Gary Neville says it was ‘obvious’ that Manchester United’s game-plan ‘wasn’t quite working’ against ten-man Manchester City and Michael Carrick should have sent Benjamin Sesko on at half-time.

Erling Haaland silenced Old Trafford with a controversial opener in the 60th minute and the strike proved decisive as City won 1-0 to continue their 100 per cent start in the Premier League.

City had earlier gone a man down after Phil Foden was given his marching orders for a petulant kick on Bruno Fernandes, which will see the midfielder suspended for three matches.

But the visitors dug deep and came away with surely their most satisfying win since Enzo Maresca took over the reins from Pep Guardiola, a result that moved the club level on points with champions Arsenal at the summit.

Haaland and Co lock horns with Norwich in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Thursday night before returning to top-flight action at home to Sunderland in a week’s time.

United, meanwhile, who have since received an official apology for Haaland’s goal from Pro Ref, will look to get back to winning ways versus Brighton in the cup ahead of their trip to Fulham next weekend.

‘I’d like to think that they’re not concentrating and focussing on the refereeing decisions and they’re focussing on the work they need to do on improving their performance,’ Neville said on Sky Sports when asked what his former club should take away from their latest setback.

‘What you don’t want to do is give football players or anybody excuses. That’s it.

‘So they’ve got to go out there tomorrow, or whenever it is that they start training again, and begin to think about what happens when they go down to ten men again.’

‘We can’t just run out of ideas, be complacent and not shift the ball quickly.’

For a fourth league game on the spin, Matheus Cunha was given the nod up front by Carrick – and Sesko will no doubt have been disappointed given he had come on and scored United’s second in their 2-2 draw with Everton previously.

The Slovenia striker was sent on in place of Youri Tielemans in the 67th minute against City, but was unable to have the same sort of impact in the contest as he had done a week earlier.

‘I think Michael Carrick maybe will reflect upon the fact that he could have made changes earlier,’ Neville added.

‘When you know for 20 minutes before half-time that it’s not going your way with 11 men, I think then Sesko should have come on straightaway to be a bit more of a battering ram up top.

‘It was obvious it wasn’t quite working.

‘He made the substitution eventually after 67 minutes which only left Sesko with 25 minutes so things like that will be reflected on and analysed I’m sure. That’s what they’ve got to concentrate on.’

In his post-match analysis, Neville’s long-time team-mate and captain Roy Keane urged Carrick and his squad not to ‘panic’ despite their shaky start to the new campaign.

‘It’s been a poor start, no doubt about it. Today was a setback but I still think the players will react,’ the iconic former United captain said.

‘They’ve got a cup game during the week then they’ve got Fulham and those games are winnable on paper.

‘No, there’s certainly no need to panic but obviously the real challenge for Carrick and his staff, when he got the job permanently, people wanted a good start and he’s not had that.

‘No doubt there will be pressure after today’s game but I would say just keep your heads.’

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The diplomate was accused of possessing indecent images of children

Government officials have been urged to act after an American diplomat was smuggled out of the UK by US authorities after he was accused of possessing indecent images of children.

According to reports, the diplomat’s London flat was raided by US officials last month and he was taken to an American airbase for transportation.

The British police were not informed of this first, it is being reported. American personnel have no powers of arrest in Britain and there was no formal request for the man to be extradited.

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UK ministers are understood to be in contact with the US embassy over the incident, which could further strain relations between London and Washington.

In a letter to Justice Secretary Alex Norris, his Conservative counterpart Nick Timothy said he was concerned that the US actions represented “a cover-up” and the diplomat may have committed offences in the UK.

He said: “If this is the case, the diplomat should face trial in an English court.”

A Government spokesperson declined to comment due to the ongoing US investigation, but said Britain expects all foreign diplomats to obey the law while in the UK “in the same way we expect all UK diplomats to do so when posted overseas”.

A spokesperson for the US embassy said it was “aware of allegations” about one of their staff, and expected “all personnel to adhere to the highest standards of conduct”.

Saying they could not comment on the specifics of the case, the spokesperson added: “We quickly informed UK law enforcement and took swift action, and we will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners regarding these allegations.

“The individual in question has been reassigned to the United States in conjunction with an ongoing investigation. The embassy has informed British authorities of the case.”

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “On Tuesday August 25, US authorities made us aware of an investigation they are conducting into suspected offences in London relating to indecent images of children.

“We continue to liaise with them regarding this matter.”

In his letter, Mr Timothy added that the incident was part of a “concerning pattern” in which US authorities prosecuted cases against American servicemen accused of offences against British civilians while based in the UK.

He referenced the case of an American fighter pilot who avoided a trial under English law for strangling a woman in Cambridge while off-duty.

Captain Jacob Wulfson was tried at a court martial on a US airbase and was jailed for six months after being convicted of strangulation.

He was acquitted of charges of sexual assault and aggravated sexual contact.

Mr Timothy said he had received reports of other offences that had been dealt with in the same way, writing: “These cases should have been investigated by the English police, and prosecuted in our courts.

“I ask you to urgently explain what action you are taking to address this, and what will be done to ensure the accused diplomat faces a proper investigation in this country.”

The diplomat’s case has also been likened to that of US State Department employee Anne Sacoolas who caused the death of teenager Harry Dunn in a car crash in 2019.

Sacoolas was able to leave the country shortly after causing the fatal collision after the US asserted diplomatic immunity on her behalf.

She eventually pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving at a virtual High Court hearing in December 2022 and was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for a year.

Picture the scene: a terrace somewhere far-flung and warm, the sun going down, a bottle of rosé in an ice bucket and nothing to do the next morning.

Or a garden party at home, where the jug of Pimm’s gets topped up without asking and nobody’s glass stays empty.

Or simply a run of hot evenings when the cold beer in the garden at 6pm became a cold beer in the garden at 5pm, and then a couple more because it was far too nice to go inside.

I’m not about to tell you off for any of this. I love a drink too. Summer is meant to be enjoyed, and for many people a drink in the sunshine is one of life’s small pleasures.

But it’s now September, the children are back at school, the evenings are drawing in, and every year in my clinic I see plenty of people who noticed that the holiday habits weren’t shelved with the suitcases.

This isn’t just my impression. Drinkaware published its annual survey of the nation’s drinking at the end of last month and the findings make for sobering (excuse the pun) reading.

Half of drinkers say they drink more on holiday. One in five drink more when the weather’s nice, and nearly as many drink more when there’s nothing on the following day.

Put those three together and you’ve described significant chunks of June, July and August for many people.

The same survey found weekly binge-drinking has risen from 11 per cent to 13 per cent of drinkers in a single year – that means about six million people are binge-drinking every week.

The trouble with alcohol is that it’s easy for the goal posts to move without you realising. It’s sneaky and insidious. Tolerance builds within a few weeks of drinking more, so the two glasses that used to be enough no longer have the same effect, and you find yourself pouring a third without a second thought.

At the same time, cues around alcohol get rewired. Sunshine, the end of the working day, cooking supper, a phone call to a friend: each one becomes linked to reaching for the bottle, and by September that link is well and truly bedded in.

The good news is that all of this is reversible, and you don’t have to go teetotal to do it. What you need is to bring your drinking back inside the guidelines, which is no more than 14 units a week, spread over at least three days, with several days off.

So here are the steps I suggest to patients who want to reset rather than stop:

Count before you cut

Most people have no real idea what they drink, so for one week write down every drink and its units. A standard bottle of wine is about ten units, a large 250ml glass is over three units, a pint of ordinary strength lager is nearly three and a double gin is about two. A pint of ale (4 per cent strength) is 2.3 units.

People are usually startled by the total, and that jolt is helpful, because you can’t change something until you understand what needs to change and by how much.

Have drink-free days

This is the single most effective thing you can do and, according to Drinkaware, it’s the moderation technique British drinkers use most.

Aim for at least three, and ideally have them run consecutively rather than dotted through the week, because a stretch of clear days lets your tolerance fall back to where it was, which in turn means less alcohol will satisfy you when you do drink.

Pick your drink-free days in advance and treat them as fixed appointments.

Shrink your glass

Over the summer, measures creep up. The 125ml glass gives way to the 175ml, and then to the 250ml, or a third of a bottle.

Go back to the small glass at home. In the pub ask for small glasses of wine, half pints and single measures of spirits. You’ll drink less without feeling you’ve gone without.

A recent survey found weekly binge-drinking has risen from 11 per cent to 13 per cent of drinkers in a single year

Start later at night

If the holiday routine had you opening something at 5pm, make it 7pm for a fortnight, then 8pm.

Eating first helps too, since alcohol on an empty stomach is absorbed faster, making you more relaxed faster and more likely to reach for a second drink.

The aim is to break the link between the end of the afternoon and the start of drinking.

Take the soft option

Begin with one drink, then have a glass of water or a non-alcohol version, then another drink.

It halves your intake over an evening, keeps your hand busy and nobody will notice. The low and no-alcohol options are now good enough that Drinkaware says half of young adults are using them, and I have patients who swear by them for the first drink of the evening.

Set a review date

Give yourself four weeks, then tot up the units again and see where you got to. If you’re back under 14 and it felt manageable, well done.

If you found the drink-free days hard, or the numbers didn’t move, or you told yourself you’d cut back and somehow didn’t, then please don’t shrug it off as a summer hangover.

That is precisely the thing to talk to your GP about, and the earlier you have that conversation, the simpler it tends to be.

Those who drink their tea and coffee very hot have about three times the risk of a type of oesophageal cancer compared with those who have it warm. It may be due to repeated heat damage to the gullet lining. Add milk or let it sit.

A shocking 44 per cent of the time adults spend on social media or other video sources is now spent alone. That’s up 10 per cent on a decade ago. To make it worse, adults now spend 11 per cent less time talking to each other face to face, figures from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising show. Normal interactions are essential for mental health so if we’re no longer getting together around the TV, get together round the table. I’m obsessed with the family evening meal and the 30 minutes of attention and conversation it brings. Adolescents who regularly eat with their families have lower rates of depression, substance misuse and disordered eating.

Maryam’s crucial blood tests

BBC presenter Maryam Moshiri has spoken about living with polycythaemia vera, a rare blood cancer she was diagnosed with in November 2024

BBC presenter Maryam Moshiri has spoken about living with polycythaemia vera, a rare blood cancer she was diagnosed with in November 2024. Maryam, 49, said she had few symptoms and was diagnosed from routine blood tests, that her doctor happened to be thorough about, rather than from anything she’d gone in to complain of.

That is how polycythaemia vera is usually caught. The bone marrow churns out too many red blood cells, the blood thickens, and the danger is clots, which means stroke, heart attack and deep vein thrombosis. 

Yet for years it may cause nothing more than tiredness, headaches or itchy skin, if that, and a great many cases only surface when a full blood count done for some other reason comes back with haemoglobin that’s too high. 

I’ve had several patients over the years for whom an abnormal result was the first they knew of anything being wrong, and it’s a reminder that routine bloods aren’t a box-ticking exercise. It’s incredibly important to actually go when a GP orders them.

As instability in the Strait of Hormuz disrupts shipping, public discussion tends to focus on fuel prices and supplies. Less attention is paid to the people working on the ships.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) says more than 20,000 seafarers in the region have been affected, including people stranded on vessels unable to leave.

Their work supports much of everyday life. The global merchant fleet, meaning ships carrying commercial cargo, is staffed by nearly 1.9 million seafarers, while around 80% of international trade in goods travels by sea. Supply chains therefore depend partly on the wellbeing of this international workforce.

The danger has immediate human consequences. The IMO prepared a plan to evacuate about 6,000 seafarers and reported that an estimated 2,900 had left before it was paused. Its updated incident list records seafarers killed, injured or missing.

These figures document exposure and physical harm, but not the mental health effects on crews caught in the disruption. Existing research shows why prolonged danger and uncertainty are concerning. A systematic review of 63 studies associated poorer mental health among maritime workers with feeling unsafe, long or irregular hours, poor sleep, weak support, uncertain schedules and extended periods at sea.

Crew members may spend months living at their workplace, separated from family and sharing confined spaces. Ships operate around the clock, and rotating watches can disrupt sleep and the circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock.

Research has linked these conditions to stress, depressive symptoms and burnout. The World Health Organization describes burnout as a work-related condition involving exhaustion, growing detachment or cynicism, and reduced effectiveness.

Conflict can intensify several pressures at once. In a survey of 319 seafarers who had sailed in the Black Sea conflict zone during the war in Ukraine, more than 70% reported that their safety had been at risk, 95% experienced increased stress or anxiety at least once, and almost 80% felt their mental health had been compromised. The study also identified sleep loss and reduced contact with family. More broadly, limited control over work, uncertain schedules and long periods at sea have been associated with poorer mental health and wellbeing.

Seafarers’ ability to refuse a hazardous route can depend on the specific agreement covering their vessel. On March 5, 2026, the International Transport Workers’ Federation and the Joint Negotiating Group designated the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman a “Warlike Operations Area”. Seafarers on covered vessels gained enhanced pay, doubled compensation for death or disability, and the right to refuse to enter the area and return home at the company’s expense, with compensation equal to two-month’s basic wage.

The seafarers’ union Nautilus, meanwhile, secured double pay for seafarers on Dutch-flagged vessels. But such protections reach only those the agreement covers.

Pay belongs in this wider discussion of wellbeing. A review of 24 studies linked an imbalance between workers’ effort and rewards to burnout. Higher pay, family benefits and training opportunities were associated with greater job satisfaction. Because the studies examined workers at only one point in time, they cannot show that low or unequal pay directly causes mental illness.

International labour rules offer minimum protections. The Maritime Labour Convention, in force since 2013, covers employment terms, accommodation, healthcare and social protection. Its binding wage standard requires wages to be paid at least monthly, with an account of what is owed and paid. A separate, non-binding guideline supports equal pay for work of equal value on the same ship without discrimination, but this is not a universally enforceable rule.

Large differences within the same crew remain possible. Research aboard merchant ships found that some seafarers had permanent contracts, higher monthly pay and shorter tours, while colleagues doing the same tasks earned less on temporary contracts and stayed at sea longer. Nationality and residence can determine which labour market and agreement applies.

In two linked decisions in August 2025, the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights found that two shipowners had unlawfully discriminated against Filipino and Indonesian seafarers by paying them substantially less than European colleagues doing comparable work. One European night cook earned at least twice as much as an Indonesian colleague. In the Filipino case, the Institute accepted that the difference contributed to a sense of class division on board.

The Institute is an official equality body rather than a court, and its decisions are non-binding. Even so, the cases show how unequal pay can reinforce status divisions among people living and working together under the same conditions.

Protecting seafarers’ mental health requires action throughout their working lives. Employers should provide safe staffing and adequate rest, reliable contact with home, access to medical and psychological care, supportive management and a genuine right to leave dangerous areas. Clear wage bands and independent ways to challenge discriminatory pay would strengthen these protections. Overtime and hazard pay should reflect the work and risk involved, regardless of nationality or residence.

The Strait of Hormuz crisis is an immediate test of seafarer welfare. Longer-term preparedness will depend on whether governments and the shipping industry treat mental health, physical safety and fair employment as connected responsibilities before workers reach a crisis point.

The US Open sees Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton battle it out in New York tonight

Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton meet in the final of the US Open at Flushing Meadows tonight.

Top seed German Zverev will be favourite to secure the Grand Slam title but with home support likely to be in Sheldon’s corner, there could be an upset this evening.

“For me, this whole tournament has been uncharted territory,” said Shelton, who will likely be roared on by a 24,000-strong crowd in New York.

“I’m in positions I’ve never been in before. I’ve beaten guys I’ve never beaten before.”

Shelton has lost to Zverev in their last five meetings and he has never beaten the German.

Zverev, the top seed, reached the final by beating Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 in the last four. Shelton beat Frances Tiafoe in four sets in the other semi.

Tonight’s final is set to offer a record-breaking prize fund, with the world’s best tennis players competing for a share of $108 million (£80m).

The men’s and women’s singles champions will each receive $5.5million (£4.1million), making it the biggest winner’s prize in tennis history.

Last night, Elena Rybakina was crowned US Open winner in the women’s competition, beating Aryna Sabalenka, the No 1 seed and current champion.

The US Open will continue to offer equal prize money in the men’s and women’s singles competitions, with identical payments available to players at every stage of the tournament.

The match is set to get under way at 7pm UK time. Here is the prize money pot broken down for the singles competitions.

US Open singles prize money

First round: $140,000

Second round: $190,000

Third round: $290,000

Round of 16: $480,000

Quarter-finals: $780,000

Semi-finals: $1,450,000

Runner-up: $2,800,000

Winner: $5,500,000

Venezuela Fury and Noah Price are said to have quit I’m A Celebrity The Wild Frontier just days into filming, giving ITV bosses a major headache

I’m A Celebrity’s latest spinoff show was thrust into chaos just days into filming amid reports Venezuela Fury and her husband Noah Price quit. The duo are said to have called time on their journey in Canada, telling producers they don’t want to carry on.

It’s claimed the 16-year-old daughter of Tyson and Paris Fury and her new husband, 18, decided the show simply isn’t for them and walked away from the show days into filming. ,

Reports suggest bosses quickly moved to bring in a reality TV favourite and her pal. A source said Venezuela and Noah didn’t want to carry on.

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The insider told The Sun: “They both realised early on it was too much. The challenges are tough, the living conditions aren’t easy. They both gave it their best shot but when push came to shove, it all got too much and they walked out.”

Saying the decision will make “amazing television,” the source said it “caused a headache for producers.” But it’s reported 2025 Love Island victor Toni Laites and her best friend Marielle were sought as their replacement.

The source said bosses felt Toni was the perfect person to step in. “She has a lot of grit and determination and will show that when she starts filming,” they said.

The show will see celebrities competing in pairs, with friends, relatives and couples taking on Bushtucker-style trials together before facing elimination as a duo. While the lineup is yet to have been confirmed by ITV, a number of famous faces were seen jetting off last week.

At the airport, Jeremy Lynch and Paul Olima were seen laughing as the prepared to board their flight to Vancouver for the show. Jeremy smiled and laughed as he walked through the airport, donning a grey sweatpants as he wheeled his blue hand luggage beside him. He also tried to disguise himself by hiding behind a pair of rose tinted glasses and a black hat.

While the official lineup is being kept quiet, presenters Ant and Dec did admit two celebrities were banned. Speaking on their podcast, the Geordie duo joked Jimmy Bullard and David Haye are banned from the latest series.

On their Hanging Out with Ant & Dec podcast, the presenters discussed the show and Dec said: “We are doing a new spinoff series of I’m A Celebrity called I’m A Celebrity… The Wild Frontier.”

After explaining the concept of the show, he added: “They will enter as a pair, compete as a pair, and eventually leave as a pair. “And then it will all build up to a live grand final in London…” at which point Ant jumped in and joked: “What could possibly go wrong?”

Laughing, Dec insisted: “Jimmy Bullard and David Haye are barred from the series.” Ant added: “I’d like them just in the front row, just for heckles, we like hecklers don’t we hecklers corner?”

The show is due to air in 2027, as part of celebrations marking 25 years of I’m A Celebrity – which first hit our screens in August, 2002. Rather than competing individually, contestants will reportedly tackle challenges as pairs, working together to win food and survive eliminations before one winning duo is crowned.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

Police were called to the Misfits Boxing event at Utilita Arena on Saturday (September 12) after viral videos showed disturbances involving a number of people. 

Officers attended and arrested four people on suspicion of assault – with Northumbria Police saying that no serious injuries have been reported. 

Several videos of fights at the venue have been posted and shared on X, with one video showing security staff trying to break up the altercations.

Thousands flocked to the event on Saturday night to watch the “UK’s hardest man” Big Stacks triumph over Jordan McCann. 

A force spokesperson said enquiries now remain ongoing into incidents at the venue, with officers trying to identify all those involved. 

The statement said: “We are aware of videos circulating online in relation to disturbances involving a number of people in attendance at a boxing event in Newcastle city centre yesterday (Saturday). 

“Officers attended and arrested four individuals on suspicion of assault, with no serious injuries reported to us. We want to make it clear that behaviour of this kind will not be tolerated. 

“The safety of the public is our utmost priority and enquiries are ongoing to identify all of those involved.

“Anyone with information should contact us online via direct message on social media or submit a report form on our website.”

By MARTIN BECKFORD, POLICY EDITOR

Published: 22:13 BST, 13 September 2026 | Updated: 22:47 BST, 13 September 2026

Trains carrying Boris Johnson and foreign dignitaries were the intended targets of a Russian drone attack in Ukraine, experts fear.

The former Prime Minister was on a charter train from Kyiv when it received a drone alert as it approached the Polish border.

Amid fears of a targeted attack, a last-minute timetable change allowed it to speed across the border into Poland earlier than scheduled.

Just over an hour later, a train on the same route was evacuated, with terrified passengers forced to run for safety as a nearby stationary locomotive exploded in flames after being struck. The jet-propelled drone hit only a mile inside Ukrainian territory. No-one was injured.

Security experts said last night the near-miss could be ‘a Mafia-style message straight from the Kremlin’ aimed at Mr Johnson – a staunch supporter of Ukraine who was returning from a security conference in Kyiv.

But a defiant Mr Johnson told the Daily Mail: ‘Nothing will deter me from using Ukrainian railways or going back to Ukraine.’

Passengers on the charter trains included UK national security adviser Jonathan Powell and former CIA chief David Petraeus. Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt said passengers on his train had been told to prepare for evacuation, but were then allowed to continue their journey.

The terrifying escalation demonstrates that Vladimir Putin is ‘playing with fire right on the border of the European Union and Nato’, said a German MP who was on the same train as Mr Johnson.

Frantic footage shared to social media showed passengers desperately fleeing the train prior to the attack

This photo shows the damage to the front of the locomotive in the aftermath of the drone strike

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It is now feared that an earlier train carrying Boris Johnson (pictured last week) and other political figures was the target of the attack 

Robin Wagener, a Green Party member of the Bundestag, said: ‘These drone attacks are blind terror against Ukrainian civilians and a dangerous escalation. We must finally put a clear stop to this terror.’

Ukrainian rail chiefs said a drone strike so close to its border with an EU country was ‘unprecedented’ and raised fears that Mr Johnson and his fellow VIPs had been targeted. 

‘This is the first time the Russians have launched a massive attack towards our western frontier,’ Ukrainian railways boss Oleksandr Pertsovskyi said.

‘Whether or not it’s a coincidence that this happened at the same time as a train carrying high-profile foreign figures was passing through this specific crossing, that we cannot say. But it certainly poses many questions.’

Daily Mail columnist Mr Johnson, 62, was among scores of foreign dignitaries who had travelled to Kyiv for a major conference on the country’s security, which finished on Saturday evening.

As members of the European delegation were approaching the Yahodyn crossing to Poland on an overnight train to Warsaw shortly after 7am local time, some passengers were given an evacuation warning.

But after being dispatched earlier than scheduled, the train safely crossed into Poland at 7.46am. At 9.15am, the next train on the route was evacuated, and a shunting locomotive burst into flames when it was struck just before 9.30am.

A nearby petrol station also exploded after being hit, Ukrainian media reported, with a fireball spreading to nearby lorries.

Peter Dickinson, editor of Ukraine Alert at the Atlantic Council think-tank, told the Mail: ‘This was a Mafia-style message straight from the Kremlin.’

Describing it as a ‘deliberate and calculated attack’, he said Moscow would have been ‘very well aware that plenty of senior foreign officials would be traveling along that train route’.

‘It is part of a broader intimidation campaign currently being waged by the Kremlin as Putin seeks to bully Europe into abandoning Ukraine,’ he added.

Maksym Kuzakhmetov, a prominent Russian journalist and historian in exile, said: ‘I have no difficulty whatsoever believing this was a deliberate, planned attack.

‘The Kremlin has little hesitation in ordering the physical elimination of anyone Putin comes to regard as a personal enemy.

Mr Johnson and other officials had been in Kyiv for the 2026 annual meeting of the Yalta European Strategy. He is pictured addressing the conference earlier this year in February

Mr Johnson hit out later on Sunday at Russian leader Vladimir Putin (pictured on Sunday) in a post on X 

‘Western politicians who openly back Ukraine are anathema to him, especially someone as outspoken and steadfast in his support for Kyiv as Boris Johnson.’

Mr Johnson’s train was also carrying Gunter Sautter, one of German chancellor Friedrich Merz’s closest foreign and security-policy advisers, as well as security advisers from France and Italy.

They were returning via what should have been the only safe route out of Ukraine after discussions with president Volodymyr Zelensky’s government about possible peace negotiations with Russia.

The trains were all passing through the Yahodyn border crossing, one of the country’s most important links with the EU following the suspension of civilian air travel.

The Conservatives described yesterday’s incident as a ‘stark escalation’ by Moscow and urged the Government to increase defence spending. Stuart Anderson, who was appointed shadow minister for war preparedness yesterday, said: ‘It is yet another reminder that Russian aggression is a real and growing threat to European security and, ultimately, our own national security.’

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘Reckless, dangerous attacks on civilian infrastructure so close to Poland underline the wider security threat Russia poses.’

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said ‘Putin’s terror was knocking directly on the doors of the EU and Nato’.

‘Putin needs to understand that his barbarism will be met with decisive action. This is the only way to stop him.’

A Charlie Kirk statue erected outside the Turning Point USA headquarters in Arizona has been vandalized. 

The statue, which was unveiled on Thursday – the first anniversary of Kirk’s death – was found covered in red spray paint on Sunday morning in Phoenix. 

Officers with the Phoenix Police Department were called to the scene around 9am after someone reported the defaced memorial.

The bronze statue also had paint on it that appeared to be concentrated on the neck of the statue – an apparent mockery of where Kirk was shot. A frowny face was also drawn on its torso.

Another memorial outside the building, which features the late conservative next to a quote that reads: ‘May Charlie be received into the merciful arms of Jesus, our loving Savior,’ was also vandalized. 

A large red ‘X’ was drawn on his face, and red paint covered the word ‘Jesus’, as flowers and American flags lay near the memorial, photos show. 

It’s unclear if any suspects have been identified. 

The anti-Christian theme of the vandalism has upset Kirk’s supporters, with one online user reacting: ‘These animals will burn in hell for all eternity.’ 

Another larger memorial for the late conservative was also defaced

‘So, killing Charlie wasn’t enough. So noted,’ wrote another. 

Kirk was fatally shot on September 10, 2025, while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University. 

Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, co-founded and ran the conservative youth organization. 

The 31-year-old father and husband was shot in the neck by a single rifle shot while he hosted a debate event in front of roughly 3,000 people. 

He was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. 

A manhunt was quickly launched for his alleged shooter, who was later identified as Tyler Robinson, 22. 

The Utah native surrendered to the local sheriff’s office after his parents allegedly convinced him to turn himself in following his confession to them. 

The 31-year-old father and husband was shot in the neck by a single rifle shot while he hosted a debate event in front of roughly 3,000 people

Robinson has been charged with ten criminal counts, including aggravated murder. That charge makes him eligible for the death penalty.

On September 1, a judge ruled that Robinson’s trial will move forward after prosecutors argued there was enough evidence against him. Meanwhile, his defense claimed the evidence was insufficient. 

His defense attorney then entered pleas of not guilty on all counts on his behalf. 

Robinson’s next court date is scheduled for October 23. 

Before the latest ruling, Utah County prosecutor Ryan McBride told the court: ‘It’s not difficult to understand the motive here. 

‘The defendant’s views were repugnant to the positions that Charlie Kirk famously took.’ 

The state has pointed to Robinson and Kirk’s opposing views on same-sex marriage and gender transitioning after it was revealed that the alleged shooter was in a romantic relationship with his former roommate, Lance Twiggs. 

A manhunt was quickly launched for his alleged shooter, who was later identified as Tyler Robinson, 22

Twiggs told investigators that he had been considering transitioning around the time Kirk was shot and killed, according to prosecutors. 

A note that Robinson wrote to Twiggs, who also went by Luna, was also presented by prosecutors. 

It read: ‘I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it. I wish we could have lived in a world where this was not necessary.’

The vandalism comes just days after chaos erupted in New York City after another Charlie Kirk statue was displayed. 

The life-sized statue was erected in Times Square on the one-year anniversary of Kirk’s death after sculptor Sergio Furnaru created the piece. 

Madness quickly ensued after its installation as both Kirk supporters and critics clashed on the streets.  

The Daily Mail contacted the Phoenix Police Department and Turning Point USA for comment.