Smugglers are launching boats from more than 100 miles south of Calais after being forced to change their tactics in a bid to evade British-funded crackdowns on French beaches.
The “mega dinghy” that carried 230 people to the UK on Monday had started its voyage from Paluel, a commune in Normandy, and travelled for hours up the coast gradually collecting passengers who had waded out into the sea.
French groups who offer support to migrants say launches from the area are becoming increasingly frequent, and estimate that at least 3,000 people are still waiting for small boat crossings on the northern coast.
Putin has a sinister new plan. We should all be worried
The last month has seen the fiercest exchange of missile attacks between Russia and Ukraine in more than four years of war.
But the fighting is in dynamic impasse, with a huge amount of killing and damage on either side with little to show for it. Russia now looks to be trying to shake that up.
What has changed?
In the past week, Vladimir Putin has urged new field commanders to get the job done to seize the whole of Donetsk by the end of the year.
Lithuania warned a few days ago intelligence services thought Russia could try to provoke allies in the region in the next few weeks. This points to a dangerous new phase of the war.
The sinister new plan
Russia is using three lines of attack to break the will of Ukraine: to bring misery, a lack of power and utilities with the onset of winter and to grind down the forces on the front line.
The new military appointments and exhortations suggest Putin intends to intensify ground attacks in Ukraine.
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What does this mean for Ukraine?
- The numbers look bleak for Ukraine going into the winter.
- The trashing of its cities, including the targeting of filling stations, aims at depriving Ukrainians of heat and comfort, and even adequate food.
- Ukraine is fighting back hard, but the next phase of the war could stretch it to breaking point.
Why you shouldn’t use your 1999 solar eclipse glasses
With a rare partial solar eclipse later today, many are casting their minds back to the last major eclipse over the UK before the turn of the century.
But experts have warned people not to re-use glasses bought for the astronomical event 27 years ago.
What you need to know
Many parts of the country will experience more than 90 per cent coverage of the Sun.
Depending on your location, it will occur between 6.15pm and 8pm. People in the south-west of England are likely to get the most coverage. For the best view, it is a good idea to head to high ground.
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When will this happen again?
There has been a last-minute rush for eclipse glasses, as many high street shops and online retailers have sold out.
The next total solar eclipse over the UK will not happen until 2090.
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Put the old glasses away
- Only specialist glasses that are ISO 12312-1 certified should be used, experts said.
- People should only use glasses that are undamaged and no more than a decade old.
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How solo working is driving rising hours spent alone
Working from home and other solitary working habits are a bigger driver of loneliness than screen time, research suggests.
What you need to know
- The Resolution Foundation made the findings by analysing UK Time Use Survey.
- It found the average number of people doing paid work alone has nearly tripled in under a decade.
- Working from home accounted for roughly two-thirds of the rise in work done alone.
- The research found that “paid work is the biggest driver of rising time alone among working-age people”.
- Parth Pandya, researcher at the Resolution Foundation, said: “If policy makers are serious about improving young people’s wellbeing, then work needs to be part of the debate as much as screen time.”
The story in numbers
15%
Among 18 to 69-year-olds, the average proportion of people who were doing paid work alone in the standard working day increased from five per cent in 2014 up to 15 per cent in 2023.
90 minutes
The biggest change was among men aged 18-29, who spent an additional 90 minutes working alone each day.
This means they spend more than two-fifths of the hours they are awake alone.
What does this mean?
The research said: “It is more solo working, rather than screen time, that has driven the rise in reported time alone.
“Despite likely under-reporting of screen time, time alone for young people is still up. So, something else must be driving it – and the diary data points to a sharp rise in solo working.”
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Timeline of recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian infrastructure
Ukraine has maintained near-daily attacks on Russian oil refineries, pumping stations and exports – targeting the lifeblood of Moscow’s war economy.
By some estimates, the campaign has knocked out a third of Russia’s oil processing capacity.
What you need to know
On 18 July, Kyiv ushered in a new era, targeting Wildberries warehouses – Russia’s equivalent to Amazon and one of the country’s largest companies.
For many Russians, the war now feels a lot closer to home, with social media filled with videos of explosions and business owners crying over their destroyed stock.
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The timeline of key events
Kyiv has raised the stakes in recent weeks with dozens of attacks. The logic is to aggravate economic problems and harm public support for the war.
- 30 April – Ukraine said it hit one of Russia’s largest oil refineries more than 1,500 kilometres from the front line.
- 24 June – A strike on an electricity substation took out the power in the Russian-occupied city of Sevastopol.
- 4 July – Ukraine hit a major oil terminal in St Petersburg.
- 2 August – Kyiv said it hit an oil refinery and airfield 600 kilometres from the border in Saratov region.
- 3 August – A drone hit a Wildberries warehouse in one of a series of similar attacks on the company.
- 6 August – Ukraine hit two oil refineries, trying to reduce the profits of Russian oil.
When and where to catch a glimpse of Perseid meteor shower
Just hours after the partial solar eclipse, Wednesday night will see stargazers treated to yet another astronomical event.
But what is the Perseid meteor shower and where can you see it best?
Everything you need to know
The Perseids are seen as streaks of bright meteors across the night sky. They are caused by debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet and are seen in the UK every summer.
Its peak nights are 12 and 13 August this year. Much of the UK will have clear skies overnight, with a new moon meaning the display should also be more visible.
Where best to see it
- Try to go somewhere without light pollution, preferably away from cities.
- Allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness and gaze up towards the widest clear expanse of sky.
- You could see hundreds of “shooting stars”, with the best time between midnight and sunrise.
- Areas of the Highlands, mid-Wales and rural Northumberland are often cited as having the least light pollution.
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Why billionaire Lord Sugar has hit out at American Express
Lord Alan Sugar has called American Express “a bunch of idiots” after he was denied an increase on his credit limit.
star, 79, who has a reported net worth of £1.138bn, said he spoke to someone who was aware of his “financial status”, but it made no difference.
What is the row about?
Lord Sugar wrote on X to complain he had been on the phone with American Express for an hour, and eventually “my request was refused due to their system”.
Replying to some criticism in his comments, the entrepreneur responded: “I AM NOT MOANING JUST EXPOSING WHAT A BUNCH OF IDIOTS AMEX ARE.”
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Council flat to billionaire status
Some in Lord Sugar’s comments accused him of “trying to flaunt your status” after championing his modest background.
- Lord Sugar was born in Hackney, east London, in 1947 and grew up in a council flat.
- He left school at 16 and briefly worked in the civil service as a statistician.
- He founded electronics company Amstrad at the age of 21 and found commercial success by mass-producing affordable consumer electronics.
- Sugar began hosting reality competition show in 2005.
- He sold his stake in Amstrad to BSkyB in 2007 for £125m.
- His net worth is reportedly £1.138bn.
Are you having as much sex as everyone else?
It’s natural for libido to wax and wane due to life events, dating status or hormonal changes.
And it can be hard to say what a “normal” sexual frequency is. But research and case studies give us a rough idea.
The statistics
When it happens
61%
A 2023 survey concluded that almost two thirds (61 per cent) of us wait until night-time to have sex.
Only 14 per cent opt to get busy in the early evening, and 10 per cent in the morning.
Research from 2019 suggests that the average number of times British live-in or married couples have sex per month is three.
Are Gen Z having less sex than older people?
I see my partner on the weekends and have sex with others in the week.
Leanne, a 27-year-old influencer from Bristol has sex three or four times a week, but only sees her long-distance partner on the weekends. They have agreed they can both sleep with other people during the week.
35-year-old Rebecca usually sleeps with her partner once or twice per week due to not having much child-free time.
Clare, 32, says her job is busy and she has to schedule sex with her partner on weekends, or some afternoons twice a month. “Occasionally this slips and I do worry that it makes us not as connected,” she says.
I haven’t had the issue of my sex life drying up with menopause. I’m more aroused now.
I’ve been married for 15 years. I love my husband, but our sex life is non-existent, and has been for about five years.
I’m not really motivated to seek out partners; I vaguely like the idea of it but not enough to take any action.
I’ve been married for 20 years and sex has become something of a rarity. We maybe have sex once a week on a Sunday morning as we’re both relaxed and I can take Viagra late on Saturday night – without it, I can’t perform.
JACK, 63, OFFICE WORKER, KENT
The seven rules that could save your marriage
Keep your sense of self
I did what I thought I was supposed to do and forgot my needs and wants. I think it’s really important that you’re an individual and not just a person who is married.
KATIE STRATFORD*, A 55-YEAR-OLD MUM OF TWO, WHO DIVORCED ATER 19 YEARS
Seven rules to save your marriage
The small things
Small things, like being brought a cup of tea or saying thank you, make a big difference.
Karen Deulofeu, who ended her six-year marriage, believes all couples should seek support, even before they think they need it.
Listen properly by repeating what you have heard and ask if you’ve got that right.
Don’t lose communication
People don’t talk about the deep issues; nobody else is going to do it for you. You don’t want to ask questions because it might rock the boat…you have to keep talking, and talk about what it is that you want within the relationship to keep going forward.
KATIE STRATFORD
Seven rules to save your marriage
Remember that things change
“What you see on social media and what friends say is quite often the nice version. Everything is a phase,” says Deulofeu.
Look at yourself first
“Focus on what’s in your control and what you can do differently, rather than the other person or a situation that you can’t control. Invest in understanding yourself,” she adds.
Salomé Brun, of the Calais Appeal charity, told The i Paper that boats were being launched from increasingly further south, particularly around the port of Dieppe, because the coast around the previously popular crossing points in Dunkirk and Calais “is being increasingly securitised and monitored by law enforcement”.
“No matter how hard the deterrence is, people are still adapting to it and still trying to depart,” she said. “Increasing securitisation at the border only puts people at greater risk – it doesn’t prevent them from crossing.”
Thousands still waiting for small boat crossings
The Utopia 56 charity, which operates an emergency hotline for migrants whose boats are in distress, said they were also seeing vessels launched from Dieppe and different parts of Normandy.
Angèle Vettorello said the new hotspots were “really far away” from the coastline commonly used over previous years, and that the changes were the “consequence of border policies funded by the UK”.
“With the ‘taxi boat’ dynamic, the boats are launched far away where there is less police, and passengers are picked up somewhere else,” she added. “The average number of people on board one boat is just increasing more and more.”
Local charities estimate that there are currently around 1,000 migrants living in tents in Calais waiting for small boat crossings, and 2,000 to 2,500 in Dunkirk, Brun said.
French authorities regularly evict people from encampments in those areas, and have been trying to stop people gathering on beaches or getting into boats using tear gas and other tactics.
Gendarmes, the French police, have also been combing coastal areas for dinghies and engines, while the National Crime Agency has led investigations resulting in the seizure of equipment stockpiles.
The Home Office has said that a new “payment-by-results deal” with France will see 40 per cent more boots on the ground on French beaches and that a year-on-year drop in small boat crossings shows its strategy is working.
Government warned smugglers will ‘innovate’
But a report published last month by Britain’s Border Security Command said that while the number of people reaching the UK on small boats had fallen significantly this year – by 42 per cent compared to the same period in 2025 – the figure was not “definitive” and numbers “could change rapidly”.
The report predicted that smuggling gangs would adapt their tactics, adding: “We have steadily forced organised crime groups into a less advantageous position, but we should be prepared for them to innovate to protect their profits.”
Border Security Command said such innovations had included the use of larger vessels and “taxi boats” launched from inland waterways that pick up migrants in shallow offshore waters.
It warned that Britain “does not control all the levers required to stop” crossings, pointing to the use of legally purchased equipment from China, a network of “adaptable and resilient” criminal groups who are based abroad and the fact that intervening once boats are at sea is “extremely dangerous”.
“New smuggling routes for migrants and equipment are created in response to law enforcement pressure, and tactics on the beaches continue to evolve,” the report concluded.
“Changes in OCG [organised crime group] tactics suggest law enforcement on the French coast is making departures more difficult, but attempted journeys continue despite these constraints.
PM says Government will change tactics in response
Prime Minister Andy Burnham acknowledged that smugglers were changing their tactics on Tuesday but said the Government would respond.
“We will now change our tactics, and we will be relentless in chasing them down,” he told GB News.
“There is more law enforcement on the other side of the Channel in summer 2026 than there was last summer, and that has led to quite a reduction in the number of crossings. But that’s not good enough.
“People will say to me, ‘We don’t want any crossings’. I understand that concern. There are further things that we are doing, and we will keep going at this issue until we deliver that eradication that people are looking for.”
Following The i Paper’s reporting of the fact that a Chinese company sanctioned by the British government for selling small boats to smugglers was still operating a year later, the Home Office said it was working with manufacturers, suppliers and international partners to prevent small boat equipment reaching gangs, and that more than 1,100 small boats and engines has been seized since the 2024 election.