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Today — 18 October 2025BBC | Top Stories

How an old suitcase revealed a hidden family fortune, lost under Nazi rule

18 October 2025 at 13:01
BBC Antony Easton wearing a light-colored long-sleeve shirt stands indoors, holding a black-and-white photograph of his father, Peter Easton, dressed in a suit and tie. Behind him is a room with bookshelves and various items, lit by natural light from a window on the right.
BBC

It started with a suitcase hidden under a bed.

It was 2009, and Antony Easton's father, Peter, had recently died. As Antony started to engage with the messy business of probate, he came across a small brown leather case in his father's old flat in the Hampshire town of Lymington.

Inside were immaculate German bank notes, photo albums, envelopes full of notes recording different chapters of his life - and a birth certificate.

Peter Roderick Easton, who had prided himself on his "Englishness" (and been an Anglican) had, in fact, been born and raised in pre-war Germany as Peter Hans Rudolf Eisner, a member of one of the wealthiest Jewish families in Berlin.

Charlie Northcott/BBC A worn brown leather suitcase with travel stickers, including 'Fly the Atlantic' and 'EAA,' resting on a dark surface. The background is an indoor setting with shelves holding various blurred objects, including a red bottle.Charlie Northcott/BBC
The suitcase that held Antony's father's secrets

Despite hints about his father's origins growing up, the contents of the suitcase shone a light into a past that Antony knew almost nothing about. The revelations would lead him on a decade-long trail, revealing a family devastated by the Holocaust, a vanished fortune worth billions of pounds and a legacy of artwork and property stolen under Nazi rule.

Black-and-white photographs gave a glimpse of Peter's early life, far removed from his son's modest upbringing in London - they showed a chauffeur-driven Mercedes, mansions staffed by servants, staircases ornately carved with angels.

More ominously, one picture showed 12-year-old Peter Eisner smiling with friends, a Nazi flag rippling in the distance.

Antony Easton Three children in winter clothing stand in a snowy landscape. The tallest child on the left rests a hand on the shoulder of the middle child, who is smiling. The smallest child on the right is also smiling and pointing off-camera. Snow-covered buildings and two flags, including one with a swastika symbol, are visible in the background, suggesting a World War II-era setting.Antony Easton
Antony's father, Peter (in the middle) aged 12

"I felt it was a hand reaching out from the past," says Antony.

He says his father was a quiet and serious man, if prone to bouts of anger. He avoided talking about his childhood and always shut down questions about his slight German accent.

"There were clues that [he wasn't] really like other people… There was a darkness around his world," says Antony.

An immense fortune

The next big clue about Antony's family history came from a work of art.

Enlisting the help of a friend who spoke fluent German, he asked her to dig into a company called Hahn'sche Werke, references to which were peppered among the documents in the suitcase. After searching online, she sent Antony a photo of a painting, depicting the inside of a large steelworks - seemingly owned by the business

Molten metal glows hot on a conveyor belt, illuminating the faces of busy and attentive workers. It is an image of industrial power and might, from an era when Germany was hurtling towards decades of devastating war.

The 1910 painting, by the artist Hans Baluschek, was called Eisenwalzwerk (Iron Rolling Mill). It had been owned, and was likely commissioned by Heinrich Eisner, who had helped build the Hahn'sche Werke steel business into one of the most high-tech and sprawling companies in central Europe. The documents in the suitcase showed that this was Antony's great-grandfather.

Antony Easton 
The painting Eisenwalzwerk by the artist Hans Baluschek shows an industrial scene inside a large factory or foundry, with workers operating heavy machinery. A massive press or forging machine glows with intense heat as it processes hot metal. The space is filled with smoke and steam, with natural light streaming through high windows, creating a dramatic atmosphere of intense labor and industrial activity.
Antony Easton
Eisenwaldzwerk - a painting by the German artist, Hans Baluschek

More research revealed that, at the turn of the 20th Century, Heinrich was one of the wealthiest businessmen in Germany - the equivalent of a modern multi-billionaire.

His company manufactured tubular steel, with factories spread across Germany, Poland and Russia.

Heinrich, and his wife, Olga, owned several properties in and around Berlin, including an impressive six-storey property in the city centre with marble floors and a cream-white facade.

A photograph from the early 1900s shows a man with a softly rounded belly and a straight white moustache. Heinrich wears a black suit, and Olga sits next to him, crowned with a crystal tiara.

Antony Easton Colorised historical photograph of Olga and Heinrich Eisner in formal attire. Olga is seated, wearing a lace dress with a tiara and holding a white cloth. Heinrich stands beside her in a dark suit with a boutonniere. The background includes floral arrangements and ornate decor, indicating an elegant setting.Antony Easton
Antony's great-grandparents, Olga and Heinrich Eisner, pictured in the early 1900s

When he died in 1918, Heinrich left shares in his company - and his personal fortune - to his son Rudolf, recently returned from fighting in World War One.

The war had been a human catastrophe, but Hahn'sche Werke had prospered in that period, satisfying the German military's demand for steel. Rudolf and his family also successfully weathered the economic and political chaos which haunted their country after the fighting.

However, in a few years, all would be lost.

Everything changes

In notes found by Antony in the suitcase, Peter recalled overhearing conversations between his parents, and whispers about Nazi threats. Jews were being blamed by Adolf Hitler and his supporters for Germany's defeat in WW1, and for the economic travails that followed.

Rudolf Eisner believed he would be safe if he made his company invaluable to the Nazi regime. For a time, this seemed to work, but as anti-Jewish laws became more and more extreme, and the abuse they witnessed around them worsened, he began to reconsider.

In March 1938, the government came after Hahn'sche Werke. Under immense pressure from the authorities, the Jewish-owned company was sold at a fire-sale price to Mannesmann, an industrial conglomerate whose CEO, Wilhelm Zangen, was a Nazi supporter.

Getty Images Black and white photograph of a storefront labeled "HEITINGER." The windows are vandalized with the word "Jude" (German for Jew) painted in large white letters. Several people are seen walking past or standing near the store. Getty Images
Berlin 1934: Jewish-owned businesses, such as this department store, were targeted by the Nazis soon after they came to power

"It is almost impossible to quantify the wealth stolen and how much those assets are worth today," says David de Jong, author of the book Nazi Billionaires, which retraces the looting of Jewish businesses under the Third Reich.

In 2000, Mannesmann was taken over by Vodaphone in a deal worth more than £100bn - the largest commercial acquisition on record at the time. At least a portion of the industrial assets included in that sale would have once been part of the Eisner business empire.

The dismantling of Hahn'sche Werke, and the arrest of members of the company, made the Eisners realise they needed to flee. But by 1937, any Jewish family who tried to leave Germany was forced to surrender 92% of its wealth to the state - paying a host of levies known as the Reichsfluchtsteuer or Reich Flight Tax.

The Eisners faced losing what remained of their wealth.

The deal

At the height of this crisis, a man named Martin Hartig, an economist and tax adviser according to records in Berlin's archives, began to loom large in the Eisners' lives.

Throughout the 1930s, his name had featured repeatedly in the guest book at the Eisner country estate, thanking them for their generous hospitality.

Herr Hartig, who wasn't Jewish, appears to have offered the family a solution to the impending confiscation of their assets by the Nazis. They signed over key elements of their personal fortune to him - chiefly the multiple properties they owned and their contents - thereby sheltering them from laws targeting Jews.

Antony Easton Black and white posed photograph of Hildegarde and Rudolf Eisner standing close together. Hildegarde is on the left and wears a light-colored blouse with a high collar, and Rudolf is dressed in a dark suit with a white shirt and tie. The background is plain with subtle shading.Antony Easton
Antony's grandparents, Hildegarde and Rudolf Eisner

Antony believes his grandparents assumed Hartig would one day give the assets back to them.

They were wrong. Instead, he permanently transferred the Eisner assets into his own name.

The BBC found copies of the original sales documents in Germany's federal archives and shared them with three independent experts. All three concluded that this deal was evidence of a "forced sale" - a term widely used to describe the dispossession of Jewish assets under the Nazis.

Despite losing the fortune they had built over generations, Antony's grandparents and father managed to escape Germany in 1938. Train tickets, luggage tags and hotel brochures preserved in Peter's suitcase allowed Antony to retrace their journey.

The family went to Czechoslovakia and then Poland, barely staying one step ahead of the Nazis, before catching one of the last ships bound for England in July 1939.

Charlie Northcott/BBC An open brown leather suitcase sits on a dark surface, containing a decorative metal box, a brown cardboard box, and several white envelopes. One envelope is marked 'FRAGILE HANDLE WITH CARE' in red text, and another has an address label. In the background, there are books, a cup holding pens and scissors, and a desk lamp.
Charlie Northcott/BBC
Peter's suitcase contained records of the Eisner family's escape from Germany

They had lost the equivalent of billions, but they were among the luckier members of the Eisner family. Most of their relatives were rounded up and killed in concentration camps. Rudolf himself died in 1945 after having spent most of the war - like many other German refugees - interned by the British on the Isle of Man.

Meeting the Hartigs

The next step for Antony was to find out what had happened to the Eisner family fortune, and to Martin Hartig.

He hired an experienced investigator, Yana Slavova, to find out what exactly had been stolen, how it had changed hands, and where it was today.

Within weeks, Yana had uncovered troves of documents about his relatives, including details of their properties and possessions.

She was able to trace the painting Antony had discovered at the beginning of his journey. Eisenwalzwerk was in the collection of the Brohan Museum in Berlin.

Early attempts to reclaim the artwork ran into problems regarding the evidence. Could Antony prove that its sale was tied to Nazi persecution? How did he know it hadn't changed hands multiple times legitimately before ending up in the museum?

A breakthrough came when Yana unearthed correspondence between the museum and an art dealer at the time of the sale.

The art dealer had sold the painting from one of the Eisners' former family homes - a property taken over by Martin Hartig in 1938. Hartig had lived the rest of his life there, meticulously restoring the building after damage during the fall of Berlin, before dying of natural causes in 1965.

After Hartig's death, the property passed to his daughter, who was now in her 80s. She had gifted the house to her own children in 2014, and had moved to a country cottage, where she arranged to meet Antony and Yana.

The elderly lady made them tea and cakes, which they ate in the living room under a portrait of her father - a man with thick-rimmed glasses and oiled hair, gaunt in the face and wearing a black suit. It had been painted in 1945, just after the end of World War Two.

Martin Hartig's daughter had a very different story to the one Antony and Yana were expecting.

She told them her father had always been opposed to the Nazis and had helped save the Eisners, who she described as great friends, from the Holocaust. She said he helped convince them to get away, urging the family: "You can't stay here. Go to Great Britain, to London."

Her father had also told her he helped them smuggle paintings out of Germany by taking them out of their frames and hiding them among clothes.

When asked about the properties her family took over from the Eisners in 1938, she said they were all legitimate purchases.

"My father bought two houses, legally," she said. "It always had to be very correct."

Antony Easton Cemetery at Theresienstadt, a former Nazi concentration camp, showing rows of flat gravestones arranged in parallel lines across a green lawn. A large Star of David monument stands prominently in the background, symbolizing Jewish remembrance. The site commemorates victims of the Holocaust, with trees and a partly cloudy sky framing the solemn landscape.Antony Easton
A memorial outside the former concentration camp at Theresienstadt marks the place where many of the Eisner family died

Other members of the family were more open to the possibility that their ancestor may have exploited the Eisners.

Vincent, Martin Hartig's great-grandson, is in his 20s and training to be a carpenter.

He admitted to feeling that his home, where Antony's grandparents once lived, may have had an uncomfortable past.

"I mean of course I was curious at some point - where does it come from that we as a family live in this nice place," he said. "I've also asked myself the question, how were the circumstances?"

After discovering what happened to Antony's Jewish family, Vincent said he thought the Eisners had little choice when they passed their property to his great-grandfather.

'It's not about the money'

Antony has no recourse for filing a restitution case for his grandparents' property.

His grandmother, Hildegard - Rudolf's widow - tried to reclaim it in the 1950s, but backed down after a legal challenge by Hartig. The statute of limitations for Jewish victims of Nazi persecution to claim properties in former West Germany has also now passed.

For the artworks taken from the Eisner family, however, there is still hope for recovering what was lost.

Earlier this year, the Brohan Museum in Berlin informed Antony that it intended to return the Eisenwalzwerk painting to the descendants of Henrich Eisner. The museum declined an interview with the BBC while the process remains ongoing.

Another painting has been returned to Antony from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, and a third claim for an artwork in Austria also remains outstanding.

Among the evidence Antony's investigation has unearthed is a list made by the Gestapo, detailing specific artefacts and paintings which were seized from his relatives. There is a chance his family could find and reclaim more assets in the future.

"I've always said about restitution, it's not about objects and money and property, it's about people," says Antony. In researching his family's past, he has recovered detailed knowledge of who his father and his grandparents once were.

"All of this process has turned them into real people, who had real lives."

Antony Easton Close-up of Antony Easton, a bald man with a gray beard, gazing out of a window. His face is turned slightly to the side, highlighting age spots and wrinkles. He wears a white shirt and a silver chain necklace. The background is softly blurred, drawing focus to his facial features.Antony Easton
Restitution is "not about objects... it's about people", says Antony

This knowledge has now been passed on to a new generation. The Eisner name may have disappeared when Peter sailed to Britain in 1939, but it now lives again. Antony's great-nephew, Caspian, born in August 2024, was given the middle name of Eisner.

Antony says he was deeply moved by his niece's decision to honour their long-lost family.

"You know, as long as Caspian's around, that name will still be around with him," he says. "People will say, 'that's an interesting middle name - what's the story there?'"

Exciting results from blood test for 50 cancers

18 October 2025 at 06:02
Getty Images A woman puts a piece of cotton wool onto her arm after giving blood. In the foreground of the picture, a healthcare professional holds two samples of blood in a gloved hand.Getty Images

A blood test for more than 50 types of cancer could help speed up diagnosis according to a new study.

Results of a trial in north America show that the test was able to identify a wide range of cancers, of which three quarters don't have any form of screening programme.

More than half the cancers were detected at an early stage, where they are easier to treat and potentially curable.

The Galleri test, made by American pharmaceutical firm Grail, can detect fragments of cancerous DNA that have broken off a tumour and are circulating in the blood.

Impressive results

The trial followed 25,000 adults from the US and Canada over a year.

Nearly one in a 100 of those tested had a positive result and in 62% of these cancer was later confirmed.

The test correctly ruled out cancer in over 99% of those who tested negative.

When combined with breast, bowel and cervical screening it increased the number of cancers detected overall seven-fold.

Crucially, three quarters of cancers detected were for those which have no screening programme such as ovarian, liver, stomach bladder and pancreas.

The blood test correctly identified the origin of the cancer in 9 out of 10 cases.

These impressive results suggest the blood test could eventually have a major role to play in diagnosing cancer earlier.

Scientists not involved in the research say more evidence is needed to show whether the blood test reduces deaths from cancer.

The topline results are to be released at the European Society for Medical Oncology congress in Berlin, but the full details have yet to be published in a peer reviewed journal.

Much will depend on the results of a three-year trial involving 140,000 NHS patients in England, which will be published next year.

The NHS has previously said that if the results are successful, it would extend the tests to a further one million people.

The lead researcher, Dr Nima Nabavizadeh, Associate Professor of Radiation Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University said the latest data show that the test could "fundamentally change our approach to cancer screening, helping to detect many types of cancer earlier, when the chance of successful treatment or even cure are the greatest".

But Clare Turnbull, Professor of Translational Cancer Genetics at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: "Data from randomised studies, with mortality as an endpoint, will be absolutely essential to establish whether seemingly earlier-stage detection by Galleri translates into benefits in mortality."

Sir Harpal Kumar, President of Biopharma at Grail, told the BBC: "We think these results are very compelling. The opportunity in front of us is that we can find many more cancers - and many of the more aggressive cancers - at a much earlier stage when we have more effective and potentially curative treatments."

Naser Turabi of Cancer Research UK said: "Further research is needed to avoid overdiagnosing cancers that may not have caused harm. The UK National Screening Committee will play a critical role in reviewing the evidence and determining whether these tests should be adopted by the NHS."

Grand Sumo in London? An ancient sport finds new fans far beyond Japan

18 October 2025 at 07:10
Getty Images A view of the Royal Albert Hall, showing the crowds surrounding the ring, which has two sumos fighting in it, with the judge looking over them. Above that is the temple roof, which has tassles hanging down, and above that is the circular LED screen which has the match playing on itGetty Images
The ring sits in the centre of the hall, with a temple roof suspended above it, and a round LED screen above that

There are not many sports that can keep an audience enraptured through 45 minutes of ceremony before the first point is even contested.

And yet, the intricate traditions unfolding in a small clay ring - virtually unchanged in hundreds of years - managed to do just that.

Welcome, then, to the Grand Sumo Tournament - a five-day event at the Royal Albert Hall featuring 40 of the very best sumo wrestlers showcasing a sport which can date its first mention back to 23BC.

London's Victorian concert venue has been utterly transformed, complete with six-tonne Japanese temple roof suspended above the ring.

It is here the wrestlers, known as rikishi, will perform their leg stomps to drive away evil spirits, and where they will clap to get the attention of the gods.

And above all this ancient ceremony, a giant, revolving LED screen which wouldn't look out of place at an American basketball game, offering the audience all the stats and replays they could want.

Sumo may be ancient, and may have strict rules governing every aspect of a rikishi's conduct, but it still exists in a modern world.

And that modern world is helping spread sumo far beyond Japan's borders.

Getty Images Hoshoryu throws salt during day one of The Grand Sumo Tournament at Royal Albert HallGetty Images
Throwing salt, like Hoshoryu here, helps purify the ring ahead of the bout

It was a "random video" which first caught Sian Spencer's attention a couple of years ago.

This was quickly followed by the discovery of dedicated YouTube channels for a couple of the sumo stables, where rikishi live and train, waking up early to practice, followed by a high protein stew called a chankonabe, and then an afternoon nap - all in the service of bulking up.

Then she discovered the bi-monthly, 15 day championships, known as basho, and from there, she was hooked.

The London tournament was simply a "once-in-a-lifetime", not-to-be-missed, opportunity to see it all in real life, the 35-year-old says.

Flora Drury/BBC Sian, wearing a black top with long blonde hair and glasses, stands with Luke, wearing a plaid shirt and a skull t-shirt, in front of a picture above an entrance door showing a sumo wrestler staring into the cameraFlora Drury/BBC
Sian Spencer and Luke May travelled to London for the event

Julia and her partner Cezar, who live in Edinburgh, discovered sumo through a more traditional route: a trip to Japan six years ago.

"We saw it as a very touristy activity, but we actually ended up loving the sport," says Julia, 34.

"From there on, we tried to find communities, information, just to learn more and more about it," Cezar, 36, adds.

Colleagues, friends and family, they found, could be quite taken aback by their new passion.

"It's the only sport we watch," explains Julia - so they found like-minded people on messaging apps like Telegram.

"We found Italian groups, English groups," says Julia.

"Outside of Japan, online is the only way to interact with the sport," adds Cezar.

Going to Japan is almost the only way to see a top-flight sumo tournament.

This week's event in London is only the second time the tournament has visited the city - the first time was in 1991 - while the last overseas trip was to Jakarta in 2013.

But even going to Japan isn't a guarantee of getting a seat. Last year was the first time in 24 years that all six of the bi-monthly, 15-day events had sold out in 28 years, Kyodo News reported - fueled by interest at home, and by the tourist boom which saw more than 36m foreigners visit in 2024.

So for many, the London tournament is the first time they have watched sumo in person - and it doesn't disapoint.

"Seeing it up close, you get a sense of the speed and the power which you don't get on TV. It was incredible," says Caspar Eliot, a 36-year-old fan from London. "They are so big."

To win, one man needs to push another out of the ring or to the ground using brute strength. The majority use one of two styles to achieve this, often in split seconds - pushing, or grappling.

Either way, the sound of the two rikishi colliding in the first moment of the match reverberates around the hall.

Getty Images Onosato peforms his ring entry ceremony during day one of The Grand Sumo Tournament at Royal Albert Hall on October 15, 2025 in London, England.Getty Images
Yokozuna Onosato performs rituals before the bout
Getty Images Rikishi walk into the arena during day two of The Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert HallGetty Images
For many fans, this was the first time witnessing the speed and power of the rikishi
PA Sumo wrestlers, also known as Rikishi, during the opening ceremony on day twoPA
The rikishi all wear elaborate aprons known as kesho-mawashi during the entering ceremony
AFP via Getty Images Tamawashi (R) battles with Kinbozan (L) during a battle on day 2 of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in central LondonAFP via Getty Images
The fights are not sorted by weight, which means a rikishi can come up against someone 40kg (7.8 stone) or more heavier than him

Caspar and his wife Megha Okhai had been among those lucky enough to get tickets when they visited Japan last year - only for them not to arrive in the post in time.

It didn't stop them falling head over heels, however, and they have watched every basho this year. So when it came to the London Grand Sumo Tournament, they weren't taking chances.

"I think we had four devices trying to book tickets," Caspar tells the BBC ahead of the event, displaying his sumo towels proudly - a must for diehard fans. "We got front row seats, on the cushions."

The cushions right next to the ring are of course highly prized - but also, a bit risky.

On Thursday, it was all 181kg and 191cm of Shonannoumi which went plummeting into the crowd - perhaps making those in the slightly cheaper seats breathe a sigh of relief.

PA Media Tokihayate and Shonannoumi in the Makuuchi Division bout against Kotoeiho on day two of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall, LondonPA Media
Thursday's bout between Tokihayate and Shonannoumi resulted in both men falling into the audience below
PA Media Tokihayate and Shonannoumi in the Makuuchi Division bout against Kotoeiho on day two of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall, LondonPA Media
The two weigh a combined 320kg
AFP via Getty Images Top shot of Hakuoho facing Oho during their bout on day 2 of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in central LondonAFP via Getty Images
A six-tonne Japanese temple roof hangs over the ring

Of course, the size of the rikishi is one of the first things most people think of when they think of sumo. The Albert Hall's director of programming revealed to The Guardian earlier this week that they "had to source and buy new chairs which can take up to 200kg in weight".

But sumo - for all its sell-out events - is not without its troubles behind the scenes. A series of scandals over the last couple of decades around bullying, match fixing and sexism have dented its image.

And then there is the fact that last year - while being a bumper one for ticket sales - saw the lowest number of new recruits joining the stables.

Perhaps the strict life of a rikishi doesn't look as appealing as it once might have. Its popularity among young Japanese is also being threatened by other sports, like baseball. As Thomas Fabbri, the BBC's resident sumo fan, said: "My Japanese friends think I'm mad, as they see it as a sport for old people."

Japan's falling birthrate will also not help - nor is the Japanese Sumo Association's rule which restricts each stable to just one foreign rikishi. Despite this, Mongolians have dominated for the past few years - and one of the most exciting rising stars hails from Ukraine.

Dan Milne-Morey, Megha Okhai and Caspar Eliot with a few of their sumo towels - which represent their favourite rikishi
Dan Milne-Morey, Megha Okhai and Caspar Eliot with a few of their sumo towels - which represent their favourite rikishi

Not that any of this has worried fans in London.

"Seeing all this ritual and ceremony that goes with sumo is quite special," fan Sian says. "Now, seeing it in person, you feel like you are more part of it."

Julia and Cesar agree in a message the next day.

"It's a Japanese sport but we didn't feel out of place, so many people from all around the world around us."

For Megha, the drama "made it so incredible" - as did meeting the other fans.

"Getting out of a very niche Reddit community and being able to see all these sumo fans in person and being able to chat with other people who are just as into this as we are - it was worth every penny of sumo gold."

Additonal reporting by Thomas Fabbri

Want to watch? Audiences can tune in via BBC iPlayer, the BBC Red Button, the BBC Sport website and app.

Zelensky guarded on Tomahawk missile talks with Trump after White House meeting

18 October 2025 at 06:57
Getty Images Donald Trump shakes Volydmyr Zelensky's handGetty Images

President Volodymyr Zelensky appears to have come away empty-handed from a White House meeting after US President Donald Trump indicated he was not ready to supply sought-after Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Zelensky said after the cordial bilateral that he and Trump had talked about long-range missiles, but decided not to make statements on that issue "because the United States does not want an escalation".

Following the meeting, Trump took to social media to call for Kyiv and Moscow to "stop where they are" and end the war.

The Trump-Zelensky meeting came a day after Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and agreed to meet him in Hungary soon.

While Trump did not rule out supplying Tomahawks to Ukraine, his tone at the White House on Friday was non-committal.

"Hopefully they won't need it, hopefully we'll be able to get the war over without thinking about Tomahawks," the US president said, adding that America needed the weapons.

Trump said sending the missiles would be "an escalation, but we'll be talking about it".

Asked by the BBC if the Tomahawks had prompted Putin to meet Trump, the US president said: "The threat of that [the missiles] is good, but the threat of that is always there."

Trump tells BBC Putin 'wants to make a deal', cites threat of Tomahawks

The Ukrainian leader suggested Ukraine could offer drones in exchange for the Tomahawks, prompting smiles and nodding from Trump.

Zelensky also complimented Trump on his role in securing a peace deal in the Middle East, suggesting the US leader could build on that momentum to help end Russia's war in Ukraine.

Outside afterwards, Zelensky was asked by a reporter if he thought Putin wanted a deal or was just buying time with the planned meeting with Trump in Budapest.

"I don't know," he said, adding that the prospect of Ukraine having Tomahawks had caused Russia to be "afraid because it is a strong weapon".

Asked if he was leaving Washington more optimistic that Ukraine would get the Tomahawks, he said: "I am realistic."

Zelensky believes using Tomahawks to strike at Russian oil and energy facilities would severely weaken Putin's war economy.

In recent days, Trump had shown an openness to the idea of selling the Tomahawks, although Putin warned that such a move would further strain the US-Russian relationship.

On Thursday, Trump said "great progress" was made during a phone call with Putin, with the pair agreeing to face-to-face talks soon in Hungary.

Asked whether Zelensky would be involved in those talks, Trump said before his meeting sitting alongside the Ukrainian president that there was "bad blood" between Putin and Zelenksy.

"We want to make it comfortable for everybody," he said. "We'll be involved in threes, but it may be separated." He added that the three leaders "have to get together".

Watch: BBC Ukrainian asks Trump about upcoming meeting with Putin

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

Trump had hoped a face-to-face summit in Alaska in August would help convince Putin to enter into comprehensive peace talks to end the war, but that meeting failed to produce a decisive breakthrough.

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

Back in Ukraine, the BBC spoke on Friday to a couple repairing the small store they own in a suburb of Kyiv, after it was obliterated by Russian missiles last month.

When the store-owner, Volodymyr, was asked about Trump's forthcoming summit meeting with Putin, he began to say: "We appreciate all support".

But he stepped away as tears welled up in his eyes. After a long pause, he composed himself and started again.

"Truth and democracy will win, and all the terrorism and evil will disappear," he said. "We just want to live, we don't want to give up, we just want them to leave us alone."

'Have a great life!' Trump orders prison release of disgraced ex-lawmaker Santos

18 October 2025 at 07:04
Getty Images George Santos wearing a suit and sunglassesGetty Images

US President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of George Santos, a former Republican congressman serving seven years in prison for fraud and identify theft, ordering his immediate release.

In a post on social media, Trump said Santos "has been horribly mistreated", adding: "Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!"

The former lawmaker was only the sixth in US history to be expelled from Congress, after a damning ethics report in 2023.

Santos, who admitted to stealing the identities of 11 people - including family members, is currently serving his sentence at a minimum-security jail in New Jersey.

In April when Santos was sentenced a judge told him: "You got elected with your words, most of which were lies."

He reportedly cried in court and begged for forgiveness, saying: "I cannot rewrite the past, but I can control the road ahead."

Prosecutors argued that the novice politician had lied about his background and misused campaign funds to finance his lifestyle.

In his post, Trump justified the move by criticising a Democratic lawmaker, Senator Richard Blumenthal, whom he accused of fabricating his US military service.

"This is far worse than what George Santos did, and at least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!" Trump wrote.

Trump has previously called for an investigation into Blumenthal over the claim. The Democrat has acknowledged that he misspoke on numerous occasions about his time in the military, but has said the mishaps were more than a decade old.

"This allegation of 15 years ago has been really rejected by the voters of Connecticut three times, overwhelmingly reelecting me," Blumenthal told CNN earlier this month.

A lawyer for Santos told the Associated Press that it remains unclear when his client would be released.

"The defence team applauds President Trump for doing the right thing," said Andrew Mancilla.

"The sentence was far too long."

Santos's downfall began after the New York Times in 2022 published an investigation revealing the freshman congressman had lied about his CV, including having a university degree and working for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

From there, the lies continued to pile up, including allegations that he stole money from a fundraiser for a dying dog and that he lied about his mother surviving the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Shortly afterwards, local and federal officials began to investigate.

He was eventually charged with 23 federal felony crimes, and in 2023 he became the first expelled member of Congress in more than 20 years, and only the sixth in history.

A report from the House ethics panel accused him of misusing campaign funds for personal benefits, including Botox and subscriptions on the OnlyFans website.

Santos defeated a Democratic incumbent in 2022, flipping the district that encompasses parts of New York's Long Island and Queens, where he grew up.

Earlier this week, Santos published an open letter to Trump in the South Shore Press newspaper in Long Island, repeating his plea to be pardoned.

The letter, which was titled a "passionate plea to President Trump" asked for "the opportunity to return to my family, my friends, and my community."

He wrote that he had been kept in solitary confinement after a death threat in August, and apologised for his actions.

"Mr President, I am not asking for sympathy. I am asking for fairness - for the chance to rebuild," he wrote.

"I know I have made mistakes in my past. I have faced my share of consequences, and I take full responsibility for my actions.

"But no man, no matter his flaws, deserves to be lost in the system, forgotten and unseen, enduring punishment far beyond what justice requires."

Trump has issued pardons to at least two other former Republican lawmakers since re-taking office in January.

In May, he pardoned former congressman Michael Grimm, who pleaded guilty in 2014 to tax crimes.

He also pardoned former Connecticut Governor John Rowland, who pleaded guilty in 2004 to corruption and fraud charges.

The Papers: 'Andrew gives up titles' and 'Banned old Duke of York'

18 October 2025 at 09:35

The headline on the front page of the Times reads: "Andrew gives up titles."
Most papers lead with Prince Andrew giving up his titles, including the Duke of York. The Times writes that the decision marks a "fall from grace" over his links to the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and alleged links to a Chinese spy.
The headline on the front page of Daily Express reads: "Andrew: I will no longer use Duke of York title."
Prince Andrew will retain the title of a prince because, as the son of a monarch, it is his "birthright", the Daily Express reports. His former wife Sarah Ferguson will no longer be the Duchess of York.
The headline on the front page of Daily Telegraph reads: "Andrew forced to give up royal titles."
In his statement, Prince Andrew wrote that he had agreed to stop using his titles because he had "always put my duty to my family and country first", the Daily Telegraph reports. King Charles III is said to be "glad" about the outcome, the paper reports.
The headline on the front page of the Daily Mail reads: "Andrew falls on his sword."
"Andrew falls on his sword" is the headline for the Daily Mail, which reports that Prince Andrew's decision came after "intense pressure" from the King. The prince will also be stepping down from membership of the Order of the Garter, which the paper describes as the country's "most ancient order of chivalry".
The headline on the front page of the Daily Star reads: "Banned old Duke of York".
"Banned old Duke of York" is the Daily Star's take. The paper says reports suggest the decision comes after the King reached "tipping point" over Prince Andrew's involvement with Epstein.
The headline on the front page of the Sun reads: "Banned old Duke of York".
The Sun also splashes its front page with the same headline, reporting that the Prince of Wales was also involved in telling Prince Andrew to give up his titles.
The headline on the front page of i weekend reads: "Palace forces Andrew to give up his titles and sends him into exile".
The i weekend says that while Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson will lose their titles, their daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are unaffected. The paper reports that despite the move, a private lease agreement with the Crown Estate means the prince can stay in residence at Royal Lodge in Windsor.
The headline on the front page of the Financial Times reads: "Missile moves Zelensky in plea to Trump".
The Financial Times leads with the latest meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss ending the Ukraine war. It marks the pair's third meeting this year and comes a day after Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The paper reports that Zelensky appealed to Trump to provide Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, saying the US leader "now has a big chance to finish this war".
The headline on the front page of the Guardian reads: "'We can't leave welfare untouched, says Reeves'".
Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she "can't leave welfare untouched" as the Treasury is considering axing up to £1bn in tax breaks for cars for disabled people, reports the Guardian. When asked about benefits, the paper quotes an interview Reeves gave to Channel 4 on Friday, saying, "We have to do reform in the right way and take people with us".
The headline on the front page of the Daily Mirror reads: "Gazza: I just can't give up boozing".
Finally, the Daily Mirror teases an exclusive interview with former England footballer Paul Gascoigne on his struggle with alcohol addiction.
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'Only sport we watch': Grand Sumo comes to London as search for fans beyond Japan pays off

18 October 2025 at 07:10
Getty Images A view of the Royal Albert Hall, showing the crowds surrounding the ring, which has two sumos fighting in it, with the judge looking over them. Above that is the temple roof, which has tassles hanging down, and above that is the circular LED screen which has the match playing on itGetty Images
The ring sits in the centre of the hall, with a temple roof suspended above it, and a round LED screen above that

There are not many sports that can keep an audience enraptured through 45 minutes of ceremony before the first point is even contested.

And yet, the intricate traditions unfolding in a small clay ring - virtually unchanged in hundreds of years - managed to do just that.

Welcome, then, to the Grand Sumo Tournament - a five-day event at the Royal Albert Hall featuring 40 of the very best sumo wrestlers showcasing a sport which can date its first mention back to 23BC.

London's Victorian concert venue has been utterly transformed, complete with six-tonne Japanese temple roof suspended above the ring.

It is here the wrestlers, known as rikishi, will perform their leg stomps to drive away evil spirits, and where they will clap to get the attention of the gods.

And above all this ancient ceremony, a giant, revolving LED screen which wouldn't look out of place at an American basketball game, offering the audience all the stats and replays they could want.

Sumo may be ancient, and may have strict rules governing every aspect of a rikishi's conduct, but it still exists in a modern world.

And that modern world is helping spread sumo far beyond Japan's borders.

Getty Images Hoshoryu throws salt during day one of The Grand Sumo Tournament at Royal Albert HallGetty Images
Throwing salt, like Hoshoryu here, helps purify the ring ahead of the bout

It was a "random video" which first caught Sian Spencer's attention a couple of years ago.

This was quickly followed by the discovery of dedicated YouTube channels for a couple of the sumo stables, where rikishi live and train, waking up early to practice, followed by a high protein stew called a chankonabe, and then an afternoon nap - all in the service of bulking up.

Then she discovered the bi-monthly, 15 day championships, known as basho, and from there, she was hooked.

The London tournament was simply a "once-in-a-lifetime", not-to-be-missed, opportunity to see it all in real life, the 35-year-old says.

Flora Drury/BBC Sian, wearing a black top with long blonde hair and glasses, stands with Luke, wearing a plaid shirt and a skull t-shirt, in front of a picture above an entrance door showing a sumo wrestler staring into the cameraFlora Drury/BBC
Sian Spencer and Luke May travelled to London for the event

Julia and her partner Cezar, who live in Edinburgh, discovered sumo through a more traditional route: a trip to Japan six years ago.

"We saw it as a very touristy activity, but we actually ended up loving the sport," says Julia, 34.

"From there on, we tried to find communities, information, just to learn more and more about it," Cezar, 36, adds.

Colleagues, friends and family, they found, could be quite taken aback by their new passion.

"It's the only sport we watch," explains Julia - so they found like-minded people on messaging apps like Telegram.

"We found Italian groups, English groups," says Julia.

"Outside of Japan, online is the only way to interact with the sport," adds Cezar.

Going to Japan is almost the only way to see a top-flight sumo tournament.

This week's event in London is only the second time the tournament has visited the city - the first time was in 1991 - while the last overseas trip was to Jakarta in 2013.

But even going to Japan isn't a guarantee of getting a seat. Last year was the first time in 24 years that all six of the bi-monthly, 15-day events had sold out in 28 years, Kyodo News reported - fueled by interest at home, and by the tourist boom which saw more than 36m foreigners visit in 2024.

So for many, the London tournament is the first time they have watched sumo in person - and it doesn't disapoint.

"Seeing it up close, you get a sense of the speed and the power which you don't get on TV. It was incredible," says Caspar Eliot, a 36-year-old fan from London. "They are so big."

To win, one man needs to push another out of the ring or to the ground using brute strength. The majority use one of two styles to achieve this, often in split seconds - pushing, or grappling.

Either way, the sound of the two rikishi colliding in the first moment of the match reverberates around the hall.

Getty Images Onosato peforms his ring entry ceremony during day one of The Grand Sumo Tournament at Royal Albert Hall on October 15, 2025 in London, England.Getty Images
Yokozuna Onosato performs rituals before the bout
Getty Images Rikishi walk into the arena during day two of The Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert HallGetty Images
For many fans, this was the first time witnessing the speed and power of the rikishi
PA Sumo wrestlers, also known as Rikishi, during the opening ceremony on day twoPA
The rikishi all wear elaborate aprons known as kesho-mawashi during the entering ceremony
AFP via Getty Images Tamawashi (R) battles with Kinbozan (L) during a battle on day 2 of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in central LondonAFP via Getty Images
The fights are not sorted by weight, which means a rikishi can come up against someone 40kg (7.8 stone) or more heavier than him

Caspar and his wife Megha Okhai had been among those lucky enough to get tickets when they visited Japan last year - only for them not to arrive in the post in time.

It didn't stop them falling head over heels, however, and they have watched every basho this year. So when it came to the London Grand Sumo Tournament, they weren't taking chances.

"I think we had four devices trying to book tickets," Caspar tells the BBC ahead of the event, displaying his sumo towels proudly - a must for diehard fans. "We got front row seats, on the cushions."

The cushions right next to the ring are of course highly prized - but also, a bit risky.

On Thursday, it was all 181kg and 191cm of Shonannoumi which went plummeting into the crowd - perhaps making those in the slightly cheaper seats breathe a sigh of relief.

PA Media Tokihayate and Shonannoumi in the Makuuchi Division bout against Kotoeiho on day two of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall, LondonPA Media
Thursday's bout between Tokihayate and Shonannoumi resulted in both men falling into the audience below
PA Media Tokihayate and Shonannoumi in the Makuuchi Division bout against Kotoeiho on day two of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall, LondonPA Media
The two weigh a combined 320kg
AFP via Getty Images Top shot of Hakuoho facing Oho during their bout on day 2 of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in central LondonAFP via Getty Images
A six-tonne Japanese temple roof hangs over the ring

Of course, the size of the rikishi is one of the first things most people think of when they think of sumo. The Albert Hall's director of programming revealed to The Guardian earlier this week that they "had to source and buy new chairs which can take up to 200kg in weight".

But sumo - for all its sell-out events - is not without its troubles behind the scenes. A series of scandals over the last couple of decades around bullying, match fixing and sexism have dented its image.

And then there is the fact that last year - while being a bumper one for ticket sales - saw the lowest number of new recruits joining the stables.

Perhaps the strict life of a rikishi doesn't look as appealing as it once might have. Its popularity among young Japanese is also being threatened by other sports, like baseball. As Thomas Fabbri, the BBC's resident sumo fan, said: "My Japanese friends think I'm mad, as they see it as a sport for old people."

Japan's falling birthrate will also not help - nor is the Japanese Sumo Association's rule which restricts each stable to just one foreign rikishi. Despite this, Mongolians have dominated for the past few years - and one of the most exciting rising stars hails from Ukraine.

Dan Milne-Morey, Megha Okhai and Caspar Eliot with a few of their sumo towels - which represent their favourite rikishi
Dan Milne-Morey, Megha Okhai and Caspar Eliot with a few of their sumo towels - which represent their favourite rikishi

Not that any of this has worried fans in London.

"Seeing all this ritual and ceremony that goes with sumo is quite special," fan Sian says. "Now, seeing it in person, you feel like you are more part of it."

Julia and Cesar agree in a message the next day.

"It's a Japanese sport but we didn't feel out of place, so many people from all around the world around us."

For Megha, the drama "made it so incredible" - as did meeting the other fans.

"Getting out of a very niche Reddit community and being able to see all these sumo fans in person and being able to chat with other people who are just as into this as we are - it was worth every penny of sumo gold."

Additonal reporting by Thomas Fabbri

Want to watch? Audiences can tune in via BBC iPlayer, the BBC Red Button, the BBC Sport website and app.

Prince Andrew gives up his title as Duke of York

18 October 2025 at 06:35
PA Media Prince Andrew head and shoulders picturePA Media
Prince Andrew has faced growing pressure over his links with Jeffrey Epstein

Prince Andrew is giving up his titles, including the Duke of York, he has announced in a personal statement.

He has been under increasing pressure over his links with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with calls for the Palace to take action against him.

That now seems to have resulted in the prince deciding to voluntarily hand back his titles and to give up membership of the Order of the Garter.

In his statement he said he continued to "vigorously deny the accusations against me".

"In discussion with the King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family," said a statement from Prince Andrew.

"I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first.

"I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.

"With His Majesty's agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me."

Prince Andrew has faced a series of scandals, including a court case he settled with Virginia Giuffre, questions about his finances and his involvement with an alleged Chinese spy.

He will remain a prince - but will cease to be the Duke of York, a title received from his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.

Andrew had already ceased to be a "working royal" and had lost the use of his HRH title and no longer appeared at official royal events. His role now will be even more diminished.

His ex-wife will be known as Sarah Ferguson and no longer Duchess of York, but their daughters will continue to have the title of princess.

Prince Andrew has faced intense scrutiny over his links with disgraced financier Epstein, more recently including questions about when he had really cut off contact.

In his BBC Newsnight interview, Prince Andrew had said that he had severed all links with Epstein after they had been photographed together in New York in December 2010.

But emails sent in February 2011 later emerged suggesting that Andrew had privately stayed in touch with Epstein, including swapping a message: "Keep in close touch and we'll play some more soon!"

There had been growing frustration in Buckingham Palace at the scandals that continued to surround the prince.

Next week a posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre will be published which is likely to cast further attention on Prince Andrew's involvement with Ms Giuffre and Epstein.

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After all those scandals, why did Andrew quit his titles now?

18 October 2025 at 05:53
PA Media Prince Andrew arriving at Westminster Cathedral for the funeral of the Duchess of KentPA Media
Prince Andrew faced growing questions over his links to Jeffrey Epstein

After so many scandals, Prince Andrew has given up the use of his titles and honours.

He can no longer sign off as the Duke of York, or put "KG", a Knight of the Garter, after his name, with a flourish of medieval chivalry.

The Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh are also scratched off his list of titles, with "Andrew Inverness" a name he'd sometimes used in his business dealings.

But what's caused this sudden announcement? Particularly as this dramatic move, removing the remaining vestiges of his royal life, comes with an assertion of his innocence and that he continued to "vigorously deny the accusations against me".

PA Media Prince Andrew and the King at the Order of Garter paradePA Media
Prince Andrew will no longer be at the Order of the Garter ceremonies

Prince Andrew has voluntarily given up the use of his titles - but he was clearly under pressure to jump before he was pushed.

This way, the changes in his status are kept in-house and there doesn't have to be the intervention of Parliament, which would have needed to legislate to take away his title as Duke of York.

That would have been messy, but the Palace was already sending signals it was prepared to take action, and it was confident that Parliament, and popular opinion, would have supported such a change.

Allowing Andrew to voluntarily give up his titles, which theoretically remain in place, gave him a way out, still holding on to a little of the disappearing vapour trail of his pride.

But it's no secret that Buckingham Palace was exasperated with the scandals surrounding Prince Andrew and what a royal source calls the "constant parade of headlines".

He was one of their "Dukes of Hazard" that kept making news for all the wrong reasons.

Questions about Andrew's links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were drowning out the work of the rest of the Royal Family. That was on top of unanswered questions about Andrew's finances and his connections to an alleged Chinese spy.

Reuters Prince Andrew and King Charles at the funeral of the Duchess of KentReuters
Prince Andrew and King Charles at the funeral of the Duchess of Kent last month

Next week will see an historic state visit by the King and Queen to meet Pope Leo at the Vatican, and there was a deep irritation that such a solemn occasion was going to be overshadowed by lurid stories about Andrew and Epstein.

According to royal sources, a "tipping point" had been reached and something had to be done.

Arguably that should have happened earlier. But that would also have meant the Palace publicly accepting that it had a responsibility for Prince Andrew, when it had so long argued that as a "non-working royal", his problems were his own to resolve.

But this latest move shows a recognition that even if Andrew isn't a royal responsibility, it's still their reputation he's been damaging.

What added to the sense of this no longer being a tenable position was an email published last weekend that showed Prince Andrew had stayed in touch with Epstein longer than he had claimed in his BBC Newsnight interview.

A royal source said this was a significantly different moment when there were such clear "fault lines" exposed in Prince Andrew's version of events.

Curiously, the same email had been partially published in January - again showing that Andrew had not cut ties to Epstein when he had claimed - but this time in October the impact has been like the pebble that has started an avalanche.

It followed a similar awkwardness for Sarah Ferguson, where a private email contradicted her own public claims to have cut links with Epstein.

And it added to the pressure from extracts published from a posthumous memoir of Virginia Giuffre, the Epstein victim who had reached a financial settlement with Prince Andrew, and had earlier this year taken her own life.

Getty Images Virginia Giuffre with a photo of herself as a teenagerGetty Images
Virginia Giuffre's memoir raises more questions about Andrew and Epstein

Ms Giuffre's memoir, to be published next week, once again casts Andrew into toxic associations with Epstein.

And the book's accusation that Prince Andrew was "entitled" echoed the title of a recent biography of Prince Andrew, by Andrew Lownie, that took another wrecking ball to his reputation.

It's been a landslide of bad news, month after month, that showed no sign of losing momentum. He'd become the disastrous football manager, or the damaged political leader, who had no obvious way of being removed. Particularly when it was like a football manager whose brother was the chairman.

There's always a tension between protecting an institution and a reluctance to remove the individuals within it. Even more so when the institution is also a family. It's where the Godfather movies meet the Crown.

But something had to be done, and in the end, Andrew has handed back the keys to his royal life and walked away.

More could still emerge in the United States in the trawling of documents related to Epstein.

Ominously for Prince Andrew, among those quick to respond on Friday evening was the leading Democrat on the US House Oversight Committee that has been pushing for the release of Epstein material.

Robert Garcia, whose colleagues recently revealed documents showing an "Andrew" getting massages on Epstein's private jet, said: "His decision to give up his royal titles is long overdue."

"We know rich and powerful men used their money and power to abuse girls and young women, and to shield themselves from justice. Prince Andrew's decision is just the beginning in the committee's work to deliver justice for the survivors."

Prince Andrew has always denied wrongdoing but this has become a global story.

When US President Trump arrived for his state visit, it was a picture of Andrew and Epstein that protesters projected on to the walls of Windsor Castle.

Prince Andrew's decision to step away from his remaining titles will also mean he stays in step with his ex-wife, who is no longer the Duchess of York. They are back to where they began when they first met - as Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.

They still live together and as Prince Andrew has his own long lease on Royal Lodge, they'll carry on there as before. The King had already financially cut off Prince Andrew, so there isn't any change there, he'll have to find his own funding.

But by voluntarily stepping back, rather than being stripped of their honours, it means that their daughters will carry on with the titles of princess.

Prince Andrew won't be at the royal Christmas gathering in Sandringham this year. And the guessing game about seeing him at the Order of the Garter parade won't happen again.

But are the questions about his conduct really over?

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Smuggler jailed for 40 years after shipping ballistic missiles parts from Iran

18 October 2025 at 07:10
US Department of Justice An image of weapons components laid out on a concrete floor, after being seized from Muhammad Pahlawan's boat. US Department of Justice
Prosecutors said the weapons found on board Pahlawan's boat were "some of the most sophisticated" arms Iran produces

A weapons smuggler, who used a fishing boat to ship ballistic missile parts from Iran to Houthi rebels in Yemen, has been sentenced to 40 years in a US prison.

Pakistani national Muhammad Pahlawan was detained during a US military operation in the Arabian Sea in January 2024 - during which two US Navy Seals drowned.

Pahlawan's crew would later testify they had been duped into taking part, having believed they were working as fishermen.

The Houthis were launching sustained missile and drone attacks on Israel at the time, as well as targeting international commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, saying they were acting in support of the Palestinians in Gaza.

Iran has consistently denied arming the Houthis.

The crew's detailed testimonies to a court in the US state of Virginia provide a rare look inside a smuggling operation that helped power the attacks.

The components found on Pahlawan's boat were "some of the most sophisticated weapon systems that Iran proliferates to other terrorist groups", US federal prosecutors said after his trial.

The 49-year-old was sentenced on Thursday, having been previously convicted on five counts - including terrorism offences and transporting weapons of mass destruction.

Court documents show the sentences for two of the five counts will run concurrently for 240 months, or 20 years. The other three counts, another 20 years, will run consecutive to that - making a total of 480 months, or 40 years.

'Walking dead person'

The eight crew members who testified in court said they had no idea what was inside the large packages on board the boat, named the Yunus.

One crew member said that when he questioned Pahlawan about it, he was told to mind his own business.

Pahlawan, however, knew just how dangerous the cargo was.

He referred to himself as a "walking dead person" in text message exchanges with his wife, sent in the days before the January 2024 voyage which would get him arrested.

"Just pray that [we] come back safely", said the message, used as evidence in court.

"Why do you talk like this, 'may or may not come back'", she asked him.

Pahlawan told her: "Such is the nature of the job, my dear, such is the nature of the job."

His final words to her before sailing were: "Keep me in your prayers. May God take me there safely and bring me back safely, alright. Pray."

US Department of Justice A colourful fishing boat surrounded by choppy sea. US Department of Justice
Pahlawan used a fishing boat to smuggle Iranian-made anti-ship cruise missile components and a warhead

For this journey, Pahlawan was paid 1,400 million rials (£25,200; $33,274) - a substantial fee prosecutors at his trial described as "danger money".

The trip was "part of a larger operation" funded and co-ordinated by two Iranian brothers, Yunus and Shahab Mir'kazei, said the then-US Department of Defense (now known as the Department of War) in a statement in June.

The Mir'kazei brothers are allegedly affiliated, it added, with Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) - the most powerful armed force in Iran. The IRGC is designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US.

Both Shahab and Yunus Mir'kazei have been charged by the American authorities, but are still at large and believed to be in Iran.

Pahlawan made two successful smuggling voyages before he was caught - one in October 2023, and a second two months later.

The dozen men he recruited to join him were all from Pakistan and had travelled across the border into Iran looking for work.

Before setting off on the December trip - the US court heard - the crew were tasked with loading large packages onto the boat in Chabahar on Iran's south coast.

Then, after five or six days at sea, when they were close to the coast of Somalia, the crew described another boat pulling up next to them at night and them having to hand over the cargo.

Crew member Mehandi Hassan told the court there were about five men on the other boat, who spoke in a language he didn't recognise.

Their next voyage, the following month, was expected to follow the same route. As before, it began in the small port of Konarak before sailing to Chabahar, where the crew were made to load heavy boxes on board.

The packages, the US Navy would later discover, contained Iranian-made ballistic missile parts, anti-ship cruise missile components and a warhead.

US Department of Justice Special Warfare Officer Christopher Chambers lost his grip and fell into the water during the operation - and Special Warfare Officer First Class Nathan Gage Ingram jumped in to try to save him. 
US Department of Justice
Navy Seals Nathan Gage Ingram (l) and Christopher Chambers (r) both drowned during the mission to intercept Pahlawan's boat

Once at sea, Pahlawan kept to himself - according to crew testimony - often staying in his cabin and watching movies on his phone. Sometimes they would see Pahlawan on a second mobile - a satellite phone - but they didn't know what he was saying, said Mehandi Hassan, because he would speak in a language they didn't understand.

On 11 January, the crew said they were woken by the sound of helicopter rotors overhead and a US Navy ship pulling alongside. Pahlawan came out of his cabin to tell everyone to "keep going" and not to stop the boat, telling them the ship and helicopters belonged to pirates.

Armed US Navy Seals and Coast Guard officers attempted to board the Yunus. "There was a lot of commotion," one crew member, Aslam Hyder, told the court.

Special Warfare Officer Christopher Chambers lost his grip and fell into the water during the operation - and Special Warfare Officer First Class Nathan Gage Ingram jumped in to try to save him.

Both men were so laden with equipment that they quickly drowned, an internal report later found. Their bodies were never found and they were declared dead 10 days later.

A graphic of a map which shows the typical route taken by the weapons smugglers. It starts at Konarak in Iran, where they set sail to Chabahar. From there cargo in loaded and a dotted red line charts the crew sailing across the Arabian Sea and close to the coast of Somalia, where they met the other ship and transferred the cargo.

The crew remained on the Yunus for two days before being offloaded to a US Navy ship, the court heard, where they were separated into two groups and held in windowless containers.

Pahlawan ordered the crew to lie and to say the captain had already fled. "He said, 'Don't tell them that I am the [captain], because I can do serious damage to you guys if you do that'," Aslam Hyder told the court.

"He started to threaten us… It was about the family and the children, that they will not know about you and you won't know what happened to them," he said. "Then we got very scared and we became quiet."

One by one, said crew members who gave evidence, they were taken out of the containers to be interrogated individually. Everyone on board - including Pahlawan - was asked who the captain was and, according to US prosecutors, Pahlawan "simply evaded, lied, and hid".

The American military said the packages found on board the Yunus were the first Iranian-supplied weapons to be seized by US forces since the Houthis had started attacking vessels in the Red Sea a few months earlier.

But Pahlawan had been following a common route for smugglers carrying weapons bound for Yemen.

Between 2015 and 2023, US forces and their allies seized almost 2.4 million pieces of ammunition, 365 anti-tank guided missiles, and more than 29,000 small arms and light weapons from small boats in the Arabian Sea, according to a UN report.

Typically, smugglers use dhows - a type of small boat, often for fishing - to transport cargo close to the coast of Somalia.

As with the Yunus, it is here that weapons are transferred to other, smaller boats, which then set sail to "secluded beaches off the southern coast of Yemen… where they are then smuggled across the desert to Houthi-controlled areas of the country", the UN Office on Drugs and Crime report says.

US Department of Justice A close-up photo of a silver Iranian-made warhead. It appears to be lying on its side and surrounded by shiny silver packaging. US Department of Justice
Among the cargo was this Iranian-made warhead, intended to form part of a ballistic missile

William Freer, from the UK think tank Council on Geostrategy, told BBC News that while most of the Houthi attacks have involved smaller weapons, the components found on Pahlawan's ship are "a lot more complicated and can pack a lot more punch".

"Very quickly, most shipping companies decided to redirect all their vessels, where possible, around South Africa rather than transiting through the Red Sea."

This lengthy detour adds about 10 to 12 days of sailing time to each trip, and extra fuel, which previous analysis has estimated to cost companies about an extra $1m (£748,735) per round trip.

Mr Freer added that the impact on commercial shipping has continued to this day.

"Within about two months of the initial attacks [in October 2023], shipping transiting through the Red Sea had dropped by about 60% to 70%, and it has stayed at that level ever since, even with the ceasefires," he told us.

Even though Houthi strikes are now less frequent, he added, there are still "just enough attacks to convince shipping companies it is not worth running the risk of returning" to the Red Sea route.

Iran has been accused by the US, UK, Israel and Saudi Arabia of smuggling missiles and other weapons to the Houthis by sea, in violation of a UN Security Council resolution since the armed group ousted Yemen's internationally-recognised government from much of north-western Yemen 10 years ago, sparking a devastating civil war. Iran denies this.

On 5 June this year, Pahlawan was found guilty of conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists; providing material support to the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guard Corps' weapons of mass destruction programme; conspiring to and transporting explosive devices to the Houthis, knowing these explosives would be used to cause harm; and threatening his crew.

"Pahlawan was not only a seasoned smuggler," prosecutors said, "he knew what he was smuggling and its intended use."

In a final plea to the court for leniency, Pahlawan's lawyer wrote that life for Pahlawan's wife had long been estranged from her family because of her marriage to him, and that since his arrest, her and her child's lives had become "extremely difficult and harsh".

"Since the jury verdict, Mr Pahlawan's singular focus in their telephone conversations is the wellbeing of his family," his attorney said. "He does not talk about himself or his fate. He cries with worry over what will become of his wife and child."

But the court ruled that his high sentence was "appropriate due to the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant".

Mystery heatwave warms Pacific Ocean to new record

18 October 2025 at 07:26
Kevin Carter/Getty Images  In an aerial view, people celebrate the Fourth of July along the coast of La Jolla's Windansea Beach on a warm summer day on July 4, 2023 in San Diego, CaliforniaKevin Carter/Getty Images
People head to the coast in San Diego on a hot summer's day

The waters of the north Pacific have had their warmest summer on record, according to BBC analysis of a mysterious marine heatwave that has confounded climate scientists.

Sea surface temperatures between July and September were more than 0.25C above the previous high of 2022 - a big increase across an area roughly ten times the size of the Mediterranean.

While climate change is known to make marine heatwaves more likely, scientists are struggling to explain why the north Pacific has been so hot for so long.

But all this extra heat in the so-called "warm blob" may have the opposite effect in the UK, possibly making a colder start to winter more likely, some researchers believe.

"There's definitely something unusual going on in the north Pacific," said Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth, a research group in the US.

Such a jump in temperatures across a region so large is "quite remarkable", he added.

The BBC analysed data from the European Copernicus climate service to calculate average temperatures between July and September across a large area of the north Pacific, sometimes known as the "warm blob".

The region extends from the east coast of Asia to the west coast of North America, the same area used in previous scientific studies.

The figures show that not only has the region been warming quickly over the past couple of decades, but 2025 is markedly higher than recent years too.

Line graph showing average sea surface temperatures across the north Pacific between July and September, each year since 1940. There is lots of variability from year to year, but temperatures have generally been going up this century. Temperatures this year are far above any previously recorded level.

That the seas are getting hotter is no surprise. Global warming, caused by humanity's emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases, has already trebled the number of days of extreme heat in oceans globally, according to research published earlier this year.

But temperatures have been even higher than most climate models - computer simulations taking into account humanity's carbon emissions - had predicted.

Analysis of these models by the Berkeley Earth group suggests that sea temperatures observed across the north Pacific in August had less than a 1% chance of occurring in any single year.

Natural weather variability is thought to be part of the reason. This summer has seen weaker-than-usual winds, for example. That means more heat from the summer sunshine can stay in the sea surface, rather than being mixed with cooler waters below.

But this can only go so far in explaining the exceptional conditions, according to Dr Hausfather.

"It certainly is not just natural variability," he said. "There's something else going on here as well."

Three maps showing sea surface temperatures in July, August and September in the north Pacific, which is marked by a box. Temperatures are unusually warm across almost the entire region in each month, marked by oranges and dark reds.

One intriguing idea is that a recent change to shipping fuels might be contributing to the warming. Prior to 2020, dirty engine oil produced large amounts of sulphur dioxide, a gas harmful to human health.

But that sulphur also formed tiny, Sun-reflecting particles in the atmosphere, known as aerosols, which helped to keep a lid on rising temperatures.

So removing that cooling effect in shipping hotspots like the north Pacific could be revealing the full impact of human-caused warming.

"It does seem like sulphur is the primary candidate for what's driving this warming in the region," said Dr Hausfather.

Other research suggests that efforts to reduce air pollution in Chinese cities has played a role in warming the Pacific too.

That dirty air did a similar job to shipping in reflecting sunlight away, while cleaning it up could have had the unintended consequence of allowing more ocean heating.

Possible impacts for the UK?

The north Pacific's marine heatwave has already had consequences for weather on both sides of the Pacific, likely boosting very high summer temperatures in Japan and South Korea and storms in the US.

"In California, we've seen supercharged thunderstorms because the warm ocean waters in the Pacific provide heat and moisture," said Amanda Maycock, professor in climate dynamics at the University of Leeds.

"In particular, there are things we call atmospheric rivers… bands of air, which contain very high amounts of moisture that fuel themselves from the ocean waters," she added.

"So if we have warm ocean waters… they can then bring a lot of moisture onto the land, which then falls out as rain, or in the wintertime can precipitate out as snow."

Reuters Two women use hand-held fans to cool themselves down. They both have dark hair; the woman on the left is dressed in pink and the woman on the right in blue.Reuters
The intense heat to hit Japan in August was likely amplified by Pacific Ocean heat, researchers say

Long-term weather forecasting is always challenging, but extreme heat in the north Pacific has the potential to affect the UK and Europe in the coming months too.

That's because of relationships between weather in different parts of the world known as teleconnections.

"Although the current warm conditions are located in the north Pacific, these can generate wave motions in the atmosphere that can alter our weather downstream into the north Atlantic and into Europe," said Prof Maycock.

"That can tend to favour high-pressure conditions over the continent, which brings us more of an influence from the Arctic, where we have colder air," she added.

"That can be drawn over Europe and bring us colder weather in early winter."

A colder outcome is by no means certain, as this is a complex area of science. Several other weather patterns also affect UK winters, which are typically getting milder with climate change.

And a warm north Pacific appears to have different effects later in the winter, favouring milder and wetter conditions in some parts of Europe.

Emerging La Niña in the tropical Pacific

Another factor to throw into the mix is what's happening further south in the eastern tropical Pacific.

There, surface waters are unusually cool - a classic sign of the weather phenomenon known as La Niña.

Map showing cooler surface waters, marked in blue, off the west coast of South America in September. They extend out into the Pacific.

La Niña, and its warm sibling El Niño, are natural patterns, although research published this week highlighted that global warming could itself impact the swings between them.

Weak La Niña conditions are expected to persist over the next few months, according to NOAA, the US science agency.

All else being equal, La Niña generally increases the risk of a cold start to winter in the UK, but also brings a higher chance of a mild end, the Met Office says.

"These two drivers in the north and tropical Pacific will be acting together this winter," said Prof Maycock.

"But since the La Niña is quite weak this year, the extreme warmth in the north Pacific could be more important for forecasting the winter ahead."

Additional reporting by Muskeen Liddar and Libby Rogers

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Lamborghini swerves away from all-electric future

18 October 2025 at 05:45
Getty A bright orange Lamborghini Temerario parked in a showroomGetty
The boss of Lamborghini said enthusiasm for electric cars was declining

The boss of Lamborghini has said its customers still want "the sound and the emotion" of internal combustion engines, and the company will use them in its cars for at least the next decade.

Speaking to the BBC at the Italian supercar-maker's London showroom, chief executive Stephan Winkelmann said enthusiasm for electric cars was declining - creating an opportunity to focus on hybrid power instead.

Lamborghini will decide in the next month whether a long-planned new model, the Lanzador, will be all-electric, or merely a plug-in hybrid, he said.

Mr Winkelmann insisted the business was socially responsible, but added that as a low-volume manufacturer, its actions would have a limited impact on the environment.

Lamborghini is a luxury brand ultimately owned by the Volkswagen Group. It currently has three main models.

The Temerario and Revuelto are supercars. Both are plug-in hybrids, combining powerful petrol engines with electric motors. They can run in all-electric mode, but only for very short distances.

The Urus is a luxury SUV, currently available as a plug-in hybrid and as a conventional petrol-powered car. Less exotic and certainly less ostentatious than the supercars, it nevertheless makes up more than half of the company's sales.

There is also a limited edition 'super-sports' car: the Fenomeno, which has a top speed of more than 215mph. Only 30 will be built, each costing at least €3m (£2.6m) before taxes.

Two years ago, Lamborghini announced plans for an all-electric successor to the Urus, which would have been available from 2029. However, the plan was recently shelved, with the electric model now not expected before 2035.

It had also planned to make a brand new battery-powered grand tourer (GT), to be called the Lanzador. However, the future of that project is also deeply uncertain.

Lamborghini chief executive Stephan Winkelmann in a full suit, sat in front of a bright yellow Lamborghini Fenomeno
Lamborghini chief executive Stephan Winkelmann

"We still need to decide whether we are going full electric, the decision we took some years ago, or seeing whether in the new environment this should also be a plug-in hybrid", said Mr Winkelmann.

The new environment he referred to is a perceived waning of interest in electric cars among high-end buyers.

"Today enthusiasm for electric cars is going down", he explained. "We see a huge opportunity to stay with internal combustion engines and a battery system much longer than expected".

Continuing to use internal combustion engines for another 10 years, he said, would be "paramount for the success of the company". Customers, he insisted, still hankered after the noise and fury of a conventional motor.

"This is something they want, they still want the sound and the emotion of an internal combustion engine", he said.

It's an approach that contrasts with that of Lamborghini's Italian arch-rival Ferrari, which is pushing ahead with its own plans for a first all-electric car.

The aptly-named Elettrica is due to be unveiled next year, though the company showed off some key components at its Capital Markets Day earlier this month.

It will be sold alongside conventional and hybrid models.

Ferrari chief executive Benedetto Vigna said it would have driving traits that were "unique in the heart, in the soul of our clients."

Getty Images SLamborghini LanzadorGetty Images
There are questions about whether the Lanzador model - pictured here as a concept model in 2023 - will be fully electric

Mr Winkelmann insisted his own company was not ignoring the ongoing pressure to cut emissions.

"We are selling 10,000 cars in a world that is producing 80 million cars a year, so our impact in terms of CO2 emissions is not that important", he said.

"For sure, we are socially responsible, but it doesn't really make a lot of difference".

The sale of new petrol and diesel cars, including plug-in hybrids, is due to be banned in both the the EU and the UK from 2035.

However, in the EU, there has been intense lobbying from some manufacturers for the transition to electric cars to be given more time, in order to "acknowledge current industrial and geopolitical realities".

If that happens, internal combustion engines could remain on the market beyond the current deadline.

Meanwhile the UK's rules provide an exemption for "low volume" manufacturers who register fewer than 2,500 new cars each year.

This would currently cover Lamborghini, which sold just 795 cars here last year.

Red Cross retrieves another body of dead hostage in Gaza, Israel says

18 October 2025 at 05:51
BBC 'Breaking' graphicBBC

Israel's military says the Red Cross has retrieved a coffin of a deceased hostage in the southern Gaza Strip and is now "on the way to IDF [Israel Defence Forces] troops" in the territory.

Posting on X, the IDF urged the public to "act with sensitivity and wait for the official identification, which will first be provided to the families".

It also stressed that Hamas was required to "return all the deceased hostages" in accordance with a Gaza ceasefire agreement.

This follows an earlier statement from Hamas that it would hand over the body of an Israeli hostage to the Red Cross.

Hamas has returned the bodies of nine of the 28 dead hostages in Gaza, and freed all 20 living hostages.

Israel has freed 250 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and 1,718 detainees from Gaza as part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

'I'm not putting my ring back on yet,' says Molly-Mae after Tommy reunion

18 October 2025 at 07:09
Getty Images Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague attend the National Television Awards 2020 at The O2 Arena on January 28, 2020 in London, EnglandGetty Images
Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague, who have a daughter together, announced they were splitting last August

Reality TV star Molly-Mae Hague has said she won't be putting her engagement ring back on yet, despite getting back together with Tommy Fury.

The pair met on the 2019 series of Love Island, later becoming engaged, but last year shocked fans by announcing their split.

Earlier this year, Hague, 26, confirmed they were back together, but in her latest docuseries, she admits things are "not perfect" and that the pair still live apart.

The episodes, which dropped on Prime Video on Saturday, also cover issues such as her controversial remarks on a podcast in 2022, which she says led to her receiving "death threats".

On an episode of the Diary Of A CEO podcast, she said everyone had "the same 24 hours in a day" and appeared to suggest that if you want something enough, you can achieve it.

The remarks sparked a backlash on social media, with many accusing her of being "tone-deaf" as the comments didn't acknowledge her own privilege.

Hague says she received "hateful comments" in her inbox as a result of the controversy.

But she added she had "accepted and realised" that what she said "was wrong".

Getty Images Molly-Mae Hague accepts the 'Authored Doc' Award during the NTA's 2025 at The O2 Arena on September 10, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for the NTA's)
Getty Images
Molly-Mae Hague recently won a National Television Award for series one of her documentary

Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury were arguably the most high-profile couple to have emerged from Love Island.

When the pair announced their break-up in August 2024, Fury immediately began facing accusations of cheating and getting another woman pregnant.

Fury, also 26, recently released his own BBC series, in which he denied those "disgusting" claims, but admitted that alcohol had "cost him his family".

Hague does not address the cheating claims in the latest series of Molly-Mae: Behind It All, but hints there are "trust issues" between the pair.

In the episodes, the influencer is seen juggling her busy work schedule with looking after the couple's two-year-old daughter, Bambi, at home in Manchester.

"It's glitz, it's glamour, it's fishing poos out the bathtub," Hague says of her daily routine.

Fury appears several times on video call, where he talks to his daughter and asks how her potty training is going.

"Bambi has always been really good for our relationship, and recently Bambi actually brought us closer together," Hague said, who added it was "the right decision" to get back with her ex.

But after one scene in which she is seen having a spat with Fury on the phone, she opens up about the challenges they still face.

"It's just this shadow of the past that will always just - it sounds really deep - but it will come back and haunt us," she said.

Speaking to a friend, Hague said there were still things that "trigger" her and that she's had panic attacks.

"I hear the word alcohol and I'm tense, I'm shaking, I'm really anxious," she said.

In another scene, she tells the cameras that while she and Fury have been spending more time together, things aren't back to how they were.

"I'm not putting my ring back on yet, just because I just don't feel quite ready. And also, I would like him to make a bit of a gesture. Not ask me again. That's a lot, but a nice dinner or something, just to have that moment of, 'OK, I'll wear my ring again'," she said.

"We're still figuring it out. We're back together, yes, but it's not perfect. It's a new chapter for me and Tommy."

I faced death threats after '24 hours in a day' comments

Elsewhere in the series, Hague addresses the backlash she has faced online, including after that controversial podcast appearance.

In the episodes, Hague described the things sent to her inbox as "wild", saying: "To get so angry and to leave such hateful comments, send death threats, like, who's got that level of anger inside of them?"

But she added: "I was so disappointed in myself that I'd made that mistake," she said.

Hague also referred to the outrage sparked by a YouTube video, in which she claimed she had not "done one social fun thing" this summer, despite having posted about various holidays over the year.

"I can completely understand why people had a problem with what I said. The days where the nation's turned against you, they're not the best days," she says in the episodes.

"I get really frustrated with myself when I've said something that I think I could have worded better. I hate letting people down."

Getty Images Molly-Mae Hague pictures wearing black against a blurred background
Getty Images

The new series, like the first, explores Hague's life behind the vlog camera.

It's a cross between a fly-on-the-wall reality show and a documentary series, in which cameras follow her around as she raises Bambi, while pursuing her various business ventures.

Hague, who has been open about her struggles with motherhood, says during the episodes she finds the balance of work and Bambi "quite hard to nail".

As well as her personal life, the episodes also look at her career as an influencer and founder of womenswear brand, Maebe.

For TV journalist Lauren Morris, the series is a "shrewd decision", as while she has to open up about her personal life, it also helps showcase her fashion business.

"I think it's brave of her to show us inside her life, when she doesn't have to," she said.

"Her critics won't change their minds about her, but then, it's her fans who will be watching this. Her critics won't - why would you bother."

The first series recently picked up a National Television Award, and Hague admitted the win "added to the pressure".

She was speaking at a Q&A event in London earlier this week, for which questions were submitted in advance by journalists. A moderator then asked a range of questions.

Hague said she was "really nervous" about people watching the second season of her series as she talks about things "I haven't spoken about before".

She added: "I just want everything that I put out to be... I want everyone to enjoy it and for it to be perfect."

Molly-Mae: Behind It All episodes 1-3 of Series 2 are available now on Prime Video. The latter three episodes will drop early 2026.

There's nothing like feeling the Royal Albert Hall shake when sumo wrestlers collide

18 October 2025 at 07:10
Getty Images A view of the Royal Albert Hall, showing the crowds surrounding the ring, which has two sumos fighting in it, with the judge looking over them. Above that is the temple roof, which has tassles hanging down, and above that is the circular LED screen which has the match playing on itGetty Images
The ring sits in the centre of the hall, with a temple roof suspended above it, and a round LED screen above that

There are not many sports that can keep an audience enraptured through 45 minutes of ceremony before the first point is even contested.

And yet, the intricate traditions unfolding in a small clay ring - virtually unchanged in hundreds of years - managed to do just that.

Welcome, then, to the Grand Sumo Tournament - a five-day event at the Royal Albert Hall featuring 40 of the very best sumo wrestlers showcasing a sport which can date its first mention back to 23BC.

London's Victorian concert venue has been utterly transformed, complete with six-tonne Japanese temple roof suspended above the ring.

It is here the wrestlers, known as rikishi, will perform their leg stomps to drive away evil spirits, and where they will clap to get the attention of the gods.

And above all this ancient ceremony, a giant, revolving LED screen which wouldn't look out of place at an American basketball game, offering the audience all the stats and replays they could want.

Sumo may be ancient, and may have strict rules governing every aspect of a rikishi's conduct, but it still exists in a modern world.

And that modern world is helping spread sumo far beyond Japan's borders.

Getty Images Hoshoryu throws salt during day one of The Grand Sumo Tournament at Royal Albert HallGetty Images
Throwing salt, like Hoshoryu here, helps purify the ring ahead of the bout

It was a "random video" which first caught Sian Spencer's attention a couple of years ago.

This was quickly followed by the discovery of dedicated YouTube channels for a couple of the sumo stables, where rikishi live and train, waking up early to practice, followed by a high protein stew called a chankonabe, and then an afternoon nap - all in the service of bulking up.

Then she discovered the bi-monthly, 15 day championships, known as basho, and from there, she was hooked.

The London tournament was simply a "once-in-a-lifetime", not-to-be-missed, opportunity to see it all in real life, the 35-year-old says.

Flora Drury/BBC Sian, wearing a black top with long blonde hair and glasses, stands with Luke, wearing a plaid shirt and a skull t-shirt, in front of a picture above an entrance door showing a sumo wrestler staring into the cameraFlora Drury/BBC
Sian Spencer and Luke May travelled to London for the event

Julia and her partner Cezar, who live in Edinburgh, discovered sumo through a more traditional route: a trip to Japan six years ago.

"We saw it as a very touristy activity, but we actually ended up loving the sport," says Julia, 34.

"From there on, we tried to find communities, information, just to learn more and more about it," Cezar, 36, adds.

Colleagues, friends and family, they found, could be quite taken aback by their new passion.

"It's the only sport we watch," explains Julia - so they found like-minded people on messaging apps like Telegram.

"We found Italian groups, English groups," says Julia.

"Outside of Japan, online is the only way to interact with the sport," adds Cezar.

Going to Japan is almost the only way to see a top-flight sumo tournament.

This week's event in London is only the second time the tournament has visited the city - the first time was in 1991 - while the last overseas trip was to Jakarta in 2013.

But even going to Japan isn't a guarantee of getting a seat. Last year was the first time in 24 years that all six of the bi-monthly, 15-day events had sold out in 28 years, Kyodo News reported - fueled by interest at home, and by the tourist boom which saw more than 36m foreigners visit in 2024.

So for many, the London tournament is the first time they have watched sumo in person - and it doesn't disapoint.

"Seeing it up close, you get a sense of the speed and the power which you don't get on TV. It was incredible," says Caspar Eliot, a 36-year-old fan from London. "They are so big."

To win, one man needs to push another out of the ring or to the ground using brute strength. The majority use one of two styles to achieve this, often in split seconds - pushing, or grappling.

Either way, the sound of the two rikishi colliding in the first moment of the match reverberates around the hall.

Getty Images Onosato peforms his ring entry ceremony during day one of The Grand Sumo Tournament at Royal Albert Hall on October 15, 2025 in London, England.Getty Images
Yokozuna Onosato performs rituals before the bout
Getty Images Rikishi walk into the arena during day two of The Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert HallGetty Images
For many fans, this was the first time witnessing the speed and power of the rikishi
PA Sumo wrestlers, also known as Rikishi, during the opening ceremony on day twoPA
The rikishi all wear elaborate aprons known as kesho-mawashi during the entering ceremony
AFP via Getty Images Tamawashi (R) battles with Kinbozan (L) during a battle on day 2 of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in central LondonAFP via Getty Images
The fights are not sorted by weight, which means a rikishi can come up against someone 40kg (7.8 stone) or more heavier than him

Caspar and his wife Megha Okhai had been among those lucky enough to get tickets when they visited Japan last year - only for them not to arrive in the post in time.

It didn't stop them falling head over heels, however, and they have watched every basho this year. So when it came to the London Grand Sumo Tournament, they weren't taking chances.

"I think we had four devices trying to book tickets," Caspar tells the BBC ahead of the event, displaying his sumo towels proudly - a must for diehard fans. "We got front row seats, on the cushions."

The cushions right next to the ring are of course highly prized - but also, a bit risky.

On Thursday, it was all 181kg and 191cm of Shonannoumi which went plummeting into the crowd - perhaps making those in the slightly cheaper seats breathe a sigh of relief.

PA Media Tokihayate and Shonannoumi in the Makuuchi Division bout against Kotoeiho on day two of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall, LondonPA Media
Thursday's bout between Tokihayate and Shonannoumi resulted in both men falling into the audience below
PA Media Tokihayate and Shonannoumi in the Makuuchi Division bout against Kotoeiho on day two of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall, LondonPA Media
The two weigh a combined 320kg
AFP via Getty Images Top shot of Hakuoho facing Oho during their bout on day 2 of the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in central LondonAFP via Getty Images
A six-tonne Japanese temple roof hangs over the ring

Of course, the size of the rikishi is one of the first things most people think of when they think of sumo. The Albert Hall's director of programming revealed to The Guardian earlier this week that they "had to source and buy new chairs which can take up to 200kg in weight".

But sumo - for all its sell-out events - is not without its troubles behind the scenes. A series of scandals over the last couple of decades around bullying, match fixing and sexism have dented its image.

And then there is the fact that last year - while being a bumper one for ticket sales - saw the lowest number of new recruits joining the stables.

Perhaps the strict life of a rikishi doesn't look as appealing as it once might have. Its popularity among young Japanese is also being threatened by other sports, like baseball. As Thomas Fabbri, the BBC's resident sumo fan, said: "My Japanese friends think I'm mad, as they see it as a sport for old people."

Japan's falling birthrate will also not help - nor is the Japanese Sumo Association's rule which restricts each stable to just one foreign rikishi. Despite this, Mongolians have dominated for the past few years - and one of the most exciting rising stars hails from Ukraine.

Dan Milne-Morey, Megha Okhai and Caspar Eliot with a few of their sumo towels - which represent their favourite rikishi
Dan Milne-Morey, Megha Okhai and Caspar Eliot with a few of their sumo towels - which represent their favourite rikishi

Not that any of this has worried fans in London.

"Seeing all this ritual and ceremony that goes with sumo is quite special," fan Sian says. "Now, seeing it in person, you feel like you are more part of it."

Julia and Cesar agree in a message the next day.

"It's a Japanese sport but we didn't feel out of place, so many people from all around the world around us."

For Megha, the drama "made it so incredible" - as did meeting the other fans.

"Getting out of a very niche Reddit community and being able to see all these sumo fans in person and being able to chat with other people who are just as into this as we are - it was worth every penny of sumo gold."

Additonal reporting by Thomas Fabbri

Want to watch? Audiences can tune in via BBC iPlayer, the BBC Red Button, the BBC Sport website and app.

'It's scary to think I could have died': How Americans are coming back from fentanyl addiction

18 October 2025 at 07:42
Tim Mansel Kayla smiles for the cameraTim Mansel
Kayla says she became "instantly addicted" to fentanyl as a teenager

Kayla first tried fentanyl as a troubled 18-year-old, growing up in the US state of North Carolina.

"I felt like literally amazing. The voices in my head just completely went silent. I got instantly addicted," she remembers.

The little blue pills Kayla became hooked on were probably made in Mexico, and then smuggled across the border to the US - a deadly trade President Donald Trump is trying to crack down on.

But drug cartels aren't pharmacists. So, Kayla never knew how much fentanyl was in the pill she was taking. Would there be enough of the synthetic opioid to kill her?

"It's scary to think about that," Kayla says, reflecting on how she could have overdosed and died at any moment.

In 2023, there were over 110,000 drug-related deaths in the US. The march of fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than heroin, seemed unstoppable.

But then came a staggering turnaround.

In 2024, the number of fatal overdoses across the US fell by around 25%. That's nearly 30,000 fewer deaths – dozens of lives saved every day. Kayla's state, North Carolina, is at the forefront of that trend.

Why fatal overdoses have fallen so sharply

One of the explanations is a commitment to harm reduction. This means promoting policies that prioritise drug users' health and wellbeing rather than criminalising people - a recognition that in an era of fentanyl, drug-taking too often ends with death by overdose.

In North Carolina, where Kayla still lives, and where overdose fatalities are currently down by an impressive 35%, harm reduction strategies are well-developed.

Kayla no longer takes street drugs. And she's a client of an innovative law enforcement assisted diversion (LEAD) programme in Fayetteville. It's a partnership between the town's police and the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition. Together, they work to divert substance users away from crime, and get them on the road to recovery.

Tim Mansel Ly Jamaal Littlejohn poses in front of a police carTim Mansel
Lt Jamaal Littlejohn watched his own sister deal with substance use disorder

"If someone's stealing from a grocery store, we run their criminal history. And often we see that the crimes they're committing appear to fund the addiction they have," says Lt Jamaal Littlejohn.

This might make them a candidate for the LEAD programme, meaning they can get support to tackle their addiction, and can start thinking about secure housing and employment.

The proponents of LEAD say it isn't about being soft on crime. Drug dealers still go to prison in Fayetteville. "But if we can get people the services they need, it gives law enforcement more time to deal with bigger crimes," argues Lt Littlejohn, who watched his own sister struggle with a substance use disorder.

Kayla has blossomed. She's such a long way now from the days when she used prostitution to fund her fentanyl habit. As part of the LEAD process, her criminal record has been wiped. She recently graduated as a certified nurse assistant, and is now working in a residential home.

"It's like the best thing ever. This is the longest time I've been clean," she says.

Critical to Kayla's recovery has been treatment. She's been taking methadone for nearly a year when she tells her story to the BBC. "It's keeping me from going back," she believes.

Methadone and buprenorphine are medications used to treat opioid use disorder. They stem cravings and stop painful withdrawal. Nationwide, treatment has played a role in puncturing the overdose fatality statistics.

In North Carolina, it's been a game-changer: more than 30,000 people were enrolled in a programme in 2024, with numbers climbing in 2025.

'You're still playing Russian roulette, but your odds improve'

Tim Mansel A worker sits behind a reception window at a clinic. Printed notices adorn the surrounding wallTim Mansel
This Morse Clinic experiences its busiest time soon after 05:30

At 09:00 at one of the Morse Clinics in the state capital of Raleigh, two or three people wait their turn in reception.

"The busiest time is 5.30am to 7am, so before work," says Dr Eric Morse, an addiction psychiatrist running nine clinics offering medication assisted treatment (MAT) in North Carolina. "Most of our folks are working - once they're sober, they show up to work on time every day."

The clinic runs a finely-tuned operation. After patients check in, they're called to a dosing window to receive their prescription. They're in and out in minutes.

They'll randomly be drug tested for illicit narcotics. Dr Morse says around half his patients are still testing positive for opioids bought on the street, but he doesn't see this as failure.

"Maybe you're using once a week and you're used to using three times a day… You're still playing Russian roulette with fentanyl but you've taken a whole bunch of bullets out of the chamber, so your survival rate goes up significantly," says Dr Morse.

This is harm reduction. So rather than be expelled from the treatment programme, patients who get a positive drug test are given extra support and counselling. Dr Morse says 80-90% will eventually stop using street drugs altogether. And in time, many will taper off their medication too.

The abstinence debate

Tim Mansel Mark Pless speaks to the BBCTim Mansel

Not everyone thinks this is the right approach.

Mark Pless is a Republican who sits in North Carolina's state House of Representatives, and used to be a full-time paramedic. He points out that illegal drug-taking starts with a choice.

And he doesn't believe in harm reduction. In particular he's against treating opioid use disorder with medications like methadone or buprenorphine.

"You're replacing an addictive product with another addictive product," he says. "If you have to take it in order to stay clean, it's still addictive. We've got to figure out how to get people to where they can do better – we can't leave them on drugs forever."

He favours abstinence treatment programmes, when drug users go "cold turkey".

But there's pushback from health professionals in North Carolina.

"I believe there are multiple paths to recovery," says Dr Morse. "I'm not pooh-poohing abstinence-based treatment - except when you look at the medical evidence."

Dr Morse references a Yale University study from 2023 analysing the risk of death for opioid users in a treatment programme compared to people not in treatment. The study suggested that someone in abstinence treatment was as likely - or more more likely - to have a fatal overdose as a person who wasn't in treatment and was continuing to use street opioids like fentanyl.

Treatment aside, another drug is helping.

Naloxone is widely available, and used as a nasal spray it reverses the effect of an opioid overdose, helping someone breathe again. In North Carolina in 2024, it was administered more than 16,000 times. That's potentially 16,000 lives saved – and these are only the overdose reversals that have been reported.

"This is as close to a miracle drug as we can ever imagine," says Dr Nabarun Dasgupta, a scientist specialising in street drugs at the University of North Carolina.

Tim Mansel Dr Nabarun DasguptaTim Mansel
Dr Nabarun Dasgupta hails the benefits of naloxone

Many users of narcotics like cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin want to know that what they're taking won't kill them. Some people use test-strips to check for fentanyl, because they know it's been implicated in so many fatal overdoses.

But the strips don't identify all potentially harmful substances. Dr Dasgupta runs a national drugs-testing laboratory. Users send him a tiny bit of their drug supply via local non-profit organisations.

"We've analysed close to 14,000 samples from 43 states over the last three years," he says.

A generational shift

Testing drugs for potentially dangerous additives is an additional weapon in the harm reduction armoury. Dr Dasgupta believes another reason for decreasing overdose fatalities in the US is that young people are avoiding opioids like fentanyl.

"We see a demographic shift. Generation Z are dying of overdose much less frequently than their parents or their grandparents' generations were at the same age," he says.

Dr Dasgupta isn't entirely surprised 20-somethings are steering clear of opioids. A shocking four out of 10 American adults know someone whose life has been ended by an overdose.

It was this epidemic of death, set in train in the 1990s by prescription opioids, that motivated North Carolina's former attorney general - now the state governor - to move against powerful corporations benefitting from so many Americans' dark spiral down into addiction.

Josh Stein picked up the phone to his counterparts in other states, and took a leading role in co-ordinating legal action against opioid manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

Tim Mansel Josh Stein speaks to the BBCTim Mansel
North Carolina Governor Josh Stein took a leading role in co-ordinating legal action against opioid manufacturers

"There was a Republican attorney general in Tennessee, I'm Democrat in North Carolina… But we're all caring about our people and we're all willing to fight for them," Stein reflects.

The upshot, after years of intense negotiations, was an Opioid Settlement totalling some $60bn (£45bn). This is money that huge companies have agreed to pay to US states, to be used for the "abatement of the opioid epidemic". North Carolina's share is around $1.5bn.

"It has to be spent in four ways – drug prevention, treatment, recovery, or harm reduction. I think it's transformative," says Governor Stein.

Meanwhile, funding from the national government is uncertain. The cuts to Medicaid included in President Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill Act could have a tremendous impact on this area.

In the Morse Clinics in Raleigh, 70% of patients depend on Medicaid. If they lose health insurance, will they end treatment and become more vulnerable to death by overdose? Although North Carolina's drug fatality statistics look optimistic, thousands of people are still dying - and the state's black, indigenous and non-white populations haven't experienced the same rates of decrease.

And there remain other states that have witnessed a stubbornly slower rate of decrease in lethal overdoses - including Nevada and Arizona.

Tim Mansel Charlton Roberson speaks to the BBCTim Mansel
Kayla credits Charlton Roberson, her mentor at North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, with being instrumental in her recovery

No one is complacent. Least of all Kayla.

In the grip of fentanyl for three long years, she never overdosed herself, but she did have to save her friends. Kayla's parents didn't know what to do with her.

"They kind of gave up on me - they thought I was gonna be dead," she remembers.

Kayla credits Charlton Roberson, her harm reduction mentor, as being instrumental in her recovery. Her aim now is to taper off methadone and become medication- and drug-free. She also wants to find a job in a hospital.

"I feel more alive than I ever did when I was using fentanyl," she says.

If you've been affected by the issues in this story, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line.

Red Cross retrieves body of dead hostage in Gaza, Israel says

18 October 2025 at 05:51
BBC 'Breaking' graphicBBC

Israel's military says the Red Cross has retrieved a coffin of a deceased hostage in the southern Gaza Strip and is now "on the way to IDF [Israel Defence Forces] troops" in the territory.

Posting on X, the IDF urged the public to "act with sensitivity and wait for the official identification, which will first be provided to the families".

It also stressed that Hamas was required to "return all the deceased hostages" in accordance with a Gaza ceasefire agreement.

This follows an earlier statement from Hamas that it would hand over the body of an Israeli hostage to the Red Cross.

Hamas has returned the bodies of nine of the 28 dead hostages in Gaza, and freed all 20 living hostages.

Israel has freed 250 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and 1,718 detainees from Gaza as part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

Customers sue over 'embarrassing' squeaky On Cloud shoes

18 October 2025 at 03:58
Bloomberg via Getty Images A pair of white and pink sneakers with holes in the soleBloomberg via Getty Images
A customer tries on sneakers at On NYC flagship store in New York

Athletic shoe company On is facing a lawsuit from customers who claim that its popular sneakers make a "noisy and embarrassing squeak".

The "CloudTec" sneakers typically cost around $200 (£150) and have holes in the sole designed to make users feel like they are "running on clouds". Instead, the lawsuit says, they cause issues in daily life - especially for nurses who wear them all day.

"No reasonable consumer would purchase Defendant's shoes - or pay as much for them as they did - knowing each step creates an audible and noticeable squeak," the customers allege.

The company, which did not immediately respond to a BBC enquiry, has declined to comment on the allegations.

The class action lawsuit was filed on October 9 in US District Court in Oregon.

The customers say that multiple On sneaker styles are unwearable without "significant DIY modifications". They accused the company of "deceptive marketing".

The plaintiffs, who claim they were unable to return the shoes after complaining about the noise, are seeking refunds and other damages.

The Switzerland-based sneaker company could have "fixed the design, and/or offered to fix the shoes or [given] consumers their money back but did none of those things", the complaint alleges, citing the Cloudmonster and Cloudrunner models, among others.

One customer claimed in the complaint that she was "no longer able to use her shoes as intended due to the embarrassment and annoyance".

The plaintiffs in their complaint reference social media posts, on TikTok and Reddit, from other frustrated customers who have suggested at-home remedies for the noise - including applying coconut oil to the soles of the shoes.

On, which is backed by the tennis player Roger Federer, reported better-than-expected earnings in August. Its quarterly revenue was boosted by direct-to-consumer sales.

Earlier this year, the company said sales of its Cloudmonster and Cloudsurfer sneaker models contributed "significantly" to its growth.

Who is Prince Andrew? The royal who has given up his titles

18 October 2025 at 05:09
Getty Images Prince Andrew, is a middle-aged man with grey hair. He is wearing a dark grey coat and red and blue patterned tie with a white shirt. He is looking off camera to his leftGetty Images

Prince Andrew will no longer use his royal titles, including the Duke of York, after discussions with his brother, King Charles III.

The prince had already returned military titles and royal patronages in 2022, and stopped using the title His Royal Highness in an official capacity, after he was accused of sexual abuse in a civil case in the US.

He later settled the case brought against him by Virginia Giuffre, a victim of sex trafficking and abuse by Jeffrey Epstein, who alleged the prince sexually abused her when she was under the age of 18 - something the prince has consistently denied.

The prince's latest announcement came days before the posthumous memoir of Ms Giuffre was due for release - almost six months after she took her own life in April 2025.

Who is Prince Andrew?

The 65-year-old prince is the third child of the late Queen Elizabeth II and he is eighth in line to the throne.

His elder siblings are his brother King Charles and his sister Anne, the Princess Royal.

He is divorced from Sarah Ferguson - who lost her title as Duchess of York when the prince stopped using his own royal title - with whom he has two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

Getty Images Prince Andrew, a middle aged man with short white hair, is dressed in a navy suit with a white shirt and yellow and green tie.Getty Images

What was Prince Andrew accused of?

The Duke of York was accused of sexual abuse in a civil case in the US.

In court documents, Virginia Giuffre said she was the victim of sex trafficking and abuse by Jeffrey Epstein from the age of 16.

Part of her abuse involved being lent out to other powerful men - including Prince Andrew, she alleged.

Ms Giuffre says the prince sexually assaulted her on three occasions when she was under the age of 18.

Prince Andrew has consistently denied all the allegations against him. He said in an interview with BBC Newsnight in 2019 that he had no recollection of ever meeting Ms Giuffre.

On 15 February 2022 a letter filed to the US district court said the duke and Ms Giuffre had reached an out-of-court settlement.

It said the duke - who made no admission of liability - would pay an undisclosed sum to Ms Giuffre.

Where does Prince Andrew get his money from?

It is thought Prince Andrew received an annual sum from the Sovereign Grant - which covers official duties - until 2019, when he stood down as a working Royal.

However, the amount was not made public and it is not known whether he subsequently received money from his late mother the Queen Elizabeth II's - or later his brother King Charles' - private funds.

Royal sources say the King cut off Andrew's funding last year.

In 2007, the prince sold his Sunninghill Park home for £15m - £3m more than the asking price - to Timor Kulibayev, the son-in-law of the then-president of Kazakhstan. The 12-bedroom house near Windsor Castle had been given to the prince as a wedding present from Queen Elizabeth.

He lives in the Royal Lodge in Windsor, a Grade II-listed property, but that's leased from the Crown Estate and is not an asset that could be sold.

There have been repeated calls for Prince Andrew to be removed from the 30-room mansion but he has his own independent lease with the Crown Estate that lasts until 2078. Much of the costs of moving there were front-loaded when he took on the property in 2003 and there is little obvious incentive for Andrew to leave now.

Prince Andrew seems to have cultivated his own independent sources of funding since leaving public life, including business connections with China, the Gulf States and a recently curtailed project with a Dutch start-up company. He has proved financially resilient, despite what must be significant costs in paying for his own security.

What titles has Prince Andrew given up?

Prince Andrew will remain a prince as it is a title from his birth, as the son of the monarch, with the titles he has since lost only given to him later in life.

He will no longer be called the Duke of York, which he was given when he got married in 1986, and has given up membership of the Order of the Garter.

Additionally, Prince Andrew is also giving up the titles of Earl of Inverness and Baron of Killyleagh.

In 2022 it was announced he would no longer use his title of His Royal Highness, or HRH, in any official capacity - though like Harry and Meghan, he would still retain the title privately.

The duke had a 22-year career in the Royal Navy, and served as a helicopter pilot during the 1982 Falklands War. He also commanded the mine countermeasures vessel HMS Cottesmore.

Michael Dunlea/PA Media Prince Andrew in the regalia of the Order of the Garter. He is wearing a black jacket and hat with gold chains, white ribbons and a white feather from his cap. The King, wearing the same regalia, can be seen to his leftMichael Dunlea/PA Media
Prince Andrew has given up his membership of the Order of the Garter

His military appointments were suspended after he stepped back from public duties in 2019.

He also lost a series of UK military titles including colonel of the Grenadier Guards, honorary air commodore of RAF Lossiemouth and colonel-in-chief of the Royal Irish Regiment.

What patronages were returned?

The job of a royal patron is to bring publicity to a cause or service.

The prince used to be a patron to about 200 charities and organisations.

But after the controversial BBC interview in 2019, in which he denied allegations that he had sex with Ms Giuffre, many chose to cut ties with him. They included the Outward Bound Trust, English National Ballet, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and London Metropolitan University.

Prince Andrew had still been left with dozens of other patronages - including being a patron or member of prestigious golf clubs, schools and cultural trusts.

But these were later returned to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and were to be redistributed to other members of the Royal Family.

Getty Images Prince Andrew with his brother King Charles. They are both wearing black suits and tiesGetty Images

What other roles has Prince Andrew had?

After retiring from the Navy, Prince Andrew served as the UK's special representative for trade and investment for 10 years.

But he gave up the title after he was criticised over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution.

He had also attracted criticism for combining business with pleasure on his overseas trips, and some newspapers gave him the nickname "Airmiles Andy".

The prince's judgement was also questioned for holding meetings with former Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif, and for entertaining the son-in-law of Tunisia's ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali at Buckingham Palace.

And in November 2010, a secret cable published on Wikileaks revealed a US ambassador wrote that he spoke "cockily" during an official engagement, leading a discussion that "verged on the rude".

From 2011 to 2019, Prince Andrew was a working Royal.

One focus was Pitch@Palace - an initiative he started to help entrepreneurs seeking investment.

In 2020 it removed Prince Andrew's name from its website, after prominent supporters distanced themselves amid revelations about his friendship with Epstein.

Questions were raised about his judgement after it was alleged a "close confidant" was a Chinese spy.

The prince said he had "ceased all contact" with the businessman after being advised to do so by the government.

Government 'doing everything' to overturn Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban

18 October 2025 at 02:25
JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Maccabi Tel Aviv fans hold up a scarf in the airport before their trip to AmsterdamJACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty

The government has said it is "doing everything in our power" to overturn a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending a football match in Birmingham and is exploring what additional resources could be required.

On Thursday, Aston Villa said the city's Safety Advisory Group (SAG) decided that fans of the Israeli club should not be permitted to attend the Europa League fixture on 6 November over safety concerns.

Facing mounting pressure to resolve the situation, the government said it was working with police and exploring what additional resources are required.

A meeting of the SAG to discuss the match is expected next week, the Home Office said.

Sir Keir Starmer called the move to block fans attending "wrong", adding "we will "not tolerate antisemitism on our streets", while there has also been criticism from other party leaders.

The SAG - which advises the council on whether to issue safety certificates - will review the decision if West Midlands Police changes its risk assessment for the match, Birmingham City Council said.

On Thursday, West Midlands Police said it had classified the fixture 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 Home Office was briefed that restrictions on visiting fans might be imposed last week, but the BBC understands officials were not informed about the final decision until Thursday.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the revelation left the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, with "serious questions to answer" about why her department did "nothing" to avert the ban.

She said: "This is a weak government that fails to act when required."

A source close to Mahmood told the BBC that "this is categorically untrue".

"The first time the home secretary knew that the fans were being banned was last night," they added.

Landmark deal to cut global shipping emissions in tatters after US pressure

18 October 2025 at 00:31
BBC Breaking NewsBBC

A landmark deal to cut global shipping emissions has been abandoned after Saudi Arabia and the US succeeded in ending the talks.

More than 100 countries had gathered in London to approve a deal first agreed in April, which would have seen shipping become the world's first industry to adopt internationally mandated targets to reduce emissions.

But President Trump had called the plan a "green scam" and representatives of the US administration had threatened countries all week with tariffs if they had voted in favour.

Reflecting the pressure countries faced, the Secretary General of the Internatiobal Maritime Organisation issued a "plea" for this not to be repeated.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

Award for dog, abandoned five times but now solving wildlife crime

17 October 2025 at 13:16
BBC Henry, a black and white springer spaniel lies on the grass chewing a tennis ball as his owner Louise Wilson sits behind him smiling.BBC
Henry was a "lost soul" who found his purpose as a detection dog

A "superdog" rejected from five homes for his energetic nature has won an international award for his ability to help catch criminals and save wildlife.

Henry, a 10-year-old Springer Spaniel, has been named Animal of the Year by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), which recognises the unsung heroes of animal welfare.

He was rescued by Louise Wilson, of Conservation K9 Consultancy in Wrexham, at eight months old when he was a "lost soul" struggling to find a home.

Now Henry can detect seven scents, ranging from birds of prey to hedgehogs, helping police track down those involved in wildlife crime.

Henry can locate bird carcasses and even small monitoring tags removed from birds, and his nose has helped police target criminals who kill or steal birds of prey.

Although not a police dog, he has been invaluable to the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) in their work protecting birds of prey.

Det Insp Mark Harrison, from the NWCU, said Henry's work is crucial in helping police to gather evidence for potential crimes.

"If we don't recover anything, the investigation grinds to a halt," he said.

"We had a search recently and underneath a load of heather where you couldn't see a thing from the surface, Henry recovered a tiny bird's skull."

Det Insp Harrison also said intelligence showed that offenders are "scared and worried" by the work being done by animals like Henry.

Henry sat in a field after locating a dead bird as Louise stands over him holding his leash.
Henry can detect seven different scents including hedgehogs and pine martens

As well as working with police, Henry also helps conservationists with "ecological monitoring", including for pine martens, hedgehogs, otters and water voles.

Louise has worked around the world with dogs detecting firearms, explosives and tobacco, but said Henry was one of a growing number involved in conservation detecting and tackling wildlife crime.

She said Henry's strong will and "unruly energy" make him the perfect detection dog.

"He's got so much energy and drive and as soon as we trained him for conservation detection we were able to give him focus," she said.

IFAW Henry was honoured at the awards, presented by wildlife presenter Michaela Strachan. Pictured at the awards with Louise Wilson, who rescued him, and an unnamed official from the International Fund for Animal WelfareIFAW
Henry was honoured at the awards, presented by wildlife presenter Michaela Strachan

Henry was honoured at the 25th Animal Action Awards in London on Thursday, alongside human conservations from around the world.

Wildlife presenter Michaela Strachan, who presented the awards, described Henry as a "superdog", praising Louise's work training him.

"To be able to train a dog like Henry to do the work that he does needs an enormous amount of time, patience, dedication and commitment," she said.

"The two of them together are a formidable team for wildlife protection."

'We're doing everything we can' to overturn ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, government says

18 October 2025 at 01:44
JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Maccabi Tel Aviv fans hold up a scarf in the airport before their trip to AmsterdamJACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty

The government has said it is "doing everything in our power" to overturn a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending a football match in Birmingham and is exploring what additional resources could be required.

On Thursday, Aston Villa said the city's Safety Advisory Group (SAG) decided that fans of the Israeli club should not be permitted to attend the Europa League fixture on 6 November over safety concerns.

Facing mounting pressure to resolve the situation, the government said it was working with police and exploring what additional resources are required.

A meeting of the SAG to discuss the match is expected next week, the Home Office said.

Sir Keir Starmer called the move to block fans attending "wrong", adding "we will "not tolerate antisemitism on our streets", while there has also been criticism from other party leaders.

The SAG - which advises the council on whether to issue safety certificates - will review the decision if West Midlands Police changes its risk assessment for the match, Birmingham City Council said.

On Thursday, West Midlands Police said it had classified the fixture 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 Home Office was briefed that restrictions on visiting fans might be imposed last week, but the BBC understands officials were not informed about the final decision until Thursday.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the revelation left the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, with "serious questions to answer" about why her department did "nothing" to avert the ban.

She said: "This is a weak government that fails to act when required."

A source close to Mahmood told the BBC that "this is categorically untrue".

"The first time the home secretary knew that the fans were being banned was last night," they added.

We're furious the 'Lip King' is selling weight-loss jabs, say dead mother's family

18 October 2025 at 01:32
BBC A funeral floral arrangement for Alice WebbBBC

Alice Webb thought she'd be home in time for the school run.

In September last year, she had booked a non-surgical Brazilian butt lift (BBL) with Jordan Parke, a self-styled practitioner known as the "Lip King". The procedure typically sees dermal filler injected to make the buttocks bigger.

Hours later she was dead.

The BBC has discovered that while Mr Parke - who was arrested but not charged - is not currently offering Brazilian butt lifts, he is still operating in the cosmetics industry, illegally selling prescription-only weight-loss jabs on social media.

Speaking for the first time since her death, Alice's family say our findings make them "incredibly angry".

Photo of April Palmer, sister of Alice Webb who died following a Brazilian butt lift procedure one year ago. April is wearing all black clothes and is standing in the sunshine in a garden
April Palmer says her sister Alice's death has left the family 'broken'

The morning had begun like any other. Alice had dropped her five children at school in her pink-and-gold-wheeled car, country music blasting from the speakers.

"I had been in touch with Alice quite a lot that day," recalls her sister April Palmer, "we'd been talking about the children."

A few hours later Alice stopped texting. Several messages and calls went unanswered. April eventually got through but it was a paramedic who picked up and told her Alice was unresponsive and being taken to hospital.

The family got there as quickly as they could, but on arrival doctors explained just how serious the situation was.

"It was probably an hour until she passed," says April, her voice shaking. "And then we spent until the early hours of the morning with Alice.

"We said we loved her, we held her hand, stroked her hair."

Alice passed away before her children awoke that morning. April and the girls' fathers faced the heartbreaking task of telling her five daughters.

Ben recalled: "We all met at the house at about half past six, we wanted to tell them before they got up for school. We didn't want them getting ready. It was awful."

A composite image of a selfie photo of Jordan Parke wearing sunglasses, a black top and red leggings - e is holding his mobile phone and has gold jewellery and long red fingernails - and a photograph of the contents of the package which the BBC ordered from Mr Parke. Shows a small vial of white powder, a snap bottle of mixing agent and syringes.
Jordan Parke has a large social media following where he posts about his business. Contents of the package of weight loss jabs which the BBC ordered from Mr Parke.

Mr Parke was arrested on suspicion of her manslaughter last September. He is still on bail but hasn't been charged.

While it appears Mr Parke is not currently offering BBLs, our investigation has uncovered that he is still operating in the cosmetics industry. We have now found him illegally selling prescription-only weight-loss jabs on social media.

This isn't anything new - in 2023, another woman told the BBC she had ended up in A&E vomiting blood after taking weight-loss jabs from him.

After that incident, and in the wake of Alice's death, we investigated whether it was still possible to purchase jabs from him.

Watch: Jordan Parke sent this 'how to' video with the illegally sold weight-loss jabs

After a quick Instagram exchange and a payment of over £200 our order went through.

The kits were delivered by post. We opened the unlabelled white envelope and found needles, mixing agents and a vial of unlabelled white powder. There were no instructions in the package.

Lab tests by Dr Stephen Childs at the University of Sunderland confirmed it was semaglutide, which is also found in the diabetes drug Ozempic and the weight-loss drug Wegovy.

When prescribed by a professional, the medication can be self-administered as weekly injections via pre-filled pens. People must have at least one existing weight-related health condition, such as high blood pressure, and be obese to qualify.

This medication is carefully controlled and Mr Parke is not legally allowed to prescribe it.

In 2023, Maddy, then 32, says she bought similar jabs from him. After her first injection she says she became extremely ill, bed-bound and vomiting. Mr Parke said it would pass and advised anti-sickness tablets.

But when she tried the same jabs again weeks later, Maddy says the reaction was worse.

"It was bad," she told the BBC. "I was throwing up all night, to the point where I was throwing up stomach acid, blood, white foam."

When we told Maddy that Mr Parke was still selling weight-loss jabs, she said it gave her "goosebumps".

"I'm honestly disgusted. I remember being in A&E and wanting to die because I was suffering that much. It was horrendous."

Dr Sophie Shooter, an experienced aesthetic doctor, said it was "shocking" Mr Parke could sell weight-loss jabs in this way. She warned that when not prescribed correctly semaglutide can lead to serious medical conditions, including thyroid problems and pancreatitis, which can be life-threatening.

Dr Shooter said preparing drugs for injection was something she was specially trained to do as an anaesthetist and not something the customer should be doing at home, without training.

"You could give yourself more or less than intended and that is fraught with danger," explaining that usually, weight-loss jabs come already mixed and measured.

"The fact that Jordan Parke is able to do this is an embarrassment," she said. "We're the laughing stock of the rest of the world, because I don't know a single other country where this would be allowed to happen."

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for investigating claims involving the unlicensed distribution or sale of prescription-only medicines.

Police said selling weight-loss jabs without a prescription wouldn't breach Mr Parke's bail conditions.

Alice Webb's mother Rachael stands next to a window and a funeral floral arrangement with photos of Alice.
Flowers and photos from the Alice's funeral still cover her mother's home

Alice's family are furious that Jordan Parke is illegally selling weight-loss drugs.

"He shouldn't be [selling them]," says Ben, the father of Alice's eldest daughter Delsie. "It's as simple as that. I don't know how he sleeps at night."

The family say every milestone and occasion is marked by the shadow of her absence. The day one of her children learnt to ride a bike didn't feel right without her. Neither did buying Delsie a dress for school prom.

In Gloucestershire, Alice's mother Rachael is turning preserved funeral blooms into wreaths for friends and family - a small talisman to mark the one-year anniversary.

"She was special to a lot of people," Rachael says.

For the family, the anniversary is a moment to both grieve and reflect - but the ongoing police investigation hangs over them.

The BBC approached Jordan Parke for comment and to offer him a chance to speak but he did not respond.

Gloucestershire Police told us: "Alice's death is believed to have been the first death of this kind in the United Kingdom, and there are numerous complexities for the team to investigate."

"We understand and appreciate that Alice's family want answers and we are actively investigating her death and working with medical specialists in order to determine what happened in order to provide those answers."

Ben, the father of Alice's eldest daughter Delsie.  He is wearing a blue jeans and a t-shirt with Hansen 1877 logo on it.  He as short dark brown hair.
Ben, the father of Alice's eldest daughter Delsie

Following her death, Alice's family, together with safer cosmetics charity Save Face, launched a campaign calling for a ban on liquid BBLs from high-street beauty clinics.

And in August the government announced plans to strengthen regulation of the cosmetics industry.

Only qualified surgeons will be able to carry out non-surgical BBLs and clinics will need to meet strict rules to obtain licences to offer fillers and Botox.

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "This government is taking action to root out dangerous treatments, with tough new measures to make sure only qualified healthcare professionals will be able to perform the highest-risk procedures."

"For anyone considering a cosmetic procedure, please check the provider's qualifications and insurance - and avoid treatments that appear suspiciously cheap."

There's no clear date for implementation yet. Until then, oversight sits with local authorities – who say they lack the powers to control the industry.

There have been more than 1,800 complaints about practitioners since 2022, according to freedom of information data we requested from councils. Of those, 799 providers have been investigated and 85 shut down.

There are also 156 councils in the dataset which have had more than one complaint made but not carried out inspections in the year of the complaint.

The Local Government Association - which represents local authorities - say they welcome government plans for a licensing scheme but argue more funding is needed.

Victor Ktorakis, from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, says they are pressing for urgent action.

"My fear is we're going to get to a point where there are so many premises and practitioners operating, that it is going to be very, very difficult to manage it from a public safety point of view - which is why we need something in place as soon as possible.

"And we do need time scales, and we need clarity."

Euphoria confirms new cast members for season three

18 October 2025 at 00:51
Getty Images Maude Apatow, Hunter Schafer, Sydney Sweeney, and Zendaya attend Euphoria FYC at Paramount Theatre on December 18, 2022 in Los Angeles, CaliforniaGetty Images
L-R: Maude Apatow, Hunter Schafer, Sydney Sweeney and Zendaya will all be returning to the series

US actors Danielle Deadwyler, Natasha Lyonne and Eli Roth will join the cast of Euphoria when it returns for its third season next year.

The hugely popular series will be broadcast in the spring of 2026 after a nearly four-year break, broadcaster HBO confirmed on Friday.

The new stars join the previously announced returning cast including Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Hunter Schafer and Colman Domingo.

Euphoria follows a group of young students as they navigate issues such as love, friendship, drugs, sex, trauma and social media.

The third season of the Emmy-winning show went into production earlier this year in Los Angeles, and will consist of eight episodes.

According to reports, the new series will feature a time jump that moves the show's younger characters out of high school.

The second season concluded with Zendaya's character Rue getting sober, but with several storylines unresolved.

It's taken several years for the show to return, partly because showrunner Sam Levinson has been working on other projects.

But the show also made huge stars of its young cast, who have become major Hollywood stars since the show launched and appeared in a string of other projects in the intervening years.

Storm Reid, who played Zendaya's onscreen sister, is not returning for series three.

Actor Angus Cloud, who played drug dealer Fezco, died aged 25 after season two, which ended on a major cliff-hanger involving his character.

Details of the new characters and their plot lines have not yet been announced.

Who is joining Euphoria for season three?

Getty Images Trisha Paytas, Danielle Deadwyler and Natasha LyonneGetty Images
L-R: Trisha Paytas, Danielle Deadwyler and Natasha Lyonne are among the actors joining for season three

The 18 newly announced cast members include Danielle Deadwyler, who has been nominated for several major awards for her performance in films such as Till and The Piano Lesson.

Natasha Lyonne, who has starred in Orange is the New Black, American Pie and His Three Daughters will also join for season three.

American Hustle and Apocalypse Now star Colleen Camp, Hostel star and creator Eli Roth, and singer and YouTuber Trisha Paytas have also joined the cast.

Other actors to join include The Wire's Kwame Patterson, Ozark's Madison Thompson, True Blood's Sam Trammell, The Unit's Rebecca Pidgeon, and NFL star-turned-actor Matthew Willig.

Cailyn Rice, of Yellowstone spin-off 1923 and Bella Podaras, known for Ashley Garcia: Genius in Love will also star, alongside Gideon Adlon, who appeared in Netflix's The Society and Jessica Blair Herman of American Crime Story.

The new cast is rounded out by Bill Bodner, Jack Topalian, known for General Hospital, Hemky Madera, who has appeared in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Netflix series Kaleidoscope, and Homer Gere, son of actor Richard Gere.

Who else will appear in the series?

Sharon Stone and Rosalía are among the other cast members who were previously confirmed to be joining the show this year.

Other new actors announced earlier include Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Toby Wallace, Marshawn Lynch, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Kadeem Hardison, Priscilla Delgado, James Landry Hébert, Anna Van Patten and Asante Blackk.

The show's principal starts set to return include Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Eric Dane, Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney, Alexa Demie, Maude Apatow, Colman Domingo, Martha Kelly and Chloe Cherry.

'I'm trying to forgive', says mum of baby found in Hull undertakers two years after funeral

18 October 2025 at 00:59
BBC/Joe Bilton Jasmine Beverley wearing a black coat and black glasses holding her premature baby's small blue teddy bear. She is stood in front of her son's grave which is full of coloured roses.BBC/Joe Bilton
Jasmine Beverley with one of the few keepsakes she treasures from her unborn son's time in hospital

A mother whose stillborn baby was discovered in a Hull undertakers almost two years after his funeral says she is trying to forgive the man responsible.

Jasmine Beverley gave birth to her son, Sunny Beverley-Conlin, prematurely in May 2022. They held a funeral and were given ashes.

But two years later they discovered the ashes were not his - and police later found their son's body, still at the funeral home.

On Wednesday, former undertaker Robert Bush appeared at Hull Crown Court after an investigation into human remains found at his premises. He pleaded guilty to 35 counts of fraud by false representation, one of which related to Mrs Beverley. He faces a trial on other charges in October 2026.

"I am trying to forgive him," said Mrs Beverley, "but I am finding it hard, there must be some reason why he did this."

She described Sunny's original funeral service in June 2022 as "beautiful". It was held in an on-site chapel at Legacy's headquarters.

Following the ceremony, her family were presented with an urn of ashes. They were informed by police in March 2024 they were the remains of an unidentified stranger.

Jasmine and her husband Ben Conlin returned those ashes to police. She said she had polished the urn daily and "whoever was in there, was loved like they were my own baby."

Mr Bush also admitted deceiving three other women into thinking ashes he gave them were those of their unborn babies.

PA Media Former funeral director Robert Bush leaves Hull Crown Court, he is wearing a grey three piece suit with a purple tie and pocket square. PA Media
Robert Bush denied 30 counts of preventing lawful and decent burials and one charge of stealing money from charity collection boxes

Humberside Police began investigating Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in March 2024 after they received a "call of concern for the deceased". They announced at the time 35 bodies and the ashes of at least 163 people were recovered from the firm's headquarters.

Sunny was the only stillborn baby found at the premises.

Mrs Beverley received the call that Sunny had been found whilst she was pregnant with her fifth child. She said it "ruined" the final months of her pregnancy and plunged her into a depression. At times she said she had suicidal thoughts.

Mrs Beverley said it had highlighted to her how pregnancy loss was still a taboo subject and reliving Sunny's birth had added "further distress".

BBC/Joe Weir  A small white knitted garment with a green ribbon is held by female hands.BBC/Joe Weir
Jasmine and her husband keep Sunny's sleeping bag with other keepsakes in a memory box

The family held a second funeral before Sunny was buried alongside his great-grandparents, Mrs Beverley said she was "happy that he is finally home".

Reflecting on Mr Bush's guilty plea in relation to her family, she said she felt "mixed emotions" because other families were "playing a waiting game" for next year's trial.

Mr Bush denied 30 counts of preventing lawful and decent burials and one charge of stealing money from charity collection boxes, during Wednesday's hearing at Hull Crown Court.

He was bailed until his next court appearance and will be sentenced after the conclusion of his trial.

Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

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Fears over US banks cause stock market jitters

18 October 2025 at 00:46
Getty Images A man with his back to the camera holds a mobile phone to his ear and points to computer screens showing financial market informationGetty Images

The UK's stock market has fallen sharply after a warning from two US banks sparked a widespread sell-off in global shares.

Two US regional lenders, Western Alliance Bank and Zions Bank, said on Thursday that they had been hit by either bad or fraudulent loans, sparking fears that other banks may be exposed.

Some of the UK's biggest banks, including Barclays and Standard Chartered saw their share prices fall more than 5%, taking the FTSE 100 index of leading shares down about 1.5% at one point.

Stock market indexes around the world, including Germany's Dax and the Cac 40 in France, also fell.

On Thursday, Zions Bank said it would write off a $50m loss on two loans, while Western Alliance disclosed it had started a lawsuit alleging fraud.

"Pockets of the US banking sector including regional banks have given the market cause for concern," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

"Investors have started to question why there have been a plethora of issues in a short space of time and whether this points to poor risk management and loose lending standards."

"Investors have been spooked," he added, saying that while there was no evidence of any issues with UK-listed banks, "investors often have a knee-jerk reaction when problems appear anywhere in the sector".

Investors have also been nervous following the failure of two high-profile US firms, car loan company Tricolor and car parts maker First Brands.

These failures have raised questions about the quality of deals in what is known as the private credit market - where companies arrange loans from non-bank lenders.

In addition, there have also been warnings that the surge in artificial intelligence investment has produced a bubble in the US stock market - including from Jamie Dimon, the boss of America's biggest bank, JP Morgan - leading to fears that shares are overvalued.

The market turbulence on Friday saw the price of gold reach a fresh record high of $4,380 per ounce, as investors looked for safe havens for their money.

Another closely watched measure of market nerves, the VIX volatility index sometimes called the "Fear Index", hit its highest level since April.

Celebrity MasterChef to air with sacked host John Torode

17 October 2025 at 19:09
BBC John Torode and Grace Dent pose while looking at the camera in front of the Masterchef logo in a publicity still for MasterchefBBC

The BBC has confirmed it will go ahead with broadcasting the latest series of Celebrity MasterChef, featuring sacked co-presenter John Torode.

Torode was sacked in the summer after an allegation against him using "an extremely offensive racist term" was upheld. He has said he has "no recollection" of it.

In a statement on Friday, the BBC said it had not been a "straightforward decision" but that all of the celebrities, contestants and guests involved had confirmed they were happy for the shows to be aired.

Two Christmas specials will also be aired, the corporation confirmed on Friday.

The latest series of Celebrity MasterChef was recorded earlier this year.

It was fronted by Torode and food critic Grace Dent, who stepped in after BBC News first revealed separate allegations against former host Gregg Wallace.

Wallace has said he was "deeply sorry for any distress" he caused but that "none of the serious allegations against me were upheld" by a report conducted by production company Banijay.

The same report also upheld a claim against Torode of using a severely offensive racist term.

Both presenters were sacked in July.

The BBC decided to go ahead and still show this year's amateur series of MasterChef, with both Wallace and Torode in it, for the sake of the chefs who had taken part in it.

The corporation has now confirmed that Celebrity MasterChef, featuring 15 stars, will also be aired from this autumn.

Those taking part include rugby star Alun Wyn Jones, TV personality Chris Hughes, author and broadcaster Dawn O'Porter, gladiator Jodie Ounsley, and pop star Michelle Heaton.

"Banijay UK has consulted the celebrities, contestants and guests featured and all have confirmed that they are happy for the shows to be aired," a BBC spokesperson said.

"As we have said previously, these are not straightforward decisions. We have approached this with care and consideration for all involved and we appreciate not everyone will agree with us."

Can Putin's 'Flying Kremlin' travel through EU airspace to Budapest?

18 October 2025 at 01:57
GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/POOL/AFP Russian President Vladimir Putin boards a plane following a US-Russia summit on Ukraine at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, AlaskaGAVRIIL GRIGOROV/POOL/AFP
Putin flew to Alaska in his specially modified Il-96 plane in August

The summit has not been set in stone, but if Russia's Vladimir Putin does go to Budapest to meet US President Trump in the next two weeks, he would need to clear a few hurdles first.

When Putin travelled to Alaska for his Anchorage summit in August, the US granted special permission for the presidential plane - a modified Ilyushin Il-96 airliner dubbed the "Flying Kremlin" that has four engines and is bristling with defence systems.

Russian planes are banned from US air space, and from EU air space too. So if Putin does fly to Budapest he would need special dispensation if he decided to fly over an EU member state.

It is perfectly possible, but landlocked Hungary is not the easiest destination to get to for a Russian president who rarely sets foot abroad and has not travelled to the EU for years.

"For now, of course, it's not clear," says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. "What we do have is the willingness of the presidents to hold such a meeting."

Days after Putin ordered Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU froze the assets of both its leader and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

A blanket ban was also imposed on all Russian aircraft flying through the airspace of all 27 EU countries. Hungary and many of its neighbours are Nato member states too.

Putin has also been accused by the International Criminal Court of war crimes of unlawfully deporting and transferring of Ukrainian children to Russia.

So there are complications, although Hungary believes they can all be sorted out. Hungary is in the process of pulling out of the ICC anyway.

Putin and Hungary's Viktor Orban, probably his closest ally in the EU, have already discussed the planned summit over the phone, and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has told reporters "we will of course ensure that he can enter Hungary, hold successful talks here, and then return home".

Getty Images Two men in suits stride past a podium, both looking apprehensiveGetty Images
Hungary's Viktor Orban is one of Putin's closest allies in the EU

The EU is unlikely to create obstacles either.

Its executive commission has said any meeting that moves forward "a just and lasting peace for Ukraine" is welcome and it supports President Trump's efforts towards that.

One of the main drivers for its latest proposed sanctions on Russia - the 19th package so far - is to bring the Russians to the negotiating table, it says. And it points out there's no travel ban on Putin, only an asset freeze.

The biggest sticking point is how Russia's leader will fly from Moscow to Budapest. Clearly he will not be buying an Air Serbia ticket to Belgrade and catching the train to Hungary, which may be the most direct route to take.

He will want his Il-96 plane to guarantee his safety, but that will probably mean using the air space of an EU and Nato member state and obtaining permission to break the EU's ban on Russian planes.

European Commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said on Friday that "in terms of the direction of travel, member states can give derogations but it must be given by member states individually".

Nato has also referred the issue to respective national authorities, and as Trump is involved they may acquiesce.

A map showing countries in red that Putin might need to fly over

Even with dispensation, a look at the map shows Putin may have to take a circuitous route. Ukraine is out of the question, and probably Poland too because of Warsaw's icy relations with Moscow.

Perhaps the most direct route goes via the eastern coast of the Black Sea and Turkey, through Bulgaria and either Serbia or Romania into Hungary.

Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vucic, knows Putin well and Air Serbia has direct flights to Moscow over EU airspace. Serbia is a candidate to join the EU but is not a member.

It is the EU countries, Bulgaria or perhaps Romania, that would need to give consent, and they would have to escort Putin's plane through their airspace.

Romania has what is set to become the biggest Nato base in Europe, and Bulgaria is also building a Nato base as part of efforts to shore up the defensive alliance's eastern flank.

The BBC has approached the foreign ministries of both countries for comment.

If Putin wants to play it even more safely, he could fly via Turkey, around the south coast of Greece and then up through Montenegrin airspace before going over Serbia. But it is a far longer route.

Anadolu via Getty Images A white plane with the legend Rossiya arrives in Alaska in AugustAnadolu via Getty Images
Putin's Ilyushin plane has been dubbed the "Flying Kremlin"

Budapest is not then the easiest of venues, even if it works very well for Viktor Orban, who has long had good relations with both Putin and Donald Trump.

A high-profile international summit will do Orban no harm at all, as he is trailing in the polls before elections next spring.

Within hours of Budapest being named as a venue, Orban was on the phone to Putin and declared on his Facebook page: "Preparations are in full swing!"

Orban has little time for the EU's backing of Ukraine and he was quick to make clear Brussels would have nothing to do with the talks.

"Since the EU is pro-war, it is logical that it will be left out of this peace process," he told Hungarian radio on Friday.

European leaders will have other ideas when they see him at next week's summit in Brussels next week.

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