'Gaza suffering must stop, PM to tell Trump', and Euros 'Pride and Prejudice'

11 minutes ago Share Save Share Save

The Sunday Times reports that Sir Keir Starmer will ask US President Donald Trump when they meet next week to help resume ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, after Israel and the US left talks last week. This comes as Israel says it is prepared to open humanitarian corridors to allow UN convoys into Gaza, after weeks of international pressure and a growing hunger crisis.

The Observer leads on a feature about Lionesses player Michelle Agyemang in the run-up to England prepare to play Spain in the Euros final later. "Michelle Agyemang and the Lionesses face one more hurdle", it reports.

The Sunday Telegraph reports that a police unit will "monitor anger over migrants". It says an elite team of officers is to scutinise social media for anti-migrant sentiment amid fears of summer riots. It also reports on the UK PM's expected meeting with the US president with the headline: "Starmer risks clash with Trump by pressing for action on Gaza".

Ghislaine Maxwell was questioned at her Florida jail during a nine-hour meeting with the US deputy attorney general in recent days, The Mail on Sunday reports. She is serving a 20-year sentence over her involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case. The Mail says she is hoping for a presidential pardon.

"Global crises sending Gen Z to church," the Sunday Express reports, with a report that spiritual leaders are hailing a "spiritual U-turn" among people in the 16-24 age group.

The Daily Star's front page highlights a video of support for the Lionesses shared by England legend Sir Geoff Hurst., who tries to evoke England's 1966 winning spirit.

The Sun on Sunday leads on an interview with MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace, who says he will never watch the TV show again. He was sacked by the BBC after a report upheld 45 allegations about his behaviour.

The Sunday Mirror's encouraging message to the Lionesses ahead of their Euro final with Spain is simple: "You've got this". It also features a story about TV star Martine McCutcheon and her mother, author Jenny Tomlin. The headline is: "I'm so sorry Martine".

There is just one story in town for The Sunday People, which headlines its front page: "Dare to dream... again". It says England is "ready to roar on the Lionesses" in their Euro clash with Spain.

Australia coach Joe Schmidt says the decision not to penalise Jac Morgan for his clearout in the lead-up to the British and Irish Lions' match-winning try in the second Test goes against the sport's "push for player safety".

Hugo Keenan's score in the final play of the game snatched a 29-26 victory for the tourists and secured a first Test series win for the Lions since 2013.

The Television Match Official checked Morgan's clearout on Carlo Tizzano at the final ruck before the try and agreed with Andrea Piardi's initial decision to award the try.

"I think everyone can make their own decision on that," Schmidt said.

"Players make errors, match officials make errors. Our perspective is we felt it was a decision that doesn't really live up to the big player safety push that they're talking about.

"You cannot hit someone above the level of their shoulders and there's no bind with the left arm, the hand's on the ground.

"That's what we've seen, we've watched a number of replays from different angles. It is what it is, we just have to accept it."

Schmidt said you have to "read law 9.20" to understand why it should have been a penalty.

Law 9.20 states: "A player must not charge into a ruck or maul without binding onto another player."

It also states that "making contact above the line of the shoulders with an opponent is a dangerous play and is prohibited".

England still have work to do in order to win the fourth Test after some stoic India resistance on the fourth day at Old Trafford.

MATCH REPORT: Gill and Rahul resist England push for victory

Available to UK users only.

Luke Littler hit a spectacular nine-darter as he overcame Josh Rock 17-14 to set up a World Matchplay final against James Wade on Sunday.

The 18-year-old world champion was trailing 6-1 before completing the feat to deny Rock – who had hit two 180s – the chance to do so himself.

With 15 perfect darts, it can lay claim to be the greatest leg in the history of the tournament.

"It definitely sparked me into life. I didn't want to give it big because I was playing awfully," said Littler.

His fellow Englishman Wade, 42, reached his seventh Matchplay final with a 20-18 win over Wales' Jonny Clayton in an epic encounter on a thrilling night at Blackpool's Winter Gardens.

The teenager will aim on Sunday to become only the fifth player to win the Triple Crown, after Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries.

Littler is looking to seal the treble in little more than a year, eyeing Matchplay glory having won the Premier League in May 2024 before his World Championship triumph in January.

"I've won many finals and majors but this is the big one now, it all comes down to Sunday," he said.

It will be a repeat of the UK Open final in March, which Littler won 11-2.

That prospect looked unlikely as 24-year-old Rock, a World Cup winner with Northern Ireland, came out firing and opened up a 5-0 lead in the first session.

But then came Littler's brilliant nine-darter, which evoked memories of darts' greatest leg when Michael Smith did the same in the 2023 World Championship final after Van Gerwen just missed with his ninth dart.

"That is the second-best leg you will ever see in your life," said Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle.

This was the 10th nine-darter at the tournament, which started in 1994, and the first this year.

It may have only been greeted with a shrug from Littler but it prompted him into a much-improved performance, and from 8-4 down he won seven of the next eight legs to go 11-9 in front.

Rock hit consecutive checkouts of 170 and 120 to close the gap to 14-12 but Littler prevailed in a match where he averaged 107.5 to his opponent's 104.15 and edged the 180 count 15-14. The maximums tally of 29 is a Matchplay record.

Earlier, Wade was one leg away from victory at 16-10 before Clayton reeled off six successive legs to force overtime.

"I'm just done, I'm exhausted. I hope the crowd here and everyone at home enjoyed themselves, because I hated every minute of it," said Wade.

The 160 remaining riders had to contend with rain soon after the start in Nantua and intermittently along the route.

Groves was then part of a 13-man breakaway that was formed after the second of the day's four categorised climbs.

His compatriot Harry Sweeny attacked over the day's penultimate climb and went clear of Jordan Jegat with 54km to go, but the EF Education-EasyPost rider was caught on the first slopes of the final ascent.

Local favourite Romain Gregoire and Spanish debutant Ivan Romeo attacked on the downhill but as they sped into a wet turn, both slipped to the tarmac, with 21-year-old Romeo coming off worse as he also slid into the kerb.

Groves was right behind them so watched it all unfold and sensed his opportunity, attacking with 16km remaining.

Frank van den Broek and British rider Jake Stewart merely looked at each other, with that momentary stalemate allowing Groves to go clear.

He gradually increased his lead to the line, where he was sobbing after clinching an emotional victory.

"The team gave me a free role in the last few days," Groves added. "We weren't sure if I should go for it today or wait until tomorrow. But when the rain falls, I always have a super feeling normally, in the cold weather. It's my first time winning solo - and it's in a Tour stage, [so] pretty incredible.

"There's so much pressure at the Tour. Having won in the Vuelta and the Giro, I always get asked whether I'm good enough to win in the Tour - and now I've shown them.

"I tried to play my cards right and get into an early move. But the uphill start made that incredibly difficult. When I made the decision, I knew that [Matteo] Jorgenson and [Tim] Wellens would watch each other, so I tried to distance myself form them.

"Then after the crash, Van den Broek goes full, so I closed that. Then him and Jake Stewart watched each other and I had a gap with 16km to go, so I rode full until the final 200m."

Jonas Vingegaard looked resigned to defeat, having been unable to significantly cut Pogacar's lead on two gruelling days in the Alps.

When the two-time Tour winner did not contest the first categorised climb, it meant Pogacar secured his third King of the Mountains title on the Tour.

While Pogacar will not be attacked on the final day in Paris, a prestigious stage win will be up for grabs on the Champs-Elysees.

Israeli says it has begun aid airdrops into Gaza

This came amid calls for Israel to let more aid into Gaza and amid warnings of mass starvation following months of limited supply to the territory's two million people. Israel denied what it called "the false claim of deliberate starvation" in Gaza.

Israel earlier said it was prepared to open humanitarian corridors to allow UN convoys into Gaza.

In a statement early on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the airdrop "included seven packages of aid containing flour, sugar, and canned food".

Israel's military says it has "recently" made an airdrop of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, following weeks of international pressure and a growing hunger crisis in the Palestinian territory.

In its statement, the IDF said the airdrop "was carried out in co-ordination with international organisations and led by Cogat", referring to the Israeli military body which oversees the entry of aid into Gaza.

The military also posted a video purportedly showing a plane dropping the aid. The footage has not been independently verified.

Palestinian officials are yet to comment on the reported airdrop into Gaza.

Late on Saturday, the IDF said it had "begun a series of actions aimed at improving the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip", and was "prepared to implement humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas".

It also stated that it had resumed supplying power to a desalination plant in Gaza, which it said would "serve about 900,000 residents".

Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza from the start of March, and resumed with new restrictions in May.

Along with the US, it backed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and allowed it to operate in Gaza.

There have been almost daily reports of Palestinians being killed while seeking aid since the GHF began operations in late May. Witnesses have told the BBC most have been shot by Israeli forces. Israel has said that its troops fire warning shots and has disputed reported death tolls. It accuses Hamas of instigating chaos near the aid points.

The UN, aid groups and some of Israel's allies have blamed the country for a growing food crisis in Gaza, and called for the unrestricted entry and delivery of aid as the Hamas-run health ministry said dozens of people were dying from malnutrition. On Saturday it put the toll from the last few days at 125, including 85 children.

The World Health Organization (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described the crisis as "man-made mass starvation".

The IDF said that responsibility for food distribution to the population in Gaza "lies with the UN and international aid organisations" and added they must "ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas".

Israel's apparent concessions on Saturday followed its acceptance of a Jordanian and UAE plan, backed by the UK, to air drop aid into Gaza. Aid agencies however said such moves would do little to mitigate the hunger of Gazans.

The head of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa, Philippe Lazzarini, said air drops were "expensive, inefficient, and can even kill starving civilians" if they did not go according to plan.

Lazzarini said his organisation had "the equivalent of 6,000 trucks" in Jordan and Egypt waiting to enter Gaza, and urged Israel "lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need".

The BBC spoke to several Gazans on Saturday who worried air drops could cause "serious harm".

One man living in the north of the strip told BBC Arabic's Middle East Daily that the process was "unsafe" and "caused numerous tragedies" when similar relief efforts were attempted last year.

"When aid is dropped from the air, it risks landing directly on tents, potentially causing serious harm, including injury or even death," he said.

Meanwhile, Palestinians are battling dehydration along with starvation. One mother told the BBC she was "living with no food or drink, no food, no bread, not even water."

Israel launched a war in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 59,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Does this look like a real woman? AI Vogue model raises concerns about beauty standards

20 minutes ago Share Save Yasmin Rufo BBC News Share Save

Seraphinne Vallora This model isn't real, but her beauty standards might still be influential

There's a new supermodel in town. She's striking, stylish... and not real. In August's print edition of Vogue, a Guess advert features a flawless blonde model showing off a striped maxi dress and a floral playsuit from the brand's summer collection. In small print in one corner, the ad reveals that she was created using AI. While Vogue says the AI model was not an editorial decision, it is the first time an AI-generated person has featured in the magazine. The advert has been met with controversy and raises questions about what this means for real models who have fought for greater diversity, and for consumers - particularly young people - already struggling with unrealistic beauty standards.

Seraphinne Vallora is the company behind Guess's controversial advert. Its founders, Valentina Gonzalez and Andreea Petrescu, tell the BBC they were approached by Guess's co-founder, Paul Marciano, on Instagram and were asked to create an AI model as part of the brand's summer campaign. "We created 10 draft models for him and he selected one brunette woman and one blonde that we went ahead and developed further," Gonzalez says.

Seraphinne Vallora Andreea and Valentina, both 25, met while training to become architects and have been running Seraphinne Vallora for two years

She explains there's often a misconception that AI image generation is simple, saying it is actually a complex process. The company has five employees who create AI models, and it can take up to a month from idea inception to the completed product. The pair say they charge anywhere up to low six figures for a client like Guess.

'Disheartening'

But Felicity Hayward, a plus-size model who has been in the industry for more than a decade, says using AI models in fashion campaigns "feels lazy and cheap". "Either Guess is doing this to create a talking point and get free publicity or they want to cut costs and don't think about the implications of that." She describes Vogue's decision to include the advert as "very disheartening and quite scary", and worries it could undermine years of work towards more diversity in the industry. The fashion world was making real progress to be more inclusive in the 2010s - the decade saw Valentina Sampaio become the first openly trans model to walk for Victoria's Secret, Halima Aden was the first hijab-wearing model in global campaigns, and brands like Savage x Fenty featured plus-size models on the runway. But in recent years, Hayward believes, the industry has slipped backwards because "these people are just not getting booked any more". And the use of AI models is "another kick in the teeth, and one that will disproportionately affect plus-size models", she warns.

Getty Images Felicity Hayward has been in the industry since 2011

Gonzalez and Petrescu are adamant they don't reinforce narrow beauty standards. "We don't create unattainable looks - actually the AI model for Guess looks quite realistic," Petrescu says. "Ultimately, all adverts are created to look perfect and usually have supermodels in, so what we are doing is no different." The pair admit the AI images on their company's Instagram page are lacking in diversity and promote unrealistic beauty standards. They say they have tried to be more inclusive, but it's the users who don't engage much with those posts. "We've posted AI images of women with different skin tones, but people do not respond to them - we don't get any traction or likes," Gonzalez tells the BBC. "At the end of the day, we are a business and use images on Instagram that will create a conversation and bring us clients." The company is yet to experiment with creating plus-size women, claiming "the technology is not advanced enough for that".

Seraphinne Vallora Gonzalez says she has experimented with creating more diverse AI models on Instagram but users don't engage as much with those posts

An ad campaign by Dove in 2024 was designed to highlight the biases in AI. In the advert, an image generator is asked to create the most beautiful woman in the world and produces virtually indistinguishable women who are young, thin and white, with blonde hair and blue eyes. The images generated look similar to the Guess AI model. Hayward worries that seeing these unattainable images could have an impact on people's mental health and negatively affect their body image. Concern around unrealistic beauty standards and the damaging effects they can have is nothing new. But unlike traditional airbrushing, which at least began with a real person, these AI models are digitally created to look perfect, free from human flaws, inconsistencies or uniqueness. While some high-profile figures such as Ashley Graham, Jameela Jamil and Bella Thorne have spoken out against image editing and refuse to have their pictures Photoshopped, the use of AI sidesteps such conversations entirely.

Seraphinne Vallora Seraphinne Vallora created two AI models for Guess's summer collection

Vogue's decision to include an AI-generated advert has caused a stir on social media, with one user on X writing: "Wow! As if the beauty expectations weren't unrealistic enough, here comes AI to make them impossible. Even models can't compete." Vanessa Longley, CEO of eating disorder charity Beat, tells the BBC the advert is "worrying". "If people are exposed to images of unrealistic bodies, it can affect their thoughts about their own body, and poor body image increases the risk of developing an eating disorder," she says.

'Exceptionally problematic'

Adding to the issue is the lack of transparency - it is not a legal requirement to label AI-generated content in the UK. While Guess labelled its advert as AI-generated, the disclaimer is small and subtle. Readers may overlook it and, at a glance, the image appears entirely lifelike. Sinead Bovell, a former model and now tech entrepreneur, wrote an article for Vogue five years ago about the risks of AI replacing modelling. She tells the BBC that not labelling AI content clearly is "exceptionally problematic" because it could have a detrimental impact on people's mental health. "Beauty standards are already being influenced by AI. There are young girls getting plastic surgery to look like a face in a filter – and now we see people who are entirely artificial," she says.

Sinead Bovell Sinead Bovell wrote an article about how AI would replace her as a model for Vogue five years ago

Aside from the impact AI models could have on a consumer, especially if unlabelled, what about the impact of this technology on those working in the fashion industry? Sara Ziff is a former model and founder of Model Alliance, an organisation that aims to advance workers' rights in the fashion industry. She says Guess's AI campaign is "less about innovation and more about desperation and need to cut costs". More broadly, the former model thinks AI in the fashion industry is not inherently exploitative, but can often come at the expense of the people who bring it to life because there are many more staff involved in a photoshoot than just the model and the photographer. "AI can positively impact the industry, but there need to be meaningful protections for workers," she explains.

'Supplement not replace'

Seraphinne Vallora rejects the notion that it is putting people out of work, and says its pioneering technology "is supplementary and not meant to replace models". "We're offering companies another choice in how they market a product," Petrescu explains. The pair add that they have created jobs with their company, and part of the process of creating AI models requires them to hire a real model and photographer to see how the product looks on a person in real life. However, its website lists one of the benefits of working with them as being cost-efficient because it "eliminates the need for expensive set-ups, MUA artists, venue rentals, stage setting, photographers, travel expenses, hiring models".

Seraphinne Vallora Guess had a double page advert spread in Vogue's August edition... can you spot the AI label?

The would-be saint murdered 'mafia-style' for refusing bribes

2 hours ago Share Save Didier Bikorimana BBC Great Lakes Share Save

AP

Two days after he was kidnapped in July 2007, the bloodied and battered corpse of Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi was dumped outside a university campus in the city of Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The newly graduated 26-year-old and devout Catholic was just three months into a job as a customs official - which he had taken on with his usual zeal, by refusing to be bribed. He had stood up to people wanting to smuggle in rice from neighbouring Rwanda that had spoiled and could have proven poisonous if eaten. No-one has ever been arrested for his killing. Fr Francesco Tedeschi, the man campaigning for Kositi to become a Catholic saint, told the BBC his "mafia-style" murder was meant to serve as a warning to anyone else who stood up to corruption - in a part of the world where guns tend to hold sway over the rule of law. Goma is the capital of North Kivu Province, which is rich in covetable minerals - such as those that power mobile phones - and plentiful in rebel and militia groups. But Fr Tedeschi believes the warning completely failed because of Kositi's legacy of love and justice, saying the kindness he had shown through his short life lives on today. His actions, in a place where corruption is the norm, were informed by his faith. It had made him strong enough to resist repeated offers by the smugglers. According to the Catholic Sant'Egidio community of which he was a member - Kositi was first offered $1,000 (£750), then $2,000 "and even more", but consistently said no. "He had received phone calls and pressure, even from public authorities, to turn a blind eye and take his fee as everyone had always done," the Community of Sant'Egidio said. Last year, the Catholic Church declared him a martyr - one of the steps to sainthood - as it felt his death was the result of his unwillingness to sacrifice his Christian values for money. In the Catholic tradition, a saint serves as a model of Christian life and is regarded as a hero of the faith through their exceptional actions of courage. Kositi has since been beatified - at a ceremony in Rome last month - meaning that once one miracle has been attributed to him, he will become a saint. So far this has been a remarkably fast journey, as canonisation - the process to sainthood - can sometimes take decades or centuries - though this is speeded up if the Church decides someone died for their faith.

Born in Goma in 1981, Kositi was the eldest of three siblings and eight half-siblings, according to a biography written by Sant'Egidio, which described him as coming from a "well-off family". His father was a bank clerk and his mother a border police officer. "Floribert Bwana Chui was an intelligent and eloquent child from birth. He was a polite boy who respected us, his parents. I saw a bright future in him. I was expecting him to be a boy who would get married, have a wife and children," his mother Gertrude Kamara Ntawiha told UN-sponsored Radio Okapi last month before travelling to Rome for her son's beatification - which was also attended by Kositi's two younger brothers. Despite the challenges of living in eastern DR Congo, Kositi was always curious about the world, did well at school and went on to study law at university. It was during his studies that he attended a regional student conference in Rwanda, in 2001, that changed the course of his life. An Italian priest gave a talk at the gathering which had brought together people to discuss ways to find, and live in, peace in the restive Great Lakes region. He was speaking on behalf of the Sant'Egidio community, a movement of both lay people and clergy, committed to social service - and the priest was encouraging the students to embrace a pastoral mission. Fr Tedeschi had barely finished speaking at the auditorium in southern Rwanda's leafy university town of Butare when Kositi approached him. "That speech very much touched Floribert as well as his other friends who had come from Goma," he told the BBC. "He wanted to begin a community of Sant'Egidio in Goma. [He was] a young man full of joy with a wish to be useful to the world, with a wish to change what he saw around him that did not work."

AP The beatification ceremony in Rome was a moment of celebration for the Congolese congregation

Kositi took up his mission - and in particular his efforts focused on helping street children, Fr Tedeschi said. The region around Goma has known decades of conflict and is currently at the centre of a rebellion that has seen a powerful rebel group take over the city and swathes of territory surrounding it. What's the fighting all about?

Inside the rebel-held Congolese mine vital to mobile phones

Your phone, a rare metal and the war in DR Congo Kositi, "very affected" by the fate of children caught up in successive traumas, set up one of Sant'Egidio's "Schools of Peace" - which offer food and other assistance to get children an education. Today Goma's School of Peace is named in honour of him and has become an actual school. But in the early 2000s, the young undergraduate was often helping street children financially with school fees or food - or assisting them to become self-reliant in a city where almost everyone was struggling. "What struck me," said Fr Tedeschi, "was how Floribert was someone who took the life of others very seriously and more importantly, he would ask himself a lot of questions to understand what the roots of poverty were - the misfortunes of people. "He liked talking, to confront these problems." Kositi's reach went beyond DR Congo's borders. In Kigali, Rwanda's capital, some 100km (60 miles) east of Goma, Bernard Musana Segatagara, a Sant'Egidio fellow, also remembers him. "Changing Africa and building peace was our shared dream as we observed a growing network of friendship. I think living in a region of tension was making our friendship even more special," he told the BBC. After graduating in 2006, Kositi began training as a customs official in the capital, Kinshasa, before taking up a senior post on the border between Rwanda and DR Congo in April 2007. The rice dispute involved a consignment of around four or five tonnes - which he had tested as he was worried about its safety and then ordered that it be destroyed. "At first that pushed the smugglers to try and bribe him, and later to threaten him. And Floribert always refused," Fr Tedeschi said. "He refused based on his Christian principles. At one point he asked a doctor - a nun working in Goma, who was a friend - so he could really understand the dangers this rice would have represented to the civilian population. "And that's what led him to think: 'So me as a Christian, I can neither accept money nor that these people risk dying because of this poisoned food just because of corruption.'"

Sant'Egidio Last month a painting by the artist Stefano Di Stasio dedicated to Kositi - showing his kindness to street children - was unveiled in Rome

For the priest this is what showed his "loyalty to the gospel, Christian values of love for one's neighbour [and] justice". Lawyer Jean Jacques Bakinahe, who studied with Kositi at the University of Goma and was also one of the leaders of Sant'Egidio in the city, agrees. He told the Rwanda Catholic Church TV channel that his friend "profoundly followed the gospel of peace… [which] really helped him categorically reject that act of corruption". But it ultimately led to his death. "[The smugglers] wanted to send a message… a mafia-style warning," said Fr Tedeschi. He acknowledged it might have scared some customs officials at the time but said it had "not succeeded in making [people] forget these testimonies of love and justice that Floribert gave us". When the late Pope Francis visited DR Congo in February 2023, he spoke to young people at the main stadium in Kinshasa - and urged them to follow Kositi's example. "A young person like yourselves, Floribert Bwana Chui… at only 26 years old, was killed in Goma for having blocked the passage of spoiled foodstuffs that would have been harmful for people's health," he said. "Since he was a Christian, he prayed. He thought of others and he chose to be honest - saying no to the filth of corruption. "If someone offers you a bribe, or promises you favours and lots of money, do not fall into the trap. Do not be deceived! Do not be sucked into the swamp of evil!" he said.

Reuters Rebel fighters can be seen on guard on the streets of Goma after a big mass at the cathedral earlier this month to mark the beatification of Kositi

His successor, Pope Leo XIV, who presided over the beatification ceremony at the Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in June, agreed a more promising future lay ahead for DR Congo's young people. "This African martyr, in a continent rich in youths, shows how young people can give rise to peace," the pontiff said. The Christian martyr, who now has the title of "blessed" before his name, was lauded in the basilica full of joyous Congolese faithful waving flags. "May the long-awaited peace in Kivu, in Congo, and across all of Africa come soon - through the intercession of the Virgin Mary and Blessed Floribert," said Pope Leo. If peace were to be delivered to Goma, where two joint peace processes are currently under way, that would indeed be a miracle worthy of a saint - and would give hope to the entire region.

You may also be interested in:

Getty Images/BBC

The make-believe festival boasting Glastonbury headliners planned by a convicted fraudster

4 hours ago Share Save Kayley Thomas & Clare Hutchinson BBC News Share Save

Rick Bronks James Kenny claimed he ran the backstage bar at the National Television Awards, but his bosses at the event said he was actually there as a temporary worker

It boasted a line-up of bands including The Killers, Pulp, Def Leppard, Wet Leg and The Libertines. The 45,000 capacity three-day event was due to be held this August bank holiday and was billed as the world's first hydrogen-powered music festival. But there was a snag: It was based on lies. A BBC News investigation has uncovered how "fantasist" and convicted fraudster James Kenny planned a make-believe festival from his elderly mum's kitchen that pulled Glastonbury headliners, Hollywood stars and even a country's government into its orbit. After we tracked Mr Kenny down he insisted he intended for the festival to go ahead, adding he was "truly sorry" to those who had lost money.

Many we've spoken to say the festival industry is brimming with characters like Mr Kenny, full of big ideas and grand plans. So when the bar manager who ran hotels and a nightclub in Liverpool pitched a multi-million pound festival bigger than Latitude, claiming funding from investors such as the co-founder of restaurant chain Leon John Vincent, industry insiders thought he might just be able to pull it off. But as time went on, employees and suppliers who had been "100% convinced" told us they then started to question if it was real.

"It was a festival made of paper," one former employee said. "Everything kind of unravelled and I realised it doesn't exist for anybody else but him." Some now believe Mr Kenny never intended for his ambitious festival to happen - deposits weren't paid for bands, licence applications were never made and investors he claimed to be talking to say they have never heard of him. So how did a festival built on lies get so far? Monmouth Rising was due to be held on a leafy showground outside the Welsh border town - a space more used to hosting Saturday morning car boot sales than festivals with five stages. Festival literature boasted affordable tickets, cashless payments and a "commitment to inclusivity" with no VIP areas.

At a packed town hall meeting in February, the 47-year-old showed detailed site maps he claimed had been designed with the same software used to plan the Paris Olympics. BBC Radio Wales would broadcast the festival live and a cannon would even fire bacon butties into the campsite in the mornings, or so he claimed.

Monmouth Rising Images for Monmouth Rising's pitch deck were created using AI, leading to wonky Welsh flags on the artwork

He told prospective employees that investors included "one of the founders of Creamfields" and said an economic impact assessment from the Welsh government showed the festival would bring £28.9m into the area. One industry insider said: "I have worked in the industry for 20 years and it is really, really unheard of to do a festival that big for the first time." The man, who supplied services for the festival and didn't want to be named for fear of missing out on future jobs, added: "It's embarrassing [that I believed him], but in this industry you want someone to be a bit crazy."

Idris Elba DJ sets

Employees and suppliers talk of a secretive culture Mr Kenny built up: Headline acts weren't being announced and no-one knew how many tickets had been sold. Music producer Chris Whitehouse was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement before creating a soundtrack for the festival's advert to be "voiced" by Idris Elba, who - he was told by Mr Kenny - would also DJ at the festival alongside dance headliners Groove Armada and Whigfield. But Chris said things didn't add up. "These guys apparently have an £8m budget to do this music festival and he looks like he's just walked out of Wetherspoons," he said. Chris hasn't been paid for his work and has issued court proceedings against Mr Kenny for breach of contract. Elba's agent said there was, "no record of Idris doing anything for this man" and Groove Armada and Whigfield said they were never booked.

Genevieve Barker Genevieve said she felt "lovebombed" her into taking a job with James Kenny

Genevieve Barker is one of the few people Mr Kenny let into these secretive conversations. "He'd say 'oh my gosh we've got this band, but don't tell anyone'," she recalled. Having spent time raising her five children, the marketing and events specialist in Monmouth felt "lovebombed" into leaving her job to be head of partnerships for the festival. "I'd spent the best part of 16 years raising children," she said. "If you've always been working part time or a stay-at-home parent, this was the career move of a lifetime." She said the "larger than life" businessman offered her more money than she'd ever made, as well as a pension and private dental and healthcare cover for her family. But after she started working for the festival, she said it was, "like a toxic relationship". She added: "He made us feel really special, dangled a couple of carrots, but then isolated us. He never encouraged us to talk as a group unless he was there."

Another Monmouth Rising employee works for festivals over the summer. As a part-time carer she said she jumped at the chance for a longer-term gig working from home. She does not want to be named for fear of not getting work in a struggling industry that is "already difficult for older women". She says that a 10-minute job interview saw Mr Kenny run through "loads of bands that he was in talks with, so fast that I couldn't write them down. Then he said yes to everything I asked for".

Various suppliers also told us they provided thousands of pounds worth of work and were promised thousands more in future. The BBC has seen WhatsApp chats where Monmouth Rising's employees spoke excitedly about the plans. But, out of the blue in late February, a new message appeared.

Mr Kenny claimed he was getting investment to pay his employees

"Where is our pay?" Employees had woken up to find they had not received their first pay packet. The festival's website was down and they couldn't access work emails. The Loyalty Co founder Adam Purslow said his firm built the website at a cut-price rate for his "serial entrepreneur" friend Mr Kenny. After numerous requests for payment, Adam pulled the website when his team were presented with a "fishy" looking document as proof of incoming funding. "All the suppliers started to question how genuine that whole thing was," he said. Employees like Genevieve had mortgages, rent and nursery bills to pay. In response to her desperate appeals, Mr Kenny sent her videos, filmed in his mum's home where he was living, claiming he was "literally just waiting" for money to come in.

BBC Wales has discovered this money Mr Kenny was promising was a £90,000 cash advance, known as invoice funding. But it was turned down because it failed due diligence checks. This was because an invoice from train company GWR, which Mr Kenny handed over as proof of incoming funds, was flagged as a potential forgery. GWR said it was unable to match the invoice to its records and "immediately reported" its suspicions to British Transport Police. It is not the only alleged forged document Mr Kenny appears to have relied upon. Mr Kenny previously tried and failed to deliver a city-wide cocktail festival and a similar pattern of promises and alleged forgeries followed in its wake.

Kate Kate and James ran a bar in Chester but now live in Morocco

In 2021 he started working for Kate and James, a couple who ran a cocktail bar in Chester and did backstage catering for celebrity-packed events such as the National Television Awards (NTAs). The couple, who now live in Morocco, said Mr Kenny "always liked shiny things" and was excited when they invited him to work at the NTAs, although "the reality is, it's hard work and you're just clearing up after famous people, rather than ordinary people". Kate said Mr Kenny also told them he had dated a famous actress and TV presenter after meeting her at a hotel bar he ran in Liverpool, despite there being no suggestion he had. "We then found out he had been telling people he runs the NTA party," said Kate. "We felt sorry for him." Kate said Mr Kenny always knew the "right name to drop" and persuaded the couple to invest with him in a new Liverpool Cocktail Week. But his money he promised wasn't forthcoming and the event never happened, leaving the couple £20,000 out of pocket.

Festival "fantasist" James Kenny was confronted by a couple who say he left them £20,000 out of pocket

In an attempt to explain the delay in paying up, Mr Kenny presented the couple with a £40,000 loan agreement from Metro Bank. A month later when that money didn't materialise, he shared a letter from the same bank saying his account had been erroneously suspended for potential fraudulent activity. The loan offer had inexplicably risen to £75,000 and it referenced another £35,000 from an investor in Malta. The couple confronted Mr Kenny in a phone call, but said he never paid them.

It wasn't the last time Mr Kenny claimed funds were coming from someone in Malta. When Mr Purslow asked for payment this year, Mr Kenny sent a screenshot, seen by the BBC, of an international money transfer for £200,000 from a bank in Malta, but the name was misspelled. When we asked the bank about the document, it said it was "not legitimate". We also contacted the people Mr Kenny said he had been speaking to about investing in the festival. Mr Vincent said he had never met him while two of the original Creamfields founders and current owners all said they had never heard of him. The Welsh government said it had never done an economic impact assessment. The Killers and Def Leppard said they had never been asked to perform. We have yet to hear back from The Libertines, Wet Leg and Pulp. Other bands said they had been asked, but deposits were never paid.

With six months to go until the festival, Monmouth Rising looked to be sinking. Genevieve said, with traders asking for their money back, she felt "morally obliged" to challenge Mr Kenny but he would not listen. Then, on 6 March, he posted an open letter on social media cancelling the festival because, he said, it was "no longer viable" but still hoped it would run in 2026. He said all ticket holders and vendors would receive refunds but BBC Wales has been told only 24 people had bought tickets and all were refunded because their payments had been held by the ticketing company. Many traders we spoke to said they were yet to get their deposits back.

Monmouth Rising would have cost millions to pull off from a standing start. The company due to provide the festival with hydrogen power said it entered into a commercial supply agreement but no work had been done. BBC Wales said it had never been approached to broadcast from the festival. We have also found - far from being software used to plan the Paris Olympics - the site plan was drawn up using an online app offering free trials. Suppliers and employees, including Mr Whitehouse, Mr Purslow and Ms Barker said they were thousands of pounds out of pocket and attempts to start legal proceedings against Mr Kenny stalled after he cancelled his phone number and moved addresses. The woman who had the 10-minute interview said she was left penniless and unable to claim Universal Credit for months because HMRC thought she had been paid.

Adam Purslow Adam Purslow (left) and James Kenny met when James was living in Chester and holidayed together in Portugal

We tracked down Mr Kenny on his new phone number in order to put these allegations to him. He said the line-up was real and he spent a year working on Monmouth Rising, adding it was "the only thing I focused on". He indicated he did pay some employees and said those who lost money could contact him directly, adding he has "never hidden away from anything". He wouldn't tell us where he's now living or answer our questions about the alleged forgeries, or the investors he claimed he had, and asked us to email him with our questions instead. He didn't respond to those questions in detail, but in a statement he said his "sole motivation" was to create something meaningful and that it came at personal cost to his health and finances. He said it fell apart when he realised he wouldn't be able to get permission for an event of that size at Monmouth Showground. Monmouthshire council told us, in the 12 months he claimed he spent planning the festival, he only had one meeting with them. He added that he was truly repentant, promising directly to those affected: "I will repay you."

Questions are now being asked about how this was able to progress as far as it did. James Kenny is a named director of dozens of small companies under different versions of his name, leaving £27,000 in unpaid County Court Judgements behind him. In 2008, he was convicted of two counts of fraud for forging his wife's signature to obtain a mortgage payment to clear £15,000 worth of debts. No-one can know what motivated Mr Kenny to build a festival based on lies, but very few of those we have spoken to believe Monmouth Rising would ever have worked. Genevieve, who is still owed £5,000 and has only just got another job, said she thinks Mr Kenny is "a fantasist and a narcissist". "I mean, this was meant to be a multi-million pound event and he set up his office at his mother's kitchen table," she said. "He fooled all of us."

Investigating one of the UK's most abusive cults

7 minutes ago Share Save Jon Ironmonger • Northamptonshire BBC Investigations, East Share Save

BBC Jon Ironmonger met documentary director Ellena Wood at Bugbrooke Chapel, Northamptonshire, where the Jesus Fellowship was founded in 1969

Hundreds of people are still traumatised as a result of abuse they suffered at the hands of a now-disgraced evangelical movement. Jon Ironmonger, who investigated the Jesus Army group prior to its closure five years ago, has been to meet the director of a new BBC documentary series telling its story.

At first glance, the Jesus Army seemed a "happy-clappy" church set in the Northamptonshire countryside, with two- or three thousand members, a gaudy military-style uniform, and a fleet of rainbow-coloured battle buses. The reality was very different. In 2016 I found myself embarking on a years-long journey to expose one of the UK's most abusive cults. There had been reports already about dubious practices and unexplained deaths, including that of a young man whose body was found on a railway track. But months later, over tea at St Pancras Station, a woman who had fled the group as a teenager and wanted to remain anonymous, revealed the true scale of the damage it had caused. "How many victims have contacted you?" I asked, expecting an answer perhaps in double figures. "In the region of six- or seven hundred," she replied calmly. My mind was blown. Two years of interviews and investigations followed before the BBC published our findings detailing the widespread abuse of children, and evidence of a cover-up by the senior leadership. The church, known formally as the Jesus Fellowship, closed a year later.

BBC/Docsville Studios The documentary reveals the late founder and leader of the Jesus Army, Noel Stanton, behaved inappropriately towards young male members

Intrigued by media reports of the unfolding scandal, in 2022 documentary director Ellena Wood began her own investigation into the Jesus Army. She spoke to more than 80 survivors, as well as relatives and family members. The result is a gripping, sometimes harrowing, two-part film. "I was often the first person they had shared their experiences with and nearly everyone was still traumatised. It was very much a live process for them," she says. "One of the things that struck me was they would describe what we know as sexual abuse, but wouldn't understand it as that, or would blame themselves for it. "And, as a filmmaker, I wanted to convey to an audience that you don't just leave a cult and move on with your life, it can inform everything about you; your decisions; your way of thinking; your guilt; your relationships". Ellena says she set out to challenge assumptions about the reasons people stay in cults. She compares it to the thought of leaving a domestic relationship, with the additional anguish of abandoning one's family, friends, money, job, and support system, along with the inherent threat of going to hell. For instance, she says one contributor, Nathan, "despite struggling to come to terms with the fact he was groomed and sexually assaulted, admitted he would likely return to the Jesus Army if it reopened".

Details of help and support with child sexual abuse and sexual abuse or violence are available in the UK at BBC Action Line

BBC/Docsville Studios The Jesus Army carried out weekly marches in towns and cities across England to recruit people to its movement

For children in particular, life in the cult's many communal houses throughout central England was intense and fraught with danger. About one in six was sexually abused, according to a review of the damages claims of some 600 individuals. Children were separated from their parents and often slept in dorms with drifters and drug addicts. Many were subjected to daily beatings and endured long worship sessions with exorcisms and the recanting of sins. Listening to the survivors' accounts took an emotional toll on Ellena. "I had just become a mother and was having two- or three-hour detailed conversations about abuse, sometimes involving incest, and then my son would come in from nursery, and all these mental images would be in my head," she says. "You're forming these relationships that involve a lot of contact, a lot of reassurance, and you're trying to do the right thing by everyone, so it's a lot to carry sometimes." After the Jesus Army disbanded, the BBC revealed its founder, Noel Stanton, along with his five so-called apostles, had covered up the abuse of women and children through their handling of complaints. One former elder described the leader of the church as a "predatory paedophile" and handed me a file of disclosures, accusing him of rape and sexual assaults. But Stanton died in 2009, before he could answer any of the claims. Of Stanton, Ellena says "people were terrified of him and in awe of him in equal measure. Children, in particular, were utterly terrified."

Docsville Studios Nathan, in blue, joins others from the Jesus Army in a group counselling session for survivors of cults and spiritual abuse

But was Stanton's cult always evil, or did it start as something good and morph into something evil? "If I had to guess, I'd say the latter," says Ellena. "I think the more power Noel had over everyone, the more control he felt he had to have. "But I think the biggest problem was not reporting abuse; victims were forgiven and often gaslighted. There's no excuse for it." Ellena is clear many people who were in the Jesus Army had positive experiences: "It wasn't awful for everyone all of the time, and we have to recognise things aren't black and white in the world". In a poignant scene in the documentary, David, a former elder who is largely supportive of the group, breaks down in tears under Ellena's careful questioning. "He acknowledges he has to start from a place of believing what people went through is real, and it's the first time any leader has ever said that from the church, so it was a huge moment," she says.

Ellena Wood previously directed The Ripper, a four-part series exploring police failings in the hunt for serial killer Peter Sutcliffe