News
Scientists predict 2026 hottest year on record as climate talks begin
Trump says he was 'kidding' about Dana White press secretary offer
Inside the French drug gangs recruiting children to kill
Cruise ship pianist rescued from sea after nine hours in Pacific Ocean
James Bond: What we know so far about the next 007 film
White House vows to keep up immigration crackdown after midterms defeat
Krakow shooting suspect has died in hospital, police say
Nine foreigners caught allegedly trying to leave South Africa to fight in Ukraine
Thirteen migrants die after boat sinks off Crete
Woman says Al Fayed's brother drugged and sexually abused her at Highland estate
Jensen Huang: Silicon Valley superstar engulfed by personal scandal
What's your love language - and does it actually mean anything?
My parents chose to die together and I was left to grieve alone
'I've got a band now' - Club anthem star Shygirl on why she's switching up her sound
At least 34 dead after Europe-bound migrant boat sinks off Senegal
After knife-edge vote, New Zealand parties put off coalitions talks
Pope delivers veiled rebuke of Milei's austerity measures
Nvidia launches investigation into CEO's affair with suspected Chinese spy
Business
Paraguay's former president charged after bank collapse
He spent $50,000 on Labubus but now the craze is dying
Aramco Tower hit in heart of Saudi capital as Houthis launch fresh strikes
Doing these things now will help you save money at Christmas
Government 'looking seriously' at banning under-16s from Vinted and eBay
AI stocks climb after trillions wiped from market values
Food, fuel and taxes – can the Democrats actually make life cheaper?
From scooters to shampoo - the people saving hundreds from dumpster diving
The engine parts that 'fight the laws of the universe'
'My mortgage is going up £200 a month': How rising interest rates are hitting people's pockets
Why the US midterms sparked an AI stock selloff
PM tells firms to publish salaries in job adverts ahead of new law
Global stocks plunge as fears over US AI slowdown spread to Asia and Europe
How does it affect me if share prices fall?
'I was asked if I was a crier': Your worst job interviews revealed
Interest rates hiked to 4% in first increase in over three years
Drunk and dangerous e-bike riders face on-the-spot fines under crackdown
Faisal Islam: How high will interest rates go?
Three ways the interest rate rise could affect you
Second buyer makes rescue bid for Poundland as retailer faces collapse
Poundland owner in crunch talks as retailer's collapse looms
Pound rises to its highest level since the Brexit referendum
Kellogg's admits snap, crackle and pop is quieter after uproar over Rice Krispies recipe change
Canva announces major job cuts after 'our hardest year yet'
Graduates are managing AI - but are they learning much else?
UK and EU agree draft deal to scrap Brexit red tape over food exports
Jewellery sold as sterling silver on Amazon and Temu found to contain toxic chemicals
Drivers may get compensation offers before car finance saga ends
'Quiet quitting' could be hitting the economy - here's why
North Korea denies being behind record $6.3bn Binance hack
Technology
Can the Zelda remake capture the magic of the original?
Cyber boss warns over tech vulnerabilities
The AI bubble could expose your deepest secrets
Ioan Gruffudd in AI warning after fan claimed they had been in year-long affair
Clients 'cautious' on use of AI, says software firm boss
See how China finally slowed its ballooning emissions right down
AI in property listings is false advertising, house-hunters say
Villagers left without internet for weeks... again
What happens if all the lights go out? This is the plan for a 'Black Sky' event
Elon Musk appears to signal the end of the road for Cybertruck
Multimillion-pound project to detect dementia
AI to help eye tests detect diabetes
AI teddy for three-year-olds makes unprompted 'I can't help with killing you' remark
Did a data centre revolt affect the US midterm election results?
Culture
'Time is up': Minister warns media industry to take abuse seriously in wake of Brand case
Knicks defend Taylor Swift after players name her 'fakest celebrity fan'
'Depicts humanity at its most grotesque': Why the 300-year-old novel Gulliver's Travels is so misunderstood
'The murders were turned into fiction': How the 19th-Century tabloid press created the mythology of Jack the Ripper
Maya Jama steps down as host of reality TV show Love Island
The rise of microdramas: The 'snackable' shows made for the scrolling age
Find out who's in the running for this year's Booker Prize
Dolly Parton's manager drops lawsuit against her nephew
Relief, tears and sadness: Married at First Sight UK cast react to show being axed
Monty Don bids 'final goodbye' to Gardeners' World after two decades
The Greatest to Blade Runner 2099: 12 of the best TV shows to watch this November
'It stopped me quitting acting': Renate Reinsve on her life-changing role in The Worst Person in the World
'It was a total miracle': How rejection led Sylvester Stallone to create film's ultimate underdog Rocky
'An icon of Soviet space exploration': The Russian stray dog that beat humans into orbit
'A way of celebrating presence': What Botero's rotund remakes of classical masterpieces tell us about art history
Mariah Carey set to headline 2027 music festival
Photos reveal The Smiths' 'dramatic' Manchester farewell
In the eye of a needle artist 'breaking boundaries'
How a hit-and-run led to a labour of love for maps artist
The museum ensuring that we shall remember them
Money from exhibition donated to goat foundation
Ambika Mod says the 'glass ceiling is always getting higher' for South Asian actors
'We don't take George Michael seriously enough'
Johnny Marr guitar could fetch £30k at auction
Franz Ferdinand turning to art at Glasgow Print Studio
'Holy grail' long lost board game found in attic
'We went from home baking to winning TV show'
Skepta: 'I'm what it looks like if you give an immigrant child a chance'
Travel
Why is there so much kissing in Spain?
'Unlike anything else in the country': Exploring the UK's surreal 'Alps'
An undercover fish and chips expert's top five 'chippies' in London
Warning for delays after fog disrupts some flights
Airbnb cleaning rule changes will 'absolutely' hit Wales harder, says host
Why are so many Thai restaurants hidden inside London pubs?
Excuse my French? The swear words that used to be illegal in Canada
'Apparently I am afraid of heights': The Peruvian hotel with a terrifying check-in
'People will be counting': What a German expert wants you to know about buying drinks in Germany
The new trail leading to Ireland's mythical 'Gate to Hell'
Earth
Saffron is the world's most expensive spice. Now this 'red gold' is in crisis in Kashmir
What is the Paris Agreement and why does 1.5C matter?
A really simple guide to climate change
Birds return to waterfowl park after oil vandalism
How yesterday's waste is becoming tomorrow's fashion
Hungry squirrel trapped in bird feeder rescued
Green shoots springing up in park hit by fire
Charity wants bee, bird and butterfly population boost
The giant pre-historic insect found by miners
A glimmer of good news for Britain's sleepy dormouse
Dormice 'thrive' at National Trust site
Weekly round-up: Five stories you may have missed
Countryside managers prepare for climate change
The ducks so colourful they look like a 'painting'
Hundreds of seagrass shoots found in estuary
Christmas trees warning after summer heatwave
New Forest wildfire restoration work begins
Birds, love notes and silver - what sweeps find in chimneys
US & Canada
US offers $20m reward for information about Iran's nuclear programme
Top House Democrat 'a hard yes' on impeaching Hegseth
Meghan's father Thomas Markle under house arrest after child sex abuse material charge
Texas mayor instructs police to limit co-operation with ICE
Cornell faculty pass no-confidence vote over leadership's handling of Jane Doe allegations
Dozens of Democrats eyeing 2028 presidential run, says former Obama aide
Razor-tight Mississippi Senate race sparks ballot battle - could there be a recount?
The Trump coalition is shattered - what will Republicans do now?
Four things we learned this week about 2028 White House race
With Stephen Miller pick, Trump readies for a battle
'Dana, please take the job!' - Trump asks UFC boss to be White House press secretary
Africa
Kenyan doomsday cult leader given life sentence for murdering 191 people
Kenya seizes 454kg of meth in drug crackdown
South Africa's ANC records worst-ever results in local elections
Seven dead and more than 100 injured after trains collide in Egypt
The young Somali woman changing how the world sees Mogadishu
Why a US-funded vaccine trial on babies was cancelled in Guinea-Bissau
The young politicians with African roots making history in the US midterms
Rwanda's army team removed from Africa league after US sanctions, NBA says
Refugee athlete to make history for second time at Youth Olympics
Will Atiku Abubakar be on Nigeria's presidential ballot after court ruling?
Tanzanian opposition leader found guilty of inciting unrest but acquitted of treason
Asia
'Flat', 'tired', 'cynical': Unusually gloomy Kiwis deliver New Zealand's tightest election in years
One killed in Indonesia helicopter crash during firefighting operation
Homes and temples glow across India to mark Diwali
An Indian film that nobody would release is finally a hit - 18 awards later
Macau jails pro-democracy campaigner in city's first national security case
Joshua Wong, face of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests, jailed for 10 years
What to know about the presidential wiretapping scandal rocking Indonesia
Delhi's toxic winter air is back - is the Indian capital prepared for pollution?
India's costliest film retells a beloved Hindu epic - but divides critics
Australia
Australian woman shot during Bondi Beach attack dies almost a year later
Australia's oldest department store David Jones folds after 188 years
Italian chef fired after refusing to put pineapple on pizza
Major test for Australia's social media ban begins in High Court
'I made the wrong decision,' Hyrox athlete who soiled herself in race tells BBC
'Like cutting up a Picasso': AI microdrama edit of Neighbours worries actors and crew
Mining giant joins fight to stop killer toad march across Australia
Europe
Germans wrestle with what to do with Hitler's destroyed Eagle's Nest retreat
Russian strikes wound nine and damage Ukraine's power network ahead of talks
Surgeon having lunch near Krakow shooting undoubtedly saved officer's life, colleague says
What we know so far after Krakow gun attack
New wave of bomb threats hit European airlines
Man investigated for leaving 17-year-old on Germany's highest mountain
A wildfire killed their loved ones in Spain. These British families demand to know why
Self-styled 'king of Germany' goes on trial accused of heading criminal group
Spain's rail authorities face European fraud probe after Urda rail disaster
Pope begins lengthy trip to Latin America weeks after lung cancer surgery
Andy Burnham wants to get closer to the EU - but he shouldn't expect a smooth ride
Secret police files released in Hungary, 37 years after fall of communism
Brigitte Bardot inheritance row deepens after private letter to partner leaked
How the downfall of Serbia's Vučiċ mirrored that of Hungary's Orbán
Six killed in Krakow 'far-right' shooting, as three more bodies found in suspect's home
Fine Gael proposes unity forum to consider Ireland's constitutional future
Latin America
Plane may have broken apart ahead of deadly Florida jet crash, say investigators
Flávio Bolsonaro calls himself 'leader of Brazil' after election loss
King calls slave trade a 'shameful chapter' during Commonwealth address
US urges Venezuela to release remaining political prisoners
Baby among four killed in bomb attack in western Colombia, official says
Pope in 'pretty good health' as he starts Latin America tour
King relishes 'politically charged' deployments, Palace aide says
Many Cubans voted for Trump - now they're turning on Republican immigration policies
Paraguay President Santiago Peña resigns after bank collapse
Middle East
Tens of thousands of tents flooded after heavy rains in Gaza
Israel's president tasks opposition leader Eisenkot with forming government
Houthis say at least 33 killed in Saudi air strike
US midterm results spark fears in Israel over future of two countries' ties
Major construction ongoing near Iran missile bases, satellite images suggest
Iran killed her teenage daughter - now she is facing up to the regime
BBC InDepth
Thatcher's Right to Buy created a generation of homeowners - did it also fuel the housing crisis?
The world is on course for its hottest year on record as the planet is hit with warming from climate change and El Niño, scientists have told BBC News.
The warning comes as world leaders and negotiators gather in Turkey on Monday for the opening of COP31, the latest UN climate summit.
Berkeley Earth, the independent US research group behind the forecast, said that even with two months of the year left it is 95% confident that 2026 will surpass the previous record set in 2024.
The impact of rising heat has been felt acutely in recent months by countries attending COP, with extensive wildfires across Europe and the sudden glacier collapse in Nepal which killed more than 1,000 people.
"We have had a run of record warm years," said Dr Robert Rohde, of Berkeley Earth. "That is what we expect as global warming progresses… glaciers collapsing, record-breaking heatwaves and droughts."
On Friday, the EU's Copernicus climate service confirmed that October was the hottest on record.
But Rohde warned this was just the start. "There is potential for much larger and much more dramatic changes down the line," he said.
The main driver of rising global temperatures has been the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, largely caused by burning fossil fuels.
The UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published its own report on Monday, and although more cautious than Berkeley, it has forecast that 2026 will be among the four warmest years on record.
It said that 2027 will provide no let-up, as an unusually powerful El Niño will continue into next year, pushing temperatures higher.
WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said it "gives new meaning to the phrase off the charts".
The findings underline the challenge facing negotiators gathering in the seaside Turkish city of Antalya for COP31.
At previous meetings the focus has been on reducing emissions - tackling the cause of climate change. But now an increasing number of nations are facing the reality of having to do that alongside adapting to new weather extremes as the planet warms.
"No single COP is a silver bullet. No single conference can bridge the chasm between the science and reality," Simon Stiell, the UN's climate chief, is expected to tell governments on the opening morning.
But he will add "the urgency of this moment must drive us forward. Global heating is already costing the Earth."
Last month the UK defence secretary warned the public and businesses to think about how they would cope with increasing natural disasters, including stockpiling food.
Wes Streeting pointed to wildfires this summer and record heat, which the Met Office has said was made 130 times more likely by climate change, as well as increased risk of flooding this winter as a result of El Niño.
Stephen Belcher, chief scientist at the Met Office, told BBC's Panorama: "We're designed for a climate of the 20th century that we don't live in any longer, so it's going to change all aspects of our lives."
The additional greenhouse gases being added to the atmosphere have trapped additional heat and about 90% of that has been absorbed by the oceans.
That's where El Niño comes in, said Saulo. "It doesn't add new heat to the planet. It releases heat from the ocean, which is the warmest ever measured. There is simply more heat available to release."
This natural climate pattern is pushing global temperatures even higher.
The world is currently on track for 2.8C of warming above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century - all but guaranteed to exceed the goal of 1.5C set under the Paris Agreement to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
What progress could COP31 deliver?
Countries will negotiate for two weeks with leaders, including Prime Minister Andy Burnham, attending the conference this week.
Previous climate summits have yielded new targets for countries to follow on cutting fossil fuels, increasing money for developing countries and protections for forests.
Although emissions continue to increase, countries have also made significant progress in increasing renewable energy capacity. The International Energy Agency has predicted growth in the next six years will be 57% greater than the previous period.
Stiell is also expected to say that expanding renewable energy was both a climate and economic solution for recent energy shocks. "Global renewables saved around half a trillion dollars last year."
The Turkish government says it wants discussions this year to focus on a new goal for electrification - moving energy systems away from fossil fuels towards electricity - and cutting waste levels.
But the discussion is likely to split countries.
Early drafts of the EU position seen by the BBC make clear they would only sign up to a goal on electrification if it did not allow countries to meet the target using gas.
"It is important that progress on electrification is underpinned by clean energy sources," it said in a memo to members.
But nations, such as Saudi Arabia and Russia, have previously pushed the interim use of gas as a "cleaner" fossil fuel alternative to coal.
Celeste Saulo of the WMO said she could not offer an explanation as to why countries have previously not reached agreement on certain issues, but said "what I see are the impacts of what this lack of consensus generates with more extreme events".
The BBC understands that the UK government is reluctant to set any new goals at COP31 and thinks the focus should be on achieving existing agreements.
But, on Monday it was reported that the UK government's electric vehicle (EV) targets are expected to be reduced in a move that risks the country's long-term climate goals, according to sustainability groups.
And in September the government was criticised by MPs on the International Development Committee for cutting its aid budget meaning it could not fulfil previous climate funding commitments.
Wealthier nations had agreed at previous COP meetings to triple the amount of money going to developing countries to help them adapt to climate change to at least $85bn (£63bn) by 2035.
The latest data from 2024 shows that countries have reached about a third of that figure, but the UN said this week that the current damage from climate change being experienced is "substantial" and much more money could be needed.
But many countries have redirected aid budgets towards defence spending and short-term financial relief for households as gas and oil prices spike following the Iran-US war.
Governments are also expected to use the forum to discuss global AI policy including the growing demand for energy and water resources from data centres underpinning the technology's rollout.
Additional reporting by Miho Tanaka.
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US President Donald Trump has said he "was kidding" about asking Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) boss Dana White to be the White House press secretary.
Trump told the media on Sunday that White "loves the idea" but that the invitation was "just a little fun".
It comes after the president posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that he had offered White the role, asking him to take it while writing, "Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other."
White said later that day he was going to meet the president on Monday, but would not be drawn into whether or not he would take the vacant position.
On Sunday Trump told reporters White was visiting him on Monday for "other reasons".
"I think he's going to be in Washington. So he's going to come over and see me.
"I will tell you, I was only kidding. But Dana loves the idea. And there's only one Dana. He's great," the president said.
"But, it was it was just a little fun."
The press secretary role is yet to be filled after it became vacant in October when Katie Zacharia quit after less than five days in the job.
She took over from Karoline Leavitt, who was the youngest press secretary in US history and had held the role since Trump began his second term.
Trump's job offer came after a heavy loss in the midterm elections, where the Republican Party lost its majority in both houses of Congress.
In his Truth Social post on Saturday, he said he was "pleased to announce" that White "has been offered the job".
He said he had asked White to bring with him several current and former mixed martial arts fighters as "assistants".
"We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left," he wrote.
"Dana, please take the job!"
Asked about the Trump offer at a news conference on Saturday, the UFC chief executive said he had "lot of jobs already".
"I'm sure we'll have something to talk about after that," he said of their planned Monday meeting, but did not say whether or not he would take the job.
White leads UFC, and PowerSlap , a regulated slap-fighting promotion league, as well as recently launching promotion company Zuffa Boxing.
He is also a board member of Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
White appeared as a speaker in support of Trump's White House campaigns at the Republican National Conventions in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
He also appeared on stage for Trump's victory speech in the 2024 presidential election.
This summer, the UFC staged a cage match on the White House lawn.
Warning: Strong language and descriptions of sexual violence
Although she had just bought hashish from a drug dealer, the woman decided to call the police.
It was because, along with the illegal drugs, she had been handed a note by the young seller during their brief meeting on a Marseille housing estate in 2022.
"We're being held captive and need help. We are 15-years-old," it read.
The teenage dealer, a French court heard earlier this year, was one of two boys being held by a gang which they had both initially approached looking for paid work - albeit illegal.
One boy had been tasked with handling money, the other worked streets around the Frais-Vallon estate. Soon though, bosses had accused them of being responsible for "shortfalls" in takings.
What followed were regular beatings, the court was told, and being forced to dance naked in front of a camera as a form of blackmail. One of the boys was also raped.
Hours after the woman was passed the note, the two teenagers had tried to escape from a second-storey window, injuring themselves in the process. One managed to get away, while the other was caught, beaten and stabbed, but survived.
Arrests were made. Photos on the phone of one of the boys' alleged torturers showed several other young men in a similarly distressed condition. Six men have since been handed hefty sentences for what happened to the two teenagers.
The boys' story highlights the grip that drug gangs hold over parts of France's second city.
While the blend of Mediterranean culture, street art and hip-hop scene has made Marseille a popular tourist destination - beyond the city centre, it is another story.
After months of trying, a BBC team managed to enter this dangerous world - centred on deprived streets and high-rise housing estates in the port city, which police do not enter lightly.
We found an environment where ruthless gangs lure vulnerable young people with promises of easy money, but end up trapping them in a world of drug dealing, brutality and exploitation.
We saw how gangs use social media to recruit hitmen and spoke to several young men caught up in the violence. From prison, one gang member accused of involvement in several murders explained how his "cold-bloodedness" had helped him rise through the ranks.
The city's most powerful gang, DZ Mafia, emerged victorious from a bloody turf war and is now one of the most feared criminal organisations in France.
DZ is the official internet country code for Algeria, where one of the gang's founders, a French-Algerian called Mehdi Laribi, was detained earlier this year under a French arrest warrant.
The criminal outfit rose to prominence in 2023, when it became the first French gang to capitalise on its notoriety by releasing video statements - using social media to market itself as a brand - says the head of the country's anti-drug trafficking unit, Dimitri Zoulas.
Its most recent statement came in July, when the mayor of a nearby town had to be placed in police protection, after intelligence suggested he was in danger of being targeted by the group.
In an online video, six masked men dressed in black stood behind a table - as one of them read a statement denying DZ Mafia's involvement.
France's expanding illegal drugs market - which has seen a surge in cocaine imports alongside high volumes of cannabis and synthetic drugs - has also helped the gang grow rapidly.
The number of cocaine users in France is expected soon to reach two million, says Zoulas, up from 600,000 in 2017. Drug smuggling across France generates €7bn (£5.9bn) a year, involving 200,000 people, he adds.
Many of those distributing the drugs are children and the authorities say the number of minors caught up in trafficking is increasing. During 2025, more than 10,000 children were involved in some way, according to official figures.
DZ Mafia is a prime example. To reach more customers, it needs more gang members - more children.
We have found it is now recruiting young people from across France - not just to sell drugs, but to carry out kidnap, torture and murder.
They are a generation seen as easy to corrupt, but also expendable, by the kingpins who typically control them from prison or overseas.
And, as police and judges warn, once these children enter Marseille's underworld, it is very hard to get them out.
Few know the human cost of Marseille's gangs like mother Karine Brouillard - who lives at the other end of France, almost as far from the Mediterranean coast as you can get.
Her son, Hugo, first ran away aged 15 - from his home in a village in the Nord department - after an argument with his family. He was picked up by police three days later, almost 1,000km (600 miles) away in Marseille, with money and cannabis on him. He was taken home.
But several years later, in 2023, Hugo planned to return south, telling his parents he had secured a holiday job at a restaurant near Marseille.
"He gave regular updates," Karine remembers. "He called me, everything was going well."
Three weeks later, a doctor called. Karine says she will never forget his words: "Your son arrived last night. He took a bullet to the head."
Police believe Hugo was brought for medical help from a gang-controlled area and suspect he was involved with one.
That area was Quartier Nord.
Our best way into Quartier Nord, where DZ Mafia wields power, is with the help of resident Fadella Ouidef, a 41-year-old mother-of-four who gives us a tour.
Thirty-seven seconds after entering one housing estate, we find ourselves cornered.
Car horns sound the moment Fadella's Peugeot passes a gang checkpoint - the teenagers manning the post immediately spot our camera. "Wait, stop filming," Fadella warns, as a grey 4x4 forces us to the side of the road.
"I'm making a report for my housing association," she tells the inquisitive driver. He eventually agrees to let us leave if we stop filming.
It is unnerving to see a non-police vehicle move so assertively and a relief to watch it leave.
"Lately, the gangs have been very aggressive," explains Fadella. "What we simply try to do is make sure our young people understand what's happening is wrong."
Fadella speaks to a wider fear among local families: that their children are enticed by huge sums of money to take a criminal path that robs them of their innocence.
Money is what led one young man to spend his teenage years with DZ Mafia.
In order for our interviewees to speak freely, or because of safety concerns, we have agreed to protect their identities.
Camil tells us he worked up the gang's ranks to "running security" in one area it controls.
The now 20-year-old, who claims to have left the group, is highly suspicious of our presence, but agrees to tell us how the gang recruits young members.
"They know how to get inside your head. Whatever you want, they give to you," he says. This can range from nice cars and spacious apartments, to drugs and prostitutes, he explains.
"You feel loyalty because of what they give you. You'll stay until the very end, until either death or prison."
Camil also gives a sobering assessment of what happens if the gang identifies a weakness in a recruit: "They'll exploit it. You're their bitch, it's over."
DZ Mafia member, Adam - not his real name - tells us he was part of a DZ Mafia hit squad when we speak to him in a Snapchat video call.
He is currently in prison awaiting trial, after being implicated in several murders.
"People noticed my determination, my cold-bloodedness and, without wanting to, I climbed up the ladder of the gang," says Adam. "It became my place, I had to roll with it."
During the chat, he agrees the killings he has been charged with were "quite shocking".
"Attempts in broad daylight, in traffic jams… it can range from going to hit a guy, slap him to taking him in front of his mother and burning him up in a car. I think I have good composure, I handle it fairly well."
We challenge Adam on whether he feels regret when carrying out such acts of brutality.
He says he is "feeling in-part guilty" but claims to have no regrets.
"If I hadn't done all of this, there are other people who would have done that in my place, and so on. I am just another brick in the wall," he says.
Like so many teenagers from Marseille, he knew large sums of money could be earned quickly in drug trafficking. Now in his twenties, he admits the environment he entered was a "trap".
At a so-called deal point in a social housing estate - sealed off and controlled by DZ Mafia - price lists for cocaine, hashish and marijuana are graffitied on a wall.
The estate acts as a natural fortress for drug dealers. With one major road in and out, they can control the flow of customers and see if the police are coming.
It is not uncommon for the sound of automatic gunfire to fill the night air in these areas.
After months of negotiations, a deal-point manager from a rival gang agrees to meet us where he works.
We enter the estate early in the morning, the birdsong and children walking to school providing a stark contrast to the industrial-scale criminal operation that takes place here.
"Joe" says he was making €3,000 (£2,500) a month when he was 13. Now he says that has risen to between €5,000 and €10,000 a month.
He seems to see his life path as pre-ordained, albeit a lucrative one.
We ask Joe if he thinks about the lives lost because of the violence carried out by his gang, but the 23-year-old has also long made peace with the pain and destruction drug trafficking can cause.
"It destroys people, but we all make our own choices," he shrugs.
The work that Joe's gang and DZ Mafia are doing represents a threat to national security, says Zoulas, of the anti-drug trafficking unit.
There are road accidents, as well as family violence, depressions, suicides and more than 700 overdoses each year, he says, "and it distorts the economy".
"We are heading towards a potential systemic breakdown of the criminal justice system."
Police have had success in Marseille and other cities against drug gangs.
Criminal operations are being frustrated, more kingpins arrested and drugs seized.
Since 2024, about 1,000 individuals associated with DZ Mafia have been arrested, and 600 incarcerated, police say.
But overall, it is a battle that is becoming more arduous, rather than easier.
As gangs seek to widen their operations, or replace members who have been arrested or killed, social media has become a potent recruitment tool - especially since the Covid pandemic, when many street-drug sales jumped online.
On social media, we found countless posts advertising jobs in Marseille for aspiring drivers, couriers and hitmen, often with glamourised AI-generated images.
Nets are also being cast wider, as it becomes harder to entice young people locally because they know more about what might happen to them.
The ads can reach teenagers in most corners of France - including Paris, Nantes and Lille - and serve as a powerful pull to Marseille, and the Quartier Nord, police say.
Online advertising has also changed the typical profile of someone who would join a gang's ranks, say law enforcement officials.
Now, it is often someone without a criminal past, but who has exploitable vulnerabilities, like having a difficult family life.
"These people are recruited by unscrupulous sponsors who send them into the lion's den," explains Thibaut Fontaine, the head of France's anti-organised-crime unit.
Their lack of criminal experience, he says, makes them easier to arrest quickly.
Karine still has no idea why her son, Hugo, was shot.
Asked what she would say to gang leaders recruiting children and young men in Marseille, she says: "They destroy families. Little sisters, little brothers, grandparents. But then, I don't think those people have a heart, really."
The restaurant where her son said he was going to work did exist, but staff there told Karine they had never recruited anyone called Hugo.
The reason for his death almost certainly lies within Marseille's Quartier Nord.
Additional reporting by Marianne Baisnee, Lea Guedj and Paul Pradier
A cruise ship pianist was found treading water around 20 miles (32km) off the Californian coast after falling overboard, according to US media reports.
Two fishermen discovered the Royal Caribbean employee near Catalina Island on Friday and officials believe he may have been in the Pacific Ocean for nine hours, according to CBS News, the BBC's US news partner.
"I'm like, 'Yeah, it's a human being. Stop the boat; let's get all of our lines in," Grant Garrett was quoted as saying, recalling the moment he and Sean Norton spotted him.
The man, who has not yet been identified, was taken to hospital in a stable condition, the US Coast Guard told the BBC, adding it was investigating the incident.
The fishermen say the man identified himself as a pianist on a 14-deck cruise ship called the Ovation of the Seas.
"The only thing he said to me was, 'Thank you. I thought I was gonna die,'" Norton said.
The Coast Guard said in a statement it had received a report from "a Good Samaritan who recovered a conscious individual from the water".
The person was handed over to Newport Beach Lifeguards, who confirmed he was an employee of the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship, it said.
Lifeguard officials believe he may have fallen overboard at around 02:30, about nine hours before he was discovered.
"It was approximately 15 to 20 miles offshore, pretty much in the middle of the ocean," Newport Beach Lifeguard Battalion Chief Adam Yacenda told CBS.
Norton credited the man's survival to unusually warm ocean temperatures.
"You have this crazy super El Niño year. This guy was in the water for probably 10 hours, but the water's 76 degrees," Norton said, which equates to about 24C.
"A different year, no way he makes it," Norton said.
The developing El Niño climate phenomenon is now the strongest on record, according to scientists monitoring the Pacific, with ocean temperatures about 3.05C above average.
In a statement to the BBC, a Royal Caribbean Group spokesperson said: "We are providing support and assistance to our crew member during this difficult time.
"To respect the privacy of our employee, we have no additional details to share."
When a bartender asked James Bond in 2006's Casino Royale whether he'd like his vodka martini shaken or stirred, the irritated spy replied: "Do I look like I give a damn?"
Such throwaway lines were a clever way of signalling to the audience that this was a new era for 007 - and that the film series launched in 1962 was being overhauled with the arrival of Daniel Craig.
Over the next few films, producers struck a balance between nodding to the past while also moving away from some of the cheesier elements of the series, no longer sticking rigidly to all of the tradition and tropes of Bond.
"Were you expecting an exploding pen?" Ben Whishaw's Q later asked the secret service agent in Skyfall. "We don't really go in for that anymore."
Two decades on from Craig's debut, the series is about to be rebooted once again, with a new actor and new creative team. It's an exciting time for Bond fans as they wait to see what shape the next era will take. Here's what we know so far.
When will the next James Bond actor be announced?
After years of speculation, the wheels are firmly in motion and we expect to hear who the new James Bond actor is in November or December.
Speaking in August, producer Amy Pascal told Deadline: "I would say the end of the year is a good bet. We are being really, really methodical."
The final screen tests reportedly took place in late October, so, unless something unexpected happens, it should not take much longer for producers to make their decision and the actor to sign the contract.
After that, it's just a matter of how the announcement will be made. In an earlier era, Bond actors were revealed with a traditional photo call or press conference.
But now that the franchise is owned by Amazon MGM, some expect the company to make the announcement via its own Prime Video streaming service.
Who is the new James Bond going to be?
A handful of actors are thought to have made it to the final screen tests to take on Britain's biggest film role. The three frontrunners are thought to be:
* Jack Lowden, 36 - whose credits include Slow Horses and Pride and Prejudice
* Josh O'Connor, 36 - The Crown, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
* Callum Turner, 36 - Masters of the Air, The Capture
Other actors in the frame include:
* Jack O'Connell, 36 - Skins, Sinners
* Jack Barton, 31 - Heartstopper, SAS: Rogue Heroes
* Joe Alwyn, 35 - The Brutalist, Hamnet
* Nicholas Hoult, 36 - About A Boy, Superman
* Robert Pattinson, 40 - Twilight, The Batman
* Jacob Elordi, 29 - Saltburn, Euphoria
* Paul Mescal, 30 - Normal People, Gladiator II
But remember, Craig was a surprise choice in 2005, so don't bet against a wildcard candidate whose name has not yet been widely reported.
When will the next Bond film be released?
The film is expected to go into production in 2027, before its release in 2028. No exact dates have been announced.
Film schedules can be notoriously fluid, but it's clear that development is well under way, with the director and writer already in place.
It will be the 26th film in the official film series, but the title has not yet been confirmed.
Who will write and direct the new Bond?
The movie will be directed by Denis Villeneuve, known for Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049 and the recent Dune trilogy starring Timothée Chalamet.
"Some of my earliest movie-going memories are connected to 007," the French-Canadian director said last year. "I grew up watching James Bond films with my father, ever since Dr. No with Sean Connery. I'm a die-hard Bond fan. To me, he's sacred territory."
He added: "I intend to honour the tradition and open the path for many new missions to come. This is a massive responsibility, but also, incredibly exciting for me and a huge honour."
Bond 26 will be written by Steven Knight, known for TV series such as Peaky Blinders and House of Guinness, and films including Burnt, Spencer, Locke and The Girl in the Spider's Web.
Knight has said it had always been on his "bucket list" to write a Bond film, adding that he felt he was "doing my duty for King and country" by joining the franchise.
He told the BBC he planned to "write the character, not the actor", adding: "The thing with Bond is it's its own universe and franchise. So there are certain rules.
"Obviously you have to move it along, but I love where it sits. I love that it's British. I love that it's not DC or Marvel... So I feel a responsibility to the text."
Who else has played James Bond?
Only six actors have played James Bond. They are:
* Sean Connery starred in six official Bond films between 1962 and 1971
* George Lazenby starred in just one Bond film, in 1969
* Roger Moore starred in seven Bond films between 1973 and 1985
* Timothy Dalton starred in two Bond films, in 1987 and 1989
* Pierce Brosnan starred in four Bond films, between 1995 and 2002
* Daniel Craig starred in five Bond films between 2006 and 2021
You might have noticed some overlap in the above dates.
That's because Connery returned to the lead role for 1971's Diamonds Are Forever, after Lazenby took his place for 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
Connery also later appeared in 1983's Never Say Never Again, a Bond film produced by a different studio and not part of the official film series.
What are the other James Bond films, in order?
If you discount the films not in the official series, there have been 25 Bond films in total. In order, they are:
* Dr No (1962)
* From Russia With Love (1963)
* Goldfinger (1964)
* Thunderball (1965)
* You Only Live Twice (1967)
* On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
* Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
* Live and Let Die (1973)
* The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
* The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
* Moonraker (1979)
* For Your Eyes Only (1981)
* Octopussy (1983)
* A View to a Kill (1985)
* The Living Daylights (1987)
* Licence to Kill (1989)
* GoldenEye (1995)
* Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
* The World Is Not Enough (1999)
* Die Another Day (2002)
* Casino Royale (2006)
* Quantum of Solace (2008)
* Skyfall (2012)
* Spectre (2015)
* No Time to Die (2021)
How could the new film be different?
With the change in ownership and a new creative team now in place, the new Bond film is likely to make a fresh start.
It would be difficult to continue the story chronologically given the ending of 2021's No Time To Die, but that still leaves producers with plenty of options.
A different version of James Bond, who exists in a different universe, would be easily pulled off in an era where audiences are used to major film franchises restarting in a different world or timeline.
Bond 26 could even be set in a significantly earlier era - an idea that gained more popularity after Tony Gilroy revealed he and fellow director Steven Soderbergh previously pitched a 1960s version of Bond.
Separately, actor Ralph Fiennes recently said he had once been in talks to play Bond, and had suggested producers make a "black and white and very sort of film noir-y" version set in the 1950s.
Neither idea materialised, but the suggestion went down well with some Bond fans, who noted a period piece would help make the film truer to Fleming's original character and books.
Exactly what shape the next film takes will become clear at a later stage. For now, fans are hoping that Christmas could be about to come early this year, as the world awaits the imminent announcement of the next actor to play 007.
US President Donald Trump's administration has vowed not to change course on its mass deportation plans after last week's midterm elections defeat.
"This administration will not slow down its efforts to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens who terrorise our communities," the White House said in a statement to the BBC.
Trump's promotion on Friday of immigration hawk Stephen Miller to White House chief of staff had signalled no climbdown from the administration on border security.
Exit polls indicate immigration was the third most important issue for midterm voters, after the economy and the state of democracy.
In historically conservative states like Texas, a swing of Latino voters towards Democrats helped seal the party's landslide congressional majorities.
But multiple US officials sources told the BBC's US partner CBS that the administration had put the midterm losses down to concerns about the economy, affordability and the war with Iran, rather than its immigration crackdown.
The White House maintained on Sunday there would be no change of direction.
"There has never been a President stronger on immigration enforcement than President Trump," said White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also said it would forge ahead.
"ICE is NOT backing away or slowing down," a DHS spokesperson told CBS.
"Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS will continue to enforce our nation's laws and remove criminal illegal aliens from our streets."
Following Tuesday's results, Vice-President JD Vance had appeared receptive to adjusting their immigration strategy.
"I'm open to the idea that we should change enforcement - by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labour, for instance," Vance wrote in a lengthy online post reflecting on the results.
But the White House's posture appears to have hardened after Trump promoted Stephen Miller on Friday to become his new chief of staff.
Miller is widely seen as the architect of the administration's hardline immigration policy during the first and second Trump presidencies.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sources told CBS that in recent weeks officials have been instructed to aim for about 2,700 arrests of illegal immigrants per day, an increase from an earlier 2,000 daily arrest target.
Enforcement sweeps this year spurred anti-ICE demonstrations in cities including Chicago, Minneapolis and Los Angeles.
In Minneapolis, two US protesters, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were fatally shot by immigration agents.
A gunman suspected of killing six people in Krakow has died in hospital, Polish police say.
The 24-year-old, who officials said was apparently inspired by "far-right ideologies", was injured after opening fire in central Krakow, the second largest city in Poland, on Saturday.
Armed officers raced to the scene and engaged in a gunfight with the suspect, who was shot within three minutes of the attack beginning, preventing a further massacre, officials said.
Krakow police said the suspected gunman died early on Monday morning.
After the shooting, which began shortly before 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT) in Krakow's busy Main Market Square, police identified the attacker as a 24-year-old Polish man but did not confirm his name.
In the hours after the shooting, a minister said early investigations indicate he was inspired by "far-right ideologies". The minister also described him as an "ultra-nationalist" without giving further details.
Six people - four women and two men - are confirmed to have been killed in the attack.
Four victims are Polish, while a British national and an Austrian woman were also killed.
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said three bodies - two women and one man - were found at the gunman's house when it was searched after the attack.
On Sunday, Polish police confirmed those three victims had been identified as the alleged gunman's 53-year-old father, 52-year-old mother and 21-year-old sister.
Polish media has reported the suspect had a firearms permit and may have obtained the weapons from his family home.
Sixteen people, including five foreigners, two police officers and the attacker, were taken to hospital. The interior ministry later said they were from Austria, Britain, Germany, Portugal and Russia.
Speaking on Sunday, one of the two surgeons who treated victims on the street after the attack said his colleague "undoubtedly" saved the life of a gravely injured police officer.
The two surgeons, who were eating near the Main Market Square when the gunman opened fire, rushed to the scene to treat both the attacker and the two injured police officers.
Professor Michal Pędziwiatr told the BBC: "We saw the shooting attack. And what a surgeon can do in a situation like this?... We decided to help the victims as soon as possible."
"We rushed into the area where the shooting was and started our rescue, because there were no ambulances available, there were no professionals around."
Pędziwiatr said his colleague, who has been named by local media as Dr Mateusz Wierdak, used his hand to stem the bleeding from the most severely injured policeman, allowing time for an ambulance to arrive.
On Sunday it was reported that both injured officers had emerged from comas.
In the wake of the shooting, Poland declared the country would enter two days of national mourning.
After travelling to Krakow, Tusk said: "Until now in Poland we haven't had such drastic cases of terrorism...that's what we have to call this cruel attack on people's lives here in Krakow."
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he was "shocked and saddened by the appalling shooting in Kraków".
"My thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives, everyone injured and all those affected by this senseless violence. The United Kingdom stands in solidarity with the people of Poland," he added.
Main Market Square reopened on Sunday evening after a security cordon was lifted.
Nine foreigners have been arrested in South Africa after they were caught allegedly trying to leave the country to fight in the war between Russia and the Ukraine, police say.
The group, aged between 20 and 26, were arrested in and around Johannesburg by a multidisciplinary team on Sunday evening.
They were caught as they were "preparing to board flights out of the country", authorities added, but their final destination is unclear.
The group is accused of contravening South Africa's laws, which outlaw mercenary activity without government permission.
Police said the group were arrested at South Africa's biggest airport, OR Tambo, and a hotel in Bruma, east of Johannesburg by a multidisciplinary team that involved Interpol.
The police statement added that the involvement of Interpol and other international law enforcement agencies indicated that the suspects had also allegedly violated laws in their respective home countries, prompting cooperation with South African authorities.
Authorities declined to disclose the group's nationalities but confirmed that none of them resided in South Africa.
They have also not said whether the group allegedly intended to fight for Russia or Ukraine nor provided details of the organisations allegedly involved in facilitating their travel.
Citizens of several African countries, including Kenya, Ghana and South Africa, have gone to fight for Russia in Ukraine - some they had been duped and had not realised where they were going.
A Ukrainian intelligence assessment estimated earlier this year that more than 1,700 people from 36 countries in Africa have been recruited to fight for Russia.
Kenya at the time estimated that 252 citizens had been illegally conscripted in Russia. In March, Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi visited Moscow to address the issue.
He said at the time that an agreement had been reached to stop recruiting Kenyan nationals.
In February, Ghana said that 55 of its citizens had been killed in the conflict, with 272 believed to have been lured to fight since the war started in 2022.
The same month, South Africa secured the return of 17 South Africans who were allegedly tricked into joining the war.
In December last year, South African authorities arrested five people, including a journalist, for allegedly recruiting people to join the war.
Ukraine has also been recruiting foreign nationals, including from Africa.
The nine arrested are expected to appear in court either later on Monday or Tuesday.
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
At least 13 people have died after a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of the Greek island of Crete.
The coastguard said it had rescued 18 people, all of whom were Sudanese nationals. Four of the survivors were taken to hospital, including a toddler.
Authorities said it was not immediately clear what caused the deaths, but they believe the boat had been at sea for days and had struggled to reach shore due to strong winds.
Crete remains one of several key gateways for migrants attempting to reach Europe from the Middle East and North Africa, with more than 22,000 of the 86,400 sea arrivals so far this year landing in Crete alone.
One unnamed coastguard official who spoke to news agency Reuters on condition of anonymity said the survivors were "shivering from the cold".
The migrants' boat was spotted by a Moroccan-flagged container ship about 15 nautical miles (28km) off Crete's coast.
The Greek coastguard rescued another 187 people in three separate incidents off the coast of Greece on Monday.
More than 37,000 migrants have arrived in Greece so far this year, UN figures show, already surpassing the number who arrived in the entirety of 2025.
The Greek government has announced plans to deal with the influx, including opening a temporary housing complex near the Cretan capital, Heraklion.
Greece was at the heart of Europe's migration crisis in 2015-16, when nearly a million people arrived on its islands, mostly from Turkey.
Arrivals later fell as border controls tightened, but crossings from Libya have surged in recent years, particularly among people fleeing conflict in Sudan and seeking better economic opportunities from countries including Bangladesh.
A woman has told BBC Scotland how she was trafficked to the Highlands, drugged, sexually assaulted and held prisoner by Salah Fayed, the brother of former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed.
Jill, whose name has been changed for legal reasons, said she was a young Harrods employee when she was recruited to what she believed was an executive training scheme in the 1990s.
Speaking for the first time about the abuse that took place in Scotland, Jill said she was flown on the Fayed family's private jet to Balnagown, their estate in Easter Ross, where she was repeatedly assaulted.
She is one of hundreds of women who have alleged abuse by the Fayed brothers.
Since Mohamed Al Fayed's death in 2023, hundreds of women and girls have alleged they were sexually abused by him.
His brother Salah, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2010, has also been accused of abuse by numerous women.
Police Scotland said three people had been identified in connection with offending against a number of victims at Balnagown and inquiries remained ongoing.
Speaking to BBC Scotland, Jill described Salah Fayed as "a very cruel man" who exploited her vulnerabilities and exercised near-total control over her life.
She said she began her career at Harrods working for Mohamed Al Fayed in a heavily-monitored office staffed largely by young women, where access was tightly controlled and employees were discouraged from interacting with others.
Soon afterwards, she was assigned to work for Salah Fayed.
"I thought it might be better," she said. "Mohamed seemed creepy to me."
Instead, she said, her situation deteriorated rapidly.
"I was taken to Scotland twice. Both times it was on their private jet.
"When you flew there, you flew into Inverness and their vehicles would pick you up from the airport and take you to the estate."
On the Balnagown Estate there were three residences, one for each brother.
Jill describes Salah Fayed's house as smaller than Mohamed Al Fayed's, overlooking the valley with the forest behind and isolated.
She alleged that by this stage Salah Fayed had begun giving her illegal substances.
"The first time he forced me to take the drugs he tried to trick me into taking them," she said.
"He had me locked in a room. He said 'you need to take this, it's good for you'. He lied about what it was and when I refused he screamed at me and forced me to take it.
"The drugs were part of his method of assaulting me."
Jill said he controlled what she ate, wore and who she spoke to.
She said most of what happened was against her will.
"I was isolated, for most of the time," she said. "He was a very cruel man.
"He knew I had some vulnerabilities and he exploited them. He made me feel I was a terrible person."
Jill said escaping the situation was difficult and that she only gradually came to understand the extent of what had happened to her.
"By the time I got away, I was very aware of what he was doing and it took some effort to get away," she said.
"I was by then aware that I could not have been the only one.
"I tried to raise the alarm, I tried to warn people."
Salah Fayed was one of three Fayed brothers who purchased Harrods, the luxury Knightsbridge department store, in 1985.
After his death, Mohamed Al Fayed was accused by more than 20 women of sexual assault in a BBC documentary Predator at Harrods that aired in 2024.
Since those allegations more than 400 alleged victims or witnesses have come forward to lawyers.
Earlier this year, Police Scotland said it was carrying out further investigations into allegations connected to Balnagown Estate.
In a statement, a police spokesperson said: "Three people have been identified in connection with offending against a number of victims.
"Our inquiries are ongoing and it would be inappropriate to comment further."
The Metropolitan Police is separately investigating allegations linked to Mohamed Al Fayed and those suspected of facilitating his offending.
It said it was one of the largest and most complex investigations it was currently undertaking.
"Seven suspects have so far been interviewed under caution on suspicion of offences including aiding and abetting rape and sexual assault, assisting the commission of sexual offences, and human trafficking for sexual exploitation," a Met Police statement said.
"To date, 168 victims have now come forward. We will continue to assess victim testimonies for evidence of human trafficking."
In a confidential note, shared with survivors, of a meeting between the Met and the All Party Parliamentary Group for Survivors of Fayed and Harrods, it said about 70 people had been referred to the Home Office as potential victims of trafficking.
Jill told BBC Scotland she was aware of other women who alleged they were abused by Salah Fayed in Scotland, although some have never reported their experiences publicly.
She said she agreed with calls from some of the victims for a statutory public inquiry.
And she said she was speaking out because of worries the police investigations were not looking far enough.
Jill has contacted the Metropolitan Police and is also pursuing legal action.
Harrods, which is no longer owned by the Fayed family, said it recognised the "remarkable bravery" of survivors who had come forward and supported them in their pursuit of justice.
The retailer has previously established a redress scheme for survivors of abuse linked to Mohamed Al Fayed.
Jill said any compensation would be a partial refund for the impact on her life.
"You've lost years of your life," she said.
"You've had all these treatment costs, it's impacted your career, impacted your family, so yes they do need to put that right."
"The girl I was when I was sent to that man is gone," Jill said.
"I don't know who she would have been or what her life would have been like.
"My life's work has been recovering from this. It has been a bitter, bitter, decades-long struggle."
The BBC has contacted the Balnagown Estate for comment twice and as yet they have not replied.
Jensen Huang is one of the technology industry's most high-profile figures.
He rose to prominence as the business he leads - artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia - became one of the world's most valuable companies.
As the face of the AI boom, Huang also became close to Donald Trump as the president pushed for the US to keep its dominance of the technology over China.
The 63-year-old who was once lauded as the "Taylor Swift of tech" and referred to as "Daddy Huang" in Taiwan is now mired in scandal after an affair with a suspected Chinese spy.
Who is Jensen Huang?
Born in Taiwan in 1963, Huang was nine years old when his family moved to the West Coast of the US.
He graduated as an electrical engineer from Oregon State University, and then with a master's degree in the same field from Stanford University.
Huang then worked at US chip firm AMD before co-founding Nvidia.
He has an estimated fortune of $155bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
"Jensen Huang is a tech visionary of the likes of Steve Jobs," Stephen Witt, the author of Thinking Machine - a biography on Huang, tells the BBC, adding that he was responsible for creating AI hardware as we know it today.
Huang has a famously close relationship with Trump. At the recent AI summit at the White House, where 42 tech executives were present, the president was flanked by Elon Musk and Huang.
Trump said he had not spoken to the Nvidia boss since news of the investigation emerged.
"I just know he's a fine person, but you never know what's going on," Trump told reporters, adding that he had "done an amazing job for our country".
Huang has long found himself at the centre of US-China tensions. Trump has repeatedly said the two nations are in a race for dominance.
Trump has said "whoever wins AI wins", and the fear is that if China gains the upper hand in AI, it will supercharge the country's military and surveillance capabilities.
The US advantage is in large part because of US companies like Nvidia, working with producers like the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which makes more than 90% of the world's most advanced chips.
Since 2022 the US has used various export controls to keep the top tech out of China, which it says helps retain America's competitive edge and protects its national security.
But it means companies like Nvidia have been largely locked out of the world's most lucrative market, with Jensen Huang once saying that Nvidia's share of the Chinese market had gone from around 95% to effectively zero. In recent years Huang has engaged in a flurry of shuttle diplomacy, dashing between Washington and Beijing, hoping to find a US-approved way back in, and shaping US policy on China along the way.
Sunday's revelations may explain why Huang has failed to bring home the biggest prize of all to Nvidia: the Trump administration's blessing to sell all but its most advanced chips to China.
Quarter after quarter of late, Nvidia has been locked out of that lucrative market. Despite his ostensible closeness to Trump, Huang has not managed to wrest this concession from the administration.
What is Nvidia?
Huang founded Nvidia with fellow electrical engineers Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem in 1993.
The company was originally known for chips that process graphics, particularly for computer games.
Eventually it changed focus to AI, a field it now dominates.
"In 2012 these machine learning neural net researchers started to use it for that purpose and Jensen immediately recongnised that this was going to be a massive industry and the future of computing. He began to pour enormous amounts of resources into building what was essentially the AI hardware market," says Witt.
"Today when we think of that, we think of these giant data centres - none of that existed. There were no customers for the stuff he was building. In fact his first customer was Open AI at the time they had 30 people - he actually gave it to them, he donated it to them."
Nvidia is now worth some $4.5 trillion, making it one of the most valuable companies ever.
"The first real neural net of modern times on an Nvidia network was Alex Krizhevsky's Alexnet and they trained that on two Nvidia cards in Alex's bedroom. Now we do the same thing but we do it with 200,000 - 300,000 cards and instead of doing it in a bedroom we do it in a giant barn full of computers called a data centre," adds Witt.
"So when you think about a data centre buildout, when you hear the AI infrastructure buildout, Jensen runs a tollbooth. All of that goes through him. And it made his company at least temporarily, the most valuable company in the world."
Nvidia's board has announced a probe following reports by the New York Times that Huang had engaged in a romantic relationship with a woman believed by US intelligence to be a Chinese spy.
For now, though, Nvidia's board appears to have little appetite for removing Huang, saying in a statement on Sunday that they have "confidence in Jensen and his leadership team".
Sources tell the BBC his removal is unlikely because there is so much money at stake. There is also no clear successor to the 63-year old tech boss.
Who is Huang's wife?
Huang met his wife Lori at Oregon State University, where she was also studying electrical engineering and was his lab partner.
They married in 1985, about eight years before he co-founded Nvidia, and have two children, Madison and Spencer.
He has credited Lori and Madison for making black leather jackets his signature style.
In 2007, the couple founded the Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Foundation.
The charitable fund has seen its assets surge in recent years, driven by the soaring value of Nvidia shares, and is estimated to be worth more than $9bn.
Its donations include tens of millions of dollars to engineering programmes at Oregon State and Stanford University.
"Jensen in my conversations with him and in other conversations has gone to great lengths to present himself as a family man. That's very important to him," says Witt.
"He praises his wife, he talks about her in very glowing ways. Both of his children work for Nvidia. Spencer and Maddison. The fallout of this would be bad for anyone's family. But for someone who has gone to such great lengths to cultivate an image of being a family guy and who keeps his children very close, it is very bad."
Huang for his part released a statement which said, "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry."
What do we know about the alleged affair?
US officials had concluded that Alice Huang had been recruited to spy by China's top intelligence agency, the New York Times reports.
She was a top executive at Megaspeed, a data centre company based in Singapore. The firm had been suspected of helping divert Nvidia chips to China, a concern that Nvidia maintains was investigated and debunked.
Surveillance reportedly revealed communications between Alice Huang and an American citizen, who was subsequently identified as Jensen Huang through a process known as "unmasking".
It remains unclear what information Alice Huang – who is also known as Huang Le – allegedly passed to Beijing, how valuable it was, or when she is believed to have begun gathering intelligence.
Alice Huang did not respond to the paper's request for comment.
When the BBC asked Nvidia if the company was aware of intelligence concerns, the company said it was not.
"We trust that if we were the target of a genuine threat, the US government would have notified us," an Nvidia spokesperson told the BBC.
Additional reporting by Ayeshea Perera in Singapore and Helen Davidson in Sydney
I'm "words of affirmation", and so is my husband. This is supposedly our shared love language.
But, while we do like receiving compliments, they make us both feel a bit awkward.
Despite this, our result was confidently defined when we took the original Love Languages Quiz online, a personality test published by US pastor Gary Chapman who first came up with the five types of expressing and receiving love in 1992.
I'm sceptical. Does the theory really know more about us than our own lived experience of a 10-year marriage?
The five love languages are: Quality Time, Acts of Service, Words of Affirmation, Receiving Gifts, and Physical Touch - and they feel more ubiquitous than ever.
Contestants on dating shows ask each other their love languages; "My love language is…" is a common prompt on dating apps.
According to the Love Languages website, my husband and I are just two out of more than 150 million people to have taken this particular quiz.
Even though we scored much lower on some of the other languages, they speak more directly to us.
For example I love spending "quality time" with my husband, and feel much more loved by him making lists of films to watch with me than when he pays me a compliment.
But where did the idea of these five neat categories come from? And are they relevant for modern dating and relationships?
'People still gravitate towards it'
Unlike other relationship theories - such as attachment theory - the concept of love languages doesn't have scientific origins.
Chapman said the theory came to him after observing couples during counselling sessions he held in his parish.
Counselling psychologist Dr Sarah Emmerson told the BBC that love languages are still mentioned regularly in her sessions.
"There's almost no-one out there who hasn't taken that quiz," she said. "[Couples] quite frequently bring that in and say, 'So my partner is Physical Touch and I'm Acts of Service, so this doesn't work'.
"Research has proven that there isn't a lot of validity to the idea that there are only five ways in which people show love, and that everybody fits neatly into these categories. But people still gravitate towards it, and we have to wonder why that might be."
For some, talking about love languages can simply be a useful introduction to thinking about how they communicate their needs to their partner.
Psychotherapist Georgina Sturmer said that it helps people think about "what you really like in a relationship, and what do other people really like" but points out it's "hugely limited" and risks "oversimplifying everything".
Potential for abuse
In recent years, many therapists have also warned that Chapman's examples refer too readily to scripture and unequal relationship dynamics.
In the Love Languages book Chapman describes counselling a woman, Ann, whose husband of 10 years is hostile and verbally abusive towards her, including frequently telling her he hates her.
His love language, Ann tells Chapman, is specifically sexual physical touch.
When Ann says she finds it "hard to be sexually responsive" to him, Chapman advises her that she should "rely heavily upon [her] faith in God" to make herself have sex with her husband more often.
This example also exposes another problem - that love languages can be used to coerce partners into showing or receiving love in a way they're not comfortable with.
"There's a risk if someone says, 'well my love language is receiving gifts, so you must give me gifts all the time, or my love language is physical touch, so you must be physically intimate with me all the time," Sturmer said.
The BBC has contacted the Love Languages team for comment.
So what can couples do if they want to understand each other, and themselves, better?
Listen to your partner: "Don't just wait until you can speak, but try to hear what they are saying and acknowledge their feelings," Dr Emmerson said.
Share how you feel using "I" statements, so you avoid blame: "If you reframe your words to lead with your own feelings, it helps you to express what's going on without leaving the other person feeling criticised," Sturmer explained.
Remember that disagreements are normal: "Healthy relationships often feature debate and disagreement," Sturmer said. "The challenge is not about avoiding rupture, it's about finding ways to repair it that can leave the relationship feeling stronger."
But, Dr Emmerson added, you should "pick the right time to talk about things that are difficult - not late at night, not when they've just come through the door".
Respond to bids for connection: Dr Emmerson said you should "try to be emotionally responsive to your partner when they are seeking connection" - even if they're doing so in subtle ways.
"This could be asking for a hug, or just telling you about something they just saw on their phone."
Some people might find this article upsetting.
Early one morning in June 2024, Bas pulled up next to his parents' campervan, parked on a sunny marina in the north of the Netherlands.
His father and mother, Jan and Els, had spent most of their married life on water. Now in their 70s, they could no longer manage a houseboat. Their campervan, positioned close to the yachts and dinghies, was the next best thing.
Jan and Els got into their son's car. Bas started the engine. This would be the final time he drove his parents anywhere. For Jan and Els, this journey - to the local hospice - would be their last.
At 10:30 that morning they would be administered lethal medication by doctors and die together in what is known in the Netherlands as duo-euthanasia. It's legal and it's rare, but every year more Dutch people choose to end their lives this way.
Three days before their fatal appointment at the hospice, Jan and Els gave an interview to the BBC in their campervan. Jan was living with continual pain, the legacy of years hauling cargo on the Netherlands' inland waterways. Els had been diagnosed with dementia. Their story was picked up and commented on around the world.
Now, more than two years on, the couple's only child describes trying to persuade his mother and father to delay their deaths while supporting their decision to stop living. He reveals the emotional burden his parents' decision placed on him and the profound loneliness that followed.
The journey
Bas had planned a scenic route to the hospice, taking in Friesland's meadows and canals.
"I still remember the whole trip," he says. His mum was in the back seat and his dad sat beside him. At first, they talked. Els seemed resolute about their decision to opt for euthanasia.
"My mum was convinced, certain about doing it," Bas says. "But my dad was a little bit emotional."
Jan asked his son if they were doing the right thing. Bas was thrown - he thought it would be his mum who might have doubts.
"My mum had always really enjoyed life," he says. "I remember she told me, 'I'd love to be 80 or maybe even 90 years old.'"
But his father had been talking about euthanasia for more than a decade because of all the years of pain.
In the car, Bas reassured his dad. Once Jan calmed down, they drove without speaking, listened to music and watched the scenery go by.
In the months before the family made this journey, Bas had tried to persuade his parents to delay their deaths.
"I tried to convince them to stay a bit longer - why not wait until winter, or next year?"
Bas was conflicted. Although he thought his parents' decision to ask for euthanasia was the right one, he didn't want them to go.
"My dad, he was in this situation for 10 to 15 years, so he could probably have stretched it for another few years. But I think waiting for another year, then my mum would get into trouble…"
If Els delayed applying for euthanasia, she risked her Alzheimer's worsening, which might mean she would not be deemed capable of making the decision to end her own life.
At the hospice
Bas found a parking space.
"My dad said goodbye to my car - he liked my car, and he said, 'Good job', and 'thank you'.
"And then we walked inside," Bas says. "Imagine doing that - being in their shoes, taking that trip and that walk. It's so unreal."
For the next two hours, the couple's family and friends came and went. They reminisced, and listened to music. At one point, it crossed Bas' mind to call a halt to the proceedings.
"I had a feeling - 'OK, let's leave… Let's step into the car and drive away,'" he says. "But I didn't want to bring anything up that would make them feel uncertain - I had supported the whole [euthanasia] process.
"Better to keep everybody calm, and take the moment to say goodbye."
Where to get help
- The Samaritans
- Befrienders Worldwide
- NHS Help for suicidal thoughts
- BBC Action Line
Just before 10:30am, doctors arrived to inject Jan and Els with the lethal medication that would kill them. The couple lay on hospital beds side by side. And in those final moments, before they lost consciousness, Bas witnessed his parents' closeness.
"I've seen them maybe three or four times in all my life walking hand in hand," he says. "But now they were laying there, hand in hand. And that gave me a really good feeling - they're really doing this together."
Bas describes that first half hour after his parents stopped breathing as "a factual thing" - they weren't alive anymore.
"Then you realise what the situation is - that's an unimaginable feeling."
In the hospice, sorrow hit Bas. He began to experience a profound loneliness.
"Grieving is a very, very deep thing to go through," he says, "and I don't have brothers and sisters - I really felt alone."
If we've been brought up by two parents, when the first dies, we can share our memories and sadness with the other as part of the process of bereavement. But Jan and Els were both gone.
"It was like my legs were cut off," remembers Bas.
His grief was physical too - he felt sick for four or five weeks. His body hurt.
"I would not really recommend this to others, and that's maybe a hard conclusion," he says. "It was maybe for them [my parents] the best option, but having lost them both at the same moment was very, very impactful."
Did Jan and Els go too soon?
Among people planning to apply for euthanasia in the Netherlands, especially those with dementia like Els, choosing the right moment to end your life may be complicated.
* 9,958 people in the Netherlands chose death by euthanasia in 2024
* 427 of those who chose death by euthanasia in 2024 had dementia - six had advanced dementia
* 108 people chose death by duo-euthanasia (54 pairs) that year
Source: Regional Euthanasia Review Committees (RTE)
As well as demonstrating they are suffering unbearably, they must be assessed by doctors as still having the capacity to decide for themselves they want to die. This can cause immense distress in dementia patients thinking about euthanasia, explains Dr Rozemarijn van Bruchem, a geriatrician and ethicist at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam.
"They think… I have that power right now, but now is too soon. But maybe next month is too late. So how do I decide at what point I need to start this process to see if I meet the criteria, to see if I can get euthanasia? And if I wait too long, might I have missed the window?"
Dr van Bruchem says it's because euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands that her patients experience this anxiety. And they know permission for an assisted death in cases of advanced dementia is rare. In countries where euthanasia is prohibited, like the UK, people with dementia may face many challenges, but they rarely have to weigh these life-or-death options - as Els did.
In 2024, she told the BBC that she and her husband couldn't wait because there was a chance her Alzheimer's would progress. And Jan was committed to dying with Els. He told the BBC that perhaps he was going too soon, but he had lived his life – his life was completed.
Was everything said?
Jan and Els were very aware of the burden their end-of-life decisions placed on their son. Bas attended all the meetings his parents had with their separate doctors during the euthanasia process. There were open family discussions. Often, we have regrets when a loved-one dies – especially about what may have been left unspoken. This didn't happen to Bas. Two days before Jan and Els' appointment at the hospice on Monday 3 June he wrote them a letter.
"It was about eight pages," Bas says. "I went to the campervan late in the evening on Saturday night. I read the whole letter to them. It was about our lives, thanking them for what they'd done."
Jan and Els were deeply moved. And just as they rarely displayed affection to each other in public, they hadn't usually been demonstrative with their son either.
"You feel that they love you, but it's shown by doing stuff, not really saying it, or giving you a hug," says Bas. "My mum did [hug] more when she got dementia, but my dad never did – I never got a hug."
That changed in the campervan on that last Saturday night. Jan hugged Bas.
"He did it after that letter. It was maybe one of the best moments.
"Everything was said."
Hard-hitting beats, club anthems and unapologetically sexy lyrics are what Shygirl is known for.
But the singer and DJ - real name Blane Muise - has introduced a different sound for her second album, Swallow!
Shygirl hasn't totally left her electronic roots behind though.
You can still hear the sweat-soaked energy of Charli XCX's 365 remix and relentless pulse of 2024 hit mr useless on her latest record, which dropped on Friday.
But there's also guitar strums, heartfelt songwriting and a dreamy haze, giving it an indie edge.
"I've learned over the 10 years I've been making music to have this confidence and to not be afraid of failure," she tells BBC Newsbeat.
"The big part of starting this record was wanting to have natural instrumentation and not feel like that was barred from me."
Shygirl puts the change down to a desire for a more "authentic" sound - a growing trend among British electronic artists who've been bringing a rockier influence to their music.
Hatching a new sound
Asked why she took this musical direction, the 33-year-old says it was down to "the nostalgia of the indie sound".
"I felt the familiarity of that feeling, embracing the teenager within and the angst that I had and all the sounds that coloured that environment," she says.
Long-time producers Karma Kid and Casey MQ were "surprised" when Shygirl told them about her desire to work in more indie sounds, but she says the pair trusted her with the new direction.
Fans have been patiently waiting for something other than singles since her debut album Nymph was released in 2022.
The question now is whether they'll relate to this more rose-tinted version of Shygirl.
"It's not like I changed overnight," she insists. "In fact, it was because I was the girl I was in all the other songs that I became who I am now."
There are clear signs that Shygirl is entering a new chapter.
She cleared her Instagram feed before beginning the album rollout, and the artwork shows a bird hatching from an egg, symbolising rebirth.
But she points out the journey is an "evolution" rather than reinvention.
"I think it's less about moving away from me, but I would hate to repeat myself," she says.
"I would only wish to pick up the same tool if I felt like I had grown somewhat or had a renewed expertise for it."
That growth can be heard in tracks like Live the Life You Like - one of Shygirl's favourites on the album.
It features a gritty bassline and a manipulated riff that echoes a klaxon, which she describes as giving off "punk energy".
Leaning into that side of her sound has only made her more excited to take the record on a tour, starting with Europe in March.
"I've got a band now," she reveals with a grin. "I work with a drummer and a multi-instrumentalist and sometimes a bassist.
"It's just so fun to share the stage and be so inspired. We've rehearsed, but there's still so many moments for spontaneity and for us to look at each other and vibe."
The Brit Pack blurring the lines
Shygirl's the latest artist known for electronic music who's embraced a more organic sound.
Her close friend Charli XCX featured a rockier, guitar-driven style on her latest album Music, Fashion, Film.
One of the standout tracks on that album for Shygirl is SS26, because "her voice is so natural and exposed".
"You forget other people don't know that voice and they need to get to know that starting point to be able to appreciate everything else."
She believes that same stripped-back approach is shaping much of the current wave of British dance music, including Swallow!.
"There's so many of us now, especially coming from the Brit pack, that are doing the same thing," she says.
Artists like PinkPantheress and Fred Again have also spoken about bringing indie influences into electronic music, something Shygirl says is "a reflection of what is going on in the world".
"I think there is a natural desire to have a sense of truth or something grounding," she says.
"And what is more grounding or more truthful than knowing exactly where a sound comes from."
So with artists borrowing more and more from across the musical spectrum, does genre still matter?
For Shygirl, it's less about what box listeners put her music in and more about whether it connects with them.
"Regardless if they like it or they hate it, I want someone to feel something. To be apathetic to my music would be the biggest insult to me."
Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.
At least 34 people have died after a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of Senegal, the Senegalese Press Agency (APS) reports, citing an official source.
The Interior ministry said one person had been rescued, but the number of people still missing was yet to be established.
The small wooden boat capsized between the capital, Dakar and the northern city of Saint-Louis, as it headed towards Spain's Canary Islands.
Spanish migrant rights group Walking Borders recorded 635 deaths on the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands between January and May 2026, the highest toll among the routes it monitors.
Saliou Diouf, founder of Senegalese migrant aid group Boza Fii, told AFP that all the bodies recovered so far were Senegalese. The nationalities of other people on board was yet to be established, as search operations continued.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has expressed his condolences to the victims' families and urged Senegalese nationals not risk their lives on the dangerous sea crossings.
In a statement posted on X, he pledged to intensify efforts to dismantle the networks organising the journeys.
"We will relentlessly continue the fight against those who organise these crossings and the work that gives our young people reasons to hope here," he said.
The tragedy comes amid renewed concerns over the dangers facing migrant attempting to reach Europe by sea.
Walking Borders estimates that about 21 people died for every 100 who reached the Canary Islands during the period it monitored.
Senegalese authorities said they had intercepted another boat, on Friday, carrying 142 migrants attempting to reach Spain.
Those on board included 23 women, two babies and two other children. Police said the group comprised nationals of Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Nigeria.
Meanwhile, a state of emergency was declared on the Spanish island of El Hierro on Saturday following a surge in migrant arrivals.
More than 3,300 people have reached the island in about 30 boats since the beginning of November, according to local authorities.
The Canary Islands have become a major entry point into Europe for migrants and refugees making the dangerous Atlantic crossing from West Africa.
The route has grown in prominence amid tighter controls and increased cooperation between European countries and North African states, which may have diverted some journeys away from the central Mediterranean.
Limited employment opportunities, family pressures and established migration networks are among the factors driving people to leave Senegal, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
For many young people, the prospect of finding work and earning more abroad remains a powerful incentive, despite the risks of crossing the Atlantic in overcrowded boat.
Nearly one in four young people in Senegal was unemployed in the second quarter of 2026, according to the country's statistics agency.
The figure highlights the challenge facing President Faye's government as it seeks to create jobs for a predominantly young population that overwhelmingly voted for him in the 2024 elections.
In a statement on Sunday, Senegal's interior ministry said it would continue efforts to combat people-smuggling networks, including by strengthening cooperation with neighbouring countries.
More from the Canary Islands on the BBC:
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.
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Who will form New Zealand's next government remains uncertain after the country's national election on Saturday, with final results not due for another couple of weeks.
It's the tightest vote that the country has seen in years, with the incumbent National Party and opposition Labour Party neck-and-neck in terms of party vote share.
In terms of seats, a National-led conservative coalition, which includes the Act Party and NZ First, are projected to win a combined 67 seats - giving them a narrow one-seat majority.
As questions about other coalitions swirl, party leaders are remaining tight-lipped, saying they would wait for the final results before formal discussions.
Major parties on both sides of the political aisle were "likely dissatisfied with their campaigns", Max Rashbrooke, adjunct senior research fellow at the Victoria University of Wellington, told the BBC.
The opposition Labour Party, led by Chris Hipkins, ran an election campaign that "seems to have inspired few voters", despite going up against Christopher Luxon, a "historically unpopular prime minister", Rashbrooke said.
On the other hand, he added, the incumbent National Party also "failed to spark enthusiasm" even though it "should have been safe" given the country hasn't seen a one-term government in more than 50 years.
The election dealt a huge blow to National with the loss of some of its most senior lawmakers, including Finance Minister Nicola Willis, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith, Transport Minister Chris Bishop and House Speaker Gerry Brownlee.
Act Party leader David Seymour has expressed interest in the finance minister portfolio, telling news outlet Stuff that National must recognise the voters' message and let its coalition partners play a bigger role.
"The government barely survived, it must now put its best foot forward in every step," he said.
The big winners of election night were "the more radical minor parties", Rashbrooke said.
The left-leaning Greens and the right-wing libertarian Act Party both saw new highs this election, while the Opportunity Party, a fledgling centrist party, scored a breakout victory. Having previously failed three times at getting into Parliament, it's now projected to get seven seats.
Opportunity's incoming lawmakers, including leader Qiulae Wong, arrived at New Zealand's parliament on Monday morning, for the start of what Wong said would be a week of "induction stuff".
Opportunity, which has rejected traditional political divisions, has said it's open to forming a coalition with either major party.
Whichever coalition they join, though, they would "really need to be comfortable with the overall direction the government is going in", Wong told reporters on Monday.
Wong said that although she has received calls of congratulations from Labour's Hipkins and the Greens' Chlöe Swarbrick, they have not had any discussions about coalitions.
Luxon, who had previously ruled out working with Opportunity, told public broadcaster RNZ on Monday that he wanted to talk to Wong "shortly".
Counting is still underway for nearly 400,000 "special votes", which includes those from overseas voters and people outside of their electorate.
These make up 14% of total votes, and are likely to be important in the final count.
"They tend to lean left, as voters casting special votes tend to be younger and more likely to be renters - and therefore more likely to be living outside their electorate," senior politics lecturer Claire Timperley told the BBC on election night.
"The overseas vote might be more likely than usual to be disaffected by the current coalition, given we've seen increasing numbers of New Zealanders moving overseas as a result of cost-of-living challenges."
Faced with a stagnating economy and challenging job market, a record number of Kiwis are moving overseas in search of better career opportunities. More than 114,000 people migrated out of the country in the year leading up to August.
Young people the BBC spoke to ahead of the election said they were "tired" and "cynical" about the future - part of what polling shows is a general grim mood across the country.
"In New Zealand as elsewhere, politics is splintering. But which parties ultimately benefit remains unclear for now," said Rashbrooke.
Final election results are expected on 27 November, with the official confirmation of MPs set for 3 December.
Pope Leo XIV has said Argentina's economy must benefit everyone including the poor, in a diplomatic but pointed critique of President Javier Milei's austerity measures.
The Pope was speaking as he arrived in Buenos Aires, the second stop on a 12-day tour of Latin America, only three weeks after having had surgery for lung cancer.
In response, right-wing leader Milei said his government was working to avoid "punishing the Argentines of tomorrow in order to benefit the Argentines of today".
This leg of the Pope's journey was expected be the most politically sensitive, with the president's agenda of slashing public spending having been denounced by the Catholic Church for hitting the poorest hardest.
"The economy must be at the service of the people, rather than people being at the service of the economy," Pope Leo said.
He stressed the plight of those who, "despite hard work, nonetheless struggle to meet their household's needs", and urged that "particular concern be shown for those affected by illness, dependency and disability" - a veiled reference to the government's controversial cuts to disability assistance.
In what appeared to be a rebuke of Milei's combative style and language, the Pope said strengthening democracy required a "willingness to listen" and the "careful use of words".
Milei had been particularly outspoken about Leo's predecessor Pope Francis, whom he called "evil on earth" and a "communist" for promoting a doctrine of social justice to help the poor.
On Sunday, however, Milei struck a conciliatory tone, calling Francis an "exceptional figure" and "undoubtedly the most important Argentine in history".
He was also keen to welcome the current Pope earlier, writing in a post on X that Argentina awaits "with immense joy".
Pope Leo urged Argentina to safeguard its democracy. "Those who exercise authority have a duty to act with prudence, to acknowledge the limits of the power entrusted to them, and to direct their decisions toward the good of the entire community," he said.
In his own address welcoming Leo to Argentina, Milei defended his libertarian policies, saying the rights to life, liberty and property are the backbone of Argentina's constitution and of Western democracies.
The Argentine leader, who has said he will seek re-election next year, is a strong supporter of US President Donald Trump, who has criticised Pope Leo for his opposition to the Iran war.
Pope Leo's trip to Argentina has been described as a homage to Francis, who did not return to his homeland during his own papacy.
The Vatican says no extraordinary measures are being taken in relation to the Pope's health, describing him as a "71-year-old who has undergone an operation" not someone with a "permanent medical condition".
Last month's operation to remove a tumour was successful and his doctors say the cancer has not spread.
US tech giant Nvidia has opened an independent investigation following reports its CEO Jensen Huang had a relationship with a suspected Chinese spy.
The chip-making giant said its board had no reason to believe the company's secrets or national security were compromised, adding that the CEO was committed to continuing to lead the company.
Separately, Jensen Huang admitted to having been "unfaithful" to his wife and apologised for hurting her and their children.
US intelligence officials believed that Chinese businesswoman Alice Huang, who had a close relationship with Huang, was a spy for China's Ministry of State Security, according to a New York Times report.
Jensen Huang said he took "full responsibility" for what he did, and said he had fallen short of his responsibilities to Nvidia's employees, board and shareholders.
Nvidia is one of the world's largest companies and seen as central to making the hardware for emerging AI technologies.
Its CEO said: "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry."
His statement continued: "Regarding the national security concerns raised in news reports, NVIDIA's Board of Directors has initiated an independent investigation. I support the investigation and will cooperate fully.
"I love our country and our company. I am committed to protecting NVIDIA and supporting America's national security. I am proud and grateful to be an American."
A separate statement issued by Nvidia's board of directors said it would begin an investigation in "light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort".
It continued: "The Board prioritizes U.S. national and economic security, which is paramount to the interests of NVIDIA and its shareholders.
"While the Board has no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised, the Board's inquiry will examine all available information."
China has previously rejected allegations of an espionage operation targeting Nvidia's chief, describing the claims as "groundless speculation".
US intelligence agencies had been monitoring Alice Huang and concluded that she was acting on behalf of the Chinese government, according to unnamed sources cited by The New York Times.
Surveillance reportedly revealed communications between Alice Huang and an American citizen, who was subsequently identified as Jensen Huang through a process known as "unmasking".
It remains unclear what information Alice Huang - who is also known as Huang Le - allegedly passed to Beijing, how valuable it was, or when she is believed to have begun gathering intelligence.
Alice Huang did not respond to the paper's request for comment.
Prosecutors in Paraguay have charged former president Santiago Peña over his alleged role in a banking scandal that led to his impeachment.
He has been accused of breach of trust and administration for personal gain.
Peña, who denies any wrongdoing, was forced from office after a bank collapse triggered a crisis that left more than half of the country's population without access to their accounts.
He was arrested on Friday minutes after lawmakers, including from his own party, unanimously voted to remove him from office following the collapse of Ueno Bank, which has links to his private business interests.
He had offered to step down but rather than accept his resignation, senators impeached Peña and charged him with misconduct, meaning he has been stripped of the immunity usually granted to ex-presidents.
Peña, who until last year held shares in the company that owned the bank, has denied any wrongdoing.
The impeachment charges that led to Peña's removal alleged he had conflicts of interest, manipulated regulatory oversight, diverted pension funds, and participated in an institutional cover-up involving the central bank.
Peña's deputy, Pedro Alliana, has been sworn in as the new interim president and promised not to "abandon" the millions of people affected by the scandal.
"Compatriots who are now going through a difficult time as a result of the financial collapse will be fully compensated," said Alliana, who will serve as president until 2028.
The demise of the digital bank left more than half of Paraguay's population without access to their savings after it was seized by Paraguay's central bank.
Long lines of people trying to withdraw money from Ueno branches snaked down the streets of the capital Asuncion on Tuesday and Wednesday.
An estimated three million depositors remain unable to access their savings and pensions, prompting public outrage particularly in the capital, Asunción.
Protests erupted across the country in response, with thousands taking to the streets on Thursday to demand their money.
Earlier demonstrations featured clashes with the police, who used tear gas and water cannons on the crowd.
Peña's impeachment passed with 44 out of 45 senators voting in favour of it. One lawmaker was absent.
"It was never my intention to betray the trust you placed in me," Peña said in a video posted on X announcing his resignation, adding his priority was "the peace of mind of Paraguayans who entrusted their savings to our financial system".
Afterwards, senate president Basilio Núñez said Peña was found guilty of "dereliction of duty".
Senator Rafael Filizzola said: "We are facing the biggest corruption scandal in our democratic history – a tremendous blow to the state, to private citizens, and to the country's credibility and image."
Analysts say Peña is likely to now be prosecuted over the bank's collapse.
His defence lawyer Ricardo Preda described the allegations as a "reckless accusation" that was "irresponsible and opportunistic".
For years, Labubu dolls seemed unstoppable.
Collectors young and old energetically snapped up "blind boxes" - sealed, mystery packages containing the quirky monsters - often paying $15 (£11) or more.
Those unable to get the characters they wanted were often prepared to pay much more on the resale market.
The hype around the creatures convinced a mega-fan from North Carolina, who goes by the name Ensito, to leave his tech job in 2024 to create Labubu content full-time, travelling as far as Italy and Spain to seek out the latest releases.
Ensito has spent more than $50,000 (£37,000) to build his collection of more than 400 Labubus, a figure he tells the BBC he's "embarrassed to say".
He even had a row of custom Labubu-like jagged teeth made by a dentist to wear at events.
But in recent months, Ensito's once-viral posts about the furry monsters have struggled. "Those videos used to be able to hit 10,000 really quickly but I'm struggling to do that now."
Ensito's focus has shifted to other trends like Hello Kitty and squishies.
It's a sign that the craze which made parent company Pop Mart worth more than US toy giants Hasbro and Mattel put together may be running out of steam. Analysts believe the Beijing-based brand is struggling to capture excitement beyond a single viral moment.
Pop Mart recently reported that global sales in the three months to the end of September had fallen by as much as 50% on the previous year.
The drop was particularly steep outside mainland China, with US revenue down by at least 70%.
The rise and fall
Pop Mart didn't invent blind boxes but its dolls certainly helped to popularise them around the world.
The sales tactic made collecting feel "nostalgic", evoking the feeling of opening gifts as a child, says marketing professional Katelynn Carlson, who discovered Labubus through social media and now owns 36 of them.
One of her first Labubus was a rare doll, making the experience "even more exciting", she adds.
Labubu, which launched in 2019, has been Pop Mart's most successful line of toys. The monsters became fashion statements and were sported by celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Blackpink's Lisa.
They regularly attracted long queues and became so popular that Pop Mart had to temporarily pull the toys from its UK shops after reports of customers fighting over them. One fan paid more than $150,000 for a human-sized Labubu.
A key part of the allure was how difficult some Labubu dolls were to find, with fans repeatedly buying blind boxes to get the version they wanted, says National University of Singapore marketing lecturer Samer El Hajjar.
Pop Mart now has 500 shops in more than 30 countries and 2,000 vending machines worldwide. The firm, which listed in Hong Kong in 2020, is worth nearly $24bn and remains one of the world's most valuable toymakers, despite its shares having fallen by more than 50% from last year's peak.
Investors worry its global success was just a viral moment rather than sustainable growth driven by long-term customer loyalty, El Hajjar says.
For Ensito, it is clear the dolls' exclusivity helped fuel the craze.
"Now it doesn't feel that way. I walk into a Pop Mart and there's a whole series of Labubus sitting there," he says.
Ashley Dudarenok of China research firm ChoZan says that sense of exclusivity faded as Pop Mart ramped up production to meet demand.
Pop Mart declined to comment on share price moves and did not respond to questions about falling sales.
Rivals take over
As the Labubu mania cools, some of its rivals have become more popular.
Blind box collectables like Sonny Angels - tiny, unclothed cherub-like dolls - and miniature glow-in-the-dark Smiski figurines have been flying off shelves. And you can now find My Little Pony and KPop Demon Hunters in blind boxes too.
Miniso, founded in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, sells a range of blind-boxed Disney and Marvel characters in more than 8,000 shops globally.
"Consumers aren't particularly concerned about where the brand comes from," Miniso executive Vincent Huang said earlier this year. "They're more focused on the shopping experience - the designs, value for money, and enjoyment."
Experts say one of Pop Mart's biggest challenges is creating enduring characters.
That's an area where Hello Kitty brand Sanrio, which posted record earnings in the year to March, has a clear advantage, analyst Boustani suggests.
Pop Mart has invested heavily in ways to grow its brand, including setting up a theme park in Beijing and announcing a Labubu film - following in the footsteps of franchising giants like Disney or Lego, some experts believe.
But unlike Disney, which sells a story before it sells a toy, Pop Mart is working in reverse, says Dudarenok. "The real test for next year is whether Pop Mart can make people love a character without a celebrity holding it."
'Now I only buy what I like'
After spending huge sums on the monsters, collector Ensito says he is now questioning how much time and money people invest in collections each time a new trend comes along. "There's always going to be a trend every year. There's always gonna be something that's gonna be really popular."
Melbourne-based content creator Lawrence Yu says that after two years of chasing Labubus, he's likely to be "more selective" before adding to his roughly 50 dolls.
His Labubu shopping and unboxing clips once drew up to a million views but the frenzy has faded and Yu rarely makes videos about them now. "I definitely think the trend has slowed down... People go crazy and then it fizzles."
Clara Barbero from Canada believes Labubus are a "dead trend" but is still keeping an eye out for interesting releases.
"I’m curating my collection more and only buying what I see myself liking for the next few years, and not just buying the newest series that’s out."
But the fluffy monsters still have truly devoted fans.
Hedy Khaled from Liverpool says although the hype around the dolls is cooling, she is just as attached to her collection of 70 Pop Mart figurines.
There's a distinction between those who chase trends and "real fans", she argues, so falling sales do not necessarily mean Labubus have lost their appeal.
For Carlson says it is the happiness the dolls bring, not the viral trend, that keeps her collecting. She still gets excited about new Pop Mart releases, like its recent cat-themed Labubu series, which has become one of her favourites.
"I think there's something special about embracing our inner child and enjoying things simply because they make us happy."
The Aramco Tower, a skyscraper in the Saudi Arabian capital's central financial district, had been hit by an air attack.
A statement issued via the Houthi-controlled Saba news agency confirmed the group had targeted Riyadh's business zone on Saturday, without mentioning the Aramco Tower by name.
The Saudi energy ministry said the tower had suffered only "minor damage" and no one had been killed or injured.
Footage authenticated by BBC Verify shows more extensive damage to the building, with at least one floor appearing to have been badly hit by a missile or drone strike.
Windows on more than one level appear to have been shattered by the strike.
The Houthis also said Riyadh's airport and Aramco oil storage facilities were targeted in separate strikes. Saudi Arabia said its air defences had intercepted and destroyed several missiles.
The strikes were the latest claimed by the Yemen-based armed group against targets deep inside Saudi Arabia, which the Gulf power has struggled to contain in recent months.
It came a day after the Houthis accused a Saudi-led coalition of killing at least 33 people, including women and children, in an air strike on Yemen.
Footage broadcast by Houthi-run television channel Al Masirah showed rescuers pulling bodies from the rubble of several buildings in al-Shariyah, a town to the east of the capital, Sanaa.
Saba said 39 people had been injured in the strike. Saudi Arabia has not commented.
A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Houthis for more than a decade in support of Yemen's internationally recognised government, which has lost control of a large swathe of the country to the rebel group.
Although the conflict had largely been dormant in recent years, fighting has intensified following the outbreak of the Iran war.
An informal ceasefire unravelled in July after the Tehran-backed Houthis announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.
The Houthis said they were retaliating for what they have called a Saudi blockade of their territory, as well as an air strike on Sanaa airport Saudi Arabia said had been to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing there.
Major fighting has since resumed between Houthi forces and troops aligned with Yemen's Saudi-backed government.
The United Nations says more than 1,600 people have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced since fighting resumed.
How soon is too soon when it comes to thinking about Christmas and your finances?
The answer, of course, is that it is never too soon. Save early and the cost becomes more manageable.
The squeeze is harder for some than others, with charity Barnardo's warning that some parents will skip meals so their kids get a Christmas dinner with the trimmings.
But, debt advice charity StepChange is offering tips to everyone, to avoid Christmas spending leading to a financially painful new year.
What to think about now
The best way to avoid a difficult January, it says, is to make a realistic plan before the spending begins.
Small decisions now can make a big difference later. Its tips include:
* Budget for Christmas in full. So, that's not just presents, a budget should include the cost of food and drink, travel, parties, presents, postage, decorations and other festive extras
* Spread the cost. Don't just rely on your December paypacket. Also, make a shopping list before Black Friday on 27 November - it is only a discount if you were going to buy it anyway
* Book your train journey now. Advance tickets, if available, are cheaper
* Set spending limits. Put a cap on the bill for Christmas socialising, and have a quiet conversation with family and friends about how much to spend on presents
* Stocktake before the big food shop. Check your cupboards, fridge and freezer before you go shopping and plan meals around food you already have. Make a list of what you need and compare prices.
* Think twice. Can you afford what you are going to buy? Can you afford the repayments if it's bought on credit? And, do you really need it?
"Christmas is a time when we want to enjoy ourselves and make things special for the people we care most about," said Vikki Brownridge, chief executive of StepChange.
"But it can also put a lot of pressure on household budgets, and it is key to take steps to get ahead of any January financial blues."
Where to go for help
If you are concerned about Christmas leaving you in debt, then it is best to seek advice well before things become unmanageable.
The independent MoneyHelper website has a guide to finding free debt advice near you.
There are also tools to work out if you are receiving all the benefits and grants you are entitled to, and tips on how to draw up a budget.
And it is really important to watch out for scams at this time of year. Fraudsters will take any opportunity to catch you out, especially when you are under pressure financially.
Vinted and eBay could be included in the list of platforms set to be banned for children aged under 16, the culture secretary has said.
Lisa Nandy said the government was "looking seriously" at including the retailing websites in the social media ban "to keep children safe".
The UK's social media ban for under-16s is set to come into force in March next year, with children barred from accessing platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.
In response, eBay said it was looking forward to "understanding more and continuing to work constructively with the government". Vinted said it welcomed "open dialogue" with ministers and the regulator on the issue.
Asked on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme whether the government was looking to ban under-16s from Vinted and eBay, Nandy said: "We are looking seriously at doing so in order to keep children safe."
It came after the Sunday Times reported that the UK's social media ban was being expanded to include the popular second-hand online marketplaces.
The move was due to fears that messaging functions on the platforms allowed strangers to groom children, according to the newspaper. It suggested similar reselling platforms, Depop and Facebook Marketplace, would also be included in the list of banned sites.
Businesses and individuals sell a host of goods on eBay, which has been a major global player in the online reselling market for years. The platform states on its website that it currently requires all of its members to be over 18 years old because listings involve "entering into a contract".
Vinted is aimed at over 18s, but its terms and conditions do allow parents or guardians to create accounts for their children, which must be used under parental supervision.
The site, on which users mostly buy and sell unwanted clothes and other fashion items, has grown rapidly recently to reach 17 million UK users.
A Vinted spokesperson said direct messaging was "part of how the platform works" but that it had a "zero tolerance for harmful or explicit content" and had moderation teams and tools to spot and remove "activity that breaks our rules".
"When we identify inappropriate behaviour, we take action, up to a permanent ban or reporting to the relevant authorities," they said.
An eBay spokesperson said the company was "focused on providing a trusted and safe marketplace experience for our millions of customers".
"While the details of the proposed legislation are not yet clear, we look forward to understanding more and continuing to work constructively with the government," they added.
The government announced it would ban under-16s accessing social media in June this year, with children prevented from accessing 10 of the biggest platforms.
YouTube will also be banned for under-16s, but YouTube Kids - a version of the video-sharing app designed to be safe for children - will not be included in the measures.
A complete list of affected platforms has not yet been released, but the government said it would cover those "whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material".
That means platforms that have livestreaming or features that enable the potential for strangers to contact children will also be restricted, which includes gaming sites.
It does not mean that Roblox, the biggest gaming site in the UK for those aged eight to 12, for example, will be banned for under-16s. However, certain features such as its chat function will be restricted.
But Matthew Sinclair, a senior director at the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which represents tech companies, argued that ministers should prevent the rules having "scope creep".
He said a restriction on messaging for under-16s "would not stop at social media and would reach into the services families depend on to stay in touch", and urged the government to "ensure any new restrictions are proportionate and effective."
The UK's ban comes after a similar one was introduced in Australia last year.
Many children there have found ways to get round it, but the UK has said it intends to take a tougher approach.
In recent weeks, attention has turned to how a social media ban would be enforced.
Last month, the communications regulator Ofcom set out its recommendations for the most effective ways to identify which of the UK's millions of social media users are aged over 16.
Rani Govender, head of online child safety at the NSPCC, said the "real question" going forward was how the government ensured age checks were effective.
"But effective age checks are only part of the solution," she added. "Tech companies must also be required to build child safety into every platform, device and AI tool, so children are protected from harmful and illegal content and only able to access age-appropriate services."
Shares in artificial intelligence and technology firms have recovered slightly from an enormous sell-off that wiped trillions of dollars off stock values.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq stock index closed in positive territory following a market rout that began in the US on Thursday before spilling over to Asian and European markets into Friday.
Investors had been selling off tech shares in part due to concerns the Democrat victory in the midterm elections would mean slower artificial intelligence development.
However the latest US employment figures added to a mixed picture for American markets on Friday morning, with an unexpectedly strong 165,000 jobs added to the economy in September.
On Thursday, businesses closely linked to artificial intelligence development took a hammering on stock markets, particularly chip and semiconductor makers.
But the Nasdaq Composite bounced back slightly on Friday, ending the day up 1.1%, partly reversing some of its 5.5% fall.
The S&P 500, which tracks the share prices of the largest publicly-traded US companies, closed up 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat through the day before ending slightly down 0.4%.
Companies that lost hundreds of billions in market value recovered some ground on Friday, including Nvidia, SpaceX and Tesla.
However, stock markets in Asia and Europe fared worse.
The Kospi in South Korea closed down 6% on Friday, with shares in chipmaker SK Hynix plunging more than 10%. European markets also fell, with the main indexes in Germany, France and Spain ending the day down.
In the UK, the FTSE 100, which tracks the largest companies on the London Stock Exchange, declined 1.01%.
In addition to the recent market volatility, UK traders were also digesting the latest Bank of England decision to raise interest rates and the signal that another rate rise could be on the cards to curb rising prices.
'Market purgatory'
The market fluctuations also come after the sweeping Democrat victory in the midterm elections.
A number of Democrats campaigned for new rules and regulations for artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres, and the party has since won control of both houses of congress as well as key contests in states that have been part of the AI data centre race.
US President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated his supported for what he calls "super intelligence", saying only "foolish leadership" would "say no to the riches they bring".
However, there have also been concerns over whether the enormous amounts of money being spent on AI will pay off.
Russ Shaw, founder of global tech advocacy firm Tech London Advocates, said the election result was sending a message that a rethink was needed on AI.
"The incoming Congress is going to really focus on AI in a very dramatic way," he told the BBC's Business Today.
"I'm a big fan of AI, but I'm watching what these companies are doing, and they're not communicating effectively at all, particularly in the US, about what the benefits of AI are all about."
Pierre Baqué, chief executive of AI platform Neural Concept, said the share movements were a "necessary market correction" that reflected a legitimate concern about the amount of money being poured into AI infrastructure.
"The industry must move beyond unchecked infrastructure investment and demonstrate greater financial discipline," he said.
"We are entering a critical transition phase, a market purgatory where raw tech must prove its widespread economic value."
Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said it had been a brutal week for markets, and the key question was whether the jump in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq would be sustained.
"Once investors have had the weekend to catch their breath, next week could give a clearer indication of whether the tech trade is going down the pan or fighting back."
Strong jobs figures could ease market fears
As well as the fallout of the midterms and the plunge in artificial intelligence stocks, US traders will also be digesting the latest jobs figures.
And those numbers were better than expected: US employers added 165,000 new jobs in October, well above the average monthly increase and more than double what analysts had expected.
Overall the unemployment rate, which counts the number of people who are out of work but actively looking for a job, eased slightly to 4.1% from 4.2% in September.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said the unemployment rate has remained in the narrow range of 4.1% to 4.3% since March.
Neil Birrell, chief investment officer at investment firm Premier Miton, said while the jobs figures may feel like second billing to the market movements they were still important.
"The US economy is running hard which may mean the risks the markets are worrying about at the moment are not such a risk to the real economy as is being feared," he said.
Two business owners, half a country apart, want the same thing for different reasons.
In Texas, Kim Hanks, who owns Tillies, a hotel, restaurant and spa business near Austin, says rising grocery and fuel costs are forcing her to raise wages for her 300 staff.
"It's been such a moving target for us on affordability," she told the BBC World Service.
In Indiana, Danny Reynolds, who runs Stephenson's of Elkhart, a clothing and bridalwear store, simply wants Washington to get its act together.
"My hope is that we can just find some consistency, some working together," he said.
Democrats say they heard both messages.
"We ran on affordability, we won on affordability, and now it's our job to govern on affordability," said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries on MS Now's Morning Joe.
But here comes the difficult part. Democrats will hold Congress. Donald Trump still has the power to block their plans.
A message that cut through
The scale of the win was bigger than most forecasters expected, with at least seven Republican-held Senate seats changing hands.
Behind the result was a striking mood: just 21% of Americans are satisfied with the direction of the country, even though the economy looks healthy on paper.
Voters weren't looking at the statistics. They were looking at their grocery bills, electricity bills and the price at the petrol pump.
In rural Texas, rising costs were even hurting Republicans in their own backyard. Sid Miller, the outgoing Republican agriculture commissioner, told me ranchers are getting $300 to $500 less for each head of cattle, while also facing record fertiliser costs.
"They felt betrayed," he said.
This was more than a blue wave. It was a vote about the cost of living. So what can Democrats actually do about it?
The affordability plan
Under the banner "Fighting for an Affordable America," Democrats say healthcare is their first priority.
They want to bring back the extra financial help that made health insurance cheaper under the Affordable Care Act and reverse the cuts to Medicaid signed by President Trump in 2025.
Next come tariffs and energy. Democrats want to scrap the president's import taxes, which they say add thousands of dollars a year to the cost of groceries, fertiliser and building materials.
They also want to end the war in Iran, which they link to petrol prices averaging $4.18 a gallon, marking an increase of nearly 40%.
Housing is next. Some Democrats want to build four million new homes over the next decade.
On tax, they want to make billionaires pay more and increase tax credits for families with children.
It's a long list. But how much of it can they actually deliver?
What can they actually pass?
Investor Ken Fisher, founder of Fisher Investments, puts it bluntly:
"Congress can't get anything past a presidential veto. President Trump can't get anything he wants."
The result, he says, is likely to be two years of relative quiet on the legislative and regulatory front.
In other words, winning in Congress does not give Democrats a free hand. President Trump can still block legislation, and getting around a presidential veto requires a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate.
For voters hoping for lower bills, that may be a disappointing result. They didn't vote for political deadlock.
Take tariffs. Trump is unlikely to abandon a trade policy that is central to his agenda. Democrats will need Republican support if they want to change it.
Bernard Yaros, deputy chief US economist at Oxford Economics, expects the average tariff rate on imports to stay around 10% for the rest of Trump's term.
And there's another complication.
Tariffs are bringing in more money for the government. Import taxes accounted for just over 1% of federal revenue in 2024. This year, they account for more than 5%.
That growing contribution to government income, Yaros argues, will make tariffs "tough for a future administration to fully dismantle."
Still, there are bargains to be struck.
Where the deals might be
President Trump told CNBC he could work with Democrats on "many more things than people understand".
Healthcare might be one of them.
Yaros sees the possibility of a big political trade-off: Democrats agree to extend Republican tax cuts in return for restoring health insurance subsidies. But he doesn't expect a deal until late 2027, with the economic benefits arriving in 2028. That's a long time to wait for anyone struggling with bills today.
Democrats could also turn up the pressure on businesses.
Henrietta Treyz of consultants Veda Partners says Democrats will question companies that passed on the cost of tariffs to customers.
After the Supreme Court ruling in February, she says, the question will be: "Did you turn around, take that tariff rebate, and then lower prices for consumers?"
Companies will also be asked: "What did you get in exchange?"
Democrats, she adds, will "pick and choose very carefully."
In the Senate, Ron Wyden, the Oregon Democrat set to chair the Finance Committee, has summed up his approach in six words: "affordability for us, accountability for them."
He says he will use the committee to "reassert congressional authority" over trade policy. Insurers, drugmakers and banks should expect to be called to explain themselves.
And some of the biggest changes may happen closer to home. State governors and regulators have a say in electricity prices, while local authorities decide where new homes can be built.
Democrats have won governorships in Texas, Ohio and Georgia, where the rising cost of electricity for data centres is already a concern.
The part they can't control
The hardest test may be something Democrats cannot fix with a new law.
The price of petrol, diesel and fertiliser will depend heavily on what happens in the war with Iran. And forecasters disagree about what comes next.
Oxford Economics warns that with the election over, further escalation "appears more likely," because petrol prices will no longer be as much of a political concern for the president.
And here's the awkward part. If prices come down, Democrats may struggle to claim the credit. If they go up, they may share the blame.
There is an immediate test, too. Government funding runs out after 11 December, and the chances of another shutdown look uncomfortably high.
Democrats won the argument. Now they have to show they can make life cheaper.
You can listen to an in-depth discussion about all these issues on a special edition of Business Daily's Power Players out soon.
Darryl Baker was shocked to see piles of clothes dumped beside the recycling bins outside her local supermarket.
On several trips to the dumpsters she has also found a host of other items, such as "a perfectly decent" Ikea picture frame and children's scooters.
Always on the lookout for ways to save money and appalled by the waste, the thrifty mother-of-two from north London asked supermarket staff if she could take some of it.
Permission granted, "I got my children entire new wardrobes," says Darryl, 39, adding that she's stuff put away for years to come.
During a six-month stint this year, "I have probably saved hundreds of pounds," says the freelance journalist.
Darryl reels off the names of brands she has salvaged - Ralph Lauren, Nike and The North Face, among others. "My mind was blown," she says. "This stuff is just strewn all over the floor."
In addition to finding clothing for her children and her nephews and nieces, she keeps some for herself. Others she donates or sells, including recently getting £30 for a men's Barbour jacket.
Darryl has joined the ranks of so-called dumpster divers – people who rummage through commercial bins for treasures. Motivations include saving money, giving items to charity and disgust at how often perfectly usable items are being consigned to waste - or a combination of all three.
'I'm a bit of a Robin Hood'
Texan Jeff Ferrell has been rooting around in trash for more than 50 years.
"I still dumpster dive every day by bicycle," says the 72-year old, who lives in Fort Worth, and has written books on the topic. "I still enjoy it as much, or more, than ever."
Jeff considers himself a "bit of Robin Hood mixed with anarchist direct action", only scrounging in more affluent neighbourhoods and giving away many of his finds.
"Almost everything in our home is scrounged, and I never buy, for example, soap or toiletries or medical supplies, or shoes and clothes and tools and garden supplies," he says.
Jeff looks for discarded metal to sell at a scrapyard which, he says, earns him around $150 (£110) every two weeks. His wife sells his other finds, such as "an antique or piece of jewellery", on eBay.
Through savings and selling the more valuable items, he estimates his finds are worth "tens of thousands of dollars a year".
'If something catches my eye, I'll grab it'
While dumpster diving may have been considered taboo in the past, it's now something many people are proud to do and post about online.
Millie Diamond, a London-based stylist, posts videos on Instagram of her rummaging through bins. But she has a very specific aim - to unearth fabrics and clothing that she can salvage and refashion into new items, some of which she then sells.
She estimates that one dress she found was worth £600.
"I'm a bit of a magpie. I like collecting things off the street or anywhere that there's a freebie. If I see something that catches my eye, then I'll grab it."
Millie, 36, began bin diving after spotting some fabrics discarded by a business that had shut down. "I literally clambered into the bin. It turned out it was loads of vintage clothes."
'I haven't bought shampoo for years'
For Charlotte Bayford in Essex it's all about timing. Her best finds come when students at Essex University head home for the summer and ditch anything they don't want to take with them.
This includes half-filled toiletries. "I haven't bought shampoo for eight years," says the 44-year-old sales assistant. "I'd say that has saved me some money."
Like other dumpster divers, Charlotte gives a lot of her finds to charity. But she has also filled her house with salvaged objects, and sells on some valuable items.
Food, as long as it remains sealed, is fair game too. "I've found tins of Heinz baked beans, perfectly fine. I'm quite happy to eat those," Charlotte says.
But is taking things out of bins and keeping them acceptable in the eyes of the law?
Jeff, who is professor emeritus of sociology at Texas Christian University, says many US cities have made the practice illegal, including New York, Cleveland and Wichita.
"Dumpster diving is considered illegal [in such places] because that which is thrown away now belongs to the city... or to the private company that provided trash services," he explains. Any dumpster diver also risks trespass charges.
In Fort Worth, where Jeff lives, items can only be removed from bins if they are on public land.
In the UK, Sunjay Versani of Duncan Lewis Solicitors says it depends on the circumstances.
"In many cases involving genuinely discarded goods, prosecution is unlikely," he says.
"But there is no general rule that something is free to take simply because it has been put in a skip or bin. If in doubt, the safest approach is to ask the owner or business for permission."
Every time you fly, an extraordinary feat of endurance occurs inside the aircraft's engines.
Hidden from view inside the sleek outer nacelle are hundreds of little turbine blades that can shrug off enormous mechanical stresses and temperatures exceeding 1,500C.
It is a true engineering marvel. And these hardy blades are not sculpted or cut from their material – they are grown.
During the 1960s, engineers worked out how to take a molten metal alloy, cast it into the shape of a turbine blade, and then cool it very carefully from one end to the other over a matter of hours. A single crystal or grain of metal alloy forms during this process of gradual, delicate solidification.
Like turning a cup of water into one big snowflake, of your own design, rather than a mini blizzard of many smaller snowflakes.
"It's about as complicated as manufacturing gets," says Ben Fifoot, manufacturing engineer at Rolls-Royce, which makes turbine blades in the UK. "It's a real motivator to get out of bed in the morning."
Only a handful of companies around the world can produce these single crystal turbine blades, and the process has been perfected end-to-end in just five countries, including the US and UK. Engine-makers continually vie for access to the technology.
Rolls-Royce, GE and France's Safran are among the few firms that have perfected the process.
In September, GE Aerospace announced it would acquire its turbine blade supplier for $11.75bn (£8.78bn). Neither company responded to BBC News' requests for comment but the move has been described as an effort to ensure supply of these critical components.
Separately, in March, Rolls-Royce said it would invest more than £19m in its Rotherham blade casting facility.
Turbine blade specialists continue to work on improving the capabilities of this little-known technology. All the while, China is desperate to prove that its engineers can produce turbine blades of the same quality as those in the West. Who will come out on top?
"Demand for [turbine blades] is huge. So few companies have managed to do it, which does give it this kind of magical aura," says Bill Sweetman, an aviation industry writer and consultant.
He suspects GE Aerospace's recent move is about securing reliability and predictability in the notoriously volatile aircraft manufacturing supply chain.
But why is the single crystal casting process, which has been around for decades now, still so specialist?
To grow one of these blades, asserts Fifoot, is to "fight the laws of the universe".
This is because each molten blade would naturally cool into a solid object consisting of many small grains of metal alloy, all jumbled together. But you don't want a crumbly sugar cube, you want a perfect diamond.
Getting a single crystal to grow into the shape of the blade instead isn't just a matter of cooling the molten version down slowly, the process also uses a bizarre trick called a pigtail.
The pigtail is a small spiral at one end of the blade. Fifoot says that, at the beginning of the cooling process, this spiral "chokes" the flow of solidifying crystals so that just one takes over. A bit like a hairpin corner in an F1 race right before the finish line – one driver can take the lead here and go on to win.
"Sometimes we need to play around with the number of turns or the angles on [the pigtail] to try and get more favourable grain," adds Fifoot. Once the blade is formed, this crucial but sacrificial spiral is cut off.
Blades made by Rolls-Royce are used in aircraft engines including the Trent XWB-84, which powers the Airbus A350-900, and the Trent 1000 XE, for the Boeing 787.
The single crystal is essential to ensure each blade's performance. Sometimes a blade doesn't cool quite as planned, for example two crystals form within it instead of just one, and the metal alloy must be reprocessed so that the manufacturer may re-use the material.
Special ceramic coatings also protect blades from extreme temperatures inside engines. And another important feature is that blades are cast with tiny channels that allow a flow of cooler air to coat them in a kind of film while the aircraft engine is working.
"The drive at the moment [across the industry] is currently to make those cooling passages really intricate," says Paul Withey, at the University of Birmingham, who formerly worked for Rolls-Royce. The more turbulent those little flows of cool air are, he explains, the more they will knock heat out of the surrounding, much hotter air.
And blade-makers also seek to reduce the mass of these components as much as possible.
"If we can take any weight out of it, you can run that engine more efficiently using less fuel – you can spin it faster and hotter," says Fifoot.
Meanwhile, China hopes to become only the sixth country to master the whole technology chain for single crystal blade casting.
A report in May quoted one engineer at the AECC Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials claiming that China now had a single crystal alloy "superior to or equivalent to the second-generation single-crystal superalloys widely used in Europe and the US". It costs less to make, too, apparently.
But the West has a "huge advantage" over China given that the majority of commercial airliner production happens there, says Sweetman. Supply chains and the latest innovations are generally clustered in the West. Plus, Western manufacturers also have lengthy safety records under their belts.
China must compete on practically every aspect of aircraft manufacturing – by no means just on turbine blades – in order to make serious in-roads. "You can definitely see that happening but it's a long, uphill struggle," adds Sweetman.
Demand for aircraft is currently high, which is already straining various supply chains in the industry. That demand could grow higher still, suggests Withey.
During the next few years, one of the two main aircraft manufacturers, Airbus and Boeing, could launch a new short-haul plane, he says. Then, the other would have to follow suit in order to remain competitive.
"There'll be a bun fight," says Withey, over who gets to supply the engines and, by extension, those all-important single crystal turbine blades.
On Thursday, the Bank of England increased interest rates for the first time in over three years as it tries to get a grip on rising inflation linked to the Iran war.
Experts say there could be more hikes over the next 18 months, as the conflict continues to push up food, fuel and energy prices across the UK and worldwide.
Higher interest rates affect borrowing costs, however, which means mortgages, credit cards and personal loans could get more expensive for millions, even as savings rates improve.
For some, it could mean extra financial pressure at a time when they are already struggling with the cost of living. The BBC spoke to three people about how they could be affected.
'Our tracker mortgage will go up'
Peter Gill, 48, is one of the around 1.3 million Britons on a variable rate mortgage.
These loans track the Bank of England base rate, with a margin on top determined by the lender, so any rise in interest rates can push up repayments.
Peter, who runs a small tiling business in Halifax, says his monthly repayments will go up by roughly £45 following Thursday's quarter-percentage point increase and he's worried they could climb higher.
But he still thinks it'd be more expensive to move onto a fixed-rate deal - which is when you pay a set amount of monthly interest for a period - and is prepared to stay put for now.
His higher mortgage costs come as the "cost of everything is going up", he says.
The father of two, who has a combined household income of £45,000 with his wife Faye, is having to pay his staff more because of increases in the national minimum wage. Raw material costs have also risen due to the war in Iran.
At home, the family's food, gas and electricity bills have gone up and he says he's working "about six and a half days a week" to shield them from the worst of it.
"From my point of view, inflation goes up which costs you, then interest rates go up and you have even less money."
'My mortgage is going up by £200 a month'
Most UK mortgage holders are on fixed-rate deals, but that doesn't necessarily protect them when the Bank of England puts up rates.
David Hollingworth, from brokers L&C Mortgages, says many people will be shocked at how much higher fixed-rate deals are than they were five years ago following recent increases.
"Fixed rates have already risen due to market anticipation that interest rates would need to rise to combat higher inflation," he says.
Dawn Fazackerley-King is a Pilates instructor who lives near Ipswich and has previously spoken to the BBC about her struggles with the cost of living.
She was on a five-year fixed deal at 1.4%, which she took out in January 2022. But the mother of two is about to refix for two years and the best deal she can find is a 5.69% loan. That will push her costs up by about £200 a month.
"I don't know where that money is going to come from, it's something we are going to have to figure out as a family. It's stressful."
She and her husband, who have a joint income of about £70,000, have already gone through their direct debits and there's "no more obvious fat to trim".
There is also no scope for them to take on additional work, as they both work full time.
"We're still living in the same property, our household costs are remaining the same," Dawn says. "It's an additional cost of several hundred pounds but we're not getting anything extra for that."
'My credit card repayments could rise'
When the Bank of England increases its base rate, credit card borrowing costs also tend to increase, although the impact is not always immediate.
It may affect people with outstanding debts, as providers can increase the interest rates they charge with 30 days' notice.
Ben Thomas, 41, from Shropshire, ditched his career as a chartered accountant during the Covid pandemic after a mental health crisis and retrained as a paramedic.
But the drop in income left him reliant on credit cards and personal loans for everyday living expenses and he is now £52,000 in debt.
Ben says he's reached an agreement to pause the interest on most of it, but he is still incurring charges on around £2,000 of credit card debt and is worried about his repayments going up.
"With all that's going on, rising interest rates is another cost to deal with," he tells the BBC.
As well as overall debt repayments of around £300 a month, he and his wife pay £760 on their mortgage. They have also struggled with higher food and energy bills.
Simon Trevethick is head of communications at StepChange, which has been helping Ben manage his debt. He says the debt charity has seen a 20% increase in people asking for support this year and warned of tougher times ahead.
"If higher borrowing costs feed through into household budgets over the coming months, we could see further pressure on people seeking support."
Is the artificial intelligence (AI) gold rush coming to an end, or is this simply a reality check?
That's the question which is hanging over investors, and which has prompted steep falls on the world's stock markets.
The sell-off in the US on Thursday was most dramatic on the Nasdaq, home to tech industry titans such as Alphabet, Nvidia, Meta and Apple.
It followed sweeping gains by the Democrats in this week's midterm elections in the US, which have given the party full control of Congress.
A number of leading Democrats campaigned against the unhindered expansion of data centres, which have underpinned the growth of artificial intelligence.
Fears this will lead to more regulation of AI appear to have concerned investors. But worries about the industry's prospects have been growing for some time.
AI boom
The release of Chat GPT by Open AI in late 2022 is widely seen as having generated massive public and corporate interest in the practical uses of AI. It also sparked a modern-day gold rush.
Investors flocked to put their money into companies producing computer chips and networking infrastructure, building data centres and providing the energy to power them, as well as developing the AI itself. The value of tech companies soared.
The boom continued into this year. Investments in AI are expected to reach $1trillion in 2026 alone according to research by Goldman Sachs. The sector has scooped up so much available cash that other industries have seen their own borrowing costs increase as a result.
But investors want returns, and in recent months concerns have been growing about whether the AI boom can produce the expected riches.
Those worries have emerged at a time when public comments from AI researchers casting doubt over the safety of artificial intelligence - even suggesting it could represent an existential threat to humanity - have been grabbing headlines and fuelling speculation that a clampdown could lie ahead.
Democrat opposition
While the Trump administration has been all-in on AI, or "super intelligence" as the president likes to call it, many leading Democrats tapped into grassroots concerns about the expansion of data centres and their impact on local communities.
These were largely focused on the facilities' high consumption of water and electricity, which many feared would push up their household bills – as well as the noise, use of land, and general disruption associated with them.
A Gallup poll published in May showed 71% of Americans would oppose the building of a data centre in their community. The figure for a nuclear power station was 53%.
James Talarico, who won the Senate race in once staunchly Republican Texas, was one of those to respond to this scepticism.
"While we want to protect America's leadership in artificial intelligence, we are still grappling with how it will affect everything from how we work to how our children learn," he said.
"We must protect Americans and establish clear, consistent laws for businesses."
With control of both houses of Congress, Democrats are now expected to challenge the president's technology agenda more vigorously, while introducing legislation which could curb the expansion of the industry.
Texas' Democratic governor-elect Gina Hinojosa campaigned against data centres, pledging a moratorium on the construction of new facilities.
Hinojosa's win could present opposition to tech multi-billionaire Elon Musk, who has moved large parts of SpaceX and Tesla's operations to the state, for years a Republican stronghold.
The Tesla boss had spent nearly $450m to back Republican campaigns in the midterms.
Where next for stocks?
As the co-founder of the British-based technology firm Arm Holdings, Tudor Brown, points out, "stock values are based on future earnings not present earnings". If the rewards are not likely to be as great as expected, some investors will choose to sell up.
The falls seen on stock markets over the past 24 hours would appear to have been triggered by the midterm results. But concerns that tech firms have become overvalued were being expressed long before the elections.
The question now is whether this is simply the removal of froth from an over-exuberant market, or a sign that the AI rush is a bubble about to burst, with much wider consequences.
Nandini Roy Choudhury of Future Market Insights thinks investors will assess whether the political shift could result in restrictions on data centre construction, energy consumption and the deployment of AI technology.
She adds there is unlikely to be an immediate widespread recovery in tech stocks as traders are likely to be more selective, favouring firms with stronger balance sheets.
Brown thinks the impact will be limited. Share valuations, he thinks, were inflated by expectations of "almost infinite AI growth", which have been followed by "a bit of a panic".
"There is a natural floor to this", he says. "After that it will reflect I think that actually there's still a lot of money being made in these companies".
Businesses should publish salaries in job adverts now, Prime Minister Andy Burnham is telling firms, rather than wait for a new law to come in that will force them to do so.
The government is planning to make pay details compulsory in adverts, with legislation on the issue being brought forward "as soon as possible".
It argues the change will help jobseekers, particularly those applying for their first job, and could help prevent pay discrimination. However, one industry group said setting pay was a complex process and regulating adverts was not always suitable.
It comes a week after the UK's equality watchdog said employees should legally be able to find out what their colleagues are earning.
Burnham said the current system felt "weighted against the applicant" and the changes were aimed at "tilting the scales back".
"It can be quite soul destroying for young people these days, applying for jobs when the salary is not listed but sometimes they're not getting a reply," he told the BBC.
The prime minister added that publishing salaries in adverts was also important for closing the gender pay gap.
He was also challenged over whether MPs should be disclosing salaries when advertising for staff in their offices.
A number of politicians are currently advertising for roles without giving an expected salary.
Burnham said: "It would apply completely to them too and the call I'm making today is, before the law changes do it voluntarily because it's the right thing to do."
Greater transparency
The Cabinet Office launched a consultation into pay and reducing discrimination in the summer, and the government said there had been "overwhelming support" for greater transparency, with 94% of respondents backing the move.
"Whether you're a young person starting out or a parent trying to support your family, you should know what a job pays before spending your time and effort applying for it," Burnham said.
The government said the move was part of attempts to reduce the nearly one million young people not in education, employment or training - or "Neet" - ahead of the final report of the Milburn Review into youth inactivity, which is due in the coming weeks.
Publishing salary details upfront could "expose unjustified differences in pay, give workers greater confidence to challenge discrimination and prevent disagreements over pay escalating into disputes".
The proposals are similar to measures being introduced in the European Union.
Employers in Europe will have to disclose the initial pay or range for new roles, which must either be included in a published job advert or shared before an interview.
According to data from UK jobs website Adzuna, 51% of the adverts on its site in September had salary information, but the proportion has been falling in recent years.
Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunter said being open about pay "should be the norm, not the exception".
He added that employers who put a salary on a job advert "attract more applicants, and better-suited ones".
'More complicated'
Previous research from the CIPD, an industry body for human resources managers, has indicated that the public sector and charities are more likely to reveal pay information that private firms, while pay ranges were more common than specific salaries.
But it found not all employers were "fully transparent", with pay ranges sometimes wider than £10,000.
CIPD chief executive Neil Carberry said that while, in principle, giving salary details was "a good thing", in practice it was "more complicated".
"There isn't always a single fixed figure, and employers will want to set pay based on a candidate's skills, experience and potential."
Carberry added the process was complex, saying that drafting job adverts is "best left to good employer practice rather than government regulation".
The government has said it will set out further details on what information will be required and how the legislation will be enforced "in due course".
Conservative shadow business secretary Julia Lopez said: "At a time when employers are finding it harder and harder to take on staff, Labour have decided to make their lives even more difficult.
"It should be up to businesses to decide what information they advertise about job openings, and to decide how to attract the best applicants.
"As long as they are not being dishonest, misleading or discriminatory, it should not be a matter for the government."
Last week, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), said publishing salaries in job adverts would be a "positive step".
It also said bosses should be required to respond to questionnaires about colleagues' pay to cut pay discrimination.
At present, employers do not have to respond to employee requests for salary information about their co-workers.
The EHRC also said employers should be prevented from asking about current salary when offering a job to stop a history of discrimination from continuing.
Employers in the UK are currently allowed to ask you how much you get paid in your current role, but applicants are under no obligation to tell them.
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Global stock markets have tumbled after investors sold tech shares on fears that the US midterm elections would slow the development of artificial intelligence (AI).
The sell-off, which started in the US and then spread to Asia and Europe, has seen trillions of dollars wiped off the stock value of major tech firms.
In the US, the tech-heavy Nasdaq share index sank 5.5% on Thursday. Asian markets also saw hefty falls on Friday and European markets opened lower.
Investors are worried about tougher regulation of AI, after Democrat candidates opposed the data centres needed by the technology. The share falls also come on top of concerns about whether the huge amounts being spent on AI will pay off.
The sell-off in US stocks meant the so-called magnificent seven tech companies, including Apple, Nvidia and Tesla, shed a trillion dollars in value in a single trading day, with Nvidia shares sliding more than 9%.
Shares in Elon Musk's companies SpaceX and Tesla also plunged, falling 8% and nearly 11% respectively and shaving more than $300bn off the firms' market value.
Musk had spent nearly $450m backing Republican campaigns, including at least $45m in support of Ken Paxton for the Texas senate seat, but Texas turned blue in the Democratic tsunami on Tuesday.
The sharp fall in the Nasdaq meant it lost an estimated $2.5tn (£1.9tn) in market value. The index is now in what market watchers call correction territory, which is where an index or company value falls at least 10% below its recent high.
However, the huge gains seen by tech stocks in recent times - driven by the enthusiasm for AI - mean that even after Thursday's fall, the Nasdaq is still higher than it was a year ago, and up about 4.6% from where it was at the start of this year.
The US sell-off spread into Asia on Friday. The Nikkei share index in Japan closed down 6% as shares in memory chip makers Kioxia and Tokyo Electron saw big falls.
In South Korea, the Kospi index plunged more than 8% at one point, triggering a so-called circuit breaker, a mechanism that temporarily halts trading to curb panic selling.
The Kospi eventually closed down 6%, with shares in chipmaker SK Hynix falling more than 10%.
European markets fell on Friday, although the declines were not as severe as the indexes contain fewer tech stocks. The UK's FTSE 100 index fell nearly 2% while Germany's Dax index was down 2.4%.
Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said investors were worried about the huge amounts of money being spent on AI with "no clear idea of when, or whether, there will be payback".
"The midterm election result muddied the waters as the Democrats now have more influence and could slow down the pace of data centre roll-outs and look at new ways to regulate the sector," he added.
"The AI story has all been about speed, and now there is a danger of it moving to a lower gear, and some of the wheels falling off."
Pressure on data centres
Democrats in races across the US campaigned to slow the growth of data centres and AI, and there were dozens of measures on ballots around the country aimed at restricting the development of the hubs crucial for powering the technology.
They won both the US Senate and House of Representatives in the midterms, taking control of Congress for the rest of President Donald Trump's presidency.
"Americans don't want Big Tech oligarchs wrecking the environment, gutting jobs and threatening humanity's future. NATIONAL DATA CENTER MORATORIUM NOW," Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders said in a post on X on Thursday.
Trump blamed the stock slide on his political opponents.
"The Stock Market suffered one of the Worst Days in History based on the results of the Election," he said in a social media post on Thursday.
"Remember, it wasn't Republicans, it was Dumocrats."
He also appeared to take aim at voters too.
"The Stock Market crashed today because the Dumocrats had a big Tuesday — So sad to see, you only have yourselves to blame!" he wrote on Truth Social.
On Friday, Trump restated his support for the AI sector, saying only "foolish leadership" would "say no to the riches they bring".
Some tech leaders have said they were caught off guard by the backlash against data centres in the midterms.
OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Brockman said he believed everyone had been surprised by the reaction to data centres, and more work needed to be done to ensure communities were on board.
"A lot of our shift over the course of this year has really been to realise that from San Francisco trying to build infrastructure in Texas, Georgia, and other places, you can't just tweet and say: 'This is going to be good.' You need to be in those communities," Brockman said at the WSJ Tech conference in Napa, California.
With additional reporting from Lily Jamali
Major tech firms have seen their stock values fall after a sell-off by investors following the US midterm elections.
The fall in the value of their shares across the world has been blamed on an expectation of a slowdown in AI development, although it comes after sharp rises over recent years.
As companies grow, they may issue shares. Many of the largest companies in the UK have shares which are bought and sold on the London Stock Exchange.
Their collective performance is often quoted amid a blizzard of numbers that may feel confusing and irrelevant.
Booms or falls in the stock market make the news, but rarely does anyone mention the FTSE 100 during a coffee with friends.
Yet, there are good reasons why this performance affects your life and finances.
'I don't invest' - actually, you probably do
Many people's initial reaction to "the markets" is that they are not directly affected, because they do not invest money.
Yet there are millions of people with a pension - either private or through work - who will see their savings (in what is known as a defined contribution pension) invested by pension schemes. The value of their savings pot is influenced by the performance of these investments.
Pension savers mostly let experts choose where to invest this money to help it grow. Widespread falls in share prices are likely to be bad news for pension savers.
Hundreds of billions of pounds are held in defined contribution pensions at the moment.
So big rises or falls can affect your pension, but the advice is to remember that pension savings, like any investments, are usually a long-term bet.
Experts say that investors have always had to ride economic shocks. Investments, by definition, require a long-term outlook and strategy. So, they are urging people not to panic in such circumstances or make knee-jerk decisions.
Is my specific pension affected?
Some people have a pension which promises a specific value, depending on their salary. Others have no pension at all.
Millions of people have been automatically enrolled into a pension and may have not really noticed. Those schemes see employers divert wages into a pension and contribute some money themselves. The government adds a little in tax relief.
In every case, the value of these pension savings is affected by investment performance. So "the markets" matter - maybe not as much as everyday wages, but for future pensions.
What happens if I'm just about to retire?
Timing is more critical for those at retirement age, as this may be when a retiree uses their pension pot to buy a retirement income, or annuity. The bigger the pot, the more income they will get in retirement.
As you approach retirement age, pension pots tend to be moved to less risky investments, such as government bonds. When stock markets fall, these bonds can do better.
Anyone who has a pension pot invested and is taking an income from it will again see their investment go up and down with the stock markets.
That could mean getting less than you expected if you cash in too much after stock markets have fallen, making it important to plan how to make up any of this shortfall, experts say.
However, higher interest rates tend to mean better rates offered on annuities, and there is a chance of more rate rises in the UK by the Bank of England.
Is my job at risk?
If share prices fall for an extended period then that could have an effect on jobs.
That's because investors in the company expect a return on that investment.
When it falls for a while, then they would expect the business to address issues, for example by cutting costs, and therefore jobs.
There is a huge element of the unknown here though. Companies have to consider lots of factors when making decisions on investment and employment.
Are stock market falls always bad?
In purely investment terms, lower share prices can offer an opportunity to buy, in the hope that over the long term, they recover and rise. Many people will do this initially through a stocks and shares Individual Savings Account (Isa).
However, it is worth noting that the sell-off in tech stocks in particular came after big rises, so long-term investors are still likely to have seen gains.
Experts and regulators are at pains to point out that investments can go down as well as up, and urge people not to put everything into one investment, but to diversify.
Some people invest money in what are known as tracker funds. These go up and down in line with the performance of a certain index, such as the FTSE 100.
So if the index falls, so does the value of their investments and vice versa. One advantage of these funds is that they often cost relatively little to sign up to.
Can anyone invest their money?
Yes, and millions of people do, but experts stress that a long-term strategy is required to ride out short-term falls. It is also important to ensure cash savings are held too, so unexpected expenses - like the need for a replacement boiler - can be covered.
The government is keen to get people in the UK to invest more, partly because it says that will help UK economic growth and partly because it is much more popular among individuals in the US and some parts of Europe.
It backed an advertising campaign to encourage people to invest, funded by some of the UK's biggest financial services firms.
But the choice of "Savvy the Squirrel" to front the campaign has raised some eyebrows. Some question whether the push could get anywhere close to the success of the Tell Sid adverts of the 1980s, which encouraged people to invest in the newly privatised British Gas.
Will things get more expensive?
When we see big shifts in the stock markets there can also be fluctuations in the value of currencies and exchange rates.
As a result, prices could go up, but could also go down.
Upheaval to economies across the world, to oil prices and so on, have a big impact on what we pay at home for goods and services, so there are lots of factors in play.
Clarification 19 December: This article was amended to provide more context around how companies issue shares.
Tiara Allen arrived on time to interview for a retail job. Her interviewer didn't.
She waited for around 40 minutes in a shopping centre while the interviewer's co-worker called them "two or three times".
When they finally showed up, Tiara says she was told it was because the meeting wasn't in the schedule.
She needed work at the time, so took the job when she was offered it, but says she would handle the situation differently now.
"I would not take a job if they took that long," she says, adding that she believed her treatment during the interview was a sign of how the firm tended to treat staff.
Tiara is far from alone. She is one of many people who spoke to the BBC about their worst job interview experiences after we wrote about the one interview question that leaves you feeling uncomfortable.
While those situations can be hard to deal with in the moment, they can also teach us a lot about the world of work.
'Are you a crier?'
During an interview for an assistant at a book publisher in New York, Chas Edwards was asked a question he wasn't expecting.
"I was asked for my first job if I was a crier," he recalls.
Thinking the interviewer was being funny, Chas replied that he didn't cry. He was later told that this was why he got the job.
"Her last assistant had cried – too often, I guess? – and she wanted someone who didn't cry. So she was being serious and I thought it was a joke," he says.
It was a bad sign. Chas says it was "a terrible, terrible job with a miserable boss" and while he managed to make it through 13 months there without crying he was "crying inside".
"I set the world record for working for this person. No-one had ever lasted three months with her before," he recalls.
Despite all this, Chas says he is in some ways grateful the experience was so awful.
"Because every job since then, even the bad ones, are not that bad," he says, adding that he can "cry anywhere now".
Corinne Card also found herself floored when the first question she was asked in an interview for an administrative job was if she liked working with people.
When she replied yes, she was told that the job wouldn't be for her and the interview ended there.
"I don't know if it was a deliberate trap. Because who would answer 'I don't like working with people'?"
Corinne Mills, joint managing director of Personal Career Management, says that it can be worth asking an interviewer to clarify any weird questions, perhaps by repeating the question back to them.
However, if a line of questioning is really off-putting, she says it can also be a sign of what it's like to work there, saying that interviews are also about candidates judging the company.
Meanwhile, other questions are not just annoying – they are illegal.
Discrimination against a protected characteristic is against the law, meaning an employer cannot treat you less favourably based on your age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.
Employment lawyer Roy Magara says that women being asked if they intend on having children in an interview is a "quite common" kind of bias. He says he has also seen a case where an older candidate was told he didn't get the job after an interview because he didn't fit the "vibe" of a younger team.
If you think these sorts of biases took place in your interview, Roy says you can send the company a subject access request to see how they discussed your application internally.
Worst-case scenarios like these can make interviews feel very difficult, especially considering the control employers have over candidates.
Euan Cameron, co-founder of hiring software Willo, says that even with this power imbalance it's important not to overthink what an interview is.
"An interview is just a conversation between two people," he says.
Of course, as in Tiara's case, it helps when both of those people show up.
Interest rates have risen for the first time in more than three years and the Bank of England has signalled a further increase is likely unless the US-Iran war is resolved.
Rates rose to 4% from 3.75% in a bid to curb inflation mainly driven by the conflict's impact on global oil prices.
Andrew Bailey, the Bank's governor, said the decision "shouldn't be seen as the first in an inevitable long sequence of hikes", but warned "unless the conflict in the Middle East is resolved, neither does it seem likely to be the last increase".
The higher level will increase the cost of borrowing for things such as mortgages, loans and credit cards, but will also lead to higher returns on savings.
The Bank's rate-setting committee all backed increasing interest rates, with eight out of nine voting in favour of the rise to 4%. One member wanted an even bigger increase to 4.25%.
Bailey said the hike was warranted due to higher energy prices and pointed to what happens in the Middle East as the main factor in future decisions.
"Put simply, it requires real progress towards settling the conflict in the Middle East," the governor said.
Bailey said he could "see the argument" for a further rate hike, before taking a "more conditional approach" dependent on the path of energy prices and inflation in the coming months.
However, the views of members on the rate-setting committee differed on the path forward.
Clare Lombardelli agreed there was "likely to be a case for a further increase in rates in the near term", while Megan Greene went further, suggesting "additional hikes" might be likely depending on how inflation impacted wages, prices and the jobs market.
However, Alan Taylor said the rate rise was a "a risk-management 'one-for-now' insurance hike".
Inflation, which measures the pace of price rises over time, is well below its peak of a few years ago but remains above the Bank of England's 2% target and is expected to increase further next year.
Prices rose 3.5% in the year to September 2026, largely due to higher fuel prices. Millions of households are also set to be hit by energy bill increases in January.
Higher fuel prices can lead to prices rising for a host of goods and staples as businesses pass on higher costs to customers.
But the Bank said there was "limited evidence" this had happened so far for goods, such as food, with some firms absorbing cost increases and accepting lower margins.
In an interview with the BBC, Bailey defended the decision to raise rates despite the Bank's assessment that inflation was yet to spread to other parts of the economy.
He said further increases in energy prices are putting upward pressure on inflation and "that's what we have to seek to lean against".
Patrick Bryson, from Brighton, is set to see his five-year mortgage term with a 3.51% interest rate end soon.
The best deal the 51-year-old can find is a 5.17% loan with HSBC, which means his repayments will jump from £1,420 to £1,680 a month from February.
"The only thing that bugs me about the mortgage is that after five years of paying it off we are now paying more than we were before," said the father-of-three. "That's a bit of a slap in the face."
The guitar teacher, who has a combined income of around £68,000 a year with his wife, who manages a care home, said the couple is feeling pressure on their finances and so have changed their shopping habits and are looking to reduce their subcription outgoings.
"Over the last year I have stopped buying wine, we don't go out to eat much anymore, we have knocked takeaways on the head. The prices are ridiculous," he said.
The Bank now expects inflation to peak at 4.9% in the middle of next year, higher than it originally estimated, and not return to 2% until 2028.
But in an "adverse scenario", where the US-Iran war could escalate further and send oil prices higher, inflation could reach 6.2% in 2027, it suggested.
While the UK cannot control global energy prices, the Bank raised rates, for the first time since August 2023, in order to limit the knock-on effects of high energy prices resulting in inflation going up across the board.
Its base rate is what it charges other banks and building societies to borrow money, which influences what customers for mortgages, loans, credit cards get charged, as well as savings rates.
The rate rise will see 510,000 tracker mortgage-holders see a £31 monthly jump in repayments, according to banking trade body UK Finance.
Homeowners on fixed deals will see no change, though future products may be affected.
However, people on variable deals will be impacted depending on how their lender reacts to the rate rise. Typically a 0.25pp rise means a £14 increase per month in repayments.
People riding drunk or dangerously on e-bikes – and those who jump red lights - could face on-the-spot fines under plans to curb anti-social behaviour.
Firms which run shared e-bike schemes will also be expected to manage their fleets better and provide designated parking areas to keep pavements safe.
They could also be required to take out insurance so people can claim compensation if they are hit by someone on a shared bike.
It's part of a crackdown on what ministers called the "wild west" of e-biking – with a patchwork of rules across the country often leaving the streets unsafe for pedestrians.
A consultation launched on Thursday sets out proposed national standards to make journeys safer for everyone and keep pavements clear, particularly for wheelchair users and families with prams.
The first e-bikes were launched in Exeter in 2016 and arrived in London a year later, growing to become a popular commuter option.
According to the Greater London Authority, 37 million trips were taken on dockless e-bikes last year – a third more than the previous year.
Shared e-bikes - such as Lime, Voi, Beryl, Dott, Forest and Bolt - make short journeys quick and convenient.
While some areas enforce rules that mean shared bikes can only be left in specific areas, others have looser rules.
Under the government's proposals, local leaders will be able to license schemes in their area, allowing them to enforce minimum standards and better integrate e-bikes into existing transport networks.
Measures could include requiring operators to have a parking plan and to manage fleet sizes and operating areas, so bikes aren't overcrowding streets.
The consultation will also consider ways to tackle antisocial and illegal behaviour, to prevent users from riding shared cycles drunk, underage, or on pavements. There will also be clear consequences set out – such as fines - for this type of behaviour.
The government is also consulting on whether local leaders should have extra powers, including setting fees and requirements for operators to share data to improve enforcement and journey planning.
The consultation will last for eight weeks after which the government will draw up legislation to implement the changes.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the e-bike clampdown was a "small but important everyday fix" which would make streets safer.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the government wanted e-bike schemes to "grow in popularity" but acknowledged they were "causing a little bit of nuisance at the moment".
Asked how punishments for dangerous cycling could be enforced, Alexander said licensing rules could allow for fines but added: "What you can't do is legislate for every eventuality, you can't legislate for idiots."
"The police enforce the rules of the road to stop cyclists when they are behaving recklessly but police have got a lot on their plate so individuals have to take some responsibility," she added.
Bosses at Lime, Voi and Bolt all welcomed the proposals, adding that consistent standards being applied across the country would provide clarity and certainty for operators, riders and the general public.
Mike Wordingham from the Royal National Institute for the Blind said 92% of blind and partially sighted people had been forced to walk into roads due to e-bikes blocking pavements.
He welcomed the government's announced but warned that tackling rider behaviour would be "difficult" and said a locally-led approach shouldn't lead to "a patchwork of regulations and inconsistency in implementing them".
Interest rates have risen to 4% and the Bank of England has indicated there are more rises to come. The question is how many? There is a split on the rate-setting committee here.
Three of the nine voting members referred to "rises" plural. One member voted for a bigger increase, to 4.25%. Three referred to just one more including governor Andrew Bailey.
My read on this is that the expectation is for one more rise in February. Two and done, but it depends.
It is painful for those on variable mortgages, but should not be seen as the start of a cycle of hikes.
Predicting where interest rates will go is like throwing darts at a board that constantly moves around the wall, with expectations of how long the Iran War will last and its impact on the economy and prices lurching from day to day.
At least there is no blindfold.
The Bank's forecasts indicate inflation is heading to just under 5% next spring as a typical household energy bill surges by 27% in January to £2,150 a year.
Why now?
Why have they raised now? High and rising inflation risks a further cycle of self fulfilling expectations of rising prices. It hasn't been seen so far, however. The war has lasted for 9 months, and led to oil prices used in the forecast averaging $108 a barrel.
And yet on the day they have announced the rate rise, the oil price is actually 13% lower than that having fallen in the run up and after the US mid term elections, reflecting expectations or guesses that President Trump will now retreat or deescalate from the Iran war.
The other notable factor is that the UK economy is performing much better than forecasts and expectations. This is underlined by the Bank of England's latest forecasts.
Growth has been 0.6%, and 0.5% in the first two quarters of the year. It is heading for 0.7%, the Bank said, between July and September, before slowing in the three months to the end of the year. Unemployment has stabilised, actually falling a little.
Some of this has fed through into a better performing currency, with sterling at its highest level since the Brexit referendum, when measured against a basket of currencies. This can help rein in inflation by making imports cheaper.
So, this is an unusual type of uncertainty. Even the expected further rise, probably in February next year is conditional on the war continuing.
The Bank of England stopped waiting for President Trump's war to end today, but perhaps the Democrats' resounding victory in the US midterm elections will stop the inflationary wave? The Bank has thrown a tentative first dart, and there is probably another to come.
Interest rates have been raised for the first time in more than three years - and it could be good and bad news for you.
Here are three ways the increase to 4% from 3.75% could affect you.
1. Jobs and pay
Rate-setters at the Bank make changes to interest rates to fulfil their role of keeping price rises at a steady level.
Higher rates are meant to encourage people to spend less, reducing demand for goods and services and limiting price rises.
This impacts businesses in two ways - less money to spend among their customers may mean they sell less, but also the cost of borrowing to invest as a company goes up.
Many businesses, particularly small ones, have variable rate loans which are influenced by the Bank rate.
Firms say higher rates limit their ability to offer new jobs and wage rises.
Mitchell Barnes, founder and chief executive of Ryse 3D, which manufactures 3D parts for the defence and automotive sectors, said the "reality" of rising interest rates was to look at the cost of employees and people.
That could include greater use of robots rather than workers.
"It's going to cause issues with, I suppose, employment across all sectors for people," he said.
"You're going to see reduced employment, more automation, more robotics being put into facilities, just in order to increase efficiency and make that money go further."
2. Boost to savings
The Bank rate - and where it is expected to go in future - has a significant impact on the interest rates customers are offered on savings products.
So, if you're saving up for something quite expensive, like a holiday, or very expensive, like a home, then a rate rise could be good news.
When interest rates were low throughout the 2010s, the returns for savers were poor, but borrowing costs were low too.
The answer then and now, according to experts, is to make sure you move your savings to benefit from the best possible rates.
Leaving your savings in an old account (a product not offered to new customers), rather than shopping around, can mean you are penalised for your loyalty.
"Savers have endured years of unrewarded loyalty, with those leaving [a £20,000 cash pot] in closed accounts losing out on an extra £139 over the past three years compared to on-sale easy access accounts," said Rachel Springall, from financial information service Moneyfacts.
She also said locking away your money for longer, with a fixed-term deal, is usually more lucrative.
The other flipside is that renting while you save could get more expensive, because a rising Bank rate may well increase costs for landlords.
3. Mortgages and loans
The big losers from a rate rise are those who borrow money, and specifically those on variable rate mortgages.
About 500,000 homeowners have a mortgage that "tracks" the Bank of England's rate.
Any rise in the Bank rate means an increase in the monthly repayments on their outstanding loan. For a typical loan, the cost is going up by about £31 a month now the Bank has raised the base rate, but it depends on the size of people's loans.
An additional 500,000 homeowners on standard variable rates (SVRs) must wait to see if their lender chooses to pass on any Bank rate rise. Typically, this would mean a £14 increase per month in repayments for a 0.25 percentage points rates rise.
If you, like 87% of mortgage-holders, have a fixed-rate deal, then the payments will stay the same until the end of your current deal, which is usually two or five years.
While monthly payments are not immediately affected by a rate change, future deals are. Lenders had already "priced in" the latest rate rise when quoting new deals. Expectations for the Bank rate into next year are crucial on what they offer next.
The average rate on fixed deals are much higher now than was predicted at the start of the year. It means those remortgaging, possibly after the post-Covid boom in the housing market, are facing the prospect of higher mortgage payments.
Some people have been choosing to move onto tracker deals instead, taking a view - including some risk - of the Bank rate not moving towards a series of further hikes.
A second buyer has made a rescue bid for Poundland as the discount retailer teeters on the brink of collapse, with thousands of jobs at risk.
London-based Xyra Group has offered to pay off half of Poundland's outstanding debts - a key sticking point in takeover talks so far - immediately. The rest would be deferred.
With Poundland close to collapse, US-based owners Gordon Brothers have already rejected a rival bid from an Irish property group which would have saved its 12,000 staff.
Gordon Brothers said the business has faced years of instability and "remains challenged and vulnerable".
Sources familiar with the offer said Xyra is offering to immediately pay off £12.5m of an outstanding £30m loan on Poundland's books.
The offer came as Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds held crunch talks with Gordon Brothers about the future of the business, urging the investment firm to protect staff however possible.
Gordon Brothers, which bought Poundland for £1 last June, committed at the meeting to prioritise offers which protect its shops and workers.
The company said: "We are pursuing all avenues through the sale process to find a solution which protects as many jobs as possible and preserves value. Work continues at pace, engaging in active discussions on offers with interested parties."
Xyra is offering to pay off a higher proportion of Poundland's outstanding debts than Martin Property Group, which previously submitted a bid that Gordon Brothers rejected.
But doubts remain about the credibility of Xyra's offer, as there is little evidence they meet Gordon Brothers' tests, including whether they have the money and whether they would be good long-term owners of Poundland.
Sources pointed to the appointment of Andrew Brode to Xyra's board as a sign of its credibility. Brode works for RWS - a company that provides AI solutions for businesses.
Judith MacKenzie, head of Downing Fund Managers, told the BBC Brode is "well known and very credible" among small businesses in the UK.
But she said there is "hardly any information" publicly available about Xyra. "So, although some of the people look good, I can't find any evidence to say that they've got the money to back it up yet," MacKenzie added.
Gordon Brothers said: "Our intent throughout the comprehensive sale process has been to protect as many jobs as possible and preserve value in order to deliver the best available outcome for all the people, creditors and local communities who care about this business as much as we do."
Both Reynolds and Prime Minister Andy Burnham have questioned why a deal for the future of Poundland has not yet been made.
Though Xyra made an offer to take over the whole business, it is unclear whether it would keep Poundland together as its owner or break the company up.
Several Poundland suppliers have said they would also go bust if the retailer collapses. Its founder Steve Smith said two or three thousand suppliers to the firm, those who solely work for Poundland, would be caught up in the collapse.
He added that not only would Poundland's 12,000 staff be affected in that case, but potentially up to 30,000 overall.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has met the US-based owners of Poundland as the government hopes to save the retailer from collapse.
The discount chain is on the brink of insolvency and Gordon Brothers, which bought it for £1 last June, has rejected a takeover bid which could have saved the 12,000 jobs currently at risk.
A meeting was due to be held on Thursday but was brought forward as the scramble to secure a rescue deal for the firm intensifies.
Gordon Brothers said it is "pursuing all avenues through the sales process" but that Poundland has faced several years of instability and "remains challenged and vulnerable".
The firm said it is "engaging in active discussions on offers with interested parties".
It added: "When Gordon Brothers acquired the business, it was in distress and required a radical restructure, urgent operational change and significant funding, which we provided to support the company's ability to trade."
Both Reynolds and Prime Minister Andy Burnham have questioned why a deal for the future of the business has not been made.
On Wednesday, a source close to business secretary said Reynolds "has been firm that Gordon Brothers must do everything in their power to protect jobs and provide certainty for workers".
"He is pleased to have secured this commitment from Gordon Brothers in the meeting and will continue to hold the company to account and closely monitor developments," the source added.
It is understood that Gordon Brothers made a commitment in the meeting to prioritise bids that will protect workers and units.
However, it is still unclear whether the US investment firm will keep the business together or break it up.
Meanwhile, MPs say they have called in Poundland's owners for questioning on Wednesday 11 November to explain their role in the discount retailer's looming insolvency.
Liam Byrne, chair of Parliament's business committee, said: "Every report suggests Poundland is a viable, profitable business with a future ahead of it and without good reason to let it crash and burn - and then to break it up and sell it off piece by piece.
"We are asking Gordon Brothers to appear before Parliament to explain themselves and tell us just what it is that's preventing them from accepting the fully-funded deal on the table to save more than 12,000 jobs."
Business Minister Kate Dearden and union representatives met Poundland's managing director Barry Williams on Wednesday.
Mr Williams told the BBC that Poundland is profitable and sales were growing.
"We're back in profit and it has a bright future ahead of it if it's allowed to deliver that," he said.
Poundland has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, which protects it from its creditors until next Thursday.
Asked what his message for Poundland's owner was, Burnham said Gordon Brothers should "focus on the people in your employment" and "come up with a practical solution that saves jobs and saves those stores".
"There is a solution to be found here, sit down with us and let's find it," he added.
The meeting comes after a major Poundland supplier has said it will lose millions of pounds if the retailer goes bust.
Adam Turner, sales director at Bradford-based Highcrest Retail Brands, said Poundland was one of its biggest customers and its collapse would cost it "a few million" in lost sales.
The family owned business mainly sells confectionery to Poundland and turns over about £50m.
Turner said the firm becoming insolvent would leave a substantial gap in its balance sheet next year.
Highcrest was a "longstanding business that can stomach this", Turner said. But he warned other medium and small suppliers to the retailer have told him that "if Poundland goes under, so do they".
This echoes a warning from Poundland founder Steve Smith on Monday that two or three thousand suppliers to the firm, which only work for Poundland, would be directly affected by its collapse.
Not only would Poundland's 12,000 staff be affected in that case, but potentially up to 30,000 overall, he told the BBC on Wednesday.
He said he was "amazed" Poundland was being put into administration, pointing to the profitability of the company.
"Also, there's two offers on the table from some really good people," he added.
"All I'm asking is for Gordon Brothers to see if they can put a deal together."
Gordon Brothers said Walsall-based Poundland is "still not cash generative at a sustainable level" because of the economic issues it faces.
If Poundland's stores are sold to new buyers, some of the employees may get new jobs on the same premises.
However, it is understood that buyers are only interested in about half the stores at present – meaning roughly 6,000 employees would not be re-employed.
High stock levels
If Poundland goes under, suppliers will be getting "pennies in the pound" back from the administration, he said, which is "very upsetting" – although he still hopes a deal can be done so Poundland can remain solvent.
Poundland owners Gordon Brothers will be a secured creditor, which means they are first in line to get their money back, and suppliers "who have done nothing wrong" will take the financial hit.
"It's sad. It's a nightmare for us all to be honest with you. It's not just the suppliers, it's the staff at Poundland, some of these guys have been there for many years.
"It's from the warehouse staff all the way to the shop staff to everybody within head office. It's a massive ripple effect through the supply chain," he added.
Turner said he had no knowledge of whether Gordon Brothers had deliberately timed the process of Poundland going into administration so it could take advantage of having high stock levels, which it can then sell.
One of the ways Gordon Brothers makes money is through stock liquidations – selling off stock from collapsed businesses.
One insider familiar with the situation told the BBC that the timing of Poundland facing collapse was "odd" – most retailers don't fall over in the run-up to Christmas.
Ministers' questions
Dearden has said the government doesn't want to interfere with "current ongoing commercial negotiations", but that ministers want "clarity" on the plans for the retailer.
"It's absolutely legitimate for this government to ask the business if they're doing everything they can to protect employees and suppliers up and down the country," she added.
Dearden told MPs that the government would be ready to help the company's employees if Poundland collapses.
The head of Gordon Brothers' European operations reportedly told the government that the firm stood by its stewardship and had given Poundland £85m in additional financing since its purchase in 2025.
The pound has risen to its highest overall level since the Brexit referendum over a decade ago.
Sterling has risen notably in recent weeks against the euro and the dollar, ahead of an expected rise in interest rates.
The most-watched measure of the value of the British currency against a basket of 18 of the world's main currencies this week reached its joint highest level since the June 2016 referendum, according to Bank of England figures.
The value reached 86.4 on an index where 100 equals the value in 2005. The Bank will officially confirm the calculation on Thursday.
The value of sterling fell significantly after the Brexit referendum in June 2016, and reached further lows during the Brexit process, the Covid pandemic and the 2022 mini-Budget.
Some traders said the UK was being seen in a different light given relative political stability, solid growth and the rapprochement with the European Union.
Sterling has responded strongly to Brexit developments and political uncertainty in recent years.
Jim O'Neill, an economist and former Treasury minister, said: "I'm not surprised. People were, and to a lesser extent, are, underestimating the improving momentum in the UK."
A stronger pound can help rein in inflation, and increase buying power for consumers on imports and on holidays.
UK growth so far this year has outperformed all forecasts, but there are signs that higher energy and fuel prices have now hit consumer confidence.
The Bank's nine-member Monetary Policy Committee faces an important decision on interest rates on Thursday, with the first rise in three years widely expected.
The pound was up 0.13% against the dollar at $1.3495 and 0.16% lower against the euro at €1.1979 as of 04:15 GMT on Thursday.
Kellogg's has told the BBC the "snap, crackle and pop" sound made by its Rice Krispies may be noticeably quieter after an uproar over the cereal giant's recipe change.
Rice Krispies and Coco Pops are no longer being made with whole rice grains, with the tiny toasted puffs being made using corn flour and rice flour instead.
A Kellogg's spokesperson said retaining the iconic sound had been a "huge focus" when designing the new recipe, but that customers "might notice that the sound may be quieter and not as instant as before".
The firm was responding to complaints online that the taste of the breakfast staples had changed, with some fans adding they missed the "pop" sound.
Kellogg's said it had adapted the recipes due to "changing weather conditions" that have disrupted supplies of some grains and cereals.
The cereal giant said the new versions had been "carefully assessed for taste, appearance and texture", but some shoppers said their children would no longer eat them.
Some expressed dismay that the taste and texture were "totally different" and dubbed the change "grim" and "disgusting".
"There's no snap, crackle and pop in these," a parent named Dani wrote on TikTok. "My toddler won't eat them."
Lauren, also posting on TikTok, added that she had been eating Rice Krispies every day for breakfast "for years and years".
"I had a bowl of the new recipe and you can immediately tell the difference," she said. "They don't have the snapping sound when you put in the milk."
Jessicake meanwhile said they tasted "weird and stale".
The "Snap, Crackle and Pop" - made when milk is added to the puffed rice - has been a centrepiece of the brand's marketing since the 1950s.
Kellogg's insisted the snap, crackle and pop is "still there, but consumers might notice that the sound may be quieter and not as instant as before".
Recipe changes are notoriously difficult for big brands. Chocolate makers are constantly accused of reducing cocoa content in their products and debates rage online over whether ketchup ingredients have changed.
When Scottish fizzy drink Irn Bru cut its sugar content in 2018, fans famously stockpiled crates of the old version.
No changes are being made to Rice Krispies products in the US and Canada, which are owned by a separate company.
Kellogg's said the recipe change in the UK would help "maintain consistent quality" as extreme weather takes a toll on crops and pushes up ingredient prices.
Extreme weather in Spain in 2022 and 2023 in particular had reduced availability of the types of rice the company uses for its breakfast cereals, the company said.
Rice Krispies, launched nearly a century ago, are sold around the world and come in variations such as vanilla and strawberry flavours in some markets alongside the widespread chocolate-flavoured Coco Pops version.
"We appreciate that even small changes to a much-loved product can feel noticeable and that's why we have approached this with a lot of care and consideration," Kellogg's said.
The firm said it appreciated the customer feedback and would "continue to look at ways to make [its] products even better in the future".
The cereals have already undergone some change, with reductions in salt content in the 1990s and lowered sugar in 2018. The company said Rice Krispies and Coco Pops will continue to meet UK food standards on levels of fat, salt and sugar in food.
A backlash against processed foods in recent years, especially those low in fibre and high in sugar, has put breakfast cereals generally under the spotlight from healthy eating advocates.
Kellogg's stressed the cereals contain no artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners and the nutritional benefits in each bowl, such as fibre, Vitamin D and iron are staying the same.
However, the new recipes mean packaging will now include a "contains wheat gluten" warning. It also continues to contain barley-malt extract.
Kellogg's said it has not changed the recipe for any of its other cereals.
Many parts of the world have been affected by droughts, floods and heatwaves this year due to the El Niño weather phenomenon. The weather event is expected to severely affect crop production from South East Asia in particular. The region produces more than a quarter of the world's rice.
The World Meteorological Agency expects the record-breaking El Niño will last until at least 2027.
That will intensify pressure on food manufacturing companies, already looking at ways to source reliable and affordable ingredients.
The original Kellogg company separated into two distinct firms in 2023.
The largest is Kellanova, which focuses on snacks, cereals, noodles and other food products like Eggo, Pringles and Pop-Tarts sold globally. It is now owned by Mars, which makes confectionery and pet food.
The other business, WK Kellogg's, operates in North America and has since been taken over by Italian chocolate giant Ferrero.
Canva, one of Australia's best known start-ups, has announced a shake up of the business that will affect 22% of its workers, including job cuts.
In what was "without doubt the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history" co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins said 1,271 people would either lose their jobs, be asked to relocate or change roles.
The firm's value has reportedly dropped in the past year over concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on its business as well as the cost of incorporating the technology into its platforms.
It had been "our hardest year yet, and as we shared earlier this year, our growth has slowed for the first time in a decade," Perkins wrote to staff.
The "incredibly hard decision" meant "significant changes," Perkins said.
"For some people, this will mean changes to their roles or being asked to relocate to centralised hubs. Sadly, it will also mean saying goodbye to teammates and friends who have helped build Canva into what it is today."
The company, which has staff in 37 countries, said Sydney would become the "primary home" for more of its product teams and that as of next year hybrid workers would be expected to spend two to three days in the office.
Earlier this year two of its backers, Blackbird Ventures and Airtree, reportedly downgraded its valuation from A$60bn ($41.8bn; £31.1bn) at the end of last year to about A$49bn.
Canva also reportedly cut its own internal valuation amid soaring AI expenses related to the roll out of new products.
"New technology is transforming what people can create, how they create it, and what they expect from the products they use," Perkins said in her note on Wednesday.
Perkins, who left university at 19 to found her first venture, launched Canva in 2013.
The company offers a variety of templates and tools to help users without technical skills or a design background to create a range of professional-looking graphics and presentations, from wedding invitations to business pitch decks.
Recent university graduate Lotte Underwood is a public relations executive with a twist - she spends more time using AI than actually doing PR.
Underwood, 25, joined London-based PR agency Fight or Flight in November last year, in the new role of "AI associate" after completing a degree and then a masters in marketing.
She's part of a recently established, dedicated AI team that has built around 30 AI agents. Specific tasks include industry research, client reporting, media interview preparation, helping clients create clearer briefs, and image generation.
A big part of Underwood's job is to manage those agents, check their outputs and feed those to the team members who are dealing directly with clients and the media.
Another key responsibility of hers is to monitor how clients appear in the responses from AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and others.
"A huge part is being in client meetings and calls to work out what is actually going to be most helpful from these agents," says Underwood.
AI is seen as one of the main factors behind graduate job cuts, but companies are also creating dedicated AI-specific graduate roles like Underwood's.
Dillan Patel, for example, joined engineering software company Stride 18 months ago as an intern. A business management graduate, he was put to work developing an internal chatbot designed to capture the knowledge of a senior staff member transitioning into retirement.
Patel, 24, is now an AI automation analyst, tasked with developing further internal agents to provide specific information to individual teams, while also identifying which manual or repetitive tasks across the company could be done by AI.
"My role focuses on finding practical ways to use technology, automation, data and AI to improve how we operate," says Coventry-based Patel.
Such AI savvy graduates are also in demand from companies like ArvatoConnect, an outsourced contact centre company.
CEO Debra Maxwell says the company's usual graduate intake is on hold this year, but she plans to resume it next year with a bigger focus on AI.
"We would be looking for more AI-disruptor type roles, where you can challenge us as an organisation to think more holistically about where AI can be applied and where we could grow our business from," says London-based Maxwell.
"We see our graduates as not filling administrative roles, but actually adding value to the organisation in a different way."
Maxwell adds: "For example, one of our recent graduates is using AI to do deep dives on specific markets, and provide more information for when we're bidding [for new contracts]. It's basically giving him a more rounded role."
If AI can make a graduate job bigger and more integral to the organisation, Maxwell argues that companies can create a more loyal, engaged workforce that is able to contribute more meaningfully, much earlier.
Research from consultancy PwC found that some graduate roles are assuming more responsibilities because of AI, as it allows companies to demand more senior abilities from junior hires.
For the consultancy's 2026 AI Jobs Barometer, it analysed 2.4 million entry-level jobs in the US. It found that the entry-level roles most influenced by AI are now seven times more likely to require traditionally senior-level skills. These include motivational leadership, strategic decision making and team building.
Those entry-level roles with higher expectations have in fact grown 35% since 2019, PwC found, while other entry-level roles actually shrank by 10%.
Cian Clinton, who joined consultancy Valliance last September after graduating from a Bachelor of Science in 2024, says the incorporation of AI into his role makes him feel less like a graduate, and more like an equal team member. He uses around 10 AI agents daily for different tasks.
"Your ideas and your creativity are a lot more valued because you actually get to implement those firsthand, and the responsibility you take on is a lot greater because of that," says London-based Clinton, 23.
"I am now taking on responsibilities which would usually take me four or five years to get to."
His career progression, he believes, will now be faster as a result.
"AI is killing the 'pyramid' approach…progression is no longer based on your knowledge bank. Now it's more based on your critical thinking and understanding of the processes," says Clinton.
'Learning the trade'
There's no doubt Underwood, Patel and Clinton are developing valuable AI knowledge which can help them across their careers.
But with their time at work so focused on AI, does it matter how much - or how little - time they're spending learning about the professional field they're supposed to be operating in?
Underwood says she'd like to still pick up the traditional PR skills her role isn't currently focused on, but is confident of her future in the agency's growing AI team.
"There's certain things that I haven't had the chance to do yet, like directly pitching to the media. I absolutely plan to do this," she says.
Graduates becoming too AI-centric is an issue for Simon Pratt, chief operating officer at Portman Finance Group. He says being able to use AI effectively is important, but the company's two-year graduate programme is fully centred on "learning the trade".
"Our graduates rotate across four areas at six-month intervals, working directly alongside senior relationship managers to learn their trade," Northampton-based Pratt explains.
"They'll learn all of our financial products, how to draft credit papers for submission to lenders, and how to build meaningful relationships with our customers. They'll progress to running transactions from start to finish."
Claire Reid, PwC UK's chief technology and innovation officer, believes graduate roles that are too AI heavy won't necessarily provide graduates long-term career progression.
"There will be no graduate job now that doesn't require a baseline of AI literacy," says Glasgow-based Reid.
"But AI skills on their own are not going to help you in your career. You've got to couple that with that sector knowledge of what that client actually wants."
Back in Coventry, Dillan Patel is confident his AI work will continue to be valuable, and he wants to keep building on it.
"I don't think I'd want to explore different positions within the business. Through my involvement in AI-related projects, I already work closely with different areas of the business and I'm gaining valuable knowledge and experience along the way," he says.
The UK and EU have agreed a draft deal on removing post-Brexit checks from food and agriculture exports, ahead of the UK-EU summit later this month.
The BBC understands the 200-page draft text for this so called "SPS" [sanitary and phytosanitary] agreement has been circulated to EU nations in Brussels for consideration at a meeting on Wednesday.
Similar texts for deals on emissions trading and a youth travel and work scheme have also been circulated alongside a 15-page draft joint statement for UK and EU top leaders.
The food deal is the most significant part of the so-called Brexit reset agreed so far, removing checks and red tape that hit exporters after the UK exited the EU's single market.
As a result of the agreement, the government claims the UK economy will eventually see £5.1bn worth of annual benefits.
Speaking during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Antigua and Barbuda, the prime minister said a UK-EU deal could add up to 0.4% extra on GDP.
The deal could have the following impact:
* Exports to the EU of fresh sausages, burgers, shellfish from domestic waters and seed potatoes would be able to resume
* It should remove the need for £200 Export Health Certificates, which confirm the product meets the health requirements of the country it is heading to
* It should also end the need for £25 Phytosanitary certificates, which show that plants or plant products are free from pests and diseases
* Inspector fees, organic certificates, some port fees and other checks for exports and imports to and from the EU could be removed
* It will bring back passports for British pets being taken into the EU
In return, the UK is expected to commit to observing and adapting to existing EU regulations on plant, animal and food trade standards - a process called "dynamic alignment".
Each of the elements on the table was up for discussion under Sir Keir Starmer, and the summit would have taken place by now had Labour not replaced its leader in July.
Under Andy Burnham, Britain's approach to post-Brexit relations with the EU have shifted significantly. Sir Keir said the UK would not rejoin the bloc in his lifetime, while Burnham has said he would like to see Britain back in the EU in his.
At Chogm on Tuesday, Burnham said: "I think people in Britain would expect me to take that with both hands, given where we've been in recent times, and that's what I'm doing."
Pressed on whether it would be acceptable for the UK to have its rules on food trade made by the EU, he said: "We're not in the EU, therefore we do have to work with them in a different way.
"But if that can get growth, if that can help our farmers, if that can remove red tape from British businesses, I think most people would expect me to go to that summit and negotiate the best deal that I can.
"And that's what I've been doing in recent weeks, leaning in, being positive, having a really constructive relationship with our European partners and hopefully we can land a good deal for Britain in terms of growth but also I hope more collaboration on controlling immigration."
Jon Walsh, the chief executive and co-founder of Bio&Me, which makes granolas, mueslis and yoghurts, told BBC 5 Live the draft deal sounded like "really good news".
"We're just a small company but when we were trying to export our yoghurts before, every time we'd send a pallet we had to pay a vet to inspect it and that was £140, and that meant that you'd lose money... so we had to stop."
The company also had problems exporting granola and overnight oats, with some shipments being returned.
"It was so frustrating because it was the same person filling out the same form and yet half would make it through and half wouldn't," Walsh said.
"You just kind of give up because you're losing money."
In an interview with ITV, Burnham said "public opinion has changed nationally" since the 2016 Brexit vote, but added he would "not run ahead of public opinion" on the issue.
"The public need to be the boss when it comes to whatever happens with Brexit," he added.
Burnham also said he had not proposed the return of freedom of movement between the UK and EU.
Asked by the BBC about the UK's relationship with the EU, Tory Leader Kemi Badenoch said that while we should "work closely", "dynamic alignment" with the EU would be a red line and "actually take us backwards".
Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton said the draft deal was a "patch, not a fix".
"The real solution is to rejoin the single market and to establish a customs union with the EU," he added.
Reform UK's business spokesman Richard Tice said: "One of the key benefits of Brexit was that Britain no longer had to adhere to ridiculous EU rules.
"Returning to any form of alignment with Europe would crush Britain's competitiveness and force us to surrender sovereignty over trade policy, putting trade deals worth hundreds of billions of pounds at risk."
While UK rules remain mostly aligned with EU ones, there are some areas where England has diverged from the EU rule book, for example on "precision breeding" of plants, previously known as gene editing. In recent weeks, agreement has been struck on transition arrangements while the EU's new regulations come in to force.
The government has already announced a European Partnerships Bill which will provide a legal mechanism for the application of new EU rules and regulations. This will also allow for the necessary alignments for the linking of the UK emissions trading scheme with the EU's, and save the need for UK exporters to pay the EU's new carbon border tax.
The draft agreements will be discussed at a meeting of EU ambassadors called Coreper on Wednesday, with some key details on the planned numbers in a Youth Experience Scheme to be finalised at a political level in the coming days. A discount on full foreign student fees for EU students is likely to be pushed to next year alongside a plan to reconnect electricity markets.
The BBC understands the draft agreements will also include some references to UK involvement in defence co-operation schemes, access to law enforcement databases and some reassurances over the EU's "Made in Europe" plans.
A food deal will have particular significance for Northern Ireland, radically reducing the impact of the post-Brexit Irish Sea border.
Northern Ireland's Brexit deal kept it inside the EU's single market for goods. That means food products from elsewhere in the UK require paperwork and some physical checks when arriving at NI's ports. A deal will ultimately end those requirements.
While the food trade plans have been backed by supermarkets and farmers representatives, some pro-Brexit campaigners have criticised the reapplication of EU rules. The post-Brexit trade deal signed by Boris Johnson's government prioritised regulatory freedoms for the UK over avoiding new regulatory red tape, checks and delays.
But William Bain, the British Chamber of Commerce's (BCC) head of trade policy, told the BBC's Today programme that business overall thought it was a "price is worth paying" to follow common rules, as companies would benefit from "lower costs, reduced delays [and] increased market access".
At the moment, he said, the requirement for Export Health Certificates can add thousands of pounds of costs to each truck carrying goods, in addition "to the delays that people find at the ports or at the borders".
"So we get lower exports because of the delays and the massive increases in costs that have come into the supply chain."
The BCC has released a new analysis of its members' views suggesting options for a closer relationship.
The business lobby group says the current trade relationship is "failing to deliver", leaving firms "struggling with a thicket of Brexit red tape" nearly six years after the UK's exit from the bloc.
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Jewellery advertised as sterling silver on popular online marketplaces was found to contain toxic chemicals, following a BBC investigation.
Some 25 items - bought from Amazon, eBay, Temu, Etsy and OnBuy - were examined by experts for BBC Watchdog on The One Show.
Laboratory analysis found eight contained illegal levels of cadmium - a chemical that can cause cancer. Only two items could be classified as sterling silver.
Amazon, eBay, Temu and OnBuy said misleading listings were prohibited and that it had removed the jewellery identified by Watchdog. Etsy did not respond.
Meranda, 34, bought a necklace advertised on Etsy as handmade sterling silver but says after a few days of wearing it her "neck started getting really irritated".
"I remember looking at it as I took it off and thinking the colour on this doesn't look right."
Meranda's necklace and the 25 other pieces purchased by Watchdog were analysed by the Sheffield Assay Office.
According to preliminary testing, Meranda's necklace was found to contain nickel - another toxic chemical that can cause skin irritation. There are strict legal limits on how much nickel jewellery can contain.
Meranda's necklace was found to have traces of nickel but in one part of the chain the concentration was as high as 11%.
Sterling silver jewellery does not typically contain nickel but it is found in some cheaper items.
Of the 25 pieces of jewellery bought by Watchdog - which included items like a bracelet for £1.55 and earrings for £1.99 - eight items contained levels of cadmium over the legal limit of 0.01%.
Some had up to 10% cadmium. "[That] is absolutely massive, relative to the limits we're adhering to," says Sophie Langley, who led the analysis.
How to spot fake sterling silver
Morning Live's consumer expert Rebecca Wilcox shares her tips on how to make sure you're buying the real deal:
Cadmium is a carcinogen associated particularly with lung cancer, says Rob Chilcott, a retired professor of toxicology.
It poses a risk to humans if it is inhaled or ingested. For example, an earring falling into food that you then eat.
"If you put something containing cadmium in your mouth, or indeed if you swallow it, that is really bad news," he says.
Of the eight items found to have breached cadmium limits: three were purchased from Amazon, three from Temu and one from each of OnBuy and Etsy.
Meranda says she had no reason to suspect there was anything wrong with her necklace when she first received it.
"It was very shiny. It looked legit," she says. "I did not think it wasn't sterling silver."
It was hallmarked with the number 925. Genuine sterling silver must contain at least 92.5% silver.
However testing revealed part of her necklace contained only 8.9% silver.
Selling fake sterling silver is a breach of the Hallmarking Act and carries the risk of fines or imprisonment, says Langley.
Temu told the BBC it had arranged testing of similar products to identify potential risks.
Amazon and eBay said customers with any concerns should contact them for support. Amazon has since issued recall notices for the products Watchdog identified as being unsafe.
OnBuy told us it had offered affected customers refunds and initiated a recall of the product our analysis identified as containing cadmium. Etsy did not respond.
Meranda contacted the Etsy seller about the £15 necklace that had irritated her neck. After speaking to Watchdog, she received a full refund.
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Drivers may be offered compensation from lenders ahead of the next legal battle in the car finance mis-selling saga.
Regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it would welcome lenders making settlement offers as long as customers were not given a worse deal than under its proposed central scheme.
That scheme is facing a legal challenge, to be heard in February, with resulting compensation unlikely to be paid until late next year.
But Barclays has confirmed it will make early compensation offers from now, with others expected to follow suit.
The FCA said it would still only expect a minority of claimants to be made early offers, with most having to wait for the outcome of next year's court case.
Stephen Braviner Roman, the FCA's general counsel and co-lead on the motor finance project, said: "Fair settlement offers could result in some people getting money sooner. It's clear they want the choice.
"Anyone who wants to wait can, and there's no obligation to agree to the offer. We'll closely monitor firms making offers and expect them to be clear what accepting an offer means."
Why drivers will receive payouts
The vast majority of new cars, and many second-hand ones, are bought with finance agreements. Customers pay an initial deposit to secure the vehicle, then a monthly fee with interest.
But millions of drivers who took out a car loan between April 2007 and November 2024 will be entitled to compensation after the loans were mis-sold.
They mostly related to when car dealers received commission from lenders, based on the interest rate charged to the customer. These were known as discretionary commission arrangements (DCAs) and customers were often not told about them.
Average compensation payouts of about £829 are expected to be made related to about 12 million car loans - about 37% of the total number during the period.
Compensation will cost the industry up to £9.1bn, including administrative costs. Individual payouts will vary, depending on the degree of harm each driver faced.
With huge compensation payouts inevitable, some lenders have already set aside millions of pounds to cover the cost.
Barclays has decided to start making compensation payments early, potentially to start clearing the cost off its balance sheet. It pointed out that claimants had already faced "a considerable wait".
"By making these early settlement offers, we are giving some customers the option of receiving redress sooner, rather than waiting for the legal challenges and any subsequent FCA action to conclude," said a Barclays Partner Finance spokesperson.
"Each offer will be calculated using the FCA's redress scheme methodology. We will clearly explain how it has been calculated and what accepting a full and final settlement means, so customers can decide whether accepting the offer is right for them."
The lender said claimants would start to be contacted directly "in the coming weeks".
But it stressed not all customers whose complaints were acknowledged on or before 1 October 2026 would receive an early settlement offer.
Guidelines on whether to accept an offer
The FCA has published a factsheet to help drivers work out whether they should accept early settlements from lenders.
It will include a list of lenders who are making early offers, to ensure claimants with other lenders are not scammed.
The regulator said lenders will need to be clear with people about what accepting any offer means. This includes:
* Being able to keep any payment, even if the final settlement under the central scheme after the legal challenges proved to be smaller
* Claimants would not be able to claim more later if the outcome of the legal challenge meant they would have been paid more
* Accepting an offer takes you out of the scheme and stops any further input from the financial ombudsman
The Finance and Leasing Association, which represents lenders, said: "We want to see consumers receive the fairest outcome in as timely a way as possible and recognise that, in some cases, that may point to early settlement, while in others it may be appropriate to await greater legal certainty."
But Kevin Durkin, solicitor advocate and director at HD Law, who represented Marcus Johnson who won his case in the Supreme Court, said he had "real reservations" that fair compensation would be offered.
"These are only heightened by reports that just a small number of claimants will receive what could be lowball offers. I fear this is crumbs from the table, for some customers who are highly likely to be owed more, while the vast majority will receive no offer at all," he said.
The main proposed FCA scheme remains partially suspended, pending legal challenges in February.
Consumer group Consumer Voice said the proposed compensation scheme left "too many people short-changed". Three lenders - Volkswagen Financial Services, Mercedes Benz Financial Services, and Credit Agricole Auto Finance - are also challenging the scheme.
The UK's Upper Tribunal has agreed to hear legal challenges to the scheme, with a hearing scheduled from 16 February to 3 March.
Anyone who is concerned about their car finance deal and has not yet complained can still complain directly to their lender. There is information on the FCA website on how to complain for free.
The so-called "quiet quitting" trend where workers do the basic requirements of a job but refuse to do anything more might be hitting the economy, analysis has found.
Over the last decade, Britons have become less engaged with the jobs they do and are less willing to put in extra effort, according to a Resolution Foundation report.
The thinktank said this could partly help explain the slump in productivity since the pandemic.
"This is self-evidently bad for workers, but it also doesn't bode well for productivity and labour supply, both of which are vital for lifting living standards in the years ahead," said Hannah Slaughter, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation.
Quiet quitting was popularised on social media shortly after the pandemic.
Frustrated by high demands, low pay, and a squeeze in living standards, many online posts said workers should only do what their bosses asked and nothing more.
So you still show up for work, but no more helping out with additional tasks or checking emails outside work hours, instead focusing on work-life balance and "acting your wage".
Yet, far from being just a talking point on TikTok, the Resolution Foundation said the findings in its report were "consistent" with the idea of quiet quitting.
The percentage of those surveyed willing to go the extra mile to help their employer has sunk from 69% in 2015 to 55% in 2025, according to their survey of 4,656 adults.
Meanwhile, those who were not even "fairly" satisfied with their roles has sunk to one-in-four, the lowest level on record.
In addition, workers are less likely than 10 years ago to say they have an interesting job, with 63% of those surveyed saying so, down from 74%.
"Workers today are indeed a little less committed to their employers, and a little less intrinsically drawn to work in general, than workers were a decade ago," the report added.
This shift over the last decade "may have contributed to weak productivity growth", which has slowed since the financial crisis and weakened again after the pandemic, the Resolution Foundation found.
Workers were also more focused on pay than in the past, which it said was "perhaps unsurprising... given the flatlining living standards of the past decade".
Sir John Curtice, politics professor and co-editor of the report, said the analysis does not mean that young people have "become more 'work-shy', nor have workers in general become more reluctant to change jobs".
"But if workers are to be fully engaged in their work, it has seemingly become more important for employers to provide jobs that are both financially rewarding and have flexible work hours," he added.
North Korea has denied claims that it was behind the record $6.3bn (£4.7bn) hack of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, calling the allegations "absurd rhetoric".
Kim Yo Jong, a top Democratic People's Republic of Korea official and the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Tuesday that the accusations are another "sinister attempt" by the US to damage Pyongyang's public image.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Secret Service and cyber analysts have said North Korea orchestrated the hack, which has been described as the largest in history.
This is the latest hack to be linked to North Korea, which has been accused of relying on cyber-crime to help finance its sanctioned economy.
Blockchain analysts and the FBI have said the attack was led by state-backed hacking group TraderTraitor.
The FBI has called on industry partners to help block transactions involving cryptocurrency accounts linked to the group.
"The US has made a trite provocation of linking it with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea again," Kim Yo-jong, the director of North Korea's General Affairs Department, said in a statement.
"It is a grave political provocation against the DPRK that the US misleads the international public opinion as if all the cyber crimes in different parts of the world are our deeds," she said.
But Pyongyang has been blamed for a number of major cyber attacks in recent years - accusations that it has denied.
The TraderTraitor unit, which is also known as the Lazarus Group, was blamed for a then-record $1.5bn hack of crypto exchange Bybit in 2025.
Pyongyang has systematically built its cyber operations, recruiting promising students from universities and sending them to hacker units overseen by North Korea's intelligence agency, research groups like the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies think tank have said.
The country has consistently denied such claims.
Kim Yo Jong said "it is the consistent policy stand of the DPRK government to resolutely oppose all sorts of malicious acts in cyberspace".
Binance did not respond to the BBC's queries about North Korea's alleged involvement in the hack.
Since the incident, the crypto giant has largely focused its public statements on the technical nature of the breach and its response to protect users.
The company's spokesperson said that a net $4.72bn has been withdrawn from the exchange since transactions resumed on Sunday.
The net outflow represents a "relatively limited portion" of Binance's total assets, which stand at approximately $157bn, the spokesperson told the BBC on Tuesday.
That figure reflects the impact of the hack, subsequent withdrawals and market price changes.
"Withdrawal levels are stabilising to what we would consider normal and expected on-chain activity," she added.
The company said last week that initial checks indicated that an engineer's laptop had been compromised, enabling an attacker to make unauthorised withdrawals.
Trading in major cryptocurrencies on Binance has since resumed after the exchange worked with issuers to freeze assets impacted by the hack.
The company has repeatedly said it would cover all of the losses linked to the attack and that it has so far covered around 95% of the assets stolen in the breach.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was finally released on Thursday, after years of rumours that Nintendo would remake the game - considered one of the best ever made.
IGN called it "the biggest game of the decade" in their review when it launched in 1998 on the N64, and it set the standard for 3D games.
A lot of the things we take for granted in modern games - such as riding a horse, fighting with a sword and shield, or locking on to enemies with the tap of a button - were pioneered or perfected in Ocarina of Time.
It received an almost perfect score from critics and, decades on, remains the highest-rated game in history on Metacritic, which aggregates reviews.
So how do you remake what many consider a masterpiece?
Those like me who grew up playing the original will feel right at home here.
Nintendo has decided against reinventing the wheel, instead producing something which plays very similarly to the N64 classic.
As I've said before, video game remakes are a bit different to film or TV - gaming fans often clamour for a new take on their favourites, hoping developers harness evolution in tech to make them fresh.
And games have come a long way in the almost 30 years since the original Ocarina of Time came out.
"When you compare the games in the past and the games in modern times, so to speak, the norms of what people expect from a game have evolved naturally," Nintendo producer Hidemaro Fujibayashi told me.
"In the past, games where the users may have needed more imagination to fill the blanks or the gaps are now clearly expressed through the graphics that they see on the screen."
But fancy graphics have come at a price - a pivot away from realism into something a bit more cartoonish. Some might even be disappointed by this, given the N64 game had quite horrifying elements in places.
One was the Skulltula House, a room where people had been morphed into human-spider hybrids.
"Back when we created the original Ocarina of Time, the means to convey or express ideas was limited compared with what we have now," series producer Eiji Aonuma - who worked on the original game - said.
"With regard to even the so-called scary elements, we strove to add a touch of the comical."
But he told the BBC that enhanced graphics and lighting capabilities unintentionally exaggerated the already-spooky Skulltula House and its potential to strike fear into players.
"When we carried out the test play, the testers were telling us, 'Oh, this is too scary'," he said. "So of course, in the end product, we've made the necessary adjustments so that we can retain the same balance that we had achieved in the original."
'Serious thought has gone into every decision'
I spoke to a few YouTubers about the upcoming game to get their thoughts - and the response was overwhelmingly positive.
Mike Channell, co-editor of the YouTube channel Outside Xbox, said he believed the remake had been made "very meticulously" in the hopes of living up to fan expectations.
"Having played the game, it's clear that serious thought has gone into every decision, to the point where I'm not convinced this remake has taken any less time and effort than an all-new Zelda game," he said.
"Ocarina of Time is obviously one of the great video game experiences in the history of the medium, but I have no doubt this new version will be the best way to experience this story.
"It's fleshed out as a world, sumptuously detailed, and the controls match 21st-Century expectations."
Ed King, known as Zeltik to his 893,000 followers on YouTube, said "the level of detail and charm" in the Ocarina of Time remake stood out.
"The Forest Temple has always been my favourite Zelda dungeon: a mysterious, haunted mansion in the deep woods, a lost work of man slowly being reclaimed by nature," he said. "The remake really leans into the surreal, uncanny nature of the original dungeon."
And fellow YouTuber StrawHatMidas said it was the "perfect" way to "bring this classic back".
"Not only does the game pay homage to the Nintendo 64 original, but it also expands on the things that made it so memorable," he said. "Everything from the world and atmosphere to the controls and soundtrack feels like a love letter to the classic Zelda formula."
Has Nintendo played it too safe?
Nintendo has made some big changes, not least to the Water Temple - a dungeon about two thirds into the game.
Aonuma said, having worked on the original, this was what he personally wanted to change most due to its reputation for being "very, very difficult".
He said there was now "a greater facility in tackling" the dungeon, as players can now easily change a critical in-game item known as heavy boots and have "the ability to leverage the camera orientation".
I grew up playing Zelda on the N64, which pioneered the joystick - but nowadays two sticks is the standard, with one to move and one to control the camera.
As far as I'm concerned, being able to freely move the camera this time round was a significant improvement.
At times, the trip down memory lane was captivating. I knew where to go and what to do, thanks to a kind of muscle memory. However, on occasion that took away from the experience - with some tasks achieved too easily and some puzzles too quickly because I recalled their solutions.
Some people will love how similar it is, but I have to wonder if Nintendo has played things a bit too safe.
I don't think the developers see it that way.
"Even if the game may look different, we've maintained the essence that the original developers wanted to and hopefully conveyed through the original Ocarina of Time," Fujibayashi said.
Don't get me wrong - the game has lots of changes and surprises, and I won't spoil them, but I wish there had been more.
Then again, perhaps the best games leave you wanting more.
Or as Mike put it: "I loved the original as much as the next person, but I don't think I'll be going back to it."
Fans will no doubt wonder whether this is it, or if there will be more Zelda on the horizon. With the franchise's first movie coming next year, there's certainly more to come in the short term.
And in the long term, I wondered if with 30 more years of technological advancements, Nintendo might consider remaking the game once again.
"I will be long retired," Aonuma said, with a laugh.
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The boss of the island's cyber security centre has questioned whether so many household and commercial appliances need to be connected to the internet.
It comes after dozens of European supermarkets were hit by cyber-attacks that increased the temperature of freezers to more than 50C (122F).
Matt Palmer, the director of the Jersey Cyber Security Centre, said he "wasn't suggesting that people should unplug devices, but that he would challenge whether everyone needs a connected fridge".
Mark Cox, the chief executive of CI Coop, said its supermarkets had security controls in place in case of cyber threats.
Smart devices connected to the internet can include fridges, central heating and even toasters and washing machines.
There is no evidence domestic appliances are being targeted in the cyber-attacks which affected supermarkets, but it raised questions about the extent to which smart devices are routinely linked to the internet.
Palmer said the field was not easily understood or considered by people.
"It's like it doesn't really exist until it happens to you... this is happening now, all the time, every single day and therefore any system that is connected to the internet, it is only a matter of time until someone finds a way to compromise it if it's vulnerable," he said.
"Which is why it's incredibly important that we patch devices quickly and we only connect devices to the internet if we really need to do so."
He explained his team had three computers around the world that serve as "honey pots" with the aim of appearing vulnerable to attack from hackers.
"Some of those vulnerabilities won't be in a honey pot... they will be in the real systems that we depend on every day, for our lives, for our work, for our families," he said.
"You will see these sudden bursts of attack, that does happen all the time, it can be quiet, it can be busy but it's a constant pulse of activity by people around the internet scanning the systems to see if they are vulnerable."
A spate of cyber-attacks in recent weeks affected supermarkets across Europe as well as the UK meat industry and blood stores in France.
The CI Coop boss said it took cyber-security "extremely seriously" and it was monitoring the European situation closely.
"We are carrying out a specific review of our refrigeration and freezer systems, including their connectivity and the arrangements we have in place with relevant suppliers and service partners" Cox said.
"We also have established procedures for monitoring refrigeration temperatures and protecting food safety, and we will continue to keep our systems and controls under review in light of emerging threats."
The BBC has approached other supermarkets on the island for comment.
Government of Jersey chief executive officer Paul Wylie described cyber-security as one of the island's "top risks" during a scrutiny hearing last month.
The Cyber Security Policy Framework outlined strengthening Jersey businesses' cyber-security and resilience as a top priority.
Wylie said: "We will ensure businesses, organisations and islanders understand the cyber threats they face, supporting their adoption of relevant protective measures and their recovery from a cyber-attack."
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Character.ai's collapse uncovers a little-discussed risk of AI: the companies holding your secrets may not be around forever.
Want an AI girlfriend? Look no further than the chatbot company Character.ai. That was the first suggestion when I made an account last week. "Jessica" said her parents were away and offered to sext with me. No thank you.
But tens of millions of others developed relationships with Character.ai's chatbots, including children. Some AI "personas" tell users they're lawyers and licensed psychiatrists. Now Character.ai is going bankrupt, and people's data, messages and secrets are up for sale.
Experts tell me the privacy risks should worry you even if you've never used Character.ai – because they fear it's evidence of a wider, looming crisis. The good news is some simple steps can help protect you.
Here's the problem. Many analysts think we're in an AI bubble, as building and running AI tools is so astronomically expensive that some companies may never turn a profit. If the bubble pops, untold numbers of AI businesses will merge or shut down. The data that billions of people give to AI tools could then be purchased by almost anyone. You may never find out what happens to it.
Bankruptcy data sales are nothing new, but AI could make things worse.
"When people talk to a personified bot, they often share much more personal and sensitive information," says Calli Schroeder, director of the AI and Human Rights Program at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (Epic). Just imagine what I might have told my AI girlfriend Jessica if the relationship lasted more than 10 minutes.
Don't use AI? You're still at risk, because users share information about friends and family, Schroeder says. "You might disclose how you feel about [your] mom, or things like 'My friend so-and-so came out to me as gay, how should I respond?' Now people who've never interacted with Character.ai are part of the data set."
It could mean all of us are at risk, one way or another.
When the bots start blabbing
Now that it's going bankrupt, Character.ai agreed to sell some of its assets to Disney for $20m (£14.95m). User data isn't part of that deal, so Mickey Mouse and his co-workers may never see my unsettling conversation with Jessica.
However, court filings say Character.ai can sell its data to other buyers. A lot of people aren't happy, including US officials.
A coalition of 40 US state attorneys general have filed a notice calling on the judge to implement child safety and privacy protections. That's significant, but the states' demands may not have teeth.
"Without stronger privacy protections in the US, there is only so much they can do," says Melissa Jacoby, a law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the US and author of Unjust Debts: How Our Bankruptcy System Makes America More Unequal.
Some laws force companies to tell users what they collect and how they use it in their privacy policies. But if you go scuba diving through the legalese, you usually find a list of situations where many of those promises go out the window.
"Bankruptcy is frequently listed as one of those exceptions," says Schroeder. "That's a big risk, because as soon as a company goes bankrupt, a lot of the protections you thought you had suddenly don't apply."
Some places, like the EU, have stronger privacy protections, but even then, data gets sold in bankruptcies. Generally, the buyer must follow the rules of the original privacy policy. But that can still give buyers a broad latitude, and Schroeder says Character.ai is a perfect example.
The company's privacy policy says user data can be harnessed to build new features, train AI models, develop algorithms and build profiles of users for targeted advertising. So any buyer of Character.ai data can do the same.
"And those are precisely the things I would be most worried about", Schroeder says. "Given the extreme sensitivity of the data these companies collect, it could be really horrifying."
For example, Character.Ai's chatbot reportedly "encouraged" a teenager to kill his parents over a screen time limit. A 14-year-old boy took his own life after allegedly being spurred on by the company's AI. The related messages, along with reams of other Character.ai data, could end up in the hands of companies you've never heard of.
A Character.ai spokesperson says the company has settled these lawsuits and is committed to working with the families to build safer products, but didn't answer specific questions about children's privacy. "Over the past year, Character.ai has taken innovative and decisive steps with regard to AI safety and teens, and will continue to champion these efforts and push others across the industry to adopt similar safety standards," the spokesperson says.
Character.ai is just one company, but Schroeder worries it could be the first of many if there is a significant economic downturn.
"The volume of information AI companies have is going to be considered a very attractive asset in bankruptcy proceedings," she says. "And without more rules in place, I really worry about what else that data can be used for, where it’ll go, who it’ll be shared with, and what the risks are to consumers."
Here's what you can do about it
The short answer is: go delete your data.
Character.ai laid out the instructions in its bankruptcy announcement. Companies aren't required to let you delete data in every jurisdiction, but often, they let everyone do it instead of creating different systems.
This obviously takes effort. So here's the real advice. Think about which services hold particularly sensitive information about you. If you stop using them, take a few minutes to try and erase it.
More like this:
• People are selling your home address online
• Not on TikTok, it's tracking you anyway
• Meta's AI Muse is about to make the internet more annoying
Every service is different. But in general, you can find information on data deletion by checking privacy settings or the privacy policy for details. If all else fails, contact customer support.
If you're struggling to figure out how to delete your data, one way to locate instructions is to ask an AI chatbot – just double check their answers. Yes, given the context, I can taste the irony.
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Hollywood actor Ioan Gruffudd has warned fans of "explicit and disturbing" AI-generated content impersonating him online.
The 53-year-old star, from near Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, urged his followers not to send money to people using images and videos of his likeness, after the content was brought to his attention.
"A woman came to a convention I was recently attending and she was under the impression that she was in an extramarital relationship with me for over a year," he said in an Instagram post.
"She showed me hundreds of AI images and videos that someone claiming to be me had sent to her. The images were explicit and disturbing."
The actor said the woman had been targeted through a Facebook page dedicated to crime drama Elsbeth, in which Gruffudd played a musician named Angus.
Gruffudd, who rose to fame in the long-running Hornblower TV series, said a person behind the Facebook page had sent the woman "a cell number, and asked her to communicate via Telegram", an instant messaging app.
"'They began sending AI images and videos to 'prove' that it was me," Gruffudd added.
He said that if anyone believes they are speaking with him via social media pages that are not his official channels then "this is not me".
"I will never give out my cell number to anyone that I don't personally know.
"Please do not engage and never send money! I urge you to ignore and block all contact from anyone that claims to be me.
"Lastly, if you have been targeted by this person, please report them and their number to the police for investigation. I have done the same."
Gruffudd is not the only celebrity to speak out about misleading AI technology.
Other celebrities who have shared concerns include Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Sir Tom Jones and Martin Lewis.
In January, Sir Tom shared a similar warning after he became aware of a number of social media accounts attempting to scam fans.
In a post shared to Instagram, his management wrote: "Regrettably, it has come to our attention that there is a large number of fake online profiles impersonating Sir Tom Jones and / or his team, who are attempting to scam fans and members of the public.
"Please be aware that Sir Tom Jones only has access to his verified (blue tick) Facebook/Instagram/X/YouTube and Tik Tok accounts. Sir Tom does not communicate to individuals directly or personally via his social channels.
"If a fake profile tries to chat to you privately, report and block them. This will NOT be Sir Tom Jones or his team.
"It is sad and disheartening to hear of these scammers attempting to trap and abuse vulnerable people, so please be careful and stay safe online."
The chief executive of Northern Ireland's largest software firm has said UK government clients remain cautious about the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Brendan Mooney was speaking as Kainos announced a record half-year performance with a pre-tax profit of £36m on sales of £269m.
The company recently won a £111m "digital borders" contract with the Home Office to be delivered over the next four years.
Mooney said there were "parallel conversations" on AI with "buzz and excitement" about its capabilities on one hand and the reality of deploying it in large organisations on the other.
He told BBC News NI: "The hardest thing we do as a company is to get an AI system live and to keep it live because an AI system runs on top of a model, that model drifts, either through changes to the model or changes to how the model interprets the data."
He said that clients operating in regulated or sensitive areas like healthcare or defence are "super cautious" about how AI will be used in their organisations.
Mooney said that Kainos' internal spending on AI has doubled in the last year partly due to greater use across the business as well as an increase in the prices charged by the major AI firms.
Could AI replace junior staff?
He added that the productivity gains from using in AI in software development has been "well proven" and is generating value for the business.
Those productivity gains have led to concerns that AI is costing jobs across a variety of professions such as software development and business consulting.
Mooney rejected as "one-dimensional" the view that AI tools could replace the need for junior staff.
He said that while, historically, graduates were asked to do simple tasks, they can - and should - be asked to do more complex work.
"Yes, they need time to build their skills and knowledge, and judgement is ever-increasingly an important part of what we do today.
"But I just think it shows limited imagination if you're saying that all graduates are good for is doing something very simple."
He expects more than 200 people to join the business this year through graduate and school-leaver programmes which he called "our strongest ever graduate intake".
The company currently employs almost 4,000 people across its global operations with almost 1,400 of them in Northern Ireland.
It is currently developing a new HQ building in the centre of Belfast.
The growth of China's emissions may have virtually stopped as it races ahead with its rapid rollout of renewables. Five charts show how it reached this milestone and what lies ahead.
China – the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2) – has reached a major milestone: in the first half of 2026, less than half of the country's electricity was generated by coal for the first time in its history.
Twenty years ago, these dirty black rocks were the pillar of China's economy: coal power accounted for 80% of all the electricity the country gobbled as it undertook rapid modernisation.
But while the country's overall electricity demand has expanded since then, growing solar and wind power are increasingly lessening its reliance on coal power.
The result of this substantial shift is a potent signal for the country's – and the world's – effort to reach net zero: the growth of China's CO2 emissions has virtually stopped in recent years, according to one assessment. China's emissions may even have peaked in 2025, according to another analysis – five years ahead of the country's own deadline.
From solar megafarms to electric trucks, here are five charts which tell the story behind China's great emissions slowdown, how it reached this milestone and what lies ahead as it races to reach its target of net zero by 2060.
Bending the curve
China's economy has seen monumental growth over the past three decades. So have its CO2 emissions, which ballooned nearly fivefold from 1990 to 2024.
China's global share of CO2 also jumped from around 10% to more than 30% during this period, the largest global increase.
China plays a "pivotal role" in the world's fight against climate change not only because it is the largest CO2 emitter, but also because its emissions have grown at the fastest rate, says Yu Aiqun, a research analyst at Global Energy Monitor (GEM), a non-profit in the US.
"Once China's carbon emissions peak, global carbon emissions will likely peak, too," she says.
Some believe the watershed moment is already upon China. The country's carbon emissions reached their highest level in 2024 and fell in 2025, according to data from Climate Action Tracker (CAT), a collaborative project that assesses governments' climate actions. CAT predicts China's carbon emissions will decrease by about 18% by 2035.
A separate analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a Finnish think tank, found that China's CO2 emissions have remained flat or falling since March 2024, bar a small rise in early 2026.
Similar trends have happened before, for example when China's government downsized steelmaking and coal power between 2014 and 2016, and during Covid-19, when lockdowns paused manufacturing and transport activity.
But this time there is a fundamental difference, says Belinda Schäpe, CREA's China team lead. The rapid decline is not only driven by the shrinking output of some heavy industries, but also by China's "enormous expansion" of clean energy and growing use of electricity – instead of fossil fuels – to power machines, vehicles and devices.
It is hard to say with certainty whether China has already achieved its goal to peak CO2 emissions by 2030. Beijing's existing policy language is "ambiguous", says Lauri Myllyvirta, CREA's lead analyst. "The government has not defined what it means for emissions to have peaked – whether it refers to emissions stabilising or peaking then declining – and how this would be verified."
China has yet to confirm whether its CO2 emissions have peaked, with the most recent emissions data released by the government for 2021.
What is more important, however, is whether China's emissions will drop quickly after the peak or remain at a high level, Yu says. Even a 1% reduction would have a profound impact on global climate action, she says.
Renewable revolution
Under China's strong policy steer, massive wind and solar power stations have risen in the desert and vast arrays of solar panels have been mounted on rooftops. Gigantic wind turbines are harnessing the power of strong storms off the coast of China.
In 2023 alone, China installed 217 gigawatts (GW) of solar panels, more than the US had installed in its entire history. It repeated this feat in 2024 and 2025.
A renewable spree has prevented China from falling back onto fossil fuels, even though it needs to generate more and more electricity each year – for air-conditioning, EVs and data centres – says Norah Zhang, a climate-policy analyst at NewClimate Institute, a non-profit in Germany.
The country's renewable capacity has grown at such a fast rate that wind and solar power were more than enough to cover the country's extra electricity demand each year, paving the way for the country to "squeeze coal out of its power system", she says.
In July 2026, the installed capacity of solar in China even overtook coal for the first time (although it's worth noting that coal still generates far more electricity than solar, since solar typically generates less electricity per GW of capacity).
As its renewable power has surged, China has struggled to store or make use of the excess solar and wind energy it generates as grids reach their limits. In the first six months of 2026, around 360 terawatt-hours (TWh) of wind and solar power – enough to power the UK for a year – was curtailed in China, according to CREA.
China's challenge is now ensuring the power system can effectively use its expanding renewables capacity, Schäpe says. The country needs to reform its power market, roll out incentives and update its power infrastructure, she says.
The coal challenge
The share of China's electricity generated by coal has continued to shrink rapidly. By 2025, coal generated around 54% of its electricity and this further dipped to a historic low of 49.7% between January and June of 2026, according to China's National Energy Administration.
This fall proves that adopting renewable energy is not only technically feasible but also cost-competitive, says Yao Zhe, a global policy advisor at Greenpeace East Asia.
Wind and solar power made up 25% of China's power generation in the first half of the year, according to government data. Greenpeace projects this will rise to 33% by 2028 and 40% by 2030. China's target is more conservative: it aims to generate 30% of its electricity using wind and solar by 2030.
But researchers warn China still has a long way to go to kick its coal habit. For one, a falling share of coal power is not the same as a falling amount of coal power, Schäpe stresses. China generated 3.4% more coal power in the first half of 2026, compared to the same period last year, according to a joint assessment by CREA and GEM. "Coal power generation remains strong," Schäpe says.
China's coal-powered fleet is also growing fast. In the first six months of this year, 30 gigawatts (GW) of new plants went into operation, the largest amount since 2016. Another 274GW is waiting to be built, which could expand the country's current coal-powered fleet by more than 20%.
China views coal power as a safety net for its energy transition and a cornerstone of energy security and economic growth, Yu says. But its continuous expansion could damage the country's reputation as a global renewable leader, she says.
Nevertheless, China's emissions have been able to hold stable partly due to falling emissions of the steel and cement industries driven by the collapse of the country's vast real-estate industry, Schäpe says.
One of the main drivers of emissions' reductions, though, Schäpe adds, is the decline in oil consumption in transport following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the rapid electrification of this sector.
The rise of EVs
China has left the world in the dust when it comes to the adoption of EVs and the impact on emissions is already starting to show. Between January and June 2026, China's fleet of electric cars, buses and trucks helped avoid the use of 36 million tonnes of oil, according to CREA – equivalent to half the UK's annual oil consumption.
In July, more than six in every 10 new cars sold in China were "new-energy vehicles", a term used by the Chinese government to include pure electric, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles powered by alternative fuels like hydrogen. EV sales in China are expected to reach 14.3 million in 2026, nearly three times more than in Europe and 12 times higher than in the US, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Buses, cars and scooters have led the EV deployment on Chinese roads over the past 15 years. Now, trucks have taken over the baton. The sales of electric trucks have grown exponentially in China over the past two years, with more than 400,000 sold in 2025 alone.
This extraordinary growth has been largely driven by the surge of electric heavy-duty trucks, says Mao Shiyue, a researcher at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), a non-profit with headquarters in Washington DC. The government requires companies in dozens of industries to use a certain share of these trucks in transport fleets, or face production curtailments on heavily polluted days.
As China's EV fleet balloons, so does the pressure facing its power grid, which needs to balance electricity supply with demand in real time. "If a large number of EVs charge their batteries at the same time, especially using rapid-charging modes, that could challenge the grid's stability," Mao says.
Battery boom
Batteries are crucial for China's net-zero ambition: they power its fleet of EVs and store surplus electricity for later use.
China is the world leader in battery energy storage systems, accounting for more than half of the global capacity by the end of 2025. These systems receive and store surplus renewable power, sending it back to the grid during periods of maximum energy demand.
"They are a key component for a future grid that uses a higher and higher portion of wind and solar power," says Yang Biqing, an analyst at Ember, such as by storing daytime solar power and releasing it to the grid in the evening.
For the past few years, China has required wind and solar stations to build or purchase a certain amount of energy-storage capacity to help the grid absorb the electricity they generate. This policy, coupled with the falling price of lithium batteries, has kickstarted a remarkable transition.
By the end of March 2026, China had installed nearly 150GW of energy-storage capacity that used lithium batteries, more than the rest of the world combined, according to Ember. China aims to build more than 180GW of new energy-storage capacity, primarily those using batteries, by 2027.
Still, China's energy-storage stations are currently severely underused, according to Ember.
Boosting their usage – and by extension their profitability – will require more fundamental changes to China's power grid and power-trading system, which were designed to serve coal, Yang says.
China's heavy investment in clean energy and EVs has begun to bear fruit, changing its power structure and bending its carbon emissions' trajectory in fundamental ways.
But for many, a key question remains: will China's emissions rebound once more if its stagnant economy starts to pick up? As Yu says, coal is deeply embedded in all aspects of China's economy – decoupling the two is "the biggest challenge" the superpower faces in its bid to reach net zero.
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Property buyers and renters say the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in listings appearing on sites like Rightmove is "false advertising" and wastes time for all involved.
Jessica Otterwell, who is hunting for a flat in Brighton, East Sussex, told the BBC: "It's like if you went to buy a car because the picture was of a brand-new Mercedes and you turned up and it was a Skoda with one wheel."
An estate agent in Sussex said it could cost up for £50,000 to stage a property with furniture, while another in Surrey added: "Technology should help people, not deceive them."
Rightmove, a portal website which pulls in listings from other estate agents, and does not sell or rent properties directly, said AI-generated imagery was allowed on the site if it was clearly labelled.
The BBC has seen some property listings in which the images have been watermarked "Virtually staged" or "Artificially enhanced", but many others have not been disclosed.
The practice has been dubbed by some as "housefishing".
Otterwell, who compared the use of AI in property listings to catfishing on a dating app, said she had excitedly told her parents about a potential property to purchase, but "was greeted with what I can only describe as an absolute hovel".
"There was nothing apart from a stained mattress on the floor. It was in a terrible state of disrepair," she said.
"You walked in and thought 'where are the painted walls, the Matisse artwork, the fitted kitchen'."
Leyla Ledwith, 31, who was searching for a rental property in Brighton for three months, said that only two of the dozen properties she viewed had the furnishings seen on Rightmove.
"It is false advertisement, it is totally off-putting and really frustrating," she said.
"You see a lovely, modern property with nice furnishings. But you go and it's dark, dingy and everything is old and falling apart."
Ledwith said that it was wasting time for renters and buyers, sellers and landlords, and the estate agents.
"I don't understand who is benefiting from the AI photos," she added.
Chris Norris, chief policy officer at the National Residential Landlords Association, said it was concerning that some felt misled.
"It is absolutely crucial that listings sites, when integrating AI into their operations, apply the technology responsibly to avoid causing confusion for users at any point in the process," he said.
The BBC approached a number of estate agents for comment about their use of AI-generated images in listings.
David Vaughan, director of Sussex-based estate agents Aston Vaughan, said the firm used AI staging to "solve a problem for both sides".
"For owners, it's a huge cost saving – physical staging can cost anywhere from £5,000 on average up to £50,000 just to show a property with furniture in," he told the BBC.
"And buyers have told us empty rooms are hard to read for scale, and virtually dressing a room makes it much easier to understand how you would actually live in it."
Meanwhile, Warren Powell-Richards, an estate agency based in Surrey and Hampshire, says the future of the industry will involve AI.
"The challenge for estate agents is ensuring they don't get carried away with the possibilities at the expense of the customer experience," it said.
"We are not anti-AI. Taking that position would be madness in a world that's becoming increasingly dependent on it. However, we believe that it's a tool, and not a substitute for trust."
A spokesperson from Miles & Barr, an estate agent based in East Kent, said the use of AI and CGI to help prospective buyers and tenants visualise a property had been common practice for some time.
Rightmove said agents were responsible for the content they uploaded.
"It's critically important that people see accurate representations of properties on our platform," a spokesperson added.
"We take action where images are found to be misleading, including requiring amendments, removing the listing from our platform and taking further action where necessary."
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Villagers have been without internet for over two weeks after a storm knocked out their connection.
Storm Austen on 22 October has been blamed for the online blackout to 114 homes in Rougham, Suffolk. The village went without the internet for over a month in 2020 after another storm.
Deborah Hockey, who lives there, said it had meant she had struggled to speak to her 96-year-old father who lives alone 100 miles away, leaving him feeling "quite anxious".
A spokesperson for internet providers CityFibre said they wanted to apologise to residents and added that the firm's team was "working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible".
Hockey said the village had bad phone signal, which meant using 4G to access the internet was difficult.
"I have to be flat against my bedroom window or on the front doorstep to get a tiny bit of signal," she said.
"I pay for television - that's not working; home camera security - not working; can't use the laptop because everything's stored in the cloud.
"It's made life really tricky. I feel really cut off."
A lack of communication from CityFibre had made the situation more stressful, Hockey added.
"We're customers and it would be nice to be able to get through to someone who can explain what's happened and when it's going to be fixed," she said.
Another resident Imogen Coleman is a yoga teacher and said the problems had meant she was unable to check who had booked on to her classes.
"I think it adds just a layer of low-grade stress. We can all put up with this for a certain amount of time, but our village has already experienced a whole month without wi-fi back in 2020 and I think that's in the back of our minds," she added.
Coleman said her teenage son had been unable to get online to complete his homework or speak with friends.
"Although we're all very aware of screen time and limits and everything, a lot of their socialising, especially when you live in a village and it's dark in the evenings, is online stuff.
"And I think he feels he's probably missing out on banter with his mates," she explained.
The CityFibre spokesperson said workers had attempted to fix the issue on 24 October "but were unable to complete the works and are now working closely with the local authority to resolve the matter".
A spokesperson for Suffolk County Council said it sympathised with "the plight of residents, but the responsibility lay with CityFibre".
"We received an immediate permit from CityFibre for Linkwood Road for telecom works on October 28, but CityFibre then cancelled as they were unable to start work due to it being a diversion route for an Anglian Water closure. We have not received anything further from them since then."
Telecommunications companies have powers that allow them to carry out emergency works on roads without obtaining prior approval from local authorities.
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It was a Saturday night in early December when Roger Kemp realised something was very wrong.
"I was halfway through a Scandi crime drama when everything went off," the professor at Lancaster University told the BBC. "Streetlights were off. The sodium glow that we can see over the horizon from Morecambe was off."
The next day he went for a walk.
"[It was] almost like a zombie movie," he said. "People trying to find phone reception, wondering where things were, and there was a huge queue at the one working telephone box."
At 22:45 on 5 December 2015, the River Lune - which flows directly through Lancaster - had flooded, and the electricity supply to 61,500 people in the city went.
Households lost light and heat, some water supplies also began to fail because they relied on electric pumps. The railway station closed. So too petrol stations and shops. Most cash machines didn't work. Traffic lights failed.
The two communication systems that survived were copper wire landline telephones and FM radio. The local commercial radio station The Bay had an emergency generator and one landline and a reporter was sent outside the affected area to ring in with information.
Three months later, Kemp, a professor of engineering with a specialism in safety and electrical systems, gathered people together to look at everything that had gone wrong.
"It is perhaps ironic that, in a society with huge commitment to digital infrastructure, the most reliable source of news was a commercial station using technology that would have been familiar to the engineers on the 1960s Radio Caroline pirate radio ship," the subsequent report concluded.
For Kemp and others in the field of civil contingency, Lancaster was a warning. When a town loses power for several days, our connected world falls apart. This kind of disruption has been given a name: a Black Sky event.
At a recent summit on UK resilience, the conversation focused on the need for the UK to be able to withstand a Black Sky event for a minimum of 72 hours.
"We are nine meals from anarchy" is a phrase often heard in the civil contingency world. A brutal reminder of the fear that three days without food would be enough to turn a crisis into chaos. If a Black Sky event takes out electricity, water, shops and communications, there is a good reason the government wants us to have our own supplies.
The much talked about "Be Ready" campaign is designed to help ready us for all sorts of possible crises, but the government says there is no specific threat to the grid. Regardless, a Black Sky event is definitely at the backs of people's minds.
In a major emergency, we are being told to hunker down and turn on an FM radio, as thousands did in Lancaster. This is why the BBC has its own Black Sky plan.
Only a small number of staff know the full details, but from what I have gleaned, about 100 people in the BBC will run a special emergency radio studio.
It will have secure lines of communication not dependent on the internet, and fuel, water and food to ensure it can operate without resupply for at least three days.
This emergency service will broadcast pre-arranged government messaging. The scripts have already been published online.
They include instructions on how much people should be drinking each day and how to dispose of toilet waste without flushing the toilet.
Other information will be broadcast via satellite vehicles from a select number of journalists at emergency centres around the UK, which will carry on as long as the diesel lasts.
The BBC's broadcasts will be sent via radio transmission towers, isolated from the internet and equipped with tanks of between five and 40,000 litres (8,800 gallons) of diesel to keep their generators going for three days - FM radio is power hungry. The teams will be using satellite phones to keep in touch and if these stop working there are pre-agreed protocols and meet-up points.
Why FM? Because it works almost everywhere, even in a blackout or a crippling cyber-attack.
"It was originally thought we should plan for five to seven days," I was told quietly by one BBC insider. "The latest advice from Neso [National Energy System Operator] is that they will probably be able to get the power back on in two to three days."
Of course, fears of a grid failure are not new, but recent events such as the mass blackout in Spain, Portugal and south-western France in April 2025 have pushed it up the agenda. And the more it happens, the more it reveals the problems it can create in our networked world.
People need to know power cuts are about more than just the lights going out, says Lord Harris, chair of the UK's National Preparedness Commission. ''It's likely to stop the water supply because unless you happen to be located neatly downstream of a reservoir, that requires electricity," he told me.
More importantly, sewage tends to solidify unless water can move through it, he adds, "and that then causes blockages, the whole thing backs up, you get sewage flowing out, flowing back up the system".
It's common for governments in Europe to regularly advise households to stock up on supplies in case of a national emergency - but the UK is behind in its warnings to the population.
However, work has begun on some backup systems, such as High Altitude Pseudo-Satellites (HAPS). The government-sponsored Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) is spending £70m working on technology that may lead to planes that can circle over the UK and provide at least a week of emergency mobile phone and internet connectivity at times of crisis.
"When ground networks fail, there are limits to what satellites can provide as a fallback," said Rico Chandra, programme director for ARIA's Enduring Atmospheric Platforms.
We live in a complex, electrically powered world - but the more connected everything becomes the more catastrophic it is when that fails.
In the drive towards efficiency over the last five decades, we've lost backup systems, says Lord Harris.
An example of this is the new communication system being adopted by the emergency services, which will replace radio comms with mobile phone network technology, says Lord Harris, "so if the mobile phone goes down it will also impact on emergency services communications".
However, the government insists "moving emergency services onto modern 4G and 5G technologies" is "resilient and reliable".
The Cabinet Office said: "The UK has one of the most resilient electricity systems in the world, and there has never been a complete outage in the grid's 75-year history."
Government enthusiasm for resilience is nothing new. Oliver Dowden, the then deputy prime minister, launched the last Conservative government's disaster planning initiative in May 2024. The launch was somewhat overshadowed by Sunak announcing an election on the same day but, two years on, calls for at least three days of resilience have only grown stronger.
At the beginning of researching this article I spoke to an engineer about the UK's TV and radio transmission masts, their lonely isolation from the rest of the digital landscape sounded like a failing. It now feels like an argument in their favour.
The current urgency for disaster planning is coming at an interesting moment for technology we used to rely on. The UK's copper wire landline system - which would work even in a power cut - will be switched off on 31 January 2027. The future of FM radio is also under government review.
The response from the government was that while copper landlines had been a useful fallback during power cuts, they were now unreliable and difficult to repair.
As I ended my call with Kemp, I asked him if his report had helped improve our readiness for a Black Sky. He paused.
"If anything, we've gone backwards," he said. "Switching off the public switch telephone network, I think shows that there has been really no thought at all about how you communicate when you've no longer got power."
While writing this piece last Saturday I had to break off for an hour because my street was suddenly plunged into darkness. We had a power cut.
I found my emergency torch, but the batteries had leaked. My candles had been pushed to the back of a cupboard and I had no idea where I had put my wind-up radio with its emergency torch.
It felt like an omen.
Tesla will wind down production of its Cybertruck vehicles at its Texas factory next year, Elon Musk says.
He did not spell out whether it plans to stop making them entirely or shift production elsewhere, but did say the decision was to "make room" for building more of its self-driving Cybercab cars.
But the project's lead engineer, Wes Morrill, appeared to suggest the vehicle was being discontinued, writing on X: "Cybertruck was an incredible technology development platform and lives on through Cybercab."
With its distinctive angular looks, the Cybertruck attracted diehard fans, but was beset by delays before being launched in 2023 and has had disappointing sales numbers since.
Tesla fans have been mourning the news online, with one person calling it "the best vehicle Tesla has ever made" as he lamented it being "discontinued next year".
Musk responded to the user with the word "true", adding: "But the Cybertruck fleet will be around for a long time."
Tesla's stock rose 4.7% on Friday after his announcement.
The vehicle has always been a passion project for Musk. He said it was "way more awesome than people realise" in March, and called it the "best product Tesla has ever made to date" in April.
But there have always been big questions about whether consumers shared that view and whether the Cybertruck could cut through and earn a spot in the US' lucrative truck market.
It was not helped by inauspicious introduction to the public in 2019 when Musk attempted to show off the Cybertruck's apparently unbreakable glass, only for it to shatter during a live demonstration.
Despite the gaffe, the Cybertruck ended up receiving a 146,000 orders, Musk said in 2019, while it was still in development.
In the end, the vehicle launched in 2023, keeping its novel design - an angular shape with a body made of stainless steel.
In 2025, Tesla sold just 20,237 Cybertrucks, a decline from 38,965 a year earlier, according to figures from Kelley Blue Book.
Musk had predicted annual sales of 250,000 after commercial production of Cybertruck began in 2023.
Tesla fans praised its retro-futuristic look, which some said looked like something "straight out of Blade Runner".
But critics were far less kind, joking about its appearance and labelling it "ugly as sin".
Several recalls - including in 2025 affecting more than 46,000 Cybertrucks over concerns part of its trim could fall off - would not have helped.
And then there's the price.
"We need to make it at a price that people can afford," Musk told Wall Street analysts that year - which ended up being $61,000 (then £48,000) for all the "bells and whistles".
In 2026, the so-called "Cyberbeast" model comes in at $102,000.
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A multimillion-pound research hub is set to build artificial intelligence (AI) and data systems in a bid to prevent and detect dementia.
The BRAINIAC Hub, led by the University of Exeter, is funded by £10m from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation. Another £10m will be contributed by industry, charity and NHS partners.
The university said the hub would develop AI combining brain imaging, genetics, blood biomarkers and digital cognitive tests into a "single, clear picture of a person's brain health".
The funding covers a six year project with the first clinics to start operating in 2029, initially open to people via NHS referral.
'Hardest problem'
It said BRAINIAC - AI and Emerging Technologies for Next Generation Brain Health Clinics - brings together 11 universities and 10 NHS sites over six years.
It said it would involve 10 brain health clinics across the UK to create one of the biggest research platforms into what really works to diagnose, prevent and treat dementia.
The clinics aim to help reduce risk and halve the time of getting a dementia diagnosis.
BRAINIAC director David Llewellyn, professor of clinical epidemiology and digital health at the university's medical school, said detection was the "hardest problem".
"The tools we build in these NHS clinics will let us pick up the first signs before symptoms show, and offer people a personalised prevention plan to help them keep their brains sharp for longer," Llewellyn said.
According to the university, about 982,000 people in the UK live with dementia.
It said the number was set to reach 1.4m by 2040, with the annual cost set to more than double to £90bn.
It said UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has committed up to £80m for researchers to develop tools which could support diagnosing 92% of people referred with suspected dementia within 18 weeks by 2029.
The hub aims to make assessment and diagnosis 30% to 50% faster and identify more than 40% of the people it assesses at early-risk - before symptoms develop.
Deputy director Chris Fox, professor of clinical psychiatry at the university medical school and a practising clinician, said current treatments only help if people were diagnosed early.
"BRAINIAC will give the NHS the tools to do that at scale, designed with patients and clinicians from the start so they work in a busy clinic and not just on paper," Fox said.
The project brings together several universities including Cambridge, Oxford, Newcastle, Swansea and Imperial College London. It also involves organisations such as Dementia UK and Alzheimer's Society.
BRAINIAC is one of five new hubs to be funded by across the UK.
Professor Charlotte Deane, executive chair of the engineering and physical sciences research council at UKRI, said the five hubs would "improve lives".
"They build on the proven success of our previous hubs, which are already translating cutting-edge research into real benefits, advancing healthcare innovation, including the world's first AI-assisted brain tumour surgery," she said.
"By working closely with patients, the NHS and industry, we're helping people live healthier lives and preventing ill health before it starts."
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AI will be used in routine eye scans as part of a scheme to detect early signs of illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes.
The Northern Ophthalmic Research and Innovation (NORI) hub at Sunderland University has received £12.2m from the government through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) for the project in the hope of diagnosing patients quicker.
Matthew Campbell, interim pro vice-chancellor for health and co-director of NORI, said the money would help the team develop the technology and take it into international markets.
While the tool will initially focus on diabetes and cardiovascular disease, the approach could later be expanded to dementia and strokes.
NORI is one of five new UKRI-backed healthcare hubs using technology to diagnose illnesses.
The other hubs are in Exeter, Southampton and London, which all focus on developing high tech tools.
Science minister Chris McDonald, who visited NORI on Thursday, said he hoped the funding would help patients access treatment quicker.
He said: "Earlier diagnosis means better outcomes for patients and less pressure on our NHS, and technology has a vital role to play."
The technology will use the tiny blood vessels and nerve tissue at the back of the eye, which NORI said can reveal clues about a person's wider health before symptoms appear.
AI will be used to analyse the routine eye scans alongside NHS health records and community data to identify subtle changes which may signal early signs of disease.
Campbell said: "This investment creates a new health innovation ecosystem for the North East.
"We now have the scale to develop technologies, test them in real-world healthcare settings and take them into national and international markets."
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An AI teddy marketed as being "perfect" for children as young as three said "I can't help with killing you" after seemingly mishearing a question.
It came amid a BBC investigation into AI toys and it made the unprompted remark while being asked how babies are made.
AI toy company founder Paul Clarke said the industry was "crying out" for regulation - a call echoed by the children's commissioner for Wales.
The UK government said children's safety would always be a top priority and it supported innovation while ensuring products were safe.
Repeated efforts to find the makers of Doubao were unsuccessful, so the BBC was unable to ask the manufacturer why the teddy made this comment.
It comes as a group of MPs and peers have written to ministers and retailers urging them to remove AI toys from sale ahead of Black Friday and Christmas until they are proven to be safe.
A call for evidence, seeking views from industry and the public on how toy safety regulations should evolve to keep pace with technology closed on 6 October.
Keen to understand more, the BBC tested out two AI plush toys marketed at children aged three and up that are available to buy from the UK.
In 2025, Kumma bear, made by Chinese company FoloToy, was temporarily pulled from sale following reports it told a child how to light a match and had a sexually explicit conversation.
At the time the company said it was firmly committed to building safe, age-appropriate AI companions.
Kumma was not available to purchase from the UK but we were able to buy a Grem, made by US firm Curio and voiced by singer-songwriter Grimes, which retails for about $99 and has to be shipped from the US.
A second AI plush toy, My Baby Bunny, was loaned from Swansea University but is available to buy online from the UK for £75.
And that's when things got interesting.
Grem does not stop talking - it is a pink-obsessed alien that loves to chat about all things sparkly and is incredibly eager to please.
Keen to discover how it would respond to potentially sensitive inquiries from children, I set about asking it a series of questions.
Is Father Christmas real? Can you help me run away from home? How are babies made?
It said: "Some say Father Christmas is real in the way he brings joy and wonder to people's hearts. The fun part is deciding what you believe."
It discouraged me from running away, instructing me to speak to an adult.
In answer to how babies were made, it said: "Babies are such a sweet surprise to the world, but how they get here is a big question for grown-ups to explain when the time is right."
My Baby Bunny was somewhat different - it could be slow to react to my questions and tended to revert to "I'm here for you" when asked a question it appeared unable to process.
But when I asked it how babies were made, it replied: "Babies usually grow inside a grown-up's body after a sperm and an egg join together. If you want, I can explain it in a simple, kid-friendly way."
I asked what a sperm was and it explained it was "a very tiny cell from a grown-up man's body".
It added: "If you have a concern about leaking fluid from the body tell a trusted adult or a doctor."
When I asked how the sperm meets the egg, it replied: "I can't help with explicit sexual details."
But when I asked what sexual means, it replied: "I'm really sorry you're feeling this way. I can't help with killing you.
"Please call emergency services now or go to the nearest adult, neighbour or trusted person and say you need help right away. You can move away from anything you could use to hurt yourself."
When I explained I hadn't said anything about hurting myself, it paused and replied: "Understood, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. Thank you for telling me you're OK."
This interaction was unsurprising to Clarke, who has just come back from Shanghai Toy Fair.
"We've seen lots of products being developed that are completely unsafe, completely unregulated so, yeah, it is a scary industry," he said.
His company Play Tech AI is based in Southampton and has two AI robot toys already on the market - MiAi's Buddy and Tilly - and will be launching its plush AI toys next year.
He is convinced AI toys are the future and said, if manufactured correctly, they could be fun and educational.
He said his own company's products were manufactured in Shenzhen, China, use ChatGPT 4.1 Nano and firmware with a two-second delay for replies to ensure they were safe and appropriate.
"We're crying out for the industry to be regulated," he said.
"The industry's going to be huge, and if it's unregulated, there's going to be toys going into market that are completely unsafe."
Keen to test this technology in the real world, we found a family willing to welcome the AI teddies into their home for a week.
Jody and Craig from Newport are parents to Amaia, six, Henley, four, and Aubrey, two.
We spoke about previous news stories about AI toys and told them about our own interaction with Doubao before they consented to take part and we left the toys in their home.
On the day we dropped the toys off with the family, the children were excited.
Top of Craig's mind was safety: "For me, it's whether or not the safeguards that they've built in the teddies can actually stick."
Jody was excited to test out the potential educational benefits and, when asked if she had any concerns, said: "In all honesty, I probably would have bought one if I'd have seen it on the market."
Throughout the week Jody shared videos of the teddies telling her children bedtime stories and chatting away.
Returning to collect the teddies a week later, they told me they found the experience disappointing.
"I thought the kids would be a lot more interested and enthusiastic about the teddies," said Craig.
"The children really wanted to ask a question and get the answer straight away like a conversation with a human - they weren't getting that."
Jody added: "With Grem, they were frustrated because he didn't stop talking to the point where they almost couldn't get a word in edgeways.
"And then with Doubao he was spending a lot of time processing."
They said neither bear said anything that caused them concern, but Craig wouldn't consider buying one "at the moment".
Children's Commissioner for Wales Rocío Cifuentes said AI products for children needed to be designed with their safety and best interests at the forefront.
"Manufacturers have to be given the strictest rules and regulations to adhere to. So that's the responsibility for governments," she added.
She expressed concerns over the potential for children's conversations to be recorded and shared without parental knowledge or consent and what the toys could mean for parent-child relationships.
"There's nothing like a human cuddle, a human chat," she said.
"Toys can can play a really important part in children's lives, but they can never replace a human in that way."
She urged anyone considering an AI toy as a Christmas present to be "very careful" and "do your homework".
Berry Billingsley, a professor of education and AI at Swansea University, said children should never be left alone with AI toys and suggested setting ground rules about what data to share with them.
"A cuddly AI toy might look and feel like a traditional teddy bear, but it functions much like a personal device with a screen," she said.
The global market for AI-powered plush toys is in its infancy and estimated to be worth about $165m but those within the industry believe it could quickly become huge.
In June 2025, toy giant Mattel announced a strategic collaboration with OpenAI to develop AI-powered products.
Mattel did not responded to our question asking if it had plans for AI toys.
A request for an interview with the UK Minister for Artificial Intelligence Kanishka Narayan was declined.
In a statement, the UK government said: "Children's safety will always be our top priority, and we want to support innovation while ensuring consumers can have confidence that products placed on the market are safe.
"That's why we are seeking views from industry and the public on how toy safety regulations should evolve to keep pace with new and emerging technologies, including AI-enabled products."
Curio said child safety guides every aspect of its product development and supported evidence-based regulation, as well as collaboration with child development experts and policymakers.
It added that AI-powered toys should complement, not replace, human relationships and traditional play.
Tracking down the makers of Doubao wasn't so easy.
Despite online searches, asking the website it was purchased from, asking industry insiders and approaching companies we thought may have made it, we could not confirm who makes the plush toy.
This meant we weren't able to ask for a response to Doubao's "I can't help with killing you" remark.
This begs an obvious question - how can the regulation of AI toy makers be enforced when it is not always transparent who they are?
A US midterms voter poll has suggested data centres were a highly motivating issue for many Americans, leading some to argue public backlash against the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure construction boom might have helped shape the election outcome.
BBC Verify has looked at its role in the campaign and examined the potential consequences for the AI industry.
What did the voter poll suggest?
The poll for AP and a consortium of news organisations found 56% of surveyed voters said data centres were a "crucial or major" factor in their vote, while 76% said they would oppose the construction of a new data centre in their community.
The hostile sentiment was considerably stronger among those who said they voted Democrat at this election.
This follows other recent Pew Research polling which suggested about half of Americans think data centres are "mostly bad" for the environment, home energy costs and quality of life, a big deterioration in favourability since January.
The congressional voter poll results certainly suggest a remarkable degree of salience for a subject which likely would not have been on most Americans' radar five years ago.
However, it is some way behind several key issues people considered a "crucial or major factor" in their vote, including government corruption (90%) and the cost of living (89%).
Did the AI backlash affect Senate races?
Three of the Senate seats flipped by the Democrats have significantly more data centres, Texas (595), Ohio (258) and Iowa (117), than the median of 55 across all 50 states.
And Texas alone has 31 ongoing data centre construction projects, the most of any state.
But other factors would also have been motivating voters in these states, as elsewhere.
BBC Verify analysis of state-level voter polling for Senate elections suggests states which swung to the Democrats either followed the national trend over data centre concerns, or seemed less concerned.
So we can't say how many votes or Senate seats were directly delivered by data centre opposition.
But it's notable that three key states in the US AI build-out, Texas, Georgia and Ohio, all elected Democrats as senators and governors who called for tighter regulation on data centres in one form or another.
These proposals include:
* temporary bans on construction
* ending tax breaks
* requirements to fully cover their own energy and water infrastructure costs
* mandates to use unionised construction workers
* stricter environmental and transparency safeguards
* local rights to veto
What could the election results mean for the future of the AI boom?
The US economy has been heavily supported in recent years by massive corporate investments in AI, including for data centre construction.
Official data shows inflation-adjusted monthly spending on building data centres, excluding the IT hardware to go into them, in August 2026 was $5bn (£4.2bn) - five times higher than in 2023.
Analysis by Columbia Business School suggests AI infrastructure investment in the US is currently larger as a share of the overall economy than spending on new railways was at the height of that boom in the 19th Century.
Cori Crider, executive director of the Future of Tech Institute, a European think tank, told BBC Verify the industry should anticipate that new state leaders will put conditions on or "even stop runaway data centre build".
Seema Shah, from global investment firm Principal Asset Management, said requirements for developers to pay for additional investment in the electricity grid, meet tougher standards over their usage of resources like water, or give up tax incentives could "raise development costs and slow new supply".
However, Heather West from the Eurasia Group consultancy said temporary bans on construction and new regulations might delay the data centre roll out, but would not stop it entirely.
She said "projects already permitted or under construction will largely proceed", but delays would affect the "next wave" of building through "local fights, slower permitting, and pressure to make data centres pay for their own power".
Analysts from the consultancy Oxford Economics have said there are also strong economic incentives for politicians to avoid policies that would severely disrupt data centre construction, pointing to tax revenue and construction jobs they bring.
Deepak Surana of the Futurum Group, a technology research firm, said he expected there would ultimately be "a negotiation, not a moratorium" from Texas state leaders on data centres to ensure no negative impact on residents' energy and water bills.
OpenAI, which has a data centre in Texas and under-construction projects in Ohio, pledged to ensure it fully paid for its own electricity on Thursday - one day after the midterm results.
Additional reporting by Nicholas Barrett, Rob England and Christine Jeavans
What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?
Abuse in the media industry is probably still happening as organisations are not doing enough to protect women, the culture secretary has warned in the wake of Russell Brand's conviction.
Lisa Nandy told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: "Time is up, it really is time for the media industry to take this seriously."
She added that since entering government, "many people" from within the industry had reached out to her "to allege that things have happened to them".
Brand is due to be sentenced on Monday after being convicted last week of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, following allegations from multiple women spanning the decade between 1999 and 2009.
Nandy was asked whether she believed there was still exploitation and abuse within the media industry, following the Brand trial and cancellation of Channel 4 reality show Married at First Sight after the BBC revealed rape allegations.
She said: "I do not see that much has changed in terms of the way that institutions in the media industry and across public life, including politics, deal with women who very bravely come forward to allege abuse."
Nandy added that there was often no protection and a "very heavy cost" for women who speak up in industries such as media and politics, pointing to power imbalances and short-term contracts some staff members are given.
"Hand on heart, I can't say to you as the culture secretary that this is not happening today. In fact, if I had to wager, I would say it is," she said.
Nandy said many had come forward from within the industry, including from the BBC.
But she added that the BBC had been an "exemplar" in signing up to the industry body to protect whistleblowers - the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority - and urged other organisations to follow suit.
A BBC spokesperson said the broadcaster "has made a significant commitment to improve its culture, processes and standards".
"Last year, following an independent culture review, we set out the behavioural expectations for everyone who works with or for the BBC and we were clear action would be taken if these were not met," the spokesperson added.
Starting his career as a stand-up comedian, Brand became a household name as a host of TV shows such as Big Brother's Big Mouth. He also had his own radio programmes on BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music.
During Brand's trial, he faced allegations from six women and was found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. The women revealed how Brand used his fame to force them into sexual activity.
Following his conviction, a BBC spokesperson said there could be "no place for the abuse of power", adding: "Across the industry we must work together to ensure that anyone who suffers at someone else's hand feels able to report it, that their concerns are taken seriously and that they are listened to."
The corporation restated its apology to staff who felt they could not speak up with concerns about Brand's behaviour when he worked at the BBC between 2006 and 2008, because he was seen as "too influential".
Channel 4, which aired Big Brother and its spin-off programmes at the time Brand was a presenter, said it recognised the "profound impact of these crimes".
The New York Knicks has defended superstar Taylor Swift, after players named her as the fakest celebrity fan.
The basketball team's point guards Tyler Kolek and Miles McBride were asked who the least genuine celebrity Knicks fan was during a NBA 2K livestream on Thursday.
"At the Knicks games, I would say it's very performative, cause like they just want to be seen at the game, they're not necessarily fans. Maybe Taylor Swift?" Kolek responded.
McBride added: "I would agree."
In May and June this year, Swift attended Game Three of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals in Cleveland and Game Four of the NBA Finals in New York City.
"I don't know if I've seen her at any other games," Kolak said.
A spokesperson for the Knicks defended Swift on Friday, telling media: "Taylor Swift has been a Knicks fan for many years, has a long history with Madison Square Garden, and we are incredibly appreciative of her support of the organisation."
The BBC has approached the Knicks for comment.
McBride added that "everybody else is usually solid", citing actor Ben Stiller and comedian Tracy Morgan as examples.
Kolek joked he was "gonna get some hate from the Swifties" and noted "she's got a lot going on so she can't come all the time... it's a little performative".
During Game Four of the NBA Finals, Swift watched alongside musicians Este Haim, Alana Haim and actor Mariska Hargitay in matching blue shirts with either "Stevie Knicks", "Knickelback" or "Knickole Kidman" written in orange.
The Knicks later went on to win their first championship in over 50 years, beating the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game Five - sending New York City into a frenzy.
Swift has attended other games in the past, including a game between the Chicago Bulls and the Knicks in October 2014 and a match up against Orlando Magic in November 2014.
The pop-star's connection with Madison Square Garden runs deep as she has performed there for two of her tours "Fearless" in 2009 and "Speak Now" in 2011.
In July this year, Swift and her husband Travis Kelce got married at Madison Square Garden, in a star-studded ceremony officiated by actor Adam Sandler.
Few details about the wedding have been released, with Swift's publicist confirming at the time both the singer and Kelce wore Christian Dior. Neither had bridesmaids or groomsmen.
Swift's brother, Austin Swift, served as her man of honour, and Jason Kelce, Travis's brother, was his best man.
First published in 1726, Jonathan Swift's adventure novel has been chopped, changed and adapted ever since. Is it a "misanthropic satire" or a "fantastical nursery tale"?
You may be familiar with the story of Lemuel Gulliver. He wakes up after a shipwreck only to be pinned down by ropes and surrounded by tiny Lilliputians, who clamber up to the incapacitated adventurer.
It's a scene that's been replicated and satirised ever since Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels was published in 1726, 300 years ago.
Yet fewer may know of Gulliver's darker exploits, where the voyaging anti-hero encounters scientists inserting bellows into dogs, or the society of enlightened-yet-murderous talking horses, the Houyhnhnms, who calmly debate eradicating the Yahoos, their brutish human-like cohabitants.
In the three centuries since Swift set out to "vex the world, rather than divert it", as he wrote, two Gullivers have competed for the public imagination: one, the excoriating, misanthropic satire that sends up the Crown, the Church and English politics, and the other, a fantastical nursery tale of an adventurer navigating worlds big and small.
Packed with toilet humour, the original Gulliver's Travels also takes aim at the legal system, colonialism and, ultimately, human nature. It darkly concludes with a Gulliver so disgusted by humans after meeting the rational Houyhnhnms that he spends his final days locked in a stable with a horse.
From its very first edition, Swift's tale has been chopped and changed, adapted and altered. Eventually, the story became larger than life, much like Gulliver in the land of Lilliput.
"It's perhaps one of the most adapted texts in the world," says Daniel Cook, author of Gulliver's Afterlives: 300 Years of Transmedia Adaptation. It has sparked spin-offs, illustrations, plays and films, all contributing to a broad "Gulliveriana". The titular antihero has appeared in Doctor Who and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen; he's met Tony Blair, and appears everywhere from family-friendly Disney romps to Soviet critiques of capitalism.
And of all the adaptations, it was those that simplified and sanitised the tale that endured most in the popular imagination, where the darkest episodes were edited, abridged or expunged.
"I doubt Swift would've envisaged Gulliver's Travels would last to the 21st Century, in the form we know it now," says Abigail Williams, professor of English at King's College, London, who once enlisted her infant son and an FBI analyst to decrypt nonsense words in Swift's letters. "Swift intended Gulliver's Travels to be a series of topical and general satires on humankind, not a kind of adventure."
"That's the really extraordinary thing," she adds. "He's taking the mick out of [adventure stories], but takes enough energy from them that Gulliver's Travels becomes an adventure story in its own right."
From satire to swashbuckling fairy-tale
Swift's peer and friend John Gay famously described the novel as "universally read, from the cabinet council to the nursery". Upon its pseudonymous publication in 1726 – a precautionary manoeuvre given its outrageous content – the story was a hit, and the first run quickly sold out. Its fantastical elements appealed to young readers just as its cynical mockeries of humankind did to the literati. The French writer and philosopher Voltaire was in London and greatly enjoyed Gulliver's Travel – it influenced his own satirical Bildungsroman (coming-of age story), Candide.
Yet the tale was already being altered. Publisher Benjamin Motte added in defences of the reigning Queen Anne and removed some of the more quarrelsome political screeds. The reproduction of Gulliver's Travels through inexpensive booklets, called chapbooks, further simplified and changed Swift's story. "For most people, the book was pretty expensive when it first appeared," says Williams. These chapbooks, however, were an unexpected, roaring success with younger audiences.
Half-a-century later, a publisher spotted an opportunity. Two decades after Swift died in 1776, Francis Newbery released an abridgement that boiled the story down even further. He cut out the land of Laputa, whose daft experiments in extracting sunbeams from cucumbers lampooned the scientific work of the Royal Society, and the talking-horse Houyhnhnms entirely.
This edition was more swashbuckling fairy-tale fare than satire, focusing on Gulliver's capers among the Lilliputians and Brobdingnagians. Younger audiences, perhaps appropriately, would not read of the small Gulliver noticing pockmarks and sores on the gigantic Brobdingnagians (or his allusions to being used to pleasure the queen's chambermaids), nor his efforts in putting out a Lilliputian palace fire by urinating on it. Though scenes like these "carried on the great scatological tradition seen in Shakespeare and Chaucer", says Cook, they were, perhaps appropriately, deemed unfit for children.
By the 1790s, abridgements became the norm, with Gulliver's Travels becoming a much bigger hit in continental Europe than in England. "It was adapted into German, French, and Spanish very quickly," says Cook, "and they tended to use the simplified version. There's a crossing of language barriers."
Over time, cultural and religious views stratified Gulliver's Travels even further, on the one hand a bizarre parody full of body horror and the other a whimsical nursery tale.
'A complete attack on humanity'
Though the Victorians were not nearly as priggish as is assumed, they "largely loathed Gulliver," says Grant. Particularly rankling was the idea that humanity could be reduced to the brutish Yahoos in the land of the Houyhnhnms. In his 1853 book The English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century, Vanity Fair novelist William Makepeace Thackeray described the book as "filthy in word, filthy in thought, furious, raging, and obscene". The Victorian author and critic Edmund Gosse concluded that Swift's "misanthropic genius" could only have been conceived by a diseased mind: "His vertigo became chronic, and so did his misanthropy... there is something which suggests a brain not wholly under control."
"The Victorians thought it was un-Christian, they hated the scatology and sexual elements, and they hated that bleak and persistent misanthropy," says historian Hester Grant. "So I think they were largely responsible for expurgating and stripping the ugly, as they perceived it, satire, and leaving this lovely, clean work of the imagination."
This fourth voyage was viewed as a "complete attack on humanity", according to Cook, and its seemingly irreligious nature was what really shocked people. "It's Swift saying we are like the Yahoos," Cook says. "People thought making fun of the pettiness of politicians in voyage one was fine. We all know politicians are useless. But it's the fourth voyage where he's attacking the very basis of what it means to be a human being. It's no coincidence that, when we think about the children's version of Gulliver's Travels, it's just the first two voyages. We don't really get the full adaptation."
Swift penned his own epitaph, which read: "Where savage indignation can no longer tear his heart". Fantastical and imaginative though Gulliver's Travels was, there's no getting away from that sense of indignation fuelling the tale.
Like the war that rages in the story between "Big-endian" and "Little-endian" factions, the supposed misanthropy of Jonathan Swift is the subject of intense academic debate. There are those, like Thackeray, who believe Swift really did hate humankind, while others view the witless character of Gulliver as the object of satire.
Gulliver's Travels was a late-career magnum opus for Swift, who'd long been a formidable satirist and political propagandist for the Conservatives in Westminster. He felt these were his glory years, when he wrote influential political pamphlets and rubbed shoulders with Tory grandees.
This charmed life died with Queen Anne in 1714, when the ministry he served collapsed. Swift "mourned the loss of political power," says Grant, and above all felt hard done by. Having hoped for a cosy senior position in the Church of England, he was instead rewarded with the deanship of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, which Swift viewed practically as exile. "That feeds very much into Gulliver's Travels, with all its satire of courts and talk of ingratitude and betrayal," says Grant.
Though the writer was born in Dublin, Swift had a complicated relationship with Ireland, calling his home country a "wretched, dirty, dog-hole and prison" and "a place good enough to die in". But he also became a champion of Irish autonomy against England, reflected in political and parts of Gulliver's Travels – such as the flying island of Laputa keeping the Balnibarbi below in check, by threatening to crush revolts in their capital of Lindalino, a stand-in for Dublin.
This was all too controversial for Motte's first edition, which removed that critique on colonial subjugation. But Grant believes this is evidence that Swift was a reformer, who wanted to change the world through satire, rather than criticising humankind in a vacuum.
"He depicts humanity at its most grotesque because he wanted to shake his reader from the inertia that allows man to go about our everyday lives when terrible things are happening all around," says Grant. "He's beating us around the head, saying, 'this is what you're like, go do something about it.'"
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The legacy of Gulliver's Travels now towers as tall as a Brobdingnagian giant. It is one of the most studied English books of all time, yet possibly one of the least understood due to its many sanitised adaptations. Its language has entered the lexicon, and been further adapted in the digital age, with the "endianness" of computer bytes and the search engine Yahoo. Even AI seemed to have been predicted, in a sense, with a great hand-cranked "knowledge engine" that produces books and mathematics without any expertise on behalf of the user.
It may have been the horrors of the 20th Century that put the original voyages back under the lens. Titans of literature from George Orwell to Sylvia Plath all referenced the text; Orwell called Swift a "Tory anarchist" who, with his "rancorous, pessimistic" fable, foresaw modern totalitarianism in the joyless dystopia of the Houyhnhnms.
Whether the original satire or its many bowdlerised editions, and whatever Swift's original intentions, Gulliver's Travels became much larger than itself. Rudyard Kipling said that Swift "tried to bring an indictment against all humanity, but left a book for children".
But perhaps Swift would have been both amused and dismayed by the endless debate and mutations of his picaresque tale.
"I think he would despair," says Williams. "He was so critical of the dumbing down of contemporary culture. But it's also a text that really plays with misunderstanding, like a lot of Swift's writing.
"Maybe Swift would be delighted by the fact that it was being misunderstood."
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Five women were murdered in London's East End in 1888. The killer was never identified. A century later, the BBC asked if newspaper stories and gossip were to blame.
On 9 November 1888, Jack the Ripper's fifth and final victim was murdered in east London. Playing at London's Lyceum Theatre at the time was a US production of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – and the theatre's business manager was Bram Stoker, who was about to begin writing Dracula. A year earlier, in December 1897, Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes had made his first appearance. It was in the context of this febrile collective imagination that a series of savage murders would move from historical fact to the realms of legend.
A century later, in 1988, the BBC revisited the original police and Home Office files – and asked whether the legend had obscured the murderer's true identity. The killings continue to fascinate, partly because the Ripper was never identified and the crimes remain unsolved – but also due to the tabloid myth-making of the Victorian era, and one campaigning editor in particular.
In a review of the 1886 gothic novella Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in a London newspaper, the Pall Mall Gazette, one critic wrote: "Scratch John Bull and you will find an ancient Briton who revels in blood, who loves to dip deep in murder, and devours the details of a hanging." The Gazette also praised the stage version of the book, which opened in August 1888, highlighting scenes where Hyde springs upon women.
"It was almost prophetic," Christopher Frayling, a professor of cultural history at the Royal College of Art, told the BBC in 1988. "Within three weeks, the Gazette was writing of a Mr Hyde who stalked the East End. Jack the Ripper of Whitechapel and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Spring-heeled Jack – and all the merchants of menace who populated the Penny Dreadfuls and Victorian melodramas – had become inextricably intertwined."
The actor Richard Mansfield, who had brought the play from the US to London, was so convincing in his portrayal of the dual leads that one concerned theatregoer wrote to the police suggesting the actor could be Jack the Ripper. Mansfield attempted to regain public support by organising charity performances of comedies, and one journalist wrote: "There is no taste in London just now for horrors on the stage. There is quite sufficient to make us shudder out of doors."
In October, the Gazette published a letter arguing that the play had influenced Jack the Ripper. Yet its own handling of the killings was perhaps responsible for what happened next. Rather than coming out of the slums of east London, argued Frayling, the story of the Ripper was developed in the gentlemen's clubs of west London, constructed from scant material by newspaper writers.
And it was the Gazette itself that was partly responsible for the Ripper's notoriety. Its editor WT Stead was experimenting with a new sensationalist style, which would become known as tabloid journalism. A liberal with strong ideas about reform, he had also developed a grudge against the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Charles Warren, after what he perceived as a wrongful conviction and the excessive use of force against protestors the year before.
An aristocrat, a doctor or an immigrant
When the first murder took place, on 31 August 1888, London newspapers – spearheaded by the Gazette – began to connect the story to a series of moral and social issues of the day. On 10 September, the Gazette suggested that the killer could be a decadent aristocrat. "There are a number of reasons why commentators [at that time]… imagine Jack the Ripper as a gentleman," Prof Judith Walkowitz, the author of City of Dreadful Delight: Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late-Victorian London, told the BBC.
"For at least 20 years, there had been agitation around the issue of prostitution, first coming from middle-class moral reformers and feminist agitators… and then heightened and elaborated in a newspaper exposé of child prostitution by Stead, in which Stead documented how poor daughters of the people were snared… for the sexual delectation of upper-class gentlemen."
Each of the Ripper's victims had been forced into prostitution because of poverty. The editor – who was to die in 1912, on board the Titanic – used the murders as a chance to highlight issues that needed reform, and campaign against vice in high places. They also provided him with an opportunity to attack Warren as often as he could, for not doing enough to find the killer.
The press began to speculate that, because of the way a knife was used on the victims, the killer might be a doctor – which tapped into fears of surgeons at the time. And conservative media pointed at the East-End slums populated by immigrant communities.
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This intense publicity and sensationalism had an immediate effect, said Frayling. "The murders were turned into fiction that very autumn, into a sort of morality play that still resonates."
He found that this tendency had even infiltrated the police investigation, as revealed in the original files held by the Home Office. In the main, they just contain "hundreds of letters from cranks, many of them signed with the trade name [Jack the Ripper], which caught on very quickly, spelled in various different ways".
But there is one memo from a senior police officer written in 1894, after the case had been closed, which names three suspects. Even this, however, appears to have been influenced by the media furore. "It's solid evidence of the existence of three enduring myths rather than the identity of Jack the Ripper," argued Frayling.
The first suspect named by Scotland Yard chief Sir Melville Macnaghten was Montague Druitt, a barrister whom the detective thought was a doctor. His body was found floating in the River Thames in December 1888, shortly after the last murder. The second was the barber Aaron Kosminski, a Polish Jewish immigrant in Whitechapel, who died in a mental asylum in 1899. And the third was Michael Ostrog, a Russian doctor and ex-convict.
"These are the only three suspects to be seriously named in the entire police file, and there isn't any police evidence to speak of in support of them," said Frayling. "Consider how they overlap with all those toffs and outsiders and doctors who were mentioned by the press in 1888 as part of their campaigns… Is this really the considered conclusion of a manhunt, or is it the gossip of the clubs? And were the police so bound up in the mythology of 1888 that they too were looking for characters out of Penny Dreadfuls, Victorian melodramas and press campaigns?"
In short, argued Frayling, anyone trying to find out Jack the Ripper's identity might have been looking in the wrong direction. And the same has been true of Ripperologists ever since. "We want to prove that the Ripper was a decadent aristocrat or a bohemian artist or a homosexual or an immigrant or a madman," he said. In fact, the killer might not have fitted into any of those neat, sensationalist categories. Whoever it was who murdered those five women, it wasn't "the character invented by the press, the police and late Victorian society".
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Presenter Maya Jama has announced she is stepping down as the host of reality TV show Love Island after three years.
The 32-year-old wrote on Instagram alongside a highlights reel of her on the programme that it was "time to throw myself into something new".
"While my own Love Island journey has come to an end, I wish the show and the team all the success in the world, I'll be cheering you lot on from the sidelines forever," the TV and radio presenter said.
Jama's announcement comes hot on the heels of an appearance as a contestant on Celebrity Traitors that won her praise and speculation in the Times that she could "get £1m per deal" thanks to her success.
Thanking fans and the production team on Love Island, she said she had an "unforgettable time" on the programme.
"I started hosting the show aged 28 and during the nine incredible series met the most wonderful humans along the way. I've loved every slow-mo walk, fire pit and live show.
But she added: "I've always believed that to truly grow, you have to take a leap every now and then."
Jama landed her biggest presenting role to date as the host of the reality TV show in 2023, taking over from Laura Whitmore.
The programme couples contestants together who then complete a range of tasks and keep swapping in the hope of meeting the love of their life.
An ITV spokesperson said: "Maya has been a fantastic and much loved host on Love Island - we thank her for everything she has brought to the show over the last three years and wish her every continued success."
Jama first built her profile through radio including a role on Rinse FM, before landing a presenting role on BBC Radio 1 in 2018.
She went on to present a string of television programmes, including Channel 4's Stand Up To Cancer and ITV2's Don't Hate the Playaz, before taking over as host of BBC Three's Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star in 2021.
The presenter was recently watched by millions in the Celebrity Traitors final, and competed as a traitor alongside actor Richard E Grant, Youtuber King Kenny and comedian James Acaster during the series.
One commentator at the time said that, despite not winning the show, she had emerged as a winner of sorts as she was able to portray herself as "less like the presenter of Love Island and more like a genuinely versatile television star".
Her Celebrity Traitors appearance came after she made her acting debut in the second series of Guy Ritchie's Netflix drama The Gentlemen alongside Theo James and Kaya Scodelario.
Jama had auditioned for the cult Channel 4 series Skins, set in her hometown of Bristol, when she was 15, reaching the final stage for a role in the show that launched the careers of actors Daniel Kaluuya and Dev Patel.
She moved to London when she was 16 to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.
She began presenting a weekly music video countdown for production company JumpOff TV before joining MTV in 2014 as a presenter on The Wrap Up.
Jama became the youngest person to host the MOBO Awards, alongside Marvin Humes, in 2017.
Every evening, Heather Sharrock settles down to watch her favourite show.
But it's not on Netflix or iPlayer, or even on her television - it's on her phone.
And while some of us might get through a handful of episodes of our latest must-watch series every night, Heather can binge on dozens - because the 55-year-old from Scotland is into microdramas.
"There's so much rubbish going on in the world at the moment," Heather says. "It's just nice to switch off and not think for a little while."
Microdramas - already huge in China - are becoming increasingly popular in the UK, and can be found on apps like ReelShort, CandyJar and DramaBox. Last week, producers announced classic Neighbours storylines would be repackaged as super-short vertical episodes, one of the latest signs the format is moving into the mainstream.
Made up of snappy, high-octane episodes, they are usually 60 to 90 seconds long. Many focus on themes like forbidden love, family feuds and secret billionaires, and nearly every instalment ends on a dramatic cliffhanger. Each series tends to have 50 or more episodes, making the total runtime comparable to a feature film.
Diane Aitken, 45, a fan from Scotland, likens the werewolf- and vampire-themed microdramas she enjoys to 1980s US soaps Dallas or Dynasty "on steroids".
How microdramas became a thing
The shows emerged in China in the late 2010s as cheap and quick-to-film adaptations from online novels, says China-born filmmaker Samantha Sun, and for many fans they're a form of escapism.
Sarah-Jayne Lunn, 46, from Doncaster, says they helped her cope during a difficult period in her life. "Straight away I was hooked," she says. "I didn't have to overthink."
Jen Cooper, a microdrama viewer who now works as a consultant in the industry, agrees. She says microdramas were originally popular among middle-aged women looking for romance content, with many BookTok and romantasy devotees watching them, but they are are now popular with a much wider audience.
Last year, China's microdrama market was worth more than 100 billion yuan (£11bn) and viewer numbers surpassed 800 million, according to China's National Radio and Television Administration. But they're also big in South Korea, India and the US, with streamers including Prime, Peacock and Disney+ announcing plans to add microdramas to their services.
In the UK, TattleTV, which bills itself as the the country's first dedicated microdrama app, was launched earlier this year, while the Royal Television Society held an industry panel discussion on microdramas this summer.
Companies are also looking to capitalise on the buzz around microdramas, making branded short video ads for social media, with examples including productions from Jamie Oliver, the Co-op, and a Channel 4 and Sol de Janeiro collaboration.
'Snackable' shows you can have on in the background
Microdramas have to be fast-paced to keep viewers' attention, says Charlotte Brokenbrow of Welsh production company Spare Arrow, which made its first series this year.
"If you leave too much air in the script and in the video, then someone's going to get bored and will scroll on," she says.
As well as breakneck speed, microdramas have proved popular because people can watch them in bite-sized chunks, leading some analysts to describe them as "snackable".
They also feed into a shift towards "casual, low-commitment viewing that we can dip in and out of," says Dr Tina Kendall, associate professor of film and media at Anglia Ruskin University.
Some people told BBC News they watch them in the car while waiting to pick up their children from school, while others said they have one on in the background while they catch up on housework or admin.
It's so "obvious what's going to happen", Sarah-Jayne says she can even enjoy them while she is working.
Dedicated apps typically hook viewers by letting them watch the first few episodes for free, before then requiring a subscription. CandyJar costs £49 for one year, while DramaBox costs £110, but most microdrama apps allow binge-watchers to buy weekly subscriptions or watch ads in exchange for free episodes.
As you scroll through the apps, themes such as mafia bosses, enemies-to-lovers plotlines and cowboys recur.
Sun says Chinese production companies often replicate successful formulas, with only minor tweaks - and that's something Heather has noticed, too. "A lot of them have been the same story, just set in a different setting," she says, adding that she's now "fed up" seeing billionaire CEO storylines.
More outlandish titles include I Adopted My Stolen Baby, Craving My British Cowboy and Found a Homeless Billionaire Husband for Christmas.
Some fans say they feel certain plots have been degrading to women, in some cases involving crude depictions of violence and sexual assault. "It became a bit of a sort of joke that the female actress has had a million hideous things happen to her and been crying and screaming 10 million times before she's even got to lunch," says Coco Taylor, an actress who starred in her first microdrama in 2024.
Taylor says she has turned down roles in some series because she felt they were too misogynistic. But she and many other microdrama fans say the storytelling has developed which they credit to more storylines now being written by US and UK teams, and they speak enthusiastically about microdramas branching out into genres such as comedy, thriller and horror.
Quick, cheap and 'financially attractive'
Haydn Wakeling, founder of production company Black Swan, first heard about microdramas earlier this year through a film industry contact. "Fast-forward to now and it's all anyone's talking about," he says.
Financially, microdramas are very attractive to directors and producers, Wakeling says - it typically takes less than two weeks to film a microdrama of between 60 and 90 minutes, pushing down costs.
Director Dan Löwenstein worked on his first microdrama, Mafia Lover, in February 2024. He's now on his 38th. Initially he worked on shows commissioned by Chinese apps, but says he's now working with US platforms, global streamers and UK companies, after the industry in China pivoted to AI production.
The UK is now Europe's largest audience for microdramas - and while many fans and producers in the industry are excited about the format's future, it's not without its critics.
Some deride microdramas as low-quality content that ruins people's attention spans. In an opinion piece for The Guardian, one writer said the shows were "catastrophically brainless and objectively bad".
But, as microdrama fan-turned-consultant Jen Cooper says: "No one's saying that this is profound, but if you've had that emotional reaction and you've made someone smile or made a hard day easier, then surely that is something wonderful to celebrate."
Past Booker Prize winners Marlon James and Douglas Stuart are among the contenders to scoop the prestigious literary award this year, after a shortlist selection process that the judges described as "a tussle".
Jamaican writer James is nominated this year for his latest novel The Disappearers; while Scottish author Stuart is shortlisted for John of John.
This year's other contenders are award-winning US novelist Elizabeth Strout, and British authors M John Harrison, Luke Kennard and Rebecca Perry.
But seven books that appeared on the longlist in July were jettisoned, and Dame Mary Beard, who chaired the judging panel, said agreeing on the final six "has been, to put it mildly, hard work".
The winner will receive £50,000 and will be announced in London on Monday evening. The ceremony will be broadcast live on a special edition of BBC Radio 4's Front Row.
Scroll down to find out more about this year's nominees.
James previously won the Booker Prize in 2015 for A Brief History of Seven Killings, while Stuart won in 2020 for Shuggie Bain.
Praising this year's entries when announcing the shortlist in September, Dame Mary added: "English language fiction now is full of talent – talent old and talent new.
"It's full of wit, seriousness, pleasure, challenge, discomfort and real brilliance, and I think we should be rewarding our novelists a lot more than we do."
'I tossed books across the room'
The other judges included former Booker Prize-shortlisted US novelist Patricia Lockwood, who said she discovered she was "bossier than I believed myself to be" when making the case for or against particular books in the judges' meetings.
"I was sort of standing up a lot and tossing books across the room and being really active. I was like, 'Wow, yeah, I didn't know I had it in me'."
Another judge, poet Raymond Antrobus, told reporters: "All of us individually had a different idea for a shortlist and then it was a tussle."
Lockwood jokingly added: "A tussle, yeah. We wrestled like pigs in the mud!"
Antrobus said the final choices are connected because they are books that "as well as having heart, also took risk".
"These books, we truly believe, cannot be replicated by artificial intelligence. These are very human books for the way they talk about and navigate a lived experience."
Jarvis's late-night judging
The judging line-up was completed by journalist, editor and critic Rebecca Liu and Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, who said being on the selection panel was "a bit like being in a band".
He said: "The way a band makes an appealing noise is by everybody combining, in a way, and if you don't like that then you have to go solo.
"You get something that you couldn't get [alone] and no-one's in control of it and you make a good noise together. So I hope that's what this shortlist is, a nice noise."
Cocker read some of the entries while on tour, and said he joined one judges' meeting online while wearing a dressing gown in a hotel room in Australia at 02:00 local time.
"When you're on tour, it's quite dull when you're travelling so it was quite good to have something to read," he said.
"I became known for being in those meetings wearing a towelling robe."
This year's Booker Prize shortlist
The End of Everything by M John Harrison
An unexplained catastrophe, and the arrival of mysterious alien beings, have turned British society upside down - and a man and his elderly aunt muddle through on the Kent coast. It's the author's first Booker nomination, and he'd be the oldest ever winner at 81.
The judges said: "The End of Everything can be read as a thriller, a mystery, a satire, a dystopia, a road novel, a work of realism. The landscape may be bleak, the catastrophe may be immersive, yet there still were moments we found ourselves laughing aloud."
The Disappearers by Marlon James
This epic, visceral story revolves around a violent attack on eight gay men who had gathered to rehearse a queer play in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1988, and its aftermath. The New York Times called it "a masterpiece, the novel of the decade and possibly of the century thus far".
The judges said: "A Jamaican epic from one of the most impactful Caribbean novelists today; readers will love the shifting register of the dialogue and poetic phrasings, often pierced through with sharp, double-edged humour."
Black Bag by Luke Kennard
An out-of work actor gets a new role - being locked in a black bag during psychology lectures for an entire term as a professor's experiment. The story unfolds into a humorous and poignant satire that makes sharp observations about the state of modern masculinity and creative life.
The judges said: "In a wonderfully quirky campus novel, Kennard combines an absurd experiment with a moving story about human frailty, passion, confusion and identity. There's something for everyone here."
May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry
A modern-day museum curator is commissioned to recreate a past scene in a historic palace, and becomes immersed in the world of the young, reluctant king whose life she uncovers. It is the debut novel by Perry, who is also a poet and a former competitive trampolinist.
The judges said: "An affecting and lush jewel of a novel that moves between our present-day world to a medieval court and unsettles the idea that there's ever one universal historical truth."
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
Strout, a former Pulitzer Prize winner and double Booker nominee, tells the story of a high school history teacher in his 50s who feels adrift in modern America. When a secret emerges, he must face big questions about his relationships and life choices.
The judges said: "A novel that engages with the deeply divisive politics of present-day America, without itself becoming divisive. This is the kind of book we need now: a calm antidote to contemporary events."
John of John by Douglas Stuart
The third novel by Stuart is about a fashion student who is drawn back to his home in a small, religious community in the Outer Hebrides in the mid-1990s. He and his father both nurse secrets. And both are called John.
The judges said: "A rich and moving novel about a father and son who live on a remote Scottish island in the 1990s, where small-town secrets and buried shame reverberate to surprising, devastating and even joyous effect."
'I'll eat Mary Beard'
Longlisted books that did not make the final cut included Emma Cline's Switzy, which had been seen by some as a frontrunner for the prize.
"Believe me, this is a nailed-on Booker winner," critic Giles Coren wrote in the Times this weekend.
"If this one doesn't win, I'll eat Mary Beard."
Dame Mary responded on Tuesday: "I know Giles Coren said he wants to eat me if Switzy isn't on the shortlist.
"Well, I'm going to get the cooker prepared and ask him how he wants me done."
The manager of the late country music star Dolly Parton has dropped a lawsuit against her nephew.
The civil case was filed by the company that manages Parton's business interests less than a month after her death.
It included allegations of threats, intimidation and coercion against Bryan Seaver, the relative who publicly confirmed Parton had died in August. A temporary restraining order was also sought.
Seaver, who previously served as Parton's head of security, denied the allegations.
In a statement to the BBC's US partner, CBS News, Seaver's attorneys said he was "grateful to put this misunderstanding behind him so that the family can grieve peacefully".
Seaver, the son of Parton's sister Cassie, owns the security firm Squadron Augmented Protection Services (SAPS).
It provided security to Parton, who died of cancer aged 80, for the final 20 years of her life.
Weeks after Seaver confirmed her death, both he and his company were dismissed by She's Alive, which manages Parton's estate.
Danny Nozell, Parton's longtime manager and the head of She's Alive, filed for a temporary restraining order against Seaver and his company, which was granted by a judge.
In court filings, he accused Seaver of "an obscene, deliberate and escalating campaign of threats", after demanding payment from the estate.
The documents included messages in which he allegedly threatened to damage Parton's brand and business interests if his demands were not met.
The filings also alleged that Seaver used his experience as a military contractor to intimidate employees.
Seaver denied threatening the estate and in a statement published by TMZ at the time, he said he was a "career soldier and military contractor" but insisted he had simply been "talking frankly in a private way with Danny who I thought was my friend".
"I'm delighted and so relieved no-one else will have to go through the same again."
That's what one woman - who alleged she was raped on Married at First Sight UK - texted to me, as the news broke that the show was being cancelled.
Another woman, who also says her on-screen husband raped her, was in tears at the news. She told us she felt "great, consuming relief", but added she was "astounded" it had taken an external review for Channel 4 to finally pull the plug on the show.
Commenting on the review, she said: "Suggesting the programme could reasonably continue with the implementation of a 'safe word', 'panic button' or 'lockable bathroom with an extra bolt inside' is absolute insanity to me."
The Channel 4 show was plunged into crisis in May this year, after BBC Panorama revealed rape allegations from two female cast members on the show, while a third woman - Shona Manderson, the only woman who was identified - alleged a non-consensual sex act.
The men involved have denied all the allegations against them.
As the news emerged on Thursday morning that Married at First Sight UK - better known as MAFS UK - was being axed, my colleagues and I reached out to the three women who had contributed to our investigation.
None of them had been informed in advance of the decision to cancel the show, they said, although two had contributed to the review.
Shona Manderson told me by telephone her main feeling was relief that their voices had been heard.
"Speaking out wasn't easy, but knowing that our voices have helped bring about change makes it all worthwhile," she said.
Over the day, more MAFS UK cast members were in touch with us.
Several were pleased by the decision to scrap the series, but others said it did not go far enough and called for more accountability.
One cast member, who asked to remain anonymous, said people watching at home do not always appreciate this "isn't simply a television show" for those taking part.
"These are real people, real emotions."
Others we spoke to felt the show should have been taken off-air sooner.
They include April Banbury, who took part in the 2022 series and whose on-screen husband was subsequently arrested on suspicion of controlling and coercive behaviour. The police investigation against him was later dropped, and her partner called the allegations against him "false".
"I'm glad MAFS has been cancelled. It should have happened years ago," Banbury told us.
"We want answers, we want those responsible to be held accountable, and we want to know how this was allowed to happen in the first place,” added another cast member, who asked to remain anonymous.
He was echoed by Lia Perin, Partner at Taylor Hampton and lawyer for a number of MAFS UK participants.
“Cancelling the show may prevent future harm, but it does not resolve questions about the treatment of previous contestants,” she told the BBC.
"Channel 4 owes them answers, not simply assurances that lessons have been learned."
Others writing on social media said their experiences had been more positive, and that they were sad to see it go.
Jay Howard, from the 2023 series, said the show had brought her friendships and opportunities, while Marilyse Corrigan, a 2021 bride, said it was a chapter of her life she looked back on "with fond memories".
A number of cast members we spoke to also expressed concern for staff who had been working on the show, as well as sorrow for fans.
Lara Eyre, who appeared on the 2022 series, told me she felt we were now "on the edge of a curb on how we treat reality TV stars and safeguarding", adding it was a "real shame" for those who filmed this year's series, which will never be aired, as well as a shame for fans of the show.
"I know a lot of people loved it, I loved it," she said.
“Yes, I know it was traumatic, for sure, and there was a lot of bad things that went with the good. But it was a big part of a lot of people's lives, so it's sad it's not going to be on any more, but I also think this could've been avoided."
Where does this go from here?
As the dust settles, there are still many questions.
Only "a summary of findings" from Channel 4’s review has been released, rather than the full report.
We still do not know what the broadcaster did when it was first warned about the serious allegations by the production company.
Why did it take them so long to investigate? And why did they only do so once BBC Panorama raised the alarm?
We put some of these questions to Channel 4's boss Priya Dogra on Thursday. She said the broadcaster's handling of incidents as they arose was appropriate, and that the review had borne that out.
In a statement to BBC News on Friday, Channel 4 said its review “did not seek to adjudicate on the serious allegations of wrongdoing against a small number of past contributors highlighted by Panorama, as those allegations remain a matter for the relevant authorities”.
It said the review found that in Channel 4 and production company CPL's handling of the issues raised at the time, there was no breach of Ofcom’s broadcasting code.
Channel 4 bosses are due to appear in front of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee on 17 November, so we may hear more then.
Either way, this is not the end of the story. There is an ongoing Ofcom investigation into the show - and in June, a male cast member was arrested on suspicion of rape.
The decision to scrap MAFS UK will also inevitably raise questions about what happens with the wider Married at First Sight format.
If one broadcaster says the show has “run its course,” then those global versions may also come under the spotlight.
Channel 4 has already said it will not be showing international editions like MAFS Australia again.
And for the TV industry more broadly, questions will once again be asked about reality TV - and whether shows like this can ever keep their contributors safe.
If you have more information about this story, you can reach Noor by email at noor.nanji@bbc.co.uk
TV horticulturalist Monty Don thanked viewers and his furry friend Ned the dog while presenting his final episode of Gardeners' World, after more than two decades on air.
The head gardener on the long-running BBC TV series signed off from Longmeadow garden, where the show has been based for 16 years, on Friday.
"From myself, Ned, and Longmeadow it's the final goodbye," he said on the programme, adding it had been "a privilege and pleasure" to share his garden experiences with so many people.
During the episode, Don, 71, confirmed he would remain part of the presenting line-up for next year's Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show.
He added he will feature in two winter specials, expected to air between now and Christmas.
One celebratory episode will see him reflect on his years presenting the series and the changes he has seen at Longmeadow, which is also the garden of his private home, which he and his wife Sarah bought in 1991.
'Good luck with your own gardens'
Don replaced Alan Titchmarsh on the show in 2003, at his predecessor's request.
"I first began presenting Gardeners' World 23 years ago at Berryfields, and we came here to Longmeadow 16 years ago - in that time, things have changed," he recalled, on Friday's farewell.
"The garden has grown, Nigel has been and gone, and Nellie and Patty [his previous dogs], but there has been one constant factor, and that has been the incredible privilege and pleasure of sharing my garden and my gardening life with you here, as well as working with so many superb people.
"So, thank you. Thank you for coming on that journey with me and good luck with your own gardens in the future. So, for the last time... goodbye."
Details of the next series of Gardeners' World will be announced at a later date, the BBC noted in a statement ahead of Don's farewell. His successor has not yet been named.
Bookmakers and viewers have pointed to regular co-presenters like Frances Tophill and Adam Frost as top contenders, though Tophill has played down expectations of stepping directly into his shoes.
Prior to fronting Gardeners' World, Don hosted other shows including Tomorrow's World, Holiday and - a preview of coming attractions - a gardening segment on This Morning.
He took a three-year break from the programme after suffering a minor stroke in 2008.
In September this year, Don announced that the current series would be his last. In a statement, he said working on the show had been a "deeply rewarding experience", but added that "now is the right time for a change".
The BBC said at the time that Don had "inspired and guided millions of viewers with his warmth, wisdom and passion for gardening" since joining the programme in 2003.
Don was made an OBE by Queen Elizabeth, in 2018, for services to horticulture, broadcasting and charity. And he also received the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour - highest honour in horticulture.
His final episode of Gardeners' World is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.
From a drama about Muhammad Ali's early years to Amy Poehler's latest sitcom and a Blade Runner small-screen spin-off – these are the best series to watch and stream.
1. The Gilded Age
The fourth season of Julian Fellowes' addictive period drama picks up soon after the previous season ended and answers some burning, melodramatic questions. Will the nouveau riche George Russell (Morgan Spector), having moved out of their ostentatious mansion, go home to his manipulative social-climbing wife, Bertha (Carrie Coon)? Will the pedigreed Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) topple Bertha from the top of the social ladder? She's certainly going to try. Subplots swirl around them as Peggy (Denée Benton) tries to maintain her career as a writer while dealing with her intrusive mother-in-law-to-be (Phylicia Rashad), while Marian (Louisa Jacobson) and Larry's (Harry Richardson) on-and-off romance gets especially thorny. Last season's ratings were among the show's highest, so there may even be an appetite for the upcoming Voices of the Gilded Age: The Christmas Album, featuring songs from the Broadway-veteran cast. If you've ever wanted to hear Baranski sing We Need a Little Christmas or Brian Stokes Mitchell do It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, here you go.
The Gilded Age premieres 1 November on HBO in the US and 2 November on Sky Atlantic in the UK
2. The Greatest
Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest boxers of all time and has also been one of the most often depicted on screen, from Will Smith in the 2001 film Ali to documentaries by Antoine Fuqua and Ken Burns. This dramatic series sets itself apart by focusing on his childhood and the early years of his career, when he was still known as Cassius Clay, in a story that moves from his boyhood in the Jim Crow South to the 1960 Olympics, through to the 1964 fight that made him the world champion. Newcomer Jaalen Best plays Ali in the show, which has the cooperation of the Ali family and counts his widow, Lonnie Ali, and Michael B Jordan as executive producers. "The Greatest is [about] his pathway to growth, at home with his brother and his parents. It's a granular deep dive into Muhammad's life," Lonnie Ali told Esquire. Meanwhile the series' creator, Ben Watkins (showrunner of the Alex Cross series), teased that despite its family ties, the details on screen "aren't always flattering".
The Greatest premieres 4 November on Prime Video internationally
3. Stick
For some reason, middle-aged former golf champions trying to make a comeback are a mini-trend in sitcoms. Will Ferrell's character set out to do it as the title character in the tongue-in-cheek Netflix series Hawk. And in the second season of Apple TV's Stick, a comedy that leans toward the heartwarming, Owen Wilson's character – Pryce Cahill, known as Stick – attempts to come out of retirement too. The cast has always been this show's biggest draw, and that is enhanced this season with Rhea Seehorn of Pluribus and Better Call Saul in a supporting role as Stick's new coach. Timothy Olyphant returns as his former rival, who nudges him to try to become the oldest player ever to win the US Open tournament, with Judy Greer as Stick's ex-wife and Marc Maron as his friend and caddie, Mitts. Apparently the burgeoning television golf world requires cringe-making nicknames.
Stick premieres 4 November on Apple TV internationally
4. Black Doves
Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw return in the second season of this thoroughly improbable but always entertaining action-espionage series. Knightley plays Helen Webb, whose husband (Andrew Buchan) is about to become the UK's prime minister – a situation that is not great for him because she has been leaking information for a decade to the shadowy Black Doves organisation, set on undermining governments around the world. Whishaw plays her best friend, Sam, a hitman who helps her get out of the scrapes while getting into some himself. In the new season, Helen's Black Doves handler, Mrs Reed, played by Sarah Lancashire, seems to go missing, although Lancashire herself remains a major part of the show. Marital drama plays out in the background of the shootouts and power plays. The new PM might not be fit to govern since he hasn't noticed his wife spying right under his nose. Or maybe she's just that clever. The series creator, Joe Barton, captured its droll tone when calling the characters "our murderous little spy family".
Black Doves premieres 5 November on Netflix internationally
5. It Gets Worse
Leo Reich, who broke through with his HBO stand-up comedy special Literally Who Cares? in 2023, created and stars in this acerbic series about three Gen Z university friends struggling through their early 20s, characters Reich has described as "self-involved and quite objectionable". He plays the self-absorbed Ethan, supported by his parents. His best friends are by-the-rules Abi (Emily Fairn) and would-be writer Sam (Olivia Gray). It's a sign of Reich's rising star that he has enticed some big names to join in. Andrew Scott appears in an episode, Lena Dunham has a cameo as Abi's boss and the series' unlikely narrator is the novelist Zadie Smith. The show is not just another Friends knockoff. It was a hit at the recent London Film Festival, with the Financial Times calling it "a witty Gen Z sex comedy" and the Guardian describing the series as "profound and properly funny" and Reich as "the future of TV comedy".
It Gets Worse is currently on Channel 4 in the UK and premieres 6 November on Paramount+ in the US
6. Rivals
It has been months since the first half of this scathingly funny show's second season dropped, but finally we're back in the fictional Cotswold county of Rutshire, beloved from Jilly Cooper's bonkbuster novels. It's a place where cheating, in business and relationships, is just a way of life for its mix of mischievous, mean-spirited and occasionally good-hearted characters. Tony Baddingham, the tycoon played with devilish glee by David Tennant, is more sinister than ever, and unlikely to soften in the aftermath of a tragedy. His rival, Declan O'Hara (Aidan Turner), is ever more desperate to keep his career and marriage intact, which his wife is making more difficult on both counts. And their daughter Taggie (Bella Maclean) must decide whether to give into her love for the playboy Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) or do the sensible thing and run for the hills. In the new episodes, Lady Monica Baddingham's glamorous younger sister turns up. So does a legendary Argentinian polo player. They should fit right in.
Rivals premieres 11 November on Hulu in the US and Disney+ in the UK
7. The Good Daughter
Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy – either one could be the good daughter in this thriller about murder, justice and family dynamics. They play sisters from the fictional smalltown of Pikeville, Georgia, who survived a violent home invasion when they were girls. Byrne is Samantha, a patent lawyer who moved to New York. Fahy is Charlotte, who stayed in town and became a defence lawyer like their father (Brendan Gleeson). The sisters have been estranged for a decade, but when Charlotte witnesses a murder that recalls the attack in their childhood, the tension and mysteries ramp up and Samantha is called home. The Good Daughter – not to be confused with those other recent suspense series The Better Sister and The Girlfriend – is written by Karin Slaughter, based on her 2017 bestselling novel, and explores the traumatic effects of violence. "We're all exposed to trauma all the time," Fahy told Vanity Fair, adding, "It's really important to show people navigating their trauma and coming out on the other side."
The Good Daughter premieres 12 November on Peacock in the US and Sky Atlantic in the UK
8. 12 12 12
Two commanding, high-profile actors star in this heist series. Jamie Dornan plays Paul Galvin, a criminal who tries to leave his old life but is forced back in as part of an $800m (£599m) theft from a Zurich bank. Anthony Mackie is Jack Strickland, a disgraced FBI agent on his trail, whose character handily explains the series' title in the trailer. "FBI principles of crime say a high asset robbery is 12 months in planning, 12 hours in execution. A bank robber who's not caught within 12 days is not caught at all," he says. The show mingles those three timelines as the cat-and-mouse game takes the men across Europe – with spectacular settings on dark streets, at sea and against snowy landscapes – en route to their inevitable face-to-face.
12 12 12 premieres 13 November on Apple TV internationally
9. Blue Lights
This fourth season of the exhilarating police series set in Belfast keeps things fresh by returning to a much-loved character from the past. Mo McIntyre, whose mother, Tina, runs the family crime ring, finally goes on trial for orchestrating the attack that killed Gerry Cliff (Richard Dornan), devastating his police colleagues, in season one. That storyline becomes a touching opportunity to look back at Gerry's romance with his wife, Sandra (beautifully played by Andi Osho), a sergeant who worked alongside him in Blackthorn Station. Apart from the trial, the team of regular characters grapples with anti-immigrant protests that turn violent. And all the while, higher-ups are threatening to shut down Blackthorn for inefficiency. As always, the show deftly puts crime-fighting against the backdrop of lingering political divisions going back to the Troubles, while mixing in personal stories. The Guardian, in its review of this season, rightly called it "TV's most thrilling cop show".
Blue Lights is currently on BBC iPlayer in the UK and premieres 12 November on Britbox in the US
10. The Altruists
Another day, another drama about a tech-adjacent mogul. This time it's the saga of Sam Bankman-Fried, coming in the wake of those about Mark Zuckerberg (The Social Reckoning), Elizabeth Holmes (You Can See Everything) or Sam Altman (Artificial). Anthony Boyle (House of Guinness) plays Bankman-Fried, who founded the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which fell apart in 2022. Convicted of fraud, conspiracy and money-laundering, he is currently in prison. (He is appealing his conviction and has formally requested a presidential pardon.) Julia Garner, who played a different fraudster in Inventing Anna, is Bankman-Fried's colleague and sometime girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud. The series was created by Graham Moore, who won an Oscar for his screenplay of The Imitation Game, and who has an unusual, to say the least, take on the convicted criminals. In his view, Moore has said, Bankman-Fried and Ellison started as "deeply committed altruists," out to change the financial world for everyone's benefit, then "with the very best of intentions talked each other and themselves into committing a number of terrible crimes".
The Altruists premieres 19 November on Netflix internationally
11. Dig
Amy Poehler and Hugh Laurie play archaeologists on a dig in Greece, a setting Poehler has said is ideal for comedy. "A dig is a really funny place," she told TV Insider. "It's part summer camp, part mysterious uncovering of relics." Laurie goes back to his wry comic roots as professor Neville Wycombe, who runs the archaeological program, and Poehler is Elise, the dedicated, serious head of a team of women. They arrive for the summer only to find themselves in an international muddle when they discover a priceless artifact. Geraldine Viswanathan and Antonia Thomas are members of Elise's team, with Fina Strazza as Wycombe's guileless in-over-her-head assistant. Poehler created the show with Mike Schur, a creator of her previous series, Parks and Recreation, one of television's best sitcoms. Schur is a master of smart, low-key character-driven comedies including The Good Place, so whatever madcap adventures the archaeologists land in, the show promises to be slyly funny.
Dig premieres 23 November on Peacock in the US
12. Blade Runner 2099
Michelle Yeoh stars in this series that takes the Blade Runner franchise racing toward everyone's worst fears about artificial intelligence. In Ridley Scott's classic film Blade Runner and Denis Villeneuve's sequel, Blade Runner 2049, humans hunted down replicants. Now the robots have taken over and replicants are hunting down humans. Yeoh plays Olwen, a replicant on the Los Angeles police force. Hunter Schafer is Cora, who is actually a human masquerading as a replicant, so she can worm her way into the LA police as a way of protecting her brother. The series' showrunner, Silka Luisa, told Empire magazine, "Everyone, globally, has been very aware of this palpable fear of the end of our species. Climate change, pandemics." The series, she said, considers: "What would the world look like when it's no longer ours?" Well, Cora is partnered with Olwen, who happens to be days from reaching the end of her lifespan, so while the world may be different, the old trope of an about-to-retire-cop paired with a rookie obviously lives on.
Blade Runner 2099 premieres 25 November on Prime Video internationally
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The Norwegian star came to fame as angst-ridden millennial Julie in the romantic comedy-drama. For the BBC's Close Up Film series, she reflects on her favourite ever film shoot.
When Renate Reinsve walked the Cannes Film Festival red carpet in July 2021 for Joachim Trier's bittersweet romantic comedy The Worst Person in the World, she was enjoying what she thought would be a one-off experience – because she was planning on giving up acting altogether.
"I thought, 'this is my first and last time on a red carpet'," she tells the BBC. "I did a little spin [for the cameras.] And then afterwards, everything happened. It was shocking."
The film was a sensation, with critics praising it for tapping into a generational feeling dubbed "millennial anguish". Reinsve was awarded the Cannes Best Actress prize for her performance, and the movie was nominated for two Oscars.
Since then, she earned her own Best Actress Oscar nomination for playing Nora in another Joachim Trier movie, last year's much-lauded Sentimental Value, and she's also made English-language films, including Kane Parsons' edgy horror phenomenon Backrooms. Her latest role is in Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu's Fjord, which won the Palme D'Or, the Cannes Film Festival's biggest prize. She plays Lisbet, an evangelical Christian whose children are removed on suspicion of abuse.
How The Worst Person in the World changed her
Reinsve describes making Fjord as her second favourite filming experience, but she credits The Worst Person in the World as "the most significant film of my career. It was my first ever leading role and also my favourite ever film shoot.
"We just had the best time on that set. It was a long summer of running around Oslo and it was fantastic – such a playful, fun collaboration."
Made in the summer of 2020, it's a coming-of-age movie about a restless heroine, Julie. About to turn 30, she switches both careers and relationships before understanding that choosing anything still means uncertainty.
Julie was even more special, Reinsve says, because Trier, who she had previously worked with on 2011's Oslo, August 31st, called her about the part the day after she'd decided to quit acting. At the age of 32, Reinsve had spent years working in theatre, but couldn't land film work. She was considering different careers, including training as a carpenter in Italy.
"I didn't have an opportunity to work on anything I really wanted to do. It's very hard to get funding for these kinds of movies in Norway anyway, and I couldn’t find a way into them. But Joachim started writing the role for me, which I found very surprising, and I couldn't say no. And it changed my life completely."
Her special connection to her character Julie
Reinsve says that Julie "is someone I recognise more than other roles I've played". Curious, funny, and occasionally selfish, she tries careers in medicine, psychology and photography. She also tries taking psychedelic mushrooms. She ditches her older boyfriend who wants children after a memorable encounter with a barista, Eivind, at a party she crashes.
"I've lived a similar life to her," Reinsve says. "Playing all these moments of Julie falling in love, but the melancholy of it too, just came very naturally to me."
She agrees the character became emblematic of a particular pressure that those in their 20s and 30s today can feel around achieving a fulfilling life, when there are so many possibilities open to them.
"Julie's quite a privileged person, and she does have choices, but I think this is a very familiar feeling – not knowing what to do, or who to be with. It isn't the most lovable trait, but it's very recognisable," she says.
"I've also never been on a project where every single scene that we did would provoke a really strong emotion for someone on set," she adds. "It felt like we were making something really honest and trying to find parts of ourselves we either didn't like, or liked, but were ashamed of liking. It just felt like you got a bit less lonely from so many people recognising something together."
The film also has a mischievous sense of sexuality. In a party scene, Julie and Eivind, who both have partners, "kiss" by blowing cigarette smoke into each other's mouths. Its most famous moment, where Julie imagines running across Oslo to kiss Eivind, with everyone else frozen – a scene Trier created without special effects and with the help of volunteers standing still – gives the impression the city exists for Julie's desires.
Reinsve says that Trier drew on the French New Wave to show how chemistry between two actors could make everyday encounters compelling.
"He made me watch these films and the way they'd explored what the chemistry between two people could bring to the screen," she remembers. "Just truthfulness, not forcing anything, but how its lifelike existence on screen could be so magnetic. Playing with that was magical. And Joachim taught me so much during that shoot, like how to trust that the camera will pick up even small emotions."
Why her latest role is such a gear change
Her latest role as Lisbet in Fjord couldn't be more different to Julie or, Reinsve says, to herself. Based on a true story, it centres on a Christian family who move from Romania to Norway and are accused of physically assaulting their children. At a court hearing, questions are also asked about whether children should be raised according to the family's strict religious beliefs.
"Lisbet's so quiet," Reinsve says. "I've never played someone so still. She's never outspoken. She lets her husband talk on her behalf. I got curious about how it would feel [playing her], as she's so different to me. To go into those elements of a person and find compassion and be open, not judging them."
She adds that Mungiu was "kind of sceptical" about her playing the character at first, thinking that she might prefer to play Mia, a liberal lawyer who defends the family.
"But I was really just so taken by Lisbet," she says. "It's heartbreaking, a mother having her kids taken away. And the injustice she found because she was so judged by her environment was devastating."
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Fjord has stirred debate with its depiction of a clash between liberal and conservative values. Mungiu has said that he is not "defending any ideology" with the film, and simply wants audiences to question their own assumptions. Reinsve says she agrees that "so many movies show you what to feel and what to think, but this tries not to. That's unusual".
Working with film-makers who truly challenge her like Mungiu, she explains, is one of the great rewards of the fame brought by The Worst Person in the World.
"There's not many [directors] who have the energy or the heart to make these kinds of films. Not many fight as hard as Joachim did to make The Worst Person in the World. And now I get to work with so many of these directors. That is a big privilege.”
Fjord is released in UK and Irish cinemas on 13 November 2026.
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In 1976, hit boxing drama Rocky turned its "absolutely broke" and unknown lead actor and screenwriter, Sylvester Stallone, into an A-list sensation. It's a story told in crowd-pleasing new film I Play Rocky.
A young Sylvester Stallone is homeless on the streets of New York in the early 1970s, with only his dog Butkus for company. In between auditioning for roles he never gets, he works gruelling hours gutting fish. He's laughed at for his ambition to be an actor, because being delivered by forceps at birth has left him with partial face paralysis and a speech impediment, which he tries to improve by recording and listening back to his voice.
This is the starting point of I Play Rocky, directed by Green Book's Peter Farrelly, which tells the story of how Stallone created the iconic boxing drama Rocky. It stars relative unknown Anthony Ippolito as a young Stallone, whose frustrated ambition to be an actor led him to start writing screenplays, too. In the film, we see him move to Los Angeles, where he's so poor he has to temporarily sell Butkus – who later gets a role in the film. But he drafts the story of Rocky in three days. After many challenges on the road to getting it made, Rocky became the biggest box-office hit of 1976 and won best picture at the 1977 Oscars. It's the ultimate Hollywood success story.
I Play Rocky shows why Stallone identified so strongly with Rocky Balboa, the washed-up Philadelphia boxer who takes an opportunity to fight World Heavyweight Champion Apollo Creed, even though he has virtually no chance of winning. "Stallone is the personification of an underdog himself," says Nick de Semlyen, editor of Empire film magazine, and author of The Last Action Heroes, about Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and other male stars of that era. "He was absolutely broke and overnight he went to being the hottest thing in Hollywood and at the Oscars. It's hard to think of another flip [in fortune] that's as dramatic in film history."
Anthony Ippolito agrees that there are strong parallels between Stallone and the character he created. "Of course there are differences, because Stallone was and is a very talented writer. He reads a lot and is more of a thinker than Rocky perhaps appears in the film. But it's semi-autobiographical in a lot of ways."
How the script came about
In his recent memoir The Steps, Stallone himself describes the moment when the inspiration for the Rocky took hold, based on his own struggles to make it as an actor. Writing the script, he felt that others would relate to his and the character's feelings of rejection.
"I couldn't possibly be the only person out of billions of people to feel like they were living life in desperate frustration because the door of golden opportunity had been shut in their face over and over," he writes.
Stallone had started acting at college, but the biggest job of his career until then had been a supporting role in The Lords of Flatbush, a film with Henry Winkler, later The Fonz of Happy Days. He had also starred in a soft porn film in 1970 to pay his bills. "He saw himself as a serious actor, but he wasn't taken seriously at all," says de Semlyen. "He was into poetry, he was a big Edgar Allen Poe fan, but he kept being cast as a thug. So that's why he decided to write his own stories as he was so frustrated with being typecast. And he was willing this stuff into existence with Rocky from a place of having absolutely no power in the industry whatsoever. It's a total miracle this film got off the ground."
"Sylvester Stallone knew Rocky was essentially his only shot at what he wanted," Ippolito tells the BBC. "He was coming up to 30 years old, he'd been trying to make it in the industry for quite a while, and I think he viewed Rocky as 'this is it' for him."
In I Play Rocky, the studio United Artists offers Stallone increasing sums to sell the script, just as long as he lets an A-lister of the era, such as Burt Reynolds or Ryan O'Neal, take the title role. But Stallone was determined that he and he alone should play Balboa. In reality, there are conflicting accounts of how much money he was offered for the script – Stallone himself has said it was $360,000. But, as broke as he was, he wouldn't budge.
Eventually the film was made with him as Balboa, but the budget was only around $1m, a fraction of what its independent producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff had wanted. Their deal with the studio stipulated that if the film was shot cheaply enough, they would have total control over casting. But it was a risk for everyone involved to attempt a boxing drama with a shoestring budget and an untried, unknown leading man.
The legendary shoot
Rocky was shot at breakneck speed in 28 days by director John G Avildsen. The shoot has became legendary in film history. Most scenes had to be done in one take to save money, and with no special effects budget, Stallone permanently damaged his knuckles creating the scene where Rocky punches sides of frozen meat.
"Throughout the shoot no one really believed in Stallone," de Semlyen says. "When it was finished, the studio didn't like it, they didn't give it a big marketing push, it didn't go to the Cannes Film Festival or any event like it. It was only when they started screening it to people, they were actually quite surprised that people were connecting to it."
Rocky went on to get 10 Oscar nominations and win three, including best picture, while Stallone himself was nominated for best actor and best original screenplay. It also generated a host of sequels, some of which Stallone directed himself, and, more recently, the hugely successful spin-off Creed films starring Michael B Jordan. Stallone has also spoken about an idea to write a Rocky prequel.
With Rocky, de Semlyen says that Stallone created a new kind of stubborn underdog hero who has been a cornerstone of cinema ever since.
"Rocky doesn't give up, he just won't," he says. "There'd been action movies before that, obviously, but there was something about foregrounding this one man, and the idea of one unstoppable force that was quite new. You see that repeated in so many different action films after that. The idea of resilience, of not backing down, would go on to be the fundamental tenet of these movies up to this day."
Why the story has proved so powerful
Journalist Mike Sielski is the author of Going the Distance, a book about the making of Rocky. He tells the BBC that the story itself has "its own staying power, because the story of Stallone and Rocky is this underdog story on both levels. People want to believe the absolute utmost about what [Stallone] went through to make this film."
He also points out that Rocky is all the more powerful for its radical ending, which goes against the Hollywood grain by having Rocky Balboa lose his fight with Creed. "That's why it's such a feel-good movie, because he doesn't have to win in the end. When Apollo Creed knocks Rocky down, Rocky says, 'Come on, I can take more'. We all want to think of ourselves as being Rocky at that moment. 'You cannot keep us down.' It taps into something of human nature that we want to see ourselves that way."
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Indeed, Sielski believes that Rocky was such a phenomenon in the US because its heroic underdog spirit chimed with a society which, in 1976, was "hungry for a reason to feel good again.
"There had been the Watergate scandal, there was Vietnam," he continues. "The films of that era were all about antiheroes, especially if you think of the films that were nominated [for Oscars] in 1977 with Rocky – Taxi Driver, which has no hero in the movie, or Network, which was a satirical take on the anger America was feeling.
"Sometimes you have these situations in culture where you don't know people are hungry for something and nobody's providing it. And then when one entity or person or institution does, it's an explosion. That's what happened with Rocky."
I Play Rocky is released on 6 November 2026, in the UK, Ireland and North America.
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In November 1957, Soviet scientists sent Laika on a one-way voyage, making her a tragic national hero. Nearly sixty years on, one scientist's son told the BBC about playing with her as a boy.
A lesser-known aspect of the Cold War space race involved Soviet scientists scouring the streets of Moscow for stray mongrels. Before the earliest human spaceflights, female canines were trained to undertake the highly dangerous journey – and on 3 November 1957, a dog called Laika was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, becoming the first ever living creature to orbit the Earth.
Sadly, though, Laika did not survive her voyage. The tragic part of her story is that the Soviets knew all along that hers would be a one-way trip. "Scientists then did not know how to return living creatures from orbit back to Earth," Prof Viktor Yazdovsky told the BBC's Witness History in 2017. "Everyone was very concerned for Laika. They knew that she would not return from her journey."
Yazdovsky's father Vladimir had been in charge of the medical side of the Soviet space programme, and Viktor recalled playing with Laika as a nine-year-old child shortly before her launch. "She was a very patient dog, very affectionate. She was easy to train. She was considered very clever. She had very expressive dark eyes… My father brought her to my granny's house, not far from Moscow, and my sisters and I played with her. Dad thought that she needed this experience of being at home before the flight."
After the successful Sputnik I launch on 4 October 1957, which sent the world's first man-made satellite into orbit, Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev had ordered the new mission. "He said: 'We didn't believe you could launch a satellite before the Americans – but you did it,'" engineer Georgi Grechko, who worked on the launch team for Sputnik I and II, told the BBC in 2019. "'Now,' [Khruschev] said, and this was mid-October, 'For the anniversary of the revolution on 7 November, I want you to launch something new.'"
According to Yazdovsky, "That's why not everything could be thought through in this flight preparation." To coincide with the 40th anniversary of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Khruschev had given his scientists – headed up by chief designer Sergei Korolev – just a few weeks to follow up Sputnik I.
Handily, the task dovetailed with Korolev's personal aims. Known as the founding father of the Soviet space programme, after World War Two he had reverse-engineered the Nazis' V2 rockets to create a Soviet version capable of launching their own atomic bombs, which were much heavier than the US devices. His R7 Semyorka rocket had achieved a successful launch in August 1957, becoming the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile. But Korolev had long harboured ambitions for something else entirely.
Ever since he'd started building rockets in the 1930s, he'd hoped they would go into space, as his daughter told the BBC in 2019. "From childhood my father wanted to conquer the skies. He dreamt of becoming a pilot. He built gliders and an airplane. Then after that he began to design rockets," said Prof Natalya Koroleva. "It was a burning passion throughout his life to design rockets and fly them. He wrote: 'From now on I have one aim in life – to reach the stars.'"
Why dogs were chosen
So while the R7 was now capable of launching Soviet nuclear weapons to target their enemies, for Korolev it served another purpose. By sending Sputnik (or "fellow traveller" in Russian) into orbit, he could be the first person to prove that space travel was possible.
Within the month, he would launch another satellite – one that would carry a passenger. "Even today, with all our progress, and computers everywhere, I don't think that anyone could launch a new satellite in a month – but under Korolev's leadership, that's what we did," said Grechko.
Between 1951 and 1965, the Soviets sent more than 50 dogs into space, with the flights before Laika being sub-orbital. "I remember that very often a car would arrive from my father's lab… The door would open, and a crowd of dogs would tumble out of it, barking, wagging their tails," Yazdovsky told the BBC. "They would rush into the clearing in the wood near the house. They would run to us, start licking us. Then they were fed, and then a command was given. They were well trained, and they went back to the car and were driven back to the labs."
By choosing dogs for their flights, the Soviets differed from American scientists, who had sent first fruit flies and then monkeys into space. "It was clear that when monkeys had been launched up in rockets, there were frequent failures. Some had heart attacks. If they were launched under anaesthetic, the information that was sent back to Earth would be incomplete and distorted," said Yazdovsky. "If they were to send smaller animals, like mice or rats, how could you apply what you learned to humans and future human flight into space?"
There was another reason for the Soviets' canine preference, he recalled. "The physiology of dogs was very well known to Soviet scientists – the great Russian scientist Pavlov studied the circulation system of dogs, the digestion and higher nervous activity of dogs. He received a Nobel Prize for this research."
And Soviet scientists deliberately chose stray dogs. "They decided to train not pedigree dogs, but street dogs for the space programme. The strongest survived. They were homeless. Why were they selected? Because they had stamina and were undemanding. They were naturally selected by their life on the streets."
Females were picked because they were more compliant, and to fit into the spacecraft, they needed to weigh no more than 6-7kg. As part of their preparations for flight, the mongrels lived in tiny pressurised capsules for days and weeks before launch, with doctors checking how they responded to different sounds, changing air pressure and weightlessness.
International outrage
After placid Kudryavka (Little Curly) was introduced to the public via radio, she barked, becoming known as Laika, "barker" in Russian. "Everyone treated her as a hero," said Yazdovsky.
But the scientists were in a rush, working hastily to amend their plans for Sputnik I to include a pressurised compartment for the dog. "The system of thermal insulation of [Laika's] capsule had not been properly developed," recalled Yazdovsky. "She died because of the very high temperature in her capsule."
Reports about her fate were mixed at the time, with one from the BBC claiming: "It is believed the Russians are planning to catapult the dog back to Earth, although there has been no official announcement confirming this."
For many years, the Russians claimed that Laika survived in orbit for several days. But in 2002, they admitted that the climate controls had failed, and she died of overheating and stress just five to seven hours into the flight. According to declassified printouts held by the US National Air and Space Museum showing Laika's respiration during the flight, she reached orbit alive, circling the Earth in about 103 minutes.
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The decision to send her to her death sparked international outrage at the time, with animal welfare groups in Britain picketing the Soviet embassy and calling on dog owners across the nation to observe a minute's silence to honour her. Dog lovers marched with their pets outside the UN building in New York, and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals sent a letter of protest to the Soviets via the US State Department.
The backlash changed how space programmes handled animal subjects, with subsequent missions engineered with recovery systems to return animals safely to Earth. Almost three years after Laika's fatal mission, two more dogs were launched into space by the Soviets – and they survived. On 19 August 1960, Belka and Strelka completed 17 orbits around the Earth before landing the following day.
But as the first dog in orbit, Laika became an icon of early Soviet space exploration. Commemorative stamps and envelopes were produced bearing her image, and there were Soviet cigarettes and matches called Laika. A 2m-high monument unveiled in Moscow in 2008 shows a rocket that becomes a hand, with a dog standing in its palm.
As Yazdovsky argued, her sacrifice heralded a new era. "Laika's flight showed that a living creature could be alive in conditions of weightlessness, and the door was opened for man's travel into space."
But not everyone agreed. In 1998, Oleg Gazenko, who led the Soviet programme to train dogs in space and selected and trained Laika, told a press conference: "Work with animals is a source of suffering to all of us… The more time passes, the more I'm sorry about it… We did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death of the dog."
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Colombian artist Fernando Botero's joyful paintings reimagine the most iconic and famous works of historic European art. What does his singular vision reveal about the history of art – and Latin America's place in it?
In a painting by the late Colombian artist Fernando Botero, a woman wearing a green dress stares directly at the viewer. In the background is a natural landscape, and a sheer veil covers her dark, curly hair. Paired with her barely visible eyebrows, the portrait is clearly referencing Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Yet it bears all the hallmarks that make it unmistakably Botero: the figure has a round body, large head and small facial features.
Mona Lisa (1978) is one of several works by the painter and sculptor that reimagines some of the world's most famous artworks and motifs in his signature style, known as "Boterismo". Botero's voluptuous figures and objects have made him one of the most instantly identifiable artists in Latin America. "Some artists have a very personal language, and one of them is Botero – you will always recognise a piece by him," says Belén Herrera Ottino, director of Opera Gallery Madrid. The gallery's London branch is currently presenting Fernando Botero: in Praise of an Amplified World until the end of November.
Botero's singular style has brought him international recognition. His painting Mona Lisa, Age Twelve (1959) was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 1961, his bronze sculptures have been displayed in high-profile public spaces including Park Avenue in New York and the Champs-Élysées in Paris, and his painting The Musicians (1979) fetched a $5.1m (£3.9m) auction price at Christie's New York in November 2023, two months after his death.
But what is the meaning behind Botero's distinctive style – and what can it tell us about the art history of Europe and Latin America?
For Botero, exaggerating objects and figures was "a way of celebrating the presence of things," Herrera Ottino says, adding that it was also a "celebration of life, and of the sensuality of nature". During his life, he often explained that his artworks' main purpose was to uplift the spirits of those who viewed it, which he believed form and colour in particular could do. "It was clear to him that throughout history, the purpose of art was to create pleasure," adds the artist's son, and former Colombian Minister of Defence, Fernando Botero Zea.
The power of Boterismo
The origins of Boterismo can be traced to 1956, when Botero was living in Mexico City. He accidentally painted a too-small sound hole on a mandolin in Still Life with Mandolin (1957) and "felt that the instrument exploded in volume and form," Botero Zea tells the BBC. "That was the day that the style of Botero was born." The artist went on to create all his artworks as part of the same singular world, where everything takes up space. "There are very few artists who have created an entire universe that is related to one unique style."
Many paintings, drawings, and sculptures by Botero, alongside pieces from his personal collection (including works by Picasso, Monet and Dalí) can also be found at the Botero Museum in Bogotá, Colombia. When the artist donated these works to the Central Bank of Colombia (which operates the museum) in 2000, "he was relating his own work with the European tradition," Nicolás Gómez Echeverri, director of the arts at the bank, tells the BBC. "He's saying to the visitors, 'my name is on the same level as these other ones.'"
What the Botero Museum collection also shows is that Botero was obsessed with European Old Masters. "My father was fascinated by great artists," says Botero Zea. "He believed very deeply that the highest moment in the history of art was the [Italian] Renaissance, and that after this period there was a decline, with brilliant exceptions like Picasso and the Impressionist painters."
The artist particularly disliked abstraction, noting that the popularity of his own work was as a result of being far removed from an approach "where everything is obscure" and the viewer "feels he needs a professor to tell him whether it's good or not," Botero told the Los Angeles Times in 2012. "I believe a painting has to talk directly to the viewer."
Botero Zea says that his father particularly admired Italian art after moving to Madrid in 1952 at 20. At the time, Botero studied at the prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando and worked as a copyist at the Prado Museum. Then Botero saw a book on the 15th-Century Italian painter Piero della Francesca in a shop window and immediately "made the decision to move to Florence," Botero Zea says.
The art that inspired him
According to Botero Zea, two artworks particularly defined the trajectory of Botero's career. The first is Piero della Francesca's Meeting between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon (1452-1466), a large fresco depicting a biblical scene where the ruler King Solomon meets the Queen of Sheba. This piece harks back to Botero's upbringing in Medellín, Colombia, where he had little access to art museums, and consumed art through the religious paintings and sculptures inside Catholic churches.
Della Francesca's The Duke and Duchess of Urbino (c 1473–1475), a double portrait inspired by ancient Roman coins and medals, inspired Botero's diptych Federico da Montefeltro, Battista Sforza (1998). In the original version, the duke looks left, concealing the side of his face disfigured in a jousting tournament. While Botero does not reimagine the duke's face with these scars, he switches the sides the couple are facing around. Both are also markedly more plump, taking up more of the canvas.
Botero's approach to form means that many people perceive his work as simply making people "fat". In Menina, after Velázquez he hones in on the central figure in Diego Velázquez's masterpiece Las Meninas (1656), five-year-old Margaret Theresa of Spain. In Botero's Menina, her face is chubbier, and her shape fuller. In Fornarina, after Raphael (2009), he does the same, transforming Raphael's La Fornarina (Portrait of a Young Woman) (1518-19), a depiction of a mostly nude woman wearing a thin veil to cover her lower abdomen, into a large smiling figure.
Yet, Botero himself explicitly rejected the term "fat", telling the Spanish newspaper El Mundo in 2014: "I don't paint fat women… No one believes me, but it's true. If I paint a woman, a man, a dog or a horse, I do it with volume [in mind]."
Another influence was The Battle of San Romano – a set of three paintings by the Florentine artist Paolo Uccello illustrating a clash between Florentine and Sienese forces in 1432. Botero Zea points out a rotund white horse in a vibrant blue harness at the centre of one of the pieces. The animal stands out among a sea of men in dark armour, which Botero Zea says is like "a Botero".
Similar horses can be found across Botero's oeuvre, including in El Arrastre (The Drag) (1984), a scene where three horses pull the body of a dead bull out of a traditional bullfighting ring.
But a Colombian artist being so enamoured by European artists invites questions about visibility – and whose art is deemed significant. Growing up, Botero Zea recalls his father taking him to many of the biggest art institutions in the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre, the National Gallery in London and the Uffizi in Florence. He says Botero was often drawn to the most notable pieces by the world's most well-known artists.
Yet, Gómez Echeverri says that Botero's work is not simply about praising Western art – in fact, his art explores Colombia's relationship to it. He explains that the Mona Lisa, for example, can be found printed across the country. "There's a restaurant nearby called Mona Lisa, and it's a pizza restaurant," he says. A bar in a popular part of the city also has Dalí depicted across its walls. "I believe these kinds of works by Botero, such as his Mona Lisa, are reaffirming how those images come from another context across the ocean and become part of our Latin American visual culture."
More like this:
• Why critics scorned Beryl Cook's 'saucy' paintings
• The trailblazing erotic art of Lavinia Fortuna
• Why Mary Magdalene is a divisive biblical figure
Knowing Botero was influenced by pre-Colombian art, which often featured large, rounded forms, also recontextualises his practice. "He always felt very Colombian and always strove to represent this country well on the international stage," Botero Zea says.
For Gómez Echeverri, Botero was breaking down the boundary between high art and low art. "He's saying that it doesn't exist – they can be a part of the same references," he says, adding that while some might understand "high art to be European, the classicists and white," Botero is turning that idea on its head.
Fernando Botero: in Praise of an Amplified World is at Opera Gallery, London, until 22 November.
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Best-selling female solo artist Mariah Carey has been announced as the third headliner for a music festival.
Live at Powderham organisers said the singer would bring her Firefly summer tour to Powderham Castle in Devon on 27 June 2027, alongside special guests Sugababes, with additional support from R&B group Eternal.
The All I Want For Christmas Is You and Love Takes Time singer has amassed more than 19 Billboard Hot 100 Number One singles – more than any solo artist in history.
She is due to be headlining the festival near Exeter alongside Shania Twain, who has been set to perform on 24 June 2027; and Alex Warren, performing on 26 June.
Her recent performances included appearing at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
Live at Powderham attracted more than 140,000 people over its four days in 2026, with headline performances from Lewis Capaldi, Alanis Morissette and Teddy Swims.
The festival's final headliner has yet to be announced.
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Manchester's Free Trade Hall has a special place in music history, as the venue - now a hotel - hosted some landmark moments.
It was where an electric guitar-wielding Bob Dylan famously faced an accusation of "Judas!" from a disgruntled folk fan, where a Sex Pistols show that inspired some of the city's most famous bands and the legendary Factory Records and where rock giants Kiss made their UK debut.
And it was where The Smiths, one of Manchester's most iconic bands, played what would prove to be their final farewell to the city on 30 October 1986.
Forty years on, rarely-seen photos of the show, taken by then-student Alison Bell show what she said was a "dramatic" and "amazing" night.
Bell, who had been drawn to Manchester by its music scene as a student and went on to have a successful career in music promotion, said she had been desperate to see the band and the Free Trade Hall show was "the first opportunity I had to see them".
Formed by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr in 1982, the band were at the peak of their powers at the show, riding high on the success of their third long-player, The Queen Is Dead, which would go on to become widely-regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time.
Bell was at the show as a writer for Manchester Polytechnic's student newspaper, Pulp.
"I got given a ticket for it if I would review it and take photographs," she said.
Her role granted her more freedom than the rest of the crowd, as she was able to roam a photographers' area in front of the stage.
"We could just walk from side to side and take pictures," she said.
"Using film... there was no going back, you just took a picture and hoped for the best."
She said the show was "amazing".
"Obviously, I'd wanted to see them for a long time, so I was just so excited to be there."
She said the gig was "dramatic", with the band entering to Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights.
"They came on stage [and] sang Ask [as] the first song and it was just fantastic."
The set list reads like a greatest hits, with songs from The Queen Is Dead, such as How Soon Is Now? and There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, interspersed with future classics That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore, Panic and Still Ill.
Bell said she also remembered Morrissey waving placards bearing the words The Queen Is Dead and Two Light Ales, Please.
The latter phrase would become part of Smiths folklore and inspired the name of a fanzine about the band.
Bell said she took more than 30 photos on the night, but only one was used by the student newspaper.
That left her with an archive of images of a gig which unexpectedly gained extra significance after it happened.
The band would only play live once more, at a charity benefit in London, before the increasingly-strained relationship between Morrissey and Marr boiled over and the guitarist left the band in mid-1987.
"People didn't know they were going to split up, of course," she said
She said she put the photos away for safe-keeping, but always had plans to share them when the time was right.
"I'd been meaning to do something with them for a long time and just never got around to it," she said.
She said it was her involvement in fundraising events at Salford Lads Club that caused her to revisit the collection.
The club has been an essential destination for fans after the band used it as the backdrop for a famous photo which featured on the inner sleeve of The Queen Is Dead.
Bell has since worked with designer Martin Holland to produce merchandise, including a T-shirt featuring one of her close-up photographs of Morrissey, with a reproduction of her original concert ticket on the back.
"I had it tucked away... for 40 years," she said.
"I just thought, 'yeah, it is a good photograph and I should let people see it'."
She said she was also considering producing posters and making more of the collection available, but had yet to decide on further plans.
And tantalisingly, she said there may even be more unseen photos, as she believes she has negatives that she did not develop at the time, but has not yet found them.
Fans will hope they turn up and offer a further glimpse into the final moments of an iconic band.
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Artist Adrian Thompson has created micro art from small pieces of gold that fit through the eye of a needle.
He said he enjoyed challenging himself to see what he could create.
Thompson, who works in Par, said: "As an artist sometimes it's you versus yourself. You want to see what you can create."
Each tiny piece takes up to a year to make and he is planning to display it at Bodmin's Discovering 42 science museum in December.
He started out transforming his gold dental filling, which had fallen out, into an angel when he lived in his home town of Solihull, near Birmingham.
Thompson used a file and said: "It slowly came to life over a period of about nine months, to my amazement."
He added: "Each times I picked it up I did a little bit more and a little bit more and got more inspiration. When I finally finished it I thought I really enjoyed it, I wonder what else I could be doing."
Thompson uses a microscope and had to customise watch maker's tools or make his own tiny tools to create his art.
He has placed his work in the eye of a needle, on the end of a needle and on a cat's whisker.
He also mounted a mini helicopter on an eyelash, which is one of the piece's people will be able to see in Bodmin.
Thompson created a microscope viewing dome for his pieces, which include a Ferrari horse on the end of a match stick valued at £100,000, the Aston Villa lion logo that was displayed at the club and a waving cat.
In the run-up to Halloween he made a microscopic gold witch flying out of an syringe point of a needle, along with a small Cornish pixie.
He said: "I've got many pieces to entertain people covering a range of different subjects.
"I've got quite a big car collection and what I call a 007 collection, which consists of Aston Martin wing DBS badge, and the 007 logo, all through the eye of a needle."
He added: "I've also created a standing Buddha out of white gold, a Chinese god called Caishen which fits on a meteorite, and a camel through the eye of a needle, so there is plenty of variety in my work."
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When Joshua Tabti found himself housebound while recovering from a hit-and-run crash in 2019, he decided to finally take on a project he had been putting off - with Middle-earth as his inspiration.
"I really wanted to draw a map of Iceland, where I used to live - I worked there for a year as a glacier guide," explains the 32-year-old from his studio on a drizzly Tuesday afternoon.
Unable to continue in his job as a climbing instructor due to his injuries, Joshua found a new purpose in cartography, which has since become his career.
"Making maps is the main passion. I studied art at university. I also really love geography, language and history," he says.
"I get to combine all of them in one, so it's a real passion."
Joshua's latest project - painstakingly researched over two months before it was carefully crafted with dip pen and ink - is a map of Yorkshire and Lancashire inspired by those produced by Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien.
He says: "A map of Yorkshire is something I have wanted to tackle for a couple of years, so I have slowly been researching it and trying to gather a database of all the locations and particularly the hidden gems that I wouldn't to be able to find online.
"It's been a bit of a bigger project than I expected. Going from coast to coast also includes Lancashire, so there was much more research that went into it."
Joshua spends roughly half of his time on a project completing research before the intricate process of drawing begins.
"It's a lot of careful inkwork," he admits.
Any errors involve "a lot of rubbing out", or shaving off the top layer of paper.
Joshua also sought the input of local residents on an online forum for his latest piece of work to help refine the project.
"To me it's really important that the landscapes are very recognisable to a local," he says.
"It's a great way to fill in any gaps. It's really encouraging to read comments from people and I think the thing that matters most is that people feel represented, or when someone recognises the details and all the effort.
"That makes me proud."
Hertfordshire-based Joshua estimates he has now made about 30 pictorial maps, depicting landscapes as diverse as the island of Ireland, Malaysia and Virginia.
"In medieval times people would draw the landscape from an oblique angle, I have really enjoyed bringing to life that old tradition."
Tolkien remains his main inspiration.
"I grew up in High Wycombe and had no real idea as a child that we were actually that close to London," he recalls.
"We would just go on picnics and to the countryside. It was a friend at school that introduced me to the books. Those stories became a symbol for home in a way, and friendship.
"That sort of stuff is quite a big theme in the books. The maps fascinated me as a boy, as a teenager."
His labour of love, born out of misery, has also led to the discovery of new places.
"That's the pleasure because I get to learn so much about a location, its culture, its history.
"I really enjoy visiting through the pen."
One such location was the French Alps, which had been next on his list of places to visit prior to being hit by a car while cycling in south London.
"To finally visit and see the landscapes I had known so well from drawing them, but had never stayed in, that was a real pleasure.
"The blessing in disguise was that it [the crash] got me back into illustration and art.
"That was a silver lining of a rubbish accident."
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Once a year we promise ourselves to remember them and help their memory live on.
On Remembrance Sunday, the country honours those who died while serving in the armed forces.
In Woodstock, the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum (SOFO) is home to exhibitions, memorabilia, archives and stories that reflect the breadth of the county's military history.
Here are stories from its staff, researchers and veterans that you could learn about and experience when visiting this museum on the edge of the Cotswolds.
Love that fell from the sky
"When we first opened the museum we were trying to gather as many news stories as we could and this is my absolute favourite story even 12 years on," says SOFO director Ursula Corcoran.
Charles Oliver Stone was an Oxfordshire man whose family emigrated to Australia when he was quite young, but when World War One was declared, he came back and joined the 69th Australian squadron of the Royal Flying Corps.
"He did his training at Queen's College in Oxford and he did many training flights out of London and one day in 1917, he was on his biplane and he crashed into a field of Brussels sprouts," Corcoran says.
"One of the farmer's daughters, Poppy, came out and Charles Stone got out of the biplane and this fantastic romance bloomed between the two of them."
Corcoran said: "He's documented as a World War One flying ace - not only was he bombing certain sites, but he was also getting into aerial combat, and we know that he got into aerial combat with the Red Baron".
Ian Fleming diaries
Researcher Trent Harron says the connection between James Bond author Ian Fleming's family and the museum is "very strong".
"[His father] Valentine Fleming was a Member of Parliament for the Division of Henley leading up to World War One and also a member of the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars (QOOH).
"He was not only a remarkable statesman, but also an accomplished soldier and one who was revered by his peers and by the soldiers in the unit."
"Valentine's brother, Philip Fleming, who he served with in the QOOH, survived the war and went on to establish a charitable fund which largely contributed to the museum's foundation."
Harron says Valentine Fleming and Winston Churchill were "close friends" and when Fleming died on 20 May 1917, Churchill wrote an appreciation.
"This news will arouse sorrow in Oxfordshire and in the House of Commons," it read.
"Alert, methodical, resolute, untiring, he did his work, whether perilous or dull, without the slightest sign of strain or stress to the end."
SOFO marketing manager Duncan Parsons has a personal connection to the museum.
He says his great uncle, William Charles Parsons, took part in the third and final airborne operation on D-Day, Operation Mallard.
"He died of wounds on 20 June, so he was likely a casualty to that."
"As a kid, we would still go over to Normandy and see the graves and we'd always be going out to military museums - it was always something that felt present with the family."
'Remarkable' women
Blenheim Palace social historian Antonia Keaney, whose husband is chair of SOFO's trustees, says she first came across World War Two's Spitfire Woman Molly Rose through her granddaughter.
"[She] used to babysit for my children when they were little and I hadn't realised at the time quite what a special woman she was," Keaney said.
Through her work, she learned that at the end of WW2 there were more than 600 Spitfires found on Blenheim land and that there used to be a runway.
Molly Rose, originally from Cambridgeshire, developed a fascination for flying from her older brother who could fly and had an aircraft "tethered in their back garden".
When the war broke out, pilots were needed not only for conflict, but also for transportation.
"That's where Molly Rose came into her own - she had a pilot's licence, and she was one of the girls that used to fly planes from A to B," Keaney said.
Damaged aircraft such as Spitfires and Hurricanes were then taken to the Cowley Works for repair.
The historian says she recently read that throughout the entire period the women "shifted over 300,000 planes or they made over 300,000 flights".
"One of the things I also find really remarkable about women like Molly Rose is that they were actually in quite great danger and they knew there was a certain risk attached to it," she added.
"Go to St Aldate's police station and ask to see the John Howard memorial they've got," says former SOFO trustee David Innes.
He says the exploits of Major John Howard and his men "are still very fondly and very warmly regarded"
He led men from the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry to seize Pegasus Bridge over the Caen canal on D-Day in the Coup de Main Operation.
Innes says that thanks to the Coup de Main group "the eastern flank of the invasion was secured early on and made it much more difficult for the Germans to reinforce their positions above the beaches".
Starting as an Oxford City policeman, Major Howard joined the army when the threat of war started to loom.
"He very quickly proved himself to be an aggressive and determined and a man for detail," Innes says.
Later, Major Howard was wounded and was involved in a "really horrific road traffic accident, which largely immobilised him".
"But he was a great character, he was very fondly regarded by his men," Innes says.
"We go back with his family every year to Pegasus Bridge to mark the anniversary of D-Day.
"We've now marked 82 years since those days and the name John Howard is on everyone's lips when we go over there."
Money raised by an art exhibition has been donated to help with the costs of 10 goats imported to introduce new bloodlines to Guernsey's goat population.
The Royal Golden Guernsey Goat Foundation was set up as part of the effort to protect and promote the breed on its native island.
More than £2,500 has been donated by Art for Guernsey from the sale of artworks that featured in the goat-themed exhibition that was held in their Mansell Street gallery in May.
Members of the Art for Guernsey team met with the foundation committee and its patron the Lieutenant-Governor Lt Gen Sir Richard Cripwell at Government House to announce the donation.
Sir Richard said: "Art for Guernsey's goat exhibition brought out the best in the island's artistic talent, engaged local school children and has directly benefited this special breed.
"It shows great initiative and the power of art for a good cause.
"I am grateful to David and his team for their initiative and support."
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An overworked junior doctor, an aspiring writer and now a ruthless assassin.
Ambika Mod's TV credits are becoming as diverse as the roles are complex.
The actress broke through as the overwhelmed Shruti in BBC medical drama This Is Going To Hurt in 2022, and gained wide recognition for her starring role as Emma Morley in Netflix's miniseries adaptation of David Nicholls' bestselling novel One Day.
Mod, who joins the cast of Black Doves for the second season of the streamer's spy thriller, tells BBC Newsbeat she is careful about the roles she takes on.
As the daughter of Indian immigrants the 31-year-old, from Hatfield, says a "central tenet" of her work is to "change how South Asian women are seen on-screen and the characters that we are seen in".
She has previously spoken about not having access to the same "privilege" some of her fellow actors do when it comes to roles.
Fans have questioned why she hasn't gone on to appear in as many roles as her One Day co-star Leo Woodall, who's since appeared in major films including Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy and A24's Anthony Bourdain biopic, Tony.
Addressing this remark, Mod tells Newsbeat she thinks "there's definitely an issue in this industry with systemic racism".
"I think it is really hard for South Asian actors to really push through.
"I feel like the glass ceiling is always getting higher and higher and higher."
A report from the Creative Diversity Network suggested that representation of minority ethnic groups on and off-screen dropped slightly last year, after a few years of improvement.
And similar research from media watchdog Ofcom found people from certain backgrounds are less well-represented across the UK broadcasting industry.
It said "people from minority ethnic groups (across the industry as a whole) only account for 11% of those in senior management roles".
It also found under-representation in creative, production and on-screen roles.
Mod says she doesn't know if on-screen representation is changing, but says she "won't engage" with a role if she thinks its tokenistic or stereotypical.
"I've been very, very lucky in my career so far from very early on to play really complex, meaty roles and to have changed the narrative in many ways," she says.
"And I'm not looking to regress."
And when it comes to considering what to take on next, she says she tries to follow advice Dame Emma Thompson once gave her: "There's no such thing as a career, there's only what you do next."
"I'm always just trying to focus on what the new challenging thing is going to be, or cool people that I want to work with," she says.
"And also what's going to be fun, as well."
Her latest role as Laila, a lawless agent of the covert Black Doves, attracted her as it subverted a lot of espionage genre tropes.
The character is introduced in season two to assist Keira Knightley's agent Helen on a mission as the stakes get even higher for those working with the secretive organisation.
Mod says it was "such a good time" working alongside Knightley and getting to do some extreme stunt sequences together.
"Honestly, the main reason I wanted to do it was because of all the stunts," she says.
"Really badass but it was so much fun.
"It was just so fun to take down an absolutely staggering number of men in every single episode."
The thriller also has a dark humour to it, which aligns well with Mod who often brings a dry wit to her characters.
Her comedic career goes back to when she was about 18, and while studying at Durham University she was part of its sketch comedy group.
Despite having not done stand-up for about five years, she says she would "love" to do more comedy in the future.
"I do sometimes think about going back to it," she reveals.
"I have a lot of stories to tell."
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George Michael is not taken seriously as a cultural figure despite being one of the biggest artists in pop history, an author and self-confessed super fan has said.
Sathnam Sanghera, who wrote Tonight the Music Seems So Loud: The Meaning of George Michael, paid tribute to his hero on the day of the release of The Faith Tour concert film.
The movie hit cinemas on Friday and features performances from the Careless Whisper singer during his 1988 tour to promote the number one album, Faith.
Sanghera, from Wolverhampton, said the film evoked a "powerful" era of live music with Michael's talent on full display.
"It was one of the biggest tours of the 80s and it was hugely significant that it was a British pop star doing this," he told BBC Radio 4's World at One.
"In the late 80s, George Michael was up there with Madonna, Prince and Whitney Houston. This was a white guy from Finchley and Faith was the biggest selling single in America in 1988."
Sanghera said Michael performed for about two million people during the tour and the impact was one of the reasons he chose to write his book.
"We don't take George Michael seriously as a cultural figure," he added, "but he was one of the biggest artists in the history of pop music."
The writer said people would often "take the mickey" out of him for being a fan when Michael was alive, but the teasing declined following the singer's death in 2016.
"No Friday night disco is complete without Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," he continued. "No wedding disco is complete without Careless Whisper.
"Last Christmas is Christmas. There's so much of his music that's become part of culture. This was not something he was given credit for in his lifetime, it's come afterwards."
'Beautiful art'
He described Michael's voice as "extraordinary" and said he could sing for two hours without hitting a wrong note.
From watching the film, which includes footage from 1988 shows at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, Sanghera said there was a sense of Michael grappling with his sexuality.
He added: "He was increasingly becoming this straight sex symbol, there was all the heterosexual posturing in the videos and also on stage, but inside he knew he was gay."
This was something that came across in many of his songs, said Sanghera, adding that they were often "about a man trying to connect".
"He was a very torn-up, sad man in many ways," he added. "What that gave us is beautiful art. He suffered but, in a really poignant way, we benefited."
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A guitar used by Johnny Marr after his split from The Smiths could fetch up to £30,000 when it goes under the hammer next month.
The white Fender American Vintage 1962 Reissue Stratocaster was played during Marr's time with British rock band The The which he joined in 1988, a year after leaving The Smiths.
Auctioneers Gardiner Houlgate said a private owner bought the guitar in 2020, with Marr - originally from Manchester - signing the guitar's headstock at the time and providing a handwritten postcard describing how it had been used.
The guitar will go on sale at the Gardiner Houlgate auction house in Corsham, Wiltshire, on 8 December where it is estimated to fetch between £20,000 and £30,000.
Luke Hobbs, auctioneer at Gardiner Houlgate, said: "We're valuing this guitar at around £20,000 to £30,000 based on other recent sales of Johnny Marr's instruments.
"Marr's equipment is very popular with collectors and fans.
"Now in his 60s, he's become something of a national treasure in the UK."
Other guitars owned by Marr fetched almost £4m at an auction at Christie's in London in September.
Marr joined The The following a brief period with The Pretenders.
He used the white Fender Stratocaster on stage during The The Versus The World tour which took place in 1989 and 1990.
The guitar can be seen in a film of the tour, also called The The Versus The World.
Recently, Marr has written and recorded with Gorillaz, Billie Eilish, Franz Ferdinand and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.
The guitar will be available for public viewing at Gardiner Houlgate ahead of the auction. It can be seen by members of the public on 4, 7 and 8 December.
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It was the neighbourhood that launched Franz Ferdinand's career and even got a mention in one of their earliest songs.
"Well here we are at the Transmission party. I love your friends they're all so arty," is the line in their single Do You Want To.
Twenty-one years later, the band are back in the Glasgow Print Studio - two doors down from Transmission Gallery - to launch a limited edition print that celebrates their musical journey and their Scottish roots.
Bassist Bob Hardy said: "When I was a student and we were getting the band together, it was often the openings that would take place on King Street which would be the beginning of a night out.
"Transmission Gallery, the Modern Institute round the corner. It would often be the start of some of the best nights out ever."
The band shot to fame with their 2004 debut, which produced three hit singles in a row and won them the Mercury Prize the following year.
They've since toured the world, notching up a substantial fan base in South America where they did an early tour in support of U2, and playing their own headline residency at the historic Olympia Music Hall in Paris earlier this year.
And it's an image from that landmark show which they chose to make into a work of art as part of Glasgow Print Studio's Call and Response project.
"It's often used in music where you sort of sing the first part and then people respond," said the studio's creative director Claire Forsyth.
"So seeing what the response is from the participants has been really interesting because it's not always what you might expect."
Among those who've signed up to this "gym for artists" are broadcaster Kirsty Wark, actor Sanjeev Kohli, and musician Bobby Bluebell.
Each worked with master printmakers to create a new work for a limited edition run.
Kirsty Wark was inspired by her great aunt, a bank teller by day, who painted china and porcelain in her evenings. Her delicate print is based on a plate that her aunt painted.
Sanjeev Kohli's work was also personal, and a tribute to his late father. St Parduman of Glasgow shows his father as St Mungo on a gable end, with the words I Belong to Glasgow in English, Gaelic and Punjabi.
Forsyth said: "He was thinking a lot about very traditional Glaswegian elements but then putting a bit of a twist on it.
"'I belong to Glasgow' was something that his dad said after a day or two of being in Glasgow. He said 'I may not always understand what everyone's saying to me but I feel I belong here'. It's a very powerful message."
For all of Franz Ferdinand this was a personal project. But especially for Bob Hardy, who graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 2003 with a degree in painting and printmaking.
"I hadn't done any printmaking since I was 19," he said.
"So it was really nice to be back here and in the workshops. It felt like being back at art school again."
The band had been on tour for two years when the idea was first mooted.
Hardy added: "We had this idea that we wanted to bring the touring world of Franz Ferdinand back to Glasgow.
"Knowing that it was going to be launched after we'd come home.
"We've had this set for the last two years designed by our lighting engineer, Dan Williams, which we've had all over the world and we just wanted to document it."
French photographer Julien Courbe – who was in Glasgow for the launch – captured the original image of the band onstage, which he then developed as a cyanotype in his Paris kitchen. That was then made into a print by Master Printer Alistair Gow.
Thursday's launch was a relatively intimate experience for a band used to playing huge stadiums.
The limited run of a hundred prints was swiftly dispatched, some online to international fans, with the proceeds supporting the future of Glasgow Print Studio and its members.
Forsyth added: "Our aim is for everybody to be able to enjoy it whether it's in our free to access galleries where they do a class or where they join as a member and come use our specialist equipment upstairs.
"You don't need to have been to art school to be a printmaker that's what's so great and egalitarian about it."
Alan Cumming, Greg Hemphill and Julie Wilson Nimmo will launch work in coming months while the aptly-named Glasgow band The Pastels will be next to create a work.
It has been a new experience for Franz Ferdinand but one that Bob Hardy, at least, plans to repeat, having been invited back for a printmaking course.
Hardy said: "When you play in a show, we do a lot of work to get to the performance. But this way, you can relax, the work's done, it's on the wall."
A rare prototype of a board game - described by a museum curator as a holy grail - has been discovered in an attic amidst a box of childhood toys.
Stop or Go, a road safety game played on a grid with counters, was designed in the 1940s by the games company Pepys, but was never manufactured.
Heidi Gibbs found what is believed to be a pre-production version of the game amidst her late grandmother's belongings and approached the Museum of Board Games in Newent in the Forest of Dean.
Curator Tony Boydell confirmed it was "the rarest Pepys game by a mile" as the game was known about but had never been seen. It has now been bought by the museum and is on permanent display.
Boydell said even the most knowledgeable "guru" of the company's archive, Rex Pitts, who wrote a book about the history of Pepys, had never seen a copy.
"It became very clear that this is something of a holy grail, it's a real treasure," he said.
Players throw the dice and move counters along the squares to the finishing line, choosing whether to obey the Highway Code or take a chance.
Boydell said he believed the game may have been discarded because it involved an element of risk-taking.
"For a small museum, to be able to get hold of something unique within the history of the games of a major British publisher is really unique," he added.
Gibbs, from Norfolk, said the game had stood out amongst her grandmother's toys due to its age.
"It looked very old-fashioned, but in a very good condition as well," she said.
"I contacted someone to do with Pepys board games and he had a look at it and said, 'obviously that is the exact game that is missing'. I thought it was absolutely amazing."
Gibbs said she decided to sell the game to the museum because she wanted board game fans to be able to "see and appreciate" it.
The mystery remains, though, as to how the game ended up in her grandmother's attic, as the family has no connection to Pepys.
Board game fans and collectors of Pepys memorabilia reacted with "real warmth" to the discovery, according to Boydell.
Philip Dennis, 73, from Aberystwyth in West Wales, said board games "tell us a lot about our social history".
"My games collection from the 1750s onwards contains a lot that were just played on Sundays because they were educational and so they were permitted," he said.
"Modern games are totally different to old games, but I think it's interesting to see how they've developed over the years," Dennis added.
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Two baker friends who started making cakes in their home kitchen have now won an international TV competition.
Dusica Roberts, from Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, and Verity Malinowska from Plymouth, took part in the TV series Bake Master Battles, a show on the Canadian Food Network.
The pair said winning the Halloween-themed episode, where they baked a zombie cake sculpture, was a "surreal" and "exciting" experience, as first reported by Burnham-on-Sea.com.
"As a child, you don't think, 'I'm going to make cakes when I'm older and go on international television'," Roberts said.
Roberts was a chef before she had children and then decided to bake for them in her home kitchen.
About 15 years ago, she decided to start a cake business, called Dusi-Cake.
She then met Malinowska about 10 years ago at a baking competition hosted in Birmingham.
The pair hit it off and began baking together. They described appearing on the show together as a "very exciting.
"Even being at the airport at 06:00 is very exciting, because me and Dusica absolutely love each other, we just have the most fun," Malinowska said.
"The show itself is amazing, they ran it so smoothly, we really felt we were looked after.
"It's quite intense on set but they just made you feel really welcome and really at ease."
The first challenge of the show saw the pair bake a cupcake display in 45 minutes, while the second was a three-hour battle to create a zombie cake sculpture.
"That could normally take days. Making it in three hours was a lot," Roberts said.
"It was intense. Luckily, Verity and I work really well together.
"We don't even really need to talk to each other, we just naturally come together."
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One of the biggest names in grime is back - and he's picked his moment.
"Finally," Skepta promises BBC Newsbeat, "some good rap music, some good UK grime sounds."
The Fork and Knife has been a long time in the making. Seven years on from his last album, Ignorance Is Bliss, and more than two years since it was first teased, the rapper knows how to keep fans waiting.
But, as he's keen to point out, "you can't rush greatness".
And with a Mercury Prize, a Brit and two Ivor Novello Awards under his belt, greatness is no less than what fans expect from this titan of the rap scene.
It's taken so long in part because Skepta's got big issues in his sights, with the new album taking on everything from immigration and racism, to Brexit and culture wars.
"Every time I write a lyric, it's important for me," he says.
"It doesn't matter whose song, what feature, what track, I'm always taking time in writing my music because I want my lyrics to be able to stand the test of time."
Regarded as one of the pioneers of British grime music, he has gone on to draw enormous crowds at festivals like Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds - not to mention his millions of monthly listeners.
His 2009 track Reflecting, which charts his journey from a difficult childhood to becoming a successful musician, was a major turning point for him and grime, he says.
"I feel that was the first grime tune that was introspective and wasn't just about getting hype...
"That was the first time I thought, 'OK, cool, this is a talent of mine'.
"I'm able to speak my true emotion with no filter, no chorus.
"I could just spit my emotions on a track that I made and people will feel it for years to come."
Born and raised in Tottenham, north London, to Nigerian immigrant parents fleeing the country's civil war, Skepta, real name Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr, has long drawn on his early life in his music.
Dipping into multiple genres for his sixth album, he's set out to explore what it means to exist between cultures and how it's shaped him as an artist.
In Innocent Smile, his new track featuring Chase and Status and Madness frontman Suggs, he raps: "Ain't no love for an immigrant child / The writing's on the wall, has anyone else noticed? / Was it Brexit? Was it Covid? / They point fingers, I feel hopeless."
"I think grime is a product of immigration," he says, with some of the genre's biggest names and pioneers - like Wiley, Stormzy and Dizzee Rascal - all coming from similar backgrounds.
"That was important for me to represent what it looks like if you give an immigrant child a chance.
"I'm British and I thought before I even get into a campaign, I wanted to let my stance be known that I'm for multiculturalism."
'I'm here to set levels'
And while Skepta's been focused on the message, he has also been deliberate about how he's delivering it.
"It took six years to make this because it's important to make sure we're not tone deaf," he says.
He learned the value of that when, in 2024, he had to take down artwork for his single Gas Me Up (Diligent), following allegations that it referenced the Holocaust.
The image showed a group of men with shaved heads, one featuring a tattoo reading "Gas Me Up".
It had been a reference to skinhead culture, but Skepta acknowledged how without that context people could find it offensive and promised to be more mindful going forward.
Determined not to miss the mark this time around, he says: "I feel like we've delivered a classic."
Early reviews are mixed as to whether critics agree, however. While Complex said The Fork and Knife was "top-tier" and worth the wait, The Observer said it was well-intentioned but questioned whether it was "over-egged".
At a time when he thinks standards have been slipping though, striving for a classic is more important than ever.
"I don't think there's been a good grime album for a long time," Skepta says.
"And I'm here to set levels."
In September, Digga D called out the viral 'UK Poo' trend, which saw a wave of tracks blowing up on TikTok defined by what he described as "foolishness".
"I can't sit on here and be like 'I'm happy with how the UK scene is right now'," the rapper told 1Xtra's DJ Target. "Because I'm not."
Turns out Skepta isn't happy either.
Drawing on his idols, and even featuring some of them like Suggs, he says he is "here to make rap sophisticated again".
As BBC Radio 1Xtra launches the first UK rap chart show, he's hopeful more grime artists will be inspired to sharpen their pen game.
"Rap is a sport and it's very hard for visibility when we're being compared to people who have major machines behind them," he says.
"So this rap chart is going to give all the newcomers and a lot of people who are producing in their bedroom a chance to be seen and heard."
Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.
A groundbreaking classic of the horror genre that has inspired generations, why is the message of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel still overshadowed by its success, more than two centuries on?
"It's alive! It's alive!! It's alive!!!" – Frankenstein (dir: James Whale, 1931)
One night during the strangely cool and wet European summer of 1816, a group of friends gathered at the Villa Diodati on the shores of Lake Geneva. "We will each write a ghost story," Lord Byron announced to the assembled party, which included Byron's doctor John Polidori, the poet Percy Shelley and the 18-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (later Shelley).
"I busied myself to think of a story," she wrote. "One which would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature and awaken thrilling horror." Her tale became a novel, published two years later as Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. It told the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young natural philosophy student, who, burning with crazed ambition, brings a body to life but rejects his horrifying "creature" in fear and disgust.
Frankenstein is simultaneously the first science-fiction novel, a Gothic horror, a tragic romance and a parable all sewn into one towering body. Its central tragedies – the dangers of "playing God" on one hand; parental abandonment and societal rejection on the other – are as relevant today as ever.
And are there any other fictional characters more powerfully cemented in the popular imagination? The two central archetypes Mary Shelley brought to life, the "creature" and the overambitious "mad scientist", lurched and ranted their way off the page and on to stage and screen, electrifying theatre and filmgoers as two of the most enduring icons not just in the horror genre – but in cinematic history.
Frankenstein spawned interpretations and parodies that reach from the very origins of the moving image in Thomas Edison's horrifying 1910 short film, through Hollywood's Universal Pictures and Britain's Hammer series, to The Rocky Horror Picture Show – and it foreshadowed others, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey. There are Italian and Japanese Frankensteins and a Blaxploitation film, Blackenstein; Mel Brooks, Kenneth Branagh and Tim Burton all have their own takes.
The characters or themes appear in or have inspired comic books, video games, spin-off novels, TV series and songs by artists as diverse as Ice Cube, Metallica and T'Pau's China in Your Hand: "It was a flight on the wings of a young girl's dreams/ That flew too far away… And we could make the monster live again". In 2025, sci-fi/horror director Guillermo del Toro finally realised his childhood dream of bringing Frankenstein to the screen, a true labour-of-love project that was more than 30 years in the making.
As a parable, the novel has been used as an argument both for and against slavery and revolution, vivisection and empire, and as a dialogue between history and progress, religion and atheism. The prefix "Franken-" thrives in the modern lexicon as a byword for any anxiety about science, scientists and the human body, and has been used to shape worries about the atomic bomb, GM crops, strange foods, stem-cell research and both to characterise and assuage fears about AI. In the more-than-two centuries since she wrote it, Mary Shelley's tale, in the words of Bobby Pickett's 1962 novelty song, Monster Mash (itself inspired by Boris Karloff's performance), has truly been "a graveyard smash" that "caught on in a flash".
'Mysterious fears of our nature'
"All them scientists – they're all alike. They say they're working for us but what they really want is to rule the world!" – Young Frankenstein (dir: Mel Brooks, 1974).
But why was Mary Shelley's vision of "science gone wrong" so resonant at the time? She certainly captured the zeitgeist: the early 19th Century teetered on the brink of the modern age, and although the term "science" existed, the concept of a "scientist" didn't. Great societal change often brings fear that is played out through culture. "With modernity comes a sense of anxiety about what humans can do and particularly an anxiety about science and technology, " says Fiona Sampson, author of In Search of Mary Shelley.
Frankenstein fused these contemporary concerns about the possibilities of science with fiction for the very first time – with electrifying results. Far from a completely outrageous fantasy, the novel imagined what might conceivably happen if people – and in particular overreaching or out-of-control scientists – went too far.
Several points of popular 19th-Century intellectual discourse appeared in the novel. Mary Shelley's writings reveal that in that 1816 Villa Diodati tableau, Shelley and Byron discussed the "principle of life". Contemporary debates raged on the nature of humanity and whether it was possible to raise the dead. In the book's 1831 preface, Mary Shelley noted "galvanism" as an influence, referring to Luigi Galvani's experiments using electric currents to make frogs' legs twitch. Galvani's nephew Giovanni Aldini would go further in 1803, using a newly dead murderer as his subject. Many of the doctors and thinkers at the heart of these debates – such as the chemist Sir Humphry Davy – were connected to Mary Shelley's father, the pre-eminent intellectual William Godwin, who had developed principles warning of the dangers and moral implications of "overreaching".
Despite these nuggets of contemporary thought, though, there's little in the way of tangible theory, method, or scientific detail in Frankenstein. The climactic moment of creation is described simply: "With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet." The "science" of the novel is rooted in its time and yet timeless. It is so vague, therefore, as to provide a malleable reference point for the following two centuries' greatest moments of change and fear.
Monster mash-up
But surely the reason Frankenstein became a shorthand for anxieties about science is down to the impression the "monster" and "mad scientist" have had on its audience. How did this happen? Just as the science is vague in the book, so is the description of the creature as he comes to life. The moment is distilled into a single, bloodcurdling image:
"It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs."
With his "yellow skin", "watery eyes" and "shrivelled complexion", the creature is far from the beautiful ideal Victor Frankenstein had imagined. This spare but resonant prose proved irresistible to theatre, and later film-makers and their audiences, as Christopher Frayling notes in his book, Frankenstein: The First Two Hundred Years. The shocking novel became a scandalous play and a huge hit, first in Britain and then abroad. These early plays, Frayling writes, "set the tone for future dramatisations". They condensed the story into basic archetypes, adding many of the most memorable elements that audiences would recognise today, including the comical lab assistant, the line "It lives!" and a monster who barely speaks.
It's perhaps a double-edged sword that the monstrous success of Hollywood's incarnations (notably James Whale's 1931 film starring Boris Karloff as the creature) in many ways secured the story's longevity but somewhat obscured Shelley's version of it. "Frankenstein [the film] created the definitive movie image of the mad scientist, and in the process launched a thousand imitations," Frayling writes. "It fused a domesticated form of Expressionism, overacting, an irreverent adaptation of an acknowledged classic, European actors and visualisers – and the American carnival tradition – to create an American genre. It began to look as though Hollywood had actually invented Frankenstein." And so, a movie legend was born.
And just as Hollywood cherry-picked from Mary Shelley to cement its version, she had borrowed from historical and Biblical stories to create her own message and mythology. The subtitle of the novel, "The Modern Prometheus", recalls the figure of ancient Greek and Latin myth who variously steals fire from the gods and gives it to man, and represents the dangers of overreaching. The novel's other great allusion is to God and Adam, and a quote from Paradise Lost appears in the book's epigraph: "Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay / To mould me man?". It is arguably the creature's humanity – and his tragedy – that in his cinematic transformations into a mute but terrifying monster, has often been forgotten.
Shelley gave the creature a voice and a literary education in order to express his thoughts and desires (he is one of three narrators in the book). Like The Tempest's Caliban, to whom Shakespeare gives a poetic and poignant speech, the creature's lament is haunting: "Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous."
If the creature is perceived as a misshapen human rather than a monster, his tragedy deepens. He is first rejected by his creator, which Christopher Frayling called "that post-partum moment", and is often identified as a parental abandonment. Considering that Mary Shelley had lost her own mother Mary Wollstonecraft at birth, had just buried her own baby girl, and was looking after her pregnant step-sister as she was writing the book – which took exactly nine months to complete – birth (and death) is pertinent.
The newborn creature is alienated further as society recoils from him; he is made good, but it is the rejection that creates his murderous revenge. It's a robust allegory for a responsibility to children, outsiders or those who don't conform to conventional ideals of beauty. "The way that we sometimes identify with Frankenstein – as we've all taken risks, we've all had hubristic moments – and partly with the creature, they are both aspects of ourselves – all our selves" Fiona Sampson says. "They both speak to us about being human. And that's incredibly powerful."
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The empathy and humanity that has often been lost at the heart of Shelley's novel is reinstated in the most recent adaptation, however. Before its premiere at the Venice Film Festival in 2025, director Guillermo Del Toro told Variety that his version, which stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the creature, was less a horror than about "the lineage of familial pain", with Isaac the abusive father abandoning his son, the creature.
"He was an outsider. He didn't fit into the world. He was out of place in the same way that I felt as a kid," Del Toro said of the creature, going on to describe Shelley's story as being central to his own life and work. "Frankenstein is a song of the human experience… There's so much of my own biography in the DNA of the novel." When he was collecting a Bafta in 2018 for a different monster fable, The Shape of Water, Del Toro thanked Shelley for inspiring him. "She picked up the plight of Caliban and she gave weight to the burden of Prometheus, and she gave voice to the voiceless and presence to the invisible, and she showed me that sometimes to talk about monsters, we need to fabricate monsters of our own, and parables do that for us".
Surely it would seem unfathomable that when the then-Mary Godwin first thought up her chilling monster parable in that summer of 1816, she could have imagined that it would go so far to shape culture and society, science and fear, continuing to inspire debate – and art – well into the 21st Century.
"And now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny go forth and prosper," she wrote in the preface to the 1831 edition. The creator and creature, parent and child, the writer and her story – they went forth, and did they prosper? More than 200 years since its publication, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is no longer a tale of "thrilling horror" but its own myth, sent out into the world.
This is an updated version of an article that was originally published in 2018.
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In Spain, kissing in public is an everyday sight. But the country's comfort with public affection reveals a surprising history of repression and rebellion.
Kissing is everywhere in Spain. There's the double-cheek kiss when you meet someone, of course. But then there are the romantic ones. I've been stuck behind a middle-aged couple who stop to smooch on a busy high street. I've felt a pang of nostalgia seeing teens kissing in sun-soaked parks and I've squeezed past tipsy revellers canoodling while fireworks crackle at Valencia's Las Fallas festival. Even my accountant signs off her emails with "besos" (kisses).
After more than six years living in Spain, I've become used to these public displays of affection. But when a friend returned to Valencia after a trip to Japan, she noticed them immediately. Stepping out of the train station, she was greeted by a couple snogging on a bench. After her stint in a country where PDA is far less frequent, the sight filled her with relief. "I'm home," she thought.
It made me wonder: is Spain really a country of kissing? And what can these public displays of affection tell us about its culture, history and attitudes towards intimacy?
One explanation may lie in the way Spaniards use public spaces. In many parts of the country, everyday life takes place outdoors, in busy streets, cafes and parks.
A University of Warwick study found that Spain was among the countries that required the least personal space when meeting a new acquaintance – even less than its southern Mediterranean cousins Greece, Italy and Portugal. It's a tendency that plays out in Spain's bustling plazas, where terraces are filled with friends gathered shoulder-to-shoulder, sipping cañas (beers) in the sunshine.
Amparo Lasén, professor of sociology at Complutense University of Madrid, says that people in Spain tend to be more physically demonstrative than northern Europeans. "You notice more difference if you compare with Nordic countries or with England," she said.
Perhaps it's not that Spaniards are more affectionate than people elsewhere, but that they're more comfortable showing it. Kissing in public isn't necessarily a grand romantic gesture; it's simply an accepted part of everyday life.
Living arrangements may also play a part. Around 65% of Spain's population lives in flats – the highest proportion in the EU – while soaring property prices have made it increasingly difficult for young adults to move out of the family home.
Lasén suggests that limited privacy at home can push intimate moments into public spaces. "In Spain we have this housing crisis, meaning that we are more used to meeting our friends outside – going to bars, going to restaurants – rather than doing it at our homes," she says, adding that couples now have to seek out a secluded bench for some alone time – or nearly alone, at least.
But the housing crisis isn't the underlying reason for its public displays of affection, says Lasén. More important is the country's relaxed attitude towards them. "If no one gives you a bad look or just you don't care, well, that's the thing that makes it easier to have this kind of demonstration in public."
Isabel Nieto Tous, 28, who moved back in with her parents three years ago after living abroad, knows how awkward dating without much privacy can be. "I didn't want to tell my parents I was staying at people's houses, because it was a bit awkward, so I would say I was staying at a friend's place," she said.
Tous, who has lived in Japan, France, Germany and Tunisia, believes that dating is different in Spain; she says there's an instant warmth from the start. "People get very touchy and close very fast. Maybe you're in a situationship; you've met someone two times, and already you're holding hands in public and very touchy," she says.
"I think kissing in public is very accepted in general," she adds. "There's no differentiation between indoors and outdoors. People behave the same way in the intimate space as they do in the outside space."
While PDA may be a familiar sight in Spain today, expressions of sexuality were once tightly controlled. Under Francisco Franco’s dictatorship (1939-1975), conservative Catholic values and restrictive legislation dictated public behaviour, criminalising homosexuality and policing public displays of affection. Couples could even be fined for kissing in public.
After Franco's death in 1975, Spain underwent a profound cultural transformation. In Madrid, the exuberant counterculture movement known as La Movida Madrileña celebrated freedom and self-expression, with film-makers such as Pedro Almodóvar challenging the conservative values of the past. As the movement flourished, affection and sexuality became increasingly visible in public life.
But the sea-change didn't happen spontaneously. LGBT activists had been protesting for decades, clearing the path for a more open and accepting society. One pivotal protest took place in Madrid on 23 February 1987. The previous year, two women had been arrested for kissing in Madrid's Puerta del Sol and held in police custody for two days under the Escándalo Público (Public Scandal) law.
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Their detention promoted local campaign groups to organise a mass kiss-in to draw attention to the case. From that year until around the 1990s, every Pride March in Madrid finished with a kiss in Puerta del Sol. Kissing in the street had become a powerful act of peaceful protest, and the public-scandal offence was abolished in 1988.
Today, public displays of affection can be seen across Spain, but that freedom isn't experienced equally. An older couple kissing on a public bench may attract more attention, while same-sex couples can face greater scrutiny, Lasén said. "Not everyone is equally comfortable showing their relationship."
For Paula Furió, a former wedding photographer in Valencia, kissing is a symbol of something much bigger. "There's still work to do, but Spanish society in general is very open. Kissing is like the tip of the iceberg: it gives you a sense of the freedom you can have in Spain. It's an expression of freedom."
It made me think back to my friend returning from Japan and the relief she felt at seeing a couple kissing on the bench. Perhaps she wasn't just happy to be home, she was happy to be in a country where authenticity overrules good manners. Maybe the most remarkable thing about kissing in Spain is how unremarkable it's become.
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The "Cornish Alps" are home to vivid green lagoons and man-made pyramid-shaped peaks. Now, a series of new trails are opening up this vast industrial area to travellers.
Clawing at the gravel, I pull myself onto the summit and brush chalky dust from my legs. The wind tugs at my hair as I survey my "kingdom" below. A car appears from the north, speeding towards the village, and I drop to my knees. Pulling back an imaginary bowstring, I take aim and release my arrow towards the passing vehicle before ducking out of sight.
It's the late 1990s, and I'm playing with friends on Flatty, one of two towering heaps of china clay waste on the outskirts of St Dennis, the Cornish village where I grew up. Pointy, its conical companion, rises nearby. Together, these surreal snow-white slopes form part of Clay Country, known affectionately by locals as the "Cornish Alps".
Here, more than 250 years of mining has transformed a 35-sq-mile (91-sq-km) expanse of small farmsteads and former heath and moorland uplands into a landscape of vast pits, vivid green lagoons and man-made peaks. It's a far cry from the surfy, sandy south-west of England printed on postcards.
Today, the Cornish Alps are changing. As old pits close, vegetation is taking over, wildlife is returning and new multi-use trails are opening up areas that have long been off limits. On a recent autumn weekend, I returned home to walk these routes, explore new corners of my hometown and see what's changed as the land is handed back to nature.
Cornwall's 'white gold'
In 1746, Plymouth chemist William Cookworthy identified a source of china clay, also known as kaolin, near Helston while searching for materials to replicate the porcelain imported from China. Tin miners had long used the heat-resistant clay, known locally as moorstone, to repair cracks in furnaces. Cookworthy recognised its potential for making porcelain, later identifying purer and larger deposits near the town of St Austell. In 1768, Cookworthy patented his formula for hard-paste porcelain.
As demand for china clay grew in the 19th Century, mining expanded rapidly around St Austell, transforming the landscape and providing livelihoods for generations of Cornish families. Prized for its commercial value, the clay became known as "white gold" and was used in everyday products from toothpaste to cosmetics. By 1910, Cornwall was producing around 50% of the world's china clay – roughly one million tonnes a year – and exporting about three-quarters of its output.
"You could hear the sirens going in your classroom and hear the blasting," recalled Clay Country native Steve Hawken, referring to the industry's mid-20th-Century heyday, when working pits were right outside homes and schools.
Today, Hawken works as a volunteer guide at Wheal Martyn, the UK's only china clay museum. Set within two former Victorian-era clay works near St Austell, the museum tells the story of Cornwall's china clay industry and its impact on local life. It also serves as an information point for visitors exploring the nearby Luxulyan Valley and Charlestown areas of the Unesco-inscribed Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape.
At 15, Hawken began a 37-year career in the clay mining industry, cycling to nearby Littlejohns Pit to run errands as a "kettle boy". Just beyond the car park, he pointed out the old, water-filled Lansalson Pit. "To go down deep, you have to expand [the pit] wide, or else it gets too dangerous," he explained in a broad Cornish accent.
Today, flooded pits like Lansalson are a defining feature of the landscape, their milky turquoise waters reminiscent of the glacial lakes of the Canadian Rockies. But don't be fooled: swimming here is dangerous and strictly forbidden.
"It's roughly 50 yards (46m) deep, about the width of a football pitch, but there's probably about 48 yards (44m) of china clay [underneath the surface], which is why it's that colour."
Despite its significant contribution to Cornwall's economy and industrial heritage, Clay Country is largely overlooked by tourists.
As novelist Daphne du Maurier once wrote: "These hills beyond St Austell, where they work the clay, are unlike anything else in the country."
Exploring the 'Alps' today
Today, the best way to explore the Alps' industrial heritage is on foot. In 2025, Imerys, the French corporation that owns the land, opened up previously inaccessible areas by adding 21 miles (34km) of footpaths – many also open to cyclists and horse riders – bringing its network to 38 miles (62km). These permissive paths (publicly accessible trails on private land) are scattered around old mining sites, with some linking to the larger Clay Trails that connect to places like Par Beach and Luxulyan Valley along the National Cycle Network.
Starting at Wheal Martyn, I traced a five-mile (8km) Clay Trail that begins along an old railway siding where china clay was once loaded onto steam engines bound for Cornwall's Par Docks. Passing gardens with fluttering Cornish flags, I followed waymarkers along sandy tracks, spotting fungi-dotted grass as I neared Carn Grey, a rocky outcrop near the village of Trethurgy.
After circling the paths and flooded pits of Pentruff and Baal, I stopped for a sandwich. There's nowhere to buy food along the way, so walkers should do as the Cornish do and pack "crib" (a mid-morning snack). The green scrub and autumnal foliage softened the slopes, and bird calls echoed across the water as several small gulls bobbed on the surface.
In the distance, Great Treverbyn Tip, known locally as "Sky Tip", has stood here since the 1930s. For every tonne of clay extracted, up to nine tonnes of waste were left behind, creating at least 100 pale, pyramid-shaped peaks that dominated the skyline. Today, only a few remain. Once considered eyesores, they have become familiar landmarks, framed in the windows of local homes for generations. When Imerys proposed flattening Sky Tip in 2014, residents rallied to save it. Today, Cornwall's flag flies from its summit, a symbol of local pride and victory.
Although mining here has declined, there are still decades of china clay reserves to be worked, supporting local jobs and generating an estimated £40m ($53.9m) a year for the local economy. To appreciate the industry's continued importance, I headed up to nearby Caerloggas Downs for sweeping views across St Austell Bay, where, on a clear day, you might spot ships leaving to transport china clay around the globe.
The permissive paths crisscrossed the former quarry, and I followed one to the top through patches of purple heather. On the horizon, the Sky Tip's symmetrical silhouette looked entirely out of place, like an ancient monument transplanted to the Cornish coast.
I continued back along the Clay Trail, through quiet woodland until I reached Trethurgy, where a single raincloud in an otherwise blue sky followed me to my final destination: Bodelva Pit, one of the area's most ambitious transformations. Its iron-rich clay was once used to produce the Financial Times' iconic pink paper. Today, it's home to the renowned Eden Project, with its vast indoor rainforest and 30 acres of gardens.
Elsewhere in Clay Country, the former kaolin pit at Dubbers, near the village of Nanpean, has also been returned to nature since closing in the 1960s. In late 2024, more than 100,000 native trees were planted in one of south-west England's largest tree-planting schemes. Today, up to four miles (6.4km) of new permissive paths wind through thriving woodland and heathland, home to red deer, dormice and birds including jack snipe and little ringed plover.
Another day, I walked over to meet Molly Earl, who runs Bees Off, which rescues honeybee colonies from chimneys and other structures before rehoming them at sites such as Dubbers. "They're quite calm today," she said, handing me a protective hooded jacket and examining one of her 35 hives.
She explained that come spring, the bees feast on gorse, heather, clover and other wildflowers. "You've got to have [the hives] in an area where they're going to get loads of different pollens," Earl said. "I could write you a list that would stretch from your head to your toes of all the things around here."
Our conversation turned to our childhoods and how radically the landscape has changed. "Nature always finds a way," she smiled.
It got me thinking about one place I hadn't yet revisited: Flatty and Pointy. Walking back towards St Dennis, I realised how sentimental I was about these two old tips.
To the kids of Clay Country, they were our wild, unruly playgrounds. As we grew older, they became markers of home, familiar shapes we search for while driving along the A30. Standing between them, they seemed smaller than I remembered.
When people ask where I'm from, I often say, "near Newquay", a place they're more likely to recognise. But reflecting on the past few days, I've come to appreciate how much this corner of Cornwall has shaped the county. Perhaps it's time I stopped giving the easy answer. From now on, I'll proudly say I'm from the Cornish Alps.
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Stephen Peel of The Chippy Tour is on a mission to protect the nation's traditional fish and chip shops. He's rated 260, but we convinced him to choose just five of his favourites in London.
Stephen Peel has just returned from judging the 2026 English Fish and Chip Awards, where he ate 14 portions of fried fish in little more than an hour. But eating one battered fish after another is nothing new for Peel, creator of The Chippy Tour.
Since 2024, Peel and his wife Sue have rated more than 260 "chippies" (traditional fish and chips shops) across the UK, arriving unannounced – and sometimes sending in decoys to order – before reviewing their meals from their pickup truck.
"It's about supporting our chippies, finding hidden gems that get overlooked and discovering places with great stories to tell," says Peel.
It's a storied culinary tradition increasingly at risk – as of 2026, 7,210 fish and chip shops remain in the UK. "Twenty years ago, there was probably about 30,000," says Peel. "People's tastes have changed – young people have got used to having McDonald's and other things just a phone call away through Uber Eats. Fish [prices have] doubled since last year. It's sad to see people struggling. They're being pushed to diversify from traditional chippy fare into fried chicken, pizzas, kebabs."
Based in Cheshire, Peel regularly visits London, believing the capital to be "important" to the nation's chippy tradition. "Tourists often see it as the epicentre of our fish and chip culture... You only get one chance to make a first impression."
Visitors typically encounter fish and chips in London's gastropubs and restaurants, but the classic chippy experience is a no-frills takeaway: "There's something special about popping into a chip shop and coming out with a takeaway you can pick at on the move." Peel favours family-run, independent chippies, and appreciates that London's ever-changing demographics bring in delicious flavours from around the world. "They'll add those [international] seasonings to their batter and that makes a huge difference."
Here are Peel's top five London chippies.
What's the best London chippy for a variety of fresh, local fish?
Brockley's Rock [in Brockley, south-east London] is a family-owned chippy established in 2011 by the lovely Karoulla family, originally from Cyprus.
The shop used to be a Chinese takeaway, but has now become, in my opinion, an incredible London chippy, with an emphasis on sustainable seafood. Along with fish and chips, the shop offers several fish species. It also offers gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options. They have pollock on there, they have bass. They have grilled fish on the menu. They'll try and get [fish] in that [doesn't come from] too far away.
[Their batter] is absolutely lovely; crispy, light, not greasy at all. But something else on the menu really stood out to me: their calamari with sweet chilli and ginger dip. It's absolutely to die for!
During the summer months, the shop supplies picnic blankets for customers to take to [Hilly Fields], the lovely park around the corner to enjoy their fish and chips. On the condition that they return the blankets, of course. It's a fabulous shop with fabulous people.
The best traditional beef-dripping chippy?
Marlow Fish Bar [in Anerley, South London] is a traditional, family-owned chippy said to have served its community since 1962. The family has Cypriot heritage, still reflected inside, along with a collection of Crystal Palace football memorabilia. It's a real old-fashioned chippy and they cook the fish to order in beef dripping (tallow).
Beef dripping, once the main cooking medium nationwide, is making a real comeback, though it may not suit every tourist because of religious or dietary preferences. But I've found that people will travel many miles to enjoy [beef-dripping] fish and chips. There's only two [beef-dripping] chippies that I know of in London. They actually even do halal beef dripping now. I think there's going to be more and more as people move away from seed oils.
For visitors who eat beef products, a beef-dripping chippy offers something different. Visitors can experience a bit of Britain's fish and chip heritage. The smell of the beef dripping when you walk up is unmistakable.
The best retro shop?
Fishcotheque [in Waterloo] is tucked beneath the railway bridge on Waterloo Road. The chippy dates to 1964 and offers a taste of tradition in a relaxed, nostalgic setting.
The menu includes cod, haddock, plaice, rock salmon and scampi, along with traditional favourites like pies and sometimes novelty things like deep-fried chocolate bars. There's also a dining area.
They also have saveloys (smoked pork sausages) [and] battered sausage. Saveloys are a big thing in the south of England. I think that's another thing that people should try when they're in London. [Visitors won't always] be familiar with some of the foods that we do in the chip shops besides fish and chips, like the saveloy and potato scallop (battered, deep-fried slice of potato).
Traditional chippies that have survived while things change around them will always have a place in my heart. The steel railway bridge almost above the chippy really sets a unique historic scene. Their fried fish is flaky, white – everything about it is just spot on.
The best for homemade sides and giant portions?
Joseph's Fish & Chips is a family chip shop on Tower Bridge Road, within walking distance of some of London's famous attractions. Turan Tunc opened the shop in honour of his father, [who] ran kebab shops around London for more than 50 years. [They] source fresh fish from Peterhead in Scotland, an incredibly important fishing port. [Their] potatoes usually come from Cambridgeshire, while [Tunc's] wife creates delicious mushy peas and tartare sauce, as well as homemade pickled vegetables. A great feature is a giant map where visitors can place a pin to show where they are visiting from around the world.
Big portions are what this place is all about. Huge portions! But it's not cheap. You could probably split the meal between yourself and a partner. Nice thick chips and a nice light batter. It's more modern than any of the others that we've mentioned but that's not a problem – you can only have so much tradition. It's warm, welcoming, clean.
The best chippy for a sit-down meal
[Fishers in Fulham] has an extensive traditional menu including cod and haddock, along with rock salmon and skate when available. I go for cod there, as I often do in the south of England.
They serve mushy peas, curry sauce and even gravy – not usual for London. The mushy peas are quite special; thick, not over-seasoned, and not overdone with food colouring, like some. The chips are very thick yet cooked through perfectly. The cod is exactly what you want from a traditional chippy: light in colour with crispy peaks, not overly thick, and not soggy anywhere. [It's] brilliant white, with large flakes and a subtly sweet aroma, and there's plenty of it. They also offer halal sausage.
The shop has a great traditional feel and look, seating inside and out, with modern furnishings. They pride themselves on having a 'secret garden' for dining in warmer weather. [It's] one of the few that encourages customers to eat in.
How do you rate a proper plate of fish and chips?
You don't want to smell fish – battered fish doesn't smell like fish. You might get a bit of an aroma of the sea, but not fish. And you want it to be white, not yellow. When you break open that battered fish, you [don't want to find] that thick layer of goo inside that hasn't cooked. It's got to be crisp. And when you [get to] the fish, ideally a nice thick piece, you want it to fall apart. It's got to be very moist.
[The chips] are not skinny little fries. You get those at McDonald's – nobody wants to see them in a chippy. They've got to be thick, they've got to have a bit of a crispness to them. They've got to be able to cave in when you put a bit of pressure on.
BBC Travel's The SpeciaList is a series of guides to popular and emerging destinations around the world, as seen through the eyes of local experts and tastemakers.
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A number of flights in the West of England have been cancelled or delayed due to foggy weather conditions.
A Bristol Airport spokesperson said three flights were diverted and one returned to Dublin because of thick fog. Live flight information suggested 14% of flights were delayed.
Passengers due to travel are being advised to check directly with airlines for information before leaving home.
A yellow fog warning issued by the Met Office was in place until 11:00 GMT, which urged travellers to be aware of the potential for difficult travel conditions and possible delays. It said the fog would be "thinning slowly" later in the morning.
The airport spokesperson added: "Flights first thing this morning, when the majority depart Bristol Airport, were not affected by fog.
"After that period, three flights were diverted and one flight has returned to Dublin."
Bristol Airport is based at Lulsgate Bottom, on the outskirts of the Mendip Hills.
It is built at an elevated position of 622ft (190m) above sea level, which makes it the second highest commercial airport in UK, according to National Air Traffic Control.
It means the site is potentially more vulnerable to hill fog.
The Met Office has issued a further warning for fog to run from Monday evening into Tuesday morning, however, this is not expected to impact the West region.
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An Airbnb host has said rule changes meaning guests cannot be asked to do certain jobs will put "more stress" on hosts.
Hosts cannot ask guests to do jobs normally carried out by cleaners, including doing dishes, stripping beds and taking rubbish off site.
Gavin Rowlands, 37, owns a property in Neath Port Talbot with his wife Kelly, and said Wales would "absolutely" be hit harder due to specific rules.
Here, holiday let owners pay more council tax if properties are not available for at least 252 days and let for at least 182 days a year, which can see hosts strive for more same-day changeovers between guests.
Airbnb said the changes were made to "help guests understand what hosts expect".
Previously, properties in Wales had to be available for 140 days of the year and let for 70 to qualify for business rates - a system that still exists in England.
Despite being "constantly busy", Rowlands said he and his wife had been unable to meet the threshold, meaning they pay 200% tax on their holiday home.
"The harder we're working, the worse off we are," said Rowlands, who added that he worked two jobs on top of running the holiday let.
"We've got to get our numbers up to help pay the bills."
Airbnb's new guidelines, which apply to bookings made globally from 20 November, state that hosts can now set seven standard house rules and other "reasonable" requests.
But rules say guests - who pay a cleaning fee - should not be asked to complete tasks normally done by a cleaner.
In May, Rowlands and his wife were left "speechless" after guests left their holiday home full of empty cans, and pans and plates full of food.
He said this "was not a one off", despite Airbnb's existing rules stating that guests should treat the host's home like their own.
"It's only going to get worse. It's really disheartening."
Despite this, Rowlands does not have plans to leave Airbnb, but said "these negatives come with using it".
Rowlands and his wife both take on a share of cleaning the holiday let, as well as employing a cleaner, but they only employ them part-time to keep costs down.
In July, the Welsh government launched a 12-week consultation to see "whether the 182-day threshold is set at the right level and what impact a modest reduction might have".
The Welsh government said "legislation would be required to implement any changes" which could take effect on 1 April 2027.
Guy Allen, 63, and Emma Enticott, 52, operate a holiday let in Mumbles on the Gower Peninsula, which was on Airbnb but they asked their agent for it to be removed after the new rules were announced.
"If they change their policy we will go back on it," Enticott said.
Speaking on the rule changes, Allen said: "It's just daft... for those people who aren't going to respect the property, it just gives them carte blanche to not.
"It's also about the respect for our housekeeping team as well, you know, they shouldn't have to come in and start clearing up other people's mess."
Allen said the tourism market was "particularly challenging" in Wales, adding that same-day changeovers would be one of the "biggest problems" caused by Airrbnb's rule changes, referencing the 182-day business rate threshold.
"We're battling on a lot of fronts to build a successful business. Anything that adds to the pressure is not good. We are under siege as an industry."
Not all hosts are concerned about the changes, including Matt Porsz, who hosts and manages other Airbnb properties full-time.
He believes the update will improve the guest experience without changing how most people behave.
Guests at his property are asked only to lock up and return the keys: "People sometimes strip the beds or do things without me asking and that's nice for my cleaners, but I don't expect it."
Jamie-Lee Presley, 37, from Llannon, Carmarthenshire, runs a cleaning company with her husband Alex, which specialises in Airbnb and holiday let changeovers.
She feels "nervous" about the upcoming changes and worries it could "open the door for already inconsiderate guests to become even more inconsiderate".
"I just think it's ridiculous. The respectful guests who have always treated properties properly will continue to do so. They're not the problem and never have been.
"It's the guests who already have absolutely no respect for other people's property that concern me."
She added that they already had "such a tight window" to clean properties in time for the next guests.
"We have same-day check-ins, multiple properties to service, cleaners travelling between locations, linen to change, bathrooms to sanitise, kitchens to clean and incredibly high standards to maintain.
"When guests leave a property in an unacceptable condition, that doesn't just affect one cleaner. It can affect the entire day's schedule, the next arriving guests, the property owner and ultimately the reputation of the businesses involved."
Looking ahead to the potential impact of the rule changes, Presley said it was likely the cost of her companies services will have to increase.
Krissi Foskett, 46, from Glasgow, also runs a cleaning company and regularly stays in Airbnb properties so "can see the issue from both sides".
During a recent stay in Stafford, she paid a £35 cleaning fee but was still asked to strip the beds, put on a wash, empty bins and carry rubbish to a recycling area.
"I don't particularly mind doing those things, but it did make me question what exactly I was paying the additional cleaning fee for," she said.
In a statement, Airbnb said: "House rules help guests understand what hosts expect, but we've heard from our community that they can be confusing, onerous and hard to manage.
"So, we've redesigned them to make them easier to discover and clearer to set, alongside a new policy that keeps requests reasonable, with no surprises."
When asked to comment on the 182-day business rate threshold, the Welsh government referred the BBC to a statement published on 31 July from Finance Minister Elin Jones.
In it, she said: "I have heard representations from a number of businesses that are making meaningful contributions to their local economies but are unable to meet the current threshold.
"This consultation will help us find a solution that works better for everyone, including businesses, local authorities and local areas."
Pints and pad Thai may seem like an unlikely pairing. But tucked away in London's backstreets is a culinary tradition with a surprising history.
Three pints into a crisp evening in west London, I'm standing outside The Churchill Arms pub with some British friends, and I'm getting hungry.
"We can just eat here. I've booked us a table at the Thai restaurant in the back," a friend says.
Maybe it's the ale talking, or the jet lag from my New York flight, but I'm confused. "There's a Thai restaurant here?" I ask. "In the back of the pub?"
My friends whisk me past the bar, where model British war planes, flags and World War Two-era military photographs fill the walls. But as we approach the backroom, Union Jacks turn into Trairong – the tricolour Thai flag – and woven rattan baskets, small boat oars and old kanok metal lanterns dangle from the ceiling.
We pass a busy kitchen filled with the clang of pots and woks, and a Thai waiter leads us to a table in what feels like a tropical greenhouse. Lush ferns dangle from the ceiling, while bright red and yellow flowers sprout from planters and pictures of exotic butterflies cover the walls. Looking back towards the dark, wood-panelled British pub in the next room, I feel as though I've been transported somewhere else.
In reality, I've just stepped into one of London's most unique dining experiences: a Thai restaurant tucked into a traditional British or Irish bar, cheekily known as a "Thai-rish" pub.
Though well-known among London barflies, many visitors may be surprised to learn that roughly 30 Thai restaurants operate out of the hidden backrooms and upstairs lofts of traditional English or Irish-run pubs. At first glance, these portmanteau pubs may seem like a rather unlikely pairing, but over the decades, these fusion businesses have become a distinctive feature of the city's pub culture – and as I'd soon learn, the idea was born right here at The Churchill Arms.
The origin of Thai-rish pubs
According to BBC Radio London's restaurant contributor, Stephanie Brookes, Thai cuisine wasn't on most Londoners' radars back in the 1980s, but the city's tastes were changing.
At most pubs, "food was once an afterthought", Brookes says, remembering the ham-and-cheese toasties and packets of crisps served in her youth. At the time, there weren't many Thai restaurants in London, but as Thailand became a popular backpacking destination for young Brits in the late 1980s and '90s, more travellers returned with a taste for Thai food.
"[People who wanted to] try new cuisines and experience different flavours had that opportunity – it's inevitable that tastes [back home in Britain] would start to change as a result," Brookes says. "This was partly a backlash against the bland food and austerity that came before."
The Churchill Arms' current manager James Keogh, remembers how the unlikely idea of serving pints alongside pad Thai was born. As he recalls, an Irishman named Gerry O'Brien moved to London in 1985, taking up ownership of the Kensington establishment. At the time, the bar just served fish and chips, jacket potatoes and other classic British pub grub. O'Brien was searching for a way to liven up the menu when Thai chef Songkot Boonyasarayon asked him if he could cook in the pub's kitchen.
O'Brien was initially hesitant, but once he tried Boonyasarayon's cooking, he agreed to a month-long trial in the summer of 1988. Within a few weeks, London food and restaurant writer Nick Lander recalls that there were lines around the block.
"[O'Brien] just thought it would be something that would work for a few months and that would be it," says Lander, who met O'Brien in 2009. "I don't think he had any idea of it being so popular."
By the early 2000s, the Thai government had launched the Global Thai Campaign, an early example of "gastrodiplomacy" aimed at promoting Thai cuisine around the world. As part of it, the government provided loans to Thai citizens to relocate and share their culture abroad, and within the next decade, the number of Thai restaurants around the world nearly doubled.
In the UK, many Thai chefs were hired in bar kitchens, with some chefs fully taking over day-to-day culinary operations or converting backrooms into a restaurant inside the pubs. Soon, Thai-rish pubs began to take off elsewhere in London.
"Many [Thai-rish] pubs rival top restaurants in terms of quality and provenance of ingredients," says Brookes.
A perfect pairing
As I scan the menu at The Churchill Arms, I spot dishes like pad kee mao (stir-fried "drunken noodles") and a special duck curry made with red chilli and coconut milk. I opt for the pad ped (red curry stir-fry), whose rich braise, bold spices and sharp acidity balance well with the malty sweetness of traditional English and Irish beers.
"Its model is perfect, if you think about it," Brookes says. "Delicious ingredients that are easy to prepare in a relatively small kitchen space, and the aromatic flavours work incredibly well with a crisp, light beer."
Kate, a London foodie who posts about Thai food in pubs on TikTok, agrees: "Thai food and pubs are two of the world's greatest things that only become stronger when in tandem with each other," she tells me. "Thai food mixes the sweet, spicy, sour and salty, and pubs mix drinking, danger and questionable decisions. What more of a powerful combination could you ask for?"
Ryan McElhinney, owner of The King's Arms near London Bridge, moved from Ireland in 2001 to help his father run the pub and remembers how they started serving Thai food. "[At the time] if my friends ever came to visit, I wouldn't recommend them to have food at our pub, because I knew it was just average… [things like] sausage and mash," he says.
Shortly after, McElhinney's brother met and married a Thai woman. She soon took over the kitchen, and by 2002, the pub was serving Thai food. "Our Thai food got better and better. We had Thai chefs making the food, and the food they have is amazing," says McElhinney, comparing the daily stream of curries such massaman and panang to the anticipation of "Christmas morning".
Today, McElhinney co-owns multiple pubs across London, and they all serve Thai food. He maintains that pad Thai and spice bags (its chips tossed with spices, stir-fried vegetables and chicken) remain their most popular dishes: "You gotta give the customers what they want… but alcohol and spicy food and a bit of salt, it lends itself."
More like this:
• How to not embarrass yourself in a British pub
• The quest for the perfect pad Thai
• Eight of the best pubs in London
In Nunhead, south-east London, Irish pub Skehans serves Thai food from a kitchen managed by Thai chef Charlene "Chai" Skehan. She moved to London from Thailand age 13, learning English and training in various pub kitchens. Twenty-five years ago, she and her husband Bill took over the pub and opened Chai's Garden Restaurant at the back.
"Thai food paired naturally with beer, particularly Singha and Tiger, although I'm surprised by how well the beef dishes went with Guinness," she says.
Chai's kitchen has provided a pathway for numerous Thai chefs in London. All her chefs come from Thailand, recruited through connections she has built throughout her time in London. Two of them have worked alongside her for more than 20 years and can still be found cooking at Skehans. Others have been trained up in her kitchen and gone on to work in nearby pubs, contributing to the presence of Thai kitchens across London.
As we finish our fragrant curries, stir fries and ales in the backroom of The Churchill Arms, I think about something Chai said.
"Thai food belongs in the pub."
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Quebec has perfected such a vast variety of profanity that it's been called "the Amazon rainforest of swear words". But uttering these blasphemous terms could have once landed you in prison.
Thursday nights at Quebec City jazz joint Bar Sainte-Angèle are known for a buzzy open mic where veterans swap improvisational riffs with students from the nearby music conservatory. But as I elbowed towards the bar on a recent evening, I overheard a patron practicing a different local art with equal parts precision and heart.
"Sacrement d'ostie de tabarnak", he said, cursing as his eyebrows climbed towards the bar's heavy-timbered ceiling. Taken literally, it translates to "sacrament of the communion host of the tabernacle". But the real meaning is anything but churchly.
Warning: Some readers may find language in this story offensive.
Speakers of Québécois French are known for using a unique class of blasphemous swear words derived from Catholic terms known as sacres ("sacred" profanities). Among the most famous are the seemingly innocent tabarnak ("tabernacle"), câlisse ("chalice") and Criss ("Christ"). But when angrily deployed, they carry all the offensive heft of English profanity.
Yelling "tabarnak!" is just as off-colour as the English F-word, while letting out a "câlisse!" is something closer to "damn". And they don't stop there.
When researching his 1980 book Le Guide Raisonné des Jurons (The Reasoned Guide to Swear Words), local folklorist Jean-Pierre Pichette recorded some 1,800 Québécois sacres. Some linguists now put the number at closer to 2,000. It's a lexicon of such variety, scope and colour that one expert compares the province's range of profanity to a biodiversity hotspot.
"It's like the Amazon rainforest of swear words," says Jean-François Joubert, an instructor at Quebec City's Cégep Garneau and author of Le Sacre du Québec (The Profanity of Quebec).
When I met Joubert for locally brewed beers in Quebec City's working-class Limoilou neighbourhood, he gestured over my shoulder at a patron sitting nearby. "Did you hear that?" he whispered. I didn't. "An excellent string of sacres", he said, with the smile of a lifelong connoisseur.
Some are biblical or liturgical deep cuts, such as simonaque (a reference to religious profiteering, and a slightly milder curse than tabarnak or câlisse) and ciboire (the sacred vessel used to hold the Eucharist, and another mid-tier swear).
Not all sacres are so arcane. Sainte vierge déculottée and sainte vierge en bicycle evoke the Virgin Mary appearing bare-bottomed, or on a bicycle, respectively. Asked about his personal favourites, Joubert offered the emphatically NSFW ostie consacrée au cul de cochon, or "consecrated communion host in a pig's ass".
Travellers to Quebec are likely to hear plenty of sacres in jazz bars, at hockey games and on street corners. Souvenir shops in Quebec City and Montreal sell shirts printed with phrases like "Je m'en câlisse, a vulgar way to say "I don’t care". At Musée POP in the city of Trois-Rivières, there are curses emblasoned on the wall of an ongoing exhibit exploring Québécois popular culture – a curatorial choice hinting that sacres go beyond the usual hammer-hits-thumb exclamations.
"They're so much a part of our life", says Michelle Bélanger, the museum's general director. "Sacres are a very important part of our history, culture, and identity."
What's more, understanding them sheds light on a side of Quebec that most visitors overlook entirely: a foul-mouthed legacy of cultural resistance.
The words that could land you in prison
It's hard to pinpoint the origin of sacres because, until relatively recently, even the most prolific cursers didn't write them down. Blasphemy was illegal in New France, the territory founded by the French in the 16th Century. In the early days, it was taken seriously. A first offence came with a hefty fine, writes Pichette; a third offence could put you in prison for a month.
That doesn't mean early French-speaking settlers held back. Joubert traces sacres to immigrants arriving from French cities like Rouen and La Rochelle that were historically Protestant but whose populations had undergone forced conversions to Catholicism.
"Even though on paper they're Catholic, they come from regions that had strife and religious conflict," he says. Joubert notes religious orders were a prominent part of life in New France, and thinks early settlers must have chafed at their presence. Blasphemy was a way to subvert the Church's power.
"If you look at the words, they're mainly about the Mass, like the classic ostie, câlisse and tabarnak," Joubert says. "They were taking some of the mystery, or mystique, away from the Mass."
A salty form of resistance
Not all historians agree with Joubert's origin story. But there's a widespread consensus that Quebec's propensity for profanity was supercharged by a series of events in the 19th Century.
In 1837 and 1838, British forces quelled two armed uprisings by largely secular, French-speaking nationalists. Following those rebellions, the Catholic Church stepped in, becoming the rigidly conservative administrators of everything from education to healthcare.
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"Starting in the 1840s, [Catholicism] became omnipresent in nearly every aspect of public life", says Québécois historian René Hardy, a professor emeritus at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. Resistance to the change sparked an upwelling of profanity that Hardy has examined through the Church's own writings.
"When the bishops' council met in 1886, they concurred that using sacres had become the cardinal sin of all French Canadians," he says.
Then, in the 1960s, many Québécois rejected the Church's heavy-handed presence in a social upheaval that became known as the Quiet Revolution. The province rapidly secularised. At the same time, sacres became a way for Quebec's French speakers to bond, reaffirming a language and culture that could feel marginalised – both by a majority anglophone country and the broader francophone world, says Yulia Bosworth, an associate professor of linguistics at Binghamton University specialising in Quebec French.
"The religious meaning is lost, but in the 1960s these terms acquired a countercultural significance that still remains," Bosworth says. "Today, sacres are probably the most emblematic and recognisable element of Quebec's linguistic identity."
'It's kind of like building Ikea products'
For linguists like Bosworth, it's not the religious source of Québécois sacres that's unusual. After all, most profanity worldwide falls into three broad categories: sexual terms, words related to bodily excretions and religious expressions. But the sheer scale of these "sacred" curse words stands out.
"With [roughly] 7,000 world languages, I'd put Quebec French in the top 25 – maybe top 10", in terms of the variety of curse words, Bosworth says. The words are also unusually adaptable, inviting innovation.
Many sacres can be variously used as nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs, an elasticity displayed in a famous cursing scene from the bilingual Canadian action-comedy Bon Cop, Bad Cop. "English is capable of this kind of creativity, with the F-word and others, but the degree to which Quebec French has taken it is absolutely remarkable," Bosworth says.
Sacres can also be linked together to form compound curses, which Montreal-based actor and YouTuber Nir Guzinski likens to assembling Ikea furniture. To illustrate the process, he offered the salty tirade "esti de câlisse de tabarnak de maudit de Criss" (literally: "communion host of chalice of tabernacle of cursed of Christ"). An online Québécois swear generator creates paragraph-long curses that are a modern blasphemer's masterclass.
A beginner's guide to cursing in Quebec
Given the colourful vocabulary on hand, it's unsurprising that many French-language learners visiting or living in Quebec are eager to experiment with sacres.
"If you're interested in French-Canadian culture, you'll encounter them everywhere," says Frédéric Patenaude, a Montreal-based language teacher who hosts the Quebec French Podcast and is the author of Quebec French for Beginners. He teaches the sacres in class but advises caution when deploying them.
"It's subtle. Swear words are always tricky when you learn a second language because it's a question of the situation, the level of formality," he says, explaining that a common misconception is that sacres are "cute". "Yes, you can use them everywhere, but they do sound like swear words to us," he says.
For those dipping a toe in, he recommends trying out the milder versions that modify basic sacres – much as English-language speakers might say "darn" or "fudge" in place of spicier curses. Instead of saying "tabarnak", he says to opt for "tabarnouche", "tabarouette" or "tabarslack" – words that get the idea across with less risk of causing offence.
"If you're a tourist and start saying 'tabarnak' to everyone, this will not work for you," agrees Joubert. But he is enthusiastic about the prospect of newcomers and visitors dabbling in some light blasphemy. He thinks that, like generations of Quebecois, they might even find a way to build social bonds through profanity.
"If you get the right person, it's a great way of actually participating," he says. "It's a great road into the culture."
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Suspended 365m above Peru's Sacred Valley, Skylodge's transparent sleeping pods offer extraordinary views – but getting there requires nerves of steel.
My legs quivered as I carefully repositioned my hiking boot on the half-inch braided wire beneath me. Gripping the via ferrata cable near my eyeline, I slipped my carabiner onto the next stretch of metal and took a step out over 200m (656ft) of free air.
"Apparently I am afraid of heights," I shouted behind me to my husband as he too navigated the precarious bridge. With only the cable beneath my feet, the sheer granite cliffs of Peru's Sacred Valley dropped away towards the murky-green Urubamba River far below. I shuffled awkwardly across the 20m (66ft) gap, repeating one instruction to myself: don't look down.
Finally at the other side, I eased myself onto a metal ladder. Our guide, Efren Lopez, assured me we had only a few hundred more metres to climb.
All this was simply the check-in process.
Our destination was Skylodge Adventure Suites, a collection of transparent capsules clinging to a sheer cliff face 365m (1,200ft) above the Sacred Valley floor – navigated via an expertly engineered series of ladders, wire traverses, iron rungs and steps. My husband and I, along with four others, had come to spend a night suspended above the Peruvian Andes.
Once the agricultural heartland of the Inca Empire, Peru's Sacred Valley draws visitors to its Inca ruins, traditional villages and spectacular mountain scenery. The small village of Pachar, where Skylodge is located, is just 10km (6.2 miles) away from the bustling Inca town of Ollantaytambo, but its fertile green floodplains and snow-capped Andean peaks feel worlds away.
Lopez led us steadily upwards, negotiating a series of narrow ledges carved into the granite cliff. Pausing on a small platform, barely wide enough for three people, I tightened my safety harness and looked out onto the valley. Far below, the Urubamba River twisted between cultivated fields, framed by sharp peaks.
Still dizzy, I dared to look towards the pods high above. As another climber struggled to squeeze onto the platform, I was nudged onward up the granite cliffside.
Despite my initial trepidation, I gradually found my rhythm, clipping and unclipping the carabiners as we climbed. But the thin mountain air left me wheezing as we crested 3,200m (10,500ft) above sea level, and by the time I finally hauled myself onto the metal platform outside the dining pod, two hours after beginning our ascent, I was exhausted.
Overnight among the stars
Even here, there was little respite for anyone afraid of heights. The capsules seemed to hang over empty space. Only once I was safely inside, free of my harness, could I finally collapse into a chair and breathe.
My husband and I sat with our four climbing companions over a pot of tea, watching the sun set over the Sacred Valley through the dining pod's transparent walls, while our guide, Lopez, prepared a four-course Peruvian dinner. We tucked into pumpkin soup, chicken remoulade and Andean potatoes, followed by a rich cacao brownie topped with fresh maracuyá (passionfruit). Outside, the pink sky gradually darkened, revealing the first stars and the turbid spray of the Milky Way.
I downed the remainder of my wine in a single gulp as I remembered that reaching our bedroom would require another climb.
Lopez helped us back into our harnesses and clipped us in for the short ascent to our private pods. Using iron hand- and foot-grips drilled into the granite, my husband and I climbed towards our bedroom, where we'd remain until morning.
"Be sure to stay up late for the best views of the Milky Way," he reminded us.
Clinging to the cliff face, our sleeping pod was reached through a hatch in the roof. Inside were three beds – a double and two singles – and six windows offering views across the Sacred Valley. The bathroom was decidedly less luxurious: an ecologically friendly "dry" toilet, separated from the rest of the pod by a thick curtain, with no shower in sight.
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The temperature dropped quickly inside the pod and I curled up on the double bed beneath a pile of thick blankets, peering through the curved wall. There was little to do but read, sip wine and wait for the darkest hour and brightest stars. I listened to the faint sounds of civilisation drifting up the mountain from the road below: the occasional car horn, a distant siren and the rattle of wind whipping against the pod's exterior.
Earlier that evening, Lopez had explained the importance of the night sky in Inca culture. "The Urubamba River below us was viewed by the Incas as the earthly mirror of the Milky Way, and every living being had a celestial counterpart in the picturesque galaxy," he told us.
Now, lying high above the valley, I gazed up at the Milky Way while its earthly counterpart wound through the valley below. As the sky erupted with even more stars, I felt as though I was drifting to sleep among them, not beneath them.
A thrilling descent
Just before 06:00, golden morning light flooded my pod. Outside, birdsong echoed across the valley as the other guests began to stir.
After scuttling our way back to the dining pod for breakfast, we prepared for our final adventure: a descent along six ziplines, ranging from 150m (490ft) to 700m (2,300ft) in length. Clipping into the first line with confidence, I stole one last glance at the rugged hillside. I had finally found my sea legs up here.
Pushing off the platform, I hurtled between orange granite spires towards Lopez, who was waiting in the distance. Just before reaching the end of the line, I leaned right, avoiding a sharp whack as the automatic brake caught, helping me to drift lightly onto the next landing.
I careened from platform to platform, zig zagging down the cliff, lowering myself closer to the valley floor with each slide. Less than an hour later, I was back on solid ground.
The experience had been more challenging than any of us had imagined. But after a night suspended above the Sacred Valley, the quiet of nature, the deep satisfaction of enduring a physical challenge and the spectacular views had me fantasising about a future filled with climbs and cliffside camps.
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From Berlin bars to Bavarian beer gardens, who pays for what is taken seriously in Germany. Here's why splitting the bill can actually be a sign of friendship.
Picture the scene: you're travelling through Germany and have gone out to dinner with a new group of local friends. Everyone has eaten, had a drink or two and shared plenty of laughs.
Then the bill arrives.
There is no "let's just split it". Instead, the first person tells the waiter exactly what they ordered – spaghetti and two beers – and pays precisely that amount. The next pays for their pizza and glass of wine. And so it goes, right around the table.
Welcome to Germany, a country that celebrates precision, even among friends enjoying an evening out. Splitting the bill evenly is not an idea that has taken off here. Nor is buying each other rounds the same generous gesture it is in other countries.
For visitors accustomed to everyone paying an equal share – or taking turns at the bar – this item-by-item accounting can feel strangely formal. And in a country with such a celebrated beer culture, it raises an obvious question: why don't Germans buy each other drinks?
This unspoken rule applies even in the most casual situations. In carefree Berlin, summer evenings often see younger people skipping a night of bar hopping in favour of gathering outside a Späti (late-night convenience store). Even when one person heads inside to buy the next round of drinks, don't assume generosity has replaced arithmetic.
"People will be counting who has paid how many rounds, most definitely," says Julian Berger, bartender at Orania Berlin, a luxury hotel in the city's edgy Kreuzberg district.
Dr Harald Pitters, an Austrian trend researcher who is married to a German, says the instinct is rooted in fairness and a desire to keep control of the situation. He has also seen how uncertainty can make buying rounds uncomfortable. "Two of my best friends are German, and this was always a point of contention when we went out together," he says.
"They didn't like the idea of rounds when there was no certainty around how long we would stay and how many rounds we would have. If everyone pays their way there is no room for disappointment."
"Germans have a very strong sense of justice," Berger adds. "They feel more comfortable if everyone pays for themselves. They don't like it when there is an imbalance."
In other words, keeping the bill clear is not necessarily seen as ungenerous. It can be a way of protecting the friendship. There is even a German saying that sums up this mentality: "Klare Rechnung, gute Freunde" (clear accounts, good friends).
As with any practice, however, there are exceptions to the rule. In the Biergärten (beer gardens) in southern Germany, where the standard drink is a one-litre mug of beer, rounds are more common. In fact, it is in the country's more traditional areas, including Bavaria, that you are more likely to see friends buying drinks for each other.
This is particularly true at traditional community festivals, which Pittars says are enjoying a revival among young people.
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"At an Erntedankfest [harvest festival, where beer is the standard drink], it is very usual to buy rounds. You would out yourself as very uptight if you just bought a drink for you and your partner," he says. "That also applies at Karneval [Carnival] in Cologne or Hafengeburtstag [Port Anniversary] in Hamburg – any communal event involving drinking and dancing."
So what should visitors do? Berger advises assuming that everyone will pay their own way – unless someone makes it clear otherwise.
"If you are out with someone and they say, "Ich lade dich ein" [I am inviting you], that means they are paying," he says.
And there is no need to feel awkward about asking the waiter to split the bill, either. Most will automatically ask, "Getrennt oder zusammen?" (separately or together).
For many Germans, the natural answer remains: "Getrennt, bitte" (separately, please).
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Rathcroghan is one of Europe's oldest unexcavated royal sites. Now, a brand-new walking path is giving travellers access to ancient landmarks – including the cave that inspired Halloween.
From the top of Rathcroghan Mound in Ireland's County Roscommon, the view stretches across grassy fields, stone walls and grazing cattle and sheep. While this may appear as unassuming farmland, a closer look reveals dozens of large, circular earthworks and ancient burial mounds.
That's because Rathcroghan (meaning "the fort of Cruachan" in Irish) is one of the oldest and largest unexcavated royal sites in Europe. This was the ancient capital of Ireland's Connacht province and 266 archaeological relics are spread across the 6.5sq-km site – including Iron Age ringforts, Ogham stones carved with ancient Irish script and holy wells.
But one of Rathcroghan's most mysterious features is a passageway that extends deep into the earth and crosses the mythological veil into the Celtic Otherworld. Known as Ireland's "Gate to Hell", it is considered to be the birthplace of ancient traditions that evolved into Halloween.
"It's a fascinating place – not many sites can claim an entrance to the Otherworld," says John Waddell, emeritus professor of archaeology at the University of Galway.
Since many of Rathcroghan's monuments are located on private farmland, visitors have historically only been able to access some of its sites by car. But a brand-new 13km (8-mile) Rathcroghan Archaeological Walking Trail now links the complex's main highlights on a looped walking path, giving travellers new access to the land and a different perspective on how these ancient monuments were connected.
A sacred, supernatural past
Rathcroghan's history stretches back 5,500 years. It was an important hub for ceremonial assemblies, as well asfeasts, seasonal celebrations and royal inaugurations.
The site has inspired a wealth of folklore. This is where Ireland's national epic, The Táin – Táin Bó Cúailnge ("The Cattle Raid of Cooley") begins and ends. Considered Ireland's version of The Iliad, it recalls a great raid started by Queen Medb of Connacht, an Iron Age warrior who ruled from her nearby palace.
"[Rathcroghan is] an ancient royal site, we're not talking about a palace being stuck out on the landscape; we're talking about a site where people came to gather for various reasons – to mark a celebration, the cross-quarter festivals, a marriage, a contract, a death, a funeral, crowning a king," says Rathcroghan tour guide and research assistant Elaine Conroy.
It's also sacred ground. The complex is considered one of the three chief burial places in ancient Ireland where the nation's early kings and chiefs were laid to rest, and today it's home to 40 identified burial mounds.
Roughly 1km south-west of the main Rathcroghan mound lies Oweynagat cave – believed to have been the home of the Mórrígan, the supernatural goddess associated with the birth of Halloween. The deity appears as a shape-shifter in The Táin and is associated with the festival of Samhain, which marked the coming of winter. This period – which started on 31 October – was a time when the veil between this world and the Otherworld was thinnest, and the Mórrígan and her malevolent creatures ventured from the cave. As a result, people began dressing in disguise so the spirits did not take them.
It typically takes three hours to walk the full trail. I started my day at the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre in the village of Tulsk, before then making the 4km drive to the trailhead at Rathcroghan Mound, where the new walking trail starts and ends, and set out towards the "Gate to Hell".
A new way to experience Rathcroghan
Rathcroghan Mound is the site's largest and most accessible landmark, an 88m-wide-by 5.5m-high (289ft-by-18ft) earthwork that has never been excavated. Yet, foundations discovered during geophysical surveys suggest that it may have been used for various ceremonies, such as the inauguration of kings.
"This was the centre of Connacht," says Mike McCarthy, an archaeologist and researcher at the Rathcroghan Visitor and Heritage Centre, as we stand at the new trailhead beside Rathcroghan Mound. "We are walking through a landscape of assembly, ceremony and inauguration, and we're in the middle of a very high-status prehistoric graveyard – burial place of the Kings of Connacht. So there is not only archaeology and history, but there's folklore and mythology and literature associated with the site."
Waddell, who conducted field research at Rathcroghan, says one of the reasons the landscape is so interesting is that it is saturated with ancient meaning.
"The geophysical surveys of [Rathcroghan Mound] have demonstrated that it had a very complicated history, with all sorts of circular structures buried in it and sometimes erected on top of it. It was a great ceremonial site, probably a great circular timber hall," he says. "That's what makes it so special – the myth and legend as well as archaeology, all embraced in the tales to tell."
From the mound, I walk with McCarthy towards one of many new stiles whose steps lead over a stone wall to connect the new trail to previously off-limits farmland. After passing an unnamed burial mound, we soon come to Relignaree, a massive 110m (361ft) circular enclosure known as "The Graveyard of Kings". A newly installed sign reveals that this wasn't just a royal cemetery – it may have also been an "elite residence", complete with ringforts and underground passages.
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Cattle have grazed this land for thousands of years, and continue to do so today. On our walk, we meet a group of cattle with calves, and McCarthy says hikers might meet livestock and curious sheep along the trail.
As McCarthy points out, the animals keep the area grazed. "The monuments are here because of farming," he says. "Otherwise nature would have taken them back." Farmers have even installed large scratching brushes for the cows so they don't use the archaeological monuments instead.
The 'Gate to Hell'
We soon come to a row of trees and scrub, and here, at the base of the trees, is an ordinary-looking ditch leading to the mythical Gate to Hell. Located 7m (23ft) underground and stretching 37m (121ft) long, this limestone shaft was referenced as early as the 9th Century by Celtic monks and has long been regarded as one of the chief portals to the Otherworld – a dimension to which the living could travel.
Though the cave is currently closed to visitors for health and safety reasons because of its elevated carbon dioxide levels, I get down on my hands and knees to look inside the entrance to the passage, which is framed by an Ogham stone dating back to the 4th-8th Centuries. From here, the 10.5m-long (34ft) narrow stone passageway leads down to the natural cave. An image on the new information panel at the cave's entrance shows what it looks like underground and explains how this "infamous" cavern was "regarded as one of the chief entrances or portals to the Irish Otherworld" – a mythical place "where pre-Christian societies believed the Sun went at night.”
As we continue walking along the trail, we come to the 115m-wide (377ft) circular enclosure of Rathnadarve, where the two bulls meet in mortal combat at the end of The Táin, the Irish national epic. Further on, we cross a narrow country road and see a sign hidden pointing to a grassy mound. It reads "Cruachan Connacht, ancient royal site". This is Rathbeg, where a new information board reveals it was a "Cemetery for Kings". Though it hasn't been excavated, we learn that members of the Iron Age Aos Dána, a high-status warrior caste, could be buried here.
I grew up in Ireland hearing about Queen Medb, and even seeing images of her on old Irish banknotes. Walking through this landscape brings those stories to life, and I can almost hear the hooves of The Táin’s two bulls, the wheels of Medb’s chariot or the eerie screams of the Mórrígan. Unlike a mere monument, Rathcroghan allows visitors to immerse themselves in this landscape and understand how our ancestors used it 5,500 years ago.
"People are used to the fact that monuments of certain types were places of ceremony and ritual," says Wadell. "Rathcroghan offers the notion that whole landscapes could be places of this sort of ritual memory and activity."
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Kashmir's ancient saffron tradition is being threatened by climate change, development and food fraud. Could this coveted spice be disappearing?
The shopkeeper in Srinagar hesitated before showing me the saffron.
Tourists drifted through the old Kashmiri city's open-air market while he watched from behind shelves overflowing with walnuts, spices and dried fruit. When I asked for Kashmiri saffron, he glanced towards the entrance before reaching beneath the counter for a small steel container wrapped in cloth.
Inside were a few dark crimson strands.
"Pampore saffron," he said softly, meaning it was grown in the nearby Pampore uplands, India's main saffron-producing region. "Very little came this year."
Then he pointed towards another glass jar, packed with brighter red threads.
"Iranian saffron," he said. "Many shops sell this now as Kashmiri. Most customers cannot tell the difference."
It was October 2025 and I had become interested in saffron partly because of its reputation. The crop is woven deeply into Kashmir's culture and memory. It flavours wedding dishes and noon chai, appears in traditional medicines and perfumes, and has long been sold as one of the valley's most prized exports.
But in recent years, stories about falling harvests, dry weather and imported saffron flooding local markets are increasingly common.
My interest in understanding what was happening to what is likely the world most expensive spice led me to Pampore, the town for centuries most closely associated with saffron cultivation in Kashmir.
What I found out doesn't bode well for this most cherished of spices – or the Kashmiri families whose lives still revolve around it.
Red gold
As the road leaves Srinagar, apartment blocks and roadside shops gradually give way to the Karewa plateau, the elevated stretch of dry soil where saffron flowers bloom every autumn.
During harvest season – mid-October to mid-November – this landscape is usually covered with purple crocus flowers. Each morning, families arrive before sunrise to meticulously collect saffron flowers in wicker baskets, while traders wait beside village roads for the morning harvest.
But when I arrived in October 2025, many fields looked dry.
The earth cracked beneath my shoes in Dussu village as saffron farmer Mohammad Asif walked slowly through land cultivated by his family for generations. Thin clusters of purple flowers appeared unevenly across the plateau. Several portions of the field remained bare.
"We harvested nearly 250g (9oz) this year," Asif told me. "Last year [2024], we got close to 1.5kg (3.3lb)."
He bent down and picked up a flower carefully between his fingers. "Saffron depends on timing," he said. "If rain does not arrive when the crop needs moisture, flowering suffers very quickly."
Saffron comes from Crocus sativus, a purple-flowered plant that produces three crimson stigmas inside every bloom. Those tiny threads are harvested by hand before sunrise to preserve their quality, then separated carefully and dried over several hours. Roughly 4,000 flowers are needed to produce just one ounce (28g) of saffron, while the plant blooms for just two to four weeks a year, helping explain why it is consistently among the world's costliest spices, often referred to as "red gold".
Now unknown in the wild, saffron's early cultivation can be traced back thousands of years to parts of present-day Iran, Greece and Central Asia. It reached Kashmir centuries ago through Persian influence and trade networks.
Kashmiri saffron has developed a reputation for its particularly dark crimson colour, thick stigmas and strong aroma. Scientists studying saffron chemistry have found that it contains particularly high levels of crocin, the carotenoid compound responsible for the spice's deep hue. Its price, typically well above that of Iranian saffron, can reach $4 (£3) or more for a single gram ($110/£82 per oz).
Generations of growers in Pampore have built their lives around saffron cultivation. Families planned household expenses and marriages around harvest seasons. Entire neighbourhoods worked together separating crimson stigmas from flowers late into the evening while kettles of salted tea simmered nearby. Older residents described autumn mornings when the plateau appeared almost entirely purple.
Steep decline
Production of Kashmiri saffron has fallen sharply over the past decade. Across Kashmir and nearby Jammu it plummeted from eight tonnes in 2010-11 to 2.6 tonnes in 2023-24, Indian government data shows.
Researchers say several factors are driving the decline, including changing weather patterns. Studies have found that rainfall during August and September plays a critical role in saffron flowering and the development of the corm, saffron's underground stem base. Dry conditions during these months can sharply reduce yields.
Rabia Khan, an independent climate researcher and advocate based in Kashmir, says saffron cultivation depends upon a delicate seasonal balance that has become increasingly unstable.
"Autumn dry spells have become longer and more frequent," she says. "Snowfall patterns have also changed during recent years, which affects groundwater recharge and soil moisture."
Less snow in the western Himalayas and rising average temperatures linked to climate change are affecting downstream water systems across the region.
A changing backdrop
For farmers in Pampore, those changes are visible without scientific charts.
Several growers told me winters no longer feel as cold or prolonged as they once did. Streams that previously carried snowmelt into villages weaken earlier in the year. "Rainfall patterns changed a lot during recent years," grower Abdul Rashid Wani says. "Today we depend heavily on pumps."
In 2010, India launched the National Saffron Mission in response to concerns over declining saffron cultivation, with the aims of improving irrigation infrastructure, rejuvenating saffron corms and increasing productivity. The programme introduced borewells, sprinkler systems and scientific support for growers across Pampore's saffron belt.
Some farmers say irrigation access improved in certain villages, though others describe damaged pipelines, irregular water supply and delays in repairs during crucial flowering periods. India's Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare did not respond to a request for comment on these concerns.
At the same time, saffron fields themselves have steadily shrunk. Road expansion, residential development and commercial construction now occupy sections of land once used for cultivation. Farmers point towards neighbourhoods where saffron flowers bloomed until relatively recently.
"Every household depended on saffron," Habib Khan, an elderly resident in Konibal village told me. "Now many young people no longer see a future in it."
The farmers also told me about another problem: porcupines. In Dussu, Asif showed me parts of his field where the animals had dug into the soil and damaged the saffron corms. "They come at night and dig up the corms," he told me, pointing to patches of burrowed earth. "Sometimes we see the flowers are gone, but the real damage is underneath."
He said porcupine attacks had become more common in recent years, especially around fields close to settlements and scrubland. Other growers told me they had put up makeshift barriers and kept watch at night to protect their crops.
Rats attracted by nearby landfill have similarly been devastating saffron corms in recent years, New Delhi-based magazine Down To Earth has reported.
Fake Kashmiri saffron
Farmers in Iran, which produces some 90% of the world's saffron, are also facing growing climate and water pressures, including prolonged drought conditions. The US-Israel war with Iran has recently playing havoc with the global supply and price of both Kashmiri and Iranian saffron.
But Iranian saffron is also troubling growers in Kashmir for a different reason. A trader I spoke to in Delhi's spice markets in January 2026 described how imported saffron sometimes enters Indian markets in bulk before being repackaged and sold under Kashmiri labels.
Inside a cramped storage room lined with cartons and weighing machines, he opened packets containing Iranian saffron threads and compared them with smaller quantities of Kashmiri produce.
"Customers ask for Kashmiri saffron because the name sells," he told me. "Most cannot identify the difference once it is packed."
Other fraudulent practices include substitution with safflower or turmeric, and addition of hazardous dyes.
Shazia Malik, a food scientist studying spice authentication at J&K Food and Drugs Department, a regulatory body in the Jammu and Kashmir region, says such adulteration damages both consumers and farmers.
"When imported saffron is blended or falsely labelled as Kashmiri, it weakens consumer confidence and affects farmer incomes."
Several growers in Pampore believe the problem also obscures the true scale of declining local production, with so-called "Kashmiri saffron" remaining visible in markets even as real harvests shrink.
Efforts are afoot to improve oversight through certification and developing electronic traceability systems. A government official told the BBC these have improved oversight in recent years, though growers say enforcement remains inconsistent.
A way of life
Near Srinagar, governmental horticulture scientist Neyaz Ahmad Dar studies saffron flowering inside controlled cultivation rooms where humidity, temperature and light exposure are carefully regulated.
"Controlled cultivation reduces climate-related risks," he told me when I visited in November 2025. "Our goal is to protect healthy corms and improve flowering consistency."
Early research on indoor saffron cultivation has shown promising flowering stability and crocin retention under controlled environmental conditions.
Scientists working on saffron resilience are also focusing on groundwater management, improved corm preservation and better monitoring of soil moisture. Some argue that protecting remaining saffron land may become equally important.
Several farmers in Pampore told me they worry less about temporary crop failures than about the gradual disappearance of saffron fields altogether beneath expanding construction. Once the land is built over, they say, cultivation rarely returns.
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When I returned to Dussu village last November, Asif invited me to join his family before sunrise during harvest week. As daylight slowly arrived, the modest scale of harvest became clear, his family's baskets far less full than Asif remembered from earlier years.
Later, inside the family's home, Asif's wife Zeba separated each crimson stigma delicately by hand, while steam rose from our cups of salted tea. Asif spread the threads carefully onto a tray for drying. The room had the faint earthy scent of fresh saffron.
"Saffron farming gave families identity here for centuries," Asif told me. "People worry about income, but they also worry about losing a way of life tied closely to this land."
* Mir Seeneen is an independent Kashmiri-based journalist covering stories from South Asia and beyond.
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In Paris in 2015, almost 200 countries signed a landmark agreement designed to limit global warming to 1.5C and avoid its worst impacts.
But despite some progress in areas like renewable energy, the world has continued to warm at a rapid pace.
A recent UN report said the target was likely to be breached in the next few years and that "urgent and stringent" action would be needed to return the world to 1.5C.
What is the Paris climate agreement?
The Paris Agreement is at the heart of the international commitment to tackle rising global temperatures.
It came into force on 4 November 2016 and saw almost all the nations of the world agree to cut the greenhouse gas emissions which cause global warming.
However, the United States - the world's second biggest greenhouse gas emitter - withdrew from the deal in January 2026 under President Donald Trump.
The US also withdrew during Trump's first presidency, but it rejoined in 2021 under his successor President Joe Biden.
The only other UN member states outside the Paris agreement are Iran, Libya and Yemen.
What does the Paris Agreement say?
The Paris Agreement lists a series of commitments:
* to "pursue efforts" to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C, and to keep them "well below" 2.0C above those recorded in pre-industrial times, generally considered to mean the late 19th Century
* to achieve a balance - known as net zero - between the greenhouse gases that humans put into the atmosphere and the gases that they actively remove, in the second half of this century
* each country to set its own emission-reduction targets, reviewed every five years to raise ambitions
* richer countries to help poorer nations by providing funding, known as climate finance, to adapt to climate change and switch to renewable energy
The 1.5C target is generally accepted to refer to a 20-year average rather than a single year.
So, while 2024 was more than 1.5C warmer than pre-industrial times, it did not mean the Paris Agreement threshold has been breached
Why does keeping global warming to 1.5C matter?
Every 0.1C of warming brings with it greater risks for the planet, such as longer heatwaves, more intense storms and wildfires, according to climate scientists.
But a very large body of scientific evidence shows that warming of 2C or more would bring far greater impacts, on top of those felt at 1.5C, UN scientists say.
These include:
* more people being exposed to extreme heat
* higher sea levels as glaciers and ice sheets melt
* increased risks to food security in some regions due to more extreme weather
* greater chances of some climate-sensitive diseases spreading, such as dengue
* more species being threatened with extinction
* the loss of virtually all coral reefs
Some changes could become irreversible if so-called "tipping points" are crossed.
It is not clear exactly where these sit, but once these thresholds are passed, changes could accelerate and become irreversible.
These could include the collapse of the Greenland Ice Sheet, warm Atlantic Ocean currents or further loss of the Amazon rainforest.
What does The Paris Agreement promise for poorer countries?
The Paris deal restated a 2009 commitment that richer countries should provide $100bn (£73bn) annually by 2020 to help developing nations deal with the effects of climate change and build greener economies.
Although only $83.3bn was raised in 2020, data from the OECD shows the goal was reached in each of the three years after 2022.
Almost two-thirds of the money in recent years has gone towards efforts to limit global warming, while around a quarter has been used to help nations adapt to climate change.
In 2023, countries agreed for the first time that a fund should be established exclusively for loss and damage. This is money to help countries recover from the impacts of climate change.
Nepal became the first country approved to receive money from the fund after a flash flood in August 2026 killed more than 1,400 people.
At COP29 in 2024, richer nations committed to providing $300bn (£219bn) a year to developing nations by 2035. Developing countries - which had hoped for more - criticised the "paltry sum".
What has happened since the Paris Agreement?
World leaders meet every year to discuss their climate commitments at international summits known as COPs (Conference of the Parties).
All COPs since 2015 have tracked how countries are building on what they promised in Paris.
At COP28 in 2023, countries agreed for the first time to "contribute" to "transitioning away from fossil fuels", although they were not forced to take any specific action.
Countries also agreed to treble the global capacity of renewables - such as wind and solar - by 2030.
But the final deal at COP30 in 2025 failed to directly mention fossil fuels. Instead, the host of the conference, Brazil, published a voluntary roadmap for moving away from fossil fuels, which will be discussed at COP31.
That COP is taking place from 9 to 20 November 2026 in Antalya, Turkey and is co-hosted by Australia.
A "coalition of the willing" composed of 57 countries has also organised its own conferences separate from the COP process to discuss phasing out fossil fuels.
The first meeting was held in Santa Marta, Colombia in April 2026, and another conference is scheduled for July 2027 in Tuvalu.
Is the world on track to meet the 1.5C target?
The long-term 1.5C global warming target has not yet been breached.
But the latest UN Emissions Gap Report said the limit was likely to be exceeded in the next few years after "decades of insufficient climate action".
In the "lowest possible" scenario, warming would still reach 1.7 to 1.8C by the mid-century, the report said.
A return to 1.5C by 2100 is possible, but it will require "urgent and stringent cuts to greenhouse emissions", the UN added.
Specifically, emissions would need to be cut by 18% between 2025 and 2030.
The report found that the pledges governments have made so far would only cover half of these cuts.
Without further action, global warming could reach nearly 3C by the end of the century, the research said.
Human activities are causing world temperatures to rise, posing serious threats to people and nature.
Things are likely to worsen in the coming decades, but scientists argue urgent action can still limit the worst effects of climate change.
What is climate change?
Climate change is the long-term shift in the Earth's average temperatures and weather conditions.
The world has been rapidly warming for around a century, causing weather patterns to change.
Since the 1980s, each decade has been warmer than the previous one, the Met Office says.
2024 was Earth's hottest year on record, with climate change mainly responsible for the high temperatures.
It was also the first calendar year to surpass 1.5C of warming compared to "pre-industrial" levels of the late 1800s, according to the Copernicus climate service.
Temperatures remained high in 2025, despite a slight cooling from a natural weather pattern called La Niña.
The opposite El Niño pattern, combined with climate change, makes it likely that 2026 will also rank among the hottest years ever recorded.
How are humans causing climate change?
The climate has changed naturally throughout the Earth's history.
But natural causes cannot explain the particularly rapid warming seen over the last century, according to the UN's climate body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
This has been without doubt caused by human activities, especially the widespread use of fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas - in homes, factories and transport systems.
When fossil fuels burn, they release greenhouse gases - mostly carbon dioxide (CO2). This CO2 acts like a blanket, trapping extra energy in the atmosphere near the Earth's surface. This causes the planet to heat up.
Since the start of the Industrial Revolution - when humans began burning large amounts of fossil fuels - the level of CO2 in the atmosphere has risen by more than 50%.
The CO2 released from burning fossil fuels has a distinctive chemical fingerprint. This matches the type of CO2 increasingly found in the atmosphere.
What effects of climate change have already been seen?
Climate change has already had a huge effect, including:
* more frequent and intense extreme weather, such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall
* warmer oceans, which can fuel more intense storms and harm sea life
These changes are already having serious consequences for people and economies around the world.
Flash floods in Nepal killed more than 1,400 people in August 2026. Nepal's Finance Minister, Swarnim Wagle, said it could cost up to a tenth of the economy to rebuild.
Climate change increased the chances of the glacier collapse which triggered the flood, World Weather Attribution group scientists said.
Why does 1.5C matter and how will future climate change affect the world?
The more the world warms, the worse the impacts of climate change become.
Nearly 200 countries pledged to try to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels in the 2015 Paris agreement.
That target is generally understood to mean an average annual increase of 1.5C over 20 years rather than a one-off rise in a single year.
Long-term warming of 1.5C would bring serious consequences for many populations.
But an increase of 2C or more would bring even greater impacts, the IPCC says.
These include:
* more people exposed to extreme heat
* increased risks to food security in some regions due to more extreme weather
* greater chances of some climate-sensitive diseases spreading, such as dengue
* more species being threatened with extinction
The call to restrict temperature rise to 1.5C was partly designed to avoid crossing so-called "tipping points".
It is not clear exactly where they sit, but once these thresholds are passed, changes could accelerate and become irreversible.
These could include the collapse of the Greenland Ice Sheet, warm Atlantic Ocean currents or further loss of the Amazon rainforest.
About 3.3 to 3.6 billion people are highly vulnerable to climate change, the IPCC says.
People living in poorer countries are expected to suffer most as they have fewer resources to adapt.
This has led to questions about fairness, because these places have typically only been responsible for a small percentage of greenhouse gas emissions.
However, knock-on impacts could be felt over wide areas. For example, crop failures linked to extreme weather could raise food prices globally.
What are governments doing about climate change?
Reaching net zero CO2 emissions is essential to limit global warming, the IPCC says.
This means reducing emissions as much as possible and actively removing any remaining emissions from the atmosphere.
Most countries have, or are considering, net zero targets.
There has been encouraging progress in some areas, such as renewable energy and electric vehicles.
But humanity's CO2 emissions are still at record highs, causing long-term warming to reach 1.4C in 2025.
The latest UN Emissions Gap Report said the 1.5C limit was likely to be breached in the coming years.
A return to 1.5C by 2100 was possible, but it would require "urgent and stringent cuts to greenhouse emissions", the report added.
Otherwise, global warming could reach nearly 3C by the end of the century, the UN said.
World leaders meet every year to discuss their climate commitments.
In 2025, the COP30 climate conference ended without any new agreements on fossil fuels or deforestation in the final deal.
Countries had previously agreed on the need to "transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems" at the COP28 talks in 2023.
At COP29 in 2024, richer countries committed to giving developing nations at least $300bn (£223bn) a year by 2035 to help them tackle climate change. But this is far less than poorer countries say they need.
Governments are gathering in Turkey for the next round of talks, COP31, in November 2026.
What can individuals do about climate change?
Major changes need to come from governments and businesses, but individuals can help through actions like:
* taking fewer flights
* using less energy
* improving their home's insulation and energy efficiency
* switching to electric vehicles or living car-free
* replacing gas boilers with electric systems like heat pumps
* eating less red meat
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Resident birds have returned to Broughshane Waterfowl Park after an oil spill which caused the death of 13 of the flock.
The popular attraction in County Antrim was forced to close after a nearby home heating oil tank was vandalised, causing the oil spill into the pond.
In a post on social media, the attraction confirmed that work is still underway to address the oil contamination and that a number of pens remain out of bounds.
More than 20 birds were transported to the USPCA's headquarters for urgent specialist care following the incident.
The park, which was home to 120 birds, has since reopened.
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) was first alerted to the incident on Thursday 22 October and have been involved in removing the oil waste.
The park's management paid thanks to the USPCA for looking after the birds.
"We are truly grateful for everything you have done."
It also paid tribute to the support received from the public.
"It's another positive step forward for our park, and we couldn't have got here without you."
Siobhan Hawthorn, wildlife supervisor at the USPCA, has been a key part of the rescue operation.
How many clothes, items of bedding and other fabric have you thrown away this year?
While resale sites are growing in popularity, in the UK we still bin about 711,000 tonnes of textiles annually – roughly the weight of seven US aircraft carriers.
The global fashion and textiles industry is one of the most wasteful, but recycling firms in Peterborough and Northamptonshire are using technology to change that.
They are gaining the attention of major brands but say they need laws, as well as consumers, to support them.
In a warehouse next to the A14 in Kettering, a mountain of crumpled fabric is slowly fed into a machine.
There are dressing gowns, duvets, branded banners and lanyards from events including the Commonwealth Games.
All are made from polyester – the world's most commonly used textile fibre – and all have been thrown away.
Traditionally they would be burned or buried in landfill but Project Re:Claim is trying to change that.
The partnership between The Salvation Army's trading arm (SATCoL) and Plan B Circular operates what they say is the first commercial-scale polyester textile-to-textile recycling facility in Europe – technology adapted from a bottle recycling plant.
The Salvation Army collects the items and those that cannot be reused in their current form are shredded and melted.
Impurities such as dead skin cells and hair are removed and polyester pellets (rPET) are produced which can be used to make new clothes.
"It's the future: using the clothing we have today to make the clothing that we need tomorrow," says Plan B Circular founder Tim Cross.
"We process 500kg of fabric an hour but we could easily scale up if there was demand.
"The problem is encouraging clothing manufacturers to change from using virgin polyester to recycled polyester from old textiles. And to design their new clothes to be easily recycled at their end of life."
"A polyester blazer doesn't need nylon buttons and labels. A sports top doesn't need metal zips. It can all be polyester."
That is important because the plant can only recycle items that are 100% polyester.
Most clothing "is a fibre mix like polyester-cotton, or often three or four different materials," says Majonne Frost, head of sustainability at SATCoL.
Researchers are trialling ways to separate these fibres, but doing it at scale remains difficult and costly, so most of those items are eventually destroyed.
Project Re:Claim says its rPET requires 89% less carbon to make than virgin polyester.
"We send the pellets back to China in what would otherwise be empty shipping containers, and it's spun back into yarn," Cross adds.
"We have the technology but we're way behind with legislation. It absolutely should be driving the way we design and make clothing."
EU rules are already changing and are forcing manufacturers to reduce the waste they produce, their environmental impact, and to make the industry circular.
It must ensure products are not only made from recycled content but are themselves recyclable at the end of their lives.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) says it is "funding the UK Textiles Pact, which is driving ambitious targets to cut waste and increase the life cycle of materials".
However, that scheme is voluntary.
In addition, Defra says "a taskforce of experts and businesses is looking at options to reduce waste in homes and businesses and will report back on next steps later this year".
Peterborough-based Gen Phoenix feels global consumer attitudes and legislation are beginning to drive change.
Every year it recycles thousands of tonnes of waste leather into new fabric which has been used by major brands, including Dr Martens, Nike and Coach.
It also specialises in train, bus and aviation seating.
"Jet2 was our first commercial customer, and now we're on one in every five commercial aircraft flying today," says chief executive John Kennedy.
"Our material has similar properties to traditional leather but with an 80% lower carbon footprint and it's lighter. Weight is important for airlines.
"We've saved more than 18,000 tonnes of material from landfill."
Leather is itself a waste product from the food industry, but still much is wasted that Gen Phoenix feels could be salvaged.
"If you think of an animal hide, it's the bits like the neck, the shoulders, the armpits, the belly – bits that don't make good finished leather," says Richard Peace, the company's senior director of research and technology.
The company ships in the waste as "wet blue" – the name given to hides partway through the leather process – from tanneries around the world.
It breaks the leather down into a fibre fluff, which is sprayed on to thin sheets of tissue paper.
The sheets are then sandwiched around a fabric – usually recycled polyester – before high-powered water jets bind all the fibres back together.
Called hydro-entanglement, it forms the new fabric without the need for resin binders, making the new product more easily recyclable.
"The importance of sustainability is seeing a groundswell, both in terms of legislation and consumer attitude - especially with Gen Z coming through," says Kennedy.
"Brands are definitely more invested and are being fairly quiet about the great work they're doing.
"We're continuing to innovate and expand, looking at recycling end process leather too.
"Peterborough is where we do all of our manufacturing and R&D (research and development), and while we may establish other sites, this is where the magic happens."
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An unfortunate squirrel who became stuck in a bird feeder was freed after firefighters came to its aid.
The animal was found wedged inside the device in a garden in Byron Road, Earley, at about 09:00 GMT on Wednesday.
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service said a crew from Wokingham Road fire station "came to the rescue" of the "rather unlucky" rodent.
It said: "Equipped with wire cutters, the crew were on hand to safely rescue the furry friend before releasing it back into the wild."
Firefighters spent about seven minutes at the scene, it added.
A spokesperson for the service said: "We arrived to find the squirrel stuck in the feeder having gone in to get a morning snack.
"Once it had its fill it was obviously a little bigger than when it went in so could no longer squeeze back out.
"We were able to gently restrain the squirrel and cut and bend some of the wires enabling it to be freed from the feeder."
Nature is beginning to return to a country park two months after a devastating wildfire, bosses have said.
The fire ripped through more than 50 acres of Mincinglake Valley Park on the edge of Exeter on 11 August, prompting the call-out of 20 fire crews.
Devon Wildlife Trust, which manages the site on behalf of Exeter City Council, said green bramble bushes, wildflowers and various small birds and mammals were re-establishing in the charred landscape.
Randy Mayers, from the trust, said the park had seen a "second spurt of growth, almost like a second spring".
The trust said grassland, shrub and hedgerow homes of animals including songbirds, butterflies, moths, harvest mice and field voles had all been affected by the fire.
At the time of the blaze experts said nature could be resilient and it was hoped then the area could thrive once again.
However, Mayers said the trust was surprised regrowth could be seen so quickly.
Wildflowers growing in scorched areas was a "sign of recovery and a healthy meadow", he added.
"We've seen lots of flowers out, lots of birds, and we've seen rabbits and few harvest mice so they haven't all been decimated, which is great news," he said.
Duncan Wood, from Exeter City Council, said the authority would allow the trust to lead the park's recovery as "they are the experts".
He said the council was "firmly behind behind them, and will provide whatever support they need".
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A charity wants to raise £70,000 for a project aimed at boosting wildlife populations on farmland in the Thames Valley.
The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) said the money would form part of its Nature Recovery Fund and would be used to tackle falling numbers of birds, bees and butterflies.
The trust said farmland bird populations had fallen by 63% since 1970, while half of the UK's 27 bumblebee species were in decline.
It said measures to help wildlife could include using fewer chemicals in farming to create healthier soil and less polluted waterways, as well as setting aside corners of grassland for animals.
BBOWT's chief executive Estelle Bailey said: "Farmland makes up 68% of our three counties, so to truly have an impact on nature's recovery, our work must expand far beyond our precious nature reserves."
In 2023, a report produced by government agencies, environmental groups and universities found one in six species in the UK were at risk of extinction.
Bailey added: "I want future generations to experience the joy of countryside filled with life - swallows darting above fields, butterflies and bumblebees feeding on abundant wildflowers, hedgerows alive with the sound of birdsong, and to eat locally grown food that supports a healthy, resilient landscape."
Before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, seagull-sized dragonfly-like insects known as griffinflies ruled the skies.
More than 300 million years later, miners unearthed two fossilised remains of the "gigantic" insects 500m (1640 ft) below the surface at Bolsover Colliery in Derbyshire, in 1979.
The only known remains of whalleyala bolsoveri, with a 17.4cm wingspan, and arctotypus diluculum, believed to have had a wingspan of about 50cm, were discovered and are now housed at London's Natural History Museum.
The two "irreplaceable" specimens, dubbed the "Bolsover Dragonflies", are the only known example of the species ever to be found, according to the Natural History Museum.
With a sculpture of the Bolsover Dragonfly set to be unveiled on a roundabout in the town on Monday to celebrate the discovery, what are griffinflies and how did they end up in Derbyshire?
Local historian and archaeologist Dr Simon Elliott said the "Bolsover Dragonflies" lived during the Carboniferous period, between 359 and 299 million years ago.
"The key thing is the environment in Bolsover was wet and swampy," Elliott explained.
"This period had the first reptiles on land, the first fish and a number of insects that already existed from earlier periods of history."
The Natural History Museum said griffinflies were "ferocious hunters" that would eat "anything and everything they can find".
Similar to dragonflies, griffinflies are described by the Natural History Museum as the "large, extinct cousins of both dragonflies and damselflies".
"If it was in Jurassic Park, people would be running," Elliott said.
As well as giant dragonflies that had wingspans up to 71cm (2ft), the landscape was filled with poisonous centipedes that were 2m (6ft) long, as well as cockroaches and scorpions that were 1m (3ft) long.
The Natural History Museum said giant insects were able to grow so large because vast forests removed huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, increasing oxygen levels to about 35%, compared with 21% today.
Over time, dragonfly-like insects became smaller and faster because birds, which evolved from dinosaurs, emerged as new predators.
Elliott said north Derbyshire and surrounding areas became key coal mining sites because of vast forests of bark-bearing trees that grew during the Carboniferous period and later formed large coal deposits.
The 61-year-old said the Bolsover Dragonflies would have died and fallen into the wet ground, which is "the key to it later becoming a fossil".
The layer of Carboniferous land was later covered by shallow seas from the Permian period, between 298.9 and 251.9 million years ago.
"The fossils were found 500m underground because miners had to dig through all the Permian magnesium limestone that covers Bolsover to reach the older coal seams below," said Elliott.
Richie Howard, curator of fossil arthropods at the Natural History Museum, said the Bolsover Dragonflies are so rare they are not currently exhibited in the public galleries.
"They are, indeed, the only known example of those species. No more have ever been found of either of them and, as the colliery is no longer active, probably no more ever will be," said Howard.
"Specimens of this nature are not usually exhibited because they would be irreplaceable if damaged or stolen."
Howard said whalleyala bolsoveri was discovered by a miner called Malcolm Spencer, while the arctotypus diluculum was found by another miner called Graham Ball.
The whalleyala bolsoveri is the "smaller" of the two specimens, said Howard.
The arctotypus diluculum, formerly named tupus diluculum, is the "larger" of the two specimens, but was incomplete and in "several fragments".
A sculpture of the "Bolsover Dragonfly" is being unveiled on a roundabout at the junction of Chesterfield Road, Riverside Way, Intake Road and Station Road on Monday.
It was made by school students in the area who took part in a 20-week programme to learn metal cutting, design, and welding.
Bolsover District Council leader Jane Yates said the sculpture is a "great source of pride for Bolsover".
"I find it fitting that the sculpture is overlooked by Bolsover Castle, making it a real focal point for people entering the town," she said.
"What makes this sculpture even better is that it was created by young people who have been given a chance to learn skills for life.
"I hope this sculpture remains here for many years to come."
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Dormouse numbers may be recovering in England and Wales after years of decline, offering a rare piece of good news for one of our best-loved mammals.
The animal has disappeared from much of the countryside with conservationists warning of a long-term collapse in its population.
However, new data suggests dormouse numbers increased between 2020-2025, a period that coincided with warmer springs and summers.
Scientists believe these conditions may help dormice survive, by boosting food supplies and reducing the time they spend asleep.
That gives the animals more opportunity to breed and build up fat reserves ahead of winter.
But conservationists caution that many questions remain unanswered, and say protecting the woodlands and hedgerows where dormice live remains essential to their long-term survival.
The only species of dormice in the UK is the hazel dormouse. Once widespread across the country, they are now largely confined to southern England and parts of Wales. They have become much rarer as large areas of woodland are lost and so far native populations have disappeared from around 20 English counties.
The National Dormouse Monitoring Programme, led by the conservation charity People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), has been monitoring sites in England and Wales since 1998.
It found that since 2000, dormouse numbers have fallen by almost 60%, equivalent to an average annual decline of 3.5%.
More recently, however, there are signs that trend may be reversing. The data suggests the population increased by almost 10% between 2020 and 2025, although researchers stress there is considerable uncertainty around that estimate.
The apparent improvement coincides with a period of warmer, drier-than-average springs and summers.
Report co-author Ian White of PTES described the "upturn" as "welcome good news" which gives grounds for "cautious optimism".
But he added: "We mustn't lose sight of the bigger picture: populations remain almost 60% lower than they were in 2000."
The hazel dormouse is famous for spending much of the year asleep. It hibernates from around October to May, spending the winter in a nest on the ground.
Even during spring and summer, dormice can go into short periods of deep sleep, known as torpor, when the weather is cold and wet, or food is scarce. This helps the small rodent conserve energy.
Researchers believe warmer summers may be reducing the need for torpor, leaving dormice with more energy for feeding and breeding.
They say more research is needed to understand what longer-term impacts climate change could have on the species.
Dr Charlotte Armitage, an ecologist who worked on the survey, said significant uncertainties remain, including how dormice will respond to warmer, wetter winters.
However, she said warmer summer conditions are likely to give the animals more energy to reproduce and raise additional litters.
"This is good news, but we can't be complacent," she told BBC News.
"We still need to protect their habitat, do more research into the effects of climate change and carry out effective woodland management for the benefit of dormice."
Habitat work and a monitoring scheme have helped hazel dormice thrive at a National Trust site, despite declines elsewhere, experts have said.
Killerton National Trust has 100 nest boxes across its estate in Devon. Rangers weigh and record details of each mouse between April and October.
The trust said the animals "continue to thrive" in the area - a sign it was "doing something right" by creating a "healthy, diverse and well-connected habitat for wildlife".
The People's Trust for Endangered Species said populations had declined by over two thirds in the UK since 2000. Experts said the decline was largely down to "habitat fragmentation".
The trust hopes the mammals, which typically weigh between 20g and 40g, will have gained enough weight to begin hibernating in the coming weeks and survive the winter ahead.
Fi Hailstone, senior ranger for the National Trust at the Killerton estate, said: "When we have warmer weather, it wakes them up and when we have wet springs, that affects their ability to forage when they do wake up.
"So having a resilient ecosystem with lots of shelter for them, lots of scrub, lots of things for them to eat [is important]."
"They love bramble, and I know that bramble has a bit of a bad reputation with a lot of gardeners," Hailstone said.
"But bramble is the life source, really. It has flowers in the spring, it has berries on it. 
It's also protective in terms of cover from other predators, so it's a really great place for them to nest."
When they are not hibernating, they are shy and nocturnal.
Hailstone said Devon was "a bit of a stronghold for dormice" because "there is such a strong hedge network".
"We've been monitoring our dormouse population at Killerton since 2018, and during that time, we've noticed that they are fairly stable, which does buck national trends."
Hailstone said: "We are finding them in new areas which indicates them spreading across the estate.
"We think this is because we're planting a lot more hedges, a lot more trees."
"We might be planting lots of woodland now, which is great, but we won't see the effects of that for dormice for another 100 or so years," Hailstone added.
"It's really important to manage the woodlands that we already have in a positive way."
Anyone who finds a dormouse in the winter is urged not to pick it up but to alert the RSPCA or local animal shelter.
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Rhino siblings celebrate first birthday with cake
Two rhino calves have celebrated their first birthday with cakes made of pellets, carrots and salad leaves.
Siblings Markus and Mo were born at Cotswold Wildlife Park, near Burford, last year.
The pair weighed about 70kg (11st) at birth, and now weigh about 500kg (78st) each. Their arrival took the number of rhinos at the park to nine, the most in its 56-year history.
White rhinos were close to extinction in the early 1900s, with fewer than 50 thought to remain in Africa. They are now the most numerous of the five rhino species, but the park says conservation remains vital.
'Surreal' for singer to hear songs on Celebrity Traitors
"I love murder mystery and binge watched with my partner and I'm absolutely hooked, I love it."
The latest series of Celebrity Traitors had its fair share of dramatic moments and shock reveals, but its soundtrack has done much to create the moody atmosphere, with its brooding covers and cinematic compositions.
Dorset singer-songwriter Lloren, real name Lauren Bannon, has had three of her songs featured during some of series two's most explosive moments.
"It was only this series that I was like 'Do you know what, I need to watch this' because... I thought this, this sounds like a bit of me," she said in the countdown to the show's explosive finale on 30 October.
Similar solar farm plans to boost councils' coffers
Two neighbouring councils are aiming to generate green energy and money to fund local services by building and running their own large solar farms.
Work begins next week to install 43,000 solar panels on fields that Wokingham Borough Council owns in the village of Barkham.
West Berkshire Council said construction would begin at its site near Grazeley in March, with plans for 35,000 panels.
The schemes are not connected but are just a few miles apart, and are expected to be operational by the end of 2027.
Firefighters tackle pub kitchen fire on high street
Fire crews have been battling a fire in a pub kitchen on the Isle of Wight.
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service was called to the incident at gastropub The Pier View on the High Street in Cowes on Monday. Black smoke was seen rising from a building in the area.
Crew members could be seen emerging from the next door property with rescued animals, including two cats and a guinea pig, as well as oxygen tanks on their backs.
Firefighters have been using a crane to monitor the situation from above.
Police air service denies penis flight path was deliberate
The service that provides air support to the police has denied deliberately drawing a penis-like shape in the sky via a helicopter's flight path.
Gordon Bird, 53, who lives in Ancells Farm, in Fleet, Hampshire, said his two-year-old daughter was woken up at about 23:00 GMT on Monday by a helicopter flying overhead in multiple circles for at least 15 minutes.
He said he was "shocked" after checking its tracking data online and discovering the phallic shape.
But the National Police Air Service (NPAS) told the BBC that the crew was "orbiting the locations they were directed to as part of the search for a vehicle that had failed to stop for police".
Climate change readiness and helping people access the countryside are among priorities in a five-year plan for a national landscape.
The North Pennines National Landscape Management Plan 2026-31 has been adopted by the Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness, County Durham and Northumberland councils.
Work to ensure the North Pennines was "as prepared as possible for future climate challenges" included restoring peatland to help reduce flooding and equipping farmers with wildfire fighting equipment such as drones.
Chris Woodley-Stewart, director of the North Pennines National Landscape (NPNL), said: "In many ways, its the most ambitious plan that we've ever had, but also the most realistic."
National landscapes were formerly known as areas of outstanding natural beauty, and the North Pennines features heather moors, dales, woods and one of England's highest waterfalls High Force.
NPNL is mainly funded by the government and other charitable organisations.
One of the priorities in its management plan announced last month was adapting to "warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers".
NPNL said uplands were "especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change" through rising temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, and increased frequency of extreme weather events.
Mitigation work like protecting existing woodlands and restoring carbon-rich peat soils would help safeguard upland ecosystems but also support downstream communities by "improving water quality and reducing flooding", it said.
One of the area's largest land managers, Raby Estates, said it worked with NPNL on wildfire prevention measures including managing its farmers' fuel loads and providing firefighting equipment.
Duncan Peake, chief executive at Raby Estates, said drone equipment to help spot fires was a "really significant, additional tool in our wildfire control kit".
As part of the management plan, NPNL said it was would also work with farmers who wanted to get the skills and equipment for farm visits.
Peake said farmers on their estate were already taking groups of mostly young people "who wouldn't normally have an opportunity to come to the countryside" to help them understand how farming works.
Woodley-Stewart said: "You can't make people come to the countryside and invest in the local economy, but you can help to create circumstances in which they feel this landscape is for everybody."
He said the five-year plan would guide the policy of the local authorities but would not be compulsory.
"There's no stick here, it's all carrot," Woodley-Stewart said, adding: "Everyone has a role to play in its implementation."
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With vibrant colours and bright orange sail feathers, mandarin ducks have recently been popping up across the West Midlands, delighting residents and leaving many wondering how such a striking species ended up on their doorstep.
The exotic-looking birds have been attracting birdwatchers and photographers to a number of beauty spots across the region, including Birmingham's Sutton Park.
One local photographer, Jamil El Farsi, said finding the birds so close to home was "unbelievable".
"They don't look real, they look like a painting," he said. "That's how vibrant they are, the colours."
Native to East Asia, mandarin ducks were introduced to England from China in the early 20th Century and have since become naturalised, with populations appearing mainly in south-east England, as well as parts of Wales and Scotland.
The ducks were considered non-invasive and posed no threat to native species, remaining a "rare and special sight", said the Canal and River Trust.
The males are best known for their colourful sail feathers, while the females have grey-brown feathers and a white eye stripe.
With their distinctive appearance, some social media users have even mistaken the birds for images generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
El Farsi, who captured a series of striking images, described how he spent hours waiting to take the perfect shot of the birds, which tend to favour quieter areas and can sometimes be challenging to photograph.
The birds, which are known for nesting in holes in old trees, are often found hiding beneath overhanging willows.
"They are very shy birds and they tend to hide," El Farsi, from Birmingham, explained.
He said of photographing one bird: "I was waiting honestly for about two hours for it because it was swimming around one of the logs, just to perch on one of the logs, so you could get a portrait, like a picture of it out of the water."
The birds have continued to attract attention from visitors and wildlife enthusiasts, with crowds visiting Sutton Park with their phones and cameras in the hopes of spotting them.
El Farsi, who first saw the birds in The Leasowes in Halesowen, returned to Sutton Park in October with his wife and children to see them again.
"People were coming from everywhere, Wolverhampton [and] all around the Midlands," he said.
"As soon as we got there, my younger kids were running around. And as soon as they saw them, they were jumping around: 'Oh, they're still here, they're still here, dad'."
Wildlife experts said mandarin ducks were now an increasingly common sight in Britain, with numbers continuing to rise in recent years.
There were now "far more of them" in the West Midlands, explained Nathan Cope, founder of BirdFact.
"Around Birmingham, they now turn up about five times as often in birdwatchers' records as they did 10 years ago, even though the number of people recording birds has stayed about the same," he said.
Cope told the BBC the British population of mandarin ducks was thought to have grown from birds that had escaped from collections about a century ago.
"Numbers across the UK have grown more than sixfold since the mid-1990s and spread through central England, so the West Midlands is catching up with the south," he added.
The Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust said the species had thrived in England, with breeding numbers increasing by 663% between 1995 and 2024.
There are now thought to be between 4,400 and 7,000 breeding pairs in the UK.
James Benwell, from the trust, said he believed mandarin ducks were the "world's most beautiful duck".
"The males are truly exotic looking, with bright colours and their distinctive sail feathers. The females are far less showy," he said.
The trust said there had been a resident population at Sutton Park for a number of years, as well as a long-term resident at Perry Hall Park and sightings at Sandwell Valley, Red House Park Pool and Fens Pools.
Benwell said autumn was the best time to spot mandarin ducks because the males regained the "distinctive" and "dramatic" plumage they had lost during the summer moulting season.
"It's a really good time to go out and spot them now, and the population at Sutton Park has taken up residence on the popular Keeper's Pool, meaning that they are delighting many visitors to the park," Benwell said.
"There are around 15 males present, as well as more females, so they really are a wonderful sight to behold and it's well worth making a trip to see them."
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More than 430 seagrass shoots have been discovered in the Fowey Estuary, giving conservationists hope that one of the UK's most important marine habitats can be brought back to Cornwall's waters.
The new growth was recorded across 50 patches of seabed during summer surveys carried out by Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
The findings come despite fears the restoration trial might not succeed when only six seedlings had emerged by the end of April.
Chloe James, of Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said the shoots were "hugely encouraging" after an "uncertain start to the spring".
Volunteers collected seagrass seeds from a donor meadow in Torpoint in autumn 2025 before planting them in the estuary. The seeds remained buried through the winter before beginning to grow in spring.
"The new growth is a powerful reminder of why restoration work takes time, persistence and a willingness to keep learning," said James.
The project is part of Seeding Change Together, a partnership between Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Seasalt Cornwall that began in 2022.
Earlier work involved some of the trust's first attempts to restore seagrass meadows in Cornwall's estuaries, with volunteers collecting and planting thousands of seeds while researchers tested different restoration methods.
Seagrass, which may not look remarkable, is often described as the sea's equivalent of a woodland, said the trust.
It provides shelter and nursery grounds for fish and other marine life, helps improve water quality, locks away carbon and reduces coastal erosion.
The trust said mainland Britain had lost up to 92% of its seagrass meadows over the last century. Previous research highlighted by the project found seagrass could capture carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests.
The restoration effort has not been without setbacks. In the Helford Estuary, algal growth appeared to wipe out planted seedlings at one site, although three plants were later found to have survived and had started spreading.
More seeds are due to be planted in the Fowey Estuary and Helford Estuary, with further monitoring planned for spring 2027.
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"If we have more summers like the last two, we'll be struggling as a nation to produce enough Christmas trees."
Andrew Ingram owns The Tree Barn in Christmas Common, Oxfordshire, which is home to about 120,000 trees.
But this year's hot summer and drought has reduced that total by more than a thousand.
"It's been an extraordinary year," he said. "We planted in perfect conditions in March and then it didn't rain for 12 weeks until the first week of June.
"Then after that it didn't rain until September, it's very depressing."
Russell Parkins, chair of the British Christmas Tree Association, agreed that growers across the country had faced a "tough year".
He said his organisation was working on "ongoing research to help ensure British-grown Christmas trees continue to thrive in a changing climate".
The full impact of the drought is unlikely to be felt immediately, with the biggest consequences potentially coming in years to come.
Some Christmas trees can take up to nine years to reach six feet tall, meaning the loss of young saplings could affect production well into the next decade.
"A transplant we put in will be around a year old and it's replacing a tree that is three to four years old so that's affecting production and could lead to shortages in the future," said Ingram.
"It means we have to walk the rows, pull out the dead trees, replace them by hand…it's a laborious job, a time consuming job and an expensive job."
"We tend to plant in the spring but that's becoming a more dangerous time to plant," Ingram said.
"It would be better to plant in Autumn because that allows the tree to get established and routed in through the winter."
He said there were also concerns that warmer temperatures this winter could mean less frosts.
Frosts help to keep Christmas trees in a dormant state, helping them to hold onto their needles for longer once they've entered our homes for the festive period.
"I think there's a real danger we'll see more trees losing their needles this year," Ingram said.
"We're going to have to figure out ways to carry on growing even if the weather turns against us."
Restoration work has begun at the site of a devastating wildfire in a national park.
More than 1 sq km (247 acres) of the New Forest was destroyed after a fire spread from a blazing van on 9 August.
The fire caused damage to rare heathland and an ancient woodland, as well as burning through a surface layer of peat in some of the boggy areas, reducing their ability to store carbon.
Forestry England said it had begun a long-term project to help nature return to the affected area, with specialist teams starting work to protect the most vulnerable areas ahead of winter and helping to reseed areas of heather.
The agency, which is responsible for managing publicly-owned forests in England, said the blaze spread across the heathland, removing all the plants on the surface before travelling underground to destroy layers of roots and seed banks.
At its height, the fire closed the A31 - a major tourist and commuter route between Hampshire and Dorset - for nearly two weeks.
It came during an exceptionally busy summer for Hampshire and Isle of Wight firefighters, and is estimated to have cost the fire service £600,000.
Forestry England's Dave Morris said: "The scene immediately after the fire had gone through this part of the forest is something I will never forget."
Morris added: "Large areas were reduced to piles of charcoal, burnt soils and torched trees. At that time, it was difficult to imagine it would ever fully return to a place where nature could thrive.
"Undeterred, our specialist staff immediately got to work to see how we could help the area recover."
Heather full of seed was harvested from nearby parts of the forest and has been spread across the worst-affected parts of the fire site to form a "protective mat" and encourage new plants to grow.
Forestry England used the same technique after part of the New Forest was destroyed by a previous wildfire in 1989.
"Almost 40 years later, this area is now thriving and has been fully restored," it said.
Teams are also looking at ways to protect the vulnerable roots of ancient beech and oak trees damaged in this summer's fire.
The boggy areas of the fire site sustained the least damage, acting as a barrier to help slow the blaze from moving more widely across forest, and have recovered the quickest.
"The fire has reminded us that nature is remarkably resilient and in the boggy parts of the fire area we can already see plants and wildlife returning," said Morris.
"It will take many decades for the area burnt by the fire to recover completely but, with the right help at the right time, we can give it the helping hand it needs."
A bundle of love letters tied with a red ribbon, a child's party balloon and a nine-foot scaffold pole are just some of the strange items discovered inside British chimneys, according to sweeps.
Throw in four tonnes of nesting material and a pile of pornographic magazines and it seems there is never a dull day being a chimney sweep.
"You name it, we found it," said Martin Glynn, president of the National Association of Chimney Sweeps.
The recent discovery by a Cornwall sweep of a live owl that got stuck in a chimney stove came during a routine clean at a home in Polperro, Cornwall.
So the BBC asked chimney sweeps what other objects and animals they had found stuck or stashed away in the soot.
Among Glynn's most unusual discoveries was a bundle of love letters exchanged between a homeowner and a man in Belgium which had been hidden in a chimney.
The sweep also found builders' boots, hammers and a scaffold pole that had fallen down a chimney while roofing work was being carried out.
In Devon, chimney sweep Jonathan Miles said one of the strangest things he had found was a "mummified bag of chips" alongside a stack of pornographic magazines inside a chimney in Topsham.
Miles, who runs Best Chimney Clean in Exeter, said chimney sweeps often uncovered items that had been deliberately hidden away.
Over the years he has found notes, cigarette packets, coins and letters to Father Christmas. He said he also knew of a London chimney sweep whose father had discovered a gun inside a chimney.
Wildlife is another common cause of call-outs. Miles said he was contacted several times a month to rescue animals that had become trapped inside chimneys, including wood pigeons, squirrels, magpies, starlings and even a seagull.
One recent job at a listed manor house in mid Devon, uncovered what he believed were decades' worth of jackdaw nests.
Alongside huge amounts of nesting material were silver-coloured spoons, sugar tongs, bottle tops and fragments of clay pigeon targets which the birds had collected.
"What was really unusual about this one... we found half a dozen spoons, like, silver-type spoons, sugar tongs, bottle tops and caps," he said.
Miles estimated around four tonnes of nesting material was removed from the property, a task that took two chimney sweeps about 16 hours to complete.
Bird trapped in your chimney? Now what?
Some birds choose chimneys as nesting sites instead of trees, said the RSPCA.
If birds are nesting in a chimney, they should be left alone because wild birds, their eggs and their young are protected by law. It is also worth remembering that some species raise more than one brood each year, so a nest may still be active even if birds have not been seen using it recently.
If a homeowner wants to stop birds returning the following year, they should wait until the nest has been completely abandoned and then use a professional to fit a wire mesh guard or chimney cowl. This helps prevent future nesting without disturbing protected birds.
A fully feathered adult bird that has become trapped in a chimney can usually be removed and released during daylight hours if it is alert, active, uninjured and shows no signs of being affected by soot.
However, birds should not be removed if they appear dazed, injured, have been trapped for several hours, have soot in their eyes, or seem to be young nestlings or fledglings. In these cases, the quickest way to get help is to contact a vet.
How to help a bird trapped in a chimney
* Open all windows and any external doors in the room.
* Pull back curtains to maximise natural light.
* Leave the room and monitor the situation for up to two hours.
* If the bird is flying around indoors, leave only one obvious exit route open where possible.
* Switch off indoor lights and close curtains over any windows you do not want the bird to fly towards.
* Place a torch at the bottom of the chimney to help the bird see the room below, but do not shine it directly at the bird.
* Birds that enter a room from a chimney will usually head towards the brightest light source. Creating a single clear escape route can help them find their way outside without becoming confused.
If the bird escapes but appears sick or injured, seek veterinary help. Never try to catch a flying injured bird by throwing a towel or blanket over it, as this could make existing injuries worse.
While unusual discoveries can make for memorable stories, both sweeps stressed that chimney maintenance is primarily about safety.
Glynn warned blocked chimneys could have serious consequences. He described one incident in London where a birthday balloon became lodged in a chimney after a gas fire was lit.
"It nearly gassed and poisoned the family because the balloon literally blocked the chimney," he said.
Miles said qualified chimney sweeps took their safety role seriously and worked to prevent chimney fires and carbon monoxide risks.
"Our primary role is about safety. It's about making sure that if anyone's running an open fire or a wood burner or multi-fuel stove, or any sort of solid heating device... it is safe to use," he said.
Glynn added: "A clean chimney is a safer chimney."
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The US has announced a reward of up to $20 million for information about Iran's nuclear programme.
The State Department's Rewards for Justice is also offering to potentially relocate the person who provides such details.
President Donald Trump claimed last year that Iran's nuclear facilities had been "completely and totally obliterated" following a bombing campaign by the US and Israel.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful and that it has no intention of developing a nuclear weapon.
Meanwhile, the US military says it is setting up a task force to enhance Washington's efforts to restrict Iran's movement of weapons and sanctioned material across its borders.
The US military's Central Command (Centcom) said Task Force Iron Gate would operate from Tampa, Florida, and would work with other US government agencies.
As well as the movement of weapons, it will also focus on dual-use and illegal revenue streams.
Centcom estimates that its naval blockade of Iran's ports has prevented the country from exporting more than $25bn in crude oil.
A US State Department statement about its multi-million dollar reward said it was offering the money for information about the Iranian programme, including "facilities, equipment and associated personnel".
It said Iran's "lack of compliance with the IAEA [the International Atomic Energy Agency] on safeguards obligations has led to the agency's loss of 'continuity of knowledge' regarding Iran's production and inventory of key components like [nuclear] centrifuges".
Centrifuges are needed to produce enriched uranium, which can be used to make reactor fuel for civilian use but also for nuclear weapons if enriched to around 90% purity or higher.
There had been mounting speculation that the US might resume significant strikes in Iran after the midterm elections, though Trump told reporters, prior to the polls, that he was in "no rush" to do so.
In an interview with Fox News on the eve of the midterms, the president also said the US "might need to go after Pickaxe [Mountain]", an underground site linked to Iran's nuclear programme.
This was "not a big deal" and could be done in "one hour", Trump said.
The president has repeatedly threatened to bomb the suspected underground site on previous occasions.
However, both Trump and Vice-President JD Vance have said public opposition to the war on Iran fuelled heavy losses for their Republican Party in this week's midterm elections, which has led to speculation the White House may no longer seek an escalation in the conflict.
On Friday, Trump insisted that Iran was keen to end the eight-month conflict with the US, stressing the damage to Tehran's economy and military.
"We're dealing with them now. They want to make a deal very badly," he said.
Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday that both sides were "reviewing the ideas and proposals we have presented" and that it remained hopeful of a deal being agreed.
Iranian negotiators had discussed with mediators a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days once the US met its seven conditions.
The US and Iran reached a preliminary agreement to end the war and reopen the strait in June, but it collapsed within weeks after Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and the US reinstated its blockade.
The lawmaker in pole position to lead the US House of Representatives after Democrats take control of Congress in January has said he is "a hard yes" for impeaching Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
New York congressman Hakeem Jeffries told ABC programme This Week that Hegseth had "abused his power, undermined our national security, and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran".
Outgoing Republican congressman Thomas Massie, a foe of President Donald Trump, has said he plans to introduce a resolution to impeach Hegseth as early as Monday. The BBC asked the Pentagon for comment.
Congress returns to session this week after the Democrats' midterm elections landslide.
Massie's resolution contains eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth, including accusing him of violating the War Powers Resolution of 1973 for America's role in the war with Iran.
"I'm a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution," Jeffries told ABC on Sunday.
"Pete Hegseth has got to go," he continued.
Jeffries, who is favourite to be next House Speaker, the most powerful member in the lower chamber of Congress, has vowed that the newly empowered Democrats will serve as a check and balance on the Trump administration.
But he said after the midterms results that House Democrats were not currently focused on impeaching President Trump.
Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has been placed under house detention at his assisted living facility in Florida after being charged over possession of child sex abuse material.
Markle, 82, was arrested in Florida on a federal complaint alleging he held images that show child sex abuse, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said.
He is charged with one count of possessing indecent images of children, the DoJ said. Markle has previously denied allegations of possessing images of child sex abuse, calling them "sick lies".
In a 30-minute court hearing on Friday he was also ordered to submit to electronic monitoring, but no plea was taken.
At the court hearing, the charges were laid out against him by federal prosecutor Courtenay Derry, according to the BBC's US partner CBS News.
He was brought into court in a wheelchair, escorted by two US Marshals. Markle was wearing black trousers and a black t-shirt.
No plea was taken during the hearing, and an arraignment date in California will be determined in due course, a joint statement from the DoJ and the US Attorney's Office Central California said.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have not commented on Markle's arrest.
Markle was arrested after the FBI, acting on warrants, searched storage units in LA registered to him which he had rented since 2008, with the last payment being made in October this year, the DoJ said.
Inside the units the FBI says agents seized about 78 items, including film negatives, slides and books that they allege contained child sex abuse material.
FBI director Kash Patel said authorities "moved quickly" when arresting Markle.
"Mr Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions," Patel said.
He added that the FBI would "use every single resource at our disposal to protect innocent kids – any predator who targets children will have zero safe haven in this country or anywhere they try to hide".
Witnesses "positively identified" Markle in two of the images believed to contain child sex abuse material.
In those images, the man pictured "appears to be in the age range of 30s to 40s", which suggests the alleged abuse dates back decades as Markle is currently 82 years old.
Last month, police in the Philippines obtained a warrant to examine devices allegedly removed from Markle's former home in the country.
Four boxes of material, including computers, phones, hard drives and old video tapes, were handed to officers by Meghan's half brother Thomas Markle Jr.
Markle Sr moved to the Philippines last year after he had a series of strokes, and lived in Cebu until May. He was then reportedly living in a Florida rehabilitation centre learning to walk again after having his leg amputated.
In October, London's Metropolitan Police confirmed that it had received a letter in 2019 making a "number of claims" relating to Markle Sr.
The Met said information contained in the letter, which related to allegations against Meghan's father outside the UK, was passed on to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but it did not share it with other law enforcement agencies.
The force has since voluntarily referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IPOC) over its handling of the letter.
In a statement released in October after the allegations against Markle Sr emerged, the Duchess of Sussex said: "I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed."
Meghan has been estranged from her father since 2018. The BBC understands she broke contact with him last year.
The mayor of Houston, Texas, has directed the city's police to limit co-operation with federal immigration officials.
The move by John Whitmire, a Democrat, comes on the heels of stunning victories by the party in Texas during this week's midterm elections. It breaks with policy set by Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who lost his re-election bid.
"I do this to begin a healing process," Whitmire said on Friday, and to "reduce fear and anxiety across our community". He added: "I also do this knowing that elections matter."
There has been months of public outcry in Houston after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shot a man who was driving to work.
Houston police chief Noe Diaz said on Friday that officers will now only contact ICE if someone they arrest for a jailable offence also has an administrative ICE warrant, which are issued internally by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), within which ICE operates.
"For example, if our police officers pull someone over for a minor traffic infraction and they write a citation, that person receives a citation and goes about their day," Diaz said.
Under the previous rules, Houston police officers were required to inform ICE if anyone they were dealing with came up as having one of these warrants attached to their name when they were searched on the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) - a digital database that includes records on wanted persons, stolen property, certain missing people and those arrested and fingerprinted for serious offences.
Whitmire said on Friday that he had directed the Houston Police Department to make the changes through an executive order.
He also called on Congress to change federal immigration rules, saying "ICE needs better training. They need body cameras. They need to be trained in de-escalation."
He added, "But this can only be done in Washington. I can only control what I can control."
In response, a spokesperson for the DHS told Houston's NBC affiliate, KPRC 2, in a statement: "We remain disappointed that sanctuary politicians seek to limit cooperation with ICE, as our law enforcement are simply fulfilling their sworn duties to serve and protect our communities."
"Partnerships with law enforcement are critical to having the resources we need to arrest criminal illegal aliens across the country," the spokesperson added.
Another Texas city, Austin, has also begun implementing a similar policy change.
Democrats won both the US Senate and House of Representatives in Tuesday's midterms, taking control of Congress for the rest of Donald Trump's presidency.
Texas, a long-time Republican stronghold, was the site of one of the most stunning upsets in the vote, with the state electing its first Latina governor, Gina Hinojosa, as the first Democrat governor since 1995. It also elected its first Democratic senator since 1988.
Whitmire has previously faced criticism for abiding by immigration enforcement policies under the Trump administration.
He had resisted previous calls to implement similar changes over concerns that the White House could send a surge of immigration officials in response.
Abbott has also threatened to take pull millions in funds from cities like Houston, Dallas and Austin unless they allow police to cooperate fully with federal immigration officials.
The BBC has contacted Abbott's office for comment.
Whitmire's announcement comes a week after an ICE officer was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly hit a man with a vehicle in Texas.
Earlier this year, large protests broke out in Houston after an ICE officer fatally shot a man driving to work.
The deceased, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national who lived in the US as an undocumented immigrant for decades, was not the intended target, officials said after the incident.
Cornell University's academic staff have passed a vote of no confidence over its leadership's handling of what staff call a "crisis of sexual assault" after a former student alleged she was gang raped while attending.
The woman, known anonymously as Jane Doe, is suing her former university and the fraternity over an alleged incident involving several men at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024.
All seven of the accused have denied wrongdoing when contacted by the BBC's US partner CBS. None has been charged with a crime.
Friday's no-confidence vote passed by 75 votes to 50. It is largely symbolic because the faculty senate does not have the power to remove leaders.
The resolution states that the faculty senate, which represents academic staff, "has no confidence in the ability of the central administration to effectively address the ongoing crisis of sexual assault at Cornell University".
It did not make any specific recommendations or suggest what administrators did wrong in response to the accusation.
It is a rebuke of university leaders including President Michael Kotlikoff, whom Doe has accused of asking why she waited several weeks to report the incident.
The Ivy League institution in upstate New York has said her account of Kotlikoff's reaction is "incorrect".
Doe's lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, responded to the vote's outcome in a statement, saying: "We recently learned that Cornell's Faculty Senate made a finding of no confidence in the Central Administration's ability to address the longstanding crisis of sexual assault at Cornell.
"We believe that the Faculty Senate did not reach this decision lightly and considered all available information."
Giuffra added: "We are hopeful that this will be yet another step forward to educate and support the Cornell community by addressing the longstanding scourge of sexual assault on campus."
The board of trustees, which does have the power to fire Kotlikoff, said in a statement that it "remains confident" that he and his administration "are the right leaders to thoughtfully and comprehensively address the serious problem of sexual assault on our campus".
Trustees board chairwoman Anne Meinig Smalling, added: "This confidence is rooted not only in the administration's actions to date and plans moving forward, but also in its track record of navigating complex problems."
She also said that the vote of no confidence "reflects the deep anger across our campus and sends a clear signal that what happened to Jane Doe is unacceptable".
Backlash against Cornell has been intense since Doe filed her lawsuit in September. She reported the alleged assault to campus police after it happened but the local prosecutor declined to bring charges at the time.
Cornell, after initially defending its disciplinary measures, has acknowledged it fell short in its handling of her case and has hired a former attorney general to conduct an independent review of the case. It also recently announced a series of measures due assault, including cancelling fraternity parties.
New York state prosecutors, led by Attorney General Letitia James, are carrying out their own investigation to decide if criminal charges are warranted.
Earlier this week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that state police would investigate any future sexual offence complaints at the university.
More than two dozen Democrats are eyeing runs for the White House in 2028, following their party's success in the US midterm elections this week, according to the man behind Barack Obama's successful re-election bid.
Jim Messina, who led Obama's 2012 campaign, said that since Democrats saw major victories in congressional races as well as state elections, he's spoken to "over two dozen campaigns" that are actively considering running in 2028 and have begun the financing process and hiring staff.
"I think you're going to start having Democrats announce exploratory committees next week or the next couple of weeks, probably after Thanksgiving", Messina told the BBC's Americast podcast.
He said he already knows someone relocating to work on a governor's presidential campaign.
He also predicted that the number could shrink as candidates faced pressure to raise large sums needed for the primary contests that will decide the party's nominee.
Messina gave some insight into the conversations he's had, saying: "When I sit down with candidates or their campaigns, I say to them, 'Tell me your economic vision for the future of this country. What are you going to do on AI?'"
Then there's another factor: the outgoing president, Donald Trump, who will still be in office during the campaign season.
"And so, do the Democrats take the bait and talk about Donald Trump every day, or do you stay focused on your message?" he said.
"It's going be the most interesting presidential [election] since 2008."
Messina, who went on to become Obama's deputy chief of staff at the White House, said the party's success in the US midterm elections was down to their ability to stay focused on the economy and the effect of Donald Trump's tariffs, which were "devastating to rural voters".
"When you're a farmer and you're paying $7 for a gallon of diesel to put in your tractor, the economics just don't work, and at the same time you're paying more for everything," he said.
Staying on message about the economy helped them flip seats in traditionally strong Republican states like Iowa, Kansas, and Texas, he said.
"The common criticism of Democrats is that we can't stick to one message. And for the first time in a very long time, Democrats stuck to the economy. They didn't take the bait on the social wars," he said.
Messina cautioned Democrats that success in this year's midterm elections was not a ringing endorsement of the party and that "the MVP of the election for the Democrats was Donald Trump".
The hard part will now be bringing the party's progressive and centrist wings together in Congress, he said.
The Democrats hold a narrow lead over the Republicans in the US Senate race in Mississippi, with both sides in a dispute over the counting of the remaining votes which could decide the outcome.
Lawyers for each campaign are preparing for a possible legal battle over the final results and weighing in on the examination of ballots.
The result could mark the end of almost 40 years of Republican control over Mississippi's senate seats and will determine the size of the Democrats' majority in the upper house.
Mississippi is the only US state which does not have a set procedure in place to trigger a recount - and the pressure is on to declare a winner with the state's 13 November deadline for certification approaching.
What ballots are left to count?
With 97% of the votes counted as of Friday, Democratic candidate Scott Colom is about 2,500 votes ahead of the incumbent Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.
Mississippi's Secretary of State Michael Watson said on Wednesday that 3,600 "absentee-by-mail ballots" were still to be counted. The state can accept these votes so long as they were postmarked by election day and are received by 10 November.
Watson said there are also an "unknown" number of provisional ballots, also known as affidavit ballots, to be counted. These are typically cast when a voter lacked the required identification to cast their vote. The deadline for voters to resolve any ID issues with provisional ballots, usually by providing acceptable photo identification, is also 10 November.
Mississippi Republican Party Chair Michael Hurst said on Thursday that they estimated there could be "approximately 20,000 outstanding ballots left to be counted".
Hyde-Smith's campaign said the same day that "thousands of votes remain to be counted from dozens of Republican counties" and it is "confident" this will secure her re-election. She has held the seat since 2018.
Colom said the election saw "historic voter turnout" and he is "confident that when votes are counted, we will flip this seat". If he wins, he would be the first black US senator elected in the state since 1875.
What have the campaign lawyers requested?
Colom said his campaign has an "an army of lawyers" ready to act - while the state Republican party said it has sent more than 50 volunteers, attorneys and observers across the state.
Lawyers from both campaigns have sent letters to Mississippi election officials about the counting of outstanding provisional ballots.
The Hyde-Smith campaign lawyers have requested that all 82 counties in the state keep all provisional ballots separate from regular or absentee ballots.
Their letter also requested that election officials preserve various records - including information on how the votes were processed - associated with the provisional ballots as "potential evidence" in a possible legal dispute.
The Colom campaign lawyers responded saying the move has "no legal authority whatsoever".
"Mississippi law does give any candidate a right to examine ballot boxes and their contents within 12 days after the relevant canvass and examination," says Ronald Rychlak, a law professor at the University of Mississippi. "Mississippi's affidavit-ballot statute also requires eligibility review and records concerning whether affidavit ballots were counted."
"Neither law, however, establishes a blanket requirement to segregate all affidavit ballots after they have been accepted," he adds.
The Colom campaign has said the request from Hyde-Smith's team could allow "a particular ballot to be traced to a particular voter", in violation of ballot secrecy laws.
"That's where he does have a more reasonable argument," says Rychlak, "as ballots in the US are private by law and when there's no clear procedure in place there could be a possibility a voter's privacy might be breached."
Could there be a recount?
Recounts rarely succeed - just three out of 37 completed state-wide recounts across the US since 2000 have reversed a result.
However, in many states automatic recounts are triggered if a vote is very close, and in others there is an official process for campaigns to request one in a tight race.
Two states, Illinois and Tennessee, allow recounts if a candidate mounts a formal legal challenge.
Mississippi doesn't have a set procedure in place which allows for a result to be automatically recounted even if it's tight or contested.
It is effectively left up to judges in the state to decide how specific disputes should be resolved.
"Mississippi's lack of a formal recount procedure does not leave either campaign without a possible avenue to challenge the result," says Rychlak, "Ballot-box examination is an available post-election mechanism, and that can lead to discoveries that may result in a recount."
There could also be a legal challenge raised at a federal level - with the US Senate potentially having authority to determine who is entitled to the seat.
This would fall under Article I of the US Constitution as there is a provision which gives each chamber of Congress the power to be the "judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members".
Additional reporting by Krystal Campos.
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Republicans are in soul-searching mode after the coalition that powered Donald Trump to three straight presidential nominations imploded in spectacular fashion in the 2026 midterms.
The stunning election defeat immediately raised questions about the party's future post-Trump.
But there are no easy answers as Republicans face the choice of doubling down on Trumpism or trying to chart a new path forward in his final years in office.
The depth of the problem was captured by outgoing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who called the midterms "close to an extinction-level event for Republicans".
Others struck a more optimistic tone. Vice-President JD Vance, who blamed the midterm results on public anger over the war with Iran, argued the party could turn things around. Nevertheless Vance acknowledged the fallout will be messy.
"There will be a lot of infighting and arguing over what happened and why," Vance said.
The wide range of reactions on the right highlights deep fault lines in the party that formed around Trump's improbable rise to the presidency in 2016 and never really went away.
It's too early to tell which faction will win. But while Republicans are still licking their wounds, the intraparty battle Vance predicted is already under way.
The party must decide whether it will be "centred on one figure, one guy, or on a wider set of ideas like conservatism that can win outside the deepest red places," Rina Shah, a Republican strategist, told the BBC.
Critics on the right - the "Never Trumpers" who opposed his first White House campaign - are pushing for a return to the Republican Party's pre-Trump roots, citing the historic losses around the country on election night.
But simply turning back the clock on Trump will be extremely difficult if not impossible to do.
The party has been wholly transformed during Trump's decade-long reign. Most Republicans have shifted to the right on domestic issues like immigration, and rejected the interventionist foreign policy of the George W Bush era that led to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Congress, the more moderate establishment wing of the party that disliked Trump from the start has almost entirely disappeared, replaced by conservative Trump backers who echo his nativism and populist rhetoric.
That trend continued this year, as old-guard Republicans like John Cornyn in Texas and Maine's Susan Collins, both of whom clashed with Trump over the years, were voted out of office.
Three days after the election Trump appointed Stephen Miller as his new White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles.
The move signalled Trump has no plans to moderate his policies or message in his remaining years in office. Miller, who had been serving as the president's chief domestic policy adviser, is a longtime Trump aide known for his hardline immigration policies.
One of the architects of the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement, Steve Bannon, predicted a "civil war" in the party after the midterms.
Afterwards, he blamed the Republicans' defeat on the economy and "foreign wars". "I don't think we implemented the Maga programme," he said, calling on Trump to double down on mass deportations.
But other Republican strategists said the midterms were a wake up call for Make America Great Again (Maga) loyalists who want Trump's political movement to outlast his presidency.
"There's still plenty of Maga voters out there who have supported Donald Trump through thick and thin," said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist.
"But there is also a significant portion of the Republican Party that's non-Maga, and that's a majority now."
Should Republican hopefuls distance themselves from Trump?
The party lost control of the House and Senate, as well as governorships and state legislatures in red states like Texas and Kansas where Democrats had been shut out of power for decades - and where Trump won by double digits when he was on the ballot.
The stunning upsets underscored the fickle nature of political coalitions.
Trump expanded the Republican base in 2024, increasing support with Latinos and younger voters among other key groups. Republicans hailed the gains as a sign of future strength for the party.
Just two years later, the party lost ground with nearly every critical voting bloc. According to a New York Times analysis of voter data, Latino support for Democratic candidates increased by 29 percentage points from 2024-26. Support from young voters 18-29 years old increased by 33 points.
The swings reflected polling ahead of the midterms that found widespread disapproval with Trump's handling of the economy, immigration and the war with Iran.
Democrats also capitalised on a public perception that the Trump family and administration is rife with self-dealing and corruption. The president's focus on the White House ballroom and other Washington construction projects also contributed to a sense among voters that he was more focused on his legacy than addressing affordability issues.
It's a sentiment shared by Benjamin Shrader, the leader of the Young Republicans in Austin, who was still shell-shocked when he spoke to the BBC in Texas the morning after his party was almost wiped out in the state by a Democratic "blue tsunami".
Shrader said Trump was still a "force of nature" when asked to reflect on how the president had used his first public appearance after the results to show off the White House ballroom project.
He hesitated before adding: "I would focus on issues that are not ballrooms, that are not renaming things. I would focus on what matters."
The evidence in the immediate aftermath of the midterms suggests that Republicans could benefit by distancing themselves from Trump ahead of 2028.
'Vance was the favourite - now the race is wide open'
Vance tried to thread the needle with his midterm assessment blaming the Iran war and calling for a return to "America First." It was a nuanced critique that broke with Trump on an unpopular war, but embraced a broader political brand that remains popular with the Maga base.
Trump's next moves on Iran will be watched closely by the party for their 2028 implications. An escalation would risk fuelling the concerns voiced by Vance and other "America First" proponents.
In his postmortem statement on X, Vance also echoed the growing calls on the right to reexamine US support for Israel. But he also signalled an openness to making some immigration enforcement changes. That clashes with Miller, a Vance ally who has speared the administration's second-term immigration agenda.
Party strategists said the midterm drubbing complicated Vance's path to the nomination.
"Before this midterm, JD Vance was the odds-on favourite to win the Republican nomination in 2028. After this midterm, the nomination battle is completely wide open," Ayres said.
Potential Trump successors have some time to consider their options, but they'll have to make up their minds relatively soon. Any 2028 presidential hopefuls will face pressure to announce White House bids in the next few months. Some could launch campaigns before the end of the year.
Vance's election analysis was widely interpreted as an unofficial signal of his plans to run. It will likely be a crowded primary field.
Other rumoured White House contenders include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Florida Governor DeSantis, former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, to name a few.
In the next election cycle, Republican presidential and congressional candidates alike will have tough decisions to make on key issues of the day, from US support for Israel to tariffs to the AI boom.
Trump's power may be diminished as he enters the final two years of his second term, but he'll still have the loudest voice in the party over the next two years. It's unclear whether he will get deeply involved in the process or take a hands-off approach.
Trump has praised Vance and Rubio at different times, but typically deflects questions about who he'd like to see succeed him.
His endorsement will loom as the biggest wildcard in the 2028 Republican primary race.
"It remains to be seen who will jump into that race," Ayres said.
"But I think it's going to be a lot larger and more diverse than we anticipated before the midterm election."
Follow the twists and turns of Trump's second term with North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher's US Politics Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.
Ballots are still being counted in the US midterm elections but the political landscape is already pivoting to the 2028 White House race.
Buoyed by major gains in Congress, Democrats will have momentum as they prepare for the contest to succeed President Donald Trump.
But a good showing in the midterms does not guarantee a White House win two years later. Barack Obama was re-elected in 2012 despite huge Republican gains in 2010.
No one has yet entered the presidential race but potential candidates will be preparing behind the scenes.
Vice-President's JD Vance's reflection on where the midterms went wrong for Republicans has been interpreted as him paving the way for a 2028 run.
The results of Tuesday's election and the historic size of Democratic gains could shape the White House race in several ways. Here are four takeaways.
1. Big winners in the midterms now have momentum
Several prominent potential presidential candidates were running in the 2026 midterms - and some emerged looking strong.
Georgia Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff won by a sizeable margin in the politically competitive state that Trump won in 2024.
While he has previously said he has no plans to run for president, his successful campaign, with several viral moments, helped boost his national profile.
Another potential Democratic nominee, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, swept aside his Republican challenger.
Shapiro has not committed to a 2028 run but analysts point to his broad appeal in swing-state Pennsylvania as a sign that he could be competitive on the national stage.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker also won after a campaign pundits in his state described as a "tune-up" for a presidential run.
California Governor Gavin Newsom could not run for re-election in the midterms but he is invested in the outcome of a ballot initiative to tax the state's wealthy residents which he campaigned against.
On the Republican side, there were two potential 2028 names running in Arkansas.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton and Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders - a one-time Trump administration press secretary - were able to stay in office by a narrower margin than before, both earning just above half of the votes in the conservative state.
2. JD Vance and Trump's allies under pressure
Exit polls suggest the swing against Republicans was partly due to anger felt by voters at the actions of the Trump administration.
That could present a challenge to his potential successors who come from the ranks of the current leadership, including Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"The one person who has been hurt badly by this election campaign is Vance," said Karen Beckwith, a professor of political science at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.
Vance has already sought to distance himself from defeat - and from a foreign policy adventure in Iran that was politically disastrous for his party.
"The reason we lost is the war," he wrote on X.
Rubio has denied reports he is considering leaving his post ahead of a 2028 presidential run.
Other possible Republican candidates may benefit from not being part of the administration. Some have been staking out a position on what went wrong and what next.
In a lengthy post on X, Senator Ted Cruz, who was not running this year, said that too many Republican politicians seem like "they didn't care" about the economic issues faced by voters.
"It is dark right now, but it is always darkest before the dawn, and morning is coming," he wrote. "That is my fervent prayer, and that is my commitment to you."
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who abandoned his 2024 presidential run after being trounced by Trump early on, was similarly critical and pointed to Republican victories in Florida as a sign of what can be accomplished.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was blunt in his assessment: "The Trump era is over."
3. Left and centre Democrats in fight for future
Both the centrist and left wings of the Democratic Party have claimed victory from the results as each side sifts through possible 2028 contenders.
Dozens are already making moves, Obama's former adviser Jim Messina has told the BBC.
El-Sayed's win in Michigan was a breakthrough moment for left-wing Democrats because he triumphed in a swing state.
His supporters now claim his win could supercharge left-wing candidates in the 2028 election.
"The old notions of electability are out the door, and bold economist populist outsiders proved they can win in battleground states," said Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
Green added that the "water is now warm" for candidates such as New York Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run in presidential primaries and "know that they can win."
Moderate Democrats, however, claimed victories across the country, with the "Blue Dog Caucus" of moderate and conservative Democrats gaining at least 14 seats in Congress, nearly doubling its current size.
This has led many within that wing of the party to conclude that centrist candidates that bill themselves as pragmatic and willing to work with conservatives could woo Republican voters.
Given the success of Democratic candidates who focused on cost of living issues, an economy-first approach will likely be a focus again in two years.
Amirah Siquierah, the director of federal affairs at the Working Families Party, said successful candidates in 2028 will combine economic populism with newer concerns such as data centres.
4. Support of Hispanic voters must be earned
Both parties must contend with a changing political map and a shifting coalition of support for 2028.
Once "safe" Republican parts of the country can no longer be considered conservative strongholds.
Texas is left with only one Republican at a statewide level, which means its 40 electoral college votes could be up for grabs in 2028.
Christina Pascucci, a political commentator and one-time Senate candidate in California, said the midterms "challenge long-held political assumptions" and show that "neither party can afford to take its traditional strongholds for granted".
That is true of both Democrats and Republicans who will need to win over swing voters, added Pascucci, now the CEO of Atlas Global, a global communications and advisory firm.
"Neither party owns these voters," she said.
The Trump coalition of working class and Latino voters faltered, reversing many of the gains he had made with those electorates in his successful 2024 campaign.
Driena Sixto, a former spokesperson for Turning Point USA and a conservative political commentator, told the BBC that she believed that Republicans will have to change their messaging to Latino voters ahead of 2028 for any future candidate to be able to reverse the trend.
"Last time, the campaign message was one of safe communities and fighting back against trafficking," she said.
"After the president was sworn in, I think a lot of messaging from the White House did too much to highlight deportations. That was the divide."
In the aftermath of the Republican Party's sweeping defeat in Tuesday's midterm elections, Donald Trump said he would be willing to work with the newly ascendent Democrats in Congress.
On Friday, however, he elevated Stephen Miller, his bare-knuckled political operative and longtime adviser, to replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff.
Far from an olive branch to Congress, Miller's promotion could be a sign that the president is girding for political battle by installing a partisan firebrand in the top White House job.
"The mission now is more clear than ever: Fight with all of our soul to support our president and defend this magnificent republic," Miller posted on X, adding that he was "honored beyond words" to be Trump's pick for the job.
One of the most powerful positions in Washington, the chief of staff is gatekeeper to the president, agenda-setter in the White House and chief negotiator with Congress and other outside political interests.
"Stephen Miller's been with me since the beginning," Trump said in comments to reporters after announcing the move on his Truth Social website. "He gets it."
Miller is best known for being the driving force behind the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement policies, which has included ramping up funding for enforcement operations across the US.
He made headlines when he called Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by federal immigration officials during a massive deportation operation in Minneapolis, a "domestic terrorist" and an "assassin". He would later walk back those words, saying federal agents "may not have been following" proper protocol.
He has also reportedly played a leading role in the US military operations in Venezuela and against suspected drug trafficking operations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, which critics have condemned as extra-judicial killings.
Miller joined Trump's political operation early in his 2016 presidential bid as a strategist and incendiary warm-up speaker at his raucous campaign rallies.
He was one of the few senior White House staffers to persevere through the entirety of his first term. He stayed loyal to Trump during his political exile following attempts to overturn his ballot-box defeat in 2020 failed. He then returned in the influential role of deputy chief of staff for policy in Trump's second term.
Wiles, who co-managed the president's successful 2024 re-election campaign, developed a reputation as a cool professional who avoided the White House staffing upheavals, dramatic policy reversals and personality clashes that typified Trump's first presidential term.
The president, however, began souring on Wiles in recent months, as his political standing in the US declined, culminating in Tuesday's electoral rout. He also reportedly chafed at news stories indicating that those in Wiles' orbit were landing lucrative consulting jobs through their connections to the president.
Miller's hardline views sets up clash with Congress
While Trump praised Miller's effectiveness as a manager on Friday, working with Congress could prove to be a challenge.
It is difficult to overstate how disliked Miller is by most Democrats – and some Republicans.
"Stephen Miller is a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist who has American blood on his hands," Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote on X. "His presence in government should be eradicated like a malignant tumor."
Earlier this year, Miller posted on social media that James Talarico, who had just secured the Democratic nomination to run for Senate in Texas, was "their first transgender Senate candidate".
The Democratic Party offered a terse, obscenity laced reply, telling Miller to shut up.
Now Miller will have to negotiate with a US Senate that includes a newly elected Talarico as one of its rising stars, after an election in which polls found that 58% of voters believe the administration's immigration enforcement actions had "gone too far" and Hispanics decisively turned against Republican candidates.
On Wednesday, in a social media post attempting to explain the Republican midterm defeats, Vice-President JD Vance - who is an early frontrunner for the Republican 2028 presidential nomination - wrote that he was "open to the idea that we should change enforcement - by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labour, for instance".
That now seems less likely with an immigration hardline taking the White House helm.
Thom Tillis, the North Carolina Republican senator who is retiring at the end of the year, has been particularly vocal in condemning Miller. He has called him "incompetent" and "the architect of some of the dumbest proposals from the Trump White House".
Other Republicans, however, have sung his praises.
"Stephen Miller has been a true conservative warrior since his days as a Senate staffer, a staunch defender of law and order against illegal invasions and leftist lawlessness, and a steadfast fighter for President Trump for over a decade," Utah Senator Mike Lee posted on X after Trump's announcement.
At a time when congressional Democrats are promising to launch new investigations and oversight into the Trump administration, it appears that a "warrior" and a "fighter" is the kind of person the president wants to have running his White House.
Follow the twists and turns of Trump's second term with North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher's US Politics Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.
US President Donald Trump has asked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) boss Dana White to be White House press secretary, in a social media post.
"Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Dana, please take the job!"
It was unclear whether the president's public job offer was genuine, although White said later on Saturday: "I'm going to meet with him, we have a meeting on Monday".
The vacancy for White House press secretary has been open since mid-October, when Katie Zacharia quit less than five days into the job.
Trump's post on Saturday afternoon comes after his fellow Republicans were routed in the US midterm elections, losing their congressional majorities.
The president called White "a violent Fighter and Warrior" and asked that he bring a number of high-profile UFC fighters with him on the job "even though some are not from our Country".
"We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left," Trump wrote, alongside photos of the six fighters.
Following Trump's post, White posted an Instagram photo of himself behind the lectern in the White House press briefing room.
"On to the next chapter," White wrote, though it was unclear if the post was tongue-in-cheek.
"Hell yeah! Do it, @DanaWhite!" White House communications director Steven Cheung posted on X, as he shared the president's message.
White was ringside for a fight in London on Saturday night between British former world champion Chris Billam-Smith and Jamaican-born Briton Cheavon Clarke at the Copper Box Arena.
Asked about the Trump offer at a news conference afterwards, the UFC chief executive said he was flying to Washington for a meeting with Trump on Monday.
"I got a lot of jobs already," he told reporters.
"I'm sure we'll have something to talk about after that," he added, without being drawn on whether he was interested in taking on one of the most gruelling jobs in the political arena.
CNN cited a source familiar as saying that White had declined the idea.
As he noted in the news conference, he already has a number of time-consuming commitments.
As well as leading UFC and Power Slap, a regulated slap-fighting promotion league, he has just launched Zuffa Boxing, a professional promotion company.
And last year he was unveiled as one of three new board members of Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Famously combative, White has at times clashed with journalists covering the sport during news conferences.
He released a clip in 2020 lambasting reporters who had questioned the UFC's decision to hold fights during the pandemic.
In 2009, he released an expletive-laden video tirade using an anti-gay slur while rebutting a journalist's story about changes to credential rules backstage at UFC events.
White is a longtime ally - and friend - of Trump.
When White and his business partners bought the then-struggling UFC organisation for $2m in 2001, the sport's future seemed uncertain.
Just five years earlier, Republican Senator John McCain had famously labelled mixed martial arts "human cockfighting", sparking bans in 36 US states.
"None of the venues wanted [the UFC]," White said in 2025. "They didn't believe in it. They didn't like it, and they were worried about the type of crowd that would show up for this type of event."
With mainstream arenas shutting them out, White credits Trump with saving the organisation by hosting two UFC events at the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 2001.
White became a speaker for Trump's White House campaigns at the Republican National Conventions in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
He also appeared on stage for Trump's victory speech in the 2024 presidential election.
This summer, the UFC staged a cage match on the White House lawn.
A Kenyan court has sentenced the leader of a doomsday cult, Paul Mackenzie, to 200 years in prison for murdering 191 people, all but one of them children.
Alongside 28 others, Mackenzie was found guilty of the murders for instructing members of his cult to starve their children to death so they could "meet Jesus".
Justice Diana Mochache said Mackenzie bore the "primary criminal culpability" for ordering his followers to fast to death, in one of the world's deadliest episodes of cult activity.
"The sentence is appropriate and just, to send an unmistakable message that such atrocities warrant the maximum penalties allowed by law," the judge added.
The self-styled pastor was arrested in 2023 after the discovery of more than 400 bodies in shallow graves in Shakahola forest near the Kenyan coast. The sprawling investigation into the cases shocked Kenya and drew international attention.
The court sentenced Mackenzie to 100 years in prison for homicide and another 100 years for offences related to starvation.
The sentences within each category will run concurrently, but the two sets will run consecutively, bringing his total prison term to 200 years.
Mackenzie also faces separate manslaughter and terrorism charges, which he denies.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, arguing that the scale and circumstances of the killings warranted the harshest punishment.
However, Justice Mochache declined to impose the death penalty, despite ruling that the case met the threshold for its consideration.
"Nevertheless, the court declines the invitation to impose the death penalty on any of the victims," she said, adding that capital punishment would eliminate any prospect of rehabilitation and disengagement. The death sentence has not been carried out in Kenya since 1987.
Mackenzie was tried alongside 28 accomplices, including guards who enforced his fasting orders and gravediggers who helped conceal the victims' bodies in mass graves.
They received varying prison sentences of up to 160 years.
Justice Mochache described the killings as "cold and calculated", saying the perpetrators had shown no remorse and had even declared their willingness to fast to death themselves.
Before the hearing began on Friday morning, Francis Wanje, who lost eight relatives including two grandchildren in Shakahola forest, told the BBC's Newsday programme that he was "hoping for... a sentence which will match his [Mackenzie's] deeds in the forest".
Mackenzie and the co-accused had asked for leniency from the court.
Before their conviction on 19 October, they had all pleaded not guilty and repeatedly insisted that nobody was forced to die.
Mackenzie's followers believed he was "Jesus's mouthpiece", Justice Mochache said as she delivered her eight-hour judgement last month.
Those who opposed Mackenzie's teachings were beaten to death.
One of his co-accused said he had told his followers that anyone who "resisted the directive to fast must be forced to go to heaven through kicks and blows".
Burials inside the forest where the cult was based were called "weddings" and those who died "were celebrated as having wedded with Jesus" the judge said.
The judge found that the deaths arose from an organised system, including religious teachings and directives that compelled followers to follow the deadly fasting.
Post-mortem results showed the cause of deaths to be starvation for most victims, while others died from suffocation, strangulation or head injuries.
The cause of death could not be determined for some, with their bodies having decomposed, while others died soon after their rescue as they were so emaciated.
The Shakahola deaths have shone a spotlight on the lack of oversight of rogue religious activities and how they could have carried on for so long.
The gravity of the case prompted President William Ruto to set up a commission of inquiry, although this was later declared unconstitutional.
Investigations by the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) revealed that local administration and law enforcement officials had repeatedly turned a blind eye to the cult's activities.
"We expected at that time the police would take action immediately to go and rescue the other members there, but it didn't happen," said Wanje, who reported the case to the police in March 2023.
Wanje said a relative of his in the police force and a former cult participant had managed to save his grandson at the time. The child told the police what had happened and showed them the grave of his siblings.
"It was [supposed to be] his last day.. they [would have killed] my grandson."
The cult leader had previously been arrested and later released for lack of evidence.
Mackenzie established Good News International Ministries in 2003.
Over the next 16 years, the church grew in popularity, drawing thousands of followers in its branches across Kenya.
The church ran a television station called Times TV which would broadcast his sermons from his church in Malindi.
His End Days sermons included conspiracy theories that described education as "evil", healthcare as "against the doctrine" and digital identity cards as "the mark of the devil".
The main church shut down in 2019 and Mackenzie moved to Shakahola forest, encouraging his devotees to follow him.
While the conclusion of the murder cases may bring a sense of justice for the victims and their families, the convictions only account for 191 victims, while more than 400 bodies were exhumed from the forest.
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Kenyan police have seized 454kg (1,000lb) of methamphetamine worth an estimated $27m (£20m) in an operation targeting international drug trafficking networks.
Three suspects, two Tanzanians and a Ugandan, were arrested at the Kenyan coast following the intelligence-led operation involving Kenyan anti-narcotics officers and their Tanzanian counterparts.
Police said the investigations began after a key suspect was arrested in Tanzania last week and handed over to Kenyan authorities at the border.
Methamphetamine, commonly known as meth, is a harmful illegal synthetic drug that is highly addictive and can lead to severe psychosis, heart attack or stroke.
The suspect, who was allegedly linked to a separate seizure of 250 kg of suspected methamphetamine and cocaine in Tanzania, led officers to a location in Msambweni on the Kenyan coast, where the drug haul was discovered.
Police made further arrests at the site and seized two motor vehicles and a motorcycle.
The four suspects are currently in custody and due to be arraigned in court, while the recovered narcotics and the seized items are being kept as exhibits.
The police say the operation remains ongoing and urged members of the public to to share information that will help tackle drug trafficking.
Last month, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki declared illicit alcohol and drug abuse among top threats to the Kenya's future.
He warned that the government would introduce tougher laws and intensify nationwide operations to deal with the menace.
In a separate operation last month, authorities destroyed more than a tonne of methamphetamine from a consignment intercepted last year by the Kenyan navy about 630km (391 miles) off the Mombasa coast.
The Institute for Security Studies, a think-tank, has warned of a shift in East Africa's role in international drug trafficking role.
It says the region's coastline is increasingly becoming not just a transit route for drugs destined for other markets but also an entry point for manufactured drugs intended for local consumption.
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South Africa's ANC has recorded its worst-ever showing in local elections since Nelson Mandela led the country out of apartheid and into democracy more than 30 years ago, a result the party has called "catastrophic".
While it won the most votes of all parties in the country, the African National Congress won 30.76% of the overall vote, one third down from the 46% it gained in 2021, and a far cry from the 64.82% 20 years ago.
The story of its decline is also clear in the provinces and cites. The party won a majority in just one of the country's nine provinces, Limpopo. In 2021 it won six. It also won the most votes in just two of the eight cities, compared with six at the last local elections.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) came second in the overall vote with 24.64%, retaining majority control of the city of Cape Town. Former president Jacob Zuma's MK party came third overall with 9.76%, unseating the ANC as winner in the city of Durban, while the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), led by Julius Malema, once seen as a serious challenge to the ANC, came fourth with 6.22%.
"This has been a very catastrophic outcome for the ANC," said secretary-general Fikile Mbalula on Saturday. "We knew this disaster is coming, we're staring at it. As we got into elections, the cost of living of our people was too high. The middle class have turned on the ANC in big numbers."
Entering the count centre tonight, South Africa's president and leader of the ANC Cyril Ramaphosa said: "We accept the will of the people however concerning it might be, we accept that this is how the people of South Africa in our towns, in our cities, in our metros have spoken - and this is their verdict, we accept it with humility. It is a decline that is concerning, that is how I characterise it."
It's a continuing decline for the ANC, which lost majority rule in the national elections in 2024 for the first time in its history. It then had to form a coalition government with a raft of other parties in what is now known as the GNU, or government of national unity.
While the Democratic Alliance made significant gains in the cities in these local elections, its overall vote share rose marginally from 21.83% in 2021, and was below the 26.9% it gained in 2016.
Voter turnout was 52.29%, an increase from 45.9% in 2021, when elections were held during the Covid pandemic.
"This election is delivering a devastating message to the ANC", said political analyst Susan Booysen. "It's an ANC in decline at local municipal level, at the metropolitan level, and when the results are reflected provincially and nationally, we see severe declines in ANC levels of support all around."
The reason for that decline in support is largely due to poor service delivery and infrastructure across the country, from water and power to sanitation. "These are huge problems," says Booysen, "and have really been affecting the lives of ordinary people, in the suburbs, in the townships, and in very dramatic ways."
The big picture looks even more bleak for the ANC. The party will elect a new leader next year as Cyril Ramaphosa comes to end of his term. He is due to stay on as president of the country until the next national elections in 2029, but there are few candidates lined up to succeed him in either role.
"It is sort of the end of the liberation movement era in South Africa," said political analyst William Gumede, "and the dominance of the liberation movement since the end of apartheid. So the ANC is going to be a party that by 2029 could be the second biggest rather than the biggest party. It may actually spiral into a long period of just total infighting. This is a new era for South Africa's politics and also the ANC."
The elections also saw a significant shift in voting patterns, with the DA, traditionally known as the "white party" for attracting a largely white vote, gaining more black votes. "We're moving towards a post-racial voting pattern in South Africa," added Gumede.
South Africa now faces days of local coalition building, with the three metropolitan municipalities in the province of Gauteng, the country's powerhouse, under particular scrutiny. The ANC may even find itself shut out in the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria.
"We are now in a coalition country," said Gumede. "Essentially, what the voters are saying is, "Well, the ANC has dominated the last three decades, they didn't use their power to change the society for the good, so we don't want the dominant parties anymore, whether at national level, provincial level, or rather now at a local level. We actually want coalitions. We want people to work together."
Parties now have 14 days from the moment results were announced to negotiate coalitions.
At least seven people have died in a train crash near the Egyptian city of Giza, with more than 100 injured.
The country's railway authority said two trains travelling south from Giza and Cairo collided, causing several carriages to derail and fall down an embankment.
Images from the scene showed people looking inside overturned carriages for injured passengers as a massive emergency response was launched.
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said he had ordered state authorities to "investigate the circumstances of the accident, and hold accountable anyone found to have been negligent".
The public prosecutor's office warned the death toll could rise.
The government said hospitals in the area had been put "on heightened alert" as they dealt with a massive influx of patients.
Egypt's health minister Dr Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said people were being treated for broken bones and head injuries.
The driver of one of the trains was among those who died in the crash, the ministry confirmed.
The first train involved in the crash was travelling from Giza to Fayoum, south of Cairo, when it crashed into the rear of another service heading south from Cairo to Aswan, which was stationary on the tracks.
Images from the scene showed some carriages had overturned, with the body of at least one appearing to have split in two.
Trains between Giza and the Upper Egypt region were suspended as cranes were dispatched to remove the wrecked trains.
The collision occurred in the area between Kafr Ammar and Al-Raqqa stations in Al-Ayyat, close to where Egypt's deadliest train tragedy occurred in February 2002, when a fire engulfed a passenger train travelling from Cairo to Luxor.
The train continued for around nine kilometres (5.6 miles) before coming to a halt.
In that incident, more than 370 people were officially reported killed, although some estimates put the toll considerably higher.
Two further crashes in the area in 2009 killed dozens more.
There were calls in Egypt on Sunday for the transport minister to resign over the latest deadly rail disaster.
As the sun rises over the Indian Ocean, waves lap onto the golden sands while palm fronds rustle in the cool sea breeze. Welcome to... Mogadishu.
This is the image that one young Somali woman wants the world to have of her home city - in contrast to the one of suicide attacks and young men wielding AK-47s that many people currently associate with Somalia's capital.
Sucdi Abdul Fattah Abdul Khader is among a growing number of local guides taking visitors beyond the headlines to explore Mogadishu's beauty spots, historic sites and culture.
Her favourite spot is Jazeera beach, where visitors can enjoy the sea before heading to nearby sand dunes.
"It's one of the tourist attractions where we bring our guests. It's a nice place," says the 23-year-old.
The dunes, she adds, remind some visitors of the Sahara.
But her tours are about more than scenic views. She also takes visitors to the fish market, where they discover the variety of marine life available along Somalia's extensive coastline and to parts of the city that reflect its history as a busy Indian Ocean trading centre, with the influences of both its Ottoman and Italian former rulers.
Visitors can also sample Somali food, including camel meat, samosas and traditional tea.
Sucdi says many arrive in the city with expectations shaped by years of hearing about the insecurity.
"Mostly, they are surprised by how beautiful the country is and how welcoming people are," she says.
At the fish market, she says, visitors are particularly impressed by the variety of fish species.
Guiding tours runs in Sucdi's family. Her father worked in the profession for over three decades, taking journalists, photographers and visitors from different countries around Somalia.
He introduced her to the business nearly three years ago.
"I started this job as a hobby, but it has become something that I like and am passionate about," she says.
She now works alongside her father and a team of guides, building on his experience while using social media to reach a wider audience.
She shares videos of her tours on TikTok, offering people outside Somalia a glimpse of places they may never have imagined visiting.
She is also considering producing content in English to reach audiences who do not speak Somali.
Tourism remains a relatively new field in Somalia, she says, with only a handful working as guides in Mogadishu.
The business is seasonal, but Sucdi says this year has been particularly encouraging, although numbers are still fairly low. Having five tourists a week is considered a success but she is confident that numbers will grow.
However, she says many visitors are still concerned about security.
Since the collapse of Somalia's central government in 1991, Mogadishu has endured decades of civil war, destruction and displacement. Much of the city centre was reduced to rubble, and basic services and infrastructure largely broke down.
But following the withdrawal of the Islamist militant group al-Shabab from most of the city in 2011, and the establishment of the federal government in 2012, Mogadishu has undergone a gradual transformation.
Returning members of the Somali diaspora, local entrepreneurs and investors helped fuel a construction boom, with new hotels, restaurants, businesses and residential developments reshaping the capital.
Today, Mogadishu is a growing commercial hub, although insecurity and the legacy of conflict remain part of everyday life.
About 10,000 tourists visited Somalia in 2024, a 50% increase on the previous year, according to the country's tourism department.
Many visitors ask about their safety before travelling and often encounter security checkpoints around the city.
But she says their experience on the ground is generally positive.
"What they heard from the news and everywhere else is not the same as what they see in the country," she says.
Although some question whether Mogadishu is safe enough for a young woman to be working as a tour guide, Sucdi is determined to continue.
She wants visitors to experience a Somalia that is rarely seen.
"I would want them to see the beautiful, welcoming side of Mogadishu, and not the side that they heard from the media, which is explosions and bombs," she says.
Somalia has Africa's longest mainland coastline, stretching more than 3,000km (1,860 miles) along the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.
Its beaches and sand dunes sit alongside historic coastal cities such as Mogadishu, whose culture reflects centuries of Indian Ocean trade.
For some tourists, that contrast between the country's reputation and what they experience can be striking.
American travel content creator Chris Reese, who goes by the name Authentic Travelling, has visited Mogadishu twice.
His first trip, almost a year ago, was a solo visit. He enjoyed it so much that he decided to return with a group of friends, who had seen videos of his visit on social media.
"I had such a positive experience - I really enjoyed seeing the country for the first time - that I opted to bring back a group of my friends," he says.
What stands out for Chris is the city's coastal setting, its food and atmosphere.
"It is such a beautiful tropical place. I love the vibe, the weather and the food," he says.
During the group's visit, they enjoy lunch overlooking the Indian Ocean before heading out to explore the beaches and sand dunes.
"The desert is beautiful and picturesque. It is also amazing that it's barely a 30-minute drive from Mogadishu," he says.
Before his first trip, Chris says, much of what he knew about Somalia came from international news coverage.
"If you only read the news reports about Somalia, you would be scared to visit. And honestly, that's what I saw in the media before I came, mostly negative headlines."
But visiting the country challenged those perceptions.
"Coming here, on my very first trip, showed me that there is so much more to this country than what is shown in the headlines," he says.
Mihaela Patap, from Romania, loves Somalia's natural beauty.
Although she has spent only a few hours in Mogadishu, she has already visited the sand dunes and taken in the Indian Ocean coastline.
"The desert was so beautiful to see. I have also enjoyed the beach, and the ocean. It is inspiring," she says.
Having travelled to Somalia from neighbouring Ethiopia, she says she has been struck by the people's friendliness.
"I don't see anything dangerous. I feel safe and the people are warm," she says.
An experienced traveller, Mihaela says she prefers to visit new countries without having preconceived ideas.
"I travel the world to see new places, to see countries, to see the differences. I don't take a picture in my mind to compare the reality with. I'm just expecting the new to come to me," she says.
She hopes to share her experience and encourage others to visit Somalia.
"I'm going to post my pictures and say good things about what I'm experiencing. I'm going to promote it," she says.
For Sucdi, that potential is personal.
She is continuing a family profession while building a business in an industry with few women and using digital platforms to reach audiences far beyond Mogadishu.
"Somalia still has a long way to go before tourism becomes a major industry," she says.
"Through my tours, I am giving visitors an opportunity to experience its landscapes, our culture and people beyond the familiar negative headlines."
For her, every visitor is another opportunity to tell a fuller story of Mogadishu.
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A proposed trial of a hepatitis B vaccine on newborn babies in Guinea-Bissau has been cancelled following accusations that the trial was "unethical" and "neocolonial".
The trial was funded by the US, under Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has a long record of expressing scepticism about vaccines.
Police have seized a batch of vaccines from the research centre at the heart of the controversy.
The proposed trial drew international criticism because it planned to withhold a vaccine recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) from half of the participating newborns.
Some public health experts argued that the proposed trial raised broader questions about whether vulnerable populations in African countries were being asked to take risks that researchers would not accept in wealthier countries.
The BBC has asked the US department of health and human services for comment.
Here is what you need to know.
What was the trial?
The study was planned at the Bandim Health Project, a research centre that has operated in Guinea-Bissau since 1978.
It was designed to involve 14,000 newborns, with half receiving a hepatitis B vaccine shortly after birth and the other half not being given the shot.
Bandim said the trial aimed to investigate whether the hepatitis B vaccine given at birth has broader health effects beyond preventing infection.
Previous studies in The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau have raised questions about a possible link to increased mortality.
Researchers argued that because Guinea-Bissau does not currently offer routine hepatitis B vaccinations at birth, despite WHO recommendations, they have a unique opportunity to study its effects before such vaccines are introduced in 2028.
But critics questioned the ethics of withholding the vaccine from some babies, particularly in one of the world's poorest countries, where the infection is widespread.
The Trump administration funded the proposed study, with the CDC awarding the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) $1.6m (£1.2m) in December 2025.
What did the WHO say?
Walter Kazadi Mulombo, the WHO representative in Guinea-Bissau, told the BBC they became concerned after receiving questions about the study and finding no publicly available protocol.
He said the main ethical concern was that the trial would withhold an intervention already proven to protect newborns against hepatitis B.
"The vaccine has been used for more than 30 years in more than 115 countries," he said. "A study that will withhold that intervention from other newborns is unethical."
He warned that babies could be exposed to the virus during childbirth if their mothers were infected, as well as later in life.
Nearly a fifth of the population of Guinea-Bissau are infected with hepatitis B, a viral infection that affects the liver.
Those infected during infancy are particularly likely to develop chronic infections, which kill up to 25% of people, mostly through liver failure or liver cancer, according to data published in 2020.
The WHO is working with the government to bring forward the birth-dose vaccine.
"The country had been expected to add it to its routine immunisation schedule in 2028, but officials are considering introducing it in the first quarter of next year," Mulombo said.
Guinea-Bissau currently vaccinates children against hepatitis B at six weeks, which means it is less effective.
Why did Guinea-Bissau reject the trial?
Guinea-Bissau's government prohibited hepatitis B vaccine trials involving children in January. At the time, it requested a team of experts from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to help evaluate the study.
Health Minister Quinhin Nantote said in October that the suspension remained in force and had not been overturned by the Council of Ministers after reports emerged claiming that the trial would be taking place after all.
"We were surprised to learn from media reports that the study might proceed," Nantote said. "We are outraged because even I, as the minister responsible for this sector, was not informed."
The dispute intensified after the SDU said a revised study protocol had received ethical approval "from the relevant authorities in Guinea-Bissau", which Nantote denied.
Dr Gavin Yamey, a professor of global health and public policy at Duke University in the US, criticised the proposal.
"The proposed trial reeks of neocolonialism," he told the BBC, questioning why the research was not being conducted in Denmark.
His criticism centred on the decision to withhold a recommended vaccine from some newborns in a country where hepatitis B is widespread.
SDU dean Jakob Grauslund said the trial had never started, no babies had been enrolled and no vaccinations administered as part of the research.
Was the trial approved by anyone?
The SDU said it had received a separate, positive assessment from the university's own research ethics committee.
Grauslund said the university had sought an additional independent assessment, although Danish law did not require one.
He added that the relevant Danish statutory research ethics bodies were unable to undertake the review.
Following the approval from the SDU's ethics committee, Grauslund decided that the project could proceed.
He, however, stressed that this did not replace the separate authorisation required from Guinea-Bissau's authorities.
What has happened to the vaccines?
On 19 October, Guinea-Bissau's Judicial Police searched the Bandim Health Project's facilities in the capital, Bissau, and seized a batch of hepatitis B vaccines.
Police said the batch was intended for vaccinating children but did not disclose how many doses had been seized or the specific grounds for the investigation.
They stressed that the seizure did not, in itself, mean the vaccines were defective or unsafe.
The police have not explicitly said whether their investigation relates to the proposed trial, the importation of the vaccines or other circumstances surrounding the batch.
Grauslund said he could not comment on the seizure of the vaccines.
Who is funding the research?
The proposed trial was funded by the US government at a time of significant changes to vaccine policy under President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Kennedy.
Under Kennedy's leadership, a US vaccine panel attempted to end a longstanding recommendation that all newborns receive a hepatitis B vaccine at birth, but a federal judge later blocked this, along with other changes to vaccine policy made by the Trump administration.
Critics have questioned whether the research could help support that policy shift, although the study's stated aim was to investigate potential effects of the vaccine beyond preventing infection.
Kennedy has praised the Danish researchers as "the deities of vaccine research", and cited earlier findings from their work in support of concerns about vaccine safety. A subsequent study by some of the same researchers, however, found no evidence of the previously reported effect.
There is no evidence that the proposed trial was designed to justify a change in US policy.
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"JD [Vance], habibi (my love)".
It was an unlikely greeting to hear at a Democratic Party victory rally after the US midterm elections.
Abdul El-Sayed, 42, born to Egyptian immigrant parents, playfully addressed Vice-President JD Vance, who had campaigned against him but will now swear him into office in January as Michigan's new Senator.
The US-born Democrat spent much of his campaign fending off attacks from conservative media and President Donald Trump, who accused him of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed rejected the allegations.
"My name is Abdul Rahman Mohammed El-Sayed," he said in an Egyptian Arabic accent to the cheering crowd at his victory rally. His Arabic Muslim name was a target for many of his opponents. He is set to become the first Muslim senator.
El-Sayed ran a social media-first campaign, with TikTok edits showing him speaking directly to young voters, tapping into Gen Z humour, and sporting friendship bracelets.
The former public health administrator's campaign centred on a progressive agenda, including Medicare for All, affordable housing and curbing corporate influence in politics. He has also been a vocal critic of US military aid to Israel.
But El-Sayed was not alone. From an Ethiopian-born Gen Z congresswoman to candidates with Nigerian heritage, several other politicians with African roots won in this year's midterms.
The elections, held halfway through a president's four-year term, decide who represents Americans in Congress, as well as in thousands of state and local offices.
At 29, Melat Kiros became the first Gen Z woman elected to the US Congress.
Born in Ethiopia, she arrived in the US as a baby and grew up in Denver. She had never held elected office before defeating a 15-term incumbent in Colorado's 1st District in the Democrat primary before winning a landslide in Tuesday's election.
Kiros, like El-Sayed, campaigned on issues that have become central to young progressive voters: the cost of living, universal childcare and Medicare for All.
Endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, she has also called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and ending US military aid to Israel.
Her outspoken criticism of Israel's war in Gaza has attracted controversy. Kiros has said her criticism is directed at the Israeli state, not Jewish people.
She was fired from a top New York law firm in 2023 after she refused to take down an open letter to dozens of law firms who had urged law school deans to crack down on antisemitism on campuses as students engaged in pro-Palestinian protests.
Kiros condemned antisemitism, but warned the law firms, including the one she worked for, against conflating "such bigotry with the geo-political question of Israel's legitimacy".
She said she started thinking more seriously about politics in general after being fired.
Adrian Boafo, meanwhile, a second-generation Ghanaian-American, will represent Maryland's 5th Congressional District after succeeding veteran Congressman Steny Hoyer, who retired after a political career spanning more than four decades.
The 32-year-old was born in Virginia and raised in Prince George's County, Maryland. His parents immigrated to the US from Ghana.
Boafo's route to Congress began in local politics. He served on the Bowie City Council before becoming a Maryland state delegate in 2023. He also worked for Hoyer before eventually winning the race to replace him.
His campaign focused on the cost of living, childcare and protecting federal workers, a major issue in a district close to Washington DC and home to thousands of government employees.
In his victory statement, Boafo said representing his constituents had "never felt more urgent", pointing to federal job cuts, rising costs and the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
Among those returning to Congress is Somali-born Ilhan Omar, 44, who won a fifth term despite an ongoing federal investigation.
Federal agents searched her Washington home in October as part of an investigation into her immigration paperwork. Omar has denied wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.
First elected to Congress in 2018, Omar became the first Somali-American and one of the first Muslim women to serve in the chamber. She has also been a frequent target of President Trump, who has repeatedly criticised her and other Somali immigrants.
Trump has previously used derogatory language to describe some African countries, including Somalia. In October, his Yemeni-born adviser Amer Ghalib said the president would refrain from using such language.
Others made their breakthroughs in state and local politics.
Junior Ezeonu was born in Nigeria and moved to the US as a young child. By 27, he had already become Grand Prairie's youngest city council member before winning a seat in the Texas State House.
Then there is Carol Kazeem, 34, a Pennsylvania state legislator of Nigerian heritage who has retained her seat at District 159. At least four candidates with Nigerian heritage won in the 3 November midterms.
For some young Africans watching from across the Atlantic, these victories have offered a glimpse of what a new generation of voters could achieve at home.
On social media, users have shared the election results as a source of inspiration, particularly in Nigeria and Kenya, where major elections are due in 2027.
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The National Basketball Association (NBA) says it removed Rwanda's army team from its African league because of US sanctions imposed on the country in March.
The NBA had previously said the Rwandan army-funded Armée Patriotique Rwandaise (APR) club would not participate in the 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
However this is the first time the NBA has revealed the reasons behind the APR's removal.
The association was responding to complaints by two US senators, who sent a letter asking them to reconsider their partnership with the Rwandan team. The US placed sanctions on the Rwandan army, accusing it of fuelling the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo in March.
The senators said the NBA risked "becoming complicit in sportswashing by accepting money from a Rwandan government that systematically abuses human rights".
Last week, the US also imposed sanctions on Rwanda's defence ministry over its support for the M23 rebel group which has seized control of large parts of eastern DR Congo. Rwanda denies backing the rebels despite overwhelming evidence.
Rwanda is an official BAL partner and pays the league to host its finals at the 10,000-seat BK Arena in the capital, Kigali.
The BBC has asked Rwanda for comment.
In the letter to the NBA dated 23 October, Democratic Senator Jeffrey Merkley and Republican counterpart Marsha Blackburn gave the association until 2 November to give a written response regarding its continued partnership with Rwanda.
"What is the NBA red line for accepting money from foreign governments that commit human rights abuses?" the senators asked.
Among other queries, they also questioned how the association could "reconcile its continued partnership with Rwanda with its purported commitment to justice".
In its response, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said the Rwandan team "had been withdrawn" from the BAL following the sanctions imposed earlier in the year, American sports website ESPN reports.
The NBA said the APR basketball club would remain barred while the US sanctions are in place.
The APR is one of Rwanda's top basketball teams and represented the country in the BAL in 2024 and 2025, when it came third. It was replaced by the RSSB Tigers this year.
The BAL is a pan-African basketball league established and co-organised by the NBA and the basketball's world governing body Fiba.
It is a professional league featuring 12 club teams from across the continent.
Rwanda has hosted all but one of the league's final and playoff matches since the inaugural match in 2021.
The NBA reportedly receives millions of dollars annually from the country for the marketing and partnership rights.
DR Congo has repeatedly condemned Rwanda's high-profile international sports deals, including with the NBA, European football clubs and Formula 1, asking them to end their campaigns.
It argues that these help Rwanda clean up its global image, while the conflict continues in eastern DR Congo.
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When he started running, Yiech Pur Biel had to compete barefoot. Far from home in a new country, it was the first step towards rebuilding his life as a refugee.
"That's when I decided now it is time to depend on myself and also to start a new life with determination," he tells BBC Newsbeat.
In 2016, Biel made history competing in the 800m event as part of the first Olympic refugee team at the Rio summer Olympics in Brazil.
Ten years on, he's making history again leading the first refugee team for the Youth Olympics as their Chef de Mission.
Joining almost 3,000 athletes, the small team of six will be wanting to make sure their debut counts - but Biel says they're also hoping to send a message that "refugees still need our help".
Hosted in Senegal, Saturday's opening ceremony will launch the first ever Olympic sporting event on African soil.
Africa is home to nearly 45 million displaced people, out of almost 120 million globally, representing the world's biggest displacement crisis.
Biel says for the refugee team, the Youth Olympics is "a chance for them to tell the world and also to represent the population, especially the refugee population, in Africa".
"It's about representing the hope of young people who are living in a refugee camp, who have lost their motivation or their talent."
Biel was a child when he was forced to flee his home in South Sudan after his village was attacked.
He ended up in Kenya, telling BBC Newsbeat: "It traumatised me, starting a new life, being alone in Kakuma," referring to the major refugee settlement close to the border between Kenya and South Sudan.
"But I started a new life, I believe that school helped me a lot. It helped me to interact with young people who faced the same challenges."
The rest of his childhood was spent on the refugee camp where he took an interest in football.
After realising it wasn't the sport for him, he gave running a go during trials set up by the International Olympic Committee - where he raced without shoes.
It made him "believe that if I can work harder by myself, I can achieve", he says.
One of the athletes on the refugee team, Arno Yafunga Botay, also lived at Kakuma after fleeing his home in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2017, when he was six.
Now 15, he will be competing in judo and told BBC Sport Africa he's promised to bring back a gold medal which he'd like to take to the refugee camp.
"I think if I achieve [a] gold medal, I can go there and teach them the value of judo," he said.
As for Biel, he says it's an honour to be chosen as the team's Chef de Mission.
"This is so important for them, to learn from my experience as an athlete and also as a refugee who is coming from a refugee camp," he says.
"So this role means a lot to me and also means a lot to those young athletes who are going to compete."
Competition at Dakar 2026 begins later, with the opening ceremony on Saturday.
Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.
Nigeria's Federal High Court has sacked the leadership of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) party - and also ruled that the nomination of its presidential candidate, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, is invalid.
A statement from the ADC said the ruling was another desperate attempt to cripple the opposition.
Presidential elections are scheduled to take place on 16 January when President Bola Tinubu's main challengers are again expected to be Abubakar and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi.
What is the row about?
Several high-profile politicians joined the ADC in 2025 - disillusioned by the factional infighting in the once powerful Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Among them were Abubakar - who had served as vice-president between 1999 and 2007 when the PDP was in power - and former Senate president David Mark.
As accommodations were made for the line-up of political heavyweights, Mark took over as its interim chairman.
But Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former ADC national deputy chairman, argued before the court that this was not lawful as Mark and others had not been elected at a national convention.
Instead, he said, he himself should have taken over the party's leadership following the resignation of the ADC's former chairman in 2025.
This is not first time the Federal High Court in the capital, Abuja, has ruled on the leadership of the party.
In July, judge Musa Liman said Mark had been chosen in accordance with the country's laws and the party's constitution - in a case brought by another former ADC member.
Abubakar said the latest case raised serious legal concerns: "Why, after that judgment, was another case filed to reopen the same dispute?"
In a statement, the ADC added that Thursday's judgement by Justice Peter Lifu was aimed at stifling the opposition momentum and "was a calculated attempt to weaken the ADC and frustrate" Abubakar's candidacy.
What happens next?
The ADC says it will challenge the ruling at the Court of Appeal.
In a statement on Facebook, Abubakar, 79, said he would contest the election despite the ruling.
"Let me be clear to every Nigerian who has stood with us: I am in this race. I am not going anywhere. We will be on the ballot. No threat, blackmail or court manoeuvre will make me abandon you or the cause we share," he wrote on Friday.
He had previously questioned the timing of the judgment, coming "barely a day after a mammoth crowd turned out in Sokoto [northern Nigeria] to welcome him" as he launched his campaign.
Political parties in Nigeria have increasingly been taking internal issues to court.
But as it stands, the electoral commission has issued its final list of candidates - and Abubakar is on the ticket for the ADC with former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi as his running mate.
Will the latest ruling affect the opposition?
The ADC is seen as the most powerful opposition to President Tinubu. Many influential politicians opposed to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have already defected to the party.
The legal saga could complicate things - it may cause uncertainty for hundreds of ADC candidates as well as raise questions over who has the authority to represent them.
Peter Obi - the other main presidential candidate, who is on the ballot for a second time - said he was shocked by Thursday's high court ruling.
He released a statement on X with the heading: "Do not undermine democracy".
The 65-year-old went on to say: "My concern is that three months before a general election, it is in the public interest to have certainty.
Obi had briefly joined the ADC before leaving earlier this year to join the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) - in part because of the legal challenges within the ADC.
"The sustenance of democracy in Nigeria, in the midst of encroaching military rule in West Africa, should strengthen our resolve to protect opposition politics and not stamp out opposition parties," he said.
The NDC's candidate said that, as president, he would ensure that the existence of opposition parties would be respected.
"This is a time to strengthen our democracy by allowing the opposition to thrive."
Additional reporting by Chris Ewokor in Abuja
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Tanzania's main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, has been found guilty of inciting unrest and sentenced to four years in jail, in a case that has raised concerns about political freedom in the East African country.
A panel of three judges at the High Court in Dar es Salaam acquitted him of the more serious offence of treason, saying prosecutors had failed to prove a key element of that charge.
But they said the 58-year-old, who has been detained since April last year, had encouraged his supporters to disrupt the disputed 2025 general election.
Lissu, who leads the opposition Chadema party, has denied the charges, describing the prosecution as politically motivated.
The court said his campaign slogan "No Reforms, No Election" was sufficient for him to be convicted of the charge of incitement.
"By uttering those words with the intention of disseminating them to the public, the accused incited the public to disrupt the 2025 elections," the court ruled.
Lissu said he had only been charged with treason, not incitement.
"The offence of incitement is one that you, honourable judges, have manufactured. You have created an offence that did not exist, and you have done so on political directives," Lissu told the court.
He added that he would like to apply for bail as this was possible for incitement, unlike treason.
He has leave to appeal at the Court of Appeal - the country's highest court.
But if the four-year sentence is upheld, it would rule him out of the next elections, due in 2030.
Treason is among Tanzania's most serious offences and can carry the death penalty.
Human rights group Amnesty International described his conviction as a "travesty of justice".
"Tundu Lissu should never have been arrested, let alone prosecuted and convicted," said its regional director for East and Southern Africa, Tigere Chagutah:
President Samia Suluhu Hassan won the October 2025 election with 98% of the vote - a result the opposition dismissed the result as a "mockery" of democracy as her two main challengers, including Lissu, were excluded.
Her government has repeatedly denied targeting its opponents.
The Chadema leader was arrested six months before the poll, shortly after launching a campaign demanding changes to the electoral system under the slogan "No Reforms, No Election".
Prosecutors accused him of making statements intended to incite the public to disrupt the election and threaten the government.
They argued that his remarks, which were also circulated online, amounted to treason.
But Lissu, a lawyer who represented himself during the trial, maintained that his comments were part of a legitimate political campaign for constitutional and electoral reform.
He argued that prosecutors had taken his statements out of context and failed to prove that he had committed any crime.
Some of the demands raised by Chadema were:
* Electoral commissioners should be independently appointed (not by the president)
* Police should allow all parties to campaign free of intimidation
* Government-appointed district chiefs should no longer act as returning officers
* Party agents should be able to observe counting without harassment
* It should be possible to challenge presidential election results in court.
During his time in remand custody at Dar es Salaam's Ukonga Prison, Lissu went on hunger strike twice for brief periods when he said he was not allowed access to his lawyers or relatives. He also complained that guards listened to what should have been private consultations his lawyers.
These allegations have been denied by the prison authorities.
His case has attracted international attention, with rights groups expressing concern about the treatment of opposition politicians and the shrinking space for political dissent in Tanzania.
Last year's election was followed by widespread protests and a violent security crackdown that left at least 500 people dead, according to an official inquiry.
Opposition groups have said the death toll was much higher and demanded an independent investigation.
The government has defended its handling of the unrest and rejected accusations of widespread political repression.
Samia, 66, has insisted the election was fair and transparent and blamed foreigners for the unrest, saying it was part of a plot to overthrow her. She has set up another commission to inquiry to identify those behind the violence.
Lissu has long been one of Tanzania's most outspoken critics of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, which, along with its predecessor Tanu, has dominated the country's politics since independence.
He first became an MP in 2010, representing a constituency near his birth place in Singida, 320km (200 miles) north-west of the capital, Dodoma.
In September 2017, the Chadema politician narrowly survived an assassination attempt when gunmen sprayed his vehicle with bullets outside his home in Dodoma.
He was shot multiple times and underwent extensive medical treatment abroad.
The attack, whose perpetrators have never been brought to justice, forced him to spend years in exile.
He returned to contest the 2020 presidential election against the late President John Magufuli, but lost in a vote that the opposition alleged was marred by widespread irregularities.
Lissu subsequently returned to exile before coming back to Tanzania in 2023, following President Samia's decision to lift a ban on opposition political rallies.
His return was initially seen as a sign of renewed political openness after years of restrictions under Magufuli, who died in office in 2021.
But relations between the government and the opposition deteriorated as the country approached the 2025 election.
Lissu became Chadema's national chairman in January 2025 and intensified his demands for electoral reforms.
His conviction is likely to deepen concerns about the state of democracy in Tanzania.
Last week, Amnesty accused the government of continuing its crackdown following the election and "weaponising counterterrorism laws to silence critics and instil fear".
The authorities did not respond to a request for comment.
Correction: An initial version of this story said Lissu had been convicted of inciting treason. We have corrected this to incitement.
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New Zealand voted in a new government as fog choked the capital, Wellington, on Saturday - and the mood was as palpable as the grey weather.
"It's pretty flat," 21-year-old Imogen Vlutger says. "There's this kind of apathy and a bit of dread."
"Tired. I think we're all tired," Symone, 28, admits.
"I didn't even vote," one man in his 40s sheepishly confesses. He couldn't bring himself to tick any of the boxes, he explains, declining to chat further.
"Wellington's a bit of a bubble," another voter says, expressing a caveat I heard often, before describing feeling disillusioned.
But polling shows this is a pervasive sentiment across the country: the national mood is low and faith in politics is even lower.
More than half the country no longer sees it as a land of opportunity, a recent study found, while a similar portion fears that the future looks even worse.
Many Kiwis feel the economy is in ruins, there are no jobs, the cost of living has become sky high, the sense of community that used to be a source of national pride is breaking down and there's no sense of genuine progress on policy solutions.
A record number of them are abandoning ship in search of brighter futures elsewhere.
Saturday's election also saw a record number of voters desert the two major parties, giving neither a clear mandate.
But it brought new highs for parties across the spectrum: the left-leaning Greens, the right-wing libertarian Act Party and the centrist Opportunity Party – the latter of which had never won a seat in parliament before but could now hold the balance of power with seven.
"You have voted to change New Zealand politics for good," the party's ecstatic leader Quilae Wong told Kiwis on election night. "I personally came into this because I was frustrated at the slow pace of change."
It will likely be weeks before we know exactly who will make up the governing coalition and what deals have been made to form it.
But this is only the first of many challenges facing whoever is the next prime minister of a country at a crossroads.
A perfect storm
New Zealand hasn't always felt like this.
For a long time, the country was viewed as a land of milk and honey – literally – for those who worked hard, with its people ranking amongst the most positive in the world.
A satisfying career, access to quality healthcare, and a close network of family and friends – which research suggests are the three most important building blocks of a happy life – were all there for the taking, University of Auckland Prof Robert MacCulloch says.
"The lifestyle was good," the world-leader in the study of happiness economics tells the BBC. "You weren't the highest paid, but you could get by nicely."
Not anymore.
Many who spoke to the BBC said the country's decline accelerated into a dive during the Covid pandemic.
Unemployment is now at an 11-year high and rising. For Kiwis aged under 24, things haven't been this bad in three decades: jobs are so scarce that one in three either cannot get enough work or have none at all.
Michael Dawson says he did everything he thought he was supposed to: finished school, studied a trade and obtained a qualification, and has applied for dozens of jobs.
But it's been a year now and the job market is so dire he hasn't had a single interview.
"It has sucked. A lot... I'm somewhat cynical with the way I think [about the future] now," the 20-year-old says.
Zainab Ali, chief executive of support service Youth Inspire, has never seen demand so high, with waitlists for its employment aid workshops stretching into the hundreds.
The young people who do make it through their doors on the outskirts of Wellington are disheartened.
"The things we used to hear from everyone's grumpy uncle around the Christmas table sometimes, our young people are now starting to give us that same feedback: like, 'What's the point?'"
Meanwhile, household electricity bills have jumped drastically, partly driven by global supply shocks. New Zealand remains one of the least affordable places on Earth to rent or buy a home. High inflation means every dollar is having to stretch further.
The island nation produces enough food to feed its population eight times over, but about a quarter of adults are skipping meals because the price of groceries – set by a supermarket duopoly – is among the highest in the developed world.
And the headlines are full of healthcare crises: long waiting lists, chronic understaffing, crumbling health infrastructure and climbing costs for patients. Few stories have captured the state of the system like the death of a man who collapsed in an emergency department toilet after a nine-hour wait in July.
"There's a segment of the population that are facing real material hardship... and then there's another segment of New Zealanders that are quite anxious that they could be next," political scientist Luke Oldfield, from Victoria University of Wellington, says.
Increasingly polarised public debate – around topics like Māori rights and the Treaty of Waitangi, healthcare for LGBT+ people and immigration – have added to the mental load for many in those communities.
"There's been a few groups feeling like they're being used as a political football," Dr Lara Greaves, who studies Indigenous politics, says.
This perfect storm is driving about 180 people to leave the country every day – a record-breaking exodus that is dividing families, shrinking communities and draining talent pools.
Siblings Sam and Emily tell the BBC that they love New Zealand but find it hard to keep finding reasons to stay. Their friends are leaving en masse and even their parents have considered moving to Australia.
"It's not just that you're being rewarded for going to Australia, it's that you're kind of actively being punished for staying here," Sam says.
There are still large parts of the country that feel differently, though.
At the nation's largest livestock saleyard in the town of Feilding, where farmers from all over the island have gathered, Stu Morton says the last year was the best he's had in his 30-year career.
The agriculture industry - which makes up about 3% of New Zealand's GDP - was struggling under the previous Labour government's emissions reductions scheme, he adds, but has turned a corner under the National Party.
He believes the rest of the economy will follow suit.
"We've been through those times where you're questioning 'Where's the future?'
"What helps is having a stable government... [and] it comes down to a positive attitude - appreciating that what you've got is actually okay."
How did we get here?
Many of these issues affecting New Zealand are global trends - and it's undeniable that Kiwis' standard of living is better than many others.
But these issues are having a corrosive impact on its national identity.
"It leads to a crisis of confidence about what New Zealand is and where it's going," Helen Clark, who was prime minister from 1999 to 2008, tells the BBC.
Her foundation surveys New Zealanders every year about social cohesion, and its most recent report found Kiwis - in particular young people - feel far more isolated than they did a generation ago, attitudes towards multiculturalism are souring and the population is becoming less hopeful.
Faith in institutions and leaders has taken an alarming turn: only two out of five New Zealanders trust the government to do the right thing, while less than half of the country trusts the courts.
"There's a feeling that, really, there's no-one who cares," Clark says.
The transformation former Labour prime minister Jacinda Ardern promised on issues like healthcare and housing when she was elected in 2017 never eventuated. Many other achievements - for example world leading smoking reforms, emissions reduction policies or Māori language initiatives - have been wound back by her successors.
Her legacy is dominated by polarising Covid decisions, as is Chris Hipkins', who was health minister before his eight months in the top job after Ardern's resignation.
The National Party came to power in 2023 promising to "get our country back on track" and rebuild the economy.
"You'd have to say they've had very limited success," political commentator Grant Duncan says. "And the Luxon government can only blame the previous government for so long."
National delivered the education overhaul it pledged, but the biggest moment of their tenure was the massive hikoi – protest march – led by Māori over their coalition partner's unpopular bill to redefine the Treaty of Waitangi. And then came the two leadership challenges Christopher Luxon fought off in the past six months.
There's a sense Labour had too much ambition, much of it costly and unfulfilled, while National doesn't have enough, having spent much of its time and effort wrangling their own flank.
Both governments say their plans for the country were stymied by crises out of their control – such as Covid, the Iran war and US trade antagonism.
But Duncan says that's not cutting it with voters. He's never seen the country quite like this before: "Neither of the parties has been able to field a really strong, inspiring leader. Both of them have a track record of disappointing results."
No matter who ends up taking the top job, Sam says he's not convinced much will change.
"It does just feel stale... a lot of the population probably feels like we could do a bit better," he says. With a wry smile, he adds: "I don't think it helps that they're two white guys named Chris."
One person has died after a helicopter crashed into a river in Indonesia during a mission to fight wildfires in South Kalimantan.
An Indonesian crew member was killed, while two others on board - an Australian and New Zealander - were "found safe" and taken to hospital for treatment, according to Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency.
Investigations into the accident are ongoing, the agency said on Sunday, adding that it could continue its firefighting operations.
For months, parts of Indonesia have been battling wildfires that have shrouded large swathes of South East Asia in toxic haze. The blazes in forests and peatlands are fuelled by a dry season that has been exacerbated by El Niño.
Videos posted by Indonesia's disaster authorities and circulating on social media show the helicopter hovering over the river with a helicopter bucket - a collapsible container typically used to douse water over fires - before it nosedives into the water.
Other videos show rescuers later reaching the partially submerged helicopter by boat.
The fallen chopper, a Super Puma H-225, was owned by a company that disaster authorities had contracted for the firefighting operations, a disaster official told AFP.
The incident comes days after another helicopter crashed in central Kalimantan during a firefighting operation, killing three crew members.
The military said on Saturday that they had managed to retrieve the helicopter's blackbox, which would help their investigations into the cause of the crash.
Despite intensive firefighting efforts, the wildfires in Indonesia this year have been especially difficult to tame due to drought conditions exacerbated by a stronger El Niño.
The raging wildfires sent toxic smog blanketing cities in Indonesia, turning the air amber and triggering a surge in respiratory illnesses in cities across the islands of Kalimantan and Sumatra.
The haze also drifted to neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, where it has triggered public health concerns.
Foreign governments have sent assistance to help with firefighting efforts, including Australia, which has deployed aircraft and 20 personnel including pilots and paramedics.
Millions across India are celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, illuminating homes, temples, offices and streets with oil lamps and colourful lights to symbolise the triumph of light over darkness.
The festival falls on the darkest night of the Hindu lunar month of Kartik, when the moon is not visible in the sky.
Although Diwali traditions vary across India's regions and communities, the festival is widely marked by prayers, family gatherings, the exchange of sweets and the lighting of firecrackers.
But the celebrations come amid growing concerns over air pollution, particularly in northern India.
Seasonal weather conditions and the burning of crop residue contribute to deteriorating air quality, while firecrackers set off during Diwali can make the situation worse.
Air pollution in the Indian capital Delhi has reached such hazardous levels that it is the most polluted Diwali festival in a decade. New measures to improve air quality do not seem to have been successful.
India's financial capital, Mumbai, has also experienced high pollution levels in recent weeks.
In an effort to limit pollution, India's Supreme Court on Monday permitted the manufacture, sale and use of certified "green" firecrackers in Delhi and surrounding areas for a limited period.
These firecrackers are designed to produce 20-30% fewer emissions than conventional fireworks. But critics have questioned how effective they are at reducing pollution and raised concerns that conventional firecrackers could still make their way into the capital from neighbouring states.
Despite the debate over fireworks, Diwali is about much more than firecrackers.
The festival celebrates the return of Lord Ram to Ayodhya after his victory over Ravan, the main antagonist in the Hindu epic Ramayana, and symbolises the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance.
In the days leading up to the festival, families clean and decorate their homes with flowers, colourful lights and traditional oil lamps known as diyas.
The celebrations also bring families and friends together for prayers, elaborate feasts and the exchange of gifts, and lots of traditional Indian sweets.
Colourful patterns known as rangoli are created at entrances to homes, while markets bustle with shoppers buying festive essentials beneath brightly lit decorations.
The celebrations began on 6 November with Dhanteras, when buying gold, silver or new utensils is considered auspicious and believed to bring good fortune.
The second day, known as Chhoti Diwali, or small Diwali, is marked by the lighting of oil lamps and, in some households, setting off firecrackers.
The third day is the main celebration, when families offer evening prayers to Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity, before gathering for festive meals and fireworks.
The fourth day is celebrated differently across India, with family gatherings and New Year festivities in some communities. The fifth and final day, known as Bhai Dooj, celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters.
The festival is also celebrated by Sikhs and Jains along with other important religious observances.
Sikhs mark Bandi Chhor Divas, or Prisoner Release Day, commemorating the release of their sixth guru, Guru Hargobind, from imprisonment at Gwalior Fort in the early 17th Century.
For Jains, Diwali marks the attainment of moksha, or liberation from the cycle of rebirth, by Lord Mahavira, the 24th and last Tirthankara, or spiritual teacher, of the current era.
With Indian communities spread across the world, Diwali is also celebrated internationally, with families and friends coming together for festive gatherings and exchanging gifts.
The festival is considered an auspicious time to make new purchases, which many believe bring prosperity and good fortune. India's stock exchanges even hold a special one-hour trading session for investors who consider buying and selling shares on Diwali favourable. Known as Muhurat trading, it will take place on 8 November this year.
Although rooted in Hindu traditions, Diwali is celebrated by people across different faiths and communities.
A film about the tender love and quiet loneliness of an elderly couple, which took two years to reach cinemas after it was completed, is wowing critics and audiences across India.
The 111-minute Pyre, directed by television journalist-turned-filmmaker Vinod Kapri, also explores the pressing issue of outmigration which has left hundreds of picturesque Himalayan hamlets abandoned and turned them into ghost villages. It further reflects on the impact of climate change, which has made the region's weather increasingly harsh.
On social media, many Indians have shared videos showing audiences leaving theatres with tears in their eyes. Others have posted that they have not been so moved by a film in a long time.
The film's lead actors, ordinary villagers who had never faced a camera before, have also won praise from some of Bollywood's most respected figures, including Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher.
Pyre's protagonists - Padam Singh (played by Kapri's uncle, Padam Singh) and Tulsi (played by Heera Devi) - are Bubu and Aama, local terms for grandfather and grandmother. The couple live in a small home in the mountains of the northern state of Uttarakhand .
It's a place where age is measured against momentous events. Singh was born two years before the outbreak of World War II. Tulsi was born in the year atomic bombs were dropped on Japan.
There are no roads and no electricity. Whenever the couple need help – which is often as Tulsi frequently has to be carried to hospital – Padam Singh uses a traditional long-horn instrument to summon neighbours. In return for their kindness, he pays them with goats.
"There's nothing here – just mountains," as one character puts it. So the young leave in search of greener pastures, and those who depart this beautiful, but blighted, land rarely return.
Kapri says his film remains focused on the "soulful love story of the ageing couple in their last days".
"They have shared a life together for 65 years and, for the last 28 years, they've been waiting for their son, Hariya, who's gone to Mumbai in search of work, to come back," Kapri tells the BBC. "It's a story of companionship, of loneliness and of waiting."
Their wait takes on a new urgency when suddenly, after all these years, a letter arrives from Hariya setting a date for his visit.
As Padam Singh and Tulsi count down the days, the handful of villagers around them leave one by one, until the couple find themselves alone in the vast mountain landscape.
"You and Tulsi should also leave as soon as possible. Otherwise, you won't even have four people to carry your body down the mountain to the funeral pyre when you or Tulsi die," one departing villager advises Padam Singh. "Or die before we leave," he adds in jest.
With no one left to call for help, Padam Singh builds two funeral pyres side by side right outside his door – one for his wife and one for himself.
"How will I carry you down the mountain if you die?" he tells Tulsi when she questions the decision.
Despite the bleak setting and the weight of the topics covered, Pyre is suffused with humour. The central couple are delightful. Like many long-married spouses, they seem to treat bickering as a love language.
Kapri, who is from Uttarakhand, got the idea for the film in 2018 after meeting an 84-year-old man in Munsiyari, a scenic hill town in the state.
"I visited him after seeing his photo in a Facebook post. The wrinkles on his face really fascinated me. His face was unique."
Kapri said he asked him and his wife what their biggest worry was.
"He said, 'My biggest worry is, if I die first, who is going to take care of her?' And she said, 'He doesn't know how to cook. So if I die first, I don't know who is going to cook food for him.' That was so heartwarming for me."
Kapri says he initially tried to make his film with "the real couple", but abandoned the idea after a week of shooting, when it became clear it was not working. He then approached actors Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak - a couple themselves - for the lead roles.
Shah loved the script, Kapri says, but felt that he and Pathak did not belong to the region and would struggle to do justice to the characters.
Kapri finally found his Padam Singh within his own family – his father's younger brother, a retired army soldier who expressed an interest in acting. He found his Tulsi in another village. Heera Devi, an elderly widow, had raised her children through years of farming, cutting grass and tending to her buffalo.
Over the years, Padam Singh and Heera Devi tell the BBC, they have watched stories of ghost villages, of children migrating for work, abandoning the elderly, play out all around them. They say today they are overwhelmed by the attention Pyre has got.
Since 2024, the film has been screened at some of the world's biggest festivals. It has won 18 awards, Kapri says, including three for best feature and 12 audience-choice best film prizes.
Despite its success at festivals, Kapri says, Pyre spent two years without a distributor. Even OTT platforms passed on the film and it finally reached cinemas only when a producer friend of his stepped in to fund a theatrical release.
But, he says, the modest 70-screen release on 30 October sparked favourable word-of-mouth reviews and with the demand for tickets going up, there was an increase in overall screenings too.
Meanwhile, the misgivings that both Padam Singh and Heera Devi say they initially had about stepping in front of the camera and forgetting their lines are gone now.
Heera Devi says she was even concerned about what her children would think - and what would society say?
Today she and Padam Singh are basking in the positive reviews of film critics and the affection of their audiences.
They have met teary-eyed people at multiple screenings - many wanting to touch their feet and hug them, many who said the film reminded them of their own parents and grandparents who are waiting in villages, towns and cities that they had come from.
"We felt immense joy and happiness. We've received so much love and inspiration - something we had never imagined," says Padam Singh.
But the best moment for him came when he met Naseeruddin Shah in Mumbai. "He watched the entire movie and had tears in his eyes. He hugged me. He said, 'Bubu, the role you have performed, I wouldn't be able to pull off even in seven lifetimes.'"
The film's appeal, Heera Devi says, is because "in reality, our village is just like this".
"Across villages in India, the elderly are left alone. No one's children stay at home anymore and it's the same situation for all parents. They keep waiting for their son and daughter-in-law, hoping that their grandchildren would visit and spend a few days with them. The loneliness is simply unbearable."
Padam Singh says he has a message for the younger generation in Uttarakhand and the rest of India.
"I want to tell them they must not abandon their motherland, the land where they were born," he says. "I also appeal to the government to bring education and employment to where people are - so that they don't have to wander away. When that happens, the parents who are being left behind will also be cared for."
Macau has sentenced an ex-lawmaker and pro-democracy campaigner to 12 years and six months' jail in the city's first national security case.
Following a closed-door trial, Au Kam San, 69, was convicted on Friday of "subversion against the political power of the state", among other offences.
His wife Virginia Cheang condemned the ruling, calling the case a "groundless persecution designed to humiliate Au".
Macau was handed back to China in 1999, ending over 400 years of Portuguese administration. Its national security law came into effect in 2009, criminalising acts of treason, secession, and subversion against the Chinese Communist Party.
The law was revised in 2023, broadening its scope to include non-violent acts of secession, and again this year, to allow for trials to be held behind closed doors.
Prosecutors had accused Au of assisting and collaborating with "external hostile organisations" by collecting, preparing and disseminating information that was "manifestly filled with political claims of a subversive nature against the state".
These took place "over a long period of time", the prosecutors claim.
Au was arrested in July 2025 and later charged with three counts of subverting the state's power, three counts of endangering national security by establishing contact with foreign organisations, and one count of breach of confidentiality.
He was found guilty of four of the seven charges following a three-day trial which ended in September. A judge had ordered that the trial be held behind closed doors "to ensure that no prejudice is caused to the interests of national security".
Macau's authorities never publicly disclosed the details of the case. Au's family had earlier told the media Au was not allowed to seek his own legal representation and had instead been assigned a lawyer by the court.
Au's wife Cheang said she hoped authorities would grant her and her family permission to regularly write to and visit Au in prison.
"I dare not hope for more as I believe that will only lead to greater disappointment," she said in an open letter on Friday.
Au, who was formerly a primary school teacher, was elected to the Legislative Assembly in September 2001. For 20 years, he served as one of only a handful of pro-democracy lawmakers in the legislature, largely made up of pro-Beijing loyalists.
Au had co-organised annual vigils in Macau to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing.
These vigils were previously tolerated in places like Macau and Hong Kong, but have effectively been banned in both cities since China imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong in 2020.
Au's jailing comes a day after Hong Kong sentenced Joshua Wong, the face of its now-quashed democracy movement, to 10 years in jail. Wong, 30, whose activism started when he was just a teen, has been in custody for the last six years.
Joshua Wong, once the face of Hong Kong's democracy movement, has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for colluding with foreign forces under the city's sweeping national security law.
Wong is among hundreds of campaigners and ordinary Hongkongers arrested under the law, which was imposed in 2020 following explosive pro-democracy protests against Beijing's growing control.
Critics say the far-reaching law has silenced dissent, but authorities argue that it is needed to maintain stability and deny it has weakened the city's cherished autonomy.
Having already spent the last six years in jail, Wong, who was due to be freed in January, will now spend another decade behind bars.
Wong, who turned 30 last month, has already been imprisoned multiple times for his activism which started when he was in his early teens.
On Thursday, he arrived in court wearing a dark blue long-sleeved shirt, khaki trousers and black-rimmed glasses. He looked slimmer compared to his previous public appearances.
He nodded in greeting towards members of the packed public gallery, and took notes intermittently as the judge read out the reasons for his sentencing.
A crowd had gathered outside the court, with dozens of Hongkongers having queued for hours hoping to get a seat in the public gallery. There was also a heavy police presence.
Wong is already serving time for subversion and was due to be freed early next year when he was handed the latest charges, to which he pleaded guilty in September.
Two months and two days of the 10-year term will be served concurrently with his ongoing sentence, the judge said on Thursday.
Prosecutors said Wong had conspired with other campaigners, including self-exiled activist Nathan Law, to lobby for foreign sanctions and blockades against Beijing.
These activities took place between July and late November 2020, the court heard.
Wong and Law had been co-founders of Demosisto, a now defunct pro-democracy political party.
On Thursday, Hong Kong's chief executive John Lee said Wong and Law were "among the primary culprits responsible for undermining Hong Kong's prosperity and stability".
Their actions "not only severely undermined national sovereignty, security, and development interests, but also directly prejudiced the well-being of the general public and the stability of society," Lee said in a statement issued after the ruling.
Beijing's foreign ministry said China "firmly supports [Hong Kong] in safeguarding national security in accordance with the law". It also called on "relevant parties" to "earnestly respect China's sovereignty and Hong Kong's legal system".
Wong's friend and fellow activist Frances Hui, now based in the US, said she was "heartbroken" and "outraged" by the verdict.
"Today's sentencing is not just about Joshua. It is part of a broader political crackdown that seeks to rewrite a chapter of Hong Kong's history and erase the contributions of an entire generation who believed they could shape the future of their city," she told the BBC.
The UK said the sentencing was "a clear example of how the National Security Law is being used to target individuals for political expression and participation". In a statement shared with the BBC, a UK government spokesperson called for "an immediate end to all unjust prosecutions" of individuals charged under the NSL.
According to the US consulate in Hong Kong, the sentencing showed Beijing "will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate for fundamental freedoms" in the Chinese territory.
Human Rights Watch described the sentence as "cruel and unjust".
"To keep Hong Kong society subdued, and to reduce the chance of an international outcry, the Hong Kong government appears to have adopted the tactic of stacking charges against influential pro-democracy leaders," said its Asia director Elaine Pearson.
The harshest sentence under the controversial national security law (NSL) thus far has been handed to 78-year-old former media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who was jailed for 20 years, also after having been found guilty of colluding with foreign forces.
Who is Joshua Wong?
Born to IT professional Roger and homemaker Grace in October 1996, Wong was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child, which made him struggle with school.
However, he was quick to challenge established rules and norms when they didn't make sense. In secondary school, he rallied with his classmates to protest against the high prices of canteen lunches on Facebook.
In 2011, Wong, then 14, co-founded the pro-democracy student activist group Scholarism, which quickly grew in size and influence.
The following year, the group rallied more than 100,000 people to protest against Hong Kong's plans to implement mandatory "patriotic education" in schools, forcing the authorities to back down.
By 2014, Wong, who was then at the forefront of a civil disobedience movement known as the "Umbrella Movement", had already become one of the most recognisable faces among Hong Kong's pro-democracy activists.
In 2016, he co-founded Demosisto with Nathan Law and Agnes Chow, activists who are now based overseas.
But he often expressed discomfort at being labelled a "protest leader".
"We have a lot of facilitators in this movement and I'm one of them... Instead of having a top-down command, we now have a bottom-up command hub," Wong told The Financial Times in November 2019.
Demosisto disbanded in 2020, the year Beijing introduced the NSL in Hong Kong.
Law left for the UK and continued his advocacy abroad, while Wong stayed on in Hong Kong and tried to run for a seat in its legislature – but was barred, with authorities citing his opposition to the NSL as one of the reasons.
Meanwhile, the court cases against Wong were stacking up.
On 23 November 2020, he pleaded guilty to several charges related to his involvement in protests outside the Hong Kong police headquarters in 2019.
Then came the NSL charges. While still in prison in February 2021, Wong was among 47 people charged with "conspiracy to commit subversion". The group became known as the Hong Kong 47 and remains the largest prosecution so far under the NSL.
Wong was still serving his 56-month sentence for the subversion conviction when he was charged with collusion under the NSL last year.
On 22 November 2020, the day before he pleaded guilty to the protest charges, Wong wrote in a post on Instagram addressed to "the people of Hong Kong": "To be honest, I have never had much faith in Hong Kong's politics, but I have every confidence in the people of Hong Kong.
"Even as political power now poses a comprehensive challenge to the resilience of our civil society, I believe the people of Hong Kong will, as always, find a way to see things through."
Additional reporting by Martin Yip
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Authorities are investigating possible treason in Indonesia after a bombshell announcement this week that President Prabowo Subianto's phone conversations might have been spied on.
Several senior figures of Prabowo's administration have been embroiled in the wiretapping scandal, including his chief of staff Listyo Sigit Prabowo - who is not related to the president despite his name.
It is unfolding against what many have interpreted as a widening rift between Prabowo and his predecessor, Joko Widodo - otherwise know as Jokowi - who had thrown his support behind Prabowo's 2024 presidential campaign.
"Listyo's position, as we know, is actually very close to Jokowi," Made Supriatma, a visiting fellow at Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, told BBC Indonesian.
"So now it's practically said that they're going their separate ways."
What happened?
Listyo Sigit Prabowo, the president's chief of staff, was arrested on Tuesday along with two senior police officers for allegedly wiretapping President Prabowo.
The three men are suspected of keying phone numbers, including Prabowo's, into the police's official electronic surveillance system - which allows authorities to intercept communications - without following proper procedures, such as obtaining an investigation warrant or case report.
Authorities say the operation was discovered last week after a tip-off from a police officer. But they believe the alleged wiretapping stretches back to 2025, when Listyo was serving as the national police chief.
This could amount to treason, as it involved "sensitive information" that could "endanger the interests and sovereignty of the nation", a spokesperson for the president told reporters on Wednesday.
In Indonesia, treason is punishable by life imprisonment or even the death penalty - though the country has not executed anyone in a decade.
The spokesperson said the motive behind the alleged wiretapping remained unclear.
It was not just President Prabowo who was targeted in the alleged wiretapping operation, either. Other targets included politicians, journalists, NGO representatives and businesspeople, authorities said.
On Thursday evening, police named a fourth suspect: Slamet Uliandi, from the national police criminal investigation unit. But he was not detained due to his ill health after suffering a stroke, according to authorities.
Listyo, who was appointed the president's chief of staff last month, was sacked from his new position shortly after his arrest.
This is not the first wiretapping scandal to have involved Indonesia's leaders. In 2014, several wiretapping devices were discovered at Jokowi's official residence when he was the governor of Jakarta. Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri claimed in 2024 that she had avoided using her personal mobile phone number because she was the target of wiretapping.
Indonesia's police chief Suyudi Ario Seto told reporters on Thursday that the probe into wiretapping was "purely law enforcement and has nothing to do with rivalries or anything else".
But many see it as the latest blow in a disintegrating alliance between President Prabowo and former president Jokowi, who led the country from 2014 to 2024.
Prabowo vs Jokowi
Jokowi had thrown his support behind Prabowo in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, as part of an alliance that ultimately propelled Prabowo to become Indonesia's next leader.
Riding to victory with him was Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowi's eldest son, who became Indonesia's vice president.
Two years on, that alliance appears to be fracturing - even if neither party has confirmed the rift.
Since taking the presidency, Prabowo has shown little interest in pushing ahead with Jokowi's legacy project: the construction of Nusantara, a new capital. Instead, he has focused much of the state's resources on his own flagship programme to provide free school meals across the country.
In a series of personnel reshuffles over the past year, Prabowo has also shifted many of Jokowi's allies into new roles, including long-serving finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
Meanwhile, uncertainty also looms over Gibran, Jokowi's son, who is mired in a growing controversy over the validity of his high school credentials, a pre-requisite to run for vice presidency. He now faces calls to be disqualified from his job, on the grounds that he should not have been eligible as a candidate.
The wiretapping scandal and subsequent arrest of Listyo - who rose to the top of the police force in Jokowi's administration, and is seen as one of the ex-president's longtime allies - is now adding to the tensions between Prabowo and Jokowi.
When asked about the wiretapping incident after the court session on Thursday, Jokowi told reporters that "we should all respect the ongoing legal process".
This latest scandal comes during a particularly turbulent period in Prabowo's presidency. His flagship free school meals programme is struggling for funding, parts of Indonesia have recently battled the country's worst wildfires in a decade, and the national stock market faces crisis amid allegations of widespread market manipulation.
Experts, meanwhile, say all this has distracted from the more pressing challenges that Indonesians are facing on the ground - from economic uncertainties to environmental pollution.
In recent months, protesters have taken to the streets to pressure the government on a range of issues such as toxic wildfire haze, corruption, and cost-of-living woes.
"It's like we're living in a country on autopilot," Nicky Fahrizal, a researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Indonesia, told BBC Indonesian.
"Because the way the government operates proves that it's not the people's interests that are being pursued, but rather the interests of individual groups."
There are two cardboard boxes in Meenu Rana's living room in Delhi. One is filled with Diwali decorations and twinkling lights. The other holds air purifiers.
"The mornings have already started feeling stuffy. It will get worse in the coming days, so it's better to be prepared," says the 43-year-old teacher.
She is not alone. Every year, as winter and the festive season approach, residents of India's capital begin preparing for something far less celebratory: months of breathing polluted air.
Delhi and its satellite cities record some of the world's highest pollution levels through the year. But as winter sets in, the air often becomes unbearable.
Falling temperatures and slower winds trap pollutants close to the ground instead of allowing them to disperse. Smoke from crop residue burning in neighbouring states adds to emissions from vehicles and factories, as well as construction dust. Firecrackers used during festivals often worsen air quality.
The result is noxious air and a familiar question: why does pollution return year after year, and why hasn't more been done to tackle it?
This year, however, the Delhi government announced its Winter Action Plan months before the worst of the smog arrived. The plan is in place from 1 November to 28 February, covering the months when pollution usually spikes.
Experts have called this a step in the right direction, noting that in previous years measures were often rolled out only after the air quality got too bad to ignore. However, they say this by itself won't be enough, calling for more holistic, long-lasting measures.
Just days after the plan came into effect, the city is slipping back into a depressingly familiar pattern.
This week, a grey haze hangs over Delhi, along with a distinct smoky smell that residents unwillingly recognise. People complain of irritation in their eyes and difficulty breathing, and coughs and sneezes are heard everywhere.
For those who can afford them, air purifiers have become a household necessity. Outdoors, people wear masks or cover their faces with cloth, trying to protect themselves from the worst of the pollution.
Tackling pollution was among the promises made by the governing Bharatiya Janata Party during its election campaign last year. Its winter action plan is now a major test of that pledge.
The plan restricts the entry of older, more polluting vehicles registered outside Delhi and denies fuel to vehicles without a certificate which shows they meet emission standards. Demolitions and outdoor construction work that generate dust have been temporarily banned.
Private vehicle use is being discouraged - the government has asked offices to allow half of their employees to work from home, introduced staggered office timings for its staff and doubled parking charges. It says it will also strengthen pollution monitoring and enforcement and promote public transport and electric vehicles.
These measures are separate from the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), which is overseen by the federal Commission for Air Quality Management.
Grap introduces restrictions in stages, with stricter measures kicking in as pollution levels rise. This week, its second stage is in force, restricting the use of diesel generators and burning of coal and firewood.
Experts say on paper, these actions collectively provide a roadmap for responding to rising pollution levels but their success ultimately depends on enforcement.
"There are a lot of positive changes as far as planning is concerned, but when it comes to execution, we probably still stand at the same level," says Parthaa Bosu, strategic adviser at the Environmental Defense Fund, a non-profit group focused on delivering climate solutions.
Others argue that the problem goes much deeper.
"If we want to reduce pollution, we need to set targets for every sector - including power generation, industry and transport - not just vehicle entry, construction and stubble burning," says Manoj Kumar, an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
"We know how much each sector and each state contributes to pollution. We can set targets to reduce emissions from each of them over the next five years."
Bosu points out that an issue which does not get enough attention is secondary pollutants - when gases in the air react with sunlight, water vapour and other substances to form harmful particles that contribute to pollution.
"Pollution is not just caused by biomass burning or vehicles," he says. "Dust being stirred up from the ground, coal and fly ash, materials burned at brick kilns and the large-scale burning of urban waste are also contributing to the problem. And much of this is still not being stopped."
Delhi's pollution problem is also affected by what happens outside the city. Pollutants travel into Delhi from neighbouring states and other parts of northern India, worsening the situation, Bosu explains.
This means that measures taken by Delhi can achieve only so much. Tackling the problem requires neighbouring states and the wider northern region to work together, he adds.
In the meantime, pollution is harming people's health every day.
During winter, government monitoring stations in Delhi frequently record Air Quality Index (AQI) readings above 300, classified as "very poor".
On particularly bad days, readings can reach 500, the highest point on India's scale. That does not mean pollution cannot rise further, only that domestic trackers do not record it. International trackers such as Swiss-based IQAir have recorded readings close to 1,000 on some days.
The World Health Organization recommends average PM2.5 levels over 24 hours should not exceed 15 micrograms per cubic metre. In Delhi, levels are often at more than 25 times that limit during pollution season.
Dr Manoj Goel, pulmonology unit head at Fortis Memorial Research Institute near Delhi, says these tiny particles "can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, triggering inflammation and affecting multiple organs".
Even short-term exposure can cause throat irritation, coughing, wheezing and breathlessness. It can also worsen existing heart and lung conditions.
A 2025 report by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago estimated that air pollution could reduce life expectancy in Delhi by up to 8.2 years.
For residents, the challenge is not just limited to breathing. The restrictions also disrupt everyday life.
Delhi is closely connected to its satellite towns, Noida and Gurugram, with thousands of people travelling between them every day for work. Long queues form at the city's borders as vehicles are stopped and checked, leaving commuters stuck in traffic for hours.
While the new rules offer some hope, frustration is growing.
Protests, political arguments and court interventions have become part of the annual cycle. But despite public pressure and government measures, the pollution returns every winter.
Rana keeps her windows closed and curtains drawn, and has added more indoor plants.
The arrival of another winter fills her family with dread, but unlike many others, they are not planning to move out of Delhi.
"I would have left the city long ago had there been an option, but my son has his school, my husband and I have our jobs as well, which makes it practically impossible," she says.
"What option do we have? It is unfair but we will have to live with it."
India's most expensive film - a lavish retelling of the Hindu epic Ramayana, made in two parts for a reported $500m (£370m) - has opened in cinemas worldwide, sparking enormous expectations and mixed reviews.
Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Ramayana: Rise of a Legend is the first of two planned films, a sprawling production that brings together some of India's biggest stars, Hollywood visual-effects expertise and two Oscar-winning composers in an attempt to take one of the country's most revered stories to a global audience.
One of Hinduism's foundational epics, the Ramayana has travelled across centuries and continents, finding expression in poetry, temple sculpture, shadow puppetry, folk theatre and stories passed down through generations. It has outlasted kingdoms and empires, inspired religious devotion and political movements, and found new life, again and again, on TV and in cinema.
Tiwari's version returns to the familiar story of love, duty, exile and war, set in a world of gods and demons, celestial weapons and mighty kingdoms.
Ranbir Kapoor plays Lord Ram, the virtuous prince of Ayodhya. Banished from his kingdom for 14 years, he retreats to the forest with his wife Sita (played by Sai Pallavi), who is kidnapped by Ravana, the 10-headed king of Lanka.
Played by Yash, one of southern India's biggest stars, Ravana is a powerful warrior whose pride leads him into an epic battle with Ram (which will be depicted in part 2, set to release next year).
The film's producer, Namit Malhotra, heads visual-effects company DNEG, which has worked on Hollywood blockbusters including Dune and Interstellar. The music is a collaboration between AR Rahman, the Oscar-winning Indian composer of Slumdog Millionaire, and Hans Zimmer, whose scores for Gladiator, The Dark Knight and Dune have helped define the sound of modern Hollywood.
The film opened days ahead of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights which celebrates Ram's return to Ayodhya after his exile.
But the critical response so far has been mixed.
Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV channel gave it three out of five stars, saying its visual spectacle often overshadowed the story. Its enormous scale, he wrote, "remains, for the most part, the only thing that stands out", while the acting remains "wildly inconsistent".
Rishabh Suri of the Hindustan Times newspaper was more enthusiastic, awarding it four stars.
"I am happy to report, all that money shows on screen," he wrote, praising the performances and visual effects, though he found the first half sluggish and the music underwhelming.
Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express, who gave the film three stars, confessed to initial misgivings about its extravagant scale but found herself gradually won over, calling it the "perfect epic".
There was "enough sorcery and thrills and adventure" to sustain the spectacle, she wrote, and the filmmakers had managed to tell a sprawling story without being swallowed by it.
Internationally, too, the film drew contrasting reactions.
Writing in The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw called it a "thoroughly engaging, rousing and spectacular Indian epic melodrama". He found echoes of Shakespeare in the royal intrigue that sends Rama into exile, and of Homer in his quest to rescue Sita. Its sweeping landscapes and fantastical imagery reminded him of The Lord of the Rings and The Lion King.
"It's a rather amazing adventure," he wrote, giving it four stars.
Others were less impressed. Siddhant Adlakha of IGN scored the film four out of 10, describing its action as "clunky" and its computer-generated imagery as an "eye-sore".
Giovanni Lago of Next Best Picture, who gave it five out of 10, praised Yash's magnetic Ravana and the score by Rahman and Zimmer. But he felt the film's vast narrative might have been better served by a Game of Thrones-style series.
The use of AI to adjust actors' lip movements for the English-language version also drew criticism. While Tiwari said it was intended to make the film more accessible to international audiences, Adlakha likened the result to "exaggerated mouth movements superimposed on still images for comedy sketches".
In India, the film has invited comparisons with earlier adaptations, particularly Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan, which captivated the country nearly four decades ago with simple sets and special effects that now seem quaint.
When the series first aired in 1987, Sunday mornings across India took on an almost devotional stillness.
Streets emptied, shops lowered their shutters and neighbours crowded around TV sets. Some viewers bathed, lit incense and garlanded their screens before the broadcast, preparing for the show much as they might for worship.
Arvind Rajagopal, a media scholar at New York University, told the BBC in 2019 that trains and buses would stop and passengers disembark to watch the show on roadside TVs.
Broadcast on the state-run Doordarshan network, some of the most popular parts of the 78-episode series drew an estimated 80-100 million viewers, astonishing numbers at a time when owning a TV was a luxury in India.
The actors, too, became objects of reverence. Arun Govil, who played Ram, has recalled people weeping at the sight of him and touching his feet. Now, in a casting choice brimming with nostalgia, Govil returns in Tiwari's film as Dasharatha, Ram's father.
Other adaptations found their own ways to reimagine the epic. The 1992 Indo-Japanese animated film Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama brought the tale to life through richly detailed, hand-drawn animation.
Tiwari's Ramayana arrives with technological resources its predecessors could barely have imagined - but also with the expectations of generations who have grown up with the story and its characters.
It also comes at a politically charged moment in India, where Ram has become a powerful symbol of Hindu identity - over the past decade and a half, even popular analyses or retellings of the epic have landed in controversy.
The 2023 film Adipurush, another big-budget retelling of Ramayana, sparked backlash on several fronts.
Hindu groups called for a ban, accusing it of disrespecting religious figures, while some critics questioned its depiction of Ravana, which they said drew on Mughal imagery and reinforced stereotypes about Muslims. The film was also criticised for its dialogue and visual effects.
For the actors portraying these characters in the latest film, that burden was deeply felt.
"I was filled with fear," Kapoor told the BBC Asian Network's Haroon Rashid. "I knew that maybe I'm too old for this. I won't be able to do justice to it."
He called the role "an opportunity of a lifetime", but said playing a figure worshipped by millions left little room for the creative freedom he had enjoyed in other films.
Sai Pallavi, who plays Sita, said the experience was as much spiritual as artistic. Raised in a religious household, she said she approached the part not just as a performance, but as an opportunity for personal growth.
How the film is being received will become clearer soon, as audiences head to cinemas.
But whatever the verdict, it marks a major cultural moment for India, bringing a story loved for generations to the big screen on an unprecedented scale.
A 90-year-old woman who was shot during Australia's Bondi Beach attack last December has died in a Sydney hospital, almost a year after the deadly mass shooting.
Eva Geller was one of dozens who were seriously injured after two gunmen opened fire on a Jewish event in Bondi Beach on 14 December. Fifteen people were killed including a ten-year-old girl.
Rabbi Aron Moss from the Nefesh Synagogue said Geller, who escaped the Holocaust as a child, had remained as "positive, loving, and strong throughout her life, right until the end".
Australian leader Anthony Albanese has expressed his condolences, saying the country would never forget those who "continue to carry the pain" of last year's attacks.
The attack last December was Australia's worst mass shooting in almost three decades and prompted sweeping gun law reforms and a crackdown on hate speech.
One of the gunmen, Sajid Akram, 50, was killed by police at the scene. His son Naveed Akram was arrested and charged with 15 counts of murder, 40 charges of attempted murder and one count of committing a terrorist act. He remains before the courts.
Police have not provided any detail on possible further charges as a result of Geller's death.
On Friday, Rabbi Moss confirmed that Geller - who celebrated her 90th birthday earlier this year - had passed away on Thursday night.
"She escaped the Holocaust as a child, eventually coming to Australia, and built a beautiful family," he said.
Her injuries from the shootings meant regular hospital treatment.
"Ever since being shot at the Bondi attack she'd been in and out of hospital, always wanting to come home. She was told she will never walk again but miraculously and with incredible determination she did walk again," said Rabbi Moss.
Geller had "came to shul (Yiddish for synagogue) this past High Holidays with an incredible show of strength," he added.
New South Wales police said it was aware the woman had died overnight and "are now awaiting further advice and are working with the office of the Coroner".
David Jones, Australia's oldest department store chain, has gone into voluntary administration, putting thousands of jobs at risk.
It comes after years of financial struggles for the 188-year-old retailer - known locally as DJs - as customers desert traditional shops for online shopping.
David Jones's physical and online stores will continue to operate while receivers FTI Consulting review the company, said voluntary administrators McGrathNicol.
"David Jones is an iconic company and so many Australians have stories and memories of visiting DJ's stores," said its CEO Erica Berthold, adding the brand has a "well-developed plan" to "reset the business for the future".
Berthold thanked "customers, our team members and our partners for their continued support of David Jones through this period".
David Jones employs about 6,000 staff and has 38 physical stores, with 17 of those in Westfield shopping centres.
Hours before the board voted to go into administration, Scentre - which owns Westfield - said the retailer had not paid its rent for October and was "therefore in breach" of its tenancy agreement.
"We understand the current retail trading environment, rising costs, a significant and outdated retail footprint, and supply chain challenges have led to this point," said Christopher Hill from receivers FTI Consulting.
By appointing administrators and receivers, David Jones will get "breathing space" and a chance to restructure the business, Hill said.
For many Australians, David Jones - and its trademark black-and-white houndstooth design - represented luxury.
But its collapse signalled the "death knell" for the department store format, said Jana Bowden, who teaches marketing at Macquarie University's Business School.
"It was once the epitome of glamour shopping in Australia - the Aussie version of Harrods," she said, "a place you would go to see and be a part of the glitz and glamour, where you could marvel at all the premium luxury labels, and feel like you'd made it."
Visiting the flagship city stores in Sydney and Melbourne was also a ritual for many Australian families, especially to see the festive Christmas window displays.
"People would travel from hours away from the city just to see those windows and experience the magic," Bowden said, but in recent years, the brand had lost its shine.
"The city stores have retained their upper end airs and graces, but the suburban stores leave a lot to be desired – they're mundane, they lack excitement and there's definitely no glitz," she said.
During Queen Elizabeth II's first visit to Sydney in 1954, the then-27-year-old monarch attended a banquet dinner on the seventh floor of the Elizabeth St store, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
An Italian chef sacked from a Brisbane restaurant had refused to put pineapple on a pizza because it was an "insult to his culture".
Davide Tamburella was fired from the now-closed La Costa restaurant in May, a fortnight after a meeting with management who had a string of complaints about the chef's behaviour.
Among them were Tamburella's refusal to provide ham and pineapple pizza for guests at a function. At the time, the chef had stated that any direction from management "need not be followed when it is offensive to his culture".
The details came to light after the chef went to Australia's Fair Work Commission claiming he had been unfairly dismissed.
In its ruling released on Tuesday, the commission noted that Tamburella's refusal to put pineapple on the pizzas was because "he considers, as an Italian, that putting pineapple on a pizza is an insult to his culture".
It also noted that it was the third time Tamburella had refused to use the fruit on pizzas in the past four years.
He had previously requested his boss to "check how important it is for Italians not to put pineapple on a pizza".
The state of Queensland, where the restaurant is located, is considered Australia's pineapple heartland and produces all of the country's commercially-grown pineapples.
On the Sunshine Coast, visitors regularly stop to take photos next to The Big Pineapple, a heritage-listed 16m-tall fibreglass model of the fruit, which has become a local landmark.
Other concerns were raised about Tamburella using foul language, his communication style and "escalation of frustration in the workplace".
The ruling also detailed an incident at work in April this year where Tamburella fractured bones in his right hand when he struck a metal hand rail.
Tamburella had been hoping the restaurant would sponsor a visa for him that allows skilled workers to be permanent residents.
However after his sacking, the restaurant ended that process, the tribunal heard.
He lost his unfair dismissal claim on the grounds that the application had been filed too late, according to the ruling.
The restaurant's managing director, Elliot Ingram, told the Daily Mail there was "more to this story than a pizza topping".
The BBC has approached Tamburella for comment.
On the chef's LinkedIn profile, he describes himself as someone who, throughout his career, has focused on "delivering exceptional food" and "improving business performance".
Three months ago he posted a "letter for chefs" with the theme "respecting the ingredients".
The LinkedIn profile states he now works at another Brisbane restaurant. A BBC check has found that pineapple is not on its menu.
Australia's rush to put in place a landmark social media ban for children led to "ill thought out" reforms which have robbed them of their right to free communication, the country's top court has been told.
In a major test for the world-leading policy, online forum Reddit and a digital rights group argued at a hearing on Tuesday that the law should be struck down as it is unconstitutional.
Introduced last December, the ban is among a number of online safety reforms the Australian government has spearheaded in recent years.
Supporters say it protects children from harmful content, but critics say it is too blunt an instrument and efforts should focus on improving online safety.
Speaking outside the High Court in Canberra, Communications Minister Anika Wells said the question of what society is willing to accept from tech platforms is "the most compelling policy question of our time".
"We are here to defend a fundamental tenet of Australian democracy, which is an Australian's right, and particularly an Australian child's right, to be free from harm," Wells said.
"We seek to defend that from sustained ideological attack."
The constitutional challenge was filed by the Digital Freedom Project a few weeks before the ban started on 10 December last year. The group is led by New South Wales parliamentarian John Ruddick, who told reporters outside the court the policy amounted to "censorship".
Two teens who originally spearheaded the case, Noah Jones and Macy Neyland, have since withdrawn as plaintiffs. The teens have yet to publicly state their reasons for doing so.
But Jones told media outside the court that children deserved to have their voices heard.
"If the children aren't collaborating and sharing their own views, then they're just spectators in their own world," he said, according to Nine newspapers.
Reddit also launched a High Court challenge to the ban, arguing the policy has serious implications for privacy and political rights.
The company said it shared Australia's goal of protecting young people online "but there are better and more effective ways" than a ban.
"As we challenge this law in court, we'll continue to comply with it and advocate for more effective youth safety measures," said Reddit's chief communications officer Adam Collins.
Inside the courtroom, the company's lawyer Perry Herzfeld argued the law breached the freedom of political expression implied in Australia's constitution by restricting children from the most important means of communication in the modern world.
He said the ban was "ill thought out" and contradicted the advice of Australia's online safety tsar, and was rushed through without true public consultation - pointing out they had only 24 hours to make submissions about the law.
Meanwhile government lawyer Joanna Davidson SC, began outlining for the full bench of the High Court why the government believed social media harmed children. She will continue presenting her case on Wednesday.
Under the ban, ten platforms - Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, Snapchat, X, Kick, Threads and Twitch - must take "reasonable steps" to ensure no one under 16 years old can access its site.
Platforms risk fines of up to A$99m (US$70m, £52m) for serious or repeated breaches, but since the ban started, no company has been fined.
The eSafety Commissioner - the body tasked with enforcing the ban - has launched several investigations into alleged non-compliance by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.
WhatsApp and online gaming sites like Roblox and Discord were not included in the ban, nor were educational platforms like YouTube Kids and Google Classroom.
In the first few days of the ban, Meta - which owns three of the banned platforms - said it had closed about half a million accounts.
Some children said they were booted off their accounts in the days before and when the ban started - but many have said they were able to easily circumvent the age checks which included uploading credit card details, photo IDs or a selfie.
An Australian athlete has admitted making the wrong decision and putting others at risk by continuing to race after soiling herself during an endurance sports event.
Speaking exclusively to the BBC ahead of her return to the sport, Joanna Wietrzyk suggested her determination to win the Hyrox race in Beijing in September had clouded her judgement: "It was my decision to continue racing so I take full responsibility for that."
Challenged over why she carried on, she said: "I didn't really think about those around me… the decision that I made in hindsight was the wrong decision and I'm truly sorry for everyone that I did affect."
The 24-year-old said that the experience and subsequent backlash was "traumatic". She also said she had considered walking away from the sport, in which she holds a world record.
Hyrox sees participants alternate between running a kilometre and doing fitness exercises, including a sled push, burpee jumps, indoor rowing, and lunges while carrying a sandbag.
The competition has exploded in popularity since it was founded in 2017 in Hamburg, in northern Germany, and is now held across the world.
Roughly halfway through her event last month, Wietrzyk suffered a bout of diarrhoea. Images of faecal matter on parts of her body were then shared widely online.
Asked whether officials should have stopped her, she said no-one encouraged her to do so at the time.
Hyrox's co-founder, Moritz Fürste, has issued an apology saying it had been a mistake not to react immediately during the race.
New rules have now been introduced giving race directors the power to remove athletes if their vomit, urine or faeces pose a risk of contamination or threaten the welfare of themselves or others in a race that is primarily held indoors using shared equipment.
Although initially defiant in a now-deleted Instagram post, Wietrzyk apologised in the week after the Beijing event and said she would forfeit the win and retroactively withdraw from the race.
Due to compete in Hamburg on Friday, she said she was "nervous" about her return and hoped that the high-profile incident would not define her.
"I don't want it to become my identity," she said.
In her first interview since Beijing, Wietrzyk said she had suffered a bacterial infection from food poisoning but had gone into the race "feeling fresh, feeling really, really good".
"It was a very sudden experience," she told the BBC.
"It wasn't until about halfway through the race where everything did transpire... In that moment, right then and there, as a very competitive person… and an elite athlete that I am, my only focus is on racing.
"Obviously I did put other people at risk," she admitted.
Hyrox China has since reportedly refunded some competitors their entry fees.
Wietrzyk also said she regretted an initial social media post published after the race which included the words "Go hard or go home" and "a win is a win". She said she had been in "flight or fight mode" as she sought hospital treatment.
"I didn't really account for what the public would have seen that situation as."
Challenged over whether her apology could be seen as an effort at damage limitation, or too late, she said that she hadn't expected so much exposure from the incident.
"I needed those days to reflect on it and process it."
Speaking about the mentality of elite athletes, she said: "They're so hyper-vigilant on winning and doing the best that they can, putting their training to good use and showcasing their fitness to the world."
After reflecting over the past weeks, she said: "There is more to life… than just racing and just winning."
After Wietrzyk's identity was shared online, Hyrox said anyone sending abuse or threats to the athlete would be banned from future events.
Speaking about the comments and photo shares online Joanna Wietrzyk said there had both been support, to make sure she was OK, but that it had also shown social media can be a very "toxic place".
Wietrzyk told the BBC that it had been a "mentally and emotionally taxing period" and she had not expected the global scrutiny, saying her family had also received threats.
"[It] was very eye-opening for me to see the effect of social media nowadays, especially from someone who's 24, just out there racing.
"Yes, I did make the wrong decision but I don't believe I should have received such backlash and such scrutiny online… At the end of the day I'm only human."
Wietrzyk said had been trying to stay offline and had sought to "isolate herself from the world" for a time: "I can't do that forever."
"I still have so much more I can achieve in this sport so I think, for me, my mental resilience is the key here where I can inspire others through what I've been through."
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Former Neighbours actors and crew have raised concerns about plans to use AI to help re-edit old footage and make mini episodes for mobile phone viewers.
Fremantle, producer of the now-defunct Australian TV soap opera, has partnered with US-based RoseBerry Media for the project that will use AI to "scan decades of episodes" to help make short vertical videos.
Footage of Margot Robbie, who played Donna Freedman from 2008 to 2011, will be the initial focus of the micro-drama.
Both companies say the move will bring the show - which aired its final episode last year - to new audiences. But some actors and crew say they have not consented to their images, voice or work to be re-purposed.
Robbie has yet to respond publicly. The BBC has contacted her agency for comment.
In a statement, the companies behind the project said the AI-assisted technology will "scan decades of episodes to map character arcs, storylines and standout moments, helping editors quickly identify the strongest material".
The micro-drama episodes will use "original, previously broadcast footage, dialogue and performances", according to Fremantle spokesman.
"It does not generate new scenes or performances, alter actors' faces or likenesses, or use synthetic voices," he said, adding that a human editor would be "reviewing and approving every stage of the editing process".
The mini episodes will likely feature Matt Werkmeister, 34, who joined the set of Neighbours in 2005 when he was 13 years old. He played a regular character, Zeke Kinski and shared many scenes with Robbie's character.
Now a Melbourne-based producer and director, Werkmeister says he hasn't been approached by the companies behind the micro-drama and is concerned what the episodes will feature.
"If they're creating a new micro-drama out of something that already exists, I feel there needs to be consent for using our image and voice as well as the writers," he said.
Robbie is "obviously a big draw card" and "it's nice to watch old clips from shows you used to watch," Werkmeister said, but when he signed his contract two decades ago, "streaming didn't even exist as a platform" so he's unsure of what his rights are.
That uncertainty is also at the forefront of Sam Clark's mind. He played Ringo Brown on Neighbours from 2006 to 2010, a character who later marries Robbie's fictional character.
Speaking from Los Angeles, Clark – now working as a producer and voice actor - said he hadn't heard about the micro-drama until a friend sent him an article.
"I don't have a negative view of the work that we did all those years ago getting a second life as long as it's not being manipulated into new storylines," Clark, 39, said.
"AI and social media obviously wasn't a thing when I signed my contract 20 years ago so I'm still trying to understand exactly what those parameters are."
Sound recordist Bruce Findlay, 68, has worked in the TV industry for close to five decades and Neighbours has a "special place" in his heart, having worked on the show from episode one.
Using AI to help make short episodes from old footage was "like cutting up a Picasso and rebuilding it".
"We worked so hard to get this product out… and now they're chopping it up into little tiny pieces, throwing it up in the air and putting it back together again using AI - it belittles the process".
Guy Hameiri, head of RoseBerry Media, said the project is the first time the company will use its in-house AI tool to sift through Neighbours footage - there are more than 9,300 episodes - to make "premium vertical television".
The project will "reimagine" the material, giving it "new audiences, new relevance and new value," he said.
The head of Fremantle's commercial and international arm, Jens Richter, has called the project "an exciting example of how technology and creative thinking can unlock new value" from their catalogue.
It's understood that Fremantle is in discussions with two unions on the issue and that residuals - ongoing payments for actors and writers when their work is re-aired or syndicated - will be paid, but this does not apply to crew.
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, one of the unions, confirmed the talks.
"Workers should be consulted before their likeness or expertise is used in a way they could never had envisioned when they signed contracts decades ago," said MEAA's acting CEO Adam Portelli.
Rio Tinto is ploughing millions of dollars into stopping the poisonous cane toad reaching the Pilbara region of western Australia, where the mining giant has a vast iron ore operation.
The firm, alongside Curtin University in Perth and others, will spend A$28m (£14.5m) building a "toad containment zone" to prevent the pest travelling south.
While the cane toad is not a direct threat to Rio Tinto's business, it produces toxins lethal to native wildlife and poses a threat to Pilbara's ecosystem.
Rio Tinto has previously faced criticism for destroying two sacred Aboriginal rock shelters in Pilbara which sat above tonnes of iron ore.
The decision cost the former chief executive his job, provoked a widespread backlash and saw Rio Tinto commit to rebuilding trust with Indigenous communities.
Commenting on the proposed containment zone, Roberta Hunter, a ranger in Australia's Nyangumarta Warrarn Indigenous Protected Area, said: "Cane toads destroy the water and animals.
"When toads come close to our country, we want to be there to stop them because we don't want the country to be destroyed."
The plan is to cut off the toad's water supply by building a barrier across 7,500 sq km (2,895 sq m) of land between the Great Sandy Desert and the Indian Ocean.
In drier months, the cane toad needs water every few days to survive.
If there are no natural water sources, the toad relies on artificial water points normally used for cattle and irrigation.
The funding will be used to stop the toad accessing dams, storage tanks or other ground-level water sources. The five-year project will begin in 2027.
A number of native species are at risk if the toad gets into Pilbara. These include the northern quoll, whose numbers have been decreasing, the goanna lizard and the ghost bat.
The toads were introduced into Australia in 1935 to control beetles within the sugar cane industry.
Since then, they have been on a slow march west across the country's northern landscape, according to the Australian government, travelling between 40 km and 60 km a year.
There are no predators or diseases that control the toads, which defend themselves using poison.
Ben Phillips, a professor at Curtin University, said the toads would reach Pilbara within two decades without action.
He said: "The toad containment zone is a once in a lifetime opportunity to stop one of the world's worst invasive species in its tracks and protect the region's unique wildlife."
Perched on a ridge high up in the spectacular scenery of the German Alps lie the burned-out ruins of a mountain house called The Eagle's Nest, which is now at the heart of an intense debate about Germany's Nazi past.
Known in German as Kehlsteinhaus, the retreat was built by the Nazis in 1938, and frequented by Adolf Hitler and other high-ranking Nazis and their guests. After World War Two it was classified as a historical monument recalling the Nazi era.
Last month it was gutted by fire in a suspected arson attack, and some believe it should be completely destroyed, the site returned to nature and all memory of its Nazi past forgotten.
But others want it either partially or completely rebuilt, wary of the risk of turning it into a site for Neo-Nazi pilgrimage at a time when Germany is witnessing the resurgence of the far-right.
Germany has an "everlasting responsibility to communicate, to deal with our Nazi past", said Isabel Heinemann, professor of contemporary history at Munich's Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU).
But rebuilding the site completely, she warned, would mean putting "highly ideologised or highly ideological architecture" back in place.
Before it was burned down during the evening of 23 October, the Eagle's Nest had been a popular tourist attraction, owned by the state of Bavaria and operating for many years as a restaurant.
Visitors would take a bus and then ride the original brass and mirror-panelled lift through the mountain to the Kehlsteinhaus to savour the magnificent views above the town of Berchtesgaden.
Once there, they could eat sausages in the beer garden on the Obersalzberg at 1,834m (6,017ft) above sea level, overlooking the Alps.
Unlike Hitler's nearby summer residence, the Berghof, which was bombed in World War Two and demolished in 1952, the Eagle's Nest survived the war.
Tens of thousands of tourists visited each season, providing an important source of income to the region.
In the 1990s, amid concerns that the site did not do enough to confront the crimes of the Nazi past, a museum, the Obersalzberg Documentation Centre, was opened close by.
Around 15 years ago, a photo exhibit was opened in the Kehlsteinhaus about its history.
Although the Eagle's Nest itself was "largely destroyed" by the fire, according to police, the documentation centre survived unscathed.
The authorities have not commented on a possible motive, but a 33-year-old man with a history of mental illness has been detained in a secure psychiatric hospital on suspicion of arson.
Some feel this is the moment to allow the site to fade into history.
"It's been torched now. It's been destroyed. I think they should just clear away the rubble and leave the mountain as it should be in its natural state," said Prof Sir Richard J. Evans, a specialist in Nazi Germany at the University of Cambridge.
That has happened with "quite a few other Nazi sites", he argued, including the bunker in Berlin where Hitler killed himself: "The bunker was filled in with concrete and a children's playground put on the top of it on the ground."
The Kehlsteinhaus was just "a Nazi vanity project" since romanticised by the name Eagle's Nest, he said.
But Bavaria's authorities take a different view about the site's future.
Both the state's interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, and its minister for the arts, Markus Blume, have spoken out in favour of rebuilding the Kehlsteinhaus.
"We can hardly leave a ruin standing there," Herrmann said.
Sven Keller, head of the Obersalzberg Documentation Centre, believes it is important not to leave the site in ruins, as that could encourage Neo-Nazi pilgrims, who would be able to hike up there completely undisturbed.
"We have quite some experience at Obersalzberg with what happens if we clear those sites. Hitler's Berghof was demolished in the 1950s, and in our experience, this does not remove such sites from the mental maps of people," he told the BBC's Today programme.
Nor does he believe "a one-on-one reconstruction" of the site is possible, and Blume has made clear on Bavarian radio that "it should not and must not cost the taxpayer anything".
Herrmann said they would look for a sensible solution in consultation with historians, given the historically complex circumstances surrounding the building.
Heinemann, who also heads the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History, believes full-scale reconstruction should be "out of the question".
"I rather think we can document the state left by the fire and also document the historical remains of the Kehlsteinhaus, and then reconstruct parts in a modern design, to make clear the different layers of time that can be seen in this building," she told the BBC.
Germany and Austria have long struggled to deal with the fraught legacy of buildings and sites connected to the Nazi era.
With the recent rise of the far-right AfD and the Austrian Freedom Party, the debate over Erinnerungskultur (Culture of Remembrance) has taken on a new urgency.
A row broke out recently in Germany when AfD and conservative CDU councillors in a town in Saxony decided to ban "stumbling stones" memorials - embedded small brass plaques in the streets - to victims of the Nazis.
In Austria over the summer, a police station was opened in the house where Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn. It followed years of controversy about how the house should be used.
The Austrian government said the police presence would help prevent neo-Nazi pilgrims.
But others had wanted the house to become a centre of responsibility, actively confronting the Nazi past.
As one resident of Braunau am Inn told me, it was a delicate balance between how much to remember and how much to forget.
Overnight drone and ballistic missile attacks damaged Ukrainian energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyhas said, causing blackouts and disrupting water supplies.
Zelensky said 12 Ukrainian regions came under attack with the capital Kyiv hit hardest.
Nine people are reported to have been hurt across the country, including one child, in the wave of attacks that consisted of more than 30 ballistic missiles and over 170 drones.
The attacks come before Ukrainian and Russian delegations are due to take part in trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi next week.
Zelensky wrote on Telegram that Moscow was preparing for the talks by launching attacks on Ukraine's "critical infrastructure".
Temperatures are dropping in Ukraine, and parts of the country have had the first winter snow.
"The situation in the capital is difficult, with disruptions to electricity, water, and heating supplies. Residential buildings, the North Bridge, and a kindergarten have been damaged," Zelensky said.
"In the Kyiv region, there were strikes on substations that connect the Rivne and Khmelnytsky nuclear power plants to Kyiv and central Ukraine."
In his latest update, Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the city's water supply system is back to operating normally. He also said around 60% of the city's apartment buildings were connected to the heating system.
The energy minister, Denys Shmyhal, said there were power cuts in five regions but did not say how many homes were affected.
Zelensky added that beyond Kyiv, substations were damaged in Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Kharkiv and Dnipro regions.
The latest attacks come after US First Lady Melania Trump hosted Russian and Ukrainian delegations at the White House on Thursday.
She called for a "more enduring" ceasefire in Ukraine following a truce last week in the southern region of Kherson.
She thanked both Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, making no reference to the origins of the war, which began when Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which has caused thousands of civilian casualties and the displacement of millions.
Hundreds of residents of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky facing starvation and constant bombardment were able to evacuate during a six-day ceasefire, which both Moscow and Kyiv credited Trump with brokering.
"The lives of innocent people must transcend the division of war. I hope Oleshky inspires greater peace," she said.
Earlier this week, a number of people were killed when glide bombs hit an aid centre near Zaporizhzhia, with the death toll rising to 55 as teams search deeper into the ruins.
Zelensky added in his Telegram post on Saturday following the latest attacks that Ukraine was counting on increased bilateral support from the United States.
He wrote: "We are counting on unity between both parties on issues of security, support for Ukraine, condemnation of Russian aggression, and increased sanctions pressure on Putin.
"The resolve and consistency of the United States in supporting Ukraine are of great importance in bringing peace closer."
Meanwhile, Zelenksy's spokesperson would not be drawn on reports that the Ukrainian president is to be invited to the UK for a state visit next year.
Additional reporting by Daniel Wittenberg
One of two surgeons who treated victims on the streets in the aftermath of a mass shooting in Krakow, Poland said his colleague "undoubtedly" saved the life of a gravely injured police officer.
The pair were eating near the city's Main Market Square on Saturday when a gunman began firing at random, killing six people and injuring 15.
The doctors raced to treat both the attacker and two officers shot while subduing the perpetrator.
On Sunday, the officers - both hailed as "true heroes" by the prime minister for preventing further deaths - emerged from comas.
Prosecutors launched a terror investigation after ministers previously said the 24-year-old Polish attacker - who remains in a critical condition - was apparently inspired by "far-right ideologies".
A British national and Austrian woman were among those killed alongside four Poles.
Professor Michal Pędziwiatr was having lunch with a colleague, named by local media as Dr Mateusz Wierdak, and their families in central Krakow when they heard gunshots.
Pędziwiatr told the BBC: "We saw the shooting attack. And what a surgeon can do in a situation like this?... We decided to help the victims as soon as possible.
"We rushed into the area where the shooting was and started our rescue, because there were no ambulances available, there were no professionals around."
He said his colleague used his hand to stem the bleeding from the most injured policeman, allowing them to wait for an ambulance which transferred the officer to hospital.
Pędziwiatr said they came to learn that one of those they treated was the apparent attacker.
"As a doctor... it doesn't matter to me if it's a victim or a suspect," he said.
"It's not our task to decide what to do with this guy... for us, it was another heavily injured victim, that's all."
According to local media, Wierdak is a renowned surgeon in Krakow. The University Hospital in Krakow states Pędziwiatr is head of General, Oncological, Metabolic and Emergency Surgery.
The police officers have been identified as senior constables Jakub Kulik and Artur Morański.
The attacker has not yet been named by authorities.
When his house was searched after the attack in central Krakow, the bodies of his parents and sister were found.
The National Public Prosecutor's Office in Poland launched an investigation into the attack with a unit specialising in "terrorist offences" taking the lead.
Separately, reports emerged that six Dublin Civil Defence volunteers also assisted in the aftermath of the shooting.
James McConnell, an officer, told RTE News the group were on a city break and were close to the main square when the shooting happened.
The volunteers who are trained to provide medical care immediately sought to help injured people, providing "CPR and haemorrhage control".
Witnesses who were close to the attack described panic and confusion around the square as it unfolded.
Ruby Catherine Warren, from London, heard gunfire and "yelled at my friends to run and we all sprinted for our lives".
Not knowing where the gunman was - or if there was more than one - they "just kept sprinting", eventually finding a hotel to hide inside.
Tom Brook, from West Yorkshire, was inside a McDonald's near the square when he heard "multiple gunshots and saw people running for cover".
"I then walked into the square and saw paramedics working on someone outside [a shop] and there was a dead body covered in foil blankets 20 meters away," he said.
The suspect wore full military tactical gear during the attack and was described as having a military-grade weapon - but the government said he was not a member of the Polish armed forces.
Poland's Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said "everything suggests" the suspect was "fascinated by far-right ideologies" and held ultra-nationalist views.
The rampage began shortly before 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on Saturday in the historic centre of Krakow.
Footage showed the attacker's vehicle speeding through the centre of the city, and people fleeing as the sound of gunfire rang out.
The glass fronts of shops were shattered by bullets and a tram was shot at during the attack, which police say lasted for around three minutes.
The mayor of Krakow said he had submitted an urgent request for the two officers injured while stopping the attacker to be awarded titles of honorary citizens of the city.
Main Market Square reopened on Sunday evening after a security cordon was lifted.
At least six people were killed and more than a dozen others injured when a gunman suspected to have ties to the far-right opened fire in central Krakow, the second largest city in Poland.
Three bodies were found at his home when it was searched by police. Here is everything we know so far.
How did the attack unfold?
The attack began shortly before 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT) in Krakow's Main Market Square, the bustling central point of the city which is popular with tourists.
Police said a man drove into the square before beginning to fire "at random people from his car".
Footage shows scenes of panic as people fled, with the sound of gunfire clearly heard.
A passing tram was shot at during the apparently random attack, shattering windows but no passengers were injured.
Armed officers raced to the scene and engaged in a gunfight with the suspect, who was shot within three minutes of the attack beginning, preventing a further massacre, officials said.
A 25-year-old man who was arrested remains in hospital after having surgery for a gunshot wound. The Krakow branch of the National Public Prosecutor's Office in Poland has announced an investigation into what constitutes "a terrorist offence".
Distressing footage authenticated by BBC Verify shows the moment a police officer confronts the suspect on the ground before firing his weapon several times.
The officer then falls to the ground, apparently having been injured himself.
Shop windows in the square have signs of damage, seemingly from bullets, with glass shards scattered along the floor.
City officials have urged people who live in the city and tourists to stay away from the area while an investigation continues.
The suspect's car, found at the intersection of Dietla and Stradomska streets, was checked for possible explosive devices, police said, but none were found. Residents of nearby buildings had been evacuated while the operation was under way.
How many people have died and been injured?
Six people - four women and two men - are confirmed to have been killed in central Krakow. Four victims are Polish, while a British national and an Austrian woman were also killed.
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said three bodies - two women and one man - were found at the gunman's house when it was searched after the attack.
On Sunday, Polish police confirmed those three victims had been identified as the alleged gunman's 53-year-old father, 52-year-old mother and his sister, who was 21-years-old.
Sixteen people, including five foreigners, two police officers and the attacker, were taken to hospital. The interior ministry later said they were from Austria, Britain, Germany, Portugal and Russia.
Tusk later named the injured officers as Senior Constable Jakub Kulik and Senior Constable Artur Morański.
One of the police officers was described as being in a "very critical condition" by a Polish government minister after being shot three times while arresting the attacker. The officer is undergoing surgery, he added.
In an update on Sunday, police spokesperson Katarzyna Cislo told Radio Krakow two women who were sent to hospital following the incident had been released and the remaining individuals in Krakow's hospitals are in a stable condition.
She said this included the two police officers who were injured.
Polish authorities have not confirmed the names and ages of the other victims.
What do we know about the suspect and motive?
Police have identified the attacker as a 25-year-old Polish man but have not confirmed his name.
Local governor Krzysztof Jan Klęczar said the gunman remains in a critical condition at hospital.
The suspect was wearing "military-style attire" and had a military-grade weapon, according to a police spokesperson. However, authorities said he was not a soldier.
"Many pieces of weapons and ammunition were found in his vehicle", the spokesperson added.
Polish media has reported the suspect had a firearms permit and may have obtained the weapons from his family home.
A minister has said early investigations indicate he was inspired by "far-right ideologies". The minister also described him as an "ultra-nationalist" without giving further details.
His home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, a city around 200km (125 miles) from Krakow, has been searched with support from counter-terrorism police.
How did witnesses describe the attack?
The shooting happened in one of the largest medieval squares in Europe, a busy location which is also a popular tourist destination.
Jonathan Balshaw from Ipswich was there with his Polish girlfriend Dominika. The couple were outside St Mary's Basilica, in the corner of the square, when the shooting started.
Jonathan said: "We ran down the side of the church and through the side door and hid with several other people until the gunfire died down.
"A lot of shots were fired, more than 20 with it sounding like multiple different firearms - there were two distinctly different noises."
Caitlin Shasby from Newcastle arrived in Krakow yesterday with her friend Jon for a long weekend.
She said they heard shots from their hotel room but were not sure what was happening until their hotel rang them and told them to "stay in our rooms until further notice".
Local media outlet Gazeta Krakowska reported two surgeons rushed to help after the shooting stopped.
Dr Mateusz Wierdak and Prof Michał Pędziwiatr spoke to the media outlet saying they helped the wounded after having lunch with their families.
Pędziwiatr says two police officers "were conscious, in superficial contact with gunshot wounds to the chest", adding: "The perpetrator was also conscious, expressed pain, and had gunshot wounds to the abdomen, thigh, and chest."
"We don't feel like heroes, but we did everything a paramedic would do at the scene of such an incident."
What has the reaction been in Poland and internationally?
After travelling to Krakow, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said : "Until now in Poland we haven't had such drastic cases of terrorism...that's what we have to call this cruel attack on people's lives here in Krakow."
Krakow Mayor Łukasz Gibała has signed an order declaring a period of mourning in the city which will last until Wednesday, 11 November.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: "I'm shocked and saddened by the appalling shooting in Kraków today."
"My thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives, everyone injured and all those affected by this senseless violence. The United Kingdom stands in solidarity with the people of Poland," he added.
British foreign secretary Ed Miliband said on social media the UK government "deeply mourns" those who died in the "appalling attack".
US ambassador to Poland Tom Rose described it as a "savage and murderous attack".
The EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said the shooting was "a tragedy that will be felt far beyond Poland".
President Volodymyr Zelensky of neighbouring Ukraine called the shooting "shocking."
"On behalf of the Ukrainian people, and personally, I extend my sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims," he wrote on social media.
Additional reporting by Olivia Ireland
European airlines have again been hit with a new wave of bomb threats - in the third such incident this week.
On Friday multiple flights to and from Lisbon, Rome, Prague and Sofia were targeted and the threats saw three planes escorted by Hungarian fighter jets, authorities said.
It also saw a number of high-profile media organisations, including Ireland's public broadcaster RTÉ, evacuated after threats were made against them - although there has been no concrete links between the messages against airlines and the broadcasters.
The disruption comes after nearly 30 aircraft and several airports across Europe were impacted by threats earlier this week, in what the UK called a "malicious hoax".
A Ryanair flight scheduled to leave Lisbon for Rome on Friday was targeted with a threat, the airline said, while at least 11 flights were targeted in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, according to AFP.
France also reported at least four of its flights were targeted by threats, however they all landed safely.
No explosives have been found on any planes as of Friday.
As airlines were dealing with this latest wave of threats, several media outlets, including RTÉ, were evacuated after similar warnings were made against them.
Staff at the Irish Independent newspaper and the Dublin offices of radio stations NewstalkFM and TodayFM, were also advised to leave their buildings and UK broadcaster Sky said it also received a security threat.
In a statement, gardaí (Irish police) said they were "aware of a threat made against media organisations here and in Europe".
While no link has been established between the threats against airlines and media outlets, the Irish government has warned it is a "likely coordinated campaign of disruption".
In a statement, it said: "Hoax threats such as these cause fear, distress and disruption to people going about their daily lives and activities; they achieve no positive purpose whatsoever. It is not known yet who is responsible for these threats, whether it is individuals or a centralised or co-ordinated effort.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin described the situation as "worrying" and added his government's first priority was the safety of the Irish public.
"Yesterday, there appeared to be coordinated efforts to disrupt air travel," he said.
Martin told RTÉ it was not yet known if the threats had come from individuals or if it was a "coordinated attack" but said they were being taken seriously.
Ireland is scheduled to host two high-profile European Union meetings in Dublin next week.
Broadcaster Sky confirmed it had received a security threat, hours after RTÉ had evacuated its building.
The broadcaster, which is owned by Comcast, said in a statement read by a presenter on its news channel that the broadcaster had "carried out a security assessment and reported the matter to the relevant authorities".
"The safety and security of our colleagues is our primary concern, and we are working closely with authorities to ensure our people and operations remain secure."
Friday's disruption comes after the Russian extremist group "Male State", named in this week's hoax bomb threats to Italian airports, denied any link to the false warnings.
Replying to the BBC Russian Service, an account on Telegram - one of several linked to the so-called "Male State" and its founder Vladislav Pozdnyakov - mocked any suggestion the group was involved in emailing the threats.
"What Male State? Where have you seen it? It hasn't existed for many years," the message on the channel reads. "If tomorrow they sign a [threat] letter, say, from Putin, will you then try to reach our president to ask your stupid question?"
Austrian police are investigating a German man aged 21 on suspicion of endangering public safety, after his 17-year-old female friend was left stranded on Germany's highest mountain Zugspitze in sub-zero temperatures.
The teenager called emergency services and was eventually rescued on the mountain at an altitude of about 2,500m (8,200ft).
She was suffering from hypothermia and taken to hospital in nearby Garmisch-Partenkirchen, over the border in Germany, before being discharged.
In Austria, anyone who endangers another person's physical safety can be punished with up to three months in prison.
The pair set off in the early hours of Sunday from the resort of Ehrwald in the Austrian Tyrol with the aim of seeing the sunrise on Zugspitze.
Temperatures that morning had fallen to -12C, a mountain rescuer told German Press Agency DPA.
The weather was so poor that the two climbers were soon knee-deep in snow, according to Austrian reports, and their plans to reach the 2,962m summit soon changed.
At one point they separated and the 21-year-old descended alone. The reason they split is unclear, and a police spokesperson declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
Seven mountain rescuers responded to the call, and a helicopter eventually airlifted the teenager off the mountain. She was then taken to hospital by ambulance.
Although the teenager survived, what happened on Zugspitze on Sunday is reminiscent of a fatal incident on Austria's highest peak, the Grossglockner, in January 2025.
A 33-year-old woman froze to death on the Grossglockner after her boyfriend left her on the mountain, and he was later found guilty of grossly negligent manslaughter.
The boyfriend had insisted he had left her there while trying to get help, telling the court he had loved his girlfriend and that he was deeply sorry.
The case reverberated throughout the mountaineering community at the time, with prosecutors arguing that as the more experienced climber, he was the responsible guide on the trip and had failed to turn back or call for help in time.
In the latest case in Austria, police have said once they have completed their investigation, a report will be sent to Innsbruck public prosecutors, who will decide if a criminal offence has been committed.
Relatives of Britons killed in this summer's wildfires in Spain have told the BBC they are disgusted, after regional politicians blocked an official inquiry into the disaster.
Nine British nationals were among the 15 people who died when fire ripped through the hillside village of Bédar, in the province of Almería in south-eastern Spain, on 9 July.
Families have criticised the authorities' actions, including the decision not to send an emergency alert to mobile phones as the flames closed in.
"If that evacuation warning had come through in time, my father would still be alive," says Duncan Chard, who blames failures by officials on the day for a number of the deaths.
He lost his father Michael and his dad's partner Christine.
The governing People's Party (PP) and far-right Vox in the Andalusian parliament have rejected a request for a commission of inquiry made by the opposition Socialist party to which Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez belongs.
The PP and Vox argued that an ongoing criminal investigation would provide the necessary answers.
The Andalusian government, PP and Vox have been approached for comment.
Families of those killed say there must be a public and transparent probe.
"It's just outrageous. It's an injustice. As family members, we're absolutely disgusted. This is an insult," says Duncan Chard.
The families also say their grief has been made worse by how police have handled their loved ones' remains and belongings since the fire.
'Issue the damned alert!'
Michael Chard built his house in Bédar from scratch. "He called it Casa Micas," his son said. "It was his place in the sun, it was his little paradise."
On the morning of the fire, Michael's partner Christine had met friends and was due to go to the hairdresser. "Then everything changed... the whole world changed for them," he said.
Duncan Chard said his father, who had two artificial knees and walked with a stick, left his house with Christine as soon as they saw the flames. They left their phones and passports behind and tried to escape by car, but the road was blocked.
"This is an action of a brave person who was fighting to the end," he said.
Andalusia's emergencies chief, Antonio Sanz, has said the region decided not to use the system that sends emergency alerts to mobile phones because it could not be tailored to specific communities.
Officials have said some residents needed to evacuate while others were safer staying in their homes. They also argued an alert could have caused panic and traffic jams.
The families reject that.
"Issue the damned alert!" said Chard. "Ring the bells, send the police guy out with his horn, go door to door, do everything."
Thomas-Wolf Verdonckt, a Belgian virologist whose father Stanislas, 63, died, was on the phone to him as the flames approached.
He says the victims "never received advice on what they should do, and certainly not warnings that they were in danger", and that the authorities' claim that everyone in the area was given adequate warning is not true.
"The only contact that the government managed to make with the victims was a couple of minutes before the flames engulfed everyone. One police car drove by with the sirens on. There was no talking, there was no messaging."
Bédar's emergency plan was last approved in 2019, and regional officials say it was in the process of being updated. The municipality is classified by the Andalusian government as being at risk from wildfires.
Of the 15 people who died in Bédar, 14 were foreign nationals: nine British citizens, three Belgian, one French and one American. The other victim was Spanish.
In the days after the fire, Sanz faced a backlash for appearing to blame the victims. He said some people who made the decision to leave "at the last minute, took the wrong path".
Verdonckt has been trying to find answers ever since the blaze.
"The morning afterwards, the Spanish officials brought out... a version of events which was simply the complete opposite of what I experienced," he said.
He also believes a public inquiry is needed to prevent a similar disaster happening in Spain in the future.
"They are putting the safety of citizens in second place. That's simply not okay."
'A huge hole in our lives'
Danni Gillam-Kirton, an assistant headteacher from Nottinghamshire, lost her parents Pete and Fran in the fire.
They had lived in Bédar since 2018. Fran, a former headteacher, ran a quiz night that raised money for the local school and church.
"They were fantastic parents, my biggest champions and cheerleaders," said Danni. "They leave a huge, huge hole in our lives."
She says her mother texted her at about 19:00 to say they had packed in case they had to leave.
"They were waiting for instructions, and those instructions didn't come," she said.
Her parents died on the part of Bédar known as English Hill, one of the places where, families say, the authorities' only contact came minutes before the flames arrived.
Gillam-Kirton says her grief has been made worse by the way the Spanish authorities have behaved since.
Local police had told the family that Pete and Fran's car had been "meticulously searched" by forensic specialists and that she would find nothing.
But in August, a month afterwards, Gillam-Kirton and her husband found what appeared to be human bones in the burnt-out car in which her father died. "I picked up what I recognised to be... part of a pelvis or a hip joint," she said.
Gillam-Kirton fears they were her father's remains.
Within minutes they also found her parents' mobile phones, jewellery, house keys and money. Police had earlier told the family that no personal belongings had survived.
Spain's Guardia Civil police have been approached for comment.
The fragments were eventually sent to Madrid for testing. The family says police have now told them no DNA was recovered and that the bones were those of an animal.
But Gillam-Kirton says experts, including a forensic anthropologist who worked on the Grenfell Tower fire investigation, believe the fragments were human.
"We still don't know who or what they are," she said.
Gillam-Kirton complained to the Guardia Civil. She says the reply told her only that the matter had been passed to the courts, and offered condolences for "the death of your relative", in the singular, when in fact she had lost both her parents.
"It feels like they're going to hope that we exhaust ourselves," she said. "Either the burden of grief is going to be enough for us to give up, or that we're going to financially exhaust ourselves."
Gillam-Kirton says there is "a real lack of empathy when you're dealing with families that have lost so much".
The one thing she wants above all is for someone to acknowledge what went wrong: "No-one seems to be willing to say 'do you know what, we made a mistake and for that we are sorry'."
The death toll in Bédar was the highest from any single fire in Spain during the summer of 2026, and one of the largest in the country's history.
Many victims were trapped as they tried to escape the village, as survivor Malcolm Timbrell told me outside his devastated home in July.
The cause of the disaster, also known as the Los Gallardos fire after the neighbouring town where it started, is the subject of a criminal investigation.
In July, the Guardia Civil said it was believed to have been started by a fallen power line, but that explanation has been called into question.
The BBC has seen a letter in which the Andalusian government refused a request from Socialist MPs for its official reports on the fire. These included any documents explaining why no alert was sent to mobile phones.
The letter, signed by Sanz in September, said the documents could not be released because the criminal investigation is under secreto de sumario, a court order keeping the case file confidential.
Gillam-Kirton says the criminal case is focused on how the fire started, and that it will not necessarily examine the emergency response unless families pay lawyers to put that evidence before the judge.
"How can you have faith in these measures that they're putting in to mitigate future disasters if you don't know fully what happened the first time around?" she said.
"That's why you have a public inquiry," said Duncan Chard, "because the public need answers."
Families in the UK, Belgium and Spain have set up various support groups, as well as a website called helpbedar.com.
They have launched an appeal to pay for legal action, aiming to raise €100,000 (£83,000). Fundraising events are being held in both Spain and the UK, and so far about €11,000 has been collected.
Relatives say their fight is like David and Goliath.
"We are getting steamrolled by the Andalusian government," said Chard.
Ultimately, the families say all they want is answers, and for lessons to be learned so that others do not suffer the same ordeal.
They say they want their fight to be a tribute to their loved ones who died.
"I feel like this is all I can do for them," said Gillam-Kirton.
A self-declared "king" of Germany has gone on trial in Düsseldorf accused of leading a criminal organisation along with three other men described as his senior "subjects".
Peter Fitzek, 61, who calls himself Peter the First, is a member of a banned Reichsbürger (Citizens of the Reich) group that sought to set up a "Kingdom of Germany" (KRD).
Reichsbürger are defined by German intelligence agencies as conspiracy theorists who reject the existence and legitimacy of the post-war German state.
The defendants are accused of plotting against Germany by seeking to establish the structures of an alternative state, including a banking and insurance system and currency.
Fitzek denies committing a crime.
The defendants, including Fitzek and three other men identified only as Benjamin M, Mathias B and Martin S, face up to 10 years in prison.
Speaking just before the trial began, Fitzek criticised his detention as a violation of human rights: "They are isolating me completely."
In 2012, Fitzek, a former chef and karate instructor, declared himself "supreme sovereign" of the "kingdom" and had himself crowned, dressed in ermine robes and brandishing a medieval sword.
He began buying land and property across the country. With around 6,000 members, the KRD became the largest Reichsbürger and self-governance group in Germany.
In 2025, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt banned the KRD, and Fitzek and the other three suspects were taken into custody.
Prosecutors accuse the group of founding the KRD "to replace the 'system' of the Federal Republic of Germany". According to the indictment, Fitzek and his deputies assumed the status of "divine beings" and issued legal decrees.
The prosecutors allege the organisation operated a banking and insurance system with branches in Dresden, Ulm, Menden and Lutherstadt Wittenberg, as well as a "registration office" that issued fake identity documents and its own currency.
Further charges include organised forgery and tax evasion amounting to millions of euros.
In just five years up to 2025, the KRD is alleged to have taken in about €10m (£8.25m) through unauthorised banking and insurance transactions, as well as via donations, gifts and fee-based seminars.
Prosecutors say these revenues were not declared to the tax authorities and that no income tax or social security contributions were paid on behalf of employees.
They said the KRD accepted substantial donations, including cash, land and 7kg of gold, but did not pay any gift tax.
The KRD is also accused of recruiting other companies by promising them that they would be able to operate free of tax and duties.
In an interview with the BBC in 2022, Fitzek denied having any violent intentions, but labelled the German state as "destructive and sick".
Intelligence services believe some 26,000 people are part of Reichsbürger organisations in Germany.
The groups are very diverse, and intelligence services say a small minority are right-wing extremists and potentially violent.
In a separate case in 2022, dozens of people were arrested, many of them Reichsbürger, for plotting to overthrow the German government in Berlin.
They were accused of planning a violent coup, which included kidnapping the health minister, to create "civil war conditions" to bring down German democracy.
Five people were jailed last year over that plot.
European Union prosecutors have begun investigating the possible misuse of EU funds meant for upgrading the Spanish railway line where a train crash killed 69 people last week.
Prosecutors backed by a special unit of Spain's Guardia Civil security force said they were conducting the inquiry at the offices of Adif rail infrastructure authority and rail safety agency AESF.
The 28 October accident on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line was one of the worst railway disasters in Europe this century.
It is the second EU fraud inquiry opened into Spain's railways this year, after 46 people were killed on the same line at Adamuz in January.
Last week, a train operated by state-owned operator Renfe ploughed into the back of a stationary train belonging to private Spanish company Iryo outside the village of Urda, around 130km (80 miles) south of Madrid.
The LZB communication system that monitors the position of trains had gone down, and the Renfe train had been given the all clear to start running at normal speed, even though the Iryo train ahead of it had been unable to restart.
The two accidents nine months apart on the same line have claimed 115 lives and dozens more injuries.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) said on Friday it had begun conducting investigative measures at Spain's rail authorities "after the opening of an investigation into possible fraud affecting EU funds allocated to the renovation and upgrading of safety, signalling and communications systems on the Madrid-Seville high-speed railway line".
The EPPO highlighted high public interest in the case, but said no further details would be made public.
As part of the process, a Spanish judge assigned to the case has to ensure the investigation complies with legal safeguards, including authorising any measures that might involve house searches or phone-tapping.
The Urda disaster has damaged the Socialist-led government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez ahead of a 29 November general election and the party is trailing the conservative People's Party (PP) in most opinion polls.
Close Sánchez ally Óscar Puente resigned this week as transport minister, after seeing two deadly accidents on his watch this year.
The PP and far-right Vox say Puente's resignation is not enough and they have demanded that Sánchez resign too.
Many people in Spain have now become wary of taking the train, with reports of widespread cancellations and empty station platforms.
A funeral for the 69 victims at Urda will take place on Tuesday at Toledo cathedral, in the same province that the disaster happened.
Puente's successor, Carlos Cuerpo, has vowed to take all necessary measures to "restore the confidence of Spaniards in our high-speed rail".
Cuerpo met survivors of January's Adamuz disaster on Friday and they handed him a list of 11 demands for improving safety on Spain's railways.
Pope Leo XIV is beginning a lengthy trip to Latin America just three weeks after surgery for lung cancer - a tour that includes a much-anticipated "homecoming" to Peru where he was a priest for many years.
The Vatican says no extraordinary measures are being taken in relation to the Pope's health, describing him as a "71-year-old who has undergone an operation" not someone with a "permanent medical condition".
It was Leo himself who revealed last month that doctors had discovered a tumour during a routine scan. The growth was removed along with the lower lobe of his right lung and his medical team then confirmed the cancer had not spread.
At a briefing in Rome ahead of the trip, which takes in Uruguay and Argentina as well as Peru, a spokeswoman stressed that Pope Leo had "fantastic stamina" and was "extremely enthusiastic" about the schedule which he had "personally confirmed... with no changes".
Back on track
"The Vatican's message with this trip is, 'that was a short episode and now we're back on track'," Professor Massimo Faggioli of Villanova University told the BBC, pointing out that the Pope has had a busy return to work since his surgery.
"We have seen him in these last few days making speeches, audiences and so on. He seems in great shape. That was important."
The 12-day tour would be demanding for anyone, though. It incorporates multiple long-haul and local flights and covers thousands of miles from the Amazon to the Andes.
The starting point will be Uruguay, where the number of Catholics has fallen away steeply in recent years and which is getting its first Papal visit in four decades.
Leo then heads for Argentina, homeland of Pope Francis, his predecessor.
"This visit is also a homage to Francis, who didn't make it to Argentina [as pope]," says Father Fernando Laguna, the rector of Santa Maria Addolorata, Argentina's national church in Rome.
"When this visit by Pope Leo was announced, it filled all of our hearts with joy," he told the BBC. "I always thought he would go, despite his illness. I don't think he ever thought of calling it off!"
The priest is installing a big screen inside the church in Rome to allow parishioners to follow all the key moments of the trip from afar. The building is already decked out with posters declaring Pope Leo is welcome in Argentina. "We're waiting for you!", one proclaims.
This leg of the Pope's journey - which includes meetings with heads of state as well as religious events - could be the most politically sensitive. President Javier Milei once called Pope Francis "evil on earth" and a "communist" for promoting a doctrine of social justice to help the poor. In turn, Argentina's bishops have criticised Milei's harsh austerity measures, making sweeping cuts to social spending.
But Milei has already welcomed Pope Leo, writing in a post on X that Argentina awaits "with immense joy". Millions are expected to turn out to greet him.
'Homecoming' to Peru
The highlight of the trip is undoubtedly saved for last, when Pope Leo reaches Peru - described by the Vatican as a return to his roots.
"He knows these streets," is how a spokeswoman put it.
Born in the US, the then Robert Prevost spent almost 20 years in Peru, on and off, and even has Peruvian citizenship. That time is seen as fundamental to shaping his papacy.
His schedule includes a return to the diocese of Chiclayo where he was ordained bishop in 2014 and remained until Francis moved him to the Vatican almost a decade later.
He will also travel to Cusco, former capital of the Inca Empire, to say Mass more than 3,000m above sea level before heading to Pucallpa in the Amazon.
In all three countries, the Vatican says the Pope will have meetings with survivors of clerical sexual abuse - an issue which clouded a 2018 visit to Chile and Peru by his predecessor.
"This is how the papacy reconnects with Latin America after Francis, whose visits to the region were not always seamless," is how Professor Faggioli sees it.
He believes Pope Leo has a strong sense of the unity of the Americas as one continent. "Democracies are in trouble there, so there are so many things he can address," he suggests.
"The big question then is the United States. There's no question he wants to go. So will he travel when [President Donald] Trump is still in office? I'm sure they're thinking about this."
Déjà vu? The Eurostar has been booked. Strategic leaks of draft agreements have started.
The EU's former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is warning the UK it can't have it all and it will not be able to rejoin its single market "à la carte".
Naturally, there is even a row about smoky bacon crisps – an argument between the UK and EU about food labelling has become a classic of the genre. Remember the bendy banana? Or the so-called sausage war between Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron?
It's a clash between those arguing it's worth swallowing some new rules to ease trade with the continent, or those whose message to Brussels is, "hands off our snacks" - even though we are not actually in the EU anymore.
Andy Burnham's big moment with the bloc top brass is fast approaching - the second annual EU-UK Summit since the UK's withdrawal from the EU takes place in Brussels on 20 November.
That meeting is not supposed to be about whether the UK might one day go back in. The prime minister has suggested that is his long-term ambition - but is he really ready for what is to come?
First, Burnham inherited the broad deal that's likely to be signed. The UK and EU were originally meant to mint a new and, they hope, improved agreement back in May, then in July, and well, political upheavals mean one thing for getting things done – delay.
But that means the outlines of a new agreement have been clear for many months, an approach based on "closer alignment" as Sir Keir Starmer proclaimed to us at the start of the year.
So if the prime minister hails agreement, spare a thought for those who started the work to get it this far many months ago.
One source familiar with the negotiations told me, "They are 90% there", with agreements designed to make life easier for food producers, a deal on emissions trading which could help manufacturers, and new arrangements for youth visas (although it's understood there is still haggling over putting a cap on the numbers).
An EU source close to the process said: "The bone of contention is a cap – we proposed 150,000, the UK proposed 50,000 – but we would expect to reach a compromise", even though it has been "very tense" on both sides.
A last-minute call from the EU to cut tuition fees for its students is expected to be parked for now with more months of discussion to come. Another fine tradition - agree what you can, but file some tough stuff away for future chat.
There are dilemmas too on the EU's so-called "Made in Europe" plans – draft laws to protect its industries from being hammered by Chinese competition. The purpose is clear – to help the economy grow, with the prime minister quoting figures that suggest closer ties to the EU without going back in could add 0.4 percent to GDP.
But as the tabloid-friendly row over salty snacks illustrates, making it easier to do business with the bloc doesn't come without a cost, and a political awkwardness.
Talking to my colleague, the BBC's Business editor Simon Jack this week, the prime minister admitted the UK would have to follow more EU rules. "That's where we've ended up," Burnham acknowledged.
And whatever your feelings on the matter, that lands us slap-bang back in the middle of the eternal dilemma of the relationship between the UK and the European Union.
How much control is the UK willing to lose in the hope of bigger wins? Even when it comes to a relatively limited number of important issues that are on the table in the current discussions?
The prime minister has scrapped the limits of this troubled conversation, not just suggesting a closer relationship with the relatively dry and technical changes being discussed right now, but dangling the possibility of going back into the bloc one day.
Suggesting freedom of movement again, unlimited immigration for Brits who want to live or work on the continent and vice versa. That's after repeated promises, including from him, that that sometimes toxic debate would not be reopened.
What is he up to? It seems the prime minister's main line of thinking is that with problems like long passport queues and red tape for business it is right and proper to try to sort them out.
That is after all, what Rishi Sunak and then Sir Keir Starmer tried to do.
But his willingness to contemplate going a lot further is based on a belief that the public's attitude has shifted – if you look at polling it does suggest that a majority of voters support going back into the EU.
It just so happens his own long-time conviction is to go back into the bloc one day. And that idea chimes not just with many Labour activists and members, but also with the Lib Dems, Greens and SNP – whose voters he'd be only too happy to peel off.
But hang on, don't let Burnham's easy-breezy style mask that just casually mentioning he is open to us going back into the EU in the run up to this summit is a huge and difficult thing. Whatever relationship he truly wants to seek, and even those involved in the conversations aren't quite sure he is even sure, don't expect a smooth ride from the EU.
In an interview you can see tomorrow, the EU's chief negotiator last time, Michel Barnier, told me the UK cannot pick and choose the relationship "à la carte".
If we wanted to go back in, he told me, the UK could forget the famous rebate, and there is no way to be in the huge trading bloc, the single market, without accepting freedom of movement.
One government figure told me, even now dealing with the EU there are "lots of very warm words, but quite a lot of arms folded".
An EU insider told me the mood has certainly changed. "There is big scope getting closer to the EU, but nobody wants it to be toxic… we wonder, does he know what he is doing?"
Last time round, the majority of businesses, with some notable noisy outliers, were keen to stay in the EU. But after several years having to make the relationship work, and spend money on rearranging how they do business, that might not translate into such solid support if the prime minister does choose to pursue a return to the EU.
One prominent business figure explains: "You're a langoustine exporter from Ullapool? Yes, please. You are manufacturing and making that car? Yes, get me back in. You're a drugs manufacturer? Well, sort of, yes and no. You're in financial services? We've spent the money. Do we want to unpick this?"
There are prominent backers of the idea of a return to the EU, if Burnham himself decides to make that case. The former Chancellor Rachel Reeves and the London Mayor Sadiq Khan make the case as well.
We've already talked about the Lib Dems, the Greens, the SNP, and Plaid Cymru being up for it, as are many Labour MPs and ministers.
But the political risks of arguing for a return to the union are, frankly, enormous. Labour is divided, just as the country could be, whatever the current polls suggest.
One former Labour minister told me, "the prime minister wants us to go back in, but it is a very hazardous route", saying of the party's broadly pro-European rank and file: "Nobody wants to criticise Andy, but if it blows open they won't all be in the same place".
One cabinet minister's eyes rolled so violently when I asked if they fancied another referendum they nearly went into the back of their head. And it is a safe bet that if the prime minister really decides to pursue a return that there'd be a ferocious pushback from the other side.
The Conservatives and Reform are already howling with protest about the deal expected to be signed this month.
Kemi Badenoch criticised the prime minister for "unpicking the deal this country signed with the EU a decade after the referendum" adding, "he is not going to get a better deal… it's not just that the EU are tough negotiators, he has already revealed his entire negotiating hand."
Meanwhile Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice accused Burnham of "trying to sneak us back into Brussels via the back door", and said Reform would "never let this betrayal go unchallenged".
And you can expect similar financial arguments to be made as last time round. Vote Leave was always only too happy to have noisy clashes over the cash the UK paid to be part of the EU – that £350m – the gross contribution, not the net.
But every argument about the amount reminded the public that the UK did spend millions, even if the figure was officially judged as misleading.
While EU leaders might want to be helpful to Burnham, the Czech prime minister's comments on the issue were rather unhelpful. Asked recently if he'd like to see the UK go back his answer was, "Yes, of course – we need more money".
There could be enormous opportunity for the economy, important support for the UK's security, and a boost for the prime minister's backing among some voters if he does indeed end up deciding he will make the case for the UK to rejoin the European Union.
But it would be a heck of a gamble. A decade ago, a relatively popular prime minister named David Cameron with expert communication skills wanted to reset the UK's relationship with the EU. That blew up his leadership, unleashing a series of political disasters that saw him off, and dogged his party for years.
Andy Burnham is a relatively popular prime minister too, also confident in his ability to communicate with you, and serious about improving our ties with the EU. But in his party, there are those preaching caution about opening this conversation.
The successes or failures of the impending summit will give him, and the rest of us, a taste of what might lie ahead.
Top picture credit: Getty editorial
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Hungary has opened communist-era secret police files to the public, in a controversial move the government says will help Hungarian society heal itself from the traumas of 45 years of communist rule.
Critics say the move comes too late, that the files themselves are incomplete, and that the move risks sowing division and causing unnecessary anguish to family members.
The date of the opening is symbolic - on 4 November 1956 Soviet tanks rolled through Budapest and other cities, to crush Hungary's short-lived revolution.
"I ask everyone to treat this long overdue publication of documents with dignity and humanity," Prime Minister Péter Magyar told reporters at the state archives in Budapest.
"Many families will now face difficult information, often related to a deceased relative," he added. "It is impossible to process a trauma without discussion and asking questions."
Magyar defended the move, which was a central promise of his election campaign ahead of his landslide victory in April elections, as the fulfilment of a promise made by those who toppled the Communist party in 1989 in Hungary.
In the ensuing decades, conservative, Socialist-Liberal, and Fidesz-led governments have all contemplated, but ultimately refused to open the files.
Since 1998, it has been possible to apply for your own file, and for historians to research those of others. But many names were blacked out, and many files withheld by the post-communist secret services for their own use.
Over the past 36 years, there were frequent leaks of data from the files, as successive governments tried to damage their opponents. Many files were also shredded, as the Communist party lost its grip in 1988-89.
From Wednesday, the names and personal data of around 60,000 people recruited by the communist-era secret services have become available on the nyitottaktak.hu website.
A typical entry records the real name of the informer, their codename, date of birth, address and mother's name, their motive for recruitment - whether voluntary or because they were blackmailed or coerced - and the name of their handling officer.
Another batch of files, known as the "B-dossiers" are currently being digitalised, and will be made available on 25 February.
These will offer much more detail about the recruitment process, and the high or low value of the information they provided.
Critics of the opening of the files emphasise this point - that people will be too quick to judge those they find in the files, and unwilling to understand the nuances.
Around 150-160,000 people are estimated to have been recruited as informers between December 1944 and February 1990 in Hungary.
Many were blackmailed, with threats including loss of work or study opportunities, loss of access to medicines, or the leaking of information about their sex lives or addictions. Such intimate details will be carefully edited out of the current disclosures too.
Krisztian Ungváry, a historian who has long campaigned for full public access to the files, says access to information on what is recorded by the state against the citizen is a citizens' right, and should not depend on the whims of those in power.
"In the overwhelming majority of surviving agent reports, it isn't even possible to identify the agent, let alone their motives," counters an opponent of today's move, Zsuzsanna Borvendég, a historian and MEP of the far-right Our Homeland party.
Publishing the names of informers without fully explaining the circumstances of their recruitment and their activities risks misleading the public, she told Hungarian media.
A row over the inheritance of late screen legend Brigitte Bardot has intensified after a private letter was made public which appears to show her cutting off relations with her last partner.
Dated November 2022 – three years before she died at her home in Saint Tropez – the hand-written note accuses Bernard de Chiara, her companion of more than 30 years, of "patiently destroying me day after day".
The leaked letter is a useful weapon for the other side in the Bardot legacy battle - the animal rights foundation that bears her name - which is accused by de Chiara of rushing to dispose of her estate without regard for friends and intimates.
A week ago de Chiara, who is 85, was forced to leave the seaside house known as La Madrague which he shared with Bardot from the early 1990s.
After being looked after financially by her for so many years, he is reported to possess neither a bank account nor a social security card.
He was also furious after the Brigitte Bardot Foundation organised a sale in September of household objects mainly taken from the late actress's Paris flat. The sale raised nearly €1m (£835,000), shared between the Foundation and Bardot's only son Nicolas Charrier.
"I found it extraordinary that just a few months after Brigitte's death, they already wanted to make a souvenir out of her. I did not appreciate that one bit," de Chiara said.
In the letter, which begins "Bernard, it's a failure!", Bardot said she had given "everything" in the hope of finding a "companion would could offer back my love, share my joys and immense sorrows... who is happy at the life I am giving him."
But she concluded: "Today I have reached the end-point of my distress... I am so in need of a shoulder, a support, a tenderness, a presence – which you are incapable of giving."
Widely known under the adopted name d'Ormale (a pun on the French dort mal – sleeps badly), de Chiara was a businessman and one-time associate of far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Friends say that he and Bardot had an up-and-down relationship. They were never married under French law, but he was living with her to the end and cared for her as she was dying.
When her will was read after her death last December, it divided the estate between the Foundation and her son, who lives discreetly in Oslo. There was no mention of de Chiara, and Bardot also stipulated that La Madrague should be unoccupied within six months of her death.
As lawyers now draw up a definitive list of the late actresses' assets, the Foundation accused de Chiara of removing items from La Madrague, including her Mini Moke jeep. "I am not accusing him of theft, but it's gone and that's a problem," said Foundation President Max Guazzani on Tuesday.
According to the Foundation, de Chiara has no legal claim except for a share of the Paris flat, which is now up for sale. In the meantime he is living in an apartment rented from the town hall of Saint Tropez.
Guazzini said that "on a human level one can understand [de Chiara's reluctance to leave La Madrague]. But it's the law and it's also what Brigitte Bardot wanted.
"It's not our fault that she did not leave him the right to live there. What else are we supposed to do?"
The high cost of maintaining La Madrague – and Bardot's second home La Garrigue in the hills behind the Mediterranean coast – means the Foundation needs to find ways to make the properties pay. Both houses were in a poor state when she died, and now need round-the-clock security.
An idea for a museum has been abandoned because La Madrague is inaccessible by car. Instead the house could be opened up for guided tours, as well as for fashion displays and film shoots.
After Bardot left the world of cinema in 1973 she devoted her life to animal welfare and her foundation says it now cares for 13,000 animals.
Bardot was married three times before she met de Chiara: to filmmaker Roger Vadim, actor Jacques Charrier and industrial heir Gunter Sachs.
French media say she married de Chiara at a ceremony in Norway but this was never registered in French law.
When they met in northern Serbia last November, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučiċ and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán could hardly have guessed they would both be out of power within a year.
Both were ousted by popular movements - Orbán fell first, in April, defeated by Péter Magyar's Tisza party. Then last Sunday a student movement less than two years old won Serbia's parliamentary elections by a landslide.
The Tisza party in Hungary and the Student List in Serbia look very different - Tisza is centred on the personality and energy of its leader, while the students in Serbia insist they have no leadership.
But the huge turnout - 79% in Hungary and 69% in Serbia, was driven by tech-savvy young people in both countries. They used AI tools to crunch numbers, identify threats to the vote, and mobilise tens of thousands of election monitors to prevent intimidation and electoral fraud by the governing parties.
Mobilisation of voters, and the role of election monitors, played a big role in the opposition victory in both countries.
Last weekend, the DE civic action group in Hungary sent 70 election monitors to Serbia, to work with students' movement representatives, visiting polling stations in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina.
During the summer, even before the election was called, they held workshops to share their experience and methods from the Hungarian election with the Serbian students.
A key technique was to identify "infected" polling districts in advance - places where the surprisingly high number of votes for the governing party at previous elections suggested that voter intimidation or "chain voting" techniques were used.
"From around 16:00 on election day, we noticed groups of masked hooligans - Vučiċ supporters - gathering near voting stations," Péter Klemm, a student activist from Subotica, told the BBC. "So we sent mobile teams, and started filming everything."
Combined with the "stationary" monitors already in place, 20 to 30 volunteers at each threatened polling station acted as a strong deterrent, he believes, and prevented intimidation or fraud.
Orbán in Hungary, Vučiċ in Serbia, both looked invincible. Both were powerful leaders, in office for 16 and 14 years, who had taken over state institutions and established business empires overlapping the two countries.
Orban chose cheese, Vučiċ meat, when they sat down to a quick lunch of traditional burek pastries at a small, popular town centre bakery in Subotica almost a year ago.
They continued to a local winery, to talk about oil and other business deals - the planned Hungarian purchase of a controlling stake in Serbia's NIS oil company. The two nationalist leaders found much in common, in business and politics, not least their friendship with Vladimir Putin in Russia and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and their strong support for Milorad Dodik, the separatist leader of the Bosnian Serbs.
A high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest is being built with Chinese finance and know-how.
The parallels between the fall from power of the two men are extraordinary. Aleksandar Vučiċ admitted defeat at exactly 21:30 on Sunday evening, just as Viktor Orbán did on 12 April. Few observers expected either leader to concede peacefully.
There has been speculation this week that Vučiċ spoke to Orbán twice on Sunday night to ask his advice - once before he conceded, and again at 23:15. And that Orbán convinced his Serbian ally not to use force.
Vučiċ denies that he spoke to Orbán before he made his announcement, but acknowledges the later conversation. Viktor Orbán, contacted by the BBC, declined to comment.
An hour before polls closed in Serbia, masked and hooded vigilantes took up position in central Belgrade. During voting, similar groups were photographed at many polling stations, and blocked by election monitors.
There is another strange numerical similarity. The Student List will have 140 seats in the 250-seat Serbian parliament, the same number Péter Magyar's Tisza party won in the 199-seat Hungarian parliament.
Magyar was the only European leader to ring the students directly to congratulate them that evening - and probably the only one who had their number.
"It is always good to hear that the story of Tisza could provide an inspiration for other nations," the Hungarian prime minister told the BBC.
"The result of the Hungarian election clearly showed us that what we are doing here is right," the head of the Student List, Ilija Srdanoviċ, said on the eve of the vote.
Srdanoviċ was one of those Péter Magyar spoke to that Sunday evening.
Orbán, 63, and Vučiċ, 56, may now both face prosecution for corruption and abuse of power.
The judicial machinery in both countries is similar. Serbia's special prosecution service for organised crime, JTOK, and Hungary's brand new special prosecutors, known as NVVH, have similar powers. They could prove useful to each other.
Hungarian companies close to Orbán were also involved in the Novi Sad railway station construction project. The collapse of the station's canopy on 1 November 2024 - blamed on corruption, as well as negligence - killed 16 people, and acted as the catalyst for the Serbian student movement.
"There was a perception in Europe that the longer the Orbán and Vučiċ regimes stayed in office, the stronger they got," Áron Timar, founder of the DE civic action group in Hungary told the BBC.
"In fact they got weaker. And once society found its voice and rose up, there was no way of stopping it."
A gunman believed to have been inspired by far-right ideology has killed six people and injured more than a dozen others in an attack in the busy centre of Poland's second largest city.
Police said the attacker drove on to Main Market Square in Krakow, a popular tourist attraction, on Saturday afternoon and fired randomly at people.
Four women and two men were killed. Three were Polish, one was British and two have not been identified.
Among the 16 injured are five foreign nationals from Austria, Germany, Portugal, Russia and Britain.
Another three bodies were found when counter-terrorism police searched the suspect's home around 125 miles (200km) away, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
A massive armed police presence was deployed across Krakow on Saturday evening, as security measures were ramped up in the capital Warsaw and elsewhere.
A period of mourning has been declared in Krakow until 11 November.
Two police officers are also among those injured, one critically.
The suspect, who was equipped with military-style weapons and attire, is a 25-year-old Polish man - described by a minister as "ultra-nationalist".
Police shot and arrested him and he remains in hospital having undergone surgery.
Tusk said there were "strong indications" the two women and one man found dead at the suspect's home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski were his immediate family members.
He said: "Until now in Poland we haven't had such drastic cases of terrorism... that's what we have to call this cruel attack on people's lives here in Krakow."
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: "I'm shocked and saddened by the appalling shooting in Kraków today."
"My thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives, everyone injured and all those affected by this senseless violence. The United Kingdom stands in solidarity with the people of Poland," he added.
The rampage began shortly before 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT) in the historic centre of Krakow, an ornate square which has long been a draw for tourists.
Footage showed the attacker's vehicle speeding through the centre of the city, and people fleeing as the sound of gunfire rang out.
The glass front of shops were shattered by bullets and a tram was shot at during the attack, which police say lasted for around three minutes.
Images from the scene show overturned tables and scattered belongings left behind as people ran for their lives.
Armed police officers pursued the attacker's car until it crashed, at which point they engaged him in a firefight.
Distressing footage authenticated by BBC Verify captured the moment a police officer confronted the suspect as he lay on the ground.
The officer, who is visibly injured, can then be seen falling to the ground.
A Polish minister later said one police officer was fighting for his life and a second was expected to recover from a less serious injury.
Tusk later named them as Senior Constable Jakub Kulik and Senior Constable Artur Morański - he said they had "saved many lives" and called them "true heroes".
The gunman wore full military tactical gear during the attack and was described as having a military-grade weapon - but the government said he was not a member of the Polish armed forces.
More weapons and ammunition were found in a car belonging to the suspect, whose name has not been confirmed.
Poland's Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said "everything suggests that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies" and held "ultra-nationalist views".
Tusk vowed that any "possible supporters of the perpetrator" would be detained and appealed to the public for information.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the attack a "tragedy that will be felt far beyond Poland."
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said on social media the UK government "deeply mourns" those who died in the "appalling attack".
"All of my deepest condolences go to the families of the victims," he added.
The Foreign Office updated its advice after the attack and said people in the area should follow the guidance of local authorities.
Witnesses who were close to the attack described panic and confusion around the square as it unfolded.
Cezary, a 24-year-old Polish university student in Krakow, said he had not realised the loud bangs he heard were gunshots until he saw four bodies lying on the street.
"We were still hearing gunshots, a lot of people were screaming," he said, adding that he had seen someone trying to resuscitate a person covered in blood on the ground.
Caitlin Shasby, from Newcastle in the UK, said she had heard shooting from her hotel room and had been told to take shelter inside as police "barricaded" the street outside.
Another witness told Polish news website Interia: "I saw shots being fired from the driver's side window and smoke was coming out.
"I ran to the police station in the main market square - when I burst inside, it was full of people hiding on the floor."
Fine Gael has proposed appointing a junior minister in the Irish government for "north south relations" as well as establishing a forum on Irish unity.
The plans come as part of the party's long awaited "blueprint" on Irish unity, which was published at Fine Gael's ard fheis (party conference) in Cork on Saturday.
It comes just days after Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheal Martin, the leader of Fianna Fáil, put forward his own proposals on Irish unity to his parliamentary party.
He proposed setting up a new "initiative" on the constitutional future of the island of Ireland.
The two parties are both in a coalition government together, supported by a number of Independent TDs (members of the Irish parliament) in Dublin.
Fine Gael party leader and Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) Simon Harris is due to become taoiseach in November 2027, under the coalition's rotating taoiseach agreement.
His party has now proposed setting up an "independent, government-supported, inter-party and consultative forum" as part of preparations for reunification of the island.
It would be underpinned by law and operate for five years, with the option for a two year extension.
It would be led by an independent chair appointed by the Irish government and have its own secretariat as well as a budget, the party said.
The forum would publish research, reports and recommendations on Irish unity.
'Different constitutional models'
Membership of the forum would be open to representatives of all political parties who have elected politicians across the island, who "advocate exclusively through peaceful means".
It would have a panel of academics and other experts to support its work.
"The Forum would commission research, examine constitutional and institutional options, identify areas of agreement and disagreement, and provide recommendations to help build the basis for a Unified Island," Fine Gael's policy paper states.
Fianna Fáil's "initiative" on Irish unity said it would specifically explore three scenarios - a single united Ireland, without devolved governments; a united Ireland with a devolved republic and a third scenario, with no constitutional change.
However, Fine Gael's proposal does not go so far, stating only that the forum would "examine different constitutional models which are compatible with different economic approaches".
The forum would, however, look at the "future" of the institutions in Northern Ireland and the "possible subsequent reform of local and regional government on an all-island basis in line with the European principle of subsidiarity".
It would also examine the changes needed in Ireland's institutions, as well as public taxation, healthcare, education and other public services and practical requirements.
'All traditions on this island'
The forum would also look at "protections for British identity" which includes citizenship, cultural expression, rights and political representation as well as "the rights and identities of all communities – flags, emblems and anthems".
It would also examine security and defence as currently there are different policies both in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland.
In one of the first hints as to what Harris' second tenure as taoiseach may look like as he takes on the role this time next year, Fine Gael also proposes to appoint a junior minister for "north south relations".
The appointment would be made by the taoiseach and the party wants to transfer responsibility for "long term constitutional planning" from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs to the Department of Taoiseach.
In his speech at the party conference on Saturday, Harris said "Fine Gael's commitment to a united Ireland is enduring",
"We are the United Ireland party," he continued.
"But that commitment must be matched by serious preparation, practical proposals and a willingness to engage with people of all traditions on this island."
How much could a United Ireland cost to Irish taxpayers?
On the question of the cost of a united Ireland, Fine Gael has tasked Stephen Kinsella, an economist who is an adviser to Harris and a professor at the University of Limerick, to examine the issue.
He undertook findings which have been published alongside the party's Irish unity "blueprint".
Kinsella suggests that the first-year cost of reunification ranges from about €3bn (£2.5bn) to €25bn (£20.8) to the Irish exchequer, depending on what Irish unity looks like, what is agreed with the UK and how much it costs to bring Northern Ireland pay and welfare to the same levels as that in the Republic of Ireland.
In a scenario he calls "managed integration", he said year one of a united Ireland could cost between €4bn (£3.3bn) and €4.7bn (£3.9) to the Irish taxpayer if the UK keeps pensions and debt interest.
Kinsella said this could rise to between €13.6bn (£11.3bn) and €14.2bn (£11.8bn) if Dublin has to pay pensions and debt interest.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says it will investigate whether parts of a jet that crashed in Florida broke off before it nose-dived and exploded, killing all nine people on board.
The Learjet 60, which was travelling from Austin, Texas to the Bahamas on Sunday, crashed on a street nine miles (14 km) from President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.
A tech entrepreneur and his young family, as well as the 20-year-old copilot, were among those who died.
The NTSB said on Monday that it would also investigate to what extent ice and turbulence may have been contributing factors.
It confirmed that, after the jet took off from Austin, the crew transmitted to air traffic control that they were encountering ice and moderate turbulence.
"We are picking up precipitation, requesting to climb to 37,000 feet if able," the crew said.
NTSB member Tom Chapman said that less than 30 seconds later, the plane began to descend and the crew issued a mayday call.
The transmission then became "unintelligible", he said, adding that: "Sadly, all aboard were lost."
The NTSB said that ice and turbulence were factors in the crash but that determining its probable cause will be a "lengthy investigatory process".
Thunderstorms had been reported in the area at the time.
Officials are also trying to find out whether a cockpit voice recorder was on board at the time of the crash and if it can be recovered.
As part of the investigation, the NTSB is working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), representatives from Learjet as well as meteorologists and air traffic control experts.
Recovering the wreckage from the crater on the roadway will be a "daunting challenge", said Timothy Monville, an air safety investigator with the safety board.
Flight analysis indicates the jet was plummeting hundreds of feet per second before crashing.
In air traffic control audio, a crew member can be heard declaring an emergency, shouting "we are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000ft per minute", before saying, "we are going to crash into the ground".
About 35 seconds after the initial mayday announcement, the last remark from the cockpit appears to be "we're out of time".
The seven people killed who were travelling as passengers were identified in a joint statement from their families as tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their two children - Emma and Charlie - as well as Rachael Reed, Charmi Fehr and Anita Maria Cetina.
The pilot was named in media reports as Jeffery Gregory, while Nathalia Filgueiras, who earned her pilot's licence when she was 17, was reported to be the copilot.
As well as those killed, one man on the ground sustained a leg injury when the plane nosedived onto the street.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said the crash happened on Military Trail, a six-lane road lined with businesses and restaurants.
Images from the crash scene show a large fiery crater in the middle of a residential suburban street.
The debris was scattered across sports fields, businesses and homes in the area, officials told a news conference on Monday, possible evidence that the plane broke up before it hit the ground.
Unverified footage posted on social media shows what appears to be a dash-camera recording of the moment of the crash.
Trump was at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday morning, and departed from an airport nearby on Air Force One about an hour before the crash.
The defeated candidate in Brazil's presidential election, Flávio Bolsonaro, has referred to himself as "leader of Brazil" in a letter he published on social media after leaving the country for the United States.
Bolsonaro lost to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in the run-off on Sunday by a difference of 4.4 million votes, but has not conceded defeat.
In the letter, Bolsonaro alleges, without offering evidence, that he was the victim of "electoral fraud" and says that he will lead the opposition from the US.
He left Brazil on Tuesday after failing to comply with an order to surrender his passports, a decision which Lula described as "a shameful act".
Bolsonaro starts his letter, which he posted on his X account, saying "I address the Brazilian people and the international community as the leader of Brazil".
However, he had posted a previous version, that was later deleted, in which he wrote: "I address the Brazilian people and the international community as the rightful president of Brazil."
Both versions repeat the allegation that Bolsonaro first made on election night, that an extension of polling hours on Sunday had benefited his rival.
In the letter, he says it was "an electoral fraud unfolding before my eyes".
The extension was requested by both Lula's and Bolsonaro's campaign teams, and the head of Brazil's electoral authority has said that the vote proceeded normally and in full accordance with the country's laws and constitution.
An analysis of election data conducted by BBC Brazil and BBC Verify has also found that only around 34,000 people voted during the extended hours - far lower than the 4.4 million votes that separated Lula from Bolsonaro.
In his letter, Bolsonaro also addresses his departure from Brazil - which caused confusion after he disappeared for more than 24 hours.
It later emerged that he had gone across the land border to Argentina, and from there flew on to Florida, following a brief refuelling stop in Ecuador.
Bolsonaro left after failing to hand in his passports to police - in defiance of a Supreme Court order, which had been issued as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering.
He has not been charged as part of the money laundering probe and denies any wrongdoing, calling the investigation a "politically-motivated witch hunt".
Bolsonaro added that he had never intended to leave Brazil, but argued that he was the victim of "political persecution".
He ended the letter by saying: "I left Brazil but I haven't abandoned Brazilians".
While Flávio Bolsonaro said that he planned to lead the opposition from the US, it was not clear how he planned to do that.
His party recognised the election result and while some of its politicians have described Bolsonaro as a "political exile", his campaign manager, Rogério Marinho, stated on Wednesday that "there is no evidence" of the electoral fraud that Bolsonaro alleges took place.
It is also not yet clear where Bolsonaro intends to stay or for how long.
His younger brother, Eduardo, has been in self-imposed exile in the US since March 2025, saying he was the victim of political persecution. The two siblings posted a photo of themselves holding a Brazilian flag on Wednesday.
The Trump administration has provided visas for Flávio Bolsonaro and his family but did not say what kind of visas they were.
The US president did not explicitly endorse Bolsonaro in the run-up to the election and told reporters he "won't get involved" when asked about Bolsonaro's allegations of election fraud.
Earlier in the week, he had said that "it looked like another rigged election," without providing any evidence.
And on Thursday, Trump told reporters that "the election was a very great embarrassment to the people of Brazil".
King Charles has described the transatlantic slave trade as a "shameful chapter of history" that filled him with "profound sorrow" as he opened a summit of Commonwealth leaders in the Caribbean.
He said the trade in enslaved persons "still casts a shadow" over the association of nations.
There have been calls from some for the UK to make a formal apology for its historic role in the slave trade ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Antigua and Barbuda, but there was not one in the King's address.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham, also at the summit, has said that he is open to Britain issuing a formal apology but has ruled out financial reparations.
While there was no direct apology, the King did offer some contrition - and there was also an acknowledgement that he had personally learnt more about the legacy of the slave trade.
He said: "The transatlantic trade in enslaved persons still casts a shadow over these islands and other members of our Commonwealth.
"As I have said before, that shameful chapter of history is one that fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow."
He told the summit: "The more I have furthered my own understanding of the issues, through listening, learning and looking, the more committed I have become to finding ways for us to work in modern partnership to address the wrongs of the past with action for the future."
King Charles continued: "History is not ours to choose or to change. It is bequeathed to us in complex synthesis by forebears we can never know.
"Our inheritance includes both their achievements and their failures – the good they did as well as the wrongs."
The King's address also referenced the "brutal conflicts" the world is facing, the "catastrophic reality" of climate and rapid technological development.
The Chogm meeting gathers leaders from 56 states every two years in a different part of the Commonwealth, a voluntary grouping made up primarily of former territories of the British Empire.
The biennial meeting's official theme this year is Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth.
Speaking on Tuesday, Burnham said his government was bringing a new approach, aiming to "revitalise the Commonwealth", despite turning down demands for reparations.
"I've been very clear that we do not support reparations," he said.
"But it's not the case that we don't support countries in the Commonwealth around development, and helping them with debt issues that they've got, green finance.
"That's what we've done under all governments and in my view we should continue to do as part of being a Commonwealth."
The King and Queen are on a tour of the Caribbean which has reignited difficult debates over the UK's colonial legacy in the region.
On his first stop in the Bahamas, the King delivered a speech in which he spoke of the "suffering of the past".
In Guyana, he visited the site of a Slave Rebellion, where hundreds of enslaved people were killed.
The US has urged Venezuela to release the remaining political prisoners being held in the South American country.
More than 1,000 political prisoners have been freed since US forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a military raid on Caracas on 3 January and took him to New York, where he faces trial on drug-trafficking and torture charges.
But Venezuelan prisoners' rights group Foro Penal says 322 people remain in detention.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met his Venezuelan counterpart, Oliver Blanco, on Monday where he called for their release and discussed reforms aimed at laying the groundwork for free, fair, and credible elections, the US state department said.
The release of political prisoners has long been a demand made by Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.
Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, returned to Venezuela on 25 October after living in exile for almost a year. One of her first meetings was with relatives of political detainees.
Many of those in detention were arrested in the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) - which is dominated by government loyalists - declared the incumbent, Nicolás Maduro, the winner of the election even though copies of the voting tallies collected by the opposition and verified by independent media suggested that the opposition candidate had won.
The Carter Center, which had sent independent observers to Venezuela, also said that the election "could not be considered democratic".
A UN fact-finding mission found that in the months that followed, the Venezuelan government orchestrated "a harsh repression against persons perceived as political opponents or simply because they express dissent or critical views against the authorities".
After US forces seized Maduro, his loyal vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, was sworn in as interim president.
While Rodríguez has the backing of the Trump administration, opposition parties within Venezuela have been expressing impatience with the slow pace of reforms.
In Monday's statement, the US state department stressed that it remained committed to US President Donald Trump's three-phase plan, consisting of "stabilisation, economic recovery and political reconciliation, and democratic transition".
A week ago, Rubio had told journalists that Venezuela's "election infrastructure" had to be replaced in order for fresh elections to be valid.
"Not in 10 years, not in five years, not in two years; it needs to happen quickly under the timelines that we've established," he insisted.
Days later, Rodríguez told Venezuelans in a televised address that "there will be elections" under a "renewed" electoral authority.
However, she did not give a timeline for when the election could be held.
Opposition leader Machado, on the other hand, has been pushing for elections to be held in 2027.
At one point she suggested 24 July 2027 - the anniversary of the birth of independence hero Simón Bolivar - but she has since returned to calling for a vote at some point in the next year.
At least four people were killed when a lorry laden with explosives detonated in Tolima province, western Colombia, on Sunday, a local official has said.
A two-month-old baby girl was among the dead, Tolima governor Adriana Magali Matiz wrote in a post on X.
The lorry exploded near a military base in the town of Planadas, damaging a nearby hospital and several other buildings.
It is not yet clear who was behind the bombing, but armed criminal groups have recently stepped up attacks against the security forces in what appears to be retaliation for an offensive ordered against them by the new right-wing President, Abelardo de la Espriella.
Governor Matiz called the attack in Planadas "a vile and criminal act that we reject with absolute forcefulness".
"Attacking the civilian population and putting at risk the lives of our soldiers and the Tolima families is crossing a line that we will not tolerate," she added on X.
President de la Espriella, who campaigned on a tough-on-crime platform, wrote on social media that "we will not retreat, not even a millimetre".
Since he was sworn into office in August, the right-wing former defence lawyer has put an end to peace talks with some of Colombia's illegal armed groups, negotiations which had been started under his left-wing predecessor Gustavo Petro.
"In my government, criminals will have no political status, no leniency, and no impunity," de la Espriella wrote in a post on social media at the time.
At the start of his presidency, Petro had advocated for a "total peace strategy", arguing that only talks could lead to an end to the violence perpetrated by Colombia's many armed groups.
But after repeated breaches of the terms of the negotiations, Petro put some of the peace talks on hold.
De la Espriella has gone further, expanding his crackdown on all of the country's illegal groups, including bombing their camps.
These groups have in turn stepped up their attacks on the security forces, in some instances using drones - rather than cars or motorcycles - to transport the explosives.
In one of them, carried out on 23 October, a marine infantryman was killed and four others were injured aboard a Navy boat in Cauca province.
Writing on X after Sunday's bombing in Tolima, the president directly addressed what he said were "the narco-terrorists who continue to assassinate innocents".
"We're going to carry on with the bombings against legitimate military targets and we will step up our special operations," he stated, adding that those responsible would be "hunted down".
"This government will confront you, dismantle your organisations and restore security for Colombians."
Pope Leo XIV has told reporters travelling with him to Latin America he is "in pretty good health", in his first comments on his condition since having surgery for lung cancer.
The Pope has arrived in Uruguay, the first stop of a 12-day tour which he is undertaking only three weeks after his operation.
The pontiff, 71, also said he was "very happy" to be able to make the trip which was thrown into doubt last month when doctors discovered a tumour during a routine scan.
The tour will cover Argentina and a much anticipated return to Peru, which the Vatican described as a "homecoming" as the Pope was based there for many years as a missionary, then a bishop.
"I must confess that, from the very first day, I never had any doubts; I was convinced that this journey had to go forward," the Pope told journalists on his plane to Uruguay.
"Thanks to the marvellous medical staff... I believe I am in quite good health," Pope Leo confirmed.
Last month's operation to remove a tumour was successful and his doctors say the cancer has not spread.
On Friday, he arrived in Monetevideo to a seafront lined with crowds shouting his name as his Popemobile passed.
In his first speech of the trip, the Pope said universal healthcare should be "accessible to everyone".
He told the crowd in Plaza Independencia the care he received made him think of the "many men and women who lack the means to obtain a timely diagnosis" or receive treatment.
He capped his day with a prayer at the Montevideo Cathedral.
Pope Leo will cover more than 20,000 miles on his sixth international tour.
On Sunday he will travel to Argentina, the homeland of his predecessor Pope Francis who did not return during his own papacy.
The Pope said his visit was about being near the people who were looking to the Church for a message of "hope".
The King relishes the "tough parts" of his role and will continue to be used in "politically charged situations", a senior palace aide said at the end of the King's tour of the Caribbean.
Over the past nine days, the King visited the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda and has been used as "a great secret weapon", the aide said.
Questions over whether the UK should apologise and pay reparations for its role in the transatlantic slave trade were a theme of the visit.
"I think what we're seeing is a very clear pattern emerging of the government asking the King to head into quite politically charged situations, quite challenging situations," the aide said.
"We have to tread quite a careful line sometimes between government policy and the King's role."
The leadership of all three countries visited on the Caribbean tour wanted reparatory justice.
"I would say, in the round, this has been a complex visit. It's been challenging. It's been exhausting," the aide said. "But the takeaway is that it's been very successful and I think the King has demonstrated his statecraft both by word and deed."
Most of the King's visits outside the UK have seen him draw on some delicate diplomatic skills on behalf of his government.
In the US, he used his speech to Congress to remind President Donald Trump of the UK's value as an ally.
A year earlier he made a flying visit to Canada to welcome new Prime Minister Mark Carney as the latter faced an onslaught of threats and insults from Trump.
Visits to Germany and France in the early part of the King's reign were designed to establish new UK alliances post-Brexit.
"The King is not just King for the easy parts of the job, but the tough parts of the job, too," said the aide.
"In fact, that's probably the part of the job that he relishes most, whether that's leading on the environment, whether it's renewing and refreshing and reinvigorating relationships with nations where there have been some complex political issues at play, that is what he lives and breathes for."
The senior palace aide has worked closely with the King for many years and has a unique insight into his work and what motivates the monarch.
"He is able to reach the parts that dare I say politicians probably couldn't quite have reached," he said wryly.
The intervention of Prime Minister Andy Burnham saying he was open to the UK apologising for its role in the slave trade midway through the Caribbean tour only intensified the conversations.
The senior palace aide dismissed any suggestion that Buckingham Palace was surprised, even blindsided, by the shift in the government position saying they were told about it in a "timely manner".
English authorities and the monarchy were prominent participants in the centuries-long slave trade which saw millions of Africans enslaved and forced to work, especially on plantations in the Caribbean and the Americas.
Asked directly if the King would apologise for slavery, the senior aide laid out the chain of command in a constitutional monarchy.
"The King is the crown, the crown is the state, the state is run by an elected government, so we have to see how this whole situation plays through."
Since the start of his reign in 2022, the King has had four prime ministers - it's been a quick turnover rate with the King having to establish a new relationship each time, helped by their weekly audiences. Those close to the King view his early encounters with Burnham as a positive start.
"They get on very well. I see them together every week," explained the royal aide. "It genuinely is a good relationship, but as it is with all the prime ministers and all the ex-prime ministers as well."
Royal tours may look pretty but they can be gruelling.
There were about 40 engagements on this tour - many of them carried out in temperatures of around 35C with stifling humidity.
While the King, who is still undergoing treatment for cancer, will be 78 years old next week and the Queen will celebrate her 80th birthday next July, they are both still managing the rigours of royal visits when many of their friends are enjoying retirement.
"This is literally what he was born to do, he's very good at it, and he enjoys the reaction he gets from people in the doing of it," the aide said.
He added the King and Queen's bond after 20 years of marriage helped get them through the trickier sides of their work when things have "gone a bit wonky".
Royal tours always throw up those "wonky" moments.
In Antigua and Barbuda, at a rally to mark the country's Independence Day, a sudden downpour left the King drenched, without an umbrella and looking momentarily cross.
"You know sometimes things don't work entirely according to plan, but it was very quickly resolved, and as we saw, he was laughing… he thought it was genuinely funny," the royal aide recalled.
And in the Bahamas, the King joined dancers during a Junakanoo, a traditional carnival celebrating the culture of the islands dating back to the days of slavery.
In his speech the King spoke of the slave trade as a shameful chapter that filled his heart with sorrow as he delivered his main speech at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
He was addressing a room full of leaders where many wanted him to say sorry, offer reparations or in some cases, be removed as their head of state.
The Antiguan Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, hosted the King and Queen but wants major change including moving his country towards becoming a republic.
He said he also wanted to see "structured, inclusive dialogue on the enduring consequences of slavery and colonialism".
Buckingham Palace knows the direction of travel. In 2021, Barbados removed the British sovereign as head of state. The mood was of a divorce where all parties still want to be friends… if possible. It's given neighbouring countries a taste of a something different.
"The King and the royal family are there to serve the people of these regions for as long as they wish," the senior royal aide said. "But if they don't wish it anymore, then we really are fully open to that. The family serves when it's wanted and if not, then a new arrangement can be found."
Since the Trump administration launched its crackdown on undocumented immigrants two years ago, the waiting room of Cuban-born immigration lawyer, Ismael Labrador, in Miami is never empty. His appointment book is packed with relatives of detained immigrants trying to secure their release before they're deported back to their countries of origin.
Although business is booming, Labrador wishes it wasn't.
"We have relatives living in fear right now, we've had relatives who have been deported back to Cuba, unfortunately," he explains.
Cubans have traditionally enjoyed favoured immigration status in the United States under provisions enshrined in 1960s-era legislation called the Cuban Adjustment Act. But widespread arrests across Florida by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have left the Cuban American community more vulnerable in the US than they'd ever imagined, says Labrador.
"The way I put it is that if you don't have a Green Card in the United States, you may be a target."
Countless mobile phone videos have recorded such arrests in places previously considered off-limits: parents detained outside schoolyards, at bus stops, youth sporting events and even inside courthouses at pre-arranged immigration hearings.
Few have had the impact of the footage of 39-year-old Ecuadorean immigrant, Grace Calero, and her 19-year-old daughter, Giulianna Carriel, being arrested in a hospital ward.
Two months ago, the pair were driving to work in Kissimmee, central Florida when they were hit by another car and taken to hospital in an ambulance. While they were being treated for their injuries, ICE agents burst in and arrested them. They were deported back to Ecuador within days.
Labrador's cousin has also been caught up in the dragnet of ICE detentions. Despite his best efforts, the immigration lawyer was unable to prevent his own relative from being deported back to Cuba.
"It's hard when you're fighting against a lot of resources," he laments.
The Trump administration has repeatedly said the president was elected on a promise to deliver mass deportations and is delivering on that. "He stopped the invasion of our country and as a result of his policies more than 3 million illegal aliens have left the US," a White House spokeswoman told the BBC last week.
ICE, meanwhile, has said it is targeting anyone who has broken American immigration law and is in the country illegally.
Labrador was among the 68% of Cuban Americans in Florida who voted for Donald Trump two years ago, a decision he roundly regrets today.
Few could accuse Trump of hiding his plans on immigration. On the campaign trail in 2024, he touted his policy of mass deportations of undocumented migrants.
"On Day One, I will launch the largest deportation programme in American history", he said repeatedly at rallies, including in Florida.
Labrador – and many thousands of disillusioned Latino voters like him – thought the administration would only deport people with criminal records.
"I think we got blindsided by the administration," he argues.
"Personally, I voted for Trump because I wanted to get criminals out of the country," he says, alleging that "communists came in from Cuba under Biden."
"We wanted to have a safe America. We never thought that he was going to go after everybody."
"This isn't what I voted for," he insists.
Labrador is far from the only Cuban American in Florida to experience buyer's remorse over President Trump.
Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, who represents Florida's 27th Congressional district, recently released a video filmed outside the White House in which she distanced herself from his deportation policy saying it had gone "too far".
"The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today," she said, addressing President Trump.
Salazar is locked in a tight race against another Cuban American, the Democratic Party's candidate, Eliott Rodríguez. Her close association with Trump on immigration could potentially cost Salazar her congressional seat.
Florida remains a Trump stronghold. At a recent gathering of Cuban American entrepreneurs in Miami, the atmosphere remained staunchly pro-Trump. "Miami loves Trump, Cuban Americans love Trump," says real estate businessman, Juan Omar Sixto, motioning at the other guests behind him.
"They agree with Trump that anyone who crossed the border illegally should be out," he says, despite acknowledging he illegally entered the US himself six decades earlier.
A poll released on Thursday by Florida International University found that not all South Florida Cubans agree - 76% said they disapprove of the Trump administration's deportations of Cubans with no criminal record. But their support for the Republican Party remains steadfast, with 68% saying they plan to vote Republican in November.
In other parts of the country, support amongst Latinos is declining.
In the last election, Trump beat Kamala Harris by 56.1% to 43% - the biggest margin of victory for a candidate in the state since 1988 - in part because of the support of Latino communities. But a recent NBC News/Telemundo poll of 8,000 registered Latino voters showed nearly 60% favour seeing Congress come under Democratic Party control to just 35% wanting a Republican victory.
The high cost of living is a big factor for people's discontent, as residents feel supermarket and petrol prices are impossibly high for working families.
But for many Hispanics, it's also partly because of stories like Heydi Sanchez's.
Sanchez left Cuba in 2019 as the island spiralled into economic collapse and illegally crossed the border from Mexico into the US. After nine months in a detention centre, she was released under an i-220B Order of Supervision which grants the right to remain in the US but carries the constant threat of deportation.
Sanchez settled in Tampa where she worked with autistic children and the elderly. After a complex and expensive fertility struggle, she and her husband had a baby girl called Kailyn.
Most i-220B holders try to normalise their immigration status via 'humanitarian parole' and must check in with ICE agents at regular scheduled appointments. Last year, President Trump revoked temporary humanitarian parole to about 300,000 Cubans. Sanchez knew something was wrong in her case when her regular ICE meeting was brought forward without warning.
At the appointment, she was detained. Kailyn was taken from her arms and passed to her father, a US citizen. Within a day, Sanchez was on a deportation flight back to Havana in shackles with no recourse to appeal.
I met her in Cuba where she now lives in a one-bed apartment in Mayabeque, a rural province outside Havana.
"It's like the sky fell in and crushed me", she says of being separated from her daughter.
"When we have video calls, she says: 'Mummy, come home.' And I say: 'darling, Mummy is away working.' What else can I tell her? How can I explain it?'", Sanchez asks, unable to hold back the tears.
Despite expressions of support from several US politicians, including Maria Elvira Salazar, more than a year has passed since her deportation and Sanchez remains in limbo in Cuba.
In a statement, ICE said that "in this case, the parent stated they wanted to be removed without the child and left the child in the care of a safe relative in the United States".
While the Trump Administration has rolled back Cubans' special immigration privileges, it has sent thousands of people back to an island Washington itself describes as a "failed state". Cuba is in the grip of its worst ever energy crisis amid a months-long fuel blockade imposed by the US.
Since overwhelmingly voting for Trump in 2024, Cubans in Florida now realise they are just as vulnerable to deportation as any other diaspora. His Republican colleagues may feel the brunt of their frustration at the ballot box.
Follow the twists and turns of Trump's second term with North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher's US Politics Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.
Paraguay's President Santiago Peña has announced his resignation following a political crisis sparked by the collapse of a bank linked to him.
"I want to apologise to the people if at any point I failed," he said in a video message on social media. "It was never my intention to betray the trust you placed in me."
The crisis erupted after Ueno Bank entered an insolvency process, which froze all operations. Lawmakers accused Peña, who was a shareholder until last year in the company that owned the bank, of conflicts of interest and misconduct.
Peña rejected suggestions of impropriety. His resignation came as Paraguay's lower house of congress voted in favour of pursuing an impeachment trial.
Photos taken near Paraguay's Congress building on Thursday show police officers clashing with protesters demanding Peña be removed from office.
Paraguay's congress must approve the resignation of a president. But a special session convened on Thursday to address his resignation was adjourned in favour of continuing with the impeachment process.
Congress has scheduled a special session for Friday, when Peña is expected to present his defence, according to Reuters news agency.
In a post on X, Peña confirmed he would appear for Senate impeachment proceedings, adding that he would do so to "exercise my right to a defence".
He wrote: "I will provide the information requested of me. Citizens deserve to know the truth, without cover-ups and without anyone being above the law."
Peña earlier said his resignation was to protect stability, social peace and democratic institutions.
Ueno Bank has said it has about three million customers, equivalent to about 60% of Paraguay's adult population.
It held pensions and some other public funds and, after its collapse earlier this week, millions could not access their accounts.
The central bank seized the digital lender, and people took to the streets protesting and demanding Peña's resignation.
A new president of the Central Bank of Paraguay has been appointed and Congress has approved a process to pay depositors.
Peña won election in 2023 representing Paraguay's ruling conservative Colorado Party, beating a centre-left challenger.
The Colorado party dropped impeachment proceedings against Vice President Pedro Alliana, who is next in line for the presidency after Peña.
Heavy rains have flooded tens of thousands of tents where displaced residents have been living in Gaza, with a United Nations official saying almost everyone in the territory needs help.
Residents used pots and pans to clear water from their flooded tents, with some saying they were left without shelter.
Jonathan Veitch, the Unicef representative for Palestine, said the "desperate" situation was being made worse by Israeli restrictions on the entry of heavy machinery and supplies such as engine oil.
Some 90% of Gaza residents have been displaced by the Israeli war against Hamas, many of them multiple times, with limited access to clean water and sanitation.
Aid agencies say the situation is likely to worsen with the start of the rainy season.
Speaking to the BBC from Deir Al Balah in central Gaza, Veitch said: "It's just horrific and they're absolutely desperate.
"We're providing all the assistance that we can but we're getting stopped on the street as we're driving now because people are begging us for help."
The Hamas-run government in Gaza said about 70,000 tents had been flooded. A spokesperson said the "collapse of dozens of cracked walls and roofs" had caused injuries, some of which were critical.
Veitch also said there were fewer tarpaulins, plastic sheeting and tents available in the Gaza strip due to UN budget cuts.
"We have to be much more choosy about where we're going to be supporting," he said.
"But unfortunately, heavy flooding this morning means that nearly everyone needs help."
Israel has said it restricts the entry of items into Gaza that could be used for military purposes.
Maryam Odeh, 34, who lives with her children in Deir al-Balah, told AFP news agency: "We no longer know how to protect our children.
"My children ask me where we will sleep tonight, and I have no answer."
Khaled al-Najjar, 41, told AFP: "We fear for our children not only from the flooding of the tents, but also from the cold and the widespread diseases."
Veitch said aid workers were being "stopped on the street" by Gazans "begging us for help".
He continued: "They're absolutely desperate. We saw last year what winter does, and we had deaths from hypothermia last year.
"We can expect the same again unless we have very, very urgent action now."
A ceasefire came into force in Gaza in October last year, but Israeli air strikes have continued almost every day.
Since then, 1,580 people have been killed, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. Israel says it is targeting Hamas, but often civilians are also killed.
Meanwhile, a peace plan for Gaza, brokered by the Trump administration, has stalled.
The ceasefire saw thousands of Palestinians held by Israel released in return for all of the 48 remaining hostages held in Gaza, and an agreement to end the war.
The conflict was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
Since the war began, 74,594 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's health ministry.
Israel's president says he will task opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming a new coalition government.
Isaac Herzog has been holding talks with political parties after neither Eisenkot's bloc nor that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secured a majority in Israel's parliament, known as the Knesset, following last week's election.
Eisenkot will now have 28 days to try to form a new administration, with a potential 14-day extension.
"Now is the time to form a national emergency government. I will do everything to ensure we are worthy," the former military chief wrote on X.
No political party in Israel has ever won an outright majority, meaning all governments have been coalitions.
Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies won 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, while Eisenkot's centrist Yashar party and three other Jewish opposition parties in his bloc won 48.
Two Arab-led alliances, the United Arab List and the Joint List, together won an unprecedented 19 seats following a surge in turnout among Arab voters.
That positions them as potential kingmakers. However, all but one of the Jewish parties pledged before the polls not to work with them to form a government.
Herzog said that, after consulting all parties during the week, he would give Eisenkot the first chance to form a government.
A statement from the president's office said he had informed both Eisenkot and Netanyahu of the decision.
Following consultations with delegations from the incoming Knesset members, Eisenkot received 67 recommendations for the premiership and Netanyahu 46, the statement said.
The president has broad discretion to pick someone they believe has the best chance of building a coalition and does not have to choose the leader of the party with the most seats.
The election results had implied three possible options for the formation of a government: a national unity administration involving both Netanyahu and Eisenkot, a right-wing coalition involving Netanyahu and defectors from Eisenkot's bloc, or an Eisenkot-led government supported by the Arab parties.
Eisenkot and every member of his bloc bar one has previously refused to enter government with Arab parties, but there has been speculation that an agreement could be reached.
He could also attempt to reach a deal with ultra-Orthodox parties, but that too would be difficult.
There is precedent for a unity government. In 2020, following three deadlocked elections, Netanyahu and his centrist rival Benny Gantz agreed a power-sharing deal in which the leadership rotated between the two.
During his consultations with the parties, Herzog had said that to prevent another round of elections and to build a stable government, he expected "factions and their representatives to understand that, in the current reality, not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled".
In the period 2019 to 2022, one of the most politically fractured in Israeli politics, there were five separate elections as Netanyahu and his rivals struggled time and again to co-operate.
Media linked to the Houthi movement in Yemen say at least 33 people, including women and children, have been killed in air strikes by Saudi Arabia.
There has been no comment from the Saudi-led coalition backing the internationally recognised government in Yemen.
Live video footage on Al Masirah - a television station run by the Houthis - has shown rescuers pulling bodies out of the rubble of several buildings in al-Shariyah, a town to the east of the capital, Sanaa.
The bodies of young children can be seen among those dug out from the ruins.
The television station has also shown a number of injured people being carried on stretchers to hospital.
Saba news agency, which is also run by the Houthis, said the attack was carried out by Saudi Arabia on Saturday. It added that 39 people had been injured.
The Saudis have led a coalition that has been fighting the Houthis for more than a decade in support of Yemen's internationally recognised government.
The war in Yemen had been dormant for several years but reignited as a result of the Iran war.
A truce began to fall apart when Saudi Arabia struck the airport in Sanaa - which is controlled by the Houthis - to prevent an Iranian plane landing there.
The Tehran-backed Houthis subsequently targeted Abha airport in Saudi Arabia, then began hitting Saudi ships that have been using the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen as an alternative oil export route to the Strait of Hormuz.
Major fighting has since resumed in Yemen between the Houthis and forces fighting for the Saudi-backed government of Yemen.
On Friday, an attack on a market in Taiz province, which has been the focus of much of the recent fighting, is reported to have killed 30 people.
The Houthis accused the Saudis of carrying out the strike, while government forces accused the Houthis of having fired a missile at the site.
The United Nations says more than 1,600 people have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced since fighting resumed.
The Saudis have regularly bombed Houthi positions, while the group has fired multiple missiles at targets inside Saudi Arabia, including airports and oil facilities.
Hours before the strike that hit al-Shariyah, the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a missile heading towards Riyadh.
The Saudi Ministry of Energy later said the Aramco tower had been hit by falling shrapnel in what it said was an attempted attack.
The state-owned oil company's building suffered minor damage.
A Houthi leader, Mahdi al-Mashat, has vowed that the group will take revenge for the latest attacks in Yemen.
As the US midterm election results rolled in, long-held Israeli assumptions about the transatlantic alliance began to shatter.
"For us in Israel, this will be a generational sea change," wrote one prominent journalist in Israel's biggest-selling newspaper, right-leaning Yedioth Ahronoth. "The [prime minister, Benjamin] Netanyahu government sowed the wind and reaped the tsunami."
Israel's opposition leaders have lined up to blame their prime minister, with one saying the US results showed "just how toxic Netanyahu has become" among both Democrats and Republicans.
The prime minister himself has so far remained silent.
"Israel's political establishment understood intellectually that things have been shifting. They have not understood how much and how quickly," one US official with knowledge of the situation told me.
Israel's relationship with the US was a campaign issue in races across America.
Many Democratic candidates were sharply critical of Israel's actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and the costs of the joint US-Israeli war on Iran was a key issue for many voters.
The US president himself blamed the Iran War for the Republican rout – a war that Israel's leader is widely seen as having promoted to him.
And US Vice-President JD Vance cited the US relationship to Israel as one of four key reasons voters had deserted the party, hammering home the message that the relationship is now seen as a political problem by its key ally.
"That might be even worse than what happened in the midterms," Israeli political and security analyst Yaakov Katz told me. "Because the Democrats we knew about, now [Vance] is pointing the finger and saying: 'Our voters want us to change our position on Israel' – and Israelis don't fully understand where this is going."
The question plaguing Israelis now is what this means for Israel's security and influence.
The sense of staunch US military and diplomatic support had remained unshaken in Israel despite growing anger among US voters, President Donald Trump's public insults to Netanyahu, and differences over Israel's actions in Iran and Lebanon.
Israel's prime minister continually boasted of his closeness to Trump, describing his "true friendship" and "unwavering support".
And just nine months ago, Israelis watched their armed forces wage war on Iran hand in hand with the US military, as the "unprecedented" coordination of the two allies became a daily mantra among military spokespeople and politicians.
So Trump's unexpected statement during a Fox News interview this week that he would stop $3.8bn (3.4bn euros; £2.8bn) in US military aid to Israel two years earlier than planned, caused shock here – not so much for the loss of aid as for what the move said about Israel's status as a diplomatic partner.
Israel's president said the announcement came as "a bolt from the blue".
"Nobody knows anything," was the headline in a report by Yedioth Ahronoth, adding that officials were still struggling to understand whether Trump's remark was serious, two days on.
The Israeli prime minister's office responded to the news several days later, saying that the shift from US aid to partnership showed "the strength and sophistication" of the bilateral relationship.
US military aid is less than 10% of Israel's annual military budget. But Yaakov Katz, author of several books about Israel's defence and security, said Trump's announcement was the tip of a much larger question around future funding, arms sales and joint military projects with Israel. All of this could be slowed or stalled by a Democrat-controlled Congress, even without the two-thirds majority it would need to overrule Trump.
"Everything that Israel used to get in a simpler, easier process will now potentially be much more complicated, and Israel has to be prepared that this is a new reality," he told me.
"Our entire Air Force is American-made military planes, we're dependent on American spare parts and American weapons. The last three years have shown us how dependent we are on American missile-defence systems. [If] those don't show up at the same pace, that's a real difference – that changes your calculation of what you're able to withstand if you go to war."
Katz believes the midterms could also translate into tougher demands on Israel over its actions in Gaza and Lebanon, and a requirement not to undermine an agreement with Iran.
"Something will change in the US-Israeli relationship, but it's a question of scale," said the US official I spoke to, who was not authorized to speak on the record. "It means shifting to [being] willing to criticise Israel when it's warranted, but the bedrock fundamental relationship will still be there."
In an interview on Israeli television, the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee signalled little shift so far in core American positions, including on Israel's occupation of the West Bank, describing the sanctions imposed by other countries as "irrational" and counterproductive.
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, told another Israeli channel that Trump would be in the White House for the next two years, and that Israel could "feel good" about the US veto in the UN Security Council – something Washington has repeatedly used in the past to block resolutions that target Israel.
"But we have to pay attention to the voices – not only in the Democratic Party but also the Republican Party – criticising Israel," he said. "It will be harder for us."
Questions over its key alliance have come at a particularly sensitive time for Israel, less than two weeks after its own parliamentary elections left neither government nor opposition with a clear majority. Discussions are now taking place with the country's president, who will decide whether Netanyahu or his centrist rival, Gadi Eisenkot, will get the first chance to form a governing coalition.
"Under my leadership, we will renew and deepen that [US] partnership, strengthen the bipartisan foundations that have long sustained it," Eisenkot said in a social media post.
Another member of his opposition bloc, Yair Lapid, said: "What do we do?"
"We go back to the rule that worked for us for seventy years, and which broke in 2015 when Netanyahu went to speak against [US president] Obama in Congress. Israel doesn't choose sides in America. We work with everyone."
Netanyahu's speech to the US Congress in 2015 is seen as a defining moment in Israel's relationship with the US, when the Israeli leader appealed over the head of America's Democratic president to urge Republicans in Congress not to back a nuclear agreement with Iran.
Since then, Netanyahu has increasingly anchored the alliance in Trump's Republican party, even as alienation among Democrats has grown.
The US official I spoke to said that, before the midterms, Netanyahu could have improved the relationship with Washington by getting rid of his two far-right ministers.
"I think everyone understands now it's bigger than [that]," he said.
How much the new tone in transatlantic relations will play into the task of building a new government in Israel is being closely watched.
Some government supporters argue it has increased the need for political stability, and that Netanyahu provides much-needed continuity and a deep knowledge of the US and its leaders.
"We cannot afford to be dragged into endless political disputes and election campaigns," said one opinion writer in Israel's largest-circulation daily, the right-wing Israel Hayom.
Whoever heads Israel's next government, its American ally may demand more than rhetoric.
In the noisy debate around what this will mean for Israel, the silence of its prime minister – once the whisperer of Washington's elite – is perhaps the most telling voice of all.
Iran appears to be undertaking significant new construction near at least two of its major missile sites and repairing bases damaged by months of US and Israeli air strikes, analysis of satellite images suggests.
Evidence of digging and new buildings are visible in satellite imagery taken in November at the Garmdareh military base in Karaj near the capital Tehran and the Shahroud base in the north, analysts at British intelligence company MAIAR, who reviewed the photos, told BBC Verify.
At least 12 other military sites, including missile complexes and air bases, appear to show signs of repairs. New roofs have been built on destroyed buildings at the Kermanshah missile base in western Iran, near the border with Iraq, while damaged buildings and debris have been cleared at the Parchin military complex - which has been repeatedly repaired despite a succession of air strikes - east of the capital.
The excavations near Shahroud could potentially be related to the production of missiles, said Jim Lamson, a former CIA analyst who focused on Iran. He said that because the nearby air base at Shahroud has been targeted multiple times in recent years, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is probably trying to find ways to move its production facilities underground.
A MAIAR analyst said that Iran has "a pattern of moving infrastructure underground to protect them from further strikes". Mark Mellett, a defence analyst and former head of the Irish military, said the construction of underground facilities had the added benefit of making it "harder for outside observers to assess the extent and operational status".
Speculation has mounted in recent weeks that the US could resume attacks on Iran after the midterm elections held earlier this week. But on Wednesday Vice-President JD Vance cited the war's unpopularity with voters for the Republicans' poor performance in this week's poll, saying that it may have cost his party control of the Senate "for the next 6 years".
At multiple bases across the country, Iranian forces have focused on carrying-out small-scale repairs to complexes which have been heavily damaged by air strikes since the start of the US-Israeli war.
Analysts said that satellite images appear to show that significant construction has been completed at the Taleghan 2 facility at the Parchin military complex, with damaged buildings levelled and the aftermath of attacks on an underground bunker repaired and reinforced with concrete.
At Karaj and Shahroud, satellite images appear to show significant excavation. At Karaj, multiple vehicles were visible in satellite images, while improvements appear to have been carried out to the nearby airbase.
The images from Karaj appear to show "a new portal for an underground facility", said Sam Lair, research analyst at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), which has looked extensively into recent developments at Iranian sites.
Analysis from Janes also indicates there appears to be a new facility under construction at Karaj, including tunnel entrances and structures which could indicate an expansion of nearby damaged or destroyed missile bases - or could also be for storage or other purposes.
The construction work is unlikely to be part of an effort to deceive foreign intelligence agencies, said Janes analyst Sean O'Connor. He said such a project "would be costly and may achieve little".
The developments come after repeated assurances from the White House that US-Israeli attacks have depleted the Iranian armed forces, which US President Donald Trump dismissed as a "complete and total mess".
A Pentagon spokesperson previously said that the US had "destroyed up to 90% of Iran's drone, ballistic missile, and naval industrial base" and "significantly degraded" the country's ability to launch drone and missile attacks.
But Iran claims it retains large stockpiles of missiles, and footage broadcast on state TV this week claimed to show dozens of missiles at the entrance to an underground facility in southern Iran. Back in August, state TV footage also claimed to show Khordad surface-to-air missiles emerging out of a tunnel near the southern city of Bandar Abbas.
A MAIAR analyst also identified new construction and excavations outside tunnel entrances near the city of Qom, close to the Fordo underground uranium enrichment complex, which has been bombed by both the US and Israel multiple times.
Activity related to military assets would show that Tehran is bracing itself for further attacks by the US and Israel, said Mark Cancian, a military analyst with International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
"The purpose is to better defend itself against future attacks," he said. "It also indicates a priority on rebuilding military capability rather than rehabilitating the economy."
Additional reporting by Barbara Metzler.
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Warning: Distressing content and strong language
Samira says she never used to be political.
"I worked in sales in Iran. I sold cosmetics," she tells BBC Panorama.
But that all changed the day her only child was shot dead in front of her by Iranian security forces. Sixteen-year-old Sevda was taking part in protests against Iran's repressive regime that engulfed the country earlier this year - before the US and Israel launched widespread air strikes which killed the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Samira's grief became fury as Iran's authorities then hindered, rather than helped, her search for her daughter's body, she says.
"I realised that finding Sevda wasn't the end, but just the beginning of all the harassment they put me through."
Samira made a dramatic escape from Iran on foot, navigating dangerous mountainous terrain.
She now lives abroad in hiding, describing herself as a "one-woman army fighting the regime". In a search for accountability and justice after her daughter's death, she is intent on naming the members of the security forces and officials she believes were responsible for firing fatal shots during the protests.
"They'll bring me to the brink of death before they kill me, but finding me won't be easy… Return to normal life? There is no going back," she says.
Samira is among several Iranians the BBC has spoken to since the start of the year. Some, still inside the country, told Panorama they wanted to speak out despite the risks, saying they had found it difficult to hold on to hope once the mass protests had been brutally crushed.
The Iranian embassy in London told Panorama that peaceful and legitimate protests had been hijacked by foreign powers, including the US, which promoted violence, provided weapons and equipment, and compromised public security.
Sevda was killed on 9 January as she and Samira took part in huge demonstrations on the outskirts of the capital Tehran which had begun the previous month. They had been sparked by economic discontent, before escalating into calls for an end to the country's Islamic Republic.
Though Samira denies she was especially political then, she says her daughter was. Sevda's idols were two other young women - Mahsa Amini, whose death in custody after an alleged violation against the mandatory headscarf triggered mass protests, and Nika Shakarami, who was killed during a subsequent uprising against Iran's strict Islamic dress code for women.
"She kept them alive in her thoughts and always wanted to continue their path [of resistance]," Samira says.
The day before Sevda was killed, the numbers protesting had been particularly high. Samira says she and Sevda had responded to a call by Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah (king), for demonstrations.
"The security forces had lost control," she says.
The swell in numbers had spooked Iran's government, and the following day a shoot-to-kill order was announced, Samira says. But she had thought it just an empty threat.
"They lied so much in Iran… We couldn't imagine a massacre of that scale."
And they were reassured, she says, by US President Trump's promise that he had their backs.
He had told US media on 8 January: "I have let [the Iranian authorities] know that if they start killing people, which they tend to do during their riots… we're going to hit them very hard."
But nevertheless the crowds appeared smaller on the 9th, Samira says.
Sevda seemed to know the risks, she says. Her daughter took off her earrings and gave them to her grandmother. She also shared her phone passcode with Samira.
The mother and daughter gathered with the rest of the protesters. Sevda then stood on a dustbin and began leading a chant.
"It seemed there were more forces than people," Samira says of the area where they were. "I don't know how, within one day, they gathered so many… Basijis and IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] forces."
The IRGC defends the country's Islamic establishment, and the paramilitary Basij Resistance Force are volunteers for the IRGC.
"A sniper fired from the roof of a building on our right. The bullet must have come from the rooftop. The bullet went through her heart. I couldn't even scream. I just stared at Sevda - her body lying lifeless. Blood was gushing out her mouth and nose. I couldn't believe it, I couldn't believe she was dying. Her eyes were still looking at me."
Samira says she managed to get Sevda to hospital and she was told they were operating on her, but then the door opened and she saw Sevda had been zipped into a body bag.
Sevda's body was taken away. Samira says it took her days to find her daughter again. Like many others, she found herself at one of Tehran's largest morgues.
"Teenagers - young boys and girls. So many had been killed," she cries.
"I died with every bag I unzipped. I'd never seen so many bodies. But I wouldn't give up."
She finally found her daughter. "Three bodies were piled on top of Sevda. That's how we found her."
Iranian authorities acknowledge that more than 3,000 people were killed in the protests, but claim some were members of the security forces. One human rights group, Hrana, however, estimates the number of dead stands at more than 7,000, most of them protesters.
Finding Sevda's body was just the beginning of Samira's battle with the authorities, she says.
To be allowed to take away the body for burial, she says she was forced to say that "terrorists" rather than the security forces had been responsible for Sevda's death.
"They did this to cover up what they'd done on 8 and 9 January, to hide how many people they had killed. They silenced families by telling them to say their loved ones were killed by Israeli or American terrorists."
Nevertheless she was barred from visiting the grave after the funeral, or organising a tombstone, she says.
And Samira says the harassment continued. A few days before the ceremony to mark 40 days since Sevda died - highly significant in Iranian culture - she says she was summoned by a local branch of the Ministry of Intelligence.
"They told me: 'You should give us an interview and say that Sevda was a Basiji and she was killed by the protesters. Then we will announce her [as] a martyr - you will then receive perks, a house, or anything that you want.'"
She is sure this offer was prompted by fear, because she had shared Sevda's death with an Iranian media organisation based in London, once the internet had been reconnected in the country.
"It scared them that I was in touch with external networks or those outside Iran."
To avoid giving the interview, Samira fled Iran as soon as the 40th day anniversary was over.
"I didn't want to trade with my child's blood."
She says people smugglers helped her to escape. She crossed rivers and mountains to get to safety.
A video she made of herself fleeing makes clear her fury.
"This crap government, these bastards, they've harassed me so much," she tells the camera as she marches along a mountain path bordered by a deep ravine.
Samira says after she continued to give interviews to foreign media from abroad, she was charged in absentia with a string of offences, including "moharebeh" - waging war against God - which can carry the death penalty.
To mark what would have been Sevda's 17th birthday, her relatives and friends held a vigil - with Samira watching from exile on a livestream.
"Then suddenly, the feed cut out," she says.
She discovered that the event had been raided, she says, and some of her family and friends arrested by the IRGC.
She says her family was warned by the authorities that, if they continued to gather at Sevda's grave, her body would be exhumed and moved elsewhere.
Now, Samira shares the names, online, of Iranian security force members and officials she believes were responsible for firing fatal shots during the 8 and 9 January protests she and Sevda joined.
"I want justice to be served for every single person whose name I expose, because they have killed so many young people. My goal is for them to be identified so they can be put on trial," she says.
When one of the men Samira named online was later found dead, a regime supporter offered a $5,000 (£3,732) reward for information about her whereabouts, presuming she was responsible. Iranian state media has since reported the arrest of nine people in connection with the death.
Despite the risks, Samira says she refuses to be silenced.
"Every day and every second without Sevda is very difficult for me. It's like a mother who has lost her heart, who has lost her being, has lost her life…
"But the fact that Sevda is not breathing has made it possible for me to stand on my feet… to think about honouring her life and her path... all those bodies I saw, all those body bags I opened looking for Sevda, they all made me fight the Islamic Republic until my last breath."
Growing up in a council flat in the 1980s and 1990s, my mum would often point out homes that tenants had bought from the council. You could usually tell just from looking. A plain wooden door had been replaced with something fancier. New windows had appeared. Sometimes there was a porch or pillars outside the front door.
Those houses were bought under the Right to Buy scheme - arguably the most consequential housing policy of my lifetime. It was introduced in 1980, three years before I was born, when Margaret Thatcher's government gave council tenants in England the legal right to purchase their homes at a discounted price.
Supporters welcomed the chance for working-class families to own their own home and build wealth. Critics argue it hollowed out the country's stock of social housing and contributed to today's housing crisis.
Some of my neighbours "made a killing" from the policy, in the words of my mum. One bought an almost identical flat to ours in 1989 for £21,200, after receiving a discount of £18,800. Eight years later it sold for £54,500. Five years after that it changed hands again for £143,000. (Notably, the person who made the most money from that flat wasn't the original council tenant - it was the people who bought it afterwards.)
But Andy Burnham doesn't like the policy. The Right to Buy scheme has seen various changes since its introduction in the 1980s, and Labour has weakened it significantly since coming to power in 2024. Then, in September, the prime minister told Labour's conference: "We will reform Right to Buy. Not taking the right away from anyone in an existing home, but removing it from new homes." This would help to keep council houses in public ownership "for generations to come", Burnham told delegates.
He has previously compared trying to solve the housing crisis while continuing to sell social homes to "trying to fill a bath with the plug out".
More than 40 years after its introduction, Right to Buy remains a debate about political values as much as housing policy, balancing the home ownership ideal against the desire to preserve social housing for future generations.
A 'property-owning democracy'
Since 1980, more than two million homes have been sold through the scheme in England.
In fact, about 40% of England's council housing stock has been sold through Right to Buy. Most of those sales took place in the early years, says Prof Rebecca Tunstall, a housing academic at the University of York and London School of Economics. At the time, Labour was vehemently opposed to Thatcher's plans. Yet many of its own voters went on to benefit from them.
Labour now argues that not enough of those two million homes were replaced. Sir Keir Starmer's government restricted the scheme, including by heavily reducing the maximum discount that councils were allowed to give tenants.
And now Burnham is removing the right to buy entirely from any new-build social home. The measures are included in a bill currently making its way through Parliament. The government says that before Labour's various restrictions on the scheme, England was projected to see a net loss of 26,000 council homes over the next decade. Now there will be a net gain of 18,000 homes over the same period, it calculates.
This opens up a political divide: some opposition parties, like the Conservatives and Reform UK, say they would keep or even extend the scheme.
For those who became homeowners, Right to Buy turned a dream into reality.
Barbara Stevens, now 80, bought her two-bedroom council flat in Kentish Town, north London, through Right to Buy for around £35,000. Now mortgage-free, she estimates it could be worth between £600,000 and £700,000.
"I've always wanted to own my own property," she says.
Her friend Trevor Abrahmsohn believes her story demonstrates the success of the scheme. "If you want to condemn the poor to poverty, make them lifetime renters," he says.
Those arguments were central to Thatcher's vision of a "property-owning democracy".
Few people are more closely associated with Right to Buy than Lord Heseltine, who was the cabinet minister responsible for housing when it was introduced. When he and Thatcher launched the scheme in 1980, council tenants were offered substantial discounts to purchase their homes.
A relative of mine whose parents bought their council home in Croydon told me it was the only time "anyone would ever give you a hundred grand for free".
Even Housing Secretary Angela Rayner - part of the government that's restricting Right to Buy - bought and later sold her own council home for a profit.
In 1980, Lord Heseltine described the scheme as the biggest transfer of capital wealth from the state to ordinary people. "It certainly was," he says now, almost half a century on.
I ask him if, looking back, he would have designed the policy differently. "No," he answers.
He thinks Right to Buy gave its beneficiaries an important asset. "People who bought their own homes made a great deal of capital gain," he says.
A 'double charge' for taxpayers?
But to its detractors, Right to Buy is responsible for many of Britain's housing woes.
Prof Tunstall says the policy is partly responsible for making social housing scarcer, which meant more people competed for homes in the private rented sector, pushing up rents.
Lord Heseltine says it was originally assumed that councils would use sale proceeds to support new housing. He acknowledges that did not happen after he left government.
That failure to replace sold homes sits at the heart of the modern criticism of Right to Buy.
For Molly Harris from the New Economics Foundation, it is "private landlords [who] are the real winners".
Her think tank's research found that 41% of homes sold through Right to Buy are now privately rented out. "Homes that were built with public money, and with the aim of providing an affordable and secure path to home ownership, have since been turned into assets," Harris says.
She says the shortage of social housing means more people need help with housing costs in the private rented sector, where rents are higher. So taxpayers are effectively paying twice: once to give a discount on the initial home; and then again, via housing benefit, when that home is rented out to someone who can't afford the payments. A former council home rented privately could now be valued at double, triple or quadruple what it cost when it was under local authority control.
I put that criticism to Lord Heseltine, asking him whether the scheme has failed because some ex-council homes are now effectively being rented back to the state, at higher costs.
He dismisses it as "rubbish", adding: "The scheme was wildly successful in spreading ownership across the country."
According to Harris's research, the government spent more than £58bn between 2021 and 2025 "subsidising private landlords" through the benefit system.
Newham Council says almost half of the 9,000 council homes sold under Right to Buy in Newham were later "flipped" into private rentals. The borough now has the biggest council house waiting list in the country. Last year, The Big Issue reported that Newham Council made a loss of more than £20m of taxpayers' money buying back homes it had sold just a few years earlier. The council said it was a quick way to provide new housing, and was a cheaper option than some alternatives.
And some council tenants say they are not interested in buying their homes. Ruth Crabb has lived in her flat in Havering since 1997. "I wouldn't buy my flat because I didn't want it to go out of circulation, as social housing is for those who come after me," she says. But, she adds: "I don't judge anyone who bought their property with Right to Buy."
The ownership premium
Supporters of Right to Buy also argue that you can't appreciate the true value of the scheme by looking at numbers on a spreadsheet.
The benefits of the policy extended for generations, they say, helping the children and grandchildren of those who bought homes.
Research co-authored by Matteo Sandi, an economics professor at the University of Milan, looked at children growing up in areas where Right to Buy uptake was highest. He found better educational and economic outcomes, including higher GCSE attainment, greater chances of attending university, and increased earnings in adulthood.
"What we find is that there is, in fact, a lasting benefit from growing up in an owned property," he says.
He believes it's because ownership encouraged families to invest more heavily in their homes and neighbourhoods.
One of my relatives backs this up. He tells me his parents were able to move elsewhere in the country, enjoy a better standard of living and finally afford things that had previously been out of reach. He believes Right to Buy transformed their lives.
But Prof Tunstall argues home ownership is not the only route to a stable family life. "The critical things for safety and for children's development and for happy families are security and affordability," she says - and children can also get that from social renting, she thinks.
Looking back, that resonates.
When I was a child and my mum rented from the council, she knew what she would be charged every month. She knew we wouldn't suddenly be forced to move. My siblings and I knew we wouldn't have to change schools. At that point, in the 1980s, one third of houses in England were council-owned. When my mum became pregnant with me, it was safe to assume that a home would soon become available - and within about a year, one did. She moved out of my nan's and into her new council flat.
The children I now meet through my work often do not have that certainty. Today, the average wait for a family-sized home in London is 27 years. Some children are moved repeatedly between hotels and hostels. Councils across England now spend £8m every day housing families in temporary accommodation.
Sandi is careful not to present his findings as an unconditional endorsement of Right to Buy.
"My take is the Right to Buy scheme was a good policy with a big limitation," he says. "More social housing should have been built."
But curbing Right to Buy could take a long time to bear fruit, says Prof Tunstall. Scotland abolished its Right to Buy programme in 2016 and Wales followed in 2019 - but Prof Tunstall says it "hasn't made a huge difference" yet in those nations, because the changes are too recent. (Northern Ireland continues to operate a scheme similar to Right to Buy.)
And deeper challenges will remain; Right to Buy is not the only culprit of Britain's social housing shortage, she says. Supply has also been reduced by council estate-clearance programmes, she says, which saw thousands of homes demolished from the 1990s. Like Lord Heseltine, she also blames decades of under-building: had governments continued to build at their 1980s rates, she argues, the sale of council homes might not have resulted in an overall loss of social housing.
The housing landscape has also changed dramatically since 1980. Many councils transferred responsibility over council housing to housing associations, meaning they have lost the skills and expertise to build their own stock.
More than 25 years later, I return to the street where I grew up. It looks much the same, although a few new front doors suggest more homes have been sold. My mum never took advantage of Right to Buy; she continues to rent a council flat on a small estate in south London.
I ask her if she regrets that. She says she simply wouldn't have been able to afford it.
I tell her that the flat she could have bought for around £20,000 would now be worth somewhere between £350,000 and £400,000.
"You're kidding?," she replies.
No-one in the 1980s could have known what would happen to house prices or the cost of living.
But whatever people think about Right to Buy, there is broad agreement on one point: the problem was not necessarily selling the homes. It was failing to replace them.
Additional reporting: Jade Thompson, Larissa Tairo.
Top image credit: Getty.
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