feared

Amanda Barrie used to fear that her sexuality would cost her her role on Coronation Street and is certain she would have been sacked if bosses found out

Amanda Barrie used to fear that her sexuality would cost her her role on Coronation Street. The actress, who will celebrate her 90th birthday this weekend, is best-remembered by fans of the world’s longest-running TV soap as Alma Halliwell, and initially appeared in 1981 for a brief stint before appearing regularly from 1988 until 2001.

Over the years, viewers watched the supermarket worker marry fellow legend Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs), and will also recall her partnership with Gail Platt (Helen Worth) when they ran the café for a number of years and her long friendship with Gail’s mother Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls). In 2001, she left the programme for good when her character succumbed to cancer, and in 2003, Amanda came out as bisexual.

But the TV star, who married former Mirror journalist and crime novelist Hilary Bonner in 2014, is now certain that had she come clean about her sexuality any sooner, she would have been dismissed from the programme, although she appreciates now that she has no evidence to back up this claim.

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During an appearance on Thursday’s Good Morning Britain, she told hosts Kate Garraway and Ed Balls: “Somebody shopped me to the press. I should’ve known better but I never kept my life from anybody, all my friends know everything.

“I think people thought it was catching, you were pushed away and whispered about in corners. They would not, and I swear to God, I’ve said this but I can’t back it up, I know that I would’ve been sacked from Coronation Street.

“They would’ve got rid. You couldn’t have said ‘It would’ve been that person who did it or that…’ it would’ve been ‘Oh we don’t want anything to do with that, darling.'”

Once Amanda, who has just released her memoir I’m Still Here, had come out, she actually got a pleasant surprise with the reaction she received, having anticipated the worst.

She explained: “I expected to be stoned in the street, I got a lot of hugs. What was I in such a state about? Because it was just ‘Oh, I see, oh…'” before adding: “You automatically revert to the way you’d always behave, lurking about with your head down editing your life is what you do. You change they, he, she, all that editing…”

Amanda and Hilary, who live between Covent Garden and Somerset, are amazed how much public attitudes have changed over the years. For Amanda’s adamant she could never have come out before Alma’s death on Corrie in 2001, but now appreciates the inclusion and diversity within the show.

She said: “It wouldn’t have been the bosses who caused a problem so much as some of the other cast,” she reveals. ”My close friends like Helen Worth all knew the truth. But you heard other people say certain things….Not naming names.

“Now there are so many LGBTQI characters on the show I often joke they should rename it Canal Street! [after Manchester’s gay bar district]. What happened after I left? It’s not contagious, you know!”

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Ronan Keating had to rush to help Rick after he suffered a coughing fit during an appearance on The One Show

Rick Astley has opened up about his coughing episode on The One Show, confessing he feared he might have to “walk off” during the live broadcast.

The 80s icon left viewers concerned when he began choking and spluttering whilst being interviewed on the BBC programme on Friday (September 5), with fellow musician Ronan Keating rushing to his aid by patting his back.

The incident was discussed during Rick’s appearance on BBC Breakfast on Monday (September 8), reports the Express. Presenter Jon Kay joked, “Rick joins us, and you’ve got some water, because you had a bit of a cough, didn’t you, on The One Show?”

“Yeah, I did indeed,” Rick replied. “So exciting to be about to cough your head off on live TV, sat next to Ronan Keating!”

“We do it all the time, so for people who didn’t see it, what happened?” presenter Sally Nugent asked.

The performer revealed: “The show had started and they had done a shot where the two of us are on the couch, so Ronan’s being interviewed and chatting, and I know Ronan a bit, he’s lovely, he’s great.

“And then I just started to feel I had a tickle, and then, so I’m trying to suppress it, you know, having some water and stuff, and I’m clutching my knees, and I’m thinking, I’m about to walk off live television, even though they’ve just introduced me as being on the couch! But we’re all good this morning. I hope so!”

“I don’t know what it was; it was just a tickle,” he continued.

The star went on: “I’ve only cancelled one gig in the whole of my life, and that was because of food poisoning, nothing to do with singing.”

“So, yeah, so hopefully we’re good.”

Jon suggested that even if the singer ever encountered a problem with his voice, the “show must go on”.

“Yeah, but also I think adrenaline kicks in,” Rick responded. “The amount of times that I’ve not been fully match fit, let’s say, a bit of a cold or something, but I think your adrenaline just takes over. The excitement of doing it still feels like the most exciting thing in the world to me.”

“Well, we’ve got Ronan on standby, just in case you need it,” Jon joked, causing Rick to chuckle.

Rick, 59, also opened up about how taking a hiatus from his career had made him appreciate it more.

“I’ve kind of got away from how kind of ridiculous it is and how full of nonsense it is to just view it as a purely beautiful, lovely thing to do,” he shared. “I don’t really ever get wrapped up in the fame side of it, all the this, that, and the other.”

The star admitted that he was “not really famous” most of the time, as he could visit places like the supermarket without being recognised.

“And that’s amazing because I can go and play an arena and then literally be going on the way home or on the way to the hotel and be completely ignored by people,” he added. “Even sometimes the same people who are in the arena.”

BBC Breakfast is broadcast daily at 6am on BBC One.

Martin would not be drawn on left-back Jefte’s future, amid reports the Brazilian is nearing a move to Palmeiras in his homeland, or Real Betis defender Nobel Mendy, who has been linked with a move to Ibrox.

“He’s in this morning,” Martin said of Jefte.

Rangers are yet to win a domestic game this season, having drawn 1-1 with Motherwell and Dundee in their opening two Scottish Premiership fixtures.

Tuesday’s loss in Plzen was Martin’s first as Rangers boss but he has secured home wins over the Czech side and Panathinaikos as well as a draw away to the latter.

Under Philippe Clement, Rangers were knocked out of last season’s Scottish Cup by lower league opposition as Queen’s Park triumphed at Ibrox. Alloa are one tier below Queen’s Park in League 1 and have won six out of seven games this term.

“It was last season, it’s completely gone some of them were probably part of that, I don’t see any benefit in me bringing it up, really,” Martin commented on the Queen’s Park result.

“We focus on this game but being better from Tuesday.”

Former S Club 7 star emotionally opened up about his father’s death during tonight’s Celebs Go Dating, and how he didn’t speak to his mum for two years while he was grieving

It was former S Club 7 star Jon Lee who became emotional during tonight’s episode of Celebs Go Dating, as he opened up about his father’s tragic death.

Jon’s sadly lost his father in 2014, after he was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. The star, who was very close to his dad, told dating experts Anna Williamson and Dr Tara that he “lost the plot” after his fathers death.

Opening up to the agents in Ibiza, the star opened up about how his dad had been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease at the same time he found out his boyfriend had been unfaithful the entire time they were together.

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“I had an emotional slap from this relationship, and then that happened. And I hadn’t quite recovered myself from that, and then that happened as well and everything fell apart.”

Opening up further, Jon expressed how close he was to his father, as he was seen tearing up in front of the agents. “Within the first year, he’d completely lost the ability to move, he couldn’t speak, he had to be fed through a tube in his stomach. He couldn’t talk to me. To go out like that, I literally lost the plot. I thought, ‘What the f**k is the point?’ It broke my heart.

Explaining on how he dealt with the grief, Jon continued: “I went out, I was taking loads of drugs. I went completely off the rails. That got to a point where I had to make a decision. I had to sort myself out or it wasn’t going to end well.”

Jon then recalled packing a bag, and never going back to his home. “I wrote to my mum, I sent her my front door key. I wrote her a note saying I don’t know where I’m going, I don’t know what I’m doing, but I need to sort myself out.”

The former popstar then left the country for four years, telling the agents how he didn’t even speak to his mum for two of them. “She didn’t know where I was. She said every time the phone rang she thought it was going to be the police saying, ‘We found Jon and he’s dead.’ That’s my biggest regret, that I caused her…” he said as he broke down in tears.

Earlier in the conversation, Jon opened up about how he felt he had to hide his sexuality while in the band, and didn’t really get to experience dating until they broke up in 2003. Jon was just 15 when the band started, as he told the agents he didn’t have an opportunity to figure out who he was in the real world.

Although Jon’s S Club 7 bandmades and his family knew he was gay, the star never spoke about it publicly. “Throughout the band, I wasn’t comfortable with my sexuality at all, so it would happen when I was drunk,” he explained.

“I didn’t feel comfortable enough to be in a relationship until after the band and when I went back into musical theatre,” he admitted. “It felt like I was out of the limelight then and no one cared about me anymore. That’s when I started my dating life, so I was massively behind and very emotionally immature.”

Jon’s time in the agency comes after a six year break from dating, as he told the cameras during the first episode that he had been celibate for six years.

In a chat while filming, Dr Tara told the Mirror that Jon was the celebrity that surprised her most in the Agency, and he was set to make a “shocking revelation”.

“Jon has had a really interesting journey since S Club and I know a lot of it hasn’t been shared anywhere else. It’s a really interesting and insightful investigation into what really has been happening in his life since S Club and what he’s been doing in the recent years,” she told us.

“One of his revelations I was shocked,” Tara exclaimed, as she revealed Jon was the celebrity who surprised her the most in the agency. “I thought Jon would come in a lot more guarded but he’s not,” Tara said. “He’s ready to bare it all emotionally and it’s a beautiful thing. I’ve been learning a lot about him already, and I have to say it’s a very touching story.”

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England beat Sweden on penalties in the Euro 2025 quarterfinal before going on to beat Spain in the final.

England defender Jess Carter said she felt a sigh of relief when her non-Black teammates missed penalties during their shootout win over Sweden in the Women’s Euro 2025 quarterfinals, fearing Lauren James would suffer “astronomical” racist abuse if the forward had been the only player to miss her spot-kick.

England overcame a two-goal deficit to force penalties in Zurich, eventually triumphing 3-2 in a dramatic shootout that featured 14 attempts.

Sweden goalkeeper Jennifer Falk saved four England penalties, including James’ second effort. Beth Mead, Alex Greenwood and Grace Clinton, who are all white, also missed their spot-kicks for England.

“It’s horrible to say but it’s almost like a sigh of relief when other players that weren’t Black missed a penalty, because the racism that would have come with LJ (James) being the only one that missed would have been astronomical,” Carter told United Kingdom broadcaster ITN on Monday.

“It’s not because we want them to fail – it’s about knowing how it’s going to be for us (England’s Black players) if we miss.”

Carter said in July that she had been the target of online racist abuse since Euro 2025 began in Switzerland and announced that she is stepping away from social media for the duration of the tournament.

“It makes you feel really small. It makes you feel like you’re not important, that you’re not valuable,” the 27-year-old said about the effect the abuse had on her.

“It makes you second-guess everything that you do – it’s not a nice place to be. It doesn’t make me feel confident going back on to the pitch. My family was so devastated by it as well and so sad.”

England, who traditionally take a knee before matches as a gesture against racism, opted not to do so before their semifinal against Italy, following Carter’s revelations about the abuse she faced.

She also admitted to feeling fear when England manager Sarina Wiegman informed her she would be playing in the final against Spain, which England won 3-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever been scared – too scared to play,” Carter said.

“I think it was a mixture of such a big game, but then on top of that (I was) scared of whatever abuse might come with it, whether it’s football-based or whether it was going to be the racial abuse that was going to come with it because I did something wrong.”

Speaking about the impact the abuse had on her, Carter said: “It makes you feel really small. It makes you feel like you’re not important, that you’re not valuable.

“It makes you second guess everything that you do – it’s not a nice place to be. It doesn’t make me feel confident going back on to the pitch. My family was so devastated by it as well and so sad.”

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said during the tournament that the governing body had referred the “abhorrent” abuse to UK police.

Carter stepped back from social media following the abuse, though she said the support received from the England fans “meant everything”.

The England team decided to stop taking the knee before matches, with manager Sarina Wiegman saying the impact of the anti-racism gesture was “not good enough”.

Carter said the psychological impact of the abuse she suffered made her feel “scared” when Wiegman told her she had been selected to play in the final.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever been scared – too scared to play,” she added.

“I think it was a mixture of such a big game, but then on top of that [I was] scared of whatever abuse might come with it, whether it’s football based or whether it was going to be the racial abuse that was going to come with it because I did something wrong.”

United States inflation rose last month to its highest level since February as President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs push up the cost of a range of goods, including furniture, clothing, and large appliances.

Consumer prices rose 2.7 percent in June from a year earlier, the Labor Department said on Tuesday, up from an annual increase of 2.4 percent in May. On a monthly basis, prices climbed 0.3 percent from May to June, after rising just 0.1 percent the previous month.

Worsening inflation poses a political challenge for Trump, who promised during last year’s presidential campaign to immediately lower costs. The sharp inflation spike after the pandemic was the worst in four decades and soured most Americans on former President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy. Higher inflation will also likely heighten the US Federal Reserve’s reluctance to cut its short-term interest rate, as Trump is loudly demanding.

The central bank is expected to leave its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent range at a policy meeting later this month.

Trump has insisted repeatedly that there is “no inflation”, and because of that, the central bank should swiftly reduce its key interest rate from its current level. Yet Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said that he wants to see how the economy reacts to Trump’s duties before reducing borrowing costs. Minutes of the central bank’s June 17-18 meeting, which were published last week, showed only “a couple” of officials said they felt rates could fall as soon as the July 29-30 meeting.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation increased 2.9 percent in June from a year earlier, up from 2.8 percent in May. On a monthly basis, it picked up 0.2 percent from May to June. Economists closely watch core prices because they typically provide a better sense of where inflation is headed.

The uptick in inflation was driven by a range of higher prices. The cost of gasoline rose 1 percent just from May to June, while grocery prices increased 0.3 percent. Appliance prices jumped for the third straight month. Toys, clothes, audio equipment, shoes, and sporting goods all got more expensive, and are all heavily imported.

“You are starting to see scattered bits of the tariff inflation regime filter in,” said Eric Winograd, chief economist at asset management firm AllianceBernstein, who added that the cost of long-lasting goods rose last month, compared with a year ago, for the first time in about three years.

Winograd also noted that housing costs, one of the biggest drivers of inflation since the pandemic, have continued to cool, which is holding down broader inflation. The cost of rent rose 3.8 percent in June compared with a year ago, the smallest yearly increase since late 2021.

“Were it not for the tariff uncertainty, the Fed would already be cutting rates,” Winograd said. “The question is whether there is more to come, and the Fed clearly thinks there is,” along with most economists.

Trump has imposed sweeping duties of 10 percent on all imports, plus 50-percent levies on steel and aluminium, 30 percent on goods from China, and 25 percent on imported cars. Just last week, the president threatened to hit the European Union with a new 30 percent tariff starting August 1.

He has also threatened to slap 50 percent duties on Brazil, which would push up the cost of orange juice and coffee. Orange prices leapt 3.5 percent just from May to June, and are 3.4 percent higher than a year ago.

Overall, grocery prices rose 0.3 percent last month and are up 2.4 percent from a year earlier. While that is a much smaller annual increase than before the pandemic, it is slightly bigger than the pre-pandemic pace of food price increases. The Trump administration has also placed a 17-percent duty on Mexican tomatoes.

Powell under fire

The acceleration in inflation could provide a respite of sorts for Powell, who has come under increasingly heavy fire from the White House for not cutting the benchmark interest rate.

The Fed chair has said that the duties could both push up prices and slow the economy, a tricky combination for the central bank since higher costs would typically lead the Fed to hike rates while a weaker economy often spurs it to reduce them.

Trump on Monday said that Powell has been “terrible” and “doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing.” The president added that the economy was doing well despite Powell’s refusal to reduce rates, but it would be “nice” if there were rate cuts, because people would be able to buy housing a lot easier.”

Last week, White House officials also attacked Powell for cost overruns on the years-long renovation of two Fed buildings, which are now slated to cost $2.5bn, roughly one-third more than originally budgeted. While Trump legally cannot fire Powell just because he disagrees with his interest rate decisions, the Supreme Court has signalled, he may be able to do so “for cause,” such as misconduct or mismanagement.

Some companies have said they have or plan to raise prices as a result of the tariffs, including Walmart, the world’s largest retailer. Carmaker Mitsubishi said last month that it was lifting prices by an average of 2.1 percent in response to the duties, and Nike has said it would implement “surgical” price hikes to offset tariff costs.

But many companies have been able to postpone or avoid price increases, after building up their stockpiles of goods this spring to get ahead of the duties. Other companies may have refrained from lifting prices while they wait to see whether the US is able to reach trade deals with other countries that lower the duties.

Associate Editor Tom Bryant reflects on meeting Masterchef star Gregg Wallace who opened up about his fears over losing his job during an extraordinary interview in late 2023

After I spent a morning in Gregg Wallace’s company, I felt like I needed a lie down. Meeting him to record an episode of my podcast, he was – at first – everything I had expected him to be: brash, extrovert and very loud.

In fact, he was not unlike his persona on BBC show MasterChef, with his booming voice and cockney cackle of a laugh. But after a few hours with him in late 2023 – and a very revealing interview – I came away with a very different perspective of the former Peckham greengrocer. Namely: how has this clearly troubled man with a host of demons risen to the top of the TV pile and stayed there for so long?

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It’s pertinent now as his career lies in tatters amid a swirl of accusations. This week alone we learned that 50 more people have made claims about him to BBC News.

Most accuse him of inappropriate sexual comments. Eleven women accuse him of ­inappropriate sexual behaviour, which he denies. If the claims against him are true, you can see in a heartbeat why he was relieved of his job as MasterChef co-host, a role he had since 2005.

When I met him in 2023, I found it hard to comprehend how he coped in the glare of the public eye. The answer was that he didn’t.

During our recording in the basement of a private members’ club in Soho in London’s West End, he talked about how being on TV exacerbated his mental health struggles.

It was a candid chat. But there was a niggling thought at the back of my mind that things wouldn’t end well.

I couldn’t put my finger on it – and I still struggle to – but 20 months later, the situation has well and truly imploded. He had revealed how the more famous he got, the worse his anxiety grew. He told me: “I used to not be able to go on holiday without getting anxiety attacks.”

At one point, Gregg looked me in the eye as he said how he lived in constant fear his career could end at any moment.

He said: “Why was I always scared of losing my job? Why was I always scared of losing my house? Why was I always scared of being poor?”

Being on telly made his anxiety levels soar. “TV is terrible for someone with anxiety,” he said. “I’ve had the same PA for 12 years. She went, ‘My word, you picked the wrong profession.’”

His stint on Strictly was a disaster. BBC bosses were so worried they got a therapist for him mid-series.

He said: “I was having a tough time. I was really stressed – so badly that the side of my face broke out into a rash, like cold sores.”

He told me his fourth wife Anna pleaded with him for them to quit the UK and live in Italy, asking him: “Is this worth it?”

A lot of his issues stemmed from a childhood blighted by abuse. Aged eight, he was sexually assaulted by a babysitter’s husband. Gregg told me: “I didn’t tell anybody at the time. I did tell my mum when I was older but she didn’t seem to want to know.”

He said of the abuse: “It was quite a horrendous situation for a young boy.”

Clearly, none of this could excuse some of the appalling behaviour heis now accused of.

There are some who may question why Gregg was on TV in the first place given his fragility. But mental health problems should not preclude you from your passion.

And I’m told that producers ­recognised he needed help and assigned him a full-time welfare specialist over the past six months.

This week he claimed to have received a formal autism diagnosis. Gregg, 60, said on Tuesday: “My neuro-diversity, now formally ­diagnosed as autism, was suspected by colleagues across countless seasons of Master-Chef. Yet nothing was done to ­investigate my disability or protect me from what I now realise was a dangerous environment for 20 years.”

Autism charities have reacted with fury to these comments, with one saying the condition is “not a free pass for bad behaviour”. Emily Banks, founder of neurodiversity training body Enna, said: “Being autistic is never an excuse for misconduct.

“It doesn’t absolve anyone of responsibility and it doesn’t mean you can’t tell right from wrong.”

But as one executive on a rival channel told me: “This isn’t about whether Gregg has autism.

“This is about what MasterChef knew about the wronged women over the years, and whether they just turned a blind eye.”

We now have to wait and see if the long-awaited MasterChef review into the saga provides the answers when it comes back on Monday.

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UN agency IOM says 743 people have died so far this year attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

At least 60 refugees and migrants are feared missing and drowned at sea after two shipwrecks off the coast of Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said, after attempting the perilous crossing to Europe.

“With dozens feared dead and entire families left in anguish, IOM is once again urging the international community to scale up search and rescue operations and guarantee safe, predictable disembarkation for survivors,” Othman Belbeisi, the regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

One shipwreck occurred on June 12 near Alshab port in Tripolitania, the United Nations agency said. Only five survivors were found and 21 people were reported missing. Among those feared dead are six Eritreans, including three women and three children, five Pakistanis, four Egyptians and two Sudanese men. The identities of four others remain unknown.

The second incident occurred on June 13, approximately 35km (22 miles) west of Libya’s Tobruk. According to the sole survivor, who was rescued by fishermen, 39 people are missing.

At least 743 people have died so far this year attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, including 538 on the Central Mediterranean route, which remains the deadliest known migration route in the world.

In recent years, the European Union has increased efforts to reduce such migration, including by providing equipment and financial support to the Libyan coastguard, a quasi-military organisation linked to militias accused of abuses and other crimes.

NGOs say the phasing out of state-run search and rescue operations has made journeys across the Mediterranean more dangerous. They have also denounced what they see as punitive action by states against charities operating in the Mediterranean.

As a result, many people fleeing conflict and persecution have found themselves stranded in Libya, often held in detention in conditions that rights groups describe as inhumane.

Libya, which is still struggling to recover from years of war and chaos after the 2011 NATO-backed overthrow of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi, has been criticised for its treatment of refugees and migrants.

Accusations from rights groups range from extortion to slavery, while smugglers and human traffickers have also taken advantage of the climate of instability in the country.

Fresh concerns the UK’s ‘doomsday ship’ could blow up were sparked after a cargo ship was recently spotted sailing perilously close to the exclusion zone

An unassuming seaside town with pastel beach huts and pebble shores is bizarrely home to its very own ticking time bomb.

Situated on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, Sheerness looks like any other coastal resort at first glance. With sweeping views of the Thames Estuary, rows of flashing arcades, a slew of fish and chip shops, and a popular promenade that runs along a shingle beach – it ticks all of the quintessential seaside must-haves.

Dating back to the Bronze Age, Sheerness’ history is what really sets it apart from the rest. It owes much of its origins as a Royal Naval dockyard town, after Henry VIII required the River Medway as an anchorage for his army, and ordered that the mouth of the river be protected by a small fort. Samuel Pepys established the Royal Navy Dockyard in the 17th century, where warships were stocked and repaired until its closure in 1960.

READ MORE: Tiny UK island ‘abandoned by humans’ after ambitious £3m plan axed decades ago

But, in 1944, just a year before the Second World War came to an end, a US Liberty Ship named SS Richard Montgomery, was loaded with around 7,000 tons of munitions and joined over convoys bound for the UK and then on to Cherbourg in France.

After arriving in the Thames Estuary, the vessel was directed to anchor in the Great Nore just off Sheerness to wait for instructions to cross the Channel. However, on August 20, it all went wrong.

“The vessel grounded amidships on the crest of the sandbank. Intensive efforts began to unload her cargo,” GOV UK explains. “Unfortunately, by the next day, a crack appeared in the hull and the forward end began to flood. The salvage effort continued until September 25, by which time approximately half of the cargo had been successfully removed. The salvage effort had to be abandoned when the vessel finally flooded completely.”

Now, the wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery remains on the sandbank, her masts clearly visible above the water. There are still approximately 1,400 tons of explosives contained within the forward holds – sparking fears it could explode at any time.

The government has reassured the public that the risk of a ‘major’ detonation is ‘believed to be remote’ – but that monitoring the condition of the wreck is essential. “Surveys are carried out by the MCA on a regular basis to ensure that any changes to the wreck, or its immediate environment, are discovered quickly,” the Maritime and Coastguard Agency states.

“It is clear from the results of these surveys that the hull is subject to the prevailing environmental conditions and is showing evidence of gradual deterioration. However, the wreck is considered to be in a stable condition.”

The wreck is under 24-hour radar surveillance and is designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973. An exclusion zone is clearly marked around it, but recent fears emerged after a cargo ship was pictured sailing perilously close to the ticking time bomb.

Eastchurch resident James Dewey, who spotted a WEC Lines container ship edging closer to the exclusion zone – marked by buoys, told reports: “It was worrying when I was sitting there looking at doomsday.” Officials confirmed the ship did not breach the exclusion zone, but the event still re-sparked interest in the ship’s potential to wreak havoc.

As previously reported, a 1970 report from the Royal Military College of Science predicted a huge tsunami more than 3,000 metres high would be caused if its payload was to detonate. Nearby Sheerness would also be engulfed in the carnage.

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American universities have long feared that the Chinese government will restrict its country’s students from attending institutions that cross Beijing’s sensitive political lines.

Universities still fear that consequence today, but the most immediate threat is no longer posed by the Chinese government. Now, as the latest punishment meted out to the Trump administration’s preeminent academic scapegoat shows, it’s our own government posing the threat.

In a May 22 letter, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced she revoked Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, meaning the university’s thousands of international students must transfer immediately or lose their legal status. Harvard can no longer enroll future international students either.

Noem cited Harvard’s failure to hand over international student disciplinary records in response to a prior letter and, disturbingly, the Trump administration’s desire to “root out the evils of anti-Americanism” on campus. Among the most alarming demands in this latest missive was that Harvard supply all video of “any protest activity” by any international student within the last five years.

Harvard immediately sued Noem and her department and other agencies, rightfully calling the revocation “a blatant violation of the First Amendment,” and within hours a judge issued a temporary restraining order against the revocation.

“Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country,” Noem wrote on X about the punishment. And on Tuesday, the administration halted interviews for all new student visas.

This is not how a free country treats its schools — or the international visitors who attend them.

Noem’s warning will, no doubt, be heard loud and clear. That’s because universities — which depend on international students’ tuition dollars — have already had reason to worry that they will lose access to international students for displeasing censorial government officials.

In 2010, Beijing revoked recognition of the University of Calgary’s accreditation in China, meaning Chinese students at the Canadian school suddenly risked paying for a degree worth little at home. The reason? The university’s granting of an honorary degree to the Dalai Lama the year before. “We have offended our Chinese partners by the very fact of bringing in the Dalai Lama, and we have work to resolve that issue,” a spokesperson said.

Beijing restored recognition over a year later, but many Chinese students had already left. Damage done.

Similarly, when UC San Diego hosted the Dalai Lama as commencement speaker in 2017, punishment followed. The China Scholarship Council suspended funding for academics intending to study at UCSD, and an article in the state media outlet Global Times recommended that Chinese authorities “not recognize diplomas or degree certificates issued by the university.”

This kind of direct punishment doesn’t happen very frequently. But the threat always exists, and it creates fear that administrators take into account when deciding how their universities operate.

American universities now must fear that they will suffer this penalty too, but at an even greater scale: revocation of access not just to students from China, but all international students. That’s a huge potential loss. At Harvard, for example, international students make up a whopping 27% of total enrollment.

Whether they publicly acknowledge it or not, university leaders probably are considering whether they need to adjust their behavior to avoid seeing international student tuition funds dry up.

Will our colleges and universities increase censorship and surveillance of international students? Avoid inviting commencement speakers disfavored by the Trump administration? Pressure academic departments against hiring any professors whose social media comments or areas of research will catch the eye of mercurial government officials?

And, equally disturbing, will they be willing to admit that they are now making these calculations at all? Unlike direct punishments by the Trump administration or Beijing, this chilling effect is likely to be largely invisible.

Harvard might be able to survive without international students’ tuition. But a vast number of other universities could not. The nation as a whole would feel their loss too: In the 2023-24 academic year, international students contributed a record-breaking $43.8 billion to the American economy.

And these students — who have uprooted their lives for the promise of what American education offers — are the ones who will suffer the most, as they experience weeks or months of panic and upheaval while being used as pawns in this campaign to punish higher ed.

If the Trump administration is seeking to root out “anti-Americanism,” it can begin by surveying its own behavior in recent months. Freedom of expression is one of our country’s most cherished values. Censorship, surveillance and punishment of government critics do not belong here.

Sarah McLaughlin is senior scholar on global expression at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and author of the forthcoming book “Authoritarians in the Academy: How the Internationalization of Higher Education and Borderless Censorship Threaten Free Speech.”

UNHCR says two shipwrecks on May 9 and 10 could be the ‘deadliest tragedy at sea’ involving Rohingya so far this year.

At least 427 Rohingya, Myanmar’s Muslim minority, may have perished at sea in two shipwrecks on May 9 and 10, the United Nations said, in what would be another deadly incident for the persecuted group.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) said in a statement on Friday that – if confirmed – the two incidents would be the “deadliest tragedy at sea” involving Rohingya refugees so far this year.

“The UN refugee agency is gravely concerned about reports of two boat tragedies off the coast of Myanmar earlier this month,” UNHCR said in the statement, adding that it was still working to confirm the exact circumstances surrounding the shipwrecks.

According to the agency, preliminary information indicated that a vessel carrying 267 people sank on May 9, with only 66 people surviving, and a second ship with 247 Rohingya on board capsized on May 10, with just 21 survivors.

The Rohingya on board were either leaving Bangladesh’s huge Cox’s Bazar refugee camps or fleeing Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine, the statement said.

Persecuted in Myanmar for decades, thousands of Rohingya risk their lives every year to flee repression and civil war in their country, often going to sea on board makeshift boats.

In a post on X, UNHCR High Commissioner Filippo Grandi said news of the double tragedy was “a reminder of the desperate situation” of the Rohingya “and of the hardship faced by refugees in Bangladesh as humanitarian aid dwindles”.

In 2017, more than a million Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh from Myanmar’s Rakhine State following a brutal crackdown by Myanmar’s military.

At least 180,000 of those who fled are now facing deportation back to Myanmar while those who stayed behind in Rakhine have endured dire conditions confined to refugee camps.

In 2021, the military launched a coup in Myanmar, ousting the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Since then, Rakhine has been the scene of fierce fighting between the military and the Arakan Army, an ethnic minority rebel group, for control of the state amid a widening civil war in the country.

“The dire humanitarian situation, exacerbated by funding cuts, is having a devastating impact on the lives of Rohingya, with more and more resorting to dangerous journeys to seek safety, protection and a dignified life for themselves and their families,” said Hai Kyung Jun, who leads UNHCR’s regional bureau for Asia and the Pacific.

In 2024, some 657 Rohingya died in the region’s waters, according to UNHCR.

Humanitarian organisations have been hit hard by funding cuts from major donors, led by the United States administration of President Donald Trump and other Western countries, as they prioritise defence spending prompted by growing fears of Russia and China.

UNHCR is seeking financial support to stabilise the lives of Rohingya refugees in host countries, including Bangladesh, and those displaced inside Myanmar.

Its request for $383m for support in 2025 is currently only 30 percent funded, the agency said.