US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said, marking a sharp escalation in Washington's pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro's government.

"We have just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela - a large tanker, very large, the largest one ever seized actually," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Releasing a video of the seizure, Attorney General Pam Bondi described the vessel as a "crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran".

Caracas swiftly denounced the action, calling it an act of "international piracy". Earlier, President Maduro declared that Venezuela would never become an "oil colony".

The Trump administration accuses Venezuela of funnelling narcotics into the US and has intensified its efforts to pressure President Maduro in recent months.

Venezuela - home to some of the world's largest proven oil reserves - has, in turn, accused Washington of seeking to take its oil.

Oil prices inched higher on Wednesday as news of the seizure stoked short-term supply concerns. Analysts warn the move could threaten shippers and further disrupt Venezuela's oil exports.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who leads the US Department of Justice, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the US Coast Guard co-ordinated the seizure.

"For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations," the nation's top prosecutor wrote on X.

Footage shared by Bondi showed a military helicopter hovering over a large ship, and troops descending on to the deck using ropes. Uniformed men were seen in the clip moving about the ship with guns drawn.

A senior military official told CBS News, the BBC's US partner, that the mission to seize the tanker was launched from a Department of War vessel.

It involved two helicopters, 10 Coast Guard members and 10 Marines, as well as special forces.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was aware of the operation, and the Trump administration was considering more actions like this, the source said.

When asked by reporters what the US would do with the oil on the tanker, Trump said: "We keep it, I guess... I assume we're going to keep the oil."

Maritime risk company Vanguard Tech has identified the oil tanker as Skipper.

"The vessel is reported to be part of the dark fleet, and was sanctioned by the United States for carrying Venezuelan oil exports," it says.

BBC Verify has located this tanker on MarineTraffic, which shows it was sailing under the flag of Guyana when its position was last updated two days ago.

The Venezuelan government issued a statement denouncing the seizure as a "grave international crime".

"Venezuela will not allow any foreign power to attempt to deprive the Venezuelan people of what belongs to them by historical and constitutional right," it said.

It said the prolonged aggression against Venezuela has always been about "our natural resources, our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people".

Speaking at a rally earlier on Wednesday, Maduro had a message for Americans opposed to war with Venezuela. It came in the form of a 1988 hit song.

"To American citizens who are against the war, I respond with a very famous song: Don't worry, be happy," Maduro said in Spanish before singing along to the lyrics of the 1988 hit.

"Not war, be happy. Not, not crazy war, not, be happy."

It's unclear if Maduro knew about the seizure of the tanker before this rally.

After American forces boarded the vessel, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello called the US "murderers, thieves, pirates".

He referred to Pirates of the Caribbean, but said that while that film's lead character Jack Sparrow was a "hero", he believed "these guys are high seas criminals, buccaneers".

Cabello said this was how the US had "started wars all over the world".

In recent days, the US has ramped up its military presence in the Caribbean Sea, which borders Venezuela to the north.

The build-up involves thousands of troops and the world's largest warship, the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford, being positioned within striking distance of Venezuela, BBC Verify reported.

The move has sparked speculation about the potential for some kind of military action.

Since September, the US has conducted at least 22 strikes on boats in the region that the Trump administration says are smuggling drugs. At least 80 people have died in these attacks.

Ione Wells contributed to this report.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado appeared in Oslo, Norway after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, waving from the balcony of the Grand Hotel after months in hiding.

Machado made the covert journey despite a travel ban, and has mostly laid low since Venezuela's disputed presidential election in 2024. She last appeared in public in January.

From a balcony on Wednesday with a crowd cheering below, Machado placed her hand on her heart and sang with her supporters, before walking outside to greet them in person.

Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the award on her mother's behalf earlier in the day.

The Nobel Institute awarded Machado the Peace Prize this year for "her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy" in Venezuela.

Afterwards, Machado went the outside to greet her supporters, who waited behind metal barricades on the street.

"Maria!" "Maria, here!" they shouted in Spanish, as many held their phones aloft to record the historic moment.

At one point, Machado climbed over the barriers to join them.

Her appearance was preceded by speculation that she would travel to Norway for the award ceremony.

The Nobel committee shared audio of Machado declaring, "I will be in Oslo, I am on my way."

After her Peace Prize win, Machado made a point to praise US President Donald Trump, who is open about his own ambitions for the Peace Prize and is locked in ongoing military tension with Venezuela.

On Wednesday, Trump announced the US military had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. His administration alleges the vessel was under sanction and was involved in an "illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations".

The Venezuelan government accused the US of theft and piracy.

I like to think of myself as a law-abiding driver. But it was not a total shock earlier this year when I received one of those official notifications in the post, informing me that I had been caught exceeding a speed limit (driving out of Wandsworth in South London, if you're interested).

I had to accept either three driver penalty points, or attend a speed awareness course. Having no points on my licence, and wanting to keep it that way, I chose to take the course (like so many others given the choice).

And so it was, on a warm Saturday morning earlier this year, that I found myself in a London hotel conference room, with about two dozen other people learning about the dangers of speeding.

First thing to say about the course is that it is so good, it should really be compulsory for everybody who drives. It was shocking to learn of some basic confusions about the speed limits that I and others were harbouring.

But my main observation that day was that we are seeing a dramatic change in driving culture.

As the course instructors went around the room asking us all why we were there, it turned out that almost none of us had been driving "fast" as you might have once defined the word. Most of us had been speeding at something like 26mph. But we were unarguably guilty as charged, having breached the limit on a 20mph road.

I had not given it much thought until then, but it is clear we are in the midst of a significant lowering of urban speeds. And many motorists are struggling to keep up. (Or more accurately, slow down.)

The number of tickets issued for 20mph speed offences was almost half a million last year, according to data collated from police forces in Great Britain by campaign group, 20's Plenty For Us.

Why do many drivers find it so difficult to keep to 20mph? As a driver myself - but also an occasional cyclist, pedestrian and resident of a neighbourhood of 20mph roads - I am increasingly fascinated by the complicated layers of debate. And how a deeper psychology and sense of habit also plays a part.

So, given the number of 20mph roads around the country, will our brains gradually adjust, making it eventually seem normal - and how can we speed that process up?

'Frankly ludicrous - a war on motorists'

In Wales, no-one can have missed the debate over the Cardiff government's decision to lower speed limits in built-up areas in September 2023. It became a hot political issue.

Mark Drakeford, the former First Minister and Labour politician who introduced the policy, said it would "keep people from losing their lives"; while the Welsh Conservatives called it "disastrous, frankly ludicrous and a war on motorists".

Since then, the change has been partially unwound by the re-introduction of 30mph limits on certain roads. But with far less fanfare, swathes of the rest of the country have also moved towards a 20mph norm.

Over half of London's roads now have a 20mph speed limit, according to Transport for London (TfL). In Leeds, dozens of roads are set to become 20mph as part of the council's "Vision Zero 2040" strategy (which aims for zero road deaths or serious injuries by 2040).

Various towns across the country are following the same path.

No-one can say this has been rushed. The first 20mph limit in the country came into effect in 1991 in the Sheffield suburb of Tinsley. Eight years later the law was changed, making it much easier for highway authorities to introduce 20mph zones. In the last decade, that change has accelerated.

And that is not only true in the UK. Across the continent, 30km/h speed limits (equivalent to 19mph) are increasingly common.

Transport planners across the West have evidently been receptive to the same arguments for making an historic change in the relationship between the car and other road users.

Psychological flow at the wheel

Figures from the Department for Transport show that in 2024, while 43% of cars exceeded the 30mph limit (and 44% exceeded 70mph on motorways), 20mph roads, it was 76%. Yes, three-quarters of drivers break the 20mph speed limit. In fact, the average speed on 20mph roads (when they are free-flowing) was 24mph.

It has got a little better over the last few years, but still one in 10 drivers exceed the 20mph speed limit by at least 10mph.

So, what's going on?

When I did my speed awareness course, we were asked - hands-up - why we thought we had driven too fast. People proffered sensible answers like "I was in a hurry" or "I wasn't paying attention to the speed limit" or "someone was tailgating me".

But for me, it was different. I felt almost silly admitting it: it is just that on a free-flowing road in a car, to me 20mph feels unnaturally, uncomfortably, slow.

Evidently, there is a lot of psychology at play.

Richard Stephens, senior lecturer in psychology at Keele University, talks of the importance of the "flow state".

"Psychological flow is this state that we can get in when you're on a roll or you're in the zone, you've been totally absorbed in what you're doing," he explains.

To enter flow state, your task needs to be "enough of a challenge to engage us, but not too much of a challenge to stress us out".

It applies to driving too, he says. "Sometimes the speed limit might feel a bit slow for the road you're on, and you might feel a bit under-challenged. And there's a temptation [to] put your foot down.

"In a flow analogy, what you're doing is you're increasing the challenge a little bit to get more into that sweet flow spot and a more enjoyable experience."

But he argues that drivers can help themselves enter that "flow state" while sticking to 20mph. He suggests listening to something stimulating, or even turning driving into a game.

"The car I drive has a display that encourages eco-driving," he says. "It encourages you to not accelerate too sharply, not break too harshly, and things like that. That sort of gamification of the driving experience can add elements that would bring flow in without changing the speed that you're driving."

For some drivers, faster speeds are simply more satisfying.

"I do think there's almost something inherently attractive about speed," admits Dr Stephens. "Once a child learns to walk, then they learn to run, and then they just run everywhere, because it's more fun."

Then there are habits: we can habituate ourselves to speed - so fast can feel slow, and vice versa, depending on what you're used to.

Shaun Helman, Chief Scientist at the Transport Research Laboratory, points out: "If you're barrelling along a motorway at 70mph, the moment you leave on to the slip road and slow right down, you will notice that it suddenly feels a lot slower than you're used to because of that short-term fast speed that you've been doing."

Add to that the fact that modern cars - with their active suspension and their noise-optimised tyres - give some drivers an extra sense of security.

"Quiet cars, finely engineered for a really comfortable drive, will simply give you less perceptual cue that you're travelling at a particular speed. So that makes it easier to slip over a limit."

One-third reduction in collisions

Of course, there's a clear reason why many councils have rolled out 20mph speed limits: safety.

It is obvious to most drivers that slower speeds are generally safer than fast ones. And it's easy to see why many people, including those whose loved ones have died in accidents, might push for a lower limit.

A pedestrian who is hit by a car travelling at between 30mph and 40mph is between three-and-a-half and five-and-a-half times more likely to be killed than if hit by a car driver travelling at below 30mph, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, a charity.

TfL looked at more than 100 roads in London that introduced 20mph limits between 1989 and 2013.

Analysing a period of three years before, and three years after, the limit was lowered, their research suggested that 20mph limits brought a 35% reduction in collisions, as well as a 34% reduction in serious injuries and deaths.

The number of child deaths on those roads fell from a total of four to one.

But, as they concede, other road safety measures were also implemented over that period, and it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what caused the improvements.

In Wales, too, the government has found a 25% reduction in the number of people injured or killed on low-speed roads in the most recent 18 months, compared with the 18 months before a speed limit reduction.

Of course, as with any knotty academic question, there are anomalies.

A study from Queen's University Belfast in 2022 looked at 76 streets in the Northern Irish capital. It found that casualties dropped by 22% three years after 20mph speed limits were introduced - a fall, but not a statistically significant one, the study's authors said (in other words, it could have been explained by mere chance).

But broadly speaking, the data shows that slower equals safer. A European meta-study from last year at the National Technical University of Athens, reviewed 70 studies of the 30km/h limits in 17 cities and found a 23% reduction in road crashes, and a 38% reduction in fatalities.

Hazel Peacock, a road safety campaigner in Harrogate, was delighted this summer when her council imposed 20mph limits on almost 200 roads in the town. She now feels safer cycling with her nine-year-old son to his school.

"It's less intimidating," she says. "When a driver sees you, they're already going slower. I really think they see you as a human. They're not having to change their behaviour or their speed when they see you."

She also feels more comfortable letting her older son, aged 12, walk to school.

New speed-lowering technology

Looking ahead, there remains one big, unanswered question. Will our brains gradually adjust to 20mph, or will it continue to feel unnaturally slow, ensuring its survival as a hot and sometimes divisive political issue?

Mr Helman predicts most drivers will get used to it.

"Once you get people behaving in a particular way, they change their outlook and their attitudes on those behaviours," he says. "There's this idea that your attitudes determine how you behave, and there's an element of truth in that.

"But the opposite is also true, your behaviour actually defines your attitudes."

And then of course, there is the really big transformation under way, with which anyone with a newish car is familiar: the technology of speed control.

"Intelligent Speed Assistance", as it's known, may feel like a nuisance, beeping away when you are at the wheel. But use it wisely. It can cap your speed, taking away any need for you to concentrate as you stick to the limit.

I'm happy to say that since my speeding ticket earlier this year, not only have I been schooled in the dangers of speed and the merits of driving slowly, I now have a new car, in which it takes just a quick flick of a finger to cap the speed.

Suddenly 20mph is achievable with little to no effort. My guess is that it is here to stay - if I can handle it, I think most people can.

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At England's busiest emergency unit, all the beds are full by midday.

As one patient leaves his room at Leicester Royal Infirmary's acute unit, cleaning staff are waiting outside.

He is barely out of the room before the bed is stripped and bleach is sprayed. The next patient is already waiting to come in.

Over two days the BBC was given access to the hospital to witness first-hand how it is coping with an early surge of winter bug cases.

Flu season has hit a month earlier than normal this year, with experts warning there appears to be a more severe strain of the virus - mutated H3N2 - circulating.

Hospitals around the country, like this one in Leicester, are doing all they can to avoid becoming completely overwhelmed.

But staff at the Royal Infirmary say increasing numbers of people coming to hospital with the flu and other winter bugs - together with existing pressures - are hitting the hospital hard.

They already worry about how they will cope this winter.

Patients in every cubical

When 19-year-old Paige arrives at the hospital by ambulance, she's put on a trolley while a resus bed is cleared. She's got the flu but also has type 1 diabetes and has dangerously high sugar levels. She is curled in a ball, pale and shaking.

"There are patients in every cubical," Consultant Saad Jawaid says, as Paige is wheeled in. "Another ambulance has just rocked up."

We watch as he works with colleagues in the resus unit to find desperately needed bed spaces.

"When beds are full we have to move people - sometimes that means those who can sit are moved out of beds and into chairs," he says.

Paige is given insulin and fluids to try to stabilise her sugar levels. The doctors hope her diabetes will be controlled soon. Getting better from the flu will take longer.

The following day, Paige is in a side room on the acute assessment unit.

"I do struggle a lot in winter," she says. "I was maybe in here two or three weeks ago. Infections and stuff just seem to hit harder than usual."

The number of flu patients in hospital has hit a record high in England for this time of year with NHS leaders warning the country is facing an unprecedented flu season.

At its busiest times, the emergency unit here in Leicester saw more than 1,000 patients a day last winter. On one of the days we were here, 932 patients came through the door. That number is expected to rise in the coming weeks.

Attendance levels are already around 8% higher this year than last year. And the unit faces a daily shortage of between 50 to 70 beds.

At the Royal Infirmary around 64 beds are currently taken up by people with respiratory viruses, including flu.

We meet one patient who waited 106 hours for a bed on a ward. Another, Gary, came in with a stomach bug and finally got a bed after 34 hours.

By late afternoon, the children's waiting area is full. Parents stand rocking crying babies as every seat is taken.

Respiratory cases of flu and bronchiolitis, a condition affecting the lungs of young patients, are rising fast here too.

In just 30 minutes, 30 children arrive at the department.

At five months old this is Oscar's first winter and his first trip to A&E. His mum brought him in because he was wheezing and struggling to breathe. A few hours after arriving, he is finally seen by a doctor and told he has bronchiolitis.

"These bugs are everywhere at the moment - Oscar's older brother brought it home from school and now Oscar has it," says his mum.

Richard Mitchell has been the chief executive of University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust since 2021 - and has witnessed first-hand how it gets harder to cope with each winter that passes.

"We are already seeing very high levels of flu," he tells us. He expects numbers to climb into January. "That is one of the many things I am concerned about at the moment.

"At this point I feel we are working at the limits of our ability."

Turning minor cases away

The hospital has introduced a new system to manage the flow of patients arriving at its emergency department, as pressure grows on front-line services.

Receptionists, nurses, all the way up to consultants, now sit in a bank of desks at the entrance, assessing patients as they arrive.

This speeds up triage, moving people away from the front door and ensuring those in greatest need receive urgent care.

Staff say the range of cases has become increasingly polarised. Some of the most seriously ill patients are being driven in by relatives because of long waits for ambulances.

At the other end of the scale, people turn up with minor complaints after struggling to secure GP appointments. "Last week someone came in with a coldsore," one nurse tells us.

Experienced staff can redirect those who do not need urgent care, helping them to book GP appointments or pointing them towards pharmacies and other services. Now one in 10 patients are sent away, although staff admit it can lead to frustration.

Security has been tightened following one violent incident, with glass screens installed and 24‑hour guards now in place.

Leicester Royal Infirmary has introduced new measures each year to boost capacity and manage rising demand. Winter pressures continue to grow, while the quieter summer months have become a thing of the past.

To reduce ambulance queues, prefabricated structures were converted into a permanent unit with 14 beds - all are full during the BBC's visit. Without them that would have been 14 ambulances queueing for hours to unload their patients.

Unlike many hospitals, Leicester's emergency unit is not totally overwhelmed by elderly patients. Frail patients are streamed directly to specialist areas, including a frailty unit, or supported in the community to avoid long hospital stays.

Preston Lodge, a former care home bought by the trust, now provides 25 beds, with 14 more opening on December 15. Patients who no longer need acute care - but still require rehabilitation or support - are moved there while awaiting care packages.

"We aim to get people better ready for going home and hopefully keep them stronger and more independent so they aren't back in hospital so frequently over the winter," says head of nursing, Emma Roberts.

Looking ahead, Mr Mitchell expects waits and delays to only get worse for patients in the coming weeks.

For the first week in January - traditionally the busiest each year - the hospital plans to free up more emergency beds, but that means delaying other operations and procedures.

He says: "We will not be able to provide timely care to every patient this winter but we will continue to do our utmost to ensure that patients are treated with dignity and respect to ensure they receive safe care and we will do everything possible to manage those waiting times."

Hospital leaders here are trying to take proactive steps - rather than simply reacting to each crisis. But staff and patients alike warn that hospitals across the country are caught in the middle of a system, many believe, is close to breaking point.

In a statement, the Department of Health and Social Care said it was "under no illusions this is going to be a tough winter for our NHS".

A spokesman said: "Flu cases are rising, so it is vital that patients can get protected. Almost 17 million vaccines have been delivered this autumn - 350,000 more compared to this time last year.

"There is no national shortage of the flu vaccine and we would urge everyone eligible to get their vaccination to protect themselves and their loved ones."

One of the world's most bootlegged recordings - Fatboy Slim's Satisfaction Skank - is finally being released, after the Rolling Stones gave belated approval for the song's pivotal sample.

Fatboy Slim, real name Norman Cook, created the track 25 years ago by grafting the riff from the Stones' Satisfaction onto his platinum-selling single The Rockafeller Skank, after he grew "bored" of playing the original.

"It was my secret weapon," he told BBC News. "I had this tune that nobody else had, and it was a really good encore."

In the 2000s, the song spread like wildfire on file-sharing sites like Napster and Kazaa but, until now, The Stones had refused to clear it for commercial release.

Even Cook bought bootleg copies of the song, some of which had been taped off his live sets on BBC Radio 1 and pressed to vinyl.

Over the years, there have been several attempts to get the sample approved.

"I got a call from Mick Jagger and he said he'd heard it and he liked the mix," recalled Cook.

"But his management was just like, 'No, not even negotiable'."

Later, the Stones asked Cook to remix their 1968 single Sympathy For The Devil. Satisfaction Skank was due to be the b-side - but the deal ultimately fell apart.

"We've had a pretty flat 'no' for 20 years," said Cook. "I think we asked four times, and I wouldn't have dared to ask them again."

Instead, the initiative came from the Stones' side. They even gave Cook their master tapes, so he could create a higher-quality version of the original mix.

It's a sign of how the band have become more relaxed about the re-use and re-contextualisation of their songs in recent years.

In 2019, they even signed over their publishing stake in The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony.

Previously, writer Richard Ashcroft had been forced to surrender all his royalties from the song, due to its sample of an orchestral cover of the Rolling Stones' The Last Time. He called the reversal "life-affirming".

Satisfaction Skank has been a staple of Fatboy Slim's live set for over a quarter of a century, but Cook says he can't remember the first time he played it.

"That's more of a testament to my state of mind and partying in those days, than to the historical importance of it," he said.

However, he could recall debuting The Rockafeller Skank itself, at Brighton's Big Beat Boutique in early 1998.

"I was so excited, because I'd just finished it," he said. "I remember playing it and everyone just going nuts.

"I got really, really excited and started shouting, 'That's me, that's me! That's my new single!'

"And everyone just went, 'Yeah, we guessed'."

It went on to become a Top 10 hit, with promotional copies of the single describing it as "dance music's Bohemian Rhapsody".

"That was me, but I wasn't being self-aggrandising," he confessed to BBC News.

"As a music production fan, it's famous that Bohemian Rhapsody was made up of three different segments that they had to edit together.

"And with Rockafeller, we had to do the same. It was the early days of the internet, so I had to go round to my engineer's house to do the 'slowy down bit', because he had the software to make it work.

"Then I had to take that file back to my studio and edit all the bits together.

"So it wasn't my Bohemian Rhapsody in terms of being a Stone Cold classic. It's just that it was more complicated to make than everything I'd ever done."

'I'll never retire'

The release of Satisfaction Skank comes at the end of the busiest year of Cook's career.

He's played 115 gigs ("a personal best") in dozens of countries, and published his first book - It Ain't Over... 'Til the Fatboy Sings.

Filled with photos and memorabilia, the coffee table book reflects on the "40 years since I quit my day job and ran off to join the circus".

He first found fame in the indie band The Housemartins, and was also the founder member of the dance music collective Beats International and funk-soul outfit Freak Power.

Cook has also DJ'd and remixed under a variety of monikers, including Pizzaman, Mighty Dub Katz and latterly Fatboy Slim.

Now aged 62, he shows no signs of slowing down. In October, he announced the continuation and expansion of a DJ workshop series for people dealing with serious mental health problems in Sussex - a programme which he helps to fund.

"Music has played a vital role in my own mental health journey, and it's a privilege to share that healing power with others," he told BBC Sussex.

He'll start 2026 with gigs in Indonesia and Bali, followed by an extensive UK tour, and the resurrection of his Big Beach Boutique festival on Brighton's seafront.

"I think I've kind of realised now that my career will never be over," Cook said.

"I got a glimpse of what retirement looked like during lockdown - this abyss of lunches and golf - and I have no interest in that.

"So now I think I'll keep working 'til I drop."

People who might otherwise turn to friends, family, or social media influencers for financial advice are to be given new help to invest their money.

Targeted support from registered banks and other financial firms is being given the go-ahead by the City regulator and should start in April.

This will allow firms to make investment and pensions recommendations based on what similar groups of people could do with their money.

It still falls short of individually tailored advice, which can only be provided by an authorised financial adviser for a fee.

Nearly one in five people turned to family, friends or social media for help making financial decisions, according to a survey by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Sarah Pritchard, deputy chief executive of the FCA, said the new regime would be "game changing".

"It means millions of people can get extra help to make better financial decisions," she said.

"We also hope it will build greater confidence to invest. While investing will not be right for everyone, we know people in the UK invest less compared to the EU or US."

'Advice gap'

Investing money is not an option for millions of people. The regulator said that one in 10 people had no cash savings, and another 21% had less than £1,000 to draw on in an emergency.

However, FCA data suggested about seven million adults in the UK with £10,000 or more in cash savings could receive better returns through investing.

Investing does come with some risk as the value of an investment can go down as well as up, but the spending power of cash savings can be eroded by rising prices.

The regulator said that many consumers who were in a position to invest but chose not to did so because they were unsure of their options, felt overwhelmed,  or needed more support. Only 9% of people surveyed received regulated advice on their pensions and investments in the 12 months to May 2024.

Targeted support aims to bridge a gap between general guidance and information, and financial advisers who charge a fee.

For example, banks could explain how a large pot of cash savings could be invested, or how investments could be spread out to reduce risk.

"The FCA's new rules mark a significant step towards closing the advice gap and will empower millions," said Yvonne Braun, director of policy at the Association of British Insurers.

Some consumer groups have made clear that the new rules must not be a pathway to firms exploiting customers.

The FCA said firms taking part would need to be authorised in advance. They might include banks, building societies, investment platforms and digital wallet providers.

They would also be required to show that their recommendations were suitable and should only be offered when it put people in a better position, the regulator said. Any customer vulnerabilities would need to be identified and taken into account.

Consumers will have the right to take any disputes that arise to the independent financial ombudsman.

There will also be a move to allow people to make more informed decisions with their pensions.

The regulator's new rules will require legislation, but the government has made it a clear objective to encourage people to invest. The Treasury believes this will help to create economic growth.

It was one of the reasons for the decision by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to cut the annual allowance for cash Isas (Individual Savings Accounts) from £20,000 to £12,000 a year for under 65s, from April 2027.

Separately, the FCA has launched a "firm checker" tool to help prevent people from losing money to fraudsters through investment scams.

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Schools across the UK are trialling the use of deepfake teachers and even employing remote staff to deliver lessons hundreds of miles away from the classroom.

It comes as the use of AI is becoming increasingly prevalent in schools.

The government says AI has the power to transform education, and improve teacher workload, particularly around admin for teachers.

The BBC has spoken to teachers, school leaders and unions who seem divided on what the future of the UK's classrooms should look like.

Emily Cooke is a maths teacher at The Valley Leadership Academy in Lancashire, which has hired a virtual maths teacher - a decision Mrs Cooke is strongly against.

"Will your virtual teacher be there to dance with you at prom, hug your mum during results day, or high-five you in the corridor because they know you won the match last night?" she says.

Since September, top set pupils in Year 9, 10 and 11 at Mrs Cooke's school have been taught by the remote maths teacher, who is based 300 miles away in Devon.

Teachers went on strike over the move last week and this week.

The school said it was a "small-scale initiative" but the National Education Union (NEU) called it an "unacceptable situation".

Mrs Cooke says: "As a parent, as a teacher, I don't think that teacher-student relationship, which is so important, can be formed or replicated over a screen."

The school told the BBC that its approach is a "win-win", where "pupils benefit from lessons delivered by an outstanding specialist teacher online" who is supported in the classroom by a second teacher.

'It's like having a digital twin'

At a different academy, AI experiments are going further than most.

Shane Ierston, CEO of Great Schools Trust, says giving children in his schools in Liverpool, Warrington and Bolton a "top class, world-quality education" is his priority.

Mr Ierston believes clever use of AI can help to free up teachers' time to focus on building students' character, leadership and resilience.

Teachers there can already use its AI system to mark assessments and mock exams, which they say is more accurate.

Director of AI at the trust, Benjamin Barker, says the AI technology can identify gaps in students' learning and help teachers to plan future lessons.

After marking, the AI deepfake will produce a bespoke feedback video for each child.

The technology is due to be trialled this year, before getting feedback from staff, students and parents.

Using AI "as a leveller" will make sure every child gets "personalised tuition", with the teacher in the room making sure they understand, Mr Ierston says.

Having a deepfake will be "completely voluntary for teachers", he adds.

"What we're not trying to do is replace teachers," says Mr Ierston. "We're trying to use technology - things that have got a bad reputation - and see how it can be used to benefit society.

"That's the future."

Deepfakes will also be used to help absent pupils catch up from home, or to translate parent messages into the 46 languages spoken across the schools.

When asked what they would say to those who oppose children interacting with deepfake technology, Mr Ierston says it's "only natural" that people will fear change.

"But we would much rather be leading the change than Silicon Valley doing it for us," he says.

"We know that what we're doing has got children and the right values at the heart."

Nicola Burrows works for the trust, and has a daughter, Lucy, in Year 11.

When asked for her thoughts on Lucy getting feedback from an AI deepfake of her teacher, she says it would be "really quite special having that very specific personalisation with a face you know".

But adds that it is "really important that we bring the parents with us" when it comes to new initiatives, including addressing any concerns over safety.

'There's a long way to go to convince parents'

Technology, screens and AI in the classroom are divisive topics, particularly among parents.

"I think it's fair to say that parents are deeply sceptical about AI," says Frank Young, chief policy officer of charity Parentkind, a national charity that aims to give parents a voice in education.

Just 12% think AI should be used in the classroom, according to its annual survey results, which over 5,000 parents responded to in April this year.

"But I think we can get there if parents are provided with reassurance over how this AI will be used and how it will benefit the children," Mr Young says.

There are no official figures on how many schools are using AI in the classroom with students, but Ofsted is gathering evidence about how AI is being used in schools and FE colleges.

Data from survey tool Teacher Tapp, which asks thousands of teachers a series of questions each day, found that in October 2024, 31% of teachers said they'd used AI in the past week to help with their work. By October 2025, that had risen to 58%.

John Roberts, chief executive at Oak National Academy, which provides lesson planning resources for teachers funded by the DfE, says more than 40,000 teachers have used its experimental AI lesson planning tool since it launched in September last year.

'This approach is a win win'

Back at The Valley, Mrs Cooke says she does not think online learning is as effective as face to face, pointing to the "huge gaps" in learning from Covid, when schools closed and millions of lessons moved online.

"I thought we were trying to get teenagers off screens, not give them to them for five hours a week in their maths lessons?" she says.

"The fear is, if we do not stop this, if it goes unchallenged at The Valley, it will spread," she says.

"And in 20 years time, what is education going to look like? And are we okay with that?"

A spokesperson for the academy says remote teaching in the school is "not comparable" to pandemic-era teaching, as it is "structured, supported, and takes place in school".

It says hiring a remote teacher is a "small-scale, targeted response to the national shortage of specialist maths teachers. Our priority is, and always will be, to ensure pupils receive the highest quality teaching."

There are now three virtual teachers being used across the trust "deployed in very specific circumstances where recruitment of high-quality subject specialists has been exceptionally difficult", it says.

The Department for Education says technology must be "carefully managed to enhance – not replace - the deep thinking, creativity and critical engagement that underpin effective learning".

But NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede says the union is against remote teaching, and will "never tolerate the imposition of a virtual teacher".

The trust in charge of The Valley says it is committed to working positively with its NEU colleagues to resolve this matter.

Portugal is facing severe disruption to transport, flights, hospitals, schools and other public services on Thursday, as the two main union federations stage a general strike over unprecedented labour reforms.

The last time the CGTP and the generally less militant UGT joined forces was during the eurozone debt crisis in 2013, when a "troika" of international institutions demanded cuts in salaries and pensions as part of Portugal's bailout.

Twelve years later, Portugal's economy has become the fastest growing in the eurozone in recent months, but Prime Minister Luís Montenegro says it is still necessary to tackle "rigidities" in the labour market "so companies can be more profitable and workers have better salaries" as a result.

"I will not give up on having a country with the ambition to be at the forefront, to be at the vanguard of Europe," he said on the eve of the strike.

However, Montenegro appears to have been taken aback by the strength of feeling against his minority right-of-centre government's plans: one of his Social Democrat MPs is on the UGT executive and even he voted for a strike.

The prime minister tweaked some proposals after calling the federation in for talks late last month, but it was clearly not enough.

Among the most controversial of the more than 100 proposals are:

• letting employers roll over temporary contracts for years on end
• lifting a ban on sacking workers then immediately rehiring them indirectly via outsourcing
• removing a requirement to reinstate employees who were unfairly dismissed.

It is Portuguese in their 20s who are likely to be most affected by the changes - and opinion is rather mixed.

Diogo Brito, who works as an air steward but has friends who do casual work in tourism, supports the right to strike but backs the package: "It has to be done. We have to catch up with richer countries and with these measures I think we can evolve more."

But self-employed photographer Eduardo Ferreira says he knows many people who already cannot find secure jobs and is pleased to see the unions unite at a "critical moment" for Portugal: "Things have been tough ever since the troika, and workers haven't reacted until now."

The CGTP has condemned the package as "an assault on the rights of all workers, particularly women and young people", while the UGT calls it "so out of step, in a context of economic growth, financial stability and a strong labour market, that… it reflects a clear bias in favour of employers".

The UGT also complains that formal talks between unions, government and business were "unbalanced, restrictive and detrimental to workers".

Montenegro's governing coalition lacks a majority in parliament, and is seeking support for the bill not only from the small, free-market Liberal Initiative (IL) but from hard-right Chega, which since May's general election has been the second-largest party.

Its leader, André Ventura, has expressed reservations about the way some measures might affect family life, but looks open to negotiations.

Before the election, Montenegro had ruled out deals with Chega, and the unions and the third-biggest party, the Socialists, say the prime minister's mask has slipped.

They also warn that politicians on the right want to amend Portugal's 1976 constitution to loosen employment safeguards considered among Europe's strongest.

The issue has also become caught up in the campaign for January's presidential election, with several candidates arguing that the labour reform bill flouts Portugal's 1976 constitution.

Under Portugal's "semi-presidential" system, the head of state can decline to sign bills approved by parliament. Bills can instead be sent to the Constitutional Court for review or the president can exercise a veto that, while it can be overturned by a majority of elected MPs, delays the process, ensuring further discussion.

With the government seeking to overhaul so much of the labour code, such scrutiny might stoke voter unease about its radicalism, particularly since the plans were not in the coalition's election manifesto.

Unlike many strikes here, Thursday's day of action is not limited to the public sector.

At Portugal's largest factory, VW-owned Autoeuropa, south of Lisbon, almost 1,000 employees voted unanimously last week to back it.

"I believe there is no worker in this country unaffected by the negative measures in this reform," said UGT secretary-general Mário Mourão, after the Autoeuropa gathering. "It must be responded to appropriately."

In a matter of days, three big names in South Korea's entertainment industry have made headlines in separate scandals that could derail their careers.

The allegations that have embroiled comedians Park Na-rae and Cho Sae-ho, as well as veteran actor Cho Jin-woong, are all different - ranging from workplace abuse to previous teenage detention to associations with a gang member.

But the results have been the same: departures from the television screens where they had worked their way up to become household names.

The scandals have also raised questions about the standards to which South Korea's public figures are held - especially in the entertainment industry.

What are the scandals about?

Park Na-rae, one of the country's most successful female comedians, made headlines last week when two of her former managers lodged criminal complaints claiming she had verbally abused and physically assaulted them.

The 40-year-old had also made them do her personal chores, they alleged.

Park has denied these allegations and sued the former managers for blackmail, her agency said over the weekend.

She is separately being accused of receiving IV drips illegally at home, which violates the local medical law, local media reported - prompting a police investigation.

On Monday, Park Na-rae announced on social media that she had talked things through with her accusers, but would halt all broadcasting activities until things were "clearly resolved".

"As a comedian whose job is to bring laughter and joy, I cannot continue to be a burden to my programmes and colleagues," she wrote on social media.

Another comedian who has come under scrutiny over the past week is Cho Sae-ho.

Rumours started swirling last week that the 43-year-old was friends with a prominent local gang member and had received money to promote the latter's business.

Backlash came swiftly, as social media users demanded that Cho Sae-ho be removed from the popular variety shows he hosted, You Quiz on the Block and Two Days and One Night.

On Tuesday, Cho Sae-ho's agency announced that he would leave the shows - though it denied his links to the gang's business activities.

In a social media statement, Cho Sae-ho said he "should have been more careful" with the people he met at events.

He added that he had decided to step down from the shows because he did not want to "burden" the programmes and their production teams.

The downfall that has generated the most debate comes from veteran actor Cho Jin-woong, who said over the weekend that he would quit acting.

The abrupt announcement came after a viral news report that said Cho Jin-woong, as a teenager in the 1990s, had been sent to a juvenile detention centre on allegations of robbery and sexual assault. As an adult, he also assaulted a person in his theatre troupe and had his driving licence suspended for drink driving, the report said.

The 49-year-old's agency said that Cho Jin-woong had confirmed wrongdoing in his youth, but denied sexually assaulting anyone.

Broadcasters have scrambled to erase Cho Jin-woong from their platforms. A documentary series he narrated has now had the narration re-recorded, while the fate of Second Signal, the sequel to his hit TV series, remains unclear.

A debate over cancel culture

The allegations Cho Jin-woong faces have stirred heated debate about how much public figures should be forgiven for past mistakes.

"Why does Cho Jin-woong need to retire?" reads one social media comment. "Why should a flawed past remain the standard by which a person is judged decades later?"

Others, however, have argued that seeing him on screen could retraumatise his past victims.

"There are people who defend [Cho Jin-woong] by saying everyone makes mistakes when they're young, but not everyone commits this level of crime," wrote one social media user.

More broadly, the recent string of celebrity scandals has raised bigger questions about the standards to which South Koreans hold their celebrities. It's a system that has sent rising stars into hiatus for being school bullies, and squeezed apologies out of them for simply dating other celebrities.

Culture critic Kim Sung-soo tells the BBC that in South Korea, audiences want to correct behaviour that they deem unacceptable - which, in the case of celebrities, often means disappearing from the screens.

"Celebrities are easy targets because their careers depend on reputation and popularity - things that are granted by the public," culture critic Kim Sung-soo tells the BBC.

Now, just as Park, Cho Sae-ho and Cho Jin-woong promised to "reflect deeply" on their actions, it appears some among their audiences are also reflecting on how celebrities are treated.

"It's absurd that people mistake this recurring pattern of targeting celebrities online - digging for flaws and pushing them out - as a moral issue," one person wrote on X.

"I'm tired of this cancel-culture cycle, and I think it's time for our society to seriously rethink online communities."

Shares of cloud computing giant Oracle plunged more than 10% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the company's revenue results fell short of Wall Street expectations.

The company reported revenue of $16.06bn (£11.99bn) for the three months that ended in November, compared with the $16.21bn projected by analysts.

Revenue growth was up 14%, with a 68% surge in sales at its AI business, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), the company said.

OCI services major AI technology developers whose demand for Oracle's AI infrastructure helped the company's shares reach new highs this fall but Wednesday's results failed to quell fears about a potential AI bubble.

In September, Oracle inked a highly sought-after contract with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI which agreed to purchase $300bn (£224bn) in computing power from Oracle over five years.

Oracle chairman and chief technology officer Larry Ellison briefly became the world's richest man.

Oracle stock has lost forty percent of its value since peaking three months ago. Still, shares are up more than 30% since the start of the year.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Mr Ellison struck a cautious tone.

"There are going to be a lot of changes in AI technology over the next few years and we must remain agile in response to those changes," Mr Ellison wrote.

Mr Ellison also appeared to snub Nvidia, the designer of highly-sophisticated AI chips, saying Oracle would buy chips from any maker in order to serve clients.

"We will continue to buy the latest GPUs from Nvidia, but we need to be prepared and able to deploy whatever chips our customers want to buy," Mr Ellison declared in a policy he called "chip neutrality".

Oracle is involved in multiple AI infrastructure arrangements that have raised the prospect that major players in the sector are participating in 'circular financing' deals whereby companies finance purchases of their own products and services.

"Oracle's earnings arrive as investors weigh whether its massive OpenAI partnership might mean overexposure with a customer currently in the spotlight over profitability concerns," said Emarketer analyst Jacob Bourne following the release of the company's quarterly report.

Bourne said Oracle faced mounting scrutiny over the increased debt the company has amassed to fund its buildout of data centres.

Oracle raised a record $18bn (£13.4) in a massive bond sale in September, one of the largest debt issuances ever in the tech sector.

"Although Oracle's shares are buoyed by its September surge, this revenue miss will likely exacerbate concerns among already cautious investors about its OpenAI deal and its aggressive AI spending," Mr Bourne said.

The Ellison family, supporters of US President Donald Trump, also recently purchased Paramount and have spearheaded a failed bid to take over another major Hollywood studio, Warner Brothers Discovery.

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