Hamas’s agreement to US president Donald Trump’s disarmament roadmap is welcome news. It potentially unlocks the stalemate that has kept 2 million Gazans living in catastrophic conditions since the ceasefire was announced more than nine months ago.

But there are concerns. Israel is unlikely to accept the plan, as it will require the withdrawal of the Israeli military from Gaza. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is likely to try to stall at least until elections are held in late October.

Hamas knows this, and being in no rush to disarm, will also be content to slow-walk the process. If or when there are additional negotiations, each party is likely to object to the details to delay the process further or suspend it altogether.

Some of these hurdles can be overcome through sustained diplomatic engagement and pressure on both parties. But this is far from guaranteed. And an additional challenge that could derail any potential progress looms large beyond Gaza’s borders: the deteriorating situation in the West Bank.

I just returned from a month of fieldwork in the West Bank, meeting with local NGO workers, community leaders and youth activists and documenting settler violence, forced displacement and land seizures. Many people I met, whether in cities, refugee camps or rural areas, said they fear a repeat of Gaza in the West Bank. They fear another major war, another Nakba (meaning “catastrophe”: the term Palestinians use to describe the mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948). One person I spoke with said they felt as if “it’s going to explode”. This is a common view among people in the West Bank.

Pressure cooker

After spending weeks travelling around the territory, it wasn’t hard to see why. I have been visiting the region for more than 20 years, and life in the West Bank has never been easy for its residents. But now, it’s like a pressure cooker.

Travel within the West Bank has become much harder and slower, with additional checkpoints, gates and unpredictable road closures – mostly near expanding settlements – adding hours to simple journeys of less than 20km. On the roads that are open, settlers have lined the pavement with Israeli flags and blacked out the Arabic writing on multilingual road signs with spray paint.

In the cities, petrol stations are out of fuel and hospitals are short of medicine. Civil servants are out of work or earning only partial wages, as Israel continues to withhold much-needed tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority. More people are also being squeezed into urban areas as a result of both Israeli military seizures of neighbouring refugee camps and settler violence against rural communities. This is adding additional strain and tension to urban areas.

For example, I visited Tulkarem, where two refugee camps, once home to more than 33,000 people, now sit like empty ghost towns. In January 2025, the residents were forced out of the camps by the Israeli military. Most are still living in temporary shelters in schools or mosques, or in overcrowded apartments housing 30 to 40 people.

Residents of Jenin Camp were also displaced last year, and in late July, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to take control of another refugee camp, suggesting another major offensive and further mass displacement.

Other areas I visited rarely make international headlines, but they are well known within Palestine. For example, the Jordan Valley is a mostly rural area that stretches about 10km wide and 100km long. It hugs the West Bank’s border with Jordan and is comprised mostly of small, simple farming villages. The region is also part of what is referred to as Area C under the Oslo Accords, the peace deal signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1995. The deal divided the West Bank into three areas with specific levels of security and control. Area C is under Israeli civil and military control.

All of Area C has experienced accelerated Israeli settlement growth, with over 100 new settlements approved by the current Israeli government since 2023. These are illegal under international law but supported by the state of Israel. In the Jordan Valley, there are 30 settlements as well as nine new outposts, which are typically unsanctioned by Israel initially, but usually allowed to develop into formal settlements with Israeli military protection.

Settlement expansion and land confiscation is not new in this area. But episodes of direct settler attacks accelerated after October 7 2023 and have continued to skyrocket across the West Bank, with about 2,500 documented attacks in 2026 alone.

These attacks were described by 600 former senior Israeli officials as terrorism, in a July 28 open letter to the Netanyahu government. Incidents range from harassment and stealing livestock, to arson, property destruction and physical, sometimes deadly attacks. In the Jordan Valley, such attacks have forced more than 45 entire villages to flee.

I visited one village, Ein el Hilweh, that had been home to 150 families. Their homes had been destroyed, and all that remained was a single tent erected by a solidarity group. At the entrance to the village, settlers had painted a picture of Greater Israel, showing the state of Israel extending across the Middle East from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River in Iraq.

Cycle of violence

The situation in Tulkarem, the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank may appear disconnected from Gaza and Hamas disarmament negotiations. But they are inextricably linked for several reasons.

First, every settler attack risks unleashing an uncontrollable cycle of violence, like an incident in the village of Tal near Nablus in late July in which four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed, sparking days of retaliatory attacks. Many worry that Netanyahu will use a similar incident as a pretext for a broader military operation in the West Bank, and in turn halt negotiations or prevent any withdrawal from Gaza.

Second, even the slim chance that Hamas does disarm in Gaza doesn’t mean that armed struggle will disappear. On the contrary, in the absence of a broader, comprehensive agreement, other groups and individuals will jockey to fill that gap in both Gaza and the West Bank. Moreover, in the face of unsanctioned settler attacks, support for armed resistance as a form of self-defence in the West Bank will only increase.

Third, and deriving from the point above, no disarmament plan for Gaza and/or the West Bank will succeed without a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination. The youth activists I met across the West Bank are hungry for a new political vision, but they do not see one. When I met with youth groups, nearly all of them told me that their greatest fear is that Palestine will cease to exist in any form by the year 2040 or 2050.

Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which reportedly has negotiated the most recent agreement – and the international community more broadly – should leverage this moment to convince them otherwise. As discussions over potential decommissioning begin, they should be coupled with a commitment to and investment in a negotiated political process to ensure a better future for all of Palestine.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — A landslide Monday triggered by heavy rainfall in Ethiopia’s Amhara region killed 14 people and injured seven others, while an unknown number of people remain unaccounted for as search and rescue efforts continue.

The landslide occurred at Tsadqane Debre Mitmaq St. Mary Monastery, where hundreds of worshippers had gathered for a holy water cleansing ritual that is popular among people seeking spiritual healing for chronic illnesses.

“The disaster occurred at approximately 7 a.m., and many of those who died had gathered to receive the holy water,” Megabe Hadis Neka Tibeb Ababu, the diocese’s general manager, told The Associated Press.

He said an unknown number of people are still believed to be trapped beneath the debris.

“Of the dead, 11 have already been buried at the monastery, while the remains of the others were sent to their hometowns,” he said, adding that it remained difficult to identify some of the victims.

Those who sustained serious injuries were taken to Debre Birhan, the capital of North Shewa Administrative Zone, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the monastery.

The landslide occurred near a mountain, where massive rocks broke loose and crashed onto the worshippers, worsening the disaster.

A team of experts from the local disaster prevention office has been deployed to assist search and rescue operations, the local administration’s communications office said in a statement.

Mudslides and flooding caused by heavy rainfall have become increasingly common in Ethiopia, particularly during the rainy season, locally known as Kiremt, which typically runs from June to September.

In July 2024, a deadly mudslide triggered by heavy rains killed at least 257 people in southern Ethiopia. Earlier this year, more than 100 people also died in a similar mudslide in Gamo, in southern Ethiopia.

The Horn of Africa nation has been increasingly affected by extreme weather events linked to climate change. Poor infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, has left many communities highly vulnerable to flooding, landslides, and recurring droughts, with limited capacity to respond to such disasters.

The surge coincided with high petrol prices

Drivers in Northern Ireland bringing cars back onto the road after they have been declared ‘off the road’ have been warned they could face a £300 fine and penalty points if they make a costly insurance mistake.

New DVLA figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request show that 8,198 vehicles across Northern Ireland were declared off the road through a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) in March 2026.

The figures form part of a wider UK increase, with 56,331 cars declared SORN during the month, which represents a 10 per cent rise compared to February and more than double the rate recorded during the same period in 2025.

The surge coincided with high petrol prices, suggesting some motorists chose to take vehicles off the road to reduce running costs.

However, as summer holidays and road trips encourage drivers to bring “hibernating” vehicles back into use, motorists are being warned about the legal requirements before getting behind the wheel.

While drivers can legally take a SORN vehicle without road tax directly to a pre-booked MOT appointment, they must still have valid insurance in place.

Driving an uninsured vehicle on a public road is a motoring offence that can result in a £300 fixed penalty, six penalty points, and the possibility of the vehicle being seized.

Temporary car insurance provider Tempcover said many motorists wrongly believe the MOT exemption also applies to insurance.

Jake Lambert, a temporary car insurance expert at Tempcover, said: “The law lets you drive a SORN car to a pre-booked MOT without road tax, but many mistakenly assume that applies to insurance too. It doesn’t – the moment you take an uninsured car onto a public road, you are breaking the law.

“Relying on assumptions or annual policies that exclude SORNed vehicles is a massive financial gamble. Insuring the car before heading to the garage is vital, and flexible, temporary cover gives drivers a legal, short-term bridge to get tested and taxed without risking fines, points or an impounded car.”

Drivers looking to return a SORN vehicle to the road are advised they must first ensure they have insurance before travelling.

The vehicle can then be driven directly to a pre-booked MOT test, provided the insurance is valid. Once the MOT has been passed, motorists can tax the vehicle before using it normally.

Vehicles detected being driven without insurance can also face further costs if they are seized, including removal fees and daily storage charges.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Donald Trump has had a go at the UK, saying it is ‘sitting on top of gold’with North Sea oil but has chosen the way of ‘loser’ windmills.

Setting up a showdown with new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, he stressed ‘he sounded terrific’ and said the world leaders are ‘going to have a very good relationship’.

Speaking in the White House, Mr Trump said: ‘Two things are killing Europe. Number one is immigration. Number two is energy.

‘When you look at the UK, they have one of the best energy fields in the world, North Sea oil. Now I think your new Prime Minister is going to actually open up the (North Sea), from what I hear.

‘I spoke to him, and he sounded terrific on this subject.

‘But you open it up, you’ll be a wealthy country.

‘You keep it closed, you’re going to be a bankrupt country, which is what you are now. Essentially, you’re a bankrupt country.’

He added: ‘You’re sitting on top of gold, better than gold, and you don’t do anything with it.’

Claiming drilling North Sea Oil could provide free energy for a millennium, he went on: ‘You have your choice. Not every country has that choice. Almost no country has that choice.’

‘They have a problem with energy. They have windmills all over the place. Windmills, you lose your shirt.

‘Any country with windmills is a loser. Okay, you just have to look. If they have windmills, they’re a loser because you lose money with windmills.’

After his first phone call with Trump, Burnham said he would ‘take a pragmatic approach when it comes to the North Sea’.

Labour’s 2024 manifesto said the party would not issue new North Sea licences, but Mr Burnham appeared to indicate a shift in stance.

Ed Miliband, who held the energy and net zero brief under Sir Keir Starmer and was a strong supporter of the election pledge, has now taken the Foreign Secretary role.

His successor as Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, has said the manifesto was clear there is scope to exploit existing licences and that oil and gas are ‘part of the mix’ – but would not be drawn on whether there are plans to go further.

The US president said he is giving Iran a last chance to end the war, claiming that last-gasp talks with Tehran ‘are going on right now’ on Monday, adding that Iran ‘begged’ for the meeting.

‘This is a last chance for them to sign a good document,’ he said after cancelling strikes over the weekend.

On Truth Social, Trump slammed Iran’s ‘unbelievably duplicitous’ leadership, after the regime denied talks were underway.

MORE: Trump wins tournament at his own course with score so good it sounds made up

MORE: Donald Trump’s £10,000,000,000 plan for landmark will hide most of original building

MORE: Trump cracks another awkward joke about Japan and Pearl Harbour

The footage allegedly shows Sharif Ahmadzai wheeling the body of Elisabeth Jane Ross through the streets of Athens.

Harrowing CCTV footage has captured the moment the man arrested over the death of a Scottish woman allegedly wheels a suitcase containing her remains through the Greek streets.

The chilling video reportedly shows Sharif Ahmadzai, 26, lugging the large, black case through the centre of Athens. Dressed in a black T-shirt and shorts and carrying a blue rucksack, Ahmadzai allegedly dumped the bag in an abandoned building in Kypseli before fleeing the scene.

The horror clip appears to show Ahmadzai’s movements on July 16, two days before Elisabeth Jane Ross’ body was discovered by a homeless man.

Elisabeth, also known as Lisa, 38, from Edinburgh was found dead inside a suitcase by a homeless man in an abandoned building in the district of Kypseli on Saturday, July 18.

Ahmadzai has since been arrested and charged in connection with Lisa’s death. Reports from local media state that he faces charges of intentional homicide, robbery and weapons offences. He reportedly confessed transporting Lisa’s body in the suitcase to cops but denies murder, according to the Guardian.

George Kalliakmanis, the honorary president of the police officers’ association in Athens, told the Guardian: “He has admitted to carrying her body in a trolley to the site. Police have CCTV footage of him doing this on the night of 16 July. He has also confessed to withdrawing €10,000 from ATMs using credit cards that belonged to her. But he has denied murder which police do not believe.”

The man, who is a champion boxer from Afghanistan, ran a refugee charity in the Greek capital, is understood to arrived in Lesvos in 2016 as a migrant, and later married US-born Alaina Hall in 2023.

The couple set up a ministry to help refugees in Athens and are believed to have known Elisabeth through their work. the Daily Mail reports. They had a key to the flat she was staying in – which was owned by their organisation, Love Every Nation Athens.

Initial medical reports suggest Elisabeth died from asphyxiation, according to The Times. An autopsy is currently underway with Lisa’s official cause of death unknown until toxicology reports are released.

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Investigators determined that Lisa arrived in Greece in late June and stayed at several locations before renting a ground-floor apartment in Exarchia. The Daily Mail reports cops said the accused had access to her apartment through a set of keys. Lisa was last known to have contacted a friend three days before she was found dead.

Her loved ones became concerned when they continued receiving text messages that appeared uncharacteristic of her writing style.

His wife Alaina is understood to have provided key evidence to the probe including a location-sharing application showing her husband at Lisa’s apartment during the night of July 15 and into July 16. After Lisa’s identity became public, she reportedly suspected Ahmadzai involvement and left their home with her child.

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Alaina is understood to have handed cops a mobile phone and €2,550 in cash that she believed may have belonged to the victim. During questioning, Ahmadzai allegedly claimed he found Lisa dead in the apartment bathroom before placing her body in a suitcase and disposing of it the following night.

But police reportedly allege he later admitted to using the victim’s mobile phone to impersonate her in messages sent to relatives and friends, while also withdrawing money using her bank cards. A search of the suspect’s home on August 1 uncovered a replica Glock-style pistol and a military-style knife, leading to additional weapons charges.

Ahmadzai’s website states his father, a military commander in Kabul, was shot dead in a Taliban ambush when he was four. His older brother was kidnapped by the Taliban five years later.

The rest of his family died in a suicide car bomb when he was 15, the website adds. Ahmadzai travelled to Greece in a small boat and went on to win the Greek super lightweight boxing title in March 2023.

He has been referred to the competent prosecuting authority to face the charges and is reportedly due to appear before magistrates in Athens on Wednesday.

By NOOR QURASHI, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 15:55 BST, 3 August 2026 | Updated: 23:11 BST, 3 August 2026

A baby boy named Theo has become the first in Britain to have a pioneering surgery while still in his mum’s womb. 

Maisie Savage was operated on by a team of surgeons in Texas after her son was diagnosed with complex gastroschisis – a condition where the belly button does not develop properly and the intestines grow externally.

Doctors used keyhole surgery techniques to reach the baby in Ms Savage’s womb when she was 26 weeks pregnant and push his organs back inside his abdomen.

Theo, who is now five months old, is said to be doing well, after becoming the third baby in the world to benefit from a clinical trial of the procedure.

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Ms Savage, 29, from London, and the baby’s 36-year-old father, Josh French, expressed their relief at the surgery’s success.

She told the BBC: ‘He’s a little miracle.’

Mr French described the diagnosis – made after Ms Savage’s 20-week scan – as ‘incredibly scary’.

The couple, who both work as teachers, were referred by medics at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.

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Ms Savage, 29, from London, and the baby’s father, Josh French, expressed their relief at the surgery’s success. They are pictured here together with Theo

Maisie Savage was operated on by a team of surgeons in Texas after her son Theo was diagnosed with complex gastroschisis

The couple are seen together in the hospital after doctors carried out ground-breaking surgery on their unborn baby

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Dr Michael Belfort, who led the team of paediatric surgeons, described the results as ‘just remarkable’, with Theo being born naturally in Texas

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They were both told to travel to Texas immediately, with Ms Savage describing the choice to go ahead with the procedure as a ‘huge decision’.

During the operation, amniotic fluid was drained from Ms Savage’s womb and replaced with carbon dioxide to give surgeons room to carry out the procedure.

Dr Michael Belfort, who led the team of paediatric surgeons, described the results as ‘just remarkable’, with Theo being born naturally in Texas.

Ms Savage said: ‘Everything they did just completely reversed what could have been a really horrible start to his life, and he’s just the best. He’s a completely normal baby, essentially.’

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Mr French added: ‘We both feel incredibly fortunate. The impact they’ve had on us as a family is incredible. They made us feel so welcome, from the team at Great Ormond Street to Dr Belfort and the team.

‘Whilst we were over there, the level of care was amazing, and they made a very traumatic time of our lives so much easier, and we’ve got this little man – we couldn’t be happier.’

Nathan Owen, 33, told 999 call handlers his car was accelerating on its own, triggering a huge police response that saw motorways closed – but was later discovered to have faked the incident

Bizarre new footage shows the moment a man slams into the back of a police car after faking an emergency to try and have his car written off.

Nathan Owen, 33, collided with a police car 31 times after he phoned emergency services to tell them his electric Jaguar was accelerating on its own and he could not stop, Liverpool Crown Court heard on Monday.

He drove at speeds of up to 86mph on the M58, M57 and M62 in Merseyside for about 35 minutes, over a distance of about 38 miles, during the incident on March 6, 2024.

It triggered a “significant“ police response as officers tried to stop what they were told was a runaway vehicle – but investigations later showed there was nothing wrong with the car, and that Owen was in full control the entire time.

He went on to plead guilty to dangerous driving and two counts of fraud, and sentenced to four years and three months in prison on Monday.

Sentencing him, Judge Ian Unsworth KC said: “You set in train a course of conduct which caused a significant police traffic operation to be deployed, undoubted alarm to the public and very substantial loss and disruption to others.”

The judge said police officers placed themselves in danger because they believed they were dealing with a genuine emergency.

He added: “You, meanwhile, sought to profit from a lie.”

Eric Lamb, prosecuting, said Owen, of Prestatyn, North Wales, had entered into a finance agreement in September 2023 for the Jaguar I-Pace.

He ran into “financial difficulties” and was in arrears with CA Auto Finance by March the following year with about £5,000 left to pay, the court heard.

On the day of the incident, he called loan company Plata to ask if he would be able to borrow more on top of the £3,000 he had already loaned from them, but was told he could not.

Five minutes later, shortly after 2pm, he called 999 claiming his car would not brake and he had no control over the vehicle, which he said was accelerating.

Mr Lamb said: “In fact, his car was stationary at the time of that call.”

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Police responded and the car, which was then travelling at speeds of up to 86mph, had to be boxed off by emergency service vehicles to keep other road users safe before it came to a stop on the M62 near Warrington, Cheshire.

However, investigations found there was no fault with the car, the court heard.

Mr Lamb said: “He had fabricated the events in order to enable him to get rid of the vehicle.

“He had full control of the vehicle and with full control of the vehicle he travelled at excessive and extreme speeds.”

Motorways had to be closed as a result of the incident, the court heard.

Footage of the police pursuit was played in court along with the audio from his 999 call, in which he was heard telling an operator he was “shaking” and the car had “gone crazy”.

When the car was eventually brought to a stop, the brake lights could be seen turning on.

Owen contacted the finance company 40 minutes after the incident.

He was later paid £300 by The Sun and £500 by the Daily Mail for his story, the court heard.

In a statement, Murray Paul, from Jaguar Land Rover UK, said the firm had spent an extra £50 million in marketing to try and counter the publicity from the false allegations, which they said generated 180 pieces of adverse coverage.

Daniel Travers, defending, said Owen’s actions were “frighteningly stupid”.

He said Owen, who had no previous convictions and came from a “successful, stable family”, had been described by his father as a Walter Mitty character who “lives in a fantasy world”.

He added: “He had grand ideas and things just went wrong.”

Owen pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and two counts of fraud in June. He was banned from driving for a period of five years after his release from custody.

Speaking after the sentencing, Merseyside Police’s Detective Constable Michael Doyle said: “It was clear from our investigations that he was in full control of his vehicle throughout the duration of the incident.

“By his own admission there were workers on the hard shoulder of the motorway and he clearly put them and other road users in danger with his reckless actions.”

A charge of causing a public nuisance was ordered to lie on the file.

Andy Burnham on Monday night gave the green light for thousands of killers, thugs and paedophiles to get out of jail early.

The Prime Minister paused the controversial plans last month after a public outcry over the proposed release of two of the killers of PC Andrew Harper.

Following an urgent review, rapists and the most serious sex offenders will now be excluded from early release. But Downing Street on Monday night confirmed the early release of thousands of other serious criminals, including killers and wife-beaters, will go ahead this autumn.

The programme will include the release of two of the three teenage killers of PC Harper, who was dragged behind a car for more than a mile in 2019.

His widow Lissie last month said the prospect of their release ‘makes me feel sick’.

Mr Burnham acknowledged the ‘anger, anxiety and distress’ caused to victims by the early-release plans. He said the exclusion of rapists and the worst paedophiles were ‘significant changes’ but acknowledged ‘there will still be concerns about other offenders having their sentences shortened’.

The Prime Minister said he had ‘wanted to go further’ but added: ‘It’s not possible without the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing, which would put public safety at much greater risk.’

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: ‘Andy Burnham wants a round of applause for agreeing not to release rapists and child sex offenders. He’s not getting one.

‘This is only a partial climbdown. Killers, violent offenders, men who have terrorised their partners and more will all still walk out of prison in October thanks to Labour’s early release scheme.

‘Yet again victims are learning their fate from press releases. The victims of these horrific crimes have suffered weeks of uncertainty and fear. They deserve so much better.’

Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Dame Nicole Jacobs, said: ‘The decision to not exclude domestic abuse perpetrators from this scheme is wrong and puts victims lives at risk.’

The early-release plans mean that thousands of serious offenders who would normally have served two thirds of their sentence before being considered for release, will now be let out after only half of their term.

Less serious offenders, who would normally have served half of their sentence, will be released after only a third of their jail time.

The changes to the system are designed to be permanent, although plans to implement them have been delayed until October.

Justice secretary Alex Norris said those released early would face ‘tougher supervision’ on release, including tagging, exclusion zones and random drug tests. The number of areas using chemical castration to ‘help manage the drivers of sexual offending’ will be doubled.

Probation officers will also be given the power to ban some offenders from driving, pubs and football matches.

The changes announced by Mr Burnham are expected to cut the number of serious offenders earmarked for early release by around 1,000 to 5,000.

Rapists and those convicted of the most serious child sex and grooming gang offences will now be excluded from the early-release provision. However, thousands of other serious criminals can still look forward to early freedom. These include those with convictions for manslaughter, domestic abuse, child pornography, drug dealing and wounding with intent.

Smirking: Albert Bowers, left, and Jessie Cole could be among those released ‘within months’

Mr Burnham insisted keeping the public safe is his ‘top priority’. But he said the prisons crisis made early release inevitable.

Mr Norris has been ordered to ‘accelerate’ the prison building programme, although there were no details on Monday night of what this means in practice.

The Prime Minister pledged to ‘deliver the fastest prison building programme since the Victorian era and do what’s necessary to fix the prison crisis’. But the

failure to halt the early release of PC Harper’s killers is likely to raise questions about his judgment.

The 28-year-old officer was killed in August 2019 after responding to reports of a stolen quad bike in Berkshire. He suffered horrific injuries after getting caught in a strap attached to a getaway car driven by Henry Long, who was jailed for 16 years. Long’s accomplices Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were both sentenced in 2020 to 13 years for manslaughter.

But the pair, who were pictured laughing during the trial, will now be released in the coming months.

Lissie Harper said: ‘This is disgusting. How dare ministers say the killing of a police officer is not enough of a ‘sickening crime’ that deserves the stiffest of punishments.

‘The level of disrespect the Government are showing to Andrew and other victims – and to their loved ones – is beyond contempt.’

Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy welcomed the decision to bar rapists from the scheme but said the Government’s climbdown ‘doesn’t go far enough’.

He added: ‘One of Andy Burnham’s first acts as prime minister will be to let thousands of criminals – including killers and paedophiles – out early.’

Warning: Graphic image of burns

Beachgoers in Wales have described suffering severe burns to their feet after walking on hot sand where they had earlier been enjoying barbecues.

Their injuries, which landed them in hospital and off work, have prompted warnings from medics at Morriston Hospital Burns’ Centre.

Sam Knight was unable to walk for a fortnight after burning himself after a family barbecue at Cefn Sidan beach at Pembrey Country Park earlier this year. Sign up for our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here.

The 27-year-old said: “It was a family gathering and it was a windy day so there was sand in everyone’s eyes. When we’d finished with the barbecue I used tongs to move it to one side and extinguished it, so I thought it was safe.

“But the patch of sand it had been on was still boiling, and after I stepped on it I had to be carried off the beach. I went to the Minor Injury Unit at Neath Port Talbot Hospital but they just patched me up and told me there the burns were so deep I needed to go to the Burns’ Centre at Morriston. I couldn’t walk for a couple of weeks so I had to take a fortnight off work.”

When he had recovered enough to return to the beach, Sam, a mechanical engineer, decided to put his work skills into practice and returned to the shore to carry out an experiment.

Sam fired up two disposable barbecues, placing one directly onto the sand, and another raised 40mm off it. When he measured the sand under the first, it recorded a temperature of 244°. The barbecue raised from the sand kept it close to the ambient temperature under the conditions tested.

“The packaging advised raising the barbecue from the surface, but it didn’t provide any way to do so, and suggested locating some bricks at the location it was being used,” Sam said.

Melanie Holbrook was also badly burned after using a disposable barbecue at another Welsh beach. Visiting Oxwich Bay on Gower with her husband she said they had also used a disposable barbecue and disposed of it sensibly to make it safe.

However, moments later she too stepped on the sand where the barbecue had been, feeling instant excruciating pain under her feet.

She said: “When I looked, the bottoms of my feet were burnt yellow. The heat from the barbecue had gone straight into the sand. I had no idea that could happen.

“My husband poured water over my feet and ran for help. They got my feet into a container with cold water and moved me over to the shade with my feet under running water until the ambulance came.

“I ended up in A&E in Morriston Hospital and then in the Burns’ Centre. The skin on my feet was badly blistered and had to be removed. I had weeks of treatment, with regular dressing changes and check-ups. I wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone.

“It took weeks for the skin on my feet to heal and it took about four to five months before I could properly walk again and I still get some sensitivity even now.”

By chance, Swansea Bay UHB physiotherapist David Fligelstone was close by on the beach when Mrs Holbrook experienced her burns, and was one of those who came to her aid.

He said: “Having worked both as an RNLI lifeguard and later as a physiotherapist on the Burns Unit at Morriston Hospital, I’ve seen first-hand the devastating impact these injuries can have.

“What makes them particularly concerning is that the danger is often invisible – once a disposable BBQ has been removed, the sand beneath can remain hot enough to cause serious burns for a considerable time.

“These injuries are entirely preventable. A simple action, such as thoroughly cooling the sand with water after removing a disposable BBQ, can prevent severe injuries, particularly in children. This summer we want people to enjoy our beaches safely while helping to prevent avoidable injuries before they happen.”

Consultant surgeon Jeremy Yarrow said a recent review of data from the International Burn Injury Database (IBID) highlights a worrying and continuous rise in disposable BBQ-related injuries over the past few years.

He added: “As burn care specialists on the front line at the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery, we are issuing an urgent public safety appeal regarding a severe and entirely preventable summer hazard: thermal burn injuries caused by disposable barbecues on our beaches.

“While many associate barbecues with open flames, a significant proportion of the severe injuries we treat in hospital stem from an invisible trap: super-heated sand beneath the grill.

“Sand absorbs intense heat from disposable barbecues, reaching temperatures upwards of 400°C that persist for hours after the barbecue unit itself has been removed or extinguished.

“To an unsuspecting child running barefoot or a beachgoer stepping onto the beach hours later or pet, this hidden hazard can inflict devastating, full-thickness burns in a fraction of a second.”

Morriston Hospital Burns’ Centre has now issued a warning to people thinking of enjoying al fresco cooking when they visit Wales’ beaches because of the way sand retains high temperatures even when disposable barbecues have been disposed of responsibly.

To protect family and fellow beach users, people using disposable barbecues are urged to follow three vital safety practices:

• Raise the BBQ off the sand. Never place a disposable barbecue directly on the beach; always elevate it using stones, bricks, or a dedicated stand to prevent heat from transferring to the sand underneath.
• Cool both the BBQ and the sand with water. Once you have finished cooking, douse the barbecue and the sand beneath it thoroughly with seawater, ensuring the ground is completely cold to the touch before leaving. We strongly warn against burying hot barbecues or glowing embers in the sand. Covering coals with sand does not extinguish them—it acts as an insulator, turning the sand into a hidden oven that poses danger to other beach users and animals.
• Dispose of the cooled BBQ safely by placing it in a designated hot-ash bin or taking it home with you.

Should an accident occur, immediate and correct first aid is critical to improving outcomes and reduce the depth of the burn. People are advised to follow what doctors term ‘the three Cs’:

• Cool the burn under cool running water for at least 20 minutes (do not use ice or butter).
• Call 999 for emergencies or NHS 111 for clinical advice—all beach sand burns in children require urgent medical assessment.
• Cover the wound loosely with clean cling film to protect the damaged skin.