Accountability Records

On July 20, 1969, NASA's Apollo 11 mission landed humans on the Moon for the first time in history. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the lunar surface while Michael Collins orbited above. The mission fulfilled President Kennedy's 1961 challenge and remains one of humanity's greatest achievements.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian medical NGO that provides emergency medical care in conflict zones, epidemics, and natural disasters. Operating in over 70 countries, MSF won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999. It is one of the most respected humanitarian organizations in the world.

On December 26, 2004, a 9.1 magnitude undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra triggered a massive tsunami that struck 14 countries. It killed approximately 227,898 people, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. The disaster prompted the largest humanitarian aid response ever seen.

The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals held by Allied forces after World War II to prosecute prominent members of the Nazi leadership for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace. They established the legal precedent that individuals can be held accountable for crimes against humanity.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a coordinated surprise attack on southern Israel from Gaza. Over 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers were killed — the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. Around 250 people were taken hostage into Gaza. The attack triggered a major Israeli military response in Gaza.

Amnesty International is a global human rights NGO founded in 1961, headquartered in London. It campaigns for the release of political prisoners, documents torture and executions, and advocates for human rights worldwide. Nobel Peace Prize recipient in 1977.

A Turkish governor who was removed from office after a backlash over images of him cycling in sports tights has received backing from thousands of supporters calling for his reinstatement. Mehmet Fatih Çiçekli, governor of the north-eastern Ardahan province, was dismissed last week. No reason was given for his removal. It came after criticism of his attire and online activity, with one MP saying he was "spending all day creating social media content" and "wearing cycling tights all day". Çiçekli defended his outfit as standard cycling gear, saying: "I do sports in sports clothes." Asked what he planned to do after his dismissal, Çiçekli said: "I will keep pedalling." The removal of Çiçekli came after he attracted public attention by sharing videos of himself cycling on social media in recent months. Çiçekli called on people to organise a cycling festival in Ardahan and shared footage of large groups participating in a cycling event. Çiçekli also posted videos of himself rowing on Lake Çıldır, saying these activities demonstrated "the unifying power of sport". His social media activity prompted criticism from some politicians. In early July, Republican People's Party (CHP) MP İnan Akgün Alp accused Çiçekli of spending his time making online content and of "abandoning the seriousness and dignity of state office". "He goes around among citizens wearing cycling tights all day. That's no way for a governor to behave," Alp said, calling on the government to "remove these governors or send them vine leaves". Çiçekli stood by his outfit choices, saying: "The clothes I'm wearing are sports clothes." On 17 July, a decree signed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced Çiçekli's removal from office. The next day, an online petition was launched on Change.org under the title "Ardahan Governor Mehmet Fatih Çiçekli Should Remain in Office". By 17:00 BST on 21 July, it had gathered more than 9,400 signatures. "The decision to remove Ardahan Governor Mehmet Fatih Çiçekli from his post has caused sadness and concern among many citizens who care about the future of our province," the petition says, adding that it "has no political aims". The petition says Çiçekli has not only "accomplished significant work" in areas such as sport and youth development, but also helped cycling tourism to flourish. "Sports activities for young people have increased, and young people's habits of participating in sports have been developed," it says. "We emphasise the necessity of Mehmet Fatih Çiçekli continuing in his role as Governor of Ardahan." Ardahan is a province with a population of less than 100,000 people. Çiçekli, who was born in 1976, entered the civil administration service in 2004. After various roles, including as Karaman province governor, he was appointed to Ardahan on 7 January 2026. Before his removal, Çiçekli posted on social media in response to the debate about his cycling activity and outfit. At the time he said: "Actually, sometimes you need to forget. Rather than living through titles and labels, it's good to know you're a human being and remain one." "The things that make you yourself, such as sports, cycling and rowing, aren't bad things. They're things that everyone, at every age, should be doing." Additional reporting by Merve Kara-Kaska.

At least 12 Palestinians, including six members of one family, have been killed in three separate Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, according to local medics. Video footage showed the family's apartment on fire overnight in the western al-Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City. The brother of Firas al-Masri told the BBC that he had been burnt to death along with his wife, Salsabeel, and their three daughters and son, Faryal, Salma, Amira and Naim. The Israeli military said its target was a Hamas operative and that it was still looking into the results of the attack. On Tuesday afternoon, another four people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a home in the al-Samar area of central Gaza City, Palestinian media cited medics as saying. Two more were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in the al-Zahra area to the south of Gaza City, they added. The Israeli military has not yet commented on those strikes. According to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, at least 1,168 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect last October. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Palestinian attacks in Gaza over the same period. The UN's human rights office condemned on Tuesday the recent intensification of Israeli military attacks in Gaza. Between 13 and 20 July, at least 57 Palestinians, including six children and eight women, were killed in strikes on residential buildings, a tent camp for displaced families, and other crowded areas, spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said. Thirty-four of those people were "killed far away" from the so-called Yellow Line, which marks territory in Gaza controlled by Israeli forces, he added. "Nine months after the announcement of a ceasefire, still, nowhere is safe for Palestinians in Gaza," Al-Kheetan said. He also warned that the killing of civilians "raises concerns of continuing violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes and other possible atrocity crimes in Gaza". The Israeli military has recently announced a series of attacks targeting members of Palestinian armed groups, who it said were involved in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. Israel responded by launching a massive military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 73,290 people have been killed, according to the territory's health ministry.

US President Donald Trump has imposed a 50% tariff on a wide range of goods imported from Canada, in retaliation for what he called "unequal treatment" of US cars, dairy and alcohol. Everyday consumer items like wine and hockey sticks, as well as industrial goods such as cement, are on the target list. Several key exports, though, will be spared, including energy, potash, critical minerals and fish. Prime Minister Mark Carney said he had spoken to Trump and both leaders agreed to "intensify" trade talks in a bid to calm growing trade tensions between the North American neighbours. But he warned "all options" were on the table in terms of how Canada could respond to the fresh tariff threat. Since the tariff war broke out more than 18 months ago, Carney said, Canadians have "stood together" by buying home-produced goods and agreeing new trade routes with other countries. "[The] country is stronger, stronger because we are united, and we will remain united," he told reporters. Tensions between the major trading partners have been simmering since Trump returned to office in January last year and unleashed a wide-ranging global programme of tariffs, sometimes to pursue objectives not directly linked to trade. Tariffs are taxes on imported goods that are paid to the government by companies bringing in the foreign products. Asked about the latest tariffs, which the White House says will take effect in 30 days, on Tuesday, President Trump said Canada had been "very, very tough on us over the years" and "no other presidents done anything about it". "I love Canada, I love the people of Canada, many friends that live in Canada," he said. "Without us, there's no way they can survive." The latest move by Trump comes after the US Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that many of the tariffs imposed globally under emergency powers were illegally enacted. The president has since sought other legal avenues to push through his flagship trade policy, as seen in Monday's announcement. Trump has said the levies will boost American manufacturing and jobs, but some economists have warned that higher charges on imported goods risks pushing up prices for consumers. This new round of duties on Canadian goods has also fuelled speculation about a potential wider tariff announcement by the US on countries across the world. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Tuesday that he expected to "see some action soon", when asked on CNBC about the possibility of forthcoming levies. Canada, which is one of the US's closest trading partners, was one of the few countries to retaliate last year against Trump's tariffs, placing a 25% levy of its own on about C$30bn (£16bn; $21.7bn) worth of US goods. Carney later dropped some of them. The new US tariffs add to trade barriers already in place between the two nations. The US has been maintaining active tariffs ranging from 15% to 50% on Canadian steel, aluminium and copper. It also charges a 35% tariff on Canadian softwood lumber, alongside a 25% tax on non-US parts in cars. Meanwhile Canada has its own 25% counter-tariff on selected imports of American steel, aluminium and vehicles. A White House fact sheet said the new tariffs announced this week applied regardless of whether the product was included under the existing free trade agreement between Canada, the US and Mexico, known as the USMCA. But Carney said the move was the "latest in a series of unilateral US trade actions that began with the US imposing a series of tariffs in direct violation" of the USMCA. The prime minister also cited "threats to Canadian sovereignty", possibly in reference to Trump's repeated calls to make America's northern neighbour the 51st US state. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that if the US goes ahead with its latest threat, "Canada should respond tariff for tariff, dollar for dollar". The BBC has contacted the White House and the Canadian government for further comment. As part of his executive action announcing the new tariffs, Trump issued three proclamations, relating to to cars, dairy products and alcohol. Monday's announcement also comes in the wake of President Trump's threat to impose tariffs over Canadian wildfire smoke drifting into US cities, though this issue has not been officially mentioned as the justification for the move. Earlier this year, the US chose not to renew the USMCA in its current form - while Canada and Mexico sought a renewal - as it aimed to make changes to the agreement, which was reached during Trump's first term in office. Despite the recent US action, the treaty will continue to govern North American trade over the next decade on a rolling basis, but it will require annual reviews. The recently announced tariffs highlight the Trump administration's opposition to USMCA, said Michael Devereux, a professor of economics at the University of British Columbia. "It is a significant escalation because it directly targets goods that were previously exempt under the US, Canada, Mexico trade agreement that President Trump negotiated and signed himself in 2018," he added. In February, the US Supreme Court struck down sweeping international tariffs imposed by Trump through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977, saying he had exceeded his authority under a law reserved for national emergencies. The White House then vowed to invoke other mechanisms to impose import taxes, and in recent week has announced fresh tariffs on a range of countries under a different law commonly called "Section 301". That included a new levy on Brazil, which has vowed to retaliate.

Ann Widdecombe was hit on the head with a hammer 21 times at her home as she ate lunch in an attack that was caught on camera, prosecutors have told Westminster Magistrates' Court. Prosecutor Kashif Malik said the man charged with her murder, Joshua Kerry, arrived at her house on 8 July in a red Vauxhall Corsa and entered through the front door. Kerry, who prosecutors say was in the property for two minutes and was wearing black gloves, then allegedly hit Widdecombe repeatedly with a hammer in her kitchen, tipped her from her chair and took her wallet before driving off. The 28-year-old from South Yorkshire later also appeared at the Old Bailey and was remanded in custody. At the Old Bailey hearing, prosecutor Alistair Richardson said the attack on Widdecombe had been carried out with a "ferocity of violence". Malik told the court that Widdecombe did not attend a pre-arranged online interview with Channel 5's Matt Allwright show that had been scheduled for just before 13:00 BST on 8 July. The show's production team tried to contact Widdecombe through her personal assistant, who then asked Widdecombe's gardener to check on her, the court heard. Prosecutors said the gardener entered the house via the open front door on 9 July and found Widdecombe lying face down on her kitchen floor with a serious head injury. Malik told the chief magistrate that security camera footage from her home in Haytor, Devon, showed she had been fatally attacked the day before. He added that police were still investigating whether there was a terrorism connection or political motivation for the attack. Kerry, from Rotherham, was charged with one count of murder on Monday night following an investigation led by counter-terrorism detectives. He appeared emotionless in the dock and spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address during the short hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court. He was not asked to indicate a plea. Later on Tuesday, he also appeared at the Old Bailey. It is expected that he will be remanded at HMP Belmarsh in south-east London. He will next appear at the same court on 9 October for a case management hearing. A provisional trial date has been listed for 8 June 2027. The court heard that a pathologist had given a provisional cause of Widdecombe's death as a blunt force injury to the head. An earlier inquest hearing, that was opened and adjourned on Tuesday, heard that emergency services were called on the day Widdecombe was found, but she was pronounced dead at 12:20. The hearing was also told that while a post-mortem examination had taken place, "at this stage the precise medical cause of death has yet to be established". Widdecombe's career in politics spanned decades. She served as Conservative MP for Maidstone in Kent for 23 years and was appointed to ministerial roles in Sir John Major's government in the 1990s. Following her departure from the Commons, Widdecombe appeared on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing in 2010 and was a runner-up on Celebrity Big Brother eight years later. She later represented South West England as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Brexit Party and in 2023 she joined Reform UK as a party spokeswoman.