The US has struck another vessel off the coast of Venezuela, killing six people, President Donald Trump has said.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the vessel belonged to "narcoterrorists" and that it was "trafficking narcotics."

This is the fifth strike of its kind by the Trump administration on a boat accused of trafficking drugs on international waters since September. In total, 27 people have been reported killed, but the US has not provided evidence or details about identities of the vessels or those on board them.

Some lawyers have accused the US of breaching international law, and neighbouring nations like Colombia and Venezuela have condemned the strikes.

In his Truth Social post, Trump said "intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known" route for smuggling.

He also posted an aerial surveillance video showing a small boat on water that is struck by a missile and explodes.

Trump did not specify the nationality of those on board, or what drug smuggling organisation they are suspected of belonging to. He added that no US military personnel were injured.

The strike comes after a recent leaked memo sent to Congress, and reported on by US media, that said the administration determined the US was in a "non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels.

The US has positioned its strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels as self-defence, despite many lawyers questioning their legality.

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Donald Trump's quick trip to Israel and Egypt was the victory lap he wanted.

Anyone watching the speeches he made in Jerusalem and Sharm el-Sheikh, could see a man luxuriating in his power - enjoying the applause in Israel's parliament, and in Egypt, basking in the fact that so many heads of state and government had flown in.

One veteran diplomat in the room said it looked as if Trump saw the role of the world leaders there as extras on his film set.

Trump's message assembled at Sharm was, in effect, that he had created a historical turning point.

"All I've done all my life is deals. The greatest deals just sort of happen… That's what happened right here. And maybe this is going to be the greatest deal of them all," he said.

Observers might also have had the impression from the speeches that the job is done. It is not.

Without question, Trump can claim credit for the ceasefire and hostage exchange deal. Qatar, Turkey and Egypt used their leverage with Hamas to force it to accept.

That made it a joint effort, but Trump's role was decisive.

Without his push to demand Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's agreement to terms that he had previously rejected, the deal would not have been signed.

It helps to recognise what the deal is – and what it isn't.

The agreement was for a ceasefire and an exchange of hostages for prisoners. It is not a peace agreement, or even the start of a peace process.

The next phase of the Trump 20-point plan requires an agreement filling in the gaps of the framework which declares that the Gaza Strip will be demilitarised, secured and governed by a committee including Palestinians.

It will report to a Board of Peace chaired by President Trump. Significant work needs to be done on the detail needed to make that happen.

The Gaza agreement is not a route map to peace in the Middle East, the ultimate and so far, unreachable destination.

Just as seriously, there is no evidence of the political will necessary to make a real peace deal. Most wars end with exhausted belligerents making some kind of agreement. The war in Gaza has become one of those, if as Trump has declared, it really is over.

The other way to end a war is with a total victory that lets the winners dictate the way ahead. The best example is the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945.

Before 9 September, when Netanyahu ordered a missile strike on Qatar he seemed to still be intent on crushing Israel's enemy so comprehensively, that Israel would be able to dictate the future of Gaza.

The strike infuriated Trump.

Qatar is one of America's key allies in the region, and the site of the biggest US military base in the Middle East. It is also a place where his sons have been doing lucrative business. Trump dismissed Netanyahu's justification that the target, which was missed, was the Hamas leadership, not Qatar.

For Trump, America's interests come before Israel's. He is not like Joe Biden, who was prepared to accept harm to America's position in the region as the necessary price for supporting Israel.

Trump is back in Washington DC. Diplomats say the Americans realise that getting the detail sorted out is vital and will not happen quickly. The problem is that they might not have enough time.

Ceasefires always get violated in their early stages. The ones that survive tend to be based on a tight agreements, made by warring parties who have decided that their best option is to make them work.

The danger is that the Gaza ceasefire lacks those underpinnings. Only 24 hours after Israelis and Palestinians, for very different reasons, shared joy and relief that hostages, prisoners and detainees were home, cracks are appearing in the ceasefire.

Hamas has, so far, returned only four of the bodies of the 28 hostages who were killed during their incarceration. Its explanation is that it is very hard to find their graves in the sea of rubble that Israel has created in Gaza.

Israel's patience is thin.

The fate of the bodies of the hostages will become a bigger and bigger issue in Israel if their remains are not repatriated.

On Tuesday evening, it was reported that Israel will not reopen the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Wednesday and will reduce the flow of aid into the territory until Hamas finds the bodies and sends them home.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) still occupies 55% of the Gaza Strip. This morning its soldiers killed Palestinians who they said were approaching their forces. Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza told the BBC that seven people were killed in two incidents.

It could be that the IDF is still observing the rules of engagement that it was using before the ceasefire. They order troops to watch two imaginary lines around their positions. If one is crossed, they fire warning shots. If Palestinians continue to approach their positions and cross a second imaginary line, IDF troops can shoot to kill.

A big problem with the system is that Palestinians do not know where the lines are. It is crowd control with live fire.

As for Hamas, it is reasserting its power.

Its men, armed and masked are back on the streets. It has attacked rival armed clans, some of which have been protected by the IDF. Videos have circulated of Hamas killing blindfolded and kneeling men who they have accused of collaborating with the Israelis.

The grisly videos of extra-judicial executions in the street send a message to any Palestinians who want to defy them that they should not dare - and to the outside world that Hamas has survived Israel's onslaught.

Point 15 of the Trump plan for Gaza says the US "will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilisation Force (ISF) to immediately deploy in Gaza". Raising and deploying that force will be impossible if the ceasefire is not solid. Potential contributors will not send in their troops to use force to disarm Hamas.

Hamas has hinted it might give up some heavy weapons but will not be disarmed. It has an ideology of Islamic resistance to Israel, and knows that without weapons its Palestinian enemies will come for revenge. Netanyahu has threatened that if no-one else will do it, Israel will finish the job. Hamas's weapons have to go, he has said, the "easy way or the hard way".

Trump has proclaimed that his Gaza deal, as it stands, will end generations of conflict between Arabs and Jews over the land between the river Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. He insists too that it will lead to a broader peace across the Middle East.

If he really believes that the job of making peace is done, then he is deluding himself. Just trying needs sustained focus, hard diplomatic work and a decision by the two sides in the fight that the time has come to make painful sacrifices and compromises. To make peace, other dreams have to be jettisoned.

Past American presidents have also believed that they can make peace in the Middle East. Trump will discover that peace is not made just because a president, however powerful, decides that it is going to happen.

Some migrants coming to the UK will need to speak English to an A-level standard under tougher new rules set to be introduced by the government.

Applicants will be tested in person on their speaking, listening, reading and writing at Home Office-approved providers, with their results checked as part of the visa process.

The changes, which come into force from 8 January 2026, form part of wider plans to cut levels of immigration to the UK outlined in a white paper in May.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "If you come to this country, you must learn our language and play your part."

Those applying for skilled worker, scale-up and high potential individual (HPI) visas will be required to reach B2 level - a step up from the current B1 standard which is equivalent to GCSE.

"This country has always welcomed those who come to this country and contribute," Mahmood said.

"But it is unacceptable for migrants to come here without learning our language, unable to contribute to our national life."

To come to the UK on the skilled worker visa, migrants have to work for a government-approved employer and earn at least £41,700 a year, or the "going rate" for their type of work, whichever is highest.

The scale-up visa is open to migrants coming to work for a fast-growing UK business. Migrants can apply for a high potential individual visa if they have been awarded a qualification from a top global university within the last five years.

According to the British Council, which offers English language courses, learners who achieve B2 level can "understand the main ideas of complex texts on concrete or abstract topics."

They can express themselves "fluently and spontaneously" and communicate comfortably with other English speakers. They can also produce "clear, detailed text on many subjects and explain a complex viewpoint".

Further English language requirements for other visa routes and family dependants are expected to be introduced in due course, Home Office Minister Mike Tapp told Parliament on Tuesday.

The prime minister previously said the changes outlined in the white paper would make the UK's immigration system "controlled, selective and fair".

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Home Office estimates suggest the measures could reduce the number of people coming to the UK by up to 100,000 per year.

Net migration to the UK - total permanent arrivals minus total permanent departures - fell to 431,000 in 2024, down almost 50% on the total in 2023, when it reached a record high of 906,000.

Other measures in the white paper include cutting the time period international students can stay in the UK to find a graduate job after their course ends from two years to 18 months, which will take effect from January 2027.

Students will also have to meet higher financial requirements, raised to £1,171 per month outside London (from £1,136) for up to nine months.

Further plans in the White Paper include, the immigration skills charge for UK employers to pay when sponsoring foreign workers on specific visas has also been increased to £480 per person per year for small organisations or charities, and to £1,320 for medium and large organisations.

This is raised from £364 and £1,000 respectively.

As part of the government's efforts to attract highly skilled people to the country, the HPI route will be expanded. The number of migrants on the visa is expected to double from 2,000 to 4,000, but there will be a cap of 8,000 applications each year.

The Global Talent visa, for high achievers in technology, arts and academia fields has also been expanded to include winners of more prestigious prizes.

Dr Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said the government faced a "trade-off" between "ensuring migrants speak good English and enabling employers to recruit workers who are expected to bring economic benefits."

Many graduate jobs already require language skills above A-level standard, she said.

The new language requirements will have "more impact in middle-skilled jobs involving technical and manual skills, where employers sometimes do not require high language proficiency".

R&B award-winning singer Michael Eugene Archer, known to his fans as D’Angelo, died aged 51 after a battle with cancer, his family said in a statement.

His family said the singer was leaving behind a "legacy of extraordinarily moving music" and asked fans to celebrate “the gift of song that he has left for the world”.

The influential singer was known for pioneering the genre of neo-soul, which blends R&B music with other genres including hip-hop and jazz.

His three albums won him four Grammy awards. The music video for his hit song, Untitled (How Does it Feel), gained mainstream attention after he performed in the one-shot video, naked, belting the song.

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The UK is forecast to be the second-fastest growing of the world's most advanced economies this year and next, according to new projections from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The rates of growth remain modest at 1.3% for both years, but that outperforms the other G7 economies apart from the US, in a torrid year of trade and geopolitical tensions.

However, UK inflation is set to rise to the highest in the G7 in 2025 and 2026, the IMF predicts, driven by larger energy and utility bills.

UK inflation is forecast to average 3.4% this year and 2.5% in 2026 but the IMF says this will be "temporary", and fall to 2% by the end of next year.

The G7 are seven advanced economies - the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan - but the group doesn't include fast-growing economies such as China and India.

The IMF is an international organisation with 190 member countries. They work together to try to stabilise the global economy.

In the IMF's forecast for economic growth, the UK overtook Canada, after its trade-war-affected economy was hit by the biggest downgrades for 2025 and 2026. Germany, France and Italy are all forecast to grow far more slowly at rates of between 0.2 and 0.9% in 2025 and 2026.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves welcomed the fresh upgrade to the IMF's outlook for the UK's economy.

"But know this is just the start. For too many people, our economy feels stuck," she said.

"Working people feel it every day, experts talk about it, and I am going to deal with it."

But highlighting the inflation forecasts, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said the IMF assessment on made for "grim reading".

He said that UK households "were being squeezed from all sides", adding: "Since taking office, Labour have allowed the cost of living to rise, debt to balloon and business confidence to collapse to record lows."

The IMF said a slight overall upgrade for the UK in its World Economic Outlook, from its previous outlook in April, was due to "strong activity in the first half of 2025" and an improved trade outlook, partly thanks to the recently announced US-UK trade deal.

Trump tariffs loom large

The global outlook is dominated by the so far "muted response" of the world economy to the imposition of hefty tariffs on almost all imports into the US, a weakened dollar, questions about the independence of the US Federal Reserve and sky high valuations of US tech companies.

The IMF expect some of this to unwind soon, saying "resilience is giving way to warning signs". In the US tariff costs which had been absorbed by exporters and retailers, are now feeding into higher goods prices.

So far tariffs have been reflected in higher prices for American shoppers of household appliances, but not for food and clothing.

The IMF cited Brexit as an example of how uncertainty around major changes in trading arrangements can, after a delay, lead to steady falls in investment.

AI warning

The Fund also pointed to a possible bursting of the US AI tech boom.

"Excessively optimistic growth expectations about AI could be revised in light of incoming data from early adopters and could trigger a market correction," the IMF said.

Disappointing profit numbers could lead to a "reassessment of the sustainability of AI-driven valuations and a drop in tech stock prices, with systemic implications. A potential bust of the AI boom could rival the dot-com crash of 2000–01 in severity".

The concentration of the stock market surge on a tiny number of firms and massive funding from less regulated sources outside the banking sector, were particular risks.

Slow growth could hit household wealth, with a lesser ability of major economies to use government borrowing to support their economies, as occurred in recent crises.

Conversely, the IMF also said that "faster AI adoption" could help unleash significant gains in productivity, helping the global economy is handled appropriately.

Elsewhere, the IMF again pointed to the outperformance of the Spanish economy, the fastest-growing large western economy. But the war economy growth seen in Russia last year has now petered out.

There are also concerns about funding for the world's poorest countries now that aid budgets in many countries, such as the UK and US are being slashed in favour of increased defence spending.

The forecasts were released on the eve of the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank attended by the world's finance ministers and central bankers in Washington DC, with considerable attention on a new US bailout for Argentina.

An elite military unit says it has seized power in Madagascar from President Andry Rajoelina following weeks of youth-led protests in the Indian Ocean island.

Standing outside the Presidential Palace, CAPSAT chief Col Michael Randrianirina said the military would form a government and hold elections within two years. He also suspended key democratic institutions, like the electoral commission.

Gen Z protestors will be part of the changes because "the movement was created in the streets so we have to respect their demands" he added.

Troops and protestors have been celebrating the apparent ousting of President Rajoelina, with thousands cheering and waving flags in the capital, Antananarivo.

Madagascar's constitutional court has named Col Randrianirina as the country's new leader, even though a statement from the president's office said he was still in charge and denounced what it described as an "attempted coup d'etat".

Rajoelina's whereabouts are unknown, but he has said he is sheltering in a "safe place" following an alleged attempt on his life by "military personnel and politicians", which CAPSAT has denied having any involvement in. There have been unconfirmed reports that the president was flown out of the country on a French military aircraft.

• My one-month-old grandson was killed by police tear gas during Madagascar protests

Col Randrianirina told the BBC that Madagascar was "a country where chaos reigns right now".

"Chaos because there's no president - he's gone abroad."

The unrest began just over two weeks ago, after a youth-led movement began protesting against chronic water and power cuts across the country.

The demonstrations soon escalated, to reflect wider dissatisfaction with Rajoelina's government over high unemployment, rampant corruption and the cost-of-living crisis.

Protestors clashed with security forces resulting in the death of at least 22 people and more than 100 others injured, according to the UN, although the Malagasy government has dismissed those figures and described them as based on "rumours and misinformation".

CAPSAT, which supported Rajoelina when he came into power in 2009, joined the protestors on Saturday.

President Rajoelina, an entrepreneur and former DF, was once seen as a fresh start for Madagascar.

The baby-faced leader became president at the age of just 24, earning the title of Africa's youngest leader, and going on to govern for four years, before returning to power after the 2018 election.

But he fell out of favour following allegations of cronyism and corruption, which he denied.

Despite the fact that power appears to have shifted away from him, he has continued to try to influence events.

Rajoelina attempted to dissolve the national assembly before the opposition could vote to strip him of his presidency for abandonment of post, but that didn't work.

Lawmakers voted to impeach Rajoelina by 130 votes to one blank ballot. Even members of Rajoelina's party, IRMAR, voted overwhelmingly to impeach him.

Rajoelina rejected the vote, calling it "null and void".

The African Union (AU) has warned against soldiers "meddling" in Madagascar's political affairs and rejected "any attempt at unconstitutional changes of government".

French President Emmanuel Macron called the situation "greatly worrying".

The island has gone through a series of political upheavals in recent years.

Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world, with 75% of its 30 million people living below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

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Former House of Lords Speaker Baroness D'Souza faces an eight-week suspension after complaining to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner about "unfair" speeding fines.

A Lords inquiry found the 81-year-old peer broke rules on "personal honour" by writing to Sir Mark Rowley on Lords headed notepaper to query multiple breaches of the 20mph limit adding up to £400 in fines.

Baroness D'Souza said she only wanted to "open a conversation" on London speed limits, but later called the letter to Sir Mark "unwise" and said she regretted sending it.

The Lords Standards Commissioner ruled the letter was "an attempt to influence" the police investigation.

In his report, Commissioner for Standards Martin Jelley said Baroness D'Souza's actions "may harm the House by eroding public trust in parliamentarians and in institutions which exist to serve the public interest".

In the letter, Baroness D'Souza complained the offences would result in 12 points on her driving licence and losing her driving licence, which she said might mean she would have to "give up attending Parliament".

"I live deep in the countryside with no local bus services and unsuitable train schedules," she added.

The peer had asked Sir Mark if losing her licence was "a fair response for exceeding the speed limit while we are all still learning what a 20-mile speed actually feels like?"

"Who can say if my speedometer or your radar is entirely accurate in recording 21 miles instead of 20," she added in her letter, which was sent on House of Lords headed paper.

Baroness D'Souza, a crossbench peer who does not belong to a party, was eventually disqualified from driving temporarily on 16 July. She has only spoken in the House of Lords once since then and, voted twice.

In the letter, she acknowledged that Sir Mark, the UK's most senior police officer who also leads on Britain's counter-terrorism efforts, had "much other business to deal with".

"I apologise for bothering your office with such a trivial matter," she added.

The Met Police passed the letter to the House of Lords' commissioner for standards who recommended an eight-week suspension, citing the aggravating factor that the intervention was for personal benefit.

Baroness D'Souza, who was the Lords' speaker between 2011 and 2016, denied she had been attempting to influence the police investigation, but instead find "any mitigating factors" that might keep any driving ban to a minimum.

She told investigators she used Lords stationery because she had previously met Sir Mark "in the context" of her parliamentary role.

Baroness D'Souza accepted that her letter to the Met Police chief was "inappropriate" and said she "deeply regretted" the decision to send it.

She appealed against the proposed eight-week Lords ban, claiming it was "unduly severe" compared with shorter suspensions for bullying or misuse of facilities.

Her appeal rejected by the committee.

The report will now go before the House for approval. If agreed, the suspension will take effect immediately.

Baroness D'Souza was previously criticised for billing taxpayers thousands of pounds in expenses for chauffeur-driven cars.

This includes a keeping chauffeur-driven Mercedes waiting outside the Royal Opera House - just a mile from parliament - for four hours, before returning to the Lords at a cost of £230.40.

She also used a Mercedes to get from Westminster to Canterbury for the enthronement of Archbishop Justin Welby in March 2013 cost £627, freedom of information results found.

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The UK's decision to recognise Palestinian statehood helped to bring about the ceasefire deal in Gaza, Sir Keir Starmer has told MPs.

Speaking after a summit in Egypt, the PM stressed that the agreement signed there belonged to US President Donald Trump, telling MPs: "This is his deal."

But he said the UK had been in a position to work "behind the scenes" for a ceasefire "precisely because of the approach this government takes," including its recognition of a Palestinian state.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said recognising Palestine without setting a condition for the release of hostages was "rewarding terrorism" and accused the PM of "diminishing" UK influence in the Middle East.

Sir Keir told MPs that Monday's deal provided "a moment of profound relief" as he paid tribute to both the hostages and the civilians killed in Gaza.

But he also stressed that "making that peace last will be no less difficult a task" and that implementing the peace plan "is no small challenge".

Negotiations will now follow on phase two of the deal, which involves Hamas laying down its weapons - a possibility the group is reported to have dismissed - and the rebuilding of Gaza under a "peace board" chaired by Trump and potentially including former prime minister Sir Tony Blair.

Sir Keir said the UK stood ready to deploy its diplomacy and expertise to support the reconstruction of Gaza - the devastation of which he says "defies description".

The UK will provide an additional £20m in humanitarian aid to provide "water, sanitation and hygiene products" to people in the territory, he added.

There are no plans to send British troops to be part of the multinational force that will monitor the truce, but the prime minister said the UK would help with the ceasefire monitoring process.

And he said the UK could draw on its experience in Northern Ireland to "play a full role" in the decommissioning of Hamas's weapons and capability.

The prime minster told MPs the deal represented the "first real chance we've had" of a two-state solution since the 1993 Oslo Accords, which were meant to provide interim self-government for Palestine as a stepping stone to an independent state.

"So we are fully committed to this [deal] because a safe and secure Israel, alongside a viable Palestinian state, is the only way to secure lasting peace for the Middle East," he told MPs.

The PM also claimed that the UK's decision to recognise Palestinian statehood had aided the cause of peace.

He told MPs: "This move, taken alongside our allies France, Canada, Australia and others, helped lead to the historic New York declaration, where for the first time the entire Arab League condemned the atrocities of October 7, urged Hamas to disarm and, crucially, demanded that they end their rule in Gaza."

Kemi Badenoch accused the prime minister of "taking the wrong decisions time and time again, diminishing our influence in" the Middle East.

"It's quite clear that UK relations with Israel have been strained by the actions of this government," she told MPs, to cries of "shame" from the Labour benches.

The Conservative leader added: "In a move praised by Hamas, Labour decided to recognise a state of Palestine with no condition to release the hostages still held in the tunnels of Gaza, rewarding terrorism."

At the time, the US voiced strong opposition to the UK and other countries recognising Palestinian statehood, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying Hamas would "feel more emboldened" by the move.

Under Trump's proposed 20-point peace plan, Gaza would initially be governed by a temporary transitional committee of Palestinian technocrats - supervised by a "Board of Peace".

Governance of the Strip would eventually be handed over to the Palestinian Authority - which administers the West Bank - once it has undergone reforms.

According to the plan, Hamas - which seized control of Gaza in 2007 by ousting its rivals, a year after winning legislative elections - would play no future role in its governance, directly or indirectly.

The ceasefire deal says Hamas should release all the 48 Israeli and foreign hostages still in Gaza after two years of war.

All but one were among the 251 people abducted during the Palestinian group's attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, during which about 1,200 other people were killed.

Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 67,800 people have been killed, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Bipin Joshi threw back a grenade from Hamas attackers before being taken hostage in the assault on Israel two years ago, says the fellow Nepalese student he saved.

"I may not have survived if both grenades had exploded. Bipin showed courage and threw the grenade out," Dhan Bahadur Chaudhary told BBC Nepali.

He was speaking after the Israeli military identified his friend's body as being among four dead hostages returned by Hamas under the Gaza ceasefire accord.

Bipin was 23 and working on a kibbutz when he was taken by Hamas into captivity along with 250 others on 7 October 2023. It's unclear how or when he died.

His family and friends hoped right up to the release deadline that he might be among living hostages returned on 13 October, but he wasn't, and a day later their worst fears were confirmed.

Bipin, Dhan Bahadur and 15 other Nepalese agriculture students had been in Israel for just over three weeks when Kibbutz Alumim was attacked.

"We knew that there may be a war in Israel. But we had no idea that there may be any ground attack of that magnitude," Dhan Bahadur said. "We thought that there could be missile attacks and we would be safe if we stay underground, in the bunkers."

For the students who'd been invited under the Israeli government's "Earn and Learn Programme" it was a great opportunity to make better lives for themselves and their families in Nepal.

Dhan Bahadur credits his survival to Bipin's courage.

"At the time of attack, two grenades were thrown near the bunkers. He [Bipin] picked up one and threw it outside; one exploded inside. Due to that explosion, I and four others were injured," he says.

"He was unharmed at that point. If both grenades had exploded, I would not have been speaking with you like this."

Ten of the Nepalese students were killed in the attack. Bipin was the only one captured.

"We met for the last time when he and others were being shifted to another bunker," Dhan Bahadur says. "Because, after the injury, I could not move and I stayed in the first bunker. I later came to know that there were two attacks in the bunker where he took shelter and he was held captive from there."

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The 27-year-old says he feels deeply saddened after hearing about his colleague's death. He and Bipin studied together in Far Western University School of Agriculture in Tikapur, Nepal.

"We made all possible efforts from our sides to secure his release. We did everything. But yesterday, we had to face such shocking news. All of Nepal is in grief. I do not know what to say. I have no words to explain my sorrow."

Dhan Bahadur says Bipin and other colleagues had the same goal of making little savings and starting their own enterprise after returning from the exchange programme in Israel.

"He loved playing football and basketball. We would chat for hours about our goals and dreams. He wanted to get his body in good shape and to buy a new mobile phone. We even recorded a song about friendship with my phone. He also talked about showcasing himself in a music video."

On 14 October, the Israeli military said it believed Bipin Joshi was "murdered in captivity during the first months of the war". There's no way of independently confirming that.

But if it's the case, Dhan Bahadur said, the international community should ask Hamas about why it happened.

He said he had not received any support from Nepal's government following his injury but hoped the Israeli government would help Bipin's family.

Bipin's immediate family members have not released any statement so far.

Footage from 7 October showed him walking inside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. His family received no signs of life for a year, until the Israeli military shared a video of him in captivity around November 2023.

Relatives described the footage as "proof of life" just hours before the ceasefire deal was agreed, and were hoping for a miracle.

Now in his hometown of Bhimdutta municipality Bipin's family are grieving after hearing news of his death.

His mother and sister had gone to the United States to lobby for the release of hostages, Bipin's cousin Kishore Joshi told BBC Nepali.

He says the family has no words to describe the grief. "His mother and sister are returning from US on Thursday. The father is not in the condition to express the pain in words."

Meanwhile it's unclear when Bipin's body will be returned to his family.

Israel is making all necessary arrangements to repatriate his remains to Nepal, as it did for the other students who died, Nepal's ministry of foreign affairs said.

"We are all shocked by the news of Bipin Joshi's death. In this time of sorrow [we] extend our deep sympathy to the grieving family," it said in a statement of condolence.

"Even after Bipin Joshi's body is brought back to Nepal, we will continue appropriate efforts in co-ordination and co-operation with the concerned government authorities and stakeholders - to uncover the truth about the actual cause and circumstances of his death."

Dhan Bahadur says he and other colleagues who returned safely from Israel plan to visit Bipin's family in Kanchanpur district.

"We will keep his memories alive. We will provide our care, support and consolation to his family."

He still feels numb.

"I returned to Nepal and I am studying at the moment. But Bipin's dreams remained unfulfilled."

The son of an Israeli hostage whose body remains in Gaza has told the BBC he is dealing with the realisation that "it's not over and it's going to be a longer battle".

Rotem Cooper, whose father Amiram is among 24 hostages whose bodies were not returned to Israel on Monday, said the families were trying "to find the strength somehow to pick ourselves up... and continue the fight".

He called on US President Donald Trump, Qatar, Egypt and other countries involved in peace deal negotiations "to show Hamas that this is not acceptable".

A ceasefire and hostage release agreement signed by Israel and Hamas stated that the remaining hostages in Gaza would be returned by noon on Monday, with nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel released in exchange.

While the 20 hostages still alive were released, a copy of the agreement published by Israeli media appeared to acknowledge that Hamas and other Palestinian factions may not be able to locate all of the bodies of the deceased hostages by the deadline.

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Their families had pinned their hopes on their loved one returning on Monday, after two years in captivity.

"We hoped and expected that maybe 15 to 20 out of the 28 deceased hostages would be released, but that didn't happen. Only four were announced," Mr Cooper said.

He described the news as a "very big disappointment" for the families.

"It's clear to us that they could have and should have released more and [that] they're playing games."

Mr Cooper's parents were both kidnapped in the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel, from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. His mother was released later that month while his father was killed in captivity.

• Who are the released hostages?
• What happens next in Gaza ceasefire plan after hostage release?

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had been operating in the area at the time but did not confirm how he was killed, referring the BBC this week to a previous statement saying the circumstances were "under examination". Hamas has claimed he was killed by an Israeli military strike.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the relatives of many of the hostages, has called for "a very serious response" from the Israeli government and mediators, for what is described as Hamas's "violation of the agreement".

It said further stages of the peace plan should not progress until all the remaining bodies had been returned.

Mr Cooper headed to the Re'im military base in southern Israel on Monday to see the return of the 20 living hostages.

In voicenotes sent over the course of the day, he described feeling "tremendous anticipation" and a "big relief" as he saw them return. But he said the thought of the bodies coming back to Israel was "heartbreaking".

Speaking again the following day, after the news that the four bodies returned did not include Amiram's, he described the experience as a "big rollercoaster".

Mr Cooper said the return of his father's body would allow him to have "some closure" and to "sleep better at night".

"Everything has been on hold," he said.

Ruby Chen, whose son Itay's body remains in Gaza, said he had experienced a similar mix of emotions.

"We were overjoyed [on Monday] to see 20 hostages coming out and being reunited with their families, but we were very disappointed not to see more deceased hostages coming out," he said in a video message shared with the BBC by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

"We request the Israeli government, the US and the mediators to continue the fight and put pressure on Hamas to adhere [to] and follow the agreement that was signed and bring back all the remaining 24 hostages in captivity," Mr Chen added.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that, following forensic tests, it had identified the four hostages whose bodies had been returned and had informed their families that their loved ones had been reburied.

It said they included Guy Iloz - who was shot at the Nova music festival and is believed to have died from the wounds - and Bipin Joshi, who it said was believed to have been "murdered in captivity during the first months of the war".

A DNA test taken from a woman who believes she is Madeleine McCann "conclusively proved" she was not the missing girl, a stalking trial has heard.

Julia Wandelt and Karen Spragg are on trial at Leicester Crown Court charged with stalking Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann.

On Tuesday, jurors heard DNA was taken from Ms Wandelt on her arrest in December 2024, and the result given to her in Peterborough Prison in April, which Ms Wandelt disputed when told.

Ms Wandelt, 24, of Jana Kochanowskiego in Lubin, Poland, and Mrs Spragg, 61, of Caerau Court Road, Cardiff, deny the charges.

Madeleine's disappearance is one of the most widely reported missing child cases and remains unsolved.

Ms Wandelt, who the court has heard since 2022 has claimed to be Madeleine, and her co-defendant Mrs Spragg deny stalking the McCanns, causing serious alarm and distress.

In December 2024, Det Ch Insp Mark Cramwell decided Operation Grange - the name of the force's investigation into Madeleine's disappearance - should attempt to get Ms Wandelt's DNA tested "in the hope she may stop her behaviour towards the McCann family".

He said: "It weighed heavy on my mind. The threshold remained the same, but it was outside the framework."

DNA samples were then taken on arrest, the court heard, and Det Ch Insp Cramwell said: "It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann."

Ms Wandelt had been ruled out of the Operation Grange investigation after Ms Wandelt contacted them and Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, where Mr McCann works, in June 2022.

But after press coverage of Ms Wandelt's claim "gained traction" later that year, a photo of her was sent to the McCanns, with their family liaison officer Det Sgt Roger Bearn saying via statement they both replied they "were confident" it was not their daughter.

Details of the Met Police's discussions about Ms Wandelt were detailed to the court, from initial contact to the press coverage to Mrs McCann being "bombarded" with calls and texts.

In September 2024, Det Sgt Bearn asked the McCanns if they wanted to pursue "some sort of action" but advised "words of advice" would not be advisable, as Ms Wandelt had previously recorded a call with an Operation Grange officer and played it on a true crime podcast on YouTube.

No formal action was asked for at that time.

Ms Wandelt claimed to be Madeleine and pursued the McCann family with messages, calls, and visits, including turning up at their home and demanding a DNA test, the court has heard.

In October, Det Sgt Bearn's statement said that messages from Ms Wandelt had continued as well as two from a "Welsh-sounding woman".

Prosecutor Michael Duck KC said Mrs Spragg struck up a relationship with Ms Wandelt and supported her claims and conspiracy theories, and alongside the Polish national confronted the McCanns directly in December 2024.

The court heard Mrs Spragg struck up a relationship online with Ms Wandelt before joining her on a visi in December 2024.

Mrs Spragg recorded a message she left on Mrs McCann's phone in late 2024 - prior to their visit to the McCanns' home in Leicestershire - which was played at the trial on Tuesday.

She said that people believed there was a "cover up" and that the McCanns' names had been "blackened" and urged the couple to do a DNA test with Ms Wandelt.

In the recording Mrs Spragg can be heard saying: "I really, really want you to take her seriously if you really want to find your daughter.

"This could be a cover-up. Maybe Orange Grange [sic] is in on it."

A crime report was created by the Met Police after Ms Wandelt and an "older woman" turned up at the McCanns' home in December 2024.

Ms Wandelt was arrested in February 2025 after returning to the UK flying in to Bristol Airport, with Mrs Spragg detained in a nearby car park.

The trial continues.

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Far-right activist Tommy Robinson was unlawfully stopped driving a Bentley at the entrance to the Channel Tunnel, and counter terrorism officers made a disproportionate use of their powers, his lawyer has told a court.

The 42-year-old, who was charged under his real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon is standing trial at Westminster Magistrates Court for refusing to give the Pin for his mobile phone to officers during the stop. He has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutor Jo Morris said that while the stop may not have been "perfect", that does not mean it was unlawful.

Judgement in the trial has been delayed until 4 November following closing arguments.

If found guilty, Mr Lennon could be jailed for up to three months and/or receive a £2,500 fine.

He was stopped by police on 28 July, 2024, using their counter-terrorism powers as he prepared to enter the Channel Tunnel while driving a silver Bentley Bentaygo.

Officers from Kent Police said they did so partly because he was driving someone else's car and had not pre-booked his ticket.

They said they became more suspicious when Mr Lennon would not make eye contact with them and said he was driving all the way to Benidorm. When asked for the Pin to his phone he refused.

A person who is detained under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act is legally obliged to provide the password or Pin for electronic devices.

In his closing submissions to the judge on Tuesday, Mr Lennon's barrister, Alisdair Williamson KC, said: "The question for you. Is this a lawful stop? If it is not, you cannot convict Mr Lennon."

Mr Williamson described the power that police officers have at ports and airport as "extraordinary" and said there needed to be "assiduous oversight" of this power, which he described as the only one there was to "compel people under pain of criminal penalty to answer questions".

He described Mr Lennon as a "public figure" whose views are "well known" and asked what the justification was for the police's use of "coercive powers".

"What were they going to find out that wasn't in the public domain?" Mr Williamson asked.

He pointed out that the officers did not ask any further questions about the Bentley after Mr Lennon told them it belonged to "a mate" and said his client travelled to Benidorm regularly.

In her closing speech, prosecutor Jo Morris said "we accept that the stop may not have been a perfect one but that does not make it unlawful."

She said "there was no real dispute over the facts" and that Mr Lennon had been warned of the consequences and was offered legal advice but still refused to give officers his Pin.

Before the hearing began on Monday, Mr Lennon - the former leader of the English Defence League (EDL) - said on X that the social media platform's billionaire owner, Elon Musk - who has previously championed him - had "picked up the legal bill" for the case against him, which Mr Lennon described as "state persecution".

Mr Musk has not publicly confirmed this.

'Season not ending how Raducanu envisaged'

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A mental health trust says it is planning to install CCTV following the death of a patient in mysterious circumstances.

Maria Morris, 44, was found unresponsive at Bethlem Hospital in south London on 21 September 2021 with four socks down her throat, and a large unexplained bruise on her back.

She died hours later in hospital from a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen. A consultant who treated her questioned whether she had been assaulted.

An inquest jury at South London Coroners' court concluded that her death was accidental, but her family says they still have questions about what led to her death.

Large bruise on her back

The inquest heard that Maria Morris, who worked as a teaching assistant, had bi-polar affective disorder.

In September 2021, her family and friends became concerned when she started acting erratically and found that she had stopped taking her medication.

Police were called after she ran away from a friend while on a walk in a park. When found, she was delusional and taken to Croydon Hospital.

She was transferred to Bethlem Royal Hospital, a mental health hospital run by South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLAM), on 18 September where she was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

The jury was told that while Maria was on the unit, she raised a number of concerns about how staff were treating patients. She told one member of staff that patients were being "punished" at night.

On the evening of the 21 September, Maria was observed by staff in her room at 20:00 and then again at 20:30.

At 21:23 a member of staff found her unconscious on the floor of her room, having had a cardiac arrest.

During attempts to resuscitate her, a sock was found in her throat. When paramedics arrived, three further socks were removed from her throat.

By the time she was transferred to Croydon University Hospital, she had suffered a hypoxic brain injury. A few hours later she went into cardiac arrest again and died on 22 September.

The jury was told that Dr Simon Wood, an intensive care doctor at Croydon Hospital who treated Maria, alerted the police to a large bruise on her back.

He also said that, in his view, a patient wouldn't have been able to push socks down their own throat without gagging. He was concerned that this may have indicated she'd been assaulted.

The jury heard that there was no CCTV used on the wards at Bethlem Hospital and there was nothing in Maria's notes or observations to explain the bruising.

Maria's room was locked when she was found. The court heard that most patients had keys for their own rooms, but there was no record on who had what key.

Staff had master keys that could unlock all the patients' rooms.

Untested blood

In a statement read to the court, Metropolitan police officer DC Herdeep Jugdev said that his investigation had been hindered because Maria's room in Bethlem had been cleared, and the sock disposed of, before they got there 19 hours after her death was reported.

During their investigation, the police spotted what appeared to be blood under Maria's nails, although this did not appear to have been tested to see whose it was.

John Taylor, the South London Coroner, told the jury that there was not sufficient evidence to conclude that Maria was assaulted on the ward, or that someone else had pushed socks into her airway.

The inquest heard conflicting evidence from staff at Bethlem about how often Maria was checked on the night she died.

Some documents and witnesses suggested she should have been checked four or five times an hour. Others suggested she should have been checked once an hour.

The jury concluded that Maria had pushed the socks down her own throat, but that her death had been accidental. They were unable to reach a conclusion on whether a lack of observations contributed to her death, because of the conflicting evidence.

'Immense pain'

In a statement, Maria's family said she was a much-loved mother, daughter and sister, and that her death "has left a profound and lasting void in the hearts of her family and all who loved her".

"We are grateful to the jury for having identified that there were missed opportunities around communication, documentation and observations.

"As a family, the idea that more could have been done to keep her safe causes us immense pain."

The family also said it felt the jury was not allowed to comment on all the issues it considered to be important.

"As a family we still have questions about exactly what happened that night."

South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLAM) says it will be rolling out CCTV in all its wards and opening a new CCTV control centre in November.

US President Donald Trump's day-long trip to the Middle East came as the Gaza deal was clinched: an agreement coming into force amounting to one of the most critical moments yet after two years of catastrophic war.

Painting as he does in primary colours, Trump's portrayal was vivid - of the biggest turning point in three millennia. On the return flight in the early hours of Tuesday, he reflected that it had been a "historic day, to put it mildly". He had earlier suggested "everlasting peace" had been grasped under his tutelage, in a region long convulsed by violence.

As part of the White House press corps, we were travelling on Air Force One – which is how I found myself at the centre of this US diplomatic tornado.

As we headed for Tel Aviv, the presidential plane took a turn to do a fly-by of the beach. It dipped a wing so we could get a view of a giant sign atop the sand that said "thank you" to Trump, and featured the Israeli flag as well as an outline of the US president's head in profile.

The manoeuvre set the mood for a trip that was a victory lap, rather than an exercise in setting out the punishing detail for starting "phase two" of the negotiations and securing a longer-term future for Gaza.

The agreement made in Doha last week was under intensive pressure on the sides from Trump. It marked one of the most profound moments for millions of people in the last two years: major combat operations in Gaza ceased, the remaining living hostages held by Hamas released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and Palestinians in Gaza returning to the ruins of their homes in the north amid a partial withdrawal by Israeli troops.

But I found Trump's journey was in fact to a waypoint, not a destination - a fragile truce in a century-old conflict which shows no real signs of being solved.

• Follow live updates
• Israeli hostages reunite with families after two years
• Palestinians celebrate return of detainees freed by Israel
• 'Now the rebuilding begins,' says Trump

The most immediate question hanging over the trip was whether Trump's deal could hold - and whether more intensive, arguably harder, negotiations could now build on it.

During the flight, Trump came back to speak to us. Standing in the doorway as we crowded around, he clearly wanted to build up the sense of achievement, frequently referring to his own role in negotiating the deal.

"Every country is dancing in the streets," he said repeatedly. I pressed him on whether the ceasefire would stay intact. He was confident it would, saying there were "a lot of reasons why it's going to hold". But he glossed over the really big questions about what comes next, particularly how to secure and govern Gaza.

I asked him about the proposed multinational force, or International Stabilization Force (ISF), outlined in his 20-point plan but whose existence has yet to be agreed by the sides.

"It's going to be a big, strong force," said Trump, adding that it would "barely" have to be used because "people are going to behave, everybody knows their place".

On the tarmac in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeted Trump with a red carpet and a military band. We then zoomed off in the motorcade towards Jerusalem, along the Route 1 motorway which had been completely cleared for the presidential convoy.

The same day, thousands watched a giant screen in a public plaza in Tel Aviv that has become known as Hostages Square. They shed tears of joy and relief as the hostages were released by Hamas in Gaza. Trump's arrival was the other half of this split-screen moment – pictures were beamed out of the US president setting foot on Israeli territory.

In the chamber of the Knesset, or Israeli parliament, the mood was altogether more raucous than that in the streets. Emblazoned on the red baseball caps handed out by staff, and worn by some of the audience, were the words: "The president of peace". Spectators shouted from the gallery behind me: "Thank you Trump." Lawmakers hammered their desks. Trump hailed a "historic dawn of a new Middle East".

He also wanted to leave little doubt the war was over, and it seemed he expected it to stay that way: Israel, he said, with America's help, had won all that it could "by force of arms". His speech meandered into extensive attacks on his political opponents in the US. He praised a major donor to his election campaign seated in the gallery.

And he even appealed to Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, seating next to him, to pardon Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption – charges that the Israeli PM denies. "Cigars and champagne, who the hell cares about that?" Trump exclaimed, referencing the allegation that Netanyahu accepted pricy gifts.

The White House press officers who chaperone the press pool - the "wranglers" - took us back into the press vans and the motorcade made its way back to Ben Gurion airport after fewer than seven hours in Israel.

We took the short flight to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt; location of the mediated talks between Israel and Hamas that led to last week's breakthrough. On our descent, Egyptian F16s escorted us - the ultimate show for the president who loves displays of military might. Trump had wanted to celebrate every minute of the day.

But the dangers in this region are many, and the risk seemed clear that he was declaring the ultimate deal before really landing it.

That was reflected in the giant sign, written in capital letters, above the presidential podium in Sharm el-Sheikh: "PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST". There, I watched the extraordinary sight of world leaders filing into a room to stand behind Trump as he made his speech hailing peace. They lined up in front of their national flags and listened as he listed their countries one by one. Trump had been introduced to the stage by the host, Egyptian president Abdel Fatah el-Sisi, who said that the goal remained a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.

Trump has changed his position markedly since the start of this year. He became increasingly irritated by the Israeli leadership and was drawn closer to his friends in the Gulf. That came amid a diplomatic move by the Europeans to isolate Israel over its escalating campaign in Gaza and to get the Saudi leadership onboard with their vision. Trump then shifted, drawn by his Gulf allies – whose wealth and "power" he frequently referred to during the drip.

Trump presided over the signing ceremony in Sharm saying it had taken "3,000 years" to get here. But there are still many more years to go - and it will take more than one man to get there.

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The UK is forecast to be the second-fastest growing of the world's most advanced economies this year and next, according to new projections from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The rates of growth remain modest at 1.3% for both years, but that outperforms the other G7 economies apart from the US, in a torrid year of trade and geopolitical tensions.

However, UK inflation is set to rise to the highest in the G7 in 2025 and 2026, the IMF predicts, driven by larger energy and utility bills.

UK inflation is forecast to average 3.4% this year and 2.5% in 2026 but the IMF says this will be "temporary", and fall to 2% by the end of next year.

The G7 are seven advanced economies - the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan - but the group doesn't include fast-growing economies such as China and India.

The IMF is an international organisation with 190 member countries. They work together to try to stabilise the global economy.

In the IMF's forecast for economic growth, the UK overtook Canada, after its trade-war-affected economy was hit by the biggest downgrades for 2025 and 2026. Germany, France and Italy are all forecast to grow far more slowly at rates of between 0.2 and 0.9% in 2025 and 2026.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves welcomed the fresh upgrade to the IMF's outlook for the UK's economy.

"But know this is just the start. For too many people, our economy feels stuck," she said.

"Working people feel it every day, experts talk about it, and I am going to deal with it."

But highlighting the inflation forecasts, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said the IMF assessment on made for "grim reading".

He said that UK households "were being squeezed from all sides", adding: "Since taking office, Labour have allowed the cost of living to rise, debt to balloon and business confidence to collapse to record lows."

The IMF said a slight overall upgrade for the UK in its World Economic Outlook, from its previous outlook in April, was due to "strong activity in the first half of 2025" and an improved trade outlook, partly thanks to the recently announced US-UK trade deal.

Trump tariffs loom large

The global outlook is dominated by the so far "muted response" of the world economy to the imposition of hefty tariffs on almost all imports into the US, a weakened dollar, questions about the independence of the US Federal Reserve and sky high valuations of US tech companies.

The IMF expect some of this to unwind soon, saying "resilience is giving way to warning signs". In the US tariff costs which had been absorbed by exporters and retailers, are now feeding into higher goods prices.

So far tariffs have been reflected in higher prices for American shoppers of household appliances, but not for food and clothing.

The IMF cited Brexit as an example of how uncertainty around major changes in trading arrangements can, after a delay, lead to steady falls in investment.

AI warning

The Fund also pointed to a possible bursting of the US AI tech boom.

"Excessively optimistic growth expectations about AI could be revised in light of incoming data from early adopters and could trigger a market correction," the IMF said.

Disappointing profit numbers could lead to a "reassessment of the sustainability of AI-driven valuations and a drop in tech stock prices, with systemic implications. A potential bust of the AI boom could rival the dot-com crash of 2000–01 in severity".

The concentration of the stock market surge on a tiny number of firms and massive funding from less regulated sources outside the banking sector, were particular risks.

Slow growth could hit household wealth, with a lesser ability of major economies to use government borrowing to support their economies, as occurred in recent crises.

Conversely, the IMF also said that "faster AI adoption" could help unleash significant gains in productivity, helping the global economy is handled appropriately.

Elsewhere, the IMF again pointed to the outperformance of the Spanish economy, the fastest-growing large western economy. But the war economy growth seen in Russia last year has now petered out.

There are also concerns about funding for the world's poorest countries now that aid budgets in many countries, such as the UK and US are being slashed in favour of increased defence spending.

The forecasts were released on the eve of the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank attended by the world's finance ministers and central bankers in Washington DC, with considerable attention on a new US bailout for Argentina.

Far-right activist Tommy Robinson was unlawfully stopped driving a Bentley at the entrance to the Channel Tunnel, and counter terrorism officers made a disproportionate use of their powers, his lawyer has told a court.

The 42-year-old, who was charged under his real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon is standing trial at Westminster Magistrates Court for refusing to give the Pin for his mobile phone to officers during the stop. He has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutor Jo Morris said that while the stop may not have been "perfect", that does not mean it was unlawful.

Judgement in the trial has been delayed until 4 November following closing arguments.

If found guilty, Mr Lennon could be jailed for up to three months and/or receive a £2,500 fine.

He was stopped by police on 28 July, 2024, using their counter-terrorism powers as he prepared to enter the Channel Tunnel while driving a silver Bentley Bentaygo.

Officers from Kent Police said they did so partly because he was driving someone else's car and had not pre-booked his ticket.

They said they became more suspicious when Mr Lennon would not make eye contact with them and said he was driving all the way to Benidorm. When asked for the Pin to his phone he refused.

A person who is detained under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act is legally obliged to provide the password or Pin for electronic devices.

In his closing submissions to the judge on Tuesday, Mr Lennon's barrister, Alisdair Williamson KC, said: "The question for you. Is this a lawful stop? If it is not, you cannot convict Mr Lennon."

Mr Williamson described the power that police officers have at ports and airport as "extraordinary" and said there needed to be "assiduous oversight" of this power, which he described as the only one there was to "compel people under pain of criminal penalty to answer questions".

He described Mr Lennon as a "public figure" whose views are "well known" and asked what the justification was for the police's use of "coercive powers".

"What were they going to find out that wasn't in the public domain?" Mr Williamson asked.

He pointed out that the officers did not ask any further questions about the Bentley after Mr Lennon told them it belonged to "a mate" and said his client travelled to Benidorm regularly.

In her closing speech, prosecutor Jo Morris said "we accept that the stop may not have been a perfect one but that does not make it unlawful."

She said "there was no real dispute over the facts" and that Mr Lennon had been warned of the consequences and was offered legal advice but still refused to give officers his Pin.

Before the hearing began on Monday, Mr Lennon - the former leader of the English Defence League (EDL) - said on X that the social media platform's billionaire owner, Elon Musk - who has previously championed him - had "picked up the legal bill" for the case against him, which Mr Lennon described as "state persecution".

Mr Musk has not publicly confirmed this.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has told parliament he backs suspending controversial 2023 pension reforms, in the face of crucial votes of no-confidence later this week.

The changes, which raised the retirement age from 62 to 64, were seen as signature reforms in Emmanuel Macron's presidency.

"This autumn I will propose to parliament that we suspend the 2023 pension reform until the [2027] presidential election," Lecornu said to applause from left-wing parties.

Lecornu was reappointed prime minister last week only four days after he resigned, and needs the support of Socialist MPs in parliament if his government is to survive.

Opposition parties on the far right and far left have called confidence votes, known as "censure" votes in Lecornu, for Thursday morning and are demanding parliamentary elections.

The Socialists said they would be prepared to support the new government, but only if it promises a complete suspension of Macron's pension changes.

"If he does not explicitly say the words 'immediate and complete suspension of the pension reform', it will be censure," Socialist MP Laurent Baumel said earlier on French TV.

"He is holding his destiny in his own hands. He knows what he has do if he doesn't want to be the prime minister who resigns every week."

The reforms were finally pushed through parliament in March 2023, less than a year after Macron was voted in for a second presidential term.

There had been months of political debate, strikes and street protests, and in the end the bill had to go through without a vote in parliament using a constitutional mechanism known as 49:3.

Last week, Lecornu said it was something many French people remembered as a "wound on democracy" .

On Tuesday he made it plain to MPs that suspending the pension reform would cost €400m (£350m) in 2026 and a further €1.8bn (£1.57bn) in 2027. This will have to be "compensated by other savings," Lecornu said.

Lecornu is France's third prime minister in the past year but even if he does survive he needs to get a budget through parliament that brings down a budget deficit heading for 5.4% of economic output (GDP) this year.

France's public debt earlier this year stood at €3.4tn, or almost 114% of GDP, the third highest in the eurozone after Greece and Italy.

Read more: Macron reappoints Lecornu as French PM after days of turmoil

Lecornu has been one of Macron's most loyal allies, so his decision to row back on such a contested reform shows how keen the president is to avoid further turmoil.

Philippe Aghion, who was jointly awarded the 2025 Nobel economics prize on Monday, said earlier that he also backed a suspension of the pension reform, because it would still come at a smaller cost than the instability that would follow another government collapse.

Buenos Aires, September 2023. Hundreds of people crowded around to wave flags and film on their phones. The man with unruly hair and sideburns in the centre of them, clad in a black leather jacket, hoisted a roaring chainsaw above his head.

This was an election rally taking place in the San Martín area of the Argentine capital a month before the presidential election - and the metaphor was explicit.

The candidate Javier Milei believed the state was far too bloated, with annual debts that were bigger than Argentina's entire annual economic output.

Rather than 'trimming the fat', as some politicians delicately put it, he said he would take a chainsaw to ministries, subsidies and the ruling political class he derided as "la casta" - the caste.

Milei had form for stunts. In 2019, he dressed up in a "libertarian superhero" costume, purporting to be from Liberland - a land where no taxes are paid. In 2018, he smashed a piñata of the Central Bank on live television.

According to official data, inflation in 2023 topped 211% annually - Milei took office in December of that year. Roughly 40% of the population lived in poverty. Years of high public spending, and a reliance on printing more money and borrowing to cover deficits, had left the country in a cycle of debts and inflation.

Yet nearly two years on, the headline figures are vastly different: Argentina recorded its first fiscal surplus in 14 years -the state spending less than it's collecting - and inflation, which had hit triple figures annually, has tumbled to about 36%.

The UK Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch called the measures Milei has taken a "template" for a future Conservative government. And in the US, President Donald Trump described Milei as "my favourite president".

They will meet in Washington on Tuesday.

Foreign investors regained confidence in Argentina too. Although that recently slipped, Washington's decision last week to swap $20bn (£15bn) in dollars for pesos, effectively propping up Argentina's currency with International Monetary Fund (IMF) backing, is a sign Milei's fiscal shock therapy has appeased international lenders. Trump and Milei's meeting will hail the deal.

Yet for all the international praise, this is just one side of the story. On the streets there have been heated protests over Milei's reforms, with police firing tear gas, rubber bullets and a water cannon during clashes.

"He said in his campaign that this adjustment would be paid for by 'la casta' – the wealthy, the politicians, the evil businessmen," says Mercedes D'Alessandro, a left-wing economist and senate candidate.

But, she argues, the result was less money for pensioners and hospitals. "The adjustment in the end was directed at the working classes, not the caste."

Milei's critics argue that the price of his changes have been recession, job losses, weaker public services and declining household budgets. And now some economists say the country could be about to enter a recession.

Milei has created a paradox.

On paper, his chainsaw has achieved some of the macroeconomic successes he set out to do. But Milei has lost political support and that has spooked the markets, which in turn has destabilised his economic project.

With midterm elections looming on 26 October, Argentina is about to deliver its verdict: will Milei be punished for doing what he set out to do — and could losing political support completely unravel his economic gains?

Argentines feeling the cost

Around 700 miles from the capital in the Misiones province, tea farmer Ygor Sobol looks anxious. "We're all going backwards economically," he says. "I had to close the payroll. Now I am completely without employees."

For three generations his family has grown yerba mate, a drink popular with Argentines, but since Milei deregulated his industry by scrapping minimum prices, he says that his crops have become worth less than the cost of producing them.

Now, Mr Sobol says he can't afford to do basic tasks like cleaning and fertilising his plantation. And with the business making a loss, he's deciding what his family will have to go without too.

Argentina's multibillion dollar textile industry is also affected. Luciano Galfione, chairman of a non-profit for the sector Fundacion Pro Tejer, describes "daily" closures and job losses.

Unlike Trump's approach of raising tariffs to promote "America First", Milei cut tariffs and other criteria for imports.

"I have environmental controls, labour controls - we don't pay people $80 (£60) a month, or have 16-hour work days that might be allowed in places like Bangladesh or Vietnam. This creates an unequal playing field," Mr Galfione argues.

He believes that boosting imports has battered domestic producers. "Our sector lost more than 10,000 direct jobs. If you add indirect jobs, there are many more."

Mr Galfione also blames rising costs of utilities, health and schools for reducing the disposable income of average people, and in turn making them less likely to buy clothes.

And yet amid it all, Milei is adamant that his measures will improve the lives of ordinary Argentines.

'Everything was a huge mess'

In the run-up to the election Milei had said there was no alternative to big cuts.

As well as the soaring inflation, vast government subsidies had kept energy and transport prices down. Public spending was high, even before the Covid-19 pandemic. Price controls set fixed prices for certain goods. Argentina, still, owes £31bn in debt to the IMF.

"The demand for public spending was brutal," argues Ramiro Castiñeira, an economist at the consultancy Econométrica who supports Milei.

"Society seemed willing to live with so much inflation. Or didn't recognise that inflation was a product of so much public spending."

Inflation ate away the peso currency's purchasing power. Many ordinary Argentines handed over disproportionate sums of pesos to illegal street traders to buy dollars, fearing their money would lose value overnight.

"Everything was a huge mess," explains Martin Rapetti, an economics professor at the University of Buenos Aires and executive director of think tank Equilibria.

"People felt money slipping like water through their fingers."

For many economists, drastic change (even if painful) was essential to restore credibility. And Milei promised radical change.

He went viral for ripping government ministries such as Culture and Women off a whiteboard while shouting 'afuera!' - 'out!'

Among other austerity measures, he halved government ministries, cut tens of thousands of public jobs, slashed budgets including for education, health, pensions and infrastructure, and removed subsidies – spiking utility and transport prices.

His initial devaluing of the peso by 50% caused inflation to spike but then it fell as people spent less and demand fell.

'Echoes of Thatcherism'

When I met him in April 2024 at his office, there were sculptures of him with a chainsaw on display and coasters showing Margaret Thatcher's face. Thatcher is loathed by many people in Argentina owing to the Falklands War, but Milei told me he admired her and that she was "brilliant."

Last month one British newspaper described Milei's own approach as having "echoes of Thatcherism".

Miguel Boggiano, an economist on Milei's economic advisory board, is full of praise for Milei getting inflation down and reducing the deficit. "When you bear in mind the starting point, that's a huge accomplishment," he says.

He believes this will help alleviate poverty in the long-run and enable lower taxes, but also help people to plan their own spending more easily with inflation currently fluctuating less.

But Alan Cibils, an independent economist and former professor, warns reduced inflation is only a success if it is sustained over time which he believes will not be the case.

The outsider advantage

Javier Milei is not a career politician. Before becoming president he had two years experience as a deputy in Argentina's Congress.

"Being so detached kind of shields him," Prof Rapetti observes, citing a lack of "signs of empathy in public life".

On 7 September Milei's party lost unexpectedly badly in the Buenos Aires provincial elections. His convoy was pelted with rocks on the campaign trail. The markets panicked: foreign investors sold off pesos and bonds of Argentine government debt.

Financial markets had generally supported his economic programme. But the midterm elections were upcoming and the £15bn of debt repayments are due next year.

Trump's £15bn currency swap lifeline has provided some stability: Argentine bonds and the peso rose in value in response to the announcement. But D'Alessandro argues that though US intervention might solve a wider problem, nothing will change in "people's real lives".

"We're going to continue with no investment in hospitals, education, social programmes. This money from the United States is not going to improve Argentina's infrastructure."

Flawed leader or model for other countries?

Some of Milei's supporters - like Mr Boggiano - believe there is something else at play in the round criticism of the president: In this view much of it comes down to the opposition trying to "break" what Milei has done, in order to get back into power.

"Once everyone starts to believe stability is here to stay, investment will come back," says Mr Boggiano. "I think Milei will become a model for other countries."

Others are unsure. "There is some stability which helps things not to explode," said Mr Cibils. "But I think that stability is also a mirage."

Milei had also kept inflation under control by spending the country's reserves on propping-up the peso so it didn't crash. Meanwhile, Argentina owes $20bn of debt next year.

One former central bank economist, who wished to speak anonymously, warns Milei's strategy of keeping inflation down could unravel if Argentina can't pay its debts.

"If at the end of the day we have a financial crisis that partially undoes all the effort, then it's a failure. If it ends with social unrest, any good done will be reversed," says the economist.

The left-wing governor of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, has been touted as a future presidential candidate, long ahead of the elections in 2027. He has spoken in favour of the welfare state. Some investors are calculating whether this could mean a return to the days of big spending.

As to the question of whether Milei has succeeded, the answer largely depends how you define success - and who it is for.

Many workers see shuttered factories, rocketing bills, and a vanishing safety net.

Meanwhile, some investors see a success story of fiscal discipline, tamed inflation, an ally in Washington and simply a "normalisation".

But even as leaders abroad watch Milei's experiment with fascination, politics may explain why few are unlikely to copy it.

If normal people lose faith in what he is doing, markets will also lose confidence that his programme is sustainable – and that could wipe out even the 'macro' successes.

"He has no political expertise, and I think you need it," Prof Rapetti argues.

Still, he believes it is too early to judge: "We are in the middle of his term… The story hasn't finished."

Top picture credit: WPA Pool/Getty Images, Bloomberg via Getty Images

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An asylum seeker from Sudan danced and laughed after murdering a Walsall hotel worker in a "vicious and frenzied attack" on a train station platform, a trial has heard.

Prosecutors allege Deng Majek, who claims to be 19, stabbed 27-year-old Rhiannon Whyte 23 times with a screwdriver at Bescot Stadium railway station on 20 October 2024. She died in hospital three days later.

Opening the case for the prosecution at Wolverhampton Crown Court, Michelle Heeley KC told the jury that the defendant was "clearly excited about what he had done".

Mr Majek denies murder.

The jury heard Mr Majek was seen on CCTV at the Park Inn Hotel in Walsall, laughing shortly after killing Ms Whyte.

The defendant had been living at the hotel, which houses asylum seekers, while Ms Whyte had worked there for about three months.

The court heard her job included cleaning and serving food and co-workers could not recall any issue which might have led to the attack.

"There had been an issue about some broken biscuits with some of the residents but nothing serious," Ms Heeley said.

In a statement released following her death, Rhiannon Whyte's family described her as "selfless... brave, quirky, funny" and always there for other people.

The prosecution said CCTV showed the defendant staring at Ms Whyte, before he followed her from the hotel to the railway station when she finished her shift at 23:00 BST.

"He had been hanging around waiting for her to leave and waited until she was on her own before he followed her," Ms Heeley said.

The court was told Ms Whyte called a friend at 23:04 and he was seen on CCTV cameras closing the gap on her as she approached the deserted platform.

Ms Heeley said: "It was then that the prosecution say that this defendant attacked her."

Her friend heard a scream and then another scream, before the phone went dead at 23:19.

The prosecution said Mr Majek could then be seen running back up the stairs with an object in his hand, which they said was Ms Whyte's mobile phone.

Ms Heeley said he then went to a local shop to buy himself a drink before returning to the hotel.

Slumped on platform

She added: "In between the station and the hotel he had thrown Rhiannon's phone into a river.

"Once at the hotel he was seen dancing and laughing, clearly excited about what he had done."

The train she had been due to catch pulled in at 23:24 and the driver saw a figure slumped on the platform, the court was told.

Ms Heeley said the guard tried to help her, along with another employee from the hotel, but nothing could be done to save her and she died on 23 October, having never regained consciousness.

The court was told 11 of the 23 stab wounds penetrated her skull, one of which damaged the brain stem, causing her death.

She also had injuries to her chest and arm, indicating she had tried to defend herself, the court heard.

The puncture wounds had the appearance of a cross-headed screwdriver, which has never been found.

The jury was told the defendant's jacket, sandals and ring had Rhiannon Whyte's blood on them, and her DNA was found under Mr Majek's fingernails.

Ms Heeley said: "He left her bleeding to death and then casually went back to his hotel. We say you can be sure he is guilty of murder."

The trial is expected to last about three weeks.

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Graduate student Nicole Lobo moved back to the US in late August after a year in the UK, shipping 10 boxes of possessions back home to Philadelphia that she expected to arrive within a few days.

Six weeks later, she is still waiting for the shipment - and fears it is lost, destroyed by UPS as the company struggles to handle a flood of packages facing new customs and tariff rules.

"It's been horrific," says the 28-year-old, who was notified last month that her boxes would be disposed of, leaving her to make frantic phone calls and send emails to try to head off the outcome.

It's an ordeal facing many UPS customers since the Trump administration in late August stopped allowing parcels worth less than $800 to enter the US without inspection, taxes or tariffs.

The decision abruptly made an estimated 4 million packages each day subject to new, more onerous processing and documentation rules.

As the influx leads to longer processing times and higher, sometimes unexpected, costs across the industry, some customers of UPS like Nicole, say they fear their packages have been lost in the backlog.

"It's beyond comprehension to me," says Janani Mohan, a 29-year-old engineer living in Michigan, who has also spent hours on hold and sent repeated emails since a tracking alert listed a box sent by her parents in India as set for disposal.

The parcel held her wedding dress, which had also been worn by her mother, an heirloom sari from her grandmother and wedding photos, among other items.

"I literally cried to them on the phone," she says. "Everything in there is very close to my heart."

Oregon-based Mizuba Tea Co, which has used UPS for more than a decade to import matcha from Japan, has five shipments together worth more than $100,000 held up in processing.

The firm has received conflicting alerts about their status, including some saying the items were set for disposal.

"My whole team is basically on scan watch," says Lauren Purvis, who runs the business with her family and is now starting to worry about running out of inventory if the limbo continues.

"It's just clear to us that the current importing systems were not prepared to handle the sheer amount of volume and paperwork."

Importers typically have 10 days after goods enter the US to submit documentation about the goods, pay tariffs and other fees, allowing the package to go to its recipient.

But the Trump administration's rapid changes to tariff rules have made it increasingly difficult to meet customs deadlines requirements, say shipping companies like FedEx and UPS, which offer customs services and often act as importers of record.

For example, businesses are now responsible for paying tariffs on any steel or aluminium contained in a product , and in many cases vouching for its country of origin - information that many businesses, let alone their shipping companies, do not know.

"Because of changes to US import regulations, we are seeing many packages that are unable to clear customs due to missing or incomplete information about the shipment required for customs clearance," a UPS spokeswoman said.

While acknowledging longer shipping times, the company said it was still successfully clearing more than 90% of international packages within a day of arrival.

The spokeswoman said its policy was to contact customers three times before moving to dispose of a package.

But seven people interviewed by the BBC, including several businesses responsible for shipping the items, said they had received no word from UPS about issues before seeing the tracking alert that their package would be trashed.

FedEx, another major player in the industry, said it does not typically destroy packages, unless directed to do so by the shipper.

Nicole, the graduate student, says she has been asked to supply more information about her items, which she did promptly in early September.

She did not hear more until seeing the notice about disposal in late September. After the BBC enquired about her package, the tracking information was updated for the first time in weeks to say it was "on the way", raising her hopes.

Likewise, Janani says the company reached out last week, after the BBC got in touch, for a few more documents and her package now appears to have cleared customs.

But for businesses, the chaos has already had real costs.

Swedish candy exporter Swedish Candy Land says more than 700 packages it sent via UPS to customers in the US in the first few weeks of September have been held up.

Co-founder Tobias Johansson says the business switched to FedEx after becoming aware of the problem and its shipments were now arriving without incident, although the process took a few days longer than before .

But the lost packages, some of which have been reported destroyed, have cost the firm roughly $50,000 in refunds, not including the expenses they incurred in shipping and brokerage fees.

"That was a big hit for us and we haven't gotten any answers yet for anything," says Mr Johansson.

Experts say the ripple effects are being felt across the supply chain, even on businesses, like Mizuba, that were not bringing in shipments using the $800 exemption from tariffs, known as de minimis.

"This can be felt pretty much across the board," says Bernie Hart, vice president of business development at Flexport, a logistics and customs business.

In a call with financial analysts last month, FedEx executives said it had been a "very stressful period" for its customers, especially smaller players.

"That is a big headwind," chief executive Raj Subramanian said, warning that changes to the trade environment would likely lead to a $1bn hit this year, including $300m in additional expenses as the firm hires and faces other costs related to the new rules.

But John Pickel, vice president of supply chain policy for the National Foreign Trade Council, which represents many shipping firms, fears the issues may get worse before they get better.

Overall trade volumes last month were lower than is typical, in part because many businesses rushed goods into the US early to beat tariffs.

"There's always been this prevailing thought that companies will figure it out," he says. "What we've seen is that is much harder than anyone anticipated."

India is losing sunlight.

A new study by six Indian scientists finds that over the past three decades, sunshine hours - the time direct sunlight reaches the Earth's surface - have steadily declined across most of India, driven by clouds, aerosols and local weather.

Data from 20 weather stations from 1988 to 2018 shows a persistent decline in sunshine hours nationwide, with only the northeast region seeing a mild seasonal reprieve, according to the paper published in Scientific Reports, a peer-reviewed journal published by Nature Portfolio.

Scientists from Banaras Hindu University, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and the India Meteorological Department report that the steepest annual declines occurred in the northern inland region - notably Amritsar and Kolkata - as well as along the Himalayan belt and the west coast, particularly Mumbai.

All of nine India's geograpically diverse regions showed an overall annual decline in sunshine hours, though the rate of decrease varied across India. Monthly analysis revealed significant increases from October to May, followed by sharp drops from June to July in six of the nine regions.

This seasonal pattern of sunshine intersects with a deeper, long-standing problem: India's severe air pollution crisis - it's now among the world's top 10 polluted countries - which scientists trace back to the 1990s. Rapid urbanisation, industrial growth and land-use changes drove up fossil fuel use, vehicle emissions and biomass burning, sending aerosols into the atmosphere and dimming the Sun's rays.

In winter, high air pollution from smog, temperature inversions and crop burning across the Indo-Gangetic plains produces light-scattering aerosols, which reduce sunshine hours.

These aerosols - tiny solid or liquid particles from dust, vehicle exhaust, crop burning, and other sources - persist in the air long enough to affect sunlight, climate and health.

During June-July, monsoon clouds blanket much of India, sharply reducing sunlight even though aerosol levels are lower than in winter.

Scientists note that higher sunshine hours from October to May don't indicate cleaner air; rather, they reflect more cloud-free days. Hazy winter sunlight may scatter or diffuse, lowering intensity without entirely blocking sunshine, which instruments still record as sunshine hours.

"Our study found that shrinking sunshine hours are linked to clouds that linger longer without releasing rain, blocking more sunlight. These longer-lasting clouds form indirectly due to aerosols that alter weather and climate," says Manoj Kumar Srivastava, a professor of geophysics at the Banaras Hindu University, and one of the authors of the study.

Aerosols have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching the ground in India by about 13%, while clouds accounted for an additional 31-44% drop in surface solar radiation between 1993 and 2022, according to Sachchida Nand Tripathi, an atmospheric scientist at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur.

These patterns raise concerns for agriculture, daily life and India's solar energy ambitions, while highlighting where solar panels could be most effective.

Solar now makes up 47% of India's renewable energy capacity. The government says it's on track for 500GW of renewables by 2030, with more than 100GW of solar installed as of early 2025. But declining sunlight could cast a shadow on the country's solar ambitions.

According to Prof Tripathi, air pollution compounds the problem. It reduces solar panel output by 12-41% depending on the type of photovoltaic system - the technology that converts sunlight into electricity - and costs an estimated $245-835m in lost power generation.

Studies also show that cleaner air could boost India's annual solar energy production by 6-28 terawatt hours of electricity - enough to power millions of homes for a year.

But the impact of pollution doesn't stop at solar energy. It also takes a heavy toll on agriculture, causing an estimated 36–50% loss in crop yields - mainly rice and wheat - in the country's most polluted regions, according to Prof Tripathi.

India isn't alone in losing sunshine; across the world, rising air pollution and shifting weather patterns have dimmed the skies.

A study published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics observed that Europe likely experienced reduced sunlight reaching the ground because of air pollution between1970–2009. In Germany, sunshine hours decreased by approximately 11% from 1951 to 1980, attributed to industrial gas emissions and associated cloud formation.

Research also showed that stricter clean-air laws in the 1990s led to a rebound in sunshine hours across Europe.

China also experienced a significant decline in sunshine hours from the 1960s to the 2000s, primarily due to increased aerosol emissions from rapid industrialisation. Sunshine duration varied across Chinese cities, with some areas experiencing more significant declines due to factors such as air pollution.

The good news: scientists say the Earth's surface has gradually been receiving more sunlight since the 1980s - a trend known as global brightening, following decades of dimming.

New analysis of satellite data from 1984 to 2018 appears to confirm this, showing the effect is strongest over land and in the Northern Hemisphere, driven mainly by falling aerosols in the 1980s and 1990s and shifts in cloud patterns.

The bad news: heavily polluted countries like India are missing out. If the Sun keeps hiding behind smog, India risks running on fumes instead of full power.

A man who came to the UK on a small boat and threatened to kill Nigel Farage has been jailed for five years.

Fayaz Khan, 26, made a gun gesture with his hand, pointed to an AK-47 tattoo on his face and named the Reform UK leader in a TikTok post in October 2024.

Authorities believed the Afghan migrant had given them a false name and he was actually a 31-year-old called Fayaz Husseini, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Farage described the threat as "pretty chilling", adding: "Given his proximity to guns and love of guns, I was genuinely worried."

In the video, Khan pointed towards his face tattoo and said he was going to "pop, pop, pop" the MP for Clacton, in Essex, referring to him as "Englishman Nigel".

Sentencing him, judge Mrs Justice Steyn said: "Your video was not more abuse, it was a threat to kill with a firearm and it was, as Mr Farage put it, 'pretty chilling'."

Khan was one of 65 migrants on board a black inflatable boat that entered the UK by crossing the English Channel.

"The defendant livestreamed the recording of his crossing, which appears to have gathered a large online viewing," said prosecutor Peter Ratliff.

The court heard Khan gave a false name because he had "enemies he did not want to find him".

However, the prosecution said it was "more likely" he had given misleading details due to his criminal record while living in Sweden.

Mr Ratliff also disputed Khan's claim that he was unaware it was illegal to arrive in the UK by small boat.

He claimed Khan "intended to encourage others" by documenting his journey from Sweden to the UK, sharing it with hundreds of thousands of viewers online.

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The government's national security adviser Jonathan Powell made no decisions about the content of any evidence provided in the collapsed case against two men accused of spying for China, a minister has said.

Prosecutors unexpectedly dropped charges against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry - who deny the allegations - in September.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch claimed the case collapsed because the government had refused to give the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) "vital information" as it wanted to "curry favour" with China.

Security Minister Jarvis dismissed claims the government deliberately collapsed the case as "baseless".

Mr Powell, who is one of the prime minister's most senior advisers and political allies, is facing pressure over whether he played a role in the collapse of the trial, with the Conservatives saying he has "questions to answer".

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he has "full confidence" in his national security adviser, telling broadcasters: "He is doing an excellent job."

Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher 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.

But last week the head of the CPS said the case collapsed because evidence could not be obtained from the government referring to China as a national security threat.

Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said while there was sufficient evidence when charges were originally brought against the two men in April 2024, a precedent set by another spying case earlier this year meant China would need to have been labelled a "threat to national security" at the time of the alleged offences.

Giving a statement to MPs in the Commons, Jarvis denied reports Mr Powell had ruled China could not be defined as a national security threat at a meeting of Whitehall officials in September, shortly before the charges were dropped.

"Of course, [the national security adviser] takes part in discussions about national security and diplomatic relations. That is literally his job," he said.

"But any discussions were on the basis that the case would be going ahead and how to handle the implications.

"The national security adviser was not involved in any decisions about the substance of the evidence."

Jarvis said it was deputy national security adviser Matthew Collins who provided a witness statement in December 2023 under the previous Conservative government, with further witness statements requested and provided in February and July this year.

He said Mr Collins was given "full freedom to provide evidence without interference", adding: "Ministers and special advisers did not take decisions about that evidence and they were not cited on the contents."

Jarvis said all the evidence provided was based on the law and the Tory government's position on China at the time of the alleged offences.

He added that the decision about whether to proceed with the prosecution was taken by the CPS, "who were hamstrung by antiquated legislation".

The Official Secrets Act of 1911 has since been replaced by the 2023 National Security Act, which Jarvis said closed "the loopholes that have been exposed by this particular case".

"Suggestions that the government concealed evidence, withdrew witnesses, or restricted the ability of witnesses to draw on particular bits of evidence are all untrue," he said.

"The [deputy national security adviser] did not materially change his evidence and was under no pressure from anyone to do so...

"What has changed is the CPS's assessment of the case law."

Jarvis sought to blame the previous Tory government for not classifying China as a threat to national security and being too "slow" to update national security laws.

Defending her party's record, Badenoch pointed to a number of examples where Tory ministers and government documents had described China as a "threat".

"The trial has collapsed because for months and months, the government has been refusing to give the CPS vital information," she said.

"This wasn't a mistake. This wasn't a misunderstanding. This looks like a deliberate decision to collapse the case and curry favour with the regime in China."

She added: "I suspect that [ministers] have decided that closer economic ties with China were more important than due process and our national security."

The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to "come clean on why this case fell apart" and publish all correspondence between the deputy national security adviser and the CPS.

The party's foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller said: "The government's attempts to duck scrutiny and scapegoat a single official simply won't wash.

"It's inconceivable that neither Keir Starmer nor his national security adviser knew what evidence was being submitted in such an important case.

"The buck for this fiasco ultimately stops with the prime minister."

Meanwhile, Jarvis confirmed that MI5's National Protective Security Authority had published new advice for politicians on how to protect themselves from espionage and foreign interference.

The guidance warns MPs they are a potential target for foreign spies, with China, Russia and Iran identified as particular risks to British institutions.

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YouTube double act Dan and Phil have confirmed their relationship after 16 years of fan speculation, ending what they called the "apolcapyptic constant stress of the Dan and Phil dating conspiracy".

Dan Howell and Phil Lester have amassed millions of followers, hosted a BBC Radio 1 show, published best-selling books, and been on world tours.

Many of the British pair's comedy and gaming videos show them in the house they share, and they separately came out as gay in 2019, but they hadn't directly spoken about their relationship.

"We fell into it hard and fast in 2009, and here we are almost 16 years later," Dan said in the new video, telling followers they "can't live in fear any more".

The couple spoke about the impact of intrusion and intense speculation from fans, which Dan said "could have killed me".

He also explained it had taken time to discuss the relationship publicly because of the effects of his "extremely homophobic childhood", which meant he had been "deep in the closet" for years.

"In my mid 20s I felt we had to hide the relationship because I was still hiding who I was to my friends, family, myself," he said.

"This is why all of the digging from people online hit a nerve, because Phil was my safe space. You were my first boyfriend... You were a literal ray of light in my life back then."

Dan continued: "And what we had was the most important thing to me and I wanted to protect it, so when other people tried to grab it and drag it into the light, I felt completely violated.

"Having all of these people trying to out us, and being so hostile to me when I tried to hide it, was so triggering. Honestly, it could have killed me."

Dan added that he felt like someone had put a curse on them, with them achieving huge success "but half the time it's going to suck for years, wake up in the night with anxiety, you're going to have panic attacks".

He said there were times when he thought he might be "happier without all of this".

"Yeah, [in] 2017 I'm thinking, my solo comedy content is killing it on YouTube, this could just be my life. I could be like every other YouTube boy and just enjoy this without the apocalyptic, constant stress of this Dan and Phil dating conspiracy."

'A cycle of never-ending closets'

He said he had decided to make the relationship public after a recent therapy session.

"My therapist said, 'Dan, you love being in the closet'. And I was like, 'Excuse me?'"

He continued: "I spent so long not being authentic and being trapped in a situation, that I am comfortable being miserable in an environment where I don't do the thing that would suddenly make me feel better. I am in a cycle of never-ending closets, and this secret conspiracy is just another thing that I'm trapped inside."

Phil added that some followers may have already guessed, but making the announcement was "a big scary deal for us, it's kind of like another mini coming out".

He acknowledged that the move may attract more homophobia.

"Look, sure, this is a scary time in the world," Dan replied. "Let's be real, it feels like things are sliding backwards because the fighting for what was important was going a bit too well.

"But I think that's why it's more important than ever that we're like, 'You know what? Hey, here we are, gay. And what?'"

'Happy and relieved'

Their reveal was met with praise and love from longtime fans.

"I just adore you both so much," wrote one.

Another wrote: "Listen. Not our business. Never been our business. Fully aware it's parasocial. But after all these years, I'm both very, very happy for you both and feeling a bizarre sense of relief."

"Thank you for making me feel accepted just as I am throughout the years. I am glad you both feel safe enough to be your authentic selves!" posted someone.

"This is like gay independence day," said another.

Followers also celebrated what a big part of their lives the pair have been over the years.

"I've finished my bachelor's, master's, med school, and a PhD by the time they hard-launched their relationship," wrote one.

"Big day for girls who were on Tumblr from 2012-2015," said someone else.

"There's at least 20 people I haven't spoken to in seven years that I need to call RIGHT NOW," wrote another.

"I've literally had to go outside and have a cigarette," someone else posted.

A mental health trust says it is planning to install CCTV following the death of a patient in mysterious circumstances.

Maria Morris, 44, was found unresponsive at Bethlem Hospital in south London on 21 September 2021 with four socks down her throat, and a large unexplained bruise on her back.

She died hours later in hospital from a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen. A consultant who treated her questioned whether she had been assaulted.

An inquest jury at South London Coroners' court concluded that her death was accidental, but her family says they still have questions about what led to her death.

Large bruise on her back

The inquest heard that Maria Morris, who worked as a teaching assistant, had bi-polar affective disorder.

In September 2021, her family and friends became concerned when she started acting erratically and found that she had stopped taking her medication.

Police were called after she ran away from a friend while on a walk in a park. When found, she was delusional and taken to Croydon Hospital.

She was transferred to Bethlem Royal Hospital, a mental health hospital run by South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLAM), on 18 September where she was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

The jury was told that while Maria was on the unit, she raised a number of concerns about how staff were treating patients. She told one member of staff that patients were being "punished" at night.

On the evening of the 21 September, Maria was observed by staff in her room at 20:00 and then again at 20:30.

At 21:23 a member of staff found her unconscious on the floor of her room, having had a cardiac arrest.

During attempts to resuscitate her, a sock was found in her throat. When paramedics arrived, three further socks were removed from her throat.

By the time she was transferred to Croydon University Hospital, she had suffered a hypoxic brain injury. A few hours later she went into cardiac arrest again and died on 22 September.

The jury was told that Dr Simon Wood, an intensive care doctor at Croydon Hospital who treated Maria, alerted the police to a large bruise on her back.

He also said that, in his view, a patient wouldn't have been able to push socks down their own throat without gagging. He was concerned that this may have indicated she'd been assaulted.

The jury heard that there was no CCTV used on the wards at Bethlem Hospital and there was nothing in Maria's notes or observations to explain the bruising.

Maria's room was locked when she was found. The court heard that most patients had keys for their own rooms, but there was no record on who had what key.

Staff had master keys that could unlock all the patients' rooms.

Untested blood

In a statement read to the court, Metropolitan police officer DC Herdeep Jugdev said that his investigation had been hindered because Maria's room in Bethlem had been cleared, and the sock disposed of, before they got there 19 hours after her death was reported.

During their investigation, the police spotted what appeared to be blood under Maria's nails, although this did not appear to have been tested to see whose it was.

John Taylor, the South London Coroner, told the jury that there was not sufficient evidence to conclude that Maria was assaulted on the ward, or that someone else had pushed socks into her airway.

The inquest heard conflicting evidence from staff at Bethlem about how often Maria was checked on the night she died.

Some documents and witnesses suggested she should have been checked four or five times an hour. Others suggested she should have been checked once an hour.

The jury concluded that Maria had pushed the socks down her own throat, but that her death had been accidental. They were unable to reach a conclusion on whether a lack of observations contributed to her death, because of the conflicting evidence.

'Immense pain'

In a statement, Maria's family said she was a much-loved mother, daughter and sister, and that her death "has left a profound and lasting void in the hearts of her family and all who loved her".

"We are grateful to the jury for having identified that there were missed opportunities around communication, documentation and observations.

"As a family, the idea that more could have been done to keep her safe causes us immense pain."

The family also said it felt the jury was not allowed to comment on all the issues it considered to be important.

"As a family we still have questions about exactly what happened that night."

South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLAM) says it will be rolling out CCTV in all its wards and opening a new CCTV control centre in November.

Personal data may have been stolen in the ransomware attack that forced Asahi to halt beer production, the company has said.

Japan's biggest brewer was forced to halt production at the majority of its 30 factories in the country, after a cyber-attack late last month disrupted everything from beer shipments to its accounting system.

All of Asahi's facilities have now partially reopened and restarted production but computer systems remain down, meaning orders are being processed using pen, paper and fax machines.

In a statement on Tuesday, Asahi said it was investigating whether personal information was stolen in the attack.

The company said its Emergency Response Headquarters were working with cybersecurity experts to "restore the system as quickly as possible", and will contact those affected by the hack.

"As we continue investigating the extent and details of the impact, focusing on the systems targeted in the recent attack, we have identified the possibility that personal information may have been subject to unauthorised data transfer," it said.

"Should the investigation confirm this, we will promptly notify those concerned and take appropriate measures in accordance with applicable laws on the protection of personal information."

It remains unclear what personal information was stolen, and Asahi declined to provide more detail as the matter is currently under investigation.

Asahi Group also owns Fullers in the UK and global brands including Peroni, Grolsch, and Pilsner Urquell. But Asahi said only its systems and operations in Japan - which account for around half of its sales - have been affected by the attack.

Asahi apologised for "any difficulties" caused by the incident.

The company also said it would delay the disclosure of its third-quarter financial results, citing the disruption caused by the attack.

The disclosure would be more than 45 days after the end of the October to December quarter, Asahi said, but when exactly would depend on the progress of restoring its system.

Russia-based ransomware group Qilin claimed responsibility for the attack, which has previously hacked other big organisations, including the NHS.

The cyber-attack is the latest to have hit operations at major firms.

Jaguar Land Rover, Marks and Spencer, and Co-op are among the major British companies that have been affected this year.

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre has reported a record rise in "nationally significant" cyber-attacks in the last year, with an average of four happening every week.

They urged businesses to take "concrete action" to protect themselves from attacks.