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year.
"More and more households are realising just how much they can save by generating and storing their own energy," said Phil Gilbert, a director at E.ON Next. Some E.ON Next customers had saved up to £600 a year
on their energy bill after they signed on to the supplier's solar and battery tariff, he said.
"People want to engage with their energy use, take control of their bills and rely less on the grid, and solar gives them a practical way to do that," Gilbert added.
Octopus Energy, Great Britain's biggest energy supplier, also noted a sharp increase in solar panel sales within weeks of the Middle East conflict causing oil and gas prices to soar. The supplier said sales climbed by more than 54% in March compared with the month before.
In total there are more than 2m solar installations across Great Britain, just 15 years after the first large-scale solar farm was built in June 2011 on the site of a disused tin mine near Truro in Cornwall.
The 1.4MW Wheal Jane solar farm is now dwarfed by newer projects, including the 373MW Cleve Hill project in Kent, which became Britain's largest working solar development when it reached full power last summer, and the 800MW Springwell solar farm in Lincolnshire, which is expected to begin generating in 2029.
Meanwhile, by the end of August UK people living in flats or rented properties will be able to join the millions across Europe using balcony solar panels to lower their bills, according to legislation passed earlier this month.
The Guardian Live
The future starts with us: Gordon Brown in conversation
Why is the fracturing of the rules-based order and the erosion of civic life happening at the same time? Why are millions across the world turning to populist nationalist parties in search of solutions? And what can we all do about it?
Gordon Brown will join the Guardian's Hugh Muir to uncover the intricate connections between global instability and civic decline. He'll also share a practical and hopeful roadmap to bring us back together and renew the global order, as explored in his new book, The Future Starts With Us.
At a moment when the world feels increasingly unstable, this is your chance to ask Brown your questions and learn how we can all collectively overcome today's global challenges.
Thursday 10 September
7pm-8.30pm
Royal Geographical Society
London SW72AR
Sold out
in-person
Online
Book your tickets at theguardian.com/gordon-brown-event or scan the QR code
Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
National
25
Stage review Revival of Sarah Kane's gory torture drama resonates even more today
Cleansed
Almeida theatre, London
★★★★☆
Arifa Akbar
Sarah Kane was much berated for the graphic violence in her plays during her lifetime. But critics beware: if you choose to scold playwrights for too much blood-letting and grotesque acts of human cruelty, you would surely have to condemn the Greeks, the Grand Guignol and Shakespeare, too.
Perhaps it's the in-yer-face nature of Kane's gore that offends. Certainly in this 1998 play there is no flinching from horror, which comes through acts of sensational cruelty. "Death isn't the worst thing they can do to you," a character reflects, and his words illustrate themselves with rapes, mutilations and beatings that follow.
In the case of Cleansed there are so many ways in which its revival can go wrong, not least because it is notoriously difficult to stage, with directions that require rats to walk away with amputated limbs and gigantic sunflowers to explode from the floor. It is courageous of director Rebecca Frecknall to take it on. The gamble pays off, both in its terrible resonance in our violent world and in her formidable creative accomplishment.
Kane's first play, Blasted, was a response to the conflict in Bosnia in the 1990s and this third play was part of an unrealised trilogy on war. Watching it today, in Frecknall's potent, moving and fantastically physical production, you are reminded of all the wars before (the cutting out of a character's tongue and his amputations are reminiscent of Titus Andronicus) and after. A scene in which the Kinks' song Days is piped into a torture cell, though tender, holds shades of "torture lite" in Guantánamo. Again and again, you are reminded of the photos from Abu Ghraib prison, which captured the humiliation of prisoners by
US guards. Israel's brutality and violence in Gaza echoes too.
Set in a university that seemed partly to evoke a concentration camp, Tinker (Leo Bill) is the sole "visible" torturer here (other violence is enacted by unseen agents of brutality). He is ostensibly unimposing, personifying Hannah Arendt's banality, perhaps. He targets those deemed sexually aberrant, particularly two gay men, Rod (Parth Thakerar) and Carl (Luke Cinque-White), but also terrorises brother and sister Graham (Jack Riddiford) and Grace (Pearl Chanda), manipulates a peep show dancer (Lizzy Connolly) and another prisoner called Robin (Stuart Thompson).
The cast acts out the play's many difficult scenarios with
no awkwardness or melodrama. Tinker's cruelty is still a puzzle, especially the functionality with which he tortures. Is he motivated by power, a guiding principle or sheer sadism? It is never explained.
Still, the message is clear: war and its torture is senseless, cruel and obvious for those close enough to it. There is the sense of an Orwellian system tyrannising those who are deemed aberrant in their gender or sexual identities. Madeleine Girling's stage design has the grimy, institutionalised feel of a hidden hallway in a psychiatric ward or prison. Again, it evokes a chilling ordinateness.
Like the rest of Kane's oeuvre, the play interrogates the limits of theatre and representation in its extremity and breakdown of
▼ Torturer Tinker (Leo Bill) with Woman (Lizzy Connolly). Above, Stuart Thompson plays Robin
PHOTOGRAPHS: MARC BRENNER
conventional form. Exposing the theatrical construction of violence, through various techniques, does little to protect us from the horror of observing it, and Frecknall vacillates masterfully between realism and a more poetic vein. When characters are in the furthest extremity of pain, their movements become a kind of expressive dance. There is lyricism in it but not so it beautifies violence. Importantly, it never seems gratuitous, either.
Sex is a kind of dance, too: bodies never make contact but intimacy and physical force is suggested through choreography. George Dennis's sound design, with Angus MacRae's compositions, combine powerfully with their blend of blazing romance and thrumming electric dread.
For such a slim play, it does feel protracted, and slows in its pace. The cruelty becomes draining to watch - but in a world in which images of violence are streamed on daily feeds, it re-sensitises us, through its dissection.
Until 29 August
Winehouse's father ordered to pay £950,000 to singer's friends
Agence France-Presse
The father of Amy Winehouse has been ordered to pay £950,000 costs to the late singer's friends, whom he unsuccessfully sued for auctioning the singer's clothes and other items.
In April Mitch Winehouse lost a case in the high court in London
against two of his daughter's friends who had sold scores of her possessions. The singer-songwriter died in 2011 from alcohol poisoning, aged 27. Her former stylist Naomi Parry and friend Catriona Gourlay denied acting dishonestly in auctioning the items they said had been given or lent.
The 155 items, auctioned in the US between 2021 and 2025, included handbags, earrings and makeup, as
well as a dress the singer wore on her final tour in 2011. The trial was told the friends "took advantage" of her father's forgetfulness and pocketed more than $1.4m (£1m) in sales.
The judge found the women had not deliberately concealed any items from Mitch Winehouse, who "knew all along" about the intended sale and pursued them for money only after it was completed.
"The claimant chose to bring an inherently weak claim, pursue it aggressively and relentlessly
► Amy Winehouse with her father, Mitch, a year before her death
to the end, and make serious and unfounded allegations against the defendants which significantly damaged their reputations, career prospects, financial security and health," the judge, Sarah Clarke, said on Wednesday.
"The fact that he knowingly and deliberately did this to two young women who had stood faithfully by Amy ... makes his unreasonable conduct particularly serious."
In the April ruling, the judge noted Amy Winehouse was known for her "extraordinary generosity towards her friends and also those she barely knew".
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The Guardian Friday 31 July 2026
World
Poland scrambles
fighter jets after Russian missile explodes in field
Peter Beaumont
Russia was accused of violating Polish airspace, after a missile exploded in a field in the east of the country yesterday, triggering Nato air defences, in the midst of a massive air raid that killed 13 people in neighbouring Ukraine.
Polish authorities said the explosion near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia, close to Lublin, had created a 10-metre-wide crater. Residents reported hearing an explosion at about 4am that shook the windows of their homes, police said.
Nato's supreme allied commander for Europe, Gen Alexus Grynkewich, said: "Nato will continue to take all necessary measures to defend Nato territory."
Speaking at the scene of the explosion, in a field about 50 miles from the Ukrainian border, the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, said the missile was most likely Russian. "From the analysis of most of the traces, the recovered fragments point to a Russian KH-101 missile," he told journalists.
He said there was no reason to think that Poland had been the target of the missile but said the Polish military had been prepared to shoot it down if it threatened a built-up area.
As the attacks on Ukraine took place, Poland - a Nato member - scrambled fighter jets to protect its airspace, its armed forces said.
Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said in a post on X that a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile had crossed into Poland.
The Russian embassy in Warsaw did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
António Costa, the president of the EU council, said on X: "Last night, Russia launched a massive combined strike against Ukraine. During the attack, Polish airspace was also violated, underlining once again that Russia's aggression is a threat to the security of Europe as a whole."
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said the Russian missile incident in Poland was another "unacceptable violation" of the EU's airspace.
At least 13 people in Ukraine - including one in Kyiv - died yesterday's attacks, which extended as far as the western city of Lviv.
A missile strike in the central city of Kryvyi Rih - Volodymyr Zelenskyy's home town - killed at least six people, including two girls, aged five and 12, the head of the town's military administration said. Zelenskyy had warned the country hours in advance of Moscow launching the massive attack.
Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the defence council, said: "In a village on the outskirts of Kryvyi Rih, a direct strike by an Iskander-M ballistic missile, launched from Voronezh, hit a private house where a large family lived, killing girls aged five and 12, and four adults." Eight more people were wounded, he said.
Another six people, including two children, were killed in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava.
The military administration for Kyiv confirmed one death, with the mayor, Vitali Klitschko, reporting fires in several districts. Earlier, he posted: "The enemy is attacking the capital with ballistic weapons. The threat of further attack remains present. Stay in shelters!"
In Lviv, rescue workers were scrambling to clear rubble to reach those trapped after Russian missiles damaged two blocks of flats and injured 26 people, officials said.
Late on Wednesday, Zelenskyy had posted: "The Russians prepared a massive attack several days ago, and there is a high probability that the strike will be carried out tonight ... Please, in all regions of Ukraine, pay attention to air raid alerts today and stay safe."
Zelenskyy also repeated his request to Ukraine's allies to supply Kyiv with the missiles its air defence system lacked. "It is important that our partners fully understand what is happening and that the protection of people's lives depends directly on their willingness, or lack of willingness, to provide air defence missiles."
Russia's defence ministry, commenting on the strikes, said it had used land-, sea- and air-launched missiles, as well as strike drones, during the raid, and claimed it had targeted military industrial facilities.
Elsewhere yesterday, the Ukrainian military struck four Russian tankers in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, Ukraine's drone forces commander, Robert Brovdi, said.
Brovdi said on the Telegram app that 205 tankers had been hit in the past three weeks.
Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
Awol president?
Cameroon speculates over lengthy absence
Page 28
'Time for reverie'
Artists flocking to Ivorian seaside city
Page 31
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▲ People take shelter at a metro station in Kyiv during a Russian missile strike yesterday as a resident surveys the damage to a market, right; in Poland, left, firefighters and police attend the scene of the crater thought to have been caused by another Russian missile near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia, far left, as the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, speaks to reporters on site PHOTOGRAPHS: OLEKSI FILIPPOVAPI/GETTY IMAGES: ALINA SMUTKO/REUTERS
Thousands of migrants enter Spanish enclave from Morocco
Sam Jones Madrid
The leader of a Spanish enclave in north Africa has called on the Madrid government to declare a national emergency after thousands of migrants swam and waded into the tiny territory from neighbouring Morocco in a matter of hours.
Videos shot at Tarajal beach in Ceuta yesterday showed crowds of people walking around the breakwaters and running on the sands and roads. Most appeared to be young men, but there were also families with women and children.
"Viva Español" some shouted to a freelance photographer working for the Associated Press, who was filming the scene.
A Guardia Civil spokesperson said the migrants were "massively entering from the sea" but could not provide any estimate of the numbers.
Spain's national broadcaster, TVE, reported that between 2,000 and 3,000 people had crossed into Ceuta, while the state news agency, Efe, said some had entered the territory by scaling the high border fence.
Juan Jesús Vivas, the president of Ceuta, demanded the deployment of additional police and soldiers "to guarantee the inviolability of the frontier" and citizens' safety.
Vivas warned on Wednesday that
migrant reception centres were overwhelmed, with hundreds of people sleeping on the streets.
He said Ceuta needed "more resources, more infrastructure, more regulation and effective coordination between all the administrations".
"We're not looking for privileges; we're looking for a fair and responsible solution," he added.
Although the central government announced that Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Spain's interior minister, will travel to Ceuta today, it said a national emergency could not be declared over a migration issue.
It added that such an emergency could be declared only over dire meteorological events - such as the current wildfires - or in the face of a volcanic or nuclear threat.
Pedro Sánchez, Spain's prime minister, said his government would provide "an immediate response" to the situation in Ceuta, which echoes the border crisis in 2021 when
▼ Migrants enter Ceuta from the sea yesterday after a Spanish supreme court ruling relaxed border rules PHOTOGRAPH: REIDAN DRIVEPA
more than 8,000 people arrived in just two days.
"We're mobilising all necessary resources, working with Moroccan and international authorities, and preparing the necessary measures to restore normalcy as soon as possible," he said in a post on X.
This month Spain's supreme court ruled that migrants intercepted at sea while attempting to reach Ceuta - or Spain's other north African territory of Melilla - could not be summarily returned under the enclaves' special border rejection regime.
The Guardia Civil spokesperson told Reuters: "It has been a slow trickle since the supreme court's ruling, but today has been an explosion."
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the conservative opposition People's party, to which Vivas belongs, said the situation was desperate. "The government can't look the other way," he added, "because we are facing a national security crisis."
Moroccan government sources attributed the surge to "criminal organisations" and insisted that the country's cooperation with Spain remained "exemplary".
Portuguese call for minister to quit over school exams fiasco
Catarina Fernandes Martins Lisbon
Pressure is growing on Portugal's education minister to resign amid student and teacher protests over his handling of this year's national school exams.
Fernando Alexandre is accused of failing to take responsibility for what critics say is an unprecedented and chaotic school exam season affecting children aged 14 to 18, prompting student protesters to call for him "to be given a fail".
At the centre of the controversy, which has plunged the Portuguese
education sector into its worst crisis in decades, is Alexandre's push to fully digitise the process for marking exams.
The centre-right government said the shift was necessary to modernise Portugal's public administration and make school evaluations "more rigorous and objective" for more than 260,000 students taking exams in primary and secondary schools.
But many parents, teachers and students have graded the change a failure and some people are contemplating pursuing legal action against the state. About 19,000 people have signed a petition calling for the annulment of all results this year.
From the start of the exam season in mid-June, schools reported errors in the allocation of papers, with retired teachers and at least one dead teacher being asked to mark. Some educators were told to mark subjects out of their areas of expertise.
While grading the exams, several teachers reported difficulty accessing the marking platform, missing continuation pages, incomplete student
answers, illegible scanned images and students' answers disappearing from the online system.
After the results were released, three days late in mid-July, thousands of students complained about extreme discrepancies between their predicted grades and the posted exam grades, with some realising their grades were still missing.
Upon requesting access to a copy of the exam, several students reported finding missing pages, unknown handwriting and answers due to switched tests, and, in some cases, lost exams. Some students with special educational needs have complained that during the digitisation of the tests, the tags identifying those additional needs were left out.
An education watchdog later said that 26,000 exams had been affected by software or grade boundary errors, and that more than 18,000 grades were being changed.
The fiasco is proving politically damaging but the prime minister, Luis Montenegro, has resisted calls to sack Alexandre.
48
World
The Guardian Friday 31 July 2026
Mystery over world's oldest leader after 53-day absence
Giovanni Wanneh Buea Eromo Egbejule Accra
A record 53-day absence of the world's oldest head of state has renewed speculation in his native Cameroon about whether he is dead or alive, even though discussing his health is technically illegal.
On 7 June, Paul Biya, 93, departed for Switzerland with his wife, Chantal, for what officials described as a "brief private stay". Almost two months later, neither the president nor the first lady have addressed the country or been seen publicly.
Biya, who took office in 1982 after a seven-year stint as prime minister, has taken increasingly long absences from Cameroon in recent years, spending much of his time at the five-star InterContinental hotel in Geneva.
No official timetable has been announced for the president's return from his latest trip abroad, leaving Cameroonans to rely on a succession of conflicting statements from government officials.
The minister of communication, René Emmanuel Sadi, said Biya was in good health and "working from Geneva, where he currently resides". He added: "Reports claiming otherwise are pure fantasy and malicious manipulation aimed at destabilising opinion."
Jacques Fame Ndongo, a senior official from the ruling party and the higher education minister, said Biya had been "meticulously following the files submitted to him by his aides ... wherever he is".
The labour minister, Grégoire Owona, gave a different explanation, saying the president was on annual leave and comparing him to ordinary Cameroonian citizens. He said: "Paul Biya, elected by the Cameroonian people and paid by them, is a worker who has the right to annual leave. His employer is obliged to grant it. He informed his employer before leaving and will do the same upon his return."
Cameroonian authorities banned discussion of Biya's health in October 2024, during another absence. Nevertheless, local media have published
▲ Paul and Chantal Biya. There are rumours that the president is dead
claims in recent weeks that he is critically ill, and jokes about Biya being a work-from-abroad president have resurfaced on social media.
Mamadou Mota, the vice-president of the opposition Cameroon Renaissance Movement party, said Biya's latest absence had created a "glaring institutional vacuum". He said: "A country cannot be governed by remote control while critical socioeconomic challenges go unaddressed."
Last November, Biya was sworn in for his eighth consecutive term, a month after a presidential election marred by widespread allegations
of irregularities and voter suppression. Although the constitutional council dismissed post-electoral complaints by opposition parties, many refused to recognise the outcome, arguing the vote had further eroded public confidence in Cameroon's democratic institutions.
Biya has yet to name a government since being sworn in for his latest term. With parliamentary and municipal elections expected in early 2027, many fear his prolonged absence could disrupt the electoral cycle.
Cameroon has the largest economy in central Africa, but unemployment rates, high inflation and poor public infrastructure are harming the prospects of its young people, who make up about two-thirds of its estimated population of 30.6 million.
Kohtem Sambit, secretary general of the opposition Movement for Patriotism and People's Prosperity, said: "If the president is on annual leave, he is still accountable to the Cameroonian people because he is paid with taxpayers' money. His whereabouts should therefore be disclosed."
In April, parliament reintroduced the office of vice-president, but the position has yet to be filled, leaving Cameroon without a designated deputy should the president become incapacitated.
As Biya's son and stepson reportedly jockey for position, public disagreements between cabinet ministers have become commonplace.
Quarter of young Africans believe aid cuts could be good
Sarah Johnson
A quarter of young Africans believe aid cuts by the US could have a positive impact, saying that losing foreign money will force leaders to confront and solve their own challenges, according to a survey.
In Ghana and Nigeria, 41% and 40% respectively of young people aged 18 to 24 were optimistic, with Liberia not far behind (37%). A further one in 10 (11%) of young people were uncertain about the impact, according to the African Youth Survey, which interviewed almost 5,000 people across 16 countries.
The Trump administration announced early last year that it was eliminating more than 90% of USAID's foreign contracts and $60bn in US assistance around the world. US foreign aid had been designed to play a critical role in tackling poverty, hunger and inequality worldwide.
Other countries, including Britain, France and Germany, have also been slashing aid budgets. The UK announced last February that the aid budget would be cut from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% in 2027, its lowest level as a percentage of national income since records began. The UN target is 0.7%.
Ivor Ichikowitz, whose South African family foundation commissioned the report, said: "The big picture [from the survey] is that the youth is concerned about governments that are overly influenced by foreign powers. What they're saying is that African governments need to take agency and responsibility for their own reality."
The USAID cuts caused the closure of vital services, including maternity clinics, and medicine shortages at a time when UN agencies are struggling to find money for their humanitarian work and food insecurity has been worsened by the climate crisis.
According to the survey, nearly half of African youth (46%) believe the closure of USAID would have a damaging impact on their countries, with healthcare services and disease prevention seen as the areas most affected. This anxiety is highest in Mozambique (76%), followed by Kenya (63%) and Rwanda (63%), where youth feel the cuts will disproportionately affect the most vulnerable members of society.
41%
Proportion of Ghanaians aged 18 to 24 who said they were optimistic about the impact of US aid cuts
46%
Proportion of African youth who believed the closure of USAID would be damaging to their countries
US government mocked after AI Africa map mislabels all the countries
Reuters
A map of Africa mislabelled every country during a US state department presentation at a global conference in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attenders who took screenshots and posted them online.
A video of the presentation, given at the Aids 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, shows the errant map displayed during a presentation about new health agreements.
Analysis found the image of the map contained an artificial intelligence watermark that signals it was made with OpenAI tools.
The state department said it took "full responsibility" for the confusion caused and that the map was produced by a team member who hastily changed the slide deck before the event. OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.
The map showed Nigeria, where the US has several hundred troops deployed, as landlocked in the Sahara desert. Mozambique, which is in south-eastern Africa, was relocated to the Horn of Africa, while Côte d'Ivoire in west Africa was placed on the other side of the continent.
Screenshots of the map first appeared in a Substack post by the
▲ The map of Africa with countries mislabelled being shown at the US state department's presentation PHOTOGRAPH: REUTERS
'Whoever created this slide did not know where countries in Africa are and did not care to check'
Matt Petit AI and geopolitics expert
Aids expert Emily Bass and were widely shared on LinkedIn, with one post garnering about 40,000 views.
"Whoever created and approved this slide did not know where countries in Africa are and did not care to check their work," wrote Matt Petit, who focuses on AI and geopolitics at the Atlantic Council, in the post.
In a statement, the state department said: "We take full responsibility for the confusion and misrepresentation it caused for attendees, including our African partners."
The speaker at the conference was Jeff Graham, the top US health envoy who oversees the initiative known as
the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, or Pepfar. He did not reply to requests for comment.
The department said discussions at the conference were "substantive and constructive" despite the map and that it remained committed to fighting Aids with real results.
The Trump administration's decision last year to pause funding pending a review disrupted aid programmes worldwide, but Pepfar's core work such as the provision of life-saving drugs has largely resumed.
The US is scaling back other areas of its spending including on prevention and surveillance.
Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
World Climate crisis
'We'll sow regardless'
India's farmers face deep uncertainty as 'super El Niño' builds
Neelima Vallangi
Kasturi Gamango and Pramila Sabar cannot contain their giggles as they explain one of the big attractions of the Raja festival. "We do no work for three days," they said. "Our husbands cook and clean while we enjoy our free time."
Raja is a vibrant agrarian celebration in the forested eastern Indian state of Odisha that celebrates fertility, womanhood and Basumati, the Hindu goddess of the Earth. Traditionally, the three-day event is held from 14 to 16 June to mark the start of the rainy season and the beginning of sowing crops. But this year the fields remained untouched and the skies clear. The monsoon did not arrive until the end of the month.
Global experts have declared that this year will see the onset of a "super" El Niño, an extreme version of the weather cycle, and expect it to intensify rapidly from July to September. In India, El Niño years are usually associated with a weak monsoon, delayed and uneven rainfall, dry spells and extreme temperatures, leading to agricultural droughts, increased energy use and water shortages as reservoirs are depleted.
June ended with a 40% shortfall in rain and, even with the excess rainfall this month, the effects of drought have not been mitigated. Still, Laxmipur's farmers cautiously sowed seeds in their paddy fields in the last days of June, hoping it would rain in time for germination.
Mangala Sabar, 45, remembers the 2023-24 El Niño years "when the transplanting attempts failed twice in each year, and we lost the entire crop".
During El Niño, the main concern for farming is reduced rainfall and lower soil moisture, said Nitin Bassi, a water management specialist at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a Delhi-based thinktank. "Monsoon happens after a peak summer in our country, and the soil is dry," he said. "If the soil is not saturated enough when it rains, there won't be any runoff going into the reservoirs, natural tanks and ponds, and there won't be sufficient water to supply for winter crops either."
In Mali Jagannathpur village, on the banks of the Rushikulya River, farmers wait for canal water to be released from a nearby reservoir once rainfall picks up, so they can
sow. But not all fields have access to canal water. Widowed four years ago, K Sukumari, 28, wanted to farm her husband's plot, but has been unable to grow rice owing to the water shortage.
"Five years ago, when I worked in the field with my husband, I remember there was water in the borewell and even rainfall was adequate," said Sukumari, who is raising her two children alone, one of whom needs special care.
The borewell has dried up, and rainfall has often been delayed and deficient for the past few years, she said. She works in a brick kiln factory for half the year and in other people's fields during the growing season to earn a living.
Chandni Singh, a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and researcher at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, said drought was not an unknown hazard in Odisha.
"We know that in any farming system, people are very smart," said Singh. "But you can't expect a farming household to endlessly adapt in place. The other thing, of course, farming households can do is diversify risk. So you start migrating."
Remittances sent home from family members have been a substantial source of income for many villages, according to Liby Johnson, executive director of Gram Vikas, a development organisation which has worked with Odisha's farming communities for nearly five decades. However, at the heart of their wellbeing and long-term resilience against the climate crisis is water security and weather certainty, he said.
Gram Vikas has launched a series of initiatives in Odisha's villages, including hyperlocal weather forecasting, detailed
'Five years ago, I remember there was water in the borewell and even rainfall was adequate'
K Sukumari Agricultural worker
aquifer mapping to understand groundwater availability, and the building of low-cost soil and water conservation structures to enhance water retention.
Overlooking the hills of the Eastern Ghats, one of the 25 automatic weather stations installed by Gram Vikas stands on the roof of Mangala Sabar's house, at the entrance to Laxmipur village. The outer wall has been turned into a huge blackboard where weekly weather conditions and a seven-day rain forecast are written in the local Odia language. He receives the processed weather forecast information via WhatsApp and is responsible for updating the board.
The India Meteorological Department also launched an initiative last year to provide accurate forecasts of the monsoon's arrival up to 30 days in advance. Tailored forecasts are now being delivered to more than 38 million farmers via SMS and phone calls, including in Odisha.
Daily life in the village of Laxmipur; below, Mangala Sabar with his weatherboard which he updates weekly; bottom, a tributary of the Rushikulya, one of Odisha's major rivers PHOTOGRAPHS: NEELIMA VALLANGI
Similarly, several El Niño-related advisories were issued by the government recommending farmers delay sowing, choose low-duration or other less water-intensive crops, and adopt drought-resilient varieties.
But uptake of this information remains limited. "The idea that data alone will influence a farmer's decision is flawed. People don't make decisions like that," said Singh. "The core information comes from their local knowledge, like reading the soil, the ants, the trees and the clouds."
With bursts of heavy rainfall across some parts this month, the overall monsoon deficit has narrowed to 21%. But there remains deep uncertainty as El Niño strengthens.
Farmers in Odisha are pushing on. "How can we know if it will rain adequately or not? We will sow the seeds regardless because we are farmers," said Mangala Sabar. "Let's see what happens."
10
World
The Guardian Friday 31 July 2026
Birds of a feather A flamboyance of flamingoes gathers at Lake Dūden in Turkey. The lake is a crucial habitat for migrating flamingoes, who arrive in the spring when the water levels rise. In recent years, heatwaves have threatened the habitat, as the water recedes during the summer.
PHOTOGRAPH: EFEKAN AKYUZ/ REUTERS
Merz opts for papal text over potboiler for holiday reading
Deborah Cole Berlin
Summer is normally thought of as the time for potboilers and pageturners - airport reads that wind up sandy and sunscreen-stained. Not so for Friedrich Merz's holiday reading list.
Germany's embattled chancellor, who has faced one rough patch after another since he took office 14 months ago, seems to be seeking spiritual guidance this year while putting his feet up.
According to the conservative broadsheet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Christian Democratic Union leader is taking Pope Leo's encyclical on artificial intelligence, Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity), on his break.
Introduced by the Guardian in May as "the first major text on safeguarding humankind of his papacy", the encyclical makes the case for the "most rigorous" ethical constraints on the march of technology, calling AI the biggest threat to humanity.
One of the world's 1.4 billion Roman Catholics, Merz tends to be private about matters of belief, so his
▲ Friedrich Merz, the German leader, has had a tough few months
beach reading speaks volumes. The 70-year-old politician has described AI as a challenge and a chance for Europe's top economy after seven years of stagnation, just as he has demanded streamlined EU rules to prevent red tape from snuffing out its potential.
In a speech in April, he said Germany was one of the world's leading nations in the use of AI, particularly in industry. Merz said he was banking on its power to boost productivity and prosperity as he faces a surge in support for the far right.
Despite the "euphoria" in some circles about how machines can alter the way we live, Merz said many Germans feared AI's power to eliminate
Vatican
Leo puts faith before US
Pope Leo, the first US pontiff, has expressed "great love" for his home country and its core principles of freedom, opportunity and welcoming immigrants, but qualified that he "just happens to be American".
Leo, who has condemned the immigration policies of Donald Trump's administration, spoke to NBC about his family history while describing his relationship with the US. He said his grandparents were immigrants, while on his mother's side, "we have people who were both slaves and slave owners".
Asked how important being American was to him, Leo said: "I think of myself more as the pope who happens to be American. Not to belittle what it means to be an American. I have great love for America but I understand my mission as having a very important dimension, which is precisely being pastor of a universal church and having a voice and an opportunity to speak to people throughout the world."
Since being elected pontiff in May last year, Leo, 70, has spoken up for migrants and called Trump's immigration policies "inhuman".
Relations with the Trump administration further worsened after he condemned the US-Israeli war in Iran. Leo is yet to take up Trump's invitation to the White House. Angela Giuffrida
jobs and upend lives. "The question, however, is not whether we want AI or not," he said. "AI is here and is already being put to practical use. It is now up to us to decide what happens in this transformation."
It is perhaps fitting Merz would choose to wrestle with life's great moral questions while on his holiday, reportedly to be spent largely in Germany. His latest woes were touched off two weeks ago when the ambitious head of his CDU parliamentary group, Jens Spahn, announced he and his husband had welcomed a baby born to a surrogate in the US.
The move smacked of hypocrisy given the CDU's firm opposition to surrogacy, which is illegal in Germany, and Spahn quickly resigned. His departure sparked Germany's biggest cabinet reshuffle since the early 1960s.
The shake-up orchestrated by Merz went off chaotically, with one designated minister pulling out at the last minute, leaving the sitting official he was to replace hung out to dry until he finally stepped down to preserve his own "dignity".
The shambolic proceedings have led to intrigue worthy of a political thriller, with talk of a "palace revolt" against Merz and speculation over whether he would make it in office until Christmas. After his return to Berlin, Merz will face three state elections in September in which the far-right AfD could see record results.
With the impression of disarray taking hold, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung could not resist noting that Merz's other title for the book pile was a novel called Ship of Fools.
Pesticides may be to blame for Kenya elephant deaths, says wildlife agency
Carlos Mureithi Nairobi
The deaths of 15 elephants in southern Kenya were probably caused by the animals' ingestion of pesticides used on tomato farms, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has said.
Erustus Kanga, the agency's director general, told Citizen TV that analysis of samples collected from the carcasses had found traces of cyanide, a chemical compound used in farming as a predator control poison and a pest fumigant, which has also been used by poachers.
The deaths occurred in the Kimana sanctuary and Kuku Group ranch areas around Amboseli national park, an area covering 150 sq miles and that, together with other neighbouring conservancies, are home to more than 1,600 elephants.
The town of Kimana is a leading tomato producer and a place where researchers at the Route to Food Initiative, a food rights programme, have previously reported the use of a cyanide substance on the crop.
Isaac Lekolool, the head of veterinary and capture services at KWS, told Citizen TV that the stomach contents of one member of a herd included "lots of tomatoes," suggesting agrochemical poisoning.
Kanga warned that the effects could reach a wider population, as livestock may also eat from farms in the area.
"We have the goats, we have the cattle that are there. Eventually, if this cyanide is truly the one that is in the system, then we are going to see a bigger impact."
On Tuesday, KWS announced it was investigating the deaths of the elephants from 24 June and 24 July in Amboseli.
Benson Leyian, the chief executive of Big Life Foundation, a conservation organisation that operates in the area surrounding Amboseli national park, said the elephant deaths were a cause for concern.
"Thanks to decades of community-centred conservation, the Amboseli elephant population is one of the best protected in Africa, and elephant poaching has been virtually eliminated here. Aside from losses during periods of severe drought, we haven't seen a cluster of elephant deaths like this for some time," he said.
▲ The deaths occurred in the area around Amboseli national park
Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
World Côte d'Ivoire
'Very calm and soothing'
Ivorian artists breathe new life into city once hit by jihadists
Eromo Egbejule Grand Bassam
By the poolside of La Fourchette de Roze hotel in Grand Bassam, a Côte d'Ivoire city sandwiched between the Ebrie lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean, a birthday party was in progress. On the second-floor gallery, the artist Nuits Balnéaires stood by a huge painting in one corner and looked out through the window towards the Atlantic Ocean.
"It's poetic ... that immense energy of the ocean, which also fuels my work," the Ivorian visual artist said. "The natural elements are the very essence and foundation of my artistic practice," he added, as he reflected on the way in which his name, which translates as "coastal nights", matched the ambience.
Many families in Abidjan, the commercial capital of the west African country, have often drifted to Grand Bassam, just 30 miles to the east, for Sunday relaxation, including Nuits Balnéaires, whose visits from childhood gave him a strong connection to the city. In July 2019 he moved there permanently from his family home in Abidjan.
In the past decade, it has become a road well travelled. As rents continue to rise amid a cost of living crisis in Abidjan, residents there, especially artists, have been reconsidering their lives in the city.
"It [is] increasingly difficult for many artists to maintain studio spaces in the city," said the Abidjan-based art collector Ozong Agborsangaya-Fiteu. "As a result, they are seeking more affordable alternatives in places such as Grand Bassam, Bingerville, and increasingly even farther afield in Dabou and Jacqueville. Grand Bassam itself is becoming more expensive, prompting some artists to relocate even farther out."
The biggest beneficiary of the exodus from Abidjan has undisputedly been Grand Bassam, the country's first capital, where the colonial architecture was listed as a Unesco world heritage site in 2012. With its scenic beachfronts, fresher food, cheaper markets, proximity to the airport and a sense of nostalgia even in the abandoned colonial buildings, the city represents an easier option than Abidjan, its livelier and more chaotic cousin.
This, for the Guadeloupe-born artist Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux, makes it "a very calm and soothing place that's conducive to working and finding inspiration". Five
▲ Ganamet house in Grand Bassam, an abandoned colonial-era building that today hosts
'Sculpture by the Ivorian artist Jems Robert Koko Bi
'Bassam offers you time for reverie, unlike Abidjan, which is always effervescent'
Aïcha Fall Ivorian-French photographer
exhibitions and underground parties. Left and below, La Fourchette de Roze hotel has become a hub
for creatives. Bottom, Nuits Balnéaires in the courtyard of his studio PHOTOGRAPHS: AÏCHA FALL/THE GUARDIAN
years ago, he moved from Paris to Abidjan, and then two years ago to Grand Bassam, where he now has a studio and apartment.
Once a centre of cultural trade and tourism, Grand Bassam lost some of its appeal as Abidjan became more cosmopolitan and opportunities in the arts increased. A jihadist attack in 2016 that left 19 people dead also punctured the town's reputation.
Evidence of its renaissance abounds. Last year, the former colonial customs and post office building was reopened after a restoration project as La Maison de l'Art, a contemporary art museum with a sculpture garden and a cafe. At the launch, the culture minister, Françoise Remarck, said the collaboration between the private and public sector to protect local history and shine a spotlight on the country's modern art was a "fresh breath of life" to the old city.
"Today, we are doing much more than opening the doors of a space dedicated to art," she said. "We are taking an act of recognition and appreciation of African artistic genius."
Other organisations in the vicinity are following the same route. La Fourchette de Roze has become a creative hub: in January 2023, it began an artist-in-residence programme that has brought in more than two dozen artists and musicians from all over the globe, including Nuits Balnéaires. La Cocoteraie des Arts, a creative space with an open-air art atelier and gallery in Mondoukou, only a few minutes outside the city, also offers artist residences.
Across Grand Bassam, dozens of new studios are popping up across the city. This year, the Ivorian-French photographer Aïcha Fall will add another to that number. "I grew up in the French countryside and I've always loved a place that is calm," said Fall, who moved to Grand Bassam on her return from Paris in 2023, despite an attachment to Abidjan where she had spent her early years. "Bassam represents all of that. It offers you time for reverie, unlike Abidjan, which is always effervescent."
Some enthusiastic followers of the art scene are predicting that the city could eventually upstage Abidjan as an art haven in the coming years, or at least rival it.
Not everyone in the industry is as optimistic. Most of Côte d'Ivoire's galleries and art institutions remain in Abidjan, as do many of the collectors, patrons and other elements of the ecosystem. Festivals such as Abidjan art week still bring people in from across the continent and are yet to be replicated elsewhere.
"Rather than weakening the scene, this geographical shift has created a different dynamic," Agborsangaya-Fiteu said. "Artists benefit from more affordable and inspiring places to work while remaining close enough to the city."
As he sipped his coffee, Nuits Balnéaires agreed, before saying it was a bit like having his cake and eating it. "In Bassam, you can feel very disconnected, yet at the same time, you're not that far removed from what's happening in Abidjan."
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Bank holds interest rates at 3.75% amid inflation fears over Iran war
▼ Despite the hold, investors expect a rise in borrowing costs to 4% by the end of the year PHOTOGRAPH: HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP
Richard Partington
Senior economics correspondent
The Bank of England kept UK interest rates on hold yesterday as it said a further escalation in the Iran war could drive inflation above 4% next year, adding to cost of living pressures on households.
Against a volatile backdrop in the Middle East conflict, the Bank's monetary policy committee voted six to three to keep its key base rate at 3.75%.
As Donald Trump's renewed attacks on Iran drive up global energy prices, the Bank said an "adverse scenario" involving a drawn-out war and oil prices remaining above $100 a barrel could push UK inflation to a peak of 4.5% by the middle of 2027.
However, on a day of fresh US strikes in the conflict, Andrew Bailey, the Bank's governor, played down suggestions that Threadneedle Street was edging closer to raising rates.
In a press conference after the decision was announced, he said there was little sign that inflationary pressures were becoming entrenched because the growth outlook for the UK economy remained weak.
"Please do not leave this room thinking that the Bank of England is edging towards a [interest rate] hike because, frankly, there's nothing in what I said, and I think any of us have said, along those lines," Bailey said.
Official figures showed inflation in the UK fell by more than expected in June to 2.6%, down from a peak of 3.8% last year. It had been on track to fall close to 2% before the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The Bank said a loose labour market and higher borrowing costs for households and businesses
compared with before the war would reduce inflation over time.
The decision to keep interest rates unchanged is expected to give Andy Burnham a boost in his push to lower the cost of living. He has announced a sweeping package of support in his first week as prime minister.
Markets had priced in a more than 90% probability of the Bank keeping borrowing costs on hold. Investors expect a rise in borrowing costs to 4% before the end of the year.
Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, briefly rose above $100 a barrel last week before falling back, amid fears that the violence
Fed spooks investors
US government borrowing costs have hit their highest level since 2007 after the Federal Reserve voted to hold its key interest rate steady, feeding fears that the central bank may not move fast enough to tame a rise in inflation triggered by the war in Iran. The decision has spooked investors who are worried about the US economy's ability to absorb a rise in inflation triggered by the war with Iran. Lauren Almeida
across the Middle East could shatter the world economy's earlier resilience to the Iran war. It was trading at a little below $90 yesterday. The Bank of England said that under its central forecast - involving the oil price falling back to about $71 a barrel - it still expected UK inflation to peak at about 3.2% later this year.
Paul Dales, the chief UK economist at the consultancy Capital Economics, said: "Much depends on what happens to energy prices and whether or not that leads to the second-round inflation effects that could transform a temporary rise in inflation into a longer-lasting one."
Analysis
Phillip Inman
Trump's failure to end conflict is what is driving prices above target
There is a threat of high inflation coming to the UK but only from the conflict in the Middle East, which could keep oil prices high for much longer than was expected when Donald Trump first began attacking Iran. Senior UK central bankers believe it is the war that makes the difference between a benign outlook
for inflation and one that puts it back on a rising trajectory.
The Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC) was clear in its decision yesterday to hold interest rates at 3.75% that underlying pressures on inflation are almost entirely absent in the domestic economy. Prices are stable and, without the war, would be rising at the Bank's 2% target.
Supermarkets have proved resilient and kept food inflation low, and services companies - for so long after the pandemic a source of rising prices - have managed to restrict increases this year.
As the Bank's quarterly review says: "So far, there are few signs of second-round effects. But there is not enough evidence yet to rule out this risk, and the MPC will continue to monitor evidence closely."
Annual wage increases are low across the private sector, at 2.8% in the second quarter of this year. They are expected to rise to 3% in the third quarter, but that increase keeps wage increases at a level Bank officials are comfortable with.
As for companies capitalising on a period of rising prices whether or not it actually affects them, the official data does not
show that happening across the manufacturing, construction or services industries.
The majority on the MPC focused more on the labour market and a rise in unemployment and sharp fall in vacancies over the past three years. They also see that financial markets have reacted by raising mortgage and commercial lending rates, tightening the screw on homebuyers and firms without the Bank making a move itself.
If anything, businesses that want to invest, and employ more people, could do with a boost from lower interest rates. Only Trump's failure to confect an exit from the Middle East crisis stands in the way of that. The Bank's forecasters expect inflation to peak at 3.2% next spring, but say it could be much higher, at 4.1%, if the war persists.
Airbus is fined £6m in UK for breaching rules over military hardware
Rob Davies
Airbus has been fined £6.4m in the UK after the European aerospace firm admitted breaching rules to stop sensitive goods such as military hardware falling into the wrong hands.
The company, which sits at the heart of the European defence industry, said it had paid the settlement to the UK's tax authority, HM Revenue and Customs, after self-reporting breaches that occurred before November 2022.
HMRC said the offences related to Airbus's failure to keep records of the export or transfer of controlled technology over a sustained period.
The UK's export control licensing regime is designed to prevent strategic goods such as military hardware and items that can be used in weapons of mass destruction programmes from being sold overseas or to sanctioned individuals and countries.
The £6.4m payment is the highest out-of-court settlement ever reached by HMRC for strategic export offences and more that 10 times higher than the £569,100 that an Aberdeen-based division of the energy company Petrofac paid last month for breaching Russia sanctions regulations.
Airbus cooperated with HMRC's investigation, but its failure to follow the rules is notable, given the pivotal role it plays in Europe's defence sector, working on projects including the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet and the A400M heavy cargo aircraft.
The deputy director of HMRC's fraud investigation service, Edwige Hill, said: "We use a range of powers to ensure effective controls and enforcement on military goods, which contributes to UK national security. This settlement shows we will not hesitate to take action."
HMRC said the breaches included failing to keep accurate records of transfers of controlled technology as per the conditions of three of their open general export licences (Ogels).
In its statement to investors, the company said its UK division "fully cooperated with the investigation and implemented appropriate remediation measures. This settlement closes and fully resolves the matter."
The sanctions lawyer Nigel Kushner, who is chief executive of law firm W Legal, said the fine would shake up compliance. "This is a wake up call for UK exporters. It is not enough to obtain licences or rest on your laurels utilising pre-approved licences available to all."
53
14
Business
The Guardian Friday 31 July 2026
Business view
Nils Pratley
With huge opportunities on various fronts, the outlook gets better and better at Rolls-Royce
Tufan Erginbilgiç, the chief executive of Rolls-Royce, seemed to be getting ahead of himself when he said a year ago
that the engine-maker had the potential to become the most valuable company on the London Stock Exchange.
Yes, everyone knows about the remarkable turnaround. Rolls was a corporate calamity during the Covid shutdown of global aviation, then a tenfold increase in the share price followed under Erginbilgiç. But it still required a leap of imagination to think it could challenge the very top of the capitalisation charts one day.
And it still requires work. Today's valuation of £120bn puts
Rolls roughly neck-and-neck with the miner Rio Tinto for fourth place in the Footsie, but there is still a big gap to Shell (£185bn), AstraZeneca (£198bn) and HSBC (£274bn), none of whom intend to stand still.
Erginbilgiç's long-term bullishness, however, sounds less fantastical with every set of results. Yesterday's half-year numbers came with the usual upgrade to financial forecasts. Cashflow over the full year will be £200m better than previously predicted at £3.8bn-£4bn; for operating profits, the increase was £700m to £4.7bn-£4.9bn. Those upgrades suggest there is still mileage in Erginbilgiç's efforts to invest in the reliability of the engines to allow a "win-win" renegotiation of contracts with airlines.
The long-term growth projections, however, rely on many other things going well. Defence looks a safe bet, naturally. The sight of the prime minister at Barrow-in-Furness yesterday served as a reminder that Rolls makes the nuclear propulsion systems for the UK's submarines.
The rest of the UK's defence investment plan is unambiguously good news for Rolls too. There are possibilities in propulsion systems for uncrewed aircraft and much more.
The division that is suddenly getting most attention, though, is power systems. It used to be seen as a maker of boring old-tech diesel systems for marine vessels and military tanks. But AI datacentres in the US also want the equipment. And they also want Rolls' gas-fired turbines for primary power as they struggle to get hooked up to an under-invested US electricity grid. Rolls' order book for power generation was up 55% in the half.
It looks, too, as if there will be spill-over AI benefits for Rolls' small modular reactors (SMRs). At 470MW, SMRs were originally intended only as sources of low-carbon power for national grids, but some hyperscale datacentre projects in the US are so huge and power-hungry that they have become potential customers. It
▲ Rolls was a corporate calamity during the Covid aviation shutdown
The company is positioned squarely at the centre of 'major global trends': defence, AI and energy transition via nuclear
gives Rolls a foot in several AI power camps: diesel for back-up; gas for primary power; and SMRs when they arrive in the 2030s.
The very big possibility is Rolls' intended re-entry into the market for engines for narrow-body aircraft. That is a slower story since Airbus and Boeing have yet to commit formally to new single-aisle aircraft models. Nor is it guaranteed that Rolls would win a place as an engine supplier given the competition from incumbents.
But the potential market is enormous - many times the size of the wide-body one - which is why Rolls' requests for financial support from the UK Treasury will almost certainly be granted. Subsidies are a fact of life in the international aerospace business, a point that will surely not be lost on a reindustrialising prime minister.
If it all comes together, then, yes, Erginbilgiç's projections for Rolls' potential are not as wild as they seem. The company is positioned squarely at the centre of "major global trends", as he puts it: defence, AI and energy transition via nuclear. One of these days, something will go wrong, just as it did regularly at Rolls for about two decades. But it is also impossible to name another major UK company with huge opportunities on multiple fronts.
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Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
Business
5
Shell's profits double after Iran conflict drives up oil prices
Lauren Almeida Jillian Ambrose
Shell has recorded its second highest quarterly earnings on record after the energy market surge caused by the Middle East crisis helped to double its net profit to almost $10bn in the three months to June.
Europe's biggest oil and gas company reported a quarterly profit of $9.8bn (£7.4bn), more than double the figure for the second quarter last year and the highest since its record high earnings in the months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The company, which is behind plans to develop the Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea, revealed its earnings before a planned meeting between the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, and Shell's chief executive, Wael Sawan, who is expected to urge the government to develop North Sea projects.
Sawan told CNBC the prime minister's office had "reached out, and we're hoping to schedule a discussion soon".
He added: "The biggest thing that can be done at the moment is to continue to support the development of the North Sea, to continue to invest in renewables, to continue to provide
targeted support to those who need it in these difficult times ... we will offer any support that we can to the government as they try to navigate these difficult waters."
Robert Palmer, the deputy director at the campaign group Uplift, which opposes North Sea development, accused Shell of "maniacal behaviour" for "putting its profits ahead of the health of our planet".
"As families and firefighters across Europe battle devastating wildfires, Shell is cashing in on Trump's war and doubling down on oil and gas," he said. "The world is literally on fire and Shell wants to add more fuel."
The severe disruption in global energy markets since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran in late February led to a 30% drop in Shell's gas production in the last quarter compared with the same period a year ago, after its gas-to-liquids plant in Qatar was damaged by Iranian drones.
The company was more than able to offset the lost earnings, however, as a result of higher global market prices and savvy trading. In its liquified natural gas business, earnings grew to $2.7bn in the second quarter,
▲ Environmental campaigners demonstrate outside Shell UK's headquarters in London this week PHOTOGRAPH: YUI MOKIYA WIRE
up 55% from last year. Its chemicals and products business, which is home to its oil trading desk, reported earnings of $2.3bn, up sharply from $118m a year ago and the division's highest quarterly profit since 2021.
"We have one of the world's largest and strongest trading capabilities," Sawan told CNBC. "And that allows us to deal with times like this."
The global oil price has climbed from about $61 a barrel in January to
$9.8bn
Shell's net profits for the second quarter, more than double those for the same period last year
30%
The fall in Shell's gas production in the last quarter after a plant in Qatar was hit by Iranian drones
highs of $126 at the end of April, after Iran's effective blockade on flows of oil and gas through the strati of Hormuz. The market volatility has included some of the sharpest price swings on record, which traders are able to use to amplify their profits. Brent crude was trading at just below $90 a barrel yesterday.
Andy Schulkind, at Greenpeace, said the environmental group was "running out of words to describe the obscenity" of huge profits at Shell.
"Europe is engulfed by apocalyptic wildfires, communities across Asia are reeling from devastating floods, and the UK battles through drought and yet more dangerous heat," he said. "These aren't anomalies, they're the defining story of the fossil fuel age. Shell takes the profits, and the rest of us pick up the catastrophic bill."
Schulkind called on the government to implement a windfall tax on big oil companies and to use the revenue "to help households with the cost of living, strengthen our resilience against extreme weather, and supercharge the transition to clean, affordable energy".
Lloyds Bank to cut further £2bn in costs as it turns to AI
Kalyeena Makortoff Banking correspondent
Lloyds Banking Group said yesterday it would cut another £2bn of costs as part of a four-year plan under which its chief executive would use new tech and AI to drive growth.
Charlie Nunn said the strategy, which the UK's largest high street lender plans to launch in January, would involve investing £13bn into the business by 2030, including for "pioneering technology" to lure new business, improve efficiency and increase payouts for shareholders.
It would involve rolling out "AI-powered advice" for wealth and workplace pensions, using it to offer
personalised offers based on customer behaviour, and support and guidance to relationship managers.
While Nunn praised colleagues for guiding customers through "increasingly complex services", he said: "We can make it even better, and even simpler because we're not good enough today relative to our ambition."
When asked how staff would be affected by £2bn in planned cuts, Nunn said he would consider the same business areas that were in the bank's crosshairs over the past five years, without giving details of potential job losses.
As for the future of Lloyds's 550 branches, Nunn said: "We're going to follow the customers and our customer data around our branches."
The strategy also pointed to international expansion, with Lloyds aiming to grow its corporate and institutional banks in the US and Europe, marking a shift from the retrenchment that followed the lender's bailout at the height of the 2008 financial crisis.
Nunn said he was also betting on AI and blockchain technology to cut waiting times for mortgage approvals to about three days, adding that the bank would also boost rewards and loan discounts to retain customers.
Lloyds said it would double down on its car loan division, which is still waiting to settle the long-running
Charlie Nunn, the chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, did not say how many staff would be affected by the cuts
motor finance commission scandal, by creating an app for drivers wanting to buy, insure and set up charging points for electric vehicles.
Chris Beauchamp, the chief market analyst at the investing and trading platform IG, said: "The push towards the US and more corporate banking is understandable, but Lloyds would hardly be the first UK name to follow this demanding path. Success here is far from guaranteed.
"Lloyds has the heft in its home market, but a move to a bigger global player is a significant undertaking."
Lloyds reported better-than-expected second-quarter profits, which rose to £2.3bn between April and June, a 14% jump from the same period last year.
It meant bosses could increase payouts for shareholders, with a 1.58p a share dividend and the first ever share buyback announced at half-year, worth £1bn.
Lloyds shares rose 3.8% to 115.58p yesterday in response to the news.
Defence firms report earnings rise as states boost arms spending
Jasper Jolly
Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems are expecting higher profits as governments around the world boost their defence spending.
Both companies lifted their earnings guidance yesterday, citing commitments from governments to increase investment in defence systems.
Rolls-Royce makes jet engines for combat planes and commercial aircraft, turbines for ships and submarines, and small nuclear power plants. It raised its forecast for underlying operating profit this year to £4.7bn-£4.9bn, up from previous guidance of £4bn-£4.2bn. It also increased its free cashflow forecast from £3.6bn-£3.8bn to £3.8bn-£4bn.
Rolls-Royce has benefited from the jump in defence spending since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, while its power generation unit has experienced increased demand from datacentres used by AI companies. Revenues have soared in its engines business for civilian passenger jets as long-haul flights have recovered after the pandemic.
The company told shareholders it should benefit from the commitments made at the recent Nato summit, including for Saab GlobalEye, an airborne early warning system, and MQ-4C Triton, a high-altitude aerial surveillance system. Both use Rolls-Royce engines.
Tufan Erginbilgic, who took over as chief executive of Rolls-Royce in 2023, said the "transformation" of the company was continuing to produce results.
"We have made significant operational and strategic progress in the first half of the year," Erginbilgic said. "In civil aerospace, where we continued to improve our aftermarket profitability, we have also effectively eliminated aircraft on ground, providing a significant operational benefit to our customers. In defence, we continued to establish our leading position in autonomous propulsion, with several key milestones achieved in the period."
Shares in Rolls-Royce jumped by 5.5% yesterday morning, making it the top riser in the FTSE 100.
BAE Systems reported that sustained increases in defence budgets around the world meant it had upgraded its profit forecasts. It now expects earnings to rise by 10% to 12%, slightly higher than the 9% to 11% estimate it had previously given.
BAE makes a large proportion of the UK's weapons, from tanks and fighter jets to munitions. It has benefited from demand in the US, which had increased weapons spending even before its war on Iran, and other export allies of the UK, including several countries in the Gulf.
The Guardian Friday 31 July 2026
10
Weather
Friday 31 July 2026
UK and Ireland Noon today
Forecast
Around the UK
Atlantic front
High tides
| Aberdeen | 0207 | 4.2m | 1442 | 4.0m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arconnooth | 0818 | 12.0m | 2034 | 12.3m |
| Barrow | 0008 | 8.8m | 1231 | 8.5m |
| Belfast | -- | -- | 1209 | 3.1m |
| Cobb | 0625 | 3.8m | 1843 | 3.9m |
| Cromer | 0719 | 4.9m | 2001 | 4.7m |
| Dover | -- | -- | 1208 | 6.4m |
| Dublin | 0006 | 4.0m | 1238 | 3.7m |
| Galway | 0619 | 4.7m | 1825 | 4.9m |
| Greenock | 0113 | 3.4m | 1330 | 3.0m |
| Harwich | 0043 | 3.7m | 1251 | 3.8m |
| Hollywood | 1126 | 5.1m | 2336 | 5.5m |
| Hull | 0705 | 7.2m | 1943 | 6.9m |
| Leith | 0328 | 5.3m | 1555 | 5.3m |
| Liverpool | -- | -- | 1213 | 8.8m |
© Crown Copyright and/or database rights. Reproduced by permission of the keeper of Public Records and the UK Hydrographic Office
| London Bridge | 0252 | 6.8m | 1508 | 6.8m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leesiemouth | 0041 | 4.0m | 1313 | 3.8m |
| Milford Haven | 0713 | 6.5m | 1930 | 6.8m |
| Newquay | 0603 | 6.4m | 1820 | 6.7m |
| North Shields | 0413 | 4.9m | 1646 | 4.7m |
| Oban | 0651 | 3.7m | 1910 | 3.9m |
| Penzance | 0538 | 5.1m | 1755 | 5.4m |
| Plymouth | 0651 | 5.0m | 1901 | 5.3m |
| Portsmouth | 0012 | 4.4m | 1244 | 4.5m |
| Southport | -- | -- | 1154 | 8.5m |
| Stornoway | 0754 | 4.3m | 2000 | 4.8m |
| Portland | 0800 | 1.8m | 2016 | 2.0m |
| Whitby | 0449 | 5.4m | 1719 | 5.2m |
| Wick | 0001 | 3.4m | 1234 | 3.1m |
| Workington | 0015 | 8.0m | 1236 | 7.7m |
Sun & Moon
Lighting up
| Belfast | 2128 to 0535 |
|---|---|
| Birm'sham | 2101 to 0527 |
| Brightton | 2048 to 0527 |
| Bristol | 2100 to 0535 |
| Carlisle | 2116 to 0520 |
| Cork | 2125 to 0506 |
| Dublin | 2123 to 0541 |
| Glasgow | 2127 to 0522 |
| Harlech | 2112 to 0535 |
| Inverness | 2134 to 0512 |
| London | 2050 to 0524 |
| W'chester | 2106 to 0525 |
| Newcastle | 2112 to 0515 |
| Norwich | 2049 to 0514 |
| Penzance | 2107 to 0551 |
Weatherwatch
Weather happens in the boundary layer, the atmosphere from ground level to a few thousand metres, but this can be difficult to study in detail: weather stations are too low, and aircraft are expensive. Instrumented weather balloons are the traditional solution, but these are at the mercy of the wind and use irreplaceable helium.
Drones offer an alternative and the US company Meteomatics has taken the idea further with Meteobase, a base station on the ground with a drone that can be launched and recovered automatically. It carries out a pre-programmed flight, gathering data at different altitudes, then returns to recharge and download data.
The base is highly weather resistant and keeps the drone at a comfortable temperature. It can send out one data-gathering mission a day, or multiple flights to monitor fog, icing, an advancing weather front, or other fast-changing conditions.
Weather balloons have been in regular use since the 1930s. They have become part of popular culture, partly because they sometimes get mistaken for UFOs. Future flying saucer spotters may be equally well entertained by weather drones. David Hambling
Around the world
| Algiers | 02 | Lisbon | 08 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arms'dam | 04 | Madrid | 09 |
| Athens | 02 | Malaga | 11 |
| Auckland | 02 | Melb'rne | 12 |
| B-Aires | 02 | Mexico C | 13 |
| Bangkok | 02 | Miami | 14 |
| Barcelona | 02 | Milan | 15 |
| Basra | 02 | Mombasa | 16 |
| Beijing | 02 | Moscow | 17 |
| Berlin | 02 | Mondial | 18 |
| Bermuda | 02 | N Orleans | 19 |
| Brussels | 02 | Nairobi | 20 |
| Budapest | 02 | New Delhi | 21 |
| C'twgen | 02 | New York | 22 |
| Cairo | 02 | Oslo | 23 |
| Cape Town | 02 | Paris | 24 |
| Chicago | 02 | Perth | 25 |
| Corfu | 02 | Prague | 26 |
| Dakar | 02 | Reykjavik | 27 |
| Dhaka | 02 | Rio de J | 28 |
| Dublin | 02 | Rome | 29 |
| Florence | 02 | Shanghai | 30 |
| Gibraltar | 02 | Singapore | 31 |
| H.Kang | 02 | Stockh'm | 32 |
| Harare | 02 | Stratb'g | 33 |
| Helsinki | 02 | Sydney | 34 |
| Istanbul | 02 | Tel Aviv | 35 |
| Jo'burg | 02 | Tenerife | 36 |
| K.Lompor | 02 | Tokyo | 37 |
| K'mandu | 02 | Toronto | 38 |
| Kabul | 02 | Vancouver | 39 |
| Kingston | 02 | Vienna | 40 |
| Kolkata | 02 | Warsaw | 41 |
| Langs | 02 | Wash'ton | 42 |
| Lagos | 02 | Well'ton | 43 |
| Lima | 02 | Zurich | 44 |
Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
8
Football
Premier League to share an extra £1.5bn with EFL
Page 41 →
Racing
Ryan Moore and Diamond Necklace in sparkling form
Page 39 →
Sport
Cycling
Relatable Vollering out to prove her elite ability all over again
The Dutch rider aiming for a second Tour de France Femmes title wants to bring more female fans to cycling
Jeremy Whittle
Lausanne
French pulses were set racing by Pauline-Ferrand Prévot's win in the 2025 Tour de France Femmes, but the pragmatic choice of favourite for this year's race, which begins in Lausanne tomorrow, is Demi Vollering.
The 29-year old Dutch rider, leader of the FDJ United-Suez team and the first £1m athlete in women's racing, combines outstanding results - this year she completed a grand slam of all three of Europe's Grand Tours - with an outspoken personality.
Vollering's heart-on-her-sleeve persona has won her fans across the world. She posts pictures of herself riding with her dog in a rucksack and tackles the issues of women's mental health, athlete wellbeing and eating disorders, without missing a beat.
Vollering won the Femmes in 2023, but in 2024 lost to Kasia Niewiadoma by just four seconds, after a nail-biting final stage to Alpe d'Huez. Second again last year, she suffered the indignity of suggestions from her domestic media that she might have beaten the French rider if she'd lost more weight. Before this year's race she revisited the incident.
"I knew this question was coming," she says, recalling the final press conference. "I was like, 'OK, I need to be very careful with my words now.' I knew if I said something, maybe they'd write
it down out of context or 'hear' it differently than I meant it.
"I was super aware of the words I was choosing. But I was not happy about a lot of articles, or some subtitles, that were used, just for clicks. It was also difficult because, of course, I never wanted to undermine Pauline's performance."
A few days after the race ended she posted online: "Young girls are watching us. They notice what we say - and what we don't. What we show. What gets celebrated as 'the way' to succeed. We, as high-performance athletes, teams, and a sport, have a responsibility."
Looking back now, she acknowledges that, in her native Netherlands, she is sometimes seen as "too much".
"There are always people who are not positive about what you say or find it too much, especially in cycling, since it's a bit of an old-school sport," she says. "I'm emotional, I have a lot of stories
◀ Vollering tackles issues such as mental health and eating disorders JULIEN DE ROALIAFF VIA GETTY IMAGES
to tell. I'm just a different type, different personality, I think."
Vollering comes to this year's Tour fresh and rested after a change of schedule. She did not race in the Tour of Switzerland or in her national championships.
Her team manager, Stephen Delcourt, takes up the story. "Last year she was sick after the Tour de Suisse and crashed at the nationals," he says. "We did a three-week training camp in Tignes, with a fresh mind and fresh body, and she can really focus on the main goal."
Ferrand-Prévot's victory in 2025 was founded on an explosive ascent of the Col de la Madeleine in the Alps. This year's key mountain stage will come three days before the finish with a first-ever visit by the Tour de France Femmes to Mont Ventoux. It's a climb that Vollering knows well from holidays as a teenager.
"We all drove down there in a van and went camping," she says. "It was the first time I saw real mountains and the first time I rode up a real mountain. I was just so impressed. I really enjoyed riding up there.
"It was hard, but I was looking around the whole time and really pushing myself. I passed some men and I was super proud to see that they were really suffering and that I was passing them."
Vollering said Ventoux was where she discovered her climbing skills. "That's where I really found out I was a pretty good climber because against all the other girls I trained with, I was always the first at the top. And the coaches who came with us - I left them all behind too. I could see that my level was pretty good.
"Mentally too, I was able to suffer, maybe more than average people on that mountain. I saw that riding uphill was my strength and suited me as the type of athlete I am. The Ventoux inspired me a lot."
She is excited by the prospect of the Tour de France Femmes going to Britain in a year's time. "I follow some British football teams and they're amazing. They are really inspiring people to watch. So, it's cool to see [the Tour coming to Britain]."
Despite the rapid growth of women's sport she says cycling remains male dominated. "I think probably it's still mostly men who follow our sport, but I feel like it's changing slowly, especially with women's sport growing more. You see more women turning up at our races, more children, more families who come to watch and to support. So, for me, this is a really positive change."
Golf AIG Women' Open
Hull defends £100,000 scratchcard prank after solid start
Ewan Murray
Royal Lytham & St Annes
Charley Hull has delivered an emphatic, unapologetic response towards those who criticised a prank on the eve of the Women's Open.
Hull used pre-tournament media duties to reveal she bought fake scratchcards in a Blackpool joke shop, before using one to trick her caddie, Adam Woodward, into believing he had won £100,000. Hull filmed Woodward's initially euphoric and subsequently despondent reaction to the incident.
While some onlookers saw the funny side of the stunt, Hull also drew harsh words for her treatment of Woodward. Many perceived it as unduly cruel. The caddie has worked for Hull for the vast majority of her professional career. Hull's carefree, playful nature is well known within her sport.
In this instance, Hull cares little about splitting opinion. "People that have complaints about it, I would say loosen up," Hull said after a two-under-par 69 to start her challenge at Royal Lytham & St Annes. "I don't have my social media on my phone on tournament weeks. I delete it and when I go home I'll add it again. I don't really like people seeing me and tagging me and stuff. I like to keep in the present moment. But I think people need to lighten up if they're taking that too seriously because it was pretty funny."
Hull added she would "100%" participate in a similar scenario again. "He thought it was funny after, he is
not uptight," she said of Woodward. "It's a joke. If people don't like it they can lump it, do you know what I mean?"
"I felt bad for Adam but at the end of the day I have just got to have a good week. At the end of the week I'll buy him 100 scratchcards." A peculiar business.
Hull trails the early leader, Atthaya "Jeeno" Thitikul, by five shots. The Thai player has been astonishingly consistent in majors - posting 11 top-10 finishes since 2021 - but is yet to win. Perhaps Lytham will be key - Thitikul won top amateur honours as a 15-year-old when the Women's Open was staged here in 2018. Thitikul's close shaves on the biggest stage are worthy of comparisons with Hull. Her 64 was the lowest score in a Lytham Women's Open.
Ryu Hae-ran's ambition is not only to extinguish the hopes of her rivals but secure a little piece of history. Until Thitikul's surge, Ryu topped the leaderboard. Victories at this year's PGA and Evian Championships mean she is in the incredible position of seeking a third major win in a row. Only four female golfers have achieved the feat yet Ryu's position is unique. She has not played in any other tournaments outside the majors in question.
Unsurprisingly perhaps, the South Korean responded with a firm no when asked whether she has contemplated three from three. Fifty-four holes in a links environment provide the epitome of a long way to go. Still, her five-under-par 66 - which included half a dozen birdies and an outward half of 31 - felt significant. Shiho Kuwaki later matched Ryu's first-round total.
Lottie Woad's 69 enhanced hopes of a home winner, eight years after England's Georgia Hall prevailed at Lytham. Woad has quietly risen to fifth in the world rankings, little over a year since she turned professional. Her round owed much to avoiding every one of Lytham's 174, highly penal bunkers.
Woad's approach is an aggressive one. "I think I hit the most drivers out of anyone in my group," she said. "It's one of my strengths, so I didn't see the point in laying back."
▲ Charley Hull hit a two-under-par 69 in the first round of the Women's Open PETER BYRNE/PA
37
The Guardian Friday 31 July 2026
11
Sport Cricket
Fleming to focus on developing talent as Test coach but Root asked to lead England again
Simon Burston
Stephen Fleming has been confirmed as the new coach of the England men's Test team, with Joe Root returning for a second spell as captain.
Marcus Trescothick will take interim charge for the three-game series against Pakistan that starts at Headingley in three weeks, with Fleming due to arrive 'later this summer' and assume the reins for this winter's trip to South Africa.
Following what the England and Wales Cricket Board described as 'a rigorous process, which involved numerous high-quality candidates', Fleming emerged as a unanimous choice. Rob Key, the managing director of men's cricket, who led the recruitment process, said England were 'very fortunate that someone
of his calibre is willing to take on the challenge', adding: 'I believe he is the best person to guide a team stacked full of potential and turn that talent into a world-class outfit that can not only achieve success but sustain it.'
Fleming, who has signed a four-year contract to September 2030, replaces his friend and former international teammate Brendon McCullum, who was sacked earlier this month after England's poor performance in the Ashes was followed by a series defeat at home to New Zealand.
The pair will work alongside each other, with McCullum remaining in charge of the white-ball sides, and the decision to appoint Root as captain allows McCullum's burgeoning partnership with Harry Brook, who captains England in limited-overs cricket, to continue.
Fleming captained New Zealand
in 80 Tests, more than any other player from that nation, winning 28 and losing 27. Root has already captained England in 65, the most of any Englishman, winning 27 and losing 27.
The 35-year-old stood down from the role in 2022 saying that 'it's hit home how much of a toll it has taken on me and the impact it has had on me away from the game', but enjoyed returning for one of the three Tests against New Zealand and has now agreed to resume the burden on a permanent basis.
'It is a great honour and privilege to be asked to be Test captain again,' Root said. 'The Test captaincy is a difficult but hugely rewarding job and, after enjoying a brief taste of it again working with Baz McCullum last month, I am excited to lead this next generation of players forward.'
'The opportunity to do that
▲ Joe Root led England out on 65 occasions in his first spell as captain
alongside Stephen is also a huge motivator. He has proved over a long period of time that he is an exceptional leader with a great knowledge of the game, and I am looking forward to working with him and helping to build a winning environment.'
The ECB described Fleming, 53, as 'one of the most highly regarded coaches in world cricket' but his
experience has largely been in the white-ball game, with the Indian Premier League side Chennai Super Kings and its subsidiaries.
'It's one of the most prestigious coaching positions in world cricket and I am honoured to be appointed,' Fleming said. 'I am looking forward to working with the players and bedding in the gains made by Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes. Of course, the ambition is always to win now. But equally, it's about ensuring the team is well placed for the medium and long-term future. There is a lot of young talent in and around the team and our aim is to help them fulfil their potential as world-class cricketers.'
'I'm particularly looking forward to working with Joe Root as captain. There is still plenty more to come from him, and I'm excited to support him so he can enjoy and thrive in the role in what is a different context to his first stint. I'm also excited to work with Harry Brook. The best players are never finished products, and helping Harry continue to develop his extraordinary talent and his leadership will be an important part of this journey.'
'He'll bring common sense and calmness to the whole set-up'
New Test coach has built a reputation for being a composed reader of people since his time as a player
Simon Burston
With two games of the 2005 season remaining Nottinghamshire, under the captaincy of Stephen Fleming, were sitting precariously at the top of the County Championship, still needing to visit their two main rivals. First up was Kent: Notts were 397 for five after the first day, but rain washed out most of the second and at the end of the third Kent were only five down. A draw looked inevitable and with a Shane Warne-inspired Hampshire - Notts' final opponents - on their way to victory at Glamorgan the title chase seemed to be turning. But Fleming had other plans.
'He called a meeting of the senior players on the fourth morning to say he had an idea,' says Darren Bicknell, his Notts teammate. 'If Kent didn't win the game against us, they were dead, they'd have no way to win the title, so he recognised that he had them over a barrel a little bit.' Fleming offered Kent the chance to chase 420 in 70 overs, an unlikely target - but also the best they were going to get. 'To take a calculated gamble in that game was a stroke of genius,'
Bicknell says. 'Some of the senior players were a bit anxious, thinking we didn't need to take any risks because the draw was still a good result. But people went with him.'
On the final day Kent duly declared their first innings; Notts motored at seven an over until the agreed total was reached then declared also; then Kent, with no choice but to attack, were bowled out for 205. Notts won the title with a game to spare.
England's interim captain when New Zealand played them the previous year - Marcus Trescothick, now back in charge of England's Test side in an interim role - had admitted his opposite number was 'regarded as the best in the world', and here was more proof. Kent's first man out in that forlorn run chase? Rob Key, the man who has just appointed him England coach.
'He was just very calm all the time, very unruffled,' Bicknell says of Fleming. 'He worked out the game really well, worked out people very well, but overall he was just calm, even in the hottest of moments. Everyone trusted him to be on everything. I think in moments when things weren't going well, there was a reflection from him that everything was still all right: just be patient, stay calm, and it will come right as long as we're doing the right things. He was just a really good man and the sort of person you felt like you wanted to play for. I think he'll be very good and he'll bring a sense of common sense and calmness to the whole England set-up.'
Fleming has not always been
'He comes with a lot of empathy. He has a relaxed aura but he's still very detailed in his planning'
calm in hot moments. There is another widely quoted example of his cricketing cunning: in the fifth of six ODIs in South Africa in 2004 the hosts, needing to win to keep the series alive, came out to chase an achievable, rain-affected target of 178 in 29 overs. As their captain, Graeme Smith, approached the crease Fleming unleashed a stream of invective.
Just three days earlier Smith had described Fleming 'changing
his game plan against me in every match so far ... I'm sure he's just trying to get into my mind'. But as this normally gentle man showered him in abuse, that was all forgotten. Smith responded in kind and then, distracted, scored 15 off 33; New Zealand won by two runs. 'Graeme is emotional. That was one chink we thought we might explore and he took the bait,' Fleming later said. 'It was never personal. I made it personal in one game to get the edge.'
◀ Former teammates say Stephen Fleming is an outstanding leader PRAKASH SINGIGETTY IMAGES
Those who have worked with Fleming describe an empathetic man, a skilled reader of people - skills he can use to build you up, but perhaps also to destroy you. 'He was quite simply an outstanding leader of men,' says David Alleyne, another member of that Nottinghamshire side. 'He had a great way of communicating, and finding the right time and the right space to really empower you as an individual, and get you to think about your game in a way that was going to help the team. I found him quite remarkable in that sense. He was very calm, very calculated.'
Praise for Fleming has not quite been universal, and most notably Hemang Badani, currently head coach of Delhi Capitals and Southern Brave, said the success he achieved at Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League - where he reached 10 finals and won five titles - was all down to his captain, MS Dhoni. 'He's never won anywhere outside the IPL,' Badani said in 2024. 'If someone says he's a great coach, I wouldn't agree. Dhoni is the winner.'
Chris Jordan, having played under Fleming at CSK and Southern Brave, disagrees. 'He comes with a lot of empathy. He has a very relaxed aura about him but he's still very, very detailed in his planning and his messaging. And he's very, very good at creating role clarity within a team,' Jordan says.
Jordan is one of just a handful of people to have played under Fleming and alongside Joe Root, who has returned as England captain. 'I definitely think Joe and Flem as a combination will be quite excellent, and I actually think Flem could take Joe Root's captaincy to the next level,' Jordan says. 'He really has that knack of bringing out the best in players and making you really believe in yourself. He's just a top human being.'
Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
©
39
▼ Emily Campbell would not be drawn on a possible appearance at LA 2028 TOM JENKINS/THE GUARDIAN
Sport
Commonwealth Games
Campbell sends crowd wild with record display
Weightlifter dominates the women's +86kg category and then reveals her imminent appearance on MasterChef
Sean Ingle
SEC Armadillo
By the time Emily Campbell stepped on to the platform for a final time yesterday, the women's +86kg weightlifting final had all the fervour of a revivalist meeting.
Everyone was cheering. There were loud shouts and exhortations. People who didn't know a snatch from a clean and jerk two hours before had become instant converts. It was the Campbell Effect in action again. But the double Olympic medallist wasn't finished there.
"Emily is not satisfied with a gold medal," said the announcer. "She's not satisfied with a CWG [Commonwealth Games] record. She wants more!" The clean and jerk bar had been set to 160kg. But the army volunteers whose job it is to add more weights had barely moved, when the announcer piped up again. "Stop the clock! 163kg on the bar please loaders. Emily wants a Commonwealth record!"
Then the 32-year-old with three lions on her England shirt, and six lions woven into her dyed-red hair, went out and got it. One striking display of force and timing got the bar on her shoulders. Another got it over the head. Then the SEC erupted in a sea of love and appreciation.
Campbell responded by blowing kisses to her adoring fans. "I couldn't have asked them to be any louder," she said. "I couldn't really hear myself think."
But how she deserved it after lifting 115kg in the snatch and 163kg in the clean and jerk for a combined score of 278kg. That, incredibly, was 25kg clear of her nearest rival.
Racism claim rejected
Commonwealth Sport chiefs have dismissed Idi Amin's grandson's claims of corruption and racism after he was disqualified for a headbutt against England's Damar Thomas. Aziz Abdul, the grandson of Uganda's late dictator, had raged at the referee's decision, alleging he had been discriminated against because of his nationality. But Dr Donald Rukare, the president of Commonwealth Sport, who is also from Uganda rejected the claims. "As far as we're concerned it was a fair playing field," he said. Sean Ingle
As people waved St George flags and punched the air it was hard to imagine how she could be any more popular, but then she told us she would be appearing on Celebrity MasterChef next month.
"It was a really fun experience," she said. "It was really nice for me to do something without being Emily the weightlifter. Food is something I've always been massively passionate about.
"MasterChef was definitely more nerve-racking than this, absolutely. MasterChef was very tough. It was a very tough competition, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. My signature dish is Caribbean and that's all I'm going to give you."
The only moment that gave us pause afterwards came when Campbell intimated she wasn't entirely sure whether she would go for a hat-trick of Olympic medals at the LA Games in 2028.
"Do you want me to be dead honest with you?" she said. "It hurts everywhere. Everywhere. Your knees, your shoulders, your back, everywhere. We're lifting serious weight and it is hard and that's why you have to be really sensible.
"So I've got some thinking to do. We're going to go back with the team. We're going to strategise. LA, we would like to go, but we've got to look at the practicalities. If they work, you will see me start qualification at the end of the year. But for now, we enjoy what just happened."
As she spoke, the 18-year-old Etta Mae Love of Canada, who won bronze, was talking about how Britain's finest lifter had been an inspiration when she first started.
That made Campbell smile, even if it also made her feel a little strange. "It is lovely now that I'm at a stage where I've become so old that I'm sharing the stage with people that were inspired by me," she said. "But it's always very surreal when people go - you're a role model - because you never set out to do that.
"You just set out to do the thing that you love and you do it with grace. But if I can get someone to do something they're passionate about, then I've done more than my job."
And this, certainly, was another job impeccably done.
Racing
Arc on horizon as Diamond Necklace dares to dazzle again
Greg Wood
Goodwood
The high summer sun was still heating down on Glorious Goodwood yesterday, but thoughts were already beginning to turn towards the autumn's showpiece events in France and the US after Diamond Necklace extended her unbeaten record to six races with an effortless success in the Nassau Stakes.
Diamond Necklace had just a nose to spare at the end of the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) at Chantilly in June, but her first start since proved much more straightforward as Ryan Moore cruised past Friendly Soul, the second favourite, inside the final quarter-mile on the way to a two-and-three-quarter length victory.
Thursday's success was the fourth Group One win of Diamond Necklace's career and if she is kept to racing against her own sex, there may not be a filly or mare in Europe to touch her at 10 furlongs.
The bookmakers, though, also now price her as the 10-1 third-favourite for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October, and while Diamond Necklace's stamina for the 12-furlong trip has yet to be tested, female runners have won nine of the past 15 runnings of Europe's showpiece middle-distance event.
"Diamond Necklace is a lovely filly who has danced every dance," Aidan O'Brien, her trainer, said. "She has options now, whether she stays at a mile-and-a-quarter and goes to the fillies' race in France [at Deauville
'The next run will tell us where she is going to go after'
Aidan O'Brien Trainer
▲ Ryan Moore steers Diamond Necklace to a fourth Group One win
in August], or to Leopardstown [in September] or an Arc trial.
"It is possible [the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe]. I don't know how far we ask her to go, but the next run will tell us where she is going to go after that."
The only names ahead of Diamond Necklace in the Arc betting are Daryz, last year's winner, and O'Brien's best three-year-old colt, Constitution River, already the winner of the French Derby and the Eclipse Stakes this year.
"Constitution River's the boss, really," O'Brien said.
"Everyone will fall into line. He'll get all the options and at the moment, he's going to York [for next month's international Stakes]."
The much-respected Timeform operation blasted the possibility that O'Brien's string might be struggling for form a few days ago, but this was a second Group One for the trainer from the three available at Glorious Goodwood, and completed a double on the day after Man's Best Friend run away with the Group Two Richmond Stakes earlier on the card.
Thursday's race was an unusually swift step up in class for Man's Best Friend, who registered the first win of his career, in a maiden event, just eight days earlier.
"He is a baby of a horse," O'Brien said. "We thought bringing him here today was going to do him good, win, lose or draw.
"All options are open. He looks a Middle Park type of horse or a Gincrack horse. He could turn into a [seven-furlong] Dewhurst horse, who knows?"
Results
Commonwealth Games
ATHLETICS
Men's Shot Pro: 1 £ Emehwerch (Nip) 21.07; 2 T Walsh (NZ) 21.03; 3 S Lincoln (Eng) 20.99.
Women's Triple Jump: 1 T Lafond (Dom) 14.50; 2 A Smith (Jam) 14.04; 3 S Foreman (Jam) 13.96.
Women's Shown: 1 S Hulk (Jam) 61.86; 2 J Tuvin (Can) 60.87; 3 Tavino (Ind) 58.65.
Women's 5000s: 1 R Davies (Aus) 14.44: 53; 2 J Hull (Aus) 14.45: 05; 3 M Keith (Sus) 14.49: 20.
Women's 100m Hurdles: 1 D Charlton (Balt) 12.33; 2 M Simmonds (Jam) 12.41; 3 Amos (Nip) 12.60.
PARA ATHLETICS
Women's 100m T4T: 1 S Haase (Can) 12.23; 2 C Dunbar (Can) 12.31; 3 A Grimaldi (NZ) 12.46. Men's 100m T12: 1 Z Shaw (Eng) 10.89; 2 M Makoto (UK) 11.04; 3 G Quarcon 11.06.
TRACK CYCLING
Women's Tandem 8 Sprint: 1 E Foy & J Hodges (NZ); 2 J Gallagher & J Morgan-More (Aus); 3 E Jordan & S Mitchell (Eng).
Men's Tandem 8 500bn Time Trial: 1 N Faction & A Pope (Sco) 1.00.162; 2 J Ball & M Rotherham (Mid) 1.00.546; 3 K Perris & L Zaccaris (Aus) 1.01.873.
Women's 4000m Team Pursuit: 1 A Australia 4.10.658; 2 New Zealand 4.12.775; 3 Wales 4.12.875.
Men's 4000m Team Pursuit: 1 England 1.47.092; 2 Australia 3.49.223; 3 New Zealand 3.52.310.
Women's Team Sprint: 1 Wales 46.760; 2 England 46.903; 3 Scotland 47.185.
Men's Team Sprint: 1 Australia 42.455; 2 England 43.032; 3 Trinidad & Tobago 40.
PARA TRACK CYCLING
Women's C4-C5 4000m Individual Pursuit:
1 T Neyland (Aus) 4.48.614; 2 M Newberry (Eng) 5.05.764; 3 N Murray (NZ) 5.06.199.
WEIGHTS/TIMES
Men's 110kg: 1 T Auntheep (Fij) 378; 2 C Tchatchie II (Eng) 374; 3 R Lesignon (Can) 356.
Women's +90kg: 1 E Campbell (Eng) 378; 2 SK Draman (Mid) 353; 3 EM Love (Can) 250.
Men's +110kg: 1 D Lin (NZ) 389;
2 L Singh (Ind) 388; 3 A Griffiths (Eng) 356.
Football
EUROPA LEAGUE
Second qualifying on second leg: Anderlecht 3 Hammarby 1 (agg 4-2); Benfica 5 St Gallen 0 (agg 6-2); CSKA Sofia 0 Qaedlag 0 (ant; agg 9-3); CSKA 5 « en pers), Forenvaren 2 Twente 2 (agg 4-3); Hradec Kralove 3 Tromsø 1 (agg 4-1); SVT Arlen 1 Sheriff 0 (agg 6-0); Midtjylland 0 Benirkus 2 (agg 0-3); Pafos 4 Haplak 0 (agg 4-2); PUKK 2 D Kyiv 0 (agg 5-2)
CONFERENCE LEAGUE
Second qualifying round: second leg
Millenium (3) 4 Middelaus (0) 1 Elslreg, Pandack 15 Bapraktan 84 Lowe 35, Boyle 57 (agg 4-3)
HB Torshaven (0) 0 Motherwell (2) 3 Fadlinger 2 (pen Charlton Gold 38, Williams 50
Apo 4 Vojvodina 1 (agg 0-2); Atkins Club (Flaucabro 0 Vedral 2 (agg 0-0); Arab 4 RCM 1 (agg 7-1); Austria Vienna Bohrmann 1 (agg 0-1); Ballium 3 Bohrmann 2 (ant; agg 4-4; Bohrmann won 5 « en pers), Bettar Jerusalem 2 AEK Lemina 3 (ant; agg 3-1; Bettar won 4 « en pers), Brugal 1 Zeleninck Pancren 1; Brann 3 (int) Cluj 1 (agg 5-3); CFR Cluj 3 Kauhlan 0 (agg 4-1); Coleratan 0 (UK 3 (agg 0-0); Berry City 0 Rybka 1 (agg 0-2); Dinamii Minsk 0 Beltrich 1 (agg 4-3); Dinamii City 3 Alunmii 0 (agg 4-1); GKS Katowice 3 Džina 1 (agg 4-0); Gant 1 LNZ Cherkany 1 (agg 0-0); Gyni ETO 1 Abert Bosan 1 (agg 7-3); Ihwa 2 Stjarnan 1 (ant; agg 2-2; Ihwa won 5 « en pers), Infor Sofia 2 Istanbul Basarlathe 0 (agg 3-1); Latican 2 Varazdin 0 (agg 4-3); Kupari 1 KSS 1 (agg 3-2); Levadia 1 IFK Göteborg 1 (agg 3-4); Ludogorets 2 Hapset Tel Aviv 2 (agg 1-4); Reza 2 Zirabra 1 (agg 3-2); Nomine Kalja 2 Bredbourne 1 (agg 4-4); Nordtyskland 6 GATE 0 (agg 6-1); Panathinaikos 2 Paks 2 (agg 4-3); Petricula 3 Borja Biroja Luka 3 (agg 3-6); Pyunik 0 Debrecen 0 (agg 0-1); Sthendja 1 Brown 1 (agg 4-0); Son 4 BIRDS 0 (agg 1-1); Zajedna 1 Hristad 2 (agg 1-0); The New Saints 1 Flora Tallinn 0 (ant; agg 1-1; Flora won 4 « en pers), Vitek 1 Frennerup 1 (ant; agg 2-2; Vitek won 5 « en pers), URA Strassen 0 Partizan 1 (agg 0-5); Valletta 0 Kokova Czechoslovak 4 (agg 1-7); Vitek 0 GML 1004 0 (agg 0-4); Vitek 1 IMT 1 (agg 2-1); Zalgon 1 Dinamo 0 Rida 2 (agg 7-5); Zira 1 Pabir 1 (agg 1-2); Drejski 2 Valar 2 (agg 2-3)
Cricket
METRO BANK ONE DAY CRP MEN
Premium Lancashire 220 GM Shetty 5.3; Nottinghamshire 189 IX Vermyne 61, JW Blatherwick 4-30; Lancashire beat Nottinghamshire by 11 runs.
THE HUNDRED MEN
White Bowl Southern Brave 128-8; Birmingham Phoenix 116-9; Southern Brave worthy 12 runs.
THE HUNDRED WOMEN
White Bowl Southern Brave 140-3, Birmingham Phoenix 116-5 (DST Perrin 52); Southern Brave worthy 24 runs.
Rugby league
BETRED SUPER LEAGUE
Huddersfield 22 Hutt 72-30
Greg Wood's racing tips
Goodwood 1.50 Annabel's Ghost 2.25 Talk Of New York 1.00 Guttamson (Insp) 3.35 Jim Jungle (Int) 4.10 Calvin 4.45 Dubai Champion 5.20 Into The Light 5.55 Silver Lake Watermelonprince 2.00 Radio 2.35 Huntington 3.10 Carnival Of Light 5.45 Highland Shah 4.30 Roc De Fer 4.55 American Style 5.25 Portin Jack
Worcester 3.10 Dallas 2.45 Royal Drive 3.20 Red Bray 3.55 Rarun's Boy George 4.30 Negroid Charters 5.05 Travis 5.40 Circle Size
Byon 5.35 Belle Of It 6.50 Havana Gift
6.43 Some Nightmare 7.20 Reddy Trick Girl
7.40 Camele's Rose 8.10 Blue Hate
Woodinburgh 5.45 Jedle Knight 6.15 Gerry's Darling
6.50 Aurora Valkyrie 7.25 Jet Bolt 7.50 Wolf Or It
8.25 Gallon Norman 8.55 Golden Havana
8.25 Golden Hovana Woodinfield 5.50 Louis The Fifth 6.25 Alcatria
7.00 Cycling Blown 7.25 Henry's Cadder
8.02 Sibling Rivalry 8.32 Drift's Away
Golf
WOMEN'S OPEN (Sytham St James, Lancashire)
Leading Web round (eaves 158 & Vs unless stated)
M A Tishilazi (Tha) 46 Ryc H + (Kra) 5 Kawaki (Jpn) M T Soudier (Fr) 5 Yoko (US) 48 J Iwai (Jpn) 2 Marouaars (Tha) 48 Iwai, K G科技 (Jpn) 1 Wood, P Marlon (Sjo) 6 Tan (Sio) 0 Dappi (Ind) M Saigo (Jpn) 1 Coughlin (US) 4 Rahul (US) 50 Ahnanan, A Försterling (Jpn) Jm J-6 (Bdr) 1 Hapelin (US) A Fabul (Tha) 1 Wilson (US) C Porter (Aus) Jan S-6 (Hor) Yang Y+ (Hor) 75 Hite M (Tria) M Rhodes 1, GJord (Swo) A Lee (US) Kang M+ (Hor) R Choi (Aus) H Green (Aus) L Ko (NZ) L Huen (Sjo) N Konakainen (Fin) A Kelle
Fixtures
Football (7 4' (pen unless stated))
Millions Mill Scottish Premiership
Bordes Old 6 Rangers (Spm)
20 Cycles Phoenix
Barry Town v Cambrian (Int), Briton Ferry v Ammarford;
2 Queen Bay v Torkden; Lancashire v Flint Town
Cricket (11 pen unless stated)
Women's 120 Men's (Overseas)
Sir Lanka v Pakistan, Hambantota (5,30am).
Wolves Bank One Day Cup Men
Group 6 Gloucestershire v Surrey, Bristol (Spm), Kent v
Somerset, Canterbury, Northamptonshire v Leicestershire,
Northampton. Group 9 Derbyshire v Glamorgan, Per950;
Essex v Hampshire, Chelmsford; Worcestershire v
Waltham, Worcester, Yorkshire v Durham, York.
The Household Men
Manchester v Trent Rockets, Emirates Old Trafford (6,30pm).
The Household Women
Manchester v Trent Rockets, Emirates Old Trafford (3pm).
Rugby League (3pm unless stated)
Belfrief Super League
Hall 49 v Bradford, Leeds v Toulouse, Leigh v Wigan
The Guardian Friday 31 July 2026
40
Sport Football
▼ Gianni Infantino (left) and Donald Trump collaborated on delivering the 2026 World Cup in the US RICHARD SELLERS/APL/SPORTS PHOTO
Joshua Kushner is now the kingpin in driving the sale of the World Cup to investors and family ties are tight around the project, writes Rob Draper
It isn't just football fans and Uefa executives who want to give Gianni Infantino the red card for his plan to sell off 20% of the World Cup to a privately backed commercial enterprise. The Fifa president is also in the crosshairs of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee in Washington and ranking Democrat member Jamie Raskin. The reason? Infantino's plan, which is backed by Joshua Kushner's investment fund, has, for some observers, president Trump's sticky fingers all over it.
Raskin told Politico that Fifa was "going directly into business with the Trump family", before making reference to the peace prize Infantino awarded the president in December and Fifa's use of office space in Trump Tower, New York. "Apparently the fake Peace Prize and giant lease with Trump Tower
weren't enough - now Infantino performs a kickback hat-trick by pursuing a multibillion-dollar deal with Jared Kushner's brother to sell ownership stakes in the World Cup to private investors."
As is often the case with Trump, the Kushner family is at the centre of any tangled web he weaves. Jared and Joshua's father, Charles Kushner, convicted of tax evasion, witness tampering, illegal campaign contributions and sentenced to two years in prison, is Trump's ambassador to France though he speaks no French. He was pardoned by Trump in 2020.
Jared, married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, is a Special Envoy for Peace and helped negotiate the Islamabad Memorandum ceasefire with Iran, which has now seemingly collapsed. He was also the man charged with fulfilling Trump's pledge of bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to an end within 24 hours of him assuming the presidency.
But at the heart of this and once again keeping influence very much within the family is Jared's younger brother, Joshua, 41, who has established various private investment funds including Thrive
Some critics say even a 20% stake will be controlling if Infantino remains in charge of Fifa
Identity of investors not revealed in Fifa prospectus
◉ Continued from back page
a plan to "expand and optimize media rights monetization". JP Morgan claims that Fifa is "undermonetized" but significantly makes comparisons with other sports leagues with the revenue figures based on club or franchise earnings, rather than with comparable governing bodies.
Fifa's stated annual revenue of $3.6bn therefore compares unfavourably with the NFL's compared
revenue of $21.2bn, Major League Baseball's $13.1bn and the NBA's $12.5bn.
The document was sent to all 211 member associations on Wednesday night and immediately provoked a strong reaction.
One senior figure queried why Fifa, which has cash reserves of around $4bn and accumulated revenues of $15bn over the current four-year
Eternal, who will be lead investor in Fifa Forward Enterprise, the commercial spin-off Infantino is proposing to sell shares in.
With Jared having divested his shares in Thrive Capital (the parent company of Thrive Eternal) in 2017 when taking on a role in Trump's first administration, the familial ties seem especially tight around this project, as intimated by Raskin, who has already summoned Infantino to attend the House judiciary committee. He has also requested Fifa documents related to any gifts and benefits provided to Trump and details of the visitor logs for Fifa's office space in Trump Tower.
Given Trump's boasting that his direct line to Infantino persuaded Fifa to suspend the USA's Folarin Balogun's red card for the World Cup last-16 game against Belgium - the USA lost 4-1 - it is an unfortunate look for Infantino that the extended Trump family, through marriage, will be leading the sale of the century, the handing over of substantial control of the World Cup. Some critics say even a 20% minority stake will in effect be a controlling stake if Infantino remains in charge without
accountability. Joshua, though, is only following in the footsteps of his older brother Jared in his incredible capacity for dealmaking.
Six months after the end of the first Trump presidency and after having being involved in US negotiations with Saudi Arabia during Trump's first term, Jared managed to secure £2bn worth of funding for his own investment vehicle, Affinity Fund Management, from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the kingdom. The New York Times reported that PIF advisers raised objections about the deal reeling to "the inexperience of the Affinity Fund management" and that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia seemed to bear "the bulk of the investment and risk" but the PIF board, chaired by the crown prince, overruled those warnings to approve the money.
Coincidentally, Saudi Arabia will be hosting the 2034 World Cup in a bid driven by Prince Mohammed. The PIF, also owner of Newcastle United and the oil company Aramco, is Fifa's newest World Cup sponsor, with deals reportedly worth around $100m a year.
Kushner has always defended the tie-up with the PIF, challenging critics to "point to a single decision we made that wasn't in the interest of America". Prince Mohammed was implicated in the murder of US citizen Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018, with the United Nations concluding that the state of Saudi Arabia was responsible while a US intelligence report, that was released by the former president Joe Biden, concluded that Prince Mohammed "approved an operation ... to capture or kill" the Saudi dissident. The Saudi government rejected both reports, calling them "inaccurate".
US-Saudi relationships have been much warmer in both Trump's terms compared with the Biden interim and last week the US agreed a landmark deal to cooperate with Saudi Arabia to develop civilian nuclear power, while the two nations coordinated airstrikes on Iran-backed militias in Iraq this week.
However, it is a different Kushner brother from an unrelated investment fund who is now the kingpin in driving the sale of the World Cup to investors.
It is, however, reported by Politico that Joshua will be approaching sovereign wealth funds "to build a globally diversified investment base". Perhaps his brother Jared will be able to help with some contact numbers to get the ball rolling?
members has taken place. Significantly there is little mention of the investor group elsewhere in the prospectus, with no reference to its identity, projected returns or exit terms.
There is one more major omission in the document, as there is not a single mention of women's football anywhere across the 25 pages.
Fifa was approached for comment.
Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
51
Premier League agrees proposal to share an extra £1.5bn with EFL clubs
Paul MacInnes
The Premier League has agreed on a proposal to reset financial distribution within English football's top four divisions, one that would lead to an extra £1.5bn being shared across the pyramid over the next decade.
Clubs voted unanimously to support the "new deal for football" at a meeting yesterday, after discussions with the EFL. The offer will now be presented to the EFL's board for consideration.
According to details originally published by Sky News, the Premier League's offer would run for 10 years and result in an additional £1.5bn being shared with EFL clubs on top of the £1.6bn currently distributed to
clubs and communities every three years. Some of the money would be put into discrete funds - a "lifeboat" fund for clubs in immediate crisis and one that is directed exclusively at infrastructure.
To cover the extra costs, Premier League clubs have reportedly agreed to raise the transfer levy applied to all top-flight deals from 4% to 6%. It was reported this week that Manchester City were initially opposed to increasing the levy.
The Premier League said in a statement that its clubs had "unanimously voted to approve a funded proposal for a new strategic partnership with the EFL". It said it would now "look forward to continuing discussions with the EFL on progressing this proposal" and remain "committed to finding a football-led solution".
10-game bans for bigotry
Players found guilty of discrimination face serving at least 10-game bans under enhanced FA rules. In past seasons, suspensions of between six and 12 games have been recommended for aggravated breaches - any misconduct including an express or implied reference to ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality, religion, sex, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation or disability. The rules also apply to managers and other officials. Sanctions of more than 10 matches can be imposed if significant aggravating factors are present. PA Media
The EFL has yet to officially receive the offer but acknowledged "constructive" discussions with the Premier League and said its board would "review the full detail of the proposal, including its potential benefits, implications and alignment with the long-term interests of our 72 clubs, ahead of further dialogue with the Premier League".
This is the first time that Premier League clubs have officially agreed a proposal that could be put to the EFL since they were first asked to give more money to the
rest of the pyramid five years ago. The Covid pandemic had revealed the precarious nature of finances at many EFL clubs and in 2022 the then sports minister, Nigel Huddleston, said the British public were already "out of patience" over a failure to reach an improved settlement.
The belief that the Premier League's riches could be shared more effectively across the game helped lead in part to the creation of the Independent Football Regulator, which came into being last year. The regulator has played no direct part in the negotiations, but has a "back-stop" power to force a settlement if none is agreed.
While there is cautious optimism that a deal can now finally be agreed, it is not guarantee that the EFL will accept the Premier League's offer, with sources suggesting it sees the proposal as being very similar to one that was mooted in 2023 but ultimately never approved by Premier League clubs. Both sides say they remain committed to ongoing dialogue.
Scottish Premiership
McInnes's arrival at Rangers adds new twist to Old Firm tale
Having come within minutes of the title with Hearts, manager has a score to settle from last season with Celtic, writes Ewan Murray
Only residents of cloud cuckoo land can hold the firm belief that Scottish football will emerge promptly from a summer of discontent. The onset of a new domestic season, ordinarily a cause for excitement, instead gives reason to ponder the grim realities of what came before.
That it is unsurprising there has been no detailed explanation or plan from the Scottish Football Association following a lamentable World Cup does not prevent the scenario from being so deflating.
The nation's leading clubs have been moot on a big picture they wilfully ignore but that was exposed at a World Cup. The problem is that lingering and legitimate anger over Scotland's showing on the biggest stage - despite all rationale behind it - mirrors so much broader sentiment as the Premiership returns. This has scope to be a troublesome, toxic campaign.
Celtic's supporters remain irate at the custodians of their club, whom they perceive as complacent and out of touch. In Derek McInnes, Rangers have a new manager who is deeply unpopular on the other side of the city. Nobody should underestimate the lingering resentment that exists among
▲ Derek McInnes takes charge of Rangers for the first time tonight
followers of Hearts over the way the campaign of 2025-26 concluded.
The most reprehensible element of that arrived on 11 June, when the Scottish Professional Football League published the outcome of a disciplinary process into the pitch invasion that forced the ending of Celtic's title-clinching clash against the Edinburgh club.
Snuggled in alongside wrist tickles for Hamilton, Inverness and Stenhousemuir was a meagre fine for Celtic and a suspended, paltry ticket reduction. Rangers fans, who need little encouragement to rail against officialdom, were subdued until McInnes was slapped with a touchline ban for comments made against a refereeing decision.
Rangers have criticised elements of an independent report into the chaos which followed their
March Scottish Cup loss to Celtic. Motherwell are speaking with lawyers due to objection to a Scottish FA fine for a video posted on social media.
A 2-0 European qualifying first-leg defeat in Kosovo last week was rightly sufficient to send Hibs fanatics into the internet's version of orbit. Such results stopped being a shock long ago.
Certain clubs do actually have reasons to be cheerful. Celtic's signing of Kasper Høgh for a club record fee not only demonstrated the kind of fiscal muscle-flexing that supporters wish happened more often but provided the most intriguing transfer arrival of the close season. Scepticism exists over the ability of players to perform outside the perennially successful environment of Bodø/Glimt.
Without such doubts and at a fee which even many Championship clubs would think little of, Høgh would have moved long ago. The 25-year-old, though, has a physical profile and direct style that should succeed in Scotland.
Celtic's challenge is to replace existing first-team performers - Arne Engels and Alistair Johnston the prime examples - should irresistible bids arrive without posting the kind of net profit that makes balance sheets look more important than trophies. Fans have rightly welcomed the Høgh signing but need more.
Rangers, in contrast to their oldest foes, have burned through extraordinary amounts of cash in recent years while generally watching others lift trophies. In McInnes, Rangers - who kick off the season at Dundee United today - have a manager whose knowledge of club and culture looks better
The leading clubs have been moot on a big picture that was exposed at a World Cup
placed than most before him in recent years to lay gloves on Celtic. Vanja Dragojevic looks a smart midfield signing from Partizan Belgrade. Rangers need attacking spark yet it should be no surprise that McInnes's first act was to implement a stronger core. This version of Rangers should be much improved. Yet on the simple basis of course and distance specialism, Celtic remain the title favourites.
Nobody linked to Hearts should have been expected by now to fully process the circumstances in which they came within minutes of a first title win in 66 years, only for that dream to be snatched away. McInnes's departure for Rangers, the completely new style implemented by Wouter Vrancken and a raising of expectations all contribute to a period of upheaval.
Hearts' tilt at glory came earlier than anyone could anticipate. A comprehensive Champions League qualifying defeat by Sturm Graz showed the scale of work Vrancken has ahead of him. Patience, however, would be wise.
Motherwell's work with and post the management of Jens Berthel Askou proved those below the Premiership's biggest fish needn't only cling on for dear life. The football was superb, the attendance figures boosted and a broader market was impressed. Sales of Elijah Just and Elliot Watt for multimillion-pound fees completely justify a club model that thinks outside the box.
St Mirren have clear aspirations of introducing more young players and a more alluring brand of football. Kilmarrock displayed that at the end of last season under Neil McCann. Aberdeen will surely be a stronger force this time under Stephen Robinson.
Only one artificial pitch remains in Scotland's top flight, which provides cause for celebration.
Football remains a Scottish obsession. It is also undeniably a sick patient. The dawning of a fresh season should appeal only if there is a glimpse of fresh thinking.
Football In brief
Chelsea
Lacroix finalises switch to Stamford Bridge
Maxence Lacroix has joined Chelsea from Crystal Palace to become the club's fifth signing of the summer. The France international, who won the FA Cup and Conference League with Palace, has been the Blues' main defensive target of the window. The 26-year-old Lacroix has signed a six-year deal with Xabi Alonso's side. PA Media
Manchester City
Stones agrees two-year contract with Inter
John Stones has joined Inter on a two-year contract, the Serie A club have announced. The England centre-back was a free agent after leaving Manchester City and had attracted interest from clubs across Europe. The 32-year-old ended his 10-year stay at City in June. He made 295 appearances for the club after joining from Everton for £47.5m in 2016 and won six Premier League titles, three FA Cups and a Champions League title. PA Media
Inter
Arsenal to kick off against Birmingham
WSL champions Manchester City, who have added the former Arsenal forward Beth Mead and Chelsea defender Niamh Charles to their ranks, begin their title defence against Birmingham. The Midlands side were promoted alongside Charlton and Crystal Palace with the top flight expanding to 14 teams for the first time. Suzanne Wrack
The Guardian Friday 31 July 2026
12
Sport Football
How one summer led to Howe losing control
Carabao Cup win and Champions League
involvement put
manager in box seat but
bloated squad and Isak
sale led to disquiet,
says Louise Taylor
Last September, David Hopkinson, just installed as Newcastle's chief executive, perched on a stool at a table in Shearer's Bar at St James'
Park and between sips of zero alcohol lager, likened Eddie Howe to Bruce Springsteen. According to Hopkinson, Newcastle's manager was "the Boss" and "the talent". He conjured up an imaginary scene involving Springsteen asking for M&M's before a concert and being duly supplied with a dressing room overflowing with the confectionery. The same principle, he said, would apply to "Eddie", who would be furnished with "whatever he wants".
Six months later, things had changed. In late March, Hopkinson sat around a heavy wooden table in a St James' Park boardroom and, between sips of coffee, said he did not "have a stance on the manager's future". What he could tell assembled reporters was that a recent home defeat by Sunderland "hurt". It "resonated" and was being taken "seriously". Given that Newcastle had just lost a Champions League tie 8-3 to Barcelona on aggregate and were en route to finishing 12th in the Premier League, Howe admitted to "sleepless nights" before a summit with the club's majority Saudi Arabian ownership the following month.
The 48-year-old, who only a year earlier had choreographed Newcastle's Carabao Cup triumph, securing their first domestic trophy since 1955, would win that particular battle. Thanks to a convincing, typically articulate presentation detailing his future tactical plans, Howe was allowed by the visitors from Riyadh to remain in the job he had occupied since November 2021. Even then, however, he suspected he was losing a war that had begun long before Hopkinson's installation.
It was an often subliminal conflict about power and control that started when Amanda Staveley, the club's former co-owner, was ousted in the summer of 2024. Howe had been very much Staveley's appointment and, given that she was then responsible for running the club on a daily basis, he was permitted considerable say in buying and selling players.
When Paul Mitchell, who succeeded Dan Ashworth as sporting director, suggested alterations to transfer policy and playing style, Howe made his displeasure plain. Within a year Mitchell left. It was June 2025 and with the League Cup won three months earlier the manager had never seemed more secure. Yet that exit of a second sporting director arguably prefaced Howe's downfall.
Admittedly, it was not his fault Alexander Isak forced a £125m move to Liverpool last summer, but Howe was heavily involved in Newcastle signing £240m of largely underachieving talent in a forlorn attempt to compensate. If neither the £69m Nick Woltemade nor the £55m Yoane Wissa were suitable replacements for Isak, Jacob Ramsey and Anthony Elanga often underwhelmed. Only the central defender Malick Thiaw impressed. Moreover, it had not gone
Season by season
2021-22 The firefighter
After taking over from Steve Bruce, Howe gets strong backing in the January window and guides Newcastle to 11th. A run of six straight home wins makes the Magpies the first Premier League team to avoid relegation after failing to win any of their first 14 matches.
2022-23 Return to Europe
Alexander Isak arrives for big money and Howe's side power to the League Cup final, which ends in defeat to Manchester United. But they respond well, earning a fourth-place finish to qualify for the Champions League.
2023-24 Injuries bite
Newcastle finish bottom of their Champions League group and struggle with injuries. They also lose £55m signing Sandro Tonali to a betting ban. A late run earns seventh spot but European hopes are dashed as Manchester United stun City in the FA Cup final.
2024-25 League Cup triumph
A Dan Burn-inspired win over Liverpool at Wembley ends Newcastle's long trophy drought. With Isak banging in 23 league goals, they secure fifth place and Champions League qualification.
2025-26 The ghost of Isak
A summer-long saga over the sale of Isak to Liverpool scuppers plans for Howe's fourth full season in charge. The fans turn on wantaway Anthony Gordon midway through a campaign that is all but ended by a humiliating 7-2 defeat at Barcelona in March. Howe's final five months feature 14 defeats. Tom Bassam
unnoticed in Riyadh that Howe's unwillingness to sell players exacerbated the ownership's financial problems at a time when Newcastle's comparatively low commercial revenues made it a struggle to remain within football's spending rules. In May, the club entered a Uefa settlement agreement after breaching European investment rules last season. It dictates they must balance the books very carefully for the next three years and explains why their latest sporting director, Ross Wilson, sold Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali to Barcelona and Tottenham respectively this summer. Howe was reluctant to lose the pair and became dismayed at the prospect of seeing another key individual in Bruno Guimarães depart for Arsenal.
Wilson, who arrived from Nottingham Forest in October, has presided over a marked policy pivot involving signing young players possessing high resale potential. Hopkinson has boasted that Newcastle are aiming to be one "of the best clubs in the world" by 2030 but Howe is not the only one to have detected a disconnect between such lofty expectations and a bold experiment with youth that could easily go badly wrong. Well aware he had remained at Bournemouth a season too long before being sacked in 2020, it seems Howe decided it would be better to jump rather than be pushed, and leave on amicable terms.
In five years on Tyneside, he improved some players almost beyond recognition - Joelinton and Jacob Murphy in particular - and choreographed an often thrilling brand of football during two Champions League campaigns. At their high tempo, hard-pressing best, Newcastle were gloriously entertaining, but Howe's team became frequently poor in possession and adept at forfeiting leads. Pace and athleticism seemed prioritised ahead of vision and incision. Like their workaholic manager, Newcastle increasingly resembled a team that had forgotten how to relax and read the game's nuances.
Howe is gifted enough, intelligent enough and young enough to reach the highest echelons of coaching but first he needs to rest, reassess and, perhaps, remember why he once fell in love with Arsenal's football during their Cesc Fàbregas-inspired tiki-taka phase. The irony of his Newcastle tenure is that a manager obsessed with off-field control came undone partly by its absence on the pitch.
It is a paradox Howe may reflect on as he sits at his treasured piano and creates some new mood music of his own.
Howe was involved in signing £240m of underachieving talent to compensate for selling Isak
Newcastle split amicably with Howe
Continued from back page
manager appeared to have convinced PIF to offer him another chance during a meeting in April.
He is understood to have reiterated his commitment to the job after returning from holiday in June but subsequently became disenchanted by the events of a turbulent summer. Quite apart from the exits of Gordon and Tonali, it has featured doubt surrounding the future of the Brazil midfielder Bruno Guimarães, who is said to be closing in on an £80m move to Arsenal.
At Bristol City on Wednesday night, Howe admitted he had "lost control" of transfers and did not know if Guimarães would board the team's flight to south-east Spain before a training Camp at La Manga today.
While Guimarães is understood to have told Newcastle he wants to join Arsenal this summer, Howe had developed increasing reservations about a new, PIF approved, policy of signing largely young players with high resale potential priced, broadly, in the £20m-£40m bracket. With Newcastle operating under a Uefa settlement agreement, Wilson believes it is the best way to remain within football's spending rules.
The sporting director has recruited four promising yet inexperienced players aged 20 or under in Ewen
Friday 31 July 2026 The Guardian
8
13
◀ Eddie Howe in May, as Newcastle ended in 12th place MIKE EGERTON/PA
Jaouen, Bazoumana Touré, Aladji Bamba and Sean Steur. Howe feared expectations had been raised earlier this year when his chief executive David Hopkinson claimed he wanted Newcastle to “be in the conversation” about the identity of the best clubs in the world by 2030. Howe told friends things “no longer felt right”.
After succeeding Steve Bruce as manager in November 2021 he led Newcastle to two Carabao Cup finals and in winning the second – against Liverpool – last year secured the club’s first significant domestic silverware for 70 years.
With his assistant, Jason Tindall, also expected to leave, the squad are likely to be placed under the caretaker charge of first team coach, Graeme Jones, for the trip to La Manga.
Jaisle heads for St James’ Park on a wave of Saudi success
Attack-minded German won consecutive Asian Champions Leagues for Al-Ahli where he managed Toney and Mahrez
John Duerden
Taking over a big, underachieving port city club with a loyal fanbase that is desperate for success should not faze Matthias Jaisle. Should he take the role vacated by Eddie Howe, the 38-year-old German will leave Jeddah as a hero and arrive in the north-east as one of the most successful coaches in the history of Asian football.
A decade younger than Howe, Jaisle has achieved plenty, not only surviving in a Saudi Pro League that chews through coaches at a rapid rate but emerging victorious. It also helps that Al-Ahli and Newcastle share the same Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) owners.
Newcastle fans may know little about the former centre-back, whose playing career was cut short by injury, but that was also the case in Saudi Arabia when he arrived three years ago. Austria’s Bundesliga is not followed much in Asia, so two titles won with RB Salzburg did not mean a great deal: neither did Jaisle’s association with Ralf Rangnick.
Fans were more focused on Al-Ahli’s recent return to the top flight, after a first season in the second tier, and were contemplating an influx of big-name players. A little different to the situation at St James’ Park with
stars such as Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon already gone and others seemingly about to follow.
In Jeddah, Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino, Edouard Mendy, Franck Kessik and others arrived in a summer when the club was acquired by PIF. For a team that had been in the doldrums a year earlier, it was quite a turnaround.
Despite all that Al-Ahli may have been the perfect club for Jaisle. The fans are famously passionate but had only one domestic league win since 1984. In Asia there had been two comprehensive Champions League final defeats. Compared to Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad – also in the PIF stable – the Green corner of Jeddah had been relatively starved of success and, for a while, challenging again was enough.
For the then 35-year-old, dealing with such names did not seem a problem. His straight-talking style, with the foreign stars treated the same as the locals, drew a positive response. With his wealth of attacking talent Jaisle tried to win possession as high as possible to give players such as Mahrez the chance to shine. His preferred attack-minded, high-intensity playing style may move up a gear by the North Sea compared to the heat and humidity of the Red Sea.
In his first season Al-Ahli finished third, 11 points ahead of their fierce local rivals Al-Ittihad and, crucially, qualified for the AFC Champions League Elite. The second season was more difficult, for a while at least. After the departure of Allan Saint-Maximin, Jaisle wanted a replacement winger but, instead, Ivan Toney was signed and the England striker started slowly. Results dipped but
▲ Little known coach Matthias Jaisle has won over fans of Al-Ahli NOUSHAD THEKKAYIL/NURPHOTO/SHUTTERSTOCK
were improving by January 2025 when the axe threatened to fall. Max Allegri was ready to take over, the kind of eye-catching coach that fans often want. But not in this
case – members of the Green Army supported Jaisle, who had always taken time out to praise and talk to fans. A group of them appeared at the training ground with banners telling club management they should be the ones to go.
And it worked. Al-Ahli said Jaisle was staying with their full support. In came a winger, Galeno from Porto, and with the Brazilian getting the best out of Toney, Al-Ahli moved up a gear. They finished fifth in Jaisle’s second season but got more points. It was all about the Champions League, however. In the semi-finals, they defeated Al-Hilal, 19-time Saudi and four-time Asian winners. Then, in May 2025, in front of 60,000 fans in Jeddah, Kawasaki Frontale of Japan were defeated.
Then Al-Ahli did it again, winning the Asian title for a second time last May to become the first team since their Jeddah rivals, Al-Ittihad (in 2004 and 2005), to clinch successive Champions League crowns.
They also had a title challenge at home that only faded in the final weeks with Toney scoring 32 goals. In 34 games the team collected 81 points, 14 more than the previous season, and had Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal not been so consistent then it could have been a spectacular double.
The focus for the new season, due to start next month, was all about the Saudi Pro League title; but that should be someone else’s concern now.
Jaisle was recently linked with Al-Hilal and while that wouldn’t have gone down well with fans in Jeddah, he heads to Newcastle with the blessing of most. The German was always likely to return to Europe, and departs having won major titles. Many more experienced coaches have failed in that regard. Newcastle will be a different and tougher challenge.
He is not part of the elite any more but taking Newcastle closer to the Premier League’s top four would be a good start.
Direction of travel cost manager his job
When Eddie Howe was appointed by Newcastle in November 2021, the club was 19th in the Premier League with no wins after 11 games. He steered them to 11th by the end of the campaign, and they finished 12th last season.
At some clubs there would have been little deviation across that period. Crystal Palace, for example, have ended every one of the previous 13 seasons between 10th and 15th in the Premier League. For Newcastle under Howe, the journey was rather more scenic.
As he prepares his CV for his next job application, the 48-year-old would be wise to highlight that only four teams earned more Premier League points during his time in the Newcastle hot seat. Three clubs had a better goal difference across the 179-match period, all of whom have won the title within the past three seasons.
You’ll never sing that? Well,
quite. As much as this might be the fairest way to assess a manager’s tenure, football doesn’t work like
Newcastle were fifth best in the Premier League under Eddie Howe Premier League points while Howe was in charge of Newcastle
| Manchester City | 699 |
|---|---|
| Arsenal | 1013 |
| Liverpool | 1613 |
| Aston Villa | 293 |
| Newcastle | 2195 |
| Manchester United | 2195 |
| Chelsea | 2765 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2601 |
| Brighton | 2301 |
| Brentford | 2411 |
| Crystal Palace | 2215 |
| West Ham United | 2015 |
| Everton | 2015 |
| Wolves | 1244 |
Source: Opta. Note: ever-present clubs shown only
this. It’s what you deliver between August and May that determines how you are remembered.
The clear highlight of Howe’s reign (in the league) was finishing fourth in 2022-23. The miracle of Leicester’s title aside, no other team from outside England’s established big six clubs had taken a top four berth since Everton in 2004-05. Newcastle last finished so high in the table in the days of Sir Bobby Robson.
But their 12th place in 2025-26 was also worse than the club performed in several campaigns in the Mike Ashley era. That was always going to be hard to defend given the club’s budget under Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Howe could point to a degree of misfortune in his final season. Injuries hit hard, with Harvey Barnes, Aaron Ramsdale and Malick Thiaw the only players included in their matchday squad for all 38
Premier League games. Apart from the latter player and Sandro Tonali, nobody else made more than 27 league starts; no other side in the division had so few players reach this arbitrary benchmark.
There was also underperformance at both ends of the pitch. Newcastle scored 4.1 goals fewer than their expected goals implied they should have, while they conceded 3.7 above their xG at the back. If the league were decided by Opta’s expected points metric, the Magpies would have finished ninth.
That would have been about par. The available wage data suggests Newcastle have the eighth-highest salary bill in the Premier League and that has been their average finishing position under Howe. He delivered two Champions League campaigns, several very famous nights at St James’ Park and a first major trophy in decades. Andrew Beasley
'I'm emotional' Vollering on weight pressure and climbing Mont Ventoux
Page 37 →
Clean and jerk Campbell vows to bring taste of Caribbean to MasterChef
Page 39 →
The Guardian
Friday
31 July
2026
Sport
Fifa's sales pitch
More tournaments,
more debt and higher ticket prices
No mention of the women's game in 25-page prospectus produced by JP Morgan
Exclusive Matt Hughes
Fifa's sales pitch to persuade members to approve the sale of the World Cup's commercial rights clearly states that its plans for financial growth will be achieved by staging more tournaments, having higher ticket prices and debt financing.
A 25-page sales deck titled "Fifa Forward Enterprise Member Materials", that has been seen by the Guardian, makes the case for the creation of a new company to run
Uefa threat
Europe ready to boycott all Fifa competitions
Page 1 →
Fifa's commercial operations, 20% of which would be sold to Joshua Kushner, a US investor who is the brother of Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The prospectus has been produced by JP Morgan, the US bank that was also behind the failed European Super League breakaway five years ago.
In addition to the previously reported $20m (£15m) sign-up payment Fifa has offered to all 211 member associations, which could be made available as soon as January, the document projects that the four-year Fifa Forward payments would increase to $24m for each member by the 2035-39 cycle.
JP Morgan makes clear in the sales deck that such growth will come from "a growing tournament portfolio", "third party sources of capital and debt financing", and prioritising "high yield" partnerships and events.
There is also a reference to more than doubling the number of global tournaments held each year, from 200 to 450, which if followed through would put a huge strain on player workload.
Staging the World Cup more frequently would be the most obvious way of raising revenue, with Gianni Infantino having previously proposed making it a biennial tournament five years ago.
The bank also raises the prospect of TV coverage of the biggest events such as the World Cup being sold to subscription channels or streamers, by referring to
GARETH COPLEY/ECR/ GETTY IMAGES
Jaissle waiting
in the wings as Howe exits Newcastle
Louise Taylor
Eddie Howe has left Newcastle after losing control of transfers and is likely to be replaced by the German coach Matthias Jaissle, who is in charge of the Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli.
Although the timing of Howe's abrupt departure after almost five years in charge at St James' Park is unexpected, his position had been uncertain for some time. He is understood to have told Newcastle's Saudi Arabian owners he wanted to leave more than a fortnight ago and the parting is said to be "amicable". Sources have suggested the 48-year-old told directors he was utterly drained and wanted to take a break from football after a transformative
Tyneside tenure in which Newcastle won the League Cup in 2025 and twice qualified for the Champions League.
In recent months, Howe has become disillusioned after seeing his previously strong powerbase and ability to dictate transfer policy diminished significantly. Already this summer Ross Wilson, the third sporting director of his managerial tenure, has presided over the sale of Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali to Barcelona and Tottenham respectively. A year ago the team's key striker Alexander Isak departed for Liverpool.
Not that Howe gave any indication of the events about to unfold after Wednesday night's 4-1 pre-season
friendly defeat at Bristol City. "Every day as Newcastle manager is a great day for me," he said. "I absolutely love the football club and that will never change. There has been a lot of change at the football club and potentially more to come. [But] I think there's always reasons to be optimistic. I believe great things are possible every season. I see no reason for it be any different this year."
Yesterday morning the Newcastle hierarchy's negotiations with Jaissle were said to be at an advanced stage. Given that Al-Ahli are also owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Jaissle's split from his club is unlikely to prove problematic.
The 38-year-old had a brief playing career as a defender with Hoffenheim and has been in charge of Al-Ahli since 2023. Along the way he has won a Saudi Super Cup and two Asian Champions Leagues. In his first major head coaching role, at RB Salzburg, he won two league titles and the Austrian Cup in two seasons.
After Newcastle finished a disappointing 12th in the Premier League last season some fans were calling for Howe's dismissal but the former Bournemouth
Not so black and white: how Eddie Howe lost control at Newcastle Louise Taylor Page 42 →*
QA Report - The Guardian - 31.07.2026.pdf
Pipeline
- Extraction route: mistral-ocr
- extraction_route=mistral-ocr
- Translation chunks: 104
- Extraction warnings:
- [OCR-ROUTE] Scanned PDF detected; routing directly to MistralOCR.
Non-model Checks
- WARNING: translated output has low semantic coherence score (0.06)
- WARNING: missing numeric tokens from source: 0001, 0006, 0008, 0012, 0015, 0041, 0043, 0113, 0207, 0252
- WARNING: Missing proper nouns in translation: Aaron Ramsdale, Aberdeen Angus Ribeye Steak, Abu Ghraib, Across Grand Bassam, Advertising Standards Authority, After Newcastle, After Rushdie, Airtime Plan, Ajit Niranjan
Europe, Aladji Bamba - WARNING: source dates, money, or percentage tokens may be missing
Model QA
PDF 翻译质量审核报告
结论：发现严重缺陷（Blocking Issues Found）
该翻译件在完整性和准确性方面存在重大问题，尤其是出现了严重的幻觉（Hallucination）和内容错位。
1. 严重幻觉与内容错位 (Critical Hallucinations & Misalignment)
- 完全凭空捏造/错误匹配： 在翻译预览的中间部分，出现了一个关于“市长权力下放”、“财政部死 grip”以及“安迪·伯纳姆 (Andy Burnham)”担任市长并处理北海油气钻探的大篇幅内容。
- 审计结果： 经对比原文预览，原文在该位置根本没有这些内容。原文在此处应为关于 Uefa、Fifa 以及其他新闻简讯的内容。翻译件将完全无关的第三方文本（可能是其他文档的残余或AI幻觉）插入了报告中。
2. 严重的数据错误 (Wrong Numbers)
- 表格数据完全错误： 翻译件中的英超积分表（Manchester City, Arsenal 等）数据与原文完全不符，且呈现出无意义的数字堆砌（例如原表应为排名或特定积分，翻译件将其变成了 699, 1013 等不相关的大数）。
- 原文： 仅显示相对排名和趋势。
- 翻译件： 随意填充了错误的数值。
3. 翻译不忠实与缺失 (Faithfulness & Omissions)
- 关键内容缺失： 原文预览中关于 Uefa 抵制 Fifa 的详细报道（Nick Ames, Matt Hughes 撰写部分）在翻译件中被大面积替换成了上述的“市长权力下放”幻觉文本。
- 截断问题：
- 第一页结尾：“这意味着，尽管他已经……”（原文：even though he has...）此处虽然是样本截断，但翻译件在处理时未对不完整句式做标注。
- 最后一段：“但这位前伯恩茅斯主教练……” 同样以悬空状态结尾。
4. 术语与细节缺陷 (Terminology & Detail Defects)
- 未翻译的英语块： 出现 “死 grip” 这种极不专业的翻译方式（将 grip 保留英文并强行组合），应翻译为“死掌控”或“死 Grip”。
- 标点错误： 出现多处不必要的句点，如 “2025, 年”、“2011. 年”，属于明显的清理缺陷。
5. 交付缺陷 (Delivery Defects)
- 内部标记： 翻译件标题保留了
The Guardian - 31.07.2026.pdf这种文件名格式，属于典型的交付缺陷。
审计总结： 该翻译件不可用。其最严重的缺陷在于大规模的文本幻觉（引入了大量原文不存在的政治新闻）和数据造假（积分表数值错误）。建议全篇重新翻译。