Proud to be British. Read more from journalists who champion our culture, history and values. | | “They kicked a hole in the roof, and they’ve taken my computer and some hard drives.” I didn’t need to ask what for. I could already guess. My father was a paedophile, and they must have arrested him on suspicion of making images of child abuse.
When I think back, the signs were there, such as the fact that my father always had children’s TV on in the afternoons, even when my siblings and I had long outgrown it. The way he would obsess over making sure he had locked the doors every night before going to bed; that the slightest leak of a bathroom tap would send him into a state of such extreme stress; he wouldn’t sleep at the prospect of having “to get someone in” to fix it.
When I see the coverage of Epstein, it brings back lots of horrible and deeply painful memories, including having to sit through my father’s trial in court and hear about the kinds of images he’d viewed and the terms he’d searched for. Read the full story here ➤ | | Navalny died after collapsing while taking a walk at a Siberian prison | Alexei Navalny was killed with a lethal toxin found in Ecuadorian dart frogs and administered by assassins acting for Vladimir Putin.
This was the conclusion of a years-long investigation – an international collaboration involving Porton Down scientists – that was shared with the world yesterday.
The extraordinary revelation into the 2024 murder of the Russian dissident was timed to coincide with a security conference in Munich, in which Sir Keir Starmer and European allies pledged to step up on defence in the face of Russian aggression. Navalny’s wife was in the audience.
It was more than just a show of European muscle. The findings of the joint intelligence effort shattered Russian claims, first made in 2017, that it would move away from chemical warfare.
Britain and its allies are now convinced that Putin possesses a cache of dangerous lab-made weapons which could be used in Ukraine, or against the West itself.
Read the full story here ➤
Plus, we have the full inside tale of how Britain and its allies cracked the case here ➤ | | Camilla Tominey Children have a remarkable capacity to rise above their circumstances and thrive. But not if families evade their basic responsibilities Continue reading ➤ Nigel Farage Labour is setting a chilling precedent for British democracy Continue reading ➤ Jake Wallis Simons As the world descends into carnage, the spineless leaders of Europe are absorbed in a dream Continue reading ➤ | | To make sure you don’t miss our newsletters when they land in your inbox, click here. |  | | The concept of retirement as a clearly defined finish line means that people often regret their entry into it. Too soon, and they might not be financially prepared and end up missing the buzz of working life. Too late, and they might miss out on valuable years to pursue passions outside their career. The reality, as these retirees prove, is much more fluid. Continue reading ➤ | | | The “deprogrammer” Rick Ross has spent more than 40 years working to reunite families with loved ones lost to destructive sects. His expertise spans groups from the Branch Davidians of Waco to UFO cults, and during the course of his career he has advised the FBI, testified in court, received death threats and been sued five times (most recently, the sex cult Nxivm spent $5m in legal fees trying to take him down). Sanjiv Bhattacharya visits him at his eccentric home in Arizona to hear more about the still-controversial practice. Continue reading ➤ | | | | | AI threatens a jobs apocalypse. Firstly, a new AI trading tool has triggered widespread panic in the City, wiping billions off the values of major wealth management stocks as traders panic that chatbots will soon be able to manage people’s money. A second example is Leonie Tucker, who poured two decades of her life into the film industry until AI came along. “Everything I’ve ever worked for is this industry, it’s now been ripped away from under my feet. I’m very qualified and sought-after in this job. Now, I’m on Universal Credit,” she says. Thirdly, read on to find out why even manual jobs may not be safe. Continue reading ➤ | | | Best known for her years presenting the BBC Nine O’Clock News and that high kick on Strictly, Angela Rippon shares the highs and lows from her life and 60-year career: from being single at 81 to a sexist encounter with the former director-general of the BBC. Continue reading ➤ | | | From SUVs to 4x4s, Sophia Money-Coutts has the low-down on which middle-class cars are in (such as the Land Rover Discovery 5) and which are firmly out (like the BMW X5, which is “so OTT”). Make sure you don’t embarrass yourself on the school run or on your drive to Cornwall with Sophia’s helpful guide. Continue reading ➤ | | | It sounds counter-intuitive but cutting calories too drastically can halt weight loss. “I see this constantly,” says Dr Abby Hyams, chief medical officer at Medicspot. “Someone drops to 1,200 calories, loses weight fast, then hits a wall and can’t understand why.” Eating too little is just one of many mistakes people make in the pursuit of fat loss, with fasting incorrectly and not doing enough strength training among the others. Mary Comber speaks to the experts about what really works. Continue reading ➤ Below are two more articles that I hope will improve your weekend: |  | Every week, Sarah Knapton, our Science Editor, and Joe Pinkstone, our Science Correspondent, demystify your supernatural experiences. From ghoulish encounters to bizarre coincidences, there’s always a scientific explanation and nothing is as strange as it seems.
A baffled reader writes...
“In the 1960s, travelling the Piccadilly Line in London. At Leicester Square, a small man jumped in at the last moment and the doors closed. There were shouts from the guards and the doors opened.
“I looked back from my seat, down the train and as I did the man turned to the carriage and cried in a beautifully spoken English accent: ‘I APPEAL TO YOU.’
“The people looked at each other. I actually said: ‘What have you done?’ Then two large men grabbed him and he was hauled off the train. We all got on with our newspapers. The train went on. A thief?
“Yet as I looked the men who were waiting for him were tall and tanned, wearing light suits and two were carrying axe handles over their shoulders. What could that have been?”
Sarah and Joe answer:
A shift away from the paranormal this week to something more down-to-Earth, though equally intriguing and slightly sinister.
Why would a well-spoken Londoner be hauled off a Tube train by men in suits armed with club-like weapons?
The key to this case may be the date. 1960s London was awash with organised crime and celebrity gangsters who operated protection rackets, embarked on violent turf wars and carried out ruthless hits.
Read the full answer here ➤
Plus, send in your questions for Sarah and Joe here ➤ | | Gaulier: ‘He just insults his students all day long until they start laughing and their ego gets out of the way’ | Philippe Gaulier, who has died aged 82, brought his school of clowning from Paris to London in 1991 and taught the arts of buffoonery to a string of future or existing celebrities, writes Andrew M Brown, Obituaries Editor.
Gaulier was hailed as a legend in British theatrical circles, a label he rejected in typically curmudgeonly style: “It would make my mother happy, but she’s dead. So I don’t care.”
To call his approach “brusque” scarcely comes close to capturing his bootcamp-style training methods. The aim was to strip the actor of self-consciousness – though Gaulier had no time for method acting, dismissing its proponents as “imbeciles”. For Gaulier, actors should be seen to relish the performing, what he termed complicité between actor and audience – “like a wink”.
Sacha Baron Cohen, creator of Ali G and Borat, studied at the Gaulier school. He called the great clown master “probably the funniest man I have ever met”, adding: “Without him, I really do doubt whether I would have had any success in my field.”
Read his obituary in full here ➤ | | Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including PlusWord, Sorted, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.
Yesterday’s Panagram was TREATMENT. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today’s puzzle. | | Thank you for reading. Allister Heath, Sunday Telegraph Editor
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