An MSP has denied hiding a secret camera in a toilet at the Scottish Parliament, after being barred from entering the building.

Colin Smyth, 52, was suspended by Labour earlier this month over a separate charge of possessing indecent images of children.

Smyth criticised Police Scotland for releasing details of its investigation and said it had forced him to leave his home to protect his family.

The South Scotland MSP said he was "fully co-operating" with officers and is due to appear at Dumfries Sheriff Court at a later date.

He will now face a further charge over hiding a camera in the Holyrood building in Edinburgh.

In an email to staff on Thursday, the parliament's corporate body said that Smyth's building access had been revoked due to the "ongoing criminal investigation".

The Scottish Parliament has since confirmed police conducted a search of the building's toilets and changing rooms but found no "covert recording devices".

In a statement, Smyth said the new allegation came as "an utter shock".

The MSP, who was arrested in Dumfries on 5 August, has held several frontbench roles with Scottish Labour and was previously the party's general secretary.

He said: "The speculation, and recent decision by the police to release publicly details of their ongoing inquiries along with my home address has been devastating and has taken a serious toll on my health.

"After my address was published, I felt I had no choice but to move away to protect my family."

Smyth previously worked as a modern studies teacher and has a wife and two daughters.

He added the police investigation was "especially overwhelming" for them.

Security sweeps

In an email to MSPs on Friday, the Scottish Parliament said that staff "safety and welfare" was its priority.

Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone wrote: "We can confirm that Police Scotland, with our support, have conducted a full sweep of all toilets and changing rooms in our building and that no covert recording devices have been found.

"We have also instructed that enhanced additional checks to our existing security sweeps of the building take place going forward."

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body revoked Smyth's access to the building ahead of MSPs returning from the summer recess next week.

It is understood that Smyth could still contribute to debates and vote remotely using a system set up at Holyrood during the pandemic.

Scottish Labour said that Smyth was now an independent MSP after it took "swift action" when the party became aware of the police investigation.

A spokesperson said: "We cannot comment further on these deeply concerning developments while legal proceedings are ongoing."

President Donald Trump has cancelled Secret Service protection which had been arranged for Kamala Harris by Joe Biden before he left office according to one of the vice-president's advisers.

As a former vice-president, Ms Harris was entitled under law to receive six months of this extra security after leaving office in January.

Her protection had been extended for another year by executive directive signed by her former boss but this was revoked by Trump in a memo, seen by the BBC, which is dated Thursday.

The BBC has asked the White House and the Secret Service for comment.

The move comes just weeks before Harris embarks on a national book tour to promote "107 Days" - a memoir of her short-lived and ultimately unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2024.

A copy of a letter seen by the BBC, dated 28 August, directs the Secret Service to "discontinue any security-related procedures previously authorised by Executive Memorandum, beyond those required by law" for Harris from 1 September.

An Italian website that posted doctored images of well-known women, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with obscene commentary, has announced its closure after a backlash from other female politicians.

The explicit site called Phica, a play on the Italian slang for vagina, now displays a message saying it has shut down "with great regret" due to the "toxic behaviour" of some users.

Meloni herself has said she is "disgusted" by the site and called for those responsible to be punished "with the utmost firmness".

The removal of Phica comes days after celebrity figures led a wave of public anger against an Italian Facebook group called Mia Moglie (My Wife), where thousands of men had been swapping intimate images of their partners apparently without their knowledge.

Those pictures were posted with explicit or even violent comments, with users said to include former politicians, businessmen and police officers.

Meta has since closed down the group for "violating our adult sexual exploitation policies".

• Facebook removes group sharing non-consensual photos of women

Phica was a far bigger operation, said to have some 700,000 users, and had been active for two decades despite previous complaints.

Its so-called VIP section contained photos of female Italian politicians and other prominent figures, from actresses to influencers, taken either from public appearances or lifted from personal social media accounts.

The images, including beach shots in swimwear, were digitally altered before being posted in albums with titles like "hot politicians" with other suggestive and sexist captions, prompting vulgar commentary beneath.

Alessandra Moretti, an MEP who spoke out against the site, says it also included incitement to rape.

She is now calling for a collective fight against such platforms and new laws to punish those responsible.

"Complaints are only effective when filed by well-known and influential figures," the MEP from the opposition Democratic Party wrote on Instagram. "Ordinary women, without the tools, are left alone and defenseless."

Phica's statement announcing its closure blamed users who it said had perverted the "spirit and original purpose" of the platform, claiming that it had been intended for those who wanted to "share their content in a safe environment".

But it accepted that the platform had become something people "wanted to distance themselves from, not be proud of", and pledged that all content would now be deleted.

The statement was illustrated with emoji-like images of tears and ended with the words "See you soon".

Italy's Postal Police, who deal with cyber-crime, have confirmed to the BBC that an investigation has been launched.

Phica said it had always blocked and reported all kinds of violence and images of minors.

But a petition for its closure on Change.org, which collected close to 170,000 signatures, said it had included pictures of people taken secretly in changing rooms and beauty salons "or filmed by hidden microcameras in public bathrooms".

Previous complaints about the Mia Moglie group had also gone unheeded.

That changed last week when the writer Carolina Capria denounced the group in a post that went viral. Women who recognised themselves in the images then began to speak out.

Police say they have since been inundated with reports about these and other platforms.

"It is disheartening to note that in 2025, there are still those who consider it normal and legitimate to trample on a woman's dignity and target her with sexist and vulgar insults, hiding behind anonymity or a keyboard," Italy's prime minister told Corriere della Sera newspaper.

She also urged women to report any images that were being shared without their consent.

Thailand's prime minister has been removed by the Constitutional Court, plunging the country's politics into turmoil and dealing a blow to its most powerful political dynasty.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra was dismissed for violating ethics in a leaked June phone call, where she could be heard calling Cambodia's former leader Hun Sen "uncle" and criticising the Thai army, amid worsening border tensions with Cambodia.

The call, leaked by Hun Sen himself, damaged her reputation and critics accused her of undermining the country's army.

The ruling makes Paetongtarn, the daughter of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, the fifth prime minister to be removed from office by the court since 2008.

On Friday, the court's nine judges voted six to three against Paetongtarn, ruling that her actions had violated ethical standards expected of her office.

The court said that Paetongtarn possessed a "personal relationship" that "appeared to align with Cambodia" and dismissed her claims that the call was a "personal negotiation to... bring back peace without using violence".

In a ruling, it said "caused the public to cast doubt" on whether her actions "would benefit Cambodia more than the nation's interest".

In a brief press conference, Paetongtarn acknowledged the court's verdict but insisted she was trying to save lives.

Her call with Hun Sen came as tensions rose on the Thai-Cambodia border, which weeks later erupted into a five-day conflict in which dozens of people were killed and hundreds of thousands fled their homes.

Paetongtarn, 39, was thrust into the spotlight after the surprise dismissal of her predecessor Srettha Thavisin by the same court a year ago. She had only joined Pheu Thai in 2021 and became its leader in 2023.

Her replacement will be chosen by parliament, where her ruling Pheu Thai party has a thin majority.

A coalition partner had earlier quit her government, leaving her with only a slim majority as thousands of people protested in Bangkok to demand her resignation.

The powerful Shinawatra family have presided over several Thai governments - and Paetongtarn's removal is a blow to their political dynasty.

She becomes the third Shinawatra to have their premiership cut short: her father Thaksin was deposed by a military coup in 2006 and her aunt Yingluck was also removed by the Constitutional Court in 2014.

Despite his retirement from formal politics years ago, Thaksin remained hugely influential - though it's now unclear how much influence the Shinawatra name will now continue to bear.

No Israeli government delegation will be invited to a global defence exhibition in London next month because of the Gaza war, the UK has said.

"The Israeli government's decision to further escalate its military operation in Gaza is wrong," a UK government spokesperson said. "As a result, we can confirm that no Israeli government delegation will be invited to attend DSEI UK 2025."

Israel's defence ministry called the move a "deliberate and regrettable act of discrimination" and said it would be withdrawing and not setting up a national pavilion.

UK leaders have become more outspoken against Israel's conduct in Gaza, including a recent plan to expand the war and take over Gaza City.

"There must be a diplomatic solution to end this war now, with an immediate ceasefire, the return of the hostages and a surge in humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza," the UK government spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.

The defence expo, which is set to take place at Excel London from 9 to 12 September, is organised and run by a private company with backing from the government, Reuters reported.

Israel's defence ministry said the UK's decision on the event "introduces political considerations wholly inappropriate for a professional defence industry exhibition".

But the ministry said Israeli industries that chose to participate would receive its "full support".

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in October 2023 in response to the Hamas-led attack on Israel that killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostage back to Gaza. Fifty hostages are still held there, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

Israeli military actions in Gaza have since killed 62,966 people, including at least 18,592 children, the Hamas-run health ministry has said.

The UN has said Israel has restricted aid, and UN-backed experts have confirmed famine in Gaza City and its surrounding areas, with more than half a million people across Gaza facing conditions including starvation.

Israel, which controls entry of goods into the territory, has denied this report and defended its military operation as a fight against Hamas.

UK leaders have become increasingly critical of Israel's conduct in Gaza.

In March, the UK suspended talks on a trade deal with Israel, summoned the country's ambassador and imposed fresh sanctions on West Bank settlers, as Foreign Secretary David Lammy called the military escalation in Gaza "morally unjustifiable".

In recent months, Lammy said he was appalled and sickened by the plight of civilians in Gaza and called on Israel to allow in more aid.

This week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Israeli strikes on a hospital that killed at least 20 people, including five journalists, "completely indefensible".

After the Labour Party came to power last year, it suspended 30 out of 350 arms export licences to Israel, but did not include parts for the F-35 jet, which the government said it could not prevent Israel from obtaining as they are sent to manufacturers worldwide.

These jets have been used extensively in Gaza.

Elon Musk is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit by US regulators alleging he wrongly saved money by revealing he increased his initial investment in Twitter too late.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said in a January complaint that Musk failed to disclose that he had built up his stake in the company within the regulator's timeframe.

It said this had allowed him to save about $150m (£123m) by purchasing shares in Twitter - which he bought outright months later and renamed X - at "artificially low prices".

Musk's lawyers, filing shortly before the court's deadline for his response, called the lawsuit "a waste of this Court's time and taxpayer resources".

"The SEC does not allege that Mr. Musk caused any investor harm. Rather, the SEC alleges that Mr. Musk late-filed a single beneficial ownership form three years ago, and fully corrected any alleged error immediately upon its discovery," they said in their Thursday filing.

"There is no ongoing violation. There is no intent. There is no harm."

In its January complaint, the SEC alleged that Musk violated US securities rules requiring investors to disclose within 10 days if their holdings in a company surpass 5%.

It said Musk should have revealed he had crossed the threshold for disclosure of shares by 14 March 2022, but he did not disclose it until 21 days after his purchase - on 4 April.

"Musk's violation resulted in substantial economic harm to investors," it claimed.

During a prior investigation by the SEC into Musk's purchase of Twitter, he gave two depositions - with mystery surrounding whether he appeared at a further interview.

When the SEC filed its lawsuit in January, Musk blasted the regulator as a "totally broken organisation" on social media and accused it of wasting its time.

His lawyers' formal response, submitted on Thursday, also accused the SEC of targeting the executive in a "relentless pursuit".

"The Commission's selective enforcement against Mr. Musk - seeking monetary relief more than 1,500 times larger than the relief imposed on similarly situated individuals in similar cases - reveals an agency targeting an individual for his protected criticism of government overreach," it said.

It said other investigations launched by the watchdog over the past seven years - including one in which he was eventually cleared by a jury of wrongdoing over a tweet about the future of Tesla's ownership - reflected "relentless scrutiny".

The BBC has approached the SEC for a response.

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Half a century ago, people living in one of the most remote areas of England made a plea to be connected to mains electricity. Now, at last, some of the current hardy residents can experience joys such as hair straighteners on demand and not having to plan cups of tea.

The farms and cottages of the Upper Coquet valley in Northumberland have always been off grid, reliant on noisy expensive generators.

From a window of one of those farmhouses, Shona Anderson looks out on to a view generations of families in the area thought might never exist.

A row of newly erected electricity poles.

"I was at work and Scott my husband rang and said 'it's live, we're on mains power' and I hardly dared believe it," Shona says.

"I keep flicking the lights on and off and thinking 'that's mains power'."

Four generations of the Anderson family have lived in the valley, but in recent times Shona, Scott and their three sons have rented a house elsewhere, with Scott returning each day to work on the farm.

There were structural problems with the farmhouse, but they also got tired of a generator that "often broke down".

"We would sometimes book a caravan somewhere when that happened," Shona says, "just to have power".

"It was like living in the olden days," her son T-jay adds.

"Having to go out in the dark every time the generator conked out."

Mains electricity means they are back in the house Scott's grandmother was born in and he has a legacy to cement.

"I want to build the farm up and see future generations here," Scott says.

"T-jay wants to take it on and mains power will make life easier for him and those after him."

The valley missed out on the electrification programmes of the 20th Century.

For many years, the community of fewer than 50 people dotted along a single track road winding into the Cheviot Hills was told a connection would be too expensive.

But when the government decided an electricity supply was needed to three emergency telecommunication masts in the valley, an opportunity arose to connect many of the properties too.

Funds for the project were then found by the Home Office and Ministry of Defence (MoD) which owns the land.

The valley is within the Northumberland National Park and its planning authority initially wanted all the lines buried.

A compromise was agreed which saw the construction of nine miles (15km) of overhead line and three miles (4.7km) go underground.

Among the homes connected so far are two that were formerly served by a single generator.

The shared source meant neighbours Jaycee Charlton and Katherine Singer could never boil the kettle at the same time because it would plunge them both into darkness.

"It's happened" they confirm as they watch an engineer switch their energy supply from the generator to mains.

"Hair straighteners, I wouldn't dare put them on if the kettle was on too," says Jaycee.

And now? "You're not going to have to think so much about all that sort of thing."

Katherine, meanwhile, is looking forward to being able to go out without worrying about the power going off in their absence.

"It's a real opportunity to diversify the farm too," she adds.

The work was carried out by Northern Powergrid, with the company saying the project posed "unique challenges" and that it had been a "technically complex scheme."

It said it had given special consideration to the "unique landscape of Upper Coquetdale", with cables running below ground "wherever possible to preserve the area's natural beauty and reduce visual impact".

Some in the valley have not got rid of the loud chugging of the generator quite yet.

Harry and Megan's Byatt's farm was one that was judged too remote and there remain hundreds of other homes in Northumberland still off grid.

"We know we're the lucky ones, says Katherine.

"But we're just so grateful to everyone who has worked so hard to make this happen."

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There's a line in George Clooney's new film where one character tells him: "You're the American dream, the last of the great movie stars."

It's a comment which could easily apply to Clooney in real life, and one of several parallels between the US actor and the ageing movie star he plays in Netflix's Jay Kelly, which has just launched at the Venice Film Festival.

A hugely successful actor playing a hugely successful actor may not sound like much of a stretch. But Clooney's performance goes much deeper than that, portraying an actor who finds himself feeling strangely empty as he reflects on his life choices.

The fictional Kelly may be adored by everyone and greeted with a slice of cheesecake wherever he goes (a stipulation of his rider), but as he reflects on his career and legacy, he begins to grapple with how much family life he missed out on.

"There was something compelling to us about the premise of a movie star going through a crisis and going on a journey that was a physical journey, but also an interior, psychological journey," explains director Noah Baumbach.

Jay Kelly's somewhat lacking sense of self, he adds, "became a way to try to wrestle with this notion of who we are, and how we want to make peace with this gap between how we present ourselves and who we might actually be".

Clooney may have spent much of the last decade directing films while only occasionally appearing in them, but in Jay Kelly, he is firmly back in movie star mode.

While the film is an unabashed crowd-pleaser, the subtlety of Clooney's performance could put him in the awards conversation in the coming months, in a year where the best actor race is packed with A-listers.

The film sees its leading man suddenly down tools, a week before he's due to start shooting a movie, after a string of setbacks including the death of a close friend and a heated encounter with his former college roommate (played by Billy Crudup).

With no warning, Kelly decides to fly to Europe to spend time with his daughters and get his head together - albeit with a stop-off in Italy to collect a lifetime achievement prize.

His entourage - including his publicist (Laura Dern) and stylist (Emily Mortimer) - are forced to follow them, as Kelly shows characteristically little interest in their lives compared with his own.

But his various assistants gradually peel off one by one and head back to the US as they realise Kelly is serious about potentially giving up his career.

One person who stays by his side, however, his his manager Ron, played by Adam Sandler, in a performance which reminds audiences how good a dramatic actor he is when not doing comedy.

"As an actor, when you read a script like this you say, 'Holy [expletive], I can't believe I'm getting this gift," Sandler tells journalists.

Of course, Sandler, Dern and Crudup are stars in their own right - and all agree the film helped them reflect on their relationships with the people who surround them in the Hollywood publicity machine.

"I've always appreciated my manager, agent, publicist, I just know how hard they work and how difficult it is to hear my ups and downs in life and back me up no matter what," says Sandler.

"But I do appreciate what they do, and I was excited to play a man who is devoted to somebody. And I admire everybody who does that and how much it means to them."

Dern says she relished the opportunity to play "the role of the people who have helped raise me in my professional life", and describes her publicist as "a mother figure", particularly early in her career after she began acting aged 11.

She too, intends to be more considerate and aware of her own power as a celebrity. "Did I know that my publicist has a family? I definitely did, but I definitely want to be that much more mindful now," she says.

Early reactions to the film have varied wildly in Venice. In a five-star review, the Telegraph's Robbie Collin described it as a "midlife crisis masterpiece", and highlighted the final scene as a "knockout".

"[Jay Kelly] looks like Clooney. He acts like Clooney," Collin said. "But perhaps we shouldn't be too quick to cleanly equate one man with the other – because Jay Kelly isn't Jay Kelly either, and that's the problem."

The Independent's Geoffrey McNab awarded four stars, writing: "If Clooney is playing yet another variation on himself in Jay Kelly, at least he's doing so in a far more raw and revealing way than he has ever done before."

But a one-star review from the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw said it was a "dire, sentimental and self-indulgent film".

Clooney may be in Venice for the film's premiere and has posed for photos on red carpets, but he is missing from the traditional press conference due to a sinus infection - "Even movie stars get sick," jokes Baumbach.

But there is still huge excitement on the ground for Jay Kelly - a name which, many viewers might notice, sounds suspiciously similar to George Clooney.

"I've known George over the years and I've been wanting to find something to do with him, and early on [when writing the script], we began to say, this is going to be George," Baumbach says of writing the script with Mortimer.

Actors often try to avoid playing versions of themselves on screen - it's far more fashionable to go through a significant transformation. But Baumbach says in this case Clooney's real-life popularity was more of a help than a hindrance.

"I felt it was important the audience watching the movie have a relationship with the actor playing the character.

"The character is running from himself for so much of the movie, deflecting and trying to hide, and what essentially I was asking of George was to reveal more and more of himself as he does it."

The Oscars might be months away, but Clooney is one of several A-listers already getting into position for what is likely to be a competitive year for the best actor race.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, Daniel Day-Lewis and Dwayne Johnson are just a handful of the names starring in films which are being geared towards an awards season campaign in the coming months.

It's also fair to say that Hollywood always enjoys a film about itself - which could stand Jay Kelly in good stead come awards season.

Clooney, 64, is eyeing his first acting nomination since The Descendants in 2012 - but we'll have to wait until much later in the season to see how his performance stacks up against others.

Baumbach himself is no stranger to Oscar voters (his 2019 film Marriage Story scored Dern an Oscar), and he is back on form after his poorly received last film, White Noise.

The director reflects: "If you make a movie about an actor, you're making a movie about identity and performance and a search for self."

"Actors are always trying to find themselves within a character, and asking where they fit in, it's a character outside themselves. And I think it was something we felt we are all doing essentially as we go through life."

In her latest film, US actress Emma Stone plays a powerful CEO who is kidnapped by two men who believe she's an alien.

It might sound a little out there, but Bugonia is one of the most talked-about movies at this year's Venice Film Festival, thanks to its unique depiction of the impact of conspiracy theories and echo chambers.

The film could easily have been a preachy lecture about the dangers of the internet. But Bugonia, directed by Oscars favourite Yorgos Lanthimos, is spinning a lot more plates than you initially think, and there is more at play than meets the eye.

"There's so much that's happening that I think is reflective of this point in time and our world," says Stone at the film's launch, "and is told in a way that I found really fascinating, moving, funny, [messed]-up and alive."

The film is Stone's fourth collaboration with Lanthimos following The Favourite, Kinds of Kindness and Poor Things - which won the 36-year-old her second best actress Oscar.

"The opportunity to get to work on these things that I have with him has been just a dream," Stone reflects, "because this material, there's so much [to confront]."

The director's films aren't for everyone - they are often dark, twisted and gory. But while this one ticks those same boxes, viewers who struggled with his earlier films might find Bugonia more accessible.

Regardless of your thoughts on alien life, the film functions as a gripping kidnap drama, and is a truly wild ride.

Stone plays Michelle Fuller, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company which a troubled young man, Teddy (Jesse Plemons), holds responsible for his mother's ill health and a declining bee population.

As a result, Teddy carefully plans the kidnap with his reluctant cousin Don (Aidan Delbis). Stone puts up a hell of a fight, but ultimately ends up being held captive in Teddy's basement, where much of the film plays out.

It's easy to dismiss Teddy as crazy, with foil on the windows around his house, but the film gradually shows more of his character and explores the factors that shaped his personality.

"Throughout history, there has been a human instinct to unconsciously categorise someone, and I think I probably tried to do that [with Teddy] when I started reading this script," says Plemons.

"His core, his relationship with Don, what you discover happened to his mother, I could talk for a long time about Teddy but my way of understanding him was he's a really tortured soul that was trying with all his might to help. It's a crazy thing to say, but I believe that."

It's true, Teddy believes, that capturing the CEO and trying to extract information from her is for the greater good of humanity. Some of his beliefs seem ridiculous and he would be laughed at by many - but that's the point.

"For all his ranting and raving, Plemons brings plenty of depth to Teddy, a man who has locked himself down in the wake of past traumas," wrote Screen Daily's Nikki Baughan.

"In this battle of wits between this well-dressed, carefully-controlled woman and this pony-tailed, irrational bumpkin, we know who we are supposed to believe. But can we? Should we?"

Plemons, who previously scored an Oscar nomination for The Power of the Dog, says Bugonia appealed because it forced him to confront his own preconceptions about people on the fringes of society.

"I think we have an instinct in general to close the book on things that are scary, hard to look at, hard to understand."

"For me as an actor, it's a way I can try and make sense of some of these things, and some of these people who are very difficult to understand. And there's a risk in writing them off as being non-human, because they are [human], and they exist."

Bugonia is a loose remake of Jang Joon-hwan's 2003 Korean sci-fi movie Save the Green Planet! - but Plemons admits he didn't watch it before shooting, so he could approach the role uninfluenced.

The role required Stone to shave her head. Or, more accurately, for the two men holding her captive to shave it for her.

"Was it easy for me to shave my hair? It was the easiest thing in the world, you just take the razor, it's so much easier than any hairstyle," the actress laughs.

Asked whether she gives any credence to theories about aliens, she doesn't totally shut down the idea.

"One of my favourite people who has ever lived is [astronomer] Carl Sagan," she explains. "I watched his show Cosmos, and fell madly in love with his philosophy and science and how brilliant he seems to be.

"He very deeply believed that the idea that we are alone in this vast expanse of the universe is a pretty narcissistic thing to think.

"So yes," she jokes, raising her hand, "I'm coming out with it, I believe in aliens, thank you."

The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney described Bugonia as a "genre-hopping blast of suspense, sci-fi, paranoia and dark comedy" and said Lanthimos "can always be relied upon to serve up something weird and subversive".

"As things grow increasingly frantic and gruesome, Lanthimos expertly milks maximum comic tension," said the Telegraph's Robbie Collin in a five-star review.

Stone was widely praised for her central performance, even by critics who were less keen on the film as a whole.

Time's Stephanie Zacharek said the actress is "a bold, creative performer" who is "laceratingly funny and bracingly convincing".

But she also described the movie as "punishing", adding that while "Stone can do anything, that doesn't mean she should."

It could be tempting to describe the film as dystopian, but Lanthimos doesn't think that quite hits the mark.

"Not much of the dystopia in this film is fictional," he notes. "A lot of it reflects the real world. If anything, this film says, this is happening now, and actually it became more relevant as time went by.

"Humanity is facing a reckoning very soon, people need to choose the right path in many ways, otherwise I don't know how much time we have, with technology, AI, with wars.

"And the denial of all these things, how desensitised we've become to them. To me, it's a reflection of our times and hopefully will trigger people to think today."

An MSP has had his Holyrood pass deactivated amid reports he placed a camera in a Scottish Parliament toilet.

Colin Smyth was suspended by Labour after being charged with possessing indecent images of children earlier this month. He is due to appear at Dumfries Sheriff Court at a later date.

The Daily Record newspaper has now reported that the South Scotland MSP faces charges of placing a camera in a toilet at the parliament.

Ahead of Holyrood returning from recess next week, the parliament's chief executive David McGill has informed members that Smyth's pass has been deactivated "given the ongoing criminal investigation". Smyth previously said he was co-operating with inquiries.

A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: "Given the ongoing criminal investigation, the SPCB (Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body) took the decision this evening to deactivate Colin Smyth's parliamentary pass.

"We have informed all building users at Holyrood."

In an email sent to Holyrood staff, the Scottish Parliament's chief Executive David McGill said: "We recognise the nature of the criminal charges and the ongoing investigation may be upsetting for colleagues and cause distress.

"We would therefore like to remind everyone who works at Holyrood or in constituency offices of the confidential support services that are available."

Smyth has held several frontbench roles, most recently in April 2023, and previously served as Scottish Labour's general secretary.

A Scottish Labour Party spokesperson said: "Swift action was taken after we became aware of these serious allegations. Colin Smyth MSP is an independent MSP.

"We cannot comment further on these deeply concerning developments while legal proceedings are ongoing."

In a statement after his arrest, Smyth said: "These events have come as a shock and this is a deeply stressful time."

A day of mourning has been declared in Kyiv after the second biggest aerial attack of the war so far killed at least 23 people, including four children.

The city's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said it was to honour the dead, as a massive recovery effort continues at the five-storey block of flats where 22 of the 23 were killed.

The attack has been widely condemned - the White House said President Donald Trump was "not happy" but not surprised, while European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Russia would "stop at nothing to terrorise Ukraine".

Meanwhile, EU defence ministers are meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Friday to discuss military support for Ukraine.

The attack also damaged the EU's diplomatic mission and the British Council building in central Kyiv.

Speaking on the way into Friday's meeting, Lithuania's Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "cheaply buying time to kill more people".

"Hopes of possible peace negotiations are at least naïve when we look at what is happening in Ukraine and what just happened [on Thursday]," she added.

Estonia's Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said the best security guarantee for Ukraine would be membership of Nato.

Overnight from Thursday into Friday saw less fighting, although both Russia and Ukraine reported shooting down dozens of drones.

Kharkiv regional head Oleh Syniehubov said five settlements in his region had been attacked, with one person being killed in Kupyansk.

Trump had hoped to organise a summit involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin to bring an end to the war, but those efforts have since stalled.

Speaking after Thursday's attack, Zelensky said Moscow had chosen "ballistics instead of the negotiating table", and reiterated the need for "new, tough sanctions" on Russia.

Speaking after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said it seemed unlikely now that a meeting between Putin and Zelensky would take place.

The government has told a contractor to remove jobs from a recruitment website, after it emerged there were plans to hire floristry and hairdressing tutors for detainees at an immigration removal centre near Heathrow airport.

Adverts for the jobs, first reported by the Sun newspaper, included a "hospitality and floristry tutor", who was to teach skills including cake decorating and ballooncraft.

Home Office minister Seema Malhotra has instructed the contractor, Mitie, to remove the jobs - some of which had annual salaries of nearly £39,000.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Labour were "pouring taxpayers' money into perks when every effort should be on deportations".

Philp added: "Hiring gym managers and ballooncraft tutors for people who must be deported is indefensible and must be stopped immediately."

Malhotra said: "We do not believe all these roles are necessary and have told the Home Office to speak to Mitie to remove them."

It is not yet clear which jobs Malhotra ordered to be scrapped.

A number of the jobs are still available on the government's Find a Job website.

The roles were posted by facilities management company Mitie, which has signed several deals with the Home Office to provide immigration services.

Mitie manages the Heathrow immigration removal centre (IRC), which is comprised of both the Colnbrook and Harmondsworth facilities, located next to the UK's busiest airport.

Combined, the facilities have a capacity of 965 residents, making it the largest immigration removal centre in Europe, according to Mitie.

Mitie aims "to treat those in our care with dignity, decency, and respect", adding that it works a "high risk, high profile and heavily regulated environment".

The roles advertised at the facility include a "gym manager" with an advertised annual salary of £38,873. Tasks included promoting "meaningful gym activities within the sportshalls, gym areas and courtyards".

A "hospitality and floristry tutor" would be responsible for promoting and delivering "workshops in relevant creative skills including Floristry, cake decorating, ballooncraft." The position has an advertised annual salary of £31,585.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said the government had "lost the plot" and was "addicted to providing freebies", according to the Sun.

Jenrick added: "These jobs should be withdrawn immediately and replaced by security officers that can increase deportations."

A spokesperson for Mitie said: "The impact of these services was highlighted in the recent HMIP report into Harmondsworth, which said that these provisions contributed to a greater overall focus on helping individuals to manage the stresses of detention."

A report published last year found that conditions at the West London immigration centre were "the worst" in the country, and put detainees at "imminent risk of harm".

It added that drug use and violence at the centre were "widespread".

Israel struck Nasser Hospital at least four times during its deadly attack in southern Gaza on Monday, an analysis of new video footage by BBC Verify has found.

The attack, which has attracted international condemnation and widespread anger, reportedly killed at least 20 people, including five journalists.

Initial reports from Gaza said that Israel had struck the hospital twice, with the first blast followed nine minutes later by another which hit first responders and journalists who arrived at the scene.

But new analysis suggests the hospital was struck four times in total. BBC Verify and expert analysis found that two staircases were hit almost simultaneously in the first wave, and while what was thought to be a single later attack was in fact two separate strikes hitting the same place within a fraction of a second.

Israel does not allow international journalists to enter Gaza independently. BBC Verify identified the additional strikes by analysing dozens of videos provided by a freelancer on the ground and material filmed by eyewitnesses that circulated online.

In the first incident, an Israeli strike hit the exterior staircase on the hospital's eastern side at 10:08 local time (07:08 GMT), killing journalist Hussam Al-Masri who was operating a live TV feed for Reuters.

BBC Verify has now identified another previously unreported blast at a northern wing staircase at practically the same time, which was overshadowed by the "double-tap" strike on the eastern staircase.

New footage shows smoke rising and damage at both staircases, while emergency workers said the hospital's operating department was hit.

Other videos show an injured person being carried down the northern staircase and the hospital's nursing director holding shredded and bloodied clothing which he said was being worn by a nurse while she was working in the operating department when it was hit.

N R Jenzen-Jones - the director of Armament Research Services, an arms and munitions intelligence company - said the footage "appears to show interior damage consistent with a relatively small munition, including an entry hole that suggests a munition with a relatively flat trajectory".

Roughly nine minutes later, while dozens of first responders and journalists gathered on the eastern staircase, Israeli forces struck the facility again.

While the blast was documented by media at the time, frame-by-frame analysis of newly emerged footage clearly shows that two separate projectiles fired by Israeli forces hit the hospital milliseconds apart at an exposed stairwell where journalists and emergency workers had gathered.

Experts disagreed on the type of munition used in the third and fourth strikes.

Some munitions analysts with whom BBC Verify shared footage with identified the projectiles as Lahat missiles, a guided munition which can be fired from tanks, drones and helicopters. Several outlets in Israel have suggested that the munitions used against the hospital were fired by Israeli tanks stationed nearby.

The experts who spoke to BBC Verify said the blasts could not have been caused by a single tank, due to the quick succession in which the munitions hit the hospital.

"If these Lahats were fired from the ground, then at least two tanks would have been involved, as the interval between the two impacts is far too short," Amael Kotlarski, an analyst with the Janes defence intelligence company, said. "No tank loader could have reloaded that fast."

Meanwhile, Mr Jenzen-Jones said that the "impact of two projectiles at nearly the exact same moment suggests two tanks may have fired on the target simultaneously".

Although he said it wasn't possible to definitively identify the munitions used, the apparent physical characteristics and pattern of flight "suggest a 'multi-purpose' tank gun projectile, such as the Israeli M339 model".

Satellite images reviewed by BBC Verify show IDF forces 2.5km north-east of Nasser Hospital and within firing range on the day of the attack. Other armoured vehicles can also be seen nearby.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had no additional comment on the newly identified blasts when approached by BBC Verify.

Israel's narrative of the attack has evolved since Monday's attack. It initially said it had carried out a strike in the area of the hospital, saying that it "regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals " and that an initial inquiry would be opened as soon as possible, but provided no justification for the attack.

In the hours that followed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was responsible and that it "deeply regrets the tragic mishap".

On Tuesday, the IDF said an initial inquiry found that troops had identified a camera positioned by Hamas in the area of the hospital "used to observe the activity of IDF troops", without providing evidence.

The IDF has not yet acknowledged carrying out more than one strike on the hospital, amid allegations from some international legal experts that it may have violated international law.

Intentionally carrying out attacks on civilians which are "excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated" is prohibited under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

"A reasonable attacker must expect scores of civilian casualties since a hospital is full of protected persons," Professor Janina Dill of Oxford University said.

Prof Dill added that the "mere presence of equipment that belongs to an adversary" does not mean a hospital or medical facility loses its protected status under the laws of war.

At least 247 journalists have been killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023, according to the UN, making it the deadliest conflict for reporters ever documented.

Israel's military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Almost 62,900 people have been killed in Gaza in the same period, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?

Half a century ago, people living in one of the most remote areas of England made a plea to be connected to mains electricity. Now, at last, some of the current hardy residents can experience joys such as hair straighteners on demand and not having to plan cups of tea.

The farms and cottages of the Upper Coquet valley in Northumberland have always been off grid, reliant on noisy expensive generators.

From a window of one of those farmhouses, Shona Anderson looks out on to a view generations of families in the area thought might never exist.

A row of newly erected electricity poles.

"I was at work and Scott my husband rang and said 'it's live, we're on mains power' and I hardly dared believe it," Shona says.

"I keep flicking the lights on and off and thinking 'that's mains power'."

Four generations of the Anderson family have lived in the valley, but in recent times Shona, Scott and their three sons have rented a house elsewhere, with Scott returning each day to work on the farm.

There were structural problems with the farmhouse, but they also got tired of a generator that "often broke down".

"We would sometimes book a caravan somewhere when that happened," Shona says, "just to have power".

"It was like living in the olden days," her son T-jay adds.

"Having to go out in the dark every time the generator conked out."

Mains electricity means they are back in the house Scott's grandmother was born in and he has a legacy to cement.

"I want to build the farm up and see future generations here," Scott says.

"T-jay wants to take it on and mains power will make life easier for him and those after him."

The valley missed out on the electrification programmes of the 20th Century.

For many years, the community of fewer than 50 people dotted along a single track road winding into the Cheviot Hills was told a connection would be too expensive.

But when the government decided an electricity supply was needed to three emergency telecommunication masts in the valley, an opportunity arose to connect many of the properties too.

Funds for the project were then found by the Home Office and Ministry of Defence (MoD) which owns the land.

The valley is within the Northumberland National Park and its planning authority initially wanted all the lines buried.

A compromise was agreed which saw the construction of nine miles (15km) of overhead line and three miles (4.7km) go underground.

Among the homes connected so far are two that were formerly served by a single generator.

The shared source meant neighbours Jaycee Charlton and Katherine Singer could never boil the kettle at the same time because it would plunge them both into darkness.

"It's happened" they confirm as they watch an engineer switch their energy supply from the generator to mains.

"Hair straighteners, I wouldn't dare put them on if the kettle was on too," says Jaycee.

And now? "You're not going to have to think so much about all that sort of thing."

Katherine, meanwhile, is looking forward to being able to go out without worrying about the power going off in their absence.

"It's a real opportunity to diversify the farm too," she adds.

The work was carried out by Northern Powergrid, with the company saying the project posed "unique challenges" and that it had been a "technically complex scheme."

It said it had given special consideration to the "unique landscape of Upper Coquetdale", with cables running below ground "wherever possible to preserve the area's natural beauty and reduce visual impact".

Some in the valley have not got rid of the loud chugging of the generator quite yet.

Harry and Megan's Byatt's farm was one that was judged too remote and there remain hundreds of other homes in Northumberland still off grid.

"We know we're the lucky ones, says Katherine.

"But we're just so grateful to everyone who has worked so hard to make this happen."

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An MSP has had his Holyrood pass deactivated amid reports he placed a camera in a Scottish Parliament toilet.

Colin Smyth was suspended by Labour after being charged with possessing indecent images of children earlier this month. He is due to appear at Dumfries Sheriff Court at a later date.

The Daily Record newspaper has now reported that the South Scotland MSP faces charges of placing a camera in a toilet at the parliament.

Ahead of Holyrood returning from recess next week, the parliament's chief executive David McGill has informed members that Smyth's pass has been deactivated "given the ongoing criminal investigation". Smyth previously said he was co-operating with inquiries.

A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: "Given the ongoing criminal investigation, the SPCB (Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body) took the decision this evening to deactivate Colin Smyth's parliamentary pass.

"We have informed all building users at Holyrood."

In an email sent to Holyrood staff, the Scottish Parliament's chief Executive David McGill said: "We recognise the nature of the criminal charges and the ongoing investigation may be upsetting for colleagues and cause distress.

"We would therefore like to remind everyone who works at Holyrood or in constituency offices of the confidential support services that are available."

Smyth has held several frontbench roles, most recently in April 2023, and previously served as Scottish Labour's general secretary.

A Scottish Labour Party spokesperson said: "Swift action was taken after we became aware of these serious allegations. Colin Smyth MSP is an independent MSP.

"We cannot comment further on these deeply concerning developments while legal proceedings are ongoing."

In a statement after his arrest, Smyth said: "These events have come as a shock and this is a deeply stressful time."

UK firms are warning that new taxes on sending low-value parcels to the US are bringing uncertainty and potential price hikes for their businesses.

US President Donald Trump cutting the "de minimis" exemption means parcels valued under $800 (£592) will be subject to tax from Friday.

The Federation of Small Businesses has warned this will push up costs and create new barriers for small firms in the UK trying to compete with bigger brands.

"I knew it was going to be an absolute chaotic mess," said Helen Hickman, who has stopped shipping wool to the US due to uncertainty about the costs.

Her hand-dyed wool company, Nellie and Eve, in Carmarthenshire, west Wales, used to make about 30% of its sales to the US - but she has put them on hold.

"I didn't have enough information to be able to comfortably say that I could ship as normal," she says. "There is no way of giving the customer an upfront cost."

"I didn't want products to be excessively charged or returned to me or lost," she says.

The changes mean packages valued at under $800 will face the same tariff rate as other goods from their country of origin - for the UK that's 10%.

Previously, the de minimis exemption meant goods valued at $800 or less could enter the US without paying any border taxes.

US consumers used the exemption to buy cheap clothes and household items from online commerce sites like Shein and Temu, as well as from countries other than China.

But from Friday, "a typical $100 order could now incur an additional $30 to $50 in costs, depending on the final sales tax rate adopted by US authorities," says Martin Hamilton, partner and head of retail at accountancy firm Menzies.

"On top of that, brands will face extra fees from shipping providers for handling duties and taxes," he says.

Earlier this month, postal services around the world paused some deliveries to the US over confusion around the new rules.

The Royal Mail says it has been working with the US authorities and international partners so its services will meet the new US de minimis requirements when they come into effect on Friday.

Jay Begum sells handmade wooden decorations and gifts through her small London-based business Knots of Pine.

She had already noticed a slowdown in orders from the US since President Trump announced tariffs earlier in the year, because it made American customers more jittery in general.

But now the de minimis tax change is having an even bigger impact, and she has decided to no longer ship to the US at all.

As the country makes up about 20% of her sales, it's a significant hit. "Now, I only have the UK market," she says.

Jay will have to put more money into marketing to boost her domestic sales if she is unable to start selling to the US again.

"It would be a lot of work, to claw back the sales that I'm losing."

Tina McKenzie, policy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, says: "Small firms in the UK have already been hit by US tariffs, with just over two in ten saying they have stopped, or may stop, exporting there altogether."

She added: "The US Administration's decision to scrap the de minimis threshold, combined with postal carriers temporarily suspending deliveries in response, will push up costs and create new barriers."

Statistics published by HMRC show that in 2023 around 28,000 small businesses - companies with less than 49 employees - exported goods to the US.

'I might have to get another job'

Sophie Arnold runs a small jewellery business, the Little Vintage Emporium in Edinburgh, and stopped shipping to the US when she heard the $800 exemption was ending.

She says it will have a negative impact on her business.

"America is our main market," she adds.

Ms Arnold thinks "big hitters" in the antique world may have the finances to pay extra duties, but says smaller businesses like hers will suffer.

"I might have to look at returning into an office or doing other jobs and not running my business full time," she says.

The FSB says it wants the UK government to provide more support.

Ms McKenzie says raising the Trading Allowance - a tax-free allowance for casual income - from £1,000 to £3,000 would "make it easier for people to sell more, helping them cope with the extra costs that tariffs will bring in".

"The UK and US should be working together to make it easier for small businesses to reach customers across the Atlantic. That means clear, practical rules, time to adapt, and systems that keep trade moving," Ms Mckenzie added.

The BBC has asked the UK Treasury for comment.

In April, the UK government announced it was reviewing its own de minimis rules.

Low-value imports, which are worth £135 or less, are currently exempt from customs duties.

Israel struck Nasser Hospital at least four times during its deadly attack in southern Gaza on Monday, an analysis of new video footage by BBC Verify has found.

The attack, which has attracted international condemnation and widespread anger, reportedly killed at least 20 people, including five journalists.

Initial reports from Gaza said that Israel had struck the hospital twice, with the first blast followed nine minutes later by another which hit first responders and journalists who arrived at the scene.

But new analysis suggests the hospital was struck four times in total. BBC Verify and expert analysis found that two staircases were hit almost simultaneously in the first wave, and while what was thought to be a single later attack was in fact two separate strikes hitting the same place within a fraction of a second.

Israel does not allow international journalists to enter Gaza independently. BBC Verify identified the additional strikes by analysing dozens of videos provided by a freelancer on the ground and material filmed by eyewitnesses that circulated online.

In the first incident, an Israeli strike hit the exterior staircase on the hospital's eastern side at 10:08 local time (07:08 GMT), killing journalist Hussam Al-Masri who was operating a live TV feed for Reuters.

BBC Verify has now identified another previously unreported blast at a northern wing staircase at practically the same time, which was overshadowed by the "double-tap" strike on the eastern staircase.

New footage shows smoke rising and damage at both staircases, while emergency workers said the hospital's operating department was hit.

Other videos show an injured person being carried down the northern staircase and the hospital's nursing director holding shredded and bloodied clothing which he said was being worn by a nurse while she was working in the operating department when it was hit.

N R Jenzen-Jones - the director of Armament Research Services, an arms and munitions intelligence company - said the footage "appears to show interior damage consistent with a relatively small munition, including an entry hole that suggests a munition with a relatively flat trajectory".

Roughly nine minutes later, while dozens of first responders and journalists gathered on the eastern staircase, Israeli forces struck the facility again.

While the blast was documented by media at the time, frame-by-frame analysis of newly emerged footage clearly shows that two separate projectiles fired by Israeli forces hit the hospital milliseconds apart at an exposed stairwell where journalists and emergency workers had gathered.

Experts disagreed on the type of munition used in the third and fourth strikes.

Some munitions analysts with whom BBC Verify shared footage with identified the projectiles as Lahat missiles, a guided munition which can be fired from tanks, drones and helicopters. Several outlets in Israel have suggested that the munitions used against the hospital were fired by Israeli tanks stationed nearby.

The experts who spoke to BBC Verify said the blasts could not have been caused by a single tank, due to the quick succession in which the munitions hit the hospital.

"If these Lahats were fired from the ground, then at least two tanks would have been involved, as the interval between the two impacts is far too short," Amael Kotlarski, an analyst with the Janes defence intelligence company, said. "No tank loader could have reloaded that fast."

Meanwhile, Mr Jenzen-Jones said that the "impact of two projectiles at nearly the exact same moment suggests two tanks may have fired on the target simultaneously".

Although he said it wasn't possible to definitively identify the munitions used, the apparent physical characteristics and pattern of flight "suggest a 'multi-purpose' tank gun projectile, such as the Israeli M339 model".

Satellite images reviewed by BBC Verify show IDF forces 2.5km north-east of Nasser Hospital and within firing range on the day of the attack. Other armoured vehicles can also be seen nearby.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had no additional comment on the newly identified blasts when approached by BBC Verify.

Israel's narrative of the attack has evolved since Monday's attack. It initially said it had carried out a strike in the area of the hospital, saying that it "regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals " and that an initial inquiry would be opened as soon as possible, but provided no justification for the attack.

In the hours that followed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was responsible and that it "deeply regrets the tragic mishap".

On Tuesday, the IDF said an initial inquiry found that troops had identified a camera positioned by Hamas in the area of the hospital "used to observe the activity of IDF troops", without providing evidence.

The IDF has not yet acknowledged carrying out more than one strike on the hospital, amid allegations from some international legal experts that it may have violated international law.

Intentionally carrying out attacks on civilians which are "excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated" is prohibited under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

"A reasonable attacker must expect scores of civilian casualties since a hospital is full of protected persons," Professor Janina Dill of Oxford University said.

Prof Dill added that the "mere presence of equipment that belongs to an adversary" does not mean a hospital or medical facility loses its protected status under the laws of war.

At least 247 journalists have been killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023, according to the UN, making it the deadliest conflict for reporters ever documented.

Israel's military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Almost 62,900 people have been killed in Gaza in the same period, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?

The government has told a contractor to remove jobs from a recruitment website, after it emerged there were plans to hire floristry and hairdressing tutors for detainees at an immigration removal centre near Heathrow airport.

Adverts for the jobs, first reported by the Sun newspaper, included a "hospitality and floristry tutor", who was to teach skills including cake decorating and ballooncraft.

Home Office minister Seema Malhotra has instructed the contractor, Mitie, to remove the jobs - some of which had annual salaries of nearly £39,000.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Labour were "pouring taxpayers' money into perks when every effort should be on deportations".

Philp added: "Hiring gym managers and ballooncraft tutors for people who must be deported is indefensible and must be stopped immediately."

Malhotra said: "We do not believe all these roles are necessary and have told the Home Office to speak to Mitie to remove them."

It is not yet clear which jobs Malhotra ordered to be scrapped.

A number of the jobs are still available on the government's Find a Job website.

The roles were posted by facilities management company Mitie, which has signed several deals with the Home Office to provide immigration services.

Mitie manages the Heathrow immigration removal centre (IRC), which is comprised of both the Colnbrook and Harmondsworth facilities, located next to the UK's busiest airport.

Combined, the facilities have a capacity of 965 residents, making it the largest immigration removal centre in Europe, according to Mitie.

Mitie aims "to treat those in our care with dignity, decency, and respect", adding that it works a "high risk, high profile and heavily regulated environment".

The roles advertised at the facility include a "gym manager" with an advertised annual salary of £38,873. Tasks included promoting "meaningful gym activities within the sportshalls, gym areas and courtyards".

A "hospitality and floristry tutor" would be responsible for promoting and delivering "workshops in relevant creative skills including Floristry, cake decorating, ballooncraft." The position has an advertised annual salary of £31,585.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said the government had "lost the plot" and was "addicted to providing freebies", according to the Sun.

Jenrick added: "These jobs should be withdrawn immediately and replaced by security officers that can increase deportations."

A spokesperson for Mitie said: "The impact of these services was highlighted in the recent HMIP report into Harmondsworth, which said that these provisions contributed to a greater overall focus on helping individuals to manage the stresses of detention."

A report published last year found that conditions at the West London immigration centre were "the worst" in the country, and put detainees at "imminent risk of harm".

It added that drug use and violence at the centre were "widespread".

There's a line in George Clooney's new film where one character tells him: "You're the American dream, the last of the great movie stars."

It's a comment which could easily apply to Clooney in real life, and one of several parallels between the US actor and the ageing movie star he plays in Netflix's Jay Kelly, which has just launched at the Venice Film Festival.

A hugely successful actor playing a hugely successful actor may not sound like much of a stretch. But Clooney's performance goes much deeper than that, portraying an actor who finds himself feeling strangely empty as he reflects on his life choices.

The fictional Kelly may be adored by everyone and greeted with a slice of cheesecake wherever he goes (a stipulation of his rider), but as he reflects on his career and legacy, he begins to grapple with how much family life he missed out on.

"There was something compelling to us about the premise of a movie star going through a crisis and going on a journey that was a physical journey, but also an interior, psychological journey," explains director Noah Baumbach.

Jay Kelly's somewhat lacking sense of self, he adds, "became a way to try to wrestle with this notion of who we are, and how we want to make peace with this gap between how we present ourselves and who we might actually be".

Clooney may have spent much of the last decade directing films while only occasionally appearing in them, but in Jay Kelly, he is firmly back in movie star mode.

While the film is an unabashed crowd-pleaser, the subtlety of Clooney's performance could put him in the awards conversation in the coming months, in a year where the best actor race is packed with A-listers.

The film sees its leading man suddenly down tools, a week before he's due to start shooting a movie, after a string of setbacks including the death of a close friend and a heated encounter with his former college roommate (played by Billy Crudup).

With no warning, Kelly decides to fly to Europe to spend time with his daughters and get his head together - albeit with a stop-off in Italy to collect a lifetime achievement prize.

His entourage - including his publicist (Laura Dern) and stylist (Emily Mortimer) - are forced to follow them, as Kelly shows characteristically little interest in their lives compared with his own.

But his various assistants gradually peel off one by one and head back to the US as they realise Kelly is serious about potentially giving up his career.

One person who stays by his side, however, his his manager Ron, played by Adam Sandler, in a performance which reminds audiences how good a dramatic actor he is when not doing comedy.

"As an actor, when you read a script like this you say, 'Holy [expletive], I can't believe I'm getting this gift," Sandler tells journalists.

Of course, Sandler, Dern and Crudup are stars in their own right - and all agree the film helped them reflect on their relationships with the people who surround them in the Hollywood publicity machine.

"I've always appreciated my manager, agent, publicist, I just know how hard they work and how difficult it is to hear my ups and downs in life and back me up no matter what," says Sandler.

"But I do appreciate what they do, and I was excited to play a man who is devoted to somebody. And I admire everybody who does that and how much it means to them."

Dern says she relished the opportunity to play "the role of the people who have helped raise me in my professional life", and describes her publicist as "a mother figure", particularly early in her career after she began acting aged 11.

She too, intends to be more considerate and aware of her own power as a celebrity. "Did I know that my publicist has a family? I definitely did, but I definitely want to be that much more mindful now," she says.

Early reactions to the film have varied wildly in Venice. In a five-star review, the Telegraph's Robbie Collin described it as a "midlife crisis masterpiece", and highlighted the final scene as a "knockout".

"[Jay Kelly] looks like Clooney. He acts like Clooney," Collin said. "But perhaps we shouldn't be too quick to cleanly equate one man with the other – because Jay Kelly isn't Jay Kelly either, and that's the problem."

The Independent's Geoffrey McNab awarded four stars, writing: "If Clooney is playing yet another variation on himself in Jay Kelly, at least he's doing so in a far more raw and revealing way than he has ever done before."

But a one-star review from the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw said it was a "dire, sentimental and self-indulgent film".

Clooney may be in Venice for the film's premiere and has posed for photos on red carpets, but he is missing from the traditional press conference due to a sinus infection - "Even movie stars get sick," jokes Baumbach.

But there is still huge excitement on the ground for Jay Kelly - a name which, many viewers might notice, sounds suspiciously similar to George Clooney.

"I've known George over the years and I've been wanting to find something to do with him, and early on [when writing the script], we began to say, this is going to be George," Baumbach says of writing the script with Mortimer.

Actors often try to avoid playing versions of themselves on screen - it's far more fashionable to go through a significant transformation. But Baumbach says in this case Clooney's real-life popularity was more of a help than a hindrance.

"I felt it was important the audience watching the movie have a relationship with the actor playing the character.

"The character is running from himself for so much of the movie, deflecting and trying to hide, and what essentially I was asking of George was to reveal more and more of himself as he does it."

The Oscars might be months away, but Clooney is one of several A-listers already getting into position for what is likely to be a competitive year for the best actor race.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, Daniel Day-Lewis and Dwayne Johnson are just a handful of the names starring in films which are being geared towards an awards season campaign in the coming months.

It's also fair to say that Hollywood always enjoys a film about itself - which could stand Jay Kelly in good stead come awards season.

Clooney, 64, is eyeing his first acting nomination since The Descendants in 2012 - but we'll have to wait until much later in the season to see how his performance stacks up against others.

Baumbach himself is no stranger to Oscar voters (his 2019 film Marriage Story scored Dern an Oscar), and he is back on form after his poorly received last film, White Noise.

The director reflects: "If you make a movie about an actor, you're making a movie about identity and performance and a search for self."

"Actors are always trying to find themselves within a character, and asking where they fit in, it's a character outside themselves. And I think it was something we felt we are all doing essentially as we go through life."

Two children who were killed in an attack on a Catholic school in Minneapolis have been identified by their parents as Harper Moyski, a "joyful" big sister, and Fletcher Merkel, who loved "any sport that he was allowed to play".

While celebrating Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church on Wednesday, both Harper, 10, and Fletcher, 8, were killed in a gun attack that also injured 18 people.

"Yesterday, a coward decided to take our eight-year-old son Fletcher away from us," his father, Jesse Merkel, said in a news conference on Thursday, adding: "Please remember Fletcher for the person he was and not the act that ended his life."

Harper's family said she was "bright, joyful, and deeply loved".

In an emotional statement to reporters, Mr Merkel said that because of the attack that killed Fletcher, "we will never be allowed to hold him, talk to him, play with him, and watch him grow into the wonderful young man he was on the path to becoming."

He said his son loved his family, cooking and sports - especially fishing.

He added that he hoped those injured might recover quickly and that those victims - especially the children - could "recover mentally and find strength to live loving, happy and full lives".

Choking back tears, Mr Merkel asked that the public remember his son for the loving 8-year-old boy he was, and not the way he died.

"Give your kids an extra hug and kiss today," he said. "We love you. Fletcher, you'll always be with us."

The family said they hope to establish a scholarship fund in their son's name.

The parents of Harper Moyski, Michael Moyski and Jackie Flavin, said in a statement that their daughter "was a bright, joyful, and deeply loved 10-year-old whose laughter, kindness, and spirit touched everyone who knew her".

The family said that Harper's little sister "adored her big sister and is grieving an unimaginable loss".

"As a family, we are shattered, and words cannot capture the depth of our pain."

They added that the family hopes "her memory fuels action" to stop gun violence.

"No family should ever have to endure this kind of pain," they said. "Change is possible, and it is necessary - so that Harper's story does not become yet another in a long line of tragedies."

"Harper's light will always shine through us, and we hope her memory inspires others to work toward a safer, more compassionate world," they said, asking for privacy in order "to grieve, to support Harper's sister, and to hold tightly to one another."

The wounded include 15 other school children, ages 6 to 15, and three adults in their 80s.

At least one victim remains in critical condition at the hospital.

Vigils have been held across Minneapolis and in the neighbouring city of St Paul, and flags have been ordered to half-mast.

On Wednesday, a moment of silence was held before the baseball game between the Minnesota Twins and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Police have not yet discovered any clear motive for the attack, but say the assailant harboured extreme anti-religious beliefs, and had previously attended the school.

The killer's mother, who also worked at the school before retiring, has not responded to law enforcement attempts to contact her.

All young children in England and Wales will be offered a free chickenpox vaccine by the NHS from January 2026.

It will be given as two doses, at 12 and 18 months of age, combined with the existing MMR jab which protects against measles, mumps and rubella.

A catch up campaign is planned for slightly older children so they don't miss out.

Until now, parents who wanted to protect their child against the chickenpox varicella virus, which causes red itchy spots, have usually had to pay up to £200 privately.

Ministers hope offering the vaccine free will not only protect youngsters from the severe, although rare, complications of chickenpox, but also save parents taking time off work to look after a sick child.

According to the Department of Health and Social Care, chickenpox causes an estimated £24m in lost income and productivity every year in the UK.

Health minister Stephen Kinnock said: "We're giving parents the power to protect their children.

"This vaccine puts children's health first and gives working families the support they deserve."

Chickenpox rash

Chickenpox is generally mild but can be very severe for some people.

Pregnant women are particularly at risk as it can cause complications for both the mother and her baby.

Very young infants and adults are also more likely to experience serious illness compared to children.

In rare cases it can cause a swelling of the brain, called encephalitis, an inflammation of the lungs, called pneumonitis, and stroke, which can result in hospitalisation and, in very rare cases, death.

The disease is transmitted through direct contact between people, or through airborne droplets in coughs and sneezes.

Illness can start with flu-like symptoms, such as a high temperature and headache.

A rash appears one to three weeks after exposure. Some children might have only a few itchy, red spots, but others can be covered in them.

Within a few days the spots turn into fluid filled blisters, which are contagious until they crust over to form scabs that eventually drop off and clear up.

Experts say vaccination will dramatically reduce the number of chickenpox cases overall, leading to far fewer of the more serious ones.

Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, deputy director of immunisation at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said vaccination could be "a life saver" for some.

Sarah, who is a mother of two girls, says the vaccine would have helped her young daughters Willow and Mia.

Last year they both needed hospital treatment to recover from severe chickenpox.

Her youngest, Mia, developed spots "head to toe" and had a skin infection, which made her very unwell.

"She was just completely out of it...floppy.

"It was just an awful situation to be in.

"It was absolutely terrifying."

She said she would advise parents to consider getting the vaccine: "I would never want any child or any parent to go through what we've been through."

The virus that causes chickenpox - varicella zoster virus (VZV) - is extremely contagious, meaning it is very easy to catch from someone who is infected.

The vaccine reduces the risk of getting it to near zero. And if you do still catch chickenpox after being vaccinated, you'll usually have milder symptoms.

Scotland and Northern Ireland are also expected to offer the vaccine on the NHS, but have not given a date yet.

Shingles, a painful skin rash condition, is caused by the same virus as chickenpox.

VZV stays in the body for life and can reactivate, causing shingles, if your immune defences are low.

People cannot catch shingles from someone with chickenpox. But they can catch chickenpox from someone with shingles if they have not had chickenpox before.

It is possible but very unusual to get chickenpox more than once.

A shingles vaccine is also available on the NHS for:

• all adults turning 65
• those aged 70 to 79
• those aged 50 and over with a severely weakened immune system

The announcement comes as new data revealed none of the main childhood vaccines in England reached the 95% uptake target in 2024/25.

Some 91.9% of five-year-olds had received one dose of the MMR vaccine, unchanged from 2023/24 and the lowest level since 2010/11, according to the UKHSA.

Dr Ed Pyne snips a leaf from the Druids Oak, an 800-year-old tree that has watched over this woodland in Buckinghamshire for centuries, enduring droughts, storms, heatwaves and more.

"We know that this tree is a survivor," he says, taking a leaf sample for DNA testing.

"Is it just that it's got lucky? Has it led a stress-free life? Or is there something special about the genes of this tree?"

The conservation scientist from the charity, The Woodland Trust, thinks the secrets of such remarkable resilience lie in its DNA.

The experts want to understand how oaks can live for 1,000 years or more, resisting threats such as climate change and bouncing back from disease - knowledge that could be vital in restoring Britain's depleted woodlands.

"By exploring the genome of ancient trees, we can understand how to manage them better so that we can secure their future for generations to come," says Dr Emma Gilmartin of the tree charity, the Arboricultural Association, which is involved in the project.

English oaks are one of the UK's best-loved trees, growing widely in parks, gardens and the countryside.

They are classed as ancient when they reach around 400 years of age.

By studying the DNA of ancient oaks, the scientists hope to unravel the genes behind the trees' long life and their ability to survive climatic extremes.

This information would be used to select the best oak trees to plant in the future, to restore woodlands and bring back wildlife.

About 50 of the UK's most well-known ancient oaks will be studied, including:

The Druids Oak

• Located within a nature reserve in Buckinghamshire managed by the City of London Corporation

• The tree likely dates to the 13th Century, making it older than many historical buildings

• The tree has a girth and height of about 9m

• It has been pollarded, meaning its upper branches were historically cut back to encourage regrowth above the reach of grazing animals, giving it a distinctive squat shape

• Oaks were revered by ancient druids, which may have inspired the tree's name.

The Crouch Oak

• Found off a busy high street in Addlestone, Surrey

• One of the oldest in the borough, it is believed to be at least 800 years old

• The name "Crouch Oak" may come from the Middle English word crouche, meaning cross, possibly indicating its use as a boundary marker

• It is also referred to as Queen Elizabeth's Picnic Tree, after Elizabeth I is said to have dined beneath it.

As well as their cultural and historical value, oaks are a haven for wildlife.

They support more life than any other native tree species in the UK, hosting more than 2,300 species, including birds, mammals, insects, fungi, and lichens.

Their leaves feed caterpillars, their bark shelters bats and beetles, and their acorns sustain mammals and birds through the winter.

Some of these species are very rare, such as the Moccas Beetle, which lives on just 14 old oak trees in Moccas Park, Herefordshire.

At the National Nature Reserve adjoining Moccas Park, conservationists are putting oaks at the heart of an effort to restore the landscape.

They are restoring a natural wildlife-rich habitat made up of open grasslands populated with ancient trees, known as wood pasture.

Acorns of ancient oaks that have stood for centuries in the area are being collected and grown into young oak trees, then put back where they once stood. Conifers that weren't part of the natural habitat were once planted here, but these are being removed and woodlands restored.

This has led to a resurgence of rare species, including hundreds of different flies and beetles, rare bats and woodland birds.

"We're really seeing a sort of boom in the bird population here," says Tom Simpson of Natural England, the UK government agency responsible for protecting and improving England's natural environment.

"In a short period of time – that's 16 years of restoration - we are really seeing nature recovery on this site. "

As climate change and habitat loss become bigger problems, conservationists want better protection and care for ancient trees. Old trees can't be replaced - they take decades or even centuries to grow and support many other living things.

Saul Herbert of The Woodland Trust says more needs to be done to protect these "living legends".

"We need to find out where they are and we need to engage with people and communities to ensure that these trees are valued and looked after for the ecological, cultural and the historic value that they bring to our landscapes," he says.

Sign up for our Future Earth newsletter to keep up with the latest climate and environment stories with the BBC's Justin Rowlatt. Outside the UK? Sign up to our international newsletter here.

UK firms are warning that new taxes on sending low-value parcels to the US are bringing uncertainty and potential price hikes for their businesses.

US President Donald Trump cutting the "de minimis" exemption means parcels valued under $800 (£592) will be subject to tax from Friday.

The Federation of Small Businesses has warned this will push up costs and create new barriers for small firms in the UK trying to compete with bigger brands.

"I knew it was going to be an absolute chaotic mess," said Helen Hickman, who has stopped shipping wool to the US due to uncertainty about the costs.

Her hand-dyed wool company, Nellie and Eve, in Carmarthenshire, west Wales, used to make about 30% of its sales to the US - but she has put them on hold.

"I didn't have enough information to be able to comfortably say that I could ship as normal," she says. "There is no way of giving the customer an upfront cost."

"I didn't want products to be excessively charged or returned to me or lost," she says.

The changes mean packages valued at under $800 will face the same tariff rate as other goods from their country of origin - for the UK that's 10%.

Previously, the de minimis exemption meant goods valued at $800 or less could enter the US without paying any border taxes.

US consumers used the exemption to buy cheap clothes and household items from online commerce sites like Shein and Temu, as well as from countries other than China.

But from Friday, "a typical $100 order could now incur an additional $30 to $50 in costs, depending on the final sales tax rate adopted by US authorities," says Martin Hamilton, partner and head of retail at accountancy firm Menzies.

"On top of that, brands will face extra fees from shipping providers for handling duties and taxes," he says.

Earlier this month, postal services around the world paused some deliveries to the US over confusion around the new rules.

The Royal Mail says it has been working with the US authorities and international partners so its services will meet the new US de minimis requirements when they come into effect on Friday.

Jay Begum sells handmade wooden decorations and gifts through her small London-based business Knots of Pine.

She had already noticed a slowdown in orders from the US since President Trump announced tariffs earlier in the year, because it made American customers more jittery in general.

But now the de minimis tax change is having an even bigger impact, and she has decided to no longer ship to the US at all.

As the country makes up about 20% of her sales, it's a significant hit. "Now, I only have the UK market," she says.

Jay will have to put more money into marketing to boost her domestic sales if she is unable to start selling to the US again.

"It would be a lot of work, to claw back the sales that I'm losing."

Tina McKenzie, policy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, says: "Small firms in the UK have already been hit by US tariffs, with just over two in ten saying they have stopped, or may stop, exporting there altogether."

She added: "The US Administration's decision to scrap the de minimis threshold, combined with postal carriers temporarily suspending deliveries in response, will push up costs and create new barriers."

Statistics published by HMRC show that in 2023 around 28,000 small businesses - companies with less than 49 employees - exported goods to the US.

'I might have to get another job'

Sophie Arnold runs a small jewellery business, the Little Vintage Emporium in Edinburgh, and stopped shipping to the US when she heard the $800 exemption was ending.

She says it will have a negative impact on her business.

"America is our main market," she adds.

Ms Arnold thinks "big hitters" in the antique world may have the finances to pay extra duties, but says smaller businesses like hers will suffer.

"I might have to look at returning into an office or doing other jobs and not running my business full time," she says.

The FSB says it wants the UK government to provide more support.

Ms McKenzie says raising the Trading Allowance - a tax-free allowance for casual income - from £1,000 to £3,000 would "make it easier for people to sell more, helping them cope with the extra costs that tariffs will bring in".

"The UK and US should be working together to make it easier for small businesses to reach customers across the Atlantic. That means clear, practical rules, time to adapt, and systems that keep trade moving," Ms Mckenzie added.

The BBC has asked the UK Treasury for comment.

In April, the UK government announced it was reviewing its own de minimis rules.

Low-value imports, which are worth £135 or less, are currently exempt from customs duties.

The White House says it has fired the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Susan Monarez, after she refused to resign on Wednesday.

In a statement, it said she was "not aligned with the president's agenda" and she had been removed from her position at the health agency.

The US health department earlier announced her departure, which prompted a statement from Dr Monarez's lawyers who said she had not been told of her removal and she would not resign.

They said she was being targeted for refusing "to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts" and accused Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr of "weaponising public health".

"As her attorney's statement makes abundantly clear, Susan Monarez is not aligned with the president's agenda," the White House said later on Wednesday, adding that she had been terminated from her position as director.

A long-time federal government scientist, Dr Monarez was nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the CDC and was confirmed in a Senate vote along party lines in July.

Her nomination followed Trump withdrawing his first pick, former Republican Congressman Dave Weldon, who had come under fire for his views on vaccines and autism.

Almost immediately after Dr Monarez's departure was first announced by the health department, at least three senior CDC leaders resigned from the agency.

Among them was Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, who warned about the "rise of misinformation" about vaccines in a letter seen by the BBC's US partner CBS News. She also argued against planned cuts to the agency's budget.

Daniel Jernigan, who led the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, also quit citing "the current context in the department".

Head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Demetre Daskalakis, also said he was no longer able to serve "because of the ongoing weaponising of public health".

There are also reports, including by NBC News, that Dr Jennifer Layden, director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance and Technology, has also resigned.

The exodus comes as health experts voice concern over the agency's approach to immunisations under the leadership of Kennedy, a vaccine sceptic.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved new Covid vaccines while limiting who could receive them.

The vaccines will be available for all seniors, but younger adults and children without underlying health conditions will be excluded.

"The emergency use authorizations for Covid vaccines, once used to justify broad mandates on the general public during the Biden administration, are now rescinded," Kennedy wrote on X.

Dr Monarez was the first CDC director in 50 years to not hold a medical degree. Her background is in infectious disease research.

In her month as the CDC leader, she helped comfort agency employees after the CDC's headquarters in Atlanta was attacked by a gunman who believed he had been harmed by Covid vaccines.

The attack, in which hundreds of bullets struck the building, killed one police officer.

Earlier this month, current and former employees of the agency wrote an open letter accusing Kennedy of fuelling violence towards healthcare workers with his anti-vaccine rhetoric.

Dr Monarez departure comes about a week after a union representing CDC employees announced that it had fired about 600 employees.

The wide-ranging layoffs included employees working on the government's response to infectious diseases, including bird flu, as well as those researching environmental hazards and handling public record requests.

Asylum seekers living at a hotel in Essex have been left "in the dark" about their future, according to a migrant living there.

People housed inside the Bell Hotel in Epping are due to be moved out by 12 September after a High Court judge found their presence breached planning laws.

Thousands of people have attended anti-immigration protests and counter-demonstrations outside the hotel since July.

Abdi, a Somalian man who said he was moved to the hotel in May, said: "We don't know if one day a bus comes and says we're going out from here."

Lawyers for the Bell Hotel and the Home Office have been challenging the temporary injunction that meant 138 male asylum seekers would need to be evicted from the site.

Judges at the Court of Appeal are expected to give their ruling at 14:00 BST on Friday.

Abdi, not his real name, told BBC Radio 4's PM programme closing the hotel would not solve the root cause of the problem.

"If this happens - if we are taken out of this place - then they will surely take us from every place we go to. It's going to be the same," he said.

He said "no-one says anything" to the hotel residents, adding: "We're just in the dark."

Fleeing a terrorist group, he said he spent three years travelling to the UK, arriving on a small boat he paid €1,000 (£864) to board.

He said he "came from Turkey to Greece to Austria to France" but several asylum applications in previous countries were rejected.

Abdi criticised some of his fellow asylum seekers living at the Bell Hotel, saying he had seen fights, drunkenness and drug use.

"Some people's behaviour is not good, it makes the rest of us look very bad," he said.

Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian who was living at the hotel, is on trial accused of several offences including sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Epping. He denies the offences.

"Ever since the incident, we don't go out," he said.

"[We face] real intimidation, real hostility. The first time [the protests] happened I was like 'Are they going to come in?'."

Abdi said when he did leave the hotel to get food or go to a JobCentre, some people would insult him.

"In empty areas people come across you [and] they say 'Scumbag, you this, you that' - insulting words," he explained.

"Before, there was nothing like that."

Despite his situation, Abdi said he understood why many people were angry about asylum seekers.

If he felt safe living in Somalia and there was what he branded "mass migration" there, he admitted he would not accept it.

"I am on the side of the people who say it's enough," he said. "It's logical, it's reasonable, it makes sense."

The government has pledged to no longer use hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of this Parliament.

Border Security Minister Dame Angela Eagle said the government would "continue working with local authorities and communities to address legitimate concerns".

Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

The government has told a contractor to remove jobs from a recruitment website, after it emerged there were plans to hire floristry and hairdressing tutors for detainees at an immigration removal centre near Heathrow airport.

Adverts for the jobs, first reported by the Sun newspaper, included a "hospitality and floristry tutor", who was to teach skills including cake decorating and ballooncraft.

Home Office minister Seema Malhotra has instructed the contractor, Mitie, to remove the jobs - some of which had annual salaries of nearly £39,000.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Labour were "pouring taxpayers' money into perks when every effort should be on deportations".

Philp added: "Hiring gym managers and ballooncraft tutors for people who must be deported is indefensible and must be stopped immediately."

Malhotra said: "We do not believe all these roles are necessary and have told the Home Office to speak to Mitie to remove them."

It is not yet clear which jobs Malhotra ordered to be scrapped.

A number of the jobs are still available on the government's Find a Job website.

The roles were posted by facilities management company Mitie, which has signed several deals with the Home Office to provide immigration services.

Mitie manages the Heathrow immigration removal centre (IRC), which is comprised of both the Colnbrook and Harmondsworth facilities, located next to the UK's busiest airport.

Combined, the facilities have a capacity of 965 residents, making it the largest immigration removal centre in Europe, according to Mitie.

Mitie aims "to treat those in our care with dignity, decency, and respect", adding that it works a "high risk, high profile and heavily regulated environment".

The roles advertised at the facility include a "gym manager" with an advertised annual salary of £38,873. Tasks included promoting "meaningful gym activities within the sportshalls, gym areas and courtyards".

A "hospitality and floristry tutor" would be responsible for promoting and delivering "workshops in relevant creative skills including Floristry, cake decorating, ballooncraft." The position has an advertised annual salary of £31,585.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said the government had "lost the plot" and was "addicted to providing freebies", according to the Sun.

Jenrick added: "These jobs should be withdrawn immediately and replaced by security officers that can increase deportations."

A spokesperson for Mitie said: "The impact of these services was highlighted in the recent HMIP report into Harmondsworth, which said that these provisions contributed to a greater overall focus on helping individuals to manage the stresses of detention."

A report published last year found that conditions at the West London immigration centre were "the worst" in the country, and put detainees at "imminent risk of harm".

It added that drug use and violence at the centre were "widespread".

All young children in England and Wales will be offered a free chickenpox vaccine by the NHS from January 2026.

It will be given as two doses, at 12 and 18 months of age, combined with the existing MMR jab which protects against measles, mumps and rubella.

A catch up campaign is planned for slightly older children so they don't miss out.

Until now, parents who wanted to protect their child against the chickenpox varicella virus, which causes red itchy spots, have usually had to pay up to £200 privately.

Ministers hope offering the vaccine free will not only protect youngsters from the severe, although rare, complications of chickenpox, but also save parents taking time off work to look after a sick child.

According to the Department of Health and Social Care, chickenpox causes an estimated £24m in lost income and productivity every year in the UK.

Health minister Stephen Kinnock said: "We're giving parents the power to protect their children.

"This vaccine puts children's health first and gives working families the support they deserve."

Chickenpox rash

Chickenpox is generally mild but can be very severe for some people.

Pregnant women are particularly at risk as it can cause complications for both the mother and her baby.

Very young infants and adults are also more likely to experience serious illness compared to children.

In rare cases it can cause a swelling of the brain, called encephalitis, an inflammation of the lungs, called pneumonitis, and stroke, which can result in hospitalisation and, in very rare cases, death.

The disease is transmitted through direct contact between people, or through airborne droplets in coughs and sneezes.

Illness can start with flu-like symptoms, such as a high temperature and headache.

A rash appears one to three weeks after exposure. Some children might have only a few itchy, red spots, but others can be covered in them.

Within a few days the spots turn into fluid filled blisters, which are contagious until they crust over to form scabs that eventually drop off and clear up.

Experts say vaccination will dramatically reduce the number of chickenpox cases overall, leading to far fewer of the more serious ones.

Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, deputy director of immunisation at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said vaccination could be "a life saver" for some.

Sarah, who is a mother of two girls, says the vaccine would have helped her young daughters Willow and Mia.

Last year they both needed hospital treatment to recover from severe chickenpox.

Her youngest, Mia, developed spots "head to toe" and had a skin infection, which made her very unwell.

"She was just completely out of it...floppy.

"It was just an awful situation to be in.

"It was absolutely terrifying."

She said she would advise parents to consider getting the vaccine: "I would never want any child or any parent to go through what we've been through."

The virus that causes chickenpox - varicella zoster virus (VZV) - is extremely contagious, meaning it is very easy to catch from someone who is infected.

The vaccine reduces the risk of getting it to near zero. And if you do still catch chickenpox after being vaccinated, you'll usually have milder symptoms.

Scotland and Northern Ireland are also expected to offer the vaccine on the NHS, but have not given a date yet.

Shingles, a painful skin rash condition, is caused by the same virus as chickenpox.

VZV stays in the body for life and can reactivate, causing shingles, if your immune defences are low.

People cannot catch shingles from someone with chickenpox. But they can catch chickenpox from someone with shingles if they have not had chickenpox before.

It is possible but very unusual to get chickenpox more than once.

A shingles vaccine is also available on the NHS for:

• all adults turning 65
• those aged 70 to 79
• those aged 50 and over with a severely weakened immune system

The announcement comes as new data revealed none of the main childhood vaccines in England reached the 95% uptake target in 2024/25.

Some 91.9% of five-year-olds had received one dose of the MMR vaccine, unchanged from 2023/24 and the lowest level since 2010/11, according to the UKHSA.