South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a judicial inquiry into allegations of political interference in the prosecution of apartheid-era crimes.

The announcement comes three decades after the end of white-minority rule - and after a group of survivors and victims' relatives sued Ramaphosa's government over a perceived lack of justice.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), set up in 1996, uncovered apartheid-era atrocities like murder and torture, but few of these cases progressed to trial.

Announcing the new inquiry, a presidential statement said Ramaphosa is "determined that the true facts be established and the matter brought to finality".

The investigation is the outcome of settlement discussions in a high court case brought by 25 families and survivors.

The group, which is suing the government for damages worth $9m (£6.8m), says apartheid-era crimes were never properly investigated by the governments that came after the racist system.

• South Africa's long wait for justice over apartheid crimes
• Ghosts of apartheid haunt South Africa as compensation anger brews

Plaintiffs include the son of Fort Calata who, among a group of anti-apartheid activists who came to be known as the Cradock Four, was burnt and killed by security forces in 1985.

Their murder of the four men sparked outrage across the country and six former police officers eventually confessed their involvement to the TRC. They were denied amnesty by the commission, but were never taken to court. All six officers have since died.

For years, critics have alleged that the post-apartheid leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) formed a secret deal with the former white-minority government in order to prevent prosecutions. The ANC has denied this.

On Wednesday, the presidency acknowledged that "allegations of improper influence in delaying or hindering the investigation and prosecution of apartheid-era crimes have persisted from previous administrations".

The head of the inquiry, along with its timetable, will soon be announced.

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Mobile phone footage which prosecutors claim shows the moment the "iconic" Sycamore Gap tree was felled has been shown to jurors.

The tree had stood for more than 100 years in a dip on Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland before it was felled in a "moronic mission" in the early hours of 28 September 2023, Newcastle Crown Court has heard.

Daniel Michael Graham, 39, from Carlisle and Adam Carruthers, 32, from Wigton in Cumbria, each deny two counts of criminal damage relating to the tree and the Roman wall.

Jurors were told the tree was a much-loved feature in Northumberland and had global significance for its position on the former frontier of the Roman empire.

On the night of 27 September, Mr Carruthers and Mr Graham made a 40-minute drive in the latter's Range Rover from Cumbria to chop the tree down, prosecutors allege.

While one used a chainsaw to fell the tree, the other filmed the act of "mindless" vandalism on Mr Graham's mobile phone, jurors have heard.

• Live coverage of the trial

The pair then took the wedge cut out of the trunk home as a "trophy" and revelled in the public's outrage over the following days, the court has heard.

In statements read to the jury, staff from the National Trust, which had owned the site since the 1940s, and Historic England emphasised the importance of the tree and wall.

Tony Wilmott, a senior archaeologist for Historic England, said Sycamore Gap got its name in the 1980s from the tree in the cleft of the wall.

He said the site was "picturesque" and had become one of the "most prominent and appreciated features" in Northumberland, a symbol of the county with an unmistakeable profile.

The place had become "totemic", he said, adding it was a place of marriage proposals, family visits and even location of ashes for deceased individuals.

"In short, the place is much loved by many thousands of people," Mr Wilmott said, adding its reputation was "spread worldwide" by its inclusion in the 1992 film Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.

Lee McFarlane, an inspector of ancient monuments for Historic England, said it was "fortunate" the tree was fully in leaf at the time as the canopy bore the brunt of the impact and weight of the fallen tree.

Several stones of the Unesco World Heritage Site wall had been broken though, she added.

Ian Everard of the Forestry Commission said the tree had been deliberately cut using a "hinge-and-wedge" technique so it would fall across the wall, adding it was "unequivocally obvious" where it would end up.

The National Trust said the wall would cost £1,144 to repair while Historic England said the staff hours spent in assessing the damage ran up a bill of more than £6,000.

Jurors also saw body-worn footage from the first police officer at the scene, who arrived at about 11:30 on 28 September and said park rangers were "visibly shocked and upset."

Andrew Pode, the National Trust's general manager for Northumberland coast and Hadrian's Wall, said the tree was "world famous" and had been "unlawfully felled", adding: "No-one had the right or permission to cause damage to the tree."

Mr Pode said the "iconic" tree had been planted in the 1800s by previous landowner John Clayton to be a "feature in the landscape", with the National Trust taking it over on 10 December 1942.

Jurors were shown a photo taken by Alice Whysall-Price, a holidaymaker out for a walk, who is believed to have been the last person to take a picture of the tree intact, the court heard.

In a statement read to the court, Ms Whysall-Price said she arrived at the tree at about 17:20 on 27 September while walking the length of Hadrian's Wall.

She said the weather was "awful" with wind and rain while a storm was anticipated.

The court also heard Mr Graham's mobile phone and Range Rover were tracked to and from the site and the metadata of the felling video showed it had been filmed at the spot of the tree.

A forensic botanist, Dr Mark Spencer, examined the picture of the wedge of wood in Mr Graham's car, which prosecutors said the pair had taken as a "trophy", and concluded there was "very strong evidence" it had come from the tree with no other possible source identified, the court heard.

The defendants shared screenshots of Facebook posts and media reports in the aftermath, with Mr Graham saying the felling had gone "viral" and "worldwide", the court heard.

The trial continues.

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A man murdered a couple, dismembered their bodies and then froze some of their remains before taking the rest in suitcases to the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, a court has heard.

Yostin Andres Mosquera filmed himself having sex with Albert Alfonso, 62, and stabbed him to death, having earlier killed Paul Longworth, 71, the prosecution said.

Mr Mosquera, 35, denies the murder of both men at their flat in Shepherd's Bush, west London, between 8 and 10 July last year.

He admitted the manslaughter of Mr Alfonso during a hearing at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, however the prosecution rejected this plea.

This article contains material that some people may find distressing.

The court heard the defendant told a cyclist who had stopped to ask if he was lost that he had car parts inside a large red suitcase and a large silver trunk.

Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, told the court the suitcases contained the decapitated and dismembered bodies of Mr Longworth and Mr Alfonso.

Other body parts were found by police in a chest freezer at their flat in Shepherd's Bush.

Mr Longworth had been attacked with a hammer to the back of his head and Mr Alfonso had been repeatedly stabbed, the court heard.

The pair were in a long-term relationship and a year before their death, had entered into a civil partnership together, the prosecution told the Jury.

Internet searches

The court heard the defendant and another man, known under a pseudonym as James Smith, were both paid by Mr Afonso to perform degrading sexual acts which were often filmed and posted online.

The court heard there were also times when the victims and the defendant went on trips together.

The prosecution alleges Mr Mosquera killed both men on 8 July 2024 at their home in Shepherd's Bush, killing Mr Longworth first and then hiding his body in the storage section of Mr Longworth's bed.

The court also heard the defendant had searched on the internet for the value of the victims' home.

Mr Mosquera, a Colombian national, sat in the dock and listened to proceedings with the help of an interpreter.

The trial continues.

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The Co-op has shut down parts of its IT systems in response to hackers attempting to gain access to them.

The Co-op said the "proactive measures" it had taken to fend off the attack had had a "small impact" on its call centre and back office.

Meanwhile, The Metropolitan Police has confirmed it's looking into the the major cyber attack at fellow retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S).

"Detectives from the Met's cyber crime unit are investigating," it confirmed in a statement

There are more than 2,500 Co-op supermarkets in the UK, as well as 800 funeral homes. It also provides food to Nisa shops.

A spokesperson confirmed its shops and funeral homes were operating as usual following the attempted hack.

"We are working hard to reduce any disruption to our services and would like to thank our colleagues, members, partners and suppliers for their understanding during this period," they said.

"We are not asking our members or customers to do anything differently at this point."

It comes as M&S enters the second week of a cyber attack that has caused chaos costing it millions of pounds in lost sales.

The retailer has not said what took out its online ordering systems and left empty shelves in stores, but the BBC has been told by security experts that ransomware called DragonForce was used.

Ciaran Martin, the founding Chief Executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday it had "serious" consequences for M&S.

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Kemi Badenoch has accused the government of breaking its promise to set up five local inquiries into grooming gangs despite pledging to do so.

The Conservative leader said Sir Keir Starmer had promised £5m to fund five locally-led investigations into grooming gangs but delivered just one, in Oldham.

During Prime Ministers Questions, Badenoch suggested the Sir Keir was "dragging his heels" on inquiries to shield Labour-run councils from scandal.

Sir Keir said Labour were "investing more in delivering truth and justice" for victims of grooming gangs than the Conservatives had during "14 long years" in power.

Ministers have been facing growing demands to reveal which areas are running grooming gang inquires alongside the review in Oldham, and a three-month audit of national evidence being led by government troubleshooter Baroness Louise Casey.

Earlier this month Tom Crowther, the barrister helping to develop the schemes, suggested local inquiries into grooming gangs had stalled since they were announced in January.

Crowther, who chaired the inquiry into child sex abuse in Telford, Shropshire, gave evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Committee at the start of April and told MPs he had asked a government official "do you still want me?"

The issue was again raised in the Commons on Monday, when Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips told MPs she expected there to be more than five local inquires.

Labour was focusing on ensuring "there is a local process of accountability that actually changes things on the ground", Phillips told MPs.

During a heated PMQs exchange, Badenoch sought to tie grooming gang inquiries to the local elections, a series of councils and mayoral votes across England on Thursday.

The Tory leader said voters faced a choice of "chaos and cover-ups under Labour councils or better services under the Conservatives".

Badenoch repeatedly asked Sir Keir for an update on the local inquires. When he did not respond, she said he "cannot name a single place because nothing is happening".

She questioned whether the prime minister was "dragging his heels" on local inquiries into grooming gangs because he "doesn't want Labour cover-ups exposed", adding that the inquiries hadn't started because "local authorities don't want to investigate themselves".

A national inquiry was needed as local probes "cannot force witnesses to appear" and "cannot force people to give evidence under oath", Badenoch said.

Sir Keir accused Badenoch of "staying silent" on the issue in government while he "oversaw the first grooming gang prosecution" as Director of Public Prosecutions.

He told the Commons: "I was the prosecutor who brought the first case.

"On the back of that I then changed the entire approach to prosecutions, which was then lauded by the government that we were doing the right thing, and brought those prosecutions."

In contrast to the Conservatives, Labour were "implementing existing recommendations" of the 2022 national inquiry into child sexual abuse and "providing for local inquiries", he said.

For more than a decade there has been a series of high-profile cases where groups of men, predominantly of Pakistani descent, were convicted of sexually abusing and raping mainly white girls in the UK.

In 2022, Prof Alexis Jay published the conclusions of a seven-year national inquiry into child sexual abuse, which investigated abuse in churches and schools, as well as by grooming gangs.

The Conservative have been calling for a second national inquiry into grooming gangs since the issue was thrust back into the spotlight by tech billionaire Elon Musk at the start of the year.

The proposal was backed by opposition MPs, as well as some Labour figures including Rotherham MP Sarah Champion alongside Labour mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham.

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A paedophile who spent nearly three decades on the run in Thailand, denying victims justice, has been jailed for 46 years.

Richard Burrows, 81, formerly of Birmingham, was sentenced for more than 90 child sex abuse offences at Chester Crown Court.

His trial heard he abused 24 boys as young as nine while a housemaster at a Cheshire boarding school and through involvement with scouts in the West Midlands between 1968 and 1995.

Judge Steven Everett told Burrows at the sentencing on Wednesday: "You are a despicable man".

When defence barrister Philip Clemo told the court that Burrows would spend his last days in prison, the judge said: "I don't suppose there'll be anyone who'll mourn that."

The jury had heard one of his accusers told police he "hated" the abuse, which would happen as much as two to three times per week, but said he "could do nothing about it", adding "I was frightened and young".

Judge Everett said Burrows had given "awful" evidence, particularly a claim that there were "good paedophiles and bad paedophiles".

He also remarked that Burrows had "lied [through] your back teeth" in police interviews, and when Burrows nodded at him, the judge replied: "I see you nodding - it's too late now."

Burrows was on the run for 28 years, fleeing to Thailand and changing his identity, before returning to the UK in 2024 when he ran out of money.

In mitigation, Mr Clemo accepted victims had faced an extensive delay in getting justice, but that Burrows had come back of his own free will and didn't "have to come back in shackles". He also told the court that Burrows had cancer, but "the kind of cancer you die with rather than from".

The judge replied: "If he still had money and he wasn't ill he would still be in Thailand now. He felt he had no option [but] to come back."

He added that Burrows' decision to flee to Thailand increased the anguish suffered by his victims. A resulting BBC Crimewatch programme led to other victims coming forward.

Mr Clemo told the court that Burrows "knows he's caused incredible suffering" and has been "struggling with his mental health too".

He added the paedophile's thought processes and perceptions were "warped", but that his mitigation was "not designed to diminish the pain and suffering detailed so eloquently" by victims.

At the first day of the sentencing on Tuesday, victim impact statements were read in court, and some spoke from the witness stand.

One said his childhood was "completely and permanently destroyed" by Burrows, having been drugged and raped in a tent over a 12-hour period.

The man said he was 10 or 11 when he was abused by Burrows, who took part in scout camps and activities in Sutton Coldfield and Ross-on-Wye.

"What was left of me as a child was taken away by Burrows," he said in the witness box.

James Harvey, who waived his legal right to anonymity, told the court he was abused by Burrows in a caravan at night.

The attacks took place at an airshow at Baginton Aerodrome - later known as Coventry Airport - after Mr Harvey had met Burrows while he was a sea scout in Walsall.

"You had so many qualities that could have been put to good, but you used every single one for evil purposes," Mr Harvey said in court, addressing Burrows.

Some of the charges related to Burrows' time as a housemaster at Danesford School in Congleton, Cheshire, between 1969 and 1971.

Judge Everett said: "I'm glad it's closed. One can only hope that places like that are never ever opened again."

He said vulnerable boys were "corralled" into a place where staff "either didn't care or actively sexually abused boys".

Burrows became the starting point for a huge police investigation in the 1990s spanning Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester police and resulting in convictions of other men at homes in the region.

Cheshire Police also proactively looked into Burrows' time with the Scouts, and found victims in the West Midlands.

The judge pointed out that Burrows was sacked from Danesford in 1971 after a boy reported being abused by him.

Judge Everett said: "What is telling is, first of all, nothing was done at the time and secondly as a result you went on to commit serious sexual abuse on a whole range of other boys."

He also said a complaint led to Burrows being kicked out of the Scouts in 1994, but "they didn't bring it to the attention of the police", and Burrows' offending continued until 1996.

The Scout Association said: "Burrows' crimes are abhorrent. We want to see justice for every survivor, and we hope his conviction goes some way to providing that. We also want to thank the survivors who have shown considerable bravery in coming forward to tell their story."

The association said it had been working with the police since being alerted to the investigation. It added it was aware of the allegation against Burrows in 1994 and would be reviewing what actions were taken then.

'Perverted desires'

Judge Everett said he had dealt with other historical abuse cases, but this was one of the most serious.

He told Burrows: "Despite your ridiculous protestations that you were caring for the boys, you only cared for your own selfish and perverted sexual desires.

"You felt a compelling need to sexually assault young boys often in the grossest breach of trust, many of whom were particularly vulnerable over and above their young ages because some had come from difficult and deprived backgrounds.

"They had no one to protect them. No one to speak up for them."

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At least three people have died in Spain in an incident linked to a massive power cut that shut the country down on Monday, the Civil Guard has told the BBC.

They died in the north-west municipality of Taboadela and were from the same family, according to Spanish media.

Police are reportedly investigating whether carbon monoxide from a faulty electricity generator played a role in their deaths, but the Civil Guard could not provide more details.

Officials are still working to confirm what caused the power cut that triggered chaos across Spain and Portugal on Monday.

The trio who died in Taboadela were a married couple and their adult son, according to the Madrid-based newspaper El Pais.

Their bodies were discovered in their beds by a care worker on Tuesday, El Pais reported.

Other deaths are under investigation, including a woman in Madrid who died in a fire that may have been caused by a candle being used during the blackout, local media reported.

The woman, in her fifties, was found dead on Monday night after a fire broke out in a building in the city's Carabanchel district.

Thirteen people were treated for smoke inhalation, including five who were taken to hospital, according to the city's emergency information office.

Elsewhere, a woman in her forties is reported to have died in Valencia, though there is no clear consensus in Spanish media on the cause of her death.

Local police have suggested the woman, who suffered from a lung condition, died after the ventilator she was using lost power during the outage, according to media reports.

However, El Pais cited regional health sources who said the woman suffered from a number of health conditions and that she died of natural causes.

The blackout caused huge disruption across Spain and Portugal. Andorra and parts of France were also affected.

In Spain and Portugal, traffic lights stopped working, metro systems ground to a halt, and businesses were unable to accept card payments - triggering huge queues at the few cash machines that were still working.

Initially, mobile phone networks also went down, leaving many scrambling for information.