Blocking Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending an Aston Villa match is the "wrong decision", the prime minister has said.

Followers of the Israeli team will not be allowed to attend the Europa League match on 6 November because of safety concerns, the body responsible for issuing safety certificates for matches said on Thursday.

Sir Keir Starmer criticised the move, saying "we will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets" and that the role of police was "to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation".

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch branded the decision a "national disgrace" and suggested Sir Keir should act to reverse it.

She wrote on X that Starmer should "guarantee that Jewish fans can walk into any football stadium in this country".

"If not, it sends a horrendous and shameful message: there are parts of Britain where Jews simply cannot go."

West Midlands Police said the game had been classified as high risk based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including "violent clashes and hate crime offences" between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans before a match in Amsterdam in November 2024.

The force said it had concerns about its ability to deal with potential protests at the match at Villa Park.

The Safety Advisory Group, which issues safety certificates for matches, told Aston Villa that no travelling fans would be permitted at the match in Birmingham.

Ayoub Khan, the Independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, welcomed the decision.

He said: "From the moment that the match was announced, it was clear that there were latent safety risks that even our capable security and police authorities would not be able to fully manage.

"With so much hostility and uncertainty around the match, it was only right to take drastic measures."

US President Donald Trump says "great progress" was made during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, with the pair agreeing to face-to-face talks in Hungary.

He said the call, the first with Putin since mid-August, was "very productive", adding that teams from Washington and Moscow will meet next week.

Trump did not confirm a date for his meeting with Putin in Budapest. The Kremlin said work on the summit would begin "immediately" after the "extremely frank and trustful" call.

The talks came a day before Ukraine's President Zelensky was to visit the White House, and with Trump weighing whether to arm Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles capable of striking deep into Russia.

As he arrived in the US, Zelensky said Moscow was "rushing to resume dialogue as soon as it hears about Tomahawks".

Writing on his Truth Social platform after the call concluded, Trump said he and Putin "spent a great deal of time talking about Trade between Russia and the United States when the War with Ukraine is over".

He said "high level advisors" from both countries would meet at an unspecified location next week, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio leading the American delegation.

Trump also said he would update Zelensky on his talks with Putin on Friday, adding: "I believe great progress was made with today's telephone conversation."

He later told reporters he expected to meet Putin "within two weeks".

Asked about the prospect of giving the missiles to Ukraine after his call with Putin, Trump said "we can't deplete" the US stockpile of Tomahawks, adding "we need them too... so I don't know what we can do about that".

Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Olga Stefanishyna, said Russia launching overnight strikes on Ukraine "hours before" Putin's call with Trump "exposes Moscow's real attitude toward peace".

In a statement to the BBC's US partner CBS, she added: "These assaults show that Moscow's strategy is one of terror and exhaustion. The only effective response is pressure - through tougher sanctions, reinforced air defense, and the supply of long-range capabilities."

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on X the planned Budapest meeting was "great news for the peace-loving people of the world".

Earlier, he also said: "Peace requires patience, strength, and humility. Europe must shift its stance. Instead of arrogance and fanning the flames of endless war, we need negotiations with Russia. Only dialogue can bring peace to our continent."

Trump has taken a much tougher line towards Putin over the Ukraine war since a face-to-face summit in Alaska in August failed to produce a decisive breakthrough in attempts to broker a peace deal.

The pair met on US soil on 15 August for a summit which the US president hoped would help convince the Russian president to enter comprehensive peace talks to end the Ukraine war. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

They spoke again days later when Trump interrupted a meeting with Zelensky and European leaders to call Putin.

Since then, neither the White House or Kremlin have public confirmed any communications between the two.

During his presidential election campaign, Trump claimed he would be able to end the war in Ukraine within days but has since admitted resolving the conflict has been more challenging than any he has been involved in since returning to power.

Trump had been seen as more sympathetic to Russia than his predecessor Joe Biden, and strained relations with Zelensky came to a head on 28 February when he and Vice-President JD Vance berated the Ukrainian president in the Oval Office on live television.

But public relations with Zelensky have vastly improved in recent months.

In September, Trump signalled a major shift in his view of the conflict, saying he believed Kyiv could "win all of Ukraine back in its original form", a far cry from his public calls for Kyiv to cede territory occupied by Russia.

During Zelensky's upcoming visit to Washington on Friday, his third since January, the subject of Tomahawk missiles is likely to be high on the agenda.

Zelensky has called on the US to provide Ukraine with the advanced missiles, which have a range of 2,500 km (1,500 miles).

Asked earlier this week if he was considering giving Ukraine the missiles, he said: "We'll see... I may."

In late July, Trump set Putin a deadline of less than a fortnight to agree to a ceasefire or face sweeping sanctions, including measures against countries which still trade with Russia.

But he did not follow through the threat after Putin agreed to meet Trump in Alaska, which the US president hailed as a significant diplomatic success at the time, despite it not producing any tangible outcome.

Earlier on Thursday, India's foreign ministry cast doubt on a claim made by Trump a day earlier saying Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop purchasing Russian oil.

An Indian government spokesman said he was "not aware of any conversation between the two leaders" taking place the previous day, after Trump said Modi had assured him purchases would stop "within a short period of time".

The US has pushed for countries - in particular India, China and Nato members - to stop buying Russian energy in an effort to increase economic pressure on the Kremlin. Zelensky has also repeatedly echoed those calls.

Former members of the military will be able to start applying for a digital version of their identity cards from Friday.

About 1.8 million veterans are eligible to download the new digital ID to a smartphone - with ministers saying the rollout can serve as a "case study" to show the public how the technology for a planned scheme for all British citizens and residents will work.

Physical veterans' cards will continue to be issued, but the digital version will allow holders to prove their status more easily to access to public services, the government says.

Digital government minister Ian Murray said the veterans' digital ID could also help address "legitimate concerns around privacy and security" of the UK-wide scheme.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced the plans for the wider scheme last month as part of efforts to clamp down on illegal working. It will be introduced by 2029 and mandatory in order to work.

The digital veteran card is optional but the government says it will allow former service personnel to show their entitlement to services such as GP and mental health support, supported housing, careers advice as well as reduced entry prices at museums and money off their shopping.

Murray said the veterans ID was "probably a demonstration to the public by default... on the basis that this is the first use case for having a digital credential on your smartphone, and that digital credential is the first sort of verifiable one that government have now launched".

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: "We are modernising our public services so they work around people's lives and keep pace with the digital world we live in.

"The digital veterans' card will help remove barriers, reduce red-tape and make it easier for people to access the public services they need."

The digital veteran card will be the first document to be stored in the government's One Login smartphone app, with digital driving licences set to follow at a later date.

An injection to prevent HIV is to be offered to patients on the NHS in England and Wales for the first time, bringing the policy in line with Scotland.

The long-acting shot, given six times a year or every other month, is an alternative to taking daily pills to protect against the virus.

Experts hope the cabotegravir (CAB-LA) injections will help meet the ambition of ending new HIV cases by 2030 in the UK.

Meanwhile, early results for a different injection called lenacapavir suggest it may even be possible to move people on to an annual HIV prevention jab.

'This represents hope'

Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said: "The approval of this game-changing injection perfectly embodies what this government is determined to deliver - cutting-edge treatments that save lives and leave no one behind.

"For vulnerable people who are unable to take other methods of HIV prevention, this represents hope."

HIV prevention therapy, known as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), is taken by HIV-negative people to reduce the risk of getting HIV.

Pills have been available for years and are still extremely effective at stopping HIV infections, but are not always easy for some to take.

It can be hard to access, not practical, or feel embarrassing. For example, people might worry someone like parents or housemates could find their pills.

Homelessness and domestic violence can make it difficult to take oral PrEP every day.

An injection which lasts for months offers convenience and discretion.

HIV is a virus that damages the cells in the immune system and weakens the body's ability to fight everyday infections and diseases.

It can be caught during unprotected sex or through sharing needles. Mothers can also pass it to their baby at birth.

Cabotegravir should be used in combination with safer sex practices, such as use of condoms.

The NHS has an undisclosed discount from the manufacturer for the treatment that has a list price of around £7,000 per patient per year.

The jab will be considered for adults and adolescents with a healthy weight who are at high risk of sexually acquired HIV and eligible for PrEP, but for whom taking oral tablets would be difficult. It’s thought around 1,000 people will be offered it.

They will be able to get it from NHS-operated sexual health clinics "in coming months" says the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

Charities say some people face long waiting times for appointments at clinics and the rollout must happen quickly.

Richard Angell, of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said it was time to explore delivering the "transformative therapy" in other settings, not just sexual health clinics.

"It's highly effective and acceptable for patients, and a vital tool for tackling inequalities – with the potential to reach those who are not currently accessing other HIV prevention."

Official figures for England show the number of people taking PrEP in sexual health services is increasing.

Last year,146,098 HIV-negative people accessing sexual health services had a PrEP need because they were at substantial risk of acquiring HIV.

Of those, about 76% (111,123) began or continued PrEP - a 7.7% rise from 2023.

PrEP need is not being identified and met equitably though.

Access to the treatment varies significantly by group, with uptake highest among white (79.4%) and ethnic minority (77.8%) gay, bisexual and all men who have sex with men, but much lower among black African heterosexual women (34.6%) and men (36.4%).

At the same time, HIV testing has expanded across hospital A&E departments in England. Currently, 89 routinely test anyone who has blood taken, specifically in cities and towns with high HIV prevalence.

Live from New York: It's mayoral debate night.

The three leading candidates for New York City mayor took the stage at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan Thursday night to make a case to lead America's biggest city.

Early voting in the race is set to begin next week, and the most recent polling, suggests Zohran Mamdani has widened his lead to 46 percent, while Andrew Cuomo stands at 33 percent.

The outcome of the race could have political implications beyond the Empire State as President Donald Trump looms large, and whoever wins will likely face pressure from Washington in some form.

The Democratic Party nationally also is likely watching to see if the America's biggest Democratic stronghold chooses an establishment, centrist Cuomo, who is running as an independent or the progressive Mamdani. The winner could help determine the kind of candidate and platform Democrats choose in the future following their staggering 2024 loss to Trump.

Republicans also will watch to see if their candidate, Curtis Sliwa, continues to make inroads with his public safety platform.

Here are five big takeaways from tonight's debate.

Mamdani addresses his support for Palestinians

Mamdani's past statements on Israel and Palestinians came up several times during the night in questions from moderators and opponents' criticisms.

The candidate has stressed his support for Palestinians and statehood, and has criticized Israel's military operation in Gaza.

He also was criticized for declining to condemn the phrase "globalise the intifada" when probed by interviewers, but has said he would seek to serve as a mayor for all New Yorkers, including its large and ideologically diverse Jewish population.

Cuomo, however, attacked Mamdani for his views, calling the New York state assemblyman a "divisive personality across the board."

The fourth man: Donald Trump

Although there were three candidates at tonight's debate, another name kept coming up: Donald Trump.

President Trump has implied he wants to send the National Guard into cities controlled by Democrats - in spite of resistance - and has moved to withhold government funds for infrastructure projects in New York City. Trump also has prioritized New York City for his mass deportation policy, and the mayor — who has little power over federal immigration enforcement — will likely have to weigh the city's response.

Sliwa, the Republican, noted that the mayor would need to get along with Trump regardless of political views. But Mamdani made his opposition to Trump explicit from his very first response, promising to "take on Trump."

Cuomo positioned himself as the only candidate experienced enough to deal with the current White House, warning "it will be Mayor Trump" if Mamdani is elected.

"I fought Donald Trump," he told voters. "When I'm fighting for New York, I am not going to stop."

Affordability front and center

As large as Trump looms, the biggest policy issue around this mayoral election is affordability. New Yorkers face high costs of living on everything - especially rent and groceries.

In his opening statement, Sliwa acknowledged the "really serious issues of affordability" facing the city. He called for the next mayor to free up vacant apartments in NYCHA - New York's public housing programme — and allow people to move in.

The moderators directly asked each candidate how much they paid for rent, groceries and whether they paid off credit card debt monthly. The candidates pitched a volley of proposals, including Mamdani's plan to make buses free and Cuomo's proposal to place income limits on people who resided in rent-stabilized apartments.

He criticised Mamdani for living in a rent-stablised apartment, even though his parents are wealthy (his mother is the filmmaker Mira Nair).

"If you think that the problem in this city is that my rent is too low, vote for him," Mamdani said. "If you know the problem in this city is that your rent is too high, vote for me."

Cuomo also opposed Mamdani's proposed rent freeze on stabilized apartments, saying it would only postpone future increases, force building owners into bankruptcy, and fail New Yorkers who don't live in rent-stabilized apartments.

• Former Governor Andrew Cuomo announces run for New York City mayor
• FULL COVERAGE: Mamdani, Cuomo, Sliwa debate
• Who is Zohran Mamdani?
• How Mamdani stunned New York - and what Democrats can learn from his win

Cuomo's controversies still loom

Cuomo touted his decades of experience in office, rising from federal housing secretary during President Bill Clinton's administration to New York's governor.

But his controversies while governor have shadowed his campaign and Cuomo came prepared for a fight.

He resigned as governor in 2021 after an investigation by the state attorney general found he had sexually harassed 11 women. Cuomo apologised for acting "in a way that made people feel uncomfortable" but denied allegations.

The New York attorney general also investigated his administration for undercounting nursing home deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic, finding he understated the actual number of deaths.

Mamdani attacked Cuomo on these matters, accusing him of "sending seniors to their death in nursing homes," and accused him of lacking integrity.

Cuomo said the allegations about harming seniors in nursing homes was "totally false."

"During Covid, everyone did whatever they could in this state, and there have been numerous investigations where they've gone through it, and they said we followed federal guidance," Cuomo said. "But yes, people died during Covid. And my heart breaks for everyone that broken, that died in this state and across this nation."

Sliwa, too, attacked Cuomo for the "lawsuits filed against you for sexual harassment." The former governor rebutted that the case brought New York attorney general Letitia James, who investigated the misconduct claims, "was political."

Curtis Sliwa makes his mark

Sliwa held his own as the only Republican on stage.

His voting bloc might be in the minority in New York City, but the 2024 presidential election revealed that residents prioritise public safety issues and Sliwa hammered that repeatedly. As the founder of the Guardian Angels, a New York City organization devoted to crime prevention, he seized the opportunity to connect with voters.

The longtime New York media and political personality also knew how to make himself heard. He frequently interjected, telling moderators he wanted to speak, and elbowing his way into the debate's most heated moments. From centre stage, he took swings at both opponents in equal measure.

He felt confident after the debate, saying his night went "extraordinarily well" and likening his opponents to "two kids in the schoolyard.

News of the phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, in which they agreed to meet in person to discuss the war in Ukraine, will have come as an unwelcome surprise to Kyiv.

The country is being hit hard.

The last 24 hours alone have seen Russia launch dozens of missiles and more than 300 drones at multiple targets.

Once again, they include a large amount of civilian infrastructure with further damage to the country's gas supply network, just as the first signs of cold herald a long, hard winter ahead.

Attacks on the electrical grid are already leading to nationwide power outages.

For Ukraine's government it's a sign of Russian desperation.

The frontlines are at effective stalemate, involving huge loss of life for incremental territorial gains.

And the Russian economy is feeling the effects of the Ukrainian military's increasingly effective drone strikes on oil depots.

So, President Volodymyr Zelensky's big hope was for more American military assistance to keep up that pressure.

Before he boarded his plane to Washington, he seemed to believe that things were going his way.

There was optimistic talk about Trump beginning to see the world through Ukraine's eyes, a big shift from that angry, humiliating Oval Office exchange in February when he accused Zelensky of "gambling with World War Three".

The failure of the Trump-Putin Alaska summit in August and the intensifying bombardment of Ukraine were – it was thought – all causing the US president to lose patience with his "good friend", as he has called Putin.

There were high hopes that Friday's meeting would finally yield the prize Ukraine has been seeking - Trump's permission for the purchase of long-range Tomahawk missiles.

Trump's frustration with Putin was obvious on Sunday when he told reporters: "Do they [Russia] want Tomahawks going in their direction? I don't think so."

But how much of a game changer the missiles would really be is in much dispute among military experts and, with the complicated logistics, it could be months before they were deployed.

But at the very least they would add to Ukraine's ability to strike deep into the heart of Russia and with a much more powerful weapon than any it currently possesses.

They would also send a potent physical message to Putin about America's shifting allegiances.

So, the two-and-a-half-hour Trump-Putin phone call, that took place while Zelensky was in flight, somewhat steals a march on the Ukrainian president's big moment.

So far, though, he's putting something of a brave face on it, suggesting in a post sent on his arrival in Washington that Russia was panicking.

The Kremlin was "rushing to renew dialogue", he said, precisely because of all the talk of the Tomahawks.

Other analysts will see less panic and more of a classic Putin play at work in the phone call, which was said by the Kremlin to have taken place at Russia's behest.

The issue of the Tomahawks was indeed discussed, with Putin reinforcing his view that their deployment would be seen as a significant act of provocation.

The two men apparently discussed the "colossal prospects" – in Russia's words – for trade if peace were achieved.

And then they agreed to their summit in Hungary. That will probably happen within the next two weeks, Trump said.

• Trump says he will meet Putin in Hungary after 'very productive' call

As Ukraine faces its fourth winter of war, few people here had much belief in Trump's claim that he could turn his "success" in the Middle East into momentum towards peace in Ukraine.

One woman the BBC spoke to, badly injured in a Russian strike on a civilian railway carriage, shrugged her shoulders when we asked her if she saw an easy way out.

"A person like Putin can't be trusted," she said from her hospital bed.

After touching down in Washington on Thursday evening, Zelensky met representatives of defence companies who produce the powerful weapons he says he needs to strengthen Ukraine's protection.

He will still ask the White House for the Tomahawks.

But Trump's willingness to give them was always in doubt and must, surely, be now further called into question.

Meanwhile, Russia is being given something.

A familiar pattern is developing. Every time Trump grows increasingly frustrated with Putin's intransigence over Ukraine he is then placated by a conversation with the Russian president.

Each time they speak he seems to be persuaded of Putin's point of view and backs off his threats to apply tougher sanctions or supply more destructive weapons.

The Hungary summit, offered without concessions, doesn't look like much of a loss of American patience.

Never mind the Tomahawks.

For now, Ukraine has been given a long-range curveball instead.

Follow the twists and turns of Trump's second term with North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher's weekly US Politics Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

Listen to Michelle read this article

Alan Carr's days on The Celebrity Traitors looked perilous from the start. Just 32 minutes into the first episode, after the comedian had been selected as a "traitor", his body started to betray him.

Beads of sweat began forming on his forehead, making his face shiny. "I thought I wanted to be a traitor but I have a sweating problem," he admitted to cameras. "And I can't keep a secret."

Professor Gavin Thomas, a microbiologist at the University of York, was watching the episode. "[Alan] does sweat a lot - and it looks like eccrine sweat," he says, referring to a common type of sweat, which comes from glands all over the body that can be activated by stress.

Yet it was Carr's willingness to talk about his sweatiness - and the excitement of viewers who were quick to analyse it on social media - that was most striking of all.

Alan Carr is not the first. All sorts of well-known people, from Hollywood actors and models to singers, have opened up about bodily functions in ever more brazen detail over the last decade. (Fellow Traitors contestant, the actress Celia Imrie, admitted in an episode this week: "I just farted... It's the nerves, but I always own up.")

On sweat struggles specifically, Steve Carrell and Emma Stone have talked openly, and model Chrissy Teigen revealed in 2019 that the perspiration around her armpits was so irritating that she had Botox injections to prevent it. Then, singer Adele announced on stage in Las Vegas in 2023 that she had contracted a fungal infection as a result of perspiring.

"I sweat a lot and it doesn't go anywhere, so I basically am just sitting in my own sweat," she told the thousands of people in the audience.

Now fitness shops sell "sweat suits", for use during exercise - and then there is the very name of the longstanding British activewear brand Sweaty Betty. Its founder declared a few years ago: "It's cool to sweat now."

So, does this all really signal the end of the once-widespread taboo about talking about perspiration?

The sauna business meeting

At a sauna in Peckham, south London, young professionals sit on scorching hot, wood-panelled benches, dressed in swimming trunks and bathing suits. Outside, they dunk themselves in metal ice baths. A DJ plays music in the background.

Josh Clarricoats, 33, who owns a food start-up nearby, is a frequent visitor. He meets his business partner there every fortnight for meetings.

"Actually our best creative thinking happens when we're there," he admits. "It's something about sweating, being uncomfortable and the endorphins it releases."

Some professionals might have once felt awkward about sweating in front of colleagues, he concedes - but less so today. "You get sweaty, you see your colleague dripping in sweat, I don't think people really worry about that."

Ultra-hot bathing houses have long been part of everyday life in Finland, where they are associated with löyly - the idea that sweat, heat, and steam help you reach a new spiritual state. But in recent years they've trickled into English-speaking countries.

There is a small but growing trend among British and American professionals, in particular, who are adopting the Finnish saunailta tradition, and meeting work colleagues inside saunas.

Last month The Wall Street Journal declared that the sauna has become the "hottest place to network". The idea is that sweat puts everyone on the same level, lowering inhibitions and making it easier to forge relationships.

In Scandinavia, "sauna diplomacy" has long been used to lubricate high-level talks - in the 1960s, Finnish president Urho Kekkonen took the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Krushchev, into an all-night sauna to persuade him to allow Finland to repair relations with the West.

Chains of high-end saunas are now springing up in San Francisco and New York too, with members paying as much as $200 (£173) per month to sweat together - in luxury.

There are now more than 400 saunas in the UK, according to the British Sauna Association, a sharp rise from just a few years ago.

Gabrielle Reason, a physiologist and the association's director, has her own surprising view on why. "When you're sweating [in a sauna] … you look an absolute mess but there's something actually very liberating about that, in a world that is very image-focused.

"You smell, you're bright red... You just stop caring what you look like."

Deadly sweat - and shame

It wasn't always this way. We've long had a complicated relationship with sweat - and for years, it was a source of fear.

In medieval England, word spread about a so-called "sweating sickness" that was said to kill its victims within six hours. Some think that Mozart died after contracting the "Picardy sweat", a mysterious illness that made victims drip with perspiration (though the composer's real cause of death remains unclear).

But this fear of sweat was turbocharged in English-speaking countries in the early 20th Century when hygiene brands realised they could use it to sell deodorants, according to Sarah Everts, a chemist and author of The Joy of Sweat.

She says the most "egregious" marketing was aimed at young women. One advert for a deodorant called Mum, published in an American magazine in 1938, urged women to "face the truth about underarm perspiration odour".

It said: "Men do talk about girls behind their backs. Unpopularity often begins with the first hint of underarm odour. This is one fault men can't stand - one fault they can't forgive."

This shame is embedded into Western culture, says Ms Everts, who has long suffered embarrassment about her own clammy skin.

"In a hot yoga class, I'd notice that the first drip of sweat would always come from me," she says. "And I started to think, 'this is a space where I'm supposed to be sweating, and yet I'm mortified'."

But in recent years, that shame has started to fritter away - at least in some quarters.

Rise of the 'sweaty hot girl' aesthetic

The new mood is driven in part by the beauty industry and its new mantra: embrace your perspiration.

Back in 2020, the business magazine Forbes described public sweatiness as the "hottest and coolest fashion trend", whilst Vogue Magazine has run photo features on the charm of a sweaty face, known as "post-gym skin".

Dove, the brand owned by Unilever, launched a marketing campaign in 2023 urging customers to post photographs of their sweaty armpits under the hashtag "Free the Pits".

Remi Bader, a TikTok beauty influencer with more than two million followers, who partnered with them, said in a promotional interview: "I'm very, very open with my followers about how I'm very sweaty. It's so normal."

And what started as niche or a marketing ploy may well have filtered down to the rest of us.

Zoe Nicols, a mobile beauty therapist and former salon owner in Dorset, says she's had customers asking for a "sweaty makeup" look. She calls it a new "Sweaty Hot Girl aesthetic … you want to look like you've just done a hot yoga class or stepped out of the sauna."

But Ms Everts is more sceptical. Whilst it's "wonderful" that people are speaking more positively about their bodies, in her view the trend has been hijacked by the personal hygiene industry for commercial gain.

"It's the next generation of these marketing strategies," she says. "Instead of being like, 'You smell - and that sucks', they say, 'you smell - but we all smell, here's a product that is the solution to that problem'.

"It's a little egregious to be capitalising on the body positivity cultural trend."

'Sweating is an enormous superpower'

There has been much discussion about possible health benefits of sweating - spas offer services promising to "sweat out toxins," using steam, heat, and infrared light. The trend has taken off on social media too, though some of the claims are more reliable than others.

Scientists are sceptical of the idea that you can remove a meaningful amount of "toxins" from your blood via sweating, however.

"I haven't seen any strong empirical evidence," says Davide Filingeri, a physiology professor at the University of Southampton.

Ms Everts is more blunt: "It's completely bananas."

But perspiration is of course beneficial in a very basic way: it cools us down.

Dr Adil Sheraz, a dermatologist at the Royal Free NHS Trust, says the most common form of sweat - eccrine sweat - does a good job of regulating body temperature.

It comes from tiny glands - each person has between two and five million of them - then evaporates from our skin, lowering our temperature.

Ms Everts has traced the benefits of sweating to prehistoric times, when it allowed early humans to work vigorously for long periods in the sun. "Evolutionary biologists point to sweat as one of the things that makes our species unique," says Ms Everts.

"It's an enormous superpower."

'I avoid shaking hands'

Hidden away from all of this is a group for whom sweating can feel like anything but a superpower. Those are people with a medical condition called hyperhidrosis - which causes excessive sweating, even when there's no obvious cause.

It is thought to affect somewhere between one and five percent of people, but has only recently pierced public consciousness.

Doctors say it's not dangerous but it can be distressing.

Melissa, who did not want to share her surname, first noticed the symptoms in childhood. "My hands and feet were constantly sweaty, even when it wasn't hot or nervous," she recalls.

"Other children could hold hands or play without thinking about it, but I'd always be aware of my slippery palms and damp socks."

Even now, she says it affects her confidence. "It makes everyday tasks tricky - holding a pen, using my phone... I sometimes avoid shaking hands or physical contact because I worry people will notice or react badly."

But she has been buoyed by the growing willingness to talk about the condition. And, she adds, "I've learned to adapt."

Ultimately, experts I spoke to predict that our interest in sweat is only likely to grow in the future, as temperatures rise.

Prof Filingeri, of Southampton University believes that climate change will show the limits of perspiration, as humans won't be able to produce sweat quickly enough to compensate for higher temperatures. (Although the spread of air conditioning may mitigate some of this effect.)

"As humans, we're very limited in that physiological capacity."

But Ms Everts believes that the discussions around sweat can only be a good thing in light of this. "Humans will certainly be sweating a lot more in the future," she says.

"I'd argue we need to ditch [any lasting] shame and develop a lot more serenity about sweating."

Top picture credits: BBC and PA

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Growing up, Reese Witherspoon's dad was a huge James Bond fan - which meant she also watched a lot of 007 films.

But she questioned why the girls all wore bikinis, with the young Reese asking herself what their revealing attire had to do with solving a crime.

The Oscar-winning actress - and now novelist - says that's why she wanted her new thriller to centre on a woman who has a unique skill, rather than being about her sex appeal.

Witherspoon, 49, is best known for roles in Legally Blonde and The Morning Show, but has now written her first adult fiction book.

Gone Before Goodbye, co-written with bestselling author Harlan Coben, tells the story of a talented surgeon called Maggie, who is trapped in a deadly conspiracy.

Speaking exclusively to BBC News, she admits that part of her was worrying, "Oh God, why did I do this?" - but says she also felt excited to see her idea come to life.

Witherspoon, who already runs an influential book club that's picked out hits like Where the Crawdads Sing, adds that she mainly cares about how other writers will receive it. "I have so much reverence for authors," she says.

Witherspoon was born in New Orleans to a medical doctor father and a mother who worked as a nurse.

Her breakthrough role came with the 1999 teen drama Cruel Intentions, alongside her now-ex husband Ryan Phillippe.

Legally Blonde, released in 2001, made her a major star, and was followed by roles including country singer June Carter Cash in Walk The Line, which earned her an Academy Award in 2006.

Witherspoon says her parents' line of work helped inspire the characters in her new novel.

"I grew up in a medical military family and I grew up on a military base, so I was surrounded by other mums and dads who were medical military people," she says.

"There was this sense of service, and that what they were doing was an important service to humanity, but also to their country."

"We both have the viewpoint that doctors are heroic," adds Coben, who is married to a pediatrician. "They really are. I mean, it's a cool profession."

In the book, Maggie has lost her medical licence after a series of tragedies, but is thrown a lifeline by a former colleague.

The theme of career setbacks is familiar to Witherspoon, who starred a string of poorly received films in the years after her Oscar win and her 2008 divorce from Phillippe, with whom she shares two children.

In 2014, she opened up in an interview about how her marriage breakdown affected her career.

"You can't really be very creative when you feel like your brain is scrambled eggs," she told CBS's 60 Minutes. "I was just kind of floundering career-wise. I wasn't making things I was passionate about."

Asked whether her personal experience of a career setback inspired her book's plotline, Witherspoon says: "I think every great story has a character who is taken to their knees. We just happen to start the story with her on her knees."

It was "a great place to start" the book, she adds, "because it can really only go up from there".

Witherspoon's acting career has bounced back. And through her production company Hello Sunshine, she has made a point of celebrating strong female characters through films and TV series including The Morning Show and Big Little Lies, which she produced and starred in.

'Skills more important than sex and violence'

I ask Witherspoon how rare it is to see a female character like Maggie, who is not about her sex appeal but rather about her particular skill.

"Growing up, I always saw James Bond movies, my dad was obsessed with them, but I was like, why are [the girls] all in bikinis, and I don't understand what that's got to do with solving the crime," she replies.

"If I was going to do a thriller, I wanted the woman to be at the centre of it. I wanted her to have a unique skillset everybody in the world wanted, but she didn't even realise it, and that she doesn't have to shoot guns or punch bad guys. She's actually just very smart and very intuitive and an incredible surgeon."

But the film industry still has further to go in creating such roles for women, Witherspoon suggests.

When I ask whether Hollywood still suffers from a lack of strong female leads, the A-lister says: "I always see the gap, I see the white space.

"I started Hello Sunshine in 2011 because I just wasn't seeing complex storytelling for women in the movie space.

"So, in a way, I was just taking the relationships I've had from 30 years of being an actor and just helping shine a light on women who were ready for those opportunities."

Entertainment journalist Lauren Morris believes Witherspoon has been "quite clever" in the way she's built her business empire.

"She has her book club, where she publicises books, often centring female stories. Then she has her production company, where she adapts it for TV or film, and she often stars in it herself too," she says.

"It's a good business model and it's working well for her."

'I'm really enjoying this moment'

Celebrity novels have been all the rage in recent years, with stars such as Keanu Reeves and Millie Bobby Brown among those releasing books.

Often, collaborations involve a ghostwriter or co-author who does the majority of the writing, with minimal input from the celebrity. Reeves admitted as much to BBC News last year, when he said his novel had been mostly written by British science fiction author China Miéville.

But both Witherspoon and Coben insist that wasn't the case for them. Witherspoon originally brought the idea to Coben, and the pair say they were both involved in the writing, to the point that - according to Witherspoon - "we couldn't figure out who wrote what".

A number of Coben's books have recently been adapted for the small screen, with mystery thriller Fool Me Once becoming one of Netflix's most-watched dramas last year.

So will Gone Before Goodbye get the same treatment? For Coben, the answer is yes.

"I think one day it'll be adapted. I think I have somebody in mind who I think would like to play Maggie, but I'm not going to say anything," he says.

Is he thinking about Witherspoon by any chance? He laughs. "Yeah."

I ask Witherspoon whether she sees herself in Maggie.

"Every character I play is some part of my personality," she responds. "My personality is a big pie. Each character is a piece of the pie."

So, having conquered film, TV, book clubs and now novels, what's next?

"Wow, when you put it like that, I want to lie down," Witherspoon laughs.

"I'm just really enjoying this moment. This is a big new frontier for me. And it just made me feel like, gosh, creativity doesn't stop at any one age. It just goes on and on."

Gone Before Goodbye is published on 23 October in the UK.

Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley, founding guitarist for the American rock band KISS, has died aged 74, his family announced in a statement reported in US media.

Frehley died surrounded by family, who said they were "completely devastated and heartbroken".

"In his last moments, we were fortunate enough to have been able to surround him with loving, caring, peaceful words, thoughts, prayers and intentions as he left this earth," the statement said.

The guitarist was known for his "Spaceman" persona, from the days when KISS was founded with the original line-up of Paul Stanley (vocals, rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (vocals, bass guitar), Frehley (lead guitar, vocals) and Peter Criss (drums, vocals).

They applied face paint to create four enduring characters - Demon, Starchild, Spaceman and Catman.

"We cherish all of his finest memories, his laughter, and celebrate his strengths and kindness that he bestowed upon others. The magnitude of his passing is of epic proportions, and beyond comprehension. Reflecting on all of his incredible life achievements, Ace's memory will continue to live on forever!" the family said.

Kiss first formed in 1973. The band produced hits such as Rock and Roll All Nite and God of Thunder.

In 1983, they appeared without face paint for the first time and enjoyed something of a resurgence. This was known as their "unmasking".

They later re-masked in the late 1990s.

Frehley and another founding member, Peter Criss, subsequently quit the group, which continued with different musicians.

The BBC has reached out to the band's representatives.

This is a breaking news story, more details will be added soon.

This week, thousands lined the streets of Manchester for the funeral of boxer Ricky Hatton, while Sebastien Lecornu found himself back in his old job, and Wicked star Cynthia Erivo wowed the cast of Strictly Come Dancing.

But how much attention did you pay to what else happened in the world over the past seven days?

Quiz collated by Ben Fell.

Fancy testing your memory? Try last week's quiz, or have a go at something from the archives.

Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox.

People swapping cask ales for cappuccinos or ordering a burger and a beer via Deliveroo rather than at their local are a new threat to pubs, according to the boss of Greene King.

Nick Mackenzie, who runs the brewer and pub chain with 2,700 sites across the UK, agreed there were other businesses fighting for consumers' money as a growing share of the population was not drinking alcohol.

"They're taking away leisure time from the pub, yeah. You know, people are choosing to go into coffee shops," he said. "They are part of that competitor set, as are delivery [apps]."

There are now more than 14,000 cafes and coffee shops across the UK. Pubs still number more than 40,000 and the 57-year-old is adamant that the pub cannot be beaten as a fixture of the community.

Mr Mackenzie was quick to reiterate the special status that pubs hold in the UK, emphasising that "community" was as much a selling point as the beers, wines and spirits they sold.

But can pubs - inextricably linked to the sale of booze - entice the younger generation to its premises when the around one-third of under-25s and 20% of all Brits don't drink alcohol?

He made a point of highlighting the no-alcohol beer on draught after nipping into the New Explorer pub, just off Oxford Street, even while pointing out low-and-no alcohol pints still makes up only a small share of overall sales.

"It means that if you don't drink, you can come to the pub, you can meet friends, you can do the things that everybody does in the pub," he said.

"My experience - and certainly from my own family - I know young people are still out going to pubs and drinking, but we are also having to adapt to trends around well-being, trends towards low-and-no alcohol."

Mr Mackenzie said the "coffee offer now is credible" across Greene King's venues as the industry as a whole adapts to an environment where customers come in to have just a coffee or a meal.

"Pubs are creating environments that now are much more comfortable rather than feeling like [being] sat in a dingy pub. Not all pubs are like that, I know," he added.

And although the brewing boss wasn't yet committing to on-trend iced matcha or pumpkin-spiced lattes, he said Greene King pubs are selling more hot drinks "than ever before".

The industry's trend away from drinks-led "dingy pubs," toward food-led gastro pubs has been in effect for a while — ONS data suggests the share pub company staff work in kitchen-focussed roles surpassed those behind the bar in 2014 and has increased ever since.

More recent has been the number of bars and pubs built around "competitive socialising", where dates or groups split time between the bar and games like crazy golf, shuffleboard or axe-throwing. That sub-set of hospitality has more-than doubled from 280 bars and pubs pre-pandemic to around 600 now, according to data from estate agents Savills.

The Greene King boss said some of his pubs were expanding into competitive socialising using electronic dartboards and shuffleboards to attract and maintain customers who are after an "elevated experience".

If the company was to lean into amusements at more pubs, Mr Mackenzie's CV may be an asset.

Before Greene King he ran Merlin Entertainment, owner of Thorpe Park, Madame Tussauds and Legoland, which had a certain appeal to his two children.

"My kids benefited from that when they were younger — they had theme parks to go to. And when they hit 18, I got back into pubs, so they were quite happy about that too," he said.

No surprises, please

The Greene King boss was speaking to the BBC's Big Boss Interview ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves' Budget, and Mr Mackenzie was hoping for "no surprises" from it as the government looks to raise taxes to plug a multi-billion-pound shortfall.

Hospitality and retail companies in particular bore the brunt of the Chancellor's decision last year to increase the amount employers pay for National Insurance, per employee.

What he wanted from Reeves was "less surprises, give us some breathing space, but actually do the things that you said you were going to do in your manifesto about solving the business rates issue".

Top of Mr Mackenzie's Budget wish list after "an avalanche of costs" on the sector was for the government to follow through on its manifesto pledge to reform the business rates system — a tax on commercial premises that can add millions of pounds in costs to companies on UK high streets.

"This industry pays more tax than others. OK? And the business rate specifically is disproportionate. And governments have said they're going to change it ... now they need to do it," he said.

A Government spokesperson said pubs, restaurants and cafes "are vital to local communities.

"That's why we're cutting the cost of licensing, lowering their business rates and helping more hospitality businesses offer pavement drinks and al fresco dining."

Details on changes to business rates reform are expected before the end of the year.

Last week, China's Ministry of Commerce published a document that simply went by the name of "announcement No. 62 of 2025".

But this wasn't just any bureaucratic missive. It has rocked the fragile tariffs truce with the US.

The announcement detailed sweeping new curbs on its rare earth exports, in a move that tightens Beijing's grip on the global supply of the critical minerals - and reminded Donald Trump just how much leverage China holds in the trade war.

China has a near-monopoly in the processing of rare earths - crucial for the production of everything from smartphones to fighter jets.

Under the new rules, foreign companies now need the Chinese government's approval to export products that contain even a tiny amount of rare earths and must declare their intended use.

In response, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods and put export controls on key software.

"This is China versus the world. They have pointed a bazooka at the supply chains and the industrial base of the entire free world, and we're not going to have it," said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

On Thursday a Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson countered, saying that shortly after the China-US economic and trade talks in Madrid in September, "and despite repeated dissuasion from the Chinese side, the US side introduced 20 measures to suppress China within just over 20 days".

This week, the world's two biggest economies also imposed new port fees on each other's ships.

The flare-up in the trade war brings to an end months of relative calm after top US and Chinese officials brokered a truce in May.

Later this month, Trump and China's President Xi Jinping are expected to meet and experts have told the BBC the rare earths restrictions will give China the upper hand.

China's new controls are bound to "shock the system" as they target vulnerabilities in American supply chains, said international business lecturer Naoise McDonagh from Australia's Edith Cowan University.

"The timing has really upset the kind of timeline for negotiations that the Americans wanted," he added.

Rare earth minerals are essential for the production of a whole range of technology such as solar panels, electric cars and military equipment.

For example, a single F-35 fighter jet is estimated to need more than 400kg (881.8lb) of rare earths for its stealth coatings, motors, radars and other components.

China's rare earth exports also account for around 70% of the world's supply of metals used for magnets in electric vehicle motors, said Natasha Jha Bhaskar from advisory firm the Newland Global Group.

Beijing has worked hard to gain its dominance of the global rare earth processing capacity, said critical minerals researcher Marina Zhang from the University of Technology Sydney.

The country has nurtured a vast talent pool in the field, while its research and development network is years ahead of its competitors, she added.

While the US and other countries are investing heavily to develop alternatives to China for supplies of rare earths, they are still some way from achieving that goal.

With its own large deposits of rare earths, Australia has been tipped as a potential challenger to China. But its production infrastructure is still underdeveloped, making processing relatively expensive, Ms Zhang said.

"Even if the US and all its allies make processing rare earths a national project, I would say that it will take at least five years to catch up with China."

The new restrictions expand measures Beijing announced in April that caused a global supply crunch, before a series of deals with Europe and the US eased the shortages.

The latest official figures from China show that exports of the critical minerals were down in September by more than 30% compared to a year ago.

But analysts say China's economy is unlikely to be hurt by the drop in exports.

Rare earths make up a very small part of China's $18.7tn a year economy, said Prof Sophia Kalantzakos from New York University.

Some estimates put the value of the exports at less than 0.1% of China's annual gross domestic product (GDP).

While rare earths' economic value to China may be tiny their strategic value "is huge", she said, as they give Beijing more leverage in talks with the US.

Despite accusing China of "betrayal", Bessent has left the door open to negotiations.

"I believe China is open to discussion and I am optimistic this can be de-escalated," he said.

What China has done recently is "getting its ducks in a row" ahead of those trade talks with the US, said Prof Kalantzakos.

In curbing rare earth exports, Beijing has found its "best immediate lever" to pressure Washington for a favourable deal, Ms Bhaskar said.

Jiao Yang from Singapore Management University believes that although Beijing holds the cards in the short-run, Washington does have some strategic options at its disposal.

The US could offer to lower tariffs, which is likely to be attractive to Beijing as the trade war has hit its manufacturers hard, said Prof Jiao said.

China's economy is reliant on the income from the goods it makes and exports. The latest official figures show its exports to the US were down by 27% compared to a year ago.

Washington can also threaten to hit China with more trade restrictions to hamper efforts to develop its technology sector, said Prof McDonagh.

For example, the White House has already targeted China's need for high-end semiconductors by blocking its purchases of Nvidia's most advanced chips.

But experts say that is likely to have only limited effects.

Measures targeting Beijing's tech industry may slow China but won't "stop it dead in the water," said Prof McDonagh.

China has shown with its recent economic strategy that it is willing to take some pain to achieve its long-term goals, he added.

"China can carry on even if it costs a lot more under US export controls.

"But if China cuts off these rare earth supplies, that can actually stop everyone's industry. That's the big difference."

US President Donald Trump says "great progress" was made during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, with the pair agreeing to face-to-face talks in Hungary.

He said the call, the first with Putin since mid-August, was "very productive", adding that teams from Washington and Moscow will meet next week.

Trump did not confirm a date for his meeting with Putin in Budapest. The Kremlin said work on the summit would begin "immediately" after the "extremely frank and trustful" call.

The talks came a day before Ukraine's President Zelensky was to visit the White House, and with Trump weighing whether to arm Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles capable of striking deep into Russia.

As he arrived in the US, Zelensky said Moscow was "rushing to resume dialogue as soon as it hears about Tomahawks".

Writing on his Truth Social platform after the call concluded, Trump said he and Putin "spent a great deal of time talking about Trade between Russia and the United States when the War with Ukraine is over".

He said "high level advisors" from both countries would meet at an unspecified location next week, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio leading the American delegation.

Trump also said he would update Zelensky on his talks with Putin on Friday, adding: "I believe great progress was made with today's telephone conversation."

He later told reporters he expected to meet Putin "within two weeks".

Asked about the prospect of giving the missiles to Ukraine after his call with Putin, Trump said "we can't deplete" the US stockpile of Tomahawks, adding "we need them too... so I don't know what we can do about that".

Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Olga Stefanishyna, said Russia launching overnight strikes on Ukraine "hours before" Putin's call with Trump "exposes Moscow's real attitude toward peace".

In a statement to the BBC's US partner CBS, she added: "These assaults show that Moscow's strategy is one of terror and exhaustion. The only effective response is pressure - through tougher sanctions, reinforced air defense, and the supply of long-range capabilities."

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on X the planned Budapest meeting was "great news for the peace-loving people of the world".

Earlier, he also said: "Peace requires patience, strength, and humility. Europe must shift its stance. Instead of arrogance and fanning the flames of endless war, we need negotiations with Russia. Only dialogue can bring peace to our continent."

Trump has taken a much tougher line towards Putin over the Ukraine war since a face-to-face summit in Alaska in August failed to produce a decisive breakthrough in attempts to broker a peace deal.

The pair met on US soil on 15 August for a summit which the US president hoped would help convince the Russian president to enter comprehensive peace talks to end the Ukraine war. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

They spoke again days later when Trump interrupted a meeting with Zelensky and European leaders to call Putin.

Since then, neither the White House or Kremlin have public confirmed any communications between the two.

During his presidential election campaign, Trump claimed he would be able to end the war in Ukraine within days but has since admitted resolving the conflict has been more challenging than any he has been involved in since returning to power.

Trump had been seen as more sympathetic to Russia than his predecessor Joe Biden, and strained relations with Zelensky came to a head on 28 February when he and Vice-President JD Vance berated the Ukrainian president in the Oval Office on live television.

But public relations with Zelensky have vastly improved in recent months.

In September, Trump signalled a major shift in his view of the conflict, saying he believed Kyiv could "win all of Ukraine back in its original form", a far cry from his public calls for Kyiv to cede territory occupied by Russia.

During Zelensky's upcoming visit to Washington on Friday, his third since January, the subject of Tomahawk missiles is likely to be high on the agenda.

Zelensky has called on the US to provide Ukraine with the advanced missiles, which have a range of 2,500 km (1,500 miles).

Asked earlier this week if he was considering giving Ukraine the missiles, he said: "We'll see... I may."

In late July, Trump set Putin a deadline of less than a fortnight to agree to a ceasefire or face sweeping sanctions, including measures against countries which still trade with Russia.

But he did not follow through the threat after Putin agreed to meet Trump in Alaska, which the US president hailed as a significant diplomatic success at the time, despite it not producing any tangible outcome.

Earlier on Thursday, India's foreign ministry cast doubt on a claim made by Trump a day earlier saying Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop purchasing Russian oil.

An Indian government spokesman said he was "not aware of any conversation between the two leaders" taking place the previous day, after Trump said Modi had assured him purchases would stop "within a short period of time".

The US has pushed for countries - in particular India, China and Nato members - to stop buying Russian energy in an effort to increase economic pressure on the Kremlin. Zelensky has also repeatedly echoed those calls.

Blocking Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending an Aston Villa match is the "wrong decision", the prime minister has said.

Followers of the Israeli team will not be allowed to attend the Europa League match on 6 November because of safety concerns, the body responsible for issuing safety certificates for matches said on Thursday.

Sir Keir Starmer criticised the move, saying "we will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets" and that the role of police was "to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation".

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch branded the decision a "national disgrace" and suggested Sir Keir should act to reverse it.

She wrote on X that Starmer should "guarantee that Jewish fans can walk into any football stadium in this country".

"If not, it sends a horrendous and shameful message: there are parts of Britain where Jews simply cannot go."

West Midlands Police said the game had been classified as high risk based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including "violent clashes and hate crime offences" between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans before a match in Amsterdam in November 2024.

The force said it had concerns about its ability to deal with potential protests at the match at Villa Park.

The Safety Advisory Group, which issues safety certificates for matches, told Aston Villa that no travelling fans would be permitted at the match in Birmingham.

Ayoub Khan, the Independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, welcomed the decision.

He said: "From the moment that the match was announced, it was clear that there were latent safety risks that even our capable security and police authorities would not be able to fully manage.

"With so much hostility and uncertainty around the match, it was only right to take drastic measures."

John Bolton, who served as Donald Trump's national security adviser before becoming a vocal critic of the president, has been criminally indicted on federal charges.

The Department of Justice presented a case to a grand jury in Maryland on Thursday, and they agreed there was enough evidence to indict Bolton.

It comes after FBI agents searched Bolton's home and office in August as part of an investigation into the handling of classified information.

The indictment makes Bolton, 76, the third of the US president's political opponents to face charges in recent week, after former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Bolton has not yet commented, but he has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer, Abbe Lowell, earlier said Bolton had handled records appropriately.

He was fired from Trump's first administration in 2019. His 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened, recounted his time working under Trump and portrayed him as a president who was ill-informed about geopolitics and whose decision-making was dominated by a desire to be re-elected.

The White House filed a lawsuit to block the book from being published, arguing it contained classified information and had not been properly vetted. A judge denied the request and the book was released days later.

The US Department of Justice then opened an investigation into whether Bolton had mishandled classified information by disclosing certain information in the book.

Asked about the indictment on Thursday at the White House, Trump said he did not know about it, but added that Bolton was "a bad guy".

Trump has previously described Bolton as "grossly incompetent" and "a liar". He has also called for him to be prosecuted.

Asked in August about the investigation into Bolton, Trump said he did not "want to get involved" and had not directly ordered the searches of Bolton's home and office, but referred to Bolton as a "sleazebag".

Around the time the searches began, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X: "NO ONE is above the law." The post did not name Bolton.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi shared the post and added: "America's safety isn't negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always."

Bolton, who served as George W Bush's UN ambassador, was among former officials critical of Trump who had their Secret Service protection stripped by the Trump administration in January.

He is the third Trump critic to be criminally charged since September.

New York City Attorney General Letitia James was criminally indicted on bank fraud charges in October.

Former FBI director James Comey was indicted in late September on charges of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.

The indictments followed a social media post from Trump, where he called on US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who leads the justice department, to prosecute his political opponents.

The post named Comey, James and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, who oversaw Trump's first impeachment trial.

"We can't delay any longer, it's killing our reputation and credibility," he wrote.

Sam Fender has won the 2025 Mercury Prize for his third album, People Watching, a steely-eyed dissection of working-class life in the north of England.

The singer looked stunned when his name was announced. "I didn't think that was going to happen at all," he told the BBC as he came off stage. "I've spent the last 10 minutes crying."

Fender beat the likes of Pulp and Wolf Alice - both former winners of the £25,000 prize for the best British or Irish album of the year - at a star-studded ceremony in Newcastle's Utilita Arena.

His victory was met with a deafening cheer from the hometown crowd; who had earlier sung along to every word as he performed the title track of his prize-winning album.

• The 2025 Mercury Prize: As it happened
• BBC iPlayer: Watch the 2025 Mercury Prize ceremony
• Sam Fender gigs boost Newcastle economy by £16.5m
• Sam Fender wins freedom of his hometown

The 31-year-old is no stranger to the Mercury Prize – having previously received a nomination for his second record, Seventeen Going Under, in 2022.

People Watching was released in February and immediately topped the charts, selling 107,000 copies - making it the fastest-selling album by a British artist since Harry Styles' Harry's House in 2022.

Mercury Prize judges called the record "melody-rich and expansive, marrying heartland rock with the realities of everyday life and the importance of community."

"It felt like a classic," added Radio 1's Sian Eleri, announcing the prize.

Taking to the stage, Fender dedicated the award to his late mentor, Annie Orwin, who he previously described as "a surrogate mother in a lot of ways".

"I was honoured and lucky enough to be with her in the last week of her life, and the title track was about her and about grief," he told the BBC.

"Then the rest of the album is very much local stories, little pictures of Shields, and the people I've grown up with.

"So, very much like every other album I've done, but I think we got it right this time."

The North Shields native has become a hero in Newcastle, where he played three sold-out stadium shows at St James' Park this summer, attracting some 150,000 fans.

Winning the Mercury Prize on home soil was as poetic as it was well-deserved. As Elton John said a couple of years ago: "He's a British rock 'n' roll artist who's the best rock 'n' roll artist there is."

But Fender had downplayed his status as the voice of a generation, or even his hometown.

"People bandy about those terms all the time, and it's ridiculous," he told the LA Times in May.

"Saying that somebody's the voice of a generation - I'm not, honestly. I'm an idiot. I'm just writing about my experiences and the experiences of people I know, and people attach such weight to it."

Speaking backstage, Fender's bandmates joked that he'd celebrate his £25,000 prize with "a pyjama party" at his house.

But the musician said he'd celebrate in a more traditional manner.

"I'm gonna have a beer."

In the run-up to the ceremony, Irish singer CMAT had been the bookmakers' favourite for her third album, Euro-Country.

A sharp and witty collection of songs that tackle everything from body shaming to the collapse of Ireland's economy in 2008, it reached number two in the album charts this August, bolstered by a summer of joyous festival perfomances.

Speaking to the BBC before the Mercury Prize she joked that she'd "flip over a table" if she lost.

Other nominees included folk singer Martin Carthy, and pop star PinkPantheress - whose 20-minute mixtape Fancy That was the shortest ever entrant for the Mercury Prize.

'Talent is everywhere'

Established in 1992, the Mercury Prize was envisaged as an antidote to the commercially-focused Brit Awards, recognising albums that moved music forwards, without any recourse to fashion or trends.

Of the last 34 winners, 20 have been debuts - from artists including Arctic Monkeys, Suede and Franz Ferdinand.

Many people have mistakenly assumed it is a prize for first albums - but this year's shortlist included only two: Jacob Alon's delicate and beautiful In Limerence, and Joe Webb's Hamstrings and Hurricanes, a jazz album partially influenced by Oasis.

This year saw the ceremony move from London to Newcastle, as part of a wider music industry initiative towards decentralisation.

"Talent is everywhere but opportunity isn't," said Jo Twist, says chief executive of the BPI, which organises the awards.

"So it's only right that we bring these large scale shows (outside London) to show there are opportunities within the music industry without having to move city."

Fender noted the change, saying Newcastle had "always been in an isolated bubble" from the music industry.

"So for it to be recognised is really important. Hopefully it can be the beginning of many other wonderful things."

Get to know Sam Fender's album People Watching

Sam Fender's an unusual proposition. He's a festival headliner with punch-the-sky choruses whose lyrics are overtly political.

On this, his third album, he picks at the scabs of northern working-class life, and rails against a system that leaves families mired in bureaucratic neglect.

Death and loss loom large. The title track was inspired by visiting his mentor and "surrogate mother" Annie Orwin in a palliative care home - and he paints a bleak picture of a "faciilty fallin' to bits / understaffed and overruled by callous hands".

The wistful Crumbling Empire draws parallels between the post-industrial decline of Detroit and Fender's hometown of North Shields, while Rein Me In finds him struggling to shake the ghosts of a failed relationship.

Fender said his ambition for People Watching was to write "11 songs about ordinary people", but this vexed, anxious album ends up being something more substantial - a tribute to human spirit in a time of deprivation and indifference.

• Listen to People Watching

Spoiler warning: This article reveals details from the fourth episode of The Celebrity Traitors

The latest episode of The Celebrity Traitors has taken place, and all we're talking about is which celebrity can shriek the best.

During a challenge, the contestants - including Alan Carr, Celia Imrie and Lucy Beaumont - were tasked with asking a group of banshees to sing, before relaying the songs down a well.

For many social media users, it was the subtitles that stole the show.

"Celia shrieks strangely," read one, while another said: "They repeat the wail."

"The people responsible for the subtitles deserve a raise," wrote one X user.

Singer Charlotte Church was, unsurprisingly, the most impressive. Meanwhile, Imrie's efforts - and facial expressions - won her more love online, with one calling her "the funniest person to have ever existed".

There was also a rare moment where presenter Claudia Winkleman's mask appeared to slip, as national treasure Sir Stephen Fry plunged his head into a well.

"Oh no, Stephen Fry is in the water, I can't look" she said.

"I'm a grown man, what the hell am I doing," said Sir Stephen after he emerged, in a quote that could sum up the entire series.

Elsewhere, the celebrities' continued inability to pick out a Traitor was the big talking point of the night.

"They're hopeless, absolutely hopeless," said TV critic Toby Earle.

TV sports presenter Clare Balding become the latest celebrity to be banished from the castle.

The 54-year-old received seven votes from her fellow contestants during Thursday's episode of the BBC reality gameshow, before revealing she was in fact a faithful.

"What are the odds of us being so useless," said Sir Stephen, while Winkelman urged the celebrities to do better. "Stop being so polite," she told them.

Other faithfuls - YouTube star Niko Omilana, known for his online prank videos, and actress Tameka Empson - were both already voted out at separate roundtables.

• Murder, betrayal and lies - why we're attracted to The Traitors' dark side

Earlier in the episode, another of the younger celebrities - actress Ruth Codd, 29 - was murdered by the traitors.

Codd had won fans with her cutting one-liners, and there was sadness on social media to see her go. "Icon down," wrote one X user.

Her murder comes after she raised her suspicions about TV presenter Jonathan Ross being a traitor during Wednesday's episode.

Fellow traitor Cat Burns warned that "it could backfire on you" to remove his prime suspect, but Ross replied: "Look, if I was a traitor, I wouldn't have done that."

The words "double bluff" were bandied around throughout the episode - but in the end, Ross survived to tell the tale.

"How am I still here. I've got to be the luckiest traitor in the history of the game," Ross wondered.

Elsewhere, Fartgate hasn't gone away. At one point, the celebrities were playing badminton, and Alan Carr shouted out to Imrie: "Celia, we need a bit of wind to get it over the net."

The Celebrity Traitors is on BBC One on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:00 BST and on BBC iPlayer. There will be nine episodes.

A modern answer to the traditional almshouse, designed to combat loneliness, has won a prestigious architecture award for Britain's best new building.

Appleby Blue Almshouse, which provides affordable flats for over-65s in Southwark, south London, has won this year's Royal Institute of British Architechts' (Riba) Stirling Prize.

The complex, in Bermondsey, has 59 flats plus communal facilities, including a roof garden, courtyard and community kitchen.

The Stirling Prize judges said it "sets an ambitious standard for social housing among older people".

Architects Witherford Watson Mann have crafted "high-quality" and "thoughtful" spaces to create environments that truly care for their residents", according to jury member Ingrid Schroder, director of the Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture.

The building was praised for its "generous" homes, terracotta-paved hallways with benches and plants, and a water feature that gives the building the "sense of a woodland oasis".

That all creates an "aspirational living environment" that stands "in stark contrast to the institutional atmosphere often associated with older people's housing", Riba said.

The Appleby Blue Almshouse was built on the site of an old care home by United St Saviour's Charity, which subsidises the flats for people on low incomes.

Almshouses were traditionally built from the Middle Ages to provide charitable accommodation for people in need.

Appleby Blue beat a range of other nominated buildings and architecture projects to this year's Stirling Prize, ranging from the restoration of the Big Ben tower in London to a new fashion college campus, a science laboratory and an "inventive" home extension.

The other contenders were:

The prize is given to the building judged to be "the most significant of the year for the evolution of architecture and the built environment", and is judged on criteria including design vision, innovation and originality.

This is Witherford Watson Mann's second time as winning architects, 12 years after they were selected for their design for a groundbreaking modern holiday home inside the ancient Astley Castle in Warwickshire.

The Elizabeth line - London's east-west train line - won the prestigious award last year.

Other previous winners of the prize - first presented in 1996 - include Liverpool's Everyman Theatre, Hastings Pier and the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh.

Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry were accused of collecting insider information about UK politics and government policy, and passing it to a Chinese intelligence agent, who then forwarded it to Cai Qi, one of the most senior politicians in China. Cai is often referred to as President Xi Jinping's right-hand man.

Both Mr Cash and Mr Berry completely denied the charge under Section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped the case against the pair last month after deciding the evidence did not show China was a threat to national security.

The two men met while teaching in China.

Mr Berry stayed behind, but Mr Cash, whose other love was politics, got a job in the House of Commons - first as a researcher and then as the director of the China Research Group, working closely with MPs like Tom Tugendhat, Alicia Kearns and Neil O'Brien.

• China spy case collapse 'frustrating', MI5 chief says
• The controversy explained
• The remaining unanswered questions

In a statement released through his solicitor, Cash told the BBC: "I have, for a long time, been concerned by the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the United Kingdom and, prior to these false allegations, was working to inform Parliamentarians and the public about those risks."

Mr Cash and Mr Berry would talk and exchange messages between Westminster and China, according to the first of three witness statements by the deputy national security adviser Matt Collins to the CPS - released by the government on Wednesday.

For example, according to Mr Collins' statement, Mr Cash told Mr Berry in June 2022 that he thought Jeremy Hunt would pull out of the Tory leadership race.

In July 2022, he allegedly sent a voice note saying that Tugendhat would almost certainly get a job in Rishi Sunak's cabinet. Both these pieces of information ended up in reports that Mr Berry submitted to a man called "Alex", who the prosecution said was a Chinese intelligence agent.

In his statement, Mr Cash said he was aware "a small amount of the information" he was sending to Mr Berry was being passed on. But he thought Mr Berry was working for "a strategic advisory company" helping clients "invest in the UK".

Some of the information was not for passing on. In the note to Mr Berry about Hunt, Mr Cash wrote: "v v confidential (defo don't share with your new employer)". Despite that, it was included in one of Mr Berry's reports.

Mr Cash and Mr Berry communicated using encrypted messaging apps.

Mr Collins' first statement says that, after one exchange in December 2022, Mr Berry told "Alex" that the Foreign Secretary James Cleverly did not think sanctions would be effective in blocking imports from Xinjiang, the province where there are human rights abuses of the Uyghur population.

There were also a series of exchanges about meetings between Tugendhat, Kearns and Taiwanese defence officials, according to Mr Collins.

All of these exchanges ended up in a series of reports that Mr Berry submitted to "Alex" with titles like "Taiwan-perception-within-parliament" and "Import_of_Products_of Forced_Labour_from Xinjiang".

Those reports then ended up with Cai Qi, and he seems to have been so pleased about the information that, in July 2022, Mr Berry met Cai. Mr Cash sent him a message saying: "You're in spy territory now."

According to Mr Berry, Cai asked "specific questions about each MP within the Conservative leadership election one-by-one", Mr Collins said in his statement.

At times - according to Mr Collins - "Alex" "tasked" Mr Berry with collecting specific information. On one occasion, the turnaround time was just 13 hours, he said in his first statement.

But Mr Cash categorically denies knowingly spying for China.

"I routinely spoke [to] and shared information with Christopher Berry about Chinese and British Politics," he said in the statement given to BBC News last night.

"He was my friend and these were matters we were both passionately interested in. I believed him to be as critical and concerned about the Chinese Communist Party as I was.

"It was inconceivable to me that he would deliberately pass on any information to Chinese intelligence, even if that information was not sensitive."

Mr Cash said the information he gave Mr Berry was publicly available or "just political gossip that formed part of the everyday Westminster rumour mill".

Mr Cash said he had been "placed in an impossible position" by the release of Mr Collins' statements, that were "devoid of the context that would have been given at trial", where they would have been subject to a "root and branch challenge".

He insisted that the assessments "would not have withstood the scrutiny of a public trial".

Mr Berry has also denied the allegations, but has not released a detailed statement in response to Mr Collins' statements. BBC News has asked his solicitor for a further statement.

The controversial US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has confirmed it suspended operations in Gaza after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect on 10 October.

Despite being funded until November, the organisation said its final delivery was on Friday.

The GHF has been heavily criticised after hundreds of Palestinians were killed while collecting food near its distribution sites. Witnesses say most were killed by Israeli forces.

Israel has regularly denied that its troops fired on civilians at or near the sites and the GHF has maintained that aid distribution at its sites has been carried out "without incident".

The group's northernmost aid distribution site, known as SDS4, was shut down because it was no longer in IDF-controlled territory, said a spokesman.

Satellite imagery revealed it was dismantled shortly after the 10 October ceasefire came into effect. Images show tyre tracks, disturbed earth and detritus strewn across the former compound.

"Right now we're paused," the GHF spokesman said. "We feel like there's still a need, a surge for as much aid as possible. Our goal is to resume aid distribution."

Despite the group's apparent desire to continue there has been speculation the final terms of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel would exclude them.

Meanwhile, analysis of UN-supplied data shows little change in aid collected from crossings after the ceasefire deal came into effect last Friday.

The average amount of aid "collected" - defined by the UN as when it leaves an Israeli-controlled crossing - each day has increased slightly compared with the previous week, but it remains in line with September figures.

UN data shows about 20% of aid leaving a crossing has made it to its intended destination since 19 May. More than 7,000 aid trucks have been "intercepted" either "peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors", according to UN data.

Aid sources told the BBC they hoped looting would subside in coming weeks as law and order is re-established and the populace is given assurances the ceasefire would hold.

A spokesperson from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said while it was critical for the ceasefire to allow for an increase in aid and other essential supplies, it was important to reach vulnerable Gazans, including in areas that were inaccessible until recently.

OCHA has hundreds of community and household service points involved in distributing aid. It lost access to many, sometimes due to conflict and sometimes due to Israel denying it access.

"We need to re-establish our service points, we need looting to reduce, we need roads to be cleared of unexploded ordnance and we need safety assurances," the OCHA spokesperson said.

Israel's prime minister has told a memorial for victims of the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 that he is "determined" to secure the return of the dead hostages still inside Gaza, and that the country will continue to fight terrorism with "full force".

Benjamin Netanyahu made the comments hours after Hamas returned the bodies of another two hostages but said it was not able to access the remaining 19.

There has been fury in Israel that Hamas has not yet returned all the bodies in line with last week's Gaza ceasefire deal, though the US has downplayed the suggestion that it amounts to a breach.

Israel has responded to the delay by threatening to restrict the amount of aid flowing into Gaza.

Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli government confirmed that two bodies handed over by Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross on Wednesday night had been identified as Inbar Hayman and Sgt Maj Muhammad al-Atarash.

Their return, which was overseen by masked Hamas gunmen in Gaza City, took the number of dead hostages returned since Monday to nine out of 28.

All 20 living hostages were released on Monday, in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.

Hamas's military wing said on Wednesday that it would continue to search for the remaining bodies, but that it would require major efforts and specialist equipment.

On Thursday, Netanyahu addressed an official memorial ceremony at the Mount Herzl national cemetery in Jerusalem, two days after the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the 7 October attack.

The prime minister said he remained committed to securing the return of all the dead Israeli and foreign hostages, and reiterated his government's willingness to return to military action if Israel was attacked again.

He said: "Our fight against terrorism will continue with full force. We will not allow evil to raise its head. We will exact the full price from anyone who harms us."

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 others hostage.

At least 67,967 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry, whose figures are seen by the UN as reliable.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel said Netanyahu's government should "immediately halt the implementation" of the ceasefire deal until the 19 bodies were returned.

After Hamas said it was unable to retrieve all the bodies, two senior advisers to US President Donald Trump said preparations to move to the next phase of the ceasefire deal were continuing.

The advisers told reporters that the US government did not so far believe Hamas had broken the agreement by not retrieving more remains, and said the group had acted in good faith by sharing information with interlocutors.

While the full text of the agreement between Israel and Hamas has not been made public, a leaked version which appeared in Israeli media appeared to allow for the possibility that not all of the bodies would be immediately accessible.

One senior US adviser pointed to the level of destruction in Gaza as one reason the search might be slowed, and said rewards could be offered to civilians with information about the location of remains.

Hamas has complained to mediators that more than 20 people have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect on Friday.

Israel's military, which still controls more than half the territory, has said that it opens fire to remove threats to its troops.

Meanwhile in Gaza, work is under way to identify the bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel in recent days in exchange for the hostages' bodies. A further 30 were returned on Thursday, taking the total to 120.

There had been some reports that the Rafah crossing with Egypt would reopen on Thursday, having been shut since the Gaza side was seized by Israeli forces in May 2024.

The ceasefire deal specifies its reopening would be "subject to the same mechanism implemented" during a temporary ceasefire earlier this year, when wounded Palestinians were briefly allowed to pass through to receive medical treatment.

On Thursday, an official from Israeli military body Cogat said: "The date for the opening of the Rafah crossing for the movement of people only will be announced at a later stage, once the Israeli side, together with the Egyptian side, completes the necessary preparations."

The official also stressed that "aid will not pass through the Rafah crossing". Instead, they said, it would continue to enter Gaza through the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel and other crossings following Israeli security inspections.

Performers and suppliers hired by Manchester Pride claim they are owed thousands in unpaid fees.

The event, organised by an independent charity, took place at the end of August.

But several acts and businesses have told BBC Newsbeat they've been met with silence when chasing payment for their work.

After being approached for a response, organisers posted a statement on Instagram saying they were taking legal and financial advice to determine "the best way forward".

'No communication, no answers'

Saki Yew, who was on RuPaul's Drag Race UK in 2024, is among those who say they're yet to be paid by Manchester Pride, which is one of the country's biggest LGBT events.

"It's gone too far," she tells Newsbeat.

"As performers, we're used to waiting for money but there's no communication and no answer.

"A lot of performers are starting to give up hope of being paid."

Manchester Pride booked Saki as part of a collective which, the drag queen says, is owed a "big sum of money".

"We put in the hard work with weeks and weeks of rehearsals," she says.

"We put in the time so give us an answer."

Saki says she'd typically expect payment for similar work to take two weeks but frustration built after "hearing nothing" from organisers.

'Questions and emotions'

Newsbeat's also spoken to businesses waiting on payment after being hired by Manchester Pride.

Chris O'Connor, a sole trader who worked backstage at this year's event, says he's taking organisers to a small claims court over £2,050 he says he's owed.

He tells Newsbeat he couldn't afford a planned trip to visit his son in Ireland after Manchester Pride didn't pay him promptly.

Another supplier, who wished to remain anonymous, said they have "no expectation" of receiving nearly £1,000 for signage their company provided.

Only Pride events in London and Brighton typically draw bigger crowds than those in Manchester.

While marches, protests and rallies form a major part of Pride around the world, live music and performances are put on to draw even bigger crowds.

Parts of Manchester Pride are free to attend but ticket prices for others varied from £15 to over £200 for "VIP experiences".

Headliners this year included former Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne, Nelly Furtado and Olly Alexander.

Newsbeat contacted Manchester Pride to share Saki, Chris and other people's experiences and offer the charity an opportunity to comment.

Its Instagram statement said it knew "moments like this can raise questions and emotions".

"We ask that people treat our staff, from the CEO to the interns and volunteers, with kindness and respect," it continued.

"It is the board that takes responsibility for our decisions based on advice and guidance, and not our staff."

Manchester Pride added that it hopes to provide more information by 22 October.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

A decision on whether to approve China's application for a new super-embassy in London has been delayed again by the government.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed had been due to rule on the application by 21 October, but the deadline has been pushed back to 10 December.

It is the second time the government has delayed a decision on the controversial site.

A ruling had originally been due by 9 September after ministers took control of the process from Tower Hamlets, the local council, last year.

China bought the site of the proposed new embassy, at Royal Mint Court, near the Tower of London, for £255m in 2018.

At 20,000 square metres, the proposed complex would be the biggest embassy in Europe if it goes ahead.

But Beijing's plans for the sprawling new embassy have sparked fears its location - near London's financial district - could pose an espionage risk.

Pro-democracy campaigners from Hong Kong also fear Beijing could use the huge embassy to harass political opponents and even detain them.

And residents nearby also fear it would pose a security risk to them and attract large protests.

Plans for a groundbreaking rare earths refinery in Saltend on Humberside have been abandoned, after the company behind the project decided to seek investment in the United States instead.

Pensana has spent the past seven years developing a rare earths mine in Angola. The $268m (£185m) project, one of the largest of its kind in the world, will begin delivering raw materials in 2027.

The company had planned to build a refinery at the Saltend Chemicals Plant near Hull, which would have processed the raw materials into metals used to create powerful magnets.

These magnets would then be used in high-tech applications such as motors for electric vehicles, wind turbines and robotics.

The project would have given the UK a strategic foothold in the rare earths industry, which is currently dominated by China.

However, as first reported by Sky News, the plan has now been dropped.

Despite what the name implies, rare earths are actually relatively common. The term is used to describe a group of chemically similar minerals which are abundant in the Earth's crust – but which are also comparatively difficult and costly to extract.

However, according to Pensana, China has in recent years used its market power to keep prices artificially low in order to stifle potential competition – and this has made refining in the UK uneconomic without significant government support.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday at a meeting of the International Monetary Fund, Reeves was asked about growing tension between the US and China over rare earths.

The chancellor said she was working with G7 counterparts "on our own critical minerals strategy, so that we are less reliant".

In 2022, Boris Johnson's announced plans for "a multi-million pound investment" in the Saltend project - launched as part of the then Tory government's 'Critical Minerals Strategy'.

However, according to Pensana's founder and chairman, Paul Atherley, this contribution – actually £5m - was "nowhere near enough", and the Treasury proved unwilling to contribute more.

Mr Atherley compares this with a deal between the US government and MP Materials, under which MP will benefit from more than half a billion dollars worth of investment and soft loans to fund a similar facility in California, as well as a 10-year agreement to ensure all the magnets it produces are sold for a minimum price.

Earlier this year Pensana announced plans to team up with the US refiner ReElement, to develop a "sustainable, independent rare earth supply chain". It is also planning to list its shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Mr Atherley insists he remains "very positive on the UK". Another company he is involved in, Tees Valley Lithium, is pushing ahead with plans for a lithium refinery in the Northeast.

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Motorists who drive sports utility vehicles (SUVs) or other large vehicles could be charged more to park in Cardiff, if changes to parking permits are approved.

The city would be split into three new zones with resident permits in the city centre scrapped and students entitled to fewer permits.

Students have said they are worried about their safety in the dark if they cannot park near their homes.

The 10-year plan affects residents, commuters and visitors but new permits for carers and NHS workers would be created. A decision will be made by Cardiff council on Thursday but the cost of permits would be decided at a later date.

The plan is aimed at cutting congestion and encouraging people to walk, cycle or use public transport when travelling in and around the city.

It is hoped the plan would also reduce air pollution. Drivers of diesel cars would have to pay a surcharge to encourage them to switch to less polluting vehicles.

Resident permits in the city centre would be scrapped and existing permits would be phased out when the holder moves.

But students Beca Hughes, 19, Anna Griffith, 20 and Erin Parry, 19 said cars are essential for some.

"I think a lot of people are reliant on permits," Beca said.

But she believes fewer students would bring their cars to university if there were fewer permits.

"You notice a lot more people parking on double-yellow lines, you can struggle getting a parking space."

Erin said: "We've got a medical student in our house, so she uses her car to go back and forth to the hospital."

Beca said people may feel unsafe in the dark.

"They might not be guaranteed that safety if they can't park right outside their house," she said.

"You can't really park outside your house you have to park two streets down," said Joe Liston, 19, a sports coach and student.

Joe said he is "not really a fan" or visitor permit allowances being halved for students.

"I think it's a bit unfair really, I need my car for a job, I work in schools as well as being a student, one day I may be in Caerphilly the next in Newport," he said.

"How do you expect me to do that without a car.

"You can't quickly find a train, or I can't really afford to pay for a taxi, there's so many other people who do the same as me."

Cardiff would be split into three zones - known as parking management areas.

• The City and Civic Centre
• The Inner Area
• The Outer Area

Each will have its own rules.

• The City and Civic Centre would have no residential permits
• The Inner Area would be a mix of permits and permitted bays, although not for businesses
• The Outer Area would allow all permits, but the times you would need a permit may vary

'Double-whammy' in car tax and parking charges

"I think they need to have the infrastructure in place," said Kathryn Williams, managing director of KEW Planning consultancy.

She said people may not like the "double-whammy" of being charged more for their SUV, when they are already charged more in car tax.

"Is it going to be a deterrent ? I think people will need to be extremely careful when they're coming into the city," she added.

"I think there'll be concern from retailers and people with businesses in the city centre.

"I don't think the communication around the consultation has been that successful, as somebody who works in the industry, we haven't been notified."

Ms Williams said there needs to be improvements to public transport.

She said: "I think we really need to look at improving things like our bus services, run a little bit longer, bit more frequent, same with the trains.

"I would use the train far more if they ran a bit later."

She added there were "safety issues" with cycling in parts of the city.

"It's a good idea," said Thomas Chu who believes it is right to reduce city centre parking.

He used to pay £120 a month for a parking space for his flat.

"It's not suitable for too many cars around here," he said, adding it would cut pollution as well.

"If we didn't have a car park at our office it would be a real inconvenience," said Georgina Lawrence who works in Cardiff.

But she said she does not commute around Cardiff by car "because it is quite a pain".

"I had quite a shock the other day coming in from west Wales way - the congestion was atrocious," she said.

New carer permits

Under the new parking plan new permit types would be created.

• Essential Service Permits for NHS and council staff.
• Community Permits for places of worship and schools.
• Business Permits - but only in the Outer Area.
• Carer Permits for professional and unpaid carers.

A surcharge would be introduced for motorists with "oversized and highly polluting vehicles", said the council.

Motorists with cars weighing more than 2,400kg, such as large Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) will have to pay more for a permit.

Motorists with cars weighing more than 3,500kg will not be eligible for a permit.

Cardiff council said the new plan would "improve the quality of life for residents and visitors" and would "prioritises blue badge holders".

Motorcyclists would now require a permit to park in resident bays.

If the changes are approved on Thursday, there will be another consultation before they are introduced.

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