The secret operation to trail Putin’s warship as it probes the UK

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A team of Navy experts had been running a high-stakes “round the clock” operation to track a Russian warship before it fired warning shots over a British yacht in the Channel this week.

For at least two months, the Navy has been hunting the Admiral Grigorovich “24/7” with a range of patrol vessels and frigates, alongside P-8 RAF jets. In April alone, more than 250 Navy personnel were involved in the mission.

The Kremlin warship’s exact location is not known but it is currently being shadowed by Britain’s HMS Mersey, with an additional team monitoring its movements from land, The i Paper understands. Publicly-available maritime tracking data showed the Mersey to be anchored in the North Sea on Thursday, between England and Belgium.

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Chaka Khan announces first album in more than seven years

Chaka Khan has announced that she is releasing a new album – her first in seven years – in collaboration with Snoop Dog and Sia.

The 11-time Grammy Award winner will release her 14th studio album, Chakzilla, on 18 September. It follows her last record, Hello Happiness, that was released in 2019.

‘Soundtrack of the summer’

One of the anticipated singles from the album, Boogie’s In My Soul, features Snoop Dogg and was co-written by Sia.

Representatives for Khan, 73, told PA that the tracks “captures the freedom and infectious energy at the heart and soul of summer vibes” and “is sure to be the soundtrack to the summer”.

Snoop said of the song: “There’s nothing you can do to ever erase this. It’s in your system, now let it get into your soul.”

What to expect from the album

I’ve lived a lot of life since my last record, and I wanted these songs to celebrate that.

The singer said the upcoming album is “about joy” and “loving yourself”. She added: “I’ve lived a lot of life since my last record, and I wanted these songs to celebrate that.”

Full track listing

The announcement follows the release of the album’s title track, Chakzilla, which has already surpassed one million views on YouTube.

Here is the album’s full track listing, and collaborators:

Chakzilla

Boogie’s In My Soul

Curious Subject

I Know You Can

Always Love The Challenge

Heart Of Gold

Now And Forever

Dreamy Stuff

Cool U Down (featuring Sia)

Bring The Party (featuring Lenny Kravitz)

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How Traitors star was scammed out of £40k life savings

A Traitors star has spoken out about losing £40,000 to phishing scam after cyber crooks pretended to be representatives from his bank.

Sam Little, 35, has described how the “gut-wrenching” incident took place – and has warned others about falling into the same trap.

What happened?

He told the BBC of how he received a series of text messages from what he believed was a trusted bank, saying there had been multiple attempts to log into his account.

The messages advised him to ring them. While on the call, he logged into an online cryptocurrency platform where he had stored £40,000 worth of life savings.

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‘Everything had gone’

Before I knew it, the phone went dead and everything had gone.

Little said there was nothing about the call that was suspicious. He told the BBC: “They didn’t ask me for any passwords, they didn’t ask me for any verification codes.

“They were somehow able to hack into the web page I would normally interact with. Before I knew it, the phone went dead and everything had gone.”

‘Your world’s collapsing’

The former Traitors contestant said it didn’t take long to realise what had happened. “It feels like your world’s just collapsing,” he said. “You work solidly for years to build this up, and it’s just gone.”

Scams are becoming more common – and more sophisticated – in the AI era. Cybercrime and fraud cases increased by 31 per cent between 2024 and 2025, affecting 4.6 million people each year, according to the Office for National Statistics.

No funds recovered

Since the scam, which happened in January, Little has not been able to recover any of the lost funds.

He said he has reported the scam to Report Fraud, run by City of London Police. However, he said there has so far not been an investigation.

A Report Fraud spokesperson said they are carrying out a “manual review” of Little’s report, and that “crypto wallets are a complex area of policing and will take time to resolve”.

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news

Why Gen Z think ringing the doorbell is too awkward

A third of Generation Z won’t ring the doorbell or even knock on the door when arriving at someone’s house, according to a new survey.

The poll of 2,000 adults by Uswitch found 33 per cent of Britons aged 18 to 29 opted to announce their arrival by phone call or text. Almost a quarter of millennials said they did the same.

What’s the big deal?

The main motivation to avoid interacting with a door knocker or bell is awkwardness. Nearly 40 per cent of Gen Z respondents said that sending a message felt less intrusive. Meanwhile, nearly 20 per cent said ringing the bell seemed too formal.

Almost a quarter believed their host was more likely to notice a phone notification than to hear the door.

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How homeowners are adapting

Homeowners appear to be adapting to the shift away from the classic doorbell ring, with visits mostly now co-ordinated by phone. Nearly a quarter of Britons said they would react negatively if somebody rang the bell without texting first.

Some 12 per cent said a sudden ring would catch them off guard, 7 per cent would feel anxious or stressed and 5 per cent would be annoyed.

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How our phones have changed our lives

We spent years making doorbells smarter…only to stop pressing them altogether. For younger people especially, ringing the doorbell has gone from the default to an unusual choice. It’s a sign of how central our phones have become.

Simrat Sharma, a technology expert at Uswitch

uk news

Why London Marathon will be expanded to two-day event

For the first time ever, the London Marathon will expand into a two-day event with men’s, women’s and elite events spread across the weekend.

A record 1.33 million people have already applied for the 2027 edition, following more than £90m raised for charity by participants in 2026.

What you need to know

Elite women, elite female para-athletes, championship and ‘good for age’ women will compete on one day, and their male equivalents on the other. The exact details for the one-off event are yet to be confirmed.

But those whose ballots are successfully drawn in July will be able to participate in person on 24 and 25 April, 2027.

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After a milestone 2026 event

Event organisers have earmarked two guaranteed entries for every school in the capital for teachers or staff. While extra guaranteed entries have also been allocated to every London borough along the route.

The 2026 event attracted a record 59,830 finishers, and was the site Sabastian Sawe’s world record one hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds.

What Khan has said

This unique, one-off double will allow a record 100,000 participants to take part across the two days – creating the largest fundraising moment in UK sporting history and supporting the work of so many incredible charities.

London mayor Sadiq Khan

How much will be raised?

London Marathon Double is our most ambitious evolution to date.

London Marathon CEO Hugh Brasher has estimated that the expanded event could raise over £150m for charities, and £400m for the wider UK economy.

He said: “The 2027 TCS London Marathon Double is our most ambitious evolution to date.”

MONEY

The 10 best and worst cities for house price growth

The 10 best and worst cities for house price growth have been revealed – and there is a stark divide between the North and South of England, new data suggests.

Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said: “Areas with lower starting price points have had more room for growth, which has contributed to a widening North-South divide.”

Stand-out figures

Manchester came out on top, with the average asking price for a home rising by around £100,000 (or 63.3 per cent) to £261,891 over the past decade.

Asking prices in the Manchester areas of Levenshulme, Atherton, Droylsden and Failsworth grew by roughly 80 per cent on average.

London, where the average asking price stands at £687,080, climbed by just 7 per cent.

Oxford and Brighton grew by 13 per cent to £554,387 and £416,440.

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The fastest growth

Experts believe changes in work patterns have fuelled the shift.

Here are the average house prices in the cities with the fastest growth:

Manchester, £261,891

Wolverhampton, £229,094

Newport, £235,275

Nottingham, £210,238

Wakefield, £231,581

Salford, £226,559

Bradford, £171,282

Stoke-on-Trent, £174,850

Doncaster, £186,378

Swansea, £215,866

The slowest growth

No locations in the South of England made a list of the top 10 cities with the fastest rates of growth. Instead, many southern cities remain on the list with the slowest growth.

Here are the average house prices for locations in the slow lane:

London, £687,080

Oxford, £554,387

Brighton, £416,440

Winchester, £543,972

Cambridge, £512,872

St Albans, £657,627

Canterbury, £367,271

Chelmsford, £402,308

Colchester, £300,714

Dundee, £170,171

NEWS

Amber heat health alerts in place – here’s where

With a heatwave set to develop in the coming days, amber heat health alerts have been placed across southern and eastern England.

Temperatures are set to climb above 30°C on Friday, possibly up to 32°C in south-east England. By Tuesday, it could creep up to 34°C – or higher.

Amber heat health alerts

An amber heat health alert is issued when high temperatures are likely to have a significant impact on health services.

It suggests there is likely to be an increase in deaths, especially among those aged over 65 or with long-term health conditions.

A closer look at the forecast

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has placed the east, south-east and south-west of England under an amber alert until 8pm on Tuesday.

Amber alerts, where impacts are likely to be felt across the whole health service, are valid across the Midlands during the same period.

Across East Anglia and south-east England on Friday, temperatures are expected to rise to the mid to high-twenties.

Around Greater London, it could be as hot as 32°C on Friday afternoon.

Computer weather models suggest the heat is likely to continue through next week, especially in the south.

There is a small possibility we’ll get close to the UK’s highest June temperature of 35.6°C, set in 1976.

NEWS

Iran-US peace talks cancelled

Peace talks between the US⁠ ⁠and ​Iran in Switzerland that were due to take place today have been called off. The cancellation came as Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah traded their most violent strikes since the ceasefire was established.

The negotiations were set to begin just two days after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that opened a 60-day window to secure an agreement over Iran’s nuclear programme, while getting oil traffic moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

Fresh wave of attacks

The fresh wave of attacks on late Thursday saw Hezbollah target Israeli forces near the city of Nabatieh, south Lebanon, with several salvoes of rocket fire late on Thursday.

Israel retaliated with airstrikes on the city and surrounding towns, leaving at least 16 dead and 33 wounded, according to Lebanon’s ministry of health.

Analysis

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White House response

The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable. As of now the vice-president is not departing tonight.

The White House said the US looked forward to “beginning technical talks as soon as possible”.

The cancellation came so abruptly that JD Vance’s staff had gathered in anticipation of the trip.

Iran reservations

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on Thursday that he had approved the MOU despite reservations.

Prior to the cancellation, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said negotiators needed ⁠to see signs of the US acting on its interim agreement before the next round of peace talks could begin.

The cancellation came after reports Tehran was delaying sending its delegation to Geneva, due to Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon.

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Israel’s stance

Israel was not included in the peace talks and has distanced itself from the US-Iran agreement.

The MOU calls for the “permanent termination” of the war in Lebanon and for the country’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty” to be ensured.

The Knesset has so far insisted it will not pull out its troops from south Lebanon.

Up to 75 per cent of us in the UK are not drinking enough water.

The human body can survive for a time without food, but it cannot survive for long without water.

Here are the signs you need more fluids, according to a GP.

How much we should drink

Water is the most vital component for life.

NHS guidelines advise we should be drinking six to eight glasses of fluid per day.

This does vary depending on our activity levels, the weather, and if we are ill.

An estimated 50-80 per cent of our bodies and brains being made up of water.

It allows us to deliver nutrients to cells in our blood, lubricates our joints, regulates our temperature and much more.

How to stay hydrated

What to drink

Not all fluids are the same – water takes top spot, as it hydrates without sugars or calories, but lower-fat milks, sugar-free drinks or moderate amounts of tea and coffee can all count towards fluid intake.

What to avoid

Limit smoothies and fruit juices to 150ml per day because the sugar causes dental decay.

Signs you’re not drinking enough

When dehydrated, we can display an exaggerated response to pain and experience headaches. Concentration, attention, reaction times and short-term memory can also all be negatively impacted.

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Signs you’re not drinking enough

Another common sign of dehydration is constipation. Our skin can look duller, be less bouncy to the touch and be less elastic.

Research has shown that even mild dehydration can lead us to feel more moody, stressed and irritable. We can also feel more tired than usual, with less energy and motivation.

The Grigorovich has been acting as a taxi service for other Russian vessels passing through the Channel, sources close to the monitoring mission told The i Paper.

Mostly, it has been “loitering” around the Suffolk coast before picking up other ships. The i Paper previously tracked it 30 miles off the UK coast, close to an offshore wind farm that powers more than 400,000 homes in Britain.

“She does not roam around freely,” one insider said. “We constantly track her behaviour and her movements. Offshore patrol vessels monitor her every move, and the analysts are all over it.

“As an island nation, it’s a round the clock job to monitor Russian military activity in and around our waters. When she’s in our backyard, we always monitor.”

The Grigorovich’s current location is not publicly visible, with its Automatic Identification System (AIS) – a maritime tracking and communication system – having been turned off.

The warship’s last documented location was off the Gallop wind farm on the Suffolk Coast on 10 June, while it was conducting its 4th resupply with the supply ship PM-82, according to Mark Douglas of Starboard Maritime Intelligence.

However, those close to the operation said that it is not believed to have come close to any other British assets since Tuesday’s incident, which took place outside of British territorial waters.

Tracking is being carried out in partnership with the UK’s allies, including the French and Belgian authorities, and the wider Nato military alliance. Different countries take the lead for monitoring the Grigorovich depending on whose water she is most proximate to, and the UK is currently heading the response.

It is not yet clear what the Grigorovich was doing in the Channel when it came across the 40ft British sailing yacht. However, the frigate is believed to have previously escorted shadow fleet vessels – ships which travel covertly, often under another country’s flag, carrying sanctioned Russian oil or kit – through the Channel.

A 700-strong shadow fleet is responsible for carrying 75 per cent of Russia’s sanctioned oil which directly funds attacks in Ukraine, according to the UK Government.

Before her current mission, the Grigorovich spent 20 months deployed to the Mediterranean, according to Starboard Maritime Intelligence.

The Russian defence ministry said the Grigorovich’s crew had made several attempts to contact the yacht and acted in “strict accordance with international shipping regulations”, but the Sir Keir Starmer called the incident “reckless” and came against a background of “clear Russian aggression” across Europe.

Warning shots were ‘totally unnecessary’

The retired British couple who were sailing the yacht, Jane and Alan Kelvey, told The i Paper they had been sailing from the south coast of England to northern France when it came within 500 yards of the Russian frigate and the warning shots were fired shortly after 11am on Tuesday.

Describing the encounter, Mrs Kelvey said: “We could see the ship in the distance with what looked like Cyrillic writing on the side. We heard five blasts on their horn, as a warning.

“We weren’t moving towards them – we were at a safe distance. But we began pulling further away from them.

“We heard another five blasts on the horn as a warning. Then we heard four or five gun shots.”

Mrs Kelvey said the shots were not directed at the yacht but that they were “totally unnecessary”, and that no radio contact had been received from the Grigorovich.

Steve Prest, a retired Royal Navy commodore who is now an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) said that the incident may have resulted from a “commanding officer of a warship getting a bit nervous that a vessel was getting too close” and trying to warn them off.

But Prest said that in the context of Russian shadow fleet activities and the Royal Marines operation to board an oil tanker accused of violating sanctions on Sunday, the incident carried greater significance.

“The Russians very rarely will do something like this in an uncalculated haphazard way. I think what they’re doing is baring their teeth,” he said. “If there are other ships preparing to come through the English Channel, I think this is a message to say, hey, look, ‘we are here, we are serious and we are prepared to stand our ground so let’s not have any miscalculation’.”

There would be a greater risk of escalation if the ship that was the target of the warning shots was another military vessel, Prest said, asking: “What happens next if they’re both not prepared to change course and they both then escalate?”

When tensions could escalate

In June 2021, the HMS Defender destroyer was involved in an incident while conducting a “freedom of navigation patrol” through the disputed waters around the Crimean Peninsula, in which Russia said warning shots were fired from a coast guard patrol vessel and that bombs were dropped in the British ship’s path in response to it straying into its territorial waters.

But the British military denied the account, saying the Defender had been in Ukrainian territorial waters and heavy guns were fired three miles astern that could not be considered to be warning shots.

In March, Starmer gave British forces the authority to capture Russian shadow fleet vessels. The Prime Minister said at the time that Vladimir Putin was likely “rubbing his hands” over the sharp rise in oil prices driven by the US-Israeli war with Iran, which will make his exports considerably more lucrative.

While experts say the primary use of the shadow fleet is to continue the international sale of Russian oil, there are concerns the vessels can be used for functions that pose a threat to national security.

Authorities in Finland have charged officers at the helm of a shadow fleet tanker of damaging undersea electricity and telecommunications cables by dragging its anchor along the seabed in December 2024. When the French military seized another sanctioned oil tanker last October, there were suspicions that the ship had been the launchpad for drones that forced the closure of airports across Denmark days earlier.