Angela Rayner has admitted she should have paid more tax when she bought her flat in Hove, blaming inaccurate legal advice she received beforehand.

The deputy prime minister said she paid the standard rate of stamp duty on the East Sussex property on the basis it was her only home.

But she said she received further advice, that she should have in fact paid a higher rate, due to arrangements set up for her family home in Greater Manchester.

She denied she had tried to dodge tax, and said she had referred herself for investigation by the prime minister's ethics adviser.

Rayner has faced mounting Tory criticism over her tax situation after continued media scrutiny in recent weeks.

Recording a clip with reporters, she said she had been prevented from sharing more details of her "complex" living arrangements because of a court order that has since been lifted, after she applied to have it removed.

She added that she had contacted HMRC to say she owed additional tax on the property, which she is "prepared to pay".

The Daily Telegraph has previously reported she saved £40,000 in stamp duty on the purchase because she had not paid the higher rate on the £800,000 flat.

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President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will achieve all its objectives by force if Ukraine does not agree to a deal.

"It seems to me that if common sense prevails, it will be possible to agree on an acceptable solution to end this conflict," Putin said. "If not, then we will have to resolve all our tasks militarily."

He praised the "sincere desire" by Donald Trump to find a solution – a day after the US president said he was "disappointed" in Putin, following Russia's attacks in Ukraine since their Alaska summit.

Trump has tried to persuade Putin to meet Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, but the Russian leader has not agreed to do so.

"I have never ruled out the possibility of such a meeting. But is there any point? Let's see," he said.

He added that any such meeting required preparation in advance to yield results, and that Zelensky could always go to Moscow to see him – a "knowingly unacceptable" idea, as Ukraine's foreign minister was quick to point out.

Ukraine's president has been highlighting Putin's refusal to meet as a way of urging Trump to impose sanctions on Russia and boost Ukraine's defences.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

Putin was speaking in Beijing after attending a massive military parade hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The event - also attended by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and leaders of some 20 other countries - was seen as a challenge to the US-dominated global world order.

It did not go unnoticed by Trump who wrote on his social media platform: "Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un as you conspire against the United States of America."

Asked by a Russian state TV journalists whether the war in Ukraine could end soon, the Russian leader said "there is a certain light at the end of the tunnel".

But he went on to stress that Russia would not relinquish the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine his troops have seized.

The Russian leader repeated his demands for Ukraine not to seek to become a Nato member and to stop what he called discrimination against ethnic Russians – one of the allegations mentioned as a pretext for the invasion.

Putin hinted that security guarantees that Ukraine's Western allies have promised to provide Kyiv after a future peace deal would not relate to the Donbas areas whose inhabitants had opted to join Russia – a reference to widely-criticised votes held in the aftermath of the annexation.

On Thursday, the French president will host a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing – a grouping of allies of Ukraine.

A source at the Élysée, Macron's office, has said the group want to secure American backing for a plan to press Russia to agree a ceasefire, with allies extending security guarantees to Ukraine immediately, rather than waiting for a peace deal.

President Trump pressed Putin for a ceasefire during their summit in Alaska last month, but then emerged from the talks saying the search for a peace deal would be a better way of ending the conflict.

Putin has rejected calls for a truce and his troops have intensified attacks on Ukrainian cities. More than Russian 500 drones and 24 cruise missiles were launched on Wednesday night alone.

Rachel Reeves has dismissed forecasts of a £50bn "black hole" in the public finances, despite higher borrowing costs and expected tax rises piling pressure on the chancellor ahead of the autumn Budget.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Reeves hit back at reports speculating over her plans, arguing that "a lot of them are talking rubbish".

It comes after the cost of long-term government borrowing rose to a 27-year high on Tuesday, fuelling concerns the chancellor will have to hike taxes or cut spending.

Reeves said she would aim to "get the balance right" at the Budget, which will be on 26 November, but the Conservatives said the government "don't know what they're doing".

Reeves told the BBC: "Working people and businesses can rest assured, I know how important it is to return growth in investments to our economy and I will do that in the Budget this year."

However, shadow chancellor Mel Stride accused the government of not having a plan and of "stalling" the Budget "in the vain hope things might get better".

'Talking rubbish'

Last month, an independent think tank, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr), estimated that the chancellor would need to plug a £50bn gap in the public finances

But the chancellor played down the figure and told the BBC Niesr had "more than most got their numbers wrong in the last few years".

Forecasts for how much money Reeves needs to find to meet her self-imposed borrowing rules vary widely, with some estimates putting the figure at around £25bn.

Reeves has two rules on government borrowing, which she has repeatedly said are "non-negotiable". These are:

• day-to-day government costs will be paid for by tax income, rather than borrowing by 2029-30
• to get debt falling as a share of national income by the end of this parliament in 2029-30.

Ahead of the election, Labour pledged not to increase taxes on "working people", which included VAT, National Insurance (NI) and income tax.

However, at the Budget last year, she increased the amount of NI employers have to pay, which led to a backlash from many businesses and sectors, such as hospitality.

U-turns on proposed welfare cuts and winter fuel payments have also put pressure on the chancellor to find alternative revenue streams.

It has led to speculation the chancellor is considering tax rises on property, banks and people, but Reeves hit back at such reports.

"People who seem to know what is in the Budget before we have made those decisions are just wrong," she told the BBC.

"A lot of them are talking rubbish, and frankly, a lot of what they're saying is irresponsible.

"It's up to me to decide what is in the Budget, and I will do that in a careful way, getting the balance right between making sure that we've got enough money to find our public services, particularly our National Health Service , whilst also ensuring that we can bring growth and investment to Britain," she added.

Reflecting on this week's changes of personnel in Downing Street, and the beefing up of the prime minister's economic team, she said she was working "in lockstep" with Number 10.

The chancellor also denied that recent sharp increases in government borrowing costs hurt her credibility, saying they have "moved in line with other countries".

"There are global pressures on borrowing costs. You can see that around the world, from the United States to Europe and beyond. We're not immune to those," she said.

'Positive signs'

In recent days long-term borrowing costs across the world have increased, amid concerns about political uncertainty, levels of debt, and a structural shift in pension funds away from such bonds.

Some commentators have argued that the UK's financial position is so weak that it will need a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, but Reeves said "serious economists" don't accept that idea.

She argued there were "lots of positive signs" in the economy, but accepted that more needed to be done so that "working people wherever they live, actually feel the benefits of that growth".

Asked about whether she would return to the bill for welfare to make the Budget numbers add up, she said: "The welfare state should always be there for people who really need it, but we also need to do more to ensure that everyone who can work does work."

After the recent U-turn on welfare cuts, the terms of reference for Work and Pensions Minister Stephen Timms' review of disability benefits is expected shortly.

Some Labour MPs are also campaigning for extra spending to alleviate child poverty by reversing the two-child benefit cap.

The chancellor was speaking to the BBC ahead of the announcement of the Budget date.

A strike carried out by US forces on a boat in the Caribbean Sea - which the White House says killed 11 drug traffickers - may have violated international human rights and maritime law, legal experts have told BBC Verify.

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that US forces destroyed a vessel which he said had departed from Venezuela. He said the boat was operated by the Tren de Aragua cartel and was carrying drugs bound for the US.

US defence officials have so far declined to offer details on the strike, footage of which Trump shared on Truth Social, including what legal authority they relied upon to justify it.

BBC Verify reached out to a range of experts in international and maritime law, with several saying that US may have acted illegally in attacking the vessel.

The US is not a signatory to United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, but the US military's legal advisors have previously said that the US should "act in a manner consistent with its provisions".

Under the convention, countries agree not to interfere with vessels operating in international waters. There are limited exceptions to this which allow a state to seize a ship, such as a "hot pursuit" where a vessel is chased from a country's waters into the high seas.

"Force can be used to stop a boat but generally this should be non-lethal measures," Prof Luke Moffett of Queens University Belfast said.

But he added that the use of aggressive tactics must be "reasonable and necessary in self-defence where there is immediate threat of serious injury or loss of life to enforcement officials", noting that the US moves were likely "unlawful under the law of the sea".

Are US strikes on alleged cartel members legal?

Experts have also questioned whether the killing of the alleged members of the Tren de Aragua cartel could contravene international law on the use of force.

Under Article 2(4) of the UN charter, countries can resort to force when under attack and deploying their military in self-defence. Trump has previously accused the Tren de Aragua cartel of conducting irregular warfare against the US, and the state department has designated the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation.

But Prof Michael Becker of Trinity College Dublin told BBC Verify that the US actions "stretches the meaning of the term beyond its breaking point".

"The fact that US officials describe the individuals killed by the US strike as narco-terrorists does not transform them into lawful military targets," he said. "The US is not engaged in an armed conflict with Venezuela or the Tren de Aragua criminal organization."

"Not only does the strike appear to have violated the prohibition on the use of force, it also runs afoul of the right to life under international human rights law."

Prof Moffett said that the use of force in this case could amount to an "extrajudicial arbitrary killing" and "a fundamental violation of human rights".

"Labelling everyone a terrorist does not make them a lawful target and enables states to side-step international law," he said.

Notre Dame Law School Professor Mary Ellen O'Connell told BBC Verify that the strike "violated fundamental principles of international law", adding: "Intentional killing outside armed conflict hostilities is unlawful unless it is to save a life immediately."

"Sometimes armed groups waging war against governments deal in drugs to pay for their participation in conflict. There is no evidence the gang President Trump targeted is such a group."

But US officials have been quick to defend the strike. Republican Senator Lindsay Graham wrote on X that the strike was the "ultimate - and most welcome - sign that we have a new sheriff in town".

His fellow Republican senator, Bernie Moreno from Ohio, wrote: "Sinking this boat saved American lives. To the narco traffickers and the narco dictators, you'll eventually get the same treatment."

A White House official told BBC Verify that Trump had authorised the strike on the boat, which they said was crewed by Tren de Aragua members, after it left Venezuela. The official added that the president was committed to using all means to prevent drugs reaching the US.

The Pentagon declined to offer further comment or share the legal advice it obtained before carrying out the strike.

Can Trump launch attacks without Congressional approval?

Questions have also been raised as to whether the White House complied with US law in authorising the strike. The US constitution says that only Congress has the power to declare war.

However, Article II - which lays out the president's powers - says that "the president shall be Commander in Chief of the Army" and some constitutional experts have suggested that this grants the president the power to authorise strikes against military targets. Trump administration sources have previously cited this provision when defending US strikes on Iran.

But it is unclear whether that provision extends to the use of force against non-state actors such as drug cartels.

• Trump says 11 killed in US strike on drug-carrying vessel from Venezuela
• US offers $50m reward for arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro
• Venezuela's ex-spy chief pleads guilty to narco-terrorism charges

Rumen Cholakov, an expert in US constiutional law at King's College London told BBC Verify that since 9/11, US presidents have relied on the 2001 Authorization of Use of Military Force Act (AUMF) when carrying out strikes against groups responsible for the attacks.

"Its scope has been expanded consistently in subsequent administrations," he added. "It is not immediately obvious that drug cartels such as Tren de Aragua would be within the President's AUMF powers, but that might be what "narco-terrorists" is hinting at."

Questions also remain as to whether Trump complied with the War Powers Resolution, which demands that the president "in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities".

How did the US conduct the strike?

It is unclear what method the US used to launch the attack. Trump did not offer details in his news conference in the Oval Office and the Department of Defense has failed to offer further information.

In Venezuela President Maduro has yet to respond to the US strikes, but his Communications Minister Freddy Ñáñez has suggested that the footage released by the White House may have been generated using AI. In a post to X, he suggested that water in the video "looks very stylized and unnatural".

BBC Verify has run the clip through SynthID - Google's AI detection software - and found no evidence that the footage is fake.

The strikes come amid reports that the US has deployed several naval warships to the region in support of anti-narcotics operations against Venezuela.

We've not been able to track all of these vessels. But using information from publicly-available onboard trackers, and videos on social media, we've potentially identified four of them in the region.

A ship identifying itself as the USS Lake Erie - a guided missile cruiser - last transmitted its location in the Caribbean Sea on 30 August, east of the Panama Canal on 30 August.

Two others identifying themselves as the USS Gravely and USS Jason Dunham last transmitted their locations in mid-August, at the American base in Guantanamo Bay. A fourth, the USS Fort Lauderdale, transmitted its location north of the Dominican Republic on 28 August.

Trump - who has long sought to oust Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro - has authorised a US$50m reward for any information leading to his arrest. The Venezuelan leader claimed victory in last year's elections, widely viewed as rigged by international observers.

Additional reporting by Lucy Gilder.

What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?

Radiohead have announced their first tour in seven years, after teasing it with a series of mysterious flyers that appeared in cities across Europe.

The revered band will play four nights at London's O2 Arena on 21, 22, 24 and 25 November 2025, with other dates in Berlin, Bologna, Copenhagen and Madrid.

Radiohead last played live in 2018, but drummer Philip Selway confirmed in an Instagram post on the band's official account on Wednesday that they got back together "to rehearse, just for the hell of it" last year.

"After a seven year pause, it felt really good to play the songs again and reconnect with a musical identity that has become lodged deep inside all five of us," he continued.

"It also made us want to play some shows together, so we hope you can make it to one of the upcoming dates."

The five-city European tour is all there is for now, he wrote, but added: "Who knows where this will all lead."

The British band last performed together when they brought their Moon Shaped Pool tour to a close in the US in 2018, after having headlined Glastonbury Festival the previous year.

Since then, frontman Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood have recorded and performed as side project The Smile.

The Smile cancelled some concerts in July 2024 when Jonny, also an Oscar-nominated film composer, became seriously ill from an infection that needed emergency hospital treatment, some of it in intensive care.

Among the other band members, Ed O'Brien has been working on the follow-up to his debut solo album, released in 2020 under the moniker EOB, while bassist Colin Greenwood - Jonny's brother - has been playing with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds of late.

Last year, Colin confirmed that Radiohead - who formed as schoolmates in 1985 and went on to release nine studio albums - had rehearsed together again that summer. "And it was really fun, had a really good time," he said in conversation with the Hay Festival Querétaro.

However, late last year, Yorke told Australian radio station Triple J he was not aware of any plans for a Radiohead live return any time soon, regardless of the demand from fans.

"No offence to anyone and, er, thanks for caring," he said. "But I think we've earned the right to do what makes sense to us without having to explain ourselves or be answerable to anyone else's historical idea of what we should be doing."

In March this year, though, keen-eyed Radiohead fans noticed they registered a new limited liability partnership (LLP) labelled RHEUK25, with all five members listed as officers.

They then gave four tickets to a "Radiohead concert of your choice" to a Los Angeles fire relief auction run by Palisades High School, suggesting gigs were on the horizon.

Their 2003 album Hail to the Thief was this year remixed with William Shakespeare's Hamlet for stage shows in Manchester and Stratford-upon-Avon.

And last week, their track Let Down - taken from their acclaimed 1997 album OK Computer - entered the US Billboard chart 28 years after its release, having gone viral on TikTok.

Registration for tickets for their new tour will open at Radiohead.com on Friday 5 September at 10:00 BST.

Radiohead 2025 tour dates in full:

• Movistar Arena, Madrid, Spain - 4, 5, 7 & 8 November
• Unipol Arena, Bologna, Italy - 14, 15, 17 & 18 November
• The O2, London, UK - 21, 22, 24 & 25 November
• Royal Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark - 1, 2, 4 & 5 December
• Uber Arena, Berlin, Germany - 8, 9, 11 & 12 December

A firm run by a man dubbed "Britain's kindest plumber" breached multiple fundraising rules, a year-long investigation by a regulator has found.

Depher Community Plumbing and Heating CIC, founded by James Anderson, was investigated by the Fundraising Regulator following multiple complaints.

The firm posted on social media about fitting free boilers for elderly and vulnerable people in Burnley, making Mr Anderson a viral sensation at the height of the UK's cost-of-living crisis.

The posts brought in at least £2m in donations, but a BBC News investigation last year revealed some of the stories shared online had in fact been faked.

The Fundraising Regulator has now confirmed it investigated 13 possible breaches of its code.

Gerald Oppenheim, chief executive of the regulator, told the BBC: "Our investigation into Depher CIC found the organisation had committed eight breaches of the code of fundraising practice; particularly those provisions concerning misleading information, evidencing the claims made by the organisation, and ensuring that restricted funds were used for the claimed purpose."

The breaches included how images of vulnerable people were used to encourage donations without context, which the regulator deemed to be "misleading".

Some of the firm's posts also referenced how subjects had felt suicidal. The regulator said the mention of death or suicide alongside fundraising was "controversial" and not enough care had been taken over the treatment of case studies.

It found the number of fundraising appeal pages issued by Depher were "confusing for donors", and that the firm did not have a system in place to learn from complaints.

Depher was a CIC - or Community Interest Company - which is a special type of UK limited company that exists to benefit the community rather than for private profit.

"While we took account of the fact that Depher was a small CIC that experienced rapid growth after media exposure, it is nonetheless clear that it made serious errors in its fundraising activities," Mr Oppenheim added.

In May last year, a special report from BBC News examined hundreds of Depher CIC posts and interviewed families behind the faces on social media.

The investigation revealed a pattern of lies and allegations of exploitation, including:

• Multiple examples of Depher recycling the same photos in misleading and false posts, including several using the same image of a dead woman
• Depher posted a video and images of a vulnerable man in his 90s in fundraising posts more than 20 times, publicising information about his sexuality, despite the man denying he would have agreed to be filmed
• Depher funds were used to purchase a house and Mr Anderson also admitted to buying a car with company cash
• Former employees raised safety concerns after one staff member was pictured smoking a cigarette next to a leaking boiler

The BBC has contacted Mr Anderson for comment.

Last year, Mr Anderson denied some of the BBC's allegations but admitted: "I've made mistakes." He also claimed to have been the victim of online harassment and threats.

The daughter of an elderly woman, who featured in multiple false posts on a Depher social media account detailing how Mr Anderson prevented her from taking her on life, told the BBC she welcomed the regulator's findings.

The BBC found the image of the woman had been used seven times in total by Depher between February 2021 and August 2023, with different ages and locations. We identified her as a woman named Joyce, who had died in February 2020, over a year before Depher began using her image.

Her daughter Andrea has now called on the police and other bodies to fully investigate the firm. "My mother loved her life and it is utterly despicable that someone could use death and suicide in such a way. It breaks my heart."

She added: "I wish the police and other bodies would have taken it more seriously because James Anderson needs to be brought to account."

At the time of the original BBC report, Mr Anderson admitted the posts showing the face of Joyce, Andrea's mother, were misleading and apologised.

The plumber's rise to fame saw him receive letters of thanks from the late Queen and the King, and a Pride of Manchester award. He has been a guest on Good Morning Britain, BBC Breakfast, The One Show, Sky News and the Russell Howard Show, and was described as "Britain's kindest plumber" or a "hero plumber".

Celebrities such as the singer Lily Allen, Emmerdale actress Samantha Giles and actor Hugh Grant - who gave £75,000 - were among the donors to his company.

After the BBC investigation Mr Anderson had his British Citizen Award rescinded, which he received in 2023.

Thousands of members of the public also donated money to him, many using appeals on GoFundMe, JustGiving and Crowdfunder.

A GoFundMe spokesperson said: "We welcome the Fundraising Regulator's thorough investigation. Last year, we honoured refund requests under the GoFundMe Giving Guarantee. We always cooperate fully with regulatory inquiries and will take the strongest possible action against any misuse."

The Office of the CIC Regulator told the BBC it noted the findings in the Fundraising Regulator's report.

"Any complaints regarding CICs are taken seriously and if a breach in CIC legislation is identified, then appropriate regulatory action will be considered."

Depher Community Plumbing and Heating CIC no longer trades under that name and is under new leadership as Community Elderly and Disabled Support CIC.

The BBC understands the Fundraising Regulator has made recommendations to the new business. The BBC has contacted the leadership team regarding their plans for the future.

'These victims have been failed'

As the cannon fire echoed through Tiananmen Square, even before the first set of troops goose-stepped their way through Beijing's central avenue, the day's most enduring image unfolded.

China's President Xi Jinping welcomed North Korea's Kim Jong Un with a long handshake, then moved on to greet Russia's Vladimir Putin, and then walked to his seat, flanked by two of the world's most sanctioned leaders.

It was sheer political theatre. And it was this meeting - rather than the weaponry - that appears to have irked US President Donald Trump.

As the parade began, Trump sent a sharply-worded message on Truth Social, accusing the three leaders of conspiring against America.

This may well have been the reaction President Xi had hoped for as he kept Putin to his right and Kim to his left throughout the parade. The moment may have even been designed to infuriate a US president who would perhaps prefer to be the centre of the world's attention.

The Chinese leader has stolen the limelight, and he's using it to show his power and influence over an eastern-led alliance – a defiant group determined to push back against a US-led world order.

It is a strong message from Xi as the world reels from the unpredictability of Trump's presidency. Besides Kim and Putin, there were more than 20 other foreign heads of state. Just earlier this week, Xi also appeared to be resetting his troubled relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump's 50% levy on Indian imports has prompted a thaw between the long-time rivals.

Wednesday's spectacle was supposed to be about commemorating an 80-year-old victory over Japan. But it was actually about where China is headed - right to the top, with Xi playing the role of a global leader.

And at his feet was a military that is being built to rival the West.

China holds the reins now

This was the first time Xi, Putin and Kim had been seen together - and together, they climbed to the top of the Gate of Heavenly Peace that overlooks the historic square to watch the parade.

The symbolism was hard to miss. Communist China's founder Mao Zedong had declared the founding of the republic there in 1949 - and 10 years later, it was where he hosted Kim's grandfather and the then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, to watch a military parade.

That was the last time the leaders of the three countries were together. It was the height of the Cold War, China was isolated from much of the world, as was North Korea, and the Soviet Union was the most powerful and richest among them.

Now, it's China that holds the reins in this relationship. Nuclear-armed but still poor, North Korea needs Beijing's aid. And Putin needs the legitimacy that Xi just provided him.

In the past, Xi appeared to keep his distance from Putin and Kim, and publicly maintain a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine. He did not condemn it, but denied China was helping Russia.

It even seemed like he was on the sidelines as Russia and North Korea grew closer more recently. Kim has been sending troops to support Putin's invasion of Ukraine in exchange for money and technology.

But now he seems to be standing by his two neighbours, even as they continue to attack Kyiv.

"Today humanity is again faced with the choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero sum," Mr Xi told the watching crowds, along with millions glued to the parade coverage on state TV across the country.

China is a "great nation that is never intimidated by any bullies", he declared.

And the military parade that followed was about showing that - it was a display of power, precision and patriotism.

It started with a gun salute – 80 times to mark 80 years since China's victory over Japan in World War Two, ending a brutal occupation. The sound bounced off every corner of the square as 50,000 spectators, some of them war veterans, sat in silence.

The choir followed, every single member appearing exactly spaced out as the cameras panned above them. They sang in perfect harmony: "Without the Communist Party, there is no modern China." Each verse was punctuated by raised fists.

President Xi drove the length of the parade route to inspect his troops before each battle unit took turns to goose-step past their leader. Every joint strike on the tarmac reverberated through the stands.

The rumbling tanks came first in the display of China's new weapons. But they looked old compared to what followed. A new nuclear-capable missile that can be launched from sea, land and air, hypersonic anti-ship missiles and laser weapons to defend against drone attacks. There were new underwater and airborne drones that can spy on targets.

The US may still have an edge, honed over years and through its involvement in conflicts across the world, but there is no doubt that China is building a military to rival that.

And Wednesday's show of strength was a statement aimed at Washington and its allies, as well as the rest of the world - and even at Putin and Kim, who knew the significance of what they were looking at.

"The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is unstoppable," Xi had said in his speech in an effort to bolster pride in the nation.

The West is worried

It appears to be working on some people.

On a bridge overlooking the Tonghui River, crowds had gathered away from the main parade route to try to see the military flypast. Thirty-year-old Mr Rong said he found the parade moving.

"Cherishing this moment is the most fundamental thing we can do. We believe we will retake Taiwan by 2035," he declared.

This is the rhetoric feared by many on the self-governing island of Taiwan, which China believes is a breakaway province that will one day be united with the motherland. Xi has not ruled out the use of force to achieve that goal. And the weaponry that he showed off on Wednesday, much of which emphasised China's naval capabilities, is bound to worry Taiwanese leaders.

It also worries many Western nations, especially in Europe, which are still grappling with how to end the war in Ukraine. Many were absent from the parade.

Han Yongguang, 75, shrugged off any suggestion that Western leaders had shunned the parade.

"It's up to them to come or not," he said. "They are envious of China's fast development. To be honest, they are aggressive at heart. We are completely committed to the common prosperity of mankind. We are different."

This parade has been fuelling a wave of nationalism at a time when China is battling serious domestic challenges: a sluggish economy, a real estate crisis, an ageing population, high youth unemployment and local governments deep in debt.

As confident as China appears on the world stage, President Xi must find a way to keep a burgeoning middle class from worrying about their future. China's economic rise was once thought unstoppable, but that is no longer the case.

So this parade - with all the rhetoric about an old enemy, Japan - may be a welcome distraction.

After a long display of cutting-edge weaponry, including nuclear missiles, the parade concluded with thousands of doves and balloons released into the skies over Beijing.

The commemoration - the songs, the marches, the missiles, the drones, even the "robot wolves" - was not so much about China's struggle.

Rather, it was about how far China has come - and how it is catching up with the US and challenging it for supremacy.

The housing secretary has admitted paying the wrong amount of tax on a house.

That is pretty much the worst headline conceivable about any housing secretary, let alone Angela Rayner, who is also the deputy prime minister and spent years as Labour's sleazehunter-in-chief.

That's the straightforward fact which makes this such a damaging, indeed career-threatening, episode for Rayner.

Other elements are not quite so straightforward. The case was untypical because it involved her divorce, and a trust Rayner and her ex-husband had set up to provide for her son, who has lifelong disabilities.

Crucially, Rayner is adamant that she sought advice from a lawyer about the stamp duty liable, and has only now learnt from a different lawyer that that advice was wrong. It is on that basis that she is not resigning.

It is no doubt on that basis as well that Sir Keir Starmer full-throatedly defended his deputy at Prime Minister's Questions this afternoon - though remember that while he could sack her from her government positions she has an independent mandate as deputy leader of the Labour Party which only she can give up.

It is also on the basis of the flawed initial advice that Labour officials, ministers and MPs mostly seem as of this afternoon to believe that Rayner will probably survive the independent investigation into whether she has breached the ministerial code.

Whether she will survive in the court of public opinion is being treated as a separate matter altogether.

There are few attacks more devastating in politics than the charge that there is one rule for them and another for the rest of us. That's why Labour politicians, including Rayner, deployed it so often in opposition themselves.

Within the Labour Party, Rayner is - as one senior figure put it this afternoon - "Teflon".

Having backed Sir Keir's more left wing leadership opponent back in 2020, she and the PM have had at times a difficult, and occasionally extremely difficult, relationship.

But she has made herself absolutely vital to his political project. As housing secretary she is responsible for delivering on one of his most important policy pledges, and as deputy prime minister she has been used to reach parts of the party the PM cannot, for example when she was tasked with helping to defuse the welfare rebellion earlier this year.

Sir Keir will be desperate not to lose her from government, and she is clearly desperate not to go.

But that is no longer entirely in their hands.

This is certainly not how "phase two" was meant to begin.

The head of the Metropolitan Police has called on the government to "change or clarify" the law following the arrest of comedian Graham Linehan over posts he made online.

The 50-year-old was arrested under the Public Order Act on Monday on suspicion of inciting violence in relation to posts about trans people on X.

On Wednesday, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley defended the officers involved, but said he recognised "concern caused by such incidents given differing perspectives on the balance between free speech and the risks of inciting violence in the real world".

Sir Keir Starmer said the police must "focus on the most serious issues" when asked in the Commons about Linehan's arrest.

In a Substack article, Linehan said his arrest at Heathrow was related to three posts on X from April.

The first post called it a "violent, abusive act" for a trans-identified male to be in a female-only space. He wrote: "Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails punch him in the balls."

Linehan - whose arrest triggered a backlash over free speech concerns - has been bailed under investigation and has not been charged with an offence.

In his statement on Wednesday, Sir Mark said the decision to arrest Linehan "was made within existing legislation - which dictates that a threat to punch someone from a protected group could be an offence".

Sir Mark said his officers "had reasonable grounds to believe an offence had been committed," but that police more broadly had "been left between a rock and a hard place" when investigating online speech.

He continued: "I don't believe we should be policing toxic culture wars debates and officers are currently in an impossible position."

Sir Mark said police will have to "make similar decisions in future unless the law and guidance is changed or clarified".

He said he hopes this happens "without delay", but said the Met would be taking immediate action to update how it decides which cases warrant a police investigation.

Sir Mark said: "As an immediate way of protecting our officers from the situation we find ourselves in today, we will be putting in place a more stringent triaging process to make sure only the most serious cases are taken forward in future – where there is a clear risk of harm or disorder."

As the cannon fire echoed through Tiananmen Square, even before the first set of troops goose-stepped their way through Beijing's central avenue, the day's most enduring image unfolded.

China's President Xi Jinping welcomed North Korea's Kim Jong Un with a long handshake, then moved on to greet Russia's Vladimir Putin, and then walked to his seat, flanked by two of the world's most sanctioned leaders.

It was sheer political theatre. And it was this meeting - rather than the weaponry - that appears to have irked US President Donald Trump.

As the parade began, Trump sent a sharply-worded message on Truth Social, accusing the three leaders of conspiring against America.

This may well have been the reaction President Xi had hoped for as he kept Putin to his right and Kim to his left throughout the parade. The moment may have even been designed to infuriate a US president who would perhaps prefer to be the centre of the world's attention.

The Chinese leader has stolen the limelight, and he's using it to show his power and influence over an eastern-led alliance – a defiant group determined to push back against a US-led world order.

It is a strong message from Xi as the world reels from the unpredictability of Trump's presidency. Besides Kim and Putin, there were more than 20 other foreign heads of state. Just earlier this week, Xi also appeared to be resetting his troubled relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump's 50% levy on Indian imports has prompted a thaw between the long-time rivals.

Wednesday's spectacle was supposed to be about commemorating an 80-year-old victory over Japan. But it was actually about where China is headed - right to the top, with Xi playing the role of a global leader.

And at his feet was a military that is being built to rival the West.

China holds the reins now

This was the first time Xi, Putin and Kim had been seen together - and together, they climbed to the top of the Gate of Heavenly Peace that overlooks the historic square to watch the parade.

The symbolism was hard to miss. Communist China's founder Mao Zedong had declared the founding of the republic there in 1949 - and 10 years later, it was where he hosted Kim's grandfather and the then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, to watch a military parade.

That was the last time the leaders of the three countries were together. It was the height of the Cold War, China was isolated from much of the world, as was North Korea, and the Soviet Union was the most powerful and richest among them.

Now, it's China that holds the reins in this relationship. Nuclear-armed but still poor, North Korea needs Beijing's aid. And Putin needs the legitimacy that Xi just provided him.

In the past, Xi appeared to keep his distance from Putin and Kim, and publicly maintain a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine. He did not condemn it, but denied China was helping Russia.

It even seemed like he was on the sidelines as Russia and North Korea grew closer more recently. Kim has been sending troops to support Putin's invasion of Ukraine in exchange for money and technology.

But now he seems to be standing by his two neighbours, even as they continue to attack Kyiv.

"Today humanity is again faced with the choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero sum," Mr Xi told the watching crowds, along with millions glued to the parade coverage on state TV across the country.

China is a "great nation that is never intimidated by any bullies", he declared.

And the military parade that followed was about showing that - it was a display of power, precision and patriotism.

It started with a gun salute – 80 times to mark 80 years since China's victory over Japan in World War Two, ending a brutal occupation. The sound bounced off every corner of the square as 50,000 spectators, some of them war veterans, sat in silence.

The choir followed, every single member appearing exactly spaced out as the cameras panned above them. They sang in perfect harmony: "Without the Communist Party, there is no modern China." Each verse was punctuated by raised fists.

President Xi drove the length of the parade route to inspect his troops before each battle unit took turns to goose-step past their leader. Every joint strike on the tarmac reverberated through the stands.

The rumbling tanks came first in the display of China's new weapons. But they looked old compared to what followed. A new nuclear-capable missile that can be launched from sea, land and air, hypersonic anti-ship missiles and laser weapons to defend against drone attacks. There were new underwater and airborne drones that can spy on targets.

The US may still have an edge, honed over years and through its involvement in conflicts across the world, but there is no doubt that China is building a military to rival that.

And Wednesday's show of strength was a statement aimed at Washington and its allies, as well as the rest of the world - and even at Putin and Kim, who knew the significance of what they were looking at.

"The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is unstoppable," Xi had said in his speech in an effort to bolster pride in the nation.

The West is worried

It appears to be working on some people.

On a bridge overlooking the Tonghui River, crowds had gathered away from the main parade route to try to see the military flypast. Thirty-year-old Mr Rong said he found the parade moving.

"Cherishing this moment is the most fundamental thing we can do. We believe we will retake Taiwan by 2035," he declared.

This is the rhetoric feared by many on the self-governing island of Taiwan, which China believes is a breakaway province that will one day be united with the motherland. Xi has not ruled out the use of force to achieve that goal. And the weaponry that he showed off on Wednesday, much of which emphasised China's naval capabilities, is bound to worry Taiwanese leaders.

It also worries many Western nations, especially in Europe, which are still grappling with how to end the war in Ukraine. Many were absent from the parade.

Han Yongguang, 75, shrugged off any suggestion that Western leaders had shunned the parade.

"It's up to them to come or not," he said. "They are envious of China's fast development. To be honest, they are aggressive at heart. We are completely committed to the common prosperity of mankind. We are different."

This parade has been fuelling a wave of nationalism at a time when China is battling serious domestic challenges: a sluggish economy, a real estate crisis, an ageing population, high youth unemployment and local governments deep in debt.

As confident as China appears on the world stage, President Xi must find a way to keep a burgeoning middle class from worrying about their future. China's economic rise was once thought unstoppable, but that is no longer the case.

So this parade - with all the rhetoric about an old enemy, Japan - may be a welcome distraction.

After a long display of cutting-edge weaponry, including nuclear missiles, the parade concluded with thousands of doves and balloons released into the skies over Beijing.

The commemoration - the songs, the marches, the missiles, the drones, even the "robot wolves" - was not so much about China's struggle.

Rather, it was about how far China has come - and how it is catching up with the US and challenging it for supremacy.

The government is in favour of merging all of the UK's steel companies into one, because of concern over the sector's financial viability, BBC News can reveal.

There are six steel companies in the UK, four of which are currently being financially supported by the government, and ministers believe the sector is too fragmented.

It's understood that the preference inside the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is to find a joint buyer, rather than nationalise the companies.

Any future plan would need the backing of the current owners, but it's understood ministers have told the sector they believe a merger is the best way to be sustainable in the long-term.

The UK's steel industry has faced major financial difficulties in recent years due to high energy prices, increased tariffs and a glut of steel in the global market.

Ministers are already searching for buyers for two steel companies and another has been publicly owned since 2021.

The UK wing of Liberty Steel in South Yorkshire collapsed into government control last month after insolvency courts granted a compulsory winding up order.

Speciality Steels UK (SSUK), part of the Liberty Steel metals empire of controversial tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, was placed in the hands of a government appointed liquidator last month and ministers have agreed to cover the ongoing wages and costs of the plant while a buyer is sought.

It's understood that a number of commercial buyers have already approached the government about taking over SSUK, which has already transitioned to greener electric arc furnaces.

Ministers took control of British Steel in Scunthorpe in April after accusing the Chinese owners Jingye of trying to close down the site's blast furnaces.

The search for a new buyer for British Steel has stalled in recent months after Jingye unexpectedly asked for a sum in the hundreds of millions to hand over ownership.

BBC News has been told that Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is set to fly to China next week to negotiate with Jingye officials.

There is some concern within government that finding a buyer for British Steel may be more difficult, given the site uses old-fashioned blast furnaces.

Tata Steel, in Port Talbot, was given a £500m government rescue package last year to help the company move to greener forms of steelmaking.

Sheffield Foragemasters was nationalised by the Ministry of Defence in 2021 after the company faced financial difficulties throughout the 2010s.

A senior source in the Department for Business and Trade said "We are trying to fix the UK steel sector in the round.

"We needed Jingye off the board, we are very close to doing that. We needed Gupta off the board, we've done that."

The source added that there was now a belief inside government that the UK's steel companies "should all be brought together", to make the sector more financially sustainable, but that such a move might not be possible if the current owners do not all agree.

The government is understood to have told the steel sector that even without a shared ownership model, the companies will be expected to work together much more closely in the future.

Ministers have always maintained that full nationalisation for any steel company is not the government's preference and the source added that it was "unlikely" the companies would be nationalised together.

Fast-fashion giant Shein has launched an investigation after an image of Luigi Mangione - accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York last year - was used to model a shirt.

An image with his likeness, which appeared to show him wearing a white, short-sleeved shirt, appeared on the fast-fashion website until its removal.

It is thought the product he appeared to be modelling was on sale for just under $10 (£7.50).

A spokesperson from Shein told BBC News: "The image in question was removed immediately upon discovery."

"We have stringent standards for the content of listings on our platform", the spokesperson added.

"We are conducting a thorough review and are strengthening our monitoring processes."

It is not known for how long the image was used, or who the company was that was selling it on the Chinese company's website.

Many online have speculated the image was created using artificial intelligence (AI) - but it remains unclear how the picture was made.

In April, Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty to all federal charges brought over the fatal shooting of Mr Thompson.

The 26-year-old, who was arrested in December, faces the charges of murder and stalking.

His not guilty plea means he will face trial and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty if he is convicted.

Public reaction to Mr Thompson's killing has shed light on privatised healthcare, and some have celebrated Mr Mangione as a folk hero, with supporters gathering outside the courthouse during his hearings.

But this is not the first time his name or likeness has caused controversy for a company.

In December, the BBC complained to Apple after the tech giant's new iPhone feature generated a false headline about the accused murderer.

Apple Intelligence used AI to summarise and group together notifications.

The summary falsely made it appear BBC News had published an article claiming he had shot himself - when he had not.

A month later, Apple suspended the feature after the error and other mistakes.

His lawyers have not commented on the use of his image on Shein.

Additional reporting by Liv McMahon

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The leaders of China, Russia and North Korea appeared in public together for the first time in a show of solidarity at a massive military parade in Beijing.

President Xi Jinping said the world faced a choice between peace and war as China unveiled a huge arsenal of weapons, including nuclear missiles with a global reach.

Thousands of soldiers paraded equipment on Wednesday, demonstrating China's military modernisation programme. The huge display commemorated 80 years since the end of the Second World War.

On the sidelines, President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong Un met; with Putin praising Pyongyang for sending soldiers to fight in Ukraine.

• BBC correspondents react to China's military parade
• What new weapons on show say about China's military strength
• North Korea's Kim arrives in Beijing with daughter

Putin and Kim joined 24 other dignitaries in China who had been invited to Beijing parade on behalf of Xi.

Former top leaders of China also stood at the Tiananmen viewing platform - but notably absent was former president Hu Jintao.

South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung did get an invitation, but turned it down; while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi - who met President Xi earlier this week - was also not present.

Among the world leaders attending were Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, Pakistan's PM Shehbaz Sharif, Vietnam's Luong Cuong and Zimbabwe's Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Most Western leaders opted not to attend China's "Victory Day" parade.

The two that did make the journey - Slovakia's Robert Fico and Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia - posed for photos with Putin after the main event.

They all watched on as around 50,000 spectators - all vetted in advance - attended the parade in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

President Xi inspected thousands of soldiers from different branches of the Chinese military who had gathered on Changan Avenue.

Laser weapons, robotic "wolves" and giant underwater nuclear drones were among new weapons on display.

China also showed off its stealth attack drones, dubbed the "loyal wingman", as they are capable of flying alongside a manned fighter jet and aid it in its attacks.

Thousands of doves and balloons were later released into the skies above Tiananmen Square to mark the end of the parade.

Guests then enjoyed a lunch reception at the Great Hall of the People and could choose between a red or white Chinese wine.

President Xi gave a toast to say the world must "never return to the law of the jungle"

He did not address any Western nations specifically in his five-minute speech, but Chinese officials have previously called the US a "bully" for its imposition of tariffs on countries around the world.

Xi added: "We sincerely hope that all countries will draw lessons from history, value peace and work together to... create a brighter future for humanity".

He concluded by toasting to "common prosperity for all humankind".

Putin and Kim then held bilateral talks at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in a meeting which lasted two-and-a-half hours.

The pair discussed North Korea's contribution in the Ukraine war and reflected on an agreement struck last June between the two nations.

It is now estimated that up to 15,000 thousand North Korean troops have joined Russian soldiers on the front lines in Ukraine.

North Korea has also supplied Russia with ammunition. In exchange, North Korea is believed to have received money and help with weapons development.

Donald Trump, who did not attend, took to his social media platform and accused his President Xi of conspiring against the US with Russia and North Korea.

"Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America," Trump posted on Truth Social.

Kremlin spokesperson Yuri Ushakov rejected any suggestion of a conspiracy against the US, according to Russian state media.

Ushakov called Trump's words "ironic" and said Putin, Xi and Kim are "not even thinking about a conspiracy against the United States" and that the three leaders understand Washington's role "in the current international situation".

The Budget will be take place on Wednesday 26 November, the chancellor has announced.

Rachel Reeves confirmed the date that she will outline the government's taxation and spending plans to pay for things such as hospitals, schools, the military and the police.

It comes as the chancellor faces mounting pressure to balance the public finances, while trying to boost economic growth and maintain the confidence of investors on financial markets.

Economists have warned tax rises or spending cuts must be made if Reeves is to maintain her borrowing rules, given growth has been sluggish and inflation, the rate at which prices rise, has been increasing.

Labour pledged in its election manifesto to not increase taxes on "working people", which included VAT, National Insurance (NI) and income tax.

At the Budget last year, the chancellor increased the amount of NI employers have to pay, which led to a backlash from many businesses and sectors, such as hospitality.

Given the government's pledges, speculation has grown over what taxes Reeves could increase, which suggestions ranging from a windfall tax on the profits of banks to various property taxes or reforming the council tax system.

And with long-term borrowing costs reaching their highest level since 1998, it is getting increasingly expensive to service government debt, eating up what little financial buffer - about £10bn - the chancellor has.

Reeves confirmed she has instructed the government's independent forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to begin the 10-week process of producing a new economic forecast based on her policies for the end of November.

The OBR's assessment of the government's plans is seen as a key factor in ensuring financial markets remain stable and investors, who typically loan the UK money, maintain confidence in the UK economy.

The reports of various policy plans have led to uncertainty in recent weeks and some economists had suggested the government should end uncertainty over possible changes with a fast turnaround Budget in October.

Instead the government will take two and a half months to decide the detail of what is expected to be a tax-raising and reforming statement.

Treasury sources said the end of November was in line with typical timing for an Autumn budgetary statement, and that it left time for the "full process" involving the OBR.

The first stage is for the OBR to deliver a new baseline forecast for the UK later this month, which will incorporate a critical new assessment of long-term productivity.

This move alone could open up a difficult hole in the public finances, on top of existing announced U-turns on welfare cuts, and the impact of higher government borrowing costs.

The OBR will tell the Treasury how much taxes will have to rise by or spending will have to be cut by in order to meet the chancellor's borrowing rules.

The government will then outline likely measures to the forecasters who will assess how much they are forecast to raise or to cost the exchequer.

Reeves has two rules on government borrowing, which she has repeatedly said are "non-negotiable". These are:

• day-to-day government costs will be paid for by tax income, rather than borrowing by 2029-30
• to get debt falling as a share of national income by the end of this parliament in 2029-30

Last month, the independent National Institute for Economics and Social Research think tank said that the overall gap in the public finances could reach as much as £50bn a year.

It pointed to the need to re-establish what it calls "a large buffer" for Reeves to avoid missing her self-imposed borrowing rules.

In recent days long-term borrowing costs across the world have increased, amid concerns about political uncertainty, levels of debt, and a structural shift in pension funds away from such bonds.

The chancellor will have to balance the books, produce a set of policies that will pass her backbenchers and also promote reforming policies that help jump start sluggish growth.

The leaders of China, Russia and North Korea appeared in public together for the first time in a show of solidarity at a massive military parade in Beijing.

President Xi Jinping said the world faced a choice between peace and war as China unveiled a huge arsenal of weapons, including nuclear missiles with a global reach.

Thousands of soldiers paraded equipment on Wednesday, demonstrating China's military modernisation programme. The huge display commemorated 80 years since the end of the Second World War.

On the sidelines, President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong Un met; with Putin praising Pyongyang for sending soldiers to fight in Ukraine.

• BBC correspondents react to China's military parade
• What new weapons on show say about China's military strength
• North Korea's Kim arrives in Beijing with daughter

Putin and Kim joined 24 other dignitaries in China who had been invited to Beijing parade on behalf of Xi.

Former top leaders of China also stood at the Tiananmen viewing platform - but notably absent was former president Hu Jintao.

South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung did get an invitation, but turned it down; while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi - who met President Xi earlier this week - was also not present.

Among the world leaders attending were Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, Pakistan's PM Shehbaz Sharif, Vietnam's Luong Cuong and Zimbabwe's Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Most Western leaders opted not to attend China's "Victory Day" parade.

The two that did make the journey - Slovakia's Robert Fico and Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia - posed for photos with Putin after the main event.

They all watched on as around 50,000 spectators - all vetted in advance - attended the parade in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

President Xi inspected thousands of soldiers from different branches of the Chinese military who had gathered on Changan Avenue.

Laser weapons, robotic "wolves" and giant underwater nuclear drones were among new weapons on display.

China also showed off its stealth attack drones, dubbed the "loyal wingman", as they are capable of flying alongside a manned fighter jet and aid it in its attacks.

Thousands of doves and balloons were later released into the skies above Tiananmen Square to mark the end of the parade.

Guests then enjoyed a lunch reception at the Great Hall of the People and could choose between a red or white Chinese wine.

President Xi gave a toast to say the world must "never return to the law of the jungle"

He did not address any Western nations specifically in his five-minute speech, but Chinese officials have previously called the US a "bully" for its imposition of tariffs on countries around the world.

Xi added: "We sincerely hope that all countries will draw lessons from history, value peace and work together to... create a brighter future for humanity".

He concluded by toasting to "common prosperity for all humankind".

Putin and Kim then held bilateral talks at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in a meeting which lasted two-and-a-half hours.

The pair discussed North Korea's contribution in the Ukraine war and reflected on an agreement struck last June between the two nations.

It is now estimated that up to 15,000 thousand North Korean troops have joined Russian soldiers on the front lines in Ukraine.

North Korea has also supplied Russia with ammunition. In exchange, North Korea is believed to have received money and help with weapons development.

Donald Trump, who did not attend, took to his social media platform and accused his President Xi of conspiring against the US with Russia and North Korea.

"Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America," Trump posted on Truth Social.

Kremlin spokesperson Yuri Ushakov rejected any suggestion of a conspiracy against the US, according to Russian state media.

Ushakov called Trump's words "ironic" and said Putin, Xi and Kim are "not even thinking about a conspiracy against the United States" and that the three leaders understand Washington's role "in the current international situation".

Topshop will return to the High Street, five years after it closed all of its UK stores.

The brand is going to be available in 32 John Lewis shops from February 2026, while its menswear brand Topman will be available in six stores.

The chain disappeared after the collapse of Sir Philip Green's retail empire, which owned Topshop as well as Burton and Dorothy Perkins.

The Topshop brand was bought by the online retailer Asos, which sold its majority stake last September to the Danish retail tycoon Anders Holch Povlsen and is now in the midst of a major comeback.

Asos currently sells Topshop and Topman products on its website and a standalone Topshop site was recently relaunched, but it was unclear if the brand would ever reappear on the High Street again until recently.

"Customers absolutely want to see us back in stores and we want to bring that nationwide," said Michelle Wilson, managing director of Topshop and Topman.

The new Topshop spring collection will feature 120 pieces, curated by John Lewis.

The brand will be given a "prime" position in stores, according to Peter Ruis, Managing Director at John Lewis.

He said he hopes the partnering with the iconic brand will bring new customers through the department store's doors, and believes people will be queueing to get in when range is launched.

"I think the best fashion brands are multi-generational. The brilliance of Topshop is it is so affordable," he said.

The upmarket store Liberty London in Soho recently started to sell a small Topshop collection.

But the tie up with John Lewis is the first nationwide partnership for the brand, and the fashion retailer, which had its heyday in the 2000s and 2010s, wants to introduce some standalone stores in future.

Topshop struggled during the covid-19 pandemic, when it had to close its physical stores, but it had been having problems for several years.

It failed to keep up with changing shopping habits among its key demographic – teenagers and young adults – primarily the rise of online shopping.

And as its core customers aged out of its products, it struggled to replace them with new shoppers or adapt its products to its old base's tastes.

Graham Soult, a retail consultant, said the partnership between John Lewis and Topshop was "a canny move for both brands".

"If you're Topshop, you've got a customer base who have a real affection for the brand," he said. And for John Lewis, "it gets the name out there in a positive way" and draws in new customers.

"Maybe this will be a template for how you bring back an iconic name."

Fresh warnings have been issued by police forces and councils across the country after a rise in parking scams over the summer.

From fake text messages about unpaid tickets to tampered car park machines that secretly steal your card details, fraudsters are becoming increasingly creative.

BBC scams expert Nick Stapleton told Morning Live there are easy ways you can protect yourself so you don't fall victim to some of the most common tricks.

1. Check your fine has these three details

Genuine parking notices always contain certain details.

"Real parking fines will include vehicle registration, the time of the offence and the location it happened," Stapleton says.

"If it doesn't have these three things then it is a scam.

"A genuine fine will always come in writing and will be left on your windscreen, handed to you in person or arrive in the post."

There are three types of fines you may receive - a penalty charge notice issued by the council, a fixed penalty notice issued by police usually linked to offences such as speeding and a parking charge notice issued by a private company.

Parking charge notices "aren't technically fines, they're invoices for breaching parking rules", so you don't always have to pay them but "check carefully before refusing to pay".

2. Don't click on links in texts

If you get a text out of the blue saying you owe money for an unpaid parking ticket, stop before you click. One of the most common tricks is a fake text or email demanding payment for an unpaid fine.

These texts usually come with a link you are told to click on to pay the fine and "use urgent and threatening language to make you panic", Stapleton says.

Some scam texts might say your licence will be revoked if you don't pay for the ticket but "that's not how it works, you won't lose your license".

Some links in these scam texts take you to websites that look like official government ones.

If you're not sure a website is legitimate you can "click around on the other links".

"If you click through on other links on the page you'll notice that they don't work and that's a clear sign it's a clone site," says Stapleton.

3. Restart your device and change passwords

If you have clicked on a suspicious link, don't despair - but do these three things:

• Restart your device: A lot of the links allow a scammer to gain remote access to your device. If you restart your phone or laptop it will kill the connection

• Change passwords: If you've filled in your details on the link make sure you change your passwords to any accounts with money in

• Call your bank: Inform your bank's fraud department about the message, the link and what information you gave

You could also consider installing antivirus software then run a search to see if any malware has been installed.

4. Check for skimming devices on parking machines

A new scam, which is increasing according to the UK's national fraud reporting centre Action Fraud, targets people paying for parking at machines.

Fraudsters attach a physical device to a contactless payment reader on a parking machine and when you try to pay, the machine displays a "card declined" message.

"While you walk off to try another machine, the skimming device has already stolen your card details," Stapleton explains.

Here's how to check whether the machine has been tampered with:

• Look for an extra sticker: Check there is no extra sticker or item placed on top of the contactless payment button

• Verify Branding: Look for the correct logos and branding. Scammers often use stickers with mismatched logos

• Trust Your Instincts: If something looks or feels suspicious, do not use the machine

"Contactless readers should look like they're part of the machine. If something looks bolted on or mismatched, it's best not to risk it," he says. "Always trust your gut."

If you do feel like there's something not quite right with the machine you can pay in cash instead or through a parking app.

Watch Morning Live to get the full details on how to protect yourself from the scams

'These victims have been failed'

A theft charge against a man who was accused of stealing flowers from tributes left to Ozzy Osbourne in Birmingham city centre has been dropped.

The charge against Parviz Jafari was withdrawn by prosecutors after a court was told a security guard had granted the 45-year-old permission to take the flowers.

Mr Jafari, from West Bromwich, spoke only to give his personal details during a four-minute hearing at Birmingham Magistrates' Court, where he was told he was free to go.

He was charged in August following reports of a theft among thousands of tributes left near the Black Sabbath bench and mural following Osbourne's death in July aged 76 from a reported heart attack.

The court was told a review by the Crown Prosecution Service found there was no realistic prospect of conviction, because it could not be proved the defendant had been dishonest when he took the flowers.

District Judge Wain told MrJafari: "Please stand, sir. The matter having been withdrawn, you are free to go."

Osbourne's family viewed the tributes on 30 July after a public procession in which the heavy metal star's body was driven past his childhood home and through his home city.

Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.

Healthy Secretary Wes Streeting has said ministers may need to "look at" laws concerning online speech, following the arrest of comedian Graham Linehan.

The health secretary said such laws had put "more expectation on police" and "diluted the focus and priorities of the public", adding "that's obviously something we need to look at".

Streeting told the BBC it was "very easy for people to criticise police" who were only enforcing laws that had been passed by MPs, saying ministers wanted police to focus on street crime rather than posts on social media.

His comments come after the Father Ted co-creator was arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of inciting violence in posts on the X website.

The arrest prompted a backlash from figures such as author JK Rowling and opposition parties including the Conservatives, who branded the arrest an "absurd infringement of free speech".

Downing Street declined to comment on Linehan's arrest on Tuesday, saying it was "an operational matter for the police".

But a No 10 spokesperson added: "The prime minister and the home secretary have been clear about where their priorities for crime and policing are, and that's tackling anti-social behaviour, shoplifting, street crime, as well as reducing serious violent crimes like knife crime and violence against women."

When asked about the Linehan case on the BBC's Today programme, Streeting echoed those words.

"As the prime minister and home secretary have been clear, we want the police to focus on policing streets rather than tweets," the health secretary said.

"But the thing we are mindful of, as a government that backs the police to keep us safe, is that police are there to enforce the laws that we as Parliament legislate for.

"So if over the years, with good intentions, Parliament has layered more and more expectation on police, and diluted the focus and priorities of the public, that's obviously something we need to look at."

Pressed on whether the law should be changed, Streeting said: "When it comes to speech, context is king. We do have to, as legislators, tread really carefully when it comes to boundaries of free speech."

Streeting said it was "hard for the police sometimes, because they have to apply the law as written, not the law as it was intended".

He also said "we are all - let's be honest - quite anxious" about some of the arrests and prosecutions over comments online.

Streeting added: "And you think, is that really what Parliament intended when we wrote these laws? So we've got to get the law right. Police are there to enforce the law that parliament makes."

Mr Linehan, 57, said he had been detained by five armed officers at Heathrow Airport after flying in from the US.

He said in an online Substack article that officials then became concerned for his health and took him to hospital.

The Metropolitan Police said that a man in his 50s had been arrested on 1 September at Heathrow Airport and taken to hospital.

The police said his condition was not life-threatening and he was bailed pending further investigation.

In his Substack article, Mr Linehan said his arrest was related to three posts on X from April, on his views about challenging "a trans-identified male" in "a female-only space".

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch was critical of the arrest, saying: "Sending five officers to arrest a man for a tweet isn't policing, it's politics. Under Labour, we routinely see burglary, knife crime and assaults go unsolved, while resources are wasted on thought-policing."

But new Green Party leader Zack Polanski told BBC Newsnight the posts were "totally unacceptable" and the arrest seemed "proportionate".

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is expected to raise the Linehan case and rail against "censorship" in the UK, when he gives evidence to the House Judiciary Committee in the US on free speech on Wednesday.

Separately, Mr Linehan is also facing a separate charge of harassment - which he denies - and is due to appear in court on Thursday.

The government is planning a new law in England to stop anyone under the age of 16 buying energy drinks such as Red Bull, Monster and Prime from shops, restaurants, cafes, vending machines and online.

Up to a third of UK children are thought to consume these types of drinks every week, despite most supermarkets having already introduced a voluntary ban.

Some popular drinks contain more caffeine than two cups of coffee.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said he was acting on the concerns of parents and teachers and tackling the issue "head on", to protect young people's health.

Lower-caffeine soft drinks, such Diet Coke, are not affected, and neither are tea and coffee.

A consultation will now run for 12 weeks to gather evidence from health and education experts as well as the public and retailers and manufacturers.

TV chef Jamie Oliver has repeatedly warned of the dangers and disruption energy drinks can cause, with kids coming into school "bouncing off the walls" having had energy drinks for breakfast.

"We are talking about three, four shots of espresso in one of these things. Loads of sugar. So an absolute nightmare," he said in a video posted on X last year.

Excessive consumption is linked to headaches and sleep problems.

Too much caffeine can cause a rapid heart rate, abnormal heart rhythms and seizures too.

Although rare, there have been some deaths linked to excess caffeine.

Under current labelling rules, any drink, other than tea or coffee, with over 150mg of caffeine per litre requires a warning label saying: "High caffeine content. Not recommended for children or pregnant or breast-feeding women."

Young people have smaller bodies and their brains are still developing, which can make them more sensitive to caffeine, say experts.

For most adults, up to 400mg of caffeine a day, or about four cups of instant coffee or five cups of tea, is safe.

"By preventing shops from selling these drinks to kids, we're helping build the foundations for healthier and happier generations to come," said Mr Streeting.

Prof Steve Turner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said a ban was the "next logical step" in making children's diets more healthy.

And Prof Amelia Lake from Teesside University, who has studied the drinks' impact on young people's lives, said they had "no place" in the diets of children.

"Our research has shown the significant mental and physical health consequences of children drinking energy drinks.

"We know these drinks are part of youth culture and associated with sports, gaming, music and more, but there is a lack of clear signalling about their health consequences."

But Gavin Partington from the British Soft Drinks Association said manufacturers had already led the way with self regulation.

"As with all government policy, it's essential that any forthcoming regulation is based on a rigorous assessment of the evidence that's available," he added.

Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are also considering a ban.

A former US filmmaker has launched a High Court battle against an English council to gain control of the ancestral stately home he spent seven years trying to save from ruin.

Hopwood DePree has led an operation to safeguard historic Hopwood Hall in Middleton, Greater Manchester, since 2017, and says he complied with an agreement with Rochdale Borough Council that gave him the option to buy the building.

However, the council say he did not fulfil the conditions of the deal, and locked him out in November 2024.

DePree, who published a book called Downton Shabby in 2022 about his work to restore the hall, has now taken action in an attempt to be declared its legal owner.

'Shocking' conduct

DePree says his grandfather told him stories of "Hopwood Castle" as a child in Michigan, but that he only discovered the real hall existed while researching his family history in 2013.

Parts of the 60-room building date from the 1420s, but both direct heirs were killed in World War One and the last family members moved out in the 1920s.

It was derelict by the time DePree visited, and he says he was told in 2015 that it would be beyond repair in another five to 10 years.

He moved to the UK to spearhead the effort to save it, signing a deal with the council in 2017 saying he could buy the hall for £1 on the condition he gained planning permission to develop it.

DePree began work on the crumbling building and got planning permission in 2022 to refurbish it as an event and hospitality venue. He says he has spent £750,000 of his own money on the project.

But he says relations soured when the council's Rochdale Development Agency became more involved in 2024, and DePree's legal case accuses the agency of trying to "poison everything my team and I had worked so hard to achieve".

He claims the council stopped co-operating and went behind his back, and that their conduct has been "evasive, misleading and at times shocking".

A council spokesperson said: "We don't comment on ongoing legal discussions and don't intend to elaborate on previous statements we have made on this subject."

The council has previously said any sale would depend on DePree having "a commercially viable business model to secure the long term future of the hall".

Last November, the council said it had decided not to renew the option agreement after consultants said his plans were "unlikely to be able to secure future public or private funding".

At that time, a council spokesman said DePree "had not been able to produce a viable proposal, despite having had seven years to do so", which it said was a condition of the sale. The authority said it "had a responsibility to explore alternative options" in order to "protect the public monies invested to date".

In November, council leader Neil Emmott said: "Mr DePree was asked to meet a number of conditions when we entered into our agreement with him. We would be failing in our duty to protect our historic assets if we didn't hold Mr DePree to the terms of this agreement."

The council said it spent £557,000 between 2017 and 2024 for essential repairs, with almost £1m contributed by Historic England. The council said it was now spending a further £700,000 on roof repairs and a feasibility study.

According to DePree's legal documents, the council has also argued that the planning permission was insufficient to meet the terms for a sale under the agreement. He is disputing that.

He is also disputing whether he needed to provide a "viable" business model to comply with the conditions for a sale, and his court papers say he does have "a clear vision, a plan and the resources to rescue Hopwood Hall".

'No other choice'

DePree told BBC News he believes he has complied with his end of the agreement.

"When I took the project on, the hall was just a few years from completely falling down and becoming a ruin," he said.

"We worked so hard and poured everything into it. I moved countries. I got British citizenship. I left behind a life and sold my home. I went through so much with the belief that the council was being open and honest with me, and I trusted them."

He added: "Ultimately I had an agreement that I signed with them that I fulfilled. My lawyers feel that we fulfilled that, and the council went against that, and I felt that I had no other choice other than to file court proceedings against them."

DePree and his family are involved in property development, and he sold his home in the Hollywood Hills to help fund the project.

In his former life, DePree was an actor, writer, producer and director whose early attempts to make it big in Hollywood were depicted in low-budget documentary Rhinoskin: The Making of a Movie Star.

He wrote, directed and appeared in the well-received independent rom-com The Last Big Attraction, and produced the 2010 drama Virginia starring Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stood publicly shoulder to shoulder for the first time on Wednesday, ahead of a massive military parade in central Beijing.

That parade, which marked 80 years since China's victory over Japan in World War Two, saw Beijing unveiling a range of new military hardware – including a new nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile, a new road-bound missile for delivering hypersonic weapons, a new laser weapon, and even "robotic dog" drones.

It comes at a time when Xi seeks to project Beijing's power on the international stage - not just as the world's second-largest economy, but also as a counterweight to the United States as Trump's tariffs rock the global economic and political order.

Five BBC correspondents assess the significance of Wednesday's parade – what it means, why it matters, and what the spectacle tells us about the "new world order".

An enduring image for China - and the world

By Laura Bicker, China correspondent

One of the most enduring images of this military parade took place before the first cannon was fired.

President Xi welcoming North Korea's Kim Jong Un with a long handshake, then moving on to greet Russia's Vladimir Putin before all three walked together to watch the parade, was sheer political theatre.

This was the first time all three leaders have been seen in public together, and they really picked their moment.

But it is this meeting, not just the weapons and troops on show, that appears to have grabbed the attention of Donald Trump.

Trump posted on Truth Social earlier, accusing Xi of conspiring against America with the others. The Chinese leader said in this speech that his country is on the right side of history.

Wednesdays parade was a choreographed spectacle of precision, power and patriotism.

Even the choir stood in perfectly even rows as they sang "without the Communist Party, there is no modern China".

The troops goose-stepped past in unison, and each strike of the ground echoed through the stands of 50,000 guests in Tiananmen Square.

Then came the big weapons, and the crowd reached for their phones. A new ICBM, laser weapons, even robotic dogs.

The parade finished on a crowd-pleasing fly past before thousands of doves and balloons were released into the skies over the capital.

This display to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War was not just a look at where China has been, or how far China has come.

It showcased where China is going: Xi playing the role of a global leader prepared to stand alongside two of the most sanctioned leaders in the world.

And at his feet, a military which is being built to rival the West.

Trump's out, Xi's in - and what that means for the West

By James Landale, diplomatic correspondent

China's show of geopolitical and now military power this week will hardly surprise Western leaders.

President Xi has long sought to put himself at the centre of a new world order – one that replaces the crumbling global systems established after World War Two.

But two things will send shivers down western diplomatic spines.

One is the speed with which China is filling the vacuum left by America's withdrawal from international norms and institutions.

A Chinese-led world order, one where territorial integrity and human rights are valued less than raw power and economic development, might prove uncomfortable for many western countries.

The way harsh US tariffs have pushed India, the world's biggest democracy, so quickly into the warm embrace of China, the world's biggest autocracy, will also be of concern.

One small crumb of comfort for the West is that the so-called "axis of upheaval" on show in Beijing is not united - and India, in particular, which was not represented at Wednesday's parade, is still at odds with China over territorial and other disputes.

The bottom line is that the economic nationalism and disruptive diplomacy of Donald Trump's America is giving China a huge diplomatic opportunity – and it's one Xi is seizing with open arms with his summit and parade.

A clear message to Donald Trump

By Steve Rosenberg, Russia editor

All the diplomacy (and the optics) in China this week was designed to send a clear message to the Trump administration.

So, you want to Make America Great Again, do you? It's America First, is it? Well, then, we'll offer an alternative to the US-led order.

That is why we saw the leaders of China, Russia and India smiling together at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit on Sunday and Monday.

It is why Vladimir Putin called Xi Jinping "a real friend", and the Chinese leader called his Russian counterpart "old friend" earlier this week.

And it is also why Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un appeared together at the military parade on Wednesday.

In short: in the geopolitical universe different powers are aligning as a counterweight to American domination.

This doesn't mean that all these countries and leaders are on the same wavelength. They are not. Differences remain.

But the direction of travel is clear.

As a headline in news outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda declared this week, in reference to Russia, China and India: "We will build a new world."

The weapons that worry the West

By Frank Gardiner, security correspondent

From massive, underwater torpedoes to state-of-the-art laser weapons that shoot down drones, China's latest military parade will now be broken down and analysed by Pentagon experts and defence officials around the world.

The PLA has embarked on an extensive military modernisation programme that has seen it catching up - and in some areas - overtaking the United States. Hypersonic missiles that travel at more than five times the speed of sound is one area where China leads the world.

Dr Sidharth Kaushal, a leading expert on missiles at the London think tank RUSI, highlights the YJ-17 - a hypersonic glide vehicle - and the YJ-19, a hypersonic cruise missile.

China has also been investing heavily in artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons. One example of these is the AJX002: a giant, 60-foot (18m), underwater nuclear-capable drone.

China's nuclear arsenal - numbering in the hundreds of missiles - still lags far behind those of Russia and the US who both have thousands, but it is rapidly increasing in size as well as finding innovative ways of delivering its warheads.

China has unveiled a range of new weapons, drones and other military hardware in a massive parade that many see as a clear message to the United States and its allies.

The event saw Xi Jinping host more than 20 foreign heads of state, including Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un, both of whom rely on China for economic support and more.

It was a display of Xi's growing power on the world stage, and of China's military prowess - the show included the "Guam killer" missile, the "loyal wingman" drone and even robotic wolves.

Beyond the hype and shiny new weaponry, what did we learn?

Here are our five takeaways.

1. China has a lot of weapons. How well can it deploy them?

What was clear from Wednesday's display was that China has been able to quickly produce a diverse range of weapons.

Ten years ago, the military technology they put on show tended to be "rudimentary copies" of far more advanced equipment invented by the US, notes Michael Raska, assistant professor in the military transformations programme at the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore.

But this parade revealed a more innovative and diverse range of weapons, particularly drones and missiles - a reflection of how advanced their defence-industrial complex has become.

China's top-down structure and significant resources enable it to churn out new weapons faster than many other countries, points out Alexander Neill, an adjunct fellow with the Pacific Forum.

It can also produce them in huge quantities, giving it a battlefield advantage where it can overwhelm the enemy.

"China has the ability to churn out munitions, ships, all these platforms... the state can just make these directives and off they go," Mr Neill says.

But how well can China's military integrate these weapons systems?

"They can show off these flashy advanced platforms, but are they organisationally agile to use them in the way they want to?" Dr Raska asks.

He adds that it won't be easy because the Chinese military is massive and untested, given it has not been involved in a significant war for decades.

2. China is focusing on missiles to counter the US

China has rolled out plenty of missiles, including some new variants.

These include the Dongfeng-61, which is capable of carrying multiple warheads in its nosecone; the Dongfeng-5C intercontinental ballistic missile which could be launched from northern China and hit the US; and the "Guam Killer" Dongfeng-26D intermediate range missile, which could hit key US military bases in Guam.

There were also several hypersonic anti-ship missiles such as the YJ-17 and YJ-19, which can fly very fast and maneuver unpredictably to evade anti-missile systems.

There's a reason for this focus on missiles.

China has been developing missiles and rocket forces as a key part of its deterrence strategy - and to counter the US' naval superiority, Mr Neill says.

The US Navy is unrivalled in the world with the largest fleet of aircraft carriers and carrier strike groups - China still lags behind on that count.

But, Mr Neill points out, some in the Western defence community are increasingly arguing that these strike groups are vulnerable, as they are effectively "sitting ducks" for any missile attacks.

Beijing is not only strengthening deterrence, but is also creating a "second strike capability," he says - a country's ability to launch a retaliatory strike if attacked.

Other notable weapons included the much-talked about LY-1 laser weapon, which is basically a giant laser that could burn or disable electronics or even blind pilots; and an assortment of fifth-generation stealth fighter jets including the J-20 and J-35 planes.

3. China is going all the way with AI and drones

There were a wide range of drones, some of them AI-powered, but the one that grabbed eyeballs was the AJX-002 giant submarine drone.

Also known as an extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle (XLUUV) measuring up to 20m (65ft) in length, it could possibly do surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

China also showed off its GJ-11 stealth attack drone, dubbed the "loyal wingman", which can fly alongside a manned fighter jet and aid it in its attacks.

Besides an array of conventional aerial drones, there were also "robotic wolves". Experts say these could be used for a variety of tasks from reconnaissance and sweeping for mines, to hunting down enemy soldiers.

The drone display shows a clear direction that China wants to take with its military strategy, where it "not only wants to augment, but replace traditional structures".

It has clearly taken lessons from the Ukraine war, where one can "just throw drones at the enemy" to wear down their defences, Dr Raska notes.

"Alacrity in the kill chain matters," adds Mr Neill, pointing out that in a fast-moving battle, decisions have to be made in "nanoseconds" to defeat the enemy and gain the upper hand – which is what AI can do.

Many countries are still concerned about deploying AI in their military systems and asking "how comfortable are we in putting AI in the kill chain", he adds.

But China is very comfortable with that, Dr Raska says. "They believe they can control AI. They are going all the way to integrate it into their systems."

4. China may have the technology, but the US still has an edge

The parade clearly shows that China is catching up quickly with the US in its military technology, and has the resources to build up a huge arsenal of weapons.

But the US still maintains an edge in terms of operations, experts say.

The US military "excels" because there is a "bottom-up" culture where units on the ground can make decisions as the situation evolves and alter their fighting strategies, Dr Raska notes. This makes them more agile in a battle.

China, on the other hand, is "top-down" where "they can have flashy platforms and systems but they will not move a finger until they receive an order from the top", he adds.

"The Chinese think its technology that creates deterrence. They believe that will deter the US... but at the operational level, there have been instances which show they may not be as good as they say they are", Dr Raska says, pointing to recent encounters such as an incident last month when a Chinese warship rammed one of its own smaller vessels as they confronted the Philippine coast guard.

5. The parade was a weapons sales pitch – and a chance to show the US a united front

With the leaders of more than two dozen countries invited to the event, the parade of weapons and tanks was essentially a giant sales pitch on Chinese arms to potential buyers, Mr Neill points out.

Some of the countries in attendance such as Myanmar are already known to be buying huge quantities of Chinese weapons. But the chance to sell to new customers or increase orders is how the Chinese government can extend its influence globally, Dr Raska notes.

Among the key clients were those standing front and centre with Xi – Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un.

The three presented a united front as they walked to the parade together and stood on stage.

That was a message to the US, Mr Neill says: if America wanted to really challenge them it would mean "fighting them on several potential theatres at the same time – the Korean peninsula, Taiwan Straits, and Ukraine".

"And if you consider it, putting pressure on the US on all three domains, it may fail in one of those theatres."

Fresh warnings have been issued by police forces and councils across the country after a rise in parking scams over the summer.

From fake text messages about unpaid tickets to tampered car park machines that secretly steal your card details, fraudsters are becoming increasingly creative.

BBC scams expert Nick Stapleton told Morning Live there are easy ways you can protect yourself so you don't fall victim to some of the most common tricks.

1. Check your fine has these three details

Genuine parking notices always contain certain details.

"Real parking fines will include vehicle registration, the time of the offence and the location it happened," Stapleton says.

"If it doesn't have these three things then it is a scam.

"A genuine fine will always come in writing and will be left on your windscreen, handed to you in person or arrive in the post."

There are three types of fines you may receive - a penalty charge notice issued by the council, a fixed penalty notice issued by police usually linked to offences such as speeding and a parking charge notice issued by a private company.

Parking charge notices "aren't technically fines, they're invoices for breaching parking rules", so you don't always have to pay them but "check carefully before refusing to pay".

2. Don't click on links in texts

If you get a text out of the blue saying you owe money for an unpaid parking ticket, stop before you click. One of the most common tricks is a fake text or email demanding payment for an unpaid fine.

These texts usually come with a link you are told to click on to pay the fine and "use urgent and threatening language to make you panic", Stapleton says.

Some scam texts might say your licence will be revoked if you don't pay for the ticket but "that's not how it works, you won't lose your license".

Some links in these scam texts take you to websites that look like official government ones.

If you're not sure a website is legitimate you can "click around on the other links".

"If you click through on other links on the page you'll notice that they don't work and that's a clear sign it's a clone site," says Stapleton.

3. Restart your device and change passwords

If you have clicked on a suspicious link, don't despair - but do these three things:

• Restart your device: A lot of the links allow a scammer to gain remote access to your device. If you restart your phone or laptop it will kill the connection

• Change passwords: If you've filled in your details on the link make sure you change your passwords to any accounts with money in

• Call your bank: Inform your bank's fraud department about the message, the link and what information you gave

You could also consider installing antivirus software then run a search to see if any malware has been installed.

4. Check for skimming devices on parking machines

A new scam, which is increasing according to the UK's national fraud reporting centre Action Fraud, targets people paying for parking at machines.

Fraudsters attach a physical device to a contactless payment reader on a parking machine and when you try to pay, the machine displays a "card declined" message.

"While you walk off to try another machine, the skimming device has already stolen your card details," Stapleton explains.

Here's how to check whether the machine has been tampered with:

• Look for an extra sticker: Check there is no extra sticker or item placed on top of the contactless payment button

• Verify Branding: Look for the correct logos and branding. Scammers often use stickers with mismatched logos

• Trust Your Instincts: If something looks or feels suspicious, do not use the machine

"Contactless readers should look like they're part of the machine. If something looks bolted on or mismatched, it's best not to risk it," he says. "Always trust your gut."

If you do feel like there's something not quite right with the machine you can pay in cash instead or through a parking app.

Watch Morning Live to get the full details on how to protect yourself from the scams

Bidders for Thames Water are prepared to fire key senior managers if necessary as part of their plan to restructure the stricken utility, the BBC understands.

Sources close to the deal accept that the government needs to be seen to be tough with a company that has been heavily fined for failing to reach required operational and environmental standards.

"If the government insists we need a management clear out – we can help with that," said one person close to the process.

That job would fall to a new board of directors headed by telecoms and regulator veteran Mike McTighe who has been in lengthy talks with Ofwat, the industry regulator, and the government.

Chris Weston, Thames Water's chief executive, was criticised by MPs for accepting a £195k bonus after just three months in the job.

Politicians also criticised the current board for paying bonuses to senior staff out of a £3bn emergency cash lifeline.

A consortium of investors who are owed £13bn of Thames' £17bn debt pile are also offering to sweeten a rescue proposal by providing approximately £1bn in extra funding through a combination of additional debt write-offs and fresh capital.

They are hopeful that a combination of more pain for them, more money for the company and potential axe-wielding at the top will persuade the government and the regulator that Thames is turning a new page.

The lenders have presented a new operational plan to Ofwat that would see over £9bn invested in upgrading its facilities over the next five years.

Although not specified in this document, the lenders are clear that they will need a "regulatory reset" which specifies new and less onerous targets on pollution and leakage than the company tried and failed to hit in the past.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs told the BBC that the government would "always act in the national interest on these issues".

"The government has been clear that Thames Water must meet its statutory and regulatory obligations to their customers and to the environment. It is only right that the company is subject to the same consequences as any other water company," he said.

However, a recent review of the water sector by Sir John Cunliffe recommended a new regulatory framework that would establish "a formal regime to support the turnaround of poorly performing companies".

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has expressed her preference for "a market-based solution" rather than see the company collapse into government-supervised administration - a so-called Special Administration Regime (SAR) - which could leave taxpayers exposed to potential losses.

Consultants Teneo have estimated the cost to the Treasury of a SAR at £4.1bn.

A senior civil servant from the Treasury has been included in recent talks with the creditors.

However, the government has also stepped up preparations for that scenario in recent weeks by placing consultancy firm FTI on standby as special administrators if necessary.

Other potential bidders have expressed frustration that they have been locked out of advancing their own plans as the lenders have effective control of the company.

Executives on the lenders' bid team have told the BBC that time is running out for Thames as the longer it limps on, the harder any turnaround becomes.

"We have a matter of six to eight weeks before it goes into a special administration, and it goes in it could take years to come out," said one.

The probability of a lengthy SAR is questioned by some.

Infrastructure expert Prof Dieter Helm insists that with reduced debt, Thames is a viable asset that would attract bidders to a process that, if well designed, could be completed in a matter of weeks at little or no cost to the taxpayer.

What seems clear is that the long running crisis at Thames Water is coming to a head in the near future.

Thames Water has been contacted for comment.

A former US filmmaker has launched a High Court battle against an English council to gain control of the ancestral stately home he spent seven years trying to save from ruin.

Hopwood DePree has led an operation to safeguard historic Hopwood Hall in Middleton, Greater Manchester, since 2017, and says he complied with an agreement with Rochdale Borough Council that gave him the option to buy the building.

However, the council say he did not fulfil the conditions of the deal, and locked him out in November 2024.

DePree, who published a book called Downton Shabby in 2022 about his work to restore the hall, has now taken action in an attempt to be declared its legal owner.

'Shocking' conduct

DePree says his grandfather told him stories of "Hopwood Castle" as a child in Michigan, but that he only discovered the real hall existed while researching his family history in 2013.

Parts of the 60-room building date from the 1420s, but both direct heirs were killed in World War One and the last family members moved out in the 1920s.

It was derelict by the time DePree visited, and he says he was told in 2015 that it would be beyond repair in another five to 10 years.

He moved to the UK to spearhead the effort to save it, signing a deal with the council in 2017 saying he could buy the hall for £1 on the condition he gained planning permission to develop it.

DePree began work on the crumbling building and got planning permission in 2022 to refurbish it as an event and hospitality venue. He says he has spent £750,000 of his own money on the project.

But he says relations soured when the council's Rochdale Development Agency became more involved in 2024, and DePree's legal case accuses the agency of trying to "poison everything my team and I had worked so hard to achieve".

He claims the council stopped co-operating and went behind his back, and that their conduct has been "evasive, misleading and at times shocking".

A council spokesperson said: "We don't comment on ongoing legal discussions and don't intend to elaborate on previous statements we have made on this subject."

The council has previously said any sale would depend on DePree having "a commercially viable business model to secure the long term future of the hall".

Last November, the council said it had decided not to renew the option agreement after consultants said his plans were "unlikely to be able to secure future public or private funding".

At that time, a council spokesman said DePree "had not been able to produce a viable proposal, despite having had seven years to do so", which it said was a condition of the sale. The authority said it "had a responsibility to explore alternative options" in order to "protect the public monies invested to date".

In November, council leader Neil Emmott said: "Mr DePree was asked to meet a number of conditions when we entered into our agreement with him. We would be failing in our duty to protect our historic assets if we didn't hold Mr DePree to the terms of this agreement."

The council said it spent £557,000 between 2017 and 2024 for essential repairs, with almost £1m contributed by Historic England. The council said it was now spending a further £700,000 on roof repairs and a feasibility study.

According to DePree's legal documents, the council has also argued that the planning permission was insufficient to meet the terms for a sale under the agreement. He is disputing that.

He is also disputing whether he needed to provide a "viable" business model to comply with the conditions for a sale, and his court papers say he does have "a clear vision, a plan and the resources to rescue Hopwood Hall".

'No other choice'

DePree told BBC News he believes he has complied with his end of the agreement.

"When I took the project on, the hall was just a few years from completely falling down and becoming a ruin," he said.

"We worked so hard and poured everything into it. I moved countries. I got British citizenship. I left behind a life and sold my home. I went through so much with the belief that the council was being open and honest with me, and I trusted them."

He added: "Ultimately I had an agreement that I signed with them that I fulfilled. My lawyers feel that we fulfilled that, and the council went against that, and I felt that I had no other choice other than to file court proceedings against them."

DePree and his family are involved in property development, and he sold his home in the Hollywood Hills to help fund the project.

In his former life, DePree was an actor, writer, producer and director whose early attempts to make it big in Hollywood were depicted in low-budget documentary Rhinoskin: The Making of a Movie Star.

He wrote, directed and appeared in the well-received independent rom-com The Last Big Attraction, and produced the 2010 drama Virginia starring Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris.