Parents are being warned that six simple mistakes in their vehicle could see an instant fail on their MOT – here are the things people should check before dropping a car off at the garage

Parents are being reminded to do a number of simple checks before sending their car for an MOT or risk failing. With heading back to school for the first time in six weeks, parents will have even more things to juggle such as school drop-off, after school activities and endless washing.

However, a motoring expert has said that everyday clutter inside a family vehicle could result in an immediate MOT failure. With roughly 1 in 5 cars failing their MOT across the UK and over 5 million parents admitting to driving messy, cluttered cars, an overlooked item on the dashboard or in the backseat could turn a routine inspection into an expensive inconvenience.

DVSA guidelines allow test centres to refuse or automatically fail vehicles if simple safety, cleanliness, or access conditions aren’t met while cars are being inspected.

James Harding, an expert from Blackcircles with over 16 years of industry experience, said: “MOT failures aren’t just costly and inconvenient; they can show a car to be unsafe. You must book your car in for an MOT yearly, and ensure that your car is prepared to be tested.

“MOT test centres can legally refuse to test your car under official DVSA guidelines. If specific safety, cleanliness or administrative conditions are not met, you are at risk of being turned away or automatically failed.

“Before arriving at your MOT appointment, it is important to check that your car is clean and accessible. It is also a good idea to check lights, tyres, fluid and oil levels as well as your dashboard for any warning lights. Sorting any issues that appear ahead of an MOT appointment can help your car to pass.”

What do parents need to check before an MOT?

According to Blackcircles there are six common reasons why a family vehicle might fail its MOT.

• Teddies or toys: Leaving teddies and toys on the top of your dashboard can cause a failure if they block your view of the road. They also pose a major hazard if they interfere with the deployment of your passenger airbags.

• Child seat not secured properly: An MOT has to test the integrity of seatbelts; therefore, if the child seat is loosely fitted, this suggests the restraint system is insufficient. A loosely fitted seat can also pose a significant risk to the child and passengers in an accident; therefore, an insecure seat is a “major defect” in an MOT exam.

• Child seat obscuring seat belt: An MOT requires every seatbelt to be tested. If a seatbelt is trapped behind a permanent child car seat and cannot be inspected, the car will fail.

• Shopping bags or prams in the boot: Every door, including the boot, must open and close smoothly from both the inside and out. If overpacking the boot stops a smooth closure, the vehicle will fail. If your boot is full and the tester cannot access the spare wheel well or suspension mounts, they will fail the vehicle.

• Baby on board stickers: If the baby on board stickers are stuck to the windscreen or front side windows, this could result in a failed MOT. This is because these positions can block your view of the road. Instead, make sure this sticker is on the rear window, and ensure it’s not in the way of the wipers.

• Clutter and dirt: If your car is excessively dirty (inside or out), the tester can legally refuse to examine it. If rubbish, loose bottles or clutter is rolling around near the pedals, this is classed as a safety hazard, and a direct fail. If a number plate is so dirty it becomes unreadable to Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, your car will automatically fail its MOT.

Four appeared in court on Wednesday, September 2

Four people have appeared in court charged with murder after a newborn baby girl, named as Baby S, was found dead with 33 wounds from 15 separate stabbings.

At Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, September 2, prosecutors told a district judge that the baby’s body was found on top of a washing machine in an outhouse at an address in the Wincobank area of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, on Sunday, August 29.

Andrea Skopova, 20, Peter Horvath Jnr, 19, Peter Horvath Snr, 38, and Nina Horvathova, 37, appeared before the court on Wednesday morning charged with the murder of Baby S.

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They were remanded in custody and will appear at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday.

Horvath Jnr, Horvath Snr and Horvathova, all of Holywell Heights, and Skopova, of Robey Street, Grimesthorpe, Sheffield, are also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child, and perverting the course of justice by cleaning the scene of the alleged crime.

All the defendants are Slovakian nationals, the court heard.

A 15-year-old girl, who cannot be named, appeared at the court later in a separate hearing, charged with the same perverting the course of justice offence. The girl sobbed in the dock as representations were made about whether she should be released on bail.

District Judge Tim Spruce decided she should be remanded in youth custody until Thursday, when she will appear at crown court with the other defendants.

Prosecutor Luke Hopkinson told Mr Spruce that the baby’s mother is the defendant Andrea Skopova. The father is unknown, Mr Hopkinson said.

Skopova is the girlfriend of the defendant Horvath Jnr, who is the son of the other two adult defendants. Mr Hopkinson said Horvath Jnr is not believed to be the father.

Baby S was found wrapped in a towel and in a blue bag in an outbuilding at an address in Holywell Heights. Mr Hopkinson said she had suffered 33 wounds from 15 “separate stabbings”.

A forensic post-mortem has confirmed that the baby’s cause of death as resulting from stab wounds.

A number of family members packed into the court for the nine-minute long adult defendants’ hearing, many in tears. The four adults stood wearing identical grey t-shirts and flanked by four security guards.

Two women, aged 26 and 37, who were arrested on suspicion of murder remain on bail.

Lauren Costello, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor at CPS Yorkshire and Humberside, said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute four individuals with murder following a police investigation into the death of a newborn baby girl in the Wincobank area. A fifth individual has been charged with perverting the course of justice.

“Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.

“We have worked carefully with South Yorkshire Police as they carried out their investigation. We remind all concerned that proceedings against the defendants are active and they have the right to a fair trial.

“It is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in anyway prejudice these proceedings.”

A Hospitality Ulster survey recently found 45% of all hospitality businesses in Northern Ireland were not sure if they would survive the next 12 months

The VAT differential across the island of Ireland is putting hospitality businesses in Northern Ireland under pressure, a Westminster committee has heard.

Businesses told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee of shrinking margins during a probe into the taxation of the hospitality and tourism sectors in Northern Ireland.

Figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) suggest that over the course of 2025 the number of jobs in the hospitality sector fell by 2,000, from around 57,000 to 55,000.

Meanwhile, a Hospitality Ulster survey recently found 45% of all hospitality businesses in Northern Ireland were not sure if they would survive the next 12 months.

Selina Horshi, managing director of the White Horse Hotel in Campsie, Co Derry, told MPs said the sector is in “survival mode”.

“The reality here is pretty stark. If there isn’t some action taken, we’re all going to be watching an industry erode,” she told MPs.

“It’s a big industry, and it’s very important to Northern Ireland. It’s the fourth biggest employer. It spreads out wealth across rural and urban areas.

“It employs a lot of women. It employs a lot of young people. You can come into it whether you’re skilled. You can upskill through it. It’s got high-paid jobs. It’s got short-term jobs. It’s so hugely important to our area, and what we’re seeing already is the decline in jobs.

“What we’re seeing already is the closure of businesses, and we just can’t keep clinging on.

“Our reserves have been eaten away by Brexit, by coronavirus by cost of living, by cost-of-doing business crisis. It has just got to an unsustainable point.”

Ms Horshi also highlighted the challenge of competing against hospitality organisations in the Republic of Ireland.

“We’re marketed alongside them, and yet a customer is looking at a price in my hotel, three and a half miles from the border, and the price in Donegal, and what they’re seeing is that the price is lower in Donegal.

“Our costs are roughly equivalent, but our VAT, for example, is significantly different. So for every £100 that I take into my business on accommodation, the equivalent hotel in the Republic taking £100 would retain £4.78 more on the VAT alone. Per room that doesn’t sound like a lot, but we are a high volume, low margin industry, and that quickly adds up to hundreds of thousands of pounds within a business each year.

“The margins have been so squeezed on all sides of the border and all parts of the UK by the cost of living and the cost of doing business, but that VAT differential is really putting pressure on our businesses at the moment.”

She added: “It’s not only VAT.

“In other parts of the UK, there has been rates relief for hospitality, and those haven’t been implemented in Northern Ireland. So that is also a challenge.

“But the one that is the biggest lever is quite simply the VAT differential when you’re looking at food at 9% in the Republic versus 20% in Northern Ireland, and you’re looking at accommodation at 20% in Northern Ireland versus 13% in the Republic.”

Michael Cadden, chairman of Hospitality Ulster and managing director of Lusty Beg Island Resort in Co Fermanagh, said he has been in the business for 25 years, and it has “never been more difficult”.

He gave an example of last year attending a major wedding show in Dublin, and leaving having sold just two weddings, whereas previously he would have have sold up to 25 weddings at the same event.

“The difference has become price. We’re no longer seen as a value proposition, and we’re no longer seen as a value proposition because we simply can’t afford to compete with the prices because our cost base and our tax base is so very, very different,” he told MPs.

He explained that there are multiplying pressures which are leaving it “unsustainable”.

These include a 1 or 2% additional food cost as a result of Brexit, the impact of the national insurance increase on their wage bill, and reaching a “ceiling” in terms of what they can charge for products due to the “relatively low income level in the province”.

“So we’re being squeezed from both sides, and the VAT lever we believe is the one that will relieve that across the board,” he added.

“We have reached a point where the levers that that we’re talking about, we believe it’s now time to start pulling those, or we will start to lose a significant portion of the industry.”

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England have omitted Brydon Carse from their squad for the third and final Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston.

The Durham seamer was dropped for the second Test at Lord’s after he was briefly arrested following an incident outside a Derby nightclub on 22 August.

The 31-year-old remains under investigation by Derbyshire police, who say they are looking into allegations of assault.

Carse’s replacement, 23-year-old Sonny Baker, has retained his place in England’s 15-man party.

Surrey’s Matthew Fisher has been dropped from an otherwise unchanged England squad as they seek to complete a series clean-sweep over Pakistan.

The third Test in Birmingham starts on Wednesday, 9 September at 11:00 BST.

With six white-ball matches against Sri Lanka to follow the Test series, England may consider resting seamers Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue, all of whom feature in the limited-overs set-up.

While the trio have been named in the Test squad, they may be rotated in favour of Baker, Essex pace bowler Sam Cook and Derbyshire spinner Shoaib Bashir.

Cook, 29, played his one Test against Zimbabwe last summer while 22-year-old Bashir is yet to feature in this series, with England preferring an all-pace attack.

Baker made his only Test appearance to date in a much-changed line-up against New Zealand at The Oval in June.

Carse remains available for selection for Durham and finished with match figures of 4-95 in their win over Gloucestershire last week.

However, he has not been picked in the XI for their match against Northamptonshire, which started on Wednesday.

Pakistan made the extraordinary move of dropping seven players, calling up five uncapped players and releasing their head coach prior to the Edgbaston Test.

Sarfaraz Ahmed has replaced by Pakistan white-ball coach Mike Hesson, while Muhammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Ali Usman and Khurram Shahzad, all of whom have featured in the series, are among the players dropped.

England beat Pakistan by an innings and 103 runs in the first Test at Headingley and sealed series victory with a win by 194 runs at Lord’s last week.

A newborn baby suffered 15 stab wounds before being hidden in an outhouse in Sheffield, a court has heard.  

The child, named only as Baby S, was discovered fatally injured in a house in the Wincobank area of the city at around 6am on Sunday morning.

She had allegedly been stabbed in a bathroom, wrapped in a towel and blue bag and then dumped on a washing machine in an outhouse. 

Today, her mother, Andrea Skopova, 20, appeared in court charged with her daughter’s murder at the property in Holywell Heights, Sheffield, South Yorkshire. 

Her boyfriend Peter Horvath Jnr, 19, and his parents Nina Horvathova, 37, and Peter Horvath Snr, 38, also appeared beside her in the dock wearing grey prison-issue tracksuits at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court charged with Baby S’s murder.

All four are also charged with caused or allowed the death of a child and also perverting the course of justice by cleaning a crime scene.

A 15-year-old girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has also appeared charged with perverting the course of justice.

The defendants – who are all Slovakian nationals and required an interpreter – were remanded in custody after appearing today at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court.

The court heard the baby suffered 33 injuries including 15 stab wounds.

Her boyfriend, Peter Horvath Jr, has also been charged with murder. He is not believed to be the baby’s father

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A police forensics team could be seen entering the property on Monday where a newborn baby was found the day before 

It is believed the smart property in the Wincobank area of Sheffield was being rented 

Prosecutor Luke Hopkinson said the mother of Baby S is Skopova, but the father is not known.

‘A female baby known as S was born in the early hours of Sunday 30 August at an address in Holywell Heights,’ Mr Hopkinson said. 

He said that Skopova gave birth to the baby at 37 weeks and shortly afterwards presented at hospital.

Hospital staff were ‘confident’ the baby was not in the womb but Skopova would not explain where the baby was, the court heard. 

He added: ‘It was apparent that she had recently given birth.’

It was said Skopova would not explain where the baby was.  

Medical staff alerted the police at shortly after 5am.

Police attended her home address and could not find the child so later checked the address in Holywell Heights.

Mr Hopkinson said: ‘Peter Hovarth Junior is Andrea’s current boyfriend, but he is not the father.

‘When attending, police located a baby wrapped in towelling and in a blue bag on top of a washing machine in an outhouse. The baby was deceased.

Slovakian national Peter Horvath has been charged with murder, causing or allowing the death of a child and also perverting the course of justice 

‘The baby has catastrophically been injured by a knife.

‘She has 33 wounds from 15 separate stabbings. 

‘A doctor confirmed she would have been alive when the attack took place.’

It is alleged that Horvathova and the 15-year-old girl cleaned up blood in the bathroom.

An eight-year-old child was also in the house at the time.

Mr Hopkinson said the defendants have not been clear in police interviews and have ‘contradicted one another’.

District Judge Tim Spruce remanded all five defendants into custody to appear before Sheffield Crown Court tomorrow.  

Two women, aged 26 and 37, who were arrested on suspicion of murder remain on bail.

Detective Chief Inspector Tom Woodward, of South Yorkshire Police, said: ‘I would like to thank our communities, who I know will have been deeply impacted by this traumatic incident, for supporting us as we work through this intricate investigation.’

Arsenal did not pursue a deadline-day deal for Malick Fofana after Mikel Arteta raised concerns about the Lyon winger, according to reports.

The Belgium international emerged as a target late in the window as Arsenal considered strengthening their forward line following a number of high-profile snubs.

Deals for Morgan Rogers and Vinicius Junior failed to materialise, with Christos Tzolis the only arrival to replace Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli.

The Gunners had been holding out hope of a late deal for Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez, but the Argentine indicated he wasn’t keen on a Premier League return.

However, Arsenal almost sprang into action on deadline day after they were offered the chance to sign Fofana as Lyon looked to raise funds after missing out on the Champions League.

The 21-year-old has previously attracted interest from Liverpool and Chelsea, and was available for around £30million, a similar fee to that which Arsenal paid to bring Tzolis to the Emirates earlier in the summer.

However, The Athletic reports that Arsenal were only willing to pursue a loan deal to avoid the possibility of breaching UEFA’s spending limits.

It is also said that Arteta spoke with Fofana, but held concerns about the winger’s ability to adapt to the physical demands of the Premier League.

Despite Arsenal’s decision, Fofana did ultimately end up in the English top-flight after a remarkable transfer tussle between Sunderland and Crystal Palace.

The Black Cats struck a deal first for the winger before Palace looked to hijack the transfer after agreeing a similar deal with Lyon.

Ultimately, Sunderland rescued their deal by offering more commission to the Belgian’s agents, with a five-year deal agreed for the pacey winger.

‘Malick has all the attributes to thrive in the Premier League,’ Sunderland’s Director of Football Florent Ghisolfi said.
 
‘He is a player with huge potential and Sunderland AFC will provide him with the right environment to continue to develop and prosper.
 
‘He operates off the left and will complement the versatility of the other wide men we have at the club, who can play across both flanks.
 
‘We are delighted to welcome Malick to the Club and look forward to supporting him as he takes the next steps in his career.’

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Freely available satellite radar imaging is being used for the first time to help track colonies of endangered emperor penguins in Antarctica throughout the winter months.

Typically satellite images need sunlight to be useful, and Antarctica is dark in the winter. This has meant that colonies have been hidden at a critical time in the emperor penguin breeding cycle, when eggs are laid, chicks hatch and adults take part in those iconic huddles.

Almost 70 colonies of emperor penguins, many of which have never been visited by humans, occupy the sea ice that is fastened to the coastline surrounding Antarctica.

Now using synthetic aperture radar (SAR), an instrument operating on satellites that sends microwave pulses down to Earth, and measures how those pulses return, our research team has been able to track what the penguins do during these months.

Unlike other forms of satellite imagery, SAR is not reliant on sunlight, or affected by cloud, and therefore provides radar imagery of Antarctica through the dark polar winter.

SAR’s signal is sensitive to the properties of what it interacts with, and has been used for years in the poles to research things like the properties of sea ice and melt on glaciers.

When looking at SAR images from the free European Space Agency satellite, Sentinel-1, showing the location of an emperor penguin colony during winter, my team started to notice a bright white splodge of pixels moving around against a backdrop of dark, smooth sea ice.

Features like icebergs or rough sea ice can look bright in SAR imagery, but it didn’t make sense for those to be moving around at that time of year, when the sea ice was fixed and stable. Could it be the emperor penguin colony?

We soon found the same thing at the locations of other colonies – clusters of bright moving pixels on stable ice. We were then able to obtain optical images from September when the sunlight first starts returning, and compare them with the SAR, and confirmed it was indeed the colonies we were observing.

Tracking through the whole year

This finding opened up an exciting opportunity to track colonies throughout the whole breeding cycle, by combining SAR images in winter with optical images in spring/summer, and all using freely available data that has been routinely collected for years.

We went back through eight years, from 2017 to 2024, and followed three of the largest colonies year-round. We were able to follow their movement, sometimes even daily from early in the winter until chicks grow their first feathers in December and January.

We observed that colonies were typically less mobile in the winter, before spreading out and moving greater distances in the spring and summer. Interestingly, we found that the Atka Bay colony moved up from the sea ice onto the glacier ice that flows from the continent in seven of the eight years in the early spring. The colony did this despite the sea ice – the typically preferred habitat for the species – being stable. We need more research to understand why this is.

Satellite remote sensing has been a crucial tool for observing the emperor penguins in the summer months since 2009. It was discovered then that colonies could be found in satellite images because of the dark guano stains they leave on the snow and ice. Overall, these observations have revolutionised our understanding of the species and have led to the discovery of many more colonies.

After a period of stability, Antarctic sea ice has declined markedly since 2016 and likely entered a new state, characterised by lower extent and increased instability. Earlier this year, emperor penguins were added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list and classified as endangered, predominantly due to projected declines in sea ice.

This makes better understanding and monitoring of emperor penguins more important than ever. The ability to observe colonies throughout the breeding cycle using freely available, routinely collected satellite data creates opportunities to better understand their response to changing environmental conditions.

George Clooney is the latest star to defend Mark Ruffalo after Paramount had accused the star of antisemitism.

The 65-year-old A-lister stood up for free speech and the embattled 58-year-old Avengers star, who was also recently defended by 170 Jewish entertainment figures in an open letter.

Ruffalo, 58, was accused of ‘antisemitic tropes’ by Paramount Skydance after opposing the company’s merger with Warner Bros Discovery. He has insisted that his issue has to do with military contracts and executive actions, not Jewish people. He had previously described Israel’s military actions as ‘genocide.’

Paramount CEO David Ellison is the son of billionaire technology mogul Larry Ellison, co-founder and executive chairman of major software company Oracle, which has provided technological assistance to Israel amid its strikes on Gaza.

Now, Clooney has defended Ruffalo during a press conference at the Venice Film Festival ahead of receiving the fest’s highest honor, a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement.

The ER star was asked to respond to Paramount’s criticism of Ruffalo as he replied: ‘I support Mark Ruffalo’s ability to speak freely. I think that that’s ridiculous. We’re not going to ban speech.

Ruffalo, 58, was accused of ‘antisemitic tropes’ by Paramount Skydance after opposing the company’s merger with Warner Bros Discovery. He has insisted that his issue has to do with military contracts and executive actions, not Jewish people

‘I believe in free speech even when I completely disagree with it. That’s important, right? In fact, it’s part of how a democracy works. There are going to be people tonight in the room that are going to disagree with most everything I say or stand for. Fair enough. That’s how it’s supposed to be. We’re supposed to argue these things out and come to a conclusion based on the information that we take in.’

Clooney then went on to speak about Ruffalo personally.

He said: ‘I will always support Mark Ruffalo’s ability to speak freely. I like him. He’s a good man.’

The global ambassador for Nespresso then touched on how he felt about the merger itself, which he called a ‘complicated thing,’ and said that he predicts it doesn’t go through and feels like it won’t actually benefit the people behind it like the aforementioned Ellison.

Clooney said: ‘I don’t know how this goes through. There are so many issues involved.

‘It doesn’t matter how much money you have; it’s going to be very tricky to do. So, my opinion on the merger is: I always worry whenever big companies are consolidating because it usually means a lot of people lose their jobs. That’s the truth.’

This comes after Ruffalo was defended by nearly 200 Jewish figures in entertainment.

Actress Hannah Einbinder, who previously defended the actor, led the signatures of Jewish entertainment industry members in an open letter of support for the Marvel actor.

The ER star was asked to respond to Paramount’s criticism of Ruffalo as he replied: ‘I support Mark Ruffalo’s ability to speak freely. I think that that’s ridiculous. We’re not going to ban speech’

Clooney hopping on a water taxi at the Venice Film Festival ahead of him receiving the fest’s highest honor, a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement

Other notable names included: Joel Coen, Todd Haynes, Ilana Glazer, James Schamus, Emma Seligman, Tony Kushner, Jane Schoenbrun and Wallace Shawn. 

The new letter, published on Tuesday, defended Ruffalo as it argued against what it said were ‘false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism.’

In his previous statement, Ruffalo had highlighted the links between the Ellison family and Israel, which the open letter reiterated.

It read: ‘Pointing out the crucial connections between what is happening in Gaza and what is happening in Hollywood is the exact opposite of antisemitism. It is, for us, the very essence of Jewish ethical duty.’

Broad City actress Glazer also released a statement along with her signature that read: ‘Calling Mark Ruffalo antisemitic because he is questioning a massive corporate merger is not only absurd— it’s a dangerous way to shut down legitimate criticism.

‘Mark has consistently spoken out against antisemitism while also standing up for Palestinian rights and dignity for all people. It’s an American’s right to debate media consolidation and the dangers of monopolized corporate power without weaponizing antisemitism to bully people into silence.’

Last week, Einbinder took to social media to defend Ruffalo after Paramount called his merger attack ‘antisemitic.’

The Hacks star made her thoughts clear on Instagram Stories last Monday following Ruffalo’s criticism of Paramount’s jabs at him as ‘appalling and fundamentally dishonest.’ 

Ruffalo has also been defended by nearly 200 Jewish figures in entertainment 

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Actress Hannah Einbinder, who previously defended the actor, led the signatures of Jewish entertainment industry members in an open letter of support for the Marvel star

Ruffalo said on Saturday: ‘The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest’

Other notable names included: Joel Coen (above), Todd Haynes, Ilana Glazer, James Schamus, Emma Seligman, Tony Kushner, Jane Schoenbrun and Wallace Shawn

Broad City actress Glazer also released a statement along with her signature that read: ‘Calling Mark Ruffalo antisemitic because he is questioning a massive corporate merger is not only absurd – it’s a dangerous way to shut down legitimate criticism’

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In her statement, Einbinder, who is Jewish, said she was ‘so grateful that Mark Ruffalo drew a connection between the Ellisons providing military technology to Israel during a genocide and their unprecedented media takeover.’

She said Ruffalo correctly ‘pointed out that this is a dangerous consolidation of power that could ultimately be used against us.’

The Daily Mail reached out to representatives for Einbinder, Ruffalo and Paramount at the time for further comment. 

In her statement, Einbinder said that ‘the idea that [Ruffalo] only said these things because the Ellisons are Jewish is LUDICROUS,’ asking, ‘Is it also antisemitic to point out that Safra Catz, the Oracle executive vice chair who boasted about the “profoundly scary technology” provided to the IDF, also sits on Paramount’s board?

‘Or that Larry Ellison has been buying favor with Trump by donating tens of millions to his political efforts for years? Or that he once offered Netanyahu a lucrative Oracle post?’

The Los Angeles-born actress said that Ruffalo’s words marked ‘criticism of RIGHT WING technofeudalist oligarchs who are in the process of carrying out the largest media acquisition in history,’ adding that ‘people are not too stupid to see these obvious connections.’

Einbinder added: ‘If you want to make it about the Ellisons being Jewish, then you are the one being antisemitic.’

She said that ‘every time Zionists equate criticism of Israel, its genocide, or anyone who supports it to antisemitism, they rob the word of all of its meaning.

‘For those of us who ACTUALLY care about Jewish safety, we want that word to mean something so that when Jews are actually in danger it’s taken seriously.’

Einbinder, who is Jewish, previously said she was ‘so grateful that Mark Ruffalo drew a connection between the Ellisons providing military technology to Israel during a genocide and their unprecedented media takeover’

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Ruffalo has been a loud opponent of the proposed merger between Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery, and his criticism has sparked a public feud with Paramount – whose CEO is David Ellison

Einbinder also said she supports Ruffalo’s comments that the merger had major implications for the entertainment industry as a whole.

‘Opposing this merger is also about fighting for the working class of Hollywood: the crews and other workers that we artists claim to care so much about, who could lose thousands of jobs if it goes through,’ Einbinder said.

She said that Ruffalo was an inspiration for artists in his willingness ‘to speak out for oppressed people everywhere, even when powerful people try to bully us into silence.

Einbinder wrapped up by saying: ‘Visibility is a responsibility. Those of us with a platform need to use our voices before speaking out is outlawed altogether.’

In an extended social media post Saturday, Ruffalo called the company’s remarks ‘appalling and fundamentally dishonest,’ stating that his fault-finding had to do with military contracts and executive actions, not Jewish people.

Ruffalo has been a loud opponent of the proposed merger between Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery, and his criticism has sparked a public feud with Paramount.

The actor, who wore an ‘ICE Out’ pin at the 2026 Golden Globes in January, used the terms ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ in a previous social media letter criticizing the funding behind the $111 billion business transaction.

A Paramount spokesman swiftly condemned Ruffalo’s rhetoric as invoking antisemitic tropes, further stating that applying words like ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ to a corporate business deal was a ‘bridge too far,’ according to CNN’s Brian Stelter.

In an extended social media post, Ruffalo called the company’s remarks ‘appalling and fundamentally dishonest’

On Saturday, Ruffalo slammed that statement, writing: ‘The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest. 

‘Criticizing the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract, or the executives who supply it is not the same as criticizing Jewish people.

‘This critical and necessary dialogue is then dishonestly framed as being anti-Israel. To be clear, my views come from my own political convictions and should never be interpreted as hostility toward Jewish people, for whom I have deep love and respect.

‘Everything I know about acting, activism, and humanism has been profoundly shaped by the Jewish friends, colleagues, and loved ones who have been integral and family throughout every point of my life,’ Ruffalo added.

On Friday, the Dark Waters star blasted Paramount in a post on Instagram Stories, in which he accused billionaires Ellison, 43, and his father Larry, 82, of ‘powering some of the most destructive and inhuman forces in the world.’

Ruffalo shared a years-old video of Israeli-American business executive Safra Catz, the former Oracle CEO who is now its executive vice chair of the board of directors.

‘This is the company that Larry Ellison is using to fund his son David’s Warner Bros acquisition,’ Ruffalo wrote to his 20.5 million followers.

In Saturday’s lengthy follow-up, Ruffalo railed: ‘This merger has real consequences for real people, and for the entire country.

The actor used the terms ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ in a previous social media letter criticizing the funding behind Paramount’s proposed $111 billion business merger. Above, Ruffalo attends a political event in New York City in 2025

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Ellison’s company said that it was ‘a moment to lower the temperature, not raise it,’ as it dressed down Ruffalo’s remarks

‘Scrutinizing the Ellisons, including Oracle’s business built on data, surveillance technology and government contracts, and the serious threat to editorial freedom and the loss of a livelihood for thousands of families, is fair and necessary.

‘The $111 billion deal would hand one family control over CNN, HBO and Warner Bros., backed in part by foreign money whose influence on editorial decisions has never been fully explained to the public.

‘Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for serious national security review, and regulators still haven’t given the public a real answer. Until they do, the merger shouldn’t move forward. Now is the time to dive boldly into all these issues, not step back or concede,’ he concluded.

In his previous post, Ruffalo also called Larry Ellison a ‘classic oligarch’ who would own most of what he disparagingly coined ‘Para Bros.’

‘They are crushing workers and consolidating the wealth of the world for their own power and concentrated dominance,’ Ruffalo wrote.

Ruffalo noted that 12 Attorneys General were suing to stop the Paramount-Warner Bros merger.

‘It will be catastrophic for our film industry,’ Ruffalo wrote. ‘Merger [sic] like this are almost always bad for workers, consumers, and the industry they tend to dominate.’

The effort to stop the merger is being led by California, whose film industry has struggled in recent times.

Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros could cost Los Angeles County approximately 4,500 film and television jobs, according to a report published by LA County on Tuesday.

The video of Catz speaking that Ruffalo shared was from the Israeli-American Council National Summit in 2024, per The Hollywood Reporter.

The Paramount chairman and CEO is the son of billionaire technology mogul Larry Ellison, who is a cofounder and executive chairman of the major software company Oracle

‘Criticizing the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract, or the executives who supply it is not the same as criticizing Jewish people,’ Ruffalo said in his Saturday rebuttal

Ruffalo wrote in his Instagram story: ‘Look how she revels in what we now have come to see as a genocide, which was built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle.’

In the clip, Catz talked about advancing ‘the agenda for the Israeli military’ and mentioned ‘really profoundly scary technology at Oracle.’

‘We wanted to make sure that it was available for the effort,’ she said, referring to the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas on Israel.

Paramount’s spokesman turned the argument on Ruffalo: ‘This doesn’t deserve a response in kind – and to be clear, we don’t tolerate prejudice of any kind, against anyone.’

The media conglomerate emphasized that it was ‘a moment to lower the temperature, not raise it,’ insisting that it would ‘rather build than further engage in such rhetoric.’

Paramount said that Ruffalo’s remarks ‘simply expose the true motivation of some who have advocated opposition to this transaction,’ referring to its proposed $111 billion merger with Warner Bros.

The company said it was committed ‘to every story, every storyteller, and no blacklists, no exceptions, for anyone.’

‘We understand people feel strongly about this merger and are hopeful and expect that it will be judged based on the legal merits, not underlying bias,’ Paramount continued.

Paramount’s statement finished by asking for ‘less rhetoric, more understanding.’ 

A pervert who filmed a couple having sex through their window was found to have waged a four-year campaign of voyeurism that involved up to 90 women.

Jake Austin was caught when a horrified woman was ‘being intimate in the bedroom’ and saw a face peering into the ground floor window, which had the curtain partially drawn.

Police were called and seized his phone after finding him nearby the Norwich property. They also raided his home to look at his hard drive and desktop computer.

Checks revealed the 31-year-old had been spying on the woman for four months but also that he had invaded the privacy of scores more.

This included filming them through windows or gaps in blinds in various states of undress and ‘upskirting’ victims in supermarkets, pubs and in the street.

Most have never been identified by police and remain unaware that their privacy had been invaded.

Austin has now appeared at Norwich Crown Court for sentencing after previously admitting five charges of voyeurism and three counts of recording an image under clothing without consent.

The tearful defendant also pleaded guilty to three offences of making indecent images of children – including eight photos and 13 videos that were classed as the most serious type, Category A.

Jailing him for 31 months, Judge Andrew Shaw condemned the ‘campaign of voyeurism and upskirting’ involving ‘multiple’ victims for the purposes of sexual gratification.

Women had been forced to go through the ‘indignity’ of identifying themselves in evidence uncovered by police.

Judge Shaw also said Austin’s actions caused the ‘gravest concern’ and he considered him to pose a high risk of serious harm to the public.

In victim impact statements read in court, some of the woman Austin spied on described the effect his offending had had on them.

One said: ‘This was a significant violation of my privacy and the comfort I should feel in my own home. This experience has made me much more guarded around strangers.’

Another revealed: ‘It is a very strange feeling knowing that someone has been watching you without your knowledge.

‘The fact that he decided to film me made me feel even more disturbed.’

A third described feeling ‘vulnerable’ when she learned she had been secretly filmed.

Judge Andrew Shaw condemned the ‘campaign of voyeurism and upskirting’ involving ‘multiple’ victims for the purposes of sexual gratification

‘When the officer told me, I was still breastfeeding my young daughter and this made me worried about a completely normal act and if strangers might use it for their own personal gain to take photos. It gave me a lot of anxiety,’ she said.

The court heard that he was arrested in March 2024 when the woman was having sex with her partner and ‘saw a man with his face pressed against the glass’.

Images found on Austin’s devices included one of her ‘sitting naked on her bed with a towel on her head’.

The voyeurism took place from June 2020 until his arrest but only six victims had been identified and contacted by Norfolk Police.

Andrew Oliver, defending, told the court last month his client had developed the ‘unhealthy’ obsession after he was involved in a ‘toxic’ relationship with an alcoholic which led to him suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.

But Austin, who had no previous convictions, accepted his actions were deliberate and was ‘very sorry’ for what he had done.

Outside court, investigating officer Detective Constable Matthew Hubbard said: ‘Austin’s offending represented a serious and sustained pattern of predatory behaviour.

‘He deliberately targeted women who were completely unaware they were being filmed and did so both in public and in the privacy of their own homes without their knowledge or consent.

The hearing at Norwich Crown Court was told most of the women Austin targeted had never been identified 

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‘He violated their privacy and I know that these crimes have had a profound impact on them.’

He added: ‘We would always encourage anyone who witnesses or experiences this kind of behaviour to report it to the police.

‘Voyeurism and upskirting can sometimes indicate escalating behaviour so reporting it allows us to build intelligence and work to intervene to prevent further harm.’

Austin, who lives in Norwich, was also put on the Sex Offenders register indefinitely and made the subject of a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

A disclosed minute shows a CEO report stating: ”Discussion took place ahead of visitors arriving relating to ReGen odour issue.”

Disclosed minutes from a Co Down harbour board have shown escalating concerns over a town stench dominated its meetings for almost two years.

Warrenpoint Harbour Authority (WHA) has released the files following a refusal to complete a Freedom of Information (FoI) request.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has now compelled the harbour to provide the details.

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The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has seen the disclosed minutes (June 2023 to July 2025) showing an increase of meetings on the perceived bad odour.

A disclosed minute shows a CEO report stating: ”Discussion took place ahead of visitors arriving relating to ReGen odour issue.”

It adds: ”ReGen representatives agreed…(redacted) to participate in future stakeholder forum, if properly chaired, not hosted by a protest organisation and not open to non-residents/ non-stakeholders eg Rostrevor residents.”

The campaign group Rostrevor RARE have been outspoken on the bad smell in Warrenpoint.

On 26 March 2024, an external presenter specifically told the board that UK ports are not subject to FoI law, but Northern Ireland trust ports, including WHA are.

This point is recorded in the minutes without further discussion noted.

However, the timing of it shows the board was aware, from an early stage of the bad smell controversy, that its internal discussions of the issue were disclosable

The disclosed minutes also show the board was itself repeatedly under-strength.

In March 2024, the board’s own minutes described the “current unsatisfactory position” in relation to member numbers.

The minutes read: “It was agreed that chairman of WHA, given current unsatisfactory position, should lobby DfI (Department for Infrastructure) minister to expedite additional board appointments to ensure the board of WHA can function properly.

“And as a minimum, secure assurance on potential temporary arrangements that may enable board-decision making continuity if board numbers fall further.”

In 2025, Sinn Féin and the SDLP withdrew from the WHA board amid concerns over the bad smell in the seaside town.

The final councillor on the board has now also resigned (August).

The board is made up of one chairperson, two executive directors, three sitting councillors from Newry, Mourne and Down Council, and four additional non-executive directors.

The board meets monthly or more often if required..

A DfI deadline for councillors to take up posts on the board has now passed ( 28 Aug) with no applications made.

Warrenpoint Harbour Authority (WHA) generated a community forum in 2024 after facing heavy local criticism over a perceived bad odour from its port since 2023.

It has been claimed that tonnes of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) from Newry waste management company Re-Gen awaiting shipment for incineration has caused a “disgusting stench”.

In September last year, WHA stated that it had extensive engagement with Re-Gen, with the Newry company agreeing to remove all RDF from the port with a proposal to no longer store the waste there, but instead transport it directly to ships for export.

Only Solid Recovered Fuel was to be stored in the future on the site, which the WHA was told should be non-odorous.

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