Authoritarian governments have long drawn ordinary citizens into political surveillance. Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union encouraged denunciations. East Germany’s secret police service, the Stasi, embedded informants in workplaces and neighbourhoods.

From 1960, Cuba’s leaders organised local committees to monitor political dissent. And informant culture is so embedded in everyday Iranian life that there are common Persian terms to describe it. A mokhber or khabarchin is an informant and a zirabzan secretly passes private information to the authorities, often to damage someone.

My latest research sheds light on how Iran’s informant system operates. I interviewed 90 Iranians aged between 17 and 52, including students, teachers, university staff, bazaar workers, and government and energy sector employees. All had been encouraged, pressured or offered incentives to report on people they knew.

Iran’s informant network runs through the intelligence ministry, as well as the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its affiliated Basij paramilitary force. It reaches workplaces, government bodies, universities and private lives through internal security offices known as Herasat and recruitment vetting bodies such as Gozinesh or Salahiyat-e Omumi.

As in other authoritarian settings, these security bodies hold considerable power in Iran. They can act in the name of security with little legal oversight or opposition to their decisions.

Informants may be asked to record conversations or identify people leading critical discussions. They may also be asked to report private parties where alcohol was served or where men and women danced together.

One-third (33%) of my interviewees described how social media and messaging platforms are used to monitor and gather information about others. This often involves saving and passing on screenshots of critical or politically sensitive social media posts or messages.

The process works by encouraging or coercing people to make informing a routine part of their lives. Those who cooperate may receive better scores in annual workplace evaluations, recommendations for promotion or access to institutional support.

One of my interviewees, who was offered money and a promotion in exchange for informing, said it “felt like I had no choice”.

Those who refuse to cooperate often face problems. Almost half (45%) of the people I interviewed described receiving threats if they declined to report on others. These threats included job dismissal, exclusion from education, legal trouble or harm to their families.

As one participant recalled: “They [the security agencies] reminded me what happens to people who refuse. I couldn’t risk it.”

While many people are coerced into informing on others, personal motives are also absorbed into the Iranian state’s surveillance machinery. One-quarter (26%) of the participants in my research mentioned workplace rivalry, jealousy or a grudge as reasons for informing.

A similar amount (24%) described ideological conviction. One of my respondents, an ideological supporter of the regime, believed reporting critics of Iran’s political system was a duty they owed the Islamic Republic.

People can be reported for criticising the regime, questioning its hostility towards the US and Israel or discussing protests. They can also be reported for challenging Iran’s supreme leader, religious institutions, ethical norms and official doctrine.

The costs of informant culture are borne both by those who are reported on and by those compelled to report. My interviewees described some of the consequences. Those who had been reported on spoke of suffering career damage, legal punishment, reputational harm and social exclusion.

Those who provided information to the authorities spoke of guilt, anxiety and fear of rejection by friends, colleagues or relatives if their role became known. One of my respondents described the personal cost: “After I gave them information, I couldn’t face my friends anymore.”

Self-censorship

Informant networks extend surveillance beyond the staffing and technical limits of formal security agencies. But their political value goes further than this. In a climate where anyone might report a personal conversation, people begin to censor themselves.

A recent study based on the outcomes of a survey of more than 5,000 people from Kazakhstan in 2023 has found that awareness of digital surveillance there discourages people from expressing views on politically sensitive issues. The possibility of being watched is often enough to change behaviour, even when no direct intervention occurs.

My interviews suggest that informant networks produce a similar response in Iran by making the source and extent of surveillance difficult to identify. One respondent told me: “I couldn’t trust anyone. I was always afraid someone was reporting on me too.”

This helps explain authoritarian endurance. Collective action depends on trust. Informant systems weaken the relationships through which people share grievances, test ideas and decide to act together.

In Iran, this theory has been tested on a number of occasions in recent years. The nationwide protest movement of early 2026, as well as previous rounds of dissent in 2019 and 2022, revealed opposition to the state strong enough to overcome the fear of surveillance.

But in each case, the authorities responded by using digital surveillance and informant reports to identify participants and organisers. Protesters were subsequently arrested, prosecuted and executed.

Informant culture gives authoritarian rulers an intimate line of defence. When survival depends on caution and citizens fear one another, even widespread discontent and mass protest may struggle to develop into sustained political resistance.

This is especially true when people also depend on the state for jobs and other basic necessities, as is the case in Iran.

Ladybirds are incredibly useful when it comes to controlling aphids, which can suck the sap from plants – and there’s one common kitchen item that may help attract them to your garden this September

Now is an ideal time to draw ladybirds into your garden – and there’s one particular food item that will have them descending on your outdoor space in September.

Depending on conditions, October is typically when these insects begin entering their dormant winter phase. At this point they will be on the hunt for warmth and shelter, frequently in considerable numbers, where they are likely to remain until March or April when temperatures improve once more.

Ladybirds are extraordinarily valuable when it comes to keeping aphids under control, as these pests can drain the sap from plants. A single adult ladybird can consume up to 50 aphids each day, helping to protect vegetables, flowers and ornamental plants from damage.

The insects can also assist in managing other garden nuisances such as mites and small caterpillars.

Horticulturalist Michael Perry, who has featured on ITV’s This Morning and runs the website Mr Plant Geek, says there is one food in particular that could bring ladybirds flocking to your garden. And the chances are most people already have it sitting in their kitchen cupboard, reports the Express.

Writing on his website, he said: “Aphid problem? No worries! Attract predatory ladybirds to your garden by placing raisins in ladybird feeders.”

The method is straightforward. Soak one or two raisins in water for up to five minutes.

Then slice them in half to reveal the moist interior before placing them inside a small wooden box or ladybird hotel. Once the raisins have been consumed, simply repeat the process.

There is one potential downside, however. Raisins are known to attract ladybirds owing to their sweet scent, but unfortunately, they draw ants in as well.

Meanwhile, foxes will visit gardens every evening if you leave one common bedroom item outside.

Foxes are a quintessentially British creature often associated with autumn because of their vivid orange coat, yet they can also prove genuinely beneficial to have in your garden at this time of year. As temperatures drop in September, rats and mice commonly begin seeking shelter in gardens, making it vital to deter them promptly before they develop into a full-blown infestation.

Nobody wants to spot rats darting around their outdoor space and risk them finding their way indoors, but foxes are omnivores well known for preying on rodents, which can go a long way towards keeping them at bay.

Dora Nightingale, founder of the charity Fox Guardians, has revealed that a straightforward way to entice foxes is simply to make them feel at ease by leaving out an everyday household item.

In an online video, Dora said: “This is the foxes’ favourite area. It’s nothing special, really, by our standards, as it’s just a few cold cushions dotted around. What foxes like about this is that it’s comfortable because they are off the ground, and the foxes absolutely love it.”

A Sudanese lorry migrant who stabbed a stranger to death while on police bail over a rampage just 48 hours earlier was jailed for 27 years.

Rasheed Rahman, 21, murdered grandfather Mark Carroll, 55, on April 10, 2024 in a park in Camden, north London.

Just two days earlier Rahman went berserk on a canal tow-path, punching and kicking members of the public but was bailed by the police.

In February two months before those two attacks, he broke Iulian Cavaliuc’s arm with a wooden club and knifed him in the back on a double decker bus in east London.

Mr Cavaliuc reported the attack to police later that day but Rahman remained at large while police officers tried to obtain CCTV footage and find him.

Despite Rahman’s violence, staff at the supported accommodation unit where he lived in Chadwell Heath, east London, handed him a blade a day before the murder.

It was this 5in knife he plunged into Mr Carroll in a frenzied outburst.

Judge John Dodd, KC, at Wood Green Crown Court jailed Rahman for life with a minimum of 27 years, and told him he would be deported.

He said: ‘On the 9th April 2024 you, Mr Rahman, were living in supported accommodation in Romford. 

‘You asked the house manager for the use of a kitchen knife, claiming that you wanted it to prepare some food. 

‘You retained it, and the following day you took it with you when you set off to travel into London.

‘This was a random unprovoked attack by you on a wholly innocent unsuspecting member of the public. You are clearly a very dangerous man. 

‘What you did on that day in April in 2024 was shocking and left Mark Carroll’s family broken and grieving and their lives will never be the same again.

‘That random unprovoked attack was preceded in February by a similar attack without the same tragic result.’

In a victim personal impact statement read to the court Mr Carroll’s daughters, Danielle and Ayisha.

They said: ‘Our Dad was a loving father and a devoted grandfather who meant the world to his family. 

Mark Carroll was a grandfather who took great pride in being with his family his daughters said

Here Rahman can be seen getting the blade which he used to murder Mr Carroll the next day

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‘Becoming a grandad brought him immense happiness. He often told his friends that meeting his grandchildren was one of the greatest moments of his life.

‘The memories we made together, the happiness we shared, and the love he gave so freely are things that we will cherish forever.’

While no one witnessed the attack on Mr Carroll, CCTV filmed Rahman leaving the park at 1.23pm.

Rahman threatened one man he encountered on the street, and later, brandishing his knife, robbed a member of the public of their e-bike.

He was seen carrying a knife in Castlehaven Community park and then putting it in a bin.

Rahman made a successful asylum application in March 2023 and was granted temporary leave to remain in the UK.

Three months later he admitted possession of a Class B drug and possession of a sharp pointed article, namely a broken pub dart.

John Femi-Ola KC, defending, said Rahman was born in Sudan and saw his sister murdered when the Islamic militant group Boko Haram invaded his village.

Rahman broke Iulian Cavaliuc’s arm with a wooden club and stabbed him with a knife on a bus in February 

The murder weapon: This is the 5 inch blade Rahman used to attack his victim at random in a frenzied outburst

Mr Femi-Ola said he fled to Chad and then Libya and then came to the UK in the back of a lorry.

He was found to be living undocumented in Essex in 2021 and was granted temporary leave to remain.

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Clarke, who led the investigation, said: ‘Our thoughts remain with Mark’s loved ones; the personal statements given by his daughters, Ayisha and Danielle, today demonstrate a heart-breaking insight into the lasting impact of his death.’

The judge sentenced Rahman to a further five years concurrent for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and further concurrent sentences of nine months for affray, six months for assault.

Visitors arriving in Stirling by bus or train will be met by a newly decorated Station Square featuring deckchairs, giant interactive games, cheerleaders and the chance to get ready for the festival with glitter face paint.

As the crowds arrive for the all of the fun of Radio 2 Party in the Park, a business organisation is putting on city centre entertainment for those heading into Stirling.

Go Forth Stirling are supporting the star-studded event with entertainment being laid on in Station Square alongside the launch of the new ‘In Stirling’ app giving festival goers up to date information about the city.

This weekend, visitors arriving in Stirling by bus or train will be met by a newly decorated Station Square featuring deckchairs, giant interactive games, cheerleaders and the chance to get ready for the festival with glitter face paint.

Festival-goers are encouraged to download the free app which provides information on the BBC 2 event, travel tips and recommendations of places to stay, eat and visit during their trip.

The digital hub also features offers, alerts, local news and walking trails and can be downloaded now via Google Play or the App Store.

Go Forth have also joined forces with Keep Britain Tidy to help stamp out cigarette waste across Stirling during the weekend through the ‘Bin Your Butts’ campaign.

Go Forth Stirling BID Project Director Danielle McRorie-Smith is thrilled to welcome thousands of Radio 2 in the Park fans, as well as the many musicians and DJs, to Stirling for an unforgettable weekend.

Ms McRorie-Smith said: “We’re ready to host a fantastic weekend filled with music, energy and excitement in Stirling which offers the perfect entertainment venue for Radio 2 in the Park’s first Scottish festival.

“We have great transport links, are centrally located and have so much to offer visitors in terms of our history, heritage and landmark tourist attractions.

“We also boast a wide array of independent and national retailers who will ensure visitors are well catered for with accommodation, bars, restaurants, shops and whatever else they choose to do and experience during their stay.”

She added: “Go Forth are delighted to support the event with entertainment for fans in the city centre; our collaboration with Keep Britain Tidy and, of course, our new ‘In Stirling’ app which is available to download and gives visitors up to date information about the festival and everything else Stirling has to offer.

“We’re all set to give festival-goers a warm welcome to Stirling where they can enjoy some fun and entertainment in Station Square before walking through the city and along Dumbarton Road to City Park for the BBC 2 Party in the Park.”

The Russian army has a “pervasive culture of lying” over battlefield gains which has left Vladimir Putin with a “severely distorted” view of the frontline situation in Ukraine, military analysts have said.

Several Russian military bloggers have offered a bleak picture of the frontline near Lyman in the Donetsk region, where Ukrainian counterattacks are pushing back Russia’s forward positions and exposing misleading military reports from Russian forces.

One milblogger, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), argued that “beautiful reports” – a term milbloggers have coined to refer to the pervasive culture of lying within the Russian armed forces and misinformation about the state of the frontlines – need to be “absolutely forbidden”.

The claims have led the Russian president to have a “severely distorted” view of the frontline situation, which has led him to make “absurd and aggrandising claims of Russian advances”, the ISW said in a daily briefing.

Kyiv’s forces recently seized full control over Svyatohirsk, northwest of Lyman, in the days after Putin had claimed Russia controlled the village.

In a video posted on Monday, the commander of Ukraine’s Third Army Corps Andrii Biletskyi taunted Putin over his recent claim that Russian forces had captured it. Standing in the picturesque monastery town, he declared it was a “rear area for our corps”.

Russian milbloggers have been “increasingly expressing frustration about Russian officials’ false claims of advance”, adding that such false military reports “create operational risks for Russian forces” because they cannot call for offensive operations in locations they have already claimed to control.

The alleged lies make it as far as the White House, the ISW added.

Putin and US president Donald Trump held a phone call on Monday, following a visit by Washington envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Kyiv and Moscow over the weekend in a fresh attempt to find common ground for a peace agreement.

The Russian president likely used the phone call to push his misrepresentation of the battlefield situation on Trump, the ISW said.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin gave an “objective and extensive analysis of the current developments in the special military operation”, the latter phrase being Moscow’s euphemism for its aggression in Ukraine.

“Putin likely used the call with Trump to present his distorted picture of the frontline in an attempt to convince Trump that the US should force Ukraine to capitulate to Russia’s demands ostensibly before Ukraine’s battlefield situation worsens,” the ISW assessed.

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Published: 15:15 BST, 11 September 2026 | Updated: 15:24 BST, 11 September 2026

Police are trying to find the owner of the urn, which is believed to contain human ashes.

A tiny urn wrapped in a teddy bear and believed to contain human ashes has been left on a train between London and Aberdeen. British Transport Police has issued an appeal to try to locate its rightful owner.

The small red urn is wrapped in purple and white artificial flowers and held in the arms of a teddy bear toy. It is believed to have been left on an LNER service travelling from London Kings Cross to Aberdeen and was subsequently handed into lost property on the train’s arrival in Aberdeen.

British Transport Police (BTP) said according to the information they have available, it was lost at some point in the last four months. Police Constable Gary Herning said: “The urn appears to contain human ashes or remains and will clearly be of enormous sentimental value to someone.

“Unfortunately, we have no further information on where the owner may have boarded or alighted during the journey. We’re issuing the appeal in the hope that the individual or family concerned will reach out to us so that we can arrange its safe return.”

Police have asked the owner, or anyone who knows them, to contact BTP on 61016, using the reference number 2600110174.

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Rory McIlroy is set to be reunited with Donald Trump as the US President heads to Doonbeg in Co Clare

Rory McIlroy appears set for a reunion with Donald Trump as the US President prepares to visit his Doonbeg golf course for the Irish Open.

The Co Clare venue is playing host to the European Tour event, which wraps up on Sunday, with Trump expected to touch down in Doonbeg at around 3pm on Saturday.

McIlroy was candid about his thoughts on Trump’s visit when quizzed about it ahead of the tournament getting under way.

The world number two told BBC Sport NI: “It’s going to be different with him being here.

“We’re here to play a golf tournament, and it’s a good golf course and we will keep our heads down and play.

“I think the weekend, especially when he’s here, crowds will be limited.

“Obviously, there’s a lot that’s going on. Logistically, it provides some challenges, absolutely, but at the same time, if he wants to come and watch the Irish Open, who are we to say no.”

McIlroy further commented at a press conference in Doonbeg: “I think when the sitting President of the United States of America visits anywhere, it becomes a logistical challenge.

“There’s a lot that goes into it. They obviously have to lock down a specific area and make sure that it’s safe for him to travel into, and the entire delegation, whoever that is. Logistically, it provides a bit of a challenge, but we are at one of his properties that he has kindly provided for us to play a golf tournament.

“I said yesterday, the President of the United States wants to come watch a little bit of golf. I think we are all happy to be here, grateful to be here. His presence at The Irish Open makes it a truly international event. That brings more attention and eyeballs to the Irish Open, and it can only be a good thing.”

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McIlroy also discussed his connection with Trump’s son Eric after the 42-year-old praised the role the two-time Masters champion played in getting the Irish Open to Doonbeg, reports the Irish Mirror.

“Eric and I live very close to each other, kids are at the same school and see each other at school events from time to time,” McIlroy explained.

“So the DP World Tour reached out to me and said, ‘Do you think Doonbeg will be a suitable venue for The Irish Open?’”.

“I said, look, I haven’t been there, but from all accounts, I hear it’s a very, very good golf course with accommodation on-site. The Irish Open has not been in this part of the world in several years, since Lahinch in 2019. I think it would be a good thing.”

This isn’t the first occasion McIlroy has faced questions about Trump, having previously played golf with the US President on a few occasions.

At last year’s Irish Open, the Holywood native was questioned about whether he’d have any concerns playing the tournament at a Trump-owned venue.

“I’ve never played Doonbeg,” McIlroy said. “I might have gone there for dinner once while I was down playing Lahinch at some point.

“But no, I mean, I’ve obviously heard the rumours. I’m not sure if it’s confirmed or not, or when the schedule comes out, but if it were to go there, I’d have no problem.

“You know, the Scottish Championship was played at a Trump property near Aberdeen there a few weeks ago and looked like it was a great event.”

McIlroy had disclosed earlier that year that he’d shared a round of golf with Trump prior to his inauguration, revealing that the 80-year-old wasn’t keen on the LIV format.

“It was great. Yeah, it was really good,” McIlroy said. “I thought we had a good discussion.

“I learnt that he’s not a fan of the LIV format. I was like, ‘But you’ve hosted their events?’ He was like, ‘yeah, but it doesn’t mean that I like it’. So I think he’s on the Tour’s side.”

The golfer had previously responded to criticism after playing a round of golf with Trump in 2017.

He said in a tweet at the time: “I don’t agree with everything my friends or family say or do, but I still play golf with them.

“Last week, I was invited to play golf with the president of the United States. Whether you respect the person who holds the position or not, you respect the office that he holds.”

He added that the game was “not an endorsement, nor a political statement of any kind”.

“It was, quite simply, a round of golf,” he wrote.

“I’ve travelled all over the world and have been fortunate enough to befriend people from many different countries, beliefs and cultures.

“To be called a fascist and a bigot by some people because I spent time in someone’s company is just ridiculous. I hope, to some degree, this clarifies my decision to accept the invitation.”

However, McIlroy had previously suggested in 2020 that he would not play golf with Trump again.

“I haven’t done it since … out of choice,” said the Co Antrim native, as he questioned Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

He added: “I don’t know if he’d want to play with me again after what I just said. I know it’s very self-serving of me to say no, and if I don’t, then it means I’m not putting myself in position to be under scrutiny and that I’m avoiding that.

“But no, I wouldn’t.”

Notwithstanding the backlash, Trump remains a fervent admirer of McIlroy and has sung his praises on several occasions.

In a pre-recorded message played at an event marking 250 years of Irish-American friendship in July, Trump declared: “We have the Irish Open going to be there and we’re going to have a tremendous celebration. I think I’m going to come over and I think I’m going to see it and we’re gonna watch Rory and all the great players.”

Earlier this year, the US President asked McIlroy to stand during a White House banquet as he praised the golfer for his “unconquerable courage” following his second consecutive Masters victory. During a state visit by the King and Queen, Trump said: “The entire world has been uplifted by this distinct and special character we share. This unstoppable daring, this unconquerable courage. It really is, it’s unconquerable.

“Speaking of that, where’s Rory McIlroy? Can you stand up Rory, will you, please?”.

“That was unconquerable courage. That was very good Rory. I don’t know if that helps him talking about how wonderful the speech… but I had to interrupt my speech because I watched that man win a tournament that was a tough one.

“Congratulations, very proud of you.”

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