A husband and five other men have been charged with a string of sexual offences against his ex-wife over a 13-year period.

Philip Young, formerly of Swindon but now living in Enfield, has been charged with 56 sexual offences, including rape and administering a substance with intent to stupefy/overpower to allow sexual activity.

The 49-year-old has also been charged with voyeurism, possession of indecent images of children and possession of extreme images.

Five other men have also been charged with offences against his ex-wife, 48-year-old Joanne Young, who has waived her right to anonymity.

All six men are due to appear at Swindon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

Mr Young, who police described as a white British national, has been remanded in custody.

The five other men are on bail.

Their names and charges are:

• Norman Macksoni, 47, of Wood End Close, Sharnbrook. Police described him as a black British national. He has been charged with one count of rape and possession of extreme images
• Dean Hamilton, 47, of no fixed abode. Police said he was a white British national. He has been charged with one count of rape and sexual assault by penetration and two counts of sexual touching
• Conner Sanderson Doyle, 31, of Crofton Road, Swindon. Police said he was a white British national who had been charged with sexual assault by penetration and sexual touching
• Richard Wilkins, 61, of Tattershall, Toothill, Swindon. He was described by police as a white British national and he has been charged with one count of rape and sexual touching
• Mohammed Hassan, 37, of Torun Way, Swindon. Police described him as a British Asian male. He has been charged with sexual touching

Det Supt Geoff Smith, of Wiltshire Police, described the charges as a significant update in a "complex and extensive" investigation.

He added that Ms Young was being supported by specially trained officers.

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The Post Office and Fujitsu agreed a deal 19 years ago to fix transaction errors in sub-postmasters' accounts caused by bugs in the Horizon IT system, a document has revealed.

An agreement was in place in 2006 for errors caused by bugs in the software to be corrected, or for Fujitsu to pay the Post Office up to £150 per transaction if it failed to do so.

The revelation directly contradicts the Post Office's claims during criminal prosecutions - which led to hundreds of wrongful convictions and civil cases that destroyed livelihoods - that no bugs existed capable of causing accounting shortfalls.

It also shows the Post Office knew almost two decades ago that Horizon could not always be relied upon to record transactions accurately.

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted after the faulty Horizon IT system made it look like money was missing from branch accounts.

Some sub-postmasters went to prison, while many more were financially ruined and lost their livelihoods. Others died.

It has been described as the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history and has led to a long-running public inquiry into the scandal.

Countless evidence and testimonies have been heard, examined and reported during the inquiry, but a document which emerged in material published this month contained new, previously unknown, information.

The document shows that unbeknown to sub-postmasters, the two parties had a financial framework in place to manage discrepancies and for Fujitsu to fix problems or pay for them.

The Post Office denied throughout the criminal trials of sub-postmasters that errors or bugs could cause transaction shortfalls in branch accounts. It also denied in court that branch accounts could be remotely altered without the knowledge of sub-postmasters.

The document indicates the formal commercial arrangement was drawn up to deal with potential mismatches or "discrepancies" and where Fujitsu's system was responsible, it was expected to correct false transactions or pay "liquidation damages".

The disclosure also undermines the Post Office's claim to the media and before Parliament in 2015 that it was not possible for Fujitsu to alter sub-postmasters's transactions without their knowledge.

"The Post Office conducted both the criminal trials of postmasters and the group litigation of 2019 on the basis that it knew of no substantial problems with the Horizon system," said Paul Marshall, senior barrister for sub-postmasters.

"Yet this shows that in 2006 there was a very big, recognised problem with Horizon maintaining data integrity between Post Office branch offices and Fujitsu," he added.

"The Post Office, for 20 years, was saying the only explanation for shortfalls in branch accounts was postmaster incompetence or dishonesty.

"But the maintenance of data integrity was fundamental to the Post Office-Fujitsu contract - Fujitsu were unable to provide or assure this."

The document implicitly acknowledges that data held on Horizon's servers at Fujitsu's headquarters could fail to match the transactions sub-postmasters had carried out at their branches.

It also adds to evidence that the Post Office was aware that the branch accounts of sub-postmasters could be remotely accessed. In the landmark Alan Bates vs Post Office case, for example, the organisation insisted that the software could not be accessed remotely by any other party.

Under the arrangements set out in the document, Fujitsu agreed to carry out a "reconciliation service" with the Post Office's approval, where it was required to correct errors caused by bugs or defects or pay up to £150 per transaction in penalties known as "liquidated damages".

The document is dated four months before the Post Office started legal action against sub-postmaster Lee Castleton OBE pursuing him to recover £25,000 of cash it alleged was missing from his branch in East Yorkshire.

He represented himself in court, arguing that problems with Horizon were to blame, but lost and was landed with £321,000 in legal costs and ended up bankrupt as a result.

Mr Castleton is now suing the Post Office and Fujitsu for damages and said the document would help his battle.

"It's a disgusting document. It's another example of the truth being hidden for two decades. All the pain and punishment the victims have taken all these years and it was buried," he told the BBC.

"It makes me feel physically ill to think they were doing that and not telling anyone...it's time they were held accountable for all those actions."

The document, first discovered by Post Office scandal campaigner Stuart Goodwillie, supports what whistleblower Richard Roll told BBC Panorama in 2015.

The former Fujitsu worker said the team working on Horizon would sometimes correct thousands of transactions per night because the firm could be forced to pay cash to the Post Office if it failed to do so.

The agreement also notes that Fujitsu can and will amend transactional data, with the need for the Post Office to approve the entries. A later version of the contract has been found where this stipulation has been changed to "where this is possible".

The document is listed in an annexe in two corporate witness statements provided by Fujitsu's current European chief executive, Paul Patterson, in 2024 but has only recently been published.

Mr Patterson will face questions by MPs on the Business and Trade Committee on 6 January about the Horizon scandal. Post Office chair Nigel Railton will also appear.

The material document has shocked experts on the scandal such as Second Sight forensic accountant Ron Warmington, who described the document's implications as "dynamite".

A Fujitsu spokesperson said: "These matters are the subject of forensic investigation by the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry and it's not appropriate for us to comment while that process is ongoing."

A Post Office spokesperson said: "We apologise unequivocally for the hurt and suffering which Post Office caused to so many people during the Horizon IT Scandal.

"Today, our organisation is focused on working transparently with the ongoing public inquiry, paying full and fair financial redress to those impacted, and establishing a meaningful restorative justice programme, all of which are important elements of the ongoing transformation of Post Office."

A one-year-old Palestinian girl evacuated from Gaza with severe nutritional problems is back in hospital in the territory after being returned there from Jordan. Siwar Ashour, whose story the BBC has followed for several months, was repatriated to Gaza on 3 December after completing her medical treatment in Amman.

She'd spent six months in hospital there under a medical evacuation programme run by the Kingdom of Jordan. Her grandmother, Sahar Ashour, said she became ill three days after coming back.

"She started having diarrhoea and vomiting and her situation keeps getting worse. The diarrhoea won't go away," she told a freelance journalist working for the BBC in Gaza. International journalists have been banned by Israel from entering Gaza independently since the start of the war nearly two years ago.

Siwar is being treated at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip where Dr Khalil al-Daqran told the BBC she is "receiving the necessary treatment, but the situation is still bad for her". The doctor said Siwar was suffering from a gastro-intestinal infection. She has an immune system deficiency which makes it hard for her to fight bacteria. She also struggles to absorb nutrition, meaning she requires specialised baby formula.

Dr Daqran said that hospitals in Gaza - many of which were badly damaged by Israeli bombing and fighting nearby with Hamas before a ceasefire took effect in October - were seeing an increase in child admissions. Poor hygiene conditions caused by the destruction of vital infrastructure have led to the spread of infections and disease.

"Since the ceasefire was announced, the number of child patients arriving at Gaza Strip hospitals is three times the capacity… The situation at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital is no different from other hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

"It suffers from a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies, and a major shortage regarding electric generators, which are the main artery to keep a hospital going."

The World Health Organization (WHO) described humanitarian needs in Gaza as "staggering, with current assistance addressing only the most basic survival requirements".

Siwar was evacuated to Jordan in June after the BBC reported on her case and raised it directly with the Jordanian authorities.

Jordan's Minister of Communications, Dr Mohammed al-Momani, told us that Siwar was among 45 children returned to Gaza after completing their treatment. Under the evacuation scheme all patients are sent back after medical attention.

I put it to Dr al-Momani that people might find it hard to accept that a child in such a vulnerable condition could be sent back to Gaza in the current conditions.

"No patient is sent back before they finish their medical treatment… the first reason [why they are returned] is that this will allow us to bring more patients from Gaza. We cannot take all of them at once. We have to take them in batches. So far we have taken 18 batches.

"The second reason is that we don't want to contribute in any shape or form to the displacement of Palestinians from their land and all patients are told… after treatment you are sent back so other patients and other children can be brought in for treatment."

Jordan also treats war wounded at its field hospital in Gaza and has supplied aid via air drops and road convoys. The kingdom hosts more than 2 million Palestinian refugees, who fled conflicts with Israel since 1948, and 500,000 refugees from other countries, mostly Syrians.

Since last March some 300 sick and wounded children and 730 parents and guardians have been brought to Jordan out of 2000 scheduled for treatment. Other countries in the region like the United Arab Emirates and Turkey have treated thousands of sick civilians from Gaza.

The specialised formula milk Siwar needs was either not available or in very short supply during the ongoing conflict. In March, Israel imposed a total blockade on aid into Gaza that was lifted partially after 11 weeks. Since the ceasefire there has been a surge in aid deliveries, although the UN and aid agencies say not enough humanitarian supplies are flowing.

The Jordanian authorities gave Siwar's family a supply of 12 cans of the hypoallergenic Neocate formula on their departure for Gaza. However her mother Najwa told us that Israeli officials confiscated much of what they'd been given - nine of their 12 cans were taken.

"They told us, 'It is forbidden to take more than these cans,'" said Siwar's mother, Najwa Ashour. "Even though it is therapeutic milk and they said that treatment is allowed, yet they took them."

She also said that extra clothing the family had been given in Jordan was taken. "They searched us from top to bottom. When they saw us wearing clothes over each other [layered] they refused to let us out, and told us, 'You must take off all the clothes, down to one outfit.'"

I asked the Israeli government why the milk formula and clothing were confiscated? They replied that limits were placed on what could be taken back for "security considerations."

They said only minimal luggage was allowed and this had been conveyed to the Jordanian authorities and the returning families. "In cases where the luggage exceeded the approved scope, its entry was denied."

The WHO has appealed for more countries to offer medical evacuation to patients who cannot get the necessary treatment in Gaza.

It has also called on the Israeli government to allow patients to be treated in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank "which is the most time and cost effective route." Israel stopped allowing such evacuations after the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted into Gaza.

Siwar's family has been given Neocate milk formula since returning to Gaza. There have also been donations of money, including funds raised from online appeals. Jordanian representatives in Gaza have also visited the family to provide assistance.

The Ashours are trying to have Siwar evacuated once more - a process that has begun with the issuing of a permit by Palestinian health officials. It will be managed by the WHO which deals with all evacuation requests from a place the UN calls "a wasteland".

With additional reporting by Malak Hassouneh, Suha Kawar and Alice Doyard.

The US is immediately pausing leases for offshore wind energy projects currently being built near the Atlantic coastline, citing security concerns.

In a statement, the Department of the Interior said it was pausing five large-sale projects to look into how windmills could interfere with radar and create other risks to east coast cities.

President Donald Trump has long opposed wind energy, saying it is unreliable and drives up costs, and attempted to stop all projects when he returned to office. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has said wind farms have no future in the US energy grid.

Renewable energy companies, as well as state leaders, have expressed alarm over the administration's stance.

In its statement, the Department of the Interior said the pause "addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centres".

The five wind farms now on pause are being constructed off the coast of New York, Virginia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

Specifically, the announcement noted that officials are concerned about radar interference "clutter" that can obscure real moving targets or, conversely, create false ones. It added that a radar's threshold for false-alarm detection could be increased to reduce some clutter, but only at the risk of missing actual targets.

The wind projects could make it difficult to "determine what's friend and foe in our airspace", Burgum said in an interview with Fox Business on Monday, where he cited drone strikes between Russia and Ukraine and between Iran and Israel as examples.

Dominion Energy, the company behind the Virginia wind farm, said its project is far offshore and "does not raise visual impact concerns."

"The project's two pilot turbines have been operating for five years without causing any impacts to national security," it said in a statement.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, a Democrat, described the pause as an "erratic" move that "will drive up the price of electricity in Connecticut and throughout the region".

"This project is nearing completion and providing good-paying clean energy jobs," he added. "Businesses and residents deserve economic predictability, yet with the administration's constant starts and stops they're left with the opposite."

Earlier in December, a federal judge struck down an attempt by President Trump to ban new wind power projects in the US, calling it "arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law".

On the first day of his administration in January, Trump issued a memorandum halting permits and new leases until a federal review could be undertaken.

Five months later, 17 US states led by New York sued the administration, calling the ban an "existential" threat to the US wind industry.

A one-year-old Palestinian girl evacuated from Gaza with severe nutritional problems is back in hospital in the territory after being returned there from Jordan. Siwar Ashour, whose story the BBC has followed for several months, was repatriated to Gaza on 3 December after completing her medical treatment in Amman.

She'd spent six months in hospital there under a medical evacuation programme run by the Kingdom of Jordan. Her grandmother, Sahar Ashour, said she became ill three days after coming back.

"She started having diarrhoea and vomiting and her situation keeps getting worse. The diarrhoea won't go away," she told a freelance journalist working for the BBC in Gaza. International journalists have been banned by Israel from entering Gaza independently since the start of the war nearly two years ago.

Siwar is being treated at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip where Dr Khalil al-Daqran told the BBC she is "receiving the necessary treatment, but the situation is still bad for her". The doctor said Siwar was suffering from a gastro-intestinal infection. She has an immune system deficiency which makes it hard for her to fight bacteria. She also struggles to absorb nutrition, meaning she requires specialised baby formula.

Dr Daqran said that hospitals in Gaza - many of which were badly damaged by Israeli bombing and fighting nearby with Hamas before a ceasefire took effect in October - were seeing an increase in child admissions. Poor hygiene conditions caused by the destruction of vital infrastructure have led to the spread of infections and disease.

"Since the ceasefire was announced, the number of child patients arriving at Gaza Strip hospitals is three times the capacity… The situation at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital is no different from other hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

"It suffers from a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies, and a major shortage regarding electric generators, which are the main artery to keep a hospital going."

The World Health Organization (WHO) described humanitarian needs in Gaza as "staggering, with current assistance addressing only the most basic survival requirements".

Siwar was evacuated to Jordan in June after the BBC reported on her case and raised it directly with the Jordanian authorities.

Jordan's Minister of Communications, Dr Mohammed al-Momani, told us that Siwar was among 45 children returned to Gaza after completing their treatment. Under the evacuation scheme all patients are sent back after medical attention.

I put it to Dr al-Momani that people might find it hard to accept that a child in such a vulnerable condition could be sent back to Gaza in the current conditions.

"No patient is sent back before they finish their medical treatment… the first reason [why they are returned] is that this will allow us to bring more patients from Gaza. We cannot take all of them at once. We have to take them in batches. So far we have taken 18 batches.

"The second reason is that we don't want to contribute in any shape or form to the displacement of Palestinians from their land and all patients are told… after treatment you are sent back so other patients and other children can be brought in for treatment."

Jordan also treats war wounded at its field hospital in Gaza and has supplied aid via air drops and road convoys. The kingdom hosts more than 2 million Palestinian refugees, who fled conflicts with Israel since 1948, and 500,000 refugees from other countries, mostly Syrians.

Since last March some 300 sick and wounded children and 730 parents and guardians have been brought to Jordan out of 2000 scheduled for treatment. Other countries in the region like the United Arab Emirates and Turkey have treated thousands of sick civilians from Gaza.

The specialised formula milk Siwar needs was either not available or in very short supply during the ongoing conflict. In March, Israel imposed a total blockade on aid into Gaza that was lifted partially after 11 weeks. Since the ceasefire there has been a surge in aid deliveries, although the UN and aid agencies say not enough humanitarian supplies are flowing.

The Jordanian authorities gave Siwar's family a supply of 12 cans of the hypoallergenic Neocate formula on their departure for Gaza. However her mother Najwa told us that Israeli officials confiscated much of what they'd been given - nine of their 12 cans were taken.

"They told us, 'It is forbidden to take more than these cans,'" said Siwar's mother, Najwa Ashour. "Even though it is therapeutic milk and they said that treatment is allowed, yet they took them."

She also said that extra clothing the family had been given in Jordan was taken. "They searched us from top to bottom. When they saw us wearing clothes over each other [layered] they refused to let us out, and told us, 'You must take off all the clothes, down to one outfit.'"

I asked the Israeli government why the milk formula and clothing were confiscated? They replied that limits were placed on what could be taken back for "security considerations."

They said only minimal luggage was allowed and this had been conveyed to the Jordanian authorities and the returning families. "In cases where the luggage exceeded the approved scope, its entry was denied."

The WHO has appealed for more countries to offer medical evacuation to patients who cannot get the necessary treatment in Gaza.

It has also called on the Israeli government to allow patients to be treated in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank "which is the most time and cost effective route." Israel stopped allowing such evacuations after the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted into Gaza.

Siwar's family has been given Neocate milk formula since returning to Gaza. There have also been donations of money, including funds raised from online appeals. Jordanian representatives in Gaza have also visited the family to provide assistance.

The Ashours are trying to have Siwar evacuated once more - a process that has begun with the issuing of a permit by Palestinian health officials. It will be managed by the WHO which deals with all evacuation requests from a place the UN calls "a wasteland".

With additional reporting by Malak Hassouneh, Suha Kawar and Alice Doyard.

Detty December, a popular term for Ghana and Nigeria's end-of-year party season, can have "negative connotations", Ghana's official for diaspora affairs has said, adding that he does not want the label linked with his country.

"On a personal level I don't want the word 'detty' to be associated with anything Ghana... that's something I'm not very comfortable with," Kofi Okyere-Darko said.

"Detty", West African Pidgin for "dirty", is used to express unrestricted fun when it comes to seeing the year out.

The celebrations are thought to be a huge boost to Ghana's economy. Last December more than 125,000 international visitors, many of whom were diasporans, flocked to Ghana.

It was a notable increase from the number of people arriving during any other month - and the same can be said for the three years before that.

Government branding avoids the term Detty December instead choosing to push a tourism initiative named December in Ghana, Mr Okyere-Darko, who oversees his country's relationship with its sizeable diaspora, told the BBC at the Ghana Diaspora Summit in capital city, Accra.

"The young people somehow prefer 'Detty December', but officially, that's not the name," he said.

"I don't think December is what attracts people to Ghana. People started coming to Ghana a long time ago. I remember December in Ghana at the turn of the millennium, with initiatives like Akwaaba UK.

Mr Okyere-Darko responded positively to suggestions that the season could be rebranded in a way that still appeals to younger audiences, saying that December in Ghana could be shortened to the initials "D.I.G.. Let's dig it!"

The phrase Detty December gained popularity roughly eight years ago, after Nigerian musician Mr Eazi launched his Detty Rave festival in Accra.

This December, festivals, parties and concerts have Accra teeming with diasporans and other tourists. They are mostly from the US and Europe, with ages ranging from early 20s and mid-40s, and are out socialising seven days a week.

US hip-hop legend Busta Rhymes performed in Accra as part of the Rhythm and Brunch concert on Saturday, while popular UK rapper Giggs is playing at the Afro Paradise festival on 31 December.

Local stars such as Samini - considered to be the "godfather" of Ghanaian dancehall - and Reggie Rockstone will also play at major events later this month.

Ghana in recent years has been promoting itself as a destination for people from the continent and the African diaspora to visit. In 2019, the government launched the Year of Return - an initiative encouraging those with African roots to invest in the country.

The influx of foreign visitors in December is seen as a positive by many, but some locals complain of price gouging, overcrowding and intense traffic during this period.

This year has proven that December in Ghana no longer revolves around non-stop partying.

Alongside the expected concerts and festivals, there is a growing calendar of investment seminars, networking sessions and cultural showcases, offering the diaspora routes into property, minerals, fashion and textiles.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

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Donald Trump has sparked a renewed disagreement with Denmark after appointing a special envoy to Greenland, the Arctic island he has said he would like to annex.

Trump announced on Sunday that Jeff Landry, the Republican governor of Louisiana, would become the US's special envoy to Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Writing on social media, the US president said Landry understood how "essential Greenland is to our national security" and would advance US interests.

Greenland's prime minister said the island must "decide our own future" and its "territorial integrity must be respected".

The move angered Copenhagen, which will call the US ambassador for "an explanation".

Governor Landry said in a post on X it was an honour to serve in a "volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the United States", saying the role would not affect his duties as Louisiana governor.

Denmark's foreign minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, described the appointment as "deeply upsetting" and warned Washington to respect Danish sovereignty.

He told Danish broadcaster TV2: "As long as we have a kingdom consisting of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, we cannot accept actions that undermine our territorial integrity."

Greenland's Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said the territory was willing to cooperate with the United States and other countries, but only on the basis of mutual respect.

He said: "The appointment of a special envoy does not change anything for us. We decide our own future. Greenland belongs to Greenlanders, and territorial integrity must be respected."

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has revived his long-standing interest with Greenland, citing its strategic location and mineral wealth.

He has refused to rule out using force to secure control of the island, a stance that has shocked Denmark, a Nato ally that has traditionally enjoyed close relations with Washington.

Greenland, home to about 57,000 people, has had extensive self-government since 1979, though defence and foreign policy remain in Danish hands. While most Greenlanders favour eventual independence from Denmark, opinion polls show overwhelming opposition to becoming part of the US.

The dispute comes as strategic competition in the Arctic grows, with melting ice opening new shipping routes and increasing access to valuable mineral resources.

Greenland's location between North America and Europe also makes it central to US and Nato security planning and puts it on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the United States.

Elusive street artist Banksy has confirmed he is behind a new mural that has appeared in Bayswater, west London.

The image depicts two children lying on the ground dressed in wellington boots, coats and winter bobble hats, one of them pointing upwards towards the sky.

It has been painted on to a wall above a row of garages on Queen's Mews and was first spotted on Monday.

The BBC understands Banksy is also responsible for an identical mural that appeared outside the Centre Point tower in central London on Friday, although his representatives have only confirmed the Bayswater work as his.

The artist, whose identity is not publicly known, announced his new work by posting an image to his Instagram account on Monday afternoon.

Speaking about the Centre Point mural, artist Daniel Lloyd-Morgan told the BBC he believed the location was chosen to make a point about child homelessness.

"Everybody is having a good time but there are a lot of children who are not having a good time at Christmas," he said.

Mr Lloyd-Morgan said that people walking past the artwork were "ignoring it", adding: "It's a busy area. Quite poignant that people aren't stopping. They walk past homeless people and they don't see them lying on the street.

"It's kind of like they're stargazing," he said. "It's quite fitting that the kids are pointing up like they're looking at the North Star."

Banksy enthusiast Jason Tomkins, said he also believed it was a "clear statement on homelessness".

The Centre Point tower, at 101-103 New Oxford Street, has been a historic focal point for housing protests.

Originally built as an office block in 1963, the Centre Point tower next to Tottenham Court Road underground station, remained unoccupied for over a decade, angering social justice campaigners.

The homelessness charity Centrepoint was named as a response to the building by founder Rev Ken Leech, who described the tower as "an affront to the homeless".

The block has since been converted into multimillion-pound luxury flats.

Banksy has not commented on the relevance of the location for either of the new works.

Mr Tomkins said he believed the artwork depicted the same character as one of Banksy's previous works.

"In 2018 he painted in Port Talbot, and the little boy is identical to child that has been painted here," he said.

"This is quite unusual for him to use the same little boy again, because he has never done that."

The Centre Point piece follows Banksy's September mural in London, which showed a protester lying on the ground holding a blood-spattered placard while a judge, in a wig and gown, loomed over him, wielding a gavel.

It was scrubbed off the Queen's Building, in the Royal Courts of Justice complex days after it appeared.

In 2024, the graffiti artist created an animal trail around the capital with pieces featuring a goat, elephants, a gorilla, monkeys, piranhas, a rhino and pelicans among other animals.

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A British woman jailed in Iran for almost a year has spoken of the pain of separation from her family in a poignant Christmas message written in her cell.

"At a time when we should be connected, we find ourselves alone, down, dejected," Lindsay Foreman wrote in a poem entitled A Sad Voice From Evin Prison - A Christmas Poem.

A recording of her reading the message to her son on the phone from a noisy prison corridor has been shared with the BBC. It is the first time her voice has been heard publicly since her arrest.

She spoke of a "family torn apart" and said that grief "has made a home from the hole in our heart".

Ms Foreman, 53, said she wrote the poem for her family "and for anyone who has lost someone and when Christmas may not be such a happy time".

She and her husband Craig were on the trip of a lifetime, by motorbike, from Spain to Australia when they were arrested by Iranian authorities in January and accused of espionage – charges the family say are "ludicrous".

They had visas for Iran, a tour guide and a pre-approved itinerary.

Ms Foreman had been asking people along the route what constitutes a good life, and those questions appear to form the basis of the regime's accusations against the couple.

They are currently being held separately in Iran's notorious Evin jail in Tehran, where Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was previously imprisoned.

Their family say the cells are overcrowded, unsanitary and vermin-infested, with inadequate washing facilities and hygiene supplies.

"They are in unimaginable conditions," Ms Foreman's son Joe Bennett told the BBC, describing rats running around as they cooked.

He said the couple were not receiving enough food and were losing weight.

Mr Bennett's stepfather, Craig Foreman, is said to be suffering constant dental pain but has not been allowed to see a dentist.

After going on hunger strike last month, the couple are now being allowed almost daily phone calls with their family.

But Mr Bennett says that, despite her attempts to put a brave face on for him, he has heard his mother crying and begging to get home.

Both his mother and step-father are being "slowly broken" and in "growing distress", he says.

He has called on the UK government to "come out and defend them" and say publicly that they are not spies.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said in response: "We are deeply concerned by reports that Craig and Lindsay Foreman have been charged with espionage in Iran.

"We continue to raise this case directly with the Iranian authorities."

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is understood to have raised the case when she spoke to her Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchi, last Friday.

The UK government advises against all travel to Iran.

"Having a British passport or connections to the UK can be reason enough for the Iranian authorities to detain you," it warns.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman have appeared in court several times but have not been officially convicted or tried.

Ms Foreman wrote in her poem to her family: "We wish that we could be together. To hug and hold each other forever."

For Joe Bennett, it is hard to contemplate the next few days without them.

"It's horrendous," he said. "They were the life and soul of Christmas."

A restaurant owner said his staff were "absolutely starstruck" after a surprise visit by two Hollywood A-listers.

Pradip Karanjit said Tom Holland and Zendaya came in to dine with friends at his restaurant in St Mary's Road in Market Harborough on Saturday.

Mr Karanjit, who runs Everest Lounge, said they were happy to accommodate the couple even though the restaurant was fully booked.

He added the pair - who star in the most recent Spider-Man film - did not come across as "Hollywood royalty", but were just a "normal young couple" going to a restaurant for a meal.

He said Tom Holland tucked into a chicken tikka masala, pilau rice and a garlic naan, while Zendaya enjoyed a chana saag bengan, paneer shaslik starter with a side of saag aloo.

"We were fully booked for Saturday so we were exceptionally pleased that we were able to accommodate them for the evening and that's where everything started," Mr Karanjit said.

"My staff were absolutely starstruck and we were, in a way, in panic mode but throughout the service they remained really professional."

Mr Karanjit told the BBC he was not in the restaurant when the couple visited, but said his phone went "really hot" with calls asking about their visit - and he had to phone the restaurant to confirm the news.

"I missed the whole experience, but it was something for Harborough itself and our restaurant as well," he added.

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Most companies and bosses would squirm at the idea of being called "woke" and may even regard it as an insult. But not Mark Constantine.

Lush's outspoken co-founder and chief executive wears it like a badge of honour and is not ashamed of turning it into a business philosophy.

The firm is renowned for putting activism at the heart of its bright bath bombs business, tackling a range of issues from trans rights to police accountability.

The 73-year-old is still steering the empire with the same principles that have defined its three decades on the High Street, which has seen it expand from a small Dorset store into a global brand with 869 outlets and an annual turnover of £690m.

Lush has taken some of the boldest stances in British retail including shutting down some of its social media accounts over concerns about the impact on young people, and more recently closing stores for a day to protest against starvation in Gaza.

"I like being woke," admits Constantine.

A self-confessed "over-achiever and a nerd" who loves learning, he is up before the crack of dawn for his main passion - writing about birdsong - in between his meditation and Alexander technique, a therapy for good posture and movement.

But his message is crystal clear to those who openly resent his values: "You shouldn't come in my shop."

It's a strong statement in an era when many businesses avoid political or cultural debates for fear of alienating customers and risking profits.

Ben & Jerry's has long worn its social activism on its sleeve, which has caused tension with its parent company.

Where Lush has remained an independent firm, Constantine believes selling out means sacrificing the business's values.

"If you've sold your business to someone else, I think you're asking a lot for them to do everything you want. What should Ben and Jerry have done? They should never have sold."

Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen maintains they were opposed to selling but as a publicly-traded company, says US regulations forced their hand and the brand's social mission was written into the contract with the parent company.

"I have a huge appreciation for Lush, their values, and how they use their most powerful tool - their voice - to advocate for those values," Cohen told the BBC, following Constantine's Big Boss interview, adding, "I'm not 'asking' for anything."

Speaking to the BBC's Big Boss Interview podcast in the busy run-up to Christmas, Lush's Constantine says preparing for the festive period is "very like war".

"You have your troops, you have your supplies. Everything's organised and ready. And then it's just a question of when will the onslaught occur?"

He suggests that men may be more likely to be out buying last-minute presents, saying with a laugh the company sees a lot of men "who come in on Christmas Eve and tell us they're regulars".

But the key to attracting shoppers in the first place is by making retail "fun", says Constantine.

Lush has turned shopping into more of an experience with offerings such as spa treatments and parties for customers.

And it's experiences such as these that could help reverse the High Street's declining prospects, he believes.

While some business leaders have suggested that a rise in employers' National Insurance contributions and in the minimum wage could result in hiring freezes, Constantine views it differently.

"It's good news for everyone and it's good for the economy because you've got more money coming into the economy at the biggest point.

"The people who are getting these raises are at the bottom.

"I'm delighted to pay the extra money to get the staff up to a proper level, and I think we should celebrate that."

However Lush's pay record is not without blemish. In 2020, it admitted to underpaying its Australian workers more than $4m over nearly a decade. A company spokesperson told the BBC after the Big Boss interview: "We made mistakes, we found those mistakes and have paid the money we owed, and we are ensuring those errors cannot happen again."

In the same year Lush faced claims of poor working conditions at its Australian factory. The spokesperson added: "Since these concerns were raised we swiftly developed an action plan to address the areas of concern."

Lush is privately owned by all six co-founders – Constantine and his wife Mo, Rowena Bird, Helen Ambrosen, Liz Bennett and Paul Greeves – all of whom started the business in 1995 and have remained active since.

Two of Constantine's three children also work for the company, which is particularly pleasing for a man who believes family is at the heart of a successful business and is key to longevity.

"Family businesses give better returns on investment at every level," he says, claiming they last longer because they ride out the good times and the bad.

It's a lesson he learned from the late Dame Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop where it all began for Constantine in 1977 – manufacturing and supplying products to Roddick's stores.

However, he says the government does not understand "the strength of family businesses" after it announced that from April 2026 family business assets of more than £1m will face inheritance tax when passed on to relatives.

He believes this tax will force many owners to sell up, which is the "real worry on succession".

A spokesperson for the Treasury said the government was "pro-business", pointing out that it had capped corporation tax at 25% and was reforming business rates.

"Right now, 53% of Business Property Relief – worth £533m – goes to just 158 estates. Our reforms will channel that funding into vital public services," the spokesperson said.

Nevertheless, Constantine remains bullish about the future of bricks-and-mortar shopping.

But he thinks modern retailing would benefit from a return to the old-fashioned values that once defined British retail, in particular innovation and kindness.

"I like to serve. I like the Jeeves kind of feeling," he says with a grin.

The rock and blues singer, Chris Rea spent countless hours on the road, and his love of cars and driving was the inspiration behind many of his songs.

He recorded 25 solo albums, two of which topped the UK albums chart. His distinctive gravelly voice and slide guitar-playing are preserved in songs such as Road to Hell, Auberge, On the Beach and Driving Home for Christmas.

Christopher Anton Rea was born in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire in 1951 to an Italian father and Irish mother and was one of seven children. The family was known locally for Camillo's Ice cream factory and cafes, owned by his father Camillo Rea.

• Driving Home for Christmas singer Chris Rea dies aged 74

Chris worked in the cafes as a teenager and took his driving test in one of his dad's ice cream vans. When he was asked to do an emergency stop, the examiner fell off the box he was sitting on and cut his leg.

Rea said: "I had to take him to the hospital but he still passed me."

He was still working for his father when he bought his first guitar, a 1961 Hofner V3 in his early 20s.

Rea said that at the time he was "meant to be developing my father's ice cream cafe into a global concern, but I spent all my time in the stockroom playing slide guitar".

He played with local groups The Elastic Band, and Magdalene, but it was The Beautiful Losers which shone the spotlight on Rea, and he secured a solo recording deal with Magnet Records.

His first studio album was Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?, released in 1978.

The lead single, Fool (If You Think It's Over), was a big hit in the US, reaching number one on the (adult) contemporary singles Billboard chart, earning him a best new artist nomination at the Grammy Awards.

Michael Levey, co-founder of Magnet records, remembers him as "more of a thoughtful, introspective poet than a natural pop performer".

One of Rea's childhood dreams had been to write and compose music for films.

He achieved both with his movie La Passione in 1996. Rea also wrote the score and title track for the Soft Top Hard Shoulder film and starred in the comedy Parting Shots in 1999.

Rea was building a reputation for his slide guitar playing when his record company insisted on releasing Driving Home for Christmas in 1986.

He said: "I didn't need a Christmas song hanging around at that point. I did everything I could to get them not to release that record. Thankfully they did!"

The song's inspiration dates back to a difficult year for him personally.

In 1978 Rea had come to the end of his record contract and had parted ways with his manager.

The record company wouldn't pay for a train ticket for him to get from London to his home to Middlesbrough so his wife drove down to pick him up in her old Austin Mini.

On the way back up, it started snowing and they kept getting stuck in traffic and Rea said: "I'd look across at the other drivers, who all looked so miserable.

"Jokingly, I started singing - We're driving home for Christmas... then, whenever the street lights shone inside the car, I started writing down the lyrics."

"It's one of those moments that songwriters get - sometimes you can spend years and years writing. That one was five to 10 minutes. When you have a successful song, you don't remember thinking about it - it just comes out."

He didn't sing the song live until December 2014 after his crew badgered him to do it. He hired 12 snow cannons and let them off during the song.

"We put three feet of artificial snow in the stalls. The venue charged me £12,000 to clean it up!"

Bad traffic on the intersection between the M4 and the M25 was also the inspiration for Road to Hell.

Rea's musical journey was brought to a temporary stop when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer aged 33.

He had a procedure which resulted in the removal of part of his pancreas, the duodenum, the gall bladder and part of his liver. He was also a type 1 diabetic and had problems with his kidney.

His health problems made him reassess his career - he never toured America despite his popularity.

"I was never a rock star or pop star and all the illness has been my chance to do what I'd always wanted to do with music," he said.

In 1997, that included recording Let's Dance with his good friend Bob Mortimer for Middlesbrough Football Cub's FA Cup Final.

In one of Mortimer's appearances on the BBC's comedy series Would I Lie to You, Mortimer claimed that Rea cracked an egg into a bath for him after they'd finished recording it at his studio. The clip about whether that was a truth or lie went viral.

Rea was happy to admit that he was a vehicle addict with a huge love of cars, and travelling in them helped inspire some of his music.

He owned and raced various vintage cars including a 1957 Morris Minor 1000 police car.

He was friends with Eddie Jordan, owner of the Jordan Formula 1 team, and once helped out in the pit lane.

"I had the whole uniform. He put me in charge of the tyre-warmer for the rear right tyre of Eddie Irvine's car".

In 2016 he suffered a stroke, but still recovered enough to record and tour his 24th album: Road Songs for Lovers.

Rea said he spent an awful lot of time on the road travelling to London.

"I see couples in cars - are they married, workmates, having an affair?" he mused.

The musician liked to write about the simple things in life: "You get ideas for songs and you're actually on a road - the road always becomes a metaphor for where we're going in life," he once said.

Adolescence star Owen Cooper has said he was "nervous" about what the reaction to the drama would be after reading the script for the Netflix serial, which sparked a national discussion on online safety and misogyny.

In September, the Warrington-born teenager became the youngest male actor to win an Emmy award for his portrayal of a schoolboy accused of murdering a classmate.

Speaking on BBC's Graham Norton Show, the 16-year-old said: "Straight away I thought it was going to be more than a TV show - I read the script and then heard the word 'Netflix'.

"I was nervous about what the reaction to it would be, but a week after it went out everything blew up."

The four-part serial was created by writer Jack Thorne and Merseyside-born actor Stephen Graham, who said they came up with the storyline after two real-life cases that happened within a year.

The series analyses incel culture and how it has promoted misogyny online and bullying on social media.

Shortly after its debut in March, the prime minister hosted a Downing Street meeting with the programme-makers, telling them it was "a torch that shines intensely brightly on a combination of issues that many people don't know how to respond to".

Cooper was selected for the pivotal role after years spent at weekly drama classes in Manchester, where teachers said their "eyes were just drawn to him".

Speaking about the Emmy ceremony, where the cast and crew memorably celebrated their eight awards, he said: "It was crazy and all a bit of a blur. The amount of people I met there was insane.

"It really was the best day of my life."

He added "it has been a good year" and returning to school after the round of Adolescence promotions and award ceremonies "wasn't too bad".

"The first day back was a bit weird, but I've still got my GCSEs to do.

"I've only got about six months left and then I am gone - and then hopefully I am going to be an actor," he joked.

Cooper broke Scott Jacoby's long-held record for the youngest male Emmy winner. Jacoby was 16 when he won best actor for That Certain Summer in 1973.

The youngest Emmy winner remains Roxana Zal, who was 14 when she won a supporting actress award for Something About Amelia in 1984.

Cooper has also been nominated as best supporting male actor for a television Golden Globe, alongside his co-star Ashley Walters.

He also appears with White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood in BBC drama Film Club, which was filmed in Cheshire and Greater Manchester, and is also due to appear on the big screen as a young Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights adaptation, with Australian stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.

The full interview will air on The Graham Norton Show on New Year's Eve at 22:30 GMT on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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