The U.S. economy grew at a 2.1% annual pace from April through June, extending its sturdy performance in the face of higher interest rates, the government said Thursday, leaving its previous estimate unchanged

A British hiker has been missing in the Swiss Alps for more than a month, as his family continue the search to find him. Aidan Roche, 29, travelled to Switzerland for a two-week solo holiday in June, where he planned to track a mountain trail in the Grindelwald area. He was last heard from on 22 June, twelve days into his two-week trip and there has been no trace of him since. His brother Connor said of the experienced hiker: “It’s not something he wouldn’t have been able to manage. But sometimes you know, all it takes is a freak occurrence for something to go wrong.” His family and friends have set up GoFundMe page to help support further search efforts, as they say the Swiss police and mountain rescue service have ceased their efforts having “exhausted every option”. The campaign has now exceeded its £30,000 goal, with funds going towards generating new leads by raising awareness in the area, as well as the use of a search helicopter. Below we look at everything we know about search so far. Who is Aidan Roche? Aidan Roche is an experienced hiker from Middlesbrough. The 6ft 2in tall 29 year-old works as an offshore chemical engineer. He grew up in Longlands, a central Middlesbrough neighbourhood, and was living in Leeds at the time he went missing. He had planned to move back to Middlesbrough after his trip. “He’s a character and this solo travel thing is exactly the type of thing he loves,” his brother Connor has said. “He can talk to absolutely everyone and he can just make friends with anyone.” Aidan’s friend Beth Taylor says he had a distinctive tattoo on his arm reading “MAYASWELLMAYSENYA” and loved to play “blaring” music from a speaker as he walked. Where was he last seen? A video taken at 11:36am BST places Roche a short distance away from the village of Grindelwald, which sits at the foot of the Eiger mountain. Friends say this is the last footage he sent to them. In this video, and two others sent on the same day, other hikers can be seen in the background.Ms Taylor posted an appeal on TikTok, asking anyone with information about these people to come forward – it has been viewed 26,000 times. She says his family are looking for a woman seen sitting on a rock in a video filmed at 11:05 BST and five people near a waterfall filmed in the final video. “I know he would have spoken to the girl sitting near him in the video, and the people walking towards him. We’re just hoping that someone can identify them and give us a new lead.” The family have also released Aidan’s last text messages before he went missing, sent to an unnamed friend, where the 29-year-old wrote: “Hello, hello. I should be in Grindelwald in about two hours,” followed by a picture of the view from the trail, and his final message: “I’m still pretty high. I’ll see you back at camp.” What is the latest on the search? Mr Roche’s family went to Switzerland on 21 July to try and find him themselves. They have been forced to continue the search alone after the Swiss police and mountain rescue teams ended their efforts after ‘exhausting every option. This is proving costly, so the family and friends have launched a GoFundMe appeal so they can keep going. His brother Connor Roche provided an update on 30 July: “We just need some more information. We’ve had nothing coming in from any of the missing posters. “We’ve also now been given the bill for the search helicopter, which came to £7k.” His other brother Niall explained how the search effort went: There’s none of his bag or anything that he had with him. It doesn’t make sense how we haven’t found anything. From the timestamp of the picture he sent, it’s about 90 minutes of hiking and it’s not particularly difficult.” What have his friends and family said? In her TikTok video, Mr Taylor said Mr Roche had “biggest heart” and would “do anything for anyone”. Speaking to the Guardian, Connor Roche said: “I try and keep up hope that maybe he’s decided to wander off, or he’s hit his head and forgotten who he is, but I have to drag myself back to what we actually know and the evidence suggests that he’s still on the mountain and we haven’t found him yet. There’s the outside chance that he has some crazy survival story.” “You can’t help but imagine the worst of things sometimes – especially with it being this long since he went missing. “But then you feel guilty for imagining those things. Right now we just need more information – anything that can help us find him and bring him home.” Read More Brother’s desperate plea to find British hiker, 29, who vanished in Swiss Alps British Scouts attending South Korea jamboree moved to hotels after illness outbreak ‘Love, obsession, extortion and murder’: The dramatic downfall of TikTok influencer who became a killer Chef Tafari Campbell’s death ‘not suspicious’ as Obama daughters leave island Boris Johnson vows to protect newts threatening plans for pool at his country manor British Scouts pulled from South Korea jamboree as hundreds struck down by heatwave

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Mercenary group Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has shared his first video address two months after he launched a failed coup attempt against Vladimir Putin. Mr Prigozhin on Monday appeared in a clip, toting an assault rifle and wearing military fatigues, likely shot in Africa in which he claimed he is recruiting “strongmen”. The video was shared on Telegram channels affiliated with the Wagner group, as Mr Prigozhin said the mercenary group was “making Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa even more free”. “The temperature is +50 (122 degrees Fahrenheit) – everything as we like. The Wagner PMC [private military company] makes Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa – more free. Justice and happiness – for the African people, we’re making life a nightmare for Isis and al-Qaeda and other bandits,” he said in the video. He then said Wagner is recruiting people and the group “will fulfil the tasks that were set”. In the background of the video, pickup trucks and other people dressed in fatigues could be seen. A telephone number was displayed as well for those who wanted to join the group. The Independent could not verify the date and exact location of the video, but Mr Prigozhin’s comments and posts on Telegram channels have hinted that it was shot in Africa. According to the Russian social media channels affiliated with the mercenary leader, the Wagner leader is recruiting fighters to work in the continent. He is inviting investors from Russia to put money in the Central African Republic through Russian House, a cultural centre in the African nation’s capital, they suggested. Mr Prigozhin was last seen in a video in July shot in Belarus shortly after his attempt to stir mutiny against the Kremlin failed, sparking speculation that he was taking refuge in the Russian ally nation as part of a deal to broker peace. He was later photographed on the sidelines of a Russia-Africa summit in the Russian city of St Petersburg. There is no official announcement of his current whereabouts. But one of the most prominent sites is the Central African Republic, where Wagner’s troops for hire have been active and accused of committing gross human rights abuses. Till June this year, the Wagner leader and his mercenary fighters, comprising mostly prison convicts, spent months fiercely fighting Ukrainian soldiers in the eastern region, mostly Bakhmut. Mr Prigozhin staunchly criticised Russia’s military performance and the top brass of the Russian defence ministry before he called for an armed uprising on 23 June to oust the defence minister and marched from Ukraine toward Moscow with his mercenaries. The hours-long mutiny ended after a deal was brokered by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, following which Mr Prigozhin agreed to end his rebellion in exchange for amnesty for him and his fighters and permission to relocate to Belarus. Before moving to Belarus, Wagner handed over its weapons to the Russian military, part of efforts by Russian authorities to defuse the threat posed by the mercenaries. Read More ‘Wagner is victim of its own brand name’: How much of a threat does mercenary group pose in Belarus? Wagner mercenaries issue a chilling message on Poland’s doorstep: ‘We are here’ Belarus begins military drills near its border with Poland and Lithuania as tensions heighten Wagner tracker: Charting Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenary group through the Ukraine war Drones, military confusion and cracks in Putin’s authority: Ukraine’s push to sow discord in Russia’s ranks

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