‘Shadow fleet’ ships moving sanctioned oil reflagged to Russia at rising rate

Forty ships accused of belonging to a large “shadow fleet” moving sanctioned oil for Venezuela and others were reflagged to Russia last year in an apparent attempt to gain Kremlin protection from American seizure.Analysis by the shipping intelligence publication Lloyd’s List suggests that of those, at least 17 suspicious vessels joined the Russian registry over the past month, compared with 15 ships in the previous five months of 2025.The sudden flurry of activity appears to be linked to Donald Trump’s announcement last month of what he called a US “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers in and out of Venezuela.The term “shadow fleet” is defined by Lloyd’s List as ships for which deceptive practices are used in order to allow them to transport goods – including oil and gas – in violation of sanctions and price caps.On Thursday, a ship subjected to sanctions by the US over concerns it had been involved in distributing illicit Russian oil was identified as sailing through the Channel under a false name and Cameroonian flag

Software firm belonging to Tory donor Frank Hester pays out £50m dividend

The software company belonging to the Tory donor Frank Hester, a major contractor to the NHS, has paid a £50m dividend after sales and profits surged.TPP Group, which was founded by Hester in 1997 as The Phoenix Partnership, specialises in healthcare technology and provides its SystmOne software to the NHS. The company says it is used by 7,800 NHS organisations, including more than 2,600 GP practices and a third of acute mental health trusts, with 61m electronic health records stored in its database. It has also expanded abroad, including to China, the Middle East and the Caribbean.The company, which is owned by Hester and based in Leeds, had a turnover of £97

AI tool Grok used to create child sexual abuse imagery, watchdog says

Online criminals are claiming to have used Elon Musk’s Grok AI tool to create sexual imagery of children, as a child safety watchdog warned the technology risked bringing such material into the mainstream.The UK-based Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said users of a dark web forum boasted of using Grok Imagine to create sexualised and topless imagery of girls aged between 11 and 13. IWF analysts said the images would be considered child sexual abuse material (CSAM) under UK law.The UK-based Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said users of a dark web forum boasted of using Grok Imagine to create sexualised and topless imagery of girls aged between 11 and 13. IWF analysts said the images would be considered child sexual abuse material (CSAM) under UK law

Commons women and equalities committee to stop using X amid AI-altered images row

The Commons women and equalities committee has decided to stop using X after the social media site’s AI tool began generating thousands of digitally altered images of women and children with their clothes removed.The move by the cross-party committee places renewed pressure on ministers to take decisive action after the site was flooded with images including sexualised and unclothed pictures of children generated by its AI tool, Grok.Sarah Owen, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, said that given preventing violence against women and girls was among its key policy areas, “it has become increasingly clear that X is not an appropriate platform to be using for our communications”.Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, has called the imagery “appalling and unacceptable in decent society” and urged Ofcom, the UK’s media regulator, to take whatever action is needed.Speaking on Wednesday, Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said that “all options remain on the table” for Ofcom, which has the power to impose huge fines or to restrict access to a site

Sack the vibe: goodbye Bazball and hello England’s search for a cricketing soul | Barney Ronay

It seemed fitting, as the final moments ticked down at the Sydney Cricket Ground, as the day, the match, the tour seemed to ooze and melt a little at the edges under a hard white January sun, that Ben Stokes should finish this Ashes series still standing, but only just.It was at least a suitably slapstick final session in front of a scattered, holiday-ish crowd. Australia custard-pied their way to a victory total of 160, narrowly avoiding falling pianos, dangling off giant clocktowers along the way.It felt fitting too that the endgame should revolve around England’s tried and trusted short-and-wide masterplan, a series that will remain fixed in the mind as an endless looping meme of an English seamer being square-cut to some distant crowing boundary.In the middle of this Stokes spent the day wedged in at first slip, nursing his newly acquired groin injury, a cricketer who is by this stage basically a hat, a collection of splints nailed together and a grimace

England’s Ashes humbling was more a series of letdowns than ‘series of our lives’ | Ali Martin

It was billed as “the series of our lives” by Brendon McCullum but as he and Ben Stokes looked over towards the podium to watch Steve Smith and Pat Cummins lift the crystal Ashes trophy under an azure sky, the optimism that preceded this failed campaign felt a lifetime ago.They landed in Perth two months ago with what they and many thought was an aggressive, dynamic England side, finally ready to challenge Australia’s ageing champions after three miserable tours. Cue a 4-1 humbling, offset by one maelstrom win in Melbourne but with the Ashes already lost in 11 days.This was the final day of English regret, the last rites only salt in wounds when at 2.30pm, Alex Carey iced the target of 160 with a succulent cover drive, five wickets down