US President Donald Trump is considering sending Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, saying it would provide "a new step of aggression" in its war with Russia.

When asked on Air Force One if he would send Tomahawks to Ukraine, Trump replied "we'll see... I may".

It follows a second phone call at the weekend between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who pushed for stronger military capabilities to launch counter-attacks against Russia.

Moscow has previously warned Washington against providing long-range missiles to Kyiv, saying it would cause a major escalation in the conflict and strain US-Russian relations.

Tomahawk missiles have a range of 2,500 km (1,500 miles), which would put Moscow within reach for Ukraine.

Trump spoke to reporters as he flew to Israel. He said he would possibly speak to Russia about the Tomahawks requested by Ukraine.

"I might tell them [Russia] that if the war is not settled, that we may very well, we may not, but we may do it."

"Do they [Russia] want Tomahawks going in their direction? I don't think so," the president said.

Kyiv has made multiple requests for long-range missiles, as it weighs up striking Russian cities far from the front lines of the grinding conflict.

In their phone calls Zelensky and Trump discussed Ukraine's bid to strengthen its military capabilities, including boosting its air defences and long-range arms.

Ukrainian cities including Kyiv have come under repeated heavy Russian bombardment with drones and missiles. Russia has particularly targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, causing power cuts.

Last month, Trump's special envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg suggested the US president had authorised strikes deep into Russian territory, telling Fox News "there are no such things as sanctuaries" from attacks in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, downplayed the chances of Tomahawks changing the course of the war.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said last month: "Whether it's Tomahawks or other missiles, they won't be able to change the dynamic."

US Vice-President JD Vance has warned of further workforce cuts in addition to the thousands of jobs already axed if the government shutdown is not resolved.

"The longer this goes on, the deeper the cuts are going to be," Vance told Fox News. "To be clear, some of these cuts are going to be painful."

Democrats said Republicans were punishing people by refusing to attach health insurance subsidies to the spending bill.

Hundreds of thousands of federal employees are already on leave without pay as the shutdown approaches its third week. No congressional vote is scheduled that could reopen the government.

The standoff began on 1 October after Democrats rejected a short-term funding bill. They want the budget to include an extension of federal subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

The Trump administration announced on Friday that seven agencies, including the CDC, had started firing over 4,000 staff.

But some of those CDC layoff notices were sent in error, a spokesman for the US health department, which oversees the CDC, told the BBC.

Those CDC employees "have all been notified that they are not subject to the reduction in force", Andrew Nixon said.

Out of about 1,300 CDC workers who were fired on Friday, around 700 were reinstated on Saturday, the employees' union told CNN.

Essential workers like federal law enforcement officers and air traffic controllers are required to continue working without pay.

But the Trump administration is making an exception for some essential workers: US service members.

Trump directed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to find available funds to get troops their wages this week - and Hegseth delivered.

The Department of Defence is taking about $8bn (£6bn) from "unobligated research development testing and evaluation funds" to pay military personnel on 15 October if the funding lapse is not resolved, a Pentagon official told the BBC.

Senator Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, stood by the Democratic line on Sunday, saying on NBC's Meet the Press that he won't back down from his party's demand to reinstate federal healthcare subsidies in the budget now, not later.

And as for the layoffs, Kelly said Republicans "don't have to do this, they don't have to punish people".

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told NBC's Meet the Press that he will not vote to extend the subsidies.

Vance blamed the Democrats when speaking to Fox, saying: "This is not a situation we relish, [these layoffs] are not something we're looking forward to, but the Democrats have dealt us a pretty difficult set of cards."

As lawmakers continue battling over the budget, more government services are feeling the effect of the shutdown.

Several Smithsonian museums, research centres and the National Zoo in Washington DC closed on Sunday after funding to keep them open ran out.

When I was asked to give an impromptu five-minute speech and then to count backwards in intervals of 17 - all in front of a panel of three strangers - the acute stress was written on my face.

That is because psychologists from the University of Sussex were filming this somewhat terrifying experience for a research project that is studying stress using thermal cameras.

Stress alters the blood flow in the face, and scientists have discovered that the drop in temperature of a person's nose can be used as a measure of stress levels, and to monitor recovery.

Thermal imaging, according to the psychologists behind the study could be a "game changer" in stress research.

The experimental stress test that I subjected myself to is carefully controlled and deliberately designed to be an unpleasant surprise. I arrived at the university with no idea what I was in for.

First, I was asked to sit, relax and listen to white noise through a set of headphones.

So far, so calming.

Then, the researcher who was running the test invited a panel of three strangers into the room. They all stared at me silently as the researcher informed that I now had three minutes to prepare a five minute speech about my "dream job".

As I felt the heat rise around my neck, the scientists captured my face changing colour through their thermal camera. My nose quickly dropped in temperature - turning blue on the thermal image - as I considered how to bluster my way through this unplanned presentation. (I decided I would take the opportunity to make my pitch to join the astronaut training programme!)

The Sussex researchers have carried out this same stress test on 29 volunteers. In each, they saw their nose dip in temperature by between three and six degrees.

My nose dropped in temperature by two degrees, as my nervous system pushed blood flow away from my nose and to my eyes and ears - a physical reaction to help me to look and listen for danger.

Most participants, like me, recovered quickly; their noses warmed to pre-stressed levels within a few minutes.

Lead researcher, Prof Gillian Forrester explained that being a reporter and broadcaster has probably made me "quite habituated to being put in stressful positions".

"You are used to the camera and talking with strangers, so you're probably quite resilient to social stressors," she explained.

"But even someone like you, trained to be in stressful situations, shows a biological blood flow shift, so that suggests this 'nasal dip' is a robust marker of a changing stress state."

Stress is part of life. But this discovery, the scientists say, could be used to help manage harmful levels of stress.

"The length of time it takes someone tor recover from this nasal dip could be an objective measure of how well somebody regulates their stress," said Prof Forrester.

"If they bounce back unusually slowly, could that be a risk marker of anxiety or depression? Is it something that we can do anything about?"

Because this technique is non-invasive and measures a physical response, it could also be useful to monitor stress in babies or in people who can't communicate.

The second task in my stress assessment was, in my view, even worse than the first. I was asked to count backwards from 2023 in intervals of 17. Someone on the panel of three impassive strangers stopped me every time I made a mistake and asked me to start again.

I admit, I am bad at mental arithmetic.

As I spent an embarrassing length of time trying to force my brain to perform subtraction, all I could think was that I wanted to flee the increasingly stuffy room.

During the research, only one of the 29 volunteers for the stress test did actually ask to leave. The rest, like me, completed their tasks - presumably feeling varying degrees of humiliation - and were rewarded with another calming session of white noise through headphones at the end.

Anxious apes

Prof Forrester will demonstrate this new thermal stress-measuring method in front of an audience at the New Scientist Live event in London on 18 October.

Perhaps one of the most surprising aspects of the approach is that, because thermal cameras measure a physical stress response that is innate in many primates, it can also be used in non-human apes.

The researchers are currently developing its use in sanctuaries for great apes, including chimpanzees and gorillas. They want to work out how to reduce stress and improve the wellbeing of animals that may have been rescued from traumatic circumstances.

The team has already found that showing adult chimpanzees video footage of baby chimpanzees has a calming effect. When the researchers set up a video screen close to the rescued chimps' enclosure, they saw the noses of animals that watched the footage warm up.

So, in terms of stress, watching baby animals animals playing is the opposite of a surprise job interview or an on-the-spot subtraction task.

Using thermal cameras in ape sanctuaries could prove to be valuable in helping rescued animals to adjust and settle in to a new social group and strange surroundings.

"They can't say how they're feeling and they can be quite good at masking how they're feeling," explained Marianne Paisley, a researcher from the University of Sussex who is studying great ape wellbeing.

"We've [studied] primates for the last 100 years or so to help us understand ourselves.

"Now we know so much about human mental health, so maybe we can use that and give back to them."

So perhaps my own minor scientific ordeal could contribute, in a small way, to alleviating distress in some of our primate cousins.

Additional reporting by Kate Stephens. Photography by Kevin Church

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US President Donald Trump has said "the war is over" as he travels to Israel for the release of hostages from Gaza under the ceasefire deal agreed between Israel and Hamas.

Speaking on board Air Force One, he said the ceasefire would hold and a "board of peace" would quickly be set up for Gaza, which he said looked like a "demolition site".

He also praised the roles of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar, one of the mediators.

The deadline for Hamas to release all the hostages it is still holding in Gaza is midday local time (10:00 BST). Later on Monday, Trump will travel to Egypt for an international summit aiming to end the war.

The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

Since then, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's military response, including more than 18,000 children, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

The ceasefire in Gaza took effect on Friday morning after Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of the 20-point peace plan brokered by Trump, with the next phases still to be negotiated.

Twenty of the Israeli hostages are believed to be alive, and Hamas is also due to hand over the remains of up to 28 deceased hostages.

Israel should also release around 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 detainees from Gaza, while increased amounts of aid should enter the Strip. An Israeli government spokesperson said they would be released once the living hostages reach Israeli territory.

Trump told reporters the ceasefire was "going to hold", adding "everybody is happy, and I think it's going to stay that way".

On Saturday hundreds of thousands of Israelis attended a rally in Tel Aviv and chanted their gratitude to the US leader.

Many details for the later phases of the peace plan could be hard to reach agreement on - such as the governance of Gaza, the extent of Israeli troop withdrawal, and the disarming of Hamas.

Trump will land in Israel on Monday, where he will address the country's parliament the Knesset.

He will then travel to lead a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh alongside Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Egypt's foreign ministry said a "document ending the war in the Gaza Strip" was expected to be signed.

Leaders from more than 20 countries are expected to attend, including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that once the hostages were returned, the military would destroy underground tunnels in Gaza built by Hamas.

Aid trucks began entering Gaza on Sunday and hundreds more were queuing at the border.

Palestinians crowded around the convoys arriving in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

Speaking to the BBC earlier on Sunday, Unicef's James Elder said dozens of trucks had entered the Strip but that this fell short of what was needed.

The UN estimates that at least 600 aid trucks are needed every day to start addressing Gaza's humanitarian crisis.

In August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declared a famine in parts of the territory, including Gaza City.

Israel, however, rejects the IPC report, and its foreign ministry says the conclusions are "based on Hamas lies". Israeli military aid body Cogat says the report ignores the "extensive humanitarian efforts undertaken in Gaza".

Palestinians returning to northern Gaza have described scenes of devastation, with many of them finding their homes reduced to rubble. Rescue workers have warned there could be unexploded ordnance and bombs in the area.

Amjad Al Shawa, who heads a Palestinian organisation coordinating with aid groups, estimated 300,000 tents were needed to temporarily house 1.5 million displaced Gazans.

Hamas has recalled about 7,000 members of its security forces to reassert control over areas of Gaza recently vacated by Israeli troops, according to local sources.

At least 27 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Hamas security forces and armed members of the Dughmush family in Gaza City, in one of the most violent internal confrontations since the end of major Israeli operations in the enclave.

A major lawsuit against five leading carmakers accused of cheating on emissions tests is set to begin at the High Court on Monday.

The trial is the latest chapter of what has become known as the "dieselgate" scandal, with the companies facing allegations they used software to allow their cars to reduce emissions of harmful gases under test conditions.

Lawyers say the case is the largest class action in English and Welsh legal history, and could eventually involve 1.6 million car owners.

The five carmakers - Mercedes, Ford, Peugeot/Citroën, Renault and Nissan - all deny the accusations.

The five have been chosen by the court as lead defendants to be tried first as the case is so big.

Mercedes, Ford, Peugeot/Citroën, Renault and Nissan have been accused by 220,000 car owners of misleading them over emissions tests.

But depending on the outcome of this case, nine other carmakers are facing similar claims.

The dieselgate scandal first emerged in September 2015, when the US Environmental Protection Agency accused Volkswagen of installing software - known as "defeat devices" - on diesel cars to lower readings of the cars' nitrogen oxide emissions.

In 2020, the High Court ruled that Volkswagen had used defeat devices in breach of European Union rules to pass emissions tests.

Volkswagen settled a class action out of court, paying £193m to 91,000 British motorists.

The company has so far paid out more than €32bn (£27.8bn) over the scandal, mostly in the US.

The High Court will decide whether systems installed in diesel cars by the five carmakers were designed to cheat clean air laws.

It is alleged the "defeat devices" allowed a car to identify when it was in a test scenario. It would then run its engine at below normal power and performance levels in order to record lower readings of nitrogen oxides.

Lawyers for the motorists will claim they were deceived about how environmentally friendly the vehicles were, and that the cars still on the road are continuing to emit dangerous levels of pollution.

Although the trial begins on Monday, a judgement is not expected until summer 2026. If the court finds against the carmakers, a further trial to determine levels of compensation is expected to begin in autumn 2026.

Martin Deigh of Leigh Day, which is one of the 22 law firms representing drivers, said: "A decade after the Dieselgate scandal first came to light, 1.6 million UK motorists now get their chance to establish at trial whether their vehicles contained technology designed to cheat emissions tests."

He said that if the allegations against the car firms are upheld in court it "would demonstrate one of the most egregious breaches of corporate trust in modern times".

"It would also mean that people across the UK have been breathing in far more harmful emissions from these vehicles than they were told about, potentially putting the health of millions at risk."

The companies involved have said the claims against them are without merit.

A spokesperson for Mercedes said the mechanisms used in tests were "justifiable from a technical and legal standpoint".

Renault and Stellantis, which owns Peugeot and Citroen, said the vehicles it sold were compliant with regulations at the time.

Ford said the claims had "no merit" and Nissan said it was "committed to compliance in all markets in which we operate".

Chancellor Rachel Reeves should avoid "directionless tinkering and half-baked fixes" when trying to boost the government's tax take in next month's Budget, a leading think tank has said.

Taxes are widely expected to go up in the Budget, with pressure on the chancellor to raise money in order to meet her self-imposed rules for government finances.

However, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) - regarded as one of the UK's most influential economic voices - has said some tax rises could be "especially economically harmful".

The Treasury said the chancellor had been clear the Budget would strike the right balance between funding public services, while also encouraging growth and investment.

Some analysts have estimated that Reeves will have to raise tens of billions of pounds through either increasing taxes or cutting spending in order to meet her rules which she has described as "non-negotiable".

The two main rules are:

• Not to borrow to fund day-to-day public spending by the end of this parliament

• To get government debt falling as a share of national income by the end of this parliament

Before the 2024 general election, Labour promised not to increase income tax, National Insurance or VAT for working people.

The IFS said it would be possible for the chancellor to raise tens of billions of pounds a year more in revenue without breaking these manifesto promises, but this would not be straightforward.

It said there are "serious constraints" on the next four biggest taxes - corporation tax, council tax, business rates and fuel duties - while "some other tax-raising options would be especially economically harmful".

The IFS's comments came in an extract from its annual Green Budget, which analyses the challenges facing the chancellor.

In it, the think tank urged wider reform to the tax system which would align "overall tax rates across different forms of income", something it says would be "fairer and more growth friendly".

"There is an opportunity to be bold and take steps towards a system that does less to impede growth and works better for us all," said Helen Miller, director of the IFS and one of the authors of the report.

It suggests reforms to property tax and capital gains tax as "good places to start".

Tax trade-offs

The report goes on to look at a number of trade-offs the government could make in an effort to bring in more income.

It warns against a wealth tax - which it said would face "huge practical challenges", potentially penalising savings and encouraging wealthier people to leave the country.

"If the chancellor wants to raise more from the better-off, a better approach would be to fix existing wealth-related taxes, including capital gains tax," it noted.

It says property taxation is "an area in desperate need of reform". It calls for a reformed council tax based on current property values, rather than the current system that "ludicrously" uses values from 1991.

Extending the current freeze on income tax thresholds, which is due to end in 2028, could raise "a significant amount". Speaking to the BBC in September, Rachel Reeves did not rule this out.

The IFS noted that restricting income tax relief for pension contributions could potentially raise a large sum - but should be avoided as it would be "unfair and distortionary".

It said there were "better options" for increasing tax on pensions, such as reforming the tax-free element.

A Treasury spokesperson said: "The chancellor has been clear that at Budget she will strike the right balance between making sure that we have enough money to fund our public services, whilst also ensuring that we can bring growth and investment to businesses."

It's been three months since Jonathan Giba moved into temporary housing for homeless veterans inside a hospital for former members of the US military in West Virginia.

He has been waiting for medical and dental consultations, after medications he was previously prescribed left him without teeth and unable to walk. Now, with the government shut down, he is preparing to wait even longer.

He calls it "political bs". The US Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital where Mr Giba is staying in Martinsburg, West Virginia, is still providing medical care, but the VA stopped other programs that help veterans find jobs and transition from military life.

"The shutdown is a waste of time, and it hurts everyone in the meantime," the Army veteran says.

Martinsburg is an American town particularly fixed to feel the impacts of the US government shutdown.

A city of nearly 20,000 people some 85 miles (136km) outside of Washington DC, federal agencies employ upwards of 3,300 people in the area, between the veterans' hospital, an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) processing facility and an agricultural assistance office.

Another thousand or so federal workers commute to the nation's capital each day from the Amtrak station in Martinsburg's centre.

This is Trump country, where 67% voted for the president in 2024 and a fierce independence undergirds something of a make-it-work mindset.

Because of the government shutdown, a nearby community event - the Freedom's Run Race Series - changed its route from trails near a federal Civil War battlefield site, but otherwise went on as planned. Harper's Ferry, a national park and nearby tourist draw, has been kept open with state money.

But the political bickering in Washington and perceived lack of concern about everyday Americans are not far from people's minds. And they worry about what's coming as the shutdown drags on.

On an unseasonably warm Monday nearly six days after the US government shut down, Mr Giba sits underneath the shade of a large tree chain-smoking cigarettes with fellow veterans.

One of them, Troy Williams, says politics is hurting average Americans. "This isn't a Democrat or Republican issue," he says, "this is a why aren't they working on a solution issue."

Air Force veteran Marcellus Brothers is concerned about what's ahead. "We're in limbo, it's scary."

• What makes this US shutdown different (and more difficult)
• 'No good outcome' - voters across US share concerns about shutdown
• Trump administration starts laying off thousands of workers

Republicans and Democrats have been deadlocked over government funding since it ran out on 1 October, and much of the government shut down, placing more than 700,000 people on unpaid leave. Some 200,000 other workers deemed "essential" are working without pay as the political standoff drags on.

Politicians in Washington have pointed fingers in the direction of the opposing party. On Friday, the White House began laying off thousands of federal employees.

In a state already hit by job cuts from the Trump administration's efforts to scale back the federal workforce, the shutdown threatens even steeper losses, Kelly Allen, the executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy warns.

"We have more federal government employees than coal miners in West Virginia," she says. "Of course those jobs are well paying, come with good benefits and in a state with not a whole lot of good paying jobs those are really important."

Tina Hissam, a small business employee in the area, has seen the impact of government shutdowns on her neighbours first hand.

"It hurts the small businesses, they may cancel services, they may not shop locally," she says of federal workers. "The government shutdown has a huge impact and it's really scary, I just pray that it all goes away."

Already, a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) service centre - which serves the seven surrounding counties - has shut its door.

The office - responsible for assisting farmers, ranchers and landowners with tasks like applying for farm loans and disaster assistance - will remain closed until the government reopens.

And on Wednesday, the IRS furloughed 34,000 workers, so the service centre in Martinsburg may soon be affected.

History has shown that as shutdowns go on, more services are cut or shuttered because of a lack of funding.

West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito has so far remained unbowed despite the potential impact on areas she represents like Martinsburg. She has voted with fellow Republicans to provide government funding without healthcare subsidies that Democrats want. Both sides' proposals have repeatedly failed.

In a local op-ed, Moore Capito noted West Virginia has the third-highest number of federal employees per capita in the country, but blamed Democrats' intransigence.

"These are our neighbours and friends - people who keep our miners safe, process veterans' benefits, secure our borders, and keep drugs out of our communities. They're now facing uncertainty about their pay checks through no fault of their own."

When the first cheques since the shutdown arrive - or don't - on Friday that impact may finally hit.

In previous shutdowns, federal workers who went without pay were given back pay, but it remains unclear if that will be the case this time around.

"The economic loss could have wide-ranging consequences on local communities, businesses and households. It could cause long-term damage to local economies," resident Mark Mulligan says.

"West Virginia is a poor state and dependent on federal jobs and handouts. The pain to the elderly, the disabled and to children could be catastrophic. "

At least 27 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Hamas security forces and armed members of the Dughmush family in Gaza City, in one of the most violent internal confrontations since the end of major Israeli operations in the enclave.

Masked Hamas gunmen exchanged fire with clan fighters near the city's Jordanian hospital, witnesses said.

A senior official in the Hamas-run interior ministry said security units surrounded them and engaged in heavy fighting to detain them. The ministry said eight its members were killed in "an armed assault by a militia".

Medical sources said 19 Dughmush clan members and eight Hamas fighters had been killed since fighting began on Saturday.

Eyewitnesses said the clashes erupted in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood in southern Gaza City after a Hamas force of more than 300 fighters moved to storm a residential block where Dughmush gunmen were entrenched.

Residents described scenes of panic as dozens of families fled their homes under heavy gunfire, many of them displaced multiple times during the war.

"This time people weren't fleeing Israeli attacks," one resident said. "They were running from their own people."

The Dughmush family, one of Gaza's most prominent clans, has long had a tense relationship with Hamas, and its armed members have clashed with the group on several occasions in the past.

The Hamas-run interior ministry said its forces were seeking to restore order, warning that "any armed activity outside the framework of the resistance" would be dealt with firmly.

Both sides traded accusations over who was responsible for triggering the clashes.

Hamas earlier said Dughmush gunmen killed two of its fighters and wounded five others, prompting the group to launch an operation against them.

However, a source from the Dughmush family told local media that Hamas forces had come to a building that once served as the Jordanian Hospital, where the family had taken refuge after their homes in the al-Sabra neighbourhood were destroyed in the recent Israeli attack.

The source claimed that Hamas sought to evict the family from the building to establish a new base for its forces there.

Hamas has recalled about 7,000 members of its security forces to reassert control over areas of Gaza recently vacated by Israeli troops, according to local sources.

Reports suggest armed Hamas units have already deployed across several districts, some wearing civilian clothes and others in the blue uniforms of the Gaza police. The Hamas media office denied it was deploying "fighters in the streets".

A key security adviser had no role in the "substance or the evidence" of the collapsed case against two men accused of spying for China, the education secretary has said.

The Conservatives have suggested Jonathan Powell, the prime minister's national security adviser, had a role in not giving prosecutors evidence they said they needed to secure convictions.

Charges against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry – who both deny the allegations – were dropped last month, prompting criticism from ministers and MPs.

Asked about Mr Powell's involvement, Bridget Phillipson told the BBC: "I can give you that reassurance, he did not have those conversations around the substance or the evidence of the case."

Phillipson said ministers were "deeply disappointed that the case hasn't proceeded" and insisted the Crown Prosecution Service was "best placed to explain why it was not able to bring forward a prosecution".

Downing Street had previously denied that ministers were involved in the collapse of the case.

But in a rare intervention this week, the director of public prosecutions Stephen Parkinson, the head of the CPS, said the trial collapsed because the government did not provide evidence referring to China as a national security threat.

The Conservatives have submitted an urgent question in Parliament, asking ministers to address MPs on Monday to explain why the trial collapsed.

They have suggested Mr Powell, who has sought closer relations with Beijing, failed to give the CPS the evidence required.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp told the BBC ministers "must urgently explain why it chose not to disclose the reams of information it has demonstrating China was a threat to national security in the 2021-2023 period".

He said: "It looks as if Jonathan Powell was behind this decision – and he should resign if he is."

The prime minister has said the government could only draw on the previous Conservative's position, which designated China an "epoch-defining challenge".

"You have to prosecute people on the basis of the circumstances at the time of the alleged offence," the prime minister told reporters in India this week.

"So all the focus needs to be on the policy of the Tory government in place then."

Several former Conservative ministers and advisers have told the BBC there was no official designation of whether a country amounts to a threat.

They claim there is a document with "hundreds" of examples of Chinese activity posing a threat to the UK at the time of the alleged offences, which could have been given as evidence.

Sources cited the hack on the Ministry of Defence, which ministers suspected China was behind, as one of many incidents.

"I don't think there is a sane jury in the world that would look at that evidence and conclude China was not a threat," a source in the last government said.

Former Conservative ministers also point to public statements, including from the former head of MI5 Ken McCallum, who in 2023 said there had been a "sustained campaign" of Chinese espionage on a "pretty epic scale".

The Liberal Democrats said the government's approach to China was "putting our national security at risk".

The party urged the government to block the planning application for a new Chinese embassy in London.

"Giving the green light to the super embassy being built in the heart of the City of London and above critical data connections would enable Chinese espionage on an industrial scale," Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller said.

Mr Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Mr Berry, were charged under the Official Secrets Act in April 2024, when the Conservatives were in power.

They were accused of gathering and providing information prejudicial to the safety and interests of the state between December 2021 and February 2023.

Under the Official Secrets Act, anyone accused of spying can only be prosecuted if the information they passed on was useful to an enemy.

However, last month the director of public prosecutions said "the case could no longer proceed to trial since the evidence no longer met the evidential test".

A 43-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the deaths of two children.

Emergency services were called to a home in Corporation Street, Stafford, at about 07:30 BST, where the two children were pronounced dead.

"We are working hard to understand more about what happened leading up to these two children tragically losing their lives," said Det Insp Kirsty Oldfield of Staffordshire Police.

"We ask that people do not speculate at this stage as it is distressing for family and friends and could hinder our inquiries."

Officers were called to the home by West Midlands Ambulance service, the force added.

The children's next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specially trained officers, it said.

A cordon is currently in place at the home.

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The prime minister will attend an international peace summit in Egypt on Monday where the peace plan for Gaza will be signed, Downing Street has said.

Sir Keir Starmer will pay "particular tribute" in Sharm El-Sheikh to US President Donald Trump, No 10 added.

A ceasefire in Gaza took effect on Friday morning after Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire agreement and hostage return deal brokered by Trump, with the next phases still to be negotiated.

The US president will lead the summit alongside Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi with leaders from more than 20 countries in attendance, a spokesman for al-Sisi said.

Under the deal, Hamas has until 12:00 (09:00 GMT) on Monday to release all Israeli hostages - including 20 who are believed to be alive, and the remains of up to 28 deceased hostages.

Israel should also release around 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 detainees from Gaza, while increased amounts of aid should enter the Strip.

Many details for the later phases, which would be negotiated after the successful completion of phase one, could be hard to reach agreement on - such as the governance of Gaza, the extent of Israeli troop withdrawal, and the disarming of Hamas.

Downing Street said Monday's summit would involve a "signing ceremony" for the peace plan, "marking a historic turning point for the region after two years of conflict and bloodshed".

Sir Keir will thank Egypt, Qatar and Turkey for "bringing us to this point" as well as Trump, before calling for continued coordination to secure "swift progress towards phase two" of the truce.

No 10 added in its statement: "He will offer the UK's steadfast support and engagement with international partners as we look to secure the ceasefire, get urgently needed humanitarian assistance into Gaza and secure a basis for a lasting peace and security."

French President Emmanuel Macron will also attend, the Elysee Palace confirmed on Saturday, where he will "express his full support for the implementation of the agreement".

Confirming the summit late on Saturday, a spokesperson for Egypt's presidency said it was intended to "end the war in the Gaza Strip, strengthen peace and stability efforts in the Middle East, and open a new page in regional security and stability".

Trump had told reporters at the White House on Friday that he would be travelling to the region on Monday, addressing Israel's parliament the Knesset, before heading to Egypt.

He said: "We have a lot of leaders from all over the world coming too, they've been invited."

Egypt's foreign ministry had also said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed arrangements for the summit with Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.

The ceasefire came into effect after the Israeli government approved the first phase of Trump's ceasefire and hostage return deal on Thursday, following three days of indirect talks in Egypt.

The Israeli military said it had partially withdrawn troops from parts of Gaza and pulled back to an agreed position within the territory - though troops still occupy half of the Strip.

The UK has already said it has "no plans" to send British troops to be part of a multinational force that will monitor the latest ceasefire from Israel.

The US is moving up to 200 troops already based in the region to what it is calling a civil-military coordination centre in Israel, officials have said, alongside forces from Arab and Muslim countries including Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Friday the UK would continue to support the peace process in other ways, including looking at getting private finance into Gaza.

Israel's war on Gaza was triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

Since then, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 18,000 children, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

A previous ceasefire agreement that began in January collapsed after two months when Israel resumed its military offensive, having never got past the first stage of a three-stage plan.

US President Donald Trump says Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a Gaza peace deal.

It comes two years and two days after Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage.

At least 67,183 have been killed by Israeli military operations in Gaza since then, including 20,179 children, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

Here is what we know about the agreement, and what remains unclear:

What has been announced?

After intense negotiations in Egypt, Israel and Hamas have agreed to a first phase of a US peace plan, the US president said.

Announcing the deal on social media, Trump said: "This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line."

"All parties" would be treated fairly, said Trump, who called these the "first steps toward... everlasting peace".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it "a great day for Israel" and said his government would meet on Thursday to approve the agreement and "bring all our dear hostages home".

In confirming the announcement, Hamas said it would "end the war in Gaza, ensure the complete withdrawal of the occupation forces, allow the entry of humanitarian aid, and implement a prisoner exchange".

Israel and Hamas do not speak directly to each other - the negotiations were brokered by Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.

What happens next?

Israel's government is due to vote on the deal on Thursday.

If they formally approve it, Israel must withdraw its troops from Gaza to the agreed line, a senior White House official told BBC's US partner, CBS News. The withdrawal would likely happen within 24 hours, the official said.

After this happens, a 72-hour clock will begin where Hamas must release the living hostages.

The release of the hostages would likely begin on Monday, the senior White House official said.

What do we not know?

What's been announced so far is just the initial phase of Trump's 20-point peace plan, which Israel has accepted and Hamas has partly agreed to.

However the announcements did not cover some thorny issues both sides have not reached a resolution on.

Notably, no details surround the disarmament of Hamas - a key point in Trump's plan. Hamas has previously refused to lay down its weapons, saying it would only do so when a Palestinian state had been established.

The future governance of Gaza is also a sticking point. Trump's 20-point plan states Hamas will have no future role in the Strip and proposes it be temporarily governed by a "technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee", before being handed over to the Palestinian Authority.

Netanyahu appeared to push back on the Palestinian Authority's involvement last week, even as he accepted Trump's plan.

Ultranationalist hardliners within Netanyahu's ruling coalition, many of whom want to reconstruct Jewish settlements in Gaza, are also likely to object to this point.

Hamas, in response, said it still expected to have some role in governing Gaza.

In addition, as of Wednesday night, Hamas had not yet received the final list of Palestinian prisoners that Israel plans to release in exchange for the hostages in Gaza, a Palestinian source told the BBC.

The 20-point plan states that 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1,700 Gazans who were detained after 7 October 2023 will be released.

What's been the reaction?

Relatives of Israeli hostages have welcomed the deal.

Eli Sharabi, whose wife and children were killed, and whose brother Yossi's body is being held by Hamas, posted: "Great joy, can't wait to see everyone home."

The mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen posted: "My child, you are coming home."

Meanwhile in Gaza, celebrations broke out after the announcement. "Thank God for the ceasefire, the end of bloodshed and killing," Abdul Majeed abd Rabbo, a man in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

"I am not the only one happy, all of the Gaza Strip is happy, all the Arab people, all of the world is happy with the ceasefire and the end of bloodshed."

World leaders have urged parties to abide by the deal.

"The suffering must end," United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said, adding that the UN would support the "full implementation" of the deal, as well as increase its delivery of aid and its reconstruction efforts in Gaza.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the news, saying: "This is a moment of profound relief that will be felt all around the world, but particularly for the hostages, their families, and for the civilian population of Gaza, who have all endured unimaginable suffering over the last two years."

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the agreement a "much needed step towards peace" and urged parties to "respect the terms of the plan".

Lawmakers in the US have struck a cautiously optimistic tone.

"This is a first step, and all parties need to ensure this leads to an enduring end to this war," Democrat Senator Chris Coons said in an X post.

Republican James Risch, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called it a welcome deal and said he "looks forward to learning [its] details".

With reporting by Rushdi Abualouf and Lucy Manning

In Bucksnort, Tennessee, residents have spent a chilly autumn night heeding a simple message spraypainted on a concrete barrier by the side of the road: "Pray for the AES families".

Community members gathered on Saturday for a candlelit vigil outside the Maple Valley Baptist Church after a blast at local explosives factory Accurate Energetic Systems (AES) left 16 people presumed dead.

This community of Hickman and Humphreys Counties is "not huge, so that's a lot of people to lose in an instant," Deacon Danny Bates said to the approximately 40 attendees, who comforted each other and sang hymns such as "It Is Well With My Soul".

"It was just another day at work, and then in an instant, they were gone. We have unanswered questions".

Vigil-goer Jerri Newcombe said her friend of more than 20 years was among the victims. The two met when Newcombe's granddaughter and the victim's daughter became close as little girls.

"They grew up together - we were in each other's homes," Newcombe told the BBC at the vigil. "We celebrated birthdays together. It's just surreal, because she's gone and her babies are hurting," she said, referring to the victim's children and grandchildren.

Local police have not publicly identified any of the unaccounted-for victims, who authorities presume have all been killed.

Her friend was "full of life", Ms Newcombe said. "She was the type of person that could make you laugh over anything, but you didn't cross her either, or she would tear into you," Ms. Newcombe added amid tears and laughter, as her granddaughter comforted her.

Bucksnort is a close-knit town where the cell service is spotty and a gas station - adorned with a Confederate flag centrepiece - is the local watering hole, residents say. This tragedy has hit the area hard as the community mourns family, friends, neighbours and coworkers.

The town had been holding out hope for good news after the explosion on Friday morning shook homes across the area, clouded the skies with smoke and drew a surge of hundreds of state and national first responders to an otherwise sleepy community tucked behind forests along a busy motorway.

But after nearly two days with no sign of survivors and the explosion site still considered dangerous for first responders, even the previously optimistic Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said the time had come to switch to a recovery - rather than rescue - strategy.

"At some point in time, we have got to rip off the Band-Aid," Davis, who has held back tears at news conferences, said. "We are dealing with remains."

Hickman County Sheriff Jason Craft told the BBC on Saturday night that rapid DNA analysis was still ongoing, but that after a search by 300 first responders, authorities had enough confidence in their assessment of the scene to notify families that their loved ones were likely deceased.

No cause of the blast has yet been identified, and agents from the national Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are investigating. It could take as long as a month for federal investigators to reach the main site of the explosion, ATF official Brice McCracken told the BBC.

The volatile nature of the explosive materials has also hampered the emergency response, officials said, as controlled detonations to render the site safe are also expected in the coming days.

Tiffany Story says her cousin was also among the victims, along with four other people that she knew, including someone she once used to babysit for.

"Everybody knows everybody here," an emotional Mrs Story told the BBC. "With everybody being so close, it's very comforting to have family. That's what we are - whether [by] blood, not blood, this whole community is family."

"There's probably never gonna be any answers" to the tragedy, she said.

Janie Brown said she also knew victims at the site. "They were loved by their families and by the community," she said outside another prayer vigil at the Hurricane Chapel Free Will Baptist Church in nearby McEwen.

"It's just a sad, sad day," she said.

Residents told the BBC the Accurate Energetic Systems (AES) company employed about 80 workers, and is one of the only private well-paying jobs around in these counties. For many here, the plant was known as a reliable first job for themselves or close friends.

A recent job opening advertised a $19-per-hour salary for an entry-level manual labour job, more than double the state's minimum wage of $7.25.

The factory has seen other difficulties, but none at such a scale as this.

In 2014, an explosion at the company killed one person, and a 2019 workplace safety inspection led to relatively minor financial penalties, which the company settled, according to online records.

Residents who spoke to the BBC had mostly positive feelings towards the company, and local police say they had no previous reports of unsafe working conditions.

Hurricane Chapel Free Will Baptist Church Pastor Tim Ferris praised his congregation's response to the tragedy.

"One thing about a small community is that when something like this happens, they rally around each other, and they come close to be the hands and the feet of Jesus, to administer to these people, to care for them, provide for them.

And that's a wonderful thing," he said.

US President Donald Trump says Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a Gaza peace deal.

It comes two years and two days after Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage.

At least 67,183 have been killed by Israeli military operations in Gaza since then, including 20,179 children, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

Here is what we know about the agreement, and what remains unclear:

What has been announced?

After intense negotiations in Egypt, Israel and Hamas have agreed to a first phase of a US peace plan, the US president said.

Announcing the deal on social media, Trump said: "This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line."

"All parties" would be treated fairly, said Trump, who called these the "first steps toward... everlasting peace".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it "a great day for Israel" and said his government would meet on Thursday to approve the agreement and "bring all our dear hostages home".

In confirming the announcement, Hamas said it would "end the war in Gaza, ensure the complete withdrawal of the occupation forces, allow the entry of humanitarian aid, and implement a prisoner exchange".

Israel and Hamas do not speak directly to each other - the negotiations were brokered by Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.

What happens next?

Israel's government is due to vote on the deal on Thursday.

If they formally approve it, Israel must withdraw its troops from Gaza to the agreed line, a senior White House official told BBC's US partner, CBS News. The withdrawal would likely happen within 24 hours, the official said.

After this happens, a 72-hour clock will begin where Hamas must release the living hostages.

The release of the hostages would likely begin on Monday, the senior White House official said.

What do we not know?

What's been announced so far is just the initial phase of Trump's 20-point peace plan, which Israel has accepted and Hamas has partly agreed to.

However the announcements did not cover some thorny issues both sides have not reached a resolution on.

Notably, no details surround the disarmament of Hamas - a key point in Trump's plan. Hamas has previously refused to lay down its weapons, saying it would only do so when a Palestinian state had been established.

The future governance of Gaza is also a sticking point. Trump's 20-point plan states Hamas will have no future role in the Strip and proposes it be temporarily governed by a "technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee", before being handed over to the Palestinian Authority.

Netanyahu appeared to push back on the Palestinian Authority's involvement last week, even as he accepted Trump's plan.

Ultranationalist hardliners within Netanyahu's ruling coalition, many of whom want to reconstruct Jewish settlements in Gaza, are also likely to object to this point.

Hamas, in response, said it still expected to have some role in governing Gaza.

In addition, as of Wednesday night, Hamas had not yet received the final list of Palestinian prisoners that Israel plans to release in exchange for the hostages in Gaza, a Palestinian source told the BBC.

The 20-point plan states that 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1,700 Gazans who were detained after 7 October 2023 will be released.

What's been the reaction?

Relatives of Israeli hostages have welcomed the deal.

Eli Sharabi, whose wife and children were killed, and whose brother Yossi's body is being held by Hamas, posted: "Great joy, can't wait to see everyone home."

The mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen posted: "My child, you are coming home."

Meanwhile in Gaza, celebrations broke out after the announcement. "Thank God for the ceasefire, the end of bloodshed and killing," Abdul Majeed abd Rabbo, a man in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

"I am not the only one happy, all of the Gaza Strip is happy, all the Arab people, all of the world is happy with the ceasefire and the end of bloodshed."

World leaders have urged parties to abide by the deal.

"The suffering must end," United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said, adding that the UN would support the "full implementation" of the deal, as well as increase its delivery of aid and its reconstruction efforts in Gaza.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the news, saying: "This is a moment of profound relief that will be felt all around the world, but particularly for the hostages, their families, and for the civilian population of Gaza, who have all endured unimaginable suffering over the last two years."

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the agreement a "much needed step towards peace" and urged parties to "respect the terms of the plan".

Lawmakers in the US have struck a cautiously optimistic tone.

"This is a first step, and all parties need to ensure this leads to an enduring end to this war," Democrat Senator Chris Coons said in an X post.

Republican James Risch, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called it a welcome deal and said he "looks forward to learning [its] details".

With reporting by Rushdi Abualouf and Lucy Manning

John Swinney said the precedent set ahead of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum should trigger a new poll, if the party wins a majority at the next Holyrood election.

The SNP gained more than half of MSPs in 2011, an electoral triumph that paved the way for a vote on the country's future.

On Saturday delegates at the party's conference in Aberdeen backed his strategy ahead of a bid to make the next election a de-facto poll on independence.

But Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said the UK Labour government, which would have to approve the move, does not support a second referendum.

Sir Keir Starmer previously said he had no plans to allow a fresh poll to take place during his term as prime minister.

But Swinney told BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show that the prime minister's position was "fatuous" due to the "clearly established basis" set out after the SNP's historic win 14 years ago.

He added: "Precedent is on my side.

"This is what happened in 2011.

"And precedent is a substantial factor in legal consideration of the right of the people of Scotland to decide their own future."

The SNP leader said that result meant his party was in a "much stronger position" to negotiate a mandate for a new vote should they achieve a majority next year.

Asked if the election should instead be fought on current issues, such as standards of living, Swinney replied: "I would say to people worried about their standard of living, this election should be about independence.

"Because, under the United Kingdom, people's standard of living has been flat as a pancake for 15 years."

The first minister said Scotland had to consider if was going to accept "more of this" as well as what he described as a "shift to the right" in UK politics.

He told the programme NHS waiting lists were coming down, GP numbers were going up and more affordable houses were being built in Scotland per head of the population.

Swinney added: "Self-government works for the people of Scotland and if we want to improve living standards, let's have the choice of independence."

In the 2011 election, the SNP – then led by the late Alex Salmond – won 69 of 129 available seats.

The party has failed to gain an outright majority in two Holyrood elections since then.

Salmond and the then Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron signed the Edinburgh Agreement in October 2012.

It set out the terms for the 2014 ballot under Section 30 of the Scotland Act 1998.

Scotland voted against leaving the UK by a margin of 55.3% to 44.7% in September 2014.

Any new vote would require Starmer to grant similar assent.

Also appearing on the Sunday Show, Alexander said Swinney was using independence to divert attention away from the SNP's "horrific" record on public services.

He said he was not sure if he had been listening to "the Grand Old Duke of York or the first minister of Scotland".

Alexander added: "This is all about marching his troops in that hall up to the top of the hill and then back down again.

"We have heard all of this before."

Asked if the UK government would say no to a second independence referendum, the Labour MP for Lothian East said he was "working for victory" at the Holyrood election in 2026 and "not anticipating defeat".

Alexander told The Sunday Show: "I am not going to divulge in his game which is to divert attention from his horrifically bad record on Scotland's public services by trying instead to provoke an argument about the constitution."

The Scottish Secretary, who replaced Ian Murray last month, was also questioned about whether he had a "duty to the electorate" to outline what would happen in the event of an SNP majority.

He replied: "I was elected on a very clear manifesto in July of 2024 which said Labour does not support independence or another referendum.

"That's the mandate on which I was elected and I will adhere to that mandate."

The Taliban government has confirmed that it attacked Pakistani troops in multiple mountainous locations on the northern border.

Casualties are not yet clear in what the Taliban called "retaliatory operations", after it said Pakistan violated Afghan airspace and bombed a market inside its border on Thursday.

Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi called the Taliban attacks "unprovoked", accusing them of firing at civilians. Pakistani forces would respond "with a stone for every brick", he warned.

Islamabad accuses Kabul of harbouring terrorists who target Pakistan on its soil, a claim the Taliban reject. The escalation came as the Afghan Taliban foreign minister was in India for an historic visit.

Both sides are said to have used small arms and artillery in the Kunar-Kurram region, the BBC understands.

Saying he "strongly condemns" the Taliban's attacks, Naqvi stated: "The firing by Afghan forces on civilian populations is a blatant violation of international laws.

"Afghanistan is playing a game of fire and blood," he said in a post on X.

A Pakistani military spokesman said they would take necessary measures to safeguard Pakistani lives and properties.

Pakistan's military has not officially commented, but a security source told the BBC firing took place at several locations along the Pakistani-Afghan border, including Angoor Adda, Bajaur, Kurram, Dir, Chitral and Baramcha.

A police official stationed near the Zero Point in Kurram district told the BBC that heavy weapons fire began from the Afghan side around 22:00 local time (17:00 GMT).

He said they had received reports of intense gunfire from multiple locations along the border.

Last week, Afghanistan's Taliban government accused Pakistan of violating Kabul's "sovereign territory", as two loud blasts were heard in the city late on Thursday.

Pakistan bombed a civilian market in the border province of Paktika, in Afghanistan's south-east, the Taliban Defence Ministry said on Friday. Locals there told the BBC's Afghan service that a number of shops had been destroyed.

A top Pakistani general alleged Afghanistan was being used as a "base of operation for terrorism against Pakistan".

Pakistan has long accused the Afghan Taliban of permitting the Pakistan Taliban, known as the TTP, to operate from their land and fight against the Islamabad government in a bid to enforce a strict Islamic-led system of governance.

The Taliban government has always denied this.

The latest escalation came as the Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was in India for a week-long visit. In a diplomatic thaw, Delhi said that it would reopen the embassy in Kabul, which was shut four years ago when the Taliban returned to power.

"Afghanistan will also be given a befitting reply like India, so that it will not dare to look at Pakistan with a malicious eye," Naqvi warned.

In a statement, Saudi Arabia, which signed a mutual defence pact with Pakistan last month, called for self-restraint and avoidance of escalation between Islamabad and Kabul.

Qatar also issued a statement, expressing concern over the Pakistan-Afghanistan border tensions and saying that it "urges both sides to prioritise dialogue, diplomacy, and restraint".

A key security adviser had no role in the "substance or the evidence" of the collapsed case against two men accused of spying for China, the education secretary has said.

The Conservatives have suggested Jonathan Powell, the prime minister's national security adviser, had a role in not giving prosecutors evidence they said they needed to secure convictions.

Charges against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry – who both deny the allegations – were dropped last month, prompting criticism from ministers and MPs.

Asked about Mr Powell's involvement, Bridget Phillipson told the BBC: "I can give you that reassurance, he did not have those conversations around the substance or the evidence of the case."

Phillipson said ministers were "deeply disappointed that the case hasn't proceeded" and insisted the Crown Prosecution Service was "best placed to explain why it was not able to bring forward a prosecution".

Downing Street had previously denied that ministers were involved in the collapse of the case.

But in a rare intervention this week, the director of public prosecutions Stephen Parkinson, the head of the CPS, said the trial collapsed because the government did not provide evidence referring to China as a national security threat.

The Conservatives have submitted an urgent question in Parliament, asking ministers to address MPs on Monday to explain why the trial collapsed.

They have suggested Mr Powell, who has sought closer relations with Beijing, failed to give the CPS the evidence required.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp told the BBC ministers "must urgently explain why it chose not to disclose the reams of information it has demonstrating China was a threat to national security in the 2021-2023 period".

He said: "It looks as if Jonathan Powell was behind this decision – and he should resign if he is."

The prime minister has said the government could only draw on the previous Conservative's position, which designated China an "epoch-defining challenge".

"You have to prosecute people on the basis of the circumstances at the time of the alleged offence," the prime minister told reporters in India this week.

"So all the focus needs to be on the policy of the Tory government in place then."

Several former Conservative ministers and advisers have told the BBC there was no official designation of whether a country amounts to a threat.

They claim there is a document with "hundreds" of examples of Chinese activity posing a threat to the UK at the time of the alleged offences, which could have been given as evidence.

Sources cited the hack on the Ministry of Defence, which ministers suspected China was behind, as one of many incidents.

"I don't think there is a sane jury in the world that would look at that evidence and conclude China was not a threat," a source in the last government said.

Former Conservative ministers also point to public statements, including from the former head of MI5 Ken McCallum, who in 2023 said there had been a "sustained campaign" of Chinese espionage on a "pretty epic scale".

The Liberal Democrats said the government's approach to China was "putting our national security at risk".

The party urged the government to block the planning application for a new Chinese embassy in London.

"Giving the green light to the super embassy being built in the heart of the City of London and above critical data connections would enable Chinese espionage on an industrial scale," Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller said.

Mr Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Mr Berry, were charged under the Official Secrets Act in April 2024, when the Conservatives were in power.

They were accused of gathering and providing information prejudicial to the safety and interests of the state between December 2021 and February 2023.

Under the Official Secrets Act, anyone accused of spying can only be prosecuted if the information they passed on was useful to an enemy.

However, last month the director of public prosecutions said "the case could no longer proceed to trial since the evidence no longer met the evidential test".

Universities must act to protect Jewish students from harassment and discrimination on campuses, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said, as she set out measures to tackle antisemitism.

Phillipson said there had been an "unacceptable increase in antisemitism" at universities and added that many Jewish students currently do not feel safe on campuses.

She said the UK government was funding training to help staff and students at universities "tackle this poison of antisemitism".

"There can be no place for harassment and intimidation," Phillipson told BBC One's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme. "Universities can and must act on that."

There have been regular protests staged at universities over the conflict in Gaza, including on the second anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel earlier this week.

The protests went ahead despite the pleas of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who urged students not to take part, warning of "rising antisemitism on our streets".

The demonstrations came days after two Jewish men were killed in a terrorist attack at a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur.

A report by CST last year found a 117% increase in antisemitic incidents on university campuses in the 2022/23 and 2023/2024 academic years, when compared with the preceding two years.

Phillipson said she had spoken to Jewish students who felt they needed to conceal their identity.

"On campus, Jewish students don't feel safe," she said. "And often, parents worry about sending their children to university. We cannot accept that. There can be no place for it."

The education secretary said she had written to university vice-chancellors urging them to take steps to protect Jewish students from harassment.

Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton has died at the age of 79, according to US media reports.

Keaton, who was born in Los Angeles, shot to fame in the 1970s through her role as Kay Adams-Corleone in The Godfather films.

She was also known for starring in Father of the Bride, First Wives Club and Annie Hall, which won her the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1978.

The actress, whose Hollywood career spanned more than 50 years, died in California, her family confirmed to People magazine. A source also confirmed her death to the New York Times.

Paying tribute, her First Wives Club co-star Bette Midler wrote on Instagram: "The brilliant, beautiful, extraordinary Diane Keaton has died. I cannot tell you how unbearably sad this makes me.

"She was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star. What you saw was who she was ... oh, la, lala!"

Actor Ben Stiller paid tribute on X, writing: "Diane Keaton. One of the greatest film actors ever. An icon of style, humor and comedy. Brilliant. What a person."

Keaton was nominated for three further Oscars - all in the best actress category - for her work in Something's Gotta Give, Marvin's Room and Reds.

She never married and had two adopted children - a daughter, Dexter, and a son, Duke.

A man has been charged with stalking leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Ed Davey and his family over a period of several months.

Inigo Rowland, who is also charged with possession of a flick-knife, is accused of turning up at the Kingston and Surbiton MP's south-west London home "unannounced" and on "numerous" occasions between June and October, according to a court list.

The 58-year-old from Surbiton appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on 7 October and was remanded into custody, the Met Police said.

Sir Ed, 59, and his wife Emily have a 17-year-old son called John, who has a neurological condition and learning difficulties, and a daughter, Ellie.

Sir Ed won the south-west London constituency of Kingston and Surbiton in 1997 and lost his seat in 2015. He regained it in 2017 and became party leader three years later.

A Met Police spokesperson said Mr Rowland was arrested on 6 October in relation to offences alleged to have taken place between June and October.

He is due to appear again at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats said: "We cannot provide any details at this time; Ed's number-one priority is the safety of his family."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk

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A key security adviser had no role in the "substance or the evidence" of the collapsed case against two men accused of spying for China, the education secretary has said.

The Conservatives have suggested Jonathan Powell, the prime minister's national security adviser, had a role in not giving prosecutors evidence they said they needed to secure convictions.

Charges against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry – who both deny the allegations – were dropped last month, prompting criticism from ministers and MPs.

Asked about Mr Powell's involvement, Bridget Phillipson told the BBC: "I can give you that reassurance, he did not have those conversations around the substance or the evidence of the case."

Phillipson said ministers were "deeply disappointed that the case hasn't proceeded" and insisted the Crown Prosecution Service was "best placed to explain why it was not able to bring forward a prosecution".

Downing Street had previously denied that ministers were involved in the collapse of the case.

But in a rare intervention this week, the director of public prosecutions Stephen Parkinson, the head of the CPS, said the trial collapsed because the government did not provide evidence referring to China as a national security threat.

The Conservatives have submitted an urgent question in Parliament, asking ministers to address MPs on Monday to explain why the trial collapsed.

They have suggested Mr Powell, who has sought closer relations with Beijing, failed to give the CPS the evidence required.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp told the BBC ministers "must urgently explain why it chose not to disclose the reams of information it has demonstrating China was a threat to national security in the 2021-2023 period".

He said: "It looks as if Jonathan Powell was behind this decision – and he should resign if he is."

The prime minister has said the government could only draw on the previous Conservative's position, which designated China an "epoch-defining challenge".

"You have to prosecute people on the basis of the circumstances at the time of the alleged offence," the prime minister told reporters in India this week.

"So all the focus needs to be on the policy of the Tory government in place then."

Several former Conservative ministers and advisers have told the BBC there was no official designation of whether a country amounts to a threat.

They claim there is a document with "hundreds" of examples of Chinese activity posing a threat to the UK at the time of the alleged offences, which could have been given as evidence.

Sources cited the hack on the Ministry of Defence, which ministers suspected China was behind, as one of many incidents.

"I don't think there is a sane jury in the world that would look at that evidence and conclude China was not a threat," a source in the last government said.

Former Conservative ministers also point to public statements, including from the former head of MI5 Ken McCallum, who in 2023 said there had been a "sustained campaign" of Chinese espionage on a "pretty epic scale".

The Liberal Democrats said the government's approach to China was "putting our national security at risk".

The party urged the government to block the planning application for a new Chinese embassy in London.

"Giving the green light to the super embassy being built in the heart of the City of London and above critical data connections would enable Chinese espionage on an industrial scale," Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller said.

Mr Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Mr Berry, were charged under the Official Secrets Act in April 2024, when the Conservatives were in power.

They were accused of gathering and providing information prejudicial to the safety and interests of the state between December 2021 and February 2023.

Under the Official Secrets Act, anyone accused of spying can only be prosecuted if the information they passed on was useful to an enemy.

However, last month the director of public prosecutions said "the case could no longer proceed to trial since the evidence no longer met the evidential test".

Donald Trump's latest threat to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods is "a typical example of US double standards", China's government has said.

A Commerce Ministry spokesperson also said China could introduce its own unspecified "countermeasures" if the US President carries out his threat, adding it was "not afraid" of a possible trade war.

On Friday, Trump hit back at Beijing's move to tighten its rules for exports of rare earths, accusing China of "becoming very hostile" and trying to hold the world "captive".

He also threatened to pull out of a meeting with China's President Xi Jinping scheduled for later this month.

Trump's comments on Friday rattled financial markets, with the S&P 500 share index closing down 2.7%, its steepest fall since April.

The president's words renewed fears of a trade war between the US and China.

In May, the two sides had agreed to drop triple-digit tariffs on each others' goods. which had raised the prospect of trade halting between the two countries.

This left US tariffs on Chinese goods facing an added 30% levy compared with the start of the year, while US goods entering China face a 10% tariff.

China's latest remarks – released by the Commerce Ministry in the form of written responses to journalist's questions – echoed language from the height of the recent trade conflict.

They criticised US export restrictions on chips and semi-conductors as well as defending China's own export controls on rare earths as "normal actions" to safeguard national security and that of all nations.

The spokesperson said that for "a long time", the US had "overstretched the concept of national security, abused export control measures" and "adopted discriminatory practices against China".

"Resorting to tariff threats is not the right way to engage with China," the spokesperson said.

"China's position on a tariff war has always been consistent: we do not want one, but we are not afraid of one."

Last week, China announced it was tightening export controls on rare earths and other materials critical for advanced tech manufacturing.

This was seen as key move, as the country processes about 90% of the world's rare earths, which are used in goods such as solar panels and smartphones.

The recent comments from Washington and Beijing are being seen by some as a means of strengthening positions ahead of future trade talks.

It is unclear whether a meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, expected at a summit in South Korea later this month, will still proceed.

Are you ill? If not, you probably know someone who is - or at the very least someone who has just recovered.

Coughs and colds, it seems, are rampant at the moment.

And, if the anecdotes of people I know are anything to go by, the bug going round seems to be a particularly nasty one.

Sore throat? Tick. Streaming nose? Tick. Sinus pressure? Double tick.

What's going on?

The perfect breeding ground

"This is normal, it's autumn after all," says Prof Jonathan Ball, from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

He says a combination of children returning to school, adults back at work after the summer break and people spending more time indoors as the weather turns cooler creates a ripe breeding ground for respiratory viruses to flourish.

"Basically we have a big mixing pot of different viruses that are beginning to do the rounds. Immunity has waned and people are getting ill."

There are actually more than 100 different viruses that cause upper and lower respiratory tract infections, plus some bacterial infections.

Is there more illness than normal?

Data collection from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows Rhinovirus – what many of us would call the common cold – has been on the increase in recent weeks and seems to be the most common cause of illness at the moment.

Covid is also doing the rounds, driven by two new variants – XFG, called Stratus by some, and NB.1.8.1, known as Nimbus. But there is already a high degree of immunity built up in the population meaning, for most, it's a fairly mild infection.

There are signs flu may be on the rise too – there has been an increase in the 15-25 age group over the past week - while RSV, which can cause serious illness in young children, also tends to take off in the autumn.

"There is often, although not always, a pattern," says Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal, a consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA.

"You tend to see Rhinovirus take off first and then RSV," he explains. "Flu tends to come later in December and January. But that's not always the case – and certainly the pandemic disrupted the traditional seasonal trends. What we've seen in the last year or so is those trends return to something like normal."

He says the levels of illnesses at the moment are not particularly high.

"Covid is above baseline and there's a lot of Rhinovirus around. The uptick in flu in that younger age group has perhaps come a little bit earlier than we would expect, but it is still at a low level."

Is it a cold, flu or Covid?

The most common symptoms, according to the NHS, are:

Colds

• Symptoms appear gradually
• Mostly affect nose and throat
• Early sign - pressure in your ears
• Chestier, mucus cough

Flu

• Comes on suddenly
• Feel wiped out
• Fever, muscle aches, exhaustion
• Need bed rest
• Dry cough

Covid

• Typical flu symptoms
• Loss of taste of smell
• Diarrhoea or tummy upset

Many of the symptoms between cold, flu and more serious viruses like Covid overlap.

How can you protect yourself?

Respiratory infections can, of course, be really dangerous for vulnerable people - in a bad winter tens of thousands of people can die of flu.

But there is nothing to suggest the respiratory viruses circulating now are causing more serious illness this year in otherwise healthy people.

"We all react in different ways – and we don't really understand why," admits Prof Ball.

"Of course, age and fitness have a lot to do with it, but sometimes it is just your individual genetics or how tired and rundown you may be, or when you were last exposed to that particular virus."

In terms of protecting yourself, the most important step to take, if you are eligible, is to get vaccinatinated. Shots are being offered for flu, Covid and RSV to protect those who are most at-risk of serious illness, which includes older people and those with certain health conditions.

If you are ill, UKHSA says you can help protect others by washing your hands regularly, especially after coughing or sneezing, staying at home if you can and consider wearing a mask if you do have to go into public places.

Prof Ball says it is right to take precautions to try to protect vulnerable people, but adds if you are healthy and young or of working age, getting the odd respiratory illness is pretty inevitable and not necessarily a bad thing.

"Most people will get one or two respiratory infections every year. In some ways, it's a good thing when you are a child or healthy adult.

"By getting exposed you are building up your immunity through natural infection - so when you are older you hopefully have enough immunity to not get severely ill."

The gothic arches of Santa María de la Asunción crown the hill above the stone harbour where fishermen land their catches of sardines and anchovies.

The church in Castro Urdiales, a small seaside town of about 30,000 people in northern Spain, is more than 700 years old.

It was the perfect holiday destination for Alan Smith and his family, though he had never heard of it - until he asked ChatGPT.

This week a report from the travel association ABTA found an increasing number of people were turning to AI to help with their holidays, from suggesting destinations to planning itineraries once there.

• More holidaymakers using AI to plan trips
• Would you let AI plan your next holiday?

Alan and his wife drove from their home in Kent to northern Spain with their caravan last month, where they met their daughter and her boyfriend.

Alan had asked ChatGPT to recommend places in the area they could visit and requested the drives between them should not be too long.

Castro Urdiales was one of the places suggested by the AI chatbot.

"It was the highlight of the holiday," Alan says, "it was buzzing, like a smaller version of San Sebastián.

"It had all the pintxos you could want, but it's smaller and has far fewer foreign tourists."

Alan is 62. According to the ABTA report, 3% of tourists his age use AI in some way to help with their holiday. The average for the whole population is 8% and use is highest among those aged 25-34, at 18%.

After the AI chatbot made suggestions to Alan about places to visit and routes to take, he checked them on Google to make sure they were legitimate.

He made all the bookings himself though, as he was not sure sure about ChatGPT's ability to do this - particularly given the sums of money involved.

Alan began using the AI-powered tool shortly after it was released in November 2022 and uses it frequently for all sorts of things, from finding information about places he's visiting to recipes he wants to cook.

He often turns to it instead of search engines to save time, rather than reading through several web pages such as travel blogs about good places to visit in northern Spain.

"I've been stunned at the results," Alan says. "It's not always right though, and can - occasionally - be spectacularly wrong."

Hannah Read, 37, tried to use an AI chatbot to plan a trip to Norway with her partner and three children.

She wanted to drive from her home in Flintshire, north Wales and cross the North Sea by ferry.

"I thought it might make for a nice drive," Hannah says. "I asked ChatGPT if there was a ferry from the UK to Norway and it said there was one from Newcastle to Bergen."

She later checked a ferry travel website but found no such route exists.

A travel blog detailing how Brits can reach Norway says the last time the route operated was in 2008.

"I did feel a bit disappointed when I found out the information on ChatGPT was incorrect, as I'd got quite excited and had started planning the trip in my head," Hannah adds.

"My advice is don't rely on AI 100%, it's better to still do proper research."

David Harris, 46, used AI to help plan the itinerary for his family's first holiday in New York, but was more trusting about its recommendations.

Unlike Alan, David knew where he wanted to go - and exactly how he was going to get there, unlike Hannah.

But he wasn't sure how much he could fit into a trip of just four-and-a-half days, so he turned to an AI-powered tool for help.

David asked it to suggest attractions to see and activities to do in the time they had - and asked for them to be grouped together by location so that he and his young family could walk between each.

"With four of us going we kind of wanted to see everything," David says, "from Taylor Swift's house to the Ghostbusters museum."

Having used ChatGPT extensively for work and knowing attractions in New York tend to stay open quite late, he didn't feel the need to check the opening times and walking directions suggested by the AI chatbot.

"It took a couple of prompts to refine the itinerary - as it gave me a lot of information I didn't need to begin with - but it ended up producing a really good list of things to do."

David admits it hadn't even occurred to him to ask it to suggest possible flights with cheaper prices, but says he will try that for a holiday he is planning to the Mediterranean next year.

He adds: "I think AI tools would help people so much if they understood how to use them and gave it a go."

They certainly have their place in holiday planning but users should understand how they work as well as check the recommendations they make, says Alistair Berry, a moderator on the UK Travel subreddit, an online forum where people can ask for advice about travel options in the UK.

"Sometimes these chatbots provide really poor advice," Alistair says. "We get a lot of Americans, who get relatively few vacation days, on our site and they have these AI-made itineraries.

"ChatGPT has convinced them they can see London, Edinburgh and the Cotswolds in just four days and still have a good time. The reality is that they will probably spend most of the time looking out from inside a train."

He says people planning holidays with AI tools should understand their programming often makes them encouraging and affirming of the user's demands and requests.

"It definitely has a place in travel planning but you should fact check the suggestions it makes," says Alistair.

"After all, you don't want to be caught out when you're supposed to be having a relaxing time on holiday."

Universities must act to protect Jewish students from harassment and discrimination on campuses, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said, as she set out measures to tackle antisemitism.

Phillipson said there had been an "unacceptable increase in antisemitism" at universities and added that many Jewish students currently do not feel safe on campuses.

She said the UK government was funding training to help staff and students at universities "tackle this poison of antisemitism".

"There can be no place for harassment and intimidation," Phillipson told BBC One's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme. "Universities can and must act on that."

There have been regular protests staged at universities over the conflict in Gaza, including on the second anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel earlier this week.

The protests went ahead despite the pleas of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who urged students not to take part, warning of "rising antisemitism on our streets".

The demonstrations came days after two Jewish men were killed in a terrorist attack at a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur.

A report by CST last year found a 117% increase in antisemitic incidents on university campuses in the 2022/23 and 2023/2024 academic years, when compared with the preceding two years.

Phillipson said she had spoken to Jewish students who felt they needed to conceal their identity.

"On campus, Jewish students don't feel safe," she said. "And often, parents worry about sending their children to university. We cannot accept that. There can be no place for it."

The education secretary said she had written to university vice-chancellors urging them to take steps to protect Jewish students from harassment.

A 43-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the deaths of two children.

Emergency services were called to a home in Corporation Street, Stafford, at about 07:30 BST, where the two children were pronounced dead.

"We are working hard to understand more about what happened leading up to these two children tragically losing their lives," said Det Insp Kirsty Oldfield of Staffordshire Police.

"We ask that people do not speculate at this stage as it is distressing for family and friends and could hinder our inquiries."

Officers were called to the home by West Midlands Ambulance service, the force added.

The children's next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specially trained officers, it said.

A cordon is currently in place at the home.

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