Penulis: Agus S

Failings of UK institutions to protect young girls from grooming gangs will remain high on political agenda for years

Louise Casey’s decision to recommend a national inquiry into grooming gangs has forced Keir Starmer’s hand on an issue that has haunted the Labour party for decades.

The failings of UK institutions to protect young girls from widespread abuse by gangs of men will remain high on the political agenda for another three years.

A 197-page report produced by Lady Casey has called for wholesale changes to rape laws; requested that criminal convictions applied to abuse victims be quashed; and suggested that five existing local inquiries into grooming gangs be coordinated by an independent commission with full statutory inquiry powers.

But it is the issue of the ethnicity of the perpetrators that will resonate as the most explosive political issue arising from its pages. Casey could only find data from three forces, but, using publicly available material from the police and reports, concluded that suspects were disproportionately likely to be Asian men.

The impression remains that Casey’s conclusion – that a three-year, time-limited national inquiry must be launched – has caught the prime minister on the hop. Once again, he was forced into what appears to be a damagingU-turn.

SomeLabourMPs have said that a prime minister more attuned to his “red wall” backbenchers would have ordered an inquiry after taking office in July, and claimed credit for grasping an issue that the Tories ignored for years.

Instead Starmer in January refused to endorse demands led byElon Muskwho was backed by the Tories, Reform and some Labour backbenchers for a national inquiry into grooming gangs. .

Launching another inquiry comes with some jeopardy for Starmer. It will likely be seized upon by the far right and used to galvanise activists such as Tommy Robinson.

Casey’s report calls for a radical improvement in the collection of data, particularly around ethnicity, because two thirds of police forces have failed to record the ethnicity of perpetrators.

Casey argues that there is enough evidence from just three forces to show “disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds amongst suspects”. She also claims there are a “significant number of perpetrators of Asian ethnicity identified in local reviews” and “high-profile child sexual exploitation prosecutions” to warrant further inquiries.

There are concerns that community tensions may increase after the identification of “men from Asian ethnic backgrounds” as groomers, at a time when there has been a record rise in anti-Muslim incidents across the UK. Police continue to worry that there could be a repeat of last summer’s riots, which were inspired by far riot conspiracy theories around immigration and the identity of theSouthport killer.

It could also risk smearing Asian and Pakistani males as potential paedophiles, despite evidence to the contrary. The available data is patchy, buta November report by the child sexual exploitation taskforcesuggested that a higher proportion of perpetrators of all forms of child sex abuse are white.

Asked by the Guardian if highlighting the issue of ethnicity could lead to civil unrest, Casey said that new data must be investigated. “If good people don’t grip difficult issues, in my experience bad people do,” she said.

The inquiry itself will examine the policies and decisions made by social workers and youth workers employed by predominantly Labour councils. Questions will be raised about what local MPs – often Labour MPs – knew, and why they failed to expose it.

The worth of launching another expensive inquiry into child sex abuse has already been questioned by some of those who initially exposed grooming gangs.

A seven-year national statutory inquiry, the independent nquiry into child sexual abuse, chaired by Prof Alexis Jay, covered the time period investigating abuse in children’s homes, the church and Westminster and scrutinising institutional responses to child sexual exploitation – including grooming gangs.

It involved more than 7,000 victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, including through theTruth Project, which gave survivors the opportunity to share their experiences and put forward suggestions for change.

Nazir Afzal, the prosecutor who helped to jail members of the Rochdale grooming gang, said he has “pragmatic doubts” about launching another national inquiry, adding that they were costly and lengthy, and could not bring people the accountability they wanted.

He said: “People want accountability. I’m not sure people’s expectations will be realised. Only criminal investigations can bring real accountability. That’s what needs to happen. Not just for those who offended, but also those who stood by and didn’t do what they were meant to do.

“Unfortunately my experience with national inquiries is that they take forever and don’t deliver accountability.”

In the UK, theNSPCCoffers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text theChildhelpabuse hotline on 800-422-4453. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact theKids Helplineon 1800 55 1800; adult survivors can seek help atBlue Knot Foundationon 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found atChild Helplines International

Roksana Lecka, from Hounslow, admitted seven counts of cruelty and was convicted of another 14 offences

A 22-year-old nursery worker has been convicted of abusing 21 babies, including kicking one little boy in the face and stepping on his shoulder during a harrowing campaign of abuse.

Roksana Lecka, from Hounslow, admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 and was convicted of another 14 counts by a jury at Kingston crown court.

Her crimes were discovered in June last year after she was sent home for pinching a number of children and appearing “flustered” at the Riverside Nursery in Twickenham, south-westLondon, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

Detectives from the Metropolitan police went through CCTV from the nursery that showed her pinching and scratching children under their clothes on their arms, legs and stomachs.

She pinched several children dozens of times in the course of one day, causing them to cry and flinch away from her, the CPS said.

In one incident she kicked a little boy in the face several times. She was also seen to push babies headfirst over cots and cover a toddler’s mouth when he started to cry.

The Met said she had abused children at two nurseries between October 2023 and June 2024 – one of the counts related to Little Munchkins in Hounslow, with the remainder linked to Riverside, which has since closed.

DS Geoff Boye said: “Footage showed Lecka carrying out multiple assaults on the children in her care which included repeatedly pinching and grabbing children, dropping babies into their cots and, on one occasion, she delivered several kicks to a young boy to the face and stepped on his shoulder.”

Lecka told police she smoked cannabis before her shifts, and at one point was seen vaping a metre away from a young baby.

DI Sian Hutchings said: “These families left their children in Lecka’s care, trusting her to protect their children as well as the other staff at the nurseries clearly did.

“The footage of her offences against defenceless children was disturbing.

“I would like to praise the strength of the victims’ families who have had to sit in court and watch footage of the abuse which Lecka inflicted on their children.”

Lecka worked at Riverside Nursery between January and June 2024, with a number of parents reporting unusual injuries and bruising in March and May that year.

She will be sentenced at Kingston crown court on 26 September.

Senior crown prosecutor Gemma Burns said: “Lecka repeatedly showed exceptional cruelty in her appalling treatment of these babies. No parent should have to fear leaving their child in the care of professionals, but the sheer scale of her abuse is staggering.

“The CPS put forward compelling evidence that clearly showed her targeting children when colleagues were either out of the room, or had their backs turned. We also called on experts to prove that the injuries Lecka’s victims sustained were consistent with pinch marks.

“Lecka was placed in a position of trust and her job required her to provide safety and protection. Instead, she kicked, scratched and pinched these young children, with this vile abuse of vulnerable victims continuing for many months.”

A number of parents contacted lawyers after Lecka’s abuse emerged.

Solicitor Jemma Till, from Irwin Mitchell, said: “The families we represent are not only deeply shocked but also traumatised by what their children have endured.

“This is sadly yet another devastating case where children have suffered at the hands of someone in a position of trust.

“Whilst Lecka’s actions have been stopped, the consequences of those actions are likely to affect families for many years. Nothing can undo what has happened, but it’s now vital that lessons are learned and, where appropriate, measures introduced to prevent other children being harmed.

“In the meantime, we’re focused on supporting the families and helping them come to terms with Lecka’s dreadful actions.”

Munira Wilson, the Liberal Democrat MP for Twickenham, said it was “incredibly important that families see justice done and the children get all the support they need to recover from this trauma”.

She claimed there was a need for “urgent reforms to make nurseries and early years settings safe for our children”.

She added: “Nurseries must be subject to no-notice Ofsted inspections where safeguarding concerns can be raised and CCTV footage is reviewed.

“I will be working with colleagues to make sure these tragedies never happen again – every parent should know their child is safe when left at nursery.”

Public inquiry will examine repeated failures that prevented abuse against children being properly investigated

A culture of “blindness, ignorance and prejudice” led to repeated failures over decades to properly investigate cases in which children were abused by grooming gangs, a report has said.

As the government announced a public inquiry into the scandal,Louise Caseysaid for too long the authorities had shied away from the ethnicity of the people involved, adding it was “not racist to examine the ethnicity of the offenders”.

Lady Casey said she found evidence of “over-representation” of Asian and Pakistani heritage men among suspects in local data – collected in Greater Manchester, West and South Yorkshire – and criticised a continued failure to gather robust data at a national level.

The home secretary,Yvette Cooper, confirmed the government would accept all 12 recommendations of Casey’s rapid review, including setting up a statutory inquiry into institutional failures. This marked a significant reversal after months of pressure on Labour to act.

“While much more robust national data is needed, we cannot and must not shy away from these findings, because, as Baroness Casey says, ignoring the issues, not examining and exposing them to the light, allows the criminality and depravity of a minority of men to be used to marginalise whole communities,” Cooper said.

The number of cold cases to be reviewed again over child sexual abuse by grooming gangs is expected to rise to more than 1,000 in the coming weeks, she told the Commons.

Adult abusers targeted children, mainly girls, some as young as 10, and some of whom were in care, had physical or mental disabilities, or who had already suffered neglect or abuse.

According to Casey, the ethnicity of grooming gangs has been “shied away from” by authorities, allowing the continued abuse of hundreds of vulnerable girls, many of whom are now demanding justice.

Casey said there should be “a vigorous approach to righting the wrongs of the past” and state agencies should be held to account for any part they played in allowing these crimes to go undetected and unpunished.

“Blindness, ignorance, prejudice, defensiveness and even good but misdirected intentions, all play a part in a collective failure to properly deter and prosecute offenders or to protect children from harm,” she said.

In the report, Casey said: “We as a society owe these women a debt. They should never have been allowed to have suffered the appalling abuse and violence they went through as children.”

On the question of ethnicity, it said: “We found that the ethnicity of perpetrators is shied away from and is still not recorded for two-thirds of perpetrators, so we are unable to provide any accurate assessment from the nationally collected data.”

However, it added that at a local level for three police forces – Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire – there was enough evidence to show a “disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds amongst suspects for group-based child sexual exploitation”.

Asked if she was worried recording the data could lead to civil unrest, Casey said: “So let’s put it the other way around. If for a minute you had another report that ducked the issue, what do you think is going to happen? Do you think they’re not going to use that as well?”

She added: “If good people don’t grip difficult issues, in my experience bad people do.”

Casey also looked at about 12 live investigations and found that “a significant proportion appear to involve suspects who are non-UK nationals”, some of whom were claiming asylum in the UK.

Casey’s recommendations, which have been accepted in full, call for:

Five existing local inquiries into grooming gangs to be coordinated by an independent commission with full statutory inquiry powers.

The collection of ethnicity and nationality data for all suspects in child sexual abuse and criminal exploitation cases to be made mandatory.

The law to be tightened to ensure there is no exception to those who sexually penetrate a child under 16 being charged with rape. Casey said she believed the public would be horrified to realise this was not the case already.

Research into the drivers for group-based child sexual exploitation, including the role of social media, cultural factors and group dynamics.

Every local police force in England and Wales to review records to identify cases of child sexual exploitation that have not been acted upon, including a review of cases that have been reported but have not resulted in prosecutions over the last 10 years. Convictions of the young victims, many of whom say they still face appalling discrimination, should be quashed.

Casey cited police figures from the 1990s which found almost 4,000 police cautions were given to children aged between 10 and 18 for offences relating to prostitution. It took until 2015 for the term “child prostitution” to be dropped and replaced with the term “child sexual exploitation”, when the legislation was changed in the SeriousCrimeAct.

She said that victims had regularly been retraumatised over the years from the shame of their convictions and the anger and at not being believed or living alongside their perpetrators.

“Sometimes they have criminal convictions for actions they took while under coercion,” Casey said. “They have to live with fear and the constant shadow over them of an injustice which has never been righted – the shame of not being believed.”

The report detailed how “group-based child sexual exploitation” is a “sanitised” way of talking about multiple sexual assaults against children by multiple men, including beatings and gang rapes.

Reacting to the report, the children’s commissioner for England,Rachel de Souza, saidthe failure to protect the girls was “a source of national shame”.

“This inquiry must be a wake-up call for how we respond to vulnerable children, especially violence against girls,” she said. “We cannot be more afraid of causing offence than we are of speaking out to protect children from exploitation and corruption.”

The Home Office said a nationwide policing operation to bring grooming gang members to justice would be led by the National Crime Agency.

Police have reopened more than 800 cases of child sexual abuse since Cooper asked them to review cases in January.

Victims’ commissioner among those to welcome inquiry but ex-chief crown prosecutor says ‘only criminal investigations can bring real accountability’

The national inquiry into grooming gangs “must be fearless in confronting uncomfortable truths” after too many girls “were failed by the very institutions charged with their protection”, the victims’ commissioner forEnglandand Wales has said.

The government confirmed on Monday that it would set up a statutory inquiry andaccept all 12 recommendations of Lady Casey’s rapid reviewof the issue. The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, told the Commons: “We cannot and must not shy away from these findings.”

The victims’ commissioner, Helen Newlove, said: “This inquiry must be fearless in confronting uncomfortable truths.

“Too many girls were failed by the very institutions charged with their protection. This is our chance to lift the stone, expose those failures, and ensure they are never repeated.

“Victims must remain at the heart of this work. Sharing experiences of child sexual abuse is deeply personal and often retraumatising. Thousands came forward to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse – often for the first time – yet years on, too little has changed. We must not repeat those mistakes.”

The children’s commissioner for England, Rachel de Souza, said the girls at the heart of this scandal “have been failed by every professional in their lives”.

She added: “They, and the institutions that were intended to protect them, ignored their voices and sidelined their experiences. They must be held accountable for turning a blind eye to a sustained campaign of violence against young girls by predatory men.

“This is a source of national shame – I’ve been clear nothing can be off the table in pursuing justice for the victims.”

In the House of Commons on Monday, the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said the announcement of the inquiry was “another U-turn” by the government and an “extraordinary failure of leadership”.

She said: “After months of pressure the prime minister has finally accepted our calls for a full statutory national inquiry into the grooming gangs.

“I welcome that we have finally reached this point. This is a victory for the survivors who have been calling for this for years.”

The Metropolitan police deputy assistant commissioner Helen Millichap, who is also the director of the national centre for violence against women and girls and public protection, said Casey’s report included several recommendations with implications for policing that would now be considered.

Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters

“We are sorry to all those who have experienced child sexual abuse and exploitation,” she said. “The pain, trauma, and long-lasting impact experienced by victims and survivors is immeasurable.

“We recognise that for too long, your voices went unheard, and opportunities to protect some of the most vulnerable members of our communities were missed.”

Nazir Afzal, the chief crown prosecutor for the north-west from 2011 to 2015, questioned the efficacy of national inquiries.

He told BBC Radio 4: “Only criminal investigations can bring real accountability. That’s what needs to happen. Not just for those who offended, but also those who stood by and didn’t do what they were meant to do.

“Unfortunately my experience with national inquiries is that they take for ever and don’t deliver accountability.”

Gujarati communities in the capital gather to commemorate more than 270 victims who died in Ahmedabad air crash

As the late afternoon sun streamed into a small square behind the Indian High Commission in London on Sunday, a crowd of 200 people gathered for a vigil – one of several held around the UK this weekend to remember those who died in theAir India disaster.

Candles were placed beneatha bust of Jawaharlal Nehruand attenders listened to inter-faith leaders and members from the Gujarati community who had come to reflect on a shocking week of loss.

Ridhi Sarmah-Kapoor and Olivia Gearson, two students whose fathers had travelled from Gujarat to London recently, laid flowers outsideIndiaHouse in Holborn.

“My dad frequently goes back and forth to India and he uses Air India,” said Sarmah-Kapoor. “It gives it a personal connection – it’s like these people are my family.”

Gearson added: “It needs to be honoured. There were parents coming back for their children’s graduation – we’re both students, it really hit hard.”

Gujarati communitiesin the capitaland other cities including Leicesterhave been gatheringsince the crash to commemorate the more than 270 people who died in the crash in Ahmedabad, one of the worst air accidents in Indian history.

There have been remarkable stories, such as the Bristol student whomissed the flight because she was held up in trafficand the miraculous taleof the sole survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh. But the details of the lives lost –ambitions and hopesextinguished in an instant – all add to the sense of shock among British-Indians.

“We needed somewhere to mourn,” said Mayur Shikotra, who organised the vigil alongsidePranav Bhanot.

Bhanot said: “We’re only a small community, many people are only one or two degrees away from the tragedy,. There aren’t that many flights that come out of Gujarat directly, so it really could have been anyone. That makes it hit home.”

Much has been made of the close-knit nature of the Gujarati community in the UK, a fact that has made the traumapersonal for many.

Narendra Thakerar was among a group of old schoolfriends with Gujarati backgrounds who decided to come and remember those who lost their lives.

“I’ve flown three times in the last six months with Air India,” he said. “It’s a tragedy that no one prepares for, it’s humbling and just a reminder about how fragile we are.”

Bhanot said: “It’s really important that we find out what happened, we need the bodies repatriated and hopefully some compensation for loved ones – it’s never going to bring anyone back but it’d be a recognition of what happened and the loss of life.”

As well as grief, there was a desire forBoeing, the manufacturer of the aircraft, to be held accountable if it was at fault.

“My first thought is the Boeing 787,” said Thakerar, who is glad the fleet is being inspected by the Indian governmentafter the disaster.

Another member of the group, Mahesh Patel, said: “The problem is when you’re dealing with old planes that have been sold and resold and used and used.”

There are more than 1,100 787s in service, with most major international airlines using them and its safety record in service has been good.

Tata Group bought Air India from the Indian government in 2022 and announced plans last year to revamp and upgrade its fleet.

“None of us want this to happen again so there needs to be a thorough investigation,” Thakerar said.

In today’s newsletter: ​With just one survivor emerging from the wreckage​, investigators work to uncover the cause

Good morning. An Air India plane bound for London Gatwick took off from Ahmedabad, India, at 1.38pm local time last Thursday. On board were 242 people. Within moments of takeoff, the airlinercrashed, sending up a fireball of exploding jet fuel.

Initial reports suggested all passengers and crew had perished. Then, miraculously, there was one survivor – a British man,Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who while badly injured was able to walk out of the wreckage by himself. Ramesh, who was returning to his family in London, told the Hindustan Times: “I don’t know how I survived. I saw people dying in front of my eyes – the air hostesses, and two people I saw near me … I walked out of the rubble.”

AirIndiasaid the passengers on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner were made up of 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian and seven Portuguese nationals. Footage shows the plane flying low over a residential area before disappearing behind buildings followed by an explosion. At least 24 people on the ground died as the flight crashed into a hostel housing medical students in a crowded residential area of Ahmedabad.

A black box was recovered from the crash site last Friday. The UK Foreign Office said officials were working with Indian authorities to establish the facts around the crash and provide support to those involved.

The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, said he was stunned and saddened while the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, called the crash “devastating”.

There is still much we don’t know in the days since the crash, most importantly about why it happened. To help put things into context, I spoke toGwyn Topham, the Guardian’s transport correspondent, about the Boeing airliner involved and why the crash is likely to renew scrutiny of the manufacturer. That’s after the headlines.

Middle East| Israel and Iranbroadened their strikesagainst each other in an escalating war that has killed and injured hundreds of people. Donald Trump called for an end to the conflict and warned Tehran against striking US targets in the region.

UK news| The government’s welfare plans have tobe pushed through, Keir Starmer has said, indicating that there will be no further concessions over cuts to disability benefits.

UK news| Thousands of university students in the UK have been caughtmisusing ChatGPTand other artificial intelligence tools in recent years, while traditional forms of plagiarism show a marked decline.

UK news| China and Russia are stepping upsabotage operationstargeting undersea cables and the UK is unprepared to meet the mounting threat, according to new analysis.

Greenland| Emmanuel Macron has criticised Donald Trump’s threats totake over Greenlandas he became the first foreign head of state to visit the vast, mineral-rich Arctic territory since the US president began making explicit threats to annex it.

The plane crash is the deadliest involving Britons in recent years, casting a shadow of mourning over large parts of the UK.

Gareth Thomas, MP for Harrow West and the chair of the APPG on British Gujarati, told First Edition: “Harrow is home to a large British-Gujarati community, many of whom have close family ties to Gujarat, and this devastating news will be felt particularly strongly here.”

Among those confirmed dead are businessman Akeel Nanabawa, his wife, Hannaa Vorajee, and their four-year-old daughter Sara (pictured above), according to the Gloucester Muslim community.

Also killed in the crash were Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, who ran the Wellness Foundry in south London and Ramsgate. The business offered psychic readings, tarot, reiki, and yoga.

Adam Taju, 72, and his wife, Hasina, 70, were also on board, along with their son-in-law, Altafhusen Patel, 51, who lived in London with his wife.

Javed Ali Syed, a hotel manager at the Best Western Kensington Olympia Hotel, and his wife, Mariam, were also reportedlyamong the victims.

What do we know about the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner?

The Air India plane that was headed to London was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This model of plane has been in service since 2011. There are more than 1,100 787s in service worldwide, used by most major international airlines. This is the first time one has crashed.

“It was seen as revolutionary when it came in because it was so much lighter,” Gwyn Topham explains. “People called it the ‘plastic plane’ at the time because of the composite materials. That made it more fuel-efficient, quieter, and generally a nicer plane to be on. It doesn’t feel that novel now, but at the time it was a leap forward.”

Gwyn adds: “There have been issues over the years. About a decade ago a lithium-ion battery caught fire on a plane parked at Heathrow, which was obviously alarming. And in 2013 there were a couple of electrical fires in Japan that led to the aircraft being grounded briefly. But nothing since that time that would make most people worry about flying this plane.”

He notes that while awhistleblower last yearurged Boeing to ground all 787 Dreamliners worldwide during Washington hearings, Boeing rejected the claims.

Air India, which operates a fleet of Dreamliners, has been using the US-built long-haul plane since 2012. This is the airline’s first serious incident since 2020, when a smaller Boeing 737-800 operated by Air India Express skidded off the runway on landing during bad weather.

Tata Group, the parent company of Air India, said it would provide 10m rupees (£86,000) to the families of those killed in the crash. The company also said it would cover the medical costs of those injured and provide support in the “building up” of the medical college hit by the plane.

This latest crash piles further pressure on Boeing, which has faced significant scrutiny over the past few years due to a series of production issues and safety concerns.

Most notable are the two major crashes that were due to faults on Boeing’s 737 Max planes, inIndonesiaandEthiopiain 2018 and 2019. That model was taken out of service for almost a year, before being relaunched and returned to widespread use.

Last month, Boeing agreed to pay $1.1bn (£812m)in a dealwith the US justice department to avoid prosecution over these two crashes, which together killed 346 people. The families of the crash victims described the deal as “morally repugnant”.

“That really shocked the industry and the public. At first, many didn’t want to believe it could be the plane and people thought it might be pilot error. But it turned out to be Boeing’s fault, and that severely damaged trust,” Gwyn says.

“Since then, every Boeing incident, from relatively minor ones to the door panel that blew off on an Alaska Airlines flight last year, ends up getting massive attention. Ryanair has even complained publicly about receiving planes with faults.

“Even if this crash turns out to have nothing to do with the aircraft itself, it still puts a fresh spotlight on Boeing.”

What impact will this have on the aviation industry?

Hours after the crash, flights were allowed to resume at the airport in Ahmedabad. Despite these high profile crashes, Gwyn doesn’t expect passengers to be deterred from flying.

“It’s important to remember that aviation is very safe. I think 2023 had no fatal passenger jet crashes at all. When crashes do happen, they’re usually the result of a combination of rare and unexpected factors,” he says.

Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters

As for the impact on passenger confidence, he adds: “Passenger numbers have kept rising year after year. Even when Ryanair offered refunds to passengers booked on the 737 Max, no one took them up on it. So while something like this may shake confidence in the short term, it doesn’t usually translate into people flying less.”

While public confidence in air travel is likely to endure, the aviation industry will once again be forced to engage in serious soul-searching over safety, accountability and public trust.

What do Fast & Furious, a vegetarian cookbook, and Link from Zelda (above) all have in common? The Guardian writers have named them, and more, as their unexpectedPride iconsinthis series.Sundus Abdi, newsletters team

After nearly 20 years of regular gym sessions, freelance journalist Joel Snape hascalled it quits. He writes a compelling case on whyditching the gymmight actually make him fitter.Aamna

Few rappers have been more feted thanSlick Rick– Jay Z even compared him to Matisse – or worn more outrageous jewellery.Alexis Petridis gets a taste of both lyrics and blingin this delightful encounter.Alex Needham, acting head of newsletters

While politicians may be targeting theburqawith proposed bans, fashion inspired by Islam and other religions is projectedto go mainstreamworldwide.Aamna

At 53, playwrightFemi Elufowoju Jrmade a promise to visit all 54 nations in Africa to expand his limited knowledge of the continent. He shares how these travelssparked an ideafor an “ambitious” play.Sundus

Formula One| The British driverGeorge Russell won the Canadian Grand Prixfor Mercedes, beating the four-time world champion Max Verstappen. McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastrihad a collision.

Tennis| Tatjana Maria, 37, became both the oldest World Tennis Association 500 champion in history and thefirst women’s champion at Queen’s Club in 52 yearswhen she beat Amanda Anisimova.

US Open| American JJ Spaun, pictured above, finished two shots clear of Bob MacIntyre – claimingthe first major title of his careerwith a monster final putt on a wet and wild day at Oakmont.

“Israel and Iran broaden war as G7 leaders seek ceasefire” says theGuardian. “Israel and Iran step up retaliatory strikes” says theFinancial Timesacross a single deck right along the top. “World crisis” says theMirrorunder a strapline saying “Israel & Iran on the brink”. TheTimeshelps the US president make himself look relevant – “Trump says ‘full might’ of US ready for conflict” – as does theTelegraphwith “Trump vetoed plan to kill Iran leader”. Thei paperhas “RAF on standby to defend Israel as conflict with Iran escalates”. “You’ll pay a heavy price” – that’s Netanyahu’s warning to Iran, says theMetro, after Tehran retaliated. TheMailsplashes on “Starmer in full retreat over grooming gangs” and theExpress’sversion is “Say sorry for dealy in sex gangs probe”.

Arise, Sir David Beckham – podcast

Zoe Williams goes through the highs and lows of David Beckham’s career, and asks why ittook so long for him to receive a knighthood.

A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad

Freddie Yauner spends the first few months of the year growing out his hair and beard to resemble 19th-century designer and activistWilliam Morris. The idea first came to him in 2020 and ever since then, Yauner has celebrated his idol’s birthday by dressing up for an “absurd performance”. This unique passion has taken all forms: fishing for salmon in the Thames, singing lessons for socialist chants and print-making using Morris’ letterpress.

Yauner says using his privileged background to dedicate himself to the arts and socialism, like Morris, has afforded him a sense of comfort and guidance: “I see him as a brilliant guide to the ridiculous times we live in: it’s a ridiculous thing to do. It helps me carry on.”

Sign up herefor a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday

And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.

Exhausted medical workers say facilities are overwhelmed and death toll is higher than 224 reported

The stream of wounded in Imam Khomeini hospital in Tehran had been steady since Friday. On Sunday evening it became a flood. A renewed wave of Israeli strikes on Iran’s capital overwhelmed the hospital’s emergency unit, turning it into what one doctor described as a “bloodbath”.

“It was a bloodbath. We were overwhelmed by chaos and the screams of grieving family members. Dozens upon dozens of people with life-threatening injuries, minor wounds and even bodies were brought in,” a doctor at the emergency unit of the hospital told the Guardian on Monday under condition of anonymity.

As fighting between Israel and Iranentered its fourth day, Iranian hospitals were receiving a surge of wounded people, overwhelming medical facilities and exhausted personnel. Medical staff described scenes of bloody chaos and an influx of injured people that has only seemed to grow as Israeli strikes increased in intensity.

“I’ve seen toddlers, teenagers, adults and the elderly alike. Profusely bleeding mothers were rushing in with their children injured by shrapnel,” the doctor said, adding that some parents did not realise they themselves were injured until they put their children down.

They rattled off a list of injuries: metal lodged in femur bones and the soft tissues of the hip joints, internal bleeding and severe burns. Many of those wounded had been nearby when an Israeli bomb dropped, peppering them with deadly shrapnel.

Fighting began after Israelconducted hundreds of airstrikes on Iranearly on Friday morning, which it said were aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran responded with a salvo of missiles and drones, and the violence between the two countries has escalated since.

Iranian authorities on Monday morning said 1,277 people had been taken to hospital across the country’s university hospital network – of whom 224 had died.

The doctor at the Imam Khomeini suggested the true toll was greater. At his hospital, more beds had been assigned to the intensive care unit while patients with minor injuries were being transferred to other clinics, he said.

Staff in the ICU had been instructed not to post any details about the number of wounded or dead on social media, and the rota was being monitored by department heads. A Tehran based-journalist said authorities had denied requests for information on the number of dead and wounded.

A spokesperson for the Iranian ministry of health, Hossein Kermanpour, said more than 90% of casualties were civilians. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed Israel was exclusively hitting targets belonging to the Iranian government.

“When we control the skies over Tehran, we are hitting these targets, the targets of the regime, unlike the criminal regime of Iran that targets our citizens and comes to kill children and women,” Netanyahu said during a visit to an airbase in central Israel on Monday.

Iranian ballistic missiles have hit military sites and residential areas alike, killing at least 17 in Israel, including three children.

Iranian authorities claimed Israel had bombed a hospital in Kermanshah, west Iran, injuring patients. A dramatic video showed a television anchor fleeing mid-broadcast as Israeli bombs appeared to hit the state TV station on Monday evening.

“There are many dead individuals, but I can’t tell who is who or how many there are. We don’t know which one of them was a regime officer – I am only looking to save the lives of as many as I can,” a medic at a city hospital in Karaj, west of Tehran, said under condition of anonymity. They blamed Israel for targeting residential areas, but said they felt the Iranian government had little regard for civilian lives.

The medical staff described witnessing children as young as four with limbs fractured from the force of nearby blasts. They were exhausted and had been asked to work back-to-back shifts as injured people continued to arrive from other hospitals.

“We haven’t had the time to eat or drink. I fear after this morning we are going to have more bodies coming in,” the medic said.

Iran reportedly asked Gulf states on Monday to petition Donald Trump to help mediate a ceasefire with Israel, but on the ground the conflict showed no signs of abating.

For medical staff in Iran, already stretched to their limits, the prospect of continued bombings was daunting.

“The past three days have brought back horrific memories,” the doctor at the Imam Khomeini hospital said. “It reminds me of visuals from the Iran-Iraq war. The injuries are terrifying and it looks like we are working in a makeshift hospital on a battlefield.”

UK prime minister and French president among those pressing for de-escalation of conflict with Israel

Middle East crisis – live updates

US politics live – latest updates

European leaders at theG7 summitin Canada are trying to engineer an Iranian return to the negotiating table using Gulf leaders as intermediaries.

But Iran is demanding a joint ceasefire with Israel, while Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is resisting the move, andDonald Trumppraised the Israeli campaign, suggesting he did not yet believe it was time to relieve the pressure on Iran.

The US is considered by Iran to be critical to putting pressure onIsrael, but the US president wants indications that Iran will back down on wanting to maintain the right to enrich uranium. He is willing to continue to use the Israeli assault as a bargaining chip if necessary.

French, German and British foreign ministers were due collectively to speak to the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, in an attempt to see ifIranwould meet the US demand to end all uranium enrichment in the country, previously a red line for Tehran.

Asked if he had received any messages from Iran suggesting that it wanted to de-escalate the conflict, Trump hinted that he had. “They want to talk,” he said.

The US president said that Iran was not winning its conflict with Israel and should re-enter negotiations “before it’s too late”.

“They have to make a deal, and it’s painful for both parties, but I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it’s too late,” Trump told reporters at the summit.

He added: “If Iran wants to negotiate, now is the time.”

Araghchi appealed to Trump to break with Netanyahu, telling the US president he was being played by an Israeli leader who was determined to scuttle a deal that Iran and the US were on the verge of sealing.

He said: “By all indications, the purpose of Netanyahu’s criminal attack on Iran – killing hundreds of innocent civilians, including women and children – is to scuttle a deal between Iran and the US, which we were on the right path to achieve. He is playing yet another American president, and ever more American taxpayers, for absolute fools.

“If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential. Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue. It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu. That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy.”

TheUnited Arab Emirates, the country that sent Trump’s first negotiating offer to Iran, has been one of the intermediaries along with Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Oman’s foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, the previous broker in the US-Iran talks, has been urging Tehran to return to the negotiating table, pointing to the heavily laden military odds against it.

Iranian news agencies reported the president of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, had warned the sultan of Oman: “If the United States does not restrain Israel, Iran will be forced to continue its response in a more severe and painful manner.”

Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister; and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, have been in touch with the UAE leadership, and Starmer claimed there was a consensus for de-escalation.

“It is really important that we focus on de-escalation, because the risks of the conflict escalating are obvious across the region and beyond the region, the impact that this could and probably will have on Gaza, which is a tinderbox, and, of course, the impact on the economy. That is why theG7has such a focus on de-escalation. That will be an intense discussion for our talks today … this will be a central issue.”

European leaders at the G7 are warning Iran both directly and via Gulf leaders that Iranian concessions will have to be made at the negotiating table, or Israel is likely to press home its military advantage to the point of securing an end to the Iranian government formed after the revolution in 1979.

With the vast majority of its military and intelligence leadership wiped out by Israel in assassinations, Iran’s decision-making structure is in flux. Even parts of the Iranian foreign ministry in Tehran have been bombed.

European leaders are deeply concerned by doubts over the nature of any successor regime, the prospect of Iran’s breakup and a prolonged conflict that could hit world trade and send oil prices up if Iran’s leaders blocked the strait of Hormuz in a desperate attempt to cling to power.

Iran has claimed it is not interested in building a nuclear bomb, but is not saying it is willing to abandon its right to enrich uranium, the red line that the Iranian foreign minister insisted on throughout the talks with the US.

The coincidence of the G7 meeting happening during the escalation in the Iran crisis has provided European leaders with an opportunity to try to reimpose themselves in the Iran negotiations from which they have been largely excluded by the US since Trump returned to the White House.

Between 2013 and 2025 the three European powers of the UK,Franceand Germany had been ever-present in the negotiations with Iran.

The G7 leaders are also preparing a joint statement on the Iran-Israel crisis, but Trump has so far refused to sign it.

At issue has been whether any joint statement calling for a return to diplomacy and ruling out Iran ever possessing nuclear weapons goes further by calling for a ceasefire. Some states wanted to hint at criticism of Israel for upending the US and Iranian negotiations that were due to have continued on Sunday.

But G7 member states are divided, with Japan’s prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, on Friday sharply criticising Israel’s recent military assaults on Iran, labelling the attacks “totally intolerable” and “extremely regrettable” amid rising tensions in the region.

David Lammy says British nationals asked to register presence as country closes airspace amid escalating conflict

British people inIsraelare being told to register with the Foreign Office ​s​o the UK government ​c​an assist them if they wish to leave the country.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, told MPs on Monday his department was asking all British nationals to notify the government and receive instructions on how best to leave, after the country closed down its airspace.

With Israel and Iran continuingtheir air attacksagainst each other, fears are growing for hundreds of thousands of Britons living in the broader region.

Lammy told the Commons: “We are asking all British nationals inIsraelto register their presence with the FCDO [Foreign Office], so that we can share important information on the situation and leaving the country.

“Israel andIranhave closed their airspace until further notice, and our ability therefore to provide support in Iran is extremely limited. British nationals in the region should closely monitor our travel advice for further updates.”

Keir Starmer, who is in Canada for theG7 summit, separately said: “For British nationals in Israel, we’re giving advice today to register their presence. There will be a portal for that.”

The prime minister spent Sunday evening talking to four of the other world leaders at the summit, largely about the Middle East crisis. The prime minister held informal discussions with Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor; France’s president, Emmanuel Macron; Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister; and Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, Downing Street said.

While UK officials stressed this was not a snub toDonald Trumpgiven the US president did not arrive at the summit until later on Sunday night, the talks will be seen as a way for a key group of G7 leaders to present a united front to the volatile US president. Starmer is due to meet Trump later on Monday.

In the UK, the government is increasingly concerned about the welfare of British nationals in the region. The government does not have plans to evacuate British citizens itself, but Lammy said on Monday the Foreign Office was sending support teams to Jordan and Egypt to help people who were able to cross the borders with Israel by land.

“The situation remains fast-moving,” he said. “We expect more strikes in the days to come. This is a moment of grave danger for the region.”

Both Lammy and Starmer stressed their desire for both sides to step back from the conflict, which the foreign secretary warned posed “real risks for the global economy”.

Speaking in Canada, Starmer added: “What we need to do today is to bring that together and to be clear about how it is to be brought about.

“But the risk of the conflict escalating is obvious, I think, and the implications, not just for the region but globally, are really immense, so the focus has to be on de-escalation.”

Foreign ministry describes strike, which hit as a presenter was speaking, as a ‘wicked act’ and calls on United Nations to take action

Iran has condemned Israel’s attack on a state television building in Tehran as a “war crime”, and called on the UN to take action.

The strike on the offices of IRIB during a live broadcast was a “wicked act” and a “war crime”, said a foreign ministry spokesperson. “The UN [security council] must act now to stop the genocidal aggressor from committing further atrocities against our people.”

An Israeli attack hit the building as a presenter was speaking live, saying that the studio was filling with dust after “the sound of aggression against the homeland”.

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion could be heard, and the presenter hurried off-camera as dust and debris appeared in the studio.

Cries of “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) could be heard off-screen and the broadcast abruptly switched to prerecorded programming. Live coverage resumed shortly after.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps condemned the attack, calling it “inhuman, criminal and a terrorist act”.

After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, on FridayIsrael launched a surprise attack, saying it was targeting Iran’s nuclear and military facilities. So far it has killed at least 224 people in Iran, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.

Iran has retaliated with barrages of drone and missiles that have killed at least 24 people in Israel, according to the latest figures from the prime minister’s office.

Iran does not recognise Israel and has long accused it of carrying out sabotage operations against its nuclear facilities and killing its scientists.