An Afghan professional boxer who arrived in Greece on a small boat before marrying an American Christian has been arrested over the murder of Briton Elisabeth-Jane Ross in Athens.

Sharif Ahmadzai, 26, is suspected of killing the 38-year-old, who was also known as Lisa, before putting her body in a bag and dumping it in a derelict building.

Detectives trawled CCTV which allegedly shows him leaving the apartment where Ms Ross was staying with a suitcase and dropping it where her remains were found on July 16.

Ahmadzai reached the island of Lesvos in 2016. He then converted to Christianity and married US-born Christian Alaina Hall in 2023 before they set up a ministry helping refugees in Athens.

The couple are believed to have known Ms Ross, who was also a Christian volunteer, through their work.

They had a key to the flat she was staying in as it was owned by their organisation, Love Every Nation Athens, police sources told the Daily Mail.

Officers started probing Ahmadzai after his wife allegedly reported her husband had been behaving suspiciously on July 30.

She allegedly said she woke to find him missing on the evening of July 15 and checked his shared location which showed him at Ms Ross’s apartment. 

Suitcase murder suspect Ahmadzai married US-born Alaina Hall in 2023. The pair are understood to have a baby together

Ahmadzai is suspected of killing Elisabeth-Jane Ross (pictured) before putting her body in a bag and dumping it in a derelict building

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Ahmadzai is understood to have told police he found Ms Ross already dead in her bathroom.

He allegedly admitted he used the victim’s bank cards to withdraw cash and also used her phone to send messages to relatives and friends, pretending to be her.

Ahmadzai’s wife grew suspicious when it was announced Ms Ross’s body had been found. She left the family home with their baby and stayed in a hotel.

Ahmadzai gave her the sum of 2,550 euros and a new Apple iPhone 17 Pro but she refused them.

She handed them to police believing they were bought with Ms Ross’s money.

Detectives raided the family home on August 1 and found a black metal replica Glock-style pistol and a black military-style knife, sources say.

Ahmadzai is a Super Light professional boxer who has had two fights in Athens with one loss and one victory.

His life story has been documented in a cartoon video and a forthcoming book titled: ‘From Hell To Home: How Loss, Exile And Hope Built The Man I Became.’

Ahmadzai wrote: ‘No matter how dark your story is, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.’

He was born in Afghanistan to a military commander father who survived six Taliban assassination attempts before being killed in a midnight ambush when Ahmadzai was three.

The militants shot him in the head on the way home from an 18-hour shift.

When he was nine, his older brother Samuel was kidnapped by the Taliban and never returned.

His mother, sister and younger brother were killed in a suicide car bomb six years later leaving him an orphan.

Alone in Kabul, Ahmadzai used his family’s remaining money to leave Afghanistan and spent 45 days walking through Pakistan, Iran and Turkey in freezing conditions.

He witnessed a fellow migrant freeze to death and was arrested multiple times with police in Iran opening fire on a group that saw 26 killed.

On arrival in Turkey, he made three attempts to get to Greece by sea. His boats sank on the first two journeys before he was finally successful.

He arrived on the island of Lesvos aged 16 in 2016 and entered Moria Camp where he taught himself English and began translating for a humanitarian organisation.

He met Alaina, who was volunteering at the centre that year, converted to Christianity the following year and moved to Athens in 2019.

It was here he began boxing in a park before helping train refugee boys. He developed romantic feelings for Alaina in 2021 and proposed the following year.

His wife said: ‘I had seen his growth and his heart for the Lord, and it was so attractive to me…

‘We had both entered the relationship with intentionality; we both had the same heart and desire – to love the Lord and to serve people…

Officers started probing Ahmadzai after his wife Alaina allegedly reported her husband had been behaving suspiciously on July 30

Ahmadzai is due to appear before magistrates in Athens on Wednesday.

‘There were challenges, and it definitely wasn’t an easy road, but the Lord was faithful through it all.’

They founded Love Every Nation Athens before finally getting the paperwork to marry on April 29, 2023.

He was running free boxing sessions five nights a week for unaccompanied teenage boys and the couple was distributing food bags and prescriptions weekly to refugee families.

They also organised community events, sports sessions, and activities for young people across Athens.

Police sources previously revealed that Ahmadzai – who had converted to Christianity – told his wife that he had argued with Ms Ross because she wanted him to join her ‘stricter’ Christian group. 

He was arrested shortly after Ms Ross’s mobile phone – which had been off for days – was suddenly switched on earlier this week with police immediately tracing it to a residence in Athens where he was staying. 

When questioned by detectives, his wife told officers they had earlier been staying in Arachova, a mountainous village around two hours away from Athens and while there she became concerned after her husband went missing. 

After using a shared location tracking app, she saw that he was in an apartment in Rethymnou Street, where Ms Ross was staying and is believed to have been killed.

A police source revealed: ‘The woman told us that her husband had confided in her that he was angry with the British woman. She was trying to influence him religiously and it became too much for him.’ 

Ms Ross, who was from Edinburgh, had been a regular visitor to Greece over the past seven years volunteering with NGOs helping refugees, homeless people and other vulnerable groups. 

She had previously volunteered with the One Heart organisation when in Greece, which specialises in providing medical support to refugees, particularly those from Afghanistan or Iran.

She arrived in Athens on June 26 and had initially been staying with Greek friends in the Keratsini district, the country’s main seaport close to the city.

Police confirmed that she moved to Rethymnou Street in Athens city centre on July 2 and was volunteering with a Christian-based NGO working with refugees and other vulnerable groups.

CCTV footage gathered by police showed the Afghan man arriving by car at Ms Ross’s ground-floor flat on the evening of July 16.

At around 10pm, cameras captured him carrying the suitcase along the road on which the abandoned car park is located. Thirteen minutes later he is seen walking away from the derelict site without the suitcase.

The last confirmed sign of life from Ms Ross was recorded at 9.41pm on July 15, when she called a close friend.

Following that, her friends and relatives continued to receive messages from her, but they became suspicious that they were not genuine because of the style of language.

She also spoke about going away and wanting to be alone, which they thought was out of character for her.

Ahmadzai is due to appear before magistrates in Athens on Wednesday.

By WILL PICKWORTH, SPORTS REPORTER

Published: 19:38 BST, 3 August 2026 | Updated: 19:39 BST, 3 August 2026

A Brazilian youth game was bizarrely halted at the weekend when a parrot attacked a player.

Flamengo were taking on Ceara in the Brazil Under 15 Cup on Saturday, but the match took an unusual turn just 17 minutes into the first half.

As one Flamengo defender attempted to pass the ball to a team-mate, a blue-and-yellow parrot swooped down towards him, forcing the player to dive to the floor in panic. 

The bird then appeared set to go for another player until it flew away at the last moment. 

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It went on to pester several other players, causing the referee to pause the game, before it eventually flew off.

However, it returned about 25 minutes later when it came down and perched on the pitch, leading to another stoppage.  

A Brazilian youth game was bizarrely halted at the weekend when a parrot attacked a player

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The parrot went on to pester several other players and caused two stoppages in the match

The bird was later identified as a blue and yellow macaw, a parrot that is typically found in the tropical rainforests of South America. 

Flamengo went 1-0 up in the match, but, perhaps impacted by the stoppages, suffered a 2-1 defeat.

The parrot intervention is unusual, but not new, with an amateur game in Turkey between Istanbul Yurdum and Mevlanakapi Guzelhisar halted earlier this year when a seagull was hit by the ball.

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The bird dropped to the ground and players rushed to its aid, with the Istanbul captain Gani Catan seen giving CPR to it. 

Catan later carried the seagull to the side of the pitch where it received further medical treatment.  

Emily Ratajkowski posed in the nude for a sizzling Instagram snap she shared from her sun-drenched getaway to Greece.

The 35-year-old held a glass of wine in a strategic position that allowed her to remain within the website’s ‘community guidelines’ on nudity.

Aiming a smoldering come hither stare at the camera, the I Feel Pretty actress stood by the water with her drenched hair cascading over her shoulders.

Her naked snap was part of a suite of photos documenting her holiday, including several of her showcasing her supermodel credentials in a barely-there bikini.

She jetted off to Europe on the heels of news she has landed a seven-figure book deal after publishing a tell-all article detailing her post-divorce sex life.

Ratajkowski, who previously released a bestselling book of essays called My Body in 2021, went instantly viral in June over her raunchy latest confessions.

Her naked snap was part of a suite of photos documenting her holiday, including several of her showcasing her supermodel credentials in a barely-there bikini

She jetted off to Europe on the heels of news she has landed a seven-figure book deal after publishing a tell-all article detailing her post-divorce sex life

After a bidding war that involved 12 competitors, she inked a deal last month with Penguin Press for another essay collection called Mother F***er, via Deadline.

In her viral piece, she proudly declared she went from ‘Madonna‘ to ‘w****’ when she started ‘compulsively dating’ in the wake of her divorce.

Ratajkowski split from her husband Sebastian Bear-McClard in 2022 under a cloud of rumors about his fidelity, one year after welcoming their son Sylvester.

She promptly plunged headlong into a whirlwind, headline-grabbing love life that saw her sidestepping romance rumors with Brad Pitt.

Ratajkowski had on-off flings with DJ Orazio Rispo, and in the intervening time ran around with such names as Pete Davidson and Eric Andre. 

In March 2023 she was spotted passionately kissing Harry Styles in Tokyo, in spite of the fact she was reportedly friends with his ex Olivia Wilde, who a Daily Mail source exclusively revealed felt the lip-lock was a ‘betrayal.’

She published a graphic exploration of her newly-single phase in an essay that became an instant online sensation when it was published in June by The Cut. 

Ratajkowski promoted the piece with an Instagram album in which she went topless under an open leather jacket and mimed breastfeeding a baby doll. 

She split from her husband Sebastian Bear-McClard in 2022 under a cloud of rumors about his fidelity, one year after welcoming their son Sylvester; the couple are pictured in 2010

There was a drink in her hand and a man in underwear standing on the window ledge behind her, in a sly nod to the lifestyle she described in her essay. 

Ratajkowski’s ex-husband is a movie producer who previously worked with the Safdie brothers and held credits including the Adam Sandler vehicle Uncut Gems.

McClard and Ratajkowski held a courthouse wedding in 2018 and brought their son Sylvester Apollo Bear into the world March 2021.

Ratajkowski wrote in her new essay that ‘in a time period that felt both instant and excruciatingly slow, my marriage collapsed. Six months after my son was born, my husband and I stopped having sex. Less than a year later, we separated.’

When the split went public, a source said McClard ‘cheated. He’s a serial cheater. It’s gross. He’s a dog,’ via Page Six. Ratajkowski then poured fuel on the conjecture by liking a tweet that read: ‘can’t believe that little b*** cheated on emrata.’

In her new piece, Ratajkowski confessed: ‘I hated the condescending way people looked at me in the wake of my breakup. Their furrowed brows, the pity in their faces as they delivered an “I’m so sorry, Emily.”’

She added: ‘I couldn’t stand my pathetic reflection in their eyes. They saw me as someone who was unwanted, who had been left. A reject with the burden of a needy, hungry, two-foot-tall sidekick.’

Since childhood, she had lived in horror of becoming a ‘single mom,’ a position she felt would leave her with ‘no freedom, no choices, no emergency exit.’

She promoted the piece with an Instagram album in which she went topless under an open leather jacket and mimed breastfeeding a baby doll

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There was a drink in her hand and a man in underwear standing on the window ledge behind her, in a sly nod to the lifestyle she described in her essay

When she found herself thrust into the role she had dreaded for so long, she cocooned herself in the protective persona of a man-eating femme fatale.

‘The character I’d learned to embody after my divorce, in my period of compulsively dating, was a villain: Poison Ivy. Catwoman. Sexual but scary. And she drank gin martinis. Many, many gin martinis,’ Ratajkowski wrote.

‘She was not tragic. Nothing close to a victim. No one needed to feel sorry for her. In fact, they should all be jealous,’ insisted the I Feel Pretty actress.

Ratajkowski recounted the raunchy story of a bar date with a man who had a ‘nasally stoner voice’ and wore ‘bright hoodies’ with ‘obnoxious gold jewelry’ that made him resemble a ‘walking, talking Myspace page.’

When she went back to his apartment and ‘found myself on my knees in front of him,’ she felt ‘especially satisfied by his expression when he looked down at me.’

The world-famous supermodel boasted: ‘He couldn’t believe I was putting his d*** in my mouth. He told me I looked like Cleopatra when I gave head. I’d found everything I’d come there for – a praying mantis devouring her mate.’

Before that night, she had slept only with ‘eight people,’ all of whom she was ‘pretty sure would fall in love with me, because I wanted to feel precious.’

Ratajkowski had harbored the perception that men ‘didn’t fall in love with, want forever with, raise babies with, or take care of sluts.’

In March 2023 she was spotted passionately kissing Harry Styles in Tokyo, in spite of the fact she was reportedly friends with his ex Olivia Wilde; Styles pictured in February

The 35-year-old then plunged headlong into a whirlwind, headline-grabbing love life that saw her sidestepping romance rumors with Brad Pitt

The Daily Mail exclusively revealed she was locked in conversation with Tom Brady during billionaire Michael Rubin’s 2023 Fourth of July party; Brady pictured last month

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One of the flings she did have was with DJ Orazio Rispo (pictured)

Although she had hoped her ‘good girl’ personality would protect her from being ‘cheated on,’ she felt a growing sense of ‘naivete and inequality’ over the fact the men she ‘liked’ had been more promiscuous than she had. 

Ratajkowski recalled ‘the dissonance I experienced when they talked about a girl they’d f***ed “casually” and were now friends with. There are girls who are capable of that? I wondered. I couldn’t relate, but I wanted to.’

She wrote: ‘I decided to f*** my way into a new kind of woman. I wanted to destroy the Madonna, the special girl I’d worked so hard to be before an eight-pound baby had torn my vagina in two, and replace her with the w****.’

Her first post-divorce date, she wrote, was with a sober DJ she declined to name who conveniently lived two blocks from what had once been her marital home.

According to Ratajkowski, the DJ opened the date by announcing that incest ‘actually runs in my family’ and proceeded to tell a story about his mother and sister walking in on him masturbating to porn he characterized as ‘some sibling s***.’

‘That was my introduction to the dating scene. I didn’t f*** him, okay?’ Ratajkowski informed her readers, before acknowledging he was ‘an anomaly.’

One of her dalliances was with an ‘Elder Millennial’ her friends described as ‘ugly’ who had a fondness for ‘dirty talk’ she found grating, but whom she stayed with for the ego boost of being with a man who wanted her more than vice versa. 

She discovered that ‘many men are turned on by motherhood’ because they ‘experienced the loneliness that comes with years of selfishness’ and were ‘attracted’ to ‘self-sacrifice.’ She allowed: ‘Did they want me as their mommy? Maybe.’

Her dalliance with Pete Davidson intensified the public interest in his ‘big d*** energy’ given his string of famous girlfriends; he is pictured last month

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Another comedian she dated was Eric Andre, with whom she is pictured attending a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden on the eve of Valentine’s Day 2023

Ratajkowski adopted a relaxed public attitude to her love life, including when she was deluged with criticism over her kiss with Harry Styles, who had broken up with her gal pal Olivia Wilde only a few months before.

‘Olivia and Emily were friends and this is a betrayal,’ a source with inside knowledge exclusively informed the Daily Mail at that time.

In a subsequent interview, Ratajkowski dismissed the kiss by saying she was ‘not thinking about guys’ but ‘sometimes things just happen,’ via the Los Angeles Times.

The Daily Mail exclusively revealed she was locked in conversation with Tom Brady during billionaire Michael Rubin’s 2023 Fourth of July party in the Hamptons. 

However, shortly thereafter, Brady took up with Russian model Irina Shayk, whose dating history includes Kanye West, Bradley Cooper and Cristiano Ronaldo. 

Ratajkowski then had a fling with French actor Stéphane Bak, whose American work includes Wes Anderson’s films The French Dispatch and Asteroid City. 

He and Ratajkowski set off a swirl of romance rumors in the fall of 2023 when they were spotted stealing a passionate kiss on the streets of Paris.

However an insider quickly informed the Daily Mail that the two of them were just indulging in ‘a good time,’ not pursuing a serious relationship.

Meanwhile, in March 2023, it emerged that McClard had faced ‘grooming’ allegations and been fired by the Safdie brothers’ production company Elara Pictures.

McClard was at the time tangled up in mediation with the Safdies, alongside his divorce proceedings and custody battle with Ratajkowski. 

Ratajkowski remained tight-lipped in public about the circumstances leading up to her divorce, saying she was ‘scared’ of being more candid because ‘I’m learning that outspoken women don’t often get their children,’ via the Los Angeles Times.

By DAVID CHURCHILL

Published: 18:25 BST, 3 August 2026 | Updated: 19:26 BST, 3 August 2026

EU divisions over migration deepened today at a ‘bitter’ Brussels summit.

Ambassadors from the bloc’s 27-nation members gathered for emergency talks in the EU’s de facto capital after 60,000 migrants stormed the Spanish enclave of Ceuta last week.

According to one diplomat, Spain used the gathering to hit back at other countries after they criticised Madrid for failing to protect the EU’s external border.

They said of this afternoon’s summit: ‘Spain gave their assessment of the facts, sometimes slightly bitter vis-à-vis some of the critical member states.’

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The diplomat added that member countries rounded on Spain, demanding to know ‘lessons learned to prevent a repeat’ of the Ceuta fiasco.

They also demanded that Madrid verify the numbers of migrants returned to Morocco – which borders the enclave – and the tally of those allowed to remain in Ceuta.

Another summit of home affairs and justice ministers will take place tomorrow, when tensions could further boil over. 

The EU diplomat added: ‘Member states asked for monitoring of the situation and verification of the numbers of returns shared by Spain, plus lessons learned to prevent a repeat.’ 

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On Thursday, 60,000 migrants stormed the Spanish enclave of Ceuta after swimming from Morocco, taking advantage of weak security 

By Friday night, some 48,000 of those who crossed the frontier into Ceuta, which neighbours Morocco in north Africa but is part of Spain and EU soil, were reported to have been returned

 On Thursday, 60,000 migrants stormed the Spanish enclave of Ceuta after swimming from Morocco, taking advantage of weak security.

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At least 57 people died, either by drowning or being crushed at the border fence.

By Friday night, some 48,000 of those who crossed the frontier into Ceuta, which neighbours Morocco in North Africa but is part of Spain and EU soil, were reported to have been returned.

The rush on the border triggered European leaders to call for Spain’s temporary suspension from the bloc’s Schengen free-travel zone, sparking a furious response from Madrid.

Today’s emergency summit came after EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen launched a thinly-veiled attack on Madrid.

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In a letter to Spanish officials, she reminded them that protecting EU borders was a ‘shared responsibility’, pointedly adding: ‘Only together can we preserve the integrity of the Schengen area.

‘We have remained firm that the EU will not accept illegal entries…Following this incident, it is clear that we must do more to strengthen our borders at critical points, with surveillance and the use of physical barriers where necessary.’

Last week, Spanish premier Pedro Sanchez hit out at 22 other EU leaders – branding them ‘selfish, polarising, unlawful’ – after they signed a joint letter raising ‘serious concern’ over the threat to the EU’s frontier.

They also attacked Mr Sanchez‘s socialist government for granting legal status to up to 1.2million illegal migrants, saying the amnesty was acting as a ‘pull factor’ which fuelled the Ceuta crisis and penetration of the EU’s external border.

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Madrid has rejected the idea that its amnesty triggered the crisis and pointed out that no migrants are thought to have made it to the EU mainland.

Ireland, which holds the EU Council’s rotating presidency, will convene tomorrow’s emergency meeting of the bloc’s home affairs and justice ministers.

The picturesque garden, which has been a feature of the estate for more than a century, was relocated to its current site during the 1920s.

Volunteers are helping to breathe new life into one of Motherwell’s most distinctive landmarks as restoration work continues at the Japanese Garden in Dalzell Estate.

The picturesque garden, which has been a feature of the estate for more than a century, was relocated to its current site during the 1920s.

However, in more recent times the garden had fallen into disrepair with years of weathering, natural overgrowth and vandalism taking their toll on parts of the site, but volunteers have been working tirelessly to clear vegetation, improve access and protect the garden’s uniquely historical features.

The restoration project has been led for the past three years by Kenny Ritchie, who works with Scottish charity Phoenix Futures, an organisation that supports individuals, families and communities across Scotland.

Through its volunteering and community programmes, Phoenix Futures encourages people to make a positive difference in their local areas and develop valuable skills through practical projects.

Kenny recently reached out to local businesses to seek additional support for the ambitious restoration effort, prompting local volunteers from Kwik Fit and North Lanarkshire Council to lend a hand and help preserve the garden for future generations.

He said: “This project has been a real labour of love over the last three years. The support we’ve received from the council and Kwik Fit has been fantastic.

“Every hour of work helps bring the garden closer to its former glory and ensures that future generations can enjoy this special place of tranquillity.”

The Kwik Fit volunteers came from across the business, including the Master Manager and technicians from Kwik-Fit Motherwell & Airdrie and employees based in the company’s Customer Experience Function in Bellshill.

Throughout the project, Kwik-Fit volunteers were focused on sustainability in their approach – bringing their own gardening tools and equipment and using shredded bark, a natural and environmentally friendly material, to improve pathways and planting areas while supporting the long-term maintenance of the garden.

Karen Reid, Strategic Account Manager at Kwik Fit, led the company’s involvement in the project. She said: “We were delighted to be able to play a part in the restoration project.

“We are focused on supporting our communities in ways beyond simply keeping them safe on the road. Helping to make the garden a more welcoming environment for local people to enjoy fits our ethos perfectly.”

The project has been praised by North Lanarkshire Provost Kenneth Duffy, who commended everyone involved in the restoration effort.

He said: “The commitment shown by Kenny Ritchie, Phoenix Futures, Kwik Fit volunteers and our own council staff involved in this project has been outstanding.

“By working together, they are preserving an important part of Motherwell’s heritage and ensuring that it can be enjoyed by the local community for years to come. They should all be extremely proud of what they have achieved.”

Among the garden’s most significant surviving features are its historic stone steps, which once led visitors to a small tea house designed in the shape of a traditional Japanese temple.

The structure has long since disappeared, but the steps – which were based on those leading to the Temple of Buddha in Nagasaki, Japan – remain an important link to the garden’s original design.

Kenny and his squad of dedicated volunteers hope that the revived Japanese Garden will once again become a much-loved local attraction within Dalzell Estate, allowing residents and visitors alike to enjoy this special place which has endured for more than 100 years.

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The production of steel, concrete, fuel and agriculture chemicals is energy intensive. These industries critically rely on vast amounts of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) because the electricity grid doesn’t yet have enough capacity to distribute, store and supply renewables at scale.

Fossil resources are also locked into these industries, with supply chains relying on the chemistry of fossil fuels. During the manufacture of steel, for example, coal is heated without oxygen and converted into coke (another carbon-rich material) – that coke is used in blast furnaces to make molten iron which gets transformed into steel. Therefore, to limit climate change, these industries eventually need to be carbon free. But we do not have the time to make them completely emissions free before global temperatures get any higher.

So what can be done? CO₂ emissions can be captured before they escape into the atmosphere. If that CO₂ is captured, some can be used to make additional products, such as the fizz in beer, sustainable concrete or sustainable fuels for aircraft.

All of this affects us directly in some shape or form, particularly because there have been shortages of CO₂ (due to CO₂ supply relying heavily on fertiliser (ammonia) and bioethanol plants). As fossil fuels become more expensive, these sources become uneconomical to run and production shuts down. Recent global conflicts have also stalled the delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG), further compounding rising energy costs.

As for the rest of the CO₂, it needs to be stored securely. There is simply too much of it to use and letting even more greenhouse gas emissions escape into the atmosphere contributes to climate change. This whole process is known as carbon capture, utilisation (use) and storage (CCUS).

The CO₂ from industry is removed before it’s emitted, and a small amount of captured CO₂ is used by other industries that rely on CO₂ as a product, then the rest is stored permanently. Using renewable energy to capture the CO₂ avoids further emissions during the capture process.

Unfortunately, CCUS alone is not enough. There are currently around 77 facilities operating worldwide which capture and store or “geostore” CO₂ in rocks underground and in former oil and gas fields. This only accounts for about 0.01% of humanity’s emissions. The processes are expensive and require huge investments from governments or private companies, so it’s hard to scale. Facility costs vary wildly depending on the capture technology, transport and storage option, but lie roughly between US$300 million (£224 million) to US$1 billion.

CCUS facilities simply cannot capture the huge scale of CO₂ in these critical industries all the time, everywhere. Even if industry emissions were capped, that only limits current emissions. Past emissions of CO₂ are still in the atmosphere, so capture of CO₂ directly from the atmosphere is critical.

There is another form of carbon capture, but with a different source of CO₂ – the legacy of burning fossil fuels for more than 260 years since the industrial revolution began. This is known as carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and includes direct air capture which strips the CO₂ from the atmosphere.

Once again, renewable energy is needed to power this process. Another CDR approach is carbon mineralisation in which CO₂ along with water is injected into basalt and similar rocks, then the CO₂ reacts with calcium and magnesium in this water to form solid minerals, rather like the limescale that forms in kettles.

Understanding the difference between these very important approaches enables governments, industries and research funders to know when and where to use them. Time is short. Global temperatures continue to rise. Industrial and domestic decarbonisation needs to progress in parallel with the remedial processes of carbon capture, its use, and removal.

Nigel Farage today repeated his claim that a Reform UK government would stop small boats crossing the Channel ‘within a fortnight’.

The Reform leader reiterated the pledge as he unveiled his party’s ‘Operation Fortress’ plan to deploy the Royal Navy to return Channel migrants.

Under the ‘return and rescue’ proposal, the Royal Navy would intercept every vessel carrying illegal migrants to the UK and return all those on board to their country of departure.

Mr Farage compared the plan to how Australia has previously used military vessels to tow migrant boats back to Indonesia.

‘I am entirely confident that under a Reform government, within a fortnight, there would be no more boats,’ he told a press conference in Westminster.

Both Mr Farage and Zia Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesman, defended the plans amid questions about the legality of such a scheme and the likely cost to taxpayers.

They Reform leader also insisted there would be ‘big upsides’ to France, despite suggestions that Paris would simply refuse to accept migrants returned to the country’s northern shores.

Mr Farage pointed to how Britain is currently on track to hand France more than £1billion to stop small boat migrants.

A group of migrants board a small boat off the coast of Equihen-Plage in France during an attempt to cross the Channel

Mr Farage and Zia Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesman, defended the proposal amid questions about its legality and likely cost to taxpayers

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‘Operation Fortress will be a combined military operation,’ Mr Farage said, as he set out his party’s plans.

‘It will save lives, it will help the French in fulfilling their job of stopping the boats and it will save a huge amount of money.

‘We are very confident that our policy of securely picking people up and safely taking them back to France – we are entirely confident that that falls within other conventions of international law.’

Mr Farage added: ‘When you think about it, what is the Royal Navy for?

‘If the Royal Navy is not there to protect this country from invasion, then, frankly, I can’t see what its purpose is.’

Asked whether he’d received any assurances that France would cooperate with Reform’s plans, Mr Farage said: ‘For the French there are big upsides, very big upsides.

‘Life from Dunkirk through Calais, through Hardelot, Wimereux, all those rather beautiful little villages on Côte d’Opale, life is now hell.

‘People stay locked in their houses, you can’t resell a house, there’s crime, there’s litter, there’s vandalism, there’s gang violence, there are stabbings, there are shootings.

‘Dealing with this problem would be a great, great relief to the people of northern France. So that’s the first thing I would say, there is a big upside to the French in this. 

‘Have we had talks with some senior French political figures about this? Yes, and I think attitudes are starting to change.

‘And they are also beginning to realise we have given them a lot of money and this would, in fact, be helping them with their objectives.

‘Are we there yet, can I guarantee you that they’ll welcome this with open arms? I can’t.

‘But can I say there is a softening of attitude towards this position? Yes. And, of course, we have some very major French elections coming up next year.’

Mr Farage said the scenes from Ceuta, a Spanish territory in North Africa where around 60,000 migrants last week breached the border with Morocco, showed ‘just how serious this situation is’.

He also claimed that ‘absolutely enormous’ sums could be saved for taxpayers under Reform’s plans as he insisted his party was not ‘upping the cost’ of dealing with the Channel crisis.

‘All these deals with the French, we have just handed over more and more money, the more money we hand over, the more migrants that come,’ Mr Farage said.

‘If this operation that we talked about today it would, in short order, save this country certainly two, maybe three, maybe more, billions of pounds every single year.

‘And the long-term saving of it would be absolutely enormous.’

Mr Yusuf had earlier defended the proposals against claims the Royal Navy currently doesn’t have enough ships to return migrants back across the Channel.

Tom Sharpe, a former Royal Navy commander, said Reform’s policy ‘starts to unravel quite quickly’.

‘There’s a notion that the Royal Navy could steam in over the horizon and fix this problem, which is declining slightly anyway,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

‘The reality, when you start looking at what ships we have, which is basically none.

‘He’s talking about the largest maritime operation in the Channel since World War Two – a very evocative image, but that’s not the reality. We don’t have the ships.

‘And if you do bring your ships to bear, and you start investigating what exactly you’re going to do with them and where, it starts to unravel quite quickly.’

He added: ‘A billion-pound warship that’s configured for anti-air warfare or anti-submarine warfare, which are both threats to the UK, is not best used ferrying people around. You’re better off using an actual ferry.’

But responding to those criticisms, Mr Yusuf told the same programme: ‘The vessels we are talking about using are, first of all, the Bay Class ships, the second one would be offshore river patrol vessels, and on those vessels you have things called RHIBs; rigid hulled inflatable boats.

‘These are very small, highly manoeuvrable Navy vessels, which will have Royal Marines on board that will be used to go right up alongside these illegal migrant dinghies, take them on board and escort them back to France.’

Asked what would happen if France refused to accept migrants that had been returned by Britain’s military, Mr Yusuf said: ‘In the event they do not consent the marines will nevertheless… escort the migrants onto the beaches of France and if the French disagree what will end up happening is we will end up having something of an argument with the French.’

He questioned why UK politicians would be ‘unwilling to have an argument with the French and the Elysee Palace over the invasion of Britain’.

Pressed further on what would happen if France did not let the migrants disembark on its beaches, Mr Yusuf added: ‘That would mean the French committing a crime against humanity, that is what would be happening.

‘This is a boat full of innocent civilians who are being rescued as part of a humanitarian mission.

‘If the French chose to do as you’re suggesting… the idea that President [Emmanuel] Macron would order the gendarmerie, the coastguard or anybody else under his control to commit a crime against humanity… I do not think that is a serious hypothetical.’

He went on: ‘We’ve got extensive legal opinion on this, it is legal.’

The French government later hit back at Reform’s plans.

A spokesman for the French interior ministry said in a statement: ‘This would be a violation of French sovereignty as well as a violation of maritime law and international law.

‘Separately, as part of the measures put in place with the UK and the arrangements deployed at the local level, the interior ministry states that the number of crossings is down in 2026.’

Downing Street insisted that border patrol officers were ‘best suited’ to deal with small boat crossings.

Asked about Reform’s proposal to deploy the Royal Navy, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘The Royal Navy had primacy for small boat crossings under the previous government in 2022. I’d remind you there was no reduction in small boat crossings in that period.

‘The Royal Navy is already tackling many threats, including monitoring any Russian warships operating near our shores, protecting our waters and our critical national infrastructure.

‘Border patrol officers have significant capabilities and skills that make them the best suited candidate to lead small boats operations in the Channel.

‘That’s why we’re driving down the number of crossings. It’s why they’re down almost 50 per cent compared to last year, and why almost 60 per cent of attempted crossings have been stopped since this Government came to power.’

Tory shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Reform of putting forward ‘slogans and policies written on the back of a fag packet but no credibility behind it – they can’t answer basic questions like how they would properly fund the military’.

He added: ‘They haven’t even got a defence spokesman and they can’t answer basic questions like what they would do if the French refuse to allow the illegal immigrants to be disembarked back in France.’

Mr Philp said the Conservatives ‘would deport these illegal immigrants back to their country of origin, and if that’s not possible, a safe third country like Rwanda’.

A Labour spokesman accused Reform of ‘reheating an old announcement in their desperate bid to distract from sleaze scandals’.

‘The actions we’ve taken have started to have a real impact and led to 46,000 attempted crossings stopped, and 70,000 people with no right to be here removed,’ they said.

Best-selling crime writer Lynda La Plante broke down in tears after pleading with a court not to ban her from driving. 

The 83-year-old author and screenwriter said it would end her writing career if she was disqualified, because she would not be able to meet up with criminals and other sources for her work.

And La Plante – mastermind behind the Prime Suspect series starring Dame Helen Mirren – said a ban would stop her driving to take her beloved guard dog Theo for a walk in fields, and leading her to stop writing altogether.

She told magistrates she believes she would have to have the dog rehomed if she was unable to drive him to his daily walks, saying: ‘I think the emotional turmoil of that would truly damn my career as a writer.

‘It’s very, very solitary, and I work exceptionally hard, and I would just stop.’

But her plea for leniency was dismissed at Lavender Hill magistrates’ court in south-west London, and she was handed a six-month driving ban.

La Plante pleaded guilty on Monday to breaking the 20mph speed limit near her home in Kingston-upon-Thames five times between November 2025 and April this year.

The court heard she already has nine points on her licence, from three speeding offences in June 2023, and June and July 2025.

La Plante outside Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court in London today

The 83-year-old was caught speeding

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La Plante admitted driving at 24mph twice, 25mph, 26mph, and 27mph in the latest offences, which all happened as she took her 18-month-old dog for his daily walk.

Her lawyer Nick Freeman, who is known as Mr Loophole and has represented a string of celebrity clients, urged magistrates to spare her a ban, saying driving is a ‘vital part of who she is’.

La Plante bluntly told the court she would wind up her writing company if banned, putting four staff members out of work.

But magistrate Mandy Lamplough told the writer she had not done enough to prove that disqualification would cause her ‘exceptional hardship’.

The magistrates imposed fines totalling £3,330 on La Plante, handed her a six-month ban as her points total rose to 24, and ordered her to pay £130 costs and a £1,332 victim surcharge.

Giving evidence, La Plante said she got her dog Theo after suffering the devastation of the untimely death of another dog, Hugo, who was ‘in the prime of his life’.

‘I don’t want it to sound trivial – this woman and her dog – but I can’t tell you what it was like with this enormous beautiful wolfhound. I don’t know how he did it.

‘He would come up into my office, it was as if he said “stop”. He knew I had been working for five solid hours, and this paw would come up – bang.’

The author wrote a note to the court

Fighting back tears, she said she ‘lost it’ when Hugo died and she ‘didn’t know what to do with my life’.

And she said her new dog has helped her through the grieving process.

‘I love him, it’s as simple as that, but at the same time he has become a great comfort to me,’ she said.

La Plante said she drives Theo to be trained on the walk from Roehampton to Wimbledon, and she does not believe nearby Richmond Park is suitable as it is ‘alive with joggers’, as well as deer, and she is trying to train him not to chase people.

Turning to her writing career, La Plante said she has four books in the works, including one on the Government’s controversial early prison release scheme, and she argued she needed to drive to conduct research interviews.

‘If I get a contact who will agree to talk to me, I go to them for research,’ she said, setting out how she meets people including criminals in motorway cafes, homeless shelters, prisons and theatres.

‘It’s very difficult when you are meeting forms of criminality, they do like to be very choosy of the location.’

She added that she could not contemplate having a driver, as she would be distracted by questions while trying to recount information on the journey home from her research interviews.

She was allegedly caught breaking the 20mph speed limit

Ahead of her court hearing, La Plante complained about ‘very confusing’ road signs on the A308 in Kingston-upon-Thames, and Mr Freeman suggested she had inadvertently broken the speed limit while concentrating on driving safely.

La Plante, who created hit robbery TV series Widows in the 1980s and brought Prime Suspect to the screen in 1991, was awarded a CBE in 2008 for services to literature, drama and charity.

She was first caught speeding at 9.24am on November 2 last year, when her Toyota was clocked at 24mph on the A308 Kingston Hill.

The second incident happened at 9.35am on March 5, a short distance along the same road, when the author’s car was clocked at 26mph.

In the third offence, she was caught breaking the 20mph limit on April 6 at a speed of 24mph.

She then faced a fourth criminal prosecution, over a speeding offence at 10.03am on April 11 after travelling at 27mph past the same speed camera as the second offence.

The fifth and final offence happened on April 19, when she was driving at 27mph.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is holding on by his finger nails, but his opponents are trying to get rid of him and are ready to take extreme steps to ensure that he is ousted

The leaders of UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC are ready to take extreme measures to oust FIFA boss Gianni Infantino – which includes setting up their own rival competition.

The days of the FIFA president appear numbered in the wake of his failed plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup, but Infantino is determined to fight on. He’s tried to lean on old acquaintances, but he’s lost the faith of several of the world’s major organisations.

UEFA have been the most outspoken federation and have backing from other continental organisations. The Times reports that they’re prepared to create their own tournament and UEFA have a blueprint for a global league having commissioned one in 2017, without using it.

One source told the newspaper: “Everyone is very determined he needs to go, and if not we will take all the necessary steps [to remove him from power]. That includes future international competitions — would the big South American countries prefer to play France or Spain, or Lebanon or Djibouti? Everyone is very determined, there are no backward steps now.”

It remains feasible that Infantino will ignore the noise and try for re-election in March as he eyes a fourth term. Infantino’s opponents would therefore be prepared to impose a “governance boycott” which would see them refuse to take part in FIFA council or committee meetings.

A number of European associations, including England and Wales, have withdrawn letters of support for Infantino’s re-election after his World Cup sale plans fell flat. It comes after the FA had supported Infantino via a letter as recently as June.

UEFA were outspoken against the FIFA president during the World Cup, heavily criticising his decision to suspended the red card handed to Folarin Balogun whilst their president Aleksander Ceferin refused to attend the final last month in New York.

Europe’s governing body has signalled its intent to take legal action after FIFA and said in a letter: “UEFA hereby gives formal notice that it is actively considering legal action, arbitration, and/or regulatory complaints arising out of and in connection with the FFE plan proposed by Fifa and all related matters.

“You and Fifa are required to take immediate steps to identify, locate, and preserve all documents and electronically stored information described in this notice that are in your or Fifa’s possession, custody, or control.

“These obligations arise independently of any internal retention policy you or your organisation maintain and supersede any routine document destruction or deletion policies that would otherwise apply.”

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