Teen jailed in Dubai over sex with girl released

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Detained in Dubai Marcus Fakana handed himself in to the authorities in December to begin a one-year jail sentence

A British teenager jailed in Dubai for having sex with a 17-year-old girl has been released and is back in the UK. Marcus Fakana, 19, from Tottenham, north London, was sentenced in December to a year's imprisonment after a consensual relationship with the girl, who is also British, while on holiday in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The age of consent in the UAE is 18. He has received a royal pardon from Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, campaign group Detained in Dubai has said.

A Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: "He was released on a Eid pardon last week. "We understand he wanted to get back to the UK without media attention and to see his family. "We supported him and were in contact with them." Detained in Dubai's chief executive, Radha Stirling, said Mr Fakana "is currently recovering". She added: "His case has attracted significant public attention due to concerns about the criminalisation of tourists and disproportionate sentencing. "We believe this case highlights the urgent need for expedited legal processes for foreign nationals and safeguards against unnecessary custodial sentences." Mr Fakana was with his parents in the UAE from the end of August last year when a "holiday romance blossomed", with another Londoner, who has since turned 18, the campaign group previously said. The girl's mother reported Fakana to the UAE authorities after seeing messages between the two when she had returned to the UK. Mr Fakana recently wrote to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, from Al Awir Prison asking to be released. An Eid pardon in Muslim countries can be given to inmates by the monarch or president as a gesture of compassion and a way to offer individuals a second chance during religious holidays.

"Parents need to be aware that teens can be charged in the UAE for behaviour that would not be considered criminal at home, whether that's a relationship, social media activity, or even drinking alcohol," Ms Stirling said. The government of Dubai previously said: "Under UAE law, the girl is legally classified as a minor and, in accordance with procedures recognised internationally, her mother - being the legal guardian - filed the complaint." It added: "Dubai's legal system is committed to protecting the rights of all individuals and ensuring impartial judicial proceedings."

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Texas flood victims: Girl 'having time of her life' and 'heart and soul' of camp

20 hours ago Share Save Rachel Hagan BBC News Share Save

Camp Mystic This picture of Renee Smajstrla was clicked at Camp Mystic on Thursday, her uncle wrote on Facebook

An eight-year-old girl and the director of an all-girls' summer camp are among the victims of flash floods in Texas that have claimed at least 51 lives, including 15 children. Officials say most of the victims have been identified. Authorities have not yet released any names publicly. Here's what we know so far about the victims.

Renee Smajstrla

Eight-year-old Renee Smajstrla was at Camp Mystic when flooding swept through the summer camp for girls, her uncle said in a Facebook post. "Renee has been found and while not the outcome we prayed for, the social media outreach likely assisted the first responders in helping to identify her so quickly," wrote Shawn Salta, of Maryland. "We are thankful she was with her friends and having the time of her life, as evidenced by this picture from yesterday," he wrote. "She will forever be living her best life at Camp Mystic." Camp Mystic, where 27 children are missing, is a nearly century-old Christian summer camp for girls on the banks of the Guadalupe River near Hunt, Texas. Operated by generations of the same family since the 1930s, the camp's website bills itself as a place for girls to grow "spiritually" in a "wholesome" Christian atmosphere "to develop outstanding personal qualities and self-esteem".

Jane Ragsdale

Heart O' the Hills Jane Ragsdale was described as the "heart and soul" of Heart O' the Hills camp

Heart O' the Hills is another all-girls' camp that sits along the Guadalupe River and it was right in the path of Friday's flood. Jane Ragsdale, described as the "heart and soul" of Heart O'Hills, "did not make it", a statement shared on the camp's official website said on Saturday. Ragsdale, who started off as a camper then a counsellor, became the director and co-owner of the camp in 1976. "We are mourning the loss of a woman who influenced countless lives and was the definition of strong and powerful," the statement said. No campers were residing at the site when the floods hit and and most of those who were there have been accounted for, according to the statement.

Sarah Marsh

Camp Mystic

Sarah Marsh, a student at Cherokee Bend Elementary School in Alabama, would have entered third grade in August. She, too, was attending Camp Mystic and her grandmother, Debbie Ford Marsh, asked for prayers in a post on Facebook on Friday. Just hours later she shared online that her granddaughter was among the girls killed. "We will always feel blessed to have had this beautiful spunky ray of light in our lives. She will live on in our hearts forever!" she said. In a post on Facebook, Alabama Senator Katie Britt said she's "heartbroken over the loss of Sarah Marsh, and we are keeping her family in our thoughts and prayers during this unimaginable time".

Janie Hunt

Nine-year-old Janie Hunt from Dallas, was also attending Camp Mystic and died in the floods. Her grandmother Margaret Hunt told The New York Times she went to the camp with six of her cousins, who are all safe. Margaret said Janie's parents had to visit a funeral home and identify their daughter. Janie is a great-granddaughter of the oil baron William Herbert Hunt.

Julian Ryan

Go Fund Me

As floodwaters tore through their trailer in Ingram, Texas, Julian Ryan turned to his fiancée Christina Wilson and said: "I'm sorry, I'm not going to make it. I love y'all" - Christina told Houston television station KHOU. His body wasn't recovered until hours later, after waters had receded. Julian had just finished a late dishwashing shift at a restaurant when the Guadalupe River overflowed early Friday. He and Christina woke to ankle-deep water that quickly rose to their waists. She told the station their bedroom door stuck shut and with water rushing in, Ryan punched through a window to get his family out. He severely cut his arm in the process. Their 13-month-old and 6-year-old sons and his mother survived by floating on a mattress until help could arrive. "He died a hero, and that will never go unnoticed," Connie Salas, Ryan's sister, told KHOU.

Dick Eastland

Richard "Dick" Eastland, the longtime co-owner and co-director of Camp Mystic, died while being flown to a Houston hospital. His death was confirmed by Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, who attended Bible study with Dick and described him as a pillar of the local community. Dick's wife, Tweety, was found safe at their riverside home, according to Texas Public Radio. The Eastlands had run Camp Mystic, a girls' summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River, since 1974, becoming the third generation of their family to do so. According to the Washington Post, the couple have 11 grandchildren and much of the extended family is involved in camp life. Their eldest son, Richard, manages the camp kitchen and their youngest, Edward, and his wife direct operations at Camp Mystic Guadalupe River.

Katheryn Eads

Katheryn Eads, 52, was swept away by floodwaters in the Kerrville area of Texas, early Friday morning after she and her husband, Brian, who told The New York Times, fled their campervan as rising water surged around them. Another camper had offered them a ride and they made it across the street before the vehicle stalled in the flood. Moments later, both were pulled into the current. Brian said he lost sight of his wife after being struck by debris. He survived by clinging onto a tree until he reached dry land. Katheryn's body was later recovered. "God has her now," her mother, Elizabeth Moss Grover, wrote on Facebook. Amy Hutchinson, director of Olive Branch Counselling in Texas, where Katheryn had worked, told The Washington Post she was "a hope and a light to all who knew her… a stellar counsellor and professor."

Blair and Brooke Harber

Two sisters from Dallas - 13-year-old Blair Harber and 11-year-old Brooke Harber - were staying with their grandparents along the Guadalupe River when their cabin was washed away, CBS News, the BBC's US partner has reported. Their parents were in a separate cabin and were not harmed. Their grandparents are still unaccounted for. The deaths were confirmed by St Rita Catholic Community, where Brooke was due to start sixth grade. Blair was preparing to enter eighth grade. "Please keep the Harber family in your prayers during this time of profound grief. May our faith, our love, and our St. Rita community be a source of strength and comfort in the days ahead," said Father Joshua J Whitfield in correspondence with church members.

Lila Bonner

A video game on 'gold diggers' is fuelling a sexism debate in China

9 hours ago Share Save Kelly Ng BBC News Reporting from Singapore Abel U BBC Chinese Reporting from Hong Kong Share Save

Qianfang Studio The game has been renamed following a backlash

"He's more obedient than a dog... If only more of these dumb ones come along," boasts a woman in a new video game that has fuelled a debate on sexism in China. The players in the live-action Revenge on Gold Diggers are male protagonists lured into relationships by manipulative women who are after their money - how the man responds shapes the rest of the story. It topped the gaming platform Steam's sales list within hours of its release in June but controversy quickly followed. Some slammed it for reinforcing insulting gender stereotypes, while supporters say the game cautions people about love scams. So heated was the criticism that the game's creators quietly renamed it Emotional Anti-Fraud Simulator the next day. But that wasn't enough to undo the damage. The game's lead director, Hong Kong filmmaker Mark Hu, has now been banned on several Chinese social media platforms. The game's creators insist they never intended to "target women" - rather they wanted to facilitate "open dialogue about emotional boundaries and the grey zones in modern dating". Xu Yikun, an artist who tried the game and found it deeply offensive, rejects that rationale. She accuses them of "a classic business model that thrives on generating content that sparks debate and divisions". Critics like her say the very term "gold digger" reeks of misogyny. "It's a label that's used, all too often, on women," Ms Xu says. "Sexist jokes and derogatory terms like these have found their way into our everyday language." "If you have a rich boyfriend, you are called a gold digger. If you try to make yourself look pretty, you are called a gold digger... Sometimes the label is used on you merely for accepting a drink from someone," she adds.

Qianfang Studio "Want to know if a man loves you? See how much he spends," says one of the women in the video game

Some players, however, find the criticism overblown. "The game isn't trying to say that all women are gold diggers... I don't find it targeting either gender," says 31-year-old Zhuang Mengsheng, who used a pseudonym to speak to the BBC. "Both women and men can be gold diggers." And yet, in the game all the "gold diggers" are women. From a fresh-faced online influencer to a go-getting entrepreneur they are all shown scheming to get the men to lavish money and gifts on them. "Want to know if a man loves you? See how much he spends," one of them says. The game has divided even local media. A newspaper from the central Hubei province said the game was "labelling an entire gender as fraudsters". But Beijing Youth Daily praised it for its "creativity", citing the financial impact of love scams: around 2bn yuan ($279m; £204m) in 2023, according to data from the National Anti-Fraud Centre. "We need to put a stop to emotional fraud without delay," it said in an editorial. Controversy aside, sales of the game have continued to soar. It is now among China's top ten titles for the PC platform, surpassing even Black Myth: Wukong which is reportedly the most successful Chinese game of all time. "I don't get why people are upset about this. If you aren't a gold digger yourself, why should you feel attacked by this game?" says a 28-year-old man. "I actually thought the game's creators are very bold. These issues [like emotional fraud] aren't widely discussed enough in China."

Getty Images Critics say the game's very premise is sexist because the "gold diggers" are all women

Former multiple world champion Ricky Hatton has announced his return to boxing, 13 years after retiring from the sport.

Manchester's Hatton, who turns 47 in October, will fight the UAE's Eisa Al Dah in a middleweight bout on 2 December in Dubai.

The fight was announced during a show promoted by Al Dah in Dubai on Sunday, with Hatton confirming his return via livestream.

Hatton, who won world titles at welterweight and light-welterweight, revealed he should have been in Dubai but could not attend after accidentally injuring his eye with his sunglasses.

"I wish I was there but I had a little bad injury on my eye. The main thing is the fight will take place and I can't wait, I'm really looking forward to it," said Hatton.

"It's just one of them freakish things, I caught one of my sunglasses in my eyes and I'm very fortunate it's not done any permanent damage. It's just scraped the surface, so fingers crossed we're good to go."