The inscriptions on the rolled-up piece of lead are hardly visible to the unaided eye. (Image credit: Archeology in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (AIM-V))
The discovery came from a place no one expected to yield anything remarkable.
During routine excavation work for an extension to Rostock’s town hall, archaeologists lifted an unassuming, tightly rolled strip of lead from the floor of an old latrine.
Only after it was carefully unrolled did its significance become clear.
The metal sheet carried a curse, written in faint Gothic script, naming two people and invoking demonic figures.
The lead tablet was discovered beneath a latrine at the edge of a former property on the Rostock town hall site, managed by KOE.
the agency responsible for developing and maintaining municipal property for the city. In 2023, archaeologists were able to unroll the tablet and make out the inscription:
“Sathanas taleke belzebuk hinrik berith.” The wording names a woman called Taleke and a man named Hinrik, along with references to Satan, Beelzebub, and the demon Berith.
The text is written in Gothic minuscule, not crudely scratched but carefully formed, suggesting an experienced hand.
Dr Ansorge said the tablet was deliberately hidden, following a practice known from earlier periods.
Curse tablets were typically placed where they would not be found, allowing the spell to operate without interference and without the knowledge of those targeted.
View of the town hall archaeological site in Rostock – photo courtesy KOE
Rostock, a historic port city in northeastern Germany on the Baltic Sea, is known for its medieval Hanseatic League past.
striking Gothic architecture, including St Mary’s Church with its astronomical clock, and a vibrant university.
The city also features the seaside resort district of Warnemünde, famous for sandy beaches, and is a lively blend of maritime history, festivals, and modern recreation.
Officials involved in the excavation have raised questions about the motivation behind the curse.
They asked whether it reflected jealousy, unrequited love, or an attempt to destroy a relationship. No further identifying details about Taleke or Hinrik have been recovered.
Why the find is historically unusual
Curse tablets are well documented in the ancient Greek and Roman world, particularly between roughly 800 BC and 600 AD.
They are commonly associated with temples, graves, wells and latrines. According to Dr Ansorge, however, no comparable examples from the 15th century were previously known.
“Curse tablets are actually known from antiquity,” he said. “Our discovery, on the other hand, can be dated to the 15th century.
This is truly an exceptional find.” The Rostock site has produced relatively few artefacts, but those recovered have been notable.
Alongside the curse tablet, archaeologists uncovered Valencian lustreware from Spain, a remarkably well-preserved leather shoe, and bronze taps dating from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Dr Ansorge described the site as “poor in quantity but top quality in results.”
The bronze taps—photo courtesy of KOE.
The find has been reported by CBS News, which noted that while curse tablets have appeared in other historical contexts worldwide,
The Rostock tablet stands out for its mediaeval date and clear personal targeting.
Archaeologists continue to analyse the tablet as part of the wider documentation of the site, but its message, which was written to be hidden and forgotten, has already resurfaced centuries later.
A couple has been jailed for beating and burning their 10-month-old son to death on Christmas Day after almost every bone in his body was found broken.
The case, which the detective in charge described as the “worst” he has seen in his three-decade-long career, comes after Stephen Bowden and Shannon Marsden murdered their young son in 2020.
The couple was found to have caused young Finley Bowden more than 130 injuries that led to his death, having returned to their care only a month earlier.
During his trial at Derby Crown Court, the court heard how the child suffered “significant, substantial, and repeated acts of serious violence.”
Before his death, Finley suffered 71 injuries, including two burns—one caused by a cigarette lighter— and 57 fractures.
Many of the injuries are believed to have come from “kicking” and “stamping” on Finlay by Bowden, 30, and Marsden, 22.
Judge Mrs Justice Tipples described to the court how the couple subjected their son to “unimaginable cruelty”.
He added, “Once the injuries were sustained, Finlay’s daily experience was one of considerable pain, distress and suffering.”
“No one heard Finley cry or scream in pain as you worked together to inflict injuries on him, with one of you breaking his bone and the other putting a hand over his mouth to silence him.”
the couple decided to ignore their baby
In another shocking twist, when it became clear that Finley was dying, the couple decided to ignore their baby and not take him to the hospital.
Finlay was found unresponsive by police at his family home in Old Whittington, Chesterfield, at 2.47am on Christmas Day, after the 10-month-old had every bone in his body broken due to repeated abuse over several weeks.
In a rambling and disturbing statement, the court heard that just hours after learning of Finlay’s death, Bowden joked about putting the child’s pushchair on eBay.
In a disgusted statement later investigated by police, Bowden claimed he was “trying to lighten the mood.”
The court also heard how Bowden would prioritise drug use rather than caring for her son; she even told her drug dealer that she wanted to “bounce him off the walls” just two days before her death.
At trial, the two pleaded not guilty, and after five months in court, jurors ultimately convicted them on all counts of murder and child cruelty.
The judge then sentenced the pair to life imprisonment, where Bowden would have to serve a minimum of 29 years, while Marsden would have to serve a minimum of 27 years.
Detective Inspector Paul Bullock of Derbyshire Police said the case was one of the worst in his almost three-decade-long career.
Prosecutor Mary Pryor Casey said that for nine months of his life, Finley was a “fit and happy” young boy; however, things changed when, during Covid,
The parents requested custody, and a family court ruled that she should be returned to her parents within eight weeks.
Following the conclusion of the trial, Derbyshire County Council expressed its “heartfelt sympathies” to those who knew and loved Finlay.
The Department of Children’s Services also acknowledged that they had “missed opportunities.”
Carol Cammis, executive director of children’s services, said, “Finley’s death was a tragedy for everyone who knew him and for everyone involved in his care.
“Despite the significant Covid restrictions imposed on our work at the time, we know that opportunities for strong practice were missed, and we apologise for this.
Octopus Energy Group is on the brink of selling a big stake in its software arm, Kraken Technologies, at a valuation that will cement its status as one of Britain’s biggest private companies.
Sky News has learnt that Octopus Energy has lined up a syndicate of investors to buy Kraken between 10% and 20%.
Sources said an investment was likely to value Kraken at between $9bn (£6.67bn) and $10bn (£7.4bn).
Octopus Energy has emerged as the largest household gas and electricity supplier in Britain.
– engaged Goldman Sachs to handle the demerger of Kraken and the sale of a stake to external investors.
Sources said the deal was expected to be announced imminently.
The demerger plan – revealed by Sky News in July – will augment Octopus Energy chief executive Greg Jackson’s paper fortune and underline his success at building a globally significant British-based company over the last decade.
Octopus Energy now has more than 7.5 million retail customers in Britain, following its 2022 rescue of the collapsed energy supplier Bulb and the subsequent acquisition of Shell’s home energy business.
In January, it announced that it had become the country’s biggest supplier – surpassing Centrica-owned British Gas – with a 24% market share.
It also has a further 2.5 million customers outside the UK.
Sources said a $10bn valuation of Kraken would imply that the whole group, including the retail supply business, was worth in the region of £15bn.
That would be double its valuation of little more than a year ago, when the company announced that it had secured new backing from funds Galvanise Climate Solutions and Lightrock.
Shortly before that, the former US vice president Al Gore’s firm, Generation Investment Management, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased their stakes in Octopus Energy in a transaction valuing the company at $9bn (£7.2bn).
Kraken is an operating system that is licensed by other energy providers, water companies, and telecom suppliers.
It connects all parts of the energy system, including customer billing and the flexible management of renewable generation and energy devices such as heat pumps and electric vehicle batteries.
The business also unlocks smart grids, which enable people to use more renewable energy when there is an abundant supply of it
Octopus Energy’s rivals AEON and EDF Energy,
In the UK, its platform is licensed to Octopus Energy’s rivals AEON and EDF Energy, as well as the water company Severn Trent and broadband provider Cuckoo.
Overseas, Kraken serves Origin Energy in Australia, Japan’s Tokyo Gas and Plenitude in countries including France and Greece.
Kraken, which is chaired by Gavin Patterson, the former BT Group chief executive, is now contracted to more than 70 million customer accounts globally – putting it easily on track to hit a target of 100 million by 2027.
Earlier this year, Mr. Jackson stated that the target now risks being perceived as “embarrassingly unambitious.”
In July last year, Kraken recruited Amir Orad, a former boss of NICE Actimize, a US-listed provider of enterprise software to global banks and Fortune 500 companies, as its first chief executive.
One key advantage of demerging Kraken from the rest of Octopus Energy Group would be to remove the perception of a conflict of interest among potential customers of the technology platform.
A source said the unified corporate ownership of both businesses had acted as a deterrent to some energy suppliers.
Kraken has also diversified beyond the energy sector and earlier this year joined a consortium which was exploring a takeover bid for stricken Thames Water.
Celebrating her friend’s birthday with an evening of cocktails at a popular bar, Radharani Domingos Telles had no idea she was drinking poison – until she went blind.
After taking a sip of her third caipirinha, the 43-year-old interior designer blacked out and was taken to intensive care – where she remained for nine agonising days. Doctors suspected a stroke when she slipped into a coma – but the truth was far more sinister.
Radharani Domingos Telles was poisoned by the methanol in caipirinha, causing blindness Credit: InstagramShe was taken to hospital and fought for her life in intensive care for nine days Credit: Radha Domingos
Radharani was poisoned by methanol – a poisonous industrial alcohol that was illegally added to the vodka used for her tropical fruit drinks.
She told The Sun: “I had three caipirinhas. I remember ordering the third – and thereafter, I don’t remember anything else. Boom – blackout.”
next One day, Radharani of Sao Paulo, Brazil, woke up dazed—unable to see—and fell asleep during a family lunch.
Within hours, she was in the ICU, on her way to a coma.
Doctors first suspected a panic attack or stroke.
“My blood acidity was incompatible with human life,” she says, as she recalls the ICU head later telling her. “That doctor saved my life.”
He spent nine days in intensive care – five of them fighting to survive.
When she finally woke up, the world had gone dark.
“I said to my husband, ‘Did you turn off the lights?’ But it was not light. These were my eyes,’‘ she said.
“It felt like you were inside a black hole.”
Later tests confirmed what had nearly killed him: 415 milligrams of methanol in his blood – almost three times the lethal dose.
“Surviving was a miracle,” she said.
killer in a glass
Radharani’s case is one of dozens linked to Brazil’s worst methanol poisoning outbreak in recent memory.
The dangerous wave began in late August and has since spread to São Paulo.
At least 68 people have been poisoned across Brazil, 15 of whom have died and more than 100 others are under investigation, according to the Health Ministry.
Sao Paulo remains the epicentre, with about 50 confirmed cases and most of the victims are young adults who simply went out for a drink and to have fun.
Authorities say counterfeit or adulterated vodka, gin and whisky were mixed with methanol – often taken from industrial or fuel supplies – to increase profit margins.
I have stopped going out. maybe i’ll never drink again
radharani domingo, victim of methanol poisoning
In some batches, contamination exceeded 40 per cent.
Symptoms may appear hours later, including blurred vision, vomiting, confusion, and eventually blindness or death.
Radharani doesn’t remember anything after her third drink.
A doctor, noting his extreme metabolic acidosis, ordered emergency dialysis and treatment for methanol poisoning even before laboratory results came back.
And that decision saved his life.
I told my husband, ‘Help me, I’m dying.’
“Once dialysis started, my condition stabilised,” Radharani said.
“But when they took me out, everything was dark. I could only see silhouettes.”
She left the hospital after more than two weeks, partially blind and with her optic nerves severely damaged.
Experts told him his vision would never recover.
But Radharani revealed, “I was sure I would be able to see again. My husband told me, ‘You may have lost five senses, but you have only lost one.’ This consoled me.”
He estimates that since then, his vision has gradually improved and is now about 30 per cent.
She is learning to live again, returning to part-time work and battling fatigue and tremors.
“It’s like seeing through a fog,” he explained.
“But I can walk around in my house again. That’s already a win.”
Doctors diagnosed him with 415 milligrams of methanol poisoning in his blood, almost three times the fatal dose. Credit: Radha DomingosRadharani photographed with her husband Eduardo Telles Credit: Radha Domingos
a widespread crisis
His personal nightmare is a mirror of a nationwide scam.
In Sao Paulo alone, police have closed bars and confiscated more than 3,000 bottles.
Dozens of illegal liquor distilleries have been raided and at least 20 people have been arrested.
Still, many contaminated bottles remain untested.
“It’s been 50 days and all the bottles at the bar where I drank have still not been analysed,” Radharani said.
“Justice is slow here. Investigations keep going on.”
Officials emphasise that progress is being made, from new reporting channels to expanded laboratory testing.
But the crisis has exposed deep cracks in Brazil’s food and beverage oversight.
The federal government now considers counterfeiting of alcoholic beverages a felony.
Behind the scenes, investigators are still investigating whether organised crime networks linked to fuel smuggling may have supplied the methanol that ended up in the counterfeit bottles.
After weeks of recovery, the interior designer has partially returned to work with only 30 per cent eyesight. Credit: Radha DomingosRadharani drank alcohol thrice, then became unconscious, woke up disoriented and later lost her sight Credit: Radha Domingos
‘I’ll probably never drink again.’
For Radharani, the loss runs deeper than her vision.
“I’m angry that establishments don’t ensure the safety of the services they provide,” he said.
“Since then I have stopped going out. Now I eat at home. I will probably never drink alcohol again.”
He turned his survival into a warning – recording a video from his hospital bed that went viral and forced authorities to take action.
“I went out for a friend’s birthday on Friday,” she said.
“By Monday, I was in a coma.”
Now she wants justice and to make sure no one else experiences her nightmare.
It comes as deadly alcoholism spreads across Britain’s holiday hotspot Britain has added 11 more countries to its “warning list” as the global death toll rises.
The alert comes amid rising incidents of deaths and blindness caused by counterfeit or contaminated alcohol across Asia, Africa, South America and Europe.
Britain’s Foreign Office has expanded its methanol-poisoning warning for the second month in a row – naming Bangladesh, India Iran, Jordan, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Rwanda as new high-risk destinations.
They now join countries such as Ecuador, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Russia and Uganda in what officials describe as a “global increase in the number of reported cases”.
The UK has launched a “Know the symptoms of methanol poisoning” campaign, urging Britons to only purchase sealed drinks from licensed venues and avoid buckets, jugs, pre-mixed cocktails and any home-made alcohol.
The crisis is growing rapidly with devastating consequences.
Brit Simone White, 28, died of methanol poisoning after drinking alcohol in a hostel in Laos Credit: Facebook/UnpixAustralian Bianca Jones also died after drinking alcohol laced with methanol while on vacationHolly Bowles, 19, dies after drinking free shots in Laos tourist destination Vang ViengCallum Macdonald, 23, left blind after being victim of methanol poisoning in Laos. Credit: BBC
In Laos, British traveller Simone White, 28, was one of several tourists killed last year after drinking free vodka at a hostel in Vang Vieng.
Australian friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, 19, also died in the tragedy.
And Danish friends Anne-Sophie Orkild Koyman, 20, and Freja Wennerwald, 21, died after vomiting blood for 13 hours.
Another British backpacker, 23-year-old Callum MacDonald, who had been drinking there the day before, was left permanently blind.
He recalled waking up to “this kind of kaleidoscopic, blinding light… to the point where I couldn’t see anything”.
Later, when his friends sat with him in the lit hotel room, he asked, “Why are we sitting in the dark? Someone should turn on the lights.”
From Southeast Asia to South America, the rise in methanol-laced alcohol is now a global threat that kills rapidly, blinds survivors and is nearly impossible to detect before it is too late.
Dangers of methanol in the body
Methanol (methyl alcohol) is highly toxic to humans, unlike ethanol, which is the alcohol found in regular beverages.
Even amounts as low as 10–30 ml can be fatal.
The main effects of methanol on the body include:
• Severe metabolic acidosis (a dangerous drop in blood pH). • Damage to the optic nerve, which can lead to sudden or permanent blindness. • Effects on the central nervous system: intense headache, dizziness, confusion, seizures and coma. • Possible respiratory failure, multiple organ failure, and death within hours or days.
Initial symptoms (may be similar to intoxication): • Nausea, vomiting, stomach pain • Blurry vision or “snowy vision” (like seeing through a blizzard) • Difficulty in breathing
There is no home remedy or antidote for it. Any suspicion of consumption of adulterated beverages containing methanol requires immediate medical attention or immediate hospital treatment.
The rising number of patients ending their lives in hospitals could impact the level of treatment this winter, a group of regional NHS leaders has been told.
A consultant in palliative care highlighted the impending “crisis” during an online internal meeting of health leaders in Sussex, a recording of which has been heard by the BBC.
A consultant to University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust described the dilemmas facing hospital managers when some patients have to be given end-of-life care in A&E corridors.
The disappointing assessment is likely to be echoed in other NHS areas as winter pressures increase the challenge of finding hospital beds for sick patients who need care.
the Princess Royal Hospital is in Haywards.
The University Hospitals of Sussex Trust includes Worthing Hospital, the Royal Sussex County Hospital, St. Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.
Doctors and officers from East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, which includes Conquest Hospital in Hastings and Eastbourne District General Hospital, also attended the meeting along with community health representatives.
The consultant gave a slide presentation titled “Palliative and end-of-life care in Sussex” at the meeting on 4 November.
He told the audience that local hospices were struggling and it was difficult to find space for patients who needed end-of-life care, while it was sometimes unclear how much support they could find in the local community when people were sent home.
“I’m really concerned that patients who have treatable conditions will not be able to be admitted to the hospital and treated because there are so many patients reaching the end of their lives in hospital beds,” he said.
He added, “We are no longer putting patients on the waiting list for transfer who are simply dying,” focusing only on those with complex needs.
On delivering advanced palliative care in A&E, the consultant said it was a “really tough choice – do you admit them to corridor care or do you turn them around and put them in the back of the ambulance, where they could die on the way home?”
He argued that “there are many patients in hospital who don’t need to be there, a lot of patients with complex needs whose needs are not being met.”
He concluded, “We all know this crisis is coming – it’s going to get worse.”
The NHS in Sussex, according to a spokesperson, is committed to providing patients with “the best possible, high-quality palliative and end-of-life care.”
He said, “This includes providing compassionate, person-centred care across a range of venues—and importantly, where possible, in settings outside the hospital, such as community settings and our hospices.”
“Emergent care services across Sussex are under immense pressure, but staff are working incredibly hard to ensure patients can get the care they need in our hospitals and across all our health and care services.
“Strong partnership work is underway over the winter period to support individual care plans and ensure people are in the right NHS service for their needs.”
But the Royal College of Emergency Medicine said delayed discharges are a major challenge in the NHS, and a lack of social or community care could mean some patients who need care and support at the end of life cannot leave hospital.
Its chairman, Dr. Ian Higginson, said the college is “concerned about the number of patients who require end-of-life care but end up in emergency departments and then hospitals because the dedicated services they need are not available.”
He said, “Patients who would prefer to stay at home end up in our corridors, which are not the right place for anyone, let alone those at the end of their lives.”
An NHS doctor, who wished to remain anonymous, contacted the BBC and said the problems had persisted for some time: “
End-of-life care delivered via emergency departments, corridors, ambulances or unsupported discharge homes has become increasingly routine in many areas.
What is particularly striking is the recurring pattern: hospital beds are occupied by dying patients who should never have been there, and there is limited or delayed access to hospice or community care.”
hospitals could become the “default option”
The NHS Confederation, which represents NHS leaders, said hospitals could become the “default option” when community and social care provision is under pressure or unavailable.
“The solution is not about asking hospitals alone to shoulder more pressure – it’s about investing in the whole system,” said Rory Deaton, director of the confederation’s acute network.
Hospices are warning of a funding crisis, while community services have also suffered.
Toby Porter, chief executive of Hospice UK, said, “Although a hospital may be the right place for some people, a busy ward is not the right place for the majority of people who are dying.
“Hospitals across the country want to provide more care in the community, but this year we’ve seen cutbacks due to funding pressures. And that’s having a deep impact on hospitals.”
Winkleman said viewers could expect some “juicy roundtables” in the forthcoming series of The Traitors
Viewers have been sharing their theories on social media after a teaser released on Christmas Day showed a figure wearing a red cloak, in a departure from the usual green worn by the traitors.
“All I will say is there’s something new, and what happens in this series is truly extraordinary, with moments that made me gasp,” Winkleman said ahead of the series launch.
Details of the new twist will not be revealed until the show’s fourth regular series begins at 20:00 GMT on New Year’s Day.
The new red cloak was revealed in a Christmas Day trailer on BBC One
“I can’t wait for people to see it,” Winkleman added. “The producers possess exceptional intelligence.”
The red cloak has not been seen in past series, and fans have speculated that a new role could be assigned to one of this year’s contestants.
Previous series of The Traitors have seen Winkleman choose three traitors from a group of more than 20 contestants, although more traitors can be recruited later depending on how the game plays out. The other players are known as the faithful.
Although the meaning of the red cloak and details of who might be wearing it are under wraps for now, Winkleman told journalists earlier this month that the next series “gets pretty twisty”.
“The people who create the show, they have to keep on changing it,” she explained, “and they tell me ideas, and I’m like, ‘Are you joking?’
Cat Burns and Alan Carr starred in the first series of The Celebrity Traitors in the autumn
Winkleman also remarked that the confrontations between contestants are “hardcore” in this series. “We get some very juicy roundtables,” she said. “It gets very heated… it gets ugly.
“We’ve never seen it played like this brilliant cast does. They play it in such an extraordinary way.
“You think, ‘I’ve seen this; it’s going to go down this route’—and all I can say is that it absolutely doesn’t.”
The new series comes just two months after the conclusion of the show’s first celebrity spin-off, which was one of the biggest TV hits of 2025.
“We were blown away by how successful The Celebrity Traitors was,” said Mike Cotton, creative director of production company Studio Lambert.
Former contestants Minah and Linda joined Winkleman for The Traitors at The Proms earlier this year
With catch-up viewing included, the first series of The Celebrity Traitors was watched by an audience of more than 15 million.
But, Cotton added, the success of the all-star spin-off, which introduced many viewers to The Traitors brand for the first time, puts “lots of pressure” on the fourth civilian series.
“With celebrities, all the viewers knew who those people were,” he noted. “So when you go back to the regular version, these are people you don’t really know; you’ve got to learn to love them.
The celebrity series and the fourth civilian series were shot concurrently earlier this year. Winkleman said she noticed how differently the regular contestants behaved after the celebrities had been so polite.
“In the celebrity one, they were adorable – at the roundtable, they were like, ‘No, no, after you,'” she recalled. “That’s not how this one goes.”
Celebrities and civilians won’t mix
Despite its success, however, Cotton rejected the idea that the show might mix celebrities and civilians in the future, as has happened in some international editions.
“On the American version, series one did mix civilians with reality celebrities, and then from season two on, we just had reality celebrities,” he said.
“But I think in this show, there’s already the traitors vs the faithful, so you would rather not have a celebrity vs non-celebrity divide as well.”
Winkleman joked,
Asked if more celebrities had volunteered to be on the following series after the success of the first, Winkleman joked, “They don’t come up to me personally because I don’t leave my bed. But yes, they’ve asked.”
Along with a new series of The Night Manager, The Traitors is at the centre of BBC One’s primetime schedule on New Year’s Day, and it will continue with further episodes on Friday and Saturday.
Winkleman says she loves filming with the owl named Sage, who recently fathered an owlet named Onion.
Winkleman also joked about the headline-making outfits she often wears on the show, including the boots she uses to do the ominous walk at the roundtable as she’s selecting the traitors.
“The walk around the table is very tense,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many times I walk around it, but I really try and build the tension, which is hideously mean but also quite addictive.
“I try and wear clompy footwear to add to it. I get a bit of flamenco. It needs to be incredibly loud. I’m thinking of going tap next time.”
Unlike previous series, which had seen a surprise twist or mission before the contestants even reached Ardross Castle near Inverness, Winkleman revealed that this year’s crop did all make it through the door.
As usual, the contestants meet before their first mission, which is on a scale rarely seen on the show.
Winkleman expressed that the Scottish Highlands could potentially be the most breathtaking location on the planet. Perhaps her biggest pleasure, however, is filming the traditional opening sequence with the owl who acts as her assistant and delivers the invitations.
“I love that little owl. Isn’t he sweet?” She smiled. “He’s called Sage, although I renamed him Barry after my dad.
“And just he fathered a baby owl and they named him Onion,” she laughed. “So you will see Onion in a future series, I hope.”
Pothole compensation claims made to councils in Britain rose by 90% between 2021 and 2024, according to analysis by the RAC motoring group.
The study also revealed that only 25% of motorists’ 2024 claims led to payouts.
However, the RAC noted that the number of claims fell in 2024 compared with the year before.
The Local Government Association (LGA) said “ever-increasing pressure” on budgets was affecting councils’ abilities to fix roads, while the Department for Transport said the government was spending £7.3bn over the next four years on improving road surfaces.
Many drivers now find potholes.
Many drivers now find potholes to be a major nuisance. Repair bills can be expensive, and they can also cause injuries to passengers, cyclists, or pedestrians.
The RAC said data it had analysed indicated that 53,015 compensation claims were made to 177 local authorities in 2024.
The number of claims increased from 27,731 in 2021 to 53,015 in 2024, a decrease from the 56,655 recorded in 2023.
The RAC estimates that a typical repair bill for a family car with damage worse than a puncture from a pothole is £590.
Potholes can cause damage to shock absorbers and suspension springs and can also distort wheels.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams told the BBC: “It does seem that councils have a variety of different criteria for what they class as a pothole.
“Often they have to be four centimetres deep and so many centimetres wide.
“If you hit one, it can cause a real jolt to the car and serious damage… not just damage to vehicles, it’s also a serious road safety danger, particularly on two wheels.”
RAC asked 207 councils about pothole compensation claims. Of the 177 that responded, Derbyshire County Council saw the biggest increase in claims over the three-year period, from 224 to 3,307.
However, Derbyshire councillor Charlotte Hill, the council’s cabinet member for potholes, highways and transport, said claims had fallen by 72% since May 2025.
“Going forward, Derbyshire highways can become more proactive rather than reactive and work to make repairs before they become an issue for residents,” she told the BBC.
Glasgow City Council and Oxfordshire County Council saw the next biggest increases between 2021 and 2024.
In a statement, Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for transport management, said the emphasis “should be on maintenance work to prevent potholes from forming in the first place, which is much more cost-effective than repairing them afterwards”.
“That is why we have invested nearly £14.5 million since 2024 in the largest surface dressing programs we have carried out for at least 20 years.”
Surface dressing is a preservation treatment aimed at preventing potholes from forming.
The BBC has contacted Glasgow City Council for comment.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said the government was investing £7.3bn over the next four years to help councils resurface roads.
“This will turn the tide on years of underinvestment in our road network, allowing local authorities to move away from expensive, short-term repairs and invest in proactive maintenance and prevent potholes from forming in the first place,” they said.
A Local Government Association spokesperson said that “ever-increasing pressure on budgets has impacted their ability to do so as much as they’d like” regarding road maintenance.
“New funding for roads will help turn the tide on the gradual decline of local roads, but this will take time to shift from simply filling potholes reactively – which pothole compensation laws require – towards a more proactive, sustainable approach.”
Carolyn Levitt announced Friday that she is expecting a baby girl in May.
She did so quietly, in an Instagram post that showed her standing near a Christmas tree.
writing that she and her husband were excited to expand their family and see their son become a big brother. She is 28 years old.
already the youngest White House press secretary in history and already the mother of a one-year-old boy born last July while she was working on Donald Trump’s campaign.
There was nothing dramatic in the announcement.
And that’s why it stood out. The reaction that followed showed how unusual it still is to openly associate pregnancy with political power.
Meghan McCain felt that tension when she wrote that she spent much of her twenties and thirties being warned that having children would hurt her career.
It was “very, very, very cool” to see America’s first pregnant White House press secretary, she said. There was an implicit acknowledgement in the praise.
Pregnancy is one of the most common experiences among women.
That ambition and motherhood are still widely understood as a trade-off in public life. Pregnancy is one of the most common experiences in human history.
There is no political pregnancy. Reports treat the announcement of a senior political figure’s pregnancy as a rare occurrence.
Not because pregnancy itself is rare, but because politics has long been built around the assumption that such realities exist outside the corridors of power.
The White House has said that Leavitt will remain press secretary after the birth of her second child, although it has not been clarified whether she will take leave.
She has talked about relying on her husband’s support and how motherhood has given her perspective within a constantly demanding profession
These are not unusual feelings. They seem unusual because someone standing backstage at the White House rarely voices them.
The broader context explains why this moment feels extraordinary. The United States has never had a female president.
There has never been a president who was pregnant while in office or who was raising very young children while in office.
Although women have joined Congress in large numbers, many have done so later in life, often after their childbearing years. This is not a coincidence of timing.
This is the result of political systems that reward uninterrupted availability and penalise bodies that require rest, recovery, or flexibility.
Globally, the pattern has been remarkably consistent. Despite ruling Britain during a period of war and economic turmoil, Margaret Thatcher continued to do so long after her children had grown up.
Angela Merkel led Germany for sixteen years without motherhood coinciding with her time in office. Indira Gandhi and Golda Meir exercised immense authority during stages of life when pregnancy was not part of the public conversation.
They exercised their unquestionable power within institutions designed around male life cycles.
When pregnancy has surfaced in high office, it typically does so as an exception to the rule. Benazir Bhutto ruled Pakistan while pregnant in the late 1980s.
becoming the first elected head of government in modern history to do so. Her pregnancy was investigated, not because it disrupted governance,
but because it disrupted expectations. Most recently, Jacinda Ardern gave birth to a child while serving as Prime Minister of New Zealand in 2018.
She took maternity leave, returned to the office and continued to rule without any drama. The importance of that moment lies not in what changed, but in what did not change.
Tammy Duckworth became the first sitting senator to give birth in 2018, requiring a rule change so she could bring her baby to the Senate floor. In the UK,
MPs such as Stella Creasy pressured Parliament to introduce proxy voting after becoming pregnant in office.
In Australia, Larissa Waters made history by breastfeeding her infant in the Senate chamber.
highlighting how slowly institutions adapt to the realities millions of citizens go through every day. We remember these episodes precisely because they are so rare.
The question has never been whether women can rule while pregnant or raising small children. The historical record gives a clear answer.
The point is that political systems still assume a version of leadership built around unobstructed presence and physical neutrality, as if power depends on pretending the body does not exist.
Leavitt’s pregnancy neither destroys that architectural framework nor pretends to do so. What Leavitt’s pregnancy does is introduce a common human experience into a role that has long remained unaffected by it.
She is a senior White House official. She is raising a child.
She is expecting a second child. None of them are radicals. It only feels this way because politics has been slow to reflect the lives it claims to represent.
This is where the poignancy lies. Giving birth is universal. It is rare for those in positions of power to apparently become pregnant.
Each time this happens, it highlights how narrow the path to leadership has been and how often adaptation is treated as the exception rather than the baseline.
Levitt’s announcement does not resolve that tension.
It simply makes it visible again, without pretence, without apology, and without pretending that motherhood and political ambition belong to different worlds.
NEW DELHI: With India Inc. facing higher liability due to the labour codes,
Industry bodies have sought clarifications from the government on various issues, while the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has suggested that companies provide for increased gratuity and some of the other payments in the accounts for the Dec quarter itself.
One of the key issues is when the new rules, such as wages accounting for 50% of an employee’s remuneration,
kick in. Lobby group CII has asked the Labour ministry to ensure that it is not retrospective. “Clarity is needed on whether wages, as defined under labour codes, will be considered for ESI coverage and calculation effective November 21, 2025?”
Wages as defined under labour codes are to be considered effective Nov 21, 2025? There are conflicting circulars issued by ESI office on this after Nov 21, 2025.”
The report listed over a dozen issues for which clarity is required. Similarly,
When it comes to gratuity and leave encashment, it said, “Retrospective implementation will have significant cost implications for employer organisations.”
Pointing out leave encashment for workers on Dec 31, 2025, is needed under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code.
The industry body has demanded clarity on the transition time for implementation, apart from uniformity in the rules drafted by the Centre and the states. In a set of FAQs for auditors,
ICAI has concluded that change in gratuity increase is required to be recognised as an expense by the company in the profit and loss account and it needs to be done from the current quarter itself.
The labour codes were notified as being effective.
The labour codes were notified to be effective on November 1, but the specific rules have not yet been announced. The Centre is expected to notify the draft rules in the coming weeks.
It has also clarified the tax treatment for companies.
These (ICAI) FAQs certainly bring in clarity in terms of accounting treatment-related aspects for various provisions related to gratuity and leave obligations.
But most of the organisations are waiting for clarity on the manner in which social security contributions like gratuity etc. would be calculated and what happens to gratuity pertaining to period prior to Nov 21, including of terms like ESOP,
variable pay, etc. Also, in the absence of rules under central labour codes or state rules, many operational aspects are still left unanswered,” said Anshul Jain.
national leader for regulatory affairs at consulting firm PwC India. In its communication with the government,
The Council for Industrial Innovation (CII) has demanded a clear definition of wages. First, it stated whether performance bonuses and share-based income will be included in the total remuneration for calculating wages; second,
There is also ambiguity regarding which law will prevail.
For instance, for non-manufacturing sector, whether it will be state-specific Shops and Establishment Act or the labour codes read with state rules should be followed by entities for compliance with requirements related to working hours.
overtime, leave and benefits for night shifts for women employees. Similarly,
it is unclear which category of employees will be covered under “worker” definition and if the manufacturing sector can continue to engage contract labour for manufacturing process.
which constitutes core activity. CII has also sought clarity on who is covered under working hours and overtime provisions under the Code on Wages.
Not retreating is victory. Given Donald Trump’s troubled relationship with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, this is significant.
The Mar-a-Lago meeting did not result in any physical progress, just as there was no significant movement during that moment in the Oval Office in February.
Sometimes he looked desperate – like when Trump’s Mar-a-Lago highlights an essential conversation by talking about food and body composition with the Ukrainian leader’s commander. Playground equipment.
There was a memorable moment when Zelenskyy’s poker face fell away. He shrugged, then laughed when Trump said, “Russia wants Ukraine to succeed.”
What a foolish thing to say by the American President. Look at the actions of Vladimir Putin. Listen to what he says.
Sometimes it’s difficult to know whether Trump is just ignorant, ignorant of detail, or really in Putin’s pocket. Zelensky probably has an idea but he managed to maintain his decorum.
image: Photo: AP/Alex Brandon
Beyond the spectacle of Zelensky’s face,
There were other key moments, as they would mark when Trump changes his position, as he has done before.
On US security guarantees, Zelensky seemed confident that Trump’s America would provide some kind of military backdrop to counter renewed Russian aggression in the future. But no leader has explained what this will look like.
According to Ukrainian sources, Trump’s pledge to provide security guarantees to support Ukraine remains a contentious issue, despite his initial pledge months ago and subsequent retreat.
image: Photo: Reuters
The same sources also said that Trump’s apparent willingness to visit Ukraine and address its parliament, which he expressed for the first time today, is a positive commitment.
Let’s see if he sticks to the pledge or shifts back to the safety guarantee.
The most vocal moment at the meandering and confusing news conference came from Zelenskyy when he charted progress with percentages.
He said:
“20-point peace plan, 90% agreed”
“US-Ukraine security guarantee, 100% agreed”
“US, Europe, and Ukraine almost agree on security guarantees.”
So, this confirms that Zelenskyy has accepted US commitments on security guarantees but shows that more work needs to be done to mitigate some elements in US-Europe security cooperation.
This is significant because it includes the possibility of European troops on the ground in Ukraine. This is a Russian redline – and Trump knows it.
The complexity of progress, positioning, multi-point plans, and spin can easily overwhelm one.
But remember some basic things. First of all, Trump probably wants this war to end, but he doesn’t care how. Second, Putin has shown no real signs that he wants to end the war. Third, Ukraine does not want to be forced into any submissive submission.
A few weeks ago the Americans prepared a 26-point plan. It was like a Russian wish list.
Since then, Ukrainians, in coordination with Europeans and with Americans, have refined it. Now it is 20 points, and there are many Ukrainian concessions within it.
Europe and Ukraine now hope Trump will focus pressure back on Moscow and engage Vladimir Putin in a way that moves forward.
