Murrell’s offending came to light after police began receiving complaints about potential mismanagement of the SNP’s finances in March 2021.

This led to an investigation, during which police uncovered evidence of Murrell’s embezzlement.

Murrell’s guilty plea has led to intense scrutiny for his former wife Nicola Sturgeon, who has denied knowing of his crimes – saying she was “deceived, misled and betrayed”.

The former SNP leader said she has been “completely exonerated” after a “two-year-long, very forensic police investigation” which saw police officers search the home she and Murrell had shared.

Sturgeon was arrested and questioned as part of the police investigation into the SNP’s finances, which was known as Operation Branchform, but Police Scotland confirmed she would face no action.

The case has also led to widespread calls for inquiries into Murrell’s wrongdoing.

Former first minister Jack McConnell said a joint inquiry by both Holyrood and Westminster committees should examine the matter.

Shadow Scottish secretary Andrew Bowie also called on Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee to initiate an inquiry.

SNP and Green MSPs have blocked one being launched at Holyrood.

Garbage and Skunk Anansie rocked Cardiff Castle with some unmistakable 1990s female-fronted attitude

“In 32 years, I’ve never had to do that before… it must be something in the air in Cardiff.”

Skunk Anansie are on stage in front of a packed out crowd at Cardiff Castle, and their powerhouse frontwoman Skin is taking her trousers off.

“I didn’t realise how heavy they were,” she quips as the huge parachute pants come off and are replaced by a pair of loose black trousers.

“It’s so hot!”

It certainly is. A series of gigs in the capital this week are coinciding with the promise of record-breaking temperatures for Wales.

Earlier, thunder cracked over the city’s skies but by the time warm-up act Du Blonde came on, the rain had cleared and the crowd was ready to party.

And what a party. Skunk Anansie and Garbage are two era-defining bands with frontwomen billed as among the most commanding in rock history – and they didn’t disappoint.

This was the penultimate stop of a major co-headline UK tour by the alt-rock icons.

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Skipping on stage to a roaring crowd in her aforementioned parachute pants, Skin climbed up on an amp, jumped off and launched into opening number This Means War – it’s heavy riffs and political vocals setting the tone for the rest of the night.

Charlie Big Potato followed and the audience were whipped up into a satisfying level of punky rowdiness by a series of hits – Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good), Weak and Twisted (Everyday Hurts) – sprinkled with some of the four-piece band’s newer releases, including An Artist is An Artist from their 2019 album The Painful Truth.

By the second half of the set, the castle was ablaze, with Skin leaping into the crowd to surf over their heads and instructing them on how to start a mosh pit.

Praising Garbage, saying they’re “so lucky to tour with them”, the band from London – also made up of Cass, Ace and drummer Mark Richardson – finished with their first ever single from 1994, Selling Jesus.

After a half-hour break for drinks refills and street food, the second part of the gig began.

The towers of amps and giant black spikes on stage for Skunk Anansie had been cleared away, and a giant octopus floated on the big screen.

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On came the evening’s other commanding frontwoman.

Dressed in a white T-shirt emblazoned with the word PUNK, a kilt and heavy black boots – with her trademark red hair from the 90s swapped for bombshell blonde – Edinburgh’s Shirley Manson launched confidently into a track from her American band’s 2025 album, the heavy, high-octane There’s No Future for Optimism.

Both bands are still releasing music, and that gave their sets a freshness and energy that was contagious.

Before long Garbage broke into a smattering of their 90s hits – with Empty and I Think I’m Paranoid getting the crowd singing along at the top of their voices.

Then, taking barely a breath they plunged headlong into Stupid Girl, before taking things down a notch for the 2005 ballad It’s All Over By The Crying.

During a break in the relentless rocking, Manson returned Skunk Anansie’s praise, admitting, “it’s not an easy job” to follow the band they’ve known for 30 years.

“We have seen each other grow from the 1990s and to be here tonight in this extraordinary setting, I could cry,” she told the cheering crowd.

“It feels really magical… thank you so much.”

Swaggering through another series of high-energy anthems including Control and When I Grow Up, Manson stopped again to talk to the crowd.

Sounding close to tears, she said she was moved by the response from the Cardiff crowd, saying: “I don’t think anyone in this band expected this reaction”.

She then made an impassioned call to politicians to face up to climate change before kicking off electrifying, chest-vibrating back-to-back performances of Push It and I’m Only Happy when It Rains.

Bathed in red light, the band closed the set with “one of the weirdest songs we’ve ever written”, from their latest album – the sprawling, epic and cinematic The Day That I Met God. A sister to Skunk Anansie’s Selling Jesus.

As the city gets ready for a week of more era-defining music, this was a perfect way to start.

TK Maxx presents Depot Live at Cardiff Castle 2026 continues on Tuesday with a headlining show from Empire of the Sun. For more details on that gig and more, click here.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has told senators it needs roughly $80 billion, mostly to cover the cost of the U.S. war against Iran, adding to what is already a sizable military spending boost being sought by President Donald Trump.

The White House Office of Management and Budget has yet to make a formal request to Congress. But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been making the rounds on Capitol Hill, including Monday evening. A top deputy defense secretary told senators about the Iran funding request last week, according to two people familiar with the situation but not authorized to discuss it publicly.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the developments.

Push for Pentagon money faces skeptical lawmakers

The push for billions of dollars in Iran war funding comes at a fraught political moment. Lawmakers are skeptical of the deal Trump struck with Iran to bring an end to the war, and wary of next steps. The White House has requested a remarkable $1.5 trillion for the Pentagon — a nearly 50% increase over the current fiscal year’s funding levels.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he’s expecting a supplemental spending request from the administration for the war, and when it arrives, “we’ll work through it and see where the votes are.”

“We need to make sure we’re doing everything we can to replenish, resupply a lot our munitions that have been depleted — not only just with what’s happening with Iran, but prior to that,” said Thune, R-S.D.

Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg spoke to several senators about the proposal in calls last week and he notified congressional committees that the $80 billion request had been sent to the Office of Management and Budget. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

However, the funding package will almost certainly run into trouble from lawmakers who refuse to support Trump’s decision to go to war and are reluctant to give the Pentagon more money at a time of high costs of living for Americans at home.

“You’re spending families’ hard-earned tax dollars on a war that many strongly oppose,” Democratic Sen. Patty Murray told Hegseth in a hearing last month.

Trump seeks a record $1.5 trillion for Defense this year

In addition to the Iran funding, Republicans hope to secure about $1.1 trillion through the regular appropriations process, which typically requires support from both parties for approval. Then, they hope to secure an additional $350 billion through a mostly party-line vote later this summer.

The amount being sought by the Pentagon is far higher than the $29 billion estimate of war costs that Hegseth gave Congress during his testimony last month. The bulk of that amount was related to replacing munitions and repairing equipment but also included operational costs to keep forces deployed. That estimate did not include the cost to repair or rebuild U.S. military sites damaged in the region.

It’s also far lower than the initial $200 billion the Pentagon floated as the costs at the start of the war. An early estimate put the cost of the first week of the war at $11.3 billion.

Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, a member of Democratic party leadership, said he expects the actual price tag could be much higher than the $80 billion being proposed.

Schatz said he hasn’t done any counting of Democrats about whether there is support for an Iran-focused bill, “but I haven’t found anyone who wants to do this.”

But Republican Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana said, “To me it’s less about the war, it’s more about the stockpiles.”

Banks said, “I would sell it to my state as an investment in our defense industrial base, reshoring defense production to Indiana.”

Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said funding for an Iran supplemental can’t be done in isolation. It has to be done after lawmakers from both parties have agreed to a total spending amount for both defense and non-defense programs, “then the rest of this would follow pretty quickly,” Reed said.

And Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota, a member of the Appropriations subcommittee on Defense, said he has been working with the administration to broaden the package to include funds for disaster aid for California, Hawaii and other states hard hit by fires and weather problems, as well as agricultural aid for farmers.

“I think that’s the kind of combination that could pass,” Hoeven said.

Hegseth declined to answer questions from reporters late Monday as he strode around the Capitol.

But on the issue of the cost of the war, Hegseth responded rhetorically during a Senate hearing last month, asking, “What is the cost of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon?”

He acknowledged the president’s decision to confront the threat of a nuclear Iran “comes with cost — and we recognize that.”

___

Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin and Ben Finley contributed to this report.

Round eight of Formula 1 season takes place in Austria this weekend in the stunning surroundings of the Styrian hills.

Last time out in Barcelona, Mercedes were beaten in a grand prix for the first time this year with Lewis Hamilton taking victory.

The Briton’s first grand prix win for Ferrari, combined with Kimi Antonelli’s retirement late in the race, narrowed the gap at the top of the drivers’ championship to 41 points.

Before Sunday’s race in Spielberg, BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your latest questions.

A retrospective podium for Pierre Gasly. Justice? Or a can of worms best left unopened? – Clive

Formula 1 has clearly got itself in a bit of a pickle regarding the pit-lane speeding penalties in the Monaco Grand Prix.

The facts are that five cars were given penalties for pit-lane speeding when none of them had gone over the limit.

The length of the pit lane had been mis-measured – it was possible to drive a shorter distance than officials initially realised, by 77 metres.

And as the pit-lane speed limit is policed by the time taken to pass through a series of timing loops over a specific distance, that meant the drivers were wrongly penalised.

This led to a sequence of events that had a dramatic effect on the race result.

George Russell was most badly affected by what followed, having a third place turned into a 12th and losing 15 points in the process.

But McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar also had their results changed.

Is it justice that Gasly is returned to a third place at the flag that he lost because Alpine refused to serve his penalty during the race, while the other drivers’ results are unaddressed?

Should the stewards who dealt with Alpine’s right of review over the Barcelona weekend have left it at that, and not raised the very obvious questions that followed on from it?

In terms of natural justice, the answer to both those questions is clearly no – there remain a number of issues raised by this situation that have not properly been dealt with.

McLaren and Red Bull have taken the case to the FIA court of appeal. No date has yet been set for that to be heard.

Mercedes have withdrawn their attempt to get the race result reviewed after concluding there was no viable mechanism for restoring Russell to where he could have finished, and it would not serve anybody to drag it all on.

As McLaren said in their statement about giving notice of intention to appeal: “We believe this case raises important questions concerning sporting fairness, regulatory consistency and the integrity of competition.”

The shame is that this could all have been avoided had the FIA and F1 acted differently before the race.

Teams warned the FIA that there was a problem waiting to happen with the pit-lane speeding limit during the Monaco weekend.

Officials did look into it, but their initial conclusion was that the concerns were unfounded. That was clearly an error. Had that been properly addressed at the time, none of this would have happened.

In terms of sporting fairness, it’s hard not to conclude that the issue should be taken to a full and proper conclusion.

Will Ferrari make Carlo Santi Lewis Hamilton’s permanent full-time race engineer, or is his role still considered temporary? – Anthony

The relationship between Lewis Hamilton and his new race engineer Carlo Santi has started off well.

Santi was initially meant to be a stop-gap before Hamilton received a new full-time engineer, but a Ferrari spokesperson says: “Carlo and Lewis are working pretty well together and there’s no plan to replace him.”

Hamilton has found a much more satisfactory relationship with Santi than he had with Riccardo Adami last year, and he’s tried to explain that without sounding too negative about his situation in 2025.

Hamilton said in Canada, where he finished second for what was his best result with Ferrari at the time, that Santi was “absolutely awesome and I’m really loving working with him”.

In Monaco he went further and compared the relationship with Santi to the one he forged over 12 years at Mercedes with Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington.

“Driver-engineer working together is very, very important,” Hamilton said. “Last year, Adami and I had a really good relationship. He’s a lovely guy. We worked relatively well together.

“Catering to a driver’s needs takes time to learn.

“When you’re giving an engineer feedback, their understanding of through-corner balance, their understanding of all the elements that contribute to the struggles that you’re struggling with, you try to describe what it is, the problem you have, corner by corner, entry, mid and exit where you dissect it into five sections if you want.

“Having that driver-engineer collab, it’s hit and miss sometimes. With me and Bono, we hit it off from the beginning. He had a good working relationship with Michael (Schumacher). I do feel like Carlo is like my Italian Bono.

“He’s a bit of an OG. He’s an older guy that’s been around the block and he’s very calm. You can hear him on the radio. That’s the detail that we’re able to go into together. Our understanding of the engineer side, it’s something that’s very cool.”

Jet2 continues to issue guidance to travellers

Passengers due to travel with Jet2 are being advised to take action “at least 12 hours before your flight”, according to the airline’s most recent guidance. Jet2holidays is Britain’s biggest package holiday provider, while Jet2 is also one of the country’s leading airlines, with millions of travellers expected to board its flights this year alone.

With a hectic summer of international travel on the horizon, the “latest travel information” section of Jet2’s website instructs holidaymakers to: “Please check this section of the website at least 12 hours before your flight for the latest flight information.”

The notice continues: “Further information can be found by using the [above] search panel by entering your flight number or route. We recommend arriving at the airport at least 2 hours before your scheduled departure time.

“Please remember – check in desks close 40 minutes before this. In the event of flight disruption our dedicated Operations teams are working hard behind the scenes at our UK-based HQ to get you on your way as soon as possible.”

Jet2 currently flies from London Gatwick, London Luton, London Stansted, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Manchester Airport, Glasgow Airport, Edinburgh Airport, Newcastle Airport, Leeds Bradford Airport, Belfast Airport, East Midlands Airport, Birmingham Airport, Bristol Airport, and Bournemouth. The carrier operates flights to over 75 destinations throughout Europe, with a strong presence in Spain, Turkey and Greece.

Jet2 has recently announced the addition of several new routes, and from 2027, holidaymakers will be able to fly to Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt. Further new routes set to launch next year include Thassos in Greece and Enfidha-Hammamet in Tunisia.

All UK travellers are being urged to remember that, following Britain’s exit from the European Union, a series of new regulations have been introduced for trips to Europe. For instance, your passport must display a ‘date of issue’ within 10 years of your arrival date, and if you renewed your passport before October 1, 2018, it may show a date of issue exceeding 10 years, rendering it invalid for entry into the Schengen zone (which includes Spain).

Additionally, those travelling on a British passport are only allowed to visit the Schengen area for 90 days within any 180-day period. And when entering the area, you’ll need to scan your passport, have a photograph taken of your face, and scan four of your fingerprints, under the new Entry/Exit System (EES).

EES is required for the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Mohamed Nassar, 58, was working at the Tesco Express store close to Manchester city centre when he choked on a doughnut

A Tesco security guard who went into cardiac arrest after choking on a doughnut during his shift has tragically passed away, his heartbroken family have confirmed.

Mohamed Nassar, 58, was on duty at the Tesco Express branch on New Bailey Street in Salford, near Manchester city centre on Friday, May 8, when the devastating incident unfolded, reports the Manchester Evening News.

He needed to eat in order to take medication he was on and started eating a doughnut before choking and collapsing on the shop floor, leaving colleagues and shoppers ‘screaming’, a relative said.

Emergency services rushed to the scene and Mohamed was brought back to life before being transported to hospital. However his heart had stopped for 23 minutes which his family say left him severely brain damaged. He never woke up and following the removal of his ventilation he passed away yesterday (Sunday, June 22).

His grief-stricken family have now expressed their anguish as they delivered an emotional tribute to a ‘wonderful person’ who was ‘deeply loved. ‘.

In a statement released to the Manchester Evening News they said: “We are all absolutely devastated and heartbroken by the loss of Mohamed Nassar. His passing has left a huge void in our family, and we are still struggling to come to terms with what has happened.

“Before he passed, our dad spent 44 days fighting, and it was incredibly hard for us to see him like that. Throughout those difficult days, we held onto hope and never stopped believing he would pull through. “.

Father-of-three Mohamed relocated with his family from London to Manchester in 2020, settling in Ardwick. A former musician, he’s been working for approximately five years with a third-party security firm.

His son Seif Abdelwaneis, 23, revealed that his mother, Nancy Elkarnshawy, along with his sisters Nariman, 28, and Malak, 14, were left in a state of shock when they received a phone call telling them he had collapsed at work.

The family expressed being ‘overwhelmed’ by the ‘love, prayers, and support from so many people’ throughout his hospital stay, adding they ‘want to sincerely thank everyone who kept him in their thoughts and prayers. ‘.

“Your kindness, encouragement, and support meant so much to us during the hardest time of our lives” they stated in their announcement following his passing.

“As a family, we are not only grieving but are also facing significant financial difficulties as a result of this tragedy. We continue to search for legal assistance and support but have unfortunately had little luck to date.

“Above all, we want people to remember him for the wonderful person he was. He was deeply loved by his family and friends, and his loss is felt every day. We miss him terribly and will carry his memory with us always.”

Osarugue Onaghise, Manager of the Manchester Bailey Express Tesco store, said: “On behalf of all our colleagues at our Manchester Bailey Express store, we remain deeply saddened by the tragic passing of Mohamed. Our thoughts remain with his family and friends at this difficult time.”

A fundraising campaign established to support the family in the wake of the tragedy remains active, with the family announcing that proceeds will now go towards funeral expenses and providing financial stability in his absence. For more information and to donate click HERE.

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The summer window is in full flow as Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham all work on refreshing their squads with new signings and outgoings. The biggest move looks set to be Morgan Rogers to Arsenal, but that deal is not expected to progress until after the World Cup. In the meantime, the Gunners are monitoring Bradley Barcola and Ayyoub Bouaddi,have opened talks over Christos Tzolis, and look to wrap up deals for Andria Bartishvili and Jeremy Monga.

When it was signed at the end of the G7 summit on June 17, the US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU) was hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough. By reopening the Strait of Hormuz, easing sanctions and launching a 60-day negotiating process, it felt like a positive step on the road to ending a conflict that has threatened regional stability and the global economy.

Yet the past weekend’s events have exposed the agreement’s fragility. While US and Iranian negotiators reported progress in the first round of talks in Switzerland, the US president Donald Trump’s renewed threats of military action against Iran and the physical security of Iranian negotiators prompted fears that the diplomatic process may break down and the conflict resume in earnest.

The status of the Strait of Hormuz, arguably the only positive takeaway for the US from the MoU, also remains uncertain.

So as it stands, the agreement is better understood as enabling a pause in hostilities than an actual settlement. It largely restores pre-war conditions while leaving tensions between the US, Iran and Israel unresolved.

Israel remains the elephant in the room. It is deeply affected by the deal but is not a party to it. And it’s still capable of undermining any diplomatic progress with its continuing assault on Lebanon in contravention of the MoU.

The most likely outcome is a return to grey-zone conflict, meaning hostile measures that stop short of outright shooting warfare. In this case, proxy warfare, cyber operations, economic coercion and periodic military escalation. The shooting may have stopped – but the forces that ignited the conflict remain.

None of which looks good for Washington. Trump entered the confrontation promising to dismantle Iran’s nuclear programme, curb its regional influence and restore American deterrence. Instead, the MoU grants Tehran economic relief while leaving unresolved key issues – missile capabilities, proxy networks and long-term limits on uranium enrichment.

For Iran, survival itself is a strategic victory. Despite sustained US and Israeli pressure, the regime remains intact and negotiating rather than capitulating.

The conflict also exposed the limits of regional security arrangements. Gulf states felt and witnessed how even America and Israel’s overwhelming military superiority and expensive advanced weapons systems do not necessarily translate into decisive political outcomes. Nor do they guarantee protection from escalation.

For the US, the agreement appears to reflect the mounting costs of escalation: US$132 billion (£100 billion) and counting. Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz raised energy prices, strained alliances and exposed the limits of military coercion. While sanctions relief and restored oil flows may ease immediate pressures, they also risk reinforcing the perception that sustained pressure and proxy warfare can force even a superpower to negotiate.

Perceptions matter in international politics. For America’s gulf partners, the MoU may raise doubts about Washington’s willingness to sustain ambitious objectives when the economic and political costs become too high.

Iran, meanwhile, appears to have been strategically strengthened by the conflict.
The MoU creates space for economic recovery and strategic adaptation, making it likely that Iran will continue pursuing influence through cyber operations, proxy networks and other forms of grey-zone competition.

Israel faces perhaps the most difficult strategic recalibration. For decades its security policy has rested on military superiority backed by close US support to the tune of some US$4 billion a year. The MoU shows how its strategic priorities are now at loggerheads with those of its main ally and sponsor. It raises questions about how far Washington is willing to align its regional priorities with those of Jerusalem.

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Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have different war aims – can the Iran peace deal survive?

Israel’s strategic culture has always prioritised self-reliance. This suggests it will continue to pursue covert operations, targeted assassinations and strikes against perceived Iranian threats.

While there has been no actual fracturing of the US-Israeli security relationship, the clear strategic differences could make future coordination more transactional – even as Israel remains heavily dependent on US military and diplomatic support.

Criticising members of the Israeli cabinet who had denounced the MoU, the US vice-president, J.D. Vance, told a White House briefing on June 19 that “Donald J Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time”.

Grey zone warfare: the modern default for conflict

But the broader significance of the agreement struck at Versailles on June 17 lies in what it reveals about conflict in the contemporary geopolitical situation. Rather than producing clear victories or defeats, modern confrontations increasingly become prolonged competitions in the grey zone between peace and war. As escalation becomes too costly, states regroup and compete through alternative means.

As far as the Middle East is concerned, this means that significant risks remain. A comprehensive agreement within 60 days appears unlikely given persistent disputes over sanctions, enrichment and regional security. Continued Israeli operations in Lebanon could quickly unravel the fragile pause. America’s allies in the gulf could respond to all this uncertainty by deepening ties with China and Russia.

The MoU is less a peace agreement than a diplomatic holding pattern. It lowers tensions and stabilises markets but leaves the underlying drivers of conflict intact. US-Iran-Israeli relations are therefore likely to continue oscillating between confrontation and accommodation.

Addressing deeper sources of instability – regime security concerns, ideological rivalry and regional proxy networks – would require a far more ambitious settlement than any 14-point memorandum can provide.

A number of the papers pick up on the jibe from a Tory MP who shouted “He’s not the Messiah” as Andy Burnham returned to the Commons. “Messiah without a Mandate” is the Daily Mail’s headline, pointing to the fact that Burnham may become prime minister without being challenged. The Telegraph suggests Burnham’s response, that he was “just a naughty boy”, is one reason why Labour likes him. “Compared with Keir Starmer, he’s the king of bants,” says the paper’s columnist Tim Stanley.