Police are continuing a manhunt for an asylum seeker who was mistakenly released from prison on Friday, weeks after being jailed for sexually assaulting a schoolgirl in Essex.

Ethiopian national Hadush Kebatu was meant to be sent to an immigration detention centre from HMP Chelmsford ahead of a planned deportation on Friday but Justice Secretary David Lammy said the 41-year-old is now "at large" in London.

Lammy said officers from the Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police (BTP) and Essex Police were working together to trace Kebatu, who was jailed for 12 months in September.

Sir Keir Starmer described the release as "totally unacceptable".

The prime minister said Kebatu "must be caught and deported for his crimes", adding that police are "working urgently to track him down".

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said the release was a "level of incompetence that beggars belief".

"Conservatives voted against Labour's prisoner release program because it was putting predators back on our streets," she said on X.

The Prison Service has removed an officer from discharging duties while an investigation takes place.

Essex Police said Kebatu boarded a London-bound train at Chelmsford station at 12:41 on Friday.

The force said it was informed by the prison services about "an error" at 12:57 on Friday.

A statement continued: "We understand the concern the public would have regarding this situation and can assure you we have officers working to urgently locate and detain him."

Lammy said he was "appalled" and "livid on behalf of the public".

He continued: "Let's be clear Kebatu committed a nasty sexual assault involving a young child and a woman. And for those reasons this of course is very serious."

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "We are urgently working with police to return an offender to custody following a release in error at HMP Chelmsford.

"Public protection is our top priority, and we have launched an investigation into this incident."

Kebatu's arrest in July sparked protests outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, where he had been living after arriving in the UK on a small boat.

In September, Chelmsford Magistrates' Court heard Kebatu tried to kiss a teenage girl on a bench and made numerous sexually explicit comments.

The following day, he encountered the same girl and tried to kiss her before sexually assaulting her. He also sexually assaulted a woman who had offered to help him draft a CV to find work.

During the trial, Kebatu gave his date of birth as December 1986, making him 38, but court records suggested he was 41.

He was found guilty of five offences and sentenced to 12 moths. He was also given a five-year sexual harm prevention order, which banned him from approaching or contacting any female, and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

The court heard it was his "firm wish" to be deported.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: "He is now walking the streets of Essex. Britain is broken."

A report from His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service said 262 prisoners in England and Wales were released in error between April 2024 and March 2025, up from 115 in the previous 12 months.

Catherine Connolly has been elected as the president of Ireland after a landslide victory.

She has become the 10th president of the Republic of Ireland after defeating Fine Gael's Heather Humphreys, who had already conceded to her rival.

The result, long clear from early tallies, was officially declared at Dublin Castle.

Connolly – an independent who was backed by the major left-wing parties – is taking over from Michael D Higgins who served the maximum two terms in office.

The 68-year-old, from Galway, has been a TD (member of the Irish parliament) since 2016 and previously worked as a psychologist and barrister.

She secured 914,143 first preference votes, the largest amount in Irish presidential election history.

Connolly, who made her acceptance speech first in Irish and then in English, pledged to be "an inclusive president for all".

"I will be a president who listens and reflects and who speaks when it's necessary," she said.

"I will be a voice for peace, a voice that builds on our policy of neutrality, a voice that articulates the existential threat posed by climate change, and a voice that recognises the tremendous work being done the length and breadth of the country."

When spoilt votes were excluded, Humphreys won 29% of first preference votes, while Fianna Fail's Jim Gavin, who withdrew from the race but remained on the ballot paper, won 7% first preference votes.

There were 213,738 spoiled votes, an unprecedented amount, and a turnout of 46%.

A suspect has been arrested after footage which appears to capture the alleged attempted rape of a woman on a train near Paris went viral, local media say.

Jhordana Dias, a 26-year-old Brazilian national, was allegedly attacked earlier this month. She told Le Parisien newspaper that the man boarded the train, pushed her and attempted to pull down her underwear.

Alerted by her screams, another passenger pulled out her phone to film. The footage captures a man fleeing as the train pulls into a station.

The incident has revived discussions around women's safety in France.

According to French media, a man was arrested on Friday evening by transport police in Mantes-la-Jolie, north-west of Paris. He was traced there by investigators, but it is unclear how.

He was not carrying identity documentation at the time of his arrest, but told police he was a 26-year-old Egyptian national, media reports say. He remains in custody.

The alleged incident took place on 15 October between the Choisy-le-Roi and Villeneuve-le-Roi train stations, south-east of Paris.

The video shows shows a man dressed in a black tracksuit and cap onboard a carriage.

Over the sound of a woman's cries, the woman filming can be hearing saying "you stay there" as the man appears to begin approaching her.

The train then pulls into a station, and the man disembarks and flees down the platform.

The woman who filmed the incident, named in French media only as Marguerite, has since been widely credited as having saved Ms Dias from a more serious attack.

Ms Dias, who does not speak French, reportedly filed a complaint with police in Choisy-le-Roi with the help of her brother, who translated her testimony.

The footage has been widely circulated on news outlets and social media. prompting many women to share their own experiences of harassment on public transport in France.

Two other women have since told Le Parisian that they had been victims of the same man.

Nine thousand cases of child sexual exploitation are being reviewed by the Metropolitan Police, the force has confirmed.

In a statement, the Met said it was reinvestigating the cases which involve "intra-familial, peer-on-peer and in institutional settings, along with those which do not fit the common understanding of a 'grooming gang'".

The cases are being re-examined following a national review into group-based child sexual exploitation which found it was more widespread, organised, and underreported than previously acknowledged.

The force said it took all "allegations or concerns about child sexual exploitation and child criminal exploitation incredibly seriously".

Baroness Casey's report, the National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, also found a "mismatch" in the way the way the Metropolitan Police and local authorities record child abuse.

Published in June, it found the ethnicity of people involved had been "shied away from" by authorities.

On Saturday, Scotland Yard said group-based offending was "particularly insidious and devastating in its profound impact on the children affected".

In a statement, the force added: "Since 2022, there have been significant improvements to how the Met identifies and investigates group-based offending, including training for 11,000 frontline officers and the expansion of our child exploitation teams.

"In the last year we have solved three times more cases of child sexual exploitation – representing 134 more suspects charged.

"Our commitment to safeguarding all victims of such terrible offences and bringing those responsible to justice is absolute."

'Woefully let down'

The cases the force is now reviewing cover a 15-year period, which the Met said was the same time period covered by Baroness Casey's report.

A spokesperson for Sir Sadiq Khan said the information had been published because "the mayor demanded full transparency and has consistently asked the Met to leave no stone unturned when investigating these appalling crimes".

The spokesperson added: "Any individuals or gangs exploiting children for sex are utterly abhorrent.

"Sadiq is quite clear that they must face the full force of the law.

"These children have not only suffered terrible abuse at the hands of the perpetrators but have been woefully let down by the authorities meant to protect them from harm."

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An unnamed donor is giving $130m (£100m) to the Pentagon to help pay US troops during the government shutdown, sparking ethics concerns.

US defence officials confirmed the gift, which President Donald Trump said will make up for shortfalls in paying the country's 1.32m service members, but declined to identify the donor.

Trump has provided a few clues, though, saying on Saturday "he's a big supporter of mine" and a US citizen.

The government shut down more than three weeks ago, after lawmakers failed to approve a funding deal. The Trump administration paid troops last week by shifting $8bn from military research, but it is unclear what will happen on the next payday at the end of the month.

Now in it's 25th day, the shutdown is poised to become one of the longest in US history.

"The donation was made on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of service members' salaries and benefits," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told reporters on Friday, adding that the money was allowed under the department's "general gift acceptance authority."

Trump had previewed the donation on Thursday, while also declining to identify the donor, saying, "he doesn't really want the recognition".

Before leaving for Asia on Saturday, Trump told reporters at the White House that the donor is "a great gentleman", "a patron", a "patriot" and a "wonderful man" who "doesn't want publicity".

"He prefers that his name not be mentioned, which is pretty unusual in the world I come from," Trump said. "In the world of politics you want your name mentioned."

"He put up $130 million in order to make sure — that's a lot of money — in order to make sure that the military got paid, and he's a big supporter of mine," he continued.

The funds amount to around $100 per servicemember.

While the White House was able to reallocate defence funds to pay troops last week, it remains to be seen what will happen on the next payday for the military, on 31 October. Congress has been unable to pass a bill that would keep troops being paid during the shutdown.

Most government workers have been furloughed, or in some cases, told to work without pay while the shutdown lasts.

According to defence department rules, donations over $10,000 must be reviewed by ethics officials "to determine whether the donor is involved in any claims, procurement actions, litigation, or other particular matters involving the Department that must be considered prior to gift acceptance."

Donations from non-American citizens require additional scrutiny.

While unusual, the Pentagon does sometimes accept gifts from donors, but they normally must be given to fund specific projects, such as a school, hospital, library, museum, or cemetery.

Critics questioned why the US military would accept anonymous funds.

"Using anonymous donations to fund our military raises troubling questions of whether our own troops are at risk of literally being bought and paid for by foreign powers," said Delaware Senator Chris Coons, the top Democrat on the Senate's defense appropriations subcommittee.

The first illicit production facility for weight loss medicine found in the UK has been dismantled.

The discovery, in Northampton, led to the largest single seizure of trafficked weight loss drugs ever recorded by a law enforcement agency worldwide, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said.

It said it seized tens of thousands of empty weight loss pens ready to be filled, raw chemical ingredients and more than 2,000 unlicensed Retatrutide and Tirzepatide pens due to be sent to customers.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, said: "This is a victory in the fight against the shameless criminals who are putting lives at risk.

"Don't line the pockets of criminals who don't care about your health."

The haul was estimated to be worth more than £250,000.

Alongside Northamptonshire Police, MHRA officers also found £20,000 in cash, suspected to be linked to medicines trafficking, and large amounts of sophisticated packaging and manufacturing equipment.

Andy Morling, head of MHRA's criminal enforcement unit, said people should be "extremely cautious" when buying medicines online and only get them from a registered pharmacy.

"These products are untested, unauthorised and potentially deadly," he said.

"By taking this organised criminal network out of operation and stopping tens of thousands of potentially fatal products from entering circulation, we've prevented a serious risk to public health.

"This is an illicit global market that endangers patients, puts big money in the pockets of organised criminals, and undermines legitimate healthcare."

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Parents are being urged to get their children vaccinated against flu over half-term as the NHS warned of rising cases of the disease.

There is an early flu season, health officials say, and the latest data for England showed cases and hospitalisations were increasing.

NHS England said many school children will have already received the vaccine at school but there are still options for those who have not, including pop-up clinics.

GP surgeries can give flu vaccines to school-aged children and those with certain health conditions, as well as two to three year olds, while preschoolers can also be taken to pharmacies for the vaccine.

Most children are offered the vaccine in a nasal spray rather than an injection.

NHS England's weekly flu and Covid surveillance report said there was increased flu activity "particularly among children".

Duncan Burton, chief nursing officer for England, said it was concerning that the flu had hit early this year and the increase among children was "worrying".

"Flu can spread like wildfire across schools and can make children really unwell," he said.

"The virus changes each year, so vaccination remains the best way to shield your child from getting seriously ill."

He urged parents to make sure they had opted their child in for an in-school vaccine or find their nearest clinic.

Pop-up clinics were being held in places like bowling alleys and fire stations, Mr Burton told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, adding that the vaccine was "quick, easy and safe".

Dr Fari Ahmad told BBC Breakfast that while she was seeing cases, "I don't think we've quite hit the peak yet".

"With flu, this is a war we have every year. Flu is unpredictable, it still kills people and every year we try to get enough people vaccinated so that when the big surge comes we are not decimated," she said.

Dr Ahmad said that getting enough school-age children vaccinated meant that it made that surge better, "because they are spreaders".

"It will be great for the kids individually but it will also be better for all of us," she said.

NHS England said more than 10 million vaccines have already been delivered in the latest campaign, including to almost 1.5 million school-aged children and more than 300,000 eligible two and three year olds.

Free vaccines are available to those older than 65, with certain long-term health conditions, are pregnant, live in a care home, the main carer for an older or disabled person or live with someone who has a weakened immune system.

It's been described as the mineral of the moment.

Millions of us are taking magnesium for a whole range of reasons. Can it help us sleep better? Sort our digestion problems? Give our busy brains a moment of peace?

In the fast-moving world of supplements, it's magnesium's time to shine.

And the industry is booming. The global magnesium market is worth nearly £3bn and that's set to nearly double over the next decade.

In a small factory, nestled in the Yorkshire Dales, huge plastic barrels of white powder are stacked up next to giant whirring machines.

Workers in hazmat suits carefully weigh out magnesium citrate - a compound made by mixing the mineral with citric acid - into shiny, steel containers.

"We are sending our supplies all over the world," Andrew Goring, manager director of Lonsdale Health, explains. "Around the UK, obviously, but also to Australia, parts of Asia, Kuwait, Iraq.

"It's one of our biggest sellers and the market just keeps growing."

He is shouting over the hum of the pill presser, a machine that resembles a Dalek, which pops out dozens of small white magnesium tablets a second.

"Do we actually need it?" I bellow back. "And why now, why has it become so popular?"

"Influencers, social media - that's what's pushing it," Mr Goring explains. "We've known about magnesium and its benefits for years and now, finally, it's mainstream."

I can almost hear the eye roll when I contact Kirsten Jackson, a dietitian who specialises in gut health.

"Clever marketing schemes," Ms Jackson says, "magnesium is involved in areas people are willing to invest in: their sleep, digestion, mental health."

But, she is keen to stress, this does not automatically mean we need supplements to improve those things.

Magnesium is one of several minerals in our bodies. The recommended daily amount for women is 270mg and for men, it's 300mg. We store about 25g.

It might make up less than 1% of us but "it is involved in over 300 different processes", Ms Jackson explains.

It is "especially important for our brain and mood," she says, because it helps nerves send messages properly and supports the building blocks of brain cell membranes.

It also helps balance blood sugar levels, regulate blood pressure, and is an essential player in moving calcium and potassium in and out of our cells, which maintains the rhythm of our heartbeat.

So, surely popping a pill full of the stuff should keep our bodies running smoothly?

It's more complex than that, says Ms Jackson. For a magnesium supplement to work, we need to be lacking the mineral in the first place - and it's difficult to test for any deficiency because the vast majority of our magnesium is stored in our bones and tissues.

But on an individual level, many say the supplement has made a difference.

For Katie Curran, a communications specialist who has worked with some of the biggest fashion brands, sleeping well was something she could only dream about.

"A year ago, I was struggling," she confides. "It would take so long to get to sleep, my brain was racing, and then I would get off only to wake a couple of hours later."

Katie decided to try magnesium glycinate - a combination of magnesium and glycine, an amino acid with limited evidence linking it to better sleep.

After two weeks of taking 270mg a day, she says the noise in her head started to quieten. The racing thoughts slowed down, and she began to feel like she could function again.

"My sleep definitely improved, I had more energy. I became more active. Other things changed in my life, so I can't put it down to just one thing, but I think the magnesium supplements were an important part of the puzzle."

While being deficient in magnesium can definitely affect sleep patterns, there isn't the evidence to say taking supplements will definitely improve your sleep.

Social media is awash with eager supplement-takers, many with posts stamped with "commission paid" in the corner - meaning they could earn money from their story or reel.

According to these influencers, it feels as though there is little magnesium can't help with, as they recommend a variety of different products.

Magnesium is often mixed with other compounds with the aim of helping support various parts of our bodies. For example, magnesium mixed with either L-threonate or glycinate is supposed to target brain health, which helps with sleep and stress relief.

If magnesium is combined with chloride, it is recommended for muscle tension and pre-menstrual cramps, while citrate and oxide blends are aimed at digestion and help with constipation.

The majority of us can probably relate to having at least one of those issues. But as nutritionist Kristen Stavridis stresses, the problem is there is not enough strong evidence to show the majority of these different magnesium supplements have a positive effect on the healthy population.

And even if they did - we would need to be deficient in magnesium in the first place to see a benefit.

"We have supplement companies shouting out at us: 'We are all going to die'," Ms Stavridis says, "'Quick! Take my pill and - hey presto - there's your solution'.

"Many of us are not getting enough magnesium," she continues, "around 10% of men and 20% of women are not getting the recommended daily intake.

"But just taking a supplement is not the answer."

Take sleep health, for example. Ms Stavridis says there are many conflicting studies on whether magnesium supplements really make a difference. Some trials say it can have some benefits, while some randomised controlled trials - the gold standard - are more sceptical.

There is also the added complication of supplements potentially working against each other because of the way they interact in the body.

Taking zinc, for example - a supplement often recommended for peri-menopausal women - can also affect the absorption rate of magnesium.

Basically, Ms Stavridis says, it's a minefield, and not just a simple case of "take this" and you'll be fixed.

She recommends looking at diet first. But if you are thinking about taking magnesium supplements, Ms Stavridis advises taking half the amount recommended on the packet on a daily basis and seeing how you feel.

If healthy people take too much, their kidneys can get rid of it in "expensive urine", but there are still risks, like diarrhoea, vomiting and nausea.

For those with kidney disease, taking magnesium supplements can be dangerous and can cause hypermagnesemia - a potentially life-threatening condition that can leave someone with paralysis or in a coma.

Dietitian Kirsten Jackson also says most people should "100% look at diet first".

Foods like seeds, nuts, whole-grain breads, greens and fruit are good sources of magnesium, she says.

She warns that if you don't regularly consume these types of foods, you're probably also short of other essential nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin K, fibre and prebiotics too.

"One magnesium supplement is not going to sort all that."

Saturday morning in a back street in south London - and I am leaning on a metal railing.

I am outside the Labour Party's headquarters, and this is as close to the announcement of the party's new deputy leader as I am going to get.

This was a contest Labour did not want and its outcome was so underplayed us reporters were not even let in to watch it.

Thankfully, after a bit of to and fro, they did let a few broadcast cameras in so we could watch outside and you could watch too, if you chose to.

Seven weeks ago the prime minister sacked Lucy Powell from his cabinet.

Today she became his deputy leader of the Labour Party.

Politics is a funny old business.

When Angela Rayner resigned Sir Keir Starmer used the moment to embark on a pretty widespread reshuffle of his ministerial team.

The most high profile casualty? Powell.

A month and a bit later she is back.

Not back in government, but back in a directly elected senior role within the party.

But while this is not the result of this contest Sir Keir would have preferred, it is worth briefly dwelling on the numbers in this election.

While Powell was the favourite once this race was down to two candidates and she was the clear victor, it was not a landslide.

It was not a wholesale, overwhelming rejection of Bridget Phillipson, who was seen as the candidate closer to the prime minister as a serving cabinet minister.

After the result, us reporters were still loitering in the street and we were kept waiting ages for the winner, the loser and the prime minister to leave.

Word then came as to at least one of the reasons why - the prime minister and the new deputy leader of the Labour Party were meeting.

Hedgehog diplomacy perhaps? A little spiky?

At least awkward, up to a point, surely.

That said, the expectation from some that Powell will be shooting her mouth off or frequently public disloyal is overdone.

After all, she was in government until just last month - and told me her observations and critiques will mainly be articulated privately.

Let's see.

Taking a step back from all this today, Labour is a party that knows it is currently losing - losing elections, losing attention, often losing the argument.

Powell's election is an expression of that fret.

Just think of the rows and bungles of the last seven weeks.

Rayner, Lord Mandelson. Asylum seekers. The China spy case row. The Caerphilly by-election, just for starters.

I asked Powell if things are rescuable – for the country, the government, her party.

Yes, she insisted.

Whether she is right will be the determining factor in the fate of this government.

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Former US Vice-President Kamala Harris has told the BBC she may run again for the White House.

In her first UK interview, Harris said she would "possibly" be president one day and was confident there will be a woman in the White House in future.

Making her strongest suggestion to date that she will make another presidential bid in 2028 after losing to Donald Trump last year, Harris dismissed polls that put her as an outsider to become the Democrats' pick for the next election.

Speaking to Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Harris also turned her fire on her former rival, branding Trump a "tyrant", and said warnings she made about him on the campaign trail had been proved right.

As the Democratic party searches for answers about Republican Donald Trump's decisive victory one year ago, much of the blame has been directed at former President Joe Biden for not standing down sooner.

But there have also been questions raised about whether Harris could have run a better campaign and set out a clearer message on the number one issue, the economy.

In the BBC interview Harris entertained the prospect of another run at the White House, saying her grandnieces would, "in their lifetime, for sure", see a female president.

Asked if it would be her, she said, "possibly", confirming she is considering another run at the top job.

Harris said she had not yet made a decision, but underlined that she still sees herself as having a future in politics.

"I am not done," the former vice-president said. "I have lived my entire career as a life of service and it's in my bones."

Responding to odds that place her as an outsider to win a place on the Democratic ticket - even behind Hollywood actor Dwayne the Rock Johnson - she said she never listened to polls.

"If I listened to polls I would have not run for my first office, or my second office - and I certainly wouldn't be sitting here."

Harris also said she believed predictions she made about Donald Trump behaving as a fascist and running an authoritarian government had come true.

"He said he would weaponise the Department of Justice - and he has done exactly that."

She pointed to the suspension of late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel by ABC after he made a joke about Republican reaction to the death of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk.

His removal from the airwaves, celebrated by Trump, came after the Trump-appointed regulator threatened Kimmel's broadcasters.

"You look at what has happened in terms of how he has weaponised, for example, federal agencies going around after political satirists… His skin is so thin he couldn't endure criticism from a joke, and attempted to shut down an entire media organisation in the process."

Harris also slammed business leaders and institutions in America who have, in her view, too easily bowed to the president's demands.

"There are many… that have capitulated since day one, who are bending the knee at the foot of a tyrant, I believe for many reasons, including they want to be next to power, because they want to perhaps have a merger approved or avoid an investigation."

The White House was dismissive when asked for a response to Harris's comments about the president.

"When Kamala Harris lost the election in a landslide, she should've taken the hint - the American people don't care about her absurd lies," said spokeswoman Abigail Jackson.

"Or maybe she did take the hint and that's why she's continuing to air her grievances to foreign publications."

Harris has just published her account of her rollercoaster campaign, 107 Days, the time that was left to her to run for the presidency after Biden withdrew from the race following months of speculation about his mental acuity.

In our full interview with the former vice-president, to be broadcast in the UK on Sunday at 09:00 GMT (05:00 EST), I pressed Harris several times on whether she ought to have urged Biden to make way for her sooner.

How much did she really know about his health? And a question that may haunt her - whether she would be president now, not Donald Trump, if Biden had withdrawn earlier?

The answer is plainly, unknowable - the great "if" that could have changed the fate of America.

Among the Democratic soul-searching, Harris' candidacy is often disparaged, her weaknesses as a leader pinpointed as the reasons for her defeat, not just the last-minute nature of Biden's decision.

When questioned about what went wrong, rather than plunge into deep analysis, her contention is because she started so late, it was almost impossible to win.

• Why Kamala Harris lost: A flawed candidate or doomed campaign?

But having sat down with the Californian former prosecutor in the gilded surroundings of a luxury London hotel - rather than the increasingly golden surroundings of the Oval Office as Donald Trump glitzes up the decor - the possibility of power is something she is not willing to leave behind.

Previous hints of her future presidential ambition seemed coy, non-committal - "maybe, maybe not", or "I'm not focusing on that right now".

Her candour in our conversation was more striking. She was quick, eager even, to put herself in the frame for another tilt at power. But she stopped short of making any concrete commitment.

That may be surprising given the thoroughly bruising nature of a defeat she has described as traumatising. She and her team were devastated by the defeat, which came as a surprise to them.

"My god, my god, what will happen to our country?" Harris says she repeated when the result came through.

Her attempt to explain it focuses on how narrow the gap in actual votes was between her and Trump.

The popular vote was, indeed, very tight, with less than 2% in it. However, Harris was trounced by Trump in the all-important electoral college, where each state has a certain number of votes that tally up.

• What is the US electoral college, and how does it work?

Harris was willing to drop heavy hints about her own future. But there's less willingness from her, or frankly any other senior Democrats, grappling with their party's long-term dilemmas.

How does a centre-left party with mainstream leaders take on a right-wing populist leader? Is the answer to focus on Trump? Or is it to argue more forcefully for Main Street?

When I challenged the former vice-president on why her campaign did not better connect with working people, she said she needed more time to do that, and pointed to a longstanding drift away from her party among that group.

She regrets she didn't have long enough in 2024 to make her own pitch on bread- and-butter issues like housing, or childcare.

But if she had longer next time round, it's far from guaranteed her arguments would be more compelling, or more gladly received.

Kamala Harris still travels with the trappings of an entourage. Aides anxiously watch the clock as her every minute is planned with military precision. Non-stop travel, choreographed events in different capitals, a tiny number of carefully planned TV interviews.

This time, Harris is on the move for a book tour, not a presidential race. But maybe, if she has her way, this is the start of another campaign after all.

The full interview will be broadcast on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg at 0900 on Sunday 26 Oct 2025.

Pictures: Jeff Overs/BBC

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Lucy Powell has been elected as Labour's new deputy leader after a race triggered by Angela Rayner's resignation last month.

The Manchester Central MP defeated Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson by promising to give grassroots members a louder voice and push for a "course correction" in government.

She was sacked from the cabinet in September and drew support from members who are dissatisfied with the direction of the government under Sir Keir Starmer's leadership.

Powell took 87,407 votes, comfortably beating Phillipson on 73,536, with a turnout of 16.6%.

The race began with six candidates but the field was quickly reduced to two, with Phillipson widely seen as the leadership's choice.

It was triggered by Rayner's dramatic resignation after admitting to underpaying tax on a house purchase.

While relations between Sir Keir and Rayner had been tense at times, she was a key figure in the government.

She held the title deputy prime minister and was seen as a political bridge between the leadership and the party's traditional working class and union base.

But last month's reshuffle left the deputy leadership as a purely party role after Sir Keir appointed David Lammy as deputy prime minister and placed key allies in other cabinet roles.

Unlike the cabinet, the deputy leader of the Labour Party is elected by members, not appointed by the prime minister.

Powell will sit on Labour's powerful National Executive Committee and act as the party's "campaigner-in-chief."

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Police are continuing a manhunt for an asylum seeker who was mistakenly released from prison on Friday, weeks after being jailed for sexually assaulting a schoolgirl in Essex.

Ethiopian national Hadush Kebatu was meant to be sent to an immigration detention centre from HMP Chelmsford ahead of a planned deportation on Friday but Justice Secretary David Lammy said the 41-year-old is now "at large" in London.

Lammy said officers from the Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police (BTP) and Essex Police were working together to trace Kebatu, who was jailed for 12 months in September.

Sir Keir Starmer described the release as "totally unacceptable".

The prime minister said Kebatu "must be caught and deported for his crimes", adding that police are "working urgently to track him down".

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said the release was a "level of incompetence that beggars belief".

"Conservatives voted against Labour's prisoner release program because it was putting predators back on our streets," she said on X.

The Prison Service has removed an officer from discharging duties while an investigation takes place.

Essex Police said Kebatu boarded a London-bound train at Chelmsford station at 12:41 on Friday.

The force said it was informed by the prison services about "an error" at 12:57 on Friday.

A statement continued: "We understand the concern the public would have regarding this situation and can assure you we have officers working to urgently locate and detain him."

Lammy said he was "appalled" and "livid on behalf of the public".

He continued: "Let's be clear Kebatu committed a nasty sexual assault involving a young child and a woman. And for those reasons this of course is very serious."

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "We are urgently working with police to return an offender to custody following a release in error at HMP Chelmsford.

"Public protection is our top priority, and we have launched an investigation into this incident."

Kebatu's arrest in July sparked protests outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, where he had been living after arriving in the UK on a small boat.

In September, Chelmsford Magistrates' Court heard Kebatu tried to kiss a teenage girl on a bench and made numerous sexually explicit comments.

The following day, he encountered the same girl and tried to kiss her before sexually assaulting her. He also sexually assaulted a woman who had offered to help him draft a CV to find work.

During the trial, Kebatu gave his date of birth as December 1986, making him 38, but court records suggested he was 41.

He was found guilty of five offences and sentenced to 12 moths. He was also given a five-year sexual harm prevention order, which banned him from approaching or contacting any female, and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

The court heard it was his "firm wish" to be deported.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: "He is now walking the streets of Essex. Britain is broken."

A report from His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service said 262 prisoners in England and Wales were released in error between April 2024 and March 2025, up from 115 in the previous 12 months.

Donald Trump has said he would like to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his upcoming trip to Asia.

"I would. If you want to put out the word, I'm open to it," the US president told reporters onboard Air Force One as he departed for the region, adding that he "had a great relationship" with Kim.

Trump made history during his first term, becoming the first sitting US president to set foot into North Korea when they last shook hands in 2019.

His trip to Malaysia and Japan will see him meet a number of world leaders including China's Xi Jinping, amid trade negotiations sparked by Trump's imposition of sweeping tariffs earlier this year.

Trump has taken an atypical approach to North Korea - a secretive communist totalitarian state largely isolated on the world stage - and its attempts at creating nuclear weapons, initially taunting Kim as a "little rocket man".

The pair met face-to-face three times during Trump's previous tenure in the White House but failed to agree a denuclearisation programme. North Korea has since conducted multiple tests of intercontinental missiles, its neighbours say.

Asked if he would recognise North Korea as a nuclear state, Trump told reporters late on Thursday: "I think they are sort of a nuclear power... They got a lot of nuclear weapons, I'll say that."

Kim has said he was open to meeting Trump again, provided the US stopped pursuing its "absurd" demand for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

"I still have a good memory of President Trump," Kim said in a speech last month, according to state media.

• Friends reunited? Trump faces a very different Kim Jong Un this time

South Korea's Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, who handles relations between the North and South, said there was a "considerable" chance the two leaders might meet while Trump is in South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum, according to news agency AFP.

A senior US official told reporters that a meeting was not in Trump's schedule, according to the Anadolu Agency - though their last meeting in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas came off the back of an invitation by Trump on social media.

Trump's first stop will be in Malaysia, where he will attend Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit.

He is expected to land in the South Korean city Busan on Wednesday ahead of the Apec summit.

He will meet South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung, who discussed peace on the Korean peninsula and the possibility of a Trump-Kim meeting while visiting the White House in August.

Lee told the BBC he was open to a deal between Trump and Kim in which North Korea agreed to freeze production of its nuclear weapons.

Trump's meeting with China's President Xi comes on the backdrop of a trade war between the two nations.

The two have agreed to hold off triple-digit tariffs threatened against one another while seeking a trade agreement - but that detente is in jeopardy after Trump said he would level a 100% trade levy on Chinese goods over Beijing's curbs on rare earth exports.

The minerals are essential for many electronics and China is currently responsible for around 90% of exports of their refined form.

The first illicit production facility for weight loss medicine found in the UK has been dismantled.

The discovery, in Northampton, led to the largest single seizure of trafficked weight loss drugs ever recorded by a law enforcement agency worldwide, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said.

It said it seized tens of thousands of empty weight loss pens ready to be filled, raw chemical ingredients and more than 2,000 unlicensed Retatrutide and Tirzepatide pens due to be sent to customers.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, said: "This is a victory in the fight against the shameless criminals who are putting lives at risk.

"Don't line the pockets of criminals who don't care about your health."

The haul was estimated to be worth more than £250,000.

Alongside Northamptonshire Police, MHRA officers also found £20,000 in cash, suspected to be linked to medicines trafficking, and large amounts of sophisticated packaging and manufacturing equipment.

Andy Morling, head of MHRA's criminal enforcement unit, said people should be "extremely cautious" when buying medicines online and only get them from a registered pharmacy.

"These products are untested, unauthorised and potentially deadly," he said.

"By taking this organised criminal network out of operation and stopping tens of thousands of potentially fatal products from entering circulation, we've prevented a serious risk to public health.

"This is an illicit global market that endangers patients, puts big money in the pockets of organised criminals, and undermines legitimate healthcare."

Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

Lucy Powell has been elected as deputy leader of the Labour Party, by 87,407 votes to 73,536.

Her political life started very early. Powell's mother went into labour with her on the day of the general election in 1974.

She even delayed going into hospital to make sure she could vote first.

"We used to say 'she was in Labour and she voted for Labour'," Lucy Powell told the Political Thinking podcast.

At the age of nine, her father, a Labour activist, recruited her to help with the party's campaigning efforts. Her dad rewarded her with a one pound note.

Powell grew up in Didsbury, Manchester, an area which has been variously dubbed the "stockbroker" or "muesli" belt following a few years of gentrification.

"It is posh now, it was not that posh then," she has said.

Of the 200 people at her sixth form, she says she was the only one to be accepted to Oxford University - not an achievement that made her happy at the time.

"I cried the day I got the offer," she says. "I didn't want to go."

In the end, she did go to Oxford to study chemistry but only lasted one year before heading to King's College London, where she said she "felt more comfortable".

"As a northern comprehensive girl arriving in Oxford in 1993, I was a duck out of water."

"Harry Potter had not been written then, but it was like Hogwarts," she told the i newspaper, adding that for a teenager who spent weekends clubbing at the Hacienda, the "stuffy environment" of Oxford's Somerville College did not suit her.

After leaving university, she embarked on her political career, going to work for Labour MP (and Oscar-winning actress) Glenda Jackson and later Beverley Hughes, another Labour MP.

Between 1998 and 2005, she worked for Britain in Europe, a group campaigning in favour of the UK's membership of the EU.

In 2010, she ran Ed Miliband's successful bid to lead the Labour Party and continued working for him as his deputy chief of staff until 2012, when she won a by-election to represent the safe Labour seat of Manchester Central.

A year later she was promoted to the shadow cabinet and continued to serve in different frontbench roles until 2016.

She had been one of a few party centrists to stay in the shadow cabinet when Jeremy Corbyn, who came from the left of the party, unexpectedly became Labour leader.

However, in 2016 she quit in protest at his leadership and backed an ultimately unsuccessful coup attempt by Owen Smith.

She only returned to the shadow cabinet in 2020, when Sir Keir Starmer took over as leader and appointed her as shadow housing secretary.

When Labour won the 2024 election, she became Leader of the House of Commons, whose main job is managing government business in Parliament, as well as modernising Parliament and improving working conditions for MPs and staff.

In the major reshuffle that followed Angela Rayner's resignation in September, Powell was one of the few ministers to be sacked from government.

She described it as "kind of a shock but not a total surprise".

Asked if the prime minister gave her a reason for her demotion, she said "No, I did ask but he just said 'I need to make some changes'."

Reflecting on the possible reason, she said "I know I am not in the in-crowd. I don't play some of the parlour games".

"I have fed back things that in hindsight - I thought I was doing the job I was suppose to be doing - but perhaps it was feedback people didn't want to hear."

"Some of what I was feeding back - especially how difficult legislation on welfare was going to be to land - I thought I was doing that to be helpful but maybe it was a message people didn't want to hear."

Ahead of the vote, she said that if she did win the deputy leadership, she did not want to be given a government role, adding that she did not want to be "constrained" by a cabinet job.

She said she viewed the deputy leader role as being a "bridge between the leadership and the members, a constant feedback loop" as well as a "campaigner-in-chief".

Asked about her vision for Labour, she said her Manchester Central constituency was made up of "classic Red Wall constituents - white working class, older voters" and "younger, liberal, left-leaning voters who haven't got that long-standing cultural loyalty to Labour".

The question for Labour, she said is "how we unite them together".

"I don't think tacking one way or tacking the other is how we do that."

She argued that Labour could achieve that by building a "fairer economy, an economy that works in the interests of the many, not the few".

Citing decisions to cut the winter fuel payment and welfare, she said: "Some of the mistakes we have made, some of the unforced errors have given a sense that we are not on the side of ordinary people."

Caitlin Graham wanted to learn to drive in an automatic car as she hoped the test would be quicker to pass without having to get to grips with a gear box.

But the 22-year-old says she had little choice but to learn in a manual due to any available automatic instructors being more than 20 miles away.

Motorists have seen a quiet shift in how they drive in recent years - with one in three cars on UK roads now an automatic.

A quarter of driving tests in England, Scotland and Wales last year were taken in automatic cars.

The AA says the trend is being driven by the UK's ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars coming in 2030, as elecric cars do not have manual gearboxes.

For new drivers, this presents a dilemma - whether to learn and take their test in an automatic or a manual car.

Boxed in

It is a decision that could affect the rest of their driving lives - pass your test in an automatic and you will forever be boxed into only driving automatics - or indeed electric vehicles. Pass in a manual, and you will have the freedom to pick and choose.

But many young people say it is not a decision they are freely able to make. Some would-be automatic learners have complained about a lack of instructors and the higher cost of lessons.

Others feel the jeopardy of learning in a manual is just too high. With huge competition for driving test slots, and long waits to re-take for those who fail, some young drivers feel learning in an automatic is the only way out of the fail-rebook, fail-rebook doom loop.

When Caitlin moved back home to a "super rural" part of Cumbria after university she was eager to pass her driving test as quickly as possible. There is no public transport in her village and she wanted to get on with finding a job.

But unable to get hold of an automatic instructor she went for manual and passed almost a year after her first lesson. She says it only took her sister, who learned to drive in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, five months to pass in an automatic.

But it is a common misconception that the automatic test is easier - the pass rate for the manual test is higher at 50.4% than automatic at 43.9%, according to Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) figures for the financial year ending 2025.

"People still need to make the right decisions at the right time - make the correct observations at the right time and drive at appropriate speeds," says Stewart Lochrie, chairman of the Approved Driving Instructors National Joint Council (ADIJC).

Cleo Moseley really weighed up the decision. "Automatic felt like the slightly easier option" but "manual lessons were cheaper," she says.

Automatic and electric cars tend to cost more to buy than manuals so instructors charge more to cover this, adds Stewart from the ADIJC.

For the same reason Cleo says: "I also didn't know if I would be able to afford an automatic car at the end."

The 25-year-old from Northumberland has decided to start learning in a manual.

"I did really think about it," she says. "Automatic cars are basically becoming the norm. But I don't see manual cars [being] the majority five, 10, 15 years from now, so I don't think everyone should learn manual."

For Luke Breaban-Cook the decision was pretty much made for him - he has just passed his test after learning in his parents' manuals.

"They were the only cars available to me," says the 18-year-old from Battle in East Sussex.

"I didn't want to get my own car as it was too expensive," he adds. "Plus I'm moving to London for uni and I'm not planning on driving there."

Luke found clutch control difficult at first. "I stalled once in my test," he says, but he still passed first time.

Luke does nott think every learner should do a manual test: "Even if there is a chance that you might have to drive a manual courtesy car or rental car, that chance is getting smaller and smaller."

For some people with disabilities automatic cars can be more accessible.

David Robinson, who's 29 and from Cardiff, booked his driving test in September and has to wait until February to take it.

He opted to learn in an automatic because he has dyspraxia, which affects movement and coordination.

"It just seemed like a better idea because I didn't want to have to balance the clutch, the brake, the accelerator, check the revs, make sure I'm getting into the right gear," he says.

David hasn't ruled out getting a manual licence in future, but he says he would wait and see what happens after the ban on new petrol and electric cars takes effect in 2030.

"It might be that in five years I don't see the point," he says.

While the number of driving tests in automatic vehicles continues to rise, the vast majority of instructors are still teaching in manual cars," says Stewart from the ADIJC.

"This will change eventually, as the price of EVs continues to decrease, and driving instructors begin to see the commercial advantages of teaching in these kinds of vehicles."

But for now there's a stigma around an automatic-only licence, says motoring journalist and author Maria McCarthy.

"People would say, oh, one day you might need to hire a van or hire a car on holiday and then you'll need to drive a manual.

"But these days when you hire a car or a van, most of them are electric. And how often do people do things like that anyway?"

Caitlin's instructor did eventually buy a second automatic car but at that stage she had "already committed lots of time to manual".

She passed her test in September and now she's behind the wheel of her manual 2018 Volkswagen T-Roc and an hour to her new job in Workington, she has no regrets.

"If I'd had the choice back then an automatic would have been the dream," she says. "But now I'm glad I learned manual because I can drive any car and the insurance is cheaper."

Additional reporting by Connie Bowker

Beef prices have gotten so high in the US that it has become a political problem.

Even Donald Trump, who long ago declared inflation "dead", is talking about it, as the issue threatens to undercut his promises to bring down grocery prices for Americans.

This week, he took to social media, urging ranchers to lower prices for their cattle.

But his demand - and other proposals his administration has floated to address the issue - has sparked a backlash among ranchers, who worry some of his solutions will make it harder for them to make a living, while making little dent at the grocery store.

The number of beef cattle farmers and ranchers in the US has dwindled steadily since 1980, reducing domestic supplies and driving up prices, as demand remains high.

The country's cattle inventory has fallen to its lowest level in nearly 75 years, while the US has lost more than 150,000 cattle ranches just since 2017 - a 17% drop, according to the Agriculture Department.

Ranchers say they are under pressure from four decades of consolidation among the meat processors that buy their livestock, while high costs for key inputs like fertiliser and equipment have intensified the strain.

The contraction in the industry has worsened, as several years of drought have forced ranchers to slash their herds.

Christian Lovell, a cattle rancher in Illinois, said parts of his farm that were lush and grassy when he was a child have now dried up, limiting where his cows can graze.

"You put all these together and you have a recipe for a really broken market," said Mr Lovell, who works with advocacy group Farm Action.

Beef inflation

Retail prices for ground beef rose 12.9% over the 12 months to September, and beef steaks were up 16.6%, according to US inflation data published Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A pound of ground chuck now costs an average of $6.33 (£4.75), compared with $5.58 a year ago.

The increases have significantly outpaced general food inflation, which stood at 3.1%.

"The cattle herd has been getting smaller for the last several years, yet people are still wanting that American beef - hence the high prices," said Brenda Boetel, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls.

Derrell Peel, a professor of agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University said he expected prices to remain elevated until at least the end of the decade, noting that it takes years to replenish herds.

The Trump administration's "hands are tied" when it comes to interventions that will help lower prices, Mr Peel added.

'Chaos' for American producers

The Agriculture Department this week unveiled what it called a "big package" aimed at ramping up domestic beef production, by opening more land for cattle grazing and supporting small meat processors.

That proposal came after Trump drew the ire of ranchers when he proposed to import more beef from Argentina, potentially quadrupling the purchases.

Eight House Republicans responded with a letter to the White House expressing concern about Trump's import plans.

Even the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, which has voiced support for Trump's policies in the past, said the import plan "only creates chaos at a critical time of the year for American cattle producers, while doing nothing to lower grocery store prices".

Trump responded by assuring farmers that he was helping them in other ways, noting tariffs that are limiting imports from Brazil.

"It would be nice if they would understand that, but they also have to get their prices down, because the consumer is a very big factor in my thinking, also," Trump wrote.

But that has failed to quell the furore.

Justin Tupper, president of the US Cattlemen's Association, said he thought that only the big four meat packers would benefit from Trump's import plan.

"I don't see that lowering prices here at all," Mr Tupper said.

'These are consolidated markets'

Some say the government could make an impact if it focused on the way a handful of companies dominate the market for meat processing.

Today, just four companies control more than 80% of the beef slaughtering and packing market.

"These are consolidated markets gouging ranchers and gouging consumers at the store," said Austin Frerick, an agricultural and antitrust policy expert and a fellow at Yale University.

The meat processing firms - Tyson, JBS, Cargill and National Beef - have faced several lawsuits, including one filed by McDonald's alleging they colluded to inflate the price of beef.

Though Trump revoked a Biden-era order earlier this year that directed agencies to tackle corporate consolidation across the food system, his administration has taken other steps to investigate competition issues in the agricultural industry.

'We're not going to rebuild this cow herd'

Mike Callicrate runs a cattle ranch in St Francis, Kansas. He said the only way he has managed to stay in the industry was by cutting out the middleman and setting up his own stores to reach consumers directly.

But Mr Callicrate acknowledged that most ranchers do not have the money to make that shift. Many have left the industry - and see no incentive to jump back in.

"We're not going to rebuild this cow herd - not until we address market concentration," Mr Callicrate said.

He said he supported the Agriculture Department's plans to open up more cattle grazing land to boost production and bring down retail prices.

"But unless we have a market," he added, you're a "fool to get into the cattle business"

Bill Bullard found himself in the first wave of ranchers pushed out as the meat processing industry started to consolidate in the early 1980s.

He closed down his 300-cow operation in South Dakota in 1985.

Mr Bullard, who is now the chief executive of R-CALF USA, a cattle producer trade association, said it was only in the last year or so that ranchers had received good prices for their livestock, as supply dropped to such a low level that the prices paid by meat processors "simply had to increase".

Still, reliance on imports and meat packers' buying power persist, Mr Bullard said, meaning ranchers "lack confidence in the integrity of the marketplace" and remain reluctant to grow their herds.

He said he did not have confidence that the president's ideas would fix the issues.

"He's focused on the symptoms and not the problems," he said.

Microsoft is taking one of its most popular and recognisable game series to a rival console for the first time.

Halo, a sci-fi shooter fronted by the armour-clad Master Chief, is heading to PlayStation 5 next year, something that would have been unthinkable for gaming fans when the title first launched in 2001.

A remake of the first game Halo: Combat Evolved has been announced for Microsoft's own Xbox hardware, as well as for Sony's PS5, under the name Halo: Campaign Evolved.

It will also launch on PC, and will be playable on mobile phones and tablets through Microsoft's cloud streaming technology.

It's the latest sign Microsoft is moving away from the traditional approach of console makers keeping their own franchises and characters as exclusives.

The end of console wars?

Halo is often credited with helping Microsoft first break into the gaming market with its original Xbox, despite arriving after consoles from Nintendo and Sony were already popular.

But while Microsoft has rapidly expanded its presence in the industry, buying up several rival studios - including Call of Duty maker Activision for $69bn (£56bn) - it's struggled to convince gamers to buy its latest consoles.

Globally, the PlayStation 5 has reportedly outsold Microsoft's Xbox Series S and X consoles by more than two to one. Nintendo's hybrid Switch console has been even more successful.

Microsoft has instead been pushing a strategy of being able to play its games in more places, including on PCs, tablets, phones, and its new handheld console, the ROG Xbox Ally.

This has included promoting its subscription service Game Pass, where a monthly charge gets players access to a library of games, similar in style to services like Netflix and Disney+.

Increasing the Halo: Reach

While there's long been rivalry between PlayStation and Xbox players, some fans of the Halo series are happy to see it reach more people.

YouTuber Kara, who streams under the name @Eldeeable, tells BBC Newsbeat that Halo's been a big part of her life.

"Combat Evolved was one of the first games I ever played on Xbox," she says.

"I played it with my little brother split-screen and I loved it."

She says the announcement is "massive" and "broke the internet a little bit".

Some Xbox owners have criticised Microsoft for not keeping Halo as an exclusive game, but it reflects a broader move away from exclusivity - with PlayStation releasing games from its The Last Of Us and Horizon series on PC, and even Nintendo making some games with its characters available on mobile phones.

For Kara, this shouldn't be seen as a bad thing.

"I know there's a bit of controversy about it coming to PlayStation, but I don't see any reason why it should be like that at all", she says.

"I just think it's a win for all gamers."

The game's executive producer Damon Conn agrees, promising that the remake will appeal to old and new fans.

"At its heart, Halo is about connection, we're thrilled to meet a new generation of players on their platforms of choice to fall in love with Halo the same way we did," he says.

"We're not trying to rewrite Halo's legacy - we're trying to immerse you in it like never before."

Additional reporting by Georgia Levy-Collins and Peter Gillibrand.

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

Counting is due to get under way later in the Irish presidential election.

Voters in the Republic of Ireland went to the polls on Friday to elect the 10th Irish president, who will replace current head of state Michael D Higgins.

There are two contenders to become the next president, but voters had a choice of three candidates - Catherine Connolly, Heather Humphreys and Jim Gavin, whose withdrawal from the race came too late to have his name removed from the ballot paper.

Ballot boxes will open at 09.00 local time on Saturday and the result is due to be announced at Dublin Castle later that evening.

Early unofficial indications have suggested the turnout could potentially struggle to reach the record low of just under 40% recorded in the last presidential election in 2018.

Connolly is an independent politician backed by a number of left-wing parties including Sinn Féin.

She has been a TD (member of parliament) since 2016 and previously worked as a psychologist and barrister. She is from Galway.

Humphreys is the Fine Gael candidate. She was a TD from 2011 to 2024 and served in a number of senior cabinet ministerial positions, including social protection and justice.

She comes from a Protestant background and is from Monaghan.

The votes, which will be counted in each of the 43 constituencies, will be tallied by political parties as soon as boxes open and these will give early indications of the result.

Some 3.6 million people were eligible to vote in the election, which comes to an end after months of campaigning by both candidates.

To get nominated, candidates needed either 20 members of the Oireachtas, the Irish houses of parliament, or four city and county councils, to back them.

Connolly was the first to declare her intention to run last July.

She has the support of a number of left-wing parties, including Sinn Féin, Labour and the Social Democrats as well as independent politicians.

Humphreys was selected to run for Fine Gael after the party's initial candidate, former EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, withdrew from the race in August for medical reasons.

A third candidate, Jim Gavin, who was selected by the main coalition party, Fianna Fáil, withdrew from the campaign earlier in October after intense controversy over a 16-year-old rental dispute in which he owed €3,300 (£2,870) to a former tenant.

However, as his withdrawal came after the close of nominations, the law states his name must remain on the ballot paper.

Any votes cast for him will be counted as legitimate and transferred to the two other candidates if necessary.

Police are continuing a manhunt for an asylum seeker who was mistakenly released from prison on Friday, weeks after being jailed for sexually assaulting a schoolgirl in Essex.

Ethiopian national Hadush Kebatu was meant to be sent to an immigration detention centre from HMP Chelmsford ahead of a planned deportation on Friday but Justice Secretary David Lammy said the 41-year-old is now "at large" in London.

Lammy said officers from the Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police (BTP) and Essex Police were working together to trace Kebatu, who was jailed for 12 months in September.

Sir Keir Starmer described the release as "totally unacceptable".

The prime minister said Kebatu "must be caught and deported for his crimes", adding that police are "working urgently to track him down".

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said the release was a "level of incompetence that beggars belief".

"Conservatives voted against Labour's prisoner release program because it was putting predators back on our streets," she said on X.

The Prison Service has removed an officer from discharging duties while an investigation takes place.

Essex Police said Kebatu boarded a London-bound train at Chelmsford station at 12:41 on Friday.

The force said it was informed by the prison services about "an error" at 12:57 on Friday.

A statement continued: "We understand the concern the public would have regarding this situation and can assure you we have officers working to urgently locate and detain him."

Lammy said he was "appalled" and "livid on behalf of the public".

He continued: "Let's be clear Kebatu committed a nasty sexual assault involving a young child and a woman. And for those reasons this of course is very serious."

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "We are urgently working with police to return an offender to custody following a release in error at HMP Chelmsford.

"Public protection is our top priority, and we have launched an investigation into this incident."

Kebatu's arrest in July sparked protests outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, where he had been living after arriving in the UK on a small boat.

In September, Chelmsford Magistrates' Court heard Kebatu tried to kiss a teenage girl on a bench and made numerous sexually explicit comments.

The following day, he encountered the same girl and tried to kiss her before sexually assaulting her. He also sexually assaulted a woman who had offered to help him draft a CV to find work.

During the trial, Kebatu gave his date of birth as December 1986, making him 38, but court records suggested he was 41.

He was found guilty of five offences and sentenced to 12 moths. He was also given a five-year sexual harm prevention order, which banned him from approaching or contacting any female, and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

The court heard it was his "firm wish" to be deported.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: "He is now walking the streets of Essex. Britain is broken."

A report from His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service said 262 prisoners in England and Wales were released in error between April 2024 and March 2025, up from 115 in the previous 12 months.

So many lives in Gaza still hang in the balance.

In different wards of Nasser Hospital lie two 10-year-old boys, one shot by Israeli fire and paralysed from the neck down, another with a brain tumour.

Now that a fragile ceasefire is in place, they are among some 15,000 patients who the World Health Organization (WHO) says are in need of urgent medical evacuations.

Ola Abu Said sits gently stroking the hair of her son Amar. His family says he was in their tent in southern Gaza when he was hit by a stray bullet fired by an Israeli drone. It is lodged between two of his vertebrae, leaving him paralysed.

"He needs surgery urgently," Ola says, "but it's complicated. Doctors told us it could cause his death, a stroke or brain hemorrhage. He needs surgery in a well-equipped place."

Right now, Gaza is anything but that. After two years of war, its hospitals have been left in a critical state.

Sitting by the bedside of her younger brother, Ahmed al-Jadd, his sister Shahd says her brother was a constant comfort to her through two years of war and displacement.

"He's only 10 and when our situation got so bad, he used to go out and sell water to help bring some money for us," she says. A few months ago, he showed the first signs of ill health.

"Ahmad's mouth started drooping to one side," Shahd explains. "One time he kept telling me: "Shahd my head hurts" and we just gave him paracetamol, but later, his right hand stopped moving."

The one-time university student is desperate for her brother to travel abroad to have his tumour removed.

"We can't lose him. We already lost our father, our home and our dreams," Shahd says. "When the ceasefire happened it gave us a bit of a hope that maybe there was a 1% chance that Ahmed could travel and get treated."

On Wednesday, the WHO coordinated the first medical convoy to exit Gaza since the fragile ceasefire began on 10 October. It took 41 patients and 145 carers to hospitals abroad via Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing, with ambulances and buses taking the group on to Jordan. Some have stayed for care there.

The UN agency has called for numbers of medical evacuations to be rapidly increased to deal with the thousands of cases of sick and wounded. It wants to be able to bring out patients through Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt as it has done previously.

However, Israel has said it is keeping the crossing closed until Hamas "fulfils" its commitments under the terms of the Gaza ceasefire deal by returning the bodies of deceased hostages. Israel has kept the Gaza side of the Egyptian border closed since May 2024 when it took control during the war.

Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, the head of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said "the most impactful measure" would be if Israel could allow Gazan patients to be treated in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as happened before the war.

Top EU officials and foreign ministers of more than 20 countries - including the UK - have previously called for this, offering "financial contributions, provision of medical staff or equipment needed."

"Hundreds of patients could be treated easily and efficiently in a short time if this route reopened to the East Jerusalem Hospital Network and the hospitals in the West Bank," says Dr Fadi Atrash, CEO of the Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives.

"We can at least treat 50 patients per day for chemotherapy and radiation and even more than that. Other hospitals can do a lot of surgeries," the doctor tells me.

"Referring them to East Jerusalem is the shortest distance, the most efficient way, because we have the mechanism. We speak the same language, we're the same culture, in many cases we have medical files for Gazan patients. They've been receiving treatment in East Jerusalem hospitals for more than a decade before the war."

The BBC asked Cogat, the Israeli defence body which controls Gaza's crossings, why the medical route was not being approved. Cogat said it was a decision by the political echelon and referred queries to the Prime Minister's Office which did not offer further explanation.

After the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023, Israel cited security reasons for not allowing Gazan patients in other Palestinian territories. It also pointed out that its main crossing point for people at Erez had been targeted by Hamas fighters during the assault.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says that in the year to August 2025, at least 740 people, including nearly 140 children, died while on waiting lists.

At Nasser hospital, the director of paediatrics and maternity, Dr Ahmed al-Farra, expresses his frustration.

"It's the most difficult feeling for a doctor to be present, able to diagnose a condition but unable to carry out essential tests and lacking the necessary treatments," Dr al-Farra says. "This has happened in so many cases, and unfortunately, there's daily loss of life due to our lack of capabilities."

Since the ceasefire, hope has run out for more of his patients.

In the past week in the hospital grounds, a funeral took place for Saadi Abu Taha, aged eight, who died from intestinal cancer.

A day later three-year old Zain Tafesh and Luay Dweik, aged eight, died from hepatitis.

Without action, there are many more Gazans who will not have a chance to live in peace.

When Sarel presses record on her phone, there's no script, no set and no meticulous plan for what she's about to say.

"I'm usually wearing my bonnet, no makeup and I just pick up the phone and start yapping," she says.

"I believe in maximum output for minimal effort, so if I have to do more than the bare minimum, I likely won't do it. That's why I just talk to the camera and post."

In only a few years, Sarel's unfiltered style has turned her from an ordinary voice online into one of TikTok's most distinctive personalities, with more than one million followers on the platform.

Famous for her Love Island debriefs, Sarel is among the nominees at the second annual TikTok awards - a celebration of the creators shaping online culture in the UK.

There are 72 nominees across 12 categories including education, beauty, comedy, food and sport. The nominees have a combined following of more than 83 million followers.

From breakout comedians to beauty innovators, this year's nominees include jacket potato entrepreneurs, tap dancing brothers, a bus loving aunty, a BookTok aficionado and a film location fangirl.

Coco Sarel

Sarel can't quite believe that the thing she does most naturally - talking - has gained her millions of followers and likes.

"It's mad people want to watch me yap," she says. But the simplicity of her process is part of the appeal and "you really do see 100% of me on the camera".

Her journey has also taken her beyond the screen, and in 2023 she performed at the Edinburgh Fringe festival with fellow TikTok stars.

"I've got a whole new respect for comedians after doing that," she says. "With content, if people don't like it, they scroll away, but if you bomb on stage, the whole room is looking at you like, 'That's terrible'".

With visibility comes scrutiny, and Sarel says it's not always easy dealing with the darker side of social media.

"The hate is always louder than the love," she says. "Five years ago, I'd clap back in the comments, but I'm 31 now and I'm too tired for that so I just block it out and ignore it."

Because she started sharing later in life, Sarel is still figuring out how much of herself to put online.

"I go off how I feel in the moment, and my audience respects that," she says. "I started off like I was just talking to friends, but now I protect parts of my life I don't want everyone's opinion on."

While social media is full of people turning major life events into months-long content strategies, Sarel isn't interested in that and even significant milestones tend to pass with little fanfare on her feed.

"I recently got married and I did two videos, then I was like, 'Let's talk about The Traitors.' I've got ADHD, so I move on quickly."

Henry Rowley

Best known for his "husky posh girl" sketches, Henry Rowley has become one of TikTok's sharpest comedy voices.

The Leicester-born performer discovered his now signature characters while studying at Bristol University, where he found himself "surrounded by a whole new world of posh" and he couldn't resist turning it into material.

"Some of those posh people were my friends and I found everything they said hilarious, so I started making videos about things they'd say on nights out."

His sketches, which more recently include impressions of Harry Potter characters as if they were Scottish, has earned him more than a million followers on TikTok.

He's also tried to carve a space in stand-up - a move he admits has been challenging.

"It's entirely different doing content and comedy on stage," he says. "Stand-up takes a lot of work and before the Fringe and my tour, there were so many pubs and awful gigs where I did a 20-minute set to zero laughs. It's certainly humbling."

Despite his rising profile, Rowley protects much of his life from the public eye.

"I mainly post characters and sketches so people who follow me don't know that much about me, which is really nice. I like having that balance," he says.

His advice for other people starting out creating content is similar to what most of the nominees said: "Don't try and go viral but instead focus on doing something you are genuinely interested in."

Bemi Orojuogun

If London has an unofficial ambassador for its buses, it might just be Bus Aunty.

Often seen smiling beside a passing double-decker, she's turned her lifelong love of the capital's transport network into a viral celebration of city life.

"My love for buses comes from a long time ago, from the early 90s," she says. "I have always taken a picture of myself with buses and one random day I chose to post one on TikTok and it went viral, and now here we are."

One of her videos, which is nominated for best video of the year, has been viewed amost 50 million times and Bemi now has collaborations with Burberry and Ikea.

The mental health nurse has become one of TikTok's most unexpected success stories and she admits "it's slightly overwhelming that everyone recognises me".

"I get recognised in the streets sometimes and people say, 'Oh, hello, Bus Aunty.' I never thought people would be stopping me in my wildest dreams and it's taken some getting used to."

"To be nominated is amazing," she says of her TikTok Awards nod.

"If I'm nominated, it means I deserve to be here, and I really do love buses and love London and hopefully that shows."

She's also proud to represent a different side of the app's community.

"You're never too old," she says firmly. "I would never have thought I could do TikTok and be nominated for awards, but here I am, having only posted for just over a year.

"Never give up on your dream because what I love about London has got me here."

Jack Edwards

If TikTok has a resident librarian, it's Jack Edwards, who has built a devoted following by sharing his love of reading. But he says his journey into social media stardom began with rejection.

"It was lockdown and I was looking for a job in publishing and no-one wanted to hire me," he recalls. "My inbox was snorkelling in a sea of rejection and every email started with the word unfortunately.

"So I started talking about the books I was reading on social media."

What began as a side project quickly turned into a full-time career, and Edwards ended up leaving the job he'd eventually secured in publishing.

He says his advice to would-be creators is finding what makes their content personal.

"You have so many interests," he explains. "If you were to create a Venn diagram of them all, the crossover in the middle is what you should make content about. For me, the cross-section is books, travel and pop culture."

Edwards adds that he's careful about how much of himself he reveals to his audience. "I talk about the books and art I love, but never the people I love," he says.

"But of course when you talk about books, you end up talking about everything from trauma, to politics, to sexuality."

That openness has seen him create a community that stretches far beyond the screen.

"People say, 'Hi' in the street and it's the best thing ever. We have a mini book club right there on the pavement, an instant Jane Austen love-fest, and I know it's so strange but honestly it's really special for me."

Still, internet fame brings its odd moments.

"Sometimes you get a message saying, 'Oh, hi, I just saw you at the urinal,'" he laughs. "Being spotted in those kinds of places never gets normal."

As the clocks go back and the darkness draws in, spare a thought for those living with the longest nights in the UK.

In the depths of winter, Scotland's northern isles will see barely six hours of daylight from morning till night.

In London and the south, people will have about two more hours of light than islanders in Orkney and Shetland.

During these shorter days more than a million people in the UK experience symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (Sad), according to the Royal College of Psychiatry.

These can include lowered mood, emotional difficulties and feelings of anxiety.

What is Seasonal Affective Disorder?

• Sad is a recurring seasonal depression, common in winter, that is typically brought on by shorter days with reduced hours of daylight.
• It was identified in the early 1980s by Prof Norman Rosenthal, a South African psychiatrist working in the United States, who began using light therapy as a treatment.
• Symptoms of Sad described by the NHS can include low mood, irritability, a loss of interest in everyday activities and feeling sleepy during the day.
• Sufferers can also have feelings of despair, guilt and worthlessness, have difficulty concentrating and a decreased sex drive.

Life in remote locations, in the countryside or on islands, can be particularly challenging in the darker months, says Professor Hester Parr.

She leads the 'Living with Sad' project at the University of Glasgow.

"People with Sad routinely feel very depressed and sluggish," she told BBC Scotland News.

"They find it difficult to socialise because they just don't have the energy and motivation at this time of year.

"We work with those people to provide creative and cultural resources to encourage a more outdoor life, and give tips to build new 'light routines'."

Prof Parr points out that people in rural communities often have limited access to social and medical support to help them through winter.

So for the first time this year, islanders on Orkney are being offered therapeutic lamps to help them cope with Sad and counter the effects of low light.

These will be handed out from libraries as part of 'Wintering Well' boxes.

The lamps come alongside an activity guide and tools to help people develop a routine for good mental health when daylight is in short supply.

Prof Parr says: "We're pitching our resources at an attitudinal shift, a psychological mind-shift towards winter.

"So that we get out and enjoy winter, no matter what the weather.

"We've put that into a book and a CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) course in partnership with a psychiatrist."

Tools in the box include a winter sky frame.

It's a simple cardboard cut-out, that people are encouraged to hold for 10 minutes to observe a small patch of sky, to help lift their mood.

Prof Parr says the UK can also learn from Scandinavian nations where there is "a different cultural attitude to winter".

She says creating an interior light environment that is cosy and comforting can help people cope with Sad.

"We tend to walk into winter thinking it is going to be one long dark season and that's not actually true.

"If we do go outside there are large amounts of daylight available that does help our mental health.

"But it is not just about going outside and getting light, it is about redesigning our interior spaces.

"Using natural light through windows, but also using candles and fun lights to make the winter spaces in our homes more welcoming."

Why are nights longer in the north?

• The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year in the UK - with the fewest hours of daylight and longest night. This year it falls on 21 December.
• In northern Scotland the sun rises later and sets much earlier than southern England based on the Earth's tilt away from the Sun
• On the winter solstice the difference is more than two hours of daylight between the most northern and southern parts of the UK.
• On 21 December at Penzance in Cornwall, the sun will rise at 08:18 and set at 16:21. That's eight hours and three minutes of daylight.
• In Lerwick in Shetland it will rise at 09:08 and set at 14:57 - just five hours and 49 minutes of daylight.

The Orkney scheme is the next step in a project that was piloted in East Dunbartonshire in Scotland last winter.

It's a joint project from the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, funded by UKRI (UK Innovation and Research).

About 100 Wintering Well boxes were made available, which were borrowed more than 200 times and renewed 349 times.

Orkney Library's mobile van - known as Booky McBookface - will help distribute the light lamps across the islands.

Former librarian Stewart Bain, now a presenter on Radio Orkney, says the boxes will be welcomed by locals.

He says there is "no denying it can be a dark place" as the clocks go back.

"It's getting to that stage that its dark when I'm going into work, dark when I'm coming home," he says.

"Come the depths of winter it'll be dark after three, at four o'clock pitch black.

"The lack of sunshine combined by the lack of exercise I think can have an impact.

"I think it definitely affects my mood. One of the key things for mental health is being able to get outside for a walk."

Stewart says using the Orkney library system to offer light lamps is the ideal solution.

"It's great as another strand of what the library does," he adds.

"The library is such a good thing for mental health anyway, it might be miserable and grey on Orkney, but you can be transported anywhere within the pages of a book."

In Ireland, libraries in Dublin are also preparing to trial the scheme.

It has also inspired a new five-part series Winter Well on BBC Radio 4.

Prof Parr says the project has found that use of therapeutic lamps, alongside new outdoor routines and "programmatic encouragement" to notice natural light, really does make a difference for people with Sad.

Queen Sirikit, the mother of Thailand's King Vajiralongkorn, has died aged 93.

She passed away "peacefully" in a Bangkok hospital at 21:21 local time (14:21 GMT) on Friday night, according to the Thai Royal Household Bureau.

Sirikit had "suffered several illnesses" while in hospital since 2019, including a blood infection this month, it added.

For more than six decades, Queen Sirikit was married to Thailand's longest-reigning monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016.

Queen Sirikit suffered a stroke in 2012, after which she was rarely seen in public.

She met her future husband while studying music in Paris, where her father was stationed as Thai ambassador to France.

The couple married on 28 April 1950, just a week before King Bhumibol was crowned in Bangkok.

As a young couple in the 1960s, Queen Sirikit and King Bhumibol travelled around the world, meeting US presidents Dwight Eisenhower, the late Queen Elizabeth II - as well as Elvis Presley.

During that decade, she frequently made international best dressed lists.

In 1980, Queen Sirikit featured in a BBC documentary about the Thai monarchy, called Soul of a Nation.

In the rare interview, she said: "Kings and queens of Thailand have always been in close contact with the people and they usually regard the king as the father of the nation.

"That is why we do not have much private life, because we are considered father and mother of the nation."

She was seen as a key maternal figure for the country, with her birthday marked as Mother's Day.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves should not cut the cash Isa tax-free allowance in the upcoming Budget, a group of MPs has strongly advised.

Cuts to the tax-free allowance were unlikely to have the intended effect of promoting an investment culture in the UK, the Treasury Select Committee said in a report.

Reeves is expected to announce tax rises or spending cuts in next month's Budget, and is reportedly considering changes to cash Isas.

The chancellor said: "My understanding is that the report says that changes to Isas shouldn't be made in isolation of other policies. I'll be setting out any tax changes in the budget in November. And of course we need to get that balance right."

Reeves added: "At the moment, often returns on savings and returns on pensions are lower than in comparable countries around the world, and I do want to make sure that when people put something aside for the future, they get good returns on those savings."

Earlier this year, the chancellor was thought to be mulling a reduction to the allowance for tax-free cash savings in a bid to encourage people to put money into stocks and shares instead and boost the economy.

Those plans were put on hold after strong opposition from banks, building societies and consumer campaigners.

Savers can put up to £20,000 a year in Isas in savings and investments, to protect the returns from being taxed.

The chancellor has said she intends to keep this limit in place, and it can currently be spread across products including cash Isas and stocks and shares Isas.

The proposed change specifically relates to cash Isas, and earlier this month the Financial Times reported the chancellor was considering reducing their tax-free amount to £10,000.

The purpose behind this would be to encourage investment.

The chancellor is facing a Budget shortfall of about £22bn, according to a recent estimate.

She is expected to raise taxes or cut spending in her November Budget in order to meet her self-imposed fiscal rules of not borrowing to fund day-to-day spending and to get government debt falling as a share of national income by the end of this parliament.

Cash Isas are the most widely used type of Isa. A total of £360bn is held in cash Isas across the country.

The committee's report concluded that "cutting the cash Isa allowance is unlikely to incentivise people to invest their cash in stocks and shares".

Chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Dame Meg Hillier, said: "This is not the right time to cut the cash Isa limit."

"The Committee is firmly behind the chancellor's ambition to create a culture in the UK where savers are sensibly investing their money and getting better returns through well-informed financial decisions," she said.

"But we are a long way from that point."

Dame Meg said the government should instead focus its efforts on "a comprehensive effort to genuinely improve financial education and establish accessible, high quality financial advice and guidance for people".

"Without this, I fear that the Chancellor's attempts to transform the UK's investment culture simply will not deliver the change she seeks, instead hitting savers and mortgage borrowers."

Reducing the tax-free allowance for cash Isas would likely be unpopular among many savers, particularly older ones who are less willing to take risks with their money.

Instead of cutting the cash Isa tax-free limit, "the focus should be on improving financial literacy ... so that people can make informed decisions with their savings", the committee said.

The report found that cutting the allowance would have negative knock-on effects for consumers, as building societies depend on cash Isas for their mortgage lending.

"If this was reduced, it would mean a less competitive market for financial products and consequently higher prices for consumers," the committee said.

BBC News has contacted the Treasury for comment.

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Caitlin Graham wanted to learn to drive in an automatic car as she hoped the test would be quicker to pass without having to get to grips with a gear box.

But the 22-year-old says she had little choice but to learn in a manual due to any available automatic instructors being more than 20 miles away.

Motorists have seen a quiet shift in how they drive in recent years - with one in three cars on UK roads now an automatic.

A quarter of driving tests in England, Scotland and Wales last year were taken in automatic cars.

The AA says the trend is being driven by the UK's ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars coming in 2030, as elecric cars do not have manual gearboxes.

For new drivers, this presents a dilemma - whether to learn and take their test in an automatic or a manual car.

Boxed in

It is a decision that could affect the rest of their driving lives - pass your test in an automatic and you will forever be boxed into only driving automatics - or indeed electric vehicles. Pass in a manual, and you will have the freedom to pick and choose.

But many young people say it is not a decision they are freely able to make. Some would-be automatic learners have complained about a lack of instructors and the higher cost of lessons.

Others feel the jeopardy of learning in a manual is just too high. With huge competition for driving test slots, and long waits to re-take for those who fail, some young drivers feel learning in an automatic is the only way out of the fail-rebook, fail-rebook doom loop.

When Caitlin moved back home to a "super rural" part of Cumbria after university she was eager to pass her driving test as quickly as possible. There is no public transport in her village and she wanted to get on with finding a job.

But unable to get hold of an automatic instructor she went for manual and passed almost a year after her first lesson. She says it only took her sister, who learned to drive in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, five months to pass in an automatic.

But it is a common misconception that the automatic test is easier - the pass rate for the manual test is higher at 50.4% than automatic at 43.9%, according to Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) figures for the financial year ending 2025.

"People still need to make the right decisions at the right time - make the correct observations at the right time and drive at appropriate speeds," says Stewart Lochrie, chairman of the Approved Driving Instructors National Joint Council (ADIJC).

Cleo Moseley really weighed up the decision. "Automatic felt like the slightly easier option" but "manual lessons were cheaper," she says.

Automatic and electric cars tend to cost more to buy than manuals so instructors charge more to cover this, adds Stewart from the ADIJC.

For the same reason Cleo says: "I also didn't know if I would be able to afford an automatic car at the end."

The 25-year-old from Northumberland has decided to start learning in a manual.

"I did really think about it," she says. "Automatic cars are basically becoming the norm. But I don't see manual cars [being] the majority five, 10, 15 years from now, so I don't think everyone should learn manual."

For Luke Breaban-Cook the decision was pretty much made for him - he has just passed his test after learning in his parents' manuals.

"They were the only cars available to me," says the 18-year-old from Battle in East Sussex.

"I didn't want to get my own car as it was too expensive," he adds. "Plus I'm moving to London for uni and I'm not planning on driving there."

Luke found clutch control difficult at first. "I stalled once in my test," he says, but he still passed first time.

Luke does nott think every learner should do a manual test: "Even if there is a chance that you might have to drive a manual courtesy car or rental car, that chance is getting smaller and smaller."

For some people with disabilities automatic cars can be more accessible.

David Robinson, who's 29 and from Cardiff, booked his driving test in September and has to wait until February to take it.

He opted to learn in an automatic because he has dyspraxia, which affects movement and coordination.

"It just seemed like a better idea because I didn't want to have to balance the clutch, the brake, the accelerator, check the revs, make sure I'm getting into the right gear," he says.

David hasn't ruled out getting a manual licence in future, but he says he would wait and see what happens after the ban on new petrol and electric cars takes effect in 2030.

"It might be that in five years I don't see the point," he says.

While the number of driving tests in automatic vehicles continues to rise, the vast majority of instructors are still teaching in manual cars," says Stewart from the ADIJC.

"This will change eventually, as the price of EVs continues to decrease, and driving instructors begin to see the commercial advantages of teaching in these kinds of vehicles."

But for now there's a stigma around an automatic-only licence, says motoring journalist and author Maria McCarthy.

"People would say, oh, one day you might need to hire a van or hire a car on holiday and then you'll need to drive a manual.

"But these days when you hire a car or a van, most of them are electric. And how often do people do things like that anyway?"

Caitlin's instructor did eventually buy a second automatic car but at that stage she had "already committed lots of time to manual".

She passed her test in September and now she's behind the wheel of her manual 2018 Volkswagen T-Roc and an hour to her new job in Workington, she has no regrets.

"If I'd had the choice back then an automatic would have been the dream," she says. "But now I'm glad I learned manual because I can drive any car and the insurance is cheaper."

Additional reporting by Connie Bowker

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday that the US had carried out another strike against a ship alleged to belong to drug traffickers.

The operation took place in the Caribbean Sea, against a group Hegseth identified as the Tren de Aragua criminal organisation.

Hegseth said "six male narco-terrorists" were on board and killed.

The US has carried out a series of strikes on ships in the region, in what President Donald Trump has described as an effort to curtail drug trafficking.

Hegseth posted a video on X showing the operation. The video begins by showing a boat in a crosshairs, before it explodes into a cloud of smoke.

This is the tenth strike the Trump administration has carried out against alleged drug traffickers since early September. Most have taken place off of South America, in the Caribbean, but on 21 and 22 October it carried out strikes in the Pacific Ocean.

Members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have raised concerns about the legality of the strikes and the president's authority to order them.

Trump said he has the legal authority to order the strikes, and has designated Tren de Aragua a terrorist organisation.

Strictly stars are gearing up for the contest's annual Icons Week, days after co-hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman shocked fans by announcing they'll be leaving the show.

In a joint statement on Thursday, the pair said they were "always going to leave together and now feels like the right time".

The duo will step down at the end of the current series, with the Christmas special set to be their last show.

Some have speculated the pair may say more about their departure during Saturday's live show. Earlier this week, Winkleman said: "It's best to leave a party before you're fully ready to go."

On Friday, Deadline reported that Winkleman is in advanced talks to host her own chat show. The BBC has not commented.

There's also no hint yet from the BBC on who might take over from Winkleman and Daly on Strictly, and it could be several months before replacements are signed up.

Commentators have been speculating about who would be the right fit for the show and whether it should be a well-established presenter or an up-and-coming star.

Producers could perhaps look to bring in a current or former presenter from sister show, Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two.

The show is currently hosted by singer Fleur East, who participated in Strictly Come Dancing in 2022, and professional dancer Janette Manrara.

Broadcaster Rylan Clark also hosted the spin-off for four years and Radio 2 presenter Zoe Ball hosted it for 10 years.

Some bookmakers have named The One Show's Roman Kemp as their favourite for the Strictly job - with Coral cutting their odds.

Actress Hannah Waddingham, Big Brother co-host AJ Odudu, former Strictly winner Stacey Dooley and Celebrity Traitors' breakout star Alan Carr are among the other names being mooted.

Ladbrokes is also offering odds on Holly Willoughby as a surprise frontrunner, with another ITV star, Alison Hammond also on their list.

Whether BBC bosses want to recruit from within the organisation or look to poach stars from rivals remains to be seen.

Caroline Frost, TV editor of the Radio Times, described Daly and Winkleman as "a formidable presenting duo".

Asked if their departure could potentially mean and end to the show, the TV critic told BBC Breakfast there was no need to "throw the baby out with the bath water" and that a "a rebrand" was more likely.

"It still draws in millions of viewers," she said of Strictly. "It's only bad compared with those extraordinary, phenomenal ratings earlier in its reign.

"But certainly it will be like other programmes we've seen before, Doctor Who, Match of the Day, MasterChef; they've all had opportunities for a rebrand... so this could be one of those shows."

On Saturday evening's show, the 11 remaining couples will take to the ballroom floor to honour music icons from across the decades, with songs by Beyoncé, Harry Styles and Ariana Grande in the mix.

On Sunday night, Hollywood actress Rachel Zegler will also make a guest appearance, performing Don't Cry For Me Argentina in the results show.

But Neighbours star Stefan Dennis will no longer appear after he withdrew from the contest due to injury.

'The end of an era'

Tess Daly began presenting Strictly alongside Sir Bruce Forsyth 21 years ago, while Winkleman joined as a main presenter in 2014.

In a joint statement on Thursday, they said: "We have loved working as a duo and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream."

Daly and Winkleman have fronted the hit BBC show as it has faced a string of controversies in recent years, relating to the behaviour of some of its professional dancers and celebrity guests.

The BBC's chief content officer, Kate Phillips, called it "the end of an era", and described the pair as "incredible hosts".

Here's who is dancing on Saturday night - and to what:

• Alex and Johannes - Foxtrot to Here You Come Again by Dolly Parton
• Amber and Nikita - Cha Cha Cha to Break Free by Ariana Grande
• Balvinder and Julian - Quickstep to Texas Hold 'Em by Beyoncé
• Ellie and Vito - Salsa to Spice Girls Medley
• George and Alexis - Jive to As It Was by Harry Styles
• Harry and Karen - Argentine Tango to Caught Up by Usher
• Jimmy and Lauren - American Smooth to Purple Rain by Prince
• Karen and Carlos - Rumba to Think Twice by Céline Dion
• La Voix and Aljaž - Salsa to Strong Enough by Cher
• Lewis and Katya - Quickstep to Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash
• Vicky and Kai - Couple's Choice to Fight For This Love by Cheryl

Away from the Tess and Claudia news, the show goes on - with the couples performing routines to songs from their favourite music heroes on Saturday night.

Icons week was introduced last year, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Strictly. The other special weeks in Strictly are: Movies, Halloween, Blackpool and Musicals.

The judges will also be in costume as different icons, but fans will have to watch to find out exactly who they're dressed as.

They will provide their scores before audiences get to vote and have their say.

Doctor Who actress Alex Kingston topped the leaderboard last week with 36 points and, more importantly, was dubbed a "queen" by head judge Shirley Ballas who awarded her a perfect 10 for her Rumba.

Earlier this week, Dennis - who was partnered with professional Dianne Buswell, issued a statement saying he had torn his calf "so significantly" that he had been forced to pull out of the competition.

When I met the Australian actor backstage ahead of the first live show, he told me his main reason for taking part was so he could take his wife out dancing.

And in his statement, he insisted he would still be able to do that.

"I owe both the Strictly family and Dianne a massive debt of gratitude for giving me the opportunity to fulfil my dream of being able to dance with my wife (when my leg is better)," Dennis said.

Dennis won't be replaced in the contest. The series will continue with the pairs who are already in it, putting this year's series on course for three couples in the final.

On Sunday night, the professional dancers will perform a dance paying tribute to pop star Britney Spears.

US actress and singer Zegler, 24, who starred in Jamie Lloyd's revival of Evita in the West End this summer, will sail into the results show to perform the play’s famous song.

But it's not all fun and games. On Sunday night, the two bottom placed couples will go head-to-head in the dreaded dance-off, with both competing for a place in the annual Halloween spectacular next weekend.

Strictly Come Dancing is broadcast live at 18:25 BST on BBC One and on BBC iPlayer.