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A Ugandan marathon runner has suffered severe burns after an alleged attack by her boyfriend.

Rebecca Cheptegei, who finished 44th in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics, is receiving treatment for 75% burns after being attacked in her house in western Trans Nzoia County, Kenya.

She is said to be in a critical condition, according to the Kenyan The Star newspaper.

Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said on Monday Cheptegei’s boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, bought a can of petrol, poured it on her and set her on fire during a disagreement on Sunday.

Ndiema also sustained burn wounds, and the two are being treated at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret city.

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Cheptegei’s parents said their 33-year-old daughter bought land in Trans Nzoia to be near the county’s many athletic training centres.

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A report filed by the local chief says the couple were heard fighting over the land where the house was built, before the fire started.

Cheptegei qualified for her Olympic debut in the marathon after setting a personal best of 2.22.47 at the Abu Dhabi Marathon in December 2022, according to the Paris Olympics website.

She also finished 14th in the marathon at the 2023 World Championships.

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‘Horrific incident’ at sheriff training facility in LA – at least three people dead

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'Horrific incident' at sheriff training facility in LA - at least three people dead

At least three people have been killed after a “horrific incident” at a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department training facility, officials have said.

A spokesperson for the department said there was an explosion at the Biscailuz Center Academy Training in east LA.

The incident was reported at around 7.30am local time (3.30pm UK time).

Aerial footage from local channel KABC-TV suggests the blast happened in a parking lot filled with sheriff patrol cars and box trucks.

The Eugene Biscailuz Center Academy Training in East Los Angeles. Pic: NBC Los Angeles
Image:
The training centre in east LA. Pic: NBC Los Angeles

Attorney general Pam Bondi wrote on X: “I just spoke to @USAttyEssayli about what appears to be a horrific incident that killed at least three at a law enforcement training facility in Los Angeles.

“Our federal agents are at the scene and we are working to learn more.”

California congressman Jimmy Sanchez said the explosion had “claimed the lives of at least three deputies”.

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“My condolences to the families and everyone impacted by this loss,” he said.

Media and law enforcement stage near the site of an explosion at the LA County Sheriff's Special Operations Bureau on Friday, July 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
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Media and law enforcement officials near the explosion site. Pic: AP

The attorney general said in a follow-up post that agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are “on the ground to support”.

The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, said the LAPD bomb squad has also responded to the scene.

“The thoughts of all Angelenos are with all of those impacted by this blast,” she said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the incident, his press office said in a post on X.

“The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services is in contact with the Sheriff’s Department and closely monitoring the situation, and has offered full state assistance,” it added.

The cause of the explosion is being investigated.

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Unmasked: The 18 Russian spies who mounted series of attacks on UK

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Unmasked: The 18 Russian spies who mounted series of attacks on UK

Dozens of Russian spies have been sanctioned by the government – including those responsible for targeting Yulia Skripal five years before her attempted murder in Salisbury.

The Foreign Office has announced that three units of the Russian military intelligence agency (GRU) have been hit with sanctions, alongside 18 military intelligence officers.

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GRU officers attempted to murder Yulia Skipal and her father Sergei using the deadly Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury.

The 18 military intelligence officers have been targeted because of a sustained campaign of malicious cyber activity over many years, including in the UK, the Foreign Office said.

Yevgeniy Mikhaylovich SEREBRIAKOV.
Pic: FBI
Image:
Yevgeniy Mikhaylovich SEREBRIAKOV.
Pic: FBI

The government also accused the GRU of using cyber and information operations to “sow chaos, division and disorder in Ukraine and across the world”.

One of the groups sanctioned, Unit 26165, conducted online reconnaissance to help target missile strikes against Mariupol, including the bombing of Mariupol Theatre where hundreds of civilians, including children, were murdered.

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ALEKSEY VIKTOROVICH LUKASHEV
Pic -  FBI
Image:
ALEKSEY VIKTOROVICH LUKASHEV
Pic – FBI

Other military officers who have been sanctioned previously targeted Yulia Skripal’s mobile phone with malicious malware known as X-Agent.

The Skripals had moved to the UK after Sergei Skripal became a double agent, secretly working for the UK. He was tried for high treason and imprisoned in Russia – and later exchanged in a spy swap.

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But five years after Yulia’s phone was targeted, the pair were poisoned with the nerve agent, Novichok, in Salisbury. Russia has always denied being involved in the chemical attack.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “GRU spies are running a campaign to destabilise Europe, undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and threaten the safety of British citizens,” Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.

“The Kremlin should be in no doubt: we see what they are trying to do in the shadows and we won’t tolerate it.”

He said the UK was taking “decisive action” with the sanctions against Russian spies.

“Putin’s hybrid threats and aggression will never break our resolve. The UK and our allies’ support for Ukraine and Europe’s security is ironclad.”

Those sanctioned today include:

  • Aleksandr Vladimirovich Osadchuk
Aleksandr Vladimirovich OSADCHUK 
Image:
Aleksandr Vladimirovich OSADCHUK 

  • Yevgeniy Mikhaylovich Serbriakov
Yevgeniy Mikhaylovich SEREBRIAKOV.
Pic: FBI
Image:
Yevgeniy Mikhaylovich SEREBRIAKOV.
Pic: FBI

  • Anatoliy Sergeyvich Kovalev
Anatoliy Sergeyvich KOVALEV 
Image:
Anatoliy Sergeyvich KOVALEV 

  • Artem Valeryvich Ochichenko
ARTEM VALERYEVICH OCHICHENKO. Pic: FBI
Image:
ARTEM VALERYEVICH OCHICHENKO. Pic: FBI

  • The 161st Specialist Training Centre (TsPS) (Unit 29155) of the GRU
  • Vladislav Yevgenyevich Borovkov
VLADISLAV YEVGENYEVICH BOROVKOV
Image:
VLADISLAV YEVGENYEVICH BOROVKOV

  • Nikolay Aleksandrovich Korchagin
NIKOLAY ALEKSANDROVICH KORCHAGIN.
Pic: FBI
Image:
NIKOLAY ALEKSANDROVICH KORCHAGIN.
Pic: FBI


  • Yuriy Federovich Denisov
YURIY FEDOROVICH DENISOV.
Pic: FBI
Image:
YURIY FEDOROVICH DENISOV.
Pic: FBI

  • Vitaly Aleksandrovich Shevchenko
  • Ivan Sergeyevich Yermakov
Ivan Sergeyevich Yermakov.
Pic: FBI/Reuters
Image:
Ivan Sergeyevich Yermakov.
Pic: FBI/Reuters

  • Aleksey Viktorovich Lukashev
ALEKSEY VIKTOROVICH LUKASHEV
Pic -  FBI
Image:
ALEKSEY VIKTOROVICH LUKASHEV
Pic – FBI

  • Sergey Sergeyevich Vasyuk
  • Andrey Eduardovich Baranov
  • Aleksey Sergeyevich Morenets
ALEKSEI SERGEYEVICH MORENETS.
Pic: FBI
Image:
ALEKSEI SERGEYEVICH MORENETS.
Pic: FBI

  • Sergey Aleksandrovich Morgachev
SERGEY ALEKSANDROVICH MORGACHEV
Image:
SERGEY ALEKSANDROVICH MORGACHEV

  • Artem Adreyevich Malyshev
SERGEY ALEKSANDROVICH MORGACHEV.
Pic: FBI
Image:
ARTEM ANDREYEVICH MALYSHEV

Pic: FBI

  • Yuriy Leonidovich Shikolenko
  • Victor Borisovich Netyksho
  • Dmitriy Aleksandrovich Mikhaylov
  • African Initiative
  • Artyom Sergeevich Kureyev
Artyom Sergeevich KUREYEV
Image:
Artyom Sergeevich KUREYEV

  • Anna Sergeevna Zamaraeva
  • Victor Aleksandrovich Lukovenko

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Antarctica’s oldest ice arrives in UK for analysis on climate shifts

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Antarctica's oldest ice arrives in UK for analysis on climate shifts

Antarctica’s oldest ice has arrived in the UK for analysis which scientists hope will reveal more about Earth’s climate shifts.

The ice was retrieved from depths of up to 2,800 metres at Little Dome C in East Antarctica as part of an international effort to “unlock the deepest secrets of Antarctica’s ice”.

The ice cores – cylindrical tubes of ancient ice – will be analysed at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in Cambridge, with the ultimate goal of reconstructing up to 1.5 million years of Earth’s climate history, significantly extending the current ice core record of 800,000 years.

The research is also expected to offer valuable context for predicting future climate change, Dr Liz Thomas, head of the ice cores team at the British Antarctic Survey, said.

Over the next few years, the samples will be analysed by different labs across Europe to gain understanding of Earth’s climate evolution and greenhouse gas concentrations.

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Dr Thomas said: “It’s incredibly exciting to be part of this international effort to unlock the deepest secrets of Antarctica’s ice.

“The project is driven by a central scientific question: why did the planet’s climate cycle shift roughly one million years ago from a 41,000-year to a 100,000-year phasing of glacial-interglacial cycles?

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“By extending the ice core record beyond this turning point, researchers hope to improve predictions of how Earth’s climate may respond to future greenhouse gas increases.”

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The ice was extracted as part of the Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice project, which is funded by the European Commission and brings together researchers from 10 European countries and 12 institutions.

“Our data will yield the first continuous reconstructions of key environmental indicators-including atmospheric temperatures, wind patterns, sea ice extent, and marine productivity-spanning the past 1.5 million years,” Dr Thomas said.

“This unprecedented ice core dataset will provide vital insights into the link between atmospheric CO₂ levels and climate during a previously uncharted period in Earth’s history, offering valuable context for predicting future climate change.”

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