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Manchester City:  Phil McNulty's assessment of Premier League season

Manchester City: Phil McNulty's assessment of Premier League season

BBC News27-05-2025

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EXCLUSIVE 'If you were in a changing room in Harrods, there was a good chance Mohamed Al Fayed was watching': Explosive new book claims store was awash with spy cameras - even in women's staff toilets and locker rooms
EXCLUSIVE 'If you were in a changing room in Harrods, there was a good chance Mohamed Al Fayed was watching': Explosive new book claims store was awash with spy cameras - even in women's staff toilets and locker rooms

Daily Mail​

time23 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

EXCLUSIVE 'If you were in a changing room in Harrods, there was a good chance Mohamed Al Fayed was watching': Explosive new book claims store was awash with spy cameras - even in women's staff toilets and locker rooms

Sexual predator Mohamed Al Fayed spied on customers using the changing rooms at Harrods for decades, according to claims made by his former bodyguard. Speaking in an explosive new book, the security man said there was a 'good chance' that shoppers using the facilities at the Knightsbridge store during his reign were being 'watched' by the serial rapist. In the Monster of Harrods due to be released on Thursday, the bodyguard known only as Biggie said the store was awash with cameras which also recorded inside the female staff toilets and locker rooms. 'People don't talk about this - there were cameras right up to the entrance and slightly inside the changing rooms used by Harrods customers, which meant if you were in a Harrods changing room during the Fayed era, there was a good chance that he was watching you,' Biggie revealed. The installation of cameras, as well as bugging telephones, was said to have been ordered by the head of security ex-detective John Macnamara so Al Fayed could keep tabs on and seek out potential victims. 'The guys looked at the screens as if their lives depended on it. But they also realised that many of the questions Macnamara asked were about females who had caught Fayed's eye, so there was also a lot of sniggering as they watched women in changing rooms and toilets,' said Biggie. Biggie, who was described as 6ft 4in and 20st, was employed as one of the very first 'generals' in Al Fayed's security detail after he purchased the iconic store in 1985. Harrods, which was owned by Al Fayed for 25 years before he sold it in 2010, said last night: 'Nothing in our records suggest cameras existed in any staff or customer areas where personal privacy would have been compromised.' Alison Kervin, author of the book who interviewed 60 witnesses, survivors and former employees, claimed that around forty screens transmitted information from every inch of the store 24/7. She said the cameras were 'everywhere' and meant that 'working at Harrods was like living in the Truman Show'. Another member of staff, known as 'the Engineer' because of his role in phone bugging, said there were 'recording devices everywhere' and everything that was transmitted was filed away. 'I'd have to make sure they were working and we were picking up everything was important that we did the recordings and kept everything properly filed,' he is quoted as saying. He said Al Fayed would sometimes demand to see a particular recording or listen in to what was said in a meeting room. The man said that no one was 'off limits' and that he bugged everyone from financial directors and board members to chauffeurs and body guards. Al Fayed, who died without facing justice aged 94 in 2023, was exposed as a prolific sex offender last year and more than 500 victims and witnesses have since come forward. Emma Jones, a human rights lawyer for Leigh Day which represents a number of the victims, said the latest revelations highlighted the need for a public inquiry into how his offending was allowed to continue undeterred for decades. 'The fact that there could be covert surveillance, CCTV or any kind of recording in areas such as toilets and changing rooms beggars' belief and is truly shocking. 'If true this would have serious and far-reaching ramifications in terms of breaching people's right to privacy,' she added. Last week survivors handed a letter to Downing Street calling for an inquiry to examine claims of a cover up and allegations that the serial rapist was enabled by the iconic store and the police. Scotland Yard previously revealed that it is investigating the role of at least five potential enablers who are alleged to have aided Al Fayed. Harrods, which was sold to wealth fund Qatar Holdings, has previously said it is 'appalled' by allegations of sexual abuse by Al Fayed and have been investigating whether any current members of staff were involved. The Monster of Harrods: Al-Fayed and the secret, shameful history of a British institution published by HarperCollins goes sale on Thursday here.

BBC defends Gaza coverage after White House criticism
BBC defends Gaza coverage after White House criticism

South Wales Argus

time25 minutes ago

  • South Wales Argus

BBC defends Gaza coverage after White House criticism

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the corporation, after updating an article's headline with new information, had to 'correct and take down' its story about fatalities and injuries following a reported incident near an aid distribution centre in Rafah. The BBC said it has not removed its story and explained that its headlines about the incident were 'updated throughout the day with the latest fatality figures as they came in from various sources', which is 'totally normal practice'. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt holding a document containing images of BBC articles (Alex Brandon/AP) In a press briefing on Tuesday, Ms Leavitt responded to a question about the incident and said: 'The administration is aware of those reports and we are currently looking into the veracity of them because, unfortunately, unlike some in the media, we don't take the word of Hamas with total truth. 'We like to look into it when they speak, unlike the BBC, who had multiple headlines, they wrote, 'Israeli tank kills 26', 'Israeli tank kills 21', 'Israeli gunfire kills 31', 'Red Cross says, 21 people were killed in an aid incident'. 'And then, oh, wait, they had to correct and take down their entire story, saying 'We reviewed the footage and couldn't find any evidence of anything'.' While she was speaking Ms Leavitt held up a document that appeared to show a social media post from X, formerly Twitter, with the different headlines. The person who posted the headlines also posted a screenshot from a BBC live blog and wrote: 'The admission that it was all a lie.' The headline from the blog post read: 'Claim graphic video is linked to aid distribution site in Gaza is incorrect.' A BBC spokesperson said this came from the a BBC Verify online report, and not the corporation's story about the killings in Rafah, saying that a viral video posted on social media was not linked to the aid distribution centre it claimed to show. Ms Leavitt added: 'We're going to look into reports before we confirm them from this podium or before we take action, and I suggest that journalists who actually care about truth do the same to reduce the amount of misinformation that's going around the globe on this front.' A BBC spokesperson said: 'The claim the BBC took down a story after reviewing footage is completely wrong. We did not remove any story and we stand by our journalism. 'Our news stories and headlines about Sunday's aid distribution centre incident were updated throughout the day with the latest fatality figures as they came in from various sources. 'These were always clearly attributed, from the first figure of 15 from medics, through the 31 killed from the Hamas-run health ministry to the final Red Cross statement of 'at least 21' at their field hospital. 'This is totally normal practice on any fast-moving news story. 'Completely separately, a BBC Verify online report on Monday reported a viral video posted on social media was not linked to the aid distribution centre it claimed to show. 'This video did not run on BBC news channels and had not informed our reporting. Conflating these two stories is simply misleading. 'It is vital to bring people the truth about what is happening in Gaza. International journalists are not currently allowed into Gaza and we would welcome the support of the White House in our call for immediate access.' The corporation has faced a backlash over its coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict and it emerged earlier in the year that a documentary it aired about Gaza featured the son of a senior Hamas figure. Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone was removed from BBC iPlayer after it emerged that the child narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture.

EuroMillions jackpot rolls over AGAIN: One ticketholder could now land an eye-watering £208MILLION in Friday's draw
EuroMillions jackpot rolls over AGAIN: One ticketholder could now land an eye-watering £208MILLION in Friday's draw

Daily Mail​

time28 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

EuroMillions jackpot rolls over AGAIN: One ticketholder could now land an eye-watering £208MILLION in Friday's draw

One lucky ticket-holder could bag the biggest lottery win the UK has ever seen if they scoop the top prize in Friday's record EuroMillions draw. The jackpot has rolled over again after Tuesday's £199million draw, which would also have been a record-breaking amount, had no winners. There is now an eye-watering £208million up for grabs - which would see the winner pip the likes of Harry Styles and Rory McIlroy on the wealth scale. Andy Carter, Senior Winners' Adviser at Allwyn, said: 'We are now on the verge of potentially creating the biggest National Lottery winner this country has ever seen. '[It would make] a single UK winner instantly richer than the likes of Adele and Dua Lipa while also landing them at the number one spot on The National Lottery's biggest wins list.' An anonymous UK ticket holder won the existing record jackpot of £195 million on July 19 2022, while just two months earlier, Joe and Jess Thwaite, from Gloucester, won £184,262,899 with a Lucky Dip ticket for the draw on May 10 2022. The UK's third biggest win came after an anonymous ticket-holder scooped the £177 million jackpot in the draw on November 26 last year, while the biggest this year was £83 million in January. MailOnline reported last month that a grieving son found his mother's winning lottery ticket three days after she had died. Liam Carter, 34, found the EuroMillions ticket folded inside an envelope, which his mother Anne and avid lottery player had heartbreakingly scrawled on the front 'Sat draw - don't forget!'. She died on April 16, aged 67, just two days before her winning numbers came up having played every week and 'never winning anything big in her life'. Mr Carter, originally from Hampshire but now living in Aberdeen, discovered the folded envelope inside her kitchen drawer, where his loving mother usually kept her tickets. It meant Anne had won a payout of £18,403. Mr Carter had almost ignored the ticket but said 'something told me to check'. 'I scanned it using the National Lottery app, and it said it was a winning ticket — but I'd have to call the lottery line,' he added He phoned the line last Saturday and 'just froze' when he was told of how much the winning ticket was worth. Mr Carter said: 'I must've gone quiet on the phone. It didn't feel real. She never won anything big in her life — and now this.' He added: 'She always said if she ever won, the money would be for me,' he said. 'And even though she never knew about this win, it really felt like something she left behind for me. Like one final gift.' He plans to use the money towards a deposit on a flat, something he says his mother always wanted him to achieve. 'She always said if she ever won, the money would be for me,' he said. 'And even though she never knew about this win, it really felt like something she left behind for me. Like one final gift.' The ticket had matched five main numbers — 20, 27, 35, 39 and 48 — just missing the two Lucky Stars, 03 and 08.

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