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Divers have entered the sunken superyacht as they continue to search for the bodies of six missing people, but face “significant challenges” during the rescue operation.

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah are among six missing after a luxury yacht sank in a tornado off the coast of Italy. One person has already been declared dead and Morgan Stanley International Bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo are also among those missing.

Nick Sloane, an engineer who led the salvage operation for the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia in 2013, says rescue divers looking for survivors have entered a “critical” 24 hours – with some possibly trapped in air pockets inside the ship, but that time is running out to save them if that is the case.

Marco Tilotta, a diver from Vigili del Fuoco di Palermo who is coordinating the search and rescue, said the teams have been diving continuously since 11.30pm last night.

He said they always hope to find people alive, but the conditions below the water are clearly “prohibitive”.

When asked about the conditions that caused the boat to sink, he said: “Of our entire career as divers, however, these are events that are clearly difficult to prevent and therefore truly unlikely and difficult to manage, so I don’t dare think of what the people who were there on board experienced.”

The British-flagged superyacht Bayesian is still largely intact on the seabed, but the 50m depth makes it difficult to access, and the time window divers have make searches is incredibly tight, according to another diver.

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Among those diving are two cave divers, who will have experience navigating through tight areas.

‘We didn’t see it coming’: Superyacht latest

Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group
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The interior of the yacht. Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group

“They can stay underwater for a maximum of 12 minutes, two of which are needed to go up and down,” emergency responder Luca Cari told Italian daily Giornale Di Sicilia.

“So the real time to be able to carry out the search is 10 minutes per dive.”

Mr Tilotta told reporters: “We plan… to search centimetre by centimetre.”

The vessel was lying on its right side, Mr Tilotta said. Divers had not been able to determine whether the 72-metre-long mast had snapped somewhere along its length.

Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group
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Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group

Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group
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Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group

Divers have entered the lounge via a ladder, Mr Cari said, and are now trying to find the best access point to enter the rest of the yacht.

And Italian paper Il Messaggero said they had also been able to open a hole in the side.

Mr Cari explained that divers had identified a glass window of the Bayesian through which they could enter, though it had to be removed in order to gain access. The window is 3cm thick, making removal difficult.

From the outside it is impossible to see inside the yacht, further hampering the search.

Pic: Perini Navi/ The Italian Sea Group
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Pic: Perini Navi/ The Italian Sea Group

Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group
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Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group

The rescue team already searched the command bridge, which “is full of electrical cables”, but did not find anyone in the area.

“The spaces inside the sailing ship are very small and if you encounter an obstacle it is very complicated to move forward, just as it is very difficult to find alternative routes,” he added.

Hatches and doors left open overnight on the superyacht Bayesian may have caused it to sink in Italy, a sailing expert also said.

Sam Jefferson, editor of magazine Sailing Today, believes the vessel’s huge mast would have acted like a sail to pin the boat down, and is also likely to have contributed to the deadly event.

Mr Jefferson said “I would have said that the boat got hit very hard by the wind, it was pinned over on its side.

“I imagine all the doors were open because it was hot, so there were enough hatches and doors open that it filled with water very quickly and sank like that.”

Read more:
Everything we know about luxury vessel sunk by tornado
Lynch’s co-defendant dies before yacht sinking

Mr Lynch, known as the “British Bill Gates”, has been in the headlines in recent months over a high-profile fraud case.

In June, he was cleared of all charges by a US jury related to the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

His wife, Angela Bacares, was among the 15 people already rescued.

Among others said to be missing are lawyer Christopher Morvillo, a Clifford Chance partner and Mr Lynch’s co-counsel in his US trial, Mr Morvillo’s wife, Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer, who is also chair of UK insurer Hiscox, and his wife Judy.

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Fourteen children arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over Gateshead fire released on bail

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Fourteen children arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over Gateshead fire released on bail

All 14 children arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after a boy died in a fire have been released on police bail, officers said.

Layton Carr, 14, was found dead near the site of a fire at Fairfield industrial park in the Bill Quay area of Gateshead on Friday.

Northumbria Police said on Saturday that they had arrested 11 boys and three girls in connection with the incident.

In an update on Sunday, a Northumbria Police spokesman said: “All those arrested have since been released on police bail pending further inquiries.”

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Teenager dies in industrial estate fire

Firefighters raced to the industrial site shortly after 8pm on Friday, putting out the blaze a short time later.

Police then issued an appeal for Carr, who was believed to be in the area at that time.

In a statement on Saturday, the force said that “sadly, following searches, a body believed to be that of 14-year-old Layton Carr was located deceased inside the building”.

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David Thompson, headteacher of Hebburn Comprehensive School, where Layton was a pupil, said the school community was “heartbroken”.

Mr Thompson described him as a “valued and much-loved member of Year 9” and said he would be “greatly missed by everyone”.

He added that the school’s “sincere condolences” were with Layton’s family and that the community would “rally together to support one another through this tragedy”.

A fundraising page on GoFundMe has been set up to help Layton’s mother pay for funeral costs.

Pic: Gofundme
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Pic: Gofundme

Organiser Stephanie Simpson said: “The last thing Georgia needs to stress trying to pay for a funeral for her Boy Any donations will help thank you.”

One tribute in a Facebook post read: “Can’t believe I’m writing this my nephew RIP Layton 💔 forever 14 you’ll be a massive miss, thinking of my sister and 2 beautiful nieces right now.”

Detective Chief Inspector Louise Jenkins, of Northumbria Police, also said: “This is an extremely tragic incident where a boy has sadly lost his life.”

She added that the force’s “thoughts are with Layton’s family as they begin to attempt to process the loss of their loved one”.

They are working to establish “the full circumstances surrounding the incident” and officers will be in the area to “offer reassurance to the public”, she added.

A cordon remains in place at the site while police carry out enquiries.

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Football bodies could be forced to pay towards brain injury care costs of ex-players

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Football bodies could be forced to pay towards brain injury care costs of ex-players

Football bodies could be forced to pay towards the care costs of ex-players who have been diagnosed with brain conditions, under proposals set to be considered by MPs.

Campaigners are drafting amendments to the Football Governance Bill, which would treat conditions caused by heading balls as an “industrial injuries issue”.

The proposals seek to require the football industry to provide the necessary financial support.

Campaigners say existing support is not fit for purpose, including the Brain Health Fund which was set up with an initial £1m by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), supported by the Premier League.

But the Premier League said the fund has supported 121 families with at-home adaptations and care home fees.

From England‘s 1966 World Cup-winning team, both Jack and Bobby Charlton died with dementia, as did Martin Peters, Ray Wilson and Nobby Stiles.

Neil Ruddock speaks to Sky's Rob Harris outside parliament
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Neil Ruddock speaks to Sky’s Rob Harris outside parliament

Ex-players, including former Liverpool defender Neil Ruddock, went to parliament last week to lobby MPs.

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Ruddock told Sky News he had joined campaigners “for the families who’ve gone through hell”.

“A professional footballer, greatest job in the world, but no one knew the dangers, and that’s scary,” he said.

“Every time someone heads a ball it’s got to be dangerous to you. You know, I used to head 100 balls a day in training. I didn’t realise that might affect my future.”

A study co-funded by the PFA and the Football Association (FA) in 2019 found footballers were three and a half times more likely to die of a neurodegenerative disease than members of the public of the same age.

‘In denial’

Among those calling on football authorities to contribute towards the care costs of ex-players who have gone on to develop conditions such as Alzheimer’s and dementia is Labour MP Chris Evans.

Mr Evans, who represents Caerphilly in South Wales, hopes to amend the Bill to establish a care and financial support scheme for ex-footballers and told a recent event in parliament that affected ex-players “deserve to be compensated”.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who helped to draft the amendment, said the game was “in denial about the whole thing”.

Mr Burnham called for it to be seen as “an industrial injuries issue in the same way with mining”.

In January, David Beckham lent his support to calls for greater support for footballers affected by dementia.

One of the amendments says that “the industry rather than the public should bear the financial burden”.

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Woman missing for more than 60 years found ‘alive and well’
Meghan posts new photo of Prince Harry amid backlash

A spokesperson for the FA said it was taking a “leading role in reviewing and improving the safety of our game” and that it had “already taken many proactive steps to review and address potential risk factors”.

An English Football League spokesperson said it was “working closely with other football bodies” to ensure both professional and grassroots football are “as safe as it can be”.

The PFA and Premier League declined to comment.

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Terror arrests came in context of raised warnings about Iran, with ongoing chaos in its own backyard

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Terror arrests came in context of raised warnings about Iran, with ongoing chaos in its own backyard

These are two separate and unrelated investigations by counter-terror officers.

But the common thread is nationality – seven out of the eight people arrested are Iranian.

And that comes in the context of increased warnings from government and the security services about Iranian activity on British soil.

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Counter terror officers raid property

Last year, the director general of MI5, Ken McCallum, said his organisation and police had responded to 20 Iran-backed plots presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents since January 2022.

He linked that increase to the ongoing situation in Iran’s own backyard.

“As events unfold in the Middle East, we will give our fullest attention to the risk of an increase in – or a broadening of – Iranian state aggression in the UK,” he said.

The implication is that even as Iran grapples with a rapidly changing situation in its own region, having seen its proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, decimated and itself coming under Israeli attack, it may seek avenues further abroad.

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The government reiterated this warning only a few weeks ago, with security minister Dan Jarvis addressing parliament.

“The threat from Iran sits in a wider context of the growing, diversifying and evolving threat that the UK faces from malign activity by a number of states,” Jarvis said.

“The threat from states has become increasingly interconnected in nature, blurring the lines between: domestic and international; online and offline; and states and their proxies.

“Turning specifically to Iran, the regime has become increasingly emboldened, asserting itself more aggressively to advance their objectives and undermine ours.”

Read more:
Anybody working for Iran in UK must register or face jail, government announces

As part of that address, Jarvis highlighted the National Security Act 2023, which “criminalises assisting a foreign intelligence service”, among other things.

So it was notable that this was the act used in one of this weekend’s investigations.

The suspects were detained under section 27 of the same act, which allows police to arrest those suspected of being “involved in foreign power threat activity”.

Those powers are apparently being put to use.

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