Anticyclonic gloom

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Beyoncé has made history by becoming the most-nominated artist of all time at the Grammy Awards, overtaking her husband Jay-Z.

The couple had been tied on 88 nominations each - but Beyoncé has now pulled ahead thanks to recognition for her latest album, Cowboy Carter.

She picked up her 89th nomination in the best pop solo performance category on Friday, for the song Bodyguard. The full shortlists for the 2025 awards are currently being announced.

Beyoncé is already the Recording Academy's most-honoured artist, with 32 wins as a solo artist and a further three as part of Destiny's Child.

• Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter review: Gatekeepers be damned
• Beyoncé locked out of Country Music Awards
• Grammy Awards 2023: Beyoncé makes history

However, she has never won the coveted album of the year trophy, despite four nominations in the category.

Most recently, Harry Styles beat her to that prize at the 2023 ceremony, where Beyoncé's disco odyssey Renaissance had been the bookmakers' favourite to win.

Earlier this year, Jay-Z appeared to scold Grammy voters for Beyonce's lack of recognition in the top category as he accepted a lifetime achievement prize.

"I don't want to embarrass this young lady," he told the audience. "But she has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year.

"So even by your own metrics, that doesn't work. Think about that. The most Grammys; never won album of the year. That doesn't work."

She is widely expected to pick up her fifth nod for album of the year as the full nominations for the 2025 Grammys are revealed on Friday.

Other artists expected to be in the running for the top prize include Taylor Swift for The Tortured Poets Department, Billie Eilish for Hit Me Hard And Soft, and Chappell Roan for The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess.

The nominations for all 94 Grammy categories are being revealed in a livestream on the ceremony's YouTube Channel, featuring Kylie Minogue, Mark Ronson and Victoria Monét.

British star Raye picked up several early nominations, including songwriter of the year and best new artist.

The Rolling Stones were also on the shortlist for best rock album for Hackney Diamonds, their first album of original material since 2016.

This story will be updated as the shortlist comes into focus.

At least one thing was taken for granted before voting day - women across the US were going to turn out for Kamala Harris.

Just as months of relentless polling showed Harris in a virtual tie with Donald Trump, many of those same surveys told the story of a yawning gender gap.

It was a strategy Harris’s team was betting on, hoping that an over-performance among women could make up for losses elsewhere.

It didn’t happen.

Across the country, the majority of women did cast their ballots for Harris, but not by the historic margins she needed. Instead, if early exit polls bear out, Harris’s advantage among women overall - around 10 points - actually fell four points short of Joe Biden’s in 2020.

Democrats suffered a 10 point drop among Latino women, while failing to move the needle among non-college educated women at all, who again went for Trump 63-35, preliminary data suggests.

The shortfall was not for lack of trying.

Throughout her 15-week campaign, much of Harris’s messaging was aimed directly at women, most obviously with her emphasis on abortion.

On the trail, Harris made reproductive rights a cornerstone of her pitch. She repeatedly reminded voters that Trump had once bragged about his role in overturning Roe v Wade - a ruling that ended the nationwide right to an abortion.

“I will fight to restore what Donald Trump and his hand-selected Supreme Court justice took away from the women of America,” Harris said at her closing address in DC last week.

• Follow live updates
• The shifts that delivered Trump a big win

Her most powerful advertisements featured women who had suffered under state abortion bans - deemed “Trump abortion bans” by Harris - including those who said they were denied care for miscarriages.

The strategy, it seemed, was to harness the same enthusiasm for abortion access that drove Democrats’ unexpected success in the 2022 midterms.

Abortion rights remain broadly popular - this Gallup poll in May suggested only one in 10 Americans thought it should be banned.

And even these election results seemed to underline that. Eight out of the 10 states where abortion was on the ballot voted in favour of abortion rights.

But that support did not translate into support for Harris.

Abortion did matter to women, it just didn’t matter enough, said Evan Ross Smith, a pollster and campaign consultant.

“Voters - particularly the women - who feel strongest about abortion are already voting for Democrats,” he said. But Democrats were unable to raise the salience of abortion for women who didn’t yet see it as a pressing issue.

“The abortion argument did not penetrate at all with non-college educated women, did not move them an inch. And they lost ground with Latinos,” Mr Smith said.

• Results: Who did each state vote for?
• These are the seven things Trump says he will do as president
• Analysis - Why Kamala Harris lost: A flawed candidate or doomed campaign?

For many, the decisive issue proved to be the economy.

In pre-election surveys and preliminary exit data, inflation and affordability continued to top lists of voters' concerns. And for these voters, Trump was the overwhelming favourite.

Jennifer Varvar, 51, an independent from Grand Junction, Colorado said she had not even considered a vote for Harris because of the financial stress she faced over the past four years.

“For me and my family, we’re in a worse position now than we ever have been financially. It’s a struggle. I have three boys to put food on the table for,” she said. Things had been better under Trump, she said, and that’s why she voted for him.

But if gender didn't divide the electorate in the way some expected, it still played a part in the Harris defeat, say some analysts.

There have been many explanations offered for Trump’s resounding victory but for some there is one thing that stands out.

“I do think that the country is still sexist and is not ready for a woman president,” said Patti Solis Doyle, who managed Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, to Politico.

Unlike Clinton, who explicitly leaned into her gender and the history-making potential of her campaign, Harris was noticeably reluctant to do the same.

There is a widespread belief that the country is more ready for a woman president now than when Clinton ran a second time in 2016. But it's still an open question.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll in October suggested 15% of those surveyed would not be able to vote for a female president.

And Donald Trump, who doubled down on masculinity in this election, may have played a part in exploiting that.

• Trump attempts to woo the manosphere

“He framed being president as being a tough guy in a dangerous world… he framed that as the job description," said Mr Smith.

“And that’s one of the hardest possible job descriptions for a woman to successfully meet, in the minds of many Americans.”

The UN's Human Rights Office has condemned the high number of civilians killed in the war in Gaza, saying its analysis shows close to 70% of verified victims over a six-month period were women and children.

The agency said the high number was largely due to Israel's use of weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated areas, although some deaths may have been the result of errant projectiles by Palestinian armed groups.

The report said it found "unprecedented" levels of international law violations, raising concerns about "war crimes and other possible atrocity crimes".

Israel has in the past said it targets Hamas and takes steps to mitigate risk to civilians by using precise munitions.

The BBC contacted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment in response to Friday's report.

The UN agency said it verified the details of 8,119 people killed in Gaza from November 2023 to April 2024.

Its analysis found around 44% of verified victims were children and 26% women. The ages most represented among the dead were five to nine-year-olds.

About 80% of victims were killed in residential buildings or similar housing, the agency added.

The report said the data indicates "an apparent indifference to the death of civilians and the impact of the means and methods of warfare".

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures the UN sees as reliable, has reported a death toll of more than 43,300 people over the past 13 months. Many more bodies are believed to remain under the rubble of bombarded buildings.

The health ministry said it obtained full demographic data for a majority of those killed and reported that children account for one in three of that number.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said in a statement that "this unprecedented level of killing, and injury of civilians is a direct consequence of the failure to comply with fundamental principles of international humanitarian law".

He cited the laws of distinction, which requires warring parties to distinguish between combatants and civilians, proportionality, which prohibits attacks where harm to civilians outweighs military advantage, and precautions in attacks.

Türk called for a "due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law".

The IDF has previously told the BBC in response to criticism that it "will continue to act, as it always has done, according to international law".

The report also said the way the warring parties have conducted the conflict in Gaza has "caused horrific human suffering".

The UN said Palestinian armed groups have waged war from densely-populated areas and indiscriminately used projectiles, likely contributing to the death toll, while the IDF has destroyed civilian infrastructure and "left many of those alive, injured, displaced and starving, without access to adequate water, food or healthcare".

The situation is worst in north Gaza, which aid groups say has been under siege since early October when Israel launched a new ground offensive against Hamas.

The UN said no food aid entered the north during the first two weeks of October.

This prompted the US to issue an ultimatum to Israel to increase aid by 12 November or risk losing some military support.

Jan Egeland, the head of aid organisation Norwegian Refugee Council, told the BBC on Friday that he saw "devastation, despair, beyond belief" on a recent visit to Gaza.

"There is hardly a building that is not damaged. And large areas looked like Stalingrad after the Second World War. You cannot fathom how intense this indiscriminate bombing has been on this trapped population," he said.

"It's evident that it is first and foremost children and women who are paying a price for this senseless war," he added.

Israel launched its current military offensive in Gaza after Hamas' attack on 7 October 2023 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and took 251 hostages back to Gaza.

June Spencer, who played matriarch Peggy in BBC Radio 4's long-running drama The Archers from 1951 until her retirement in 2022, has died at the age of 105.

A statement said she died peacefully in her sleep in the early hours of Friday.

"Her family would like to pay particular tribute and thanks to the staff team at Liberham Lodge, who so lovingly cared for her in the last two years," it said.

Her character Peggy Woolley (formerly Archer) was often viewed as a traditionalist, conservative character in the long-running drama charting the ups and downs of life in fictional Ambridge.

Speaking as the show's only original cast member in 2019, she said: "I had no idea I'd be ever be 100 for a start, let alone still working!

"It's been marvellous, I hope I can keep on doing it for a bit, and perhaps set an example to older people who have just given up," she said.

Three years later, when she did decide it was time to leave the show, she said: "In 1950 I helped to plant an acorn. It took root and in January 1951 it was planted out and called The Archers."

She added that "over the years it has thrived and become a splendid great tree with many branches. But now this old branch, known as Peggy, has become weak and unsafe so I decided it was high time she 'boughed' out, so I have duly lopped her".

The present Queen was among Spencer's many fans, and as Duchess of Cornwall she invited the actress and her co-stars to Clarence House for a reception in 2021, marking the show's 70th anniversary.

She called Peggy "a true national treasure who has been part of my life, and millions of others, for as long as I can remember".

Last year the Queen celebrated the 20,000th episode of the show by raising a glass to the "joy, tears and laughter" it gives.

The father of 10-year-old Sara Sharif told a court he gave his daughter CPR after she died and that his wife refused to call for an ambulance.

Urfan Sharif said he came home on the evening of 8 August last year to find Beinash Batool sitting on the floor in the couple's bedroom, holding Sara.

Police found Sara’s body with dozens of injuries at the family’s home in Woking, Surrey, two days later.

Mr Sharif, 42, Ms Batool, 30, and Sara's uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, have denied murder at the Old Bailey.

Sara's father said Ms Batool told him the girl had fallen down the stairs while playing with another child, and that now she was “pretending” and “being dramatic".

Mr Sharif said he told Sara to “get up” and took her arm, but it was limp.

“Then I took Sara from Beinash’s lap," he said.

"[Sara] whispered and opened her mouth a bit. She said she is thirsty and she needs water.”

Mr Sharif told the jury that he called for water and put Sara on the bed, but his wife told him to put her on the floor.

“I shouted for an ambulance because I could not hear her breathing, I checked her pulse under the ear, it was none. I had done my first aid training two times,” he said.

He said that he gave Sara CPR for more than ten minutes but Mr Batool told him to stop.

Mr Sharif said that when he asked where the ambulance was, Ms Batool replied: "It’s no point. There’s no need because she’s dead.”

Mr Sharif said he noticed a red mark around Sara's neck, and at this point Ms Batool told a "second story" claiming Sara had been fighting with another child.

Defence barrister Naeem Mian KC asked “Why didn’t you call the police?”

And Mr Sharif replied: “I was thinking about the other kids. They are going to be taken into care.[The child] is going to go to prison.”

That evening Ms Batool called a travel agent to start the process of booking flights for the whole family apart from Sara to go to Pakistan, he said. They left the country the next day.

Hours after Sara had died, Ms Batool also showed Mr Sharif on her phone the difference between murder and manslaughter, jurors heard.

“She is very good at Googling stuff,” Mr Sharif said.

When police came to the house after Mr Sharif had called them from Pakistan, there was a handwritten note by Sara’s body that read: “Whoever see this note it’s me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter by beating.”

The jury has been told that Ms Batool and Mr Sharif dispute each other’s version of events.

The trial continues.

Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook, on X. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.

US President-elect Donald Trump has announced his campaign manager, Susan Summerall Wiles, will serve as his White House chief of staff when he takes over the presidency next year.

In a statement, Trump said that Wiles "just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history" and "is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected".

"It is a well deserved honour to have Susie as the first-ever female chief of staff in United States history," he continued. "I have no doubt that she will make our country proud.”

Wiles, 67, is the first woman to be appointed White House chief of staff.

The Trump transition team is currently working to choose top members of the incoming Republican administration, including the heads of all 15 executive departments, such as the secretaries of state and defence, from 20 January.

• Follow live updates as Trump assembles senior team
• A quick guide to Donald Trump

In his victory speech this week, Trump referred to Wiles as "the ice maiden" as she stood behind him on stage.

She operates mostly “in the back”, the president-elect said, but she is known as one of the most feared political operatives in the US.

"Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again," he added in his statement on Thursday, referring to his oft-repeated campaign slogan.

Who is Susie Wiles?

A profile by Politico earlier this year described Susie Wiles as feared but little known.

Less than a year after Wiles started working in politics, she joined Ronald Reagan’s campaign ahead of his 1980 election.

She went on to play a key role in transforming politics in Florida, where she lives.

In 2010, she turned Rick Scott, a then-businessman with little political experience, into Florida’s governor in just seven months. Scott is now a US senator.

Wiles met Trump during the 2015 Republican presidential primary and became the co-chair of his Florida campaign. He went on to win the state over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, who put her in charge of his successful gubernatorial race two years later, described Wiles as “the best in the business”.

Wiles worked on the Trump campaign alongside Chris LaCivita, a veteran of Republican politics with decades of experience.

The two worked with Trump to formulate a winning presidential primary strategy.

In her Politico profile, the 67-year-old grandmother - who is the daughter of late American football player and broadcaster Pat Summerall - said that she comes from a "traditional" political background.

“In my early career things like manners mattered and there was an expected level of decorum," she said, describing the Republican party as significantly different than the one of several decades ago.

"And so I get it that the GOP of today is different," she said, referring to the Republican party, who are also called the Grand Old Party (GOP).

"There are changes we must live with in order to get done the things we’re trying to do."

The chief of staff is considered to be the president's top aide, and plays a crucial role in every president's administration.

They essentially serve as the manager of the White House and are responsible for putting together a president's staff. A chief leads the staff through the Executive Office of the President and oversees all daily operations and staff activities.

They also advise presidents on policy issues and are responsible for directing and overseeing policy development.

• Seven things Trump says he will do in power
• When does he become president again?
• What happens to his legal cases now
• How he pulled off an incredible comeback

Parents have been "paying over the odds" for baby milk because of a lack of competition in the formula market, a government watchdog has said.

It stopped short of recommending price controls, but said they remain a possibility, adding parents have been "shouldering the costs" of price increases in the market for years.

The Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) interim report said the baby milk industry needed a shake-up to help parents struggling to afford it.

"We're concerned many parents opt for more expensive products, equating higher costs with better quality for their baby," CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said.

Just two companies - Danone and Nestle - control the majority of the UK market.

Both firms have previously welcomed the investigation.

New floods have hit the region of Girona in north-eastern Spain, sweeping away around 30 cars in the town of Cadaqués, according to Spanish media reports.

Videos posted by a local journalist showed a torrent of water gushing down the street and a pile of cars blocking a bridge early on Friday.

No casualties were reported in the latest round of flooding to hit the country.

More than 200 people were killed last week, most in the Valencia area, in one of the worst floods in Europe this century.

The disaster ignited intense anger at the authorities for not issuing emergency alerts sooner.

Flooding in Cadaqués in the early hours of Friday morning caused around 30 vehicles to pile up under a bridge, Catalonia's fire service said on X. No one was injured or trapped, the emergency responders added.

More potentially dangerous weather is expected in the region overnight.

Catalonia's meteorological service issued a rain warning from Friday evening until Saturday afternoon for the area of Alt Emporda, where Cadaqués is located. The weather agency warned rain intensity could exceed 20 mm (0.7 inches) in 30 minutes.

The agency recorded 76.8 mm (3 inches) of rain in Cadaqués on 7 and 8 November, with more than 100 mm (4 inches) logged in two other towns nearby.

Spain received 72% more rainfall from 1 October to 5 November than the normal value for that time period, according to Aemet, Spain's weather agency.

The rainfall, which experts said was intensified by climate change, led to flash floods that trapped people in their cars.

The most prominent Islamic scholar in Gaza has issued a rare, powerful fatwa condemning Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the devastating war in the Palestinian territory.

Professor Dr Salman al-Dayah, a former dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Law at the Hamas-affiliated Islamic University of Gaza, is one of the region’s most respected religious authorities, so his legal opinion carries significant weight among Gaza’s two million population, which is predominantly Sunni Muslim.

A fatwa is a non-binding Islamic legal ruling from a respected religious scholar usually based on the Quran or the Sunnah - the sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad.

Dr Dayah’s fatwa, which was published in a detailed six-page document, criticises Hamas for what he calls “violating Islamic principles governing jihad”.

Jihad means “struggle” in Arabic and in Islam it can be a personal struggle for spiritual improvement or a military struggle against unbelievers.

Dr Dayah adds: “If the pillars, causes, or conditions of jihad are not met, it must be avoided in order to avoid destroying people’s lives. This is something that is easy to guess for our country’s politicians, so the attack must have been avoided.”

For Hamas, the fatwa represents an embarrassing and potentially damaging critique, particularly as the group often justifies its attacks on Israel through religious arguments to garner support from Arab and Muslim communities.

The 7 October attack saw hundreds of Hamas gunmen from Gaza invade southern Israel. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage.

Israel responded by launching a military campaign to destroy Hamas, during which more than 43,400 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

• Israel Gaza war: History of the conflict explained
• What is Hamas and why is it fighting with Israel in Gaza?

Dr Dayah argues that the significant civilian casualties in Gaza, together with the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and humanitarian disaster that have followed the 7 October attack, means that it was in direct contradiction to the teachings of Islam.

Hamas, he says, has failed in its obligations of “keeping fighters away from the homes of defenceless [Palestinian] civilians and their shelters, and providing security and safety as much as possible in the various aspects of life... security, economic, health, and education, and saving enough supplies for them.”

Dr Dayah points to Quranic verses and the Sunnah that set strict conditions for the conduct of jihad, including the necessity of avoiding actions that provoke an excessive and disproportionate response by an opponent.

His fatwa highlights that, according to Islamic law, a military raid should not trigger a response that exceeds the intended benefits of the action.

He also stresses that Muslim leaders are obligated to ensure the safety and well-being of non-combatants, including by providing food, medicine, and refuge to those not involved in the fighting.

“Human life is more precious to God than Mecca,” Dr Dayah states.

His opposition to the 7 October attack is especially significant given his deep influence in Gaza, where he is seen as a key religious figure and a vocal critic of Islamist movements, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

His moderate Salafist beliefs place him in direct opposition to Hamas’s approach to armed resistance and its ties to Shia-ruled Iran.

Salafists are fundamentalists who seek to adhere the example of the Prophet Muhammad and the first generations who followed him.

Dr Dayah has consistently argued for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate that adheres strictly to Islamic law, rather than the political party-based systems that Hamas and other groups advocate.

“Our role model is the Prophet Muhammad, who founded a nation and did not establish political parties that divide the nation. Therefore, parties in Islam are forbidden,” he said in a sermon he gave at a mosque several years ago.

He has also condemned extremism, opposing jihadist groups like Islamic State and al-Qaeda, and has used all of his platforms to issue fatwas on various social and political issues, ranging from commercial transactions, social disputes over marriage and divorce, to the conduct of political violence.

The fatwa adds to the growing internal debate within Gaza and the broader Arab world over the moral and legal implications of Hamas’s actions, and it is likely to fuel further divisions within Palestinian society regarding the use of armed resistance in the ongoing conflict with Israel.

Sheikh Ashraf Ahmed, one of Dr Dayah’s students who was forced to leave his house in Gaza City last year and flee to the south of Gaza with his wife and nine children, told the BBC: “Our scholar [Dr Dayah] refused to leave his home in northern Gaza despite the fears of Israeli air strikes. He chose to fulfil his religious duty by issuing his legal opinion on the attack”.

Ahmed described the fatwa as the most powerful legal judgment of a historical moment. “It’s a deeply well researched document, reflecting Dayah’s commitment to Islamic jurisprudence,” he said.

A 17-year-old girl in China hailed as a genius in a mathematics contest cheated, competition organisers have said - ending months of scepticism over her stellar results.

Jiang Ping, a fashion design student from a rural town in Jiangsu province, made headlines in June when she came 12th in the qualifiers of an international maths contest run by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

She was the first finalist since the competition began in 2018 to have come from a lowly vocational school, Chinese media reported. The vast majority of the 800 finalists came from elite universities.

Jiang's results turned her into an overnight sensation, and she was labelled a "prodigy" in the press and on social media.

Under China's notoriously cut-throat education system, academic excellence is lauded. Many people online were encouraged by Jiang's results, seeing them as proof that students from vocational institutes could still excel academically.

However, as doubt surrounding her abilities snowballed, competition organisers said last Sunday that Jiang had violated competition rules in the preliminary round, by receiving help from her teacher, who was also a contestant himself.

“This has exposed problems like inadequacies in the competition format and the lack of rigour in supervision. We sincerely apologise,” organisers said in a statement.

According to the final results announced on Sunday, neither Jiang nor her teacher was among 86 winners in the competition.

The rise of a maths sensation

The annual mathematics contest is open to contestants from institutions worldwide and hosted by Damo Academy, Alibaba’s research institute.

This year, Jiang, a student at Jiangsu Lianshui Secondary Vocational School, outperformed other finalists from some of the world’s most prestigious institutions — including Peking University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Oxford.

She had chosen to study at the vocational school both because she was interested in fashion design, and because her sister and friends were there, said local media outlets.

Jiang's results and unconventional educational background soon grabbed nationwide attention. Her story was featured in a video produced by Damo Academy and she was interviewed by news outlets across the country.

“Learning maths is bumpy, but every time I solve the problems I feel quite happy,” she told the state-run People’s Daily. “No matter what the future holds, I will keep learning.”

Jiang’s teacher, Wang Runqiu, was also thrust into the spotlight, hailed as an educator who noticed and encouraged her passion for maths. Speaking to the media, he described her as an attentive student who had learnt advanced mathematics herself.

"I have encountered many setbacks in the process of learning maths,” he said. “So, I want to do everything I can to help my students and let them know that there are other possibilities in the future.”

But along with an outpouring of praise for Jiang and her teacher, the student’s story also sparked a discussion about whether China’s education system did enough to support gifted students in less academic pathways - especially those who may not have received similar recognition by their teachers.

China's education system focuses much of its resources on those taking the "Gaokao" - the notoriously difficult exam that students need to take in order to get into university. Those in vocational schools had long faced restrictions in taking the gaokao and enrolling in regular universities, until an education reform in 2022 offered vocational school students an alternative university entrance exam.

An earlier op-ed in state-news media outlet Xinhua said that Jiang's results “hint[ed] at an awkward truth: even youths as talented as her may be easily buried without good education credentials”.

'She was not the mastermind'

But as Jiang’s fame burgeoned, criticism and scepticism surrounding her skills also started to bubble.

In June, dozens of other finalists published a joint letter they wrote to the competition organising committee demanding an investigation into Jiang. They also called for her answers to the preliminary test questions to be made public.

The finalists alleged that Jiang had made “several apparent writing mistakes” in an online video and that she “seemed unfamiliar with these mathematical expressions and symbols”.

While the preliminary round of the competition allowed participants to use programming software, the final round was a closed-book exam. The results of the finals, which were initially set to be released in August, were postponed for several months.

When the results were finally made public on Sunday, Jiang was not among the 86 winners of the final round.

Her school also confirmed in a statement on Sunday that Jiang had been helped by her teacher Wang, and that Wang had been given a warning and disqualified from teachers’ awards for the year. The statement also called for leniency and protection for the teenager.

Attempts by the BBC to contact Jiang's family were unsuccessful. A social media account once used by her mother is now defunct, and a phone number linked to her father has been deactivated. Multiple phone calls by the BBC to Jiang's school went unanswered, and a village official declined to discuss Jiang when contacted by the BBC.

While Sunday’s revelation unleashed a wave of criticism of Jiang and her teacher, many social media users also spoke up for the teenager, arguing the bigger responsibility lay with her school and teacher.

“Jiang Ping is not innocent, that’s without question. But who are the worst parties in this?” reads a post on Weibo. “The adults brought this child along to do a bad deed, and let her suffer all the consequences.”

“Even if the whole thing was faked, Jiang Ping was not the mastermind behind it,” another wrote on Weibo. “She should not be burned at the stake.”

Donald Trump's transition team is already vetting potential candidates who could serve in his administration when he returns to the White House in January.

On Thursday, he made the first announcement naming his campaign co-manager Susan Summerall Wiles as his White House chief of staff.

Many of the figures who served under Trump in his first term do not plan to return, though a handful of loyalists are rumoured to be making a comeback.

But the US president-elect is now surrounded by a new cast of characters who may fill his cabinet, staff his White House and serve in key roles across government.

Here is a look at the some of the names being floated for the top jobs.

Robert F Kennedy Jr

The past two years have been quite a journey for the nephew of former President John F Kennedy.

An environmental lawyer by trade, he ran for president as a Democrat, with most of his family speaking out against his anti-vaccine views and conspiracy theories as they endorsed Joe Biden's re-election.

He then switched to an independent candidacy but, failing to gain traction amid a series of controversies, dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump.

In the last two months of the 2024 election cycle, he spearheaded a Trump campaign initiative called "Make America Healthy Again".

Trump recently promised he would play a major role related to public health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Safety Administration (FDA).

RFK Jr, as he is known, recently asserted he would push to remove fluoride from drinking water because "it's a very bad way to deliver it into our systems" - though this has been challenged by some experts.

And in an interview with NBC News, Kennedy rejected the idea that he was "anti-vaccine", saying he wouldn't "take away anybody's vaccines" but rather provide them with "the best information" to make their own choices.

Rather than a formal cabinet position, Kennedy used the interview to suggest he could take on a broader role within the White House.

Susie Wiles

Trump's landslide victory over Kamala Harris was masterminded by campaign co-chairs Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, who he referred to in his victory speech on Wednesday as "the ice baby".

She has since been confirmed to be the incoming chief of staff under the second Trump administration - Trump's first confirmed appointment for his second term - making her the first woman to take on the role.

Wiles, who Trump claimed "likes to stay in the background”, is considered one of the most feared and respected political operatives in the country.

Less than a year after she started working in politics, she worked on Ronald Reagan’s successful 1980 presidential campaign and later became a scheduler in his White House.

In 2010, she turned Rick Scott, a then-businessman with little political experience, into Florida’s governor in just seven months. Scott is now a US senator.

Wiles met Trump during the 2015 Republican presidential primary and she became the co-chair of his Florida campaign, at the time considered a swing state. Trump went on to narrowly defeat Hillary Clinton there in 2016.

Wiles has been commended by Republicans for her ability to command respect and check the big egos of those in the president-elect's orbit, which could enable her to impose a sense of order that none of his four previous chiefs of staff could.

Elon Musk

The world's richest man announced his support for the former president earlier this year, despite saying in 2022 that "it's time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset".

The tech billionaire has since emerged as one of the most visible and well-known backers of Trump and donated more than $119m (£91.6m) this election cycle to America PAC - a political action committee he created to support the former president.

Musk, the head of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of the social media platform X, also launched a voter registration drive that included a $1m (£771,000) give-away to a random swing-state voter each day during the closing stretch of the campaign.

Since registering as a Republican ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Musk has been increasingly vocal on issues including illegal immigration and transgender rights.

Both Musk and Trump have concentrated on the idea of him leading a new "Department of Government Efficiency", where he would cut costs, reform regulations and streamline what he calls a "massive, suffocating federal bureaucracy".

The would-be agency's acronym - DOGE - is a playful reference to a "meme-coin" cryptocurrency Musk has previously promoted.

Mike Pompeo

The former Kansas congressman served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and then secretary of state during Trump's first administration.

A foreign policy hawk and a fierce supporter of Israel, he played a highly visible role in moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He was among the key players in the implementation of the Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

He remained a loyal defender of his boss, joking that there would be "a smooth transition to a second Trump administration" amid Trump's false claims of election fraud in late 2020.

He has been tipped as a top contender for the role of defence secretary, alongside Michael Waltz, a Florida lawmaker and military veteran who sits on the armed services committee in the US House of Representatives.

Richard Grenell

Richard Grenell served as Trump's ambassador to Germany, special envoy to the Balkans and his acting director of national intelligence.

The Republican was also heavily involved in Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, in the swing state of Nevada.

Trump prizes Grenell's loyalty and has described him as "my envoy".

In September, he sat in on Trump's private meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The former president has often claimed he will end the war in Ukraine "within 24 hours" of taking office and Grenell has advocated for setting up an autonomous zone in eastern Ukraine as a means to that end - an idea seen as unacceptable by Kyiv.

He's considered a contender for secretary of state or national security advisor, a position that does not require Senate confirmation.

Karoline Leavitt

The Trump 2024 campaign's national press secretary previously served in his White House press office, as an assistant press secretary.

The 27-year-old Gen-Zer made a bid to become the youngest woman ever elected to the US Congress in 2022, to represent a seat in her home state of New Hampshire, but fell short.

She is tipped to become the White House press secretary - the most public-facing position in the cabinet.

Tom Homan

Tom Homan served as the acting director of the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (Ice) during the first Trump administration, where he was a proponent of separating migrant children from their parents as a way to deter illegal crossings.

At the time, he made headlines for saying politicians who support sanctuary city policies should be charged with crimes. He later resigned from his Ice position in 2018, mid-way through the Trump presidency.

He has since emerged as a key figure in developing Trump's mass migrant deportation plan, and has been floated as a potential pick to head the Department of Homeland Security.

Homan spoke on the deportation plan last month in an interview with BBC's US partner CBS News, saying that "it's not going to be - a mass sweep of neighbourhoods."

"They'll be targeted arrests. We’ll know who we’re going to arrest, where we’re most likely to find ‘em based on numerous, you know, investigative processes," he said.

Donald Trump’s return to the White House effectively slammed the door on the two cases involving federal criminal charges against him.

A state case against him for allegedly conspiring to interfere with Georgia’s election in 2020 will go on hold until after his term in office ends - if it's still alive by then.

But next week, the fate of the remaining case – his conviction on 34 felony counts in New York – will be determined. It could stand, or it could be swept away in the same political and legal tide that has allowed him to escape the others.

Justice Juan Merchan will decide by Tuesday whether to grant Trump’s pre-election request to throw out his conviction. Should Justice Merchan side with Trump, it would almost wipe clean his slate of criminal woes.

But should the judge uphold the conviction, he would proceed to sentencing later this month. It would likely spark even more delay attempts from Trump and open up an unprecedented new front for America’s criminal justice system.

“This is truly uncharted territory,” said Anna Cominsky, a professor at the New York Law School.

Will Trump’s case get thrown out?

In May, a New York jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records. The convictions stemmed from Trump’s attempt to cover up reimbursements to his ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, who in 2016 paid off an adult film star to remain silent about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump.

Trump’s lawyers argue that a recent US Supreme Court ruling granting presidents a degree of immunity from criminal prosecution applies to certain aspects of his New York case, and therefore the indictment and conviction should be tossed.

During the trial, Justice Merchan dismissed attempts by Trump’s lawyers to throw out the case on immunity grounds. But that was before the US Supreme Court ruled in Trump’s favour this summer – and before Trump decisively won re-election.

Justice Merchan has set a deadline of 12 November to decide whether to grant Trump’s request.

If he throws out the conviction, that will be the end of the case.

But if he denies the defense's request, Trump’s much-delayed sentencing will remain scheduled for 26 November.

An unprecedented sentencing – with jail unlikely

Even if Justice Merchan upholds the conviction and keeps the scheduled sentencing, Trump’s team is almost certain to seek more delays and appeals.

Todd Blanche, Trump’s lead attorney, did not respond to inquiries about whether he planned to seek a delay.

Because Trump will be tied up with a presidential transition and the legal questions about sentencing a president are so complex, some scholars see very little chance it will stay on the calendar.

“I think the most likely outcome in the state case is the judge putting off sentencing until after Trump's term in office,” said Daniel Charles Richman, a professor at Columbia Law School.

“To actually impose a sentence would raise any number of messy issues in the short term,” including political ones, he said.

If Trump does find himself in a Manhattan courtroom later this month, deciding his fate still would be an unprecedented challenge.

Under the law, Trump faces a range of sentences, including fines, probation and up to four years in prison. But many options are rendered impractical by his imminent return to the White House.

“Sentencing a sitting president may be one of the most complicated, fraught sentencing decisions you can imagine,” Ms Cominsky said.

“It’s hard to imagine what sentence could be imposed that would not impede a president’s ability to do their job or compromise the president’s security."

Few expect Justice Merchan to sentence Trump to a stint behind bars at this point.

“He’s a 78-year old man with no criminal history, who has been convicted of a non-violent felony,” said retired New York Supreme Court Justice Diane Kiesel. “I don’t think a judge would give a person under those sentences an incarceration sentence.”

Even if Justice Merchan did reach for such a sentence, Trump’s team would almost certainly appeal it, delaying actual punishment.

Trump could leave a sentencing hearing with the legal equivalent of a slap on the wrist. Justice Merchan could ask the former president to pay a relatively small fine in the three- or four-figure range.

He could also give Trump an unconditional discharge; “basically, goodbye,” as Justice Kiesel puts it.

Trump has no pardon power here

The only thing that is certain is that Trump cannot make this conviction go away on his own.

Trump has explored the possibility of pardoning himself from potential criminal charges in the past, and could do so for his federal indictments when he becomes president in January.

But he cannot pardon himself in New York, as the conviction occurred in state court.

His fate, at the moment, is in the hands of the court. But regardless of the outcome, Trump will likely avoid the most serious punishments facing him.

“He is a very lucky man,” Justice Kiesel said.

Donald Trump's transition team is already vetting potential candidates who could serve in his administration when he returns to the White House in January.

On Thursday, he made the first announcement naming his campaign co-manager Susan Summerall Wiles as his White House chief of staff.

Many of the figures who served under Trump in his first term do not plan to return, though a handful of loyalists are rumoured to be making a comeback.

But the US president-elect is now surrounded by a new cast of characters who may fill his cabinet, staff his White House and serve in key roles across government.

Here is a look at the some of the names being floated for the top jobs.

Robert F Kennedy Jr

The past two years have been quite a journey for the nephew of former President John F Kennedy.

An environmental lawyer by trade, he ran for president as a Democrat, with most of his family speaking out against his anti-vaccine views and conspiracy theories as they endorsed Joe Biden's re-election.

He then switched to an independent candidacy but, failing to gain traction amid a series of controversies, dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump.

In the last two months of the 2024 election cycle, he spearheaded a Trump campaign initiative called "Make America Healthy Again".

Trump recently promised he would play a major role related to public health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Safety Administration (FDA).

RFK Jr, as he is known, recently asserted he would push to remove fluoride from drinking water because "it's a very bad way to deliver it into our systems" - though this has been challenged by some experts.

And in an interview with NBC News, Kennedy rejected the idea that he was "anti-vaccine", saying he wouldn't "take away anybody's vaccines" but rather provide them with "the best information" to make their own choices.

Rather than a formal cabinet position, Kennedy used the interview to suggest he could take on a broader role within the White House.

Susie Wiles

Trump's landslide victory over Kamala Harris was masterminded by campaign co-chairs Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, who he referred to in his victory speech on Wednesday as "the ice baby".

She has since been confirmed to be the incoming chief of staff under the second Trump administration - Trump's first confirmed appointment for his second term - making her the first woman to take on the role.

Wiles, who Trump claimed "likes to stay in the background”, is considered one of the most feared and respected political operatives in the country.

Less than a year after she started working in politics, she worked on Ronald Reagan’s successful 1980 presidential campaign and later became a scheduler in his White House.

In 2010, she turned Rick Scott, a then-businessman with little political experience, into Florida’s governor in just seven months. Scott is now a US senator.

Wiles met Trump during the 2015 Republican presidential primary and she became the co-chair of his Florida campaign, at the time considered a swing state. Trump went on to narrowly defeat Hillary Clinton there in 2016.

Wiles has been commended by Republicans for her ability to command respect and check the big egos of those in the president-elect's orbit, which could enable her to impose a sense of order that none of his four previous chiefs of staff could.

Elon Musk

The world's richest man announced his support for the former president earlier this year, despite saying in 2022 that "it's time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset".

The tech billionaire has since emerged as one of the most visible and well-known backers of Trump and donated more than $119m (£91.6m) this election cycle to America PAC - a political action committee he created to support the former president.

Musk, the head of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of the social media platform X, also launched a voter registration drive that included a $1m (£771,000) give-away to a random swing-state voter each day during the closing stretch of the campaign.

Since registering as a Republican ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Musk has been increasingly vocal on issues including illegal immigration and transgender rights.

Both Musk and Trump have concentrated on the idea of him leading a new "Department of Government Efficiency", where he would cut costs, reform regulations and streamline what he calls a "massive, suffocating federal bureaucracy".

The would-be agency's acronym - DOGE - is a playful reference to a "meme-coin" cryptocurrency Musk has previously promoted.

Mike Pompeo

The former Kansas congressman served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and then secretary of state during Trump's first administration.

A foreign policy hawk and a fierce supporter of Israel, he played a highly visible role in moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He was among the key players in the implementation of the Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

He remained a loyal defender of his boss, joking that there would be "a smooth transition to a second Trump administration" amid Trump's false claims of election fraud in late 2020.

He has been tipped as a top contender for the role of defence secretary, alongside Michael Waltz, a Florida lawmaker and military veteran who sits on the armed services committee in the US House of Representatives.

Richard Grenell

Richard Grenell served as Trump's ambassador to Germany, special envoy to the Balkans and his acting director of national intelligence.

The Republican was also heavily involved in Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, in the swing state of Nevada.

Trump prizes Grenell's loyalty and has described him as "my envoy".

In September, he sat in on Trump's private meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The former president has often claimed he will end the war in Ukraine "within 24 hours" of taking office and Grenell has advocated for setting up an autonomous zone in eastern Ukraine as a means to that end - an idea seen as unacceptable by Kyiv.

He's considered a contender for secretary of state or national security advisor, a position that does not require Senate confirmation.

Karoline Leavitt

The Trump 2024 campaign's national press secretary previously served in his White House press office, as an assistant press secretary.

The 27-year-old Gen-Zer made a bid to become the youngest woman ever elected to the US Congress in 2022, to represent a seat in her home state of New Hampshire, but fell short.

She is tipped to become the White House press secretary - the most public-facing position in the cabinet.

Tom Homan

Tom Homan served as the acting director of the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (Ice) during the first Trump administration, where he was a proponent of separating migrant children from their parents as a way to deter illegal crossings.

At the time, he made headlines for saying politicians who support sanctuary city policies should be charged with crimes. He later resigned from his Ice position in 2018, mid-way through the Trump presidency.

He has since emerged as a key figure in developing Trump's mass migrant deportation plan, and has been floated as a potential pick to head the Department of Homeland Security.

Homan spoke on the deportation plan last month in an interview with BBC's US partner CBS News, saying that "it's not going to be - a mass sweep of neighbourhoods."

"They'll be targeted arrests. We’ll know who we’re going to arrest, where we’re most likely to find ‘em based on numerous, you know, investigative processes," he said.

The Princess of Wales will attend Remembrance events in London at the weekend, Buckingham Palace has said.

She will attend both the Sunday service at the Cenotaph and the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday evening.

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

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Parents have been "paying over the odds" for baby milk because of a lack of competition in the formula market, a government watchdog has said.

It stopped short of recommending price controls, but said they remain a possibility, adding parents have been "shouldering the costs" of price increases in the market for years.

The Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) interim report said the baby milk industry needed a shake-up to help parents struggling to afford it.

"We're concerned many parents opt for more expensive products, equating higher costs with better quality for their baby," CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said.

Just two companies - Danone and Nestle - control the majority of the UK market.

Both firms have previously welcomed the investigation.

US President-elect Donald Trump has announced his campaign manager, Susan Summerall Wiles, will serve as his White House chief of staff when he takes over the presidency next year.

In a statement, Trump said that Wiles "just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history" and "is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected".

"It is a well deserved honour to have Susie as the first-ever female chief of staff in United States history," he continued. "I have no doubt that she will make our country proud.”

Wiles, 67, is the first woman to be appointed White House chief of staff.

The Trump transition team is currently working to choose top members of the incoming Republican administration, including the heads of all 15 executive departments, such as the secretaries of state and defence, from 20 January.

• Follow live updates as Trump assembles senior team
• A quick guide to Donald Trump

In his victory speech this week, Trump referred to Wiles as "the ice maiden" as she stood behind him on stage.

She operates mostly “in the back”, the president-elect said, but she is known as one of the most feared political operatives in the US.

"Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again," he added in his statement on Thursday, referring to his oft-repeated campaign slogan.

Who is Susie Wiles?

A profile by Politico earlier this year described Susie Wiles as feared but little known.

Less than a year after Wiles started working in politics, she joined Ronald Reagan’s campaign ahead of his 1980 election.

She went on to play a key role in transforming politics in Florida, where she lives.

In 2010, she turned Rick Scott, a then-businessman with little political experience, into Florida’s governor in just seven months. Scott is now a US senator.

Wiles met Trump during the 2015 Republican presidential primary and became the co-chair of his Florida campaign. He went on to win the state over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, who put her in charge of his successful gubernatorial race two years later, described Wiles as “the best in the business”.

Wiles worked on the Trump campaign alongside Chris LaCivita, a veteran of Republican politics with decades of experience.

The two worked with Trump to formulate a winning presidential primary strategy.

In her Politico profile, the 67-year-old grandmother - who is the daughter of late American football player and broadcaster Pat Summerall - said that she comes from a "traditional" political background.

“In my early career things like manners mattered and there was an expected level of decorum," she said, describing the Republican party as significantly different than the one of several decades ago.

"And so I get it that the GOP of today is different," she said, referring to the Republican party, who are also called the Grand Old Party (GOP).

"There are changes we must live with in order to get done the things we’re trying to do."

The chief of staff is considered to be the president's top aide, and plays a crucial role in every president's administration.

They essentially serve as the manager of the White House and are responsible for putting together a president's staff. A chief leads the staff through the Executive Office of the President and oversees all daily operations and staff activities.

They also advise presidents on policy issues and are responsible for directing and overseeing policy development.

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• How he pulled off an incredible comeback

Dutch police have arrested 57 people in the centre of Amsterdam after clashes broke out, reportedly involving young locals and Israeli football supporters.

Prime Minister Dick Schoof condemned "antisemitic attacks" and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said two "rescue planes" were being sent to Amsterdam after what Israel's military described as "severe and violent incidents against Israelis".

A police spokeswoman told Dutch media that unrest had broken out around Dam Square in the heart of the capital, but did not say who was involved.

Supporters of Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv had travelled to Amsterdam for a Europa Cup match against Ajax.

Schoof said he had followed developments with horror, adding that he had spoken to Netanyahu and emphasising that the "perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted".

There had already been arrests and trouble in Dam Square ahead of the match involving Maccabi fans and pro-Palestinian protesters, and there were reports of supporters setting off fireworks and tearing down a Palestinian flag on a nearby street.

But the unrest grew after the game. Police said it was unclear who had taken part in the riots, telling local media that those involved were wearing dark clothing.

Several videos circulated on social media, with one showing a man being kicked and beaten on the ground and another showing someone being run over. In some videos, people could be heard shouting pro-Palestinian slogans, although the footage has not been verified by the BBC.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke of a "pogrom" against Maccabi fans and Israeli citizens. Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders who leads the biggest party in parliament also spoke of a pogrom, saying "authorities will be held accountable for their failure to protect the Israeli citizens".

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema had earlier sought to prevent trouble by moving pro-Palestinian protesters away from the Johan Cruyff Arena. But Dutch reports said a large group had then tried to head to the stadium, only to be stopped by riot police.

Herzog said on X that he trusted the Dutch authorities would act immediately to "protect, locate and rescue all Israelis and Jews under attack".

A senior official at COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan appears to have used his role to arrange a meeting to discuss potential fossil fuel deals, the BBC can report.

A secret recording shows the chief executive of Azerbaijan's COP29 team, Elnur Soltanov, discussing "investment opportunities" in the state oil and gas company with a man posing as a potential investor.

"We have a lot of gas fields that are to be developed," he says.

A former head of the UN body responsible for the climate talks told the BBC that Soltanov's actions were "completely unacceptable" and a "betrayal" of the COP process.

As well as being the chief executive of COP29, Soltanov is also the deputy energy minister of Azerbaijan and is on the board of Socar.

Azerbaijan's COP29 team has not responded to a request for comment.

Oil and gas accounts for about half of Azerbaijan's total economy and more than 90% of its exports, according to US figures.

COP29 will open in Baku on Monday and is the 29th annual UN climate summit, where governments discuss how to limit and prepare for climate change, and raise global ambition to tackle the issue.

However, this is the second year in a row the BBC has revealed alleged wrongdoing by the host government.

The BBC has been shown documents and secret video recordings made by the human rights organisation, Global Witness.

It is understood that one of its representatives approached the COP29 team posing as the head of a fictitious Hong Kong investment firm specialising in energy.

He said this company was interested in sponsoring the COP29 summit but wanted to discuss investment opportunities in Azerbaijan's state energy firm, Socar, in return. An online meeting with Soltanov was arranged.

During the meeting, Soltanov told the potential sponsor that the aim of the conference was "solving the climate crisis" and "transitioning away from hydrocarbons in a just, orderly and equitable manner".

Anyone, he said, including oil and gas companies, "could come with solutions" because Azerbaijan’s "doors are open".

However, he said he was open to discussions about deals too – including on oil and gas.

Initially, Soltanov suggested the potential sponsor might be interested in investing in some of the "green transitioning projects" Socar was involved in - but then spoke of opportunities related to Azerbaijan's plans to increase gas production, including new pipeline infrastructure.

"There are a lot of joint ventures that could be established," Soltanov says on the recording. "Socar is trading oil and gas all over the world, including in Asia."

Soltanov then described natural gas as a "transitional fuel", adding: "We will have a certain amount of oil and natural gas being produced, perhaps forever."

The UN climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, acknowledges there will be a role for some oil and gas up to 2050 and beyond. However, it has been very clear that "developing… new oil and gas fields is incompatible with limiting warming to 1.5C".

It also goes against the agreement the world made at the last global climate summit to transition away from fossil fuels.

Soltanov appeared eager to help get discussions going, telling the potential sponsor: "I would be happy to create a contact between your team and their team [Socar] so that they can start discussions."

A couple of weeks later the fake Hong Kong investment company received an email - Socar wanted to follow up on the lead.

Attempting to do business deals as part of the COP process appears to be a serious breach of the standards of conduct expected of a COP official.

These events are supposed to be about reducing the world's use of fossil fuels – the main driver of climate change – not selling more.

The standards are set by the UN body responsible for the climate negotiations, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The UN said it could not comment directly on our findings but remarked that "the same rigorous standards" are applied to whoever hosts the conference, and that those standards reflect "the importance of impartiality on the part of all presiding officers".

Its code of conduct for COP officials states they are "expected to act without bias, prejudice, favouritism, caprice, self-interest, preference or deference, strictly based on sound, independent and fair judgement.

"They are also expected to ensure that personal views and convictions do not compromise or appear to compromise their role and functions as a UNFCCC officer."

Christiana Figueres, who oversaw the signing of the 2015 Paris agreement to limit global temperature rises to well below 2C, told the BBC that she was shocked anyone in the COP process would use their position to strike oil and gas deals.

She said such behaviour was "contrary and egregious" to the the purpose of COP and "a treason" to the process.

The BBC has also seen emails between the COP29 team and the fake investors.

In one chain, the team discusses a $600,000 (£462,000) sponsorship deal with a fake company in return for the Socar introduction and involvement in an event about "sustainable oil and gas investing" during COP29.

Officials offered five passes with full access to the summit and drafted a contract which initially required the firm to make some commitments to sustainability. Then it pushed back, one requirement was dropped and "corrections" were considered to another.

The BBC asked Azerbaijan's COP29 team and Socar for comment. Neither responded to the requests.

The findings come a year after the BBC obtained leaked documents that revealed plans by the UAE to use its role as host of COP28 to strike oil and gas deals.

COP28 was the first time agreement was reached on the need to transition away from fossil fuels.

The boss of Harrods has personally apologised for the first time in relation to sexual abuse allegations against the store's late owner Mohamed Al Fayed.

The BBC approached Michael Ward at the Harrods headquarters and he said: "I am very dreadfully sorry for what has happened with Al Fayed."

Hundreds of women have alleged the billionaire raped or sexually abused them. Police are looking into some claims and Harrods is also settling hundreds of claims.

Mr Ward, who has been managing director of Harrods since 2005, worked alongside Al Fayed until 2010 and has previously said he did not know of any abuse.

Harrods new owner, the Qatar Investment Authority, said an internal review was ongoing and declined to say whether it had identified or taken any action against anyone currently working there.

Al Fayed, who died last year aged 94, was accused of sexual assault by more than 20 women in a BBC documentary and podcast in September.

Hundreds of people have contacted the BBC directly about Harrods and Mohamed Al-Fayed since the documentary Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods aired.

More than 70 of those were from women who sent the BBC their accounts of abuse by Al-Fayed including sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape.

Mr Ward said in a statement in September that he had stepped down from his role as a trustee of Royal Ballet and Opera while the review at Harrods takes place.

He added in the statement that he did not know of the abuse at Harrods and that Al Fayed “presided over a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct", calling it a "shameful period".

He said no formal complaints had been brought to him during his time with Al Fayed, although rumours of his behaviour were in the "public domain".

The BBC had asked Mr Ward for an interview to try and find out what was known by senior staff at Harrods of the allegations at the time but that was declined.

During the BBC's approach at the Harrods headquarters, Mr Ward said Harrods had "nothing further to add."

The abuse allegedly took place at Fulham FC, the Ritz Hotel Paris, Harrods, as well as other places owned by Al Fayed.

Harrods previously told the BBC that it was in the process of settling more than 250 claims for compensation brought by victims of Al Fayed. That figure has since risen to more than 290. The luxury department store has a compensation scheme for ex-employees who say they were attacked by Al Fayed, which is separate from the legal case against it.

Fayed owned Harrods between 1985 and 2010. The store's new owners have previously said they are "appalled" by the allegations of sexual abuse and have been investigating since 2023 whether any current members of staff were involved.

Lawyers for some of the victims said they were working on a claim against the Al Fayed estate, as well as Harrods, adding they expected to send hundreds more claims to the department store and that it would "snowball and snowball".

In 2008, allegations of indecent assault against a 15-year-old girl were made against Al Fayed and it was covered in the press at the time. Al Fayed denied the claims, and the Crown Prosecution Service chose not to pursue charges due to conflicting evidence.

Last week the BBC revealed that the Met Police was told of allegations of sexual assault by Mohamed Al Fayed a decade earlier than it has acknowledged

The human rights campaigner Dame Jasvinder Sanghera will meet "as many survivors as possible" and guide them through the compensation process, according to the retailer.

If you have information about this story that you would like to share please get in touch. Email: MAFinvestigation@bbc.co.uk. Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist.

Britain’s most senior police officer has accused “those in positions of authority” of fuelling “a dangerous narrative” about the shooting of a black Londoner Chris Kaba after he was stopped by officers in 2022.

Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said by focusing on Mr Kaba’s ethnicity, they had created “rumour and innuendo” which could “embolden those who work against the public.”

The Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and Kim Johnson were among prominent people who raised concerns about potential police racism or called for “justice for Chris Kaba”.

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the shooting had caused “anger, pain and fear” for black Londoners.

A charity, The Runnymede Trust, tweeted that “the legal system doesn’t deliver real justice for families bereaved by racist state violence.”

The tweet was taken down after a jury cleared a police firearms officer, Martyn Blake, of murdering Mr Kaba and an Old Bailey judge removed a restriction on reporting Mr Kaba’s criminal past.

Sir Mark's comments came at an event hosted by the charity Crimestoppers, which provides confidential ways of giving the police information.

Discussing the erosion in trust in the police, he said: “Those in positions of authority need to pull in the same direction on trust. I think unfortunately too often this is just not the case. I think some people need to be more aware of the weight of their words.

“Their attitudes and actions can embolden those who work against the public.

“From the outset over the last two years, the majority of the conversation online focused entirely on Chris Kaba's ethnicity.

“Rumour and innuendo fuelled a quite dangerous narrative about supposed facts that were detached from the evidence presented to court and the verdict delivered by 12 Londoners recently.”

He did not name them, but said “some people, with huge influence, risk undermining the British justice system, and those people should know better".

Mr Kaba’s car was being followed by police in south London in September 2022, when it was stopped by Mr Blake and his colleagues. The car was driven backwards and forwards in an apparent attempt to escape.

Mr Blake fired a single shot, killing Mr Kaba. At his trial, Mr Blake said he had feared he or his colleagues could have been killed or injured by the way the car was being driven.

The shooting resulted in widespread comments online and protests.

Attending one of them, the former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn said “we cannot live the pain felt by his family but we can support them in demanding #JusticeForChrisKaba.”

The rapper Stormzy also protested and was reported saying of the police “when these people do these things they get away with it”.

"What they've done is they've killed someone. We can't sugarcoat it.”

In an article, MP Diane Abbott wrote that Mr Kaba had suffered a “terrible fate”.

“People can even lose their lives when going about their daily lives.”

She said the case related to the “wider treatment of black people and other ethnic groups in this country".

The Old Bailey jury heard that while Mr Kaba was unarmed, and Mr Blake gave evidence that he could see the driver was a “comparatively young and athletic” black man, police did not know who was at the wheel, and the car had been linked to a previous incident.

They later disclosed video evidence that Mr Kaba had shot a rival in an incident days before he was stopped and killed by police.

The Met said Mr Kaba was a leading member of the 67 gang, active in south London.

While news organisations, including the BBC, knew about his background, for legal reasons they were unable to report it until after the verdict.

In the Commons, the Labour MP Kim Johnson claimed the media were using “racist gang tropes to justify his killing”.

But in his speech Sir Mark said Mr Kaba was part of an extensive gang in Lambeth, south London, which “coerces and exploits black boys and draws them into gangs and crime”.

“They're amongst the sort of 10 or so most active gangs in London,” he said, and involved in 11 shootings over the last year,

He argued that most of the discussion online had focused not on the issues at the centre of the case - whether a police officer was legally justified in firing the fatal shot, given the situation - but on whether the police were racist.

He said “that's not to say that there's not a national conversation to be had about disproportionality in the justice system”.

“We have a decade of data that tells us that young black men in London are 13 times more likely to be murdered than their white counterparts.”

He said this should provide a national outcry in the same way that the police were criticised for policing Covid.

“Trust in policing will be helped by an honest conversation about the risks facing different communities and a collective effort to give everyone equal chance of thriving in London and not be drawn into criminality.”

But following Mr Kaba's case, he backed demands for police firearms officers facing serious criminal charges to be given anonymity.

In response, Ms Abbott tweeted that Sir Mark was supposed to have been the “new broom” at the Met, but instead of offering a “new beginning” he had continued to support a “lack of police accountability”.

In his speech Sir Mark said the case had so affected officers they were “more concerned about legal jeopardy than they are about physical jeopardy”.

Donald Trump's transition team is already vetting potential candidates who could serve in his administration when he returns to the White House in January.

On Thursday, he made the first announcement naming his campaign co-manager Susan Summerall Wiles as his White House chief of staff.

Many of the figures who served under Trump in his first term do not plan to return, though a handful of loyalists are rumoured to be making a comeback.

But the US president-elect is now surrounded by a new cast of characters who may fill his cabinet, staff his White House and serve in key roles across government.

Here is a look at the some of the names being floated for the top jobs.

Robert F Kennedy Jr

The past two years have been quite a journey for the nephew of former President John F Kennedy.

An environmental lawyer by trade, he ran for president as a Democrat, with most of his family speaking out against his anti-vaccine views and conspiracy theories as they endorsed Joe Biden's re-election.

He then switched to an independent candidacy but, failing to gain traction amid a series of controversies, dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump.

In the last two months of the 2024 election cycle, he spearheaded a Trump campaign initiative called "Make America Healthy Again".

Trump recently promised he would play a major role related to public health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Safety Administration (FDA).

RFK Jr, as he is known, recently asserted he would push to remove fluoride from drinking water because "it's a very bad way to deliver it into our systems" - though this has been challenged by some experts.

And in an interview with NBC News, Kennedy rejected the idea that he was "anti-vaccine", saying he wouldn't "take away anybody's vaccines" but rather provide them with "the best information" to make their own choices.

Rather than a formal cabinet position, Kennedy used the interview to suggest he could take on a broader role within the White House.

Susie Wiles

Trump's landslide victory over Kamala Harris was masterminded by campaign co-chairs Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, who he referred to in his victory speech on Wednesday as "the ice baby".

She has since been confirmed to be the incoming chief of staff under the second Trump administration - Trump's first confirmed appointment for his second term - making her the first woman to take on the role.

Wiles, who Trump claimed "likes to stay in the background”, is considered one of the most feared and respected political operatives in the country.

Less than a year after she started working in politics, she worked on Ronald Reagan’s successful 1980 presidential campaign and later became a scheduler in his White House.

In 2010, she turned Rick Scott, a then-businessman with little political experience, into Florida’s governor in just seven months. Scott is now a US senator.

Wiles met Trump during the 2015 Republican presidential primary and she became the co-chair of his Florida campaign, at the time considered a swing state. Trump went on to narrowly defeat Hillary Clinton there in 2016.

Wiles has been commended by Republicans for her ability to command respect and check the big egos of those in the president-elect's orbit, which could enable her to impose a sense of order that none of his four previous chiefs of staff could.

Elon Musk

The world's richest man announced his support for the former president earlier this year, despite saying in 2022 that "it's time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset".

The tech billionaire has since emerged as one of the most visible and well-known backers of Trump and donated more than $119m (£91.6m) this election cycle to America PAC - a political action committee he created to support the former president.

Musk, the head of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of the social media platform X, also launched a voter registration drive that included a $1m (£771,000) give-away to a random swing-state voter each day during the closing stretch of the campaign.

Since registering as a Republican ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Musk has been increasingly vocal on issues including illegal immigration and transgender rights.

Both Musk and Trump have concentrated on the idea of him leading a new "Department of Government Efficiency", where he would cut costs, reform regulations and streamline what he calls a "massive, suffocating federal bureaucracy".

The would-be agency's acronym - DOGE - is a playful reference to a "meme-coin" cryptocurrency Musk has previously promoted.

Mike Pompeo

The former Kansas congressman served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and then secretary of state during Trump's first administration.

A foreign policy hawk and a fierce supporter of Israel, he played a highly visible role in moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He was among the key players in the implementation of the Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

He remained a loyal defender of his boss, joking that there would be "a smooth transition to a second Trump administration" amid Trump's false claims of election fraud in late 2020.

He has been tipped as a top contender for the role of defence secretary, alongside Michael Waltz, a Florida lawmaker and military veteran who sits on the armed services committee in the US House of Representatives.

Richard Grenell

Richard Grenell served as Trump's ambassador to Germany, special envoy to the Balkans and his acting director of national intelligence.

The Republican was also heavily involved in Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, in the swing state of Nevada.

Trump prizes Grenell's loyalty and has described him as "my envoy".

In September, he sat in on Trump's private meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The former president has often claimed he will end the war in Ukraine "within 24 hours" of taking office and Grenell has advocated for setting up an autonomous zone in eastern Ukraine as a means to that end - an idea seen as unacceptable by Kyiv.

He's considered a contender for secretary of state or national security advisor, a position that does not require Senate confirmation.

Karoline Leavitt

The Trump 2024 campaign's national press secretary previously served in his White House press office, as an assistant press secretary.

The 27-year-old Gen-Zer made a bid to become the youngest woman ever elected to the US Congress in 2022, to represent a seat in her home state of New Hampshire, but fell short.

She is tipped to become the White House press secretary - the most public-facing position in the cabinet.

Tom Homan

Tom Homan served as the acting director of the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (Ice) during the first Trump administration, where he was a proponent of separating migrant children from their parents as a way to deter illegal crossings.

At the time, he made headlines for saying politicians who support sanctuary city policies should be charged with crimes. He later resigned from his Ice position in 2018, mid-way through the Trump presidency.

He has since emerged as a key figure in developing Trump's mass migrant deportation plan, and has been floated as a potential pick to head the Department of Homeland Security.

Homan spoke on the deportation plan last month in an interview with BBC's US partner CBS News, saying that "it's not going to be - a mass sweep of neighbourhoods."

"They'll be targeted arrests. We’ll know who we’re going to arrest, where we’re most likely to find ‘em based on numerous, you know, investigative processes," he said.

The bar facing the US consulate in Jerusalem is called Deja Bu - a witty reference to something you’ve drunk before.

And outside the gates of the US compound, Israel is eager for a second round of Donald Trump.

"I'm very pleased," said Rafael Shore, a rabbi who lives in Jerusalem's Old City. "He understands the language of the Middle East.

"Iran will think twice about doing anything. I think if Kamala had been elected, there wouldn't be much fear in the Middle East of attacking America or Israel."

Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was one of the first to congratulate the new president-elect this morning. "Congratulations on history's greatest comeback!" he tweeted.

Netanyahu has previously called Trump the "best friend Israel has ever had in the White House".

Trump previously won favour here by scrapping an Iran nuclear deal that Israel opposed, brokering historic normalisation agreements with several Arab countries and upending decades of US policy - and international consensus - by recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Donald Trump's first term in office was "exemplary" as far as Israel is concerned, said Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the US.

"The hope is that he'll revisit that. [But] we have to be very clear-sighted about who Donald Trump is and what he stands for."

Firstly, he said, the former president "doesn't like wars", seeing them as expensive. Trump has urged Israel to finish the war in Gaza quickly.

He's also "not a big fan" of Israel's settlements in the occupied West Bank, said Amb Oren, and has opposed the wishes of some Israeli leaders to annex parts of it.

Both those policies could put him in conflict with far-right parties in Netanyahu's current governing coalition, who have threatened to bring down the government if the prime minister pursues policies they reject.

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When called upon to choose between the recent demands of his US ally and the demands of his coalition partners, Benjamin Netanyahu has tended to choose his coalition.

Friction with the current US President, Joe Biden, has grown sharply as a result.

Michael Oren believes Netanyahu will need to take a different approach with the incoming president.

"If Donald Trump comes into office in January and says, 'OK, you have a week to finish this war,' Netanyahu is going to have to respect that."

In Gaza, where the Israeli military has been battling Palestinian group Hamas, desperation has narrowed the focus of some residents to that single goal.

Trump "has some strong promises", Ahmed said. "We hope he can help and bring peace."

Ahmed's wife and son were both killed in the war and his house destroyed.

"Enough is enough, we are tired," he said. "We hope Trump is strong so that he can resolve this issue with Israel."

Mohammed Dawoud, displaced eight times during the Gaza conflict, said a Trump victory meant that the end of the war would come soon.

Another displaced resident, Mamdouh, said he didn't care who won - he just wanted someone to help.

"There’s no medicine, no hospitals, no food. There’s nothing left in Gaza," he said. "We want someone strong who can separate us and the Jews."

• The view from countries where Trump's win really matters

In the occupied West Bank, home of the Palestinian Authority (PA), there is widespread scepticism about American influence, with many viewing US administrations from both sides of the political aisle as siding with Israel.

"Mediocre solutions which come at the expense of the Palestinians, or endless military support for Israel, is going to be nothing but a catalyst for future confrontations," said Sabri Saidam, a senior member of the PA's main faction, Fatah.

"We would like to see a new version of Trump, more like a Trump 2.0 who's serious about immediately ending the war, and addressing the root cause of conflict in the Middle East."

Recent polls suggested that more than two-thirds of Israelis wanted to see Trump back in the White House. But here too, there are those who caution about his unpredictability and his approach.

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"He's going to make the situation here more uncertain and unsafe," one Israeli woman said. "I don't trust him to keep the peace. I honestly think he'll just make the war worse."

The former Israeli ambassador, Michael Oren, said he believed there were "tremendous achievements ahead" if Israel co-operated with Trump, including the potential for a historic peace deal with Saudi Arabia and checks on Iran's influence.

But it could also be harder for Netanyahu to navigate the demands and compromises involved in those regional goals.

Since Trump's last term in office, moderate voices around both leaders have dwindled.

Many in Israel view Trump's first term with fond memories. But relationships can be radically different the second time around - and past performance is no guarantee of future returns.

Standing between two bars erected at a mobile clinic in Rafah, southern Gaza, Rizeq Tafish concentrates as he takes his first tentative steps in four months.

“My feelings before were sadness and despair. Now I feel happiness and freedom,” he says, grinning afterwards.

Rizeq is one of the first of thousands of wounded Palestinians who should receive new prosthetic limbs from Jordanian doctors using state-of-the-art British technology.

Warning: This report contains graphic details of injuries

Displaced to Rafah, he was wounded by Israeli tank fire as he left Friday prayers in June. With his leg amputated, the blacksmith could no longer work and was feeling desperate.

“I lost my whole life: my job and my hope,” Rizeq says. “There was no one to take care of my wife and baby. I even needed help to use the toilet.”

The human cost of Israel’s destructive year-long war in Gaza is measured not just in lives lost but in lives changed forever.

After analysing emergency medical data, the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that at least 94,000 people are injured. More than 24,000 people – one in every 100 Gazans – has a life-changing injury. These include serious burns, trauma to the head and spine and limb amputations.

At the same time, it has become virtually impossible to leave Gaza for medical treatment and only 16 out of 36 hospitals are functional. Rehabilitation services are heavily disrupted. The WHO says just 12% of equipment needed for injured people - such as wheelchairs and crutches - is available.

The Jordanian programme uses innovative prosthetics from two British firms, Koalaa and Amparo. They have easy-to-fit sockets and a new direct moulding technique for lower limbs, which avoid month of waiting and multiple fittings.

“This is a new type of prosthesis. Its main feature is fast manufacture. It means it will be ready for the patient within only one to two hours,” explains Jordanian army doctor, Lt Abdullah Hamada, who has deftly fitted Rizeq with his replacement leg.

His medical team has already helped dozens of amputees. Each prosthetic limb costs about $1,400 (£1,100), with funding from the Jordanian state and a national charity.

Every fitting is registered digitally allowing for remote monitoring and follow-up procedures.

If it is safe enough, the plan is for two Jordanian mobile units to move around. There is a huge need for prosthetics across all of Gaza among all age groups.

At the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in central Gaza, sisters Hanan and Misk al-Doubri are so small that they fit in one wheelchair. Last month, they lost their mother and their legs in an Israeli air strike on their home in Deir al-Balah.

Misk, who is 18 months old, had just learned to walk. Now she struggles to stand on her one good foot. But Hanan, who is three, has much more severe injuries; she was blasted out of her family’s first-floor apartment.

“We try to distract her, but she always returns to asking about her mum,” her aunt, Sheifa says. “Then she asks, ‘Where are my legs?’ I don’t know what to tell her.”

I asked the Israeli military why the al-Doubris were targeted but received no response.

Locals believe the girls’ father, a policeman, who remains in intensive care, may have been targeted. Israel has attacked many people who worked for the security forces in Hamas-governed Gaza.

With Israeli drones overhead, 15-year-old Diya al-Adini surveys the destruction by his home in Deir al-Balah. Around his neck he always wears his prized possession, bought with months of savings: a digital camera.

However, he can no longer use it unaided: he has no arms.

In August, Diya was playing a computer game in a coffee shop when Israel bombed it.

“The speed of the rocket made it hard for me to react. After it hit, I lost consciousness for a few seconds,” Diya recalls. “When I came to, everything was white. It felt like I was watching a movie. I tried to get up, but I couldn't move at all; I didn't have any hands to help me.”

Diya used to love swimming and walking his dogs, he did errands on his bicycle and photographed landscapes. Now he relies on his older sister, Aya, to take photos for him. But he is determined to be positive.

“I am trying to plan a good future so that after I get prosthetics, I can work hard and excel to become a famous photographer,” he says. “I need my limbs to return to my photography, and to everything I loved.”

Making his way on the uneven path to the tent camp that he now calls home, Rizeq Tafish has been given crutches to help him adjust to his new prosthetic leg.

“I want to forget the period when I was without my legs and start again. I still consider myself to be whole and complete,” he tells a local journalist working for the BBC in Gaza.

“I could go back to my job or get a different one now that I have my new limb. Just getting my leg back is also giving me back my smile that I want to share with everyone.”

But there are tears of joy as well as smiles when he reaches his family. Rizeq’s mother is overcome as he walks forward without any help to embrace her and his wife praises God as he stands holding their little boy.

Rizeq is just one among many in Gaza learning to cope with a new serious disability but he has taken a step towards getting back his life.

Donald Trump's transition team is already vetting potential candidates who could serve in his administration when he returns to the White House in January.

On Thursday, he made the first announcement naming his campaign co-manager Susan Summerall Wiles as his White House chief of staff.

Many of the figures who served under Trump in his first term do not plan to return, though a handful of loyalists are rumoured to be making a comeback.

But the US president-elect is now surrounded by a new cast of characters who may fill his cabinet, staff his White House and serve in key roles across government.

Here is a look at the some of the names being floated for the top jobs.

Robert F Kennedy Jr

The past two years have been quite a journey for the nephew of former President John F Kennedy.

An environmental lawyer by trade, he ran for president as a Democrat, with most of his family speaking out against his anti-vaccine views and conspiracy theories as they endorsed Joe Biden's re-election.

He then switched to an independent candidacy but, failing to gain traction amid a series of controversies, dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump.

In the last two months of the 2024 election cycle, he spearheaded a Trump campaign initiative called "Make America Healthy Again".

Trump recently promised he would play a major role related to public health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Safety Administration (FDA).

RFK Jr, as he is known, recently asserted he would push to remove fluoride from drinking water because "it's a very bad way to deliver it into our systems" - though this has been challenged by some experts.

And in an interview with NBC News, Kennedy rejected the idea that he was "anti-vaccine", saying he wouldn't "take away anybody's vaccines" but rather provide them with "the best information" to make their own choices.

Rather than a formal cabinet position, Kennedy used the interview to suggest he could take on a broader role within the White House.

Susie Wiles

Trump's landslide victory over Kamala Harris was masterminded by campaign co-chairs Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, who he referred to in his victory speech on Wednesday as "the ice baby".

She has since been confirmed to be the incoming chief of staff under the second Trump administration - Trump's first confirmed appointment for his second term - making her the first woman to take on the role.

Wiles, who Trump claimed "likes to stay in the background”, is considered one of the most feared and respected political operatives in the country.

Less than a year after she started working in politics, she worked on Ronald Reagan’s successful 1980 presidential campaign and later became a scheduler in his White House.

In 2010, she turned Rick Scott, a then-businessman with little political experience, into Florida’s governor in just seven months. Scott is now a US senator.

Wiles met Trump during the 2015 Republican presidential primary and she became the co-chair of his Florida campaign, at the time considered a swing state. Trump went on to narrowly defeat Hillary Clinton there in 2016.

Wiles has been commended by Republicans for her ability to command respect and check the big egos of those in the president-elect's orbit, which could enable her to impose a sense of order that none of his four previous chiefs of staff could.

Elon Musk

The world's richest man announced his support for the former president earlier this year, despite saying in 2022 that "it's time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset".

The tech billionaire has since emerged as one of the most visible and well-known backers of Trump and donated more than $119m (£91.6m) this election cycle to America PAC - a political action committee he created to support the former president.

Musk, the head of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of the social media platform X, also launched a voter registration drive that included a $1m (£771,000) give-away to a random swing-state voter each day during the closing stretch of the campaign.

Since registering as a Republican ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Musk has been increasingly vocal on issues including illegal immigration and transgender rights.

Both Musk and Trump have concentrated on the idea of him leading a new "Department of Government Efficiency", where he would cut costs, reform regulations and streamline what he calls a "massive, suffocating federal bureaucracy".

The would-be agency's acronym - DOGE - is a playful reference to a "meme-coin" cryptocurrency Musk has previously promoted.

Mike Pompeo

The former Kansas congressman served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and then secretary of state during Trump's first administration.

A foreign policy hawk and a fierce supporter of Israel, he played a highly visible role in moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He was among the key players in the implementation of the Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

He remained a loyal defender of his boss, joking that there would be "a smooth transition to a second Trump administration" amid Trump's false claims of election fraud in late 2020.

He has been tipped as a top contender for the role of defence secretary, alongside Michael Waltz, a Florida lawmaker and military veteran who sits on the armed services committee in the US House of Representatives.

Richard Grenell

Richard Grenell served as Trump's ambassador to Germany, special envoy to the Balkans and his acting director of national intelligence.

The Republican was also heavily involved in Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, in the swing state of Nevada.

Trump prizes Grenell's loyalty and has described him as "my envoy".

In September, he sat in on Trump's private meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The former president has often claimed he will end the war in Ukraine "within 24 hours" of taking office and Grenell has advocated for setting up an autonomous zone in eastern Ukraine as a means to that end - an idea seen as unacceptable by Kyiv.

He's considered a contender for secretary of state or national security advisor, a position that does not require Senate confirmation.

Karoline Leavitt

The Trump 2024 campaign's national press secretary previously served in his White House press office, as an assistant press secretary.

The 27-year-old Gen-Zer made a bid to become the youngest woman ever elected to the US Congress in 2022, to represent a seat in her home state of New Hampshire, but fell short.

She is tipped to become the White House press secretary - the most public-facing position in the cabinet.

Tom Homan

Tom Homan served as the acting director of the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (Ice) during the first Trump administration, where he was a proponent of separating migrant children from their parents as a way to deter illegal crossings.

At the time, he made headlines for saying politicians who support sanctuary city policies should be charged with crimes. He later resigned from his Ice position in 2018, mid-way through the Trump presidency.

He has since emerged as a key figure in developing Trump's mass migrant deportation plan, and has been floated as a potential pick to head the Department of Homeland Security.

Homan spoke on the deportation plan last month in an interview with BBC's US partner CBS News, saying that "it's not going to be - a mass sweep of neighbourhoods."

"They'll be targeted arrests. We’ll know who we’re going to arrest, where we’re most likely to find ‘em based on numerous, you know, investigative processes," he said.

US President-elect Donald Trump has doubled down on his campaign promise of the mass deportation of illegal immigrants, saying the cost of doing so will not be a deterrent.

In some of his first public remarks since winning the election, Trump said his priority upon taking office in January would be to make the border “strong and powerful".

"It’s not a question of a price tag. It’s not - really, we have no choice," Trump told NBC News.

"When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here. There is no price tag."

While his campaign has given various answers as to how many could be removed, his vice-president-elect JD Vance had said they would start with one million.

In Thursday’s phone interview with NBC, Trump partially credited his message on immigration as a reason he won the race.

"They want to have borders, and they like people coming in, but they have to come in with love for the country," he said. "They have to come in legally."

Experts say there are significant legal and practical challenges to expelling so many people at once.

Immigration advocates have also warned that the human cost of deportations would be significant, with families torn apart and raids taking place in communities and workplaces across the US.

What are the legal challenges?

The latest figures from the Department of Homeland Security and Pew Research indicate that there are around 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the US, a number that has remained relatively stable since 2005.

Most are long-term residents - nearly four-fifths have been in the country for more than a decade.

Immigrants who are in the country without legal status have the right to due process, including a court hearing before their removal. A drastic increase in deportations would likely entail a large expansion in the immigration court system, which has been beset by backlogs.

Most immigrants already in the country enter into the deportation system not through encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents but through local law enforcement.

However, many of the country’s largest cities and counties have passed laws restricting local police co-operation with Ice.

Trump has pledged to take action against these “sanctuary cities”, but America’s patchwork of local, state and federal laws further complicates the picture.

Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a policy analyst at the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute, or MPI, said that co-operation between Ice and local officials would be a "critical" aspect of any mass deportation programme.

"It's much easier for Ice to pick someone up from a jail if local law enforcement co-operates, instead of having to go look for them," she said.

As an example, Ms Bush-Joseph pointed to an early August declaration from the sheriff's offices of Florida's Broward and Palm Beach counties, in which they said they would not deploy deputies to help any mass deportation plan.

"There are many others who would not co-operate with a Trump mass deportation plan," she said. "That makes it so much harder."

Any mass deportation programme is also likely to be almost immediately met with a flurry of legal challenges from immigration and human rights activists.

A 2022 Supreme Court ruling, however, means that courts cannot issue injunctions on immigration enforcement policies - meaning they would continue even as the challenges work their way through the legal system.

But can it be done, logistically?

If a US administration was able to legally move ahead with plans for mass deportations, authorities would still have to contend with enormous logistical challenges.

During the Biden administration, deportation efforts have focused on migrants recently detained at the border. Migrants deported from further inland in the US, from areas not located near the border, are, overwhelmingly, those with criminal histories or deemed national security threats.

Controversial raids on worksites that were carried out during the Trump administration were suspended in 2021.

Deportations of people arrested in the US interior - as opposed to those at the border - have hovered at below 100,000 for a decade, after peaking at over 230,000 during the early years of the Obama administration.

"To raise that, in a single year, up to a million would require a massive infusion of resources that likely don't exist," Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, told the BBC.

For one, experts are doubtful that Ice's 20,000 agents and support personnel would be enough to find and track down even a fraction of the figures being touted by the Trump campaign.

Mr Reichlin-Melnick added that the deportation process is long and complicated and only begins with the identification and arrest of an undocumented migrant.

After that, detainees would need to be housed or placed on an "alternative to detention" programme before they are brought before an immigration judge, in a system with a years-long backlog.

Only then are detainees removed from the US, a process that requires diplomatic co-operation from the receiving country.

"In each of those areas, Ice simply does not have the capacity to process millions of people," Mr Reichlin-Melnick said.

Trump has said he would involve the National Guard or other US military forces to help with deportations.

Historically, the US military's role in immigration matters has been limited to support functions at the US-Mexico border.

Aside from the use of the military and "using local law enforcement", Trump has offered few specifics on how such a mass deportation plan could be carried out.

In an interview with Time magazine earlier this year, the former president said only that he would "not rule out" building new migrant detention facilities, and that he would move to give police immunity from prosecution from "the liberal groups or the progressive groups".

He added that there could also be incentives for state and local police departments to participate, and that those who do not "won't partake in the riches".

"We have to do this," he said. "This is not a sustainable problem for our country."

Eric Ruark, the director of research at NumbersUSA - an organisation that advocates for tighter immigration controls - said that any deportation programme from the interior would only be effective if coupled with increased border enforcement.

"That has to be the priority. You're going to make very little progress in the interior if that's not the case," he said. "That's what keeps people showing up."

Additionally, Mr Ruark said that a crackdown on companies that hire undocumented migrants would also be necessary.

"They're coming for jobs," he said. "And they're getting those jobs because interior enforcement has basically been dismantled."

The financial and political costs

Experts estimate that the total bill for one million or more deportations would run into tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars.

The Ice budget for transportation and deportation in 2023 was $420m (£327m). In that year the agency deported slightly more than 140,000 people.

Thousands of immigrants would be detained while awaiting court hearings or deportations, and the Trump campaign has envisioned building large encampments to house them all.

The number of removal flights would also need to be dramatically expanded, possibly requiring military aircraft to augment current capacity.

Just a small expansion in any of these areas could result in significant costs.

"Even a minor change is in the tens of millions, or hundreds of millions," Mr Reichlin-Melnick said. "A significant change is in the tens or hundreds of millions."

Those costs would be in addition to the expense of other border enforcement efforts that Trump has promised: continuing work on a southern US border wall, a naval blockade to prevent fentanyl entering the country, and moving thousands of troops to the border.

Adam Isacson, a migration and border expert from the Washington Office on Latin America, said that "nightmarish images" of mass deportations could also cost a potential Trump administration politically from a public relations standpoint.

"Every community in the US would see people they know and love put on buses," Mr Isacson said.

"You'd have some very painful images on TV of crying children, and families," he added. "All of that is incredibly bad press. It's family separation, but on steroids."

Have mass deportations happened before?

Under the four years of the previous Trump administration, around 1.5 million people were deported, both from the border and the US interior.

The Biden administration - which had deported about 1.1 million people up to February 2024 - is on track to match that, statistics show.

During the two terms of the Obama administration - when Mr Biden was vice-president - more than three million people were deported, leading some immigration reform advocates to dub Barack Obama the "deporter-in-chief".

The only historical comparison to a mass deportation programme came in 1954, when as many as 1.3 million people were deported as part of Operation Wetback, named after a derogatory slur then commonly used against Mexican people.

That figure is disputed by historians, however.

The programme, under President Dwight Eisenhower, ran into considerable public opposition - partly because some US citizens were also deported - as well as a lack of funding. It was largely discontinued by 1955.

Immigration experts say that the earlier operation's focus on Mexican nationals and lack of due process makes it incomparable to what a modern-day mass deportation programme would look like.

"Those [deported in the 1950s] were single, Mexican men," said MPI's Kathleen Bush-Joseph.

"Now, the vast majority of people coming between ports of entry are from places that are not Mexico, or even northern Central America. It makes it so much harder to return them," she added.

"Those are not comparable situations."

The death of a nurse from North Lanarkshire has been linked to the use of a weight-loss drug recently approved for use on the NHS.

Susan McGowan, 58, took two low-dose injections of tirzepatide, known under the brand name Mounjaro, over the course of about two weeks before her death on 4 September.

Her death certificate, seen by the BBC, lists multiple organ failure, septic shock and pancreatitis as the immediate cause of death – but "the use of prescribed tirzepatide" is also recorded as a contributing factor.

It is thought to be the first death officially linked to the drug in the UK

Ms McGowan worked as a nurse at University Hospital Monklands in Airdrie for more than 30 years.

The popular bed manager had often discussed her weight loss attempts with close friends, but the emergence of new weight-loss jabs seemed to her to offer better chances of success.

After researching Mounjaro and seeking medical advice, she purchased a prescription via a registered online pharmacy.

The drug typically costs between £150 and £200 for a four-week supply and can be purchased from any registered pharmacy in the UK.

Days after her second injection she began experiencing severe stomach pains and sickness, so she went to A&E at Monklands - where her colleagues battled to save her life.

Jade Campbell, Ms McGowan's niece, was with her when she died.

She said: “Susan had always carried a wee bit of extra weight but there were never any health concerns. She wasn't on any other medication. She was healthy."

“Susan was such a bubbly person. She was really generous, she was really kind and she was the life of the party - a huge personality. They said she had the biggest laugh in the hospital."

Ms Campbell was told by doctors that her aunt's kidneys were not functioning properly. Days later she went into a coma, and her organs began to fail.

"It was so quick," she said. "I still find myself thinking, ‘has that actually happened?’"

Tirzepatide is one of a group of weight-loss drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which work by making the patient feel fuller for longer.

It was approved for use as a weight-loss aid in the UK in 2023 by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

That included use on the NHS, although the drug is currently only prescribed by the NHS for a small number of patients due to factors like cost and availability.

The MHRA runs the yellow card scheme, where any member of the public or health profession can log reports of suspected side effects of drugs.

Public data is only available up to May this year, but between January and May 2024 there were 208 reports about tirzepatide on the yellow card scheme, including 31 serious reactions and one suspected death of a man in his sixties.

Ms McGowan's death is too recent to appear within this data.

Dr Alison Cave, MHRA chief safety officer, said that new medicines, such as tirzepatide, are more intensively monitored to ensure any new safety issues are identified promptly.

She said: "Our sincere sympathies are with the family of individual concerned. Patient safety is our top priority and no medicine would be approved unless it met our expected standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.

"We have robust, safety monitoring and surveillance systems in place for all healthcare products.

"On the basis of the current evidence the benefits of GLP-1 RAs outweigh the potential risks when used for the licensed indications."

Mounjaro manufacturer Lilly said patient safety was the company's top priority.

A spokesperson said: "We are committed to continually monitoring, evaluating, and reporting safety information for all Lilly medicines.

"Mounjaro was approved based on extensive assessment of the benefits and risks of the medicine, and we provide information about the benefits and risks of all our medicines to regulators around the world to ensure the latest information is available for prescribers."

Are weight-loss drugs safe?

Semaglutide, known by the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic, are also GLP-1 receptor agonists.

There have been 23 suspected deaths linked to semaglutide in the UK via the yellow card scheme since 2019.

These drugs have passed the clinical trials needed to be approved for use in the UK and have been cautiously welcomed by those working to tackle obesity.

Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow and chairs of the UK government’s obesity mission, said it was difficult to establish "cause and effect" in single cases where patients die after taking the drugs.

He said: “Trials are very robust in trying to establish safety, that the drugs generally have substantial benefits that outweigh the risks.

“There’s enough evidence available that these drugs have strong meaningful weight loss, that the side effect profiles are generally ok for the vast majority of individuals.

“The reality is we have a big need to help many people living with extreme levels of high BMI to help lose weight with these drugs that will give multiple benefits and for many years we haven’t had such tools. There are many individuals, roughly speaking one in four to one in five adults living in the UK, who could benefit from these drugs.”

• Getting Thin Quick: An undercover exposé of weight loss profiteers

Tirzepatide became the subject of national debate recently when the UK government announced plans to roll it out to unemployed people to help them back into work.

The government is partnering with the Mounjaro manufacturer to run a five-year trial in Greater Manchester.

Nearly 250,000 people are expected to receive the jab over the next three years as part of the trial and Health Secretary Wes Streeting has hailed the jabs as "game-changing".

But Ms Campbell believes it is not the right time and hopes the UK government will reconsider the decision.

She said: “I think anything that's backed by the government, you would trust. I would ask you to speak to your GP about things like this first, there might be another option for you to consider before you jump on the weight-loss injections."

BBC News asked the department of health and social care if it would review its decision given Ms McGowan’s death.

The UK government declined to comment.

Police are on the hunt for 43 monkeys that escaped from a research facility in South Carolina after a keeper left their pen open.

The rhesus macaque fugitives busted out of Alpha Genesis, a company that breeds primates for medical testing and research, and are on the loose in a part of the state known as the Lowcountry.

Authorities have urged residents to keep their doors and windows securely closed and to report any sightings immediately. The escaped monkeys are young females, weighing about 7lbs (3.2kg) each, according to the Yemassee Police Department.

Police said on Thursday that the company had located the "skittish" group, and "are working to entice them with food".

"Please do not attempt to approach these animals under any circumstances," police said.

The statement added that traps had been set in the area, and police were on-site "utilizing thermal imaging cameras in an attempt to locate the animals".

Police say the research company has told them that because of their size, the monkeys have not yet been tested on and "are too young to carry disease".

• What should you do if you encounter an escaped monkey?

Greg Westergaard, CEO of Alpha Genesis, has said that the escape is "frustrating".

He told CBS News, the BBC's US partner network, that he was "hoping for a happy ending" and that the monkeys would return to the facility on their own.

Mr Westergaard said the monkeys had escaped on Wednesday after a keeper left open a door to their outdoor enclosure. He said they were now "hanging out in the woods".

"It's really like follow-the-leader. You see one go and the others go," Mr Westergaard said.

"It was a group of 50 and 7 stayed behind and 43 bolted out the door."

"There are some little things to eat in the woods but no apples which what they really like, " he said, "so we are hoping that will draw them in the next day or two".

Speaking to South Carolina newspaper The Post and Courier, he added that capturing the monkeys had been made more difficult due to the weather, saying efforts were "hampered a bit by the rain as the monkeys are hunkered down".

According to The Post and Courier, this is not the first time that monkeys have escaped from the facility.

In 2016, 19 monkeys escaped before being returned about six hours later. Two years earlier, 26 primates escaped the facility.

The town of Yemassee, 60 miles (100km) east of Charleston, has a population of less than 1,100 resident.

Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who represents South Carolina in the House of Representatives, tweeted that her office is "diligently gathering all relevant information to keep our constituents informed regarding the recent escape of primates".

Macaques are known for being aggressive and competitive, however, Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander said in a news conference on Thursday that "there is almost no danger to the public".

Earlier this year, a Japanese macaque named Honshu escaped from a zoo in Scotland.

After more than five days on the loose, he was located by a drone and then shot with a tranquiliser dart before being returned to the zoo.

HS2 Ltd is spending more than £100m building a "shed" for bats, the chairman of the government-owned company said.

Sir Jon Thompson told a rail industry conference the bat protection structure in Buckinghamshire was needed to appease Natural England, as bats are legally protected in the UK.

Government adviser Natural England was contacted for comment.

The 1km (0.6 mile) curved barrier will cover the tracks alongside Sheephouse Wood near Calvert to prevent bats being disturbed by high-speed trains.

Sir Jon said there was "no evidence that high-speed trains interfere with bats".

"We call it a shed. This shed, you're not going to believe this, cost more than £100m to protect the bats in this wood," he said.

Other more expensive options, including a bored tunnel and re-routing the railway, were considered.

After receiving the go ahead from Natural England for the design, HS2 Ltd was forced to spend "hundreds of thousands of pounds" on lawyers and environmental specialists because the local council did not approve the work, Sir Jon said.

"In the end, I won the planning permission by going above Buckinghamshire Council's head," he explained.

Buckinghamshire Council’s Peter Martin, who is deputy cabinet member for HS2, previously expressed "extreme disappointment" about the structure.

In March 2023, the council said HS2 was cutting back trees in Sheephouse Wood in order to protect the "Bat Mitigation Structure" and railway line.

Earlier this year, Mr Martin said: "We believe HS2 Limited is unnecessarily damaging Sheephouse Wood, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Ancient Woodland."

Sir Jon claimed the issue was an example of the UK's "genuine problem" with completing major infrastructure projects.

He told the Rail Industry Association's annual conference that HS2 Ltd has been required to obtain 8,276 consents from other public bodies in order to build phase one of the railway between London and Birmingham.

He said: "People say you've gone over the budget, but did people think about the bats [when setting the budget]?

"I'm being trite about it, but I'm trying to illustrate one example of the 8,276 of these [consents]."

Sir Jon, who has led the project since Mark Thurston left his role as chief executive in September 2023, warned in January that the estimated cost for phase one has soared to as much as £66.6bn compared to the £37.5bn forecast in 2013.

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