Artificial intelligence has invented two new potential antibiotics that could kill drug-resistant gonorrhoea and MRSA, researchers have revealed.

The drugs were designed atom-by-atom by the AI and killed the superbugs in laboratory and animal tests.

The two compounds still need years of refinement and clinical trials before they could be prescribed.

But the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) team behind it say AI could start a "second golden age" in antibiotic discovery.

Antibiotics kill bacteria, but infections that resist treatment are now causing more than a million deaths a year.

Overusing antibiotics has helped bacteria evolve to dodge the drugs' effects, and there has been a shortage of new antibiotics for decades.

Researchers have previously used AI to trawl through thousands of known chemicals in an attempt to identify ones with potential to become new antibiotics.

Now, the MIT team have gone one step further by using generative AI to design antibiotics in the first place for the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhoea and for potentially-deadly MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

Their study, published in the journal Cell, interrogated 36 million compounds including those that either do not exist or have not yet been discovered.

Scientists trained the AI by giving it the chemical structure of known compounds alongside data on whether they slow the growth of different species of bacteria.

The AI then learns how bacteria are affected by different molecular structures, built of atoms such as carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen.

Two approaches were then tried to design new antibiotics with AI. The first identified a promising starting point by searching through a library of millions of chemical fragments, eight to 19 atoms in size, and built from there. The second gave the AI free reign from the start.

The design process also weeded out anything that looked too similar to current antibiotics. It also tried to ensure they were inventing medicines rather than soap and to filter out anything predicted to be toxic to humans.

Scientists used AI to create antibiotics for gonorrhoea and MRSA, a type of bacteria that lives harmlessly on the skin but can cause a serious infection if it enters the body.

Once manufactured, the leading designs were tested on bacteria in the lab and on infected mice, resulting in two new potential drugs.

"We're excited because we show that generative AI can be used to design completely new antibiotics," Prof James Collins, from MIT, tells the BBC.

"AI can enable us to come up with molecules, cheaply and quickly and in this way, expand our arsenal, and really give us a leg up in the battle of our wits against the genes of superbugs."

However, they are not ready for clinical trials and the drugs will require refinement – estimated to take another one to two year's work – before the long process of testing them in people could begin.

Dr Andrew Edwards, from the Fleming Initiative and Imperial College London, said the work was "very significant" with "enormous potential" because it "demonstrates a novel approach to identifying new antibiotics".

But he added: "While AI promises to dramatically improve drug discovery and development, we still need to do the hard yards when it comes to testing safety and efficacy."

That can be a long and expensive process with no guarantee that the experimental medicines will be prescribed to patients at the end.

Some are calling for AI drug discovery more broadly to improve. Prof Collins says "we need better models" that move beyond how well the drugs perform in the laboratory to ones that are a better predictor of their effectiveness in the body.

There is also an issue with how challenging the AI-designs are to manufacture. Of the top 80 gonorrhoea treatments designed in theory, only two were synthesised to create medicines.

Prof Chris Dowson, at the University of Warwick, said the study was "cool" and showed AI was a "significant step forward as a tool for antibiotic discovery to mitigate against the emergence of resistance".

However, he explains, there is also an economic problem factoring into drug-resistant infections - "how do you make drugs that have no commercial value?"

If a new antibiotic was invented, then ideally you would use it as little as possible to preserve its effectiveness, making it hard for anyone to turn a profit.

A 14-year-old girl left alone to self-harm at a mental health hospital when she should have been under constant supervision was unlawfully killed, an inquest jury has concluded.

Ruth Szymankiewicz was being cared for by a member of staff on his first shift who had fake ID at Huntercombe Hospital, near Maidenhead, Berkshire, on 12 February 2022.

Ruth, from Salisbury, was unaccompanied for about 15 minutes and left alone to walk around the hospital and to her room.

It was there that she was found unconscious shortly afterwards. She died at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford two days later.

She was being treated for an eating disorder when she was moved to the failing hospital, which has since shut down, from October 2021.

It was rated inadequate and later requirements improvement in two separate inspections by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in 2021.

The jury found contributing factors to her death included insufficient training of staff and that her care was "not suitable nor conducive" to helping her recovery.

She was also not prevented from watching "harmful material" online. Visiting arrangements in which only one family member could visit her at any time were also a contributing factor.

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Before we get into the details of this year's Level 3 exam results, there are two useful things to understand.

First, the legacy of Covid still looms - and in quite a unique way for these Year 13s.

Exam results spiked in 2020 and 2021 when exams were cancelled and grades were based on teachers' assessments.

Most students getting results today were in Year 8 when all that started. By the time they were in Year 11, a phased effort to bring grades back down had reached its final stage in England.

The result? Their GCSE results were lower, and fewer met the mark to start A-level courses. It means this cohort of A-level students is seen, in the words of Ofqual's chief regulator, as "smaller" but "stronger".

The second thing to understand is that universities are worried about their finances.

There has been a fall in the number of international students - who pay higher fees - coming to UK universities, due in part to changes to visa rules last year.

The chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) said universities were keen to enrol UK undergraduates this year because they offered "stability" for "financial planning".

Here is everything you need to know about what has been a huge day for teenagers across the country.

1. Top A-level grades rise again

Top A-level results have risen again – with 28.3% of all grades across England, Wales and Northern Ireland marked at A* or A.

That's up from 27.8% last year.

The percentage of top grades rose from 27.6% to 28.2% in England, and from 30.3% to 30.4% in Northern Ireland.

Wales is the only nation to have seen a drop - from 29.9% to 29.5%.

This is the second year that grading has returned to pre-pandemic standards across all three nations, so overall results were always expected to be similar to last year.

2. Regional gap grows in England

The gap between the highest- and lowest-performing regions in England has grown again.

In London, 32.1% of A-level grades were marked at A* or A. In the North East, it's 22.9%.

That's a 9.2 percentage point gap – up from 8.8 last year, when the East Midlands was the lowest-performing region.

The North East and the West Midlands are the only regions to see falls in the proportion of top grades this year.

And the North East is the only region where that proportion is lower than both 2024 and 2019 - the last year that exams were sat before the Covid pandemic.

We don't have breakdowns of grades by ethnicity or free school meal status right now - that comes later in the year - but Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said that "too often, opportunities depend on background rather than talent".

"The entrenched divide in outcomes seen over the last few years and the lack of progress for children from white working-class backgrounds is particularly concerning," she said.

Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said there were "significant and deep-seated regional disparities".

"The pandemic has had long-lasting consequences and the grades our young people are using to apply for the most competitive university or apprenticeship places remain lower than those in regions such as London," he said.

3. Record numbers get their first choice of university

A record number of 18-year-olds secured a place at their first choice of university.

Overall, 82% of offer-holders woke up to the news that they had successfully got into their first choice.

That's the same proportion as last year, but there are more 18-year-olds this year.

So 226,580 got into their first, or "firm", choice – up from 216,750 last year.

What's especially interesting is which universities they're going to.

Ucas says acceptances were up across the board at all types of university, but the steepest growth was in acceptances to what it calls "higher tariff" universities - the most selective institutions, like those in the Russell Group.

The number of 18-year-olds from the UK accepted by these universities grew by 7.2%. And admissions teams still have places - the Russell Group itself said this morning that many of its members had courses available in Clearing.

Taking on more UK students may offer some financial stability for those selective universities.

But, with four in 10 universities thought to be in deficit and acceptances only up by 1.4% at "lower tariff" universities, there will be institutions hoping to recruit more students through Clearing.

4. Boys take the lead in top grades

Boys have outperformed girls at A-level for the first time since 2018.

Of boys' grades, 28.4% were awarded an A* or A – compared to 28.2% of girls' grades.

So boys have a 0.2 percentage point lead. That's a switch from last year, when they were 0.4 percentage points behind girls.

Some of this could be down to what's been going on across individual subjects.

For example, boys increased their lead over girls in maths - the most popular A-level subject with more than 100,000 entries.

Boys' performance in maths improved very slightly this year (from 42.5% of entries being marked A* or A last year to 42.6% this year), whereas girls' dipped (from 41.2% last year to 40.2% this year).

However, girls still outperformed boys in more subjects.

5. T-level numbers rise but dropouts remain high

Fewer students took A-levels this year, but there's been another increase in the number taking T-levels in England.

T-levels were first introduced in September 2020 and this is the fourth year of results. More schools and colleges are offering them, and there are more T-level courses to choose from.

A total of 11,909 students received T-level grades today – up from 7,435 last year.

The dropout rate remains high, though – and some students take longer than the standard two-years to complete the course.

11,724 students getting T-levels today started their course two years ago. That's 72.9% of the total 16,081 students who started the course. The pass rate was 91.4%. That's similar to last year, when it was 91.6%.

Additional reporting by Phil Leake, Libby Rogers, Muskeen Liddar and Rob England

There is a "viable chance" of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said, ahead of Friday's summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The two leaders are meeting in Alaska to discuss how to end the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders, who are not attending the meeting, held a joint call with Trump on Wednesday to reiterate their position.

Following the call, Sir Keir said Ukraine's "territorial integrity" had to be protected and that "international borders cannot and must not be changed by force". Zelensky

Last week Trump warned there could be "some swapping of territories, to the betterment of both", leading to fears Ukraine may have to give up some areas in order to end the bloody conflict

Ukraine has insisted it will not accept Russian control of land it has seized, including Crimea, while Moscow wants to maintain control.

It also wants assurances that Ukraine will not join the Nato military alliance and a limit on the size of its army.

Addressing a virtual meeting of the European leaders following the call with Trump, Sir Keir said "any ceasefire would have to be lasting and to be lasting it would need security guarantees".

"That is why we set up this coalition of the willing," he added.

The coalition is a group of mainly European countries who have pledged to provide military support to Ukraine - including potentially boots on the ground - in order to deter Russia from breaching any agreed peace deal.

Sir Keir said the coalition had "credible" military plans ready that could be used in the event of a ceasefire.

He said the leaders of the group were also ready to increase economic pressure on Russia if necessary, for example through increasing sanctions.

He also praised Trump's efforts to reach an agreement, saying: "For three-and-a-bit years this conflict has been going on and we haven't got anywhere near the prospect of an actually a viable solution, a viable way of bringing it to a ceasefire.

"Now we do have that chance, because of the work the president has put in."

Following his call with European leaders, Trump told a press conference there was a chance of a meeting between Putin and Zelensky.

He said he would use his initial meeting with Putin to "find out where we are and what we're doing", adding: "We'll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelensky and myself, if they'd like to have me there."

He also warned Putin that he would face "very severe consequences" if he did not agree to end the war after Friday's summit.

Zelensky, who joined the call while in Berlin to meet German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, said the US was ready to continue its support of Ukraine and accused Russia of not wanting peace.

"Putin cannot fool us," he said

The NHS waiting list in England has seen a small rise in the past month, with experts warning hospitals are not treating enough patients to keep up with demand.

At the end of June, the list stood at 7.37 million, a rise of 10,000 on May.

While it is still down on last year's figure of 7.62 million, internal documents seen by the BBC, suggest one factor is patients being removed from the list without being treated. This can happen legitimately when patients pay for treatment privately or recover – but experts say it shows the NHS is struggling to keep up.

The government said it was trying to ensure all patients who need care get it as soon as possible.

The NHS has been encouraged to weed out patients who do not need to be on the waiting list, described as "validation" by officials, for a number of years.

Financial incentives are paid for the number of patients taken off and can also include patients who have died.

It can make services more efficient, as it means hospitals are not unnecessarily chasing up patients who no longer need treatment.

Unreported removals

Internal documents showed that, during March and April, the waiting list was brought down by 100,000 through weeding out patients. Without this the list would have increased.

The Nuffield Trust think-tank said the true number being removed could be even higher.

Its analysis showed an average of more than 200,000 removals a month over the last two years. The think-tank claimed that, on top of validation, computing errors could mean some patients are being automatically removed in error, creating an additional waiting list that does not show up in the figures.

Dr Becks Fisher, from the Nuffield Trust, said: "It would be easy to assume that recent reductions in the waiting list are down to the NHS treating a bigger number of patients each month but our analysis shows that presenting progress in this way is a mirage.

"The NHS is actually still treating fewer patients than are being referred."

She said while this waiting list "validation" exercise was "absolutely" the right thing to do in many cases, there needed to be greater transparency and understanding about just what is happening behind the scenes.

The government said unreported removals were only a small factor in the progress being made on the waiting list, saying the NHS was still managing to treat an increasing number of patients.

Screening the waiting list through the validation process was vital and ultimately improves productivity, they argue.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Our drive to clear the huge waiting list backlog we inherited includes making sure all patients are getting the right treatment as quickly as possible."

Former BBC Radio 1 DJ Clara Amfo has spoken about how depression played a part in her decision to leave the station last year.

Amfo has previously spoken about her periods of struggling with her mental health and anxiety, and told Fearne Cotton's Happy Place podcast last week she has "dealt with deep, deep, deep depression in my life".

She told her former Radio 1 colleague she decided to leave the station partly because she felt "completely satiated" by the job and didn't want it to become "a chore".

But she went on to say she was suffering from depression in 2023 and took a break "to have a little reset", before deciding to leave for good.

Amfo joined Radio 1 in 2015 and took over Cotton's mid-morning slot the same year, before moving to Annie Mac's evening show in 2021. Amfo left the station in March 2024.

Burnt out

She told Cotton her depression had become particularly bad at the start of 2023.

"Mate, I was in the flipping trenches," she said. "I think I was burnt out, I wasn't taking care of myself properly, I think I was a bit sort of overwhelmed by life's weird - not weird, valid - injustices.

"I just wasn't feeling great and I was in a bit of a negative headspace, and yeah I was really, really depressed mid-2023, and I took some time off of radio, and just had to have a little reset. And that's when I decided I was going to leave my show, actually, at the time."

Cotton, who has previously said she left Radio 1 because the job was "ruining her mind", told Amfo she had also experienced "very, very low mental health in periods".

Amfo also spoke about other factors behind her departure from Radio 1 earlier in the interview, saying she was determined not "to resent anything that that I do" in her job.

"I don't ever want anything to feel like it's being forced or like it's a chore. And I wasn't feeling that way, but I want to be able to listen to music as a fan always, rather than as a business," she explained.

"I want to be able to talk to people on a human level, rather than thinking, I've got to get that viral interview clip."

She quoted a comment that Annie Mac told her when she left. "She was just like, 'Yeah babe, I'm just ready to do my next thing'.

"And I think that's how I felt. I felt so completely satiated by it and I was like, well, I think there's nothing new for me to do. I could carry on and do it. I could. But I think one thing I learned is just because you can do something doesn't mean you always should."

A Glasgow school pupil has been named among Time magazine's girls of the year for inventing a device to help homeless people warm.

Rebecca Young, 12, designed a solar-powered blanket, which an engineering firm Thales then turned into reality.

The Kelvinside Academy pupil is now among 10 girls from across the world selected by Time who have inspired and helped communities.

She told BBC Scotland News that she was shocked and honoured by the recognition, which has also seen her turned into a Lego mini-figure, due to the awards being run in partnership with the Danish toy manufacturer.

Rebecca first came up with the idea while attending an engineering club at school.

She explained: "Seeing all the homeless people, it made me want to help – it's a problem that should be fixed.

"During the day, the heat from the sun can energise the solar panels and they go into a battery pack that can store the heat. When it's cold at night people can use the energy stored in the battery pack to sleep on.

"In Glasgow it can be freezing at night and they [homeless people] will have no power, so I thought the solar panel could heat it."

Rebecca's idea came out on top in the UK Primary Engineer competition, where more than 70,000 pupils entered ideas aimed around addressing a social issue.

Engineering company Thales then turned the idea into a working prototype, with 35 units given to Homeless Project Scotland to use in Glasgow.

That achievement led Rebecca to a spot on Time's list, which the magazine's chief executive Jessica Sibley said highlights "those who are turning imagination into real-world impact".

Rebecca's mum Louise told BBC Scotland News: "I couldn't be more proud, it's fantastic. It's obviously all come from a drawing and going from that to it actually being made is amazing."

As part of the honour, Rebecca and the other nine winners are appearing on a digital cover of the famous magazine, where they are styled as Lego mini-figures - something the 12-year-old said was both "really cool and crazy".

She also had advice for any other girls who wanted to get involved in Stem subjects - an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Rebecca said: "If you have an idea like I did, then join clubs and talk to people about it, it helps."

Reflecting on the Time magazine recognition, she added: "All my friends think it's awesome."

Colin McInnes, the founder of Homeless Project Scotland, said the initiative had already been successful.

He added: "When somebody is having to rough sleep because the shelter is full, we can offer that comfort to a homeless person, of having a warm blanket to wrap around them during the night.

"We would 100% take the opportunity to have more of them."

Daniel Wyatt, the rector at Kelvinside Academy, said Rebecca was a "shining example of a caring young person".

He added: "She is also a role model for any young person who wants to follow their own path in life."