A quarry has received the go-ahead to install solar panels and a battery storage system in a bid to cut energy costs.
Dorset Council approved the planning application from Portland Stone Firms Ltd, which will see 140 panels installed at the southern site of Coombefield Quarry on Southwell Road.
The panels are expected to generate up to 61KW of electricity per hour at peak output.
Installation is scheduled for this summer and is expected to take one to two weeks.
The generated power will be delivered to the mine via a cable laid and backfilled along the quarry floor.
Any surplus energy will be stored in on-site 20KW batteries, with excess power exported to the National Grid.
Because the panels will be located at the base of the quarry, they will be largely hidden from view.
The planning documents note that while there may be “transitory” views through vegetation from a nearby right of way, the installation will not be visible from homes on Avalanche Road and Southwell Road.
A researcher who lost an arm when her laboratory experiment exploded in March 2016, has reached a settlement of £5 million with the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, more than eight years after filing the lawsuit.
Thea Ekins-Coward, who was 29 years old at the time, was a visiting postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa and was carrying out a common procedure, which involved transferring hydrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide gases into a small, low-pressure cylinder to make a growth medium for cells, when the incident occurred.
The blast resulted in the amputation of Ekins-Coward’s right arm, as well as corneal abrasions, burns to her face and a loss of high-frequency hearing. She has subsequently struggled with phantom pain, chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Various investigations revealed equipment design and safety failures, as well as serious lab safety deficiencies at the university. In September 2016, the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health (Hiosh) agency found that the university failed to provide a safe workplace for employees, citing 15 separate safety failures that contributed to the accident. Although, under an agreement reached the following month between the university and Hiosh, the penalties were dropped from 15 to nine.
In 2017, Ekins-Coward filed a lawsuit against the university, her supervisor Jian Yu and Richard Rocheleau, director of the institute, arguing that she was provided with materials and equipment that were inappropriate and unsafe for the research she’d be asked to carry out and was not designed for flammable gases or grounded to prevent static discharges. Such a discharge was the likely cause of the explosion, according to analysis by the Honolulu Fire Department.
She also alleged that she had requested safety training on compressed gases and on the specific hazards of these gases, but that her supervisor did not provide it.
Following the incident, the university denied liability, saying Ekins-Coward was an employee covered by limited workers’ compensation. In the US, workers’ compensation statutes generally establish a no-fault system where employers are responsible for the costs associated with work-related injuries and illnesses, regardless of fault.
According to a recent statement from her US counsel, Danko Meredith, the university then went on to blame Ekins-Coward for using inappropriate and unsafe equipment. ‘But we showed that the university approved the equipment, and that the university should have better trained our client on safety measures that should be taken when working with explosive gases,’ the statement went on.
‘The settlement we achieved was calculated to take care of our client’s needs going forward. And as a result of the investigation, universities across the country changed their laboratory safety practices so that other researchers would not suffer similar injuries.’
Ekins-Coward was also advised by Scott Rigby, an international injury partner from the UK law firm, Stewarts. In a statement released by Stewarts, the firm said that, ‘after a lengthy battle, we obtained a ruling that Dr Ekins-Coward was not the university’s employee’. They went on to explain that although the university had paid her a stipend and provided her with certain benefits she was required to sign documents confirming she was not an employee.
‘It has taken such a long time to conclude Thea’s claim, but the battle was certainly worth it,’ said Rigby, from Stewarts. ‘I am delighted for her and her family, who can hopefully now move on and rebuild their lives from the devastating consequences of the accident.’
Ekins-Coward said the past nine years had been ‘gruelling’ but that she was ‘extremely grateful’ for the support of Rigby. ‘He provided a harbour in the midst of the storm,’ she said. ‘We are of course also grateful to Mike Danko from Danko Meredith. This was an extremely complex international case that would not have been possible without the collaboration between Stewarts and Danko Meredith. After nearly a decade I look forward to moving forward and focusing on my family.’
A Meituan food delivery courier rides an electric scooter in Chongqing, China, on March 29, 2025.
Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images
In China’s fiercely competitive market, the latest price war is playing out in the growing “instant commerce” sector, where companies are launching massive subsidies and other incentives to get consumers to spend.
The ‘instant commerce’ sector is backed by massive networks of scooter drivers that quickly transport everything from food and drink to fast fashion and gadgets.
The space is mostly occupied by three main players, including the established e-commerce heavyweights JD.com and Alibaba, as well as delivery platform Meituan, which has historically focused heavily on food delivery.
Competition between these companies has intensified this year, with all three expanding their delivery networks and pledging billions in subsidies to merchants and consumers.
The result — insanely fast and cheap offers. Perusing through JD.com’s delivery platform on Friday, CNBC found coffee as cheap as 10.9 yuan, or $1.50, including delivery fees. Meituan was offering a 13 yuan set of steamed buns and a 26.8 yuan McDonald’s breakfast set.
However, despite the benefits for Chinese consumers, the price war has also weighed heavily on investors and the earnings outlook. Meituan and JD.com, for example, have seen their shares fall by about 22% and 10%, respectively, this year, according to LSEG data.
How did we get here?
China’s e-commerce players have consistently competed on delivery times, supported by the country’s large labor force and gig economy. By building out a strong logistics network, JD had set a standard in the market for same-day or next-day delivery of packages, pressuring competitors like Alibaba.
However, China’s latest ‘instant commerce’ battle appeared to start after JD.com’s move into the takeout dining market in February, entering a space dominated by Meituan, the market leader, and Alibaba’s food delivery platform Ele.me.
A delivery rider wearing a JD Logistics uniform adjusts his helmet while sitting on an electric scooter beside a Meituan delivery box, with several other delivery workers nearby, on May 26, 2025, in Chongqing, China.
Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Then, in April, Meitaun launched its own challenge to JD.com with a new 24/7 “flash shopping” platform that included categories like groceries, alcohol, and electronics and promised deliveries within 30 minutes.
Tensions grew as the companies engaged in direct competition. Eventually, both companies accused each other of using anti-competitive practices to block riders from accepting orders on rival platforms. It was around that time when JD began hiring more full-time drivers, and founder Richard Liu was photographed delivering food orders in Beijing in a viral publicity stunt.
That month also saw JD.com announce a first round of subsidies worth 10 billion yuan, which went towards a food delivery discount program.
Subsidies and massive discounts are commonplace in China’s competitive tech sector, and a cause for concern for Beijing.
China’s top market regulator summoned JD.com, Meituan, and Alibaba’s Ele.me in May, urging them to follow the law and compete fairly. Retail groups also voiced concerns about JD.com’s subsidy program and the knock-on effects of plummeting prices. However, the pushback had little effect on slowing the price war.
On Tuesday, JD.com announced yet another 10 billion-yuan investment under its “Double Hundred Plan,” intended to provide targeted support to merchants on the platform.
It came after Alibaba’s Taobao Instant Commerce announced on Saturday a subsidy program valued at 50 billion yuan (about $7 billion), to be distributed over the next year. It added that it had reached 200 million orders per day shortly after.
The same day, discounts and coupons offered on Meituan had seen prices of a cup of coffee drop to as low as 2 yuan ($0.28), according to local media.
As a result, the company said that it received a record 120 million orders that Saturday — so much that it suffered a temporary breakdown of its servers in certain areas.
While all the companies have boasted about increases in their instant commerce user bases in recent months, it remains unclear how much the price war will impact their earnings.
Meituan reported that its profits for the first quarter of 2025 were 10.2 billion yuan, up about 63% year over year. However, it warned that the following quarter would likely be impacted by increased competition in instant retail.
In May, JD.com reported that its operating profit rose by 31.4% year over year to 11.7 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2025. However, economists polled by LSEG expect second-quarter profits to fall on both a yearly and quarterly basis.
JD’s push into food delivery may have generated a loss of more than 10 billion yuan in the second quarter, according to Nomura’s analysis published Thursday. The analysts estimate JD has gained about 10% of the instant delivery market with 20 million orders a day.
Looking ahead, “we think JD may have to re-examine its ambition,” the analysts said. They pointed out that in light of Alibaba’s ramped-up spending on subsidies, JD might have to burn through all the profits generated by its core retail business — for several quarters — if it wants to compete with the two market incumbents.
To kick off this collaboration, and in celebration of the theatrical release of DC Studios’ ‘Superman’, the Lola T001 driven by Zane Maloney and Lucas di Grassi will be wrapped in the iconic blue, red and yellow of Krypton’s superhero, with the famous Superman shield adorning the chassis.
WATCH: Find out where to watch every Formula E race via stream or on TV in your country
Maloney and di Grassi will also wear custom made race suits, resembling Superman’s own unique uniform as they set about seeking out some on-track heroics in Berlin this weekend.
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Patrick Maitrot, GVP Global Sales at Warner Bros. Discovery, says: “Superman is one of the planet’s most legendary and much-loved characters. By teaming up with one of the most world’s most exciting motorsport events and leader in motorsport engineering and technology in Lola Cars, together we will channel superhero energy and push the Lola T001 to the peak of its powers in Berlin .
“Our suite of global brands and IP is unmatched and by harnessing our creative capabilities through a unique activation that celebrates the electrifying action of both brands, we will amplify the excitement of Formula E and Superman fans around the world ahead of the race and film release.”
“This partnership with Warner Brothers is a great milestone for Lola Cars, utilising the motorsport platform to create engaging content not only for our mutual benefit but also that of our sponsors,” said Keith Smout, Chief Commercial Officer, Lola Cars. “It’s an example of how we can build partnerships that go beyond traditional models and generate added value to all parties.
“To kick off this collaboration with a celebration of a film centred around one of the most recognizable superheroes is a statement of the impactful activations we plan to implement together. This is a fantastic opportunity for not only Lola Cars and the team, but Formula E as a whole, to reach new audiences and build excitement around this growing sport.”
DC Studio heads Peter Safran and James Gunn are producing ‘Superman’, which Gunn directs from his own screenplay, based on characters from DC, Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. ‘Superman’ is DC Studios’ first feature film to hit the big screen and is set to soar into theatres worldwide this summer from Warner Bros. Pictures.
Warner Bros. Discovery is the Home of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in Europe with exclusive coverage of every race in the UK on TNT Sports with streaming on discovery+, and on Eurosport and HBO Max across Europe, including exclusive coverage in the Nordics, Poland, Spain and Turkey.
SCHEDULE: Where, when and how to watch or stream the 2025 Hankook Berlin E-Prix Rounds 13 & 14
Free Practice 1: 16:00 local (14:00 UTC), Friday 11 July Free Practice 2: 09:00, (07:00 UTC) Saturday 12 July Qualifying: 11:20 (09:20 UTC), Saturday 12 July Round 13: 16:00 (14:00 UTC), Saturday 12 July
Free Practice 3: 09:00, (07:00 UTC) Sunday 13 July Qualifying: 11:20 (09:20 UTC), Sunday 13 July Round 14: 16:00 (14:00 UTC), Sunday 13 July
Find out more
CALENDAR: Sync the dates and don’t miss a lap of Season 11
WATCH: Find out where to watch every Formula E race via stream or on TV in your country
TICKETS: Secure your grandstand seats and buy Formula E race tickets
SCHEDULE: Here’s every race of the 2024/25 Formula E season
HIGHLIGHTS: Catch up with every race from all 10 seasons of Formula E IN FULL
PREDICTOR: Get involved, predict race results and win exclusive prizes
HOSPITALITY: Experience Formula E and world class motorsport as a VIP
FOLLOW: Download the Formula E App on iOS or Android
The Essex Men are back in action under the lights at Chelmsford, set to thrill a sold-out Friday night crowd as they take on the Sussex Sharks Men in round 12 of the Vitality Blast.
Essex were unable to make it back-to-back wins on Tuesday, as they fell to defeat against a strong Somerset side, following victory against Surrey on Sunday.
Chris Silverwood’s side were victims to a 95-run defeat against table-topping Somerset at the Cooper Associates Ground, despite a spirited effort from young all-rounder Noah Thain.
After winning the toss under the Taunton floodlights, Essex initially struck early through Mohammad Amir, who removed Tom Banton for 15 thanks to a sharp catch at mid-on. Amir was the standout performer with the ball, returning exceptional figures of 3-22 from his four overs amidst an otherwise tough night for the Essex attack.
However, Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s 90 from just 39 deliveries – featuring 8 fours and 7 sixes – took the game away from the Eagles. He powered Somerset to an imposing 225-6, dominating partnerships with Will Smeed (32) and Tom Abell (20), as Essex struggled to contain the flow of runs.
The chase required an explosive start, and Paul Walter obliged with 24 from 12 balls, taking 15 from Craig Overton’s opening over. However, wickets fell in a flurry as the Somerset seam attack took hold.
Riley Meredith bowled Michael Pepper with a peach of a delivery, before Matt Henry – playing his final game before departing for international duty – removed both Walter and Benkenstein in quick succession. Essex were 48-5 inside the powerplay.
There was late resistance from 19-year-old Noah Thain, who played with maturity beyond his years. The England U19 prospect struck four sixes in an eye-catching 38 off just 17 balls, briefly igniting hopes of a recovery. But his dismissal – caught at long-on off Overton – brought Essex’s innings to a close at 130 in 14.1 overs.
ICYMI: Simon Harmer
Squad
Director of Cricket Chris Silverwood has selected a 15-player squad for the visit of Sussex at the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground.
Rookies Mackenzie Jones and Charlie Bennett remain in the squad whilst Sam Cook returns to Chelmsford following his involvement in the England Men’s Test squad.
Dean Elgar is being rested and rotated at this stage of the Vitality Blast competition to manage his workload ahead of the two upcoming Rothesay County Championship matches at the back end of this month.
The Opposition: Sussex
Captain: Tymal Mills
Overseas Players: Nathan McAndrew (Australia, all group stage), Gurinder Sandhu (Australia, all group stage), Daniel Hughes (Australia, full competition)
Finals Day Appearances: Six (2007, 2009, 2012, 2018, 2021, 2024)
Titles: One (2009)
2024 Finish: Semi-finalists
2024 Leading Run-Scorer: Daniel Hughes (596)
2024 Leading Wicket-Taker: Tymal Mills (24)
Sussex Sharks squad: Tymal Mills (c), Henry Crocombe, John Simpson (wk), Danny Lamb, Oli Carter, Jack Carson, Ollie Robinson, Tom Clark, James Coles, Fynn Hudson-Prentice, Ari Karvelas, Harrison Ward, Nathan McAndrew, Tom Alsop, George Thomas, Daniel Hughes.
Last Time We Met: Sussex Sharks
Essex Men were denied victory last time out against the Sharks after a torrential downpour of rain in Hove curtained the match early as both sides had to settle for a draw.
In a game reduced to 17 overs a side, Jordan Cox, making only his second appearance in the competition this season after recovering from injury, hit four successive balls from off-spinner Jack Carson for six on his way to a 47-ball 82 in an imposing total of 177 for four.
Shane Snater then took three wickets without conceding a run as Sussex slumped to 23 for 3 after 3.1 overs when the rain which had delayed the start returned at 9.35pm. Umpires Martin Saggers and Hassan Adnan abandoned the game shortly afterwards as the rain set in.
It was a frustrating outcome for Chris Silverwood’s side who displayed a brilliant all-round performance which was highlighted by a high-class contribution from England international Cox and a brutal opening spell from Snater.
South Group Preview
Click here for Part 1 of the team-by-team preview of each of this year’s South Group contenders.
Click here for Part 2 of the team-by-team preview of each of this year’s South Group contenders.
How To Watch
We can confirm that this match against Sussex is SOLD OUT – therefore no more tickets are available to purchase.
However, you can follow the action via the Club’s live stream. This is available on Essex Cricket TV’s YouTube channel or head to the Matchzone for a video scorecard, stats and clips of the action.
Purchase your England v India tickets!
The England Men under 19s are playing in a four day Test match at the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground this summer!
They will face India Men under 19s, including 14-year old IPL superstar Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who became the youngest player bought in an IPL auction after being selected by Rajasthan Royals. He is also the youngest player to score a century in IPL history!
Day one will begin on July 20 with the final day concluding on July 23.
Tickets are still available via our Ticket Site, so have a browse and get yourself down to CM2 to watch the next generation of international cricketers.
EU’s diplomats put forward 10 options to sanction Israel over Gaza
Jennifer Rankin
in Brussels
Elsewhere, the EU’s diplomatic service has drawn up a list of options to sanction Israel, after finding “indications” that the Middle Eastern country had breached its human rights obligations over its conduct in Gaza and the West Bank.
Kaja Kallas arrives at the European Council in Brussels, Belgium. Photograph: Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images
A document for EU foreign ministers to discuss next week outlines ten options, such as suspending the EU-Israel association agreement or visa-free-travel for Israelis, freezing preferential trade terms, or terminating Israel’s participation in Europe’s research and student exchange programmes.
The five-page text seen by the Guardian, first reported by Reuters, makes no recommendations.
It remains unclear if any of the proposals will gain traction. So far only one member state, Spain, has pushed for the suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement, which requires unanimity. Even governments that are Palestine’s strongest supporters in the EU are reluctant to back any move to reduce people-to-people contacts.
The paper emerged after EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced a potentially-significant deal with Israel to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza.
In a statement on Thursday Kallas said Israel had agreed to “the substantial increase of daily trucks for food and non-food items to enter Gaza”, as well as the reopening of the Jordanian and Syrian aid routes, distribution of food from bakers and public kitchens and resumption of water supply to the water desalination facility.
A spokesperson for Kallas said the agreement was the outcome of a dialogue Kallas launched with Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar. Her pledge to raise the humanitarian crisis with Israel was made after the completion of the review of the EU-Israel agreement.
One open question is whether Kallas and EU member states now feel enough has been done to pressure Israel to change course, or whether more is needed. The EU response will certainly reflect how Israel implements the aid deal.
“We count on Israel to implement every measure agreed,” Kallas said.
Israeli strikes kill at least six people
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes on Friday killed at least six people in the Palestinian territory’s north, including five at a school-turned-shelter, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The agency said in a brief statement:
Five martyrs and others injured in an Israeli strike on Halima al-Saadia school, which was sheltering displaced persons in Jabalia al-Nazla, northern Gaza.
In a separate strike on Gaza City, to the south, the agency said at least one person was killed and several others wounded.
In central Gaza on Friday, the Al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat said it received several casualties after Israeli forces had opened fire at civilians near an aid distribution point.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has recently intensified its operations in the Gaza Strip as the war against Hamas militants entered its 22nd month.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties.
A Palestinian speaking to AFP from southern Gaza on condition of anonymity said there were ongoing attacks and widespread devastation, with Israeli tanks seen near the city of Khan Yunis.
“The situation remains extremely difficult in the area – intense gunfire, intermittent air strikes, artillery shelling and ongoing bulldozing and destruction of displacement camps and agricultural land to the south, west and north of Al-Maslakh,” an area to Khan Yunis’s south, said the witness.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes on Friday killed at least six people in the Palestinian territory’s north, including five at a school-turned-shelter.
“Five martyrs and others injured in an Israeli strike on Halima al-Saadia school, which was sheltering displaced persons in Jabalia al-Nazla, northern Gaza,” the agency said in a brief statement.
In a separate strike on Gaza City, to the south, the agency said at least one person was killed and several others wounded.
In central Gaza on Friday, the Al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat said it received several casualties after Israeli forces had opened fire at civilians near an aid distribution point.
The civil defence agency said eight children – killed as they queued for nutritional supplements outside a health clinic – were among 66 people who died in Israeli strikes across the territory on Thursday.
The agency said the children were among 17 victims in a strike on Deir el-Balah.
According to the UN children’s agency, the dead included a one-year-old boy whose mother said he had spoken his first words just hours earlier. The mother was critically injured, UNICEF added.
US-based charity Project Hope, which runs the facility, said the victims were waiting for the clinic to open to receive treatment for malnutrition, infections and illness. The charity gave a toll of 15 dead, including 10 children and two women.
In other developments:
A UN team got about 75,000 litres of fuel into Gaza on Wednesday, the first such delivery in 130 days, said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Thursday. “The amount entered yesterday isn’t sufficient to cover even one day of energy requirements. Fuel is still running out and services will shut down if far greater volumes do not enter immediately,” Dujarric told reporters. It comes as doctors at Gaza’s largest hospital say crippling fuel shortages have led them to put several premature babies in single incubators as they struggle to keep the newborns alive while Israel presses on with its military campaign.
The EU has reached an agreement with Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, including increasing trucks for aid and opening crossing points and certain aid routes, the EU’s top diplomat said on Thursday. “These measures are or will be implemented in the coming days, with the common understanding that aid at scale must be delivered directly to the population and that measures will continue to be taken to ensure that there is no aid diversion to Hamas,” Kaja Kallas said in a statement.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he hoped to reach a deal in a few days for the release of more Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. Netanyahu said 50 hostages were still being held captive by Hamas. Of that figure, he said, only 20 are believed to be alive. He said Israel’s “fundamental conditions” were that “Hamas lays down its weapons” and no longer has “governing or military capabilities”. “If this can be achieved through negotiations, great. If it cannot be achieved through negotiations within 60 days, we will achieve it through other means, by using force, the force of our heroic army,” he added.
Hamas said on Wednesday it had agreed to release 10 living hostages but on Thursday it said it opposed a deal that includes a large Israeli military presence in Gaza. It said there were several sticking points in the ongoing ceasefire talks including the flow of aid, withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and “genuine guarantees for a permanent ceasefire.”
The UN warned on Thursday that Washington was setting a “dangerous precedent” by imposing sanctions on a UN expert for criticising US policy on Gaza and called for the cancellation of the action. It comes after the US said on Wednesday it was imposing sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, who has been very critical of US ally Israel’s war in Gaza.
French president Emmanuel Macron on Thursday urged joint UK-France recognition of a Palestinian state, calling such moves “the only hope for peace” in the conflict-ridden region. Flanking UK leader Keir Starmer at a news conference as he wrapped up a three-day state visit to Britain, Macron said he wanted to “initiate this political dynamic” of recognising Palestinian statehood.
An explosive drone was shot down near Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq’s oil-rich province of Kirkuk early on Friday, the Iraqi Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism service said in a statement.
Yemeni Houthi militia leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Thursday that no company could be permitted to transport goods related to Israel through designated areas at sea. He reiterated that a Houthi ban on navigation the group sees as associated with Israel through the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea would remain in place. The Iran-aligned Houthis sank two ships in the Red Sea earlier this week after months of calm.
Rescuers pulled three more crew members and a security guard alive from the Red Sea on Thursday, maritime security sources said, a day after Houthi militants sank the Greek ship Eternity C and said they were holding some of the crew still missing. This brings the total number of those rescued so far to 10, including eight Filipino crew members, one Indian and one Greek security guard. The people found on Thursday had spent more than 48 hours in the water. Another 11 people are still missing.
Israel will strike Iran again if it is threatened by Tehran, defence minister Israel Katz said on Thursday. “Israel’s long arm will reach you in Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, and anywhere you try to threaten or harm Israel. There is no place to hide”, Katz said at an air force graduation ceremony, according to a statement from his office. He added: “If we must return, we will do so with greater force.”
A gas leak leading to an explosion in Iran’s capital Tehran has wounded at least four people, Iran’s state media reported on Thursday.
Hurriyat Conference chairman and chief cleric of Jammu and Kashmir Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday (July 11, 2025) claimed that he was put under house arrest and not allowed to offer prayers at the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar.
Mr. Mirwaiz, who is also Kashmir’s chief cleric, delivers the Friday sermon (July 11, 2025) at the historic grand mosque in Nowhatta locality of the city.
“Disallowed to go to Jama Masjid today, put under house arrest, fearing the mention of the martyrs of 13th July 1931 in my friday sermon!” Mr. Mirwaiz said in a post on X. On July 13, 1931, 22 people were killed by the Dogra Army of Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir Hari Singh.
Mr. Mirwaiz said, “The sacrifice of these martyrs and all the martyrs since, is etched in the collective memory of Kashmir and cannot not be undone by restrictions and bans No living nation can forget the supreme sacrifice of life of its martyrs against tyranny and injustice,” he added.
The Hurriyat chairman appealed to the authorities to “remove the restrictions” and allow people to “peacefully pay homage to the martyrs of 13th July”.
At least 798 killed while trying to receive food aid in Gaza
At least 798 people have been killed while trying to receive food aid in Gaza since the end of May, the UN human rights office said on Friday, Reuters reports.
Of the total number of people killed while receiving food assistance since 27 May, 615 were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, a spokesperson for the Office of the high commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) told reporters.
It added that 183 of the total figure were on the routes of aid convoys.
Aid groups say Israeli military restrictions and recurring violence have made it difficult to deliver assistance in Gaza even after Israel eased its 11-week total blockade in May.
Experts have warned the strip is at risk of famine, 21 months into the Israel-Hamas war, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
Key events
Closing summary
At least 798 people have been killed while trying to receive food aid in Gaza since the end of May, the UN human rights office said on Friday. Of the total number of people killed while receiving food assistance since 27 May, 615 were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, a spokesperson for the Office of the high commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) told reporters.
The number of people killed by strikes in Gaza on Friday has risen to seven, according to the region’s civil defence agency, including five at a school-turned-shelter. “Five martyrs and others injured in an Israeli strike on Halima al-Saadia school, which was sheltering displaced persons in Jabalia al-Nazla, northern Gaza,” the agency said in a brief statement.
In a separate strike on Gaza City, to the south, the agency said at least one person was killed and several others wounded. In central Gaza on Friday, the Al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat said it received several casualties after Israeli forces had opened fire at civilians near an aid distribution point.
An Iranian attack on an airbase in Qatar key to the US military likely hit a geodesic dome housing equipment used by the Americans for secure communications, satellite images analysed by the Associated Press (AP) show. The US military and Qatar did not immediately respond to requests for comment over the damage, which so far has not been publicly acknowledged.
Lebanese president Joseph Aoun ruled out normalisation between his country and Israel on Friday, while expressing hope for peaceful relations with Beirut’s southern neighbour, which still occupies parts of southern Lebanon, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. Aoun’s statement is the first official reaction to Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar’s statement last week in which he expressed his country’s interest in normalising ties with Lebanon and Syria.
Iran’s foreign minister has confirmed that his country is detaining a teenage French-German cyclist who disappeared last month, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Friday. The cyclist, Lennart Monterlos, “was detained for having committed an infraction,” the newspaper quoted Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi as saying, AP reports.
Al Jazeera reports that Hamas has criticised the decision by the US to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza. The group described the move as a “blatant expression of the US administration’s blatant bias toward Zionist war crimes” and called for the country’s administration to reverse its actions.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has condemned an attack which it claims wounded one of its staff members and a Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) volunteer during a rescue mission in Gaza. The committee said the individuals were injured by gunshots and immediately evacuated to receive treatment. Both are reportedly in a stable condition.
Commercial ships still sailing through the Red Sea are broadcasting messages about their nationality and even religion on their public tracking systems to avoid being targeted by Yemen’s Houthis after deadly attacks this week by the militia. The Red Sea is a critical waterway for oil and commodities but traffic has dropped sharply since Houthi attacks off Yemen’s coast began in November 2023 in what the Iran-aligned group said was in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war, Reuters reported.
The EU’s diplomatic service has drawn up a list of options to sanction Israel, after finding “indications” that the Middle Eastern country had breached its human rights obligations over its conduct in Gaza and the West Bank. A document for EU foreign ministers to discuss next week outlines 10 options, such as suspending the EU-Israel association agreement or visa-free-travel for Israelis, freezing preferential trade terms, or terminating Israel’s participation in Europe’s research and student exchange programmes.
A UN team got about 75,000 litres of fuel into Gaza on Wednesday, the first such delivery in 130 days, said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Thursday. “The amount entered yesterday isn’t sufficient to cover even one day of energy requirements. Fuel is still running out and services will shut down if far greater volumes do not enter immediately,” Dujarric told reporters. It comes as doctors at Gaza’s largest hospital say crippling fuel shortages have led them to put several premature babies in single incubators as they struggle to keep the newborns alive while Israel presses on with its military campaign.
The EU has reached an agreement with Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, including increasing trucks for aid and opening crossing points and certain aid routes, the EU’s top diplomat said on Thursday. “These measures are or will be implemented in the coming days, with the common understanding that aid at scale must be delivered directly to the population and that measures will continue to be taken to ensure that there is no aid diversion to Hamas,” Kaja Kallas said in a statement.
Militant fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) began handing over their weapons near the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant step in the decades-long conflict between Turkey and the outlawed group. The disarmament ceremony marks a turning point in the transition of the PKK from armed insurgency to democratic politics, as part of a broader effort to draw a line under one of the region’s longest-running conflicts.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, has responded to news that she will be sanctioned by the Trump administration with a post on X saying “the powerful punishing those who speak for the powerless, it is not a sign of strength, but of guilt”. On Wednesday, as part of its effort to punish critics of Israel’s 21-month war in Gaza, the state department sanctioned Albanese, an independent official tasked with investigating human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories.
William Christou
At least 798 people have been killed while seeking food at distribution points operated by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and other humanitarian convoys since the end of May, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Friday.
The GHF, proposed by Israel as an alternative to the UN aid system in Gaza, has been almost universally condemned by rights groups for its violation of principles of humanitarian impartiality and what they have said could be complicity in war crimes.
“Up until the seventh of July, we’ve recorded now 798 killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, and 183 presumably on the route of aid convoys,” the OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
Israel backed the GHF after claiming that Hamas diverted aid from the UN-led aid system, a claim for which the UN said there was no evidence. The private company employs American mercenaries to oversee four food distribution zones, as opposed to the previous 400 non-militarised zones run under the UN system.
The GHF said the UN figures were “false and misleading” and denied that deadly incidents occurred at its sites. “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys,” a GHF spokesperson said.
In Gaza, the GHF has become infamous for the near-daily shootings of people seeking food who have queued to receive meals since the group started operating in early May. Palestinians seeking food have to navigate a complicated set of instructions and stick to specific routes, as well as walk long distances to access the food sites. Even then there is no guarantee they will be safe.
Commercial ships still sailing through the Red Sea are broadcasting messages about their nationality and even religion on their public tracking systems to avoid being targeted by Yemen’s Houthis after deadly attacks this week by the militia.
The Red Sea is a critical waterway for oil and commodities but traffic has dropped sharply since Houthi attacks off Yemen’s coast began in November 2023 in what the Iran-aligned group said was in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war, Reuters reported.
The group sank two ships this week after months of calm and its leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi reiterated there would be no passage for any company transporting goods connected to Israel.
In recent days more ships sailing through the southern Red Sea and the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait have added messages to their AIS public tracking profiles that can be seen when clicking on a vessel.
Messages have included referring to an all-Chinese crew and management, and flagging the presence of armed guards on board.
“All Crew Muslim,” read one message, while others made clear the ships had no connection to Israel, according to MarineTraffic and LSEG ship-tracking AIS data.
Maritime security sources said this was a sign of growing desperation to avoid attack by Houthi commandos or deadly drones – but they also thought it was unlikely to make any difference.
Houthi intelligence preparation was “much deeper and forward-leaning”, one source said.
Two ICRC staff members injured in Gaza rescue mission, organisation says
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has condemned an attack which it claims wounded one of its staff members and a Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) volunteer during a rescue mission in Gaza.
The committee said the individuals were injured by gunshots and immediately evacuated to receive treatment. Both are reportedly in a stable condition.
The ICRC said the mission was launched to evacuate a wounded ICRC staff member and his family who had been unreachable since 4 July due to ongoing hostilities. It added that the colleague and his family members remain unreachable.
All staff involved in the mission were said to be travelling in illuminated and clearly marked vehicles bearing the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems. The committee said that it was in constant dialogue with authorities throughout the mission, which was notified and coordinated beforehand.
The ICRC said in a statement:
The ICRC condemns this attack. This is the second incident in which an ICRC staff member has been injured by bullets in less than a week. Both the PRCS and the ICRC have already faced numerous security incidents over the past few months. The ICRC is outraged by these incidents which are a stark reminder of the grave danger civilians in Gaza face every day.
Medical and humanitarian assistance is critical for the civilian population that continues to bear the brunt of intensifying hostilities. Under international humanitarian law, medical and humanitarian relief personnel must never be attacked. The parties must do their utmost to ensure their safety including providing clear and strict instructions on respect for red cross and red crescent emblems. All possible steps must be taken to search for, collect, and evacuate the wounded and provide them with the medical care they require.
Israeli army says ‘lessons learned’ following probe on ‘harm to civilians’
Israel’s military on Friday said it learned lessons after a probe into reports of “harm to civilians”. The statement came after the UN said nearly 800 people had died trying to access handouts in Gaza since late May, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
The army said the incidents were under review and added:
Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted… and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) told Reuters that the UN figures which claimed 798 people have been killed while trying to receive food aid in Gaza since the end of May were “false and misleading”.
The aid distribution service began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May after Israel lifted an 11-week-old aid blockade.
It has repeatedly denied that deadly incidents have occurred at its sites.
“The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to U.N. convoys,” a GHF spokesperson said.
The Israeli army said it had sought to minimise friction between Palestinians and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) by installing fences and signs and opening additional routes.
The UN rights office (OHCHR) said it based its figures on a range of sources such as information from hospitals in Gaza, cemeteries, families, Palestinian health authorities, NGOs and its partners on the ground.
Most of the injuries to Palestinians in the vicinity of aid distribution hubs recorded by the OHCHR since 27 May were gunshot wounds, OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said.
She added:
We’ve raised concerns about atrocity crimes having been committed and the risk of further atrocity crimes being committed where people are lining up for essential supplies such as food.
Regarding the GHF assertion that the OHCHR figures are false and misleading, Shamdasani said:
It is not helpful to issue blanket dismissals of our concerns – what is needed is investigations into why people are being killed while trying to access aid.
Israel has repeatedly said its forces operate near the relief aid sites to prevent supplies falling into the hands of militants it has been fighting in the Gaza war triggered by the Hamas-led cross-border attack on 7 October 2023.
Al Jazeera reports that Hamas has criticised the decision by the US to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza.
The group described the move as a “blatant expression of the US administration’s blatant bias toward Zionist war crimes” and called for the country’s administration to reverse its actions.
The outlet reported that the group said in a statement on Telegram:
The punitive measures taken by the United States against institutions and individuals performing their professional and moral role in the war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, most recently Albanese, undermine the foundations of international and humanitarian law and encourage the occupation’s war criminal leaders to continue their brutal crimes.
Albanese responded to the news that she would be sanctioned with a post on X saying “the powerful punishing those who speak for the powerless, it is not a sign of strength, but of guilt”.
She added:
All eyes must remain on Gaza, where children are dying of starvation in their mothers’ arms, while their fathers and siblings are bombed into pieces while searching for food.
Below is a video showing senior PKK figure Bese Hozat reading a statement in Turkish outside the mouth of a cave near Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan region of Iraq’s north on Friday as militant fighters began handing over their weapons.
Kurdistan Workers’ party fighters burn weapons in disarming ceremony – video
The ceremony marks a turning point in the transition of the PKK from armed insurgency to democratic politics in the four-decade conflict between Turkey and the outlawed group.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, has described Gaza as a “graveyard of children and starving people”.
Lazzarini was speaking in response to the 15 people who were killed in a strike outside a medical centre where families were queueing to receive medical treatment and baby formula in Deir al Balah in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
He said in a post on X:
Inaction & silence are complicities.
Under our watch, #Gaza has become the graveyard of children & starving people.
No way out. Their choice is between 2 deaths: starvation or being shoot [sic] at.
The most cruel & machiavellian scheme to kill, in total impunity.
Our norms & values are being buried.
Inaction will bring more chaos.
Time to act is overdue.
Lebanese president Joseph Aoun ruled out normalisation between his country and Israel on Friday, while expressing hope for peaceful relations with Beirut’s southern neighbour, which still occupies parts of southern Lebanon, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
Aoun’s statement is the first official reaction to Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar’s statement last week in which he expressed his country’s interest in normalising ties with Lebanon and Syria.
Aoun “distinguished between peace and normalisation”, according to a statement shared by the presidency.
The president said in front of a delegation from an Arab thinktank.
Peace is the lack of a state of war, and this is what matters to us in Lebanon at the moment. As for the issue of normalisation, it is not currently part of Lebanese foreign policy.
Lebanon and Syria have technically been in a state of war with Israel since 1948, with Damascus saying that talks of normalisation were “premature”.
The president called on Israel to withdraw from the five points near the border it still occupies. Israel was required to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon under a November ceasefire seeking to end its war with Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Aoun said that Israeli troops in Lebanon “obstruct the complete deployment of the army up to the internationally recognised borders”.
According to the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah must pull its fighters north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border with Israel, leaving the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the area.
An Iranian attack on an airbase in Qatar key to the US military likely hit a geodesic dome housing equipment used by the Americans for secure communications, satellite images analysed by the Associated Press (AP) show.
The US military and Qatar did not immediately respond to requests for comment over the damage, which so far has not been publicly acknowledged.
The Iranian attack on Al Udeid airbase outside Doha, Qatar’s capital, on 23 June came as a response to the American bombing of three nuclear sites in Tehran– and provided the Islamic Republic a way to retaliate that quickly led to a ceasefire brokered by president Donald Trump ending the 12-day Iran-Israel war.
The Iranian attack otherwise did little damage — likely due to the fact that the US evacuated its aircraft from the base home to the forward headquarters of the US military’s Central Command ahead of the attack.
Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC show the geodesic dome visible at the Al Udeid airbase on the morning of 23 June, just hours before the attack.
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows modernized enterprise terminal, center, at the Al Udeid Air Base outside of Doha, Qatar, 23 June 2025. Photograph: Planet Labs PBC/AP
The US air force’s 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, which operates out of the base, in 2016 announced the installation of the $15m piece of equipment, known as a modernised enterprise terminal. Photos show a satellite dish inside of the dome, known as a radome.
Images taken on 25 June and every day subsequently show the dome is gone, with some damage visible on a nearby building. The rest of the base appears largely untouched in the images.
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage after an Iranian attack at the Al Udeid Air Base outside of Doha, Qatar, June 25, 2025. Photograph: Planet Labs PBC/AP
It’s possible a fragment or something else struck the dome, but given the destruction of the dome, it was likely an Iranian attack, possibly with a bomb-carrying drone given the limited visible damage to surrounding structures.
The London-based satellite news channel Iran International first reported on the damage, citing satellite photos taken by a different provider.
Potentially signalling he knew the dome had been hit, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei separately claimed the base’s communications had been disconnected by the attack.
Ahmad Alamolhoda, a hard-line cleric, said:
All equipment of the base was completely destroyed and now the U.S. command stream and connection from Al Udeid base to its other military bases have been completely cut.
Iran’s foreign minister has confirmed that his country is detaining a teenage French-German cyclist who disappeared last month, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Friday.
The cyclist, Lennart Monterlos, “was detained for having committed an infraction,” the newspaper quoted Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi as saying, AP reports.
He didn’t elaborate on the nature of the alleged offence.
Araghchi said France’s embassy in Tehran has been notified, the newspaper added. Monterlos was cycling across Iran and hasn’t been heard from since mid-June, it said.
France’s foreign ministry didn’t confirm the detention, but said that it’s in contact with Iranian authorities about “the situation of our national” and also with the family.
Citing concerns for his security, it said it had no other comment. It reiterated previous warnings that French nationals shouldn’t travel to Iran.
The cyclist is the third French national known to be detained in Iran, which is accused by France of practising hostage diplomacy.
Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, have been held in Iran for more than three years in prison conditions that France likens to torture and on charges that Paris says are without foundation.
We have more on the 30 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who burned their weapons in northern Iraq on Friday.
Reuters reports that the fighters, in beige military fatigues, were flanked by four commanders, including senior PKK figure Bese Hozat, who read a statement in Turkish declaring the group’s decision to disarm.
“We voluntarily destroy our weapons, in your presence, as a step of goodwill and determination,” she said, before another commander read the same statement in Kurdish.
Helicopters hovered overhead, with dozens of Iraqi Kurdish security forces surrounding the mountainous area, a witness said.
The EU on Friday said it “deeply regrets” the US decision to impose sanctions on United Nations expert Francesca Albanese after she criticised Washington’s policy on Gaza, AFP reports.
EU spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said:
The European Union strongly supports the United Nations human rights system and we deeply regret the decision to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese.
Summary of the day so far
At least 798 people have been killed while trying to receive food aid in Gaza since the end of May, the UN human rights office said on Friday.
Of the total number of people killed while receiving food assistance since 27 May, 615 were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, a spokesperson for the Office of the high commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) told reporters.
The number of people killed by strikes in Gaza on Friday has risen to seven, according to the region’s civil defence agency, including five at a school-turned-shelter.
“Five martyrs and others injured in an Israeli strike on Halima al-Saadia school, which was sheltering displaced persons in Jabalia al-Nazla, northern Gaza,” the agency said in a brief statement.
In a separate strike on Gaza City, to the south, the agency said at least one person was killed and several others wounded.
In central Gaza on Friday, the Al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat said it received several casualties after Israeli forces had opened fire at civilians near an aid distribution point.
In other developments:
The EU’s diplomatic service has drawn up a list of options to sanction Israel, after finding “indications” that the Middle Eastern country had breached its human rights obligations over its conduct in Gaza and the West Bank. A document for EU foreign ministers to discuss next week outlines 10 options, such as suspending the EU-Israel association agreement or visa-free-travel for Israelis, freezing preferential trade terms, or terminating Israel’s participation in Europe’s research and student exchange programmes.
A UN team got about 75,000 litres of fuel into Gaza on Wednesday, the first such delivery in 130 days, said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Thursday. “The amount entered yesterday isn’t sufficient to cover even one day of energy requirements. Fuel is still running out and services will shut down if far greater volumes do not enter immediately,” Dujarric told reporters. It comes as doctors at Gaza’s largest hospital say crippling fuel shortages have led them to put several premature babies in single incubators as they struggle to keep the newborns alive while Israel presses on with its military campaign.
The EU has reached an agreement with Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, including increasing trucks for aid and opening crossing points and certain aid routes, the EU’s top diplomat said on Thursday. “These measures are or will be implemented in the coming days, with the common understanding that aid at scale must be delivered directly to the population and that measures will continue to be taken to ensure that there is no aid diversion to Hamas,” Kaja Kallas said in a statement.
Militant fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) began handing over their weapons near the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant step in the decades-long conflict between Turkey and the outlawed group. The disarmament ceremony marks a turning point in the transition of the PKK from armed insurgency to democratic politics, as part of a broader effort to draw a line under one of the region’s longest-running conflicts.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, has responded to news that she will be sanctioned by the Trump administration with a post on X saying “the powerful punishing those who speak for the powerless, it is not a sign of strength, but of guilt”. On Wednesday, as part of its effort to punish critics of Israel’s 21-month war in Gaza, the state department sanctioned Albanese, an independent official tasked with investigating human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he hoped to reach a deal in a few days for the release of more Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. Netanyahu said 50 hostages were still being held captive by Hamas. Of that figure, he said, only 20 are believed to be alive. He said Israel’s “fundamental conditions” were that “Hamas lays down its weapons” and no longer has “governing or military capabilities”. “If this can be achieved through negotiations, great. If it cannot be achieved through negotiations within 60 days, we will achieve it through other means, by using force, the force of our heroic army,” he added.
Hamas said on Wednesday it had agreed to release 10 living hostages but on Thursday it said it opposed a deal that includes a large Israeli military presence in Gaza. It said there were several sticking points in the ongoing ceasefire talks including the flow of aid, withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and “genuine guarantees for a permanent ceasefire.
Scottish crime drama Rebus has been renewed for a second series, the BBC has announced.
Based on the best-selling books by Ian Rankin and filmed in and around Edinburgh and Glasgow, the new series will continue to explore Rebus’s complex world as he navigates Scottish crime and personal conflict.
Richard Rankin reprises the role of Detective Sergeant John Rebus, who will “explore the links between violent criminals involved in the drug trade in Edinburgh and the professional bourgeois world of law and finance, where police sometimes fear to tread”.
Ian Rankin, who serves as an executive producer on the show, said: “Season one of Rebus ended on a cliffhanger. Only screenwriter Gregory Burke knows what happens next.
“So I’m hugely excited that season two will soon be with us. Rebus is back – mean, moody and as magnificent as ever!”
Paula Cuddy, executive producer and co-CEO at production company Eleventh Hour Films, added: “After three wins at the RTS Scotland Awards 2025, we couldn’t be more thrilled to now share that we are reuniting with Ian Rankin’s celebrated Scottish detective, brilliantly portrayed by Richard Rankin, to bring a second series of Rebus to the BBC.
“No doubt it’ll pack a punch and there’ll be some sardonic Rebus comments along the way. We can’t wait!”
Writer Gregory Burke said: “I’m delighted to be given the chance by the BBC and Eleventh Hour Films to bring Rebus back to the nation’s TV screens once more.
“Ian Rankin’s character and body of work are the perfect materials with which to explore contemporary Scottish society and the turbulent world that surrounds it.”
The first series of Rebus is currently available to stream in full on BBC iPlayer.
