John Swinney has refused to commit to stopping violent thugs who attack women being given bail or getting released early from jail.

The First Minister failed to back calls for immediate action despite pledging ‘personal leadership’ to protect women from violence and saying recent cases in Scotland have been ‘appalling’.

It came as he was confronted by opponents following the recent deaths of 35-year-old Stacy Hunter and Samantha Lee, 54, who were both killed by their partners or exes.

Ms Hunter was killed by her estranged husband Jim Mair, 43, in Houston, Renfrewshire, three weeks after he was released on bail after being accused in court of strangling her. He then took his own life.

Ms Lee was killed by her partner Joseph Greer, 40, with a claw hammer in Aberdeen while he was banned from approaching her. He was jailed for a minimum of 22 earlier this year.

The Tories, Labour and the Liberal Democrats all raised concerns about violence against women in the opening First Minister’s Questions of the new Holyrood term, just days after Mr Swinney pledged a new Misogyny Bill in his programme for government.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay highlighted the murder of both Ms Hunter and Ms Lee by ‘dangerous scumbags who were freed to kill’.

He demanded that a statutory presumption against bail for those accused of violent, sexual or domestic abuse offences in solemn case is reinstated following its repeal in 2023, and also called for him not to proceed with automatic early release of men who commit violence against women after two-thirds of their sentence.

Mr Findlay said: ‘His consultation document even admits that this “could have an impact” for victims of violence against women and girls. This cannot be allowed to happen.

‘I’ve written to the First Minister this morning setting out a range of constructive proposals to protect women and girls.

‘Will he stop violent thugs who attack women from being given bail, and stop them from being freed early?’

Mr Swinney said he would be happy to meet to discuss issues with Mr Findlay and victims of ‘heinous crimes’.

He said: ‘What I will do is apply the leadership that I’ve set out to parliament to make sure that we have in place a combination of different measures.

‘There are of course criminal justice aspects of this whole issue that have got to be set out. But there is also the principled leadership to communicate to men and boys in our society through every aspect of the work of the State the unacceptability of violence against women and girls, and I will lead that effort within Government.

‘And if there are constructive contributions to be made in parliament then I will of course welcome them but I ensure Parliament of the determined leadership that I am going to give to address this issue.’

Earlier, Mr Swinney pledged ‘personal leadership’ on tackling violence against women and girls and admitted that ‘the experience over the summer has been appalling in Scotland and it has to be remedied’.

Scottish Labour acting leader Dame Jackie Baillie highlighted soaring numbers of sexual crimes, rape and domestic abuse, as well as delays between reporting incidents and convictions.

Citing the murder of 28-year-old Claire Inglis in 2021 when her boyfriend Christopher McGowan was bailed to her address as well as the call of Ms Hunter’s for GPS tracking of violent offenders on bail, she demanded a clear timetable of when ‘life-saving changes’ will be enacted.

Mr Swinney said the cases ‘give us all cause for concern about the fact those individuals were on bail and were able to perpetrate the heinous crimes that they were able to perpetrate’ and highlighted that pilot work is underway on GPS tracking and he wanted progress as quickly as possible.

But Ms Baillie said: ‘Actions speak louder than words and so I want to press him on that timetable for GPS tracking because women’s lives are being lost whilst it is not in place.

‘The epidemic of violence against women and girls in Scotland demands immediate action and we cannot afford any more delay.’

John Swinney pledged ‘personal leadership’ on tackling violence against women and girls

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Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton also raised the murder of Vikki Soloman, 44, by her ex-partner Lee Greenan in Edinburgh after police didn’t attend a call asking for help. He later died in custody.

Mr Hamilton said: ‘There is a pattern here of women being let down by the system, horrifically let down, and with fatal consequences.’

He added: ‘For Vikki, for Stacy, for all of those currently facing abuse, will this government act with urgency before more women die at the hands of men?’

Mr Swinney said: ‘Yes, we will.’

Following the exchanges, the First Minister’s official spokesman said he ‘wants to work constructively with others’ on the issue.

But when asked if any commitment can be given that domestic abusers and sex offenders won’t be given early release, he said the consultation on the issue has recently closed and ‘that process will have to play out’.

HAVANA (AP) — The U.S. government on Thursday slapped new sanctions on Cuba in a fresh push to strangle the island’s economy and deepen its multiple crises.

Among those hit with sanctions are Fidel Ernesto Castro, grandson of former President Raúl Castro, and Cuba’s Oil Industry Supply Import Company, known as Abapet. The company is responsible for importing special equipment and spare parts needed to sustain Cuba’s crumbling power grid.

The sanctions aim to push Cuba’s critical machinery offline and exacerbate its energy crisis, said Brett Erickson, a sanctions expert and managing principal at Obsidian Risk Advisors, a consulting firm.

“The U.S. is trying to really tighten the screws as much as possible,” he said.

“The Trump administration seems to have no seriousness to accept any change from Cuba other than a toppling of regime. Marco is not going to let that go,” he added, referring to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Erickson anticipated that Cuba’s government would try to circumvent the sanctions “because they have to.”

“They’ll get creative in how they try to procure these maintenance parts,” he said, warning it would be a costlier alternative, which in turn would raise inflation and further hurt Cuba’s economy.

Islandwide blackouts have become increasingly common, while daily outages in Cuba now surpass 24 hours as the aging grid fails and fuel reserves dwindle ever since U.S. President Donald Trump in late January threatened tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to the island.

“The goal in theory is to create so much civilian hardship and suffering that they have no option but to essentially rise up and topple their government,” Erickson said. “It is an attempt to cause a humanitarian crisis.”

Talks earlier this year between the U.S. and Cuba have since halted, while sanctions have increased in recent months.

Erickson said he expects the U.S. to keep targeting smaller and smaller state companies to try and push them “into a death spiral.” The U.S. has previously sanctioned entities including Cuba’s state-owned oil and gas company.

The U.S. State Department made the announcement just hours after Cuban officials held a press conference to share more details on the historic economic reforms approved in June.

Follow AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

A man murdered a woman and dumped her body in a canal with the help of his daughter.    

John Anslow and Hayley-Marie Ferguson used paving slabs to weigh down Chereiss Bailey’s body before she was ‘disposed’ of in Great Bridge, West Midlands, in September last year.

West Midlands Police launched an investigation following a tip-off and during a visit to Ferguson’s home they made the grisly discovery of blood-stained clothes in a wheelie bin.

Her father was arrested following comments made by Ferguson while in custody.

The body of 36-year-old Ms Bailey was found in the canal on October 7, 2025, where she was found with washing line cord and attached to paving slabs.

Police later described Anslow as presenting ‘himself as a vulnerable wheelchair user when he was in fact a violent predator’. 

Now, Anslow, 65, and Ferguson, have both been found guilty in connection with the death of Ms Bailey.  

Ms Bailey, who occasionally worked as a sex worker, was last seen alive on CCTV entering Anslow’s house on September 27 last year.

Hayley-Marie Ferguson who helped her father dispose of Ms Bailey’s body using pavement slabs to weigh her down 

Chereiss Bailey was last seen alive on CCTV entering Anslow’s house on September 27 last year. Her body was recovered from the canal ten days later 

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Once inside, she was subjected to a traumatic assault which led to her death.

The following morning Anslow cancelled visits from his community carers and called Ferguson for help.

She packed paving slabs and travelled by taxi to her father’s home, claiming she was helping him with gardening. 

Later that evening she attended a Peaky Blinders-themed event before returning to her father’s home in the early hours of September 29 to help dispose of the body.

Harrowing footage recovered from CCTV and images found on Ferguson’s phone showed Ms Bailey’s body being wheeled from the house in Anslow’s distinctive wheelchair with bright orange wheels.

Anslow pushed the wheelchair while Ferguson walked beside him towards Ryders Green Road.

The pair then dumped Chereiss’s body in the canal known locally as ‘eight locks’.

Afterwards they travelled home separately, with Anslow back in his wheelchair and Ferguson walking unaided.

Pictured one of the paving slabs recovered from the canal which was used to weigh down Ms Bailey’s remains 

West Midlands Police at the scene where Ms Bailey’s body was recovered 

West Midlands Police launched an investigation on October 4 after a member of the public reported that a woman had been killed and ‘disposed of’ in the canal network at Great Bridge.  

This led to the arrest of Ferguson and then her father.  

Following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court, Anslow, of Stour Street, West Bromwich, was found guilty of murder and preventing a lawful burial.

Ferguson, of Heronville Road, West Bromwich, was found guilty of assisting an offender and prevention of a lawful burial.

Paying tribute, Ms Bailey’s devastated family said: ‘Chereiss was a much-loved daughter, sister, mother, auntie, granddaughter and friend, but those words alone could never explain what she meant to us.

‘She had a huge personality, a beautiful heart and a way of making her presence known wherever she went.

‘Life was never quiet when Chereiss was around, and we would give absolutely anything to have that noise back.’

The family added that the ‘hardest part’ was knowing how much life Ms Bailey had left to live. 

CCTV footage shows Anslow and Ferguson wheeling Ms Bailey’s body in a wheelchair 

Pictured: Ferguson at a Peaky Blinders-themed event. After the party she travelled back to her father’s home to help dispose of Ms Bailey’s body 

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They continued: ‘There should have been more birthdays, more Christmases, more laughter, more family memories and so many ordinary days that we never imagined we would have to live without her.

‘Most heartbreaking of all, her little boy has been robbed of growing up with his mum beside him. We will make sure he grows up knowing exactly who she was, how much she adored him and how fiercely she was loved.

‘We want Chereiss remembered for Chereiss. For her smile, her humour, her kindness, her love for her family and all the little things that made her who she was.’

Detective Inspector Michelle Cordell, from West Midlands Police Homicide Unit, said: ‘Chereiss was a vulnerable young woman with her whole life ahead of her.

‘She was a mother, daughter, sister, granddaughter, auntie and niece and was deeply loved by them all.

‘It is difficult to comprehend the abhorrent actions of John Anslow and his daughter Hayley Ferguson late September last year.

‘Anslow had presented himself as a vulnerable wheelchair user with extremely limited mobility. He was in fact a violent predator. His daughter Hayley had also presented as having limited mobility, evidence of which proves otherwise.

‘I hope today’s verdict provides some comfort to Chereiss’s family who have acted with incredible dignity and restraint throughout this difficult process, and who continue to grieve her loss.’

Anslow and Ferguson will be sentenced at a later date.

North Carolina football general manager Michael Lombardi has resigned, ending the tenure of an immediate hire in Bill Belichick’s NFL-to-college coaching transition who had been on on paid administrative leave as the subject of a school investigation.

The school announced Lombardi’s resignation Thursday. It also stated it would continue its ongoing investigation and “consider all appropriate corrective actions” as needed.

The school has not released specifics of that probe, noting in its July 27 announcement that employees and athletes aren’t permitted to address the topic “as is standard procedure with personnel matters.” Three days later, UNC released another statement that said its Office of University Counsel was conducting an investigation, an announcement coming on the first day of preseason camp.

Two people with knowledge of the situation previously told The Associated Press that a human resources complaint from a former employee was involved. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the school wasn’t publicly discussing case details.

Attorney Tom Mars, who is working with Lombardi, released a statement from his client confirming the resignation Thursday.

“I want to thank Chancellor (Lee) Roberts and Bill Belichick for the opportunity to serve as the GM of UNC Football,” Lombardi said in the statement. “I have decided it’s best for me to resign my position as GM to allow the team to focus on the ’26 season.”

The resignation comes five days after the Tar Heels beat TCU 15-10 in Dublin, Ireland, to start Belichick’s second season in Chapel Hill. Belichick went 4-8 last year after leading the NFL’s New England Patriots to six Super Bowl titles.

Lombardi attended for Belichick’s introductory news conference in December 2024, with Belichick announcing that day that the former GM of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns would serve as his college-level GM.

A few months into Belichick’s tenure, Lombardi said the goal was running a college program in a way similar to the NFL, saying the Tar Heels “consider ourselves the 33rd (NFL) team” because of the staff connections to the pros. That confident statement didn’t align with the on-field results; the Tar Heels had more more double-digit losses (five) than wins, along with multiple off-the-field distractions.

Lombardi was given a three-year deal paying him $1.5 million in base salary through the 2027 season. That made him by far the country’s highest-paid college football GM for the 2025 season, according to a USA Today salary database, another incongruity with the Tar Heels’ results.

At the college level, GMs across sports generally have front-office roles dealing with roster construction and negotiations over player compensation, with the heaviest work coming in the offseason.

Belichick said on July 30 that the team was “working through some things” in adjusting duties to compensate for Lombardi’s absence. Roberts said later that day the situation was “distressing to me and everyone else in the administration … that this is something that we have to have to spend time on.”

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“There can be no rolling back.”

A Stormont minister has reaffirmed his commitment to climate action after a summer of record high temperatures.

Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir warned there can be “no rolling back” on climate action during an address in Dublin.

It comes after a summer which is believed to have been the hottest on record in both the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

During the event Mr Muir reaffirmed his commitment to climate action, environmental recovery and stronger all-island co-operation.

He said the pressures facing the environment, including climate change, biodiversity loss and poor air and water quality, demand urgent and sustained action.

“In the week when it was confirmed that summer 2026 was provisionally the hottest on record for the UK and Ireland and the UN Environment Programme warned that global temperatures are set to cross 1.5C, we must strengthen our resolve,” he said.

“There can be no rolling back.”

He also detailed action in Northern Ireland, including work on the Nature Recovery Strategy, climate planning, action to improve water quality and the region’s first Environmental Improvement Plan.

He further said that the forthcoming Nature Recovery Strategy would strengthen the commitment to protect and manage 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.

Turning to climate action, Mr Muir said Northern Ireland’s first Climate Action Plan is with the Stormont Executive for approval, while work on the second plan is under way and the Fourth Carbon Budget will be set in due course.

“We have no time to waste in the face of the climate emergency,” he said.

“The economic case for action and the opportunities presented by good green jobs are clear. Wishing the problem away or denying its existence will do nothing to secure the future of our economy, society or farming in Northern Ireland.”

In terms of the ongoing environmental crisis at Lough Neagh and the wider challenges of climate change and nature loss, Mr Muir stressed the value of science.

“It is more important than ever that we stand up for science and research to inform decision-making, not only on water quality, but on climate change and the environment more broadly,” he said.

“Denial and deflection only delay and magnify the difficult decisions needed to fix the problems before us.”

Meanwhile, Mr Muir hailed the value of co-operation across the island, including joint work on nature recovery, water quality, marine resilience, biodiversity, air quality and climate adaptation.

“Environmental challenges do not recognise borders. By working together, sharing evidence and learning from one another, we can move faster and deliver better outcomes for people, nature and the economy,” he said.

“Environmental improvement is not a barrier to prosperity. It is one of the foundations of prosperity.

“Working together, we can leave future generations a healthier, cleaner and more resilient environment.”

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

The 66-year-old said he discovered the animals were missing when he went to count his flock in Chadlington, Oxfordshire, with co-star Kaleb Cooper, and told those responsible to “put them back” in an interview with The Sun.

Clarkson told The Sun: “The police have been very good, actually.

“Once you go through 700 hours of recorded messages, I got through to a girl.

“I said, ‘I know it’s going to sound like I’m from 1856, but I’ve had some sheep stolen’.

“She went through the name and address and then she said, ‘oh, not your Easycares’ (a British breed of sheep). She’s obviously been watching the show, but it is the Easycares.”

He added: “It’s a farm. We’re armed. Just so they know.

“It pisses me off. Honestly, it just pisses me off.”

The former Top Gear and The Grand Tour presenter told The Sun that the sheep were worth more than £2,000 at market, and added that he was worried some in other fields of his farm may have also been stolen.

He claimed it had been done at night or during a day when the farm was not being filmed for Prime Video’s Clarkson’s Farm, when he said there was “a film crew here all the time” and ”a drone in the air”.

Asked whether he believed the show had made his farm a target, Clarkson said: “It’s more likely to make you a target than less, but I still don’t think they’ve been stolen because they’re on Diddly Squat.

“How can you (stop it) if someone’s determined to steal your livestock?

“This is 1,000 acres, it’s a big farm. Anyone could be anywhere and you wouldn’t know.”

The theft was reportedly raised with Thames Valley Police by Cooper and land manager Charlie Ireland.

Earlier this year, Clarkson revealed he had been diagnosed with “aggressive” prostate cancer, which had been discovered early, during an episode of Clarkson’s Farm.

In a subsequent interview with The Sunday Times, Clarkson said that a PSA test in April showed no indication of cancer and he is in remission.

On Wednesday, Clarkson appeared at the premiere of the latest series of Prime Video motoring show The Grand Tour, which will see three new presenters, Francis Bourgeois, Thomas Holland and James Englesman, take over from him, James May and Richard Hammond.

Clarkson and Thames Valley Police have been contacted for comment.

It was sad but strangely fitting that Dolly Parton should have died during the UK’s National Year of Reading, given the way the much-loved country singer used her wealth and influence to promote reading.

Parton’s Imagination Library has provided hundreds of millions of books to pre-school children around the world since 1995. While books are of course important, my work as a reading and language academic makes clear this must be complemented with robust reading instruction and support that is sustained through childhood and adolescence for those who need it.

The singer was well aware that she was judged by her appearance, and used this to her advantage. Behind her almost cartoonish “cover” was an incredibly smart woman who used her profile to address the things she cared about: community, poverty, education and reading.

For her Tennessee community, she built the Dollywood theme park in 1986 to bring employment, the Dollywood Foundation in 1988 to promote education, and the Imagination Library in 1995 to give children access to books.

The Imagination Library gifts a book a month to children from birth to five years. What started in Dolly’s home state in the US has extended to Canada, the UK, Australia and Ireland. In any area where there is an active programme partner, parents and carers simply sign up and the rest is taken care of.

In 2025, the programme celebrated its 30th anniversary and hit a milestone of distributing more than 300 million books to children. In the UK, Imagination Library books have found their way into many homes across the four home nations. In her research, Caroline Zwierzchowska-Dod at Swansea University revealed the impact of the programme, including increased shared reading, improved early childhood literacy and boosting school readiness.

Motivation and engagement

Parton created the Imagination Library in tribute to her father, who was held back in life by illiteracy. The singer’s response was to provide access to books, resonating with other initiatives around the world, like the UK’s BookTrust Bookstart programme.

But motivation and engagement is about more than just access to books. In the Nuffield Foundation’s Love to Read project, access was just one of six identified research-informed principles to promote reading motivation and engagement.

Also important are: choice of reading materials; having the time to read; connection and personal resonance; social interaction around books; and the success needed to identify as a reader. Alongside reading materials, we must ensure that children can access printed formats, whether they are reading to one another, or for themselves.

In terms of human evolution, reading is a recent invention, employing parts of the brain that have evolved to support spoken language and vision. But unlike spoken language, reading must be actively taught, and effective early instruction is crucial.

The UK national curriculum mandates systematic synthetic phonics, where children are taught the sounds that link to letters, alongside a rich language and reading environment. Despite high-quality reading instruction, a substantial minority of children have reading needs, with 20-25% failing to meet UK government standards at ages six and 11.

The research I undertook with colleagues Laura Shapiro, Sanne van der Kleij and Adrian Burgess demonstrates reading needs are also prevalent in the teenage years, especially for youngsters from more disadvantaged backgrounds. We have translated our work into two continuing professional development programmes that enable secondary school leaders and teachers to support reading in their pupils.

Both will and skill are important. If both are in place, then young readers can enter a virtuous circle of reading more, getting better at reading, reading more, and so on. Importantly though, our research shows that skill must come first if we want our young people to enter this virtuous circle.

Early experiences, sustained practice

Dolly’s Imagination Library gifts books to all children from babies up to the age of five. Providing access to books from birth helps to establish early shared reading habits.

Research indicates that shared reading of “first word” books is directly linked to infant word learning, and that regular reading routines promote infant interest and parent confidence.

The goals of the Imagination Library and our findings resonate with the importance of early efforts to promote reading. However, early intervention can never be enough. Academics and teachers must sustain the efforts to identify, support and monitor reading progress throughout childhood and adolescence, for at least two reasons.

First, the demands of reading change as children develop. Initially, language comprehension is crucial as children listen to stories. Then, as children learn to read, knowledge of the sounds of their language (phonology) and how they map them onto letters (orthography) comes into play.

As children build their word-reading skills, reading fluency and reading comprehension, a complex array of knowledge and skills becomes important – including vocabulary, comprehension skills and background knowledge of the text. Thus, the barriers to successful reading change.

This means we can’t assume a child who can successfully engage in shared reading experiences will be successful when they learn to read. Reading difficulties or needs can emerge at any point, as the challenge of reading shifts. So, identification and monitoring is an ongoing process.

Second, even if we have robust approaches for identifying reading needs in the early stages of reading, these needs may well be pervasive over time. While early intervention is crucial, we must monitor progress carefully and intervention must be sustained where it is needed.

Dolly Parton may no longer be with us, but her generous Imagination Library has put millions of books into the hands of children all over the world. It has helped foster not just a love of reading, but good reading habits that can set children up for life.

Donald Trump’s administration has funneled another $2.65 million of taxpayer funds into renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, bringing total costs for the project to nearly $20 million.

In July, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the Trump administration would not seek any new contracts after costs exploded to more than $17 million.

But federal spending records show that the National Park Service awarded a nearly $2.7 million contract last week to American Ag Energy Inc., for the maintenance, repair and rebuilding of water purification and sewage treatment equipment.

The president initially said a refurbishing project for the iconic 2,030-foot pool could be done quickly for $1.5 million in time for White House-backed Fourth of July celebrations in Washington, D.C.

But those costs quickly surged to nearly $7 million after an initial no-bid contract was handed to a Virginia-based firm that did not appear to have previously held a contract with the federal government.

That company, Atlantic Industrial Coatings LLC, was awarded another $6.2 million in May. On June 3, the company received another $1 million, followed by more than $461,000 on June 15.

The shallow pool, which the president repeatedly promotes as “bigger than skyscrapers,” was refurbished with a shade of dark blue and outfitted with “advanced nanobubbler technology” to tackle algae blooms that have long plagued the landmark.

But shortly after workers refilled the pool, the algae returned, and the recently applied sealant in the Trump-requested blue hue started to peel and float to the surface.

The monument was then closed off with fencing and the pool was drained once again to repair the damage and redo the work.

Last month, Ohio-based Green Water Solutions, also known as Greenwater Services, was awarded $1.8 million to install a water-purification system.

And last week, American Ag Energy Inc. was awarded $2.65 million to maintain and repair water treatment, records show.

Those contracts bring the project’s total to at least $19.1 million.

American Ag Energy’s founder and CEO Richard Rosen told NBC News that the company believed it would tackle the beleaguered pool’s algae problem.

“I read about it in The New York Times, and I said, you know what, I can fix this problem,” he told the network.

The Trump administration bypassed a typical competitive bid process to award the contracts to the firms by arguing that the need for renovations was so urgent that any delays would cause “serious injury” to the government, though it remains unclear what that “injury” entailed.

The president continues to rage against alleged vandalism at the pool and has pushed federal prosecutors to seek criminal charges against people he has accused, without evidence, of damaging the site.

Weeks after she publicly accused a former Olympian of “forcefully and violently” ripping out the Reflecting Pool’s Trump-requested blue liner, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro filed a stunning motion to dismiss the case entirely.

Pirro’s office admitted that the Trump-requested “American flag blue” sealant started to peel “almost immediately” after the work was completed after recent renovations to the site. The Department of Interior “provided less than fulsome information at the outset of this case,” the filing said.

It was not until after the indictment was filed against 67-year-old David Hearn that the agency determined that the “damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism,” according to the filing.

Trump later pushed Pirro to “revisit her hastily made decision,” though he has also admitted that “some contractor error” played a role in the damage.

Despite dropping felony charges against Hearn, Pirro has indicated that her office isn’t ready to close the case.

Hearn has asked a judge to dismiss the case with prejudice, which would prevent prosecutors from reviving felony charges against him for the same alleged crime. His legal team called the prospect of a new case against him “prosecutorial harassment.”

Pirro, however, is asking a judge to dismiss the case but only on the condition that her office can potentially try prosecuting Hearn again.

In a court filing last month, Pirro’s office argued that other evidence could materialize, adding that “the mere potential that charges may be re-brought does not constitute the type of harassment for which dismissal with prejudice is appropriate.”

The legal team behind Hearn — a champion canoeist who represented the U.S. at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Summer Olympics — has argued that Trump’s comments suggest he is being targeted in a politically fueled attack.

“From day one, the case against Mr. Hearn was motivated by political considerations and devoid of adequate factual support,” lawyers wrote August 4. “Defying both decency and common sense, the government proceeded to indict Mr. Hearn before it had obtained or evaluated the information necessary to establish a good-faith basis for the charge.”

The case record demonstrates a “substantial and specific risk that, if the indictment is dismissed without prejudice, Mr. Hearn will face renewed charges, however meritless, driven by political pressure rather than the evidence,” they added.

As a professional embroiderer and textile archaeologist specialising in the early medieval period (450-1100 CE), I was privileged to be asked to contribute to the British Museum’s catalogue for its much-anticipated exhibition of the Bayeux tapestry, which is on display from September 2026 till July 2027.

My previous work has involved me analysing the reverse of the Bayeux tapestry from photographs, and microscopically examining sections of the front to see how it was embroidered. This work informed how I explained the embroiderers’ skills, practices and knowledge of the materials they worked with for visitors to the British Museum.

Writing my contribution has made me think about the stories the Bayeux tapestry conjures, not just the narrative stitched along its surviving 68-metre length, but also the other areas that generations of researchers have explored.

There have been numerous publications and research projects on the subject. While there are too many to discuss here, an online search suggests over 1,000 published works. These cover topics such as: who commissioned it and why; who made it and where; the design process; whether it was meant for a specific place and if so, where; whether the stories and motifs depicted are accurate to their real counterparts; and whether there were any hidden messages. The list goes on.

Until recently, it is the detailed process of its making, and the embroiderers’ understanding of their materials and how they manipulated them to create the effects they needed, that has fascinated me.

However, over the last couple of years I have become increasingly interested in how people engaged with the tapestry as a form of cognitive and sensory material culture. As part of my wider research, I have started to investigate this and
publish some of my findings.

Physical interaction

If we look at the meanings incorporated into different objects during the early medieval period, we see that the Bayeux tapestry is a visual form of the scop, an early medieval storyteller who told tales of heroes and great deeds, helping to preserve the oral tradition of the early English peoples.

When the scop spoke, they mentally shaped the listening audience, creating a shared living memory that would dissipate with the final words – until re-imagined and retold the next time. But the embroidered imagery of the Bayeux tapestry was a constant, unchanging narrative, always observable while the hanging was exhibited. Here the stories were “read” visually, as onlookers proceeded along the tapestry’s length.

But if the Bayeux tapestry was displayed within a castle keep, people would have been standing in a square space viewing the different scenes directly opposite each other, enabling the viewer to make connections between them.

What I found striking is that the tapestry was not a static object. When hung, it would have moved, caught by a draught or a person passing by. This movement would have made the stitched pictures come “alive”, turning the static narrative into a something like a film, inviting the viewer to participate in the action more fully than they might have expected.

The colours of the fibrous wool thread used by embroiderers would contrast with the smooth cream/white linen ground fabric. Their tones would change as light moved across them and as the fabric undulated, creating shadows. Horses now galloped, sails billowed, and hair was blown by the wind, making the tapestry kinetic, enhancing the idea of a living history.

If the tapestry was hung during mealtimes in a castle keep, the sound of clattering crockery and banging vessels, accompanied by talking and laughter and the smell of food would have brought the cooking and feasting scenes alive.

People would have interacted with the tapestry, touching it, brushing their fingers along the stitching, over images that captured their attention, enjoying a tactile, sensory experience to accompany their thoughts. They would become animated as they talked about what they saw. Noise would have ebbed and flowed within the enclosed space while sound from outside would have been muffled by the thick texture of the hanging itself. In this way the audience would have been encapsulated in a private world.

This was theatre in the round with a show that the audience was asked to participate and believe in. It was an immersive experience that would have held varying meanings for those who took part, depending on their viewpoint, life experiences and beliefs.

Unlike the storytelling scops, who were able to bring together a whole audience, the Bayeux tapestry, while telling certain stories from specific perspectives, could not command the audience to unite in the same way.

While the scops told their audiences what to think and feel, the intensely visual nature of the tapestry allowed each viewer to individually interpret what they saw. This would only have changed if they spoke to other onlookers, digested other thoughts and opinions and moulded their own as a result.

The Bayeux tapestry was a powerful object that not only told a story. Its rich and detailed decoration created individual and personal engagements with those viewing it, while drawing together people through shared experience.