“WE were never meant to be a band that had hits,” muses Andy McCluskey. “When Tony Wilson told us: ‘You’re the future of pop’, we said ‘Pardon?’ Nobody was more surprised than us when we were on Top of the Pops.”

Nearly 50 years after Andy and childhood pal Paul Humphreys started experimenting with old tape recorders and called themselves Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, the synth pop pioneers are on the road with their Summer of Hits tour.

Following last year’s success of the re-mastered Crush album, OMD are celebrating the crowd-pleasers, in captivating shows packed with hits.

Andy McCluskey

Having seen them devote an entire concert to Architecture and Morality, I ask if set lists can be a tricky balance of album tracks, new material and pop bangers. Last year’s release of the re-mastered Crush album was a US success, and in 2023 OMD released a new album, the acclaimed Bauhaus Staircase, “which would’ve been Number 1 if it wasn’t for Taylor Swift,” smiles Andy.

“Every year is a 40th anniversary of something – this year’s it’s The Pacific Age (OMD’s seventh album).” he says. “People love the albums but we have to perform the hits too. This tour is about the hits.”

And what gems they are! Since debut single Electricity in 1979, OMD have led the way in British electronic music, selling 25 million singles and 15 million albums worldwide.

Their hits, including Enola Gay, Souvenir, Messages, Joan Of Arc, Locomotion, She’s Leaving and Tesla Girls, are a dreamy blend of haunting melancholy and upbeat synth pop. Seminal 1981 album Architecture and Morality established them as one of the UK’s most influential electro-pop acts, inspiring the likes of Depeche Mode, The Killers and Moby.

Back in the day, they were on Top of The Pops a whopping 29 times. “Our last appearance was the same day the Spice Girls’ first,” says Andy. “I finally got my 30th Top of the Pops in 2000 – thanks to Atomic Kitten.”

OMD

Creating a girl group might not seem the most likely career move for a musician who started out emulating Kraftwerk, but when Andy founded Atomic Kitten in 1998 it was a vehicle for his pop songwriting. He wrote their biggest hit, Whole Again, in 2001, earning him an Ivor Novello Award nomination. “I love a good pop band and I had a blast with Atomic Kitten,” says Andy. “I’m still in touch with Kerry (Katona), I spoke to her the other week. She’s great fun.”

By the mid-90s, OMD had called it a day. “I was banging my head on the wall,” says Andy. “It was the age of Britpop and grunge, nothing was as unfashionable as an Eighties synth band. In 1996 we released Walking on the Milky Way and Radio 1 wouldn’t play it. Fifty per cent of British single sales were from Woolworths, but they only sold records on radio playlists. We had no chance.”

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A decade later, in 2006, Andy and Paul reunited, initially to appear on a German TV show. Thanks to the Eighties nostalgia vibe of the last two decades, they’ve enjoyed a resurgence as a hugely popular live act, while continuing to release new material and push boundaries.“Cultural fashion has a timeline,” says Andy. “In the 80s synths were the future. In the 90s it was Oasis, and I was thinking ‘How come the Beatles are the future again?’ I’ve been around long enough now to know that all pop culture eventually eats its own history.”

Andy and Paul were school pals, growing up on the Wirral in the 1970s, when they started carrying out weird musical experiments with old radio sets and tape recorders. It all started when Andy went to see Kraftwerk, in 1975: “I sat in seat Q36, that concert changed my life. I built a stereo from two record players and started raiding obscure German back catalogues.

OMD

“Paul’s widowed mother worked six days a week so we had the house to ourselves. We used to pump everything – war noises off the TV, experimental soundwaves – through tape recorders. Even our mates said: ‘That’s not music’. We gave ourselves this preposterous name and only intended to do one gig. I was going to Leeds to do fine art and Paul was off to London to do an electronics degree.”

But their catchy electro-pop melodies fused with intelligent lyrics caught the ear of Factory Records supremo Tony Wilson, who released Electricity. “We were just trying to blag our way onto Granada Reports. We never planned it to become pop stars,” says Andy.

Late 70s Liverpool had a fertile music scene and young bands cut their teeth at Eric’s – where OMD first played, in October 1978. “Every other person around us was in a band,” says Andy. “Open mic Tuesdays at Eric’s were full of people who went on to be in bands like Teardrop Explodes, Echo and The Bunnymen, China Crisis, Siouxsie and the Banshees. They were all in this mad punk supergroup, Big in Japan.”

For fans like me (OMD was the first band I ever saw live), their beautifully catchy songs – about things pop acts don’t normally sing about, like oil refineries, religious martyrs, technology and the atomic bomb – take us back to wistful hours in bedrooms playing records.

“Songs that were part of your journey remain with you. They’re the pegs on which hang so many memories,” says Andy, who is so delightful I could talk to him all day. “When Paul and I got back together in 2006 we had people from a certain generation coming to see us, but also a new broader demographic: kids discovering us on a deep dive through Spotify.

“When we first started having hits we had imposter syndrome – 48 years later we’re still here, and still doing what we want to do.”

* OMD’s Summer of Hits tour is at York Museum Gardens on Thursday, July 9. Visit yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk

It has not been McIlroy’s week at Shinnecock Hills, with too many mistakes costing him any realistic chance of victory

Rory McIlroy let out an F-bomb as his frustrations boiled over at the US Open on Sunday.

It has not been McIlroy’s week at Shinnecock Hills, with too many mistakes costing him any realistic chance of victory.

He started the final round at three over par and ten shots behind runaway leader Wyndham Clark.

The course continued to frustrate the Masters champion as he failed to birdie the opening hole despite driving the close to the edge of the green.

McIlroy then failed to get up and down at the second, dropping a shot, before his frustrations spilled over on the third.

After finding the middle of the fairway, McIlroy had only a wedge in his hands for his approach, but pushed his second shot into a greenside bunker.

A Sky Sports microphone picked up his angry reaction.

“Oh, just go home, Rory. F****** hell!” he said.

McIlroy opened the championship with a one-under-par 69 before taking a step backwards with a second-round 71.

The Holywood man briefly played his way back into contention with an opening front nine of 33 on Saturday, but five bogeys on the back nine saw him tumble down the leaderboard.

McIlroy’s final opportunity this season to add to his major tally will come at next month’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

Mr Craven, 85, has presented the popular BBC rural affairs show for 37 years having started in 1989.

Prior to that, he had a 17-year stint on Newsround having launched it on the BBC in 1972.

Away from TV, Mr Craven lives in a village near Banbury with his wife where the couple brought up two daughters.

In a recent interview with Farmers’ Guardian, Mr Craven opens up about the difficulties of filming in the early days of Countryfile.

He said: “In the very early days of Countryfile, it was very difficult to get cameras onto farms and to get farmers to speak to us.

“It took a long time to win farmers over and let them open the gates of the farm and let us in.”

Farmers are now more open and willing to share their experiences, he said, but warned there remains significant questions over balancing food production with environmental goals.

“We need to up the amount of food that is produced in this country,” he said.

“The balance between environmental concern and the need to produce more food, that is the big issue that faces the country today.”

Mr Craven was at the recent Farm Fest in Warwickshire, fronted by Chipping Norton farmer Jeremy Clarkson.

The journalist took to the stage to give a talk on farmers while at the festival.

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Today, we look at strong indications the prime minister may be on the verge of resigning.

Cabinet Secretary Peter Kyle’s message this morning was that he is reflecting on the “political realities”. It’s a departure from the not ‘he’ll fight on’ message of 2026 up to now.

Henry Zeffman joins Laura and Paddy in the studio to look at the possible timetable of a resignation and the appointment of a replacement.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say “Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord

Get in touch with Newscast by emailing newscast@bbc.co.uk or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you’re in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenters were Laura Kuenssberg and Paddy O’Connell. It was made by Chris Flynn and Maddie Drury. The social producer was Gabriel Purcell-Davis. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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“Bradley Barcola emerging as a target for Arsenal shouldn’t be a huge surprise for us,” he said. “Of course, if we go back to the start of the Premier League era, or more accurately, the arrival of Arsene Wenger a couple of years after the Premier League started, Arsenal have this huge history with French players.

According to local media reports, under the extradition process, the UK’s formal request will be transmitted through Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs before being forwarded to the Office of the Attorney General and subsequently presented before the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in court.

PARIS (AP) — France endured sizzling temperatures on Sunday, with trains, concerts and sports events canceled and authorities cracking down on drinking alcohol in public, as an exceptional heat wave unfurled across parts of Europe.

Multiple drownings were reported as people sought relief in whatever water they could find.

About a third of France is under a “red alert” for heat, and high temperatures reached 40 C (104 F) in some areas, in a country where air conditioning isn’t widespread. The forecast for Monday is even hotter.

The Eiffel Tower and other Paris venues set up misting stations to cool down crowds, among a raft of measures introduced by authorities to minimize risks. Tourists in Rome dunked in fountains. Spain’s Basque region canceled some sports and cultural events.

Over the last four years, more than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes, and most of the fatalities were preventable, the World Health Organization’s Europe office said this month. More above-average temperatures are expected this summer, which can cause heat exhaustion and life-threatening heat stroke.

Human-caused climate change is tied to increasing extreme weather and U.N. climate agency projections say the next five years should shatter more heat records. A rapid study found that human-caused climate change was responsible for killing about 1,500 people in an unusually early European heat wave in May.

In this latest European hot spell, French media reported that four children drowned Saturday. Summer drownings are an annual problem that health authorities say worsens during hot spells.

Solstice parties draw large crowds in extreme heat

France’s annual Music Day on Sunday was of particular concern. The nationwide summer solstice celebration involves thousands of concerts in village squares, rave venues and Paris clubs, bringing communities together and increasingly drawing British and other international visitors. Some of the concerts outside Paris were canceled.

The French government banned drinking booze in “red alert” zones, and ordered organizers of music day events to limit alcohol consumption to “preserve emergency services and allow medics to concentrate on taking care of the most vulnerable.”

Scores of French trains were canceled, and the national rail authority dispatched thousands of extra staff to deal with potential problems as the heat threatened rails and electrical cables.

Authorities are notably worried about people living in the baking streets, and elderly people in nursing homes or isolated in their homes. About 15,000 older people died in France in a 2003 heat wave that became a national reckoning.

The government mobilized emergency services and military forces for reinforced wildfire readiness, imposed tightened surveillance of water supplies to France’s many nuclear reactors, and ordered 845 schools to close Monday.

Spain, Italy, Germany swelter as tourists seek relief

Spain kicked off the summer with large parts of the country on alert because of temperatures expected to hover around 40 C (104 F) — even in the interior of the Basque region, an area in the north of the country, which typically experiences cooler temperatures.

Authorities have suspended outdoor sports and cultural activities in the region. The heat wave is expected to scorch Spain at least through Wednesday.

In Italy, authorities expanded heat warnings — referred to locally as “red flags” — to eight cities Sunday in northern and central parts of the country. Temperatures there are mostly in the upper 30s C (high 90s to low 100s F).

Officials in Russia-occupied Crimea suspended civilian gasoline sales Sunday as Ukraine ramped up attacks on fuel supplies on the Black Sea peninsula.

Gov. Sergey Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed head o Crimea, said that overnight Ukrainian strikes killed four people and wounded 28 others. He did not specify the target of the attack.

He later wrote on social media that local gas stations would halt all sales to non-state companies and individuals for an undefined period.

“Fuel will be sold only to government agencies that ensure the functioning and security of the Republic of Crimea,” Aksyonov said. “I ask everyone to remain calm and to only trust official sources of information.”

Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted fuel supplies to Crimea in recent weeks, triggering the worst energy crisis in the region since it was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement Sunday that a Crimean oil depot, as well as an oil transport facility in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region were among the targets. He described the attacks as part of Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” against Russia’s energy infrastructure.

“Russia understands only strength, and our long-range strength is certainly working for peace,” he wrote.

Russian officials in Krasnodar reported earlier Sunday that a drone strike sparked a fire at a Black Sea oil terminal in the village of Chushka. They said that Ukrainian attacks struck a ferry, killing one person.

Motorists struggle to find fuel

The Crimean peninsula has had periodic fuel shortages from Ukrainian strikes before, but the current crisis is the worst since its 2014 annexation.

At the end of May, authorities restricted the sale of gas to 20 liters (5 1/3 gallons) per vehicle owner per week, using prepaid coupons. Those were snapped up immediately following their release on an official messaging app channel, and motorists lined up for hours, waiting to refuel.

Social networks have been abuzz with requests and advice on where to find fuel, and authorities launched a hotline for tourists in the area who have found themselves trapped.

Some motorists bring their own gas from Krasnodar and elsewhere via the Kerch bridge, but they are restricted to carrying 100 liters (about 26 1/2 gallons) per vehicle. Some speculators are selling gas at double the market price.

However, Ukraine’s successes have highlighted its ability to inflict painful damage on Russia and change the course of the conflict while Moscow’s advances recently have ground to a near halt. On June 11, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine reached its 1,569th day, surpassing the duration of World War I.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

The officer’s name has been placed on the police barred list

A police officer has been dismissed without notice after accessing the police computer to check records of their sister’s new boyfriend. A misconduct hearing was held by South Wales Police at the Waterton Centre in Bridgend over three days this month into the alleged misconduct of constable Sonia Lewis in relation to police computer misuse.

The allegations were that between March 2020 and October 2021, that constable Lewis undertook searches on police systems for no policing purpose. A report stated that on July 6, 2020, whilst on a rest day, she searched her sister, an ex-partner of hers, and that ex-partner’s sister, with “an aggravating factor” that she shared some of the information about the ex-partner with her then partner.

It further stated that on July 15, 2021, she had searched for her sister’s then partner. Other allegations stated she had conducted searches relating to other family members, the streets where they lived, and the street where she herself lived. On August 4, 2020, she had also conducted a search of a person believed to be in dispute with a family member, it was alleged. Stay in the know by making sure you’re receiving our daily newsletter.

The report stated: “PC Lewis accepts that she did access police systems as alleged, and that she did not have a policing purpose for doing so. She does not accept that she shared information in the manner described, but does accept that she made mention of the information she had gleaned from accessing the relevant record on July 6, 2020.”

It added that PC Lewis accepted that her conduct breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour, and that her conduct amounted to misconduct. But she denied that the ‘standard of honesty and integrity’ had been breached and maintained that her conduct did not amount to gross misconduct.

The Appropriate Authority did not accept PC Lewis’ assessment of seriousness, the report stated, and “maintains that the repeated instances of deliberately accessing confidential systems without a policing purpose, in circumstances where PC Lewis had adequate experience and training to know that she should not undertake such activity, would amount to gross misconduct, particularly given the variety of circumstances in which she does so and the extended period (approaching a year) of systems misuse.”

Concerning the searches on July 6, a statement from PC Lewis read: “I did the searches outlined in the circumstances I stated in interview. I had messages from an unknown male and then spoke to the male on the phone.

“I did not know who the person was. It looked like the male was from Essex. Initially did not know if the messages were genuine. At the time I was unaware of my sister being with anyone and did not know she was ‘dating’. I was in a panic. I was crying and upset by what the male was telling me. I did tell someone I was going to check to see if I could find out what was going on.

“When I did this, I did not then consciously relay what I had found out to them, but as I was doing the searches I recall saying out loud what I was seeing on the system, as it was feeding into my panic and anxiety. I did not hold a conversation with them about what was on the system.”

It added: “I appreciate I should not have done the searches. It was wrong and I should have dealt with the situation in a different way.

“At the time I was not in a good place in my personal life and the panic and anxiety I felt when I received the messages and calls triggered my reaction. I did not gain anything from what I did and I did not deliberately pass any information to anyone.”

It further added: “I did the search in June 2021 to try and ‘vet’ the address that I was hoping to move to. I should not have done the searches. I appreciate this was being done for personal reasons and was not appropriate. I did not pass any information to anyone. Though it does not justify my actions I hope that the above helps explain why I did it, and that at the time I did not think rationally about the seriousness of what I was doing, but was simply driven by my emotions.”

The judgement stated: “The officer repeatedly told us that she knew what she had done was wrong at the time of the incidents and that she would not do the same thing again. She also expressed remorse. She accepted that every time she opened the force system that a pop-up warning about all key aspects of the appropriate use of police systems had to be proactively acknowledged before access to the system was granted.

“This would have routinely reminded her of her obligation not to access the information on the computer, unless it was for policing purposes – she repeatedly disregarded this instruction.

“Overall, on the balance of probabilities, the panel concluded that the officer completely disregarded the sanctity of a core tenet of policing in relation to data access and security and effectively treated the police data as something that she had a right and entitlement to use, as she pleased, for her own purposes (and that of her family). The panel also concluded that the officer had not been completely open and honest with the panel and that many of her actions were motivated by a general disregard for rules and her pursuit of her own best interests.”

Dealing with breaches of the standards of professional behaviour, the panel found find that the officer had breached the ‘honesty and integrity’ Standard of Professional Behaviour, an allegation she denied, on the basis that it said integrity “directly relates to an individual’s requirement to adhere to the ethical standards of their profession.” It said it had “no doubt that PC Lewis abused her position.”

Gross misconduct

Misconduct hearing chairman, Ian Arundale QPM, wrote in the judgement: “Overall, we consider that the officers offending is very serious and we have carefully applied the purposes of the misconduct regime to all our sanction deliberations to apply an outcome which most closely meets its overall objectives.

“We first considered a final written warning and if it would meet the purpose of the regime. Gross misconduct is proved in this case and for this type of offence it is clear that, ‘dismissal is likely to follow’.”

He adds: “The officer’s conduct is contrary to significant training and awareness that she has received. As indicated, every time she accessed the police system, she casually disregarded the clear and precise warning about computer misuse. She chose not to follow her specific training in relation to this area, nor adhere to the clearly understood expectations of the police service.

“The panel considers that police officers, in the course of their duties, have access to very private and personal information, often acquired when members of the public are at their most vulnerable. In holding that information, police officers must be trusted completely and without exception. If police officers cannot be trusted then, naturally, members of the public are less likely to make disclosure and support police investigations. That access to information puts police officers into a position of authority that they should never abuse.

“The panel reminded itself that its central concern, having regard to the principle of proportionality and weighing the interests of the public and the officer, is the reputation or standing of the policing profession rather than the punishment of the officer.

“Accordingly, the panel concludes that, having found gross misconduct, the officer’s behaviour did/will cause great harm to public confidence in the profession of policing.

“Having considered the lesser potential outcome first, and given full and serious consideration to the option of a final written warning, we are satisfied that the misconduct was so serious in this case that only an outcome of dismissal without notice is justified and commensurate with the stated objectives of the police misconduct regime.

“We direct that the officer’s name be placed on the police barred list (Police Barred List Police Advisory List Regulations 2017).”

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SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Two winners could emerge at the U.S. Open barring any Sunday surprises at Shinnecock Hills.

That starts with Wyndham Clark, who went into the final round with a six-shot lead. No one has ever lost a 54-hole lead that large in U.S. Open history, and the last time anyone failed to win this major with a five-shot lead happened 107 years ago.

The other winner might be the USGA.

The toughest test in golf became too tough the last two U.S. Opens at Shinnecock Hills, the Long Island course where the the turf can go from soft to dry in a New York minute because of wind and sun and the sandy soil on which it was built.

It was so out of control in 2004 that no one broke par on the final day. The next time in 2018, some of the greens became borderline unplayable late in the afternoon and caused more chaos. That remains the last U.S. Open with a winning score over par.

This week has gone according to plan. John Bodenhamer, the chief competitions officer for the USGA, had wanted to go easy at the start and allow a natural progression of being tougher.

Clark, who won the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club in 2023, didn’t make it look that way. He has set a Shinnecock scoring record after each round with extraordinary golf, from making long putts to a sublime short game and one majestic 3-wood to make the only eagle all week at the par-5 16th.

He was at 7-under 203.

Throw out that performance, and only four other players were at 1-under par, with four others behind them at even par.

All that was left was 18 holes to determine if Clark could hold on to become the first wire-to-wire U.S. Open champion since Martin Kaymer at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014, or if Scottie Scheffler could stage a rally on his 30th birthday to win the career Grand Slam.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf