Spanish rescuers are focusing their search for missing people on underground garages and a multi-storey car park following last week's devastating floods in Valencia.

The death toll after a year's worth of rain fell in parts of the region last week now stands at 217.

A car park in the nearby town of Aldaia capable of holding thousands of vehicles, has become central to the search, but rescue teams have reportedly not yet found any bodies.

It comes as Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) placed part of the north-eastern Catalonia region on red alert for torrential rain, with its capital Barcelona experiencing flooding on Monday morning.

The car park at the Bonaire shopping centre in Aldaia was inundated during flash floods last week.

According to Spanish news agency Europa Press, police have confirmed that search teams did not locate any victims in the first 50 vehicles inspected at the site.

The storm caught many victims in their vehicles on roads and in underground spaces such as car parks, tunnels and garages where rescue operations are particularly difficult.

On Monday, the family of a missing British couple in their 70s confirmed they had been found dead in their car days after flash flooding hit the region.

There has been anger at a perceived lack of warning and insufficient support from authorities after the floods.

On Sunday, the king and queen of Spain were pelted with mud and other objects by angry protesters during a visit to the town of Paiporta - one of the worst-affected in Valencia.

Objects were also thrown at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was quickly evacuated.

The Civil Guard has opened an investigation into the chaotic scenes, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told public broadcaster TVE.

He blamed "marginal groups" for instigating the violence where mud spattered the monarchs' face and clothes.

Local authorities in Valencia have extended travel restrictions for another two days to facilitate the work of the emergency services, cancelled school classes and urged people to work from home.

In Catalonia, train services have been suspended due to adverse weather conditions, while footage shared online appears to show vehicles submerged in floodwater on roads.

“We can turn this around in one term.”

So said the new Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, to staff at Conservative Campaign Headquarters - in other words, she can win the next general election.

Psychologically, she has to say that and she has to believe it, for why else would someone take on the job of Leader of the Opposition?

Granted, candidates for leader run when they think it is their time – the opportunity may never come around again – but they also have to believe the often thankless slog of opposition is worth it, because turfing out the government is possible.

The arithmetic of doing so – recovering from the Conservatives’ worst ever election defeat and overturning a Himalayan Labour majority – looks a tall order, but so volatile is the electorate you never know.

And so, next for Badenoch, the business of making senior appointments.

Reshuffles are always something of a nightmare for leaders as they are guaranteed deliverers of disappointment and deflated egos as well as sources of smiles and preferment.

But three factors make this one particularly tricky for the new Tory leader.

Firstly, numbers.

There are only 121 Conservative MPs and almost as many shadow ministerial roles to fill, if she wants to man-mark every single minister in government with their own shadow.

One potential solution to this is to ask some junior shadow ministers to shadow more than one brief, but that involves asking them to take on even more work.

And the number is not really 121 because there are those MPs who have said they want to be backbenchers, such as former leader Rishi Sunak, former deputy leader Sir Oliver Dowden, former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and former Home Secretary and leadership contender James Cleverly for a start.

Then there are those who are chairing select committees and so cannot serve on their party’s frontbench.

And then there are those the leadership would not want to appoint in a million years.

Suddenly, the numbers are getting tight and that is before you offer someone a job and they turn it down and so, implicitly at least, threaten not to serve at all – and that has happened too.

Secondly, the power of patronage.

When you are prime minister, you can pick up the phone and offer real power.

Doing stuff, taking decisions, being in government.

When you are leader of the opposition, you pick up the phone and offer the worthy, democratically vital but ultimately much less appealing role of being a shadow minister.

And thirdly, there is Kemi Badenoch’s authority over her parliamentary party.

She was the first choice for leader of just 35% of Conservative MPs and 57% of party members who voted in the leadership race.

A win is a win, but neither endorsement was emphatic.

All three of these factors swirl as she picks her top team.

What to do with the guy who came second is a perennial challenge for new leaders.

In this instance, what to offer Robert Jenrick and what might he accept?

Word reaches me that there was quite the back-and-forth between Badenoch and Jenrick.

He was offered shadow health secretary, shadow housing secretary, shadow work and pensions secretary, and shadow justice secretary, I am told.

He was not offered shadow foreign secretary.

For a little while on Monday, he did not say yes to any of the jobs he was offered, stewing over whether they were appealing, senior enough or might box him in too much politically.

One Tory source, not close to the leadership, told me: “Kemi just doesn’t like Rob. She thinks his whole schtick about her and whether she has any policies has done her lasting damage with the Right and with Reform voters. This is only likely to further unravel.”

Half an hour or so later, those around Jenrick made it known he had accepted becoming shadow justice secretary, that “the party needs to come together” and that “unity could not be more important”.

But they are not exactly a nest of birds singing in perfect harmony.

Perhaps the biggest appointment of all is shadow chancellor, particularly in the aftermath of a budget that has done much to define how Labour appears to want to approach its early years in office.

Mel Stride is a former cabinet minister, a former minister in the Treasury and a former chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, so it is a brief he is familiar with.

And then there is the decision to make Dame Priti Patel the shadow foreign secretary.

Dame Priti is a long-standing and pretty well-known senior Conservative who has served in government at the highest level as home secretary.

But she is also someone who found herself prematurely out of government back in 2017 after it emerged, extraordinarily, that she had run a freelance foreign policy operation while on holiday in Israel.

Baroness May, who was then prime minister, was furious and Dame Priti resigned before she was fired.

One senior Conservative got in touch with me to claim that Badenoch, in appointing Patel, had "destroyed within 48 hours any chance she had of having a respectable foreign policy”.

Ouch.

No one said opposition was easy.

And these are just the criticisms from Badenoch’s own side.

Elon Musk's political group has been deciding who receives $1m (£772,000) in its election giveaway, and not been choosing winners randomly, a lawyer representing the billionaire said on Monday.

One of Donald Trump's biggest supporters in the election, Musk has offered the sum to registered voters in swing states through his America PAC, in what many believed was a lottery-style contest.

Philadelphia District Attorney Lawrence Krasner called the giveaway "an illegal lottery" when he sued Musk and the group last month.

But Musk's lawyer Chris Gober told a Pennsylvania judge that the group selects the recipients, according to media reports. The judge later ruled that the giveaway can continue.

Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta did not immediately give a reason for the ruling, made a few hours after the hearing, according to the Associated Press.

America PAC has been awarding $1m to a voter in one of the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina each day in the leadup to Election Day.

Before the court hearing, the group announced a man named Joshua in Arizona was awarded the money for Monday.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, which Musk owns, the group added: "Every day until Election Day, a person who signs will be selected to earn $1m as a spokesperson for America PAC".

Gober told the court that America PAC has already determined the final recipient who will be announced on Election Day and who is from Michigan, US media reported.

“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance,” Gober said, according to the Associated Press. “We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”

But when the world's richest man unveiled the giveaway last month, many believed it was a random drawing for registered voters who signed a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments of the US Constitution.

“We are going to be awarding $1m randomly to people who have signed the petition, every day, from now until the election," Musk told a campaign event.

A few days later, the US Justice Department warned that the group could be breaking election laws, which forbid paying people to register to vote. Krasner's office then sued to stop it.

Musk has been aggressively campaigning for Trump in swing states across the country, and his committee has been pushing hard in Pennsylvania, where polls suggest Trump is in a tie with Vice-President Kamala Harris, a Democrat.

A lawyer in Krasner's office told Reuters that Gober's comments in court are "a complete admission of liability".

During the hearing, prosecutors played a video where Musk, who is also the chief executive of SpaceX, said that "all we ask" is that the winners serve as spokespeople for the group, Reuters reported.

But Chris Young, the director of America PAC, said in court that the recipients are screened and must have values aligned with the group, US media reported.

Those who receive the money sign non-disclosure agreements that block them from publicly discussing the terms of their contracts, according to Reuters.

Musk did not attend Monday's hearing.

Spanish rescuers are focusing their search for missing people on underground garages and a multi-storey car park following last week's devastating floods in Valencia.

The death toll after a year's worth of rain fell in parts of the region last week now stands at 217.

A car park in the nearby town of Aldaia capable of holding thousands of vehicles, has become central to the search, but rescue teams have reportedly not yet found any bodies.

It comes as Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) placed part of the north-eastern Catalonia region on red alert for torrential rain, with its capital Barcelona experiencing flooding on Monday morning.

The car park at the Bonaire shopping centre in Aldaia was inundated during flash floods last week.

According to Spanish news agency Europa Press, police have confirmed that search teams did not locate any victims in the first 50 vehicles inspected at the site.

The storm caught many victims in their vehicles on roads and in underground spaces such as car parks, tunnels and garages where rescue operations are particularly difficult.

On Monday, the family of a missing British couple in their 70s confirmed they had been found dead in their car days after flash flooding hit the region.

There has been anger at a perceived lack of warning and insufficient support from authorities after the floods.

On Sunday, the king and queen of Spain were pelted with mud and other objects by angry protesters during a visit to the town of Paiporta - one of the worst-affected in Valencia.

Objects were also thrown at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was quickly evacuated.

The Civil Guard has opened an investigation into the chaotic scenes, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told public broadcaster TVE.

He blamed "marginal groups" for instigating the violence where mud spattered the monarchs' face and clothes.

Local authorities in Valencia have extended travel restrictions for another two days to facilitate the work of the emergency services, cancelled school classes and urged people to work from home.

In Catalonia, train services have been suspended due to adverse weather conditions, while footage shared online appears to show vehicles submerged in floodwater on roads.

Scientists believe they have found a quirky way to fight mosquito-spread diseases such as dengue, yellow fever and Zika - by turning male insects deaf so they struggle to mate and breed.

Mosquitoes have sex while flying in mid-air and the males rely on hearing to chase down a female, based on her attractive wingbeats.

The researchers did an experiment, altering a genetic pathway that male mosquitoes use for this hearing. The result - they made no physical contact with females, even after three days in the same cage.

Female mosquitoes are the ones that spread diseases to people, and so trying to prevent them having babies would help reduce overall numbers.

The team from the University of California, Irvine studied Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which spread viruses to around 400 million people a year.

They closely observed the insects' aerial mating habits - that can last between a few seconds to just under a minute - and then figured out how to disrupt it using genetics.

They targeted a protein called trpVa that appears to be essential for hearing.

In the mutated mosquitoes, neurons normally involved in detecting sound showed no response to the flight tones or wingbeats of potential mates.

The alluring noise fell on deaf ears.

In contrast, wild (non-mutant) males were quick to copulate, multiple times, and fertilised nearly all the females in their cage.

The researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, who have published their work in the journal PNAS, said the effect of the gene knock-out was "absolute", as mating by deaf males was entirely eliminated.

Dr Joerg Albert, from the University of Oldenburg in Germany, is an expert on mosquito mating and I asked him what he made of the research.

He said attacking sense of sound was a promising route for mosquito control, but it needed to be studied and managed.

"The study provides a first direct molecular test, which suggests that hearing is indeed not only important for mosquito reproduction but essential.

"Without the ability of males to hear - and acoustically chase - female mosquitoes might become extinct."

Another method being explored is releasing sterile males in areas where there are pockets of mosquito-spread diseases, he added.

Although mosquitoes can carry diseases, they are an important part of the food chain - as nourishment for fish, birds, bats and frogs, for example - and some are important pollinators.

The government has announced plans to make it illegal to smoke in children's playgrounds and outside schools and hospitals in England, with some places also becoming vape-free.

In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, it is already an offence to smoke on NHS hospital grounds.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill would also make it impossible for anyone currently aged 15 or under to buy cigarettes - something the previous government had planned - and give more powers to restrict vape flavours, displays and packaging.

A ban on the sale of single-use disposable vapes from next June in England and Wales has already been announced.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the government was taking "bold action" to create a smoke-free generation, "clamp down on kids getting hooked on nicotine through vapes" and protect the vulnerable from the dangers of second-hand cigarette smoke.

Plans include extending the indoor smoking ban to certain outdoor settings, such as schools and hospitals, to protect children and the most vulnerable.

But the government has rowed back on plans to ban smoking in gardens of pubs and bars in England.

It said it was considering outdoor vaping bans too in some places.

The proposals will all be open to public debate over the coming months.

Under the bill, shops would have to obtain a licence in order to sell tobacco, vape and nicotine products in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This would mean on-the-spot fines of £200 for retailers selling unregulated products or to people aged under 18.

A registration system for retailers selling these products has been in place in Scotland since 2017.

Smoking puts huge pressure on the NHS. It kills 80,000 people a year in the UK and is responsible for one in four of all deaths from cancer.

It also increases the risk of many illnesses including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, asthma and dementia.

The government said smoking also cost the economy £18bn a year in lost productivity, with smokers a third more likely to be off work sick.

Health charities have welcomed the bill, which will be subject to consultation for the next six months.

Action on Smoking and Health said it would help create a country where young people would never start smoking.

“It is important to have the debate about how we will protect children and vulnerable people from the harms of second-hand smoke," said the charity's chair, Prof Nick Hopkinson.

He added: "A key next step is for the government to set out further how it will help the UK’s six million smokers to quit. This will require a properly funded plan, paid for by a levy on tobacco companies.”

Dr Charmaine Griffiths, British Heart Foundation chief executive, said she welcomed the government's commitment to protect children and vulnerable people from second-hand smoke in schools, playgrounds and hospital grounds.

"We also welcome measures to make vaping less appealing to young people," she said.

Shoplifting is at "unacceptable" levels and not being tackled properly, a Lords inquiry has found.

The crime is seriously underreported and the problem is so urgent police forces need to take "immediate action", according to the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee.

It says retailers need to be able to report crimes more easily, more funding is needed for offender rehabilitation, and regulations should be introduced to make it more difficult to sell stolen goods online anonymously.

The Home Office said it was making assaults on shopworkers a criminal offence and deploying "thousands" of police officers dedicated to tackling shoplifting.

The Lords committee held an inquiry into tackling shoplifting in which it heard evidence from police chiefs, retailers and industry experts in May and September.

In a letter published today, it said there were more than 443,000 incidents of shop theft recorded by police in March 2024 – the highest ever since records began 20 years ago.

But they were "a drop in the ocean" when compared with likely real figures estimated at 17 million annually – which has "devastating consequences for businesses and families".

Shop theft has evolved from "individualised offending to relentless, large-scale, organised operations accompanied by unprecedented levels of violence", it added.

Tracey Robertson, co-owner of Paw Prints – a small chain of pet shops across Yorkshire – says shoplifting costs her business around £8,000 a year.

"It’s a financial impact on a family business. It’s bad in the fact that it affects the staff that work for us because sometimes it’s aggressive and violent," she said.

The committee supported schemes like Project Pegasus - a partnership between retailers and police to tackle organised shoplifting gangs - but said there needs to be a strategy to deal with local prolific offenders too.

"The scale of the shop theft problem within England and Wales is totally unacceptable and action, like that under way in the Pegasus scheme, is vital and urgent," said Lord Foster of Bath, chair of the committee.

The committee found there is a widespread perception that shop theft is not treated seriously by the police which "risks undermining confidence in the police and wider criminal justice system".

It said shoplifting cost the retail sector nearly £2bn last year – which resulted in price rises impacting individuals, families and communities.

"We acknowledge the pressures on police resources, but we believe that the urgency of the situation relating to shop theft requires immediate action within existing police staffing levels," the letter said.

It has made a series of recommendations to the government which it says would "help tackle the problem and keep the public and our economy safer".

These include:

• Phasing out the use of the outdated term "shoplifting" which serves to trivialise the severity of the offence
• Developing improved reporting systems to enable retailers to report crime to the police quickly and easily
• Increasing funding to community-based reoffending and rehabilitation initiatives
• Introducing regulations to make it more difficult to sell stolen goods on online marketplaces anonymously
• Introducing regulations and best practice guidance for the use of facial recognition technology by private companies

Shop owner Tracey Robertson believes the recommendations do not go far enough and wants to see much tougher sentences for repeat offenders.

Professor of criminology Emmeline Taylor, who gave evidence to the inquiry, said the committee recommendations are "far-reaching" and understand the multiple root causes of shop theft.

"If adopted by the police, the industry and the government it will certainly do a huge amount to begin to turn the tide on the tsunamic of shop theft that has impacted the retail sector across the UK."

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said it welcomed the report which further highlights the significant impact retail crime has on its victims.

"We are doing all we can to reduce thefts and pursue offenders, especially those prolific and habitual offenders, who cause misery within the community," said Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman, the NPCC’s lead for acquisitive crime.

The Home Office said it understands the "devastating impact" of shop theft has on communities.

A spokesperson added: "We are taking immediate action through our commitment to scrap the £200 shop theft threshold, and making assaults on shop workers a criminal offence.

"We will also put thousands more dedicated police officers on our streets, and establish a Retail Crime Forum for retailers to confidently implement tactics against shop theft."

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Senior doctors are charging the NHS premium rates for overtime, as pressure to cut waiting lists is allowing some to make more than £200,000 a year from additional work, a BBC News investigation has found.

That is nearly double the average basic pay for a full-time consultant in England.

Many of the consultants earning the most are thought to be part-time, allowing them to work significant amounts of overtime for rates exceeding £200 an hour – more than four times normal pay.

NHS England said hospitals had to offer rates that were competitive with the private sector.

But the British Medical Association (BMA), the doctors' union, pointed out the NHS would not have to rely so much on overtime were it not for staffing shortages.

And hospitals said covering for strike days and sickness had also been factors.

The findings come as the government invests more money in the NHS, to increase the number of appointments and operations it can offer – a key election promise made by Labour.

As part of the Budget, the chancellor said the NHS would receive an extra £25bn this year and next – with reducing waits a priority.

A key part of Labour’s plan is for staff to work evenings and weekends, to cut the backlog.

But the BBC News investigation raises concerns about whether this approach can deliver value for money.

One senior NHS source said: “Consultants hold all the cards – they know we cannot make progress on the backlog without them."

The source said consultants were in a "pretty unique position compared to other staff" because their contracts meant they could opt out of weekend work and then charge whatever their hospital was willing to pay for overtime.

They said it was not in the BMA's interests to renegotiate these "outdated" contracts, more than 20 years old.

'Artificial intelligence'

"What worries me is that the overtime costs are going to keep increasing with the need to tackle the backlog and this will breed resentment among other NHS staff who often work overtime for little more,” the source said.

They added that the NHS needed to hire more consultants, ask other staff to take on some of their work and invest in technologies such as artificial intelligence to lighten the load.

BBC News used Freedom of Information requests to hospital trusts and data supplied by NHS England to reveal what consultants working beyond their contracted hours was costing the NHS:

• The overall overtime bill hit almost £1bn in 2023-24, up from £512m 10 years ago, albeit some of that rise is related to more consultants being employed
• Six in 10 consultants work beyond their contracted hours, with average extra pay topping £27,000 a year
• At least half of the 41 hospital trusts that responded to BBC News are now paying some of their consultants more than £100,000 in overtime

In 2023-24, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust paid four consultants from its medicine speciality more than £100,000 in overtime payments.

One earned just above £208,000 in overtime for 128 days work.

And during those shifts, their pay averaged £188 an hour.

The trust said “in common with most NHS trusts”, it had to rely on overtime payments to “manage waiting lists and to cover rota gaps and vacancies” and covering strikes had placed it under added strain.

Medway NHS Foundation Trust confirmed it had paid three radiologists, who diagnose and treat patients using scans and tests, more than £150,000 in overtime – one of whom had earned above £200,000.

It said shortages in this field meant it had to pay premium rates, sometimes on a scan-by-scan basis.

'Extra operations'

NHS Frimley Health Foundation Trust paid two consultants in its endoscopy department, which provides internal examinations, more than £180,000 each in overtime, to tackle the backlog in treatment.

The trust said: “We’re focused on ensuring we always provide value for money - and anything we spend is in proportion with the benefit it brings to our patients.”

NHS Humber Health Partnership, which runs five hospitals, paid three consultants between £185,000 and £240,000 in overtime.

Chief medical officer Kate Wood said the overtime spending had helped fund extra operations at weekends, to reduce waiting lists.

“We assess the costs of these shifts against the risks of not having cover," she said.

"We have put patient safety first as that is our key focus.

"This is not something that is unique to us.”

'Critical role'

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust paid three consultants more than £100,000 in overtime, including one who earned just above £198,000.

Managing director Stephen Collman said the trust was trying to reduce “premium payments” where possible but the need to cover sickness absence and vacant posts meant to keep services “running safely and effectively” it had no option.

Some hospitals said overtime rates had been driven up over the past year by the particularly high rates the BMA had told its consultants to ask for to provide strike cover.

"It created a new expectation of what they should get," one official said.

But BMA consultant co-leaders Dr Helen Neary and Dr Shanu Datta said: “Unfortunately, a declining workforce in crisis and spiralling patient demand - which has led to sky high waiting lists - means that extra hours of work are essential to get the job done.”

They pointed out much of the overtime was done during unsocial hours, adding these were “highly-trained and experienced professionals” so it was reasonable for them to value their time “at appropriate rates”.

Danny Mortimer, of NHS Employers, which represents hospitals on employment issues, said: "In light of the difficult financial position of the NHS, health leaders are trying to bear down on extra-contractual premium pay rates."

But there were no easy solutions as consultants played a "critical role" in tackling waiting lists.

And an NHS England official pointed out the use of agencies, which could be even more expensive, was falling.

Elon Musk's political group has been deciding who receives $1m (£772,000) in its election giveaway, and not been choosing winners randomly, a lawyer representing the billionaire said on Monday.

One of Donald Trump's biggest supporters in the election, Musk has offered the sum to registered voters in swing states through his America PAC, in what many believed was a lottery-style contest.

Philadelphia District Attorney Lawrence Krasner called the giveaway "an illegal lottery" when he sued Musk and the group last month.

But Musk's lawyer Chris Gober told a Pennsylvania judge that the group selects the recipients, according to media reports. The judge later ruled that the giveaway can continue.

Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta did not immediately give a reason for the ruling, made a few hours after the hearing, according to the Associated Press.

America PAC has been awarding $1m to a voter in one of the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina each day in the leadup to Election Day.

Before the court hearing, the group announced a man named Joshua in Arizona was awarded the money for Monday.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, which Musk owns, the group added: "Every day until Election Day, a person who signs will be selected to earn $1m as a spokesperson for America PAC".

Gober told the court that America PAC has already determined the final recipient who will be announced on Election Day and who is from Michigan, US media reported.

“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance,” Gober said, according to the Associated Press. “We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”

But when the world's richest man unveiled the giveaway last month, many believed it was a random drawing for registered voters who signed a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments of the US Constitution.

“We are going to be awarding $1m randomly to people who have signed the petition, every day, from now until the election," Musk told a campaign event.

A few days later, the US Justice Department warned that the group could be breaking election laws, which forbid paying people to register to vote. Krasner's office then sued to stop it.

Musk has been aggressively campaigning for Trump in swing states across the country, and his committee has been pushing hard in Pennsylvania, where polls suggest Trump is in a tie with Vice-President Kamala Harris, a Democrat.

A lawyer in Krasner's office told Reuters that Gober's comments in court are "a complete admission of liability".

During the hearing, prosecutors played a video where Musk, who is also the chief executive of SpaceX, said that "all we ask" is that the winners serve as spokespeople for the group, Reuters reported.

But Chris Young, the director of America PAC, said in court that the recipients are screened and must have values aligned with the group, US media reported.

Those who receive the money sign non-disclosure agreements that block them from publicly discussing the terms of their contracts, according to Reuters.

Musk did not attend Monday's hearing.

Quincy Jones, musician and producer who worked with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra and many others, dies aged 91.

Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, said he "passed away peacefully" on Sunday night at his home in Bel Air.

"Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing. And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him," the family said in a statement.

Jones was best known as the producer of Michael Jackson's Thriller album.

Over his career that spanned more than 75 years he won 28 Grammy awards and was named as one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century by Time magazine.

He produced and conducted the recording of the 1985 charity record, We Are The World.

He also composed the soundtrack to more than 50 films and TV programmes including Heat of the Night, The Color Purple and The Italian Job.

Early in his career, Jones worked closely with Frank Sinatra and re-worked Sinatra's classic Fly Me To The Moon taking it from a waltz to a swing.

One the film The Wiz, Jones found himself working alongside a 19-year-old Michael Jackson.

The pair worked together for decades and Jones produced albums Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

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Nigeria's president has ordered the immediate release of a group of young people accused of treason, after footage of some of them collapsing in court sparked outrage.

The 27 teenagers - among 76 suspects detained for months following their arrest in anti-government protests - are aged between 14 and 18.

Bola Tinubu directed officials to release them after four collapsed during their first court appearance on Friday, apparently due to malnourishment.

Viral videos of them writhing in pain before being taken for medical treatment sparked a renewed debate over their treatment by authorities in Nigeria, as well as the length of their detention.

The suspects had been in custody for nearly three months after participating in the #EndBadGovernance protests which swept the country in August over a deepening cost of living crisis.

• Why Nigeria's economy is in such a mess

The demonstrations turned violent in some places when protesters clashed with security forces.

Police say seven people died - though rights groups put the death toll at 23. Nearly 700 people were arrested.

Some of those in court in the capital, Abuja, on Friday were accused of flying Russian flags and planning to overthrow the Nigerian government.

In a statement on Monday, President Tinbula's spokesman Bayo Onanuga said that it was his wish that the release of the children did not prejudice the ongoing legal action.

Reuters reported, citing Information Minister Mohammed Idris, that the treason charges against the children had been dropped.

Mr Onanuga said the Nigerian humanitarian affairs ministry had been asked "to ensure the safe return of all the minors to their families while an investigation has been opened into the circumstances leading to their prolonged detention".

When the courtroom footage emerged, Nigerian rights organisation Enough is Enough said they had been subjected to "institutional child abuse".

Amnesty International described the children's detention was "one of the deadliest attempts to suppress freedom of assembly" so far.