
First World War soldier buried 108 years after his death
A soldier who died in the First World War has been buried with full military honours nearly 108 years after he was killed in battle.
Private John Tame died on August 16, 1917, during the Battle of Langemarck, and was one of three brothers who died between 1915 and 1917.
After his remains were discovered during roadworks near Ypres in Belgium, the Ministry of Defence's Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC) — also known as the War Detectives — identified him from a previous shoulder wound, a cap badge and shoulder title of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.
They traced his great nephew, Keith Brooks, who provided a DNA sample to confirm his identity. He was laid to rest on May 8 in Belgium, attended by
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh issues heartfelt plea against sexual violence: 'We must do better'
The Duchess of Edinburgh has spoken passionately of her campaign to highlight the plight of victims of sexual violence in conflict, saying: 'We must do better.' Sophie, 60, who has spoken out on the issue for years and met hundreds of survivors around the world, was visiting the UK's first exhibition dedicated to the subject on Wednesday. Featuring shocking stories ranging from the First World War until the present day, the royal expressed her frustration as she toured the displays at the way the issue is still swept under the carpet - and the cultural norms that give rise to the degradation of women even today. She looked amazed when told that the British Royal Air Force didn't ban 'nose art' - the drawing of scantily-clad women on the front of their fighter planes - until 2007. 'Surprising….' she said, clearly unimpressed and raising an eyebrow. Unsilenced: Sexual Violence in Conflict has opened at the Imperial War Museum in London and will run until November 2. It is a subject the duchess - who was making her visit to the exhibition ahead of International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict on June 19 - says is woefully 'under-discussed'. In recent years the King's sister-in-law, who is married to his brother, Prince Edward, has travelled to current and former war zones including Chad, the Congo, Kosovo, South Chad, Lebanon and Sierra Leone. She has devoted much of her latter working life as a royal to supporting the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and is passionate about championing gender equality. Shocking stories of the use of rape and sexual assault as a weapon of war against both women and men have emerged from the current conflict in Ukraine, including a powerful report just weeks ago in the Daily Mail. Sophie, dressed elegantly in a Gabriela Hearst pink silk maxi dress and Jimmy Choo heels, was keen to ensure that survivors has been consulted on the exhibition, saying: 'This is about them, their voice matters'. The Duchess of Edinburgh with curator Helen Upcraft during a visit to the Imperial War Museum's new exhibition. Sophie looked amazed when told that the British Royal Air Force didn't ban 'nose art' - the drawing of scantily-clad women on the front of their fighter planes - until 2007 And she was assured their stories had been 'integral' to the process by exhibitions manager Jack Davies manage and curator Helen Upcraft. 'Unsilenced' examines how and why gender violence is perpetrated, its impact on victims and the pursuit of justice and reconciliation, with powerful testimonies from survivors and interviews with experts in the field. The Duchess spoke movingly about a visit she had made to Kosovo in 2019 and how deeply moved she had been when speaking to women about the 'shame and stigma' they experienced as a result of being brutalised. Discussing the horror of the many women who fell pregnant by their attackers, she said: 'The stigma that is sadly placed on the women….it's about the mothers. In so many countries they can't even go back into the home place,' she said. 'I met a woman in Kosovo. A number of years ago there was a programme on what had happened [there] and the numbers they estimated of the women who had been raped. She told me how her husband had been so empathetic and he had been horrified [about the statistics] because they didn't know. And because he had been so empathetic and saying this was just so awful that she felt brave enough to admit to him that she had been one of them. And that was the end of her marriage. 'This is the problem. It's the legacy. And unless we as a society help, we have to help people understand that they are not the ones who have the shame. It is not their lives who should be destroyed. We have to do better.' Sophie was also shown displays of wartime propaganda, which can itself create an atmosphere where sexual violence can occur. This includes the sexual slavery of the 'Comfort Women Corps' in the Second World War, the state-sanctioned violence against Yazidi women and girls by ISIS in 2014, as well as the Soviet Red Army in Berlin in 1945 , and even the US treatment of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib in 2004. 'This is not just something that happens to foreigners by foreigners, this is something we all need to address,' the duchess said. Turning to another display on women forced to have sex for rations so that their families can survive, she added sadly: 'It's a way of some people staying alive.' The duchess also looked particularly horrified at a display of drawings by Sudanese children depicting the sexual violence they had seen their mothers, sisters and even grandmothers subjected to, including a particularly shocking image of a soldier turning his eyes away in shame at what his colleague was doing. 'It's so vivid,' she gasped. Justice, she said, was a perennial problems for victims. 'It's a tiny, tiny scratch on the surface…The issue of prosecution, it's so hard to ever get any kind of closure on any of this. To try and prosecute. Where do you start? Do you prosecute a country? A leader? Of course this does happen. But it's important to recognise this at the highest level,' she insisted. Thanked for her own role in highlighting the issue, the royal added: 'It's a privilege. If we could all do ourselves out of a job…it would be great.'


The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Outgoing head of Europe's drug agency warns of surge of violence from stimulant trade
Europe's top official monitoring illegal drugs has a parting message near the end of his tenure: the relentless rise in the trafficking of cocaine and other stimulants is producing more violence than ever before in the heart of the world's safest societies. Alexis Goosdeel, the Belgian clinician who has run the European Union Drugs Agency since Jan. 2016, has watched it unfold across the continent and spill into his home country. The bulk of drug seizures shifted from Europe's southern flank to its northern ports and, with Antwerp now a leading entry point for cocaine and crack, spreading gang violence has produced shootouts even near the seat of Europe's government. It's emblematic of the risk the continent at large faces, he told The Associated Press via video conference from Lisbon, Portugal, where his agency is based. 'For people living in Brussels, that's the first time in the history of the country ... that you have episodes with weapons, with guns, in the center of Brussels,' Goosdeel said. 'And this happens 2,000 meters (1.2 miles) from the building of the European Parliament, in a city that was felt and perceived by people to be quite safe.' He noted the globalization of drug gangs — for example groups from the western Balkans arrested in Andean nations in South America. And he pointed to the new phenomena of gangs using social media to recruit at-risk youths, some of whom are recent arrivals to Europe as undocumented migrants. 'We don't understand yet what are the root causes of this change of behavior among young teenagers or adolescents who embarked on ultra-violent behavior without having really a past of delinquency,' he said. 'And some of them do not hesitate to take pictures or to make a movie of what they are doing and to share it on some social media.' Public health The European Union Drugs Agency's annual report released on Thursday found that in 2023 cocaine seizures in Europe hit a record for a seventh straight year, with 419 tonnes (462 tons) of cocaine confiscated by officials. Belgium led the way with 123 tonnes, followed by Spain (118 tonnes) and the Netherlands (59 tonnes), as the three countries with major ports accounted for 72% of the total amount grabbed by agents. The report, which covers the EU as well as Norway and Turkey, highlighted Spain's largest-ever seizure, of 13 tonnes of cocaine hidden in bananas from Ecuador, as an example of cartels' use of standard shipping lanes. Besides warning policymakers across the EU's 27 capitals to prepare for more violence, Goosdeel sounded the alarm about a looming public health threat. Whereas addiction and overdose from opioids can be treatable, that's not the case for stimulants. Their growing use 'suggests that in four or five years time we will face most probably an increase in the needs for treatment and we don't have any pharmacological standard treatment available,' he said. "You don't have anything magic in terms of medicine that would help to stabilize them, to cut the craving and to help them really disconnect from this extremely huge addiction. So it's time to invest.' Europe remains the leading producer and exporter of ecstasy. The agency's early warning system to spot new synthetic drugs has identified 1,000 new substances in its 27 years of existence. Goosdeel said he wouldn't be surprised if, of the total, more than half were detected in the past decade. The period has ushered in 'an entirely different world,' he said. 'Drugs are everywhere, including those we produce in Europe. Everything can be used as a drug,' he said. Don't ignore the problem Goosdeel insists that, while policymakers should tackle the issue of drug-related violence, they must continue caring for users rather than jailing or shunning them, as some critics say the United States' 'war on drugs' has done. Europe's approach has formed the basis of a public health response aimed at helping users overcome their addictions. 'We have learned in Europe, and from what happens outside Europe, that to declare war on the people who are using drugs is not the solution,' he said.


The Guardian
2 days ago
- The Guardian
Shein accused of ‘shaming' customers into buying more than they can afford
Consumer watchdogs from 21 countries have filed a formal complaint to EU authorities about alleged 'dark' practices by the Chinese fast fashion firm Shein including the 'shaming' of customers into buying more than they can afford. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) has submitted a 29-page dossier to the European Commission citing multiple examples of 'dark patterns', or deceptive techniques designed to encourage purchases. They include alleged fake countdown timers, low-stock messages, nagging practices, creating a fear of missing out, or forced registration on the site or app. BEUC says Shein also deploys what is known as 'confirm shaming', which makes the consumer feel bad if they miss out on buying a product. Shein hit back at BEUC, claiming the consumer watchdog group was unwilling to meet the company to discuss the issues. 'This unwillingness to engage is extremely disappointing, particularly in light of Shein's growing popularity among European consumers,' it said. As part of its formal complaint, the consumer watchdog group wants the EU to force Shein to disclose the data behind claims used in its marketing such as 'stocks are low', and countdown timers to sales ending. BEUC accuses Shein of 'unfair commercial practice' that it claims are 'leading to severe detrimental consequences on consumers and society at large', creating wardrobes full of barely used clothes, and production methods that may use chemicals that are harmful to the environment. It has also accused the company of promoting shopping habits that increase environmental and societal problems. 'On the one hand, they promote excessive spending and trigger economic losses for consumers. On the other hand, they stir overconsumption of clothing, which often also contains harmful chemicals, hence misleading and disempowering consumers in their efforts towards the green transition. Ultimately, these practices fuel the environmental and societal problems caused by the fast fashion industry,' it said in its submission. If Shein could not provide the data behind its claims over countdown sales and stock levels, it should be forced to stop this message in the EU, BEUC said. The consumer watchdog group has also raised concerns over the 'circulation of unsafe products in Europe, which may not comply with EU standards for fabrics and accessories'. The complaint comes four months after the European Commission and the network of consumer protection authorities in the EU known as the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC), launched an investigation into Shein's compliance with Europe's consumer laws. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Last week, the EU and CPC network notified Shein it was breaching EU law in a number of areas including fake discounts, 'pressure selling' and 'deceptive product labels', which suggest the product offered something special when in fact the feature was required by law. They urged Shein to respect European consumer protection laws and warned the company could face fines if it failed to address the EU's concerns. BEUC said its complaint was complementary to the EU's action and involved 'additional evidence' about the use of dark practices and 'extensive research from consumer groups across Europe'. But Shein said: 'Consumers would be best served if BEUC agreed to meet with us, allow us to explain our operations, and discuss openly and transparently any concerns they have. Unfortunately, they have chosen to reject each and every one of our many meeting requests over the last several years.' The company added that it was already working constructively with national consumer authorities and the European Commission to demonstrate its commitment to complying with EU law.