Manhunts are under way after two men were mistakenly released from Wandsworth prison in London in the past week.

The first, released last Wednesday, is Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, a 24-year-old Algerian man and a sex offender.

The second is William Smith, who had been jailed for fraud on Monday, the same day he was subsequently released in error.

It comes after the accidental release of Hadush Kebatu, a migrant sex offender, last month due to what was described as "human error" at HMP Chelmsford.

Here is what we know.

• Follow live: Wandsworth Prison admits mistakenly releasing two prisoners

What happened?

Brahim Kaddour-Cherif was "released in error" seven days ago on Wednesday 29 October, the Metropolitan Police says.

The force said it was not told about the mistake by HMP Wandsworth until Tuesday 4 November.

"Officers are carrying out urgent enquiries in an effort to locate him and return him to custody," a police spokesperson said.

On Monday, Surrey Police appealed for help to find 35-year-old William Smith, who was also mistakenly released from Wandsworth. He was released on the same day he had been sentenced to 45 months in prison for multiple fraud offences.

Who is Brahim Kaddour-Cherif?

Brahim Kaddour-Cherif is a 24-year-old Algerian man and is not an asylum seeker.

The Met confirmed he is a registered sex offender and was convicted of indecent exposure in November 2024, relating to an incident in March that year.

He was sentenced to an 18-month community order and placed on the sex offenders' register for five years.

He is believed to have links to Tower Hamlets and was also known to frequent the Westminster area, the police said.

Kaddour-Cherif is understood to have entered the UK legally on a visitor's visa but has now overstayed that and is in the initial stages of the deportation process.

Who is William Smith?

William Smith, who goes by Billy, was released on Monday, Surrey Police said.

He was sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences at Croydon Crown Court on Monday. He appeared via a live video link from HMP Wandsworth.

Smith is described by police as white, bald, and clean shaven.

He was last seen wearing a navy long sleeve jumper with the Nike brand 'tick' across the front in white, navy blue tracksuit bottoms with a Nike 'tick' in white on the left pocket, and black trainers.

Smith has links to Woking but could be anywhere in Surrey, the force said.

How were they mistakenly released?

We know very little at this stage about why or how Kaddour-Cherif was mistakenly released.

We also do not know why the police were not told about the error in releasing him for almost a week.

Multiple prison sources say the process of release is complex and bureaucratic, and sometimes errors are made, including in calculations over time served.

As for Smith, the BBC understands he was released as a result of a clerical error at the court level.

He was given a custodial sentence but it was entered in the computer system as a suspended sentence.

This was spotted and corrected by the court but the correction was sent to the wrong person.

How did the news come out?

During Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, who was standing in for Sir Keir Starmer, was repeatedly asked by shadow justice secretary James Cartlidge whether any further asylum-seeking offenders had accidentally released from prison since Epping sex offender Hadush Kebatu last month.

Lammy repeatedly refused to directly answer the question but towards the end of the session it emerged that a prisoner had been mistakenly released. This referred to Kaddour-Cherif.

BBC political editor Chris Mason said he was told Lammy was aware of the incident going into PMQs, but not whether the man was an asylum seeker.

What happened when?

29 October: Brahim Kaddour-Cherif is mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth

3 November: William Smith is sentenced to 45 months in prison. Later the same day he is mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth

13:00 on 4 November: Six days later, the Prison Service informs the Metropolitan Police that the prisoner had been released in error on 29 October

Overnight into 5 November: Justice Secretary David Lammy is informed about the accidental release

Around 11:45 on 5 November: The Conservatives reportedly find out that a wrongly released prisoner is at large

12:00 on 5 November: Lammy repeatedly refuses to answer when asked by shadow justice secretary James Cartlidge whether any more asylum seekers had been wrongly released since the high-profile case of an Epping sex offender last month

12:43 on 5 November: Cartlidge tells the House of Commons that a second imprisoned asylum seeker had been mistakenly freed - Lammy declined to respond

13:41 on 5 November: Lammy releases a statement saying he is "outraged and appalled by the foreign criminal wanted by the police" and promises that an "urgent manhunt" is under way

16:43 on 5 November: Metropolitan Police puts out an appeal for Kaddour-Cherif and says "urgent" inquiries are ongoing

What has been said about it?

While he did not comment directly on the case during PMQs afterwards Justice Secretary David Lammy said he was "absolutely outraged" and that his officials have been "working through the night to take [Kaddour-Cherif] back to prison".

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said it was "shocking that once again the Labour government has mistakenly allowed a foreign criminal to be released from prison".

He added that Lammy's PMQs appearance was "nothing short of disgraceful" and accused him of being "dishonest" with the public and parliament.

Philp later made a point of order calling for Lammy to come back to answer questions on the matter.

Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman said the latest error was "unacceptable" and would be investigated.

The Liberal Democrats' justice spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller is calling for Lammy to return to the House of Commons to explain "why he failed to answer" questions on whether another prisoner had been mistakenly released during PMQs.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has called the incident a "farce".

Rosena Allin-Khan, the Labour MP for Tooting - where the prison is located - said: "Local residents will quite rightly be deeply concerned. We urgently need answers from the government and Ministry of Justice as to how this was allowed to happen."

The MP for Woking has told BBC Radio Surrey it's "completely unacceptable" that another prisoner - with links to the area - has been accidentally released from HMP Wandsworth.

Lib Dem Will Forster, MP for Woking, said it was "completely unacceptable" that William Smith had been released accidentally.

"It's utterly unacceptable that my constituents in Woking are going to be worried about their safety due to the government wrongly releasing three prisoners in a matter of a week," he said.

What do we know about HMP Wandsworth?

Wandsworth Prison is a Victorian-era facility in south London.

Built in 1851, the complex was originally constructed to house fewer than 1,000 prisoners.

An August 2024 report by the prison's independent monitoring board found inmate numbers in the "cramped, squalid" prison, had grown to 1,513.

"Wings were chaotic and staff across most units were unable to confirm where all prisoners were during the working day," the report said.

The board added it was unable to conduct prisoner roll checks because staff could not provide accurate numbers and that a third of officers were not available for operational duty on any given day due to sickness, restricted duties or training.

In April, the HM Inspectorate of Prisons noted the population had been reduced by 150, and other "limited and fragile" improvements had been made.

In 2023 the prison was in the headlines after former British soldier Daniel Khalife escaped by clinging to the underside of a lorry.

The Scottish Parliament has passed land reforms which could force the break-up of some large estates.

The bill is designed to help reduce the concentration of rural land ownership among a small number of people, and to give communities a greater say in what happens on privately owned land.

It also seeks to increase opportunities for community buyouts of land and could allow for large estates to be split into smaller plots when they are put up for sale.

After three days of debates, with almost 400 amendments lodged, the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed with 85 supporting, 28 in opposition and nine abstaining.

About half of Scotland's land is owned by just 420 people, according to research by former Green MSP Andy Wightman.

The government said its reforms would help address that imbalance.

Land reform campaigners welcomed some aspects of the bill, but said it did not go far enough.

Opponents warned the wide-ranging legislation would not work in practice and argued against government intervention in land transactions.

What is in the land reform bill?

The parliament backed the creation of a "transfer test", which would ensure that the sale or transfer of a large landholding (bigger than 1,000 hectares) cannot be completed without owners first applying to ministers for a decision on whether to sub-divide the land into "lots".

The bill also says that if someone wants to sell a large landholding, they must notify the government. Ministers would in turn notify community groups, offering them the chance to buy the land.

The legislation will compel owners of large landholdings to tell the surrounding community more about what happens on their land by publishing a land management plan. A failure to comply with this requirement could result in a fine of up to £40,000.

The legislation will also pave the way for the creation of a Land and Communities Commissioner to oversee, investigate and report on some of the bill's key aims.

Patrick Colquhoun, assistant chief executive of Luss Estates, which owns almost 50,000 acres of land around Loch Lomond, said the legislation could lead to an "infringement" on property rights.

Mr Colquhoun, who is also vice-chairman of Scottish Land and Estates, told the BBC's Scotcast podcast that he feared the definition of a large landholding could be reduced in future.

"Already the government are being pressed to reduce that down to 500 (hectares), then it's 200, then it's 10, then it's five and suddenly your plot at home, your garden ground could be under threat," he said.

Some lawyers have also raised concerns. Don Macleod, head of land and property at law firm Turcan Connell, described the bill as "junk", arguing that ambiguity over the definition of a large landholding could make the law "unworkable and impossible".

Community Land Scotland, which represents community landowners, said the bill was a "step forward" for land reform.

However, it warned that the measures did not "go far enough to meaningfully intervene in the land market and change landownership patterns".

'Lack of ambition'

Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon told MSPs the reforms would improve how land is owned and managed for the benefit "of the many, not the few".

She told MSPs would allow communities to "breathe new life into rural communities".

Addressing concerns that the bill was not sufficiently radical, she said the reforms were "balanced and proportionate".

Scottish Conservative rural affairs spokesperson Tim Eagle described the bill as "unworkable and devastating", arguing it would "damage rural businesses and reduce the land available for rent".

Other parties argued the reforms did not go far enough.

Scottish Labour rural affairs spokeswoman Rhoda Grant said: "We support any improvements to Scotland's land management, but this weak bill is largely tinkering around the edges.

"The only significant change is to introduce untested lotting provisions and to take steps to stop off-market sales."

Green rural affairs spokesperson Ariane Burgess said ministers had shown a "lack of ambition to deliver the real land reform that is so vital".

The British Medical Association has rejected a fresh offer from the government to end the long-running dispute with resident doctors in England.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting had proposed covering the cost of exam fees and expanding training places more quickly than planned and wrote to the union on Wednesday giving it until the end of Thursday to accept the package.

But the BMA said the offer did not go far enough - and the government needed to increase pay.

It comes ahead of a five-day strike by resident doctors, the name now for junior doctors, which gets under way on 14 November. It will be the 13th walkout since March 2023.

The fresh offer made by Streeting in the letter to the BMA on Wednesday afternoon followed a meeting with the union's leaders on Tuesday.

There were a range of measures, including covering the cost of mandatory exams, which can run to thousands of pounds over the course of doctor training, and membership fees to royal colleges.

The health secretary had also promised to expand the number of training places more quickly than initially planned.

But the BMA told the BBC on Wednesday night that it had rejected the offer.

The 10-year NHS plan published in early summer pledged an extra 1,000 training places by 2028, but this will now be increased to 2,000 with the 1,000 boost happening next year.

These are speciality training places that doctors move into after the first two years of training.

This year there were more than 30,000 applicants for 10,000 jobs at this stage, although some will have been doctors from abroad.

Significant disruption

In the letter to the BMA Streeting said: "The choice is clear. You can continue to pursue unnecessary strike action, which will cause disruption to patients, harm the NHS's recovery and mean that at least some parts of this offer become unaffordable.

"Or you can put an end to this damaging period of industrial action and work in partnership with the government to both deliver real change and improvements."

The letter said iafter Thursday the NHS would have to start cancelling treatments and bookings ahead of the next walkout.

The offer has been made after months of dialogue between the union and government, which began in July after the last round of strikes.

Streeting has maintained he would not negotiate on pay after resident doctors had received pay rises totalling nearly 30% in the past three years.

But the BMA has argued that, despite the pay rises, resident doctors' pay is still a fifth lower than it was in 2008, once inflation is taken into account.

Responding to the offer, Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the BMA's resident doctors committee, said it "does not go far enough".

He said even with the expansion of training places resident doctors would still be left without a job at a crucial point of their training.

"We have also been clear with the government that they can call off strikes for years if they're willing to offer a multi-year pay deal that restores pay over time.

"Sadly, even after promising a journey to fair pay, Mr Streeting is still unwilling to move."

The strike next week is expected to cause significant disruption, particularly in hospitals.

Resident doctors represent nearly half the medical workforce and range from doctors fresh out of university through to those with up to a decade of experience.

They will walk out of both emergency and routine care with senior doctors brought in to provide cover.

While the NHS attempted to keep as many routine services running as possible during the last strike, thousands of operations and appointments still had to be postponed.

A company linked to Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman owes £39m in tax on top of the £148m it was ordered to pay the government for breaching a contract to supply PPE.

Documents filed by PPE Medpro's administrator on Tuesday revealed the figure owed to His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Last month a court ruled the company breached a contract to supply medical gowns during the Covid pandemic because they did not meet certification requirements for sterility.

HMRC and the administrators declined to comment.

PPE Medpro was put into administration last month, and Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the government would pursue the company "with everything we've got" to recover the cash.

PPE Medpro has £672,774 available to unsecured creditors, far less than the money owed to the DHSC, the administrators' filings show.

They also reveal that the debt to the government is even bigger than previously known.

During the outbreak of the Covid pandemic in 2020, the government scrambled to secure supplies of PPE as the country went into lockdown and hospitals across the country were reporting shortages of clothing and accessories to protect medics from the virus.

In May that year, PPE Medpro was set up by a consortium led by Baroness Mone's husband, Doug Barrowman, and won its first government contract to supply masks through a so-called VIP lane after being recommended by Baroness Mone.

The Department of Health and Social Care sued PPE Medpro and won damages over claims the company breached its contract to supply medical gowns.

Mr Barrowman told the BBC in an interview in 2023 that he was the ultimate beneficial owner of PPE Medpro. The shares are held in the name of an accountant, Arthur Lancaster, according to Companies House documents.

In that same interview he admitted receiving more than £60m in profits from PPE Medpro.

Baroness Mone, best known for founding the lingerie company Ultimo, admitted that millions of pounds from those profits were put into a trust from which she and her children stood to benefit.

An Isle of Man company linked to Mr Barrowman, Angelo (PTC), has a secured debt of £1m to the PPE Medpro, which means it is likely to rank ahead of government creditors when it comes to paying out whatever cash can be recovered from the company.

The administrators' report says it expects there will be enough money to repay this in full.

Filings in the Isle of Man show the beneficial owner of Angelo (PTC) is Knox House Trust, part of Barrowman's Knox group of companies.

Arthur Lancaster and a spokesperson for Doug Barrowman did not respond to requests for comment.

The dog that killed a nine-month-old baby boy in south-east Wales was an XL bully, police have confirmed.

Gwent Police said the six-year-old dog was registered and that a certificate of exemption was issued in 2024, before a ban on the breed was introduced.

Police officers and paramedics were called to an address in Crossway, Rogiet, near Caldicot, Monmouthshire, on Sunday evening, and the baby was pronounced dead at the scene.

Following the incident the dog was sedated, removed from the house and taken to a vet where it was put down. No arrests have been made.

"While the dog in this case was registered as an XL bully, it was done so proactively before the ban came into effect," said Assistant Chief Constable Vicki Townsend.

ACC Townsend said that in preparation of a law banning XL bully dogs, "when requesting a certificate of exemption, owners were not required to formally identify the dog's breed".

"In cases where a suspected banned breed is involved only a DLO [Dog Legislation Officer] or a court-approved independent assessor can make an official determination," she said.

She added that police were fully investigating what happened.

"We again urge people to be responsible, and to consider the impact that speculation, rumour, and commentary can have on the family and on the integrity of our investigation," she said.

People in the village said they saw police cars and ambulances on the street late Sunday evening, with the "quiet community" finding it difficult to come to terms with the "horrendous" events.

Rogiet county councillor Peter Strong described the village as being in mourning, but vowed residents would "stand together".

"It's a deep and profound sense of shock that such a thing should happen in amidst our quiet community."

Mr Strong appealed to local people to "stay calm [and] to give the family the space they need to grieve in peace".

Since 1 February 2024, it has been a criminal offence to own an XL bully without an exemption certificate from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Despite the XL bully ban, the number of dog attacks increased in 2024 compared with a year earlier.

There were 31,920 dog attacks on people recorded in England Wales in 2024 – a 2% increase on 2023 – according to Freedom of Information figures obtained from police forces. This may not show the full picture, as three police forces did not provide useable data.

It's official: The biggest city in the US will have its first Muslim and first South Asian mayor.

Since democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani first entered the New York City's mayoral race, the 34-year-old state assemblyman from Queens has had a meteoric rise from near-total obscurity into the national spotlight.

His bold, left-wing platform has energised progressives, shaken up the Democratic party, and drawn harsh criticism from President Donald Trump and Republicans.

"Today we have spoken in a clear voice: Hope is alive," Mamdani told supporters in his victory speech on Tuesday night.

Unlike his more established opponents, Mamdani's new perspective, youth and new left-wing platform excited and ultimately won over voters eager for a fresher politician.

"Let City Hall, with our compassion, our conviction and our clarity, be the light that our city and our nation so desperately need," Mamdani said this week.

Younger voters

Mamdani presents himself as a man of the people and an organiser.

"As life took its inevitable turns, with detours in film, rap, and writing," reads his state assembly profile, "it was always organising that ensured that the events of our world would not lead him to despair, but to action."

Part of what made Mamdani so successful was that younger voters saw how authentic he was on social media, says Jane Hall, communications professor at American University.

"You don't have to be young to be able to do it, but I think you have to be seen as being authentic and speaking to what people care about in a way that is hip and makes people want to be on the bandwagon," Hall said.

His critics have argued that Mamdani does not have enough experience to effectively lead the largest US city.

President Donald Trump has tried to paint him as radical, repeatedly calling him a communist, though Mamdani has frequently denied this. The president also has threatened to withhold federal funds from a Mamdani administration.

On Tuesday night, as he declared victory, Mamdani addressed the president directly:

"Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up. To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us".

Trump promptly posted on social media: "…AND SO IT BEGINS!"

Andres Bernal, former policy advisor to New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, says Democrats can learn from Mamdani's ability to connect with people and his authenticity.

"Today's Republicans shape public discourse and they try to shape political consciousness in this country," Bernal argued. "While Democrats kind of just assume that people have fixed beliefs and they look at polls and say, okay, how do we match what we say to what we think people believe?"

From Uganda to Queens

Born in Uganda, Mamdani moved to New York with his family age seven. He attended the Bronx High School of Science and later earned a degree in Africana Studies from Bowdoin College, where he co-founded the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.

The millennial progressive has leaned into his roots in a diverse city. He has also made his Muslim faith a visible part of his campaign. He visited mosques regularly and released a campaign video in Urdu about the city's cost-of-living crisis.

"We know that to stand in public as a Muslim is also to sacrifice the safety that we can sometimes find in the shadows," he said at a rally this spring.

Mamdani and his wife, 27-year-old Brooklyn-based Syrian artist Rama Duwaji, met on the dating app Hinge.

His mother, Mira Nair, is a celebrated film director and his father Professor Mahmood Mamdani, teaches at Columbia. Both parents are Harvard alumni.

Before entering politics, he worked as a housing counsellor, helping low-income homeowners in Queens fight eviction.

Like his opponents, Mamdani's mayoral campaign focused heavily on making the city safer and more affordable.

But he pushed more radical ways to accomplish those goals - some of which will be uncharted territory for New York City.

Housing is key

The high cost of housing is one of residents' most common gripes about living in the city that never sleeps.

Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan in November 2025 is $4,778 (£3,666), a nearly 20% increase from three years prior, according to apartment listings site RentHop. And in Brooklyn, average rent for a 1-bedroom is $3,625, about a 5% increase, according to RentHop.

One of the most talked-about points in Mamdani's housing plan is freezing rent for four years on the city's 1 million rent-stabilised apartments.

"This is a city where one in four of its people are living in poverty, a city where 500,000 kids go to sleep hungry every night," Mamdani told the BBC over the summer. "And ultimately, it's a city that is in danger of losing that which makes it so special."

But researchers at Maverick Real Estate Partners argue that the four-year rent freeze would be "catastrophic" for many building owners, permanently reducing their net operating income.

Affordability challenge

Mamdani ran on a campaign of making the most expensive US city affordable for its residents.

One of his more novel ideas is creating a network of city-owned grocery stores across New York's five boroughs, expanding on the six city-owned stores. Shopping there would be cheaper for customers.

But critics have argued that Mamdani's proposal ignores complex logistical realities of the food supply chain.

He also wants to make public buses free - the current fare for most riders is $2.90 - and he plans to make them faster. While Mamdani has estimated that his plan would cost the city $630m a year, the chair of the MTA told Gothamist that it would be closer to $1bn.

Also on Mamdani's agenda is lowering the high cost of child care.

"I would hear this again and again and again, both in my own personal life, as friends would tell me the plans they had to settle down and start a family, and how in their eyes that meant it was necessary to leave New York City, with child care being a big part of it," Mamdani said in an interview with The New York Times.

To help pay for his plans, Mamdani wants to raise the corporate tax rate to 11.5%, matching the top end of New Jersey's range. The corporate tax rate in New York City currently goes up to 7.25%.

He also wants to add a flat 2% tax for New Yorkers who make more than $1 million a year. The campaign said these hikes would raise $9 billion, but how they would be raised remains a question.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has said she won't support the new mayor's plan to increase taxes on the wealthy.

Mamdani wants to raise the city's minimum wage - currently $16.50 per hour - up to $30 per hour by 2030.

But critics have argued that it would put many lower-skilled workers out of work and force them out of the city.

Quality of life is another major concern for New Yorkers: Only 34% of New Yorkers ranked the city's as excellent or good in 2025, down from 51% in 2017, according to a survey from the Citizens Budget Commission.

A flagship element of Mamdani's platform is creating a Department of Community Safety, which would expand city mental health services, including building a system for mental health workers to respond to related 911 calls, instead of police.

Mamdani's Republican opponent Curtis Sliwa criticised the plan, saying it's unrealistic and unsafe for social workers to respond to potentially violent situations.

Manhunts are under way after two men were mistakenly released from Wandsworth prison in London in the past week.

The first, released last Wednesday, is Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, a 24-year-old Algerian man and a sex offender.

The second is William Smith, who had been jailed for fraud on Monday, the same day he was subsequently released in error.

It comes after the accidental release of Hadush Kebatu, a migrant sex offender, last month due to what was described as "human error" at HMP Chelmsford.

Here is what we know.

• Follow live: Wandsworth Prison admits mistakenly releasing two prisoners

What happened?

Brahim Kaddour-Cherif was "released in error" seven days ago on Wednesday 29 October, the Metropolitan Police says.

The force said it was not told about the mistake by HMP Wandsworth until Tuesday 4 November.

"Officers are carrying out urgent enquiries in an effort to locate him and return him to custody," a police spokesperson said.

On Monday, Surrey Police appealed for help to find 35-year-old William Smith, who was also mistakenly released from Wandsworth. He was released on the same day he had been sentenced to 45 months in prison for multiple fraud offences.

Who is Brahim Kaddour-Cherif?

Brahim Kaddour-Cherif is a 24-year-old Algerian man and is not an asylum seeker.

The Met confirmed he is a registered sex offender and was convicted of indecent exposure in November 2024, relating to an incident in March that year.

He was sentenced to an 18-month community order and placed on the sex offenders' register for five years.

He is believed to have links to Tower Hamlets and was also known to frequent the Westminster area, the police said.

Kaddour-Cherif is understood to have entered the UK legally on a visitor's visa but has now overstayed that and is in the initial stages of the deportation process.

Who is William Smith?

William Smith, who goes by Billy, was released on Monday, Surrey Police said.

He was sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences at Croydon Crown Court on Monday. He appeared via a live video link from HMP Wandsworth.

Smith is described by police as white, bald, and clean shaven.

He was last seen wearing a navy long sleeve jumper with the Nike brand 'tick' across the front in white, navy blue tracksuit bottoms with a Nike 'tick' in white on the left pocket, and black trainers.

Smith has links to Woking but could be anywhere in Surrey, the force said.

How were they mistakenly released?

We know very little at this stage about why or how Kaddour-Cherif was mistakenly released.

We also do not know why the police were not told about the error in releasing him for almost a week.

Multiple prison sources say the process of release is complex and bureaucratic, and sometimes errors are made, including in calculations over time served.

As for Smith, the BBC understands he was released as a result of a clerical error at the court level.

He was given a custodial sentence but it was entered in the computer system as a suspended sentence.

This was spotted and corrected by the court but the correction was sent to the wrong person.

How did the news come out?

During Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, who was standing in for Sir Keir Starmer, was repeatedly asked by shadow justice secretary James Cartlidge whether any further asylum-seeking offenders had accidentally released from prison since Epping sex offender Hadush Kebatu last month.

Lammy repeatedly refused to directly answer the question but towards the end of the session it emerged that a prisoner had been mistakenly released. This referred to Kaddour-Cherif.

BBC political editor Chris Mason said he was told Lammy was aware of the incident going into PMQs, but not whether the man was an asylum seeker.

What happened when?

29 October: Brahim Kaddour-Cherif is mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth

3 November: William Smith is sentenced to 45 months in prison. Later the same day he is mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth

13:00 on 4 November: Six days later, the Prison Service informs the Metropolitan Police that the prisoner had been released in error on 29 October

Overnight into 5 November: Justice Secretary David Lammy is informed about the accidental release

Around 11:45 on 5 November: The Conservatives reportedly find out that a wrongly released prisoner is at large

12:00 on 5 November: Lammy repeatedly refuses to answer when asked by shadow justice secretary James Cartlidge whether any more asylum seekers had been wrongly released since the high-profile case of an Epping sex offender last month

12:43 on 5 November: Cartlidge tells the House of Commons that a second imprisoned asylum seeker had been mistakenly freed - Lammy declined to respond

13:41 on 5 November: Lammy releases a statement saying he is "outraged and appalled by the foreign criminal wanted by the police" and promises that an "urgent manhunt" is under way

16:43 on 5 November: Metropolitan Police puts out an appeal for Kaddour-Cherif and says "urgent" inquiries are ongoing

What has been said about it?

While he did not comment directly on the case during PMQs afterwards Justice Secretary David Lammy said he was "absolutely outraged" and that his officials have been "working through the night to take [Kaddour-Cherif] back to prison".

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said it was "shocking that once again the Labour government has mistakenly allowed a foreign criminal to be released from prison".

He added that Lammy's PMQs appearance was "nothing short of disgraceful" and accused him of being "dishonest" with the public and parliament.

Philp later made a point of order calling for Lammy to come back to answer questions on the matter.

Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman said the latest error was "unacceptable" and would be investigated.

The Liberal Democrats' justice spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller is calling for Lammy to return to the House of Commons to explain "why he failed to answer" questions on whether another prisoner had been mistakenly released during PMQs.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has called the incident a "farce".

Rosena Allin-Khan, the Labour MP for Tooting - where the prison is located - said: "Local residents will quite rightly be deeply concerned. We urgently need answers from the government and Ministry of Justice as to how this was allowed to happen."

The MP for Woking has told BBC Radio Surrey it's "completely unacceptable" that another prisoner - with links to the area - has been accidentally released from HMP Wandsworth.

Lib Dem Will Forster, MP for Woking, said it was "completely unacceptable" that William Smith had been released accidentally.

"It's utterly unacceptable that my constituents in Woking are going to be worried about their safety due to the government wrongly releasing three prisoners in a matter of a week," he said.

What do we know about HMP Wandsworth?

Wandsworth Prison is a Victorian-era facility in south London.

Built in 1851, the complex was originally constructed to house fewer than 1,000 prisoners.

An August 2024 report by the prison's independent monitoring board found inmate numbers in the "cramped, squalid" prison, had grown to 1,513.

"Wings were chaotic and staff across most units were unable to confirm where all prisoners were during the working day," the report said.

The board added it was unable to conduct prisoner roll checks because staff could not provide accurate numbers and that a third of officers were not available for operational duty on any given day due to sickness, restricted duties or training.

In April, the HM Inspectorate of Prisons noted the population had been reduced by 150, and other "limited and fragile" improvements had been made.

In 2023 the prison was in the headlines after former British soldier Daniel Khalife escaped by clinging to the underside of a lorry.

From an embankment overlooking Gaza City, there's no hiding what this war has done.

The Gaza of maps and memories is gone, replaced by a monochrome landscape of rubble stretching flat and still for 180 degrees, from Beit Hanoun on one side to Gaza City on the other.

Beyond the distant shapes of buildings still standing inside Gaza City, there's almost nothing left to orient you here, or identify the neighbourhoods that once held tens of thousands of people.

This was one of the first areas Israeli ground troops entered in the early weeks of the war. Since then they have been back multiple times, as Hamas regrouped around its strongholds in the area.

Israel does not allow news organisations to report independently from Gaza. Today it took a group of journalists, including the BBC, into the area of the Strip occupied by Israeli forces.

The brief visit was highly controlled and offered no access to Palestinians, or other areas of Gaza.

Military censorship laws in Israel mean that military personnel were shown our material before publication. The BBC maintained editorial control of this report at all times.

Asked about the level of destruction in the area we visited, Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said it was "not a goal".

"The goal is to combat terrorists. Almost every house had a tunnel shaft or was booby-trapped or had an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] or sniper station," he said.

"If you're driving fast, within a minute you can be inside of a living room of an Israeli grandmother or child. That's what happened on October 7."

More than 1,100 people were killed in the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, and 251 others taken hostage.

Since then, more than 68,000 Gazans have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry there.

The bodies of several hostages had been found in this area, Lt Col Shoshani said, including that of Itay Chen, returned to Israel by Hamas this week. Searches are continuing for the missing bodies of another seven hostages.

The Israeli military base we travelled to is a few hundred metres from the yellow line – the temporary boundary set out in US President Donald Trump's peace plan, which divides the areas of Gaza still controlled by Israeli forces from the areas controlled by Hamas.

Israel's army has been gradually marking out the yellow line with blocks on the ground, as a warning to both Hamas fighters and civilians.

There are no demarcations along this part of the line yet - a soldier points it out to me, taking bearings from a small patch of sand between the grey crumbs of demolished buildings.

The ceasefire is almost a month old, but Israeli forces say they are still fighting Hamas gunmen along the yellow line "almost every day". The piles of bronze-coloured bullet casings mark the firing points on the embankments facing Gaza City.

Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire "hundreds of times", and Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry says more than 240 people have been killed as a result.

Col Shoshani said that Israeli forces were committed to the US-led peace plan, but that they would also make sure that Hamas no longer posed a threat to Israeli civilians, and would stay as long as necessary.

"It's very clear to everyone that Hamas is armed and trying to control Gaza," he said. "This is something that will be worked out, but we're far from that."

The next stage of the US-led plan requires Hamas to disarm and hand over power to a Palestinian committee overseen by international figures including President Trump.

But rather than give up its power and weapons, Col Shoshani said, Hamas was doing the opposite.

"Hamas is trying to arm itself, trying to assert dominance, assert control over Gaza," he told me. "It's killing people in broad daylight, to terrorise civilians and make sure they understand who is boss in Gaza. We hope this agreement is enough pressure to make sure Hamas disarms."

Israeli forces showed us a map of the tunnels they said that soldiers had found beneath the rubble we saw – "a vast network of tunnels, almost like spider's web" they said – some already destroyed, some still intact, and some they were still searching for.

What happens in the next stage of this peace deal is unclear.

The agreement has left Gaza in a tense limbo. Washington knows how fragile the situation is - the ceasefire has faltered twice already.

The US is pushing hard to move on from this volatile stand-off to a more durable peace. It has sent a draft resolution to UN Security Council members, seen by the BBC, which outlines a two-year mandate for an international stabilisation force to take over Gaza's security and disarm Hamas.

But details of this next stage of the deal are thin: it's not clear which countries would send troops to secure Gaza ahead of Hamas disarmament, when Israel's troops will withdraw, or how the members of Gaza's new technocratic administration will be appointed.

President Trump has outlined his vision of Gaza as a futuristic Middle Eastern hub, built with foreign investment. It's a far cry from where Gaza is today.

Largely destroyed by Israel, and seen as an investment by Trump, the question is not just who can stop the fighting, but how much say Gazans will have in the future of their communities and lands.

Broadcaster Jeremy Vine has told a court that being called a "bike nonce" in posts on social media by former footballer Joey Barton left him "completely devastated".

Ex-Man City player Mr Barton is alleged to have "crossed the line between free speech and a crime" with messages he posted on X about the TV and radio presenter, as well as football commentators Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko.

Mr Barton, 43, who has 2.7 million followers on the platform, is on trial at Liverpool Crown Court and denies 12 counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety.

Mr Vine told the trial the posts left him having "sleepless nights" and feeling "scared and upset".

'Very vicious'

The court heard Mr Vine replied on on 8 January 2024 to a post Mr Barton had made on X that likened Ms Aluko and Ms Ward to the "Fred and Rose West of football commentary", after an FA Cup tie between Crystal Palace and Everton.

Peter Wright KC, prosecuting, asked Mr Vine about why he became engaged in the conversation.

Mr Vine told the court: "I thought it was very vicious to post their faces over two mass murderers of children.

"I was looking for an explanation and said about a brain injury as a way of underlining my own feelings that he had crossed a line."

Simon Csoka KC, defending, said: "Are you genuinely raising concern about Mr Barton having a head injury or are you taking the mick?"

Mr Vine responded: "I'm raising it by giving it that level of insight, which is kind of the thing on social media."

The court also heard Mr Vine was made to "feel physically unsafe" after he claimed Mr Barton had posted a picture of his address online.

He said: "I genuinely believe what Barton did made me physically unsafe. I took some advice about my security. I varied my movements. I didn't want to communicate the dangers [to my daughters].

"Because of this cloud of filth Barton had released I had to explain to them. I can only summarise by saying I believe these messages put me in physical danger."

Mr Barton, from Widnes, Cheshire, denies the alleged offences said to have been committed between January and March last year.

As well as Manchester City, Mr Barton also played for Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers, Burnley and Marseilles before he moved into management after his retirement.

He was sacked from his most recent role of manager at Bristol Rovers in October 2023 after almost three years in charge.

The trial continues.

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The brother of the Southport killer has told the public inquiry into the dance class stabbings he believes his sibling may have targeted children because it would "hurt society particularly badly".

Axel Rudakubana, then 17, killed three children at a Taylor Swift-themed event in the Merseyside town on 29 July 2024.

Dion Rudakubana, 21, gave evidence from a secure location via videolink for a second day at the inquiry, sitting at Liverpool Town Hall.

Asked about his brother's motivation for the attack, he said: "Children are very valuable to society in they are society's future. This is only a thought I have had in retrospect."

He told the inquiry he was upstairs on the morning of the attack when he saw his brother leave the house wearing a face mask.

Dion said he did not believe his brother had left the house since March 2022, when he was arrested on a bus with a knife.

He told the inquiry he "got a bit nervous initially".

Richard Boyle, counsel to the inquiry, asked: "Your worry was that he wasn't going on a walk, but would go out to carry out an attack?"

Dion replied: "Initially, potentially, yes."

He said he became less worried as his parents appeared to believe his brother had simply gone for a walk.

He said shortly afterwards his mother showed him packaging from a knife, said to have been found in the washing machine.

In a statement, Dion said there were no discussions about contacting the police at that point.

"I did not believe he intended to harm anyone and thought if he was carrying a knife it was to protect himself, not to harm others," he said.

Asked if he should have contacted police over his fears, he said: "It was not sufficient for me to do so."

Dion told the inquiry he had returned home from university on 26 July last year and his father told him his brother had done "something bad".

He said he could not remember when his father explained he had stopped his brother as he attempted to take a taxi to his former school, Range High School, on 22 July.

He said: "The reason why he gave any information at all about this was because he was telling me to be careful around him."

The inquiry heard in a message to a friend on 27 July, Dion explained what his father had told him, writing: "Your brother is dangerous. He can kill you."

He said: "I don't think he directly said that 'he can kill you' but rather indicated there was a threat to life and I felt that."

In a statement given to the inquiry, Dion also said he was and continues to be "devastated and deeply saddened by the immense pain, anguish and grief my brother inflicted".

The inquiry later heard from the killer's father Alphonse Rudakubana, who was asked about what information he shared with different agencies about his son's "destructive" behaviour at home.

On several occasions Rudakubana had made outbursts in which he threatened to kill his father, the inquiry heard.

Nicholas Moss KC, counsel to the inquiry read from a statement given to the inquiry by Mr Rudakubana, which told how his son's "attitude and behaviour at home can be very frightening".

Around this time, his father remembered how his son had "poured a significant quantity of oil" over his head and threatened to kill him "in very menacing terms".

Mr Moss asked what he meant by menacing terms.

Mr Rudakubana said his son had appeared to be in some kind of "mental pain" beforehand.

He said: "He came in front of me, he was poking me in my chest, saying if you get me out of here, in this house, it may take a week, it may be a month, maybe years, but trust me I will kill you."

He said the reference to leaving the house was from a comment around a week earlier when he had suggested that in the future his son would have to live in a separate house.

Mr Moss reads from Mr Rudakubana's statement, which said he and his wife were "very scared" of his son.

Mr Rudukabana also said the family "felt kind of lonely" after settling in the UK following the Rwandan genocide of the 1990s.

He said: "We made a decision to wait until they grow up and understand and be less affected. I was surprised - they came home and were talking about the genocide in Rwanda both of them, they were learning about it in school.

"We then told them a few things we thought they can handle."

He said he did not believe this discussion affected his family life in the UK.

"I think what affected them was that we were a small family with two friends from Rwanda [in the UK]," he said.

"They could see that we are kind of lonely compared to their peers, their friends from school. So they'll see that we are in a foreign land even thought they were born here."

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The Prince of Wales has followed in his mother's footsteps with a visit to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.

Prince William stood in the same spot that Diana, Princess of Wales, was photographed in 34 years ago.

He is on the third day of his five-day visit to Brazil, where he will be presenting the Earthshot Prize, the annual award from the charity he set up.

The star-studded event will be held in Rio's Museum of Tomorrow on Wednesday evening, where Kylie Minogue and Shawn Mendes will perform as five projects win £1m.

The prince is also scheduled to give a speech at COP30, the UN's annual climate meeting.

On a picture perfect day, the future king stood alone in a moment of reflection as he took in the views of Rio de Janeiro from the top of Mount Corcovado where Christ the Redeemer stands.

The iconic and imposing statue is one of the largest Art Deco sculptures in the world, standing at 30 metres tall and reaching 28 metres wide with its outstretched arms.

It has become a symbol of hope and resilience and is said to protect the people of Rio.

Princess Diana posed in the same spot in April 1991 during her six-day tour of Brazil with the now King Charles III.

During Prince William's walkabouts in Rio, dozens of people spoke to him about his late mother, who died in August 1997.

"The prince has loved meeting so many people from across Rio over the last few days," said a spokesperson for the prince.

"He's been incredibly struck by the number of people who fondly remember his mother's visit to this beautiful city."

At Christ the Redeemer, Prince William also had some time away from the cameras in the chapel that sits beneath the statue.

Security has been high throughout his trip.

Public access to the statue was temporarily suspended to allow him to visit the site and meet the 15 Earthshot Prize finalists ahead of the evening's awards ceremony.

The shortlist this year includes the city of Guangzhou in China and its electric public transport network, Lagos Fashion Week in Nigeria, nominated for its work reshaping the fashion industry, and Barbados for its environmental leadership.

The prize annually awards a £1m grant in five different categories to projects that aim to repair the world's climate.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will join the prince for the ceremony before they both head to Belem in the Amazon rainforest for COP30, where world leaders will discuss how to limit and pepare for further climate change.

Prince William's first day in Brazil involved football in the Maracana Stadium and barefoot beach volleyball on Copacabana.

On Tuesday, focus shifted to the environment - his reason for visiting the country.

The prince criticised criminals for their involvment in the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest during a speech at the United for Wildlife conference.

He also travelled to the small island of Paqueta, where he met locals, learnt about mangrove conservation and planted tree saplings.

At least nine people have died and 11 left injured after a UPS cargo plane crashed while taking off from an international airport in Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday evening.

Aviation experts who spoke to BBC Verify believe the plane crashed after one engine failed and another appeared to be damaged during take-off.

It is unclear what caused the plane to crash, prompting a massive fireball to erupt after it failed to take-off from the runway. Footage showed fire had already engulfed one wing of the aircraft while it was attempting to take off, which may have spread through the plane and caused the explosion, or the jet could have caught fire after colliding with an object on the ground.

What is apparent is that the 38,000 gallons (144,000 litres) of fuel on board the MD-11 jet needed for the flight likely escalated the blaze, which quickly spread to several buildings beyond the runway and burned for hours.

BBC Verify has been analysing footage that emerged overnight to piece together how the crash unfolded.

How did it start?

UPS uses Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport as a distribution hub for its global operations and its Flight 2976 was at the start of a 4,300 mile journey to Honolulu in Hawaii when the cargo plane attempted to take off.

Data from tracking website FlightRadar24 shows the plane began to taxi along the 17R runway at around 17:15 local time (22:15 GMT) and managed to reach a top speed of 214mph (344km/h).

But verified footage shows that by the time the plane reached this speed a fire had completely engulfed its left wing and the aircraft failed to gain altitude before the massive explosion.

Officials issued a shelter-in-place order to local residents and scrambled hundreds of firefighters to the scene.

Governor Andy Beshear confirmed details seen in CCTV footage that shows the aircraft flying just metres off the ground before a bright flash engulfed the plane. It is then seen slamming into the ground as a huge fireball erupts around it about a minute into its journey.

Verified clips taken by motorists on a nearby highway showed the flames erupting into the skyline while later videos showed smoke billowing from the scene.

Aerial images broadcast by local media showed debris showering the runway and landing on the roofs of at least two local businesses.

What could have caused the crash?

Air traffic control communications reviewed by BBC Verify are largely garbled and full of interference so no meaningful conversation can be heard about the crash as it unfolded.

But analysts who spoke to BBC Verify suggested that a dramatic failure of two of the engines may have been responsible for the disaster.

The MD-11 transport plane uses three engines. Two are mounted under the wings, and a third is built into the tail at the base of the vertical stabilizer.

Footage confirmed by BBC Verify showed a blaze engulfing the left wing of the plane, which then tilted to the left as it attempted to gain lift and take-off.

Two experts independently suggested the left engine may have detached from the plane after suffering from a mechanical or structural failure.

Separate images taken after the crash showed a charred engine sitting on the grass next to the runway at Louisville International Airport.

Terry Tozer, a retired airline pilot and aviation safety expert, told BBC Verify that it was "almost unheard of" for an engine to detach in flight.

He referenced the 1979 American Airlines Flight 191 disaster, in which 273 people were killed after the plane's engine detached as it took off at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Parts of the engine had been damaged when it was replaced on the plane, but Mr Tozer said it was too early to say whether a similar fault caused the engine to detatch on the M-11.

Mr Tozer said the cargo plane would have been able to fly with just two engines but the damage caused by the fire on the left wing was likely so great it caused the plane's third engine to lose thrust.

"With such a catastrophic event we cannot know what other damage was done when the engine came adrift," he said.

Marco Chan, a senior lecturer in aviation operations at Buckinghamshire New University, said the footage appeared to show the third engine had been damaged because it expelled a burst of smoke. The damage could have happened while it was pelted with debris from the fire and the engine detatching.

"The upper engine that expelled a puff of smoke appears to wind down almost immediately afterwards," Mr Chan said. "That left only the right engine producing thrust, creating a severe power imbalance and leaving the aircraft unable to gain height.

"Losing two engines during take-off leaves the aircraft with only a third of its power and little chance of maintaining flight, especially at maximum take-off weight," Mr Chan added.

Why did the crash cause such damage?

Footage from the aftermath of the crash showed a scene of complete chaos with multiple fires blazing across a large swathe of the site and smoke billowing into the sky.

The plane, which was 34 years old and had been used as a passenger plane until 2006, had already completed one return journey from Louisville on Tuesday to Baltimore in Maryland.

It has not been confirmed what cargo was on board the flight bound for Hawaii, though officials said the plane was not carrying anything that would create a heightened risk of contamination.

"This was a long-haul cargo flight from Louisville to Honolulu, so the MD-11 was carrying a lot of jet fuel," Mr Chan said. "That heavy fuel load not only reduced performance but also explains the large fireball seen after the crash."

Officials told reporters that the aircraft was carrying 38,000 gallons (144,000 litres) of fuel for the long journey when it crashed. The blaze was likely amplified on the ground because the aircraft slammed into a fuel recycling business next to the airport.

Mr Chan said investigators will now focus on how the initial fire began, and "whether debris struck the centre engine, and whether earlier maintenance on the left engine played a role". He added: "Weather conditions were calm and clear, so environmental factors are unlikely."

The National Transportation Safety Board (NSTB) has sent a team to the site and will now lead the investigation into the causes of the crash, though this can take up to two years to complete.

Additional reporting by Emma Pengelly, Kayleen Devlin and Paul Brown.

What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?

A father has told how he used his car to hit a man suspected of stabbing 10 people on a train.

Dave Scott, 57, was waiting to collect his daughter at Huntingdon railway station in Cambridgeshire on Saturday evening when a man holding a knife tried to get in his car.

He said: "It was a case of fight or flight, and I just powered away as quick as I could, also taking him with [me]."

Soon after Mr Scott's intervention, police officers arrested the man, British Transport Police confirmed. Anthony Williams, 32, has been charged with attempting to murder 10 people on board a train.

Passengers on the 18:25 GMT Doncaster to London King's Cross LNER service were attacked shortly after the train left Peterborough.

It was diverted to Huntingdon - an unscheduled stop - where Mr Scott was waiting in the car park.

He said he saw people running along the platform, which he initially thought was "just a bunch of teenagers who'd been pratting around".

He then witnessed more people fleeing the station before seeing "a large male".

"He was under the light at the time so it sort of shadowed him out and he was just heading straight for me. At that point I could see he had a knife in his hand," said Mr Scott.

"He came straight to my car and, if I remember rightly, he tried the door, couldn't get in and he started chopping down on the top of my car."

Mr Scott drove off and spun his BMW around "thinking that if I can I was probably going to hit him again if he was up or not, but at that point the police just appeared from everywhere".

He said he was yards away from where police made the arrest, and he left his car in position lighting up the area so officers could see better.

After the arrest Mr Scott, from nearby St Ives, said the "adrenaline was still pumping", and when he phoned his daughter Helena, it was a "massive relief" to learn she was not on that train.

Her train had been stopped elsewhere in Cambridgeshire and they made alternative arrangements to get her home.

On Tuesday, British Transport Police, which is leading the investigation, said rail worker Samir Zitouni was still "critically unwell" in hospital.

Rail operator LNER has described his actions as "nothing short of heroic", after he reportedly protected a girl from being stabbed. Three other people remain in hospital.

Mr Williams, of no fixed abode, appeared at Peterborough Magistrates' Court on Monday and was remanded until the next court date on 1 December.

As well as being charged in relation to Saturday's incident, he is also accused of carrying out a knife attack earlier in the day on another train in east London.

Cambridgeshire Police is also reviewing three other knife-related incidents being investigated for possible links to Mr Williams, including an alleged attack on a 14-year-old boy.

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MSPs are set to vote on legislation which could allow the government to intervene in private land sales and require for large estates to be broken up.

Ministers say they want to address the high concentration of land ownership in the hands of relatively few people.

The proposals are controversial with landowners and some opposition politicians, who say they create red tape and could damage rural businesses.

But others say they want the plans to go further, with Labour and the Greens pushing for the new rules to apply to more estates.

Hundreds of amendments had been proposed to the bill, and a succession of late-night sittings were held at Holyrood. The final vote is expected on Wednesday night.

Why is this happening?

Scotland has one of the most concentrated land ownership patterns in the developed world.

At times this has lead to social struggles - such as when crofters won legal rights in 1886 - and inspired plays and protest.

Communities in the Highlands and Islands have bought and managed vast swathes of land over recent decades, and a community right-to-buy was made law in 2003.

However many still feel that more change is needed.

Research by the former Green MSP Andy Wightman suggests that the concentration of landowners has increased in recent years with 50% of privately-owned rural land owned by around 420 people.

Around 4% is owned by people and companies from abroad.

Land in Scotland has also become more expensive in recent years and off-market sales are still common, according to the Scottish Land Commission.

Communities can also have land sales sprung on them.

Residents in the south of the Isle of Skye complained when they learned a 20,000 acre estate would be on the market with only two days notice.

Rural Secretary Mairi Gougeon said the case was a good example of why further land reform measures were needed.

A parliamentary committee said the scarcity of useful land "stops some communities flourishing."

Introducing the bill, Gougeon said that the Scottish government does "not feel its right that ownership and control of much of Scotland's land is still in the hands of relatively few people."

The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill aims to address the concentration of landownership as well as giving communities a greater say in what happens on privately owned land.

What's in the bill?

The new laws would regulate how land is used across Scotland as well as how land can be bought and sold.

This would affect lots of different people, like the owners of huge estates, tenant farmers and crofters, and community-run projects.

There have already been big changes over the years, but the Scottish government said that the benefits and opportunities of the country's land needs to be more widely shared.

The bill is in two parts.

The first part would make owners of the biggest landholdings tell the surrounding community more about what happens on the land.

It also suggests ways to make it easier for community groups to buy land when it comes up for sale.

The second part deals with agricultural and environmental uses of leased farm land.

But even while recommending the bill to parliament, the Net Zero, Energy and Transport committee said it was too big and too complicated.

Why is it controversial?

While there is broad support for much of what's in the bill, the first part - about land ownership and use - is more controversial.

Private landowners have warned that ministers would be given far too much power to "interfere" in landowners' business, including forcing the break up of large estates before they are sold into smaller lots.

Scottish Land and Estates, an organisation of rural landowners, said that too much "unevidenced" focus was being put on large landholdings.

And it argued that big estates could actually help meet aims like climate targets.

Chief executive Sarah-Jane Laing said the bill required "significant revisions".

She added: "As it stands, it threatens to burden rural businesses with excessive red tape and add significant costs to the public purse while failing to deliver real benefits for communities."

But land reform campaigners think the bill does not go far enough.

Community Land Scotland (CLS) urged MSPs to push for tougher changes to break up "archaic" landownership in Scotland.

Dr Josh Doble, CLS policy manager, said: "Scotland's history of concentrated landownership and lack of public oversight a has resulted in one of the world's most depleted natural environments, alongside a lack of opportunities, democracy and wealth sharing."

What was said at Holyrood?

Most political parties backed the general principles of the bill.

But during the Holyrood debate, the Scottish Conservatives urged the Scottish government to scrap the bill and pursue other means by "working with landowners".

Scottish Conservative MSP Tim Eagle said it was "by far the worst bill" he had seen in Holyrood.

Fergus Ewing, SNP MSP for Inverness and Nairn, said a different approach was needed and argued that measures in the bill could "dampen" the rural economy.

Scottish Labour's Rhoda Grant said the party supported the bill but want to see it go further.

Liam McArthur, of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, described it as a "mixed bag" and urged ministers to strike an "appropriate balance between rights and responsibilities".

Ariane Burgess, of the Scottish Greens, supported the bill but said it was "disappointingly lacking in ambition".

After an initial debate in March, MSPs backed the general principles of the bill by 91 votes to 29.

Donald Trump's sweeping use of tariffs in the first nine months of his second term was sharply questioned during oral arguments before the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Chief Justice John Roberts, and justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch – three conservative jurists considered swing votes in this case - peppered US Solicitor General John Sauer, representing the president's administration, during his more than 45 minutes before the court.

They were joined by the court's three liberal justices, who also expressed scepticism about whether federal law – and the US Constitution – give the president authority to unilaterally set tariff levels on foreign imports.

"The justification is being used for power to impose tariffs on any product from any country in any amount, for any length of time," Roberts said.

If the court ruled for Trump in this case, Gorsuch wondered: "What would prohibit Congress from just abdicating all responsibility to regulate foreign commerce?"

He added that he was "struggling" to find a reason to buy Sauer's arguments.

The case centres around a 1977 law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), that Trump's lawyers have said gives the president the power to impose tariffs. Although the Constitution specifically vests Congress with tariff authority, Trump has claimed that the legislature delegated "emergency" authority to him to bypass longer, established processes.

Sauer asserted that the nation faced unique crises – ones that were "country-killing and not sustainable" - that necessitated emergency action by the president. He warned that if Trump's tariff powers were ruled illegal, it would expose the US to "ruthless trade retaliation" and lead to "ruinous economic and national security consequences.

Trump first invoked IEEPA in February to tax goods from China, Mexico and Canada, saying drug trafficking from those countries constituted an emergency.

He deployed it again in April, ordering levies from 10% to 50% on goods from almost every country in the world. This time, he said the US trade deficit - where the US imports more than it exports - posed an "extraordinary and unusual threat".

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Those tariffs took hold in fits and starts this summer while the US pushed countries to strike "deals".

Lawyers for the challenging states and private groups have contended that while the IEEPA gave the president power to regulate trade, it made no mention of the word "tariffs"

Neil Katyal, making the case for the private businesses, said it was "implausible" that Congress "handed the president the power to overhaul the entire tariff system and the American economy in the process, allowing him to set and reset tariffs on any and every product from any and every country, at any and all times."

He also challenged whether the issues cited by the White House, especially the trade deficit, represent the kind of emergencies the law envisioned.

Suppose America faced the threat of war from a "very powerful enemy", Samuel Alito - another conservative justice – asked. "Could a president under this provision impose a tariff to stave off war?"

Katyal said that a president could impose an embargo or a quota, but a revenue-raising tariff was a step too far.

For Sauer, this was a false choice. Presidents, he said, have broad powers over national security and foreign policy – powers that the challengers want to infringe on.

A key question could be whether the court determines whether Trump's tariffs are a tax.

Several justices pointed out that the power to tax – to raise revenue – is explicitly given to Congress in the Constitution.

Sauer's reply was that Trump's tariffs are a means of regulating trade and that any revenue generated is "only incidental".

Of course, Trump himself has boasted about the billions his tariffs have generated so far and how essential this new stream of funding is to the federal government.

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who attended the hearing, made no comment when asked by the BBC what he thought of the hearing. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, also in court, flashed a thumbs-up.

US Trade Envoy Jamieson Greer was in court, along with Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who said outside after arguments, that she was "hopeful" based on the questions asked that the court would overturn the tariffs.

"I thought they were very good questions," she said, describing tariffs as an "unconstitutional power grab" by the president.

If a majority of the Supreme Court rules in Trump's favour, it will overturn the findings of three lower courts that already ruled against the administration.

The decision, no matter how it works out, has implications for an estimated $90bn worth of import taxes already paid - roughly half the tariff revenue the US collected this year through September, according to Wells Fargo analysts.

Trump officials have warned that sum could swell to $1tn if the court takes until June to rule.

During oral arguments, Barrett grappled with the question of reimbursing such revenue, wondering if it would be a "complete mess".

Katyal responded by saying that small businesses might get refunds, but bigger companies would have to follow "administrative procedures". He admitted that it was a "very complicated thing".

In remarks on Wednesday, press secretary Karoline Leavett hinted that the administration already is looking at other ways to impose tariffs if the Supreme Court rules against them.

"The White House is always preparing for Plan B," she said. "It would be imprudent of the president's advisors not to prepare for such a situation."

After sealing decisive wins in the New York mayoral election and governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey, it is clear the Democratic Party will be buoyed by a big election night on Tuesday.

It is a far cry from the scenes after last year's presidential election, when the party was left searching for answers after Donald Trump and the Republicans scored a hugely dominant victory.

The results also mark a year until vital midterm elections. So with the picture of the night becoming clearer, here's what we've learned from the results.

1. Democrats get their energy back

The Democrats notched key victories as they swept the first major elections of Trump's second term.

There were joyous celebrations at the various candidate headquarters, a stark contrast to the downbeat scenes after the party's bruising 2024 defeat.

Abigail Spanberger won in Virginia, flipping the governorship from Republican, while Mikie Sherrill was elected governor in New Jersey. Both won decisively, securing more than 56% of the vote.

In New York City, Zohran Mamdani beat independent Andrew Cuomo and became the first candidate to pass one million votes since 1969.

• FOLLOW LIVE: Updates and analysis after election night

Barack Obama's former deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told the BBC that Mamdani had "changed the electorate" by urging young people and immigrants to vote.

"He most importantly built a movement," he said.

The series of decisive victories may well boost a party that has at times struggled to counter President Trump's rapidly-enacted second term agenda, and rebound from its 2024 defeat.

"The Democrats are back and we're winning," said Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin on Wednesday. "We've got the momentum going into the midterm elections."

2. Cost of living a winning message

Pledging to bring down the cost of rent, food and childcare was at the core of Mamdani's left-wing campaign, but it was also a winning issue for the more moderate Democrats elsewhere.

Sherrill in New Jersey and Spanberger in Virginia both made tackling the high cost of living front and centre in their governor campaigns. And it was seemingly top of voters' minds, too.

Exit poll data from the major US networks indicated that in all three races the most important issue for voters was the economy and affordability.

And tellingly, according to exit poll data from the BBC's US partner CBS News, a majority of voters who named the economy as their most important issue voted for the Democratic candidate in New York, New Jersey and Virginia.

It may well give the party a message to coalesce around ahead of the crucial midterm elections next year - and pose a challenge for Republicans to counter.

"I can't see into the future, but I see Republicans losing the House if Americans are continuing to go paycheck-to-paycheck," Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene told Semafor recently.

"It's clearer than ever that affordability needs to be the centrepiece of the Democrats' message going into the midterms," political communications expert Andrew Koneschusky told the AFP news agency.

"The affordability message cuts across demographics and highlights a major vulnerability for Republicans," he said.

3. A stark shift in the Latino vote

When Trump scored his decisive victory over Kamala Harris last year, he racked up huge support from Latino voters who had been a key part of the Democratic voter base for decades.

Trump saw a huge 14 percentage-point increase in support from that demographic compared to the 2020 election, according to exit polls. No Republican presidential candidate had ever won a higher percentage with Latino voters.

And while he wasn't on the ballot on Tuesday night, there were some potentially concerning signs for his Republican Party. The winning candidates for governor in Virginia and New Jersey both had wide leads of around 30% with Latino voters, according to exit poll data.

There are interesting shifts, too, when examining the results more closely.

Passaic County in New Jersey - which census data shows is almost half Latino - is often cited by analysts as a bellwether for Trump's support among those voters. He won it by 3 percentage points in 2024, yet Sherrill won it by 15 on Tuesday.

Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant who specialises in Latino voting trends, suggested the cost of living - a key theme in the Democratic campaigns - was a major factor.

"No poll taken anywhere in the country in the past month has anything other than the economy as the top issue for Latinos," he said.

4. Democratic differences were on display

In liberal New York, Mamdani ran as a democratic socialist who will tax millionaires and corporations to the tune of $9bn (£6.9bn), in order to pay for policies such as free childcare and buses.

It was a different story, however, in the governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia, where Republicans have had far more electoral success in the past.

In those states, the two Democratic candidates were establishment-backed moderates who emphasised pragmatic policies more likely to appeal to voters less liberal than those in New York City.

The night itself illustrated the broad differences in the party between its left-wing and centrists, and raised questions over how it will approach elections and candidate selection in the future.

Koneschusky suggested Democrats needed to field candidates who reflect the specific electorate, rather than taking a "one-size-fits-all" approach.

"In some cases, that may mean fielding progressive candidates. In other cases, it may mean moderate or centrist candidates," he said.

New York City comptroller and Mamdani ally Brad Lander echoed this point, telling the BBC's Nada Tawfik that Democratic leadership must acknowledge different things will work in different parts of the country and they should allow the primary process to play out.

A report has outlined major changes needed to get the hundreds of thousands of "economically inactive" people in Britain into work and prevent more from leaving employment.

One in five working age people are out of work and not seeking work, according to the review by former John Lewis boss Sir Charlie Mayfield.

Tackling this problem should be a "shared responsibility" between employers, employees and health services, it concluded.

But what changes are being suggested? The BBC has spoken to bosses, workers and GPs about some of the challenges posed by the Keep Britain Working review.

Employer budgets already squeezed

"Employers will need to do more," the report states.

They need to prevent people from leaving the workplace in the first place, support people back into work, and remove barriers for disabled people, it says.

But many businesses argued they don't have the money to invest after employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and minimum wages increased in April.

When it comes to helping managing employees with health issues, some small businesses may not have HR departments. One small business owner told the BBC the report findings were "spot on", but any action that follows needs to be "practical and realistic".

Tina McKenzie, policy chair at the Federation of Small Businesses, said firms it represents already make a "huge effort" towards workplace health.

"It is only by backing small firms to grow that we can recover and expand employment levels," she said.

It's a view echoed by Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality, who said the report's recommendations need to be "taken in tandem with a concerted effort at the Budget to reduce the sector's tax burden".

She says the lack of money to invest "is one of the primary barriers to hospitality fulfilling its potential to employ more people and support people back into work".

'Where do you draw the line?'

A healthy workforce is also good for employers, who lose on average £120 per day in profit from sickness absences, which are at a 15-year high.

Hannah Barlow runs food business Dunsters Farm employing 200 people in Bury, North Manchester - where Sir Charlie visited while compiling the report.

Ms Barlow told the BBC the business has been impacted by young people being off sick with mental health issues.

The report proposes "a fundamental shift" from health at work being "largely left to the individual and the NHS" to a shared responsibility between employers, employees and health services - which Ms Barlow welcomes.

But she said small businesses did not have "an endless pot of money" to invest in occupational health needed from a rise in adults being diagnosed with conditions such as autism and ADHD.

"How can we help them and where do you draw the line?" she asked.

"It currently relies on the employee to do something but they aren't in a good place, they can't physically and mentally engage in those conversations. If there was employer-led signposting to the help they need that would be a massive relief."

She said in some cases it was not always practical to keep staff with health problems in work.

"You might have people waiting for over a year for a hand or knee operation," she said. "The majority of our roles are in a warehouse lifting goods or driving trucks, there's not really an alternative role for them to be doing."

She said the company has gone to great lengths to engage with agencies, job centres and prisons to employ people currently out of work.

"We've found it quite hard to engage and it's frustrating that there's not more support for businesses as well as the people looking for work. If they're not tech savvy how are they supposed to apply for these jobs?"

Employees personal responsibility

The rise in sickness is being driven by a "surge" in mental health issues among young people and muscular skeletal issues, aches and joint pain in older people that is leading them to leave work.

But the report put an emphasis on employees' "personal responsibility", warning: "Disengaging from work and potential support, or relying on welfare as an alternative to work, can set people on a path towards detachment and dependency, rather than recovery and participation".

Katie Livings has chronic fatigue syndrome which causes exhaustion, headaches and sensitivity to light. She also has an inflammatory condition which affects her joints.

"The pain can be so severe I can be left completely bedbound and if that happens I can't work and have taken long periods of sick leave," she told the BBC.

When she graduated from university she worked in a call centre but "ended up taking sick leave and then having to resign in a very short space of time".

When she was able to return to the workplace she said she felt "a little bit lost" and turned to disability charity Scope for help in finding a new role.

"I asked for part-time and the roles were reduced on that basis for me that was the big reason I was able to go back into work," she said.

She began work as a legal assistant and asked for adjustments to help her.

"Having access to an ergonomic chair, keyboard and mouse means I can stay in work longer," she said. Ms Livings is also able to take regular rest breaks and attend medical appointments often at short notice during the day.

She said being able to ask for changes was "empowering" and "allowed my health condition to improve". She has since progressed into a paralegal role.

The Equality Act 2010 already requires employers to make "reasonable adjustments" for disabled people to prevent them from being at a substantial disadvantage.

Clash with employee rights bill

Some business groups have pointed out a "clash" with the Keep Britain Working report and a shake-up of rules under the Employment Rights Bill due to take effect in two years.

The proposed new law includes a right to guaranteed hours and cracks down on zero-hour contracts without the offer of work.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium said the government's goals and its policies were "at odds with one another".

"In its current form, the Employment Rights Bill would make it harder for retailers to continue offering as many crucial flexible roles."

Ms Nicholls at UKHospitality which has been working closely with Sir Charlie said "unless its carefully managed there is a clash".

She said in its current form the Employment Rights Bill proposed workers were offered guaranteed hours based on an average they had done over a 12-week period.

"If we are providing supported pathways back into work or employing people with ill health and mental health issues the key is flexibility."

"Some weeks they can do eight hours, some weeks 40 hours, some weeks none," she said, adding retaining flexible, temporary, part-time, zero hours work is a "key part of this".

Fit for work notes

Some 93% of fit notes in England deem the patient "not fit for work," and "are often extended without further consultation", the report said.

But GPs say they find it difficult to judge whether or not a person is suitable to work while they are ill, but are asked to issue sick notes by patients themselves.

The report has called for a fit note reform and recommends the widespread adoption of a Workplace Health Provision (WHP).

It would be a non-clinical case management service funded by employers to support employees and line managers

"The WHP will offer support and advice, early intervention, good case management, and targeted early-stage treatment pathways," the report said.

Over time it envisaged reducing – or even replacing – the need for the current fit note, the report said.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal Colleg of GPs, said one part of the reform could be transferring the responsibility for longer-term fit notes from GPs to more specialised professionals.

"However, it is the College's view that GPs and our teams should still have the option to continue to issue short-term (up to 3 weeks) fit notes and retain some involvement in longer-term care and oversight of patients' overall health, where appropriate."

She said any reform "must be in the best interests of patients" adding "this process should never be punitive in nature."

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A driver has rammed his car into pedestrians and cyclists on the Ile d'Oléron, off the west coast of France, leaving 10 people hurt including several in a critical condition.

A local man aged "about 30" was arrested at the scene after deliberately driving into people, the mayor of Dolus d'Oléron Thibault Brechkoff said.

The man drove some distance between two villages on the island, mowing down several people including a young girl, the mayor told French TV.

He eventually abandoned his vehicle and tried to set fire to it before running away, Brechkoff said.

The public prosecutor for La Rochelle, Arnaud Laraize, said the suspect was known to police and that he shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") at the moment of his arrest.

The incident took place around 08:45 (07:45 GMT), according to local media.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said an inquiry had been opened into the incident and he was heading to the scene.

A woman pleaded with the alleged Huntingdon train attacker, telling him "please don't" as he lunged at her with a knife.

Dayna Arnold, 48, from Bridlington said she was lying on the carriage floor when the man stopped his attack after her words.

He walked away down the train she said, before returning to her and saying "the devil's not going to win".

Ms Arnold had got on the train with her partner Andy Gray at Peterborough on Saturday evening and had just sat down when she "heard a lot of commotion towards the front of our carriage".

"We both peered up over the seats in front of us and we just saw a bunch of people getting out of their seats and then a lot of panicked voices and they were heading our way."

She said her partner was swept along by the fleeing crowd, but she was stuck in her seat when her bag caught on the table.

After freeing herself she made her way down the carriage only to be knocked into a seat by panicking passengers.

She told BBC Look North she saw the alleged attacker approaching.

"So I just decided to slide down to the floor and then moments later he was above me," she said.

She added: "He was right over me and he had the knife and he was lunging it at me, but I just put my arm up like this and just said, 'please don't'.

"There was just something that shifted in his face and his eyes and he took the knife down."

Ms Arnold said the man returned a few moments later "he just looked right at me and he said, 'the devil's not going to win'."

She said that her partner helped one of the injured passengers by using his belt as a tourniquet.

The couple have had trouble sleeping in the aftermath of the incident.

"I am feeling very lucky and blessed that Andy and I are OK and hope that everyone injured and affected by this very scary ordeal has a speedy recovery," she said.

Eleven people were injured in the incident on Saturday evening on a Doncaster to London LNER train in Cambridgeshire.

Anthony Williams, 32, of no fixed abode, has been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder and remanded into custody.

Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

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A report has outlined major changes needed to get the hundreds of thousands of "economically inactive" people in Britain into work and prevent more from leaving employment.

One in five working age people are out of work and not seeking work, according to the review by former John Lewis boss Sir Charlie Mayfield.

Tackling this problem should be a "shared responsibility" between employers, employees and health services, it concluded.

But what changes are being suggested? The BBC has spoken to bosses, workers and GPs about some of the challenges posed by the Keep Britain Working review.

Employer budgets already squeezed

"Employers will need to do more," the report states.

They need to prevent people from leaving the workplace in the first place, support people back into work, and remove barriers for disabled people, it says.

But many businesses argued they don't have the money to invest after employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and minimum wages increased in April.

When it comes to helping managing employees with health issues, some small businesses may not have HR departments. One small business owner told the BBC the report findings were "spot on", but any action that follows needs to be "practical and realistic".

Tina McKenzie, policy chair at the Federation of Small Businesses, said firms it represents already make a "huge effort" towards workplace health.

"It is only by backing small firms to grow that we can recover and expand employment levels," she said.

It's a view echoed by Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality, who said the report's recommendations need to be "taken in tandem with a concerted effort at the Budget to reduce the sector's tax burden".

She says the lack of money to invest "is one of the primary barriers to hospitality fulfilling its potential to employ more people and support people back into work".

'Where do you draw the line?'

A healthy workforce is also good for employers, who lose on average £120 per day in profit from sickness absences, which are at a 15-year high.

Hannah Barlow runs food business Dunsters Farm employing 200 people in Bury, North Manchester - where Sir Charlie visited while compiling the report.

Ms Barlow told the BBC the business has been impacted by young people being off sick with mental health issues.

The report proposes "a fundamental shift" from health at work being "largely left to the individual and the NHS" to a shared responsibility between employers, employees and health services - which Ms Barlow welcomes.

But she said small businesses did not have "an endless pot of money" to invest in occupational health needed from a rise in adults being diagnosed with conditions such as autism and ADHD.

"How can we help them and where do you draw the line?" she asked.

"It currently relies on the employee to do something but they aren't in a good place, they can't physically and mentally engage in those conversations. If there was employer-led signposting to the help they need that would be a massive relief."

She said in some cases it was not always practical to keep staff with health problems in work.

"You might have people waiting for over a year for a hand or knee operation," she said. "The majority of our roles are in a warehouse lifting goods or driving trucks, there's not really an alternative role for them to be doing."

She said the company has gone to great lengths to engage with agencies, job centres and prisons to employ people currently out of work.

"We've found it quite hard to engage and it's frustrating that there's not more support for businesses as well as the people looking for work. If they're not tech savvy how are they supposed to apply for these jobs?"

Employees personal responsibility

The rise in sickness is being driven by a "surge" in mental health issues among young people and muscular skeletal issues, aches and joint pain in older people that is leading them to leave work.

But the report put an emphasis on employees' "personal responsibility", warning: "Disengaging from work and potential support, or relying on welfare as an alternative to work, can set people on a path towards detachment and dependency, rather than recovery and participation".

Katie Livings has chronic fatigue syndrome which causes exhaustion, headaches and sensitivity to light. She also has an inflammatory condition which affects her joints.

"The pain can be so severe I can be left completely bedbound and if that happens I can't work and have taken long periods of sick leave," she told the BBC.

When she graduated from university she worked in a call centre but "ended up taking sick leave and then having to resign in a very short space of time".

When she was able to return to the workplace she said she felt "a little bit lost" and turned to disability charity Scope for help in finding a new role.

"I asked for part-time and the roles were reduced on that basis for me that was the big reason I was able to go back into work," she said.

She began work as a legal assistant and asked for adjustments to help her.

"Having access to an ergonomic chair, keyboard and mouse means I can stay in work longer," she said. Ms Livings is also able to take regular rest breaks and attend medical appointments often at short notice during the day.

She said being able to ask for changes was "empowering" and "allowed my health condition to improve". She has since progressed into a paralegal role.

The Equality Act 2010 already requires employers to make "reasonable adjustments" for disabled people to prevent them from being at a substantial disadvantage.

Clash with employee rights bill

Some business groups have pointed out a "clash" with the Keep Britain Working report and a shake-up of rules under the Employment Rights Bill due to take effect in two years.

The proposed new law includes a right to guaranteed hours and cracks down on zero-hour contracts without the offer of work.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium said the government's goals and its policies were "at odds with one another".

"In its current form, the Employment Rights Bill would make it harder for retailers to continue offering as many crucial flexible roles."

Ms Nicholls at UKHospitality which has been working closely with Sir Charlie said "unless its carefully managed there is a clash".

She said in its current form the Employment Rights Bill proposed workers were offered guaranteed hours based on an average they had done over a 12-week period.

"If we are providing supported pathways back into work or employing people with ill health and mental health issues the key is flexibility."

"Some weeks they can do eight hours, some weeks 40 hours, some weeks none," she said, adding retaining flexible, temporary, part-time, zero hours work is a "key part of this".

Fit for work notes

Some 93% of fit notes in England deem the patient "not fit for work," and "are often extended without further consultation", the report said.

But GPs say they find it difficult to judge whether or not a person is suitable to work while they are ill, but are asked to issue sick notes by patients themselves.

The report has called for a fit note reform and recommends the widespread adoption of a Workplace Health Provision (WHP).

It would be a non-clinical case management service funded by employers to support employees and line managers

"The WHP will offer support and advice, early intervention, good case management, and targeted early-stage treatment pathways," the report said.

Over time it envisaged reducing – or even replacing – the need for the current fit note, the report said.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal Colleg of GPs, said one part of the reform could be transferring the responsibility for longer-term fit notes from GPs to more specialised professionals.

"However, it is the College's view that GPs and our teams should still have the option to continue to issue short-term (up to 3 weeks) fit notes and retain some involvement in longer-term care and oversight of patients' overall health, where appropriate."

She said any reform "must be in the best interests of patients" adding "this process should never be punitive in nature."

Broadcaster Jeremy Vine has told a court that being called a "bike nonce" in posts on social media by former footballer Joey Barton left him "completely devastated".

Ex-Man City player Mr Barton is alleged to have "crossed the line between free speech and a crime" with messages he posted on X about the TV and radio presenter, as well as football commentators Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko.

Mr Barton, 43, who has 2.7 million followers on the platform, is on trial at Liverpool Crown Court and denies 12 counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety.

Mr Vine told the trial the posts left him having "sleepless nights" and feeling "scared and upset".

'Very vicious'

The court heard Mr Vine replied on on 8 January 2024 to a post Mr Barton had made on X that likened Ms Aluko and Ms Ward to the "Fred and Rose West of football commentary", after an FA Cup tie between Crystal Palace and Everton.

Peter Wright KC, prosecuting, asked Mr Vine about why he became engaged in the conversation.

Mr Vine told the court: "I thought it was very vicious to post their faces over two mass murderers of children.

"I was looking for an explanation and said about a brain injury as a way of underlining my own feelings that he had crossed a line."

Simon Csoka KC, defending, said: "Are you genuinely raising concern about Mr Barton having a head injury or are you taking the mick?"

Mr Vine responded: "I'm raising it by giving it that level of insight, which is kind of the thing on social media."

The court also heard Mr Vine was made to "feel physically unsafe" after he claimed Mr Barton had posted a picture of his address online.

He said: "I genuinely believe what Barton did made me physically unsafe. I took some advice about my security. I varied my movements. I didn't want to communicate the dangers [to my daughters].

"Because of this cloud of filth Barton had released I had to explain to them. I can only summarise by saying I believe these messages put me in physical danger."

Mr Barton, from Widnes, Cheshire, denies the alleged offences said to have been committed between January and March last year.

As well as Manchester City, Mr Barton also played for Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers, Burnley and Marseilles before he moved into management after his retirement.

He was sacked from his most recent role of manager at Bristol Rovers in October 2023 after almost three years in charge.

The trial continues.

Read more stories from Cheshire on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC North West on X. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.

Online retailers Shein, Temu, AliExpress and Wish are being investigated in France in relation to the offence of enabling minors to access pornographic content on their platforms, the Paris prosecutor said on Tuesday.

The country's consumer watchdog had reported the four firms to the prosecution service on Sunday after raising concerns about the sale of childlike sex dolls on Shein's platform over the weekend.

The Paris prosecutor's office told the BBC that the platforms are being investigated over violent, pornographic or "undignified messages" that can be accessed by minors.

The BBC has contacted the companies for comment.

Shein and AliExpress are also under investigation over the dissemination of content related to children that are of a pornographic nature, the office said.

The cases have been referred to Paris' Office des Mineurs, which oversees the protection of minors, the prosecution service added.

On Monday, Shein said it had banned the sale of all sex dolls on its platform worldwide. The Singapore-based retailer also said that it would permanently block all seller accounts related to the illegal sale of the childlike dolls and set stricter controls on its platform.

The French consumer watchdog, the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control, had said the sex dolls' description and categorisation left "little doubt as to the child pornography nature" of the products.

The scrutiny of Shein comes as the company, which was founded in China, prepares for the opening on Wednesday of its first permanent physical outlet in France .

Protesters have been seen gathered in front of the Paris department store where Shein is set to open the outlet.

Shein plans to open outlets in other French department stores in cities including Dijon, Reims and Angers.

At 28, Rama Duwaji will be the youngest first lady New York City has ever had - thrust into the spotlight as her husband Zohran Mamdani won the mayoral race on Tuesday night.

And in his victory speech, the mayor-elect had a special shoutout for his wife standing beside him.

"And to my incredible wife, Rama, hayati," he said, using the Arabic word for "my life". "There is no one I would rather have by my side in this moment, and in every moment."

Duwaji is a New York-based artist with Syrian roots whose work often explores Middle Eastern themes. Her work has appeared on BBC News, and in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vice and London's Tate Modern museum.

"Rama isn't just my wife; she's an incredible artist who deserves to be known on her own terms," Mamdani wrote in a post on 12 May, announcing they had been married three months earlier.

"Omg she's real," Duwaji joked in a comment on that post.

The couple met on dating app Hinge, "so there is still hope in those dating apps," Mamdani said in an interview with The Bulwark.

Until recently she was rarely seen during her husband's election campaign, leading opponents to claim that the 33-year-old state assemblyman was "hiding" his wife.

Her absence was notable, given that US candidates often put their spouses on full display to show off their commitment to family values.

Mamdani addressed the criticism over his wife's absence in his May post, which included a series of photos showing their marriage at the New York City Clerk's office.

"If you take a look at Twitter today, or any day for that matter, you know how vicious politics can be," he wrote.

"I usually brush it off, whether it's death threats or calls for me to be deported. But it's different when it's about those you love.... You can critique my views, but not my family."

Duwaji opted to stay out of the spotlight - even as her husband's profile ballooned - but is said to have been a driving force behind the scenes, according to CNN.

She was among those who finalised Mamdani's brand identity, including the bold iconography and font used on his yellow, orange and blue campaign materials, it said.

Despite largely steering clear of the cameras, several of Duwaji's friends have gushed about her in interviews amid speculation about her role in a Mamdani administration.

"She's our modern day Princess Diana," one friend, Hasnain Bhatti, declared to the New York Times last month.

Others described Duwaji as being excited but overwhelmed by the growing attention, the NY post reported.

Duwaji graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University before earning a master's degree in illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

"Using drawn portraiture and movement, Rama examines the nuances of sisterhood and communal experiences," Ms Duwaji's professional website reads.

Much of her work is in black and white, and depicts scenes from the Arab world. Ms Duwaji herself was born in Texas and is ethnically Syrian, a campaign spokesman told the New York Times.

In 2022, her works appeared in the BBC World Service documentary "Who killed my grandfather" that investigated the assassination of a Yemeni politician in 1974.

Some of her works listed on Instagram criticise "American imperialism," what she called Israeli war crimes and denounce the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians, mirroring some of her husband's policy positions. Israel emphatically denies accusations of genocide in Gaza.

Her works also show support for Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate that the Trump administration is seeking to deport over claims that his work advocating for Palestinians amounts to "antisemitism" towards Jews.

The Brooklyn-based artist spent most of the coronavirus pandemic in Dubai, where her family lives, she said in an April interview with website YUNG.

In that interview, she was asked about recent events in the Middle East, the return to the White House of Donald Trump and sharp uptick in immigration raids.

"I'm not going to lie, things are dark right now in NYC," she said. "I worry for my friends and family, and things feel completely out of my hands."

"With so many people being pushed out and silenced by fear, all I can do is use my voice to speak out about what's happening in the US and Palestine and Syria as much as I can," she added.

She was also asked about the responsibly that artists have to speak out about global issues.

"An artist's duty as far as I'm concerned is to reflect the times," she said, quoting musician Nina Simone.

"I believe everyone has a responsibility to speak out against injustice, and art has such an ability to spread it," she continued.

"I don't think everybody has to make political work, but art is inherently political in how it's made, funded, and shared. Even creating art as a refuge from the horrors we see is political to me. It's a reaction to the world around us."

A driver has rammed his car into pedestrians and cyclists on the Ile d'Oléron, off the west coast of France, leaving 10 people hurt including several in a critical condition.

A local man aged "about 30" was arrested at the scene after deliberately driving into people, the mayor of Dolus d'Oléron Thibault Brechkoff said.

The man drove some distance between two villages on the island, mowing down several people including a young girl, the mayor told French TV.

He eventually abandoned his vehicle and tried to set fire to it before running away, Brechkoff said.

The public prosecutor for La Rochelle, Arnaud Laraize, said the suspect was known to police and that he shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") at the moment of his arrest.

The incident took place around 08:45 (07:45 GMT), according to local media.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said an inquiry had been opened into the incident and he was heading to the scene.

The migrant who returned to the UK by small boat after being removed to France under the one-in-one out scheme has been removed again.

He was on a returns flight this morning.

The man, who returned to the UK less than a month after being removed, claimed to have been a victim of modern slavery at the hands of smuggling gangs in France.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "Anyone looking to return to the UK after being removed under the UK-France agreement is wasting their time and money."

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The Duke of Sussex says "banter" in pubs and sports grounds and a spirit of good-humoured "self-deprecation" are among the things that he loves about Britain and which he thinks define British culture.

Although he lives in California in the US, Prince Harry says "Britain is, and always will be, the country I proudly served and fought for".

He shared his thoughts in an essay published ahead of Remembrance events, with the prince set to visit military veterans in Canada this week.

Prince Harry, who served in Afghanistan, called on people not to forget the contributions of veterans who might need help "once the uniform comes off".

The essay, which does not reference the scandal surrounding his uncle Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, looks at: "What it means to be British."

He writes: "The banter of the mess, the clubhouse, the pub, the stands - ridiculous as it sounds, these are the things that make us British. I make no apology for it. I love it."

Prince Harry also writes about drawing inspiration from Ukrainians in their fight against the Russian invasion.

"There is a similar stoic spirit of self-deprecation and humour in Ukrainians, that I recognise more than any other, in us Brits," he says.

Prince Harry, who runs the Invictus Games for injured service men and women, urged people to remember "those who still carry the weight of war in body and mind, and the families who bear its memory in their hearts".

This week will see annual Remembrance events, including the ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall on Sunday.

"Remembrance has never been about glorifying war. It's about recognising its cost: the lives changed forever and the lessons paid for, through unimaginable sacrifice," writes Prince Harry.

"It's also about honouring those who, knowing that cost, still choose to serve."

The essay has appeared as his brother Prince William is in Brazil for his Earthshot environmental awards.

Prince Harry, who moved to the US more than five years ago, recently talked on a podcast about his experience of US culture.

The host Hasan Minhaj asked him: "What's the most American thing you do now?" to which Harry replied: "Surf."

But Harry said he had not adopted other traits, such as drinking Coors Light beer or wearing shorts in a restaurant.

In the podcast Prince Harry also warned about the dangers of social media for young people.

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It's official: The biggest city in the US will have its first Muslim and first South Asian mayor.

Since democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani first entered the New York City's mayoral race, the 34-year-old state assemblyman from Queens has had a meteoric rise from near-total obscurity into the national spotlight.

His bold, left-wing platform has energised progressives, shaken up the Democratic party, and drawn harsh criticism from President Donald Trump and Republicans.

"Today we have spoken in a clear voice: Hope is alive," Mamdani told supporters in his victory speech on Tuesday night.

Unlike his more established opponents, Mamdani's new perspective, youth and new left-wing platform excited and ultimately won over voters eager for a fresher politician.

"Let City Hall, with our compassion, our conviction and our clarity, be the light that our city and our nation so desperately need," Mamdani said this week.

Younger voters

Mamdani presents himself as a man of the people and an organiser.

"As life took its inevitable turns, with detours in film, rap, and writing," reads his state assembly profile, "it was always organising that ensured that the events of our world would not lead him to despair, but to action."

Part of what made Mamdani so successful was that younger voters saw how authentic he was on social media, says Jane Hall, communications professor at American University.

"You don't have to be young to be able to do it, but I think you have to be seen as being authentic and speaking to what people care about in a way that is hip and makes people want to be on the bandwagon," Hall said.

His critics have argued that Mamdani does not have enough experience to effectively lead the largest US city.

President Donald Trump has tried to paint him as radical, repeatedly calling him a communist, though Mamdani has frequently denied this. The president also has threatened to withhold federal funds from a Mamdani administration.

On Tuesday night, as he declared victory, Mamdani addressed the president directly:

"Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up. To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us".

Trump promptly posted on social media: "…AND SO IT BEGINS!"

Andres Bernal, former policy advisor to New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, says Democrats can learn from Mamdani's ability to connect with people and his authenticity.

"Today's Republicans shape public discourse and they try to shape political consciousness in this country," Bernal argued. "While Democrats kind of just assume that people have fixed beliefs and they look at polls and say, okay, how do we match what we say to what we think people believe?"

From Uganda to Queens

Born in Uganda, Mamdani moved to New York with his family age seven. He attended the Bronx High School of Science and later earned a degree in Africana Studies from Bowdoin College, where he co-founded the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.

The millennial progressive has leaned into his roots in a diverse city. He has also made his Muslim faith a visible part of his campaign. He visited mosques regularly and released a campaign video in Urdu about the city's cost-of-living crisis.

"We know that to stand in public as a Muslim is also to sacrifice the safety that we can sometimes find in the shadows," he said at a rally this spring.

Mamdani and his wife, 27-year-old Brooklyn-based Syrian artist Rama Duwaji, met on the dating app Hinge.

His mother, Mira Nair, is a celebrated film director and his father Professor Mahmood Mamdani, teaches at Columbia. Both parents are Harvard alumni.

Before entering politics, he worked as a housing counsellor, helping low-income homeowners in Queens fight eviction.

Like his opponents, Mamdani's mayoral campaign focused heavily on making the city safer and more affordable.

But he pushed more radical ways to accomplish those goals - some of which will be uncharted territory for New York City.

Housing is key

The high cost of housing is one of residents' most common gripes about living in the city that never sleeps.

Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan in November 2025 is $4,778 (£3,666), a nearly 20% increase from three years prior, according to apartment listings site RentHop. And in Brooklyn, average rent for a 1-bedroom is $3,625, about a 5% increase, according to RentHop.

One of the most talked-about points in Mamdani's housing plan is freezing rent for four years on the city's 1 million rent-stabilised apartments.

"This is a city where one in four of its people are living in poverty, a city where 500,000 kids go to sleep hungry every night," Mamdani told the BBC over the summer. "And ultimately, it's a city that is in danger of losing that which makes it so special."

But researchers at Maverick Real Estate Partners argue that the four-year rent freeze would be "catastrophic" for many building owners, permanently reducing their net operating income.

Affordability challenge

Mamdani ran on a campaign of making the most expensive US city affordable for its residents.

One of his more novel ideas is creating a network of city-owned grocery stores across New York's five boroughs, expanding on the six city-owned stores. Shopping there would be cheaper for customers.

But critics have argued that Mamdani's proposal ignores complex logistical realities of the food supply chain.

He also wants to make public buses free - the current fare for most riders is $2.90 - and he plans to make them faster. While Mamdani has estimated that his plan would cost the city $630m a year, the chair of the MTA told Gothamist that it would be closer to $1bn.

Also on Mamdani's agenda is lowering the high cost of child care.

"I would hear this again and again and again, both in my own personal life, as friends would tell me the plans they had to settle down and start a family, and how in their eyes that meant it was necessary to leave New York City, with child care being a big part of it," Mamdani said in an interview with The New York Times.

To help pay for his plans, Mamdani wants to raise the corporate tax rate to 11.5%, matching the top end of New Jersey's range. The corporate tax rate in New York City currently goes up to 7.25%.

He also wants to add a flat 2% tax for New Yorkers who make more than $1 million a year. The campaign said these hikes would raise $9 billion, but how they would be raised remains a question.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has said she won't support the new mayor's plan to increase taxes on the wealthy.

Mamdani wants to raise the city's minimum wage - currently $16.50 per hour - up to $30 per hour by 2030.

But critics have argued that it would put many lower-skilled workers out of work and force them out of the city.

Quality of life is another major concern for New Yorkers: Only 34% of New Yorkers ranked the city's as excellent or good in 2025, down from 51% in 2017, according to a survey from the Citizens Budget Commission.

A flagship element of Mamdani's platform is creating a Department of Community Safety, which would expand city mental health services, including building a system for mental health workers to respond to related 911 calls, instead of police.

Mamdani's Republican opponent Curtis Sliwa criticised the plan, saying it's unrealistic and unsafe for social workers to respond to potentially violent situations.