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Abdulrahman Mari died in an Israeli prison after 7 October

A few days after Hamas attacked Israel and war erupted in Gaza, Umm Mohamed in the occupied West Bank received a telephone call from her son in an Israeli prison.

“Pray for me mum,” Abdulrahman Mari said. “Things are getting harder here. They might not let me speak to you again”.

It would be the last time she heard his voice.

Conditions deteriorated for Palestinian prisoners in Israel after 7 October last year, when Hamas mounted its deadly assault on Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip, according to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Commission of Detainees Affairs.

Thirteen Palestinian prisoners have since died in Israeli prisons, “the majority of them as a result of beating or denial of medication”, the commission’s head, Qadoura Fares, told the BBC.

Abdulrahman was one of the first to die.

A carpenter in the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, he had been on his way back home from work in Ramallah in February last year when he was arrested at a mobile checkpoint. He was taken into administrative detention – under which Israel can hold people indefinitely without charge – in Megiddo prison.

His brother Ibrahim said the charges against him were minor, such as taking part in protests and possessing a firearm, but said he was also accused of belonging to Hamas although there were no specific charges about any activities within the group.

Ibrahim is still trying to piece together how exactly his brother died. He has to rely on testimony from Abdulrahman’s former cellmates, as well as reports from court hearings.

One former cellmate, who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity, said: “After 7 October, it was total torture. They beat us for no reason, they searched us for no reason. Even if you look at someone the wrong way.”

He described having seen Abdulrahman heavily beaten in front of him and others.

“At 9am, they came into our cell, and began to beat us. One of the guards began to insult Abdulrahman’s parents, which he didn’t stand for, and he began to fight back.

“They beat him badly, and took him away to another cell upstairs for a week. During that time you could hear him crying out in pain.”

He said he had only found out about Abdulrahman’s death after he left prison a week later.

The Israeli prison service did not directly address the BBC’s questions about Abdulrahman’s death or those of the 12 other named Palestinians that the Commission of Detainees Affairs says have died, saying only: “We are not familiar with the claims described and as far as we know they are not true.”

Getty ImagesIsrael has detained thousands of West Bank Palestinians since 7 October

Professor Danny Rosin, a doctor from the group Physicians for Human Rights, attended the examination of Abdulrahman Mari’s body. His remarks corroborate what Abdulrahman’s cellmate and brother told the BBC.

Prof Rosin’s report mentioned that bruises had been seen over Abdulrahman’s left chest, and that he had several broken ribs. External bruises were also seen on the back, buttocks, left arm and thigh, as well as the right side of the head and neck with no fractures underneath.

It also quoted an additional police report which had mentioned “forceful restraint” being used on Mr Mari six days before his death.

Professor Rosin said in the report that while no specific cause of death had been found, “one may assume that the violence he suffered manifested by the multiple bruises and multiple severe rib fractures contributed to his death”.

He also added that “irregular pulse” or a “heart attack” could result from these injuries without leaving any physical evidence.

Israel currently holds more than 9,300 security prisoners, the vast majority of whom are Palestinians according to the Israeli rights group HaMoked, including more than 3,600 people in administrative detention.

These figures do not include detainees from the Gaza Strip being held in separate facilities by the Israeli military.

Mr Qadoura says the change after 7 October “affected every aspect of the prisoners’ lives”, alleging that prisoners have been subjected to starvation and thirst and some of those with chronic illnesses were denied their medication. Beatings became more regular and more brutal.

“I met a detainee who’d lost 20kg in the last three months,” he said.

“It’s as if the war on Gaza was also a war on Palestinian prisoners. It was all a form of revenge.”

Arafat Hamdan was dead within two days of his arrest

The BBC has previously heard from Palestinian prisoners who described being hit with sticks, having muzzled dogs set on them and having their clothes, food and blankets taken away in the weeks after 7 October.

The Israeli prison service has denied any mistreatment, saying that “all prisoners are held in accordance with the law while respecting their basic rights and under the supervision of a professional and skilled prison staff”.

It said prisons had gone into “emergency mode” after war broke out and it had been “decided to reduce the living conditions of the security prisoners”. Examples it gave included removing electrical equipment and cutting electricity to cells and reducing prisoners’ activities in the wings.

In the West Bank village of Beit Sira, Arafat Hamdan’s father showed where Israeli police officers had kicked the door of his family home and stormed in at 04:00 on 22 October looking for his son.

Police covered his son’s face with a thick black cloth and closed it around his neck with a rope. The mask smelled strongly, he said, and Arafat clearly had a hard time breathing with it on.

“I kept trying to comfort him.” Yasser Hamdan told the BBC. “It’s ok. They have nothing against you. They have nothing against us. I kept telling him that as they tied him up outside the house. Then they took him.”

Two days later a phone call came. Arafat had been found dead in his cell in Ofer prison in the West Bank.

Israeli authorities have not explained how he died. Arafat had Type 1 diabetes and would suffer from low blood sugar levels from time to time.

His father said one of the police officers arresting Arafat had told him to bring medicine with him, but it was unclear if he had been able to.

The BBC obtained a report by Dr Daniel Solomon, a surgeon who was present at the post mortem of Arafat Hamdan at the request of Physicians for Human Rights.

Dr Solomon said it had been carried out in Israel on 31 October but added that the condition of the body, due to prolonged refrigeration, had made it harder to determine the cause of death.

He also noted the absence of any records showing if Arafat’s diabetes medication had been administered and at what dosing.

The report also mentioned the need for other tests beyond the post mortem to determine the cause of death.

“Until now we don’t know how he died. Nothing is clear.” Yasser Hamdan said.

Umm Mohammed said Abdulrahman had become a leader of his group of prisoners before his death

Neither Arafat’s nor Abdulrahman’s bodies have yet been returned. Their families want to arrange their own post mortems, hold funerals, and say a final goodbye.

“He was my flesh and blood. Then he was gone in a moment,” Yasser Hamdan said. Photos of his son were everywhere you looked in his apartment.

Umm Mohamed showed photos of Abdulrahman on her phone, pointing to one and saying: “Look at him. He was so cheerful.”

Over time he had become a leader in his group of prisoners, she said.

“He’d call me when he was making breakfast for them when they were all still asleep. He was always the most active. He would never sit still, that boy.”

She broke down. “Bring him back to me. I want to see him one last time. One last look.”

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Banjir yang melanda Kabupaten Demak dan wilayah sekitarnya di Jawa Tengah hingga Selasa (19/03) menunjukkan bahwa infrastruktur pengendali banjir yang ada belum siap menghadapi cuaca ekstrem yang sejak lama telah diprediksi akan lebih sering terjadi.

“Kebanyakan banjir itu kan dari tanggul jebol satu-satu, pasti ada sesuatu yang ekstrem, deras, tidak bisa nampung. Akhirnya tanggul itu enggak kuat, satu per satu, beruntun,” kata Badan Riset Inovasi Nasional (BRIN) Erma Yulihastin kepada BBC News Indonesia.

Erma meyakini hujan ekstrem selama 10 hari itu dipicu oleh fenomena squall line atau “jalan tol hujan” di wilayah pantai utara Jawa. Meski Badan Meteorologi Klimatologi dan Geofisika (BMKG) tak sependapat soal itu.

Namun terlepas dari apa pun pemicunya, Kepala Pusat Meteorologi Publik BMKG Andri Ramdhani mengatakan penting untuk memitigasi potensi cuaca ekstrem yang akan lebih sering terjadi seiring naiknya suhu global.

Dalam wawancara dengan BBC News Indonesia pada Senin (18/03), Kepala Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (BPBD) Demak, Agus Nugroho, mengatakan hampir seluruh wilayah di Kabupaten Demak tergenang banjir setelah enam tanggul sungai jebol karena “volume air yang sangat luar biasa”.

Tanggul-tanggul itu ternyata telah berusia puluhan hingga ratusan tahun, bahkan dibangun sejak era kolonial Belanda.

Imbasnya, lebih dari 95.000 orang terdampak dan sekitar 25.000 orang di antaranya mengungsi. Jalur Pantura ruas Demak – Kudus pun “lumpuh total” karena ketinggian air mencapai 1,5 meter. Kondisi itu membuat akses transportasi dan logistik menjadi terhambat.

Wartawan Nur Misno yang melaporkan untuk BBC News Indonesia di Demak mengungkapkan bahwa banjir kali ini berdampak lebih luas dan terasa “lebih parah” dibandingkan yang terjadi pada Februari lalu.

Wilayah yang terdampak paling parah, yakni Desa Ketanjung dan Desa Karanganyar, terendam dengan ketinggian air mencapai tiga meter.

Jalan-jalan protokol, masjid, hingga alun-alun di Kota Demak juga terendam sehingga mengganggu aktivitas ekonomi.

Sejauh ini Badan Meteorologi Klimatologi dan Geofisika (BMKG) telah melakukan teknologi modifikasi cuaca (TMC) untuk mengurangi dampak banjir di Demak dan sekitaranya.

BMKG juga memprediksi bahwa cuaca ekstrem di Jawa Tengah akan mulai mereda dalam beberapa hari ke depan, meski masih ada potensi kembali terjadi hingga April mendatang.

‘Dari banjir sebelumnya saja belum selesai bersih-bersih’

Rohmah Khodaryati, 39, tadinya berharap bisa menjalani ibadah puasa Ramadan dengan tenang. Tetapi gara-gara banjir, Rohmah terpaksa menjalani puasa di tempat pengungsian.

Tanggul Sungai Jeratun, yang berlokasi di dekat rumahnya di Desa Karanganyar, Demak, jebol pada Minggu (17/03) dini hari.

“Posisi bulan Ramadan kita dapat cobaan seperti ini. Inginnya kan khusyuk ibadah. Sekarang mau ke masjid saja enggak bisa, masjidnya kan kena air, kena banjir,” kata Rohmah kepada wartawan yang melaporkan untuk BBC News Indonesia.

Ini adalah kali kedua Rohmah terdampak banjir pada tahun ini, setelah sebelumnya tanggul yang sama juga jebol pada Februari lalu. Namun banjir kali ini, menurutnya, “lebih parah” dari sebelumnya.

Rumah Rohmah terendam setinggi 1,5 meter. Sementara di beberapa titik lainnya di desanya ada yang tergenang hingga tiga meter.

Kali ini, masyarakat desa telah diperingatkan untuk siaga sejak tiga hari sebelumnya melalui pengeras suara di musala.

“Siaga pertama itu cuma rembes, kedua juga seperti itu. Yang ketiga itu warga diminta untuk penguatan tanggul, tapi pada posisi sekitar jam dua dan jam tiga [dini hari] itu sudah enggak bisa. Akhirnya tanggul jebol,” kenang Rohmah.

“Ya sudah, air masuk begitu derasnya itu, langsung naik, naik, naik.”

Rohmah awalnya sempat bertahan di lantai dua rumahnya. Namun pagi harinya, air justru kian tinggi.

“Akhirnya saya mengungsi ke daerah seberang yang belum terdampak, tapi di seberang jalan itu posisinya juga dikejar air. Ada Tim SAR mendekat ke tempat saya mengungsi itu, jadi saya ikut ke sini [tempat pengungsian],” tutur Rohmah.

Namun, perahu karet SAR diprioritaskan untuk lansia dan orang-orang yang sakit. Rohmah pun berjalan menggunakan pelampung dan tali yang diikat ke perahu karet sejauh satu kilometer.

Rohmah mengaku sangat lelah menghadapi banjir.

“Kondisi rumah ya morat-marit ke mana-mana. Dari banjir sebelumnya saja belum selesai bersih-bersih lumpurnya. Ini kedatangan lagi, semoga saja barang-barangnya tidak ke mana-mana,” kata Rohmah.

Dia berharap pemerintah bisa mencari solusi jangka panjang agar masyarakat tidak lagi harus berhadapan dengan banjir akibat tanggul jebol.

“Kalau saat ini, ya mungkin ndak mungkin karena kondisinya masih musim penghujan, dikuatkan seperti apa pun ndak bisa sekuat itu. Harapannya ya semoga pemerintah tetap memperhatikan kami yang dekat dengan sungai-sungai besar itu, bagaimana solusinya nanti ke depannya,” kata Rohmah.

‘Kalau seperti ini terus, Demak tidak bisa kering’

Kepala Pelaksana BPBD Demak, Agus Nugroho mengaku “putus asa” apabila tanggul-tanggul yang jebol tidak segera diperbaiki. Pada Senin, hanya tinggal satu kecamatan di wilayah Demak yang belum terdampak banjir.

“Kami terus terang sudah putus asa. Kalau sampai tanggul Sungai Lusi, Desa Bugel, Kecamatan Godong itu tidak segera ditutup, maka Demak akan tenggelam, benar-benar akan tenggelam,” kata Agus kepada BBC News Indonesia.

Menurutnya, upaya perbaikan tanggul-tanggul yang dilakukan oleh Kementerian Pekerjaan Umum dan Perumahan Rakyat (PUPR) sejauh ini “belum maksimal”.

“Masih mudah kena air, jebol lagi, jebol lagi. Kalau yang seperti ini berlanjut terus, Demak tidak akan pernah bisa kering karena air yang mengalir dari atas melalui Sungai Lusi dan Sungai Wulan itu sudah luar biasa volumenya,” kata Agus.

BBC News Indonesia telah menghubungi Juru bicara Kementerian PUPR Endra Atmawijaya, namun belum ada tanggapan sampai berita ini ditulis.

Sejauh ini, Penjabat Gubernur Jawa Tengah Nana Sudjana mengatakan penutupan tanggul jebol tengah diupayakan oleh Balai Besar Wilayah Sungai (BBWS).

Tanggul-tanggul itu ditargetkan akan selesai diperbaiki pada akhir pekan ini.

Sementara itu, BMKG dan BNPB juga akan memperpanjang operasi teknologi modifikasi cuaca (TMC) untuk mengurangi dampak banjir di wilayah Jawa Tengah, khususnya Demak dan Kudus.

“Operasi TMC ini semula berakhir tanggal 20 Maret 2024, tetapi melihat genangan banjir di Kabupaten Demak dan Kudus ini, maka akan diperpanjang,” kata Kepala BNPB Letjen TNI Suharyanto dikutip dari Kantor Berita Antara.

Apa penyebabnya dan mengapa terasa ‘lebih parah’?

Kepala Pusat Meteorologi Publik BMKG Andri Ramdhani menuturkan cuaca ekstrem kali ini dipicu oleh fenomena atmosfer yakni Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) yang juga dipengaruhi oleh tiga bibit siklon tropis.

Menurutnya, dampak banjir di Demak terasa “lebih parah” dibandingkan pada Februari lalu karena saat cuaca ekstrem terjadi, kondisi air laut juga sedang pasang maksimum mencapai 165 cm.

“Ketika hujan ada peningkatan, dari laut juga naik sehingga air limpasan tidak bisa mengalir ke laut,” kata dia.

Belum lagi faktor drainase di sekitarnya yang tidak memadai untuk menyerap limpasan air sehingga banjir terasa lebih parah.

Pendapat berbeda soal pemicu cuaca ekstrem disampaikan oleh peneliti klimatologi BRIN Erma Yulihastin.

Menurut Erma, cuaca ekstrem selama sekitar 10 hari belakangan di Jawa Tengah “tidak lain dan tidak bukan dipicu oleh squall line” di area yang dia sebut sebagai Tanjung Jepara.

Squall line atau yang dia sebut sebagai “jalan tol hujan” merupakan sistem badai yang terbentuk dari pertumbuhan awan secara horizontal.

Tanjung Jepara yang dia maksud adalah wilayah di utara Jawa Tengah dari Demak hingga Jepara yang lebih menjorok ke laut.

“Di Laut Jawa itu langsung tiba-tiba ada garis panjang gitu kan, warnanya merah semua, langsung tiba-tiba hujan dengan intensitas tinggi di situ. Beda dengan penjalaran hujan biasa,” jelas Erma.

Hujan ekstrem yang intens selama 10 hari itu dinilai berkontribusi pada jebolnya tanggul.

Dalam ancaman seperti ini, Erma mengingatkan bahwa kota-kota pesisir lah yang paling terdampak dan perlu dilindungi.

Perubahan iklim, sambung dia, dapat menyebabkan hujan badai semacam ini kian sering terjadi dan makin mengancam kota-kota pesisir.

“Apa yang terjadi selama 10 hari didera hujan deras secara intensif, itulah yang menyebabkan kawasan pesisir bisa hancur. Semua kota-kota pesisir bisa terancam ketika badai meningkat,” kata Erma.

Menanggapi analisis Erma, Andri mengatakan “perlu kajian lebih dalam untuk menentukan secara spesifik apakah itu adalah squall line“.

“Apapun itu, kami sudah identifikasi ada peluang cuaca ekstrem dan yang penting adalah peringatannya sampai ke masyarakat kemudian responsnya seperti apa untuk menghadapi situasi terseut,” tutur Andri.

Sampai kapan cuaca ekstrem akan terjadi di Jawa Tengah?

BMKG mengatakan cuaca ekstrem masih berpotensi terjadi hingga April mendatang, meski ada kemungkinan periodenya terjadi secara singkat.

Namun dalam beberapa hari ke depan, dia menyebut intensitas cuaca ekstrem di Jawa Tengah akan mulai mereda.

“Pantauan kami paling tidak hingga tanggal 23 Maret masih ada potensi, tapi kami akan update dan pantau kembali,” kata Andri Ramdani dari BMKG.

Apabila eskalasinya meningkat, Andri menuturkan BMKG akan kembali melakukan modifikasi cuaca untuk mengurangi dampak banjir.

Terlepas dari situasi saat ini, Andri mengatakan intensitas terjadinya cuaca ekstrem sudah semakin sering dan meningkat.

“Kita harus bersiap menghadapi itu. Mau tidak mau, kita harus sadari bahwa terjadi pemanasan global,” kata dia.

Cuaca ektrem ini tidak cuma menyebabkan bencana hidrometerorologi seperti banjir dan longsor. Namun pada musim kemarau, juga dapat menyebabkan kekeringan.

Perbaikan infrastruktur pengendali banjir

Erma mengingatkan agar pemerintah membangun infrastruktur yang dapat memproteksi wilayah-wilayah rentan banjir semacam ini, terutama wilayah pesisir.

“Kemudian dicek semua tanggul-tanggul, apabila ada tanggul yang membutuhkan penanganan segera, kondisinya kritis. Dana-dana infrastruktur harus disiapkan untuk itu,” kata Erma.

Selain itu perlu untuk mengecek kondisi sungai dari hulu ke hilir, apakah mengalami pendangkalan, sedimentasi atau penyempitan daerah aliran sungai.

Dihubungi terpisah, Abdul Muhari dari BNPB mengatakan pihaknya telah mengingatkan pemerintah daerah dan Kementerian PUPR untuk mengaudit infrastruktur perairan.

Pasalnya, tanggul-tanggul tua seperti yang jebol pada kasus banjir Demak dinilai sudah tidak lagi menghadapi beban yang harus ditanggung saat ini.

“Tentu saja saat tanggul itu dibangun tidak memperhitungkan tekanan populasi seperti sekarang,” kata Abdul Muhari.

“Sangat banyak infrastruktur perairan kita, tanggul-tanggul sungai yang sudah cukup tua dan perlu diremajakan,” sambungnya.

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By Mark Savage

Music correspondent, BBC News

Model Pattie Boyd is selling letters that lift the lid on her notorious love triangle with guitarist Eric Clapton and Beatles star George Harrison.

Boyd was a muse to both men in the 1960s and 70s, inspiring Harrison’s classic song Something and Clapton’s hits Wonderful Tonight and Layla.

Initially married to the Beatle, she was pursued by his close friend Clapton in a series of passionate love letters.

Now she is auctioning notes from both men, along with other possessions.

Boyd met the Beatles when she was cast in their 1964 film A Hard Day’s Night and instantly felt a connection with Harrison, their famously “quiet” guitarist.

“He was quite shy, like me. I think that’s why we got on,” she said in an interview published on the website of auction house Christie’s.

They dated for two years before marrying in January 1966, during which time the Beatles were often away on tour,

“George was so adorable when he was away,” she said. “He missed me, and I missed him terribly, and he would write amazing letters and wonderful postcards.”

One note in the auction sees Harrison write: “Hope you’re OK. I miss you. I’m starving – many grilled cheese sandwiches. Love you.”

Clapton was a frequent guest at the couple’s house in Surrey but, unbeknown to Harrison, harboured feelings for Boyd.

‘Is there is still a feeling in your heart for me?’

In 1970, he sent her a letter in impeccably neat, angular longhand. “I am writing this letter to you, with the main purpose of ascertaining your feelings towards a subject well known to both of us,” it began.

“What I wish to ask you is if you still love your husband?” he continued. “All these questions are very impertinent, I know, but if there is still a feeling in your heart for me… you must let me know!”

“Don’t telephone! Send a letter… That is much safer.”

Boyd initially thought the letter was from a fan, only realising the truth when Clapton phoned her later that day.

A second letter was written several months later, on a page Clapton had torn from a copy of John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men.

‘Take me, I am yours’

“Dear Layla,” Clapton began, using his nickname for Boyd. “Why do you hesitate, am I a poor lover, am I ugly, am I too weak, too strong, do you know why?

“If you want me, take me, I am yours… if you don’t want me, please break the spell that binds me. To cage a wild animal is a sin, to tame him is divine. My love is yours.”

He later wrote the rock standard Layla for Boyd.

“It was so beautiful and so magical,” Boyd recalled. “I was so flattered, but I was also so worried that George would work out why Eric had written this song.”

Boyd originally rebuffed Clapton’s advances but, after her marriage faltered in the early 1970s, the musician invited Boyd to join him on tour.

Their romance flourished and they married in 1979 – with the blessing of Harrison, who took to calling Clapton his “husband-in-law”.

Ultimately, however, Clapton’s alcoholism and infidelity undermined the marriage, and they divorced in 1989.

Boyd, the daughter of a retired RAF bomber pilot, was a famous fashion model in the 1960s before turning her attention to photography.

She will sell her memorabilia including letters, paintings, photographs, jewellery and fashion next month.

Among the lots is a doodle by Harrison, in which he drew himself sitting beneath an apple tree, and a Christmas card he made for her in 1968.

“I’ve had them all for so many years – far too long,” Boyd, who turns 80 this year, told The Telegraph. “I thought, why don’t I just sell everything and let everybody else enjoy it?”

The sale will be led by the the painting La jeune fille au bouquet by Emile Théodore Frandsen de Schomberg – which served as the cover for the 1970 album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Clapton’s band Derek and the Dominoes.

Clapton had originally bought the painting from the artist’s son because the model’s blonde hair and alluring almond eyes reminded him of Boyd. It is expected to sell for between £40,000 and £60,000.

Boyd told the Telegraph she sought Clapton’s permission before selling the possessions.

“He asked if I was selling the Layla painting, and I said yes,” she said. “He said, ‘Maybe there are other things you could sell as well.’ So he’s absolutely fine with me auctioning everything.”https://tehopeng.com/

England’s hopes of forcing a series decider faded dramatically in the face of a stirring India fightback on day three of the fourth Test in Ranchi.

With dogged lower-order resistance and spin bowling of the highest quality, India turned the match on its head. From beginning Sunday 134 behind with only three first-innings wickets in hand, the hosts ended 40-0 in pursuit of 192 to take an unassailable 3-1 lead.

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They were dragged to 307 by Dhruv Jurel’s 90. The wicketkeeper, crucially dropped on 59 by Ollie Robinson, added 76 with Kuldeep Yadav and another 40 with number 10 Akash Deep.

Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir ended with 5-119, at 20 years and 135 days the second-youngest England bowler to claim a five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

England’s lead was a precious 46, every run of which seemed vital as India’s spinners conjured tricks from the surface on a riveting, tension-filled afternoon.

Zak Crawley’s attractive 60 and Jonny Bairstow’s counter-punching 30 were invaluable. No-one else passed 17 in England’s 145, Ravichandran Ashwin magnificent for 5-51 and Kuldeep unerring in his 4-22.

India were given 25 minutes to bat before the close and used them to great effect, scoring at five an over. Captain Rohit Sharma has 24 and Yashasvi Jaiswal 16.

Somehow, England need an instant rally on the fourth morning to keep the series alive.

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Series on the line after super Sunday

This was a compelling day of Test cricket, in keeping with what would be most expected of the game in this country: an attritional first innings followed by a rush to the conclusion as the spinners wreak havoc in the second.

For as well as England’s Bashir and Tom Hartley have bowled, India’s slow trio were able to extract so much from the surface.

To the delight of the biggest and noisiest crowd of the Test so far, every ball was an event.

For once, there is an argument to make that England were not aggressive enough. Ben Duckett, Ben Stokes and Bairstow were all victims of tame dismissals. In mitigation, these were the most difficult batting conditions of the tour.

England’s run-rate of 2.69 was comfortably their slowest since Stokes became captain. All except three of the 53.5 overs in their second innings were bowled by India’s spinners, who revelled in the sharp turn and untrustworthy bounce.

England opened with the spin of Joe Root and Hartley, the latter struggling with his line and four times clipped to the boundary by Rohit.

India will start Monday as favourites to wrap up the series, but England will hope they can use the pitch to turn the fifth Test in Dharamsala into a decider.

England spun out

Any sort of flying start from England could have been enough to seal the match. Instead Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shared the new ball to indicate the ordeal that lay ahead.

Duckett prodded Ashwin to short leg and Ollie Pope was completely befuddled by a carrom ball to be leg before for a golden duck. Pope has bagged a pair in this match, facing only three deliveries in the process.

Crawley fought back with style, peppering the extra-cover boundary. He added 46 with Root, who was aggrieved to be lbw playing across Ashwin, and another 45 with Bairstow.

But Crawley was bowled trying to force Kuldeep against the spin, sparking a collapse of five wickets for 23 runs. Stokes played on via his pad, Hartley swiped to mid-on and Robinson’s poor day continued when he was leg-before for a duck, all to Kuldeep.

In between, Bairstow softly patted Jadeja to short cover from the first ball after tea, meaning England lost their last proper weapon capable of pressurising the relentless India bowling.

Ben Foakes and Bashir resisted for more than 12 overs, adding only 12 runs in the process. Foakes survived 75 balls for his 17, then chipped his 76th delivery back to Ashwin, whose first five-wicket haul of the series was sealed by Jurel’s reaction catch from a James Anderson reverse-sweep.

Jurel digs in

If India do complete the turnaround they owe so much to Jurel, the 23-year-old playing only his second Test and possibly only holding a place behind the stumps until Rishabh Pant returns to fitness.

At 177-7 on Saturday, India could have conceded a huge lead. Jurel and Kuldeep battled to 219-7 overnight, with Jurel resuming on 30 on Sunday.

The early conditions were benign, Robinson again struggled for bite and the eighth-wicket pair added 34 runs before Anderson got Kuldeep to chop on for 28.

England did well to contain the scoring, conceding only two boundaries in the first hour, but the life given to Jurel could prove to be match-defining. A clip off the toes at Bashir should have been held at head-height by Robinson at mid-wicket – India were still 87 behind at the time.

With Deep for company, Jurel farmed the strike and played big shots when given the chance – twice Bashir was hit for six. Deep also swung a six of his own, before Bashir skipped one into the pads to complete his first five-wicket haul in professional cricket.

Jurel continued towards a century, heaving Hartley over the leg-side rope, only to play all around the same man and be bowled 10 runs short of three figures.

‘On that pitch, anything is possible’ – reaction

England bowler Shoaib Bashir on TNT Sports: “I want to dedicate this [five-wicket haul] to my two late grandads who passed away around a year and a half ago, they loved Test cricket and their wish was for me to play. I’m so grateful.

“We’d have liked one or two wickets in that period at the end but we’ve got a big job to do tomorrow. On that pitch, anything is possible.”

India bowler Ravichandran Ashwin on TNT Sports: “I enjoy bowling with the new ball and today was another of those days.

“We showed phenomenal character. Kuldeep was brilliant today. Jurel’s defence was gun and he showed great composure, we were very calm in the dressing room. For just his second Test, he had a great game plan and it gave us a huge lift.”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan: “India have once again found a way of having a dominant day that looks likely to win them this Test and the series.

“England’s bad days are really, really bad – and that looks likely to cost them.”https://tehopeng.com/

By James Waterhouse

Ukraine correspondent in Kyiv

“In order to preserve life and encirclement, I have withdrawn our units from Avdiivka.”

When he was appointed this month, Ukraine’s new head of the armed forces, Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, said he would “rather retreat than sacrifice lives”, and that is what he has finally done with this eastern city.

Despite Russians suffering enormous losses, four months of relentless attacks have left Ukrainian troops there outnumbered, outgunned, and with dwindling ammunition.

It is Moscow’s biggest victory since Ukraine’s failed counter-offensive last year.

Avdiivka was briefly occupied by Russia in 2014 before being retaken by Ukraine.

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So, what does Avdiivka’s fall mean for the wider conflict?

Size matters more than ever

With this now being a war of attrition, the difference in Ukraine and Russia’s size is becoming more apparent. Russia’s population of 144 million is more than three times larger than Ukraine’s.

Despite losing thousands of soldiers in the process, Moscow has made its size count by replenishing them almost immediately.

Ukrainian forces have suffered losses too, though not to the same extent.

As with other Ukrainian settlements on the front line, Russia has seized an almost totally destroyed city.

Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade, which deployed there, said they were being attacked by infantry in all directions.

Russia has concentrated its best-trained fighters in the area and was believed to be dropping up to 60 bombs a day on Ukrainian positions.

The last time a Ukrainian city – Bakhmut – was taken by the Russians, Gen Syrskyi was criticised for holding on to it for too long. He was accused of pursuing a symbolic victory at the expense of needless casualties.

Experience seems to have changed that.

The medium term

This Russian advance has not happened overnight. Since last October, Moscow has launched wave after wave of attacks towards Avdiivka.

From their raised positions and reinforced defences in the industrial city, Ukrainians were able to hold them off with targeted strikes, leaving the scarred Donbas landscape littered with Russian bodies and destroyed armoured vehicles.

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Now it seems Russian troops have penetrated defences which have been reinforced over the 10 years since Moscow’s campaign of aggression first started.

To Kyiv’s frustration, Ukraine has been unable to break Russian fortifications elsewhere, which were built in a matter of months.

“Russia can’t achieve strategical goals, only tactical ones,” says Maj Rodion Kudryashov, a Ukrainian deputy commander of the 3rd Assault Brigade.

He says his troops are outnumbered by as many as seven to one. Over the phone he told me, “It’s like fighting two armies.”

He is confident the Russians will not push further to cities like Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka, but that is far from guaranteed.

What it will do for them is relieve pressure on the city of Donetsk,15km (9 miles) further east, which Russia has occupied since 2014.

The long term

Ukraine has been forced backwards like this before, notably in the summer of 2022.

Large, well-equipped Russian units encircled cities like Lysychansk and Severodonetsk. The Ukrainians could do little to stop them.

However, a subsequent influx of Western weapons and inspired military thinking led to a changing of the tide later that year, with Ukrainian troops liberating areas in the Kherson and Kharkiv regions.

But this is a different war now.

Global politics are having a more significant impact on the battlefield.

Stuttering Western help has directly contributed to this likely Ukrainian retreat in Avdiivka.

The US leads the way in providing weapons to Ukraine, because of the scale and speed it can provide them. With a $95bn package including aid for Ukraine still not approved in Washington, other allies are struggling to fill the gap.

It means the Ukrainians are having to ration ammunition and manage low morale. And Avdiivka may not be the only withdrawal Kyiv is considering.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also still wants the whole of Ukraine, and it is still possible that he could take it.

That prospect could either restore Western unity in trying to prevent it, or fuel the scepticism that Ukraine was never able to win this war, despite the extraordinary defence it has displayed in Avdiivka and elsewhere.https://cekikikan.com/

By Sean Coughlan

Royal correspondent

King Charles has been cheered up by some of the 7,000 cards of support sent to him during his cancer treatment, including those taking a humorous view.

They included a card with a picture of a dog wearing a protective cone saying: “At least you don’t have to wear a cone!”

Other messages shared people’s own experiences of cancer and wished the King a “speedy recovery”.

The King has described being “reduced to tears” by the cards sent to him.

But the latest photos and video on social media show him smiling at cards that were determined to look on the bright side.

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According to palace aides, despite the health concerns there has been “frequent laughter”, with the dog particularly amusing the King.

The senders are not being named, but the firm that made the card, Pigment, told the BBC it was one of their best-sellers which had been customised with the King’s name – and they had “hoped it made the King smile”.

A selection of the messages of support are being put into the red boxes which hold the King’s daily paperwork.

“I wanted to tell you I am thinking of you as you face your own diagnosis and treatment and send prayers and every good wish for a speedy recovery,” wrote one well-wisher.

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“Chin up, chest out, remain positive and don’t let it get you down. Trust me, it works, but the main thing is family,” said another.

A number of the messages are from people who are facing up to their own worries about cancer.

Rebecca Stead from Macmillan Cancer Support told BBC News: “Hearing the news that you have cancer is a huge moment in anyone’s life and there is no right or wrong way to respond.

“Going through waves of different emotions is completely normal. We do know, however, that many people will experience uncertainty or worry.”

This could be about practical matters such as paying the mortgage or being confused by the treatment being given, she says, urging people to get advice.

The King’s openness about having cancer has also been praised as helping remove taboos around the disease.

According to Macmillan’s, the King’s public acknowledgement of his cancer prompted a surge in people seeking information.

Macmillan’s online information pages had 50,000 hits on the day of the King’s diagnosis being announced, up 40% on usual.

But figures from the BBC have shown that for NHS patients in England in 2023 cancer waiting times were the worst on record.

The King has stepped back from public events but has continued with the work of head of state, including the regular meetings with the prime minister.

The latest pictures released by Buckingham Palace were taken on Wednesday ahead of meeting Rishi Sunak.

When the prime minister said how well the King looked, he deflected it with a joke, saying: “It’s all done by mirrors.”

Humour has often been deployed by the King, who was a longstanding fan of The Goons and and took part in comedy shows at university. A student contemporary had said: “I think actually he’s very shy and it’s a lot easier when you get people laughing.”

But in his current circumstances, the King was said to have been moved by handmade cards from children, including the message: “Never give up. Be brave. Don’t push your limits. Get well soon.”https://tehopeng.com/

By Mayeni Jones

BBC West Africa correspondent

Senegal’s President Macky Sall has said he will leave office when his term comes to an end on 2 April, but tensions remain over an election date.

His recent decision to delay the vote, originally scheduled for Sunday, to mid-December sparked deadly protests.

In a televised interview, Mr Sall said an election date would now be decided in political talks to start on Monday.

But the opposition has refused to take part in the proposed dialogue dashing hopes of resolving the turmoil.

Sixteen of the 19 presidential hopefuls have said they will not be turning up for what the president has termed a “national dialogue”. A number of civil society organisations have also declined to take part in the exercise.

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Mr Sall, who is on his way to the Nigerian capital, Abuja, for an extraordinary summit of the regional bloc Ecowas, has been under pressure to announce a new date since Senegal’s highest court declared last week that the postponement of the poll was illegal.

His original decree to delay the vote received strong condemnation from the international community.

Many feared the postponement would lead to President Sall’s remaining leader of the country indefinitely in a region plagued by coups and military governments.

Speaking on national television on Thursday evening, Mr Sall said he felt there was not enough time to vote in a new president by the time he steps down on 2 April. He said that the dialogue forum would decide what should happen if this was the case.

In a show of good faith, the president said he was prepared to release the popular opposition politician, Ousmane Sonko, from prison. His arrest sparked nationwide protests last year.

Dozens of the president’s opponents have already been set free since Senegal’s Constitutional Council ruled that his decision to postpone the election was illegal.

But the fact that the president did not set a new election date has further fuelled suspicions by his critics that this is just another stalling tactic.

President Sall has served two terms as Senegal’s leader and when he was first elected in 2012 he promised he would not overstay.

His televised interview has not yet restored his country’s reputation as a bastion of democracy in an increasingly totalitarian region.https://tehopeng.com/

By David Gritten

BBC News

An Israeli man has been killed and 13 other people have been wounded in an attack by three Palestinian gunmen near an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, police and medics say.

The attackers fired automatic weapons at vehicles waiting at a checkpoint on a highway outside Maale Adumim.

Security forces and armed civilians killed two of the attackers while the third was detained, police said.

Palestinian armed group Hamas praised the attack but did not claim it.

There has been a surge in violence in the West Bank since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, triggered by Hamas’s deadly attacks in Israel on 7 October.

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At least 394 Palestinians – members of armed groups, attackers and civilians – had been killed in conflict-related incidents in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, or in Israel as of Tuesday, according to the UN. During the same period, 12 Israelis, including four security forces personnel, had been killed.

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Israel’s police force said Thursday’s attack took place near the al-Zaim checkpoint on Highway 1, which connects Maale Adumim with Jerusalem.

The three Palestinian gunmen arrived at the scene in two separate vehicles, armed with weapons including an M-16 rifle and a Carlo sub-machine gun. After getting out, they opened fire towards vehicles stuck in a traffic jam.

Two of the attackers were shot dead by security forces and armed civilians at the scene. The third gunmen tried to escape but was “neutralised” and taken into custody.

Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said paramedics found casualties in five vehicles along a 500m-long (1,640ft) stretch of the highway.

A man who was later identified as Matan Elmaliach, a 26-year-old man from Maale Adumim, died of his wounds at the scene, it said.

Thirteen other people were wounded, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman who was shot in the upper body and is in a serious condition.

Eight people were taken to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, and five to Shaare Zedek Hospital.

The attackers were identified as three Palestinian men, including two brothers, from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, 10km (6 miles) to the south-west.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, told journalists at the scene: “The enemies… want to hurt us. They hate us.”

He said authorities needed to “distribute more weapons” to Israeli civilians for protection and install more roadblocks around Palestinian communities in the West Bank, arguing that “our right to life is superior to the freedom of movement” of Palestinians.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another far-right politician, meanwhile called for the immediate approval of plans for thousands more homes in settlements like Maale Adumim.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. The vast majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, though Israel and the US dispute this.

Hamas called Thursday’s attack a “natural response” to Israeli “massacres and crimes” in Gaza and the West Bank, and called on Palestinians to take up arms.

The shooting comes six days after a Palestinian man shot and killed two people at a bus stop near the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Malakhi.https://tehopeng.com/

By Bernd Debusmann Jr

BBC News, Washington

US prosecutors have charged an alleged member of the Japanese mafia with conspiring to traffic nuclear materials.

Takeshi Ebisawa, 60, tried to sell uranium and plutonium that he believed would be transferred to Iran to build a nuclear bomb, it is alleged.

Mr Ebisawa and a Thai co-defendant were previously hit with weapons and drug charges in April 2022.

He faces life imprisonment if convicted of the latest charges.

US authorities say Mr Ebisawa – who is being held in a Brooklyn jail – is a senior figure in the Japanese organised crime syndicate, known as the Yakuza, with operations in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and the US.

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The US Department of Justice said Mr Ebisawa and his “confederates showed samples of nuclear materials in Thailand” to an undercover agent from the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

The agent was posing as a drugs and weapons trafficker with links to an Iranian general.

The nuclear samples – which came from Myanmar – were seized by Thai authorities and transferred to US investigators. A US laboratory confirmed the material contained uranium and weapons-grade plutonium.

Prosecutors also allege that Mr Ebisawa sought to acquire large quantities of military-grade weapons on behalf of an unspecified rebel group in Myanmar.

The weapons included surface-to-air missiles, assault and sniper rifles, machine guns, rockets of various calibres and a variety of tactical gear.

“It is chilling to imagine the consequences had these efforts succeeded, and the justice department will hold accountable those who traffic in these materials and threaten US national security and international stability,” assistant attorney general Matthew G Olden said in a statement on Wednesday.

In February 2020, Mr Ebisawa allegedly contacted the DEA agent about selling nuclear materials. According to US prosecutors, he explained via encrypted communications that uranium is “not good for your health”.

In September that year, Mr Ebisawa allegedly emailed the undercover DEA agent a letter bearing the name of a mining company. He offered to sell 50 tonnes of uranium and thorium for $6.85m (£5.4m).

Prosecutors also say he sent photographs showing “a dark rocky material” with a Geiger counter, which is used to measure levels of radiation.

Mr Ebisawa faces charges including conspiracy to commit international trafficking of nuclear materials, narcotics importation conspiracy, conspiracy to acquire, transfer and possess anti-aircraft missiles and money laundering.

His co-conspirator in the case – 61-year-old Thai national Somphop Singhasiri – is facing drugs and weapons charges.

Both are facing life in prison if convicted.https://tehopeng.com/

The pair will be arraigned in a New York federal courtroom on Thursday.

By Ross McCrea

BBC News NI

A Belfast woman who lives with a condition affecting about one in 2,000 girls has urged others to “let yourself be joyful”.

Lauren Campbell was diagnosed with Turner Syndrome (TS) aged two.

The genetic condition, which can affect height and ovaries, is caused by having one normal X sex chromosome, rather than two.

Lauren said one of her biggest challenges was becoming a teenager.

“You start taking hormone therapy then, to start going through puberty,” she told BBC News NI.

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“This was a really hard time in my life.

“All I knew was I had TS, I knew what that meant, but I didn’t quite experience that until I was a teenager, until I actually felt different from my peers,” she added.

The Queen’s University graduate said she has been on a journey with TS as a child, a teenager, and now as a young adult.

Lauren, now 22, explained how doctors initially misdiagnosed her condition as cerebral palsy.

She explained she was “really floppy, but that was actually just because I had a heart condition”.

“Because of that diagnosis, they did lots of blood tests, and it came back that I had Turner Syndrome.”

According to the most recent census data, 183 people had TS in Northern Ireland in 2021, a rise from 88 in 2011.

There are a number of potential symptoms, including being short and having fertility problems.

Data provided by the charity Turner Syndrome Support Society found an average of 75% of cases are undiagnosed.

‘Improving diagnosis’

Its executive officer, Arlene Smyth, said many cases of TS get missed “mainly because most girls living with Turners look completely normal”.

“My message to any doctor is if a mum comes to you with a short girl, especially with recurrent ear infections, you should absolutely be thinking about Turner Syndrome, rather than wait for years and years.

Ms Smyth said many people with TS “have missed out on a lot of treatment” through delays.

“So raising awareness and improving diagnosis is a vital, vital part of the society’s work,” she added.

Looking back, Lauren praised the love and care from relatives: “My family have been a massive support; they educated themselves in how to get me through school, to get me through university. They’re my number one champions.”

Following her diagnosis, she also received support from Ms Smyth’s charity, which she started after her daughter was diagnosed with TS.

“We support anybody with Turner Syndrome, or their parents, or family members,” she explained.

Ms Smyth added she believed information she was given at the time about the condition was “really poor and not accurate”.

‘Be your own advocate’

Lauren noted how the work of the society gave her the opportunity to make friends with other girls, and described it as “a great source of help and support for anyone who has received a diagnosis”.

Following her teenage years, Lauren spoke about how sixth form allowed her to be more open about her condition: “Anything from my heart condition to infertility, that was when the openness really began”.

“As well as through university, where I met my now partner, and having that experience of having to be very open and honest with him about having Turners,” she added.

Lauren currently works at a special needs school in Leeds, and explained how her experience gave her “that empathy and extra understanding of what these students are going through, and how to be a person that is supportive of them and understands them”.

In a final word, Lauren offered advice to other girls who might be struggling with Turner Syndrome: “Get to know and understand yourself, and love yourself, because you are always going to have to be your own advocate”.https://tehopeng.com/

“Let yourself have that Turner Syndrome joy. Know yourself, ask for help, let yourself be joyful”.