French fugitive whose escape left two officers dead extradited from Romania

Mohamed Amra’s arrest ends nine-month manhunt when armed assailants ambushed prison convoy in Normandy

A notorious French fugitive who staged a deadly escape that killed two guards last year has been extradited from Romania to France, days after his arrest in Bucharest ended a nine-month international manhunt.

Mohamed Amra, nicknamed “The Fly”, was arrested near a shopping centre in Bucharest on Saturday after being identified by Romanian police, despite having dyed his hair red, possibly to evade detection. The Bucharest court of appeal approved his extradition request on Sunday.

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Tim Westwood inquiry report: what new allegations against him have emerged?

The document contains a series of previously unpublished claims, including 22 from members of the public

The independent inquiry into what the BBC knew about the former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood’s conduct has been published almost three years after a joint investigation by the Guardian and BBC News.

The investigation told the stories of a number of women who accused the 67-year-old of sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour.

“Hounded” a 17-year-old Black woman with phone calls and texts.

Invited a girl who was 15 or 16 back to his home following an under-16 night, after she had added him on Blackberry to get information about the event.

Contacted a woman who had shared her business card, and appeared agitated when she did not want to meet late at night.

“Hurled” a can of drink at a woman who was serving in a club.

A former BBC staff member told the corporation their son had witnessed Westwood propositioning a 15-year-old girl in a night club in around 2007. The BBC reported the complaint to the Metropolitan police, who took no action.

A BBC employee said in 2022 that a guest on Radio 1 had described potential sexual assault by Westwood between 2004 and 2007. They said they had reported it to a more senior employee, but White found no evidence the complaint had been documented. Westwood’s lawyers said he was never spoken to about the incident.

A student told the review about Westwood referring to her breasts during a 1Xtra DriveTime show in 2010, calling her “cuddly” and miming grabbing her breasts, which his lawyers say he strongly denies.

A Sun journalist contacted Radio 1 in November 2012 saying they had been given tipoffs about Westwood and “inappropriate relations with young girls”. A senior figure flagged allegations made about Westwood on Twitter to HR and the corporate investigations team, which decided that no action would be taken without further evidence.

White concluded that senior BBC staff did not think Westwood had had sexual contact with 15-year-old girls, but that the issue “ought to have been formally raised with him” and the online allegations should have been examined further.

“Many” BBC employees “perceived there to be a close relationship between the controllers and Tim Westwood”.

Witnesses felt they were unable to complain because of the “feeling that … senior management were likely to side with presenters”.

Westwood made repeated comments about guests and staff members’ bodies, particularly about women’s breasts.

Until Westwood was removed from the 1Xtra DriveTime show in 2012, “the approach appears to have been to raise issues informally … and, when the situation did not improve, to move BBC staff working on the 1Xtra DriveTime show to other programmes”.

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French fugitive ‘The Fly’ is extradited to France after his arrest in Romania – The Associated Press

  1. French fugitive ‘The Fly’ is extradited to France after his arrest in Romania  The Associated Press
  2. Nine-Month Manhunt for French Fugitive Finally Produces an Arrest  The New York Times
  3. French fugitive whose escape left two officers dead extradited from Romania  The Guardian
  4. Notorious fugitive known as "The Fly" arrested after deadly prison escape in France and 9-month manhunt  CBS News
  5. French prisoner 'The Fly' arrested nine months after deadly van ambush  BBC.com
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Starmer can only hope slashing aid to boost defence wins Trump’s favour

PM’s Washington trip clear impetus for abrupt news of budget switch to meet defence commitment by 2027

Before Keir Starmer’s meeting with Donald Trump on Thursday, the prime minister thought it necessary to offer the president a gift. Britain’s defence spending will increase by 0.17 percentage points to 2.5% of GDP by April 2027, he told MPs in a hastily arranged Commons statement. The money, he added, would be taken directly from the overseas aid budget, whose level will be cut by nearly half to 0.3%.

The last measure is a remarkable turn for a Labour government. Uncomfortably, it comes at a time when Donald Trump wants to shut down perhaps the entire $40bn US aid budget – and at a stroke eliminates a signature commitment from the Blair-Brown years. It was back in 2004, when Tony Blair was prime minister, that Labour first committed to increasing aid spending to 0.7% of GDP.

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Farage’s trip to meet Musk was part-funded by former fraudster George Cottrell

Cottrell, who served eight months for fraud, paid £15,000 for Reform party leader’s flight to US in December

Nigel Farage’s trip to Florida where he met Elon Musk was part-funded by his friend and former fraudster George Cottrell, who paid for his £15,000 flight.

The Reform leader accepted the flight for his visit in December last year, when he was pictured smiling with Musk and the Reform party treasurer, Nick Candy.

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Three tropical cyclones are spinning in a row in the South Pacific – CNN

  1. Three tropical cyclones are spinning in a row in the South Pacific  CNN
  2. Multiple tropical cyclones churning in the Southern Hemisphere  Fox Weather
  3. There are 6 tropical storms in the Southern Hemisphere  Yahoo
  4. Three tropical cyclones are churning in the South Pacific — all at once  The Washington Post
  5. Tropical cyclone activity buzzing across the Southern Hemisphere  Fox Weather
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Starmer slashes aid to fund major increase in defence spending

Announcement prompts concerns that PM is pandering to US president and warnings over consequences of aid cuts

Keir Starmer has announced that Britain will “fight for peace in Europe” with a generational increase in defence spending paid for by slashing the foreign aid budget.

The move, just two days before the prime minister is due to meet Donald Trump, raised immediate concerns that he was pandering to the US president, and fury from aid groups that say it could cost lives in countries that rely on UK support.

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BBC admits it ‘fell short and failed people’ over Tim Westwood

Corporation apologises as inquiry finds it missed opportunities that could have led to action over former Radio 1 DJ’s behaviour

The BBC has admitted it “fell short and failed people” – including its own staff – and apologised after finding evidence of “bullying and misogynistic” behaviour by its former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood.

A £3.3m external inquiry published on Tuesday found the broadcaster “missed opportunities” during the DJ’s two decades at the organisation that could have led to action. The inquiry was triggered by a 2022 Guardian and BBC News joint investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour by the DJ.

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A mystery illness in Congo has killed more than 50 people hours after they felt sick – CNN

  1. A mystery illness in Congo has killed more than 50 people hours after they felt sick  CNN
  2. ‘Unknown disease’ that can kill within days leaves 53 dead in Congo  The Washington Post
  3. Unknown illness kills more than 50 in north-west DRC  The Guardian
  4. Unknown Deadly Illness Strikes Western Congo  The New York Times
  5. Over 50 deaths linked to 'unknown disease' in Congo  ABC News
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It’s time to seize Russian assets, not just freeze them, says UK’s Lammy – Reuters

  1. It's time to seize Russian assets, not just freeze them, says UK's Lammy  Reuters
  2. Ukraine war briefing: Calls grow to spend all of Russia’s frozen billions on Ukrainian defence  The Guardian
  3. EU eyes €200B secret weapon as Trump dominates Ukraine peace talks  POLITICO Europe
  4. Europe considers seizing $200 billion in frozen Russian assets as bargaining chip in Ukraine war peace talks  New York Post
  5. Russia may offer frozen assets for Ukraine's reconstruction, demand funds for occupied territories, Reuters reports  Kyiv Independent
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AfD readmits two politicians excluded over Nazi-related remarks

After Sunday’s election the far-right party has decided to allow Maximilian Krah and Matthias Helferich to return to the parliamentary group

Two politicians for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) who were sidelined over remarks they made relating to the Nazis have been welcomed back into its parliamentary group after the party’s historic performance in the German general election.

Maximilian Krah resigned from the AfD’s federal executive board before the European elections last June after telling an Italian newspaper that not all members of Adolf Hitler’s SS had been “automatically criminals”.

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Israel ‘wants to extend first phase of Gaza ceasefire deal’ as talks stall

Israel ready to resume fighting if there is no progress in crucial talks this week, reports say

Israel is seeking to extend the first stage of the ceasefire agreement in the war with Hamas in Gaza and is prepared to resume fighting if there is no progress in crucial talks this week, according to reports.

Israel’s Kan Radio, along with Ma’ariv, a daily newspaper, reported on Tuesday that informal talks were under way aimed at extending the first 42-day stage of the ceasefire, which expires on Saturday. Official internationally mediated negotiations on how to implement the second stage – which would involve a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territory – were supposed to begin weeks ago, but have been repeatedly postponed as the fragile truce has lurched from crisis to crisis.

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