A suspicious farmer helped prevent a potentially devastating terror attack near an RAF base at the last possible moment.

Five men travelling in three vans loaded with explosives were intercepted early yesterday just 350 yards from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. The base has been used by American forces to launch air strikes against Iran’s regime, prompting suspicions that the incident was linked to Tehran.

Counter-terrorism officers arrested the suspects after the farmer called 999. US President Donald Trump later said the group appeared to be intent on causing “big damage” to the American military facility.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard had warned in July that any base involved in air strikes could be considered a legitimate target. Iranian ambassador Seyed Ali Mousavi also said Britain’s decision to permit US bombers to operate from Fairford had become an “important matter for our self-defence”.

Police evacuated 85 homes near the base, the US Air Force’s European command outpost, amid fears that barrels of suspicious material inside the three vehicles could detonate.

Army specialists from the explosive ordnance disposal unit spent hours examining the vans yesterday.

Mr Trump praised the operation while speaking to reporters in the US, calling it “fantastic” and describing the cooperation between British authorities and American officials as “an amazing job”. He said the suspects had been under investigation and were apparently preparing to inflict serious damage on the base.

“It may have been Scotland Yard, I don’t know,” he added. “We worked with a lot of them. We had them under view for a long time, and we got them.”

However, claims that British authorities had received advance warning of the alleged plot were rejected last night. Whitehall sources said the arrests had not been planned in advance.

The alert began by chance when a farmer from the nearby village of Whelford spotted three vans blocking a quiet road around the base as she drove home from a party in the early hours.

Puzzled by the scene, she turned her vehicle around. At that moment, she saw men wearing balaclavas and hooded tops, described as “Middle Eastern-looking”, running into nearby woodland and fields in the direction of the base.

The farmer quickly drove away and called police at 12.45am. She then sent a message to her local WhatsApp group, warning residents to lock their doors.

Officers reached the area within 15 minutes and arrested all five men shortly afterwards.

The farmer believes her unexpected arrival may have unsettled the group and disrupted its plans.

“They would have seen the bright headlights,” she said. “They probably thought we were the police and panicked.”

She added: “It would appear that by doing so I just derailed whatever they were planning.”

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The vans had seemed suspicious because the lettering and telephone number displayed on them appeared to be fake. Fuel2U, a fuel-delivery company based in Beaconsfield, confirmed that the vehicles had no connection to its business.

In chilling footage captured by locals, the suspects were held at gunpoint by armed officers. Sitting in the middle of the road with their hands secured behind their back, the men were bare–chested after officers stripped their upper clothing fearing they may be wearing suicide vests.

The suspects were initially held on suspicion of committing offences under the Explosives Act, before being arrested on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act, contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act.

Armed officers evacuated residents to a leisure centre, hurrying children and the elderly in their pyjamas to safety in case the bombs went off. Late last night, the residents had not been allowed to return home.

Gloucestershire police shut down key roads into Whelford and the RAF base. Locals said yesterday that security around the air base had been ramped up in the past week. 

Tristan Wilkinson, the Cotswold district councillor for Lechlade, Kempsford and Fairford South, said: ‘I think the one thing we can say is that if you look around the base, they’ve put heavy machinery in place.

‘That’s unusual. That tells me that the base was on a heightened level of security.’

The investigation was last night described as being in the early stages, with police understood to be keeping an open mind. 

They are exploring the possible involvement of other hostile states such as Russia or Islamist terrorism. Groups such as Al Qaeda and Islamic State have inspired British terrorists to plot attacks on UK military bases.

But the link with Iran last night prompted criticism of Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who was pictured last week shaking hands with the regime’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi in New York.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Tom Tugendhat said: ‘The Iranian regime has done nothing to justify any senior British minister meeting their envoys.

‘They are murdering protesters, threatening our allies and arming terror groups, including the Houthis, as well as threatening communities in the UK. Shaking hands gives them a credibility they have failed to achieve through violence.’

Vicki Evans, senior national co–ordinator at Counter Terrorism Policing, said: ‘We are in the early stages of an investigation, and five men remain in custody. As you would expect, we are working closely with our partners to understand the circumstances of the incident.’

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: ‘I would like to thank the emergency services for their swift response to the major incident in Gloucestershire this morning and their reassurance that they believe the incident is contained.’

Prime Minister Andy Burnham added: ‘The safety and security of the public is our first priority, and I want people to know that we will always take every step necessary to protect our communities and keep our country safe.’

The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards brought a dazzling lineup of stars to Los Angeles on Sunday, delivering plenty of unforgettable and viral moments throughout the ceremony.

Taylor Swift dominated the evening, earning the inaugural Artist Director Honors and taking home Video of the Year for her song The Fate Of Ophelia.

The 36-year-old Grammy winner also secured the Best Direction award for the music video for Opalite.

Swift turned heads in a figure-hugging corset gown finished with a shimmering silver skirt. During the ceremony, she was also spotted mingling with fellow attendees inside the Peacock Theater.

One adorable moment was caught on camera as Swift greeted a young fan while sitting in her seat. 

The singer stopped for a memorable photo with one young fan, but soon noticed another shy girl nearby and made sure she was included in the moment.

Swift gently encouraged the fan to step forward for a photo, and the little girl eventually approached the pop star shyly.

The pair smiled for the camera as Swift, who had unveiled the music video for her new single Patient Zero, quickly captured a selfie with her.

Social media users flooded the clip’s comments on X with praise. One person wrote, ‘It’s stuff like this that made me respect, then like, then stan Taytay. She really respects and loves her fans.’

Another commenter added, ‘the way shes already looking out for the kid who might feel left out says everything about who she is honestly.’

Swift reached another milestone during the ceremony by overtaking Beyoncé as the most decorated solo artist in MTV VMAs history.

While accepting the Video of the Year award, the singer also honored the late Dolly Parton, who died at the age of 80 on August 25.

‘I want to dedicate this award to one person, and without whom this wouldn’t be happening, and that person is the ultimate showgirl Dolly Parton,’ Swift told the audience.

She continued, ‘Every single song that she wrote, her storytelling was so vivid and so rich.’

‘Listening to her songs, it’s like watching the best music video you have ever seen in your life, every single time you hear what she has written.’

The songstress continued, ‘And man, she handled this thing with such grace, and joy, and love, and gratitude for the fact that she got to do this.

‘And everything that happened in her life or her career, she channeled back into love, and gratitude, and appreciation for her fans. I’m lucky I got to be one of them, and I will always be one of them.’

Swift concluded by saying, ‘I think we were all very very lucky to share this planet with Dolly Parton for a time.’ 

Madonna was in attendance at the awards ceremony, and won the award for best collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter for their track Bring Your Love. 

However, the Vogue hitmaker left Carpenter on the defensive by taking a swipe at her team during their acceptance speech.

‘I would like to briefly say how this collaboration came about,’ Madonna expressed. ‘Everybody who knows me knows how impatient I am.

‘And when five days passed and I still didn’t get connected with Sabrina and didn’t hear back from her about whether she wanted to do a song with me – five days! – I DM’ed her.’ 

As the live audience reacted to the dig at Carpenter’s entourage, she herself was reduced to fits of nervous laughter while standing beside Madonna.

Eventually, she sprang frantically to her employees’ defense, saying: ‘My team replies! Just so everybody knows, they do respond to people!’

Carpenter then acknowledged to a round of applause that ‘I respond faster, so direct line to me is always the best way to get in contact.’

‘Okay, so we’re gonna go back there and have a drink or something,’ replied the Queen of Pop, as Carpenter once again let out an anxious giggle.

After pouring scorn on Carpenter’s entourage, Madonna struck a more conciliatory tone by showering praise on her duet partner and stressing their common traits.

Before accepting the award, Madonna opened the show with a racy performance and her first on the MTV VMAs stage since 2003 when she set off a media firestorm by kissing both Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

Both she and Carpenter delivered a rendition of Bring Your Love and Charli XCX then hit the stage for her new duet with Madonna, Danceteria Afterhours.

The original version of Danceteria was a solo track by Madonna, featured on her latest album Confessions II, which was released in July and serves as a sequel to her smash hit 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor.

The late Dolly Parton later received a special tribute as Kacey Musgraves sang the country star’s 1974 track I Will Always Love You.

The tribute began with an older clip of Parton previously introducing the song before her performance. 

Fans were left emotional afterwards, with one typing on X, ‘kacey musgraves dolly tribute making me tear up omg….. that was everything.’ 

However, the George Michael tribute during the ceremony was later slammed by fans. 

Teddy Swims, Raye and Sombr took to the stage to perform a medley of the late singer’s hits for the audience and viewers. 

Swims took on Michael’s 1981 song Careless Whisper while Raye performed I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me). Sombr covered two tracks Faith and Father Figure. 

Adam Lambert soon made a surprise appearance on the stage as he belted out lyrics to Freedom! ’90. 

However, some viewers were left unimpressed and shared their thoughts on X. 

One penned, ‘Teddy Swims killed George Michael all over again. What a miss. Adam Lambert should have handled the whole d**n tribute, though Raye & Sombr acquitted themselves admirably.’ 

Another said, ‘I think Teddy Swims connected well with the song’s tale, but his voice couldn’t do some of the highlights George did.

‘Sombr was so bad I’d rather listen to myself sing “Father Figure,”‘ they added. 

An X user commented, ‘It was awful. Adam saved it. I don’t know who that skinny dude was but he sucked.’ 

Rapper Snoop Dogg took on hosting duties for the 2026 MTV VMAs on Sunday and stepped onto the stage to greet the crowd following Madonna’s performance. 

At one point during his opening monologue, the music artist promised cannabis to winners in a viral moment. 

He said, ‘it wouldn’t be a Snoop Dogg party if I didn’t provide some of that special sticky icky icky,’ referring to the drug by using a retro slang term. 

The star quickly added, ‘Hold on, hold on – that’s for every winner here tonight. Just the winners, though.’ 

He then encouraged ‘everybody else’ to ‘look under your seat,’ before joking to them that, ‘There should be nothing there.’ 

Madonna was part of another viral moment as she won Best Dance for Confessions II – The Film. 

However, the singer appeared to forget what the award was during the speech as she asked, ‘What is this for, again?’ 

The Vogue songstress also told the audience that she had a laser ‘stuck’ up her posterior ‘all night’ before departing the stage. 

Elsewhere during the evening, both Swift and Madonna were seen mingling and paused for a memorable snap together.  

Lithuania and Poland are drawing up evacuation plans to prepare for the possibility of a full-scale war with Russia.

The preparations include procedures, logistics and infrastructure planning, as well as potential civilian evacuation routes through the Suwalki Gap.

Described as Nato’s “Achilles heel”, the Suwalki Gap is a roughly 60-mile stretch of land connecting Poland and Lithuania. Nato military leaders fear it could become a target for an attack ordered by Vladimir Putin.

The corridor runs between Belarus, a close ally of Moscow, and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave.

If Russian forces moved from Belarus across the gap to Kaliningrad, the Kremlin could potentially cut Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania off from their allies in central and western Europe.

Vilnius and Warsaw are working on a bilateral agreement that would establish the framework for the evacuation plans, according to Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre.

The announcement came as Lithuania began nationwide emergency drills, including exercises to test evacuation procedures along its border with Poland.

Moscow has increasingly tested Nato’s resolve through a series of suspected covert attacks targeting countries on or near the alliance’s borders.

Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre, said: “Procedures, logistics and infrastructure capabilities are being analysed together with colleagues from Poland, and the plan itself should be developed once an agreement is reached between the two countries.”

He said the arrangements would also include provisions for evacuating civilians from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Authorities are also considering border controls if a threat emerges, both to support mobilisation and to “prevent people in certain key roles from leaving the country”.

Around 20 Polish officials were sent to Lithuania for exercises testing border procedures. The wider drills involve about 3,000 officials and 1,000 volunteers and are scheduled to continue until October 2.

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Earlier this month, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said intelligence assessments indicated that Russia was preparing “plans for hybrid strikes using drones and missiles against countries supporting Ukraine, including Poland”.

He warned that the “provocations” were “far more dangerous than those we have faced so far”.

Russia is suspected of involvement in covert attacks against several sites in Nato countries, including a warehouse in Britain, a weapons factory in Estonia and an airport in Germany.

On September 18, airports in Rzeszów and Lublin, Poland, suspended operations after Moscow launched an attack on western Ukraine just miles from the Nato border.

The incident was the latest in a series of Russian strikes near Poland’s border in recent months.

Western intelligence officials told The Telegraph that Putin is preparing a “stealth mobilisation” following the State Duma elections, potentially allowing thousands of Russians to be drafted.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Moscow may eventually have to change its recruitment methods and introduce some form of involuntary reserve call-up if it continues suffering casualties at the current rate. 

The Russian leader is said to have been backed into a corner, with the military having suffered 1.5 million casualties, including 500,000 fatalities in Ukraine, and his invasion effectively at a stalemate.

Meanwhile, European leaders have warned that the Kremlin’s hybrid war against the West is likely to intensify ‘in months, not years’.

On Thursday morning, four Russian drones breached Moldova’s airspace.

Maia Sandu, the president of Moldova, wrote on X: ‘Russia’s massive attack on Ukraine reached Moldova again this morning. Four Russian drones violated our airspace, and at least one exploded in the north. Russia’s war endangers all of Europe.’

Earlier this week, the CIA warned of a Russian operation using seaborne drones against targets in Spain, France or Italy.

The attacks would see Russia fire 600 km-range drones from commercial ships, hitting ports, airports and other infrastructure, according to El Mundo, the Spanish newspaper.

Relatives have described their family’s grief after a mother and daughter died from cancer just 10 hours apart.

Cibele Marchis, 28, died at about 4 p.m. Thursday at a hospital in Mogi Guaçu, Brazil, according to G1.

Her mother, Maria Elisabete Nogueira, 56, died at approximately 2 a.m. Friday after being sedated at another hospital in the city, the outlet reported.

Family members said Cibele, who worked in digital marketing, was diagnosed in 2024 with a rare, aggressive cancer that began in her adrenal gland.

Around a year later, Maria learned she had pancreatic cancer. She had initially sought medical care believing her symptoms were caused by a gallstone, relatives said.

Cibele underwent multiple surgeries and rounds of chemotherapy. In December 2025, doctors warned the family that she was nearing the end of her life after developing infections, Bárbara Rodrigues dos Santos told G1.

During that difficult period, Bárbara said, the mother and daughter supported one another as they faced their illnesses.

“She [Maria] fasted for 24 hours, asking for a miracle for her daughter, and God answered. God gave her daughter back,” Bárbara said.

After recovering, Cibele was discharged from the hospital and looked forward to rebuilding her life, her relative said.

“She wanted to live,” Bárbara told the outlet, adding that Cibele remained undeterred by her scars and colostomy bag.

Maria, affectionately known as Bia, received less treatment because her cancer progressed quickly.

Her pain eventually became so severe that she needed morphine. She was admitted to the hospital on September 17, according to the report.

Cibele visited her mother while Maria was ill. About a week later, however, Cibele’s own condition deteriorated and she also required medical care.

“I arrived home from my trip on Wednesday, and my mother said that Bia was unwell,” Rowilson Leandro da Costa, Maria’s nephew and Cibele’s cousin, told G1.

“When I received the call on Thursday, everyone expected it to be my aunt, not Cibele.”

Rowilson said he organized Cibele’s wake. After the family returned home from saying goodbye to her, they received the news that Maria had also died.

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“I had to tell my uncle, who was already grieving his daughter, that his wife had died too,” he said.

Rowilson said that Cibele was the couple’s only child, and that his uncle has been lost without them. 

‘He lost his family. To come home and find no one there anymore. It’s sad, difficult,’ he explained. 

Their family said that the mother and daughter both wished not to be told of their deaths if one of them was still alive. 

‘Neither of the two wanted to see the other die,’ according to Rowilson. 

‘They even commented on it, sometimes jokingly, other times seriously, and it happened. One never found out about the other’s death. It really is an astonishing thing.’ 

In March, Cibele shared a clip of her being hooked up to an IV drip, stating: ‘As long as your only problem is money, be grateful.

‘Worse is facing something that not even all the money in the world can solve.’

She often posted photos alongside her mother, and the two appeared to travel a lot before their final days. 

Eloá Righi, Cibele’s business partner, recalled her never letting her sickness bring her down. 

‘She didn’t let cancer define her. She didn’t want to be known as Cibele who has cancer, but rather as Cibele who works, has fun, lives, and has cancer,’ she said. 

Her mother had a similar way about her, according to well-wisher Jorge Vitorino. 

‘Bia was a light wherever she went: a joyful, affectionate woman with a generous heart, who left unforgettable marks on everyone who had the blessing of sharing her life,’ he shared. 

‘Her life was a constant example of faith, love, affection and dedication to family and friends.’ 

Cibele and Maria were buried together in a joint service surrounded by their family and friends.