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At least seven passenger flights across Europe were targeted by suspected bomb threats on Tuesday 3 November, forcing searches, runway closures and a fighter jet escort. No injuries were reported and, according to the reports, no explosives were found on any aircraft. Authorities are now trying to establish whether the bomb threats were connected.

What happened on the seven flights

The flights were bound for four countries: two for Poland, two for Italy, two for Bulgaria and one for Spain. Only one was diverted. The rest landed at their intended destinations and were checked afterwards.

The most disruptive incident involved LOT Polish Airlines Flight 286 from London Heathrow, which was carrying 181 people. It was diverted to Warsaw-Modlin Airport, about 25 miles from its planned destination of Warsaw-Chopin. According to the Mirror, Modlin raised the alert at 9.54am, and the plane landed safely minutes later. The airline said a security inspection found no suspicious items, and passengers were taken to Chopin by coach. Modlin was closed for around two hours, and the threat was cancelled at 12.21pm.

Earlier, a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen to Warsaw-Chopin was also threatened. It landed normally after about an hour in the air. An SAS spokesperson said the matter had been referred to Polish police. Warsaw airport said it closed one runway as a precaution.

In Italy, two Ryanair flights were searched at Rome Fiumicino. The airport said it received an anonymous report of an alleged bomb threat on one flight that landed around 9.40am. About an hour later, Ryanair Flight 9611 from Dublin was escorted by the Italian Air Force after a separate report. Bomb disposal experts cleared both aircraft. Reports differ slightly on the origin of the other flight: the Independent and the Mirror say Lisbon, while Business Insider said the airport did not immediately confirm it.

A Ryanair flight from Manchester to Murcia in Spain was met by fire engines, police and a bomb squad. Francisco Lucas, the Spanish government’s representative for the region, said 114 passengers and seven crew left the aircraft. Around an hour and a half later, he said the Civil Guard had ruled out explosives and the airport had resumed normal operations.

Two further flights were threatened as they approached Sofia, Bulgaria, one from Dublin and one from Bergamo. Bulgaria’s border police told the national news agency BTA that the threats arrived by email. Wizz Air said the Bergamo flight was cleared after security checks.

Are the bomb threats linked?

The sources agree that no connection has been formally established. Al Jazeera reported that several countries are investigating whether the incidents were a coordinated attempt to disrupt airspace. A European Commission spokesperson said the EU was “closely monitoring the situation” but that it was “too early to draw conclusions on whether the reported incidents are linked.”

The Independent reported that no group has claimed responsibility. It said the incidents highlight growing European concern about hybrid security threats since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That is context from the report, not a finding by investigators, and nothing in the sources attributes Tuesday’s bomb threats to any person or state.

The disruption did not start on Tuesday. On Monday, a Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Sofia was diverted to Budapest after a bomb threat was received during the flight, according to an airline spokesperson. That adds to the sense of a pattern, though again, no link has been confirmed.

Details are still emerging, and police in several countries are handling their own inquiries. For passengers, the immediate impact was delay, diversion and long waits on the tarmac. For authorities, the question is whether seven threats in a day were a coincidence or something coordinated.

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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been served with a witness summons requiring him to give evidence in a High Court fraud trial in mid-December, according to reports from the BBC, the Independent and the Mirror. He is not accused of any wrongdoing. His appearance would nonetheless be a rare moment of public scrutiny for a member of the royal family.

What the witness summons requires

The BBC reports that the summons compels Mr Mountbatten-Windsor to give evidence and answer questions on or around 15 December. The Mirror gives the date as 14 December, and the Independent says on or before 15 December, so the exact day appears not to be fixed. Witnesses usually attend in person, but the BBC and the Mirror both note that a video link is possible.

The BBC says he is believed to be the first royal since the 19th century to be sent such a summons. The Mirror puts the precedent at 1891. The appearance would also be his first public questioning since his 2019 BBC Newsnight interview, and the first time he has spoken publicly since being stripped of his titles.

The civil dispute behind the case

The trial concerns a claim brought by Nebahat Isbilen, an elderly Turkish woman, against her former financial adviser, Selman Turk. She alleges he misled her and used her wealth to his own advantage. The Independent describes the case as a £40 million fraud trial. The Mirror says her lawyers have told the court that tens of millions of pounds of her funds were misappropriated and that Mr Turk failed to explain where the money went. Mr Turk strongly denies dishonesty. His representatives, Janes Solicitors, say he looks forward to being vindicated in court.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s link to the case is a payment of £750,000 made to him in November 2019. According to court documents cited by the BBC, Ms Isbilen claims she was misled into believing it would help with a passport. Mr Turk disputes that. His case, as set out in the judge’s ruling and reported by the Mirror, is that she made the payment of her own accord, either as a gift to build goodwill with the then duke or because she hoped he could help her husband, who she says has been politically persecuted in Turkey. The BBC notes that the transfer came the day after the Newsnight interview was recorded. The money was later repaid, and the BBC says Ms Isbilen’s lawyers contacted him in 2021.

A second sum is also expected to feature. Court documents cited by the BBC refer to about £768,000 paid from Ms Isbilen’s account in January 2020. Mr Turk has described it as a loan to Mr Mountbatten-Windsor to buy a chalet in Switzerland. Ms Isbilen contests this, and the claim was challenged at earlier hearings.

Why the judge allowed it

Mr Turk, not Ms Isbilen, wanted Mr Mountbatten-Windsor called. Last month Mr Justice Adam Johnson ruled that “fairness requires” Mr Turk be able to put his case using “the evidence he considers relevant and material”, given how serious the allegations are. The judge said it was “highly unlikely” Mr Mountbatten-Windsor would volunteer a witness statement, so a summons would probably be needed. He also described the evidence as “limited in scope”.

The Mirror reports that the summons can also require a witness to hand over documents, and that court rules say witnesses must be offered enough to cover reasonable travel expenses.

What happens next

The trial is expected to begin later this month and, according to the Mirror, to run for 11 weeks. The BBC says Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has been approached for comment. The sources do not say what he will tell the court. Nothing has been established in the case so far, and the claims on all sides remain allegations to be tested at trial.

The BBC points out that his finances have long drawn questions about transparency. A witness summons means that, in this one case, he may have to answer on the record.

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A third boy has been arrested in connection with the Halloween party stabbings in Chandler’s Ford, Hampshire, as police continue to piece together what happened when five teenagers were attacked at a house party on Saturday night. All three suspects remain in custody on suspicion of attempted murder. No one has been reported as charged, and arrest does not imply guilt.

What police say happened

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said officers were called shortly after 10.30pm to Park Road, where five boys had been injured. The force has said the five had been invited to a supervised party at a home on the road. It says an uninvited group of males got in through a garden fence and assaulted them.

One 17-year-old victim remains in hospital in a life-threatening condition. The other four, aged 16 or 17, have been discharged.

Who has been arrested

Two boys were arrested on Monday. The third arrest, announced on Tuesday, is of a 16-year-old from Bristol. According to the Standard, the three are a 16-year-old from Southampton, a 16-year-old from Bristol and a 17-year-old from Southampton. All are being held on suspicion of attempted murder. Because of their ages, none of the boys can be named.

Det Ch Insp Elizabeth Pirie, the senior investigating officer, thanked those who had already come forward with information or footage. “We now have arrested three boys, but we still want to hear from you if you have any information which could assist us,” she said. “However small it may seem to you, it may be key to our enquiries.” Officers are still reviewing video footage and witness accounts to establish the movements of those involved.

Witness accounts and the motive

Two witnesses told the BBC that a fight began after a group came over a garden fence, though they said the reason for the stabbings was unclear. One teenager described standing in the hallway near the exit when someone he knew lifted his shirt and said he had been stabbed. He later saw the boy lying outside the front of the house while another person pressed on his wound. These are first-hand accounts given to a news outlet. Police have not publicly set out a motive, and the sources offer no confirmed explanation.

Reassurance in the community

Police cordons were placed around parts of Park Road and neighbouring Valley Road. The force says neighbourhood officers will visit local schools and colleges this week to offer advice and reassurance and to support those affected, directly or indirectly.

Ch Insp Rachel Noble, Eastleigh’s district commander, said the violence would have been “extremely distressing and concerning for everyone who was at the party”. She added that officers would stay visible around Park Road for anyone who wanted to talk or report something.

Anyone with information about the Halloween party stabbings is asked to contact police on 101 or through the force website, quoting reference 44260534624. Information can also be passed anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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The jury in the Russell Brand trial has retired to consider its verdicts on seven charges after three weeks of evidence at Southwark Crown Court. Brand, 51, denies all of the allegations against him, and no verdicts have been delivered.

The jury of eight men and four women was sent out on Tuesday afternoon, after the judge, Mr Justice Bennathan, spent the morning summing up the evidence. He told jurors he could accept only a unanimous decision. “I can only accept a verdict from all 12 of you that is a unanimous verdict,” he said.

What Russell Brand is accused of

Brand is charged with three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of attempted indecent assault. The charges relate to six women and to alleged incidents between 1999 and 2009. The attempted indecent assault count was originally an allegation of indecent assault, and was amended during the trial. He has pleaded not guilty to every charge and is on bail. According to the reports, he has attended court daily, accompanied by his wife.

The court heard that the alleged offences took place in a variety of settings, among them a hotel room, workplaces and a private home. The women cannot be identified because of legal protections for complainants in sexual offence cases.

The prosecution case

Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC told jurors that Brand was a “ruthless, calculated and manipulative” predator. She said he was “child-like in his expectation that his every desire should be met” and treated women as “a means to an end”. In her closing speech she stressed that the six women did not know one another but described a similar pattern of behaviour.

She told jurors the women had “nothing to gain”. They had not sought publicity, taken part in a documentary or made compensation claims, she said, adding that the only benefit to them might be “some closure”.

The defence case

Brand gave evidence in his own defence. He accepted he had been “obsessed” with sex when he was younger and that he had “misused” his fame, but he said every encounter was consensual. He described consent as “fundamental” and, in his words, in many ways more important than sex itself. When the individual allegations were put to him, he repeatedly answered “no”.

His barrister, Ian Winter KC, urged jurors to separate questions of behaviour from questions of criminality. “It is not criminal to treat women unkindly before, during or after sex,” he said, adding that if there is consent, “it is lawful”.

Mr Winter also attacked how the case reached court. He said the women came forward “very many years” after the alleged events, and only after a 2023 Channel 4 Dispatches documentary that, he argued, had “poisoned the wells” of justice and left the complainants “thoroughly contaminated”. He questioned the delays in the women approaching police. He also asked why Brand was accused of “only three rapes in 10 years” given the number of women he had slept with. The prosecution rejected the suggestion that the women’s accounts were tainted.

What happens next in the Russell Brand trial

The judge told the jury he would not cover every witness in his summing-up and would instead pick out those who seemed most significant. Jurors now deliberate in private, and the court has not said how long that may take. The Russell Brand trial continues, and Brand is presumed innocent unless and until the jury returns a guilty verdict on any count.

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A Reform UK councillor has been charged with 35 offences, including 12 counts of rape, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced on Tuesday. George Madgwick, 37, is due to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court on 25 November. He has said he is innocent.

What the Reform UK councillor is accused of

According to the CPS and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, the charges relate to four complainants and are alleged to have taken place in Portsmouth and Wales between 2008 and 2021. The CPS said the complainants were aged 16 and 17 at the time.

Besides the 12 counts of rape, Mr Madgwick is charged with:

• two counts of assault by penetration
• two counts of sexual assault
• eight counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm
• two counts of controlling or coercive behaviour
• two counts of making indecent images of a child, and one of distributing an indecent image of a child
• one count each of causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child, stalking, making threats to kill, false imprisonment, theft and criminal damage

Police said their investigation began on 24 July 2025 after a report of a sexual offence. Officers arrested a man at an address in Wandsworth, London, on 6 January 2026. The CPS authorised the charges this week, and the Standard reports that Mr Madgwick has been bailed.

Suspension and a statement of innocence

A Reform UK spokesperson said Mr Madgwick had been suspended from the party “with immediate effect”. In a statement on social media, he said he was “shocked and dismayed” and “unequivocally” innocent, adding that “due process must take its course”. He said he would continue to sit as an independent on both Hampshire County Council and Portsmouth City Council, according to the BBC.

Mr Madgwick represents North East Havant on the county council and Paulsgrove on the city council. He led the Reform group on the county authority, where the party won 20 seats and finished third. The BBC reports he was elected to the county council in May, months after his first arrest.

Hampshire County Council said it was aware of the “extremely serious allegations” but that it would be inappropriate to comment while criminal proceedings were under way. It added that being charged with a criminal offence does not disqualify a councillor from office.

Political fallout begins

The charges quickly became a political issue. Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson called them “truly shocking” and urged Nigel Farage to say whether he knew of the arrest or the allegations. She also asked him to explain why Mr Madgwick was allowed to stand for the party, hold a local leadership role and work as a Reform member of staff. The sources do not report any response from Mr Farage.

The CPS issued a reminder that proceedings are active and that Mr Madgwick has the right to a fair trial. It warned against any reporting, commentary or sharing of information that could prejudice the case.

What happens next

The charges are allegations only, and none has been tested in court. The first hearing at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court on 25 November is the next scheduled step. Offences of this seriousness are normally sent on to the Crown Court. The sources do not say when any trial might take place.

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A driver who left a headteacher trapped beneath his 4×4 and carried on driving for more than a mile has been jailed for life, and will serve at least 25 years before he can be considered for release. Simon Richardson, 35, of no fixed address, was sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Monday, days after a jury found him guilty of murdering Michael Mullins.

What the court heard about the collision

Mr Mullins, 56, a father of two, was cycling home from Stretford Grammar School on the early evening of 20 April. The school is where he had been headteacher for 17 years. Richardson, driving a Volvo XC90, went through give-way markers and into his path, the court heard. Mr Mullins landed on the bonnet and windscreen before falling beneath the vehicle, where he became entangled in the suspension.

Prosecutors said Richardson knew the cyclist was trapped just inches below his feet. His front-seat passenger and cousin, Gabrielle Debotte, told the trial that both of them heard “moaning” from outside as he drove away from Paddock Lane in Warburton, and that Richardson then said words to the effect of “He’s under the car.”

The Crown said Richardson drove 1.3 miles to a secluded farm track on Wet Gate Lane in Lymm in an attempt to dislodge his victim, who prosecutors described as “the single, solid piece of evidence of what he was driving away from”. The court heard he twice tried to pull Mr Mullins out, then returned to the car and swerved sharply from side to side before mounting a grass verge. Mr Mullins was freed, but was run over again as Richardson reversed and drove off.

A motorcyclist followed a trail of blood from the scene and found Mr Mullins alone and barely breathing on the verge. Emergency services could not save him, and he died from multiple injuries.

Why the judge said Richardson was jailed for life

Passing sentence, Mrs Justice Brunner KC said Richardson had shown an “astonishing degree of disregard for human life”. She told him: “For every moment you carried on, you were knowingly using your heavy vehicle to cause serious injury to a man who was trapped, injured and completely helpless as a result of your actions. You did that because you decided escaping from the scene of an accident was more important than a human life.”

Richardson was arrested the day after the killing. He denied murder throughout a trial lasting more than two weeks, saying he had not realised Mr Mullins was under the car. He had also denied getting out of the vehicle to try to free him. Jurors returned their verdict on Friday. They also convicted him of dangerous driving on 21 April, relating to a police pursuit before his arrest.

The court heard that Richardson had 28 previous convictions. Prosecutor Phil Barnes KC described a “significant history” of driving offences. These included careless driving and failing to stop or report an accident in 2011, driving with excess alcohol and while disqualified in 2012, and driving while disqualified and uninsured in 2013. In 2023 he was convicted of driving without a licence and insurance.

For the defence, Jaime Hamilton KC said the lack of premeditation was a “significant feature” of the case and that Richardson had not intended to use his vehicle as a weapon. He said Richardson accepted that his actions led to Mr Mullins’s death and expressed remorse through his barrister. Richardson looked straight ahead as he was sentenced.

A family and a school left bereft

Sarah Mullins, his wife of 27 years, gave a statement to the court describing him as her “safety net” and “anchor”. She spoke of an “all-consuming lethargy that makes it feel difficult to put one foot in front of another”. She said: “My past, present and future have been brutally and callously torn apart… The fact that Michael had to endure such a violent and painful death is an open wound that refuses to heal.”

Elizabeth Baxter, the school’s acting head, said it had been an “honour and a privilege” to work alongside him. She called him an inspirational leader who “has left a void and a gulf at every level of our school”. The public gallery was packed as the statements were read, and members of Mr Mullins’s family were in tears when the verdict was delivered.

The case stands out for the sequence of events the jury accepted: a collision, a long drive with a man trapped underneath, a stop where he was released, and a final act of driving over him. For the judge, that conduct justified a sentence under which Richardson was jailed for life, with a quarter of a century to serve before any parole consideration.

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A Wizz Air bomb threat received mid-flight on Monday 2 November sent a London Luton to Sofia service diverting to Budapest under the escort of a Hungarian fighter jet. The flight landed safely, and the airline later said an inspection had been completed and nothing was found.

What happened on the Wizz Air bomb threat flight

Wizz Air flight 4302 left Luton at 08:33 GMT and was due in the Bulgarian capital at 13:25 local time (11:25 GMT), according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Instead it touched down at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport at around 12:09 local time (11:09 GMT).

The Daily Record, citing Hungarian media, reported that the Airbus A321neo was over Bosnia and Herzegovina when it was told to break from its route and head for Budapest. Hungarian outlet Index reported that it landed on runway two and stopped at bay B5, where emergency services were waiting. Fire crews, police and counter-terrorism personnel were reportedly on standby across the airfield.

Fighter jet scrambled within minutes

Hungarian Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said on social media that the flight asked for permission to land in Budapest after the threat was received. “Within minutes,” he said, a Hungarian Defence Forces Gripen took off and escorted the passenger aircraft. The Daily Record reported he also said NATO’s air defence readiness service had issued an ALPHA alert.

The jet then returned to its base, reported as Kecskemét, and police took charge of the incident, he said. “Readiness is not a routine, but a responsibility,” he wrote, adding that Hungarian soldiers had shown they could guarantee the safety of the country’s airspace.

Checks, closures and what Wizz Air says

Wizz Air said the aircraft taxied to a designated stand, where the relevant authorities carried out security checks on the plane and passengers. The airline said it was cooperating fully with them and that the safety of passengers and crew “remains our highest priority.”

Reports differed on timing. The Evening Standard said inspections were still under way when it published. The BBC later reported that Wizz Air had confirmed the inspection was “completed and nothing was found”, and that the plane would depart again shortly. The Daily Record, citing a report in Index, said runway two was closed during the incident, with other arrivals and departures moved to the airport’s remaining runway.

What is still unknown

No injuries have been reported. None of the sources say how the threat was communicated or who was behind it, and no arrests have been reported. The Evening Standard noted that authorities had not released further details about the nature of the threat. Any investigation is now a matter for Hungarian police.

The speed of the military response suggests how seriously such alerts are treated. Within minutes of the Wizz Air bomb threat, a fighter jet was in the air, a runway was shut and emergency teams were in position. For passengers, the outcome was an unscheduled stop in Hungary and a delayed journey to Sofia, but the aircraft was cleared and expected to continue.

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A federal magistrate judge in Washington has dismissed the case against FBI officials Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, two former bureau employees charged with lying to Congress about the investigation into Hunter Biden’s laptop. The ruling came on Monday, the day before the midterm elections. Judge Zia Faruqui said prosecutors had not shown probable cause and described the way the case was brought as “weaponization.”

Floris and Benavides were charged by criminal complaint with making false statements to the House judiciary committee in 2023. The Justice Department alleged they downplayed what they knew about the FBI’s work on a laptop it says belonged to Hunter Biden. Both were accused, not convicted, of anything, and the dismissal leaves that position unchanged. Prosecutors could still try to bring the matter again.

What the judge said in court

Speaking from the bench for about an hour in a packed courtroom, Faruqui said he was “deeply troubled” by what had happened. According to the Guardian, he found prosecutors had not shown that the pair knowingly made false statements. He said some of the statements at issue were not actually false, and that others could be put down to “honest mistakes of memory.” He also criticised “critical mistakes” and a rushed process.

The ruling followed a preliminary hearing held over several days last week to test whether probable cause existed. Al Jazeera reported that the judge had earlier objected to the Justice Department filing an amended complaint with an additional charge without first clearing it with the court, something he said he had never seen before.

Questions over timing

Much of Faruqui’s criticism focused on the calendar. According to NPR, the alleged false statements were made in 2023, yet charges came only about two weeks before the midterms, despite a Justice Department policy against timing actions to influence an election. The judge also noted that prosecutors used a criminal complaint, a tool usually reserved for urgent situations such as imminent danger, a looming statute of limitations or flight risk. He said none applied here.

“I will not bury my head in the sand and pretend I cannot read a calendar,” he said.

Testimony at last week’s hearing added context. An FBI agent told the court that the inquiry into the two former officials began after President Trump’s primetime address on election security in July, in which he said the FBI would examine whether intelligence agencies had suppressed information about Chinese interference in the 2020 election. The next day, FBI Director Kash Patel directed the bureau’s Kansas City field office to scrutinise Floris, who had cast doubt on an FBI intelligence report about Chinese efforts to favour Joe Biden. Floris and Benavides had served on an FBI taskforce examining foreign influence in US politics.

Justice Department response and what comes next

A Justice Department spokesperson said the department “disagrees with the Magistrate’s decision,” which it said “remarkably appears to suggest that high-ranking government officials are immune from accountability for making materially false statements to Congress.” The spokesperson said the department is “evaluating all options” and that its actions are guided by “the facts, the evidence, and the law—not politics.”

The dismissal does not necessarily end the matter. Faruqui noted that nothing prevents prosecutors from seeking an indictment from a grand jury, though NPR reported he suggested they may be reluctant, given that Washington grand juries have refused to indict in several high-profile, politically charged cases under this administration. Prosecutors could also appeal to the district’s chief judge.

Outside court, Floris, in tears, embraced former colleagues who had gathered to greet her and Benavides. Her attorney Margaret Donovan said: “This case should never have been brought. The government had no case.”

The outcome is one of several recent instances in which politically charged actions by the Justice Department have run into trouble in court. Whether prosecutors revive the case against FBI officials Floris and Benavides will be the next test.

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The FBI has formally attributed the Binance crypto heist, the largest cryptocurrency theft on record, to North Korean state-sponsored hackers. In a security alert published on Saturday, the agency said the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion in virtual assets from the exchange on or about October 29, 2026.

The FBI named the group behind the attack as TraderTraitor, which is also tracked as Lazarus Group, Jade Sleet and APT38. The attribution follows earlier findings by the blockchain intelligence firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis, which had already linked the theft to the same group, according to BleepingComputer’s reporting.

How the Binance crypto heist unfolded

Binance has said the breach began with a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer. According to the exchange’s account, that gave the attackers access to a service container, from which they submitted unauthorised withdrawal transactions. About $6.36 billion was taken across ten blockchains, with most of it moved in roughly 20 minutes.

The FBI says it has watched TraderTraitor convert the stolen assets mainly into Ethereum. The agency expects the funds to be laundered further through decentralised finance platforms and instant crypto-swap services.

A call to freeze the money trail

The FBI, the U.S. Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation are asking exchanges, blockchain operators and other virtual asset service providers to block transactions tied to addresses the hackers used. The FBI published a list of 628 addresses linked to the theft: 608 Ethereum, 19 Bitcoin and one Solana. Such lists let platforms screen incoming deposits and refuse to process funds traced back to the attack.

A familiar pattern of attacks

The FBI’s alert places the Binance crypto heist in a long run of thefts attributed to North Korean actors. BleepingComputer lists the $387.5 million Bitget theft in September 2026, the $280 million Drift hack in April 2026, the $1.5 billion Bybit heist in February 2025 and the $308 million DMM Bitcoin theft in May 2024.

Several of those cases involved targeting the people who hold access to crypto infrastructure rather than the systems themselves. One long-running Lazarus tactic, known as Operation DreamJob, involves impersonating recruiters and sending developers and crypto employees fake job offers designed to get them to install malware. In the DMM Bitcoin case, an employee at the wallet company Ginco was reportedly tricked by a supposed recruiter on LinkedIn into running malicious Python code disguised as a pre-employment test.

The Bybit theft came through a compromised developer’s computer at Safe{Wallet}, which let attackers manipulate a legitimate transaction request. The Drift attack in April involved a six-month social engineering effort, in which people posing as a trading firm’s representatives met Drift contributors in person at several industry conferences. Devices are believed to have been compromised through a malicious code repository or a TestFlight application.

Binance says users won’t foot the bill

Binance said it plans to resume the first phase of withdrawals on November 1 between 06:00 and 09:00 UTC while it restores services. It says it has now covered about 95% of the affected amount, up from 90% in its previous update. The remaining 5% is in less-liquid tokens, which it is buying through market and over-the-counter channels.

The exchange said balances in BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD and ZEC are fully backed, and that deposit services were not affected. “Binance will bear the financial impact of the stolen funds,” the company said. “These losses will not be passed on to users.”

The source material does not report any arrests or charges. The FBI’s statement is an attribution of responsibility to a state-linked hacking group, and the laundering of the stolen funds appears to be continuing.

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A 14-year-old boy has handed himself in to West Midlands Police after the Bradley Lowery video, which appeared to show a fan taunting Sunderland supporters with a photograph of the late boy, spread across social media following Saturday’s Premier League match between Coventry City and Sunderland.

No one has been charged. The force said an investigation has been launched and that the boy “will be spoken with in due course”. Because of his age, he cannot be identified.

What police and the clubs have said

In a statement, West Midlands Police said it was aware of a video circulating online showing an incident at the fixture. Officers acknowledged “the upset and outrage this video has caused in the community and to the victim’s family”. They added that they are keeping the family updated and are working closely with both football clubs.

Coventry said it was aware of the footage and was looking into it. The club said it “does not tolerate offensive behaviour” and would liaise with the relevant authorities to decide on the appropriate course of action.

Gemma Lowery’s response

Bradley Lowery was a devoted Sunderland fan who died in 2017, aged six, from neuroblastoma, a rare childhood cancer. His story captured the attention of the wider football world, and Sunderland honoured him again in May.

His mother, Gemma, responded to the Bradley Lowery video through the Bradley Lowery Foundation, which raises funds and awareness to support children with cancer, and in a post on Instagram. She said it was heartbreaking to see the image used this way, particularly because it is “one of my favourite photographs of him”.

She described a day when Bradley was “so happy, having so much fun”, and noted that such moments were rare in a short life largely spent undergoing cancer treatment. “I’m all for football banter,” she said, “but surely mocking a child who died from cancer is not banter?”

Her statement was notably free of anger towards the teenager. She said she did not want hatred directed at him and asked people not to do so. Her hope, she said, was that he would “learn from this”, and that his family would help him understand the hurt caused. She also hoped the club would take appropriate action.

What happens next

It is not yet clear what, if anything, will follow from the police interview. The sources do not say whether the boy has been arrested or what offence, if any, is being considered. Anyone involved is entitled to the presumption of innocence while enquiries continue.

For now, the Bradley Lowery video has prompted a clear public statement from police, an assurance from Coventry that it will co-operate, and a request from Bradley’s mother that the response be one of understanding rather than abuse. She thanked those who had defended her son, saying their support “means more than you know”.

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