Branson’s space tourism flight is a landmark moment – but out of reach for most people
There was at least one Englishman with something to celebrate on Sunday night.
It will go down in the life story of Sir Richard Branson as the day he was officially handed the title of astronaut after his successful trip to the edge of space and back.
And if the live feed of the England game 5,000 miles away put a dampener on the day for some, Sir Richard’s emotions were sky high at the achievement of him and his crew.
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‘I was once a child with a dream’
The 22nd Virgin Galactic test flight was the first to carry a full payload of passengers, all of them senior employees, and was a key moment in selling the idea of space tourism to the widest possible audience.
It was also meant to reassure the hundreds who have already stumped up a quarter of a million each to secure a seat in the future that it could be done. Many have been waiting a long time for the ride.
The likelihood is now that early in the new year Virgin will begin taking paying passengers up to the edge of space and give them the chance to experience what Sir Richard did.
“Indescribably good” was the only way the billionaire astronaut could relate the views and the sensation of weightlessness 50 miles above the earth’s surface.
The excitement at a safe and successful mission was certainly infectious and this was undoubtedly a landmark moment in the private space race.
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‘Everybody would love to go to space’
SpaceX boss Elon Musk was there to witness history – Sir Richard said he stumbled upon his rival in his kitchen at 3am – and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos sent his congratulations.
They, and a number of other companies, will take encouragement, Sir Richard told me, from the success of this mission. They all believe there are enough paying passengers to go around.
But, even with the raffle Sir Richard announced for ordinary people to possibly win a seat on a future flight, for most people on the planet the prospect is financially well out of reach.
After landing, Sir Richard talked about future astronauts not being limited by their gender, race or background but truthfully that day seems a long way off.
Perhaps some of the students who were there to witness the event will see it happen in their lifetime but it will take a huge upscaling of capabilities. Sir Richard had teased the children with the story of almost bringing an alien home.
For such a consummate showman, a man who has dressed as a bride for a PR stunt and, by his own estimate, survived 76 near-death experiences in his lifetime, there can have been little in his 70 years as satisfying as Sunday’s silky smooth performance.
If his granddaughter’s proud announcement that “papa went to the moon” was a little off-beam, you can forgive the family’s euphoria.
And at least one member of the family definitely won’t be following him into space. “My wife Joan is about the only person in the world who doesn’t want to go,” he told me.
Three brothers have been jailed after underage girls in Leeds and Barrow-in-Furness were sexually abused and raped over a number of years.
The trio were convicted in October last year, with the abuse taking place between 1996 and 2010.
Shaha Amran Miah, 49, known as Jai; Shaha Alman Miah, 47, known as Ali; and Shah Joman Miah, 38, known as Sarj all pleaded not guilty.
Sarj has since admitted his crimes. However, the judge said it could be a cynical attempt for leniency and did not give him any credit.
Shaha Amran Miah, Shaha Joman Miah and Shaha Alman Miah. Pic: Cumbria Police
They were sentenced on Friday to the following:
Shaha Amran Miah – life with a minimum term of 20 years and 338 days.
Shaha Alman Miah – 10 years in prison and four years on licence.
Shah Joman Miah – life with a minimum term of 21 years and 232 days.
Preston Crown Court heard Sarj and Jai regularly sexually abused two children at a Leeds mosque over many years, beginning when the victims were seven.
The three also preyed on vulnerable and underage girls at a flat above their family’s takeaway in Barrow, Cumbria, between 2008 and 2010.
They gave them cigarettes, alcohol, food and even hair extensions in what barrister Tim Evans KC called a “classic grooming technique”.
He said the brothers worked as a team and “created an environment in Barrow in which each of them could abuse young girls”.
Judge Unsworth KC said they had shattered the lives of their victims and hid in plain sight in the Cumbria town.
Multiple schoolgirls in their uniforms were regularly seen at the takeaway, the judge said, with Jai acting ruthlessly to stop them going to the police.
The court heard Sarj would take one of the girls to a hotel for sex about twice a month and became increasingly controlling – to the point she remains on medication and is terrified of seeing him in the street.
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A witness told Sky News the men abused their victims in a dingy room above the takeaway that “looked like a crackhouse” and had mattresses on the floor and sheets covering the windows.
“They knew exactly how young they were,” she said. “They didn’t only have one girlfriend each… they had multiple.”
Shaha Amran Miah was found guilty of 16 sexual offences against three girls, including rape, as well as two charges of intimidation and one of kidnap.
Shaha Alman Miah was found guilty of three counts of sexual activity with a child.
Shah Joman Miah was convicted of sexually abusing three children. There were nine counts of rape of a child among his 40 offences.
Apple will no longer offer customers in the UK its most advanced, end-to-end security encryption feature for cloud data – following a security row with the government.
The Advanced Data Protection (ADP) tool is an optional feature which means only account holders can see things like photos or documents that they have stored online. Apple itself does not have access to the data.
However, the UK government reportedly requested the right to see the data earlier this month.
In response, Apple has removed the tool from use in the UK.
The company is switching it off as an option for those not already using it, and will introduce a process to move existing users away from it.
Security officials argue that encryption hinders criminal investigations, while tech firms defend it as essential to user privacy.
The loss of end-to-end encryption for iCloud backup means Apple would be able in some instances to read user data such as iMessages that would otherwise be protected and pass it on to authorities if legally compelled.
However, if a user has end-to-end encryption, Apple cannot read the data under any circumstances.
An Apple store in New York. Pic: iStock
What has Apple said?
“We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our customers in the UK given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy,” Apple said in a statement.
“Enhancing the security of cloud storage with end-to-end encryption is more urgent than ever before.
“Apple remains committed to offering our users the highest level of security for their personal data and are hopeful that we will be able to do so in the future in the United Kingdom.”
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Apple customers who already had the data protection tool turned on “will eventually need to disable this security feature”, said the company.
It is already unavailable for customers who weren’t using the feature, who now see a message reading: “Apple can no longer offer Advanced Data Protection (ADP) in the United Kingdom to new users.”
What has the UK government said?
The government said it will not confirm or deny whether it requested a Technical Capability Notice (TCN), which is what would give it the right to see the encrypted data.
“We do not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any such notices,” a Home Office spokesperson told Sky News.
According to a Home Office source, however, even if a TCN was issued, it wouldn’t give the government blanket access to people’s data.
Separate authorisations or warrants would still be required.
What’s the reaction from the tech industry?
Many in the tech industry are shocked by Apple’s move, with Graeme Stewart from cybersecurity company Check Point saying it “is effectively smashing open Pandora’s box and hoping the chaos stays neatly inside”.
“At its heart, encryption isn’t just for criminals; it’s a shield for millions of law-abiding citizens, businesses, and critical infrastructure,” he said.
“Now we are prying open that door to our digital Fort Knox, there’s no telling what else might slip through.”
Apple was also described as “calling the government’s bluff” by Robert Peake who is the technology partner at Keystone Law, for refusing to create a backdoor into its protected data.
“The Government will face increasing pressure to back down on this, as it seriously undermines its recent attempts to portray the UK as a pro-innovation place to operate,” he said.
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