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Sir Billy was a fitting recipient of the honour and a world-class athlete, whose story deserved to be told.

You can tell the importance of someone by how many statutes have been erected in tribute, and Sir Billy Boston wasn't lacking.

His name was chosen as one of just five to grace Wembley's monument to rugby league's Challenge Cup, while years after his departure north, his home city of Cardiff also ensured his legacy remained cast-iron strong as he formed part of a three-man tribute along with Clive Sullivan and Gus Risman.

Unsurprisingly, Boston is also captured in bronze in his adopted home of Wigan; the place where his legend really came to life.

Born and brought up in Cardiff's ethnically-eclectic Tiger Bay district, he learned his rugby skills on the streets and with the talent factory-esque Cardiff International Athletic Club.

Like all Welsh lads he harboured dreams of playing for his local club Cardiff RFC and hopefully the national team.

Like others before and after for a time, Boston found those routes blocked, having to travel to Neath and Pontypridd to trial before his military service took him north.

It was here where the league scouts came calling, and Wigan persuaded Boston to turn professional in 1953, forever ending his union dreams in the time of 'sine die' penalties for liaising with league personnel.

The money was life changing.

£3,000 could easily buy a house at that stage, while it proved money well spent as he took to the new code like a duck to water, scoring with his first touch in a Wigan A team game.

This prime specimen of Welsh breezeblock had everything; he was quick, he could step and as former player and BBC commentator Ray French put it - his fend was like "being hit in the face with shovel".

The sepia footage and slow shutter speeds of the cameras that captured his magic during his playing days simply cannot dull his brilliance.

Whether it was bustling over for another try in cherry and white hoops at Wembley or crushing the Aussies at Sydney Cricket Ground, Boston was a blur of speed, footwork and power.

Having swiftly progressed to the first team at Central Park, he would go on to score 478 tries in 488 games for Wigan, and tales of his feats would be passed down through generations. There are very few down at the Brick Community Stadium these days who don't know of Sir Billy, young or old, his name carried a cache right until his last.

Great Britain gave him the international recognition denied to him by Wales, and he rewarded the selectors by racking up the tries, particularly against the Australians who would bear the brunt of his scoring ability.

He scored 36 tries alone on his maiden Great Britain tour, dazzling both Australia and New Zealand in 1954 under captain and fellow Welshman Dickie Williams.

Boston was a phenomenal rugby league player, but there is also a powerful message in how in post-war Britain a black athlete could become a hugely popular figure by communities adjusting to a new, more diverse world.

Others like Roy Francis beforehand, Johnny Freeman, and Colin Dixon, also became established names, but never quite sprinkled the same stardust as Sir Billy.

It paved the way for players such as Ellery Hanley and Martin Offiah to charm the public with their talents, while modern day talent such as Junior Nsemba and Kai Pearce-Paul continues to stand out in a sport which has broken down barriers for years.

Sir Billy had a unique unifying effect on a normally partisan and tribal rugby league community.

He was revered naturally in Wigan, his adopted home, but you won't hear a boo or jeer at mention of Boston anywhere - not even at sworn rivals St Helens where they appreciate a good footballer when they see one.

Still a regular visitor to Wigan games right up to his passing, it was always a beautiful moment when the cameras found him, the crowd spotting him on the screen bursting into cheer, and the realisation creeping over his face in the shape of a smile.

There was a photo of him and his wife Lady Joan, who had died just a few weeks previously, on her seat with flowers at Wigan's game with Wakefield last week. There is a poignancy that Sir Billy departed soon after her.

His seat will always be reserved at Wigan, and he will be dearly missed but certainly not forgotten. %!s()

The toymaker said its revenues had increased by 21% to 41.9bn Danish kroner (£4.8bn) in the first six months of 2026, driven by strong growth in the Americas, Europe and the Asia Pacific regions, offsetting stalled sales in China.

Sales by its clients to consumers rose by 22% as it produced World Cup kits, including mini figures of players such as Harry Kane and even building kits of superstar players, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi which were retailing for up to £159.99.

Net profit increased 32% to 8.6bn Danish kroner (£1bn) as the group launched 330 new products including its hi-tech Smart Play kit, with bricks that emit sounds and light.

Niels B Christiansen, the chief executive of Lego Group, said: “We are very pleased with our strong start to 2026 and the excitement we see for the Lego brand. Our portfolio of products offers something for everyone, and culturally relevant brand experiences continue to drive demand across the globe. Our success in the market means we can maintain high investment levels in growth and sustainability for both the short and long term.”

He said the World Cup was “a breakthrough for us” in providing “exciting sets” linked to football and “an example of us bringing the Lego brand close to a passion point and interest for many people”.

He said Lego was expanding solar energy capacity at all of its factories. In June, it began constructing its largest solar installation so far in Billund, Denmark – its main headquarters and the home of the original Legoland park. The site, which will begin operating next year, will feature 160,000 panels able to produce 99 GWh a year. It is designed to match the company’s electricity needs in the town.

Lego also said it was also continuing its global shift towards using paper bags in its packaging and expected that to be completed next year.

Increased use of recycled plastic in the bricks is also helping to offset rising costs of virgin plastic driven by the impact of the crisis in the Middle East which has driven up the price of oil.

The company said it did expect to see costs rise in the second half of the year as the cost of fuelling its lorries rose as well as raw materials but said there would not be a “material impact” on the business.

Lego has led a resurgence in the toy market in the past year, as adults look for an alternative entertainment to phones and TV screens.

Christiansen said sales to both children and adults were increasing and there was a “nice synergy” between the two groups as when “more adults get excited about the brand they become super ambassadors” by buying the kits for children and young people.

“Kidults” (buyers aged 12 and over) are spending spare cash on expensive Lego sets and collectible figurines. This group is behind £1 in every £3 spent on toys in the UK, and these buyers spent 10% more in 2025 than the year before according to a study by the market research company Circana.

With toys linked to a wide range of interests, from sports such as Formula One to hit films and TV shows including KPop Demon Hunters and Stranger Things, the British Toy and Hobby Association has said there appears to be an “evolving era of play, where toys are increasingly embedded in wider cultural moments, enjoyed by all the family”. %!s()

Analysis by the non-profit group Foxglove reveals that when fully operational, the Wapseys Wood datacentre in Buckinghamshire and the Quest Park datacentre in Bedfordshire will use 1.3GW of power and will produce more than 4.5m tonnes of carbon emissions.

ExxonMobil emitted 3.9m tonnes in 2023, according to the global energy thinktank Ember.

AI datacentres use a massive amount of electricity to power servers and cooling equipment, and to run facility systems. There are currently 315 datacentres in the queue to connect to the UK’s electricity grid, representing 73GW of demand. This is almost double the peak winter energy demand for the entire UK.

Because of the long wait to connect to the grid, the Wapseys Wood and Quest Park datacentres are seeking to build their own on-site gas-fired power stations.

Based on government figures on the carbon intensity of electricity generation, Foxglove has calculated these projects will produce 4.577m tonnes of carbon emissions per year.

A government spokesperson said these figures were “misleading” because of the assumption that both projects will run at 100% utilisation from day one, which they said was “not accurate”.

Tom Hegarty, head of communications at Foxglove, said assuming a 100% utilisation rate followed standard industry practice.

Kierra Box, a trade and environmental regulation campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said the aim was for datacentres to increase load and run at full capacity, and so it was “valid to look at those top level predictions”.

The former England and Wales Green party leader Caroline Lucas described the projected emissions from these projects as “absolutely horrifying”, and said it should be ringing alarm bells right across government.

The government says its own analysis shows there are multiple pathways for this rapid datacentre rollout to fit within the seventh carbon budget, which sets out how the government will reach its international climate targets.

However there remains a high level of uncertainty over how this will work.

Toby Perkins, a Labour MP and chair of the Commons environmental audit committee, which is leading an inquiry into the environmental impact of datacentres, said this analysis was a “potent reminder that without the right measures in place, data centres could represent a serious threat to the environment and to our legally binding climate goals”.

Oliver Hayes, head of policy at the campaign group Global Action Plan, said the two projects were “catastrophic for our carbon budgets”. He said the only way the rapid rollout of datacentres could fit within these budgets was if other elements of the economy were given much stricter carbon budgets.

Sam Hunter-Jones, a ClientEarth lawyer, said every megawatt powering a datacentre connected to the grid was a megawatt that could not be used to replace fossil fuels elsewhere. “The reality is that unchecked datacentre growth is making the transition away from fossil fuels harder, not easier,” he said.

The datacentres are two of the first to be fast-tracked through the government’s nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP) regime. This regime allows developers to rapidly deliver infrastructure projects by bypassing local planning authorities with decisions instead handled by central government.

Hayes said it was a “very worrying sign” that the government had allowed two gas-fired datacentres to apply into the NSIP regime. “I think that sends an extremely bad signal and demonstrates that they are not serious about addressing the emissions associated with datacentres,” he said, describing it as an “affront to local people”.

Lucas also raised concerns about the projects being fast-tracked, and said it “insulates” them from local scrutiny.

“In order to be able to make sensible decisions on which projects should go ahead and where they should be, we need to have more information in the public domain. We need to have more scrutiny, not less, and yet things like the NSIP regime are moving things in the opposite direction,” she said.

A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “Datacentres are a vital part of our economy and our everyday lives, helping us interact with the services we need, while driving growth and renewal for communities. We will enable the development and growth of new industries, such as datacentres, by building unprecedented amounts of clean power.”

Waspeys Wood declined to comment. Quest Park did not respond to a request for comment. %!s()

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) also said that the world’s most populous nation urgently needs to tackle hate crimes against Bengali-speaking Muslims.

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“The committee was gravely concerned about reports of large-scale violations perpetrated by law enforcement officials against ethnic and ethno-religious groups, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, including Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, particularly Dalits, and non-citizens,” it stated in a release on its findings on Tuesday.

“These included racially motivated violence, excessive use of force, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary and prolonged detention without due process, torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence.”

The committee urged India to investigate all such claims and bring those responsible to justice.

Caste remains a major determinant of social status in India, dictating access to resources, education and opportunity. The system, rooted in historic social hierarchical structures, separates Hindus by function and social standing.

CERD is a panel of 18 independent rights experts that monitors compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by the 182 countries that are party to it.

Under the convention, which entered into force in 1969, countries must eliminate racial discrimination, eradicate practices of segregation and ensure equality before the law.

India appeared for review before CERD earlier this month, for the first time since 2007, with Solicitor General Tushar Mehta leading its delegation.

The committee pointed to an increase in law enforcement operations targeting Rohingya, Bengali-speaking Muslims, migrants and asylum seekers.

It said police stops and identity checks involving racial profiling had reportedly led to arbitrary arrest and detention without due process, as well as torture and mistreatment.

The committee also expressed concerns about deportations and forced returns of individuals requiring international protection.

It urged India to “urgently address discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes” against these groups, protect their rights and refrain from collective expulsions.

CERD’s opinions and recommendations are non-binding but hold significant reputational weight.

In a statement, India’s mission said that, during the review, its delegation “highlighted our pluralism; diversity; scale and complexity; constitutional and legal framework and safeguards … as we continue our journey towards ensuring equality, dignity and opportunity for all Indians”. %!s()

Authorities said 15 people were taken to hospital and two were in a critical condition. One man said his pregnant wife was injured after their house collapsed on her.

More than 120 emergency workers were deployed to the village south of Carcassonne after winds reaching 117km/h (73mph) tore roofs off houses and damaged an estimated 300 homes on Monday.

"Half the village has been destroyed," said one resident called Pierre, who described the tornado as swirling like a "huge red and yellow chimney".

"There's a huge castle and a third of it is has collapsed - even though these are stones that have stood for 1,000 years," Pierre told Ici Occitanie.

The third stage of the Vuelta a España cycle race, which was taking place in the Aude area of south-western France, had to be cancelled when a hail storm forced the riders to take shelter about 15km from the finish line.

The extreme weather has left about 2,800 homes across 10 villages without electricity, according to officials.

Local sub-prefect Emmanuelle Plantier-Lemarchand told French radio that she was not aware of anyone missing. She lowered the number of victims from 41 to 39, and said 15 of them had been treated in hospital.

"I heard this massive noise... then I saw everything flying around in the air and my roof collapsed over my head," shocked resident Chantal told French radio. "I've got no house left, that's for sure... I was really scared. I thought that's it, this my final hour."

French authorities had issued an orange alert for thunderstorms in large parts of the country's south-west, which have already been hit by power outages and transport disruptions.

Eyewitness footage from the region captured the swirling vortex of the tornado looming in the horizon above houses and trees.

Images from the small village of Pomas, which was the hardest hit, showed uprooted trees, damaged cars and rubble from destroyed homes.

Meanwhile there were flight delays and cancellations at airports in Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse and north of Paris to the north, said Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot.

On average, France experiences several dozen tornadoes per year, according to the country's national weather service Météo-France.

It comes after Europe's summer of unprecedented heatwaves and wildfires, with France's south-west region among the worst affected with an area of 42,000 hectares burnt in one of the largest forest fires since World War Two.

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